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Venezuela's Maduro Arrives At Brooklyn Detention Center; Trump Says U.S. Will "Run" Venezuela After Nicolas Maduro Seized; Top Dems Demand Immediate Briefing On Venezuela Operation; Trump Says U.S. Troops Would Be In Venezuela To Secure Oil; Protests Erupt Nationwide As Venezuelan Migrants Celebrate In South Florida; Venezuela Court Appoints Delcy Rodriguez Acting President; Airlines Set To Resume Flights In Caribbean After Cancellations. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired January 03, 2026 - 22:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:00:28]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to the CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill. We begin with the breaking news this hour. Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife now on U.S. soil, after the two were captured in a large scale U.S. military operation.

Maduro arriving at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in just the last hour where he's set to face drug and weapons charges in New York this week. U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will, quote, run the country for now and take control of Venezuela's massive oil reserves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The White House releasing these photos which show President Trump there and members of his national security team watching the operation unfold in the early hours Saturday. The president said he is open to putting U.S. troops on the ground to help secure Venezuela's oil.

Meantime, in a new indictment, prosecutors accused Maduro of running state sponsored gangs and facilitating drug trafficking over a number of years. President Trump telling reporters the U.S. is working with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez who has been calling for Maduro's release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Evan Perez is outside the detention center where Maduro is being held. So just bring us up to speed at this point, Evan, in terms of what is happening inside the detention center and what is next for Maduro.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, it's been a remarkable 20 hours or so in the life of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia. They were brought here in the last hour to the Metropolitan Detention Center here on the Brooklyn Waterfront about 20 hours or so after they were snatched from their bedroom in Caracas.

And you know, the process, the logistics of getting them here is nothing short of extraordinary. Of course, they were brought first to a military ship off the coast of Venezuela, the Iwo Jima. From there they were transferred to Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. facility there, and then put on a plane to New York.

And they were processed in downtown Manhattan at the DEA facility, the DEA Field Office there. And then they were helicoptered over here to Brooklyn, where he is now sitting -- a prisoner of the United States.

Now, where we are here on the Brooklyn Waterfront. Just until a short while ago, there were few hundred people, mostly from the Venezuelan community who had gathered here very cheering very loudly at the prospect at the arrival of the former Venezuelan president. There's still quite a few of them who are still standing here at this hour.

But certainly, you know, inside this facility, which has a fairly notorious reputation, it is known to be a very cold place. There's problems with rat infestation is not a very nice place. So it's quite a change for the Venezuelan president who is now in here.

Now this begins the process in the U.S. justice system for the former president and his wife. They are facing four sets of charges, including narco-terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy.

There are a number of other Venezuelan officials who are on this indictment that was unsealed on by the Justice Department earlier today. And we expect that we will next see Maduro and his wife in federal court in Manhattan on Monday. That's when the federal charges will be finally they will be officially read to them and perhaps we'll have an arraignment proceeding where we may hear whether they have a plea or not.

[22:05:00] Again, we don't know yet from the court whether how this will go down on Monday, but that will begin what will be probably several months and perhaps more than a year of legal proceedings. We expect that the former Venezuelan president is going to make a defense, including, of course, that he believes these charges are not valid, that his abduction from Venezuela is illegal.

Those are all things that are going to go before the federal court. But it is a remarkable turn here in Brooklyn. It's all quiet now. This is where the DEA and the FBI and NYPD really carried out a very extraordinary security operation to bring him in to that side of the building. Again, there was a large crowd of the local Venezuelan community that had shown up here in anticipation of it.

And you know, depending on where they brought him, they might, he might have been able to hear some of the cheers that was going up from the crowd here. Erica.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. It is quite a turn of events, as you pointed out, Evan, appreciate it. I also want to bring in now CNN's Julia Benbrook and Kylie Atwood, who are both joining me now live from Washington at this hour.

