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Trump, U.S. Will "Run" Venezuela After Capturing Maduro; Maduro Indicted On Drug & Weapons Charges After Capture By U.S.; Some Lawmakers Voice Concern After U.S. Forces Captured Maduro Without Trump Seeking Congressional Approval; Trump: Not Afraid Of "Boots On The Ground" In Venezuela. Maduro in Brooklyn Detention Center; Trump: U.S. will "Run" Venezuela; Maduro Indicted on Drug and Weapons Charges; Venezuelans in U.S. React to Maduro's Capture; World Leaders Respond to Maduro's Capture. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired January 04, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:01]

MANU RAJU, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Manu Raju in for Victor Blackwell this morning.

Venezuela now waking up to a new reality after a surprise U.S. military operation put President Nicolas Maduro in American custody. Maduro is expected to be arraigned as early as tomorrow in Manhattan federal court. Prosecutors accuse him and his wife of narcoterrorism conspiracy, cocaine trafficking, and multiple weapons offenses.

And back in Caracas, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has stepped in and assumed presidential powers. But who actually runs Venezuela next is still very much an open question. President Trump said the U.S. will oversee the country until what he calls a judicious transition can take place. At the same time, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says Venezuela's future should be led by Venezuelans.

President Trump has already rejected Machado as a potential interim leader, saying she lacks respect and broad support. And the President has also made no secret of another priority, Venezuela's massive oil reserves. The country holds an estimated 303 billion barrels, the largest supply in the world, even as production has collapsed to about 1 million barrels a day.

Now, the capture of a sitting foreign leader is drawing praise from Trump's allies and some sharp questions from both parties on Capitol Hill about the legality and its consequences.

So let's bring in CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen live from London. So, Fred, what's next for Venezuela?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Manu. Well, there certainly is a lot of uncertainty on the streets in Venezuela, on the streets in Caracas and, of course, also in the political and military sphere as well. On the one hand, what we're hearing from on the ground in Venezuela is that a lot of people, even if they agree with President Nicolas Maduro being ousted, they're really still very much afraid to come out and celebrate or speak up because, of course, the old guard, the military and paramilitary forces on the ground there still very much hold sway.

There was some video that came out overnight and certainly also something that one of our crews on the ground saw. It was paramilitary groups on the ground in Caracas with rifles, checking vehicles, stopping vehicles and generally holding sway in those areas. The defense minister, who was also the defense minister under Nicolas Maduro, also went out on the streets as well. So certainly it appears as though the old guard is still very much in power.

And when we go back to President Trump's press conference yesterday at Mar-a-Lago, he did say that the U.S. would, quote, "run the place." He didn't really offer much in the way of details of how that was going to happen, except that members of his team were going to be involved in that. But he also said that the U.S. was already in touch with Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who has since been sworn in as the interim president of that country.

She's a very important figure in that she's not just the former vice president or the vice president and acting president. She's also the oil minister of the country and the finance minister of the country. So certainly someone who holds a great deal of power in Venezuela, but is also known to have been very loyal to Nicolas Maduro and the power structure there.

In fact, she went out yesterday lined by the defense minister and the interior minister and demanded that Nicolas Maduro be returned, saying that he is still very much the president of that country, but also saying, Manu, that Venezuela would defend its natural resources. Of course, that's something that could potentially be problematic, as President Trump says, that the U.S. wants to invest or wants to bring U.S. oil companies in to the oil sector in Venezuela, invest a lot of money there, but at the same time, of course, also pull a lot of money out of that country as well to reimburse, as he put it, U.S. companies that he believes have been wronged in the past, Manu.

RAJU: All right, Fred Pleitgen on the uncertainty ahead. Thank you so much for that report.

And the President of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores, could be arraigned as early as tomorrow. The U.S. carried out multiple strikes on Venezuela early Saturday morning, then captured the couple and brought them to New York, where they face a slew of charges. Now President Trump says the U.S. will run the country indefinitely until it can safely transition to a new leader.

CNN's Evan Perez explains what's next for Maduro and Flores.

