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The Situation Room

Now: Venezuelan National Assembly Meets After Maduro Capture; Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) Is Interviewed About Maduro To Appear In NYC Court After U.S. Capture. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired January 05, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:47]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news now, deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife will make their first appearance in a New York City courtroom to face drug and weapon charges soon. This barely more than a couple of days after U.S. forces captured them in a dramatic operation in Caracas.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: 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 the breaking news just minutes from now at noon Eastern, Venezuela's ousted President Nicolas Maduro is due in a New York City courtroom. This morning, we saw him and his wife, Cilia Flores, on their way in handcuffs and tan jail jumpsuits. Both are facing drug, weapons and narco-terrorism charges.

BROWN: And they were captured in a daring and violent U.S. military raid early Saturday morning in Caracas. Maduro's vice president is now the acting leader of the country and President Trump says she's cooperating with the U.S. He also says the U.S. is now in control of Venezuela.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're dealing with the people. We're dealing with the people that just got sworn in. And don't ask me who's in charge because I'll give you an answer and it'll be very controversial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does that mean?

TRUMP: We're in charge. We're going to run everything. We're going to run it and fix it. We'll have elections at the right time. But the main thing you have to fix is a broken country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, let's go live now to CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez right outside that federal courthouse. Evan, what are you expecting in court at the top of the hour?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, we're expecting that the judge will advise the Maduros of the charges that they're facing. They're facing four federal charges including narco- terrorism, cocaine importation, conspiracy charges. And this will begin the legal process. To give you a sense of how extraordinary and unexpected all of this was, we now have a court-appointed attorney who is going to be representing the Maduros here today in federal court.

We don't anticipate that that will be the final answer as far as representation for the two of them. But it does give you a sense that, you know, they were not obviously expecting to be plucked from their bedroom in Caracas and flown to the United States to face these charges. Even though the U.S. government, the Justice Department, has had pending charges against Maduro since 2020, the superseding indictment that was unsealed over the weekend lays out the allegations by prosecutors that the Maduros have been getting rich off of allowing drug cartels to use Venezuela essentially as a command and control area to govern how drugs moved from Colombia, from South America to the United States, and then move money back to South America.

Also involving some of the armed militia groups from Colombia that are also involved in some of the trafficking according to the DEA. So what we don't know yet is what exactly the Maduros are going to say in court today, whether they're going to enter a plea. This will likely be a presentment, which means there won't be a plea today and that will wait for another day where there's an arraignment. But we can see things change really on the fly.

It'll be up to the judge and really up to the Maduros and to the prosecutors in federal court today. There's a lot of people here today, hundreds obviously from media from around the world have descended here. There's also a very large group of protestors, some pro-Maduro, some in favor of the operation to remove him from power. Again, this is going to kick off in the next hour and we don't anticipate that this is going to go to trial for several months. Wolf, Pamela?

BLITZER: All right, Evan Perez, thank you very, very much. Evan's outside the courthouse in New York for us right now. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, right now Venezuela's National Assembly is meeting for the first time since the U.S. captured Nicolas Maduro. Let's go live now to journalist Mary Triny Mena. She is in Caracas. Tell us more, Mary, about what we can expect out of today's meeting.

[11:05:02]

MARY TRINY MENA, JOURNALIST: Pamela, the National Assembly is set to start in the next coming minutes. So far, the only authorized station to broadcast this event is the state channel, and it is expected that the new lawmakers from the new National Assembly that will work for the next years in the country are sworn in.

This is the protocol. Every 5th of January, the lawmakers have -- they receive their sworn in after being elected. They were elected last year in a controversial election that was, well, denied or disapproved by many members of the opposition. Actually, 90 percent of this National Assembly will be from the government party or members of the government party.

So for many people of the opposition, this is not a fair National Assembly. It is expected that an appearance for Delcy Rodriguez, the security measures are extreme surrounding this parliament of Venezuela in downtown Caracas, and they are checking every person and every media that is entering.

They are not allowed to broadcast openly, only the state channel, as I said, and it is supposed to be a point of discussion after they are sworn in where Delcy Rodriguez could appear. Her presence is not confirmed yet, but we need to remember that on Saturday night, she was by a ruling of the Supreme Court designated interim president of Venezuela. It's just a protocol that they need to follow to invest her as their ruling acting president of Venezuela, but right now she is taking the decisions without that protocol part that she needs to be filled.

BROWN: All right. Mary Triny Mena, thank you so much for the latest there in Caracas. Wolf?

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

Joining us now here in The Situation Room, CNN's senior White House correspondent, Kristen Holmes. Kristen, what more did the president say and what does running Venezuela mean?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, that's the big question right now, and the answer seems to vary based on who you ask. President Trump himself seems to have a very straightforward idea of what it means, saying we are in charge, we're going to take this oil back.

But if you listen to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, he had a much more nuanced approach to this, saying that it wasn't as though the United States was going to actually run the day-to-day in Venezuela, but instead it was going to be they're going to be shaping the policy that helps benefit the United States.