Julia, as we look at where things stand with the White House, a lot of questions, certainly after the president's press conference earlier this morning where we did not get a lot of answers about what these next steps are and frankly, what the president means by the U.S. Running Venezuela. What more are we hearing from the White House tonight?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, a lot of questions remain here, but I want to take a step back and look at what we have heard from the White House throughout the day. Of course, there were reports of these explosions that took place in Venezuela, specifically impacting the capital city of Caracas. And then you see President Donald Trump take to social media. This was Truth Social post, a relatively short one for him where he did say the United States was behind this large scale attack on Venezuela and its leader, Nicolas Maduro.

He also in that post made the stunning reveal that Maduro and his wife had been captured and removed from the country. Now, Trump has been at Mar-a-Lago, his resort there in Florida, spending the holiday. And that is where he actually did watch part of this complex operation take place.

He said it was like watching a television show. This is also where we heard him speak to reporters about what took place. He praised the operation. In fact, he said this exactly. He said one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history. He then said that the United States would, quote, run the country until a judicious transition can happen.

But that is where there are a lot of key questions. He was pressed repeatedly by reporters during this press conference on that. He did at one point say that the people standing behind him, some of these top members of his administration, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, that they would be a part of this process, but no real timeline and no really concrete way to look at this going forward.

He was also asked specifically about Venezuela's opposition leader and the Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, and if his team had spoken with her specifically what he thought about her potential ability to lead. And I want you to take a listen to those back and forth there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you aware of the location of opposition leader Machado and have you been in contact with her?

TRUMP: No, we haven't really. Really. Oh, I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENRBOOK: Now, during that same press conference, Trump did say that the United States was working with Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. She though, has called for the immediate release of Maduro and has said that she believes he is the legitimate leader of the country. Erica?

HILL: Yes, there certainly some pushback there from the vice president. Kylie, as I bring you in here, what's fascinating, not only the president's response when he was asked about Maria Corina Machado, but also reporting from our colleague Jim Sciutto earlier tonight that other governments had been in touch, in fact, with some of those opposition party leaders.

What is the level of understanding, you know, at a broader level about what this means in terms of the leadership of Venezuela and the security implications, Kylie, moving forward?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, at this moment, we really don't know who the United States, who the Trump administration views as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.

[22:10:00]

In recent months, early on in the Trump administration, they had referred to one of the opposition leaders as the rightful president of Venezuela. But over the course of the last few months, we have really seen the administration somewhat distance itself from members of the opposition. We know that there is still contact that the Trump administration had with the opposition.

But in our reporting, we found out that the Trump administration had been planning for what the day after would actually look like inside Venezuela if Maduro was ousted. And I was told during the course of that reporting that the opposition's day after planning was not one that was sanctioned by the Trump administration.

Effectively that the Trump administration was working on its own day after planning, sort of indicating that they were running these parallel efforts to try and break Venezuela free from Nicolas Maduro's rule, but not necessarily to put the opposition in control of the country.

So we really have to watch and see what happens here. But we did learn in remarkable detail today how this military operation was carried out. Most of those details were shared by General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he stood next to President Trump down in Florida today. He said it was at 10:46 p.m. last night, that is almost exactly 24 hours ago, Erica, that President Trump gave the green light for this operation to begin taking place.

And then it was around 2 in the morning local time, when the U.S. military actually arrived at the compound. That extraction team via helicopters, according to Dan Caine, that were shot at, but they weren't actually taken down. And I want you to listen to some more details that the general provided during that briefing earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAN CAINE, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS 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.

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)

ATWOOD: Now, of course, questions over what the U.S. military role will be here going forward as there are questions about what the actual political ramifications the political leadership in Venezuela is going to look like.

President Trump did say that the U.S. is not afraid of boots in the ground in Venezuela, but said that they would be there to secure the oil. We'll have to watch and see how this all plays out, Erica?

HILL: Yes, absolutely. A lot of questions tonight. Kylie, Julia, appreciate it. Thank you both. In the wake of Saturday's military operations to capture Nicolas Maduro, Congressional leaders are calling for a briefing on that operation. House Armed Services Committee a telling CNN the panel is in the process of planning a briefing for next week.

Meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio here talking about the decision by the administration to notify nor to seek approval. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We call members of Congress immediately after. This was not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on. It was a trigger based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days.

