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CNN This Morning

Maduro Indicted On Drug And Weapons Charges After Capture By U.S.; Venezuelans Abroad And Across The U.S. Celebrate Maduro's Capture; Venezuela's Maduro Held In New York After Capture By U.S.; Venezuelan Court Directs Vice President Delcy Rodriguez To Assume Duties Of Acting President; Trump: U.S. Will Run Venezuela After Capturing Maduro; United And Delta Airlines Set To Resume Caribbean Flight. Trump: U.S. Will "Run" Venezuela And "Fix Oil Infrastructure; Venezuelans React To Maduro Arrest; Court Declares VP Delcy Rodriguez The Acting President. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired January 04, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:30]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Polo Sandoval in for Victor Blackwell.

We begin with the president of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores, as they could be arraigned as early as tomorrow. The U.S. carried out multiple strikes on Venezuela early Saturday morning, and then they captured the couple and brought them here to New York, where they face a slew of charges.

Now, President Trump says that the U.S. will run the country indefinitely. That is, until it can safely transition to a new leader, he says. CNN's Evan Perez explains what's next for Maduro and Flores this morning.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia, are now in the Metropolitan Detention Center here in Brooklyn, capping an extraordinary 20 hours or so after they were snatched from their bedroom in Caracas. They were transported to a U.S. military ship off the coast of Venezuela, the Iwo Jima, and then to Guantanamo Bay, where they were put on a plane to New York.

Now, that began the process while they were under arrest to face four sets of charges from the justice department. Those include narco- terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy. A number of other Venezuelan officials are also named in this indictment that was unsealed by the justice -- the department earlier on Saturday.

Now, this begins an extraordinary process for the U.S. government. They have the former Venezuelan leader here now in Brooklyn, and it will 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.

SANDOVAL: Our thanks to Evan in Brooklyn. Joining me now is former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland to try to dive deeper into, really, what is the potential legality or any questions around the legality of this Saturday operation. Thanks so much for joining us.

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: My pleasure.

SANDOVAL: So, let's start right there about the legality about all of this. The U.N. -- the U.S., I should say, they went into a foreign country. They seized its leader in his own house. How does this happen without an extradition treaty?

I mean, the Trump administration is characterizing this as a simply a law enforcement action that was seeking to detain somebody who was indicted by the U.S. government.

SALAND: Well, let's say 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 -- 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, but 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 can this 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.

SANDOVAL: Let's look ahead now in terms of what we could potentially see after this operation here. Do you think that Maduro seizure, his detention, do you think that means that the U.S. will possibly dial back on these strikes in the Caribbean that we've been seeing now since early September? Or could we perhaps see those dial back?

[06:05:01]

SALAND: Yes, we would expect. Although, the president did say there could be another wave, if necessary, based on the response of the Venezuelan government and the vice president, who now she is the president, who has said that that in fact, Maduro is the only president of his nation -- of her nation. But I would expect as much.

And those attacks themselves were in question, both from the left and from the right, politically. Whether that was a violation of international law, meaning sinking these boats, whether they were in fact fishing boats or really narco boats. But nonetheless, there's still a process and rule of law that needs to be followed. And has America and the United States, Donald Trump, violated that? You know, that's a great question. Many have said, yes, but I would expect that would slow down because now there is that seizure of the country, or at least trying to move that process forward to the advantage of the United States.

SANDOVAL: What about the future of the government of Venezuela? The vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has already been sworn in thus far, but she says that Maduro is the country's only president and has to be released by the U.S. government. How does that affect any chance of immunity, in your opinion? Does it potentially weaken that head of state defense that we've heard about?

SALAND: Well, I think that's a very fair question. When you think of that head of state defense and you look at, again, why Manuel Noriega was able to be processed as he was and prosecuted as he was that's a fair question. Because if he is a legitimate head of state and this is not the argument, that sort of takes a little bit of wind out of the sails of the argument that there was these private actions, or using the government to facilitate this criminal enterprise then, well, you know what? That issue of fact becomes an issue of law. And therefore it may not be as strong for the Department of Justice.

But it's still going to be incredibly difficult, even with those sort of after the fact statements by the now acting or former president Donald Trump said she was sworn in, but she's making that statement that I am not necessarily the ruler. It's Maduro who's the ruler. It'll be an interesting question, but that blueprint is there (INAUDIBLE).

