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The Situation Room

Soon, Maduro to Make First Court Appearance in New York After Capture; President Trump Says, U.S. is In Charge of Venezuela; Next Hour, Venezuelan National Assembly to Meet Amid U.S. Takeover. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 05, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, in just a couple of hours, deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will face a U.S. judge as he and his wife face federal drug and weapons charges. And we are live right outside the court.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, Venezuelans are watching and waiting on what their future will look like with the new acting president.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this hour with breaking news. Just two hours from now, deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will appear in a New York courtroom. Both he and his wife, Cilia Flores, are facing drug weapons and narco-terrorism charges.

This morning, we caught a glimpse of them in tan jumpsuits as local and federal authorities transported them to the federal courthouse. It's a stunning and controversial takedown of a U.S. adversary.

BROWN: Much of the world is debating if President Trump even had the legal authority to send U.S. troops into Caracas and capture a sitting president and first lady. Maduro's vice president is now the interim president, and President Trump says she is cooperating with the U.S.

So, a key question now is who is calling the shots in Venezuela?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Don't ask me who's in charge, because I'll give you an answer and it will be very controversial.

REPORTER: What does that mean?

TRUMP: It means we're in charge.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: We're covering all the angles as this dramatic and important story unfolds, from the White House to Caracas, from New York to Colombia.

Let's begin with CNN's Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates and Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez. They're both outside the courthouse in New York.

Laura, what are we expecting in Maduro's court appearance in just a couple of hours?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: In this extraordinary moment of having Maduro in a courthouse behind us right now in Manhattan, we have an otherwise routine event that may transpire here where he'll be presented along with his wife, notified of the actual charges. He has a court-appointed attorney here. That is what most defendants have. If they don't have the financial means to actually have a lawyer that is a privately retained one. But here it will mean that he does not yet perhaps have to enter a specific plea without the ultimate counsel being present.

Now, ultimately, I suspect a not guilty plea will be entered. We're going to learn today whether the judge will have any insight onto a bail request, whether he can return to Venezuela. Spoiler alert, that's not happening. But a lot is going on right now in terms of these significant charges years in the making right now. And behind us, in a few hours from now, with Evan and I behind us, you're going to have Maduro and his wife presented in a New York, United States courtroom for significant charges.

BROWN: Those charges, yes, filed in 2020, and now we are seeing them today. They will be arriving there at that courthouse.

Evan, just tell us more about the significance of this moment.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a moment that's been more than a decade in the making. Certainly, the drug enforcement administration, the agents there have been working on this case through all those years. Just this past summer, the former intelligence chief, Hugo Carvajal, he pleaded guilty to some of the similar charges, narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, conspiracy. Those are the charges that Cilia Flores and Nicolas Maduro are now are going to be facing here in federal court.

And, you know, certainly for the U.S., the allegations that are laid out in this indictment is that Hugo Chavez -- beginning when Hugo Chavez was president, Maduro was already trying to make inroads with the cartels, that he was providing diplomatic passports, allowing Venezuelan government planes to be used to help facilitate the transportation of cocaine and other drugs from South America to the United States, as well as helping them launder money back to South America. So, those are the allegations that are laid out in this federal court.

[10:05:01] I've talked to agents who have been overseeing this case over the last few years. They tell me they believe that this is a solid case. They have evidence to show that Maduro was involved personally in some of these activities. And so, again, that's something that's going to be laid out.

As Laura mentioned, he has a court-appointed attorney. One of the first fights that we expect to play out in this federal court behind us is how -- does he have access to some of his resources? The U.S. government says that he has millions of dollars that he has amassed over the last few years, they say, illegally. And so the question is, can he use any of those resources for his events, you know, that obviously under the U.S. system, the government is not allowed to just impound all this money and prevent you from being able to defend yourself.

So, those are the things that I think the judge will have to confront in the coming weeks and months. We don't anticipate that this is going to go to trial anytime perhaps in the next year, but it is a very complicated case that's going to lay out here.