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 narcoterrorism 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.

[07:05:03]

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. 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.

RAJU: All right, congressional leaders are only briefed after this operation, not before, leading some to question its legality. The Trump administration says the U.S. military was merely supporting law enforcement to execute the arrest warrant against Maduro.

CNN spoke with former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland. He said the U.S.'s arrest and conviction of Panama's Manuel Noriega more than 30 years ago could guide this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: When you hear law enforcement action, we heard from Trump's own words about potentially, and in fact, being there, controlling the nation and accessing the oil, among other things, which really is at odds with this being a law enforcement action. That being said, there's a blueprint, pardon me, that the government, the Department of Justice can follow, similar to what happened with Noriega, where ultimately the court said, we're not going to necessarily look at how it happened.

There may be an issue here in terms of not communicating with Congress and getting their permission to declare an act of war. We're not going to necessarily go through that process. Now that he's here, we're going to move that forward and say, you know what? Is there a head of state defense, meaning as I, Maduro, as the head of a legitimate nation, a legitimate leader? If true, I am immune from this.

I cannot be under attack from the law and order of the American courts. Or it can proceed, and that has been pierced. So the meaning and extraction may not be as valuable in this proceeding as Maduro would look and want it to be, based on what we've seen in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: So just how did Nicolas Maduro go from a once powerful leader to a prisoner in the United States? CNN's Stefano Pozzebon looks back at his rise to power and the moments that led to his ouster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): In the end, it was clashes with the U.S. which set Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's political rule in flames. Sources tell CNN he was dragged from his bedroom by U.S. forces after a barrage of strikes on Saturday, his vice president quickly sounding the alarm regarding his safety.

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, VENEZUELAN VICE PRESIDENT (through translation): We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. We demand immediate proof of life from the government of President Donald Trump, proof of life for President Maduro and the First Lady.

POZZEBON (voice-over): While the scale of the strikes may have come as a surprise, tensions between Venezuela's leader and the United States have been ratcheting up for months. Less than four weeks ago, the U.S. Treasury slapping sanctions of three members of Maduro's family, two of whom were dubbed the narco-nephews from previous drug trafficking convictions.

Maduro and his lawyer wife, Cilia Flores, both cut their teeth during the rule of Hugo Chavez, a socialist revolutionary who served as Venezuela's president from 1999 to 2013. While Flores served as the country's attorney general, it was in Chavez's government that Maduro got his big break as foreign minister, spearheading anti-American policies and bolstering ties to China, Russia, and Iran from 2006 to 2013.

After Chavez's death from cancer in 2013, it wasn't long before Maduro stepped into the top job, narrowly beating opposition leader Henrique Capriles in a spring election, the first of many to raise questions of fairness. A loyal disciple of Chavez's socialist ideals, in 2014 Maduro shared his commitment to keeping his legacy alive with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translation): I know I've been loyal and I'm fulfilling the legacy of this marvelous giant figure who is President Chavez, and it gives me peace of mind.

POZZEBON (voice-over): These ideals didn't help him much in steering Venezuela's economy through challenges like plunging oil prices, however. In fact, his failure to manage the country's oil wealth triggered an unprecedented economic collapse. Intense food shortages soon spawned the term the Maduro diet, a reference to the involuntary weight loss and malnutrition endured by regular Venezuelans.

[07:10:08]

By the time the public took the ballot boxes in 2024, the anger could be felt from all sides. Despite both Maduro and the opposition party claiming victory, the President managed to salsa his way through the political storm and remain in office.

But in September, the U.S. began striking alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea as President Trump doubled down on his crackdown on narcotics smuggling. And while Maduro told CNN in December he was focused on a message of peace --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): What is your message to the people of the United States, President?

MADURO (through translation): To unite for the peace of the continent. No more endless wars, no more unjust wars.