SANDOVAL: And another thing that's certainly going to be brought up or has been already widely discussed, which is that President Trump, as we -- as we saw, pardoned the former president of Honduras not long ago, who was sentenced to 45 years for, actually, very similar allegations that are being now brought forward against Maduro, which is drug trafficking and weapons charges.

Do you know, at least he said that Hernandez was treated harshly and unfairly, referring to President Trump. What makes this case any different? Do you see some mixed messages coming from the White House in terms in its war against drug trafficking?

SALAND: Yes, absolutely. I mean, look, you had the Silk Road founder who was -- created this online dark web place to trafficking narcotics and drugs. He gets pardoned. You now have, as you just mentioned before, the former president of Honduras, he gets pardoned. And that crime was very, very similar, trafficking tons and tons and assisting in those drugs, working with contraband to get that into the United States before a jury in the Southern District of New York convicted of a crime and sent to 45 years.

I think, you know, two things can be true. Maduro could, in fact, be a bad actor, did horrible things to the Venezuelan people, was involved in trafficking of drugs but there is a process that needs to be played. There is a rule of law that has to be followed, and the president has -- seems to have a disdain for that.

And as he said, you know, President Trump, President Biden, pardon me, treated, him unfairly, meaning Hernandez. And he treated Trump talking about himself in the third person unfairly. And therefore, that case was now gone and pardoned. And unfortunately, it is a mixed message, and it seems to be what works for the president unilaterally as an executive, you know, an executive power that's what dictates policy. That's what dictates law. That's really concerning whether or not Maduro is ultimately convicted.

SANDOVAL: Jeremy Saland, thank you so much for getting up early for us and letting us tap into your legal expertise. Really appreciate your time.

SALAND: My pleasure, my pleasure.

SANDOVAL: Well, Nicolas Maduro, he's waking up this morning in New York's Metropolitan Detention Center, only about seven miles south of where I am. It's been described as disgusting, with horrifying conditions. And it's also known for its chronic understaffing, violence and power outages.

The prison has housed several celebrities, including singer R. Kelly, Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried, and also Sean Diddy Combs. It also houses several cartel members.

Well, this is the same prison that suffered a week long power outage. Back in 2019, it left prisoners in near total darkness in frigid temperatures. Inmates there, they were forced to stay in their cells for days and endure some unsanitary conditions. The incident led to a DOJ investigation that eventually resulted in a $10 million settlement for 1,600 inmates.

And now that Nicolas Maduro is in U.S. custody, there's some questions about what may come next for the country. Vice president Delcy Rodriguez has assumed the power of the presidency.

[06:10:02]

However, President Trump says that the U.S. will oversee the country until, what he calls, a judicious transition can take place. And at the same time, opposition leader Mara Corina Machado, she is demanding that an opposition figure take the reins instead. President Trump has declined to endorse any immediate successor or even to outline a path to elections. The president has dismissed Machado as a possible interim leader saying that she lacks support and also that she lacks respect inside the country.

President Trump has made no secret of his intention to secure access to Venezuela's massive oil reserves, and that's roughly 303 billion barrels of heavy sour crude. Yet production that remains low, hovering around just 1 million barrels a day. And that's partly the result of years of sanctions and mismanagement.

In the meantime, there is a large U.S. military presence just off Venezuela's coast. A retired Australian major general told me that the force, it's likely to remain in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR GENERAL MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY (RET.): The Trump administration is clearly keen to have the Venezuelan government that remains to work with them. And one of the ways to ensure that happens is retaining this large military presence offshore saying, listen, we'd rather use a carrot, but we still have the stick there if we need to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's go now to CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, live in London as he continues to follow this. Frederik, what is the latest right now? What are you hearing there?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Polo. Well, the big question is, indeed, how are things going to continue in Venezuela? Who's going to run that country? And also what sort of system is going to run that country in the future as well?

And we heard there from President Trump saying, essentially, the U.S. is going to run it in the interim and then sort of pointing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and possibly also Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as being involved in that process. But certainly it seems as though right now the U.S. is dealing directly, as the president put it, with Delcy Rodriguez, the vice president and now interim president of that country, who President Trump said had been sworn in. And, of course, we have video of her being sworn in as well.

But the big question is, is there going to be a larger transition of power? And certainly one of the things that we've seen over the past, especially overnight hours in Caracas and other places in Venezuela, is that the power structure that was in place before, the military and the paramilitary, still seems to be very much in force.

You had plainclothes groups walking around Caracas checking people. They had rifles as well, stopping vehicles, checking people there. So certainly if the majority of people are in favor and happy that Nicolas Maduro is gone, very few people are actually going out and celebrating and showing that because of course, there is still the fear of that old system.