But one thing is clear, behind the scenes they are working to establish this interim government, trying to figure out what this looks like. And we're told by sources within the U.S. that there are two things that they're really focused on right now.

One of them is administrative stability, which is why you see them not turning immediately to democracy and kind of in some ways embracing Delcy Rodriguez, the now acting president, who was Maduro's vice president, because they believe that that's going to help them get to their endgame.

Now, whether or not they are going to call for elections, you heard President Trump saying, they would, when the time was right, get to elections. No idea what that means at this time.

The other thing that the administration is focused on, and you definitely heard this from President Trump, was this idea of repairing the country's oil infrastructure. This is something that President Trump himself, when it comes to Venezuela, is fixated on. He has talked about the investments in the Western Hemisphere, as well as this idea that the U.S. should be taking control of oil, not just for the financial gain for the United States, but also for this idea that Russia, Iran, China should not be getting any of their oil, not be propped up by anyone in the Western Hemisphere.

BLITZER: Kristen Holmes, thank you very much for that update. Appreciate it very, very much. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Still ahead here in The Situation Room, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is expected to receive a classified briefing this evening on that U.S. operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. We will discuss this with Republican Congresswoman Lisa McClain.

[11:09:12]

BLITZER: Also, the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, moving on to punish Senator Mark Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain, for participating in a video reminding all U.S. service members and intelligence officials of their duty to refuse illegal orders. Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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BROWN: Well, just in, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, just spoke at the U.N. Security Council over the operation of Venezuela. And here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: President Maduro unlawfully refused to peacefully cede power after the Venezuelan people voted him out of office in the 2024 election. So therefore, Maduro was a fugitive from justice. He is the head of a vicious foreign terrorist organization, Cartel de los Solis. This regime- sponsored enterprise coordinates with and relies on other vicious criminal organizations, namely Tren de Aragua, again, among others, to carry out its objective of using illegal narcotics as a weapon against the United States. And for its part, Tren de Aragua --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And later today, Trump administration officials will brief key members of the House and Senate. Republicans are praising the strikes, while Democrats are highly critical of them.

BROWN: One of those Republicans is Congresswoman Lisa McClain of Michigan. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us. I want to start by reading part of a tweet in which you wrote, "Maduro is a narco- terrorist, period. His illegitimate regime floods our country with deadly drugs and Americans pay the price. President Trump didn't look the other way. He acted."

[11:15:14]

But as you well know, Venezuela is not the biggest source of drugs coming into America, right? And there's a lot of questions about how much this has to do with oil. What is your understanding of why this operation took place and America's role in Venezuela right now?

REP. LISA MCCLAIN (R-MI): Yes, well, I think the president's been pretty clear on that. He ran on cleaning up the streets with illicit drugs flowing into our shores. He ran on that. And he is a president there. His actions match his words. I think what he did was went in and got a very clear, precise, precision mission that was executed flawlessly.

So thank you to our military and brought home a narco-terrorist that will be held accountable in America by Americans for the death of Americans. So I actually applaud him for trying to clean up the illicit drug situation that kills so many Americans and especially the young people here in America.

BLITZER: Congresswoman, I want you and our viewers out there to listen to what Donald Trump said during his campaign about ending wars. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They said he will start a war. I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars.

We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Congresswoman, how did the President's actions right now, the actions over the weekend, square with his promises to the American people not to meddle in foreign countries, especially given the time we're in where Americans at home want him to focus on very pressing domestic issues like the cost of health care, which still doesn't have a resolution?

MCCLAIN: Yes, well, I think we can do both. And I think if you look at the scoreboard, what is he ended? Seven wars, maybe eight wars to date. So, again, applaud him on that. And last I checked, we didn't start a war in Venezuela. What we did, again, was protect the American people. We went in and got an indicted criminal and they're going to hold him accountable in the United States for the crimes that he committed. So I actually think if you look at the scoreboard, the President's winning.

BROWN: And our Daniel Dell, we should note, has done a fact check on what you said about the President ending seven wars that our viewers can go and check. But I just want to follow up with you. There is a Quinnipiac poll from mid-December that showed that 63 percent of registered voters nationwide opposed U.S. military action inside Venezuela. So can you more specifically tell us how this move in Venezuela serves the interests of the American people, especially when Maduro's officials in his regime are still there like his number two?

MCCLAIN: Well, look, I think the President's putting the world on notice. And any time that you go in and take over, so to speak, the country, not that he's taking over the country, but there's a vacuum of leadership in Venezuela right now. And that is a very dangerous situation to be in.

And I think what the President's trying to do, and I don't want to get ahead of him, but I believe what he's trying to do is add some stability to the region so we don't end up in a bad spot. But make no mistake, the President is putting not only Venezuela, but the world on notice that America is back and we will be respected again, which is very different than the past administration.

So, again, I'm very optimistic. I applaud the President for his role in bringing back an indicted criminal to be held accountable in America by Americans for the death of Americans. That is a positive thing. And quite frankly, I don't understand why we're not celebrating that more. We all know somebody in our lives who have died from a drug overdose. I would think we would be celebrating this.