So it's just simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, hey, we may do this at some point in the next 15 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Democratic Congressman Gil Cisneros. Congressman, it's good to have you with us tonight. I should point out you're also a Navy veteran, former undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness.

When you hear from the Secretary of State that this is, quote, not the kind of mission that you can do a notification on, does that make you feel better about where things stand and the and what Congress was not told?

REP. GIL CISNEROS (D-CA): No, Congress is not the problem. The House Armed Services problem is not the problem with leaks. Their own secretary of defense in the Trump administration is the one who has leaked information out to the public who was told about operations that had happened in the past. That's where the leaks come from. They

have a responsibility to notify Congress what is going to happen. And pretty much the Secretary of State lied to the House of Representatives when he came and told us that they would not seek military action without the approval of Congress. And that's exactly what they did.

HILL: And so what is the follow on for that from your vantage point?

CISNEROS: Well, they need to come to us. They need to tell us what the plans are. You know, I'm very disturbed by the president's press conference where he did say in the fact that he is willing to put boots on the ground.

[22:15:00]

He doesn't have the authorization from Congress to do that. He has not come to us to talk about his plan. He has said that now he is going to be running Venezuela and basically tried to gave Marco Rubio another job there. He's already Secretary of State. He's already the national security advisor. And I guess he's going to be running the puppet regime that Donald Trump wants to put in place in Venezuela.

And so they need to come to Congress and explain what their intentions are, what their plan is and really explain, you know, how are they going to do this. Right. It's very disturbing what they did, and they need to answer. So a lot of these questions, all this press conference did was just

bring forth more questions, both from Congress and as well as the media, and they need to have answers for those.

HILL: So just two things to pick on Bevan (ph) there on what you're saying. You say you want them to come to Congress, you want them to brief Congress. I mean, what is your level of confidence that is going to happen?

CISNEROS: It's not. I don't have any level of confidence that it's going to happen. I think they will come in here, they will tell us things that basically are already out there in the press, information they've already kind of put out there.

You know, they're going to try and spin this as it was a, you know, bringing somebody to justice, bringing them through the courts. But this is really about, at the heart of it is about regime change. It is about Donald Trump getting his hands on oil, the Venezuelan oil, and him, you know, basically, it's my opinion he wants to bring this oil into the United States so he can flood the market and bring down the price of gas.

HILL: So you say you believe this is all about oil. The president, as we just heard from him, said he doesn't have a problem with sending U.S. troops in to protect that oil. When we talk about, though, who is going to be leading the country, and that is a question that many of us have unanswered tonight. As you pointed out and as our reporters have tried to get answer from the president, earlier today.

My colleague Kylie Atwood, just talking about this day after planning that there were essentially parallel efforts happening. Based on comments that you just made to me, do you believe that the administration is actively working to put in a, some form of rulers, right. Some sort of administration or leaders that is part of the effort here. Part of what would be the U.S. running the country? And if so, who do you envision that is?

CISNEROS: I do not have any idea who they are envisioning or what they're going to do or what their plan is. That is not something they have shared with us. But believe the president wants to put in a puppet regime that is going to let him have access to the oil so that he can bring it into the United States and as I said, bring down the price of gasoline.

That's my belief. That's what this was all about. This is about regime change. Had nothing to do with narcotics or drugs, even though that was kind of what they did at the beginning. This is really about oil and trying to get somebody in there who will allow him to have access to that.

And that's why I believe he's not really working with the opposition party and said that, you know, she wouldn't be right. You know, the opposition party and the opposition leader wouldn't be right to have them come in because they're not going to allow him to have access to the oil. You know, that oil, those oil reserves belong to the Venezuelan people. It is for them to decide what needs to be done with that, not for the United States.

HILL: Real quickly, sir, before I let you go, in your conversations, maybe even just your background conversations with your Republican colleagues in Washington, are they concerned, even privately? Do they share some of your concerns? We've heard a lot of public support today.

CISNEROS: Look, I think my Republican colleagues. It's like Jekyll and Hyde, right? In private, they say one thing. In public, it's something else. I haven't talked to any of my Republican colleagues today. I'm sure we'll have some conversations when we go back, but I'm sure they have concerns in private, but they're not going to make those concerns known in public.