And at the same time, Delcy Rodriguez came out, despite what President Trump said, and said that Nicolas Maduro is still the legal president of Venezuela. They demand his return and that Venezuela would protect its natural resources. We have to keep in mind that Delcy Rodriguez is also the oil minister of Venezuela. And, of course, President Trump really talking a lot about Venezuela's oil in that press conference that he gave in Mar-a-Lago. And at the same time, certainly, the president saying that he wants the transition to happen as fast as possible. And it seems as though that is something that is indeed of order because not all Americans, obviously, support that action in Venezuela as a senior political analyst for CNN said just a couple of hours ago. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The polling on this was pretty consistent beforehand that 60 to 70 percent of Americans were saying in polls that they opposed military action in Venezuela. Now, I suspect that once the action has already happened, that number will diminish somewhat and you'll get somewhat more support for it. But I would be very surprised if it was anything more than 50-50 at best.

And if you kind of look a little over the horizon, I think, as you see in the Marjorie Taylor Greene statement, that gives you a good indication of why I believe the downside risk of this over time politically is much higher than the possible upside gain. I mean, if it all goes well, what the president will achieve is something that I don't think is going to matter much to a lot of Americans, which is greater access to Venezuelan oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: At the same time, of course, the president saying that access to that oil is very important, that U.S. oil companies are going to get reimbursed for some of the losses that they suffered in the past. But again, right now, we're seeing on the ground in Venezuela is continued uncertainty, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Uncertainty and no shortage of fear there. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for that reporting.

President Trump says that watching the operation to capture Maduro was like watching a television show. We'll dig deeper into that operation and the possibility that we could see American troops in Venezuela. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:19:01]

SANDOVAL: We are learning more details this morning on how the operation to capture and remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro came together. The secret mission dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, it took just hours to execute but actually took months to plan. It all started back in August, when a covert CIA team infiltrated Caracas to track Maduro's every move. As we heard from military officials on Saturday, they even had information on Maduro's pets. Well, it ended with a massive tactical buildup with specially trained troops sent in to capture Maduro and his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GENERAL DAN CAINE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: 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. Over the course of the night, aircraft began launching from 20 different bases on land and sea across the western hemisphere.

[06:20:02]

In total, more than 150 aircraft, bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, rotary wing were in the air last night. Thousands and thousands of hours of experience were airborne.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Well, the final green light that came from Trump while at Mar-a-Lago. After a Friday night dinner President Trump huddled in a draped off room with some of his senior staff watching live social media feeds and also the tactical screens. Hours later, Delta Force, they breached the compound in Caracas. At 2:00 a.m. local time, Maduro and his wife were taken into custody and then flown out of the country.

Joining me now is CNN military analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton joining me again here. Colonel, it's great to see you again, sir. As you and I were talking at that hour it's incredible to -- when you really think about what was happening in Venezuela with this. By all accounts, a well-planned, well executed operation was taking place. I'm curious if you could just tell us what stands out to you about that operation, based on what we heard from officials on Saturday.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. Great to be with you again, Polo, and good morning. The thing that stands out to me was the whole synchronization of everything that was done here.

So, you had the air picture where General Caine talks about the 150 aircrafts. So, think of this as being, you know, all the different types of aircraft in our inventory, you know, from fighters like the F-35 and F/A-18s all the way to reconnaissance aircraft such as the RC-135. And then you also have aircraft that are engaged in aerial refueling. So, there's all of that coming together. And then you have the -- what you call the rotary wing assets. In other words, helicopters that the special operations forces used.

All of this synchronized, basically, to the second kind of like in the movies, you see the, you know, the moment where they say, synchronize your watches. Well, they've been synchronizing -- practicing synchronizing their watches for a very, very long time. And, you know, it took -- as the general mentioned, it took, you know, basically months to prepare this from an intelligence perspective.

And then it also took months to exercise the way in which they would do this. And of course, they didn't want to tip their hand as to exactly when they would do this. But what stood out was that not only the magnitude of this but the fact that it was basically carried out with almost no hitches.

SANDOVAL: And on the intelligence element of this, Colonel, the CIA had reportedly a team on the ground going back since August, tracking Maduro's patterns. I mean, we already had that reporting that President Trump had pretty much greenlit CIA covert actions inside of Venezuela.

When you look at everything now, knowing what we know now, was that potentially the beginning of the end of Maduro's time in Venezuela, you think?