BROWN: Right. And just to follow up, just if you could lay out more specifically how this benefits the everyday American right now and also in terms of the drugs. And it is true that Venezuela has been responsible for trafficking drugs into the U.S., but as I mentioned earlier, not the main one.

In fact, in its annual report last March, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency cited Ecuador, Mexico and Central America as the major cocaine trafficking countries. So what should happen there?

[11:19:56]

MCCLAIN: Well, I think President Trump's putting the world on notice and those countries on notice as well. And just because Venezuela isn't the number one problem doesn't mean we shouldn't go after them. I don't think you're implying that. And again, I applaud him for doing that. What does that mean going forward? Again, the President's going to come to Congress and brief us. And I'm excited to hear what his plans are laid out to go forward. And I think he's doing that at 5:30 this afternoon. So I know we'll know a lot more after 5:30.

BROWN: But how do you see it benefiting the everyday American right now in this moment?

MCCLAIN: How I see it is we have less drugs on our streets. And like I said earlier, everybody knows somebody who has died from a drug overdose, from illicit drugs. So I think this is a massive, massive victory for illicit drugs coming into our country. It's making it harder. And how that helps the everyday American people, hopefully that's one less person that dies from a drug overdose. BLITZER: Congresswoman Lisa McClain, thanks so much for joining us.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

MCCLAIN: Thank you. Happy New Year.

BLITZER: Happy New Year to you too.

BROWN: Happy New Year.

Up next, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration is not willing to put troops on the ground in Venezuela. What that could look like, next.

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[11:25:30]

BROWN: Well, breaking news. Venezuela's deposed president is just minutes away from facing a federal judge in New York. This is video from this morning. Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are transferred from an armored vehicle to a helicopter. As you see here, they are handcuffed and they're wearing these tan jail jumpsuits.

Wow. Both are facing drug, weapons and narco-terrorism charges. And we just can't forget the significance of this, right? The Pentagon says the operation to capture Maduro involved more than 150 U.S. military aircraft flying into the heart of Venezuela's capital.

Cuba's government says 32 of its citizens were killed in the U.S. raid, and they helped provide security for Maduro and the First Lady. Joining us now is CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Hi, Colonel. Thanks for coming in. So, President Trump says the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela. Then you had the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, putting some more nuance in it, saying, no, the U.S. is just in charge of policy. What's going on here? What's actually happening, in your view?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, this is actually a really great question, Pamela, because we really don't know. And so, but here's what I think is happening. There's a dispute within the administration, and maybe it's not a dispute, but maybe a different set of views.

The President wants to have direct control over the things that are going on there. And he's looking at his team to go ahead and implement whatever policies he wants to do now. When Secretary Rubio talks about in charge of policy, that doesn't really make much sense, because, you know, a country like that that is under, in essence, not quite occupation, but it's kind of in a limbo stage where their leader has been taken away and, in this case, jailed, a country like that doesn't really have an independent policy procedure at all.

Their government is basically neutered at this stage. So what has to happen is that the U.S. has to figure out a way to continue governance in Venezuela. If they do that, you know, they need to look at models, not just the more recent ones like Iraq or Afghanistan, but go back to World War II, to the post-World War II era when we took over Germany and Japan for a period of years.

That was a very well-organized governmental structure that the U.S. implemented, along with allies, implemented on these countries. Now, if you are serious about controlling things like the oil in Venezuela, you're going to have to have something like that going forward, unless you can get the cooperation of the Venezuelan government. And that last part is really questionable, given the fact that we're dealing with the vice president, who's now acting president.

She's very much a Maduro loyalist, and she's not going to be somebody that I think is going to easily bend to the will of the United States.

BROWN: Yes, she initially said that there is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolas Maduro Moros. This was on Saturday. Then she softened her tone a little bit, saying that she's open to cooperation. But what that actually means is a big question. President Trump, for his part, has not ruled out putting troops on the ground there.

What would an extended military presence in Venezuela mean for American readiness elsewhere in the world?

LEIGHTON: Well, that's a great question as well, because once you start putting in an occupation force of any type, even if it's a relatively limited occupation force, like let's say it's just for the oil fields, we're still drawing resources away from other contingency operations, other contingency possibilities. So, for example, if something were to happen in the Middle East, that would then make it harder for us to respond to that, because resources are being tied up in a place like Venezuela.

If you had something happen in Asia, for example, you know, at times the administration talks about China being a challenge for the U.S. not quite the pacing challenge that we heard in the Biden administration, but it's still a challenge. They have not negated that view of China completely.

So if China does something against Taiwan or in the South China Sea, we may be a bit hard pressed to respond to that in the way that we need to, because that has to be a meaningful way of doing it. And that's the thing that we're looking at here.

BROWN: Right. And there's also just the larger looming question of what ground, what the U.S. have to stand on when it comes to China and Taiwan and, you know, Russia and Eastern Europe, right?

LEIGHTON: Absolutely. And all is based on the national security strategy that they've promulgated, and that national security strategy is basically a Western hemispheric centric strategy, and that's going to be detrimental to us in other parts of the world.

[11:30:03]

BROWN: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much. LEIGHTON: You bet.