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Trump: U.S. Will "Run" Venezuela After Capturing Maduro; Court Declares VP Delcy Rodriguez The Acting President; Venezuela's Maduro Arrives In NY After Capture By U.S.; Top U.S. General: 150+ Aircraft Used In Venezuela Operation; Maduro Indicted On Drug & Weapons Charges After U.S. Capture; Venezuelans Who Fled Maduro Cheer His Ouster; Anti-Venezuela War Protests In New York. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 04, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:01:47]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN HOST: Hey everybody, I'm Polo Sandoval joining you live from New York, and this is "CNN Newsroom."

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

Maduro arrived here in New York City on Saturday and is now at the Metropolitan Detention Center. He's set to face drug and weapons charges in New York in the coming days. President Trump telling reporters that the U.S. military could have killed the leader during its large-scale operation Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF 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 steel 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 that operation was taking place just 24 hours ago. The White House releasing these photos showing President Trump and members of his national security team who are watching the operation play out.

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 said oil. Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, VENEZUELAN VICE PRESIDENT (through translation): 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: And President Trump has said at a news conference that Secretary of State Marco Rubio actually spoke to her, that spoke to Rodriguez and added that she said, quote, we're going to do whatever you need. So, some conflicting messaging there.

I want to go to CNN's Evan Perez, who filed this report from outside the detention center 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 court battles over the legitimacy of these charges.

[01:05:04]

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: Let's continue our coverage now with CNN's Kevin Liptak who's got more from Palm Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump's order for U.S. forces to capture Nicolas Maduro was the culmination of a months-long pressure campaign on Venezuela and is really one of the most consequential moments of either of his two presidencies.

Now when we were over at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday for the President's press conference it was striking how much detail was revealed about what went into the planning for this operation. You know months and months of CIA work on the ground in Caracas to track Maduro's locations, to track his rhythms, to ensure that this raid went off seamlessly. Sort of a minute-by-minute accounting of the raid as it was happening on the ground there in Venezuela and then a description of how the forces found Maduro in his home and captured him as he was fleeing to his safe room. So, a lot of details there.

What we did not hear much from the President on is what he envisions happening next when he says that the U.S. will quote, run Venezuela going forward, the President offering not a lot of detail about what precisely he has in mind for what amounts to a temporary protectorate in a country of 30 million people that's one and a half this times the size of Texas and where the U.S. has no official presence. The U.S. hasn't had an open embassy in Venezuela since 2019.

The President was pressed again and again by reporters about what exactly he was envisioning happening on the ground there.

Listen to what he said.

TRUMP: Well, you know, they always say boots on the ground. Oh so, we're not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to, we have boots on the ground last night at a very high level actually. We're not afraid of it, we're -- we don't mind saying it.

LIPTAK: Can you explain the exact mechanism by which you're going to run the country? Are you going to designate a U.S. official to coordinate (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: Yes, yes, yes. It's all being done right now. We're designating people, we're talking to people, we're designating various people.

It's largely going to be for a period of time the people that are standing right behind me. We're going to be running it, we're going to be bringing it back.

LIPTAK: Now I also pressed the President about what he thinks about a prolonged American military presence on the ground in Venezuela and he didn't answer that explicitly. He said he wasn't afraid of boots on the ground. But when I asked whether that meant sort of a prolonged presence for U.S. forces, he pivoted almost immediately to discussing Venezuela -- Venezuela's oil, you know, that has been a preoccupation of the President's for quite some time. Venezuela of course sitting on the world's largest proven oil reserves.

And so, I think taken all together certainly a dramatic day a successful raid militarily by the U.S. but one that raises a whole host of questions that the President didn't necessarily have answers for at least on Saturday.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, West Palm Beach Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: 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 an incredible 24 hours. I know you've been following closely.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (on-camera): Yes, thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Yes of course it's our pleasure. 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 (on-camera): So, 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.

[01:10:10]

On the legal front, of course, there is an indictment against Maduro. The indictment does not discuss the things that President Trump seems to be focused on, which is, of course, fentanyl. But most legal analysts in international law 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 hostage taking.

SANDOVAL: And in 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 entertaining Maduro and what it sees as Venezuela's future?

KAYYEM (on-camera): Yes. 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 applaud that and say that was a good capture, but then question what now.

I think the President was exceptionally confusing. I'll just be honest with you. If you're a Venezuelan, let alone a foreign country, let alone an American, 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 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 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 antagonizing his political opponents, rather than a focus on what happens on Sunday.

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

KAYYEM (on-camera): Yes, exactly (INAUDIBLE).