POZZEBON (voice-over): That call has fallen on their fears.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Next, the U.S. military hit Caracas in a stealth-like way. The military operation known as Operation Absolute Resolve involved a large-range air and ground attack. We'll dig deeper into how the U.S. pulled this off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:19]

RAJU: We're learning more details this morning on how the operation and capture and removal of Vice President Nicolas Maduro came together. The secret operation called Operation Absolute Resolve was months in the making. It began back in August when a covert CIA team infiltrated Caracas to track Maduro's every move.

And it ended with a massive tactical buildup, with specially trained troops sent in to capture Maduro and his wife. Now Venezuela's military was taken by complete surprise, with soldiers scrambling to stop the incoming onslaught.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCISCO MACHILLANDA, VENEZUELAN SOLDIER (through translation): They attacked us when they wanted to land in our unit. We weren't going to allow it. We joined forces to make them leave because they couldn't land there. If they landed in our unit, they would take it over, and we couldn't allow that.

We defended our unit because we knew they wanted to land there. When the helicopter was coming down, we had to take action, because otherwise they would have taken our unit. We are free people, and we will do everything to defend our homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Following Maduro's capture, the Venezuelan Supreme Court confirmed leadership in the country has fallen to Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. But President Trump has a different plan. He said the U.S. will, quote, "run" Venezuela until a judicious transition, he says, can happen.

Joining me now to discuss all of these is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier and CNN Military Analyst Major General Spider Marx. Good morning to both of you. Thanks for being with me.

Kim, first to you. So how is this going to play out in Venezuela, given the fact that the Executive Vice President there, Delcy Rodriguez, says that she's not going to be a colony to the United States, and Trump is saying that he expects full cooperation from their government. So if they're not going to cooperate with Trump, how is this going to play out?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, he's essentially backed her into a corner so that the only option she's got is to reject any cooperation with the United States, as opposed to saying we've now taken out Maduro and we are prepared to work with the existing elements of government because perhaps they can be trusted, something like that.

Delcy Rodriguez is known as a smart, calculating woman. She's a lawyer. She's held several positions within the regime prior to this. So she's not someone to be underestimated.

The problem is she's also flanked by a defense minister and a minister of interior who have been part and parcel of the security regime that have cracked down on the Venezuelan people for decades. And they both have prices on their head from the Justice Department. So they have no reason to cooperate with the U.S. either, unless for some reason those bounties are lifted.

RAJU: General Marks, before we get into just kind of what's next, I do want to get you to weigh in about this operation from yesterday, which is a pretty massive error of dominance. It is the precision, the analysis, the intelligence gathering. It'd been -- it was quite something to hear about when we learned some of the details. So what is your take on how this operation was executed, what we learned from this from -- during the press conference yesterday?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think what's really important to understand is that it's not just the five plus months that the intelligence agency, CIA, and the DNI inserted some resources into Venezuela to complete the picture of what the pattern of life was for Maduro and all of that security apparatus.

Look, what these special operations forces do and what all conventional forces do as a matter of routine is they maintain a level of readiness. So in essence, what you're doing is intelligence has to be closed that much tighter in order to execute the operation. The preparation that goes into this is routine. Then the intelligence has to close it up, and you reach a certain level where you say, look, we're at about -- I'm going to make this up, we're at about 96 percent clarity in terms of what we need to have in order to execute an operation like this.

And that's when you say, OK, how much more are we going to be able to get in order to close that gap, or are we prepared to execute? And that's where we saw it over the course of the last two days is the execution window opened up. There was sufficient clarity. Of course, there were going to be some gaps.

And then you look at all of the various pieces that came together from the intelligence, the prepositioning of the resources in the region, the global access that was available so that you could create this corridor of penetration into Venezuela, and then the level of detail as described with the intelligence buildup that would allow these forces to act with a level of confidence, which is just unbelievable.

So that --

RAJU: General --

MARKS: -- what you really see is this tactical brilliance that takes place as a matter of routine.

[07:20:20]

RAJU: I just want to -- just to follow up with you, General, just about given all the planning that went into the strike, is it -- does it seem that there was just as much planning about the aftermath of getting rid of and arresting Maduro, or does that seem that there had been seem to be lacking to you?