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. Because, you know, once there's a team like that that goes in there, there's a clear intent to, in essence, execute an operation. Now, if they had encountered difficulties or if they had found it very hard to access the Maduro compound or figure out exactly, you know, how he lived, where he lived and established that pattern of life it would have been far more difficult to exercise this operation to execute this operation.

But what you're seeing is really that painstaking work and the fact that they were able to penetrate that inner circle, either directly or via informants, that allowed them to do the things that they needed to do. And, you know, the intelligence preparation of the battle space, as it's called in the business, is really a key element in the success of military operations like this. If you don't have it, basically, if you walk in blind, you really can't execute these kinds of missions which are based on, precision, not only of weapons, but also the precision of the operation itself.

SANDOVAL: And President Trump also triggered many questions when he said that the U.S. is now going to run Venezuela and bring American oil companies to spend billions of dollars fixing infrastructure there, Colonel. From a strategic standpoint, what does it actually take to secure thousands of miles of pipelines and remote oil rigs in a country like Venezuela? That way, some of these companies can feel safe enough to be able to move into the region.

LEIGHTON: Yes, this is going to be one of the most complicated things to execute. Because, you know, when you look at previous occupations, you know, go all the way back to the post-World War II time period, you know, when you look at Germany and Japan, once they had been defeated in World War II we came in with, you know, quite a few troops to, first of all, secure the territory and then start the process of reestablishing a government there. And those countries did not have oil or that infrastructure that we're looking for right now. You know, move forward to Iraq, then you've got a situation where you had so many different factions, it was far harder to pacify Iraq than it was to pacify the countries that lost in World War II.

[06:25:06]

So, this could be either a mix of those historical situations or something even more complex just because the Venezuelan plan, you know, the Maduro government was basically to start a guerrilla war if the U.S. invaded. So, it depends on how the U.S. is going to execute this. If they're going to go light in the boots on the ground department, then they're going to have to rely on others, either local people or other countries, to secure some of these pipelines and oil wells and other parts of the oil infrastructure which is oh, by the way, in a pretty bad state right now.

So, not only does that have to be secured, it has to be secured for a longer term period in order to be built up and, you know, have those -- that resource flowing again. So, it's going to be a tough thing that's going to take years if you're going to do it right.

SANDOVAL: What a weekend it's been. Colonel Cedric Leighton, I'm so grateful to you that you've been there to walk me through all of this, as well as our viewers around the world. And obviously with Venezuela's future and certainly the criminal proceedings that are facing Maduro and his wife, this story is far from over. So, I'm sure we'll be talking quite a bit in the coming months.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Polo. It's great to be with you.

SANDOVAL: Of course. Pleasure. So, relief is on the way for thousands of stranded travelers as major carriers prepare to head back into the Caribbean, United and Delta airlines will be resuming operations in the region today as federal airspace restrictions expire.

United is expecting a full schedule today and is also adding extra flights to try to clear that backlog. Delta has issued a travel waiver for customers traveling to or from the affected airports over the coming days.

With ousted leader in U.S. custody, what could be next for Venezuela? President Trump said that the U.S. will, quote, "run the country until a judicious transition can happen." We'll, look at how that might actually look, though. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:11]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: More now in our breaking news coverage of the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the ousted Venezuelan leader. Waking up this morning in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. That's where he will be facing eventually drug and weapons charges.

Now he could be arraigned as soon as tomorrow this after authorizing an attack on Venezuela and the -- the arrest of Maduro. President Trump says that the U.S. will be seizing Venezuela's massive oil reserves and will be rebuilding the country's oil infrastructure.

And with President Maduro out of the picture, President Trump insisting that the United States will also be in charge of Venezuela.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: 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)

SANDOVAL: And look at some of these scenes in South Florida where Venezuelans took to the streets to celebrate the capture of Maduro. But on the streets of Caracas some Venezuelans protested the U.S. intervention and called for the return of their president.

I want to discuss all of this with Vanessa Neumann. She's the former special envoy from Venezuela to the UK and Ireland.

Vanessa, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

VANESSA NEUMANN, FMR SPECIAL ENVOY, VENEZUELA TO THE UK AND IRELAND: Thank you so much, it's a pleasure to be here.

SANDOVAL: So, let's start with your reaction to President Trump's claim that the U.S. will be running Venezuela. What does that look like?