HILL: Congressman Gil Cisneros, we appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

CISNEROS: Thank you.

HILL: Taking a look now at the White House, the scene earlier today of protests, as you can see here, over the U.S. military action in Venezuela protest not just in Washington, D.C. but a number of other American cities as well. That's next.

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[22:23:30]

HILL: Protests there on the doorstep of the White House earlier on Saturday as Americans voice their frustration with the prospect of war and bloodshed over oil. In New York, more demonstrations carrying the message no war on Venezuela. They were in the streets just hours after President Trump announced the capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Other protests have been reported throughout the day in Boston, Minneapolis and Atlanta.

There are also a number of questions about what comes next now that Maduro is gone. Some of his paramilitary groups showing they are clearly not out of the picture. On Saturday, a CNN crew saw civilians armed with assault rifles who belong to pro government armed groups.

They control certain parts of Caracas and played a major role in keeping Maduro in power before his capture. And they often function as law enforcement in poorer areas.

The opposition calls them all organized crime. They exist even though Venezuela's ban law rather bans anyone other than police and the military from carrying weapons.

So what could happen now in Venezuela? Joining me is Charles Shapiro. He's the former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. Ambassador, it's good to talk to you again tonight. When we look at where things stand, the fact that we heard President Trump say the U.S. is going to run the country and yet you have the vice president in Venezuela pushing back, calling for Maduro's release.

[22:25:02]

CHARLES SHAPIRO, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA: That's a good question and I don't know the answer to that. In his press conference, I think it was Marco Rubio who said that she'd been sworn in as president and almost immediately after Delcy Rodriguez, the vice president of Venezuela said no, she's just the acting president. As far as she was concerned, Nicolas Maduro is still the president of the country. So clearly there's a miscommunication going on.

HILL: Miscommunication. What does it tell you as well about the administration's planning for this day after?

SHAPIRO: My assumption is that they don't want to put troops on the ground. It would take thousands. It's a huge country, 30 million people, twice the size of California. So the number of troops that would require acquire would be gigantic.

And I think they are hoping to maintain security through Delcy Rodriguez, the vice president of Venezuela, Maduro's illegitimate vice president of Venezuela, and the Venezuelan army, the existing Venezuela army. I think they don't want to repeat what happened in Iraq where we disbanded the Iraqi army. But then how that works is not clear to me. And that seems like that's going to be a very, very difficult needle to thread.

HILL: And just give us a sense for people who are not familiar what the level is loyal, what the web, pardon me, what the level of loyalty is not just when it comes to Delcy Rodriguez, right, but when it comes to the military in terms of their loyalty to Maduro.

SHAPIRO: Well, that's the key question that people -- I mean, for 20 years I have been hearing that the Venezuelan military is about to overthrow first Chavez and then Maduro. I've been hearing for 20 years. It's difficult. I mean, the Venezuelan people voted overwhelmingly for the opposition in the elections of July 2024.

How many of those people, you know, are absolutely opposition supporters or they're just dissatisfied with the economic situation in a country where the economy has collapsed, I can't tell you. But that leaves at least 20 percent, maybe more of the population that supports Maduro that is benefiting from the Maduro government's programs. That works for the government, is part of the military, part of the police. And how you win those people over and move, turn that around is going to be very, very difficult.

In addition, there are at least two different Colombian guerrilla groups operating in Venezuela and these are trained combatants. So I mean, you've got a very complicated situation and clearly you need to be able to maintain security in Venezuela while this transition takes place.

HILL: You also -- so we have all of that playing out on the ground. When you talk about the opposition party, it was fascinating today to see President Trump really distance himself from the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, who of course, had praised him most recently when she won the Nobel Peace Prize, saying she dedicated it to him.

But President Trump today saying she doesn't have the support, she doesn't have the respect within the country. How much weight do you think Donald Trump's words carry with the people of Venezuela?

SHAPIRO: Well, I mean, I was surprised to hear him be so dismissive of her. I mean, she's the woman who just won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo earlier in December. She is the most respected opposition politician in Venezuela. And the opposition is barely unified.