MARKS: I think there was a total misalignment between the desired strategic outcome and the tactical brilliance that has been demonstrated. I mean, you look at the execution of this and you just go unbelievable. Well, guess what? It is believable.

This is the United States. This is what we do. This is what our military does. We don't take this for granted. These incredible young men and women are just immensely gifted and have been hardened over the course of the last two decades, right?

So you look at that and you say, that's fine. That's wonderful. But what is the overall picture? What's the why of what we're trying to achieve? And overall, all we've heard is Maduro's got to go. That's not a strategy. But guess what? Tactically, he's gone.

He's in U.S. custody. We'll figure out what happens there. So clearly, there was not, in my mind, sufficient discussion of priority in terms of what the desired strategic outcome is and our competitors. You know, Russia --

RAJU: Yes.

MARKS: -- and China is looking at that. And they're saying, wow, great tactical brilliance, but how much relevance is there in terms of what the United States is willing to do in contested engagements?

RAJU: Yes.

MARKS: This is a non-contested.

RAJU: Yes. And I want to follow up with you, Kim, about that point, about the fact that China, look, China is Venezuela's largest buyer of oil. China has also grown a lot of trade and investment interests across Latin America. So is there a risk or how big of a risk is there about escalating tensions with China or any sort of direct confrontation if the U.S. takes over those oil reserves and sells it to other nations like Trump is saying that they'll do?

DOZIER: I think China and Russia, to a certain extent, who've both condemned this, are sitting back and just watching for Donald Trump to fall into a quagmire. If he thinks the U.S. can run Venezuela, a country that's one and a half times the size of Texas, without boots on the ground, he is mistaken.

So he hasn't taken the cooptation route of working with the Venezuelan government that exists, at least not successfully so far. The only other way is force. And if you try to use force in a place like Venezuela, which not only has a fairly strong military, but it has an entrenched and loyal guerrilla militia with zone defense already assigned across the country for how to fight back in a situation like this, China and Russia must be like, well, you know, welcome to the fight. You're going to be busy, and that leaves us free to pursue our goals in other parts of the world.

RAJU: General Marks, Trump said that he is not afraid to put boots on the ground in Venezuela to secure the oil reserves that he wants to take over. What are we talking about in terms of how big of a U.S. troop presence we could expect on the ground here? Could it be thousands, less, more?

MARKS: We don't know. I mean, going back to what Kim just said perfectly, but there's truly a significant amount of challenge that we can all talk about forever. We have not heard what the desired outcome is in terms of how we're going to run Venezuela, what does this look like, what is our desired outcome from all of this.

And we have some significant scar tissue in terms of regime change in our past, and we need to rely on that. And I'm hopeful, I must say I'm hopeful that the lesson that we've learned, the number one lesson that we've learned from Iraq, let's take that example, is that if we dismantle the security apparatus and the overall governance apparatus, we're into what Kim just described, which is a quagmire, it's a mess.

In the vernacular, it's a shit sandwich, pardon my expression here, but this is not what we want to be a part of. And if we're going to embrace Delcy Rodriguez, it's like embracing a porcupine and she's got scars all over her, this is going to be very difficult for us. We're going to have to take a lot of humble pie.

But if we want to try to move this thing forward, you don't break it entirely. My goodness, the Colin Powell idea of if you break it, you own it, we're going to be in the middle of it. I was very hopeful that we were in the transition from that.

We've got some real lessons learned we have to rely on and we need to move forward and there needs to be a contrarian in the room with all of these planning sessions that says, hey, wait a minute, I understand everything you're saying, let me push back on that. Let's think about these additional things before we make some significant decisions, commitment of diplomatic, financial, and soldiers and sailors and Marines and airmen to commit to this fight.

[07:25:24]

RAJU: Yes. We're going to have to leave it there.

Kim Dozier, Major General Spider Marks, thank you so much for your time and your expertise this morning. Really appreciate it.