COATES: And speaking of defenses, we don't know what defense his ultimate counsel will actually present to the court, I suspect, in a quest to try to get him removed from Manhattan, in MDC, a notorious Brooklyn area detention center where, of course, his innocent until proven guilty in a United States court of law. But what will he present? Will it be a head of state immunity claim? Will the executive branch even recognize him as such? Will the courts defer to him as they have in the past the presidential decision, executive branch decision of whether that person will be ahead of state and have immunity?

And also, of course, international laws implicated here. There's already been a discussion about whether there is a legality issue with respect to the removal of Maduro from Venezuela, but case in point, he is here, he is going to be before an American court system and will likely remain until any trial, which, as you say, could be next year.

BLITZER: All right. Laura Coates and Evan Perez, guys, thank you very, very much.

BROWN: And the judge overseeing all this, 92 years old.

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: Well, President Trump says the United States is in charge of Venezuela and issued a warning to the country's new acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, saying she needs to comply.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House. So, tell us more about what the president said and how it squares with what we heard from the secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And there still are a lot of questions about the next steps with how the administration is going to be approaching really this idea of running it, as the president has said, I would note, he doubled down arguing that we're going to run it yesterday, when talking to reporters.

But what is clear is that they're beginning to really try to set up what essentially they're referring to as applying government inside Venezuela, essentially prioritizing this idea of administrative stability and also trying to remake and kind of prop up the country's oil industry instead of really immediately moving toward the democratic process and elections, which the president has said will come at a soon time.

But, look, his comments, again, doubling down, saying that we are controlling this process to reporters come after we have heard from the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, essentially trying to argue that, really, they're not controlling it as much as they are trying to leverage their -- you know, the armada that they have lined up in the seas around Venezuela, and also this idea of trying to coerce the current leadership structure in Venezuela, which is now being run by the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, trying to coerce them to cooperate.

Now, the president, in talking about this, kind of leveled some threats at Rodriguez. He essentially said that she would pay a big price if she did not fully cooperate with the United States. Listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I just say that she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro. Because, you know, Maduro gave up immediately.

REPORTER: So, she could also be captured?

TRUMP: He raised his hand, he gave up, and he did the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, I will say, Wolf and Pamela, as well from our conversations with administration officials, the people who are leading this are really Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who I should note has many hats now, in addition to his roles as national security adviser, acting, national security adviser, I should say, and a number of other roles that he has, of course, in the administration. But he's working alongside the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, as well as Stephen Miller, one of the deputy chief of staff, to really work on this broader strategy moving forward, which also includes, of course, this big question of how much military presence will there be needed to really make sure that this goes the way that they want it to.

BROWN: All right. Alayna Treene, a busy day for you over there at the White House, thank you so much.

And happening right now, the United Nation Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro. Russia and China, both members of the council, have condemned the U.S. action. The U.N. secretary general called the capture, quote, a dangerous precedent.

It's unlikely that U.S. allies on the council will publicly voice any strong criticism.

[10:10:01]

The U.S. also has veto power over any actions approved by the council. Wolf?

BLITZER: Also happening right now, growing concerns the United States potentially could take some kind of action in Mexico, yes, Mexico, President Trump warning that Mexico, quote, has to get its act together. He also said that he's spoken with Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum. Here's what President Trump said aboard Air Force One. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I think she's a terrific person. I would say every single time I talk to her, I offer to send troops.

REPORTER: And she's just not willing?

TRUMP: She's concerned. She's a little afraid. The cartels are running Mexico. Whether you like it or not, it's not nice to say, but the cartels are running Mexico.

We have to do something with Mexico. Mexico has to get their act together because they're pouring through Mexico and we're going to have to do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President Sheinbaum spoke just a short time ago and reiterated that Mexico will maintain its sovereignty. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT: It is the people in control in Mexico, which is a sovereign country. Cooperation and coordination, yes, without subordination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Sheinbaum also condemned the U.S. capture of Maduro and warned that intervention in Latin America has never, repeat, never led to democracy.