SANDOVAL: -- especially among Democrats, 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 (on-camera): I'd 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 new. It's just something that Americans should be aware of.

I think 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, our 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.

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

Military aircraft flying low to avoid detection while intelligence agencies kept a close eye on the target.

Still ahead, the U.S. military explains how it pulled off this operation to capture Maduro, a successful one at that.

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[01:18:37]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you envision the U.S. military having a presence in Venezuela as the U.S. runs that country

TRUMP: Well, no. We're going to have a presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil because we have to have, we -- we're sending our expertise in. So you may need something, not very much.

But no, we're going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela, and it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: That was the President on Saturday afternoon, just hours after the U.S. military deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Donald Trump was slaying out his plans for that country's vast oil reserves.

Well, he says that his administration will be partnering with U.S. energy companies to take control of Venezuela's oil infrastructure. It estimated that Venezuela is sitting on a fifth of the world's reserve of crude oil and unlocking it would massively benefit U.S. industries.

Donald Trump also claims that the U.S. is owed some of its wealth and the operation to capture President Maduro, it took just hours to execute, but months to organize. And that's from U.S. military officials who released more information about Operation Absolute Resolve on Saturday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAN CAINE, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEF OF STAFF: It involved more than 150 aircraft launching across the Western hemisphere in close coordination, all coming together in time and place to layer effects for a single purpose to get an interdiction force into downtown Caracas.

[01:20:14]

After months of work by our intelligence teammates to find Maduro and understand how he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets, in early December, our force was set pending a series of aligned events.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And officials say that some of the aircraft, they flew at an altitude of just 100 feet on their way to their targets. While sources say that U.S. troops did take some fire, and a handful of them were injured, but none of those injuries were life threatening. President Trump says that the U.S. was able to shut off lights in Caracas during the mission without disclosing how.

And now the Maduro is gone, at least in custody, some of his paramilitary groups, they are showing that they are not out of the picture. On Saturday, A CNN crew saw these civilians armed with assault rifles who belonged to a pro-government armed group. They control certain parts of Caracas and play a major role in keeping Maduro in power before his capture. They often function as law enforcement in some of the more impoverished areas in Venezuela, but the opposition calls them organized crime. They exist even though Venezuela's law bans anyone other than police and military from carrying weapons.

Let's head over now to Brisbane, Australia, where we're joined now by Mick Ryan for more. He's a retired major general of the Australian Army and author of the War for Ukraine Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire.

It is good to have you with us. Thank you so much for joining us.

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, RET. AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: So, what is there to be said about the scale of Operation Resolve? I mean, there's no question about how successful it was. The forces even took some fire, but they were able to reach their targets and made it out safely.

RYAN: Yes, this was obviously an exquisitely planned, rehearsed and executed operation. The kind of thing the U.S. military does better than anyone else on the face of the earth. Clearly there were a lot of other subordinate operations, not just taking down the power grid, but taking out communications grids. These would all be related to the air defense and other systems that might have interfered with this rate. So whilst the focus was seizing the President of Venezuela, there would've been a lot of subordinate objectives to make sure U.S. forces could do that safely and get out safely.

SANDOVAL: Let's talk about the large scale military presence that's has been off the coast of Venezuela really since -- since this fall. Do you expect that to remain in position in the Caribbean now that Maduro's been removed, or do you expect maybe a scale down of their assets?

RYAN: Well, I'd expect the U.S. military to leave it there for the time being. The Trump administration is clearly keen to have the Venezuelan government that remains to work with them. And one of the ways to ensure that happens is retaining this large military presence offshore saying, listen, we'd rather use a carrot, but we would still have to stick there if we need to.

Also, the Trump administration has referred to potential other targets in the Caribbean and Central America, so that presence there will be used to shape the behavior of those potential targets.

SANDOVAL: Not only that, but he's also not rolling out the possible deployment of -- of troops on the ground, as we heard from the President on Saturday. And because of that, I'm curious from -- from your perspective, I mean, what are right now military officials in the region, at least planning for or on the lookout for when it comes to some of these pro-Maduro factions that are still, as you just saw, in -- in some of the footage, still armed and -- and essentially still on patrol.

RYAN: Well, we have long experience over the last 25 years of taking down regimes and then finding they have lots of supporters that also have to be dealt with. That will be the case in Venezuela, whether they're drug gangs or military forces that associated with drug gangs.

They will have to be dealt with one way or the other for the Americans to achieve their objectives in Venezuela, particularly when it comes to securing the sites of oil refineries and other areas that might be the target of investment by American oil companies.