And President Trump says the U.S. will run the country after capturing Maduro. But what exactly does that look like? And how does this affect his, quote, "America first agenda"? Well, there are mixed opinions across the country. We'll get all of those questions answered. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: More now in our breaking news coverage of the capture of Nicolas Maduro. The ousted Venezuelan president is in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York where he will face weapons and drug charges and could be arraigned as soon as tomorrow.

Pope Leo is weighing in, expressing his concern for what happened in Venezuela. He says the country's sovereignty should be, quote, "safeguarded and their human and civil rights respected."

Meanwhile, President Trump says the U.S. will now seize Venezuela's massive oil reserves and rebuild the country's oil infrastructure. And he does not intend to stop there. In the dour part of the picture, Trump insists the United States will be also in charge of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: In South Florida, Venezuelans who fled the Maduro regime took to the streets to celebrate his capture. But the MAGA base and its America First agenda may not be as supportive when it comes to military strikes and regime change.

I want to discuss all this with Meg Kinnard. She's a national political reporter with the Associated Press. Meg, great to see you this morning. Thanks for joining me. Trump's base has been wary of the U.S. getting involved in more foreign conflict. It was Trump himself, of course, who was against regime change. He campaigned against it, said no foreign entanglements and the like.

And according to a recent CBS poll, nearly three out of four Americans feel the Trump administration had not yet clearly explained the U.S. position on Venezuela. And a Quinnipiac poll also found nearly two- thirds of registered voters oppose military action inside Venezuela. How do you see this playing out politically as we head into this midterm season? You know, especially, look, the MAGA base has always been there with Trump. It's rarely rebelled from him. Is this a different situation in any ways?

MEG KINNARD, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hey, Manu, that's a really great question, and it's one that people like you and me are going to be trying to get answers to in these coming months now that the midterm year is here.

This is a lot of the same conversation that we were having earlier last year after the nuclear facilities in Iran, when we saw some of President Trump's MAGA supporters really questioning what the U.S. was intending to do there. Was this just a show of force, a strategic strike, or was this intended to be regime change?

Now, that we're looking at the Venezuela situation and there is a different issue happening there with the removal of the leader and with President Trump saying the U.S. is going to be running that country at least for a time, I think we are going to see some of that conversation coming back up among some of those supporters.

Most of the questions now that are coming from politicians across the country are coming from Democrats who are saying Congress wasn't briefed on this. We didn't get information. But perhaps as time moves on, we will see more Republicans coming out. And then that will be an issue certainly for that party headed into these midterm elections later this year.

RAJU: Yes, that's such a good point because a lot of Republicans didn't say a whole lot yesterday. But if the United States is indeed running Venezuela, those questions undoubtedly will pile up. You mentioned the Democrats. Let's talk about how the Democrats have responded to this because Congress was not given notification ahead of time.

Typically, there is a notification to the gang of eight leaders who are the top leaders in Congress on the intelligence committees ahead of a covert operation with military action. That did not happen here. And the members were not briefed, even closed-door briefings that did occur on Venezuela last month. They did not discuss the exact aspect -- the notion of regime change. At least that was not conveyed to them that that was the objective here. Listen to Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts when asked about this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): 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)

RAJU: Now, Trump says he was concerned about leaks. That was his argument yesterday about why Congress was not briefed. But just on the Democratic response, Meg, what do you think about the way that they have pushed back against this, which has been about a really a more of a procedural argument because a lot of them were saying Maduro is a bad guy, we didn't want him in power, but the way this was carried out is the problem?

KINNARD: Yes. There's not a whole lot of argument with the substance of what's going on here, the removal of a leader that writ large across U.S. politicians there were a lot of concerns about. But certainly, when it comes to the Democrats, this is their moment to come out and say, OK, well, while in theory we may support what the administration is going after, we're going to take a moment and voice our disagreement with the way that this is all shaking out.

And obviously, Manu, you and I both know we've covered national politics for quite a while. We know this comes down to politics in large part.