NEUMANN: Well, the number nobody knows really what it looks like I think that everybody expected that the United States would continue to be involved at least through some stage of -- of a stabilization operation which would be normal because the Venezuelan opposition and the Democratic opposition does not have that capacity.

But what was surprising for Venezuelans was the fact that he dismissed Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize and the most popular Venezuelan opposition leader in Venezuela in both his interview in Fox News and his press conference last night. That was surprising.

What was also very surprising and very worrying to Venezuelans is the fact that he said that they are -- that he thinks that they can work with those Delcy Rodriguez. As we know Delcy, she has been positioning herself as the moderate according to I believe it was the New York Times, you know, interview, you know feature on her which it clearly has, you know, has have been doing some PR for months to position herself this way. And -- and Venezuelans are sort of incredulous thinking that leaving Delcy. And then also Diosdado Cabello and Padrino Lopez who are military commanders behind would somehow be workable for the United States. Venezuelans know that that's not the case.

And that's also why you're not seeing them take to the street. The only people allowed to take to the streets in Venezuela as you reported are the ones in support of Maduro and the Maduristas. Everybody else has stayed quiet, has stayed hunkered down a state (INAUDIBLE) because repression, death and torture -- torture and extrajudicial killings remain a reality for Venezuelans.

SANDOVAL: Yes. And to your point I heard from a Venezuelan who was seeking exile or at least living in exile in the United States had told me that those concerns are really what are fueling those -- those fears. It's the remnants of the regime still in Venezuela, which is why they're essentially self-censoring.

So, on that what is the prevailing sentiment on the ground in Venezuela in your view and from what you've been hearing? Is it relief that Maduro is gone or is it anger at the U.S. for taking him away?

NEUMANN: Confusion would probably be if I had to choose one word, it would be confusion. On the one hand, the hopes have been inspired by the image of Maduro in handcuffs, blindfolded with the headphones on, you know, in the Iwo Jima and being walked as a perp, you know, doing the perp walk, has been like, oh, it's like a god being dethroned, coming down from Mount Olympus.

[06:35:18]

This is a man who has forced, you know, nine million people to flee the country. Eighty percent of his people have less than one meal a day. You know, the 18,000 political prisoners under him, you know, and some of the worst torture in the world. And suddenly, he's human and just one more criminal.

So it inspired hope in Venezuelans that they can see that democracy can come, that these people are capturable, and that they can be taken away. And they are not gods who are necessarily there forever.

The preoccupation is, of course, the fact that, as you say, that the remnants are there. And what this transition government looks like, to what extent will they work, and with whom will they work within the Venezuelan leadership, you know, Venezuelans who are, obviously, they would want to work, Venezuelans who are pro-U.S., but also have credibility within the Venezuelan people.

Everybody assumed that would be Maria Corina Machado, and that Edmundo Gonzalez, who ran as effectively her proxy in the 2024 elections, because Maduro wouldn't let her run, won in a three-to-one landslide. So, it should be them entering Miraflores Palace. If President Trump is implying that there are some other plans to work with others, that's not clear.

I want to take a moment and say there's one more point of confusion. Maria Corina Machado issued a statement yesterday, which everybody waited for with bated breath. Llego la hora. The time has arrived. We are now free. This came after the capture of Maduro and before the Trump press conference.

But there was no visual of her. It was only a Black background in Instagram with her voice and a letter. And in the meantime, so Venezuelans are pinning their great hope on their great leader and Nobel Prize winner, who's only a voice and a letter. While on the other hand, you have the visual of Delcy Rodriguez, who's negotiator- in-chief and highly intelligent and very in charge of the finances of the Maduro regime, you know, is sitting in Miraflores Palace instead of Maria Corina Machado.

So that has brought up a lot of confusion and mixed emotions within Venezuelans, and the uncertainty is with whom the U.S. government will be working. SANDOVAL: I thought that that was perhaps one of the most shocking moments of some of the President's remarks when he referred to Machado and essentially seemed to distance himself from her.

And just I have a few more seconds with you. I'm curious just -- if I could get your final thought. What do you see playing out the next few days and potentially the next few weeks, specifically in Venezuela and the surrounding region?

NEUMANN: Well, a number of things. First of all, as I said, Venezuelans are hunkered down because we can expect enormous repression, you know, rounding them up and capturing and torturing anybody who says capturing Maduro was a good thing. You know, people are shutting down their WhatsApp accounts so that they don't even receive messages of congratulations, just in case. They're closing down the borders.