SANDOVAL: I was also just as we were hearing from the President from -- from military officials on Saturday, I was also really struck by how they describe the intelligence that went into all of this. I think now as you and I speak, it's easier to put everything together given what they've released. And we remember that it was just months ago that the President had given the CIA, the green light to initiate some of those covert options inside of Venezuela.

Do you believe that that is -- that was perhaps really essentially the beginning of the end of Maduro's presence in Venezuela?

[01:25:04]

RYAN: These kind of intelligence operations by civil agencies, as well as military agencies are going on 24/7 around the world. They're extraordinarily important in providing the foundation for the kinds of exquisite military raids we saw in the last 48 hours. They're kept secret for good reason, but they're constantly going on. They're collecting information, they're analyzing it.

So when it's required at the right time and place, it can be applied. That's what we've seen in this operation. And the -- the stories we've seen about CIA operatives on the ground really are not anything new. This is standard practice for many intelligence agencies.

SANDOVAL: And -- and in your view, as you said, those 15 -- roughly 15,000 service members off the coast of Venezuela, likely not going anywhere. Do you see a scenario where they could potentially be sent in to offer some security to energy interest in the region?

RYAN: Yes, it's very likely that there will be some kind of force there ready to do that. If the President has said we may put boots on the ground, it's almost certain that the U.S. military has multiple contingency plans for that already in existence, and it's likely there are forward deployed troops who can be the tip of the spear if that kind of force is required. It's unclear whether that will happen at the moment, but it's almost certain the U.S. military has contingency plans for that.

SANDOVAL: Retired Major General Mick Ryan out of Australia. Thank you so much for that military perspective. Certainly, helps us better understand that extraordinary operation just 24 hours ago.

RYAN: Thank you. Good to talk to you.

SANDOVAL: And still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," President Trump's approval ratings, they were already at his historic lows when he launched the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro.

We'll look at what it could mean for his political fortunes, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:33]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN's Breaking News coverage.

Just hours after Nicolas Maduro was transported to the United States, the Trump administration has posted this video of what it calls Nicolas Maduro's perp walk. You see the ousted Venezuelan president being escorted, his hands in handcuffs inside the drug enforcement office here in New York City. And Maduro was processed and fingerprinted there, he wishes some of the people in the room a happy New year as you see in the footage.

And in the wake of Saturday's American military operation to capture Nicolas Maduro, Congressional leaders, they're calling for a briefing on the operation. A House Armed Services committee, a telling CNN that the panel is in the process of planning a briefing for next week possibly.

The operation has received praise from some Republicans and near universal condemnation from some Democrats. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIO DIAZ-BALART, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: It is an important day. For the American people, it is a crucial day for the entire hemisphere, and it is the one thing that all of us have all been saying. We've all been saying, and you've heard me say this time and time again, that the solution, the real solution for the Venezuelan people was total, absolute democracy and freedom returning to Venezuela. And because of President Trump and the United States armed forces that day has already begun

JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Blood for oil. I've been saying it for weeks, this is blood for oil. It's got nothing to do with narco trafficking. The drugs are mostly going to Europe and cocaine is not the drug that is killing Americans. That's fentanyl coming from China. This has always been about the fact that Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, 300 billion barrels offshore.

Chevron has the contract and the Treasury Department's permission to exploit those oil reserves, and this president is making good on his campaign promise to the U.S. oil majors when he told them that if they gave him a billion dollars, he would hook them up. Well, he's hooking them up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Joining us now with more on the political impacts of Maduro's capture, CNN senior political analyst and Bloomberg opinion columnist, Ron Brownstein. He joins us from Los Angeles.

Thank you so much for staying up late for us, Ron. Great to see you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (on-camera): Good evening.

SANDOVAL: Yes, so as you just saw some of the response from both sides of the aisle and it's not just from some of the democratic members of the of the House caucus, but let me just put up what the -- what Marjorie Taylor Greene has posted recently in response to this.

The Congressman writing, if U.S. military action and regime change in Venezuela was really about saving American lives from deadly drugs, then why hasn't the Trump administration taken action against Mexican cartels? And of course, a post goes on there.

What is your opinion though, on American sentiment right now when it comes to what we just witnessed 24 hours ago? Do you think that the American public, that American voters in a midterm year want to see the U.S. run another country, even if it's temporary?

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Yes, well, you know, the polling on this was pretty consistent, beforehand that 60 to 70 percent of Americans were saying in polls that they opposed military action in Venezuela.