[07:35:00]

Certainly, yes, there are concerns about drugs coming into the United States, about the charges that have been pending against Maduro and the issues surrounding him for quite some time. But again, in a midterm election year, when there will be a lot of arguments coming out between both parties as to which of them is best positioned to lead Congress and represent Americans coming this fall in the elections, this is the opportunity for Democrats to really plant that flag to say, OK, these are questions of national security. This is a questioning of congressional authority. This is an opportunity for them to really call the administration out and say this is not something that we support the way that this is coming out.

However, what we're already hearing from Republican leadership is, of course, and this comes down to Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio yesterday as well saying these same kinds of things. When we have these missions, it would put U.S. troops at risk if we were to begin getting the information out. We don't really trust that Congress won't leak, et cetera. But we're already hearing from Republican leadership that they're supportive, at least in this moment of what happened, that they're saying President Trump made the right call and not letting them know.

But we will see as Congress comes back to Washington this week, some pending hearings and other investigative measures happening on behalf of Congress to try to hear more information from the military as to the planning. And so, as we get more information, certainly those conversations will be continuing.

RAJU: Yes, because as we head into the midterms, I mean, the Democratic messaging has been about the economy, has been about health care costs and the rest. Do you anticipate this, that their message changing? Do you think it may change to reflect the circumstances here to focus on Venezuela, or is that potentially a political risk for them, given that, you know, Trump has campaigned against crime, against drugs on the streets and potentially could use this as a wedge issue that could benefit the GOP in the midterms? KINNARD: It is a bit of a double-edged sword when it comes to the Democrats as to how much of their political capital in an election year they want to be spending on this, particularly, as you note, in polling, we see the number one issue that's facing Americans that they're considering when they're making these decisions, going back to pretty much every election that I've ever covered has to do more with the economy than it does with foreign policy.

We're also seeing polling, though, with people questioning how much of his political capital President Trump has been spending on foreign affairs, on being involved in foreign conflicts, foreign wars that he keeps claiming that he is the one who's been able to stop all of these problems.

So, with Americans tending to be more focused on what matters to them, what's in their pocketbook, what are their kitchen table issues in election years, almost always, that's what we see it coming down to. And so, while there probably will be a lot of conversation around this in this moment, I would doubt that unless circumstances dramatically change by the time we get to November of this year, that this will be top of mind for American voters and likely for the politicians making their arguments to them.

RAJU: Yes, it's a great point. Unless, of course, the United States gets involved in what turns out to be a quagmire of sorts. And that, of course, could change everything as well. Meg Kinnard from the Associated Press, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate your expertise.

Maduro's capture has been met with protests and cheaters in some parts of the United States. I'll speak to a councilman in South Florida for his reaction and how the Venezuelan community there is feeling this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

RAJU: More protests planned in the U.S. today after Saturday's demonstrations against President Trump's military action in Venezuela, chanting quote, "no war on Venezuela and U.S. hands off Latin America." Crowds of people march in waved Venezuelan flags in major cities like Atlanta, Washington, New York, Boston, Chicago, and L.A.

But there were also celebrations. And new this morning, Venezuelans around the world are reacting to the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro. Celebrations broke out in South Florida, home of the largest Venezuelan population in the U.S. About 40 percent of the residents in Doral are Venezuelan origin, and a vast majority of them are opposed to the Maduro regime. Upon hearing the news of Maduro's capture, residents there took to the streets waving flags, dancing and cheering together.

With me now is City Councilman for Doral, Florida and Venezuelan native Rafael Pineyro. Mr. Pineyro, thank you so much for taking the time this morning. So, what have you been hearing from your constituents in the aftermath of Maduro's arrest?

RAFAEL PINEYRO, COUNCILMAN, CITY OF DORAL: Well, first of all, good morning. Thank you so much for the opportunity and for doing a great coverage, by the way.

Listen, here in Doral, as you mentioned, we have 40 percent of our population are Venezuelans. Yesterday was a day of celebration. And a very historic moment that we have been waiting for 26 years now. And not only because of Maduro, but we have to remember Chavez is the one that started this whole craziness of a regime that has created not only more than 8 million people in exile, including here in the U.S., of course, but you also you also have to remember, today as we speak, there are still political prisoners in Venezuela. There's a regime still in Venezuela.