BROWN: Still ahead right here in The Situation Room, we'll be joined by Democratic Senator Mark Warner as he and other lawmakers question President Trump's use of military force without Congressional approval.

BLITZER: And later, we're taking a closer look at Venezuela's oil reserves and what the U.S. government wants to do with them.

Stay with us, lots going on right here in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: All right. There's more breaking news especially coming up in the next hour. Venezuela's National Assembly is expected to meet for the first time since deposed President Nicolas Maduro's capture.

Let's go live right now to Journalist Mary Triny Mena who's joining us live from Caracas. Mary, what can we expect out of today's meeting?

MARY TRINY MENA, JOURNALIST: Wolf, today is the beginning of the new National Assembly that was elected last year in Venezuela. We need to remember that most government powers are controlled by the government. So, what we are expecting is that the new lawmakers that are in the new parliament will back up Delcy Rodriguez as the new interim president.

Still, we have no confirmation that she will be there. It is expected and it is being reported that she will be there to get some sort of symbolic swear in ASAN, the new interim president of Venezuela, because in recent days, a ruling from the Supreme Court says that she's the president in the absence of Nicolas Maduro.

These new lawmakers, as I said, the majority of them, about 80 percent, are from the government party. So, it was a controversial election last year as it was the one where Nicolas Maduro was named as the president of Venezuela.

Also we have to say that the countries still trying to recover its activity and there's a shift in the government's speech towards the United States with Delcy Rodriguez, saying that she's willing to get into negotiations with the Trump administration to open an agenda of cooperation between the two countries. So, this is significant because it's changed in just a few hours. In just 48 hours, it went from the kidnapping of Maduro to talks to Donald Trump.

BLITZER: All right. Mary Triny Mena in Caracas for us, stay safe over there. Thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Well, Wolf, today top Trump officials will brief some key members of Congress on the military operation of Venezuela and the arrest of Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

BLITZER: The Trump administration carried out the operation without informing Congress, which is deeply divided along party lines about all that's going on right now.

BROWN: And Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Congressional approval was not required because it was a law enforcement operation to arrest Maduro, not an invasion.

BLITZER: Joining us now, the Democratic senator from Virginia, Mark Warner. He's the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and he is well-briefed on what's going on. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

Let me start by asking you about the secretary of state's assertion, we're talking about Marco Rubio, a man you know well, that this was a law enforcement operation that did not require formal Congressional approval. What do you say to that?

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Well, listen, I've worked well with Secretary Rubio, but that comment just doesn't pass the smell test. You know, we've had our armada based off the coast of Venezuela. We sent in the Delta Force to take Maduro out with support, as the president indicated, of 150 planes were launched part of this operation. This is a military operation. We all know that.

And let's acknowledge on the front end, Maduro out of the country is good. Maduro is a bad guy. Frankly, the Biden administration should have pushed harder when the Venezuelan people voted for the opposition in 2024. But now the question is where we go from here. The idea that we're somehow going to run Venezuela from this fleet offshore, I got real questions about that.

We've heard before presidents saying, you know, oh, we're going to have this country pay for the operation. We heard that about Iraq. Venezuelan's oil operation used to be one of the major ones in the world, 4 million barrels a day, down to about a million barrels now.

[10:20:00]

It'll take two to three years to get that operation back up to running at full speed. Are we in there for that long?

And I'm particularly concerned, Wolf, one last point for you and Pam, is that what kind of precedent does this set? If we base upon our laws and say this individual broke the law, we can go in and extract them, doesn't that give Putin a green light to do the same to Zelenskyy or Xi to take over China? Where this leads in terms of other authoritarian regimes taking out folks they don't like based upon their own legal standards, that would lead to a completely chaotic order and, frankly, not in the best interest of our country.

BROWN: And we should point out and remind our viewers that Maduro's capture and arrest stems from an indictment by the Department of Justice. Senator, you say yourself he's a bad guy. So, what do you think the Trump administration should have done with respect to Maduro?

