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Venezuela's Maduro Arrives At Brooklyn Detention Center; Trump: U.S. Will "Run" Venezuela After Capturing Maduro; Venezuela's VP Calls Maduro Capture A "Kidnapping"; Maduro Indicted On Drug And Weapons Charges After U.S. Capture; World Leaders Respond To Maduro's Capture; Venezuelans Abroad Respond To Capture Of Maduro; Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 04, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:00:38]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and this is "CNN Newsroom."

We want to begin with our breaking news. President Donald Trump says that the U.S. will run Venezuela, and this after capturing ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

Maduro arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn just a short time ago. This is some of the footage that was released by the White House.

The ousted president set to face drugs and weapons charges in New York in the coming days. President Trump told reporters that the U.S. military could have killed Maduro during Saturday's large-scale operation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was trying to get into a safe place. You know, the safe place is all steel. And he wasn't able to make it to the door, because our guys were so fast. They went through the opposition so fast.

There was a lot of gunfire. You saw some of it today. But he was trying to get to his safe place, which wasn't safe, because we would have had the door blown up in about 47, I think 47 seconds, they say, on average, regardless of how thick the seal was.

It was a very thick door. It was a very heavy door. But he was unable to get to that door. He made it to the door. He was unable to close it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And no question. It has been a historic and remarkable 24 hours. And then you look at these White House photos that show President Trump and members of his National Security Council, as they were watching the operation unfold early Saturday.

He says that the U.S. will take control of Venezuela's massive oil reserves and could put U.S. troops on the ground to help secure that oil.

Venezuela Supreme Court ordering Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to assume the duties of acting president after Maduro was captured. She's calling on the U.S. to release Maduro and his wife immediately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, VENEZUELAN VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): We demand the immediate release of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, the only president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: President Donald Trump said at a press conference on Saturday that the secretary of state, that Marco Rubio actually spoke to Rodriguez after Maduro's detention and added that she said, quote, we're going to do whatever you need. So some conflicting narratives there.

We want to go now to see then Evan Perez who filed this report from just outside of the detention center in Brooklyn where Maduro is being held at this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia, are now in the Metropolitan Detention Center here in Brooklyn, capping an extraordinary 20 hours or so after they were snatched from their bedroom in Caracas. They were transported to a U.S. military ship off the coast of Venezuela, the Iwo Jima, and then to Guantanamo Bay where they were put on a plane to New York.

Now, that began the process while they were under arrest to face four sets of charges from the Justice Department. Those include narco- terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy. A number of other Venezuelan officials are also named in this indictment that was unsealed by the Justice Department earlier on Saturday.

Now, this begins an extraordinary process for the U.S. government. They have the former Venezuelan leader here now in Brooklyn. And it'll probably be a few months of -- of court battles over the legitimacy of these charges.

Now, earlier today, there were hundreds of people from the Venezuelan community who turned up outside the Metropolitan Detention Center to cheer on the arrest of the former Venezuelan leader.

Even late into the evening, there were several dozen that remained outside the facility. Depending on where Maduro is being held, he might actually be able to hear some of those cheers.

Now, we expect that Maduro will next appear in public in federal court in Manhattan to face these charges as soon as Monday.

Evan Perez, Brooklyn, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And back to Delcy Rodriguez who, as we mentioned, has been declared the acting president of Venezuela. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that she was being sworn in. One Caracas resident told CNN, Rodriguez is a, quote, terrifying figure of the government in charge of the most oppressive tactics used against Venezuela's citizens.

Here's what President Trump had to say about the U.S.'s role in Venezuela's transition to power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:05:05]

TRUMP: We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. So we don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.

So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. Then it has to be judicious because that's what we're all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's take you live to Washington now and my colleague Julia Benbrook standing by with the latest.

Julia, it has been just an absolutely remarkable, just under 24 hours ago, we had just reports of a few explosions in Venezuela. And tonight now, we know that the ousted president is here in New York, in detention.