I mean, it was a huge, Herculean task to unify the opposition. I mean, they are essentially all the parties in the country from right to left who existed before Hugo Chavez came to office in 1999.

So it'd be like making the Republicans and the Democrats work together against a new party. And they, you know, they don't like each other. They've got grudges against each other. It's been hard for them to work together. And she's the one who brought them together.

HILL: Yes. It's really something a lot to watch there. Really appreciate your insight and your expertise, and we'll certainly be calling on you in the coming days and weeks. Charles Shapiro, thank you.

SHAPIRO: Thank you so much, Erica.

HILL: Still ahead here, while many in the U.S. and abroad were denouncing the Trump administration's military action in Venezuela, it is impossible to ignore the many communities who are cheering these efforts, including right here in the United States. A closer look on the other side of this break.

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[22:33:48]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

TRUMP: No, we're going to have presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil because we have to have -- 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)

HILL: Hours after the U.S. military deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Donald Trump laying out his plans there for that country's vast oil reserve, saying as you just heard, that his administration plans to partner with U.S. energy companies to take control of Venezuela's oil infrastructure.

It's estimated Venezuela is sitting on a fifth of the world's reserve of crude oil. Unlocking it would, of course, have a massive benefit for the U.S. industry. Donald Trump also claims the U.S. is actually owed, as you heard there, some of its wealth.

[22:35:02]

Venezuelans in South Florida, you see here they are celebrating the news of Nicolas Maduro's capture. These images coming to us from Doral, Florida, which is home to more Venezuelan immigrants than any other single place in the United States. A number of them hoping the Trump administration's actions will spark the change in Venezuela they have been waiting decades to see.

CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez joining me now from Miami. It's so good to have you here to walk us through. First of all, in terms of what we are seeing from the Venezuelan diaspora, what is the reaction today? Is it pretty similar to what we were seeing there with those folks in Doral?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL U.S. POLITICAL DIRECTOR AND ANCHOR: Doral is a city that has a high concentration of Venezuela's, although there's been people leaving after the immigration raids by the Trump administration. But the hope for many is that with Maduro gone, things will change. But everyone's holding their breath because Maduro is gone. But things haven't really changed.

HILL: There are questions, too. I mean, we're hours into this, but there are questions about not only who will be leading the country, right, but who can actually hold the country together. What is your sense tonight about the potential power struggle that we could be watching unfold?

LOPEZ: Well, the first step is that we just saw the equivalent to the Venezuelan Supreme Court order, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who was very close to Maduro, to assume as president in charge. So she is the one holding power.

Remember, President Trump this afternoon said they were in talks with her and that as long as she did what the U.S. wanted her to do, she would be in power. And then she came out with a statement saying that Maduro is the only president of Venezuela and allegedly apparently being very clear about her loyalty to him.

So we don't know if there's something happening behind closed doors, but she did speak to Secretary of State Rubio. So right now it's all very confusing.

HILL: It is very confusing. And you know, our colleague Kylie Atwood laying out for us just a short time ago that there seem to be almost parallel efforts happening here when it comes to the day after efforts by the U.S., efforts by the opposition party there in Venezuela, the fact that this is not being coordinated, or at least not that we know of because we've been given so few answers. How is that being received in the broader region? LOPEZ: It's very confusing because President Trump himself, now you've

probably heard of Maria Corina Machado, who recently received the Nobel Peace Prize opposition leader. She was not a presidential candidate. She wasn't allowed. She was banned by the Maduro regime. But she supported Edmundo Gonzalez, who, according to all information available, won the election in 2024, only to have it stolen by Maduro.

But President Trump today said that she did not have the respect of the country and she couldn't lead it. So that's also generating a very bizarre scenario where the person who many see would be the natural leader in the future Venezuela, is considered not able to lead by President Trump. And then President Trump and Secretary Rubio mentioned Delcy Rodriguez, who is very close to Maduro.

So Maduro's people are still running the government in Venezuela even though the U.S. President said that the U.S. would be running the country. So far, it's an unpredictable scenario.