Now, I suspect that once the action has already happened, that number will diminish somewhat and you'll get somewhat more support for it. But I would be very surprised if it was anything more than 50/50 at best. And if you kind of look a little over the horizon, I think as you see in the Marjorie Taylor Greene statement, I gives you a good indication of why I believe the downside risk of this over time politically is much higher than the possible upside gain.

I mean, if it all goes well, what the President will achieve is something that I don't think is going to matter much to a lot of Americans, which is greater access to Venezuelan oil for American oil and multinational oil companies. If it goes badly and you are involved in a sustained military action, much less kind of urban gorilla resistance in a country that most Americans did not think was worthy of military action then you could be looking at some very serious political consequences of the kind that George Bush suffered in his second term.

SANDOVAL: But there's also no denying just the, the dramatic nature of how everything is played out.

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Yes.

SANDOVAL: I mean, just 24 hours ago I was on air, we were talking about reports of a few explosions. Here we are 24 hours later and you have the ousted Venezuelan leader betting down in a Brooklyn cell.

So --

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Yes.

[01:35:02]

SANDOVAL: -- do you see maybe a potential for Donald Trump's approval, ratings to experience maybe a second wind? And if so, do you think that would actually be sustainable though?

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Yes. Well, that's the thing. I mean, you know, historically there was that, I mean, we -- we talked about the public rallying around the flag whenever troops are committed, I mean, that really has attenuated in the past 20, 30 years as our politics have become more polarized. But, you know, it is possible that there will be some immediate effect like that in -- in the wake of a successful short term military action.

The -- the two big constraints are, you know, we really don't know e exactly what the Trump administration has in mind when it says it is going to run the country unless they believe that the successor government of Venezuela it's simply going to kind of, buckle under their pressure and do what they want and give concessions to American oil companies and cut off relations with Cuba, you know, essentially at the -- at the point of a spear. Unless that happens the -- the alternatives are we don't get what we, you know, what he's promising today or we have to use force to do it.

And you know, I think both of those are difficult political options. And then the larger overwhelming truth is that we just see month after month from the American people, their primary concern is their cost of living. Just nothing else seems to intrude on that, and I think that will certainly remain true, this military action is not something that's going to change that basic dynamic.

SANDOVAL: But look, ultimately, he also has to face Congress. Listen to what Democratic representative Seth Moulton told CNN on Saturday. He sits on the House Armed Services Committee --

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- as you know. He criticized the administration's handling of Venezuela saying that essentially it lied to lawmakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH MOULTON, HOUSE DEMOCRAT: When we had briefings on Venezuela, we asked, are you going to invade the country? We were told no. Do you plan to put troops on the ground in Venezuela? We were told no. Do you intend regime change in Venezuela? We were told no.

So in a sense we have been briefed, we've just been completely lied to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So, I have a few seconds to answer two questions here from you. Does it look like the Trump administration lied to not just Congress and the American public? And what leverage does Congress have to try to get more answers from the White House?

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Well, I'm not sure the Republican majority wants more answers. I mean, I think they are going to rally around the President. Democrats certainly feel that they were lied to. You know, you and I were not in those -- those closed briefings. We don't know exactly what was said, but you know, by all indications they didn't, they kind of pushed away from the argument, that they were seeking regime change.

And by the way, this is why the rally -- this is another one of the reasons why the rally around the flag kind of dynamic that characterized earlier in at least the initial stages of military operations in earlier generations has attenuated because it is, you know, even in the way the administration deals with the opposition party in Congress is adversarial on this, and there's kind of less of a buy-in for the whole country.

I mean, this -- this is, you know, as on domestic issues, they're not really looking to build any kind of engagement or investment among Democrats. They -- they just kind of view it as a -- as a nuisance. And, you know, so you get what you get, which is a highly partisan reaction, not only in the Congress but in the country. And that, I think, will limit the ultimate audience for what they are doing, especially if they have to use any kind of follow on manifestation of American military force, any kind of sustained engagement.

I'd be really surprised, Polo, if Donald Trump has the stomach for that. I mean, there's, you know, he -- he probably didn't oppose the Iraq war originally as he claimed in 2016, but he certainly came to see nation building as kind of a fool's errand, both substantively and politically.

And so, it will be fascinating to see if he really is willing to commit American troops on the ground in some kind of ongoing basis. There's only been no indication that he has the inclination for anything like that.

SANDOVAL: Let's not forget we have an election coming up soon. Ron Brownstein, it's always a pleasure --

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- to get to speak to you. Thanks for your time and your analysis.