Tell us about what the White House has released tonight since he arrived.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are getting a first glimpse of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro here on United States soil.

I believe we have that video to pull up for you. It appears to be a perp walk. That is exactly what the White House labeled it as in their post. This was on their official rapid response social media. And he's walking along this blue carpet that has the DEA branding on it.

At the end of the clip, interestingly, he does appear to say good night and happy New Year. Not entirely sure what to take from that means some of the first comments that we are hearing from him after this just stunning turn of events today.

But I do want to take a step back here and highlight what we've heard from the White House directly. There were, of course, those reports of explosions in Venezuela. Then President Donald Trump, he took to social media and he did confirm that the United States was behind this large scale attack against Venezuela and its leader.

He also, at that point, made it clear that Maduro and his wife had been captured and removed from the country.

Now, Trump said that he watched this complex operation take place. He's actually at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. That's where he spent his holiday. And he said that it was like watching a television show play out.

He did praise the work of the military personnel involved. In fact, he said exactly that it was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.

Now, he did hold a press conference this afternoon. There are still questions following that press conference.

But there was this moment that I think caught many people by surprise where he said that the United States would, quote, run the country until a judicious transition can happen.

Didn't provide many details though or a specific timeline. And he was pressed on this by reporters multiple times. He did say that the other leaders that were standing behind him that they would be involved in some way. These are his top administration officials that included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

But he also did not rule out the possibility of boots on the ground. He said that he's not afraid of that if it is necessary.

SANDOVAL: Yes, Julia, without a doubt, that certainly sent shockwaves around the world.

I thought the other notable moment was when the president appeared to perhaps distance himself from Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. I'm wondering if you could bring our viewers up to speed on what exactly he said.

BENBROOK: Something to really watch closely here. He was asked if his team had been in contact with the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. And if, in a follow up, he was kind of asked to comment on the potential of her being a leader.

And I just want you to listen to that exchange. There's some good context here from where he stands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the U.S. aware of the location of opposition leader Machado and have you been in contact with her? TRUMP: No, we haven't really. No, we haven't.

Oh, I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: She, of course, is also the Nobel Peace Prize winner. This is not sounding like a just endorsement of her stepping into that role.

Trump did say though that the United States was working with the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. She has though called for Maduro's immediate release and has said, she believes he is the legitimate leader of the country.

[00:10:03]

SANDOVAL: Yes. And we'll dive deeper into some of those remarks regarding Machado a little later in the board -- broadcast.

But for now, Julia Benbrook, really appreciate all your reporting midnight there in Washington, D.C.

Let's go now to CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, thank you so much for taking some time to join us after what's been just incredible 24 hours. I know you've been following closely.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Yes, of course, it's our pleasure.

So -- so the Trump administration seems to frame this detention of a head of state. On foreign soil, as a law enforcement operation targeting an indicted individual, in your opinion, do you think that that gave the -- the administration more room to operate? Or do you think that the operation may have been on shaky legal ground?

KAYYEM: So I -- I think that we need to at least now, 20 hours later, sort of separate the precision of the capture, which I think was precise, was successful with what we're now seeing, which is, I think the vagaries of the justification or any plans on day two.

We've spent, as you're reporting, and the lead up of our reporters to show, a lot of time trying to assess what was the purpose of this capture, because the president went from everything from leadership change to regime change to oil, to this law enforcement effort that you discuss.

On the legal front, of course, there is an indictment against Maduro. The indictment does not discuss the things that -- that President Trump seems to be focused on, which is, of course, fentanyl. But most legal analysts in international law are -- are sort of -- are unanimous in saying that this is not justified under international law, that the mere disagreement with a foreign leader does not justify this kind of arrest and, of course, capture, of which the Venezuelans are calling, essentially an abduction or -- or -- or hostage taking.

SANDOVAL: And listening to President Trump on Saturday afternoon, Juliette, it didn't seem that there was a real plan in place. I thought that there was really some substance that was missing there.