HILL: Yes, it certainly is. So many questions and more questions than answers. But really appreciate you giving us at least a better understanding of the situation there. Juan Carlos Lopez, thank you.

Also joining us this hour, Juan Carlos Pinzon, who's former Colombian defense minister and also former ambassador to the United States. I should note you are also running for president in Colombia.

I know that you're no fan of Nicolas Maduro. Do you see his capture and what we've seen in terms of this indictment that was unveiled? Do you see that having a real impact on the drug trade?

JUAN CARLOS PINZON, FORMER COLOMBIAN AMBASSADOR TO US: Erica, good evening. I think it's very important, very important what just happened for freedom, for democracy and for most of the Venezuelan people. Let's not forget that Maduro became a dictator. He even stole elections in front of everybody else. And not only that, but he partnered with criminals, with organized crime. And of course, all that created a major confusion and fact that Venezuela became a narco regime, a narco communist regime, which is very bad for their people and for countries like Colombia and other countries in Latin America.

He was harboring terrorists from ELN, FARC and other criminals. And of course, from that, projecting all kinds of problems, diseases, violence, into a country like Colombia that was attacked, its armed forces and its people by people supported by Maduro. So I think it's a healthy event for democracy. It's important.

Now how this develops is very important to see. I guess in the coming weeks there will be some level of transition of government, I imagine.

[22:40:03]

And I understand that those that are still related to the regime are in place just to keep order and to keep stability. But somehow their mission is to transfer into a process of transition to some kind of junta or joint government that allows a real transition to democracy some months from now. I think that's the scenario we should look at. And I expect

international community to promote -- to promote a peaceful transfer of power.

HILL: So you want the international community to, you know, as you just said, promote that peaceful transfer of power. But is it clear to you what the plan is? The fact that the president this morning, President Trump, could not explain what he meant by the U.S. would run the country, could not give specifics, and that there is, you know, we're sort of seeing, you know, a little bit of pushback, I think, is fair to say, from the vice president there in Venezuela who's saying it's time for you know, to release Maduro.

It doesn't sound like there was a real plan. Are you confident that there is a plan?

PINZON: Well, nobody knows what's going to happen after, let's say this is very unique. --

HILL: Do you know what's going to happen in this situation. Given how volatile the situation already is in Venezuela?

PINZON: It's hard to determine. But I think that we have to imagine the following. Those that are in power know already the level of strength and force that was used. Eventually they could be killed last night, and they were not. And the reason was because they gave them the opportunity to have a process of transition of power. And I think this is important.

Now, who will be the transfer to? That's a big question. I understand will be people that will be on the interests of the United States, but can be acceptable to do this in a peaceful way. And I estimate that sometime from now the real democratic process will begin and people like Maria Corina Machado, President Gonzalez Urrutia, should come and influence and make all these. The future of Venezuela all of us want.

Now, the other important event that happened about this is the clear signal to other dictators or to other governments that are promoting or facilitating organized crime or transnational crime. That is clear now. That is unacceptable and that has consequences.

And I think this is very important even for the current president of my own country and other leaders that took for granted the fact that they could talk easily with organized crime without consequence.

HILL: Are you saying you believe that the current president of Colombia is now a target for the administration?

PINZON: Well, you got to see what President Trump said today. You know, he was very specific about that when he was asked. And I'm saying now that every government in Latin America should understand that it's not fair game to be a democracy, but at the same time to be connected with drug trafficking or with organized crime or with terrorist organizations. I think this is an important message.

As I become president of Colombia, the clear thing that I will do as I was Minister of Defense, is fight strongly and clearly drug trafficking and criminals, but for one main reason. Protecting Colombians. Protecting Colombians so we can have investment, so we can have progress, we can have corporations, and we don't make our country a pariah, which is what really happened with the Venezuelan regime.

HILL: Really quickly because we're just about out of time. Do you have any concerns about the very clear focus that President Trump has on the oil in Venice, Venezuela, which seems to be a major focus? It's not just about drugs or regime change.