WARNER: Well, listen, I think these kind of actions are done or better done if one would make the case to the American people why it's in our interest, because it clearly was evident from the president's own comments, this wasn't about drugs. It was about getting Venezuelan oil. I'm not sure the vast majority of Americans want troops on the ground or troops in harm's way to try to get another country's oil.

It would also, I think, have been helpful if the president tried to make the case to the region. I mean, we've spent 70 years under Democratic and Republican presidents since about the mid-60s trying to say to that region, listen, we don't want to be an imperial power. We view as partners in Central America and South America. Now, that seemed to be all out the window with this reassertion, I guess, he's calling the Donroe Doctrine, where we somehow get to dominate throughout this -- throughout our hemisphere.

Now, does that mean Putin gets to dominate throughout Eastern Europe or Xi gets to dominate through East Asia? Where does this lead? This is back to kind of a 1960s mind frame of spheres of influence. And, again, how does that help the American people? And for that matter, how does that help the Venezuelan people, particularly when you see the president then dismiss the Venezuelan opposition leader? And maybe he was upset with her, Machado, because she won the Nobel Prize and he's jealous of that, but that should not be a reason to kind of dismiss the one opposition figure that potentially could unite Venezuelans.

BLITZER: So, Senator, what are the main questions that you and your colleagues need answered from the Trump administration about Venezuela at that very sensitive briefing that you're going to be having with them later today?

WARNER: What does running Venezuela look like? How long are we there for? Is there going to be -- are we really going to try to extract enough oil and get us ourselves paid for? What kind of -- I've got a series of classified questions about what kind of operations, intel operations we have had and going forward.

And candidly, again, Maduro, bad guy, the Venezuelan people, I think, overwhelmingly want him out. But what are we also going to do in terms of the future of the Venezuelan people simply replacing Maduro with another, you know, supporter Rodriguez? And all the briefings I've had, no one ever said Vice President Rodriguez, who is now the interim president, was someone we could work with. Where did this come about from and what evidence do we have that she could be a viable leader?

BLITZER: The vice president, Delcy Rodriguez.

All right, Senator, thanks so much for joining us. We'll stay in very close touch with you.

WARNER: Thank you.

BROWN: All right. Coming up here in The Situation Room, thank you so much, Senator, thousands of Colombian troops are now stationed along the border with Venezuela as President Trump turns his attention now to Colombia's president. CNN is on the ground, up next.

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[10:25:00]

BROWN: He was a bus driver that became known as the, quote, son of Chavez. Nicolas Maduro's rise to president of Venezuela wasn't a traditional one, but one that ultimately proved costly for Venezuelans on many different levels.

So, I want to bring in CNN's Brian Todd, who has been taking a deeper look into Maduro's life. If you would, Brian, walk us through his rise and rule in Venezuela. BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been fascinating, Pamela. He's 63 years old right now. He -- as you mentioned, he was known as the political son of Hugo Chavez. There is Hugo Chavez, the former dictator of Venezuela, who died in 2013. Chavez basically, before he dies in 2013, hand selects Nicolas Maduro as his successor. Maduro is sworn in as president in April of 2013.

But, you know, since that time it's just been this rollercoaster of instability, violence, corruption, alleged fraud. These are the two opposition leaders, Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Edmundo Gonzalez. She was the original candidate for president in 2024. She then ceded to Edmundo Gonzalez. Basically, they are credited with winning that election by the United States, the United Nations, everyone else, but Maduro manipulated the vote.

Here's a CNN headline from 2024, U.S. recognizes the opposition at Edmundo Gonzalez as president-elect. Just about everybody around the world recognized them as the legitimately elected leaders of Venezuela. But Maduro manipulated everything, he held onto power. And through it all, Pamela, just this rash of years-long allegations of human rights abuses, and there -- we're listing some of them there, unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, imprisonment of political foes, forced labor on the part of Maduro's regime, allegedly. He, of course, has denied this through the years. But this is the U.N., the State Department and everyone else basically saying this guy was bad news for the country, and certainly bad news for the opposition.

[10:30:03]