So, considering that, what questions would you pose to the Trump administration about, just how it went about in detaining Maduro? And what it sees as Venezuela's future?

KAYYEM: Yes. And I think that's just an important distinction. We tend to get focused, at least in the news, on the sort of power and shock and awe of the military action. You can't applaud that and say that was a good capture and -- but then question, what now?

I think the president was exceptionally confusing. I'll just be honest with you. If you're a -- if you're a -- if you're a Venezuelan, let alone a foreign country, let alone Americans, it was completely unclear.

What was the imminent threat? And what is the plan on Sunday? Is it just leadership change? Which seems to be the case right now. You have the basic contours of the same leadership still in place. Is it about regime change?

Well, Trump hinted at that when he said that the United States would be in control of -- of Venezuela, something that didn't make a lot of sense, given that the Defense Department had said that they basically exited. Or is it about something different? Democracy, possibly. Oil, definitely the president said that.

That hodgepodge of explanations is confusing. It suggests there was no imminent reason for doing this. But -- but most importantly, it shows that the president never really made the case to the American public, let alone the international community.

I think that's probably why tonight, he's already distracted, if you follow his feed from the efforts in Venezuela and back to domestic politics and -- and antagonizing his political opponents, rather than a focus on what happens on -- on Sunday.

SANDOVAL: Yes. It didn't make their case to, not just the public, but to Congress as well, as we continue to see that course --

KAYYEM: Yes, that's exactly --

SANDOVAL: -- of the critics especially among Democrats that -- that are calling on the administration to really explain, not just what led up to the operation, but to your earlier point, what its plan is long term.

So let's just finally just talk broader about what we can expect in the region. I mean, what kind of instability could we maybe see in Venezuela and beyond?

KAYYEM: I put it into four different buckets. I think there's the short term, which is going to be sort of the travel issues that you're seeing, travel restrictions for Americans and others. That's not -- that's not new. It's just something that -- that Americans should be aware of.

I think the -- the second is just sort of continuity of operations. The question of who is in charge also goes to who is in charge of ensuring that Venezuelans' lives are not disrupted by this or -- or continuity of operations continuing.

I think I worry less a little bit about geopolitical stability at this stage because we simply don't know what's going to happen. But if things go bad in Venezuela, you could get migration and other pressures on surrounding countries, which would then destabilize, not only South America, but of course, Central America and then Mexico and the United States.

[00:15:20]

I finally think that we need to really look at supply chain issues as regards oil and other commodities that are transported. I work a lot in the business community. They're certainly focus on that.

So as I'm looking at the sort of politics of what's happening in Venezuela or what promises or confusion is emanating out of the White House right now, you're also looking at a geopolitical structure that -- that is -- is as confused, is quite confused and looking at the risk variables that might -- that might impact them in the days and weeks to come.

SANDOVAL: Juliette Kayyem, as always, we are grateful for your perspective and especially grateful that you could stay up late for us tonight. Thank you.

KAYYEM: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: And you heard her mention the impact on travel. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy says that flights over the Caribbean airspace that they are cleared to resume this hour.

He posted this on social media that the restrictions expired at 12:00 A.M. Eastern. And he tells stranded travelers to continue to work with their airlines.

Hundreds of flights that were canceled or delayed on Saturday due to the U.S. strikes on Venezuela. JetBlue was the most affected, according to flight site, I should say, the tracking website FlightAware.

It canceled 209 flights and delayed another 263 by 4:00 P.M. on Saturday. United Airlines, it is telling impacted passengers that they can rebook for free.

And Venezuela's vice president calling Nicolas Maduro's capture a, quote, kidnapping. After the break here on "CNN Newsroom," we'll be taking a look at who is Delcy Rodriguez and her new powers and responsibilities.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGUEZ (through translator): What is being done to Venezuela is barbaric. Besieging and blockading the country is an atrocity that violates all mechanisms of the international human rights system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You just heard from Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as she spoke following the U.S. capture of President Maduro.