I was talking to a Brazilian journalist who said it has several reasons for Colombia and Brazil. You don't want a fleeing diaspora. You don't want fleeing Venezuelans. You also don't want fleeing military who were in complicit with the Maduro regime, some of whom might be seeking asylum and some of whom might cause trouble. Right.

So within these flows of people, you might have some people who cause trouble for American assets in Colombia. Don't forget the U.S. embassy in Bogota is the biggest in the region, in the hemisphere, one of the biggest in the world. And they're also assets in Colombia. So, they could try an asymmetric sticking it to the U.S. that way. And those countries don't want that trouble.

Lula, even though he's pro-Maduro, just doesn't want the trouble. Same with Pedro. So, I think we see that.

We also see that, you know, that Trump will continue to try and dance with -- with Delcy, but she will be leading the tango. And that they won't get. I don't anticipate they will get very far with her. And then I think also the other thing we might anticipate is that the Diosdado Cabello and Padrino Lopez, who are the military commanders, might stick it to Delcy Rodriguez, right? You know, rhetorically stick a knife in her back and take her place. And then we would have to see a second wave and an escalation, military escalation by the U.S. and Venezuela again.

[06:40:03]

SANDOVAL: Vanessa Neumann, we have to leave it there. But you've given us quite the list of things to look out for and certainly going to be. Delcy Rodriguez is one to watch and see what happens there.

Appreciate your time as always, Vanessa. Thank you.

What some of the biggest impacts that we're seeing are the streets of Venezuela? What's exactly what we're hearing from residents about the capture of President Maduro?

That's on the way. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: And welcome back this morning. New reactions to President Maduro's arrests, they are coming in from Venezuelan citizens in the United States.

Niurka Melendez is a Venezuelan woman living in New York. She told me earlier this morning that seeing the image of Maduro in handcuffs on U.S. soil that it made her feel like there is a quote, lights at the end of the tunnel.

[06:45:10]

Here's what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIURKA MELENDEZ, CO-FOUNDER, VENEZUELANS AND IMMIGRANTS AID: It's like a rollercoaster, some many emotions at the same times, there is still persecution, there is still political prisoners in my country. There is still people feeling fear. There is still not the possibility for us to going back to our country, but yet it's at least a light at the end of the tunnel that keep us the hope.

And what I really see behind that picture, is the justice that we are -- I mean, in need of seeing to start or build again our country.

I mean, our -- our countries in a mess. We lost our country. And now getting pieces into place I know is going to be a really complicated task.

And again, for us it's just the beginning, probably, the beginning of the end or the end of that beginning that we saw almost three -- almost a three decades back in our history. And I don't feel like creating expectations and guessing the future.

But what we see is just the fact, and I'm hoping that that is going to result in a better future for everything.

It's like a rollercoaster So many emotions at the same times there is still persecution There is still political prisoners in my country. There is still people feeling fears.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And Melendez is not alone, there are so many others that are feeling this renewed sense of hope. Venezuelans all over the world that are reacting this morning to Maduro's ouster and also looking ahead to what may be next for their country.

CNN's Rafael Romo with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): This is excitement, happiness, and hope.

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

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

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

ROMO (voice-over): Nearly 7.9 million Venezuelans have fled Maduro's regime according to UN figures, more than 6 million sought refuge in Latin America. Colombia's home to 2.8 million migrants while Peru has welcomed more than 1.6 million.

In Lima, many of them were up all night trying to reach their relatives.

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

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

Rafael Romo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And so much more had here on "CNN This Morning," including the world that is watching as Venezuela's Vice President has stepped up as acting president.

Put it up next this morning, what we know about Delcy Rodriguez and more about the challenges that you could face.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:50]

SANDOVAL: Venezuela's Supreme Court has ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to assume the powers and duties of the acting president. The order was announced just last night after the court determined that Maduro can no longer exercise his functions as president. Rodriguez has demanded Maduro's release.

As CNN's Paula Newton reports, she struck a defiant tone on her first day leading the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (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.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

NEWTON (voice-over): Declaring Nicolas Maduro is the only president of Venezuela. 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.

And yet Rodriguez has for many years been sanctioned by Canada the EU and the United States. CNN attempted to question her in 2016 after a CNN investigation uncovered a scheme to illegally sell Venezuelan passports 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.

Paul Newton, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:55:15]

SANDOVAL: Really appreciate you joining me this morning. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. "CNN This Morning" continues after this break.

Coming up, more on the U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Plus, what's next in the legal case against the ousted leader?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

[07:00:01]

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: 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 surprised --