BROWNSTEIN (on-camera): Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Well, still to come, while many in the U.S. and abroad are denouncing the Trump administration's military action of Venezuela, there are many -- very many Venezuelans who were forced to leave that country who are cheering what happened.

We'll bring you that, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:43:08]

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Venezuelans in South Florida, they're celebrating news of Nicolas Maduro's capture. These images actually coming from Doral, Florida home to more Venezuelan immigrants than any other single place in the United States. Many are hoping that the Trump administration's actions will spark the change in Venezuela that they have been waiting decades to see.

And those celebrations, they are not just happening in the U.S. Many Venezuelans around the world are happy, excited that Nicolas Maduro has been removed from power.

CNN's Rafael Romo brings us -- brings us some of those pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chance, joy and tears at the heart of Madrid.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): This is excitement, happiness, and hope. ROMO (voice-over): Singing, dancing, and holding up their flag in South America. Venezuelans around the world have been celebrating President Nicolas Maduro's capture. Crowds gather at Doral in Florida home to one of the largest Venezuelan communities in the U.S.

Closer to home in Cucuta, which straddles the border, this man says we are going to be free.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I'm happy. I don't know about the other people. My mom and my dad are happy too.

ROMO (voice-over): Nearly 7.9 million Venezuelans have fled Maduro's regime according to UN figures, more than 6 million sought refuge in Latin America. Colombia's home to 2.8 million migrants while Peru has welcomed more than 1.6 million. In Lima, many of them were up all night trying to reach their relatives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I heard around 2:00 a.m. My son and my mother called me, they were crying and confused about what was happening, and all we did was to pray so they will be OK.

[01:45:00]

ROMO (voice-over): Hope and joy after years of being abroad, it is a day they won't forget.

Rafael Romo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now from New York City is Niurka Melendez. She's the co-founder of Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid, a 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.

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

MELENDEZ: Oh, yes. I mean the -- the what is -- what's happened today is just we are seeing justice that is happening now with Maduro, but we know there is still the Chavez system still remaining our country.

So we are hoping that for those who are still in the country trying to keeping 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 that the White House has released where we see Maduro on U.S. soil in handcuffs. He's flanked by DEA agents. We're seeing him right now, and I'm sure you -- 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 -- and not able to return home, what went through your mind when you saw Maduro like this?

MELENDEZ: It's like a rollercoaster, some many emotions at the same times, there is still persecution, there is still political parishioners in my country. There is still people feeling fear. 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's was my first reaction. That justice that I feel is coming and it's 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.' troubled history of intervention, how much confidence do you have in the U.S.' ability to get your country back on course? We -- 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's a complicated even topic for me to digest because it's so too many. I mean, political matters in between.

What I see beyond that is the humanity behind this is just human beings. I mean, claiming, aiming for freedom and what is what I -- that is what I see right no just hoping that political, I mean the representation for our politicals 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 a help that we were seeking and hoping that everything is just getting into place, back into place. I mean, our -- our countries in a mess. We lost our country. And now getting pieces into place I know is 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 a three decades back in our history. And I don't feel like creating expectations and guessing the future.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

MELENDEZ: But what we see is 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 --

SANDOVAL: Right.

MELENDEZ: -- a country that will almost three decades.

SANDOVAL: Niurka as you and -- and nearly 8 million of your fellow -- fellow Venezuelans who have left home in the last decade, observe 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 -- it is almost three the case as I said before. It's not a easy solution like a right away. I know this will take a lot even in our mind as a civil society to escape, get rid of our own fears. It's going to be a really complicated task.

[01:50:07]

And as you can tell, now it's too many pieces that we have to put a game together. We have to remind us as a civil society what is to have a game in pending institution started 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 ourself, our own future.

You see, it's many things that we 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 task, 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 a human right that we even forget what is that feeling?

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

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 and growing uncertainty in Venezuela.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) people die.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Stop (INAUDIBLE) people die.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: These are some of the passion protests on the doorstep of the White House on Saturday. This is Americans voice, their frustration with the prospect of war and blood shut over the oil in Venezuela.

Also in New York, more demonstrators carrying the message. No war on Venezuela. They were on the streets just hours after President Trump announced a capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

And then of course, the impact of people inside of Venezuela. There's long lines for shoppers that are waiting to check out at this supermarket in Caracas. Venezuelans are getting to really coming to grips where a new and uncertain reality with their leader captured by the United States, and President Trump promising to run their country. Some businesses, including pharmacies, grocery stores, and gas stations, they'd simply decided to just remain closed.

I want to thank you so much for joining us the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval. I'll be right back with you at the top of the hour with much more of this breaking news coverage here on CNN.

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