A Venezuelan court has now directed her to assume the powers and duties of acting president in that country. Rodriguez calling Maduro's detention a, quote, kidnapping and demanding his release. Adding that Maduro is, quote, the sole president of Venezuela.

And that also appears to fly in the face of a statement from President Donald Trump on Saturday, who said that Rodriguez, as he said it, was ready to work with the U.S. So some mixed messaging coming from both.

For more now, Paula Newton joining us from Ottawa, Canada. Paula, it's great to see you tonight.

I'm wondering if we could just dive deeper into what the situation is like now in -- in Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro, he may be detained here in New York, but -- but how much of his influence remains back in Caracas, especially around his inner circle, including the vice president now, technically president?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, she is acting president. If you listen to her and those loyalists, again, those Maduro loyalists around her today in that address, you'd think that what has changed, the president has gone, there might be a new president, but the regime is the old regime and that they remain in charge.

Now, look, what we saw from that address was not just Delcy Rodriguez who has been an absolutely staunch loyalist from Maduro, and it has asserted herself for about two decades, not just with Nicolas Maduro, but his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, but also Diosdado Cabello, who's the interior minister.

And let me tell you, Polo, he is definitely seen as a strong hand for Maduro in terms of enforcement throughout the entire country, and it's been that way for years, and crucially as well, the head of the military, and that would be a general of Vladimir Padrino Lopez.

And it is important at this point in time for that regime to do what they have done all day, not just in that address, Polo, but if you watched state television or those stations, listen to the radio stations or the T.V. stations allied with the government, they continually condemn this attack called Trump a fascist, talked about this being imperialist.

But what it signaled to the public, not just the Venezuelan people that they said, that they wanted to stay calm, but those Colectivos, those militias inside so many cities and towns, and crucially the security apparatus in the military.

It is those three Maduro loyalists, plus at least a couple of dozen others throughout that regime that said, look, we remain in charge here.

Now, while this may fly in the face of what the Trump administration has said, that does not mean that they will not work with the Trump administration in the days and weeks to come. We kind of have to see what all of this means.

And I'd be willing to bet that neither the Trump administration, nor these regime loyalists, including Delcy Rodriguez, really understand what that relationship will look like in the coming weeks.

SANDOVAL: And because of that lack of understanding, do you think that there has been perhaps any interest from Venezuelan governments to actually engage in the White House for the purpose of diplomatic talks? Is it even too late for that to happen?

NEWTON: I mean, listen, I'm reading tea leaves here, Polo, but from covering this country for the better part of 15 years now, just look at their media feed, not in the last day, but in the last few months.

And when you look even at Delcy Rodriguez, she was the energy minister. She may continue to hold that portfolio. And she touted the fact that she had a strong handle of the energy industry in Venezuela, and that includes safeguarding the interests of Chevron, which I remind everybody, that U.S. company has an exemption from the U.S. government, despite sanctions to operate in Venezuela.

And she touted the fact that she could safeguard their operations, that there was Venezuelan oil headed to the United States, and that they would respect international law.

And I think those are the kinds of clues that certainly people should look for in the coming days. That does not mean, though, that for the people of Venezuela, Polo, as you well know, that the repression on them is not going to continue. It likely will.

And for that reason, you certainly saw many Venezuelans being very cautious about what they said on social media, or even to their neighbors.

SANDOVAL: Yes, with the tensions between these two governments, there is a lot of tea leaf reading right now, and that's really all we can do.

[00:25:09]

CNN's Paula Newton, really appreciate all your reporting from Ottawa, not just today, but also leading up to what took place on Saturday.

Well, sources are telling CNN that the White House is taking a page from U.S. history to justify their actions in Venezuela. Trump administration officials, they are pointing to a 1989 legal opinion. It laid the groundwork for the U.S. invasion of Panama and just -- and also the justification for the operation of Venezuela.