So, yesterday was a big day, a big celebration that we had here in the City of Doral. A lot of the people came out and celebrate as any other place around the world. And as anybody that believe in democracy should be doing, by the way, any elected officials should be in favor of what happened yesterday.

[07:45:00]

I'm very concerned that a few around the nation has been criticizing the administration for doing something like this. So, yesterday was not only a celebration for Venezuelans, was a celebration for the whole region and for anyone that believe in democracy and freedom.

RAJU: Yes. I want to ask you about what happens next, because you had told The New York Times that, quote, "Venezuela needs help from the U.S. government 100 percent." And the president says he wants to -- the U.S. is going to run Venezuela. But how is that going to happen if the vice president there, Delcy Rodriguez, says that she's not going to step aside and they will not be a colony of the United States? Should the United States go in and forcibly remove her from power?

PINEYRO: Listen, I think the message yesterday was very clear. We also have to remember Delcy Rodriguez. She's also facing criminal charges here in the U.S. She and her brother -- and her brother is the president of Congress right now. And not only those two, I mean, we have to remember that we still have a Diosdado Cabello over there. We have a minister of defense, Padrino Lopez, who is also wanted. And he has he has criminal charges here in the U.S. as well. So --

RAJU: So, should the U.S. go in and try to arrest her as well, Delcy Rodriguez?

PINEYRO: Well, eventually they will have to face charges. I think the administration is giving them another opportunity at this point for them to start a transition process that Venezuelans deserve and that we're all expecting.

So, again, what happened yesterday and I have been very vocal about this for the past weeks, it's just the beginning of a transition. If that transition doesn't happen, certainly the U.S., as the administration mentioned yesterday, cannot leave Venezuela alone at this moment. I mean, now that Maduro was captured, I believe this is just the beginning.

I hope and I'm confident, again, that the administration will do what they're saying that they're going to do next, which is not only not only following what the transition that we're all expecting to happen, but if that doesn't occur, of course the U.S. will need to intervene one more time. I mean, this is something that the administration --

RAJU: Intervene as a military -- and just to be clear, when you say intervene, you think that they should take -- U.S. should military action again if Rodriguez does not step aside, is that right?

PINEYRO: Right. Again, yes, of course. I mean, we're dealing with criminals. I mean, we're dealing with people that are facing U.S. charges, criminal charges here. So, they have to at some point they're going to have to face the consequences and face the criminal justice here in the U.S.

So, it's something that is -- this is just the beginning. I mean, I'm happy that Maduro was captured. This is not an intervention in Venezuela. This is not a war against Venezuela. We have to take it as we're dealing with criminals. We're dealing with narco-terrorists that they have to face charges here in the U.S.

And let me tell you, when we talk about intervention, Venezuela has been intervened for years from Russians, from Chinese, from Iranians. So, there has been an intervention in Venezuela a long, long time ago by a lot of criminals, a lot of bad people. And I'm happy that the administration finally took the step of removing and capturing Maduro from power. So, it's a big day for anyone that believe in democracy.

RAJU: I really have to leave it there. Councilman Rafael Pineyro, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your time with us. Really appreciate it.

PINEYRO: Thank you.

RAJU: And we're hearing from world leaders following Maduro's capture, the reactions and questions after a very quick break.

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RAJU: The reaction among world leaders to President Trump's military action in Venezuela has been swift and varied. Meanwhile, some Venezuelans living abroad have celebrated Saturday's operation. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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.

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 was a serious affront to Venezuelan 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (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.

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

[07:55:00]

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 I'm so, so happy because now Venezuela is free, free.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Polo Sandoval, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Thank you for joining CNN this morning. Stay with me, I'll be back for Inside Politics Sunday after a short break.

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RAJU: Capture.

TRUMP: We are going to run the country. We're going to run it, essentially.

RAJU: Nicolas Maduro arrives on U.S. soil. After --

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