PINZON: Well, if I think we remember, the Chinese were taking a lot of oil from Venezuela as part of deals. The same did other countries and also critical minerals. So it's evident that Venezuela has a very important set of reserves, both on oil and gas and on minerals.

What is important now is that the proceeds of those riches come back for the benefit of Venezuelan people, not for the benefit of a corrupt regime that was using that money only to hold power even and despite human rights violations and more than 8 million Venezuelans that were expelled from the country in a very dramatic way.

HILL: Juan Carlos Pinzon, we appreciate you joining us tonight. Thank you.

PINZON: Thank you, Erica. Appreciate it.

HILL: Venezuela's vice president striking a defiant note as we've been discussing on the heels of Maduro's capture by the United States. Just ahead, a closer look at Delcy Rodriguez, who has now been directed to assume the duties of acting President.

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[22:48:33]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: That is the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaking after the U.S. captured President Maduro. A Venezuelan court has now directed Rodriguez to assume the powers and duties of acting president.

She has called Maduro's detention a, quote, kidnapping and also demanded his release, adding Maduro is, quote, the sole president of Venezuela. Those comments appear to fly in the face of an earlier statement from President Trump who said Rodriguez was ready to work with the United States.

For more, Paula Newton joins us now live from Ottawa as we learn more about her. I mean, who is she, Paula?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She has been a defender of Chavismo for about two decades now. And when you're a Venezuelan, whether you supported the Maduro regime or not, you have to think that, yes, the president is gone, but his regime now headed by Delcy Rodriguez, is very much in place. No one better than Delcy Rodriguez to really have that symbol that things may not have changed in Venezuela even though President Maduro is gone.

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NEWTON (voice-over): Just hours after the dramatic extraction of her president by U.S. forces, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was the picture of defiance. Surrounded by regime loyalists, she called the U.S. operation barbaric, declaring, Nicolas Maduro is the only president of Venezuela.

[22:50:11]

Known to many in the country simply as Delcy. Rodriguez has been an influential and reliable regime enforcer for nearly two decades. She began in the government of Hugo Chavez, faithfully implementing the tenets of Chavismo, the nationalist populist movement that brought the Venezuelan economy to its knees.

When Chavez died in 2013, she remained an assertive voice within President Maduro's government. Uncompromising in her rhetoric, she vilified the Venezuelan opposition and frequently warned the country about the threat of foreign intervention.

Crucially, as energy minister, she also has been a steady hand in funneling Venezuela's dwindling energy revenues to the regime. Seen here last month with state workers, she says we have something to tell Mr. Trump. Venezuela doesn't owe the U.S. anything.

Rodriguez has for many years been sanctioned by Canada, the E.U. and the United States. Even attempted to question her in 2016 after a CNN investigation uncovered a scheme to illegally sell Venezuelan passports and out of the country's embassy in Iraq.

Rodriguez, then the foreign minister, refused to comment to CNN on every occasion. In keeping with her political pedigree, Rodriguez has a less than subtle message for the Trump administration as she demanded Maduro's release. Her involvement in any future transition in Venezuela will be challenging.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: That address that you heard from Delcy Rodriguez might also be putting performative. I have seen this so many times from her and other people in the regime. They may say one thing but are actually acting on another.

The other thing is the connection to the oil industry, specifically Chevron. Keep in mind that the U.S. oil giant has an exemption from the US Government to have operations in Venezuela. And Delcy Rodriguez has gone out of her way to ensure that she, as the energy minister as well can protect those American assets in Venezuela. It is very interesting.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Lots to watch there. Paula, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Stay with us. Much more to come here in the CNN Newsroom.

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[22:56:17]

HILL: Well, the waiting continues at U.S. airport for passengers rather trying to fly out to the Caribbean. Hundreds of flights canceled, delayed due to those U.S. strikes in Venezuela. JetBlue is the most impacted airline according to the tracking site FlightAware, canceling some 209 flights, delaying another 263 as of 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

The airline says flights to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, though, were unaffected. United is telling its impacted passengers they can rebook for free.

As we continue to follow all of these developments, we're going to fit in a quick break here. Stay with us. The breaking news out of Venezuela continues on the other side.

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