The opinion stated that the president could deploy the FBI and investigate your -- and arrest individuals for violating U.S. law, quote, even if those actions contravene international law. That opinion was authored by William Barr, who would later serve as Attorney General under President Trump's first term.

But sources are noting a key difference between Panama and Venezuela operations. Panama's then military dictator, Manuel Noriega, had declared war on the U.S. before the intervention from U.S. forces.

President Trump is also leaning heavily on the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. foreign policy that's dating back more than two centuries to justify the American intervention in Venezuela. This is what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And the Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we've superseded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the Donroe document.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Joining us now is Alan McPherson, Director of Temple University's Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy. He's coming to us from Philadelphia. It is great to have you on the program, Alan. Thank you so much.

ALAN MCPHERSON, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF FORCE AND DIPLOMACIES, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Let's keep talking history here and its role in what we've witnessed the last 24 hours. It's now been some 36 years since U.S. forces captured Noriega.

What are the parallels you see between the moment in history that we just discussed and Maduro's detention? What are the differences also?

MCPHERSON: I mean, I think the parallels mostly are -- are what the Americans hope exists here. They certainly seem to have sort of set up this intervention the way they set up, the one in 1989 in that they identified a leader that they wanted out.

Both of them were certainly bad people who should not have been leading nations. They realized these people were connected to drugs. They indicted them in U.S. courts. And then they essentially justified military intervention as essentially a law enforcement arrest of one person.

But, of course, the actual goal was not really to reduce drugs coming from those nations, it was to change the regime. In the case of Panama, it restored democracy. In this case, democracy doesn't really seem to be on the mind. So on the minds of Trump or anybody else in the White House.

And so that seems to be one of the differences. Of course, there are more important differences. There's plenty of petroleum in Venezuela. And so there's a much bigger prize than democracy or than getting one leader out. Venezuela is a much larger country. It's much more difficult to run, as the president says.

And so lots of population, lots of land. It's probably also the population might be a lot more hostile. So it might be it's got an actual military.

Panama had a very small sort of like quasi-military that was relatively easy to -- to overwhelm. So this is going to be a much more difficult mission.

SANDOVAL: And, Alan, you're a student of history, especially when it comes to that region. So -- so clearly, you're watching closely what will be the next governing chapter of Venezuela.

And we've discussed Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader. I'm curious if I can get back on that topic that we discussed earlier in the broadcast, which is -- which were some of Trump's comments that according to him that she lacks the respect and support to govern Venezuela.

What did you make of the president saying that on Saturday?

MCPHERSON: I mean, it'd be interesting to see what he bases that on, because I don't know if he means people in the Venezuelan government. I don't know if he means Venezuelans in general. She seems to be quite popular with Venezuelans, in general. She seems to be popular with the global community.

There really are no polls of, you know, who Venezuelans want as a president. They certainly voted for her fellow candidate in the 2024 election. So you would think she'd have some popularity, at least a shot, and being the next leader.

What I'm afraid is happening is that some Venezuelans or some Americans who want somebody else in power have gotten the ear of the president and are feeding him information that might not be correct, that says that she's not popular, and he simply wants to believe those folks. And so he's going with their line.

[00:30:05]

This would be a mistake of the kind that was made in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when the Americans were taking information from Iraqis who were not in the government, who didn't know was going on, on the ground.

So, I would caution this administration to get a lot more information and to let a lot more people speak to them before they make these decisions.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Right now, words certainly matter. And Venezuelans inside of Venezuela are closely watching that and there's potential to influence there.

Finally, I mean, should Venezuelans worry that the removal of Maduro now from the equation, that it has potential to really just spiral the area further into chaos?

MCPHERSON: Yes, of course. I mean, it's an area that is already very fragile. It's got a very weak economy, a very weak social structure. The government itself is very weak, and so it's already experienced millions of displaced people. Many of them have come all the way to the United States. Most of them have gone internally. They've gone to neighboring countries.

Venezuelans could easily follow the lead of those previous Venezuelans who have left or in some way have caused sort of more chaos around the country.

Because running a country, as the president, you know, wants to do, is really not as easy as they think it is. So you can now see some widespread starvation. You can see widespread violence. It's already a very violent country. And so they need to move very cautiously in their next moves.

SANDOVAL: It is such important analysis. Alan McPherson, thank you so much for staying up late for us again. Appreciate you.

MCPHERSON: You're welcome.

SANDOVAL: And stay with "CNN Newsroom" as we continue to follow the breaking news with Nicolas Maduro now in the U.S. in custody. He's facing multiple criminal charges. We're going to break down what those when we return.

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[00:35:45]

SANDOVAL: The Donald Trump administration, it's posted this video of what it calls Nicolas Maduro's perp Walk. You see it here. It shows the ousted Venezuelan president being escorted in his hands in handcuffs inside the Drug Enforcement Administration Office here in New York City.

Maduro was processed and fingerprinted there. The video shows him saying "good night" and "Happy New Year" to some people in that room, in that hallway.

And with Nicolas Maduro now in U.S. custody, he will be facing several major criminal charges, some of them including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy. He will also face weapons charges, including conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.

The indictment against Maduro is part of a long running drug trafficking case that the U.S. has pursued for 15 years now.

Joining me to discuss the legal ramifications from Los Angeles is Jessica Levinson. She's a law professor at Loyola Law School and host of the "Passing Judgment" podcast. It's great to have you with us, Jessica.

JESSICA LEVINSON, LAW PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Great to be here.

SANDOVAL: So, what stands out to you about the administration's plan to prosecute Maduro and his wife? Have you had a chance to go through the indictment? What stands out to you there?

LEVINSON: I have. Well, I think the initial question is whether or not the case will move forward. Of course, we're dealing with both international law and domestic law when we're thinking about this case.

And I think there are serious questions with respect to international law as to whether or not the president of Venezuela was brought here legally. And I think one of his big defenses in a U.S. court will be that Venezuela's sovereignty was, in fact, violated and that he enjoyed something called head of state immunity.

He might also actually rely on one of our Supreme Court decisions dealing with presidents having absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts. So the first thing that stands out is that I think he's going to have a vigorous defense in saying, I shouldn't be here and you shouldn't be able to prosecute me, and you violated my country's sovereignty.

And then I think we need to look at how the case could proceed in the U.S. courts if the prosecutors are able to overcome those initial questions.

SANDOVAL: And -- and that argument, I'm wondering how that could play out. Again, right now, we're just sort of -- this is a hypothesis in terms of what we could expect here.

I mean, how would it stand in the face of the Trump administration's claim that this was a law enforcement operation that was carried out, specifically targeted -- targeting somebody that was indicted by the Department of Justice?

So I think the Trump administration is going to argue that they do have this extraterritorial ability to extract the president of Venezuela and bring him to the United States for a criminal case. That is largely untested. And the question is whether or not that is a successful strategy.

Again, I think that the district court who gets this case is going to be looking at very little precedent.

Now, the United States, in some office of legal counsel memorandums by then an attorney, Bill Barr, later he became the U.S. attorney, and essentially argued that the president does have authority under the constitution to send in FBI agents in a situation like this, even if it does violate international law, but we don't have a U.S. Supreme Court case on this point.

SANDOVAL: I -- I remember covering Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's case, which took just months to adjudicate here in -- in New York.

When you compare that drug trafficking case to this one against Nicolas Maduro, and -- and to your earlier point, we're not even sure it will actually go to trial. But generally, how long does a case like this take to go through the system to play out?

LEVINSON: This is a great question. I wish I had a specific answer. I think a lot of people would say, oh, years. It'll certainly be years. But the truth is, we don't know because we don't know if the case will be thrown out relatively early in the proceeding.

So if a judge finds, and if appellate courts conclude that, in fact, the president of Venezuela is immune from prosecution, that even though he is standing in a U.S. courtroom that he can't be tried for these particular claims, then this could be fairly quick. I'm not going to say weeks. Certainly this is not weeks, but it could be fairly quick.

[00:40:15]

If this case moves past those initial questions, then I do think we're talking about years because I think a lot of these really big questions will bounce up and down the federal court system as the case continues to move forward.

SANDOVAL: Yes. I'm looking forward to just the discovery process, a loan playing out, calling up witnesses, et cetera. We have a long way to go before we get there.

Jessica Levinson, as always, appreciate your legal expertise on this case. Thank you.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: And we'll be right back with more of your breaking news. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Reaction among world leaders to President Trump's military action in Venezuela, it has been swift and varied.

Meanwhile, some Venezuelans living abroad have celebrated today's operation. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): World leaders are swiftly reacting to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer making it clear the U.K. had no part in it.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I can be absolutely clear that we were not involved in that. And as you know, I always say and believe we should all uphold international law.

[00:45:01]

SANDOVAL (voice-over): But there is outrage among many Latin American leaders. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the U.S. attack, quote, "crossed an unacceptable line." And it was a serious affront to Venezuela's sovereignty.

Condemnation also coming from the leaders of Colombia, Chile, Cuba, and Mexico. But Argentina's president, a Trump ally, appearing to welcome the capture of the Venezuelan leader, posting on social media that "freedom advances."

The developments are being closely tracked around the world.

DONALD TUSK, POLISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In today's times, such massive events as today's attacks by American forces have an impact on the entire world. So we shall be responding and preparing ourselves for this new situation.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Russia, a close ally of Venezuela, called the U.S. strikes an act of armed aggression.

And China, whose envoy had met with Maduro just hours before his capture says the U.S. violated international law.

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But apart from this sharp diplomatic fallout, reaction in many places where Venezuelans are living abroad has been jubilant.

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In Madrid, which is one of the largest populations of Venezuelan expats outside of Latin America and the U.S., many people waved Venezuelan flags and cheered Maduro's downfall.

And in Florida, some people expressing relief that Maduro was in U.S. custody, saying it may make it possible for them to return home one day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My reaction is that I'm so, so happy because now Venezuela is free, free.

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(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Venezuelans in South Florida, they are celebrating news of Nicolas Maduro's capture. These images coming from Doral, Florida, home to many Venezuelan immigrants, more than really any other single place in the U.S.

Many of them are hoping that the Trump administration's actions will spark the change in Venezuela that they have been waiting decades to see for themselves. Joining me now from New York City is Niurka Melendez. She's the co- founder of Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid group here in New York that helps Venezuelan asylum seekers. Niurka, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us.

NIURKA MELENDEZ, CO-FOUNDER, VENEZUELANS AND IMMIGRANTS AID: Thank you, Polo, for the invitation and for having me.

So, Niurka, is there any sense that Maduro may be gone, but these -- these traces of his regime that they remain back in Caracas?

MELENDEZ: Oh, yes. I mean, the -- the -- what is -- what happened today is just we are seeing justice that is happening now with Maduro. But we know that it's still the Chavez system still remain in our country. So we are hoping that for those who are still in the country trying to keep in power have the same future that the justice found in Maduro.

SANDOVAL: I want to show our viewers around the world some of these remarkable pictures at the White House's release where we see Maduro on U.S. soil in handcuffs. He's flanked by -- by -- by DEA agents. We're seeing him right now. And I'm sure you've -- you've had a chance to see some of these images.

When you did see them, as somebody who is living, essentially, in exile in the United States and not able to return home, what went through your mind when you saw Maduro like this?

MELENDEZ: It's like a rollercoaster. So many emotions. At the same time, there is still persecution. There is still political prisoners in my country. There is still people feeling fears. There is still not the possibility for us to going back to our country. But yet, it's at least a light at the end of the tunnel that keep us the hope.

And what I really see behind that picture is the justice that we are. I mean, in need of seeing to start or build again our country. So that was my first reaction, that justice that I feel is coming and is getting closer to us as a Venezuelan people outside our country.

SANDOVAL: President Trump said on Saturday that the U.S. will, as he put it, will run Venezuela until a safe transition can happen. Niurka, given the U.S.'s troubled history of intervention, how much confidence do you have in the U.S.'s ability to get your country back on -- on course?

We heard from a former ambassador say that doing that, it will be a complicated task. I think that's an understatement.

MELENDEZ: Yes. It is a complicated even topic for me to digest because it's not too many -- I mean, political and matters in between.

What I see beyond that is the humanity behind this. It's just human beings. I mean, claiming, aiming for freedom. What is -- what I -- that is what I see right now.

[00:50:07] Just hoping that political -- I mean, the representation for our political people might be, I mean, the best fit in order to Venezuelan be the ones who can just decide the future of our country.

But now what I see even in that scenario is just the help that we were seeking and hoping that everything is just getting into place, back into place. I mean, our -- our country is in a mess. We lost our country and now getting pieces into place. I know it's going to be a really complicated task.

And again, for us, it's just the beginning, probably the beginning of the end or the end of that beginning that we saw almost three -- almost three decades back in our history.

And I don't feel like creating expectations and guessing the future. But what we see just the fact, and I'm hoping that -- that is going to result in a better future for everything. I mean, starting for building again a country that will almost three decades.

SANDOVAL: Niurka, as you and nearly eight million of your fellow Venezuelans who have left home in the last decade, observed closely what will happen next.

I'm curious, I wonder if we can close with what your vision is of what you see as the future of your country.

MELENDEZ: I mean, it's almost three decades, as I said before, it's not an easy solution, like right away. I know this will take a lot, even in our mind, as a civil society, to escape and get rid of our own fears. It's going to be a really complicated task.

And as you can tell now, it's too many pieces that we have to put again together. We have to remind us, as a civil society, what is to have again independent institution starting from that. And then as a citizens of Venezuela, to regain that confidence that we don't need to rely on waiting for our regime to decide what is going to be next for us, but decide for ourselves our -- about our own future.

You see, it's many things that we have to digest against as a civil society, as a citizen of our country, starting for -- starting for, OK, we have again a country, let's build it together. So, it's so many tasks.

It's quite complicated for me because there are many emotions coming to my mind. But even having the hope that you can go back to your country, even for visiting, as I said to you in a private conversation before, it's just wow, like a light and -- and -- and a human ride that we even forget what is that feeling.

So, you know, it's digesting all this thing again and we have hope, absolutely. That is a thing that first came to my mind regarding all the events that's happening in such a short time. And that is hope. And, of course, they commit as a citizen to be a part of this such a -- I mean, task that we have in front of us.

SANDOVAL: Niurka Melendez, thank you so much for continuing to share your story. And we will together watch to see what the next chapter will bring for -- for your country. Thank you for your time.

MELENDEZ: Thank you, Polo. Thank you for the invitation.

SANDOVAL: And we have much more breaking news coverage ahead following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Coming up, the latest on anti-war protests, Caribbean flight challenges, and also growing uncertainties, you just heard, back in Venezuela.

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[00:55:03]

SANDOVAL: There some of the sights and sounds of some passionate protests on the doorstep of the White House earlier on Saturday as Americans voiced their frustration with the prospect of a war and bloodshed over oil.

Also in New York, more demonstrators carrying the message, no war on Venezuela. They were on the streets just hours after President Trump announced the capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Other protests they have been reported in cities including Boston, Minneapolis and Atlanta.

And with those pictures, we want to thank you so much for joining us at the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. I'll join you right back after a short break as our breaking news coverage continues here on CNN.

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