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CNN Live Event/Special
U.S. Military Carries Out Large Scale Strikes on Venezuela and Captures Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and His Wife Cilia Flores; Venezuelan President and Wife being Brought to New York City to Stand Trial for Charges of Narco-Terrorism; Southern District of New York Releases Indictment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Wife for Narco-Terrorism; President Trump to Give News Conference on U.S. Operation that Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and His Wife. Aired 10-11a ET.
Aired January 03, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Good morning, and welcome to CNN's special live coverage of the strikes on Venezuela. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
We're following the breaking news, and it's major breaking news. President Donald Trump is planning to speak at 11:00 a.m. eastern, less than an hour or so from now, down at Mar-a-Lago in Florida after confirming that the United States military struck Venezuela early this morning, overnight. And the country's president, Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been captured, he says. Sources tell CNN the couple were dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, in the middle of the night during this rain -- raid, I should say.
President Trump confirmed more detail just minutes ago during an interview with FOX News
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: He was in a, in a house that was more like a fortress than a house. It had steel doors. It had what they call a safety space where it's, you know, solid steel all around. He didn't get that space closed. He was trying to get into it, but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn't get into that. We were prepared. We had, you know, massive blowtorches and everything else that you need to get through that steel. But we didn't need it. He didn't -- he didn't make it to that area of the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: During that interview, the president also said he watched the operation in real time from Mar-a-Lago, his estate down in Florida, and he confirmed a U.S. military helicopter was damaged during the operation. Some Americans, he said, were injured. He said that Maduro and his wife are on board the USS Iwo Jima right now, and they're all heading towards New York.
The U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, says Maduro and his wife have been indicted. While Bondi confirmed Maduro was indicted on narco- terrorism conspiracy charges, it's unclear what the first lady, Cilia Flores, is charged with if anything.
Those strikes were not a complete surprise as President Trump has been warning of strikes in Venezuela for weeks. However, a source now tells CNN the White House began notifying congressional leadership about these strikes. He did so after the strikes occurred.
Vice President J.D. Vance is already weighing in with a message, and I'm quoting him now, "Everyone saying this was illegal." He says "Maduro can't avoid justice for drug trafficking here just because he lives in Caracas."
CNN's White House reporter Alayna Treene is joining me now. She's here with me in "The Situation Room." You just learned some new information about when planning for this operation actually got underway.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. So according to some of my sources, as well as those of Kylie Atwood's and Kevin Liptak's, we were told that the preparations for this operation actually began back in mid-December. And I note that we knew that, that the president had been looking at potential plans to strike land inside Venezuela, as well as to try and oust Maduro. But up until that point, they had left, Wolf, this idea of potential diplomacy open, of trying to get Maduro to step down voluntarily. We know that Trump and Maduro had spoken on the phone earlier just a couple of weeks ago.
But when that changed, when they believe that he was unlikely to do that, these plans began really to take effect.
Now, what we're looking at is really what's going to happen next. And according to some of the sources I spoke with, they said that some of the draft plans and some of these preparations that they were working on back in mid-December looked at setting up a transition government inside Venezuela with some Venezuelan leaders to help fill the power vacuum should Maduro be ousted from power, and then potentially see if they can get elections, you know, see what happens to have elections moving forward.
One thing that Trump said that kind of backs some of this up during that interview with FOX, he said that we're making that decision now regarding next steps. And he said, quote, "We can't take a chance of letting somebody else run it and just take over what he left off." So it's clear that what they don't want to see is not only Maduro, but one of Maduro's, you know, officials, one of, you know, the vice president, for example, having one of those people take over and continue kind of the Maduro government form of leadership inside.
And so that's going to be a huge question for what comes next, because ever since they began really closely looking at Venezuela and how they wanted to operate with these strikes, of course, but now with this idea of what would happen if Maduro was ousted, who would fill that power vacuum, they've been working on these day after plans for a while.
[10:05:02]
But what was clear is they want a different type of leadership structure there. And the White House has said now publicly for weeks that they believe Maduro was an illegitimate leader, that he and his government did not have the right to be leading the country. And so it's going to be very interesting to see how they move forward with this.
BLITZER: And we know that the attorney general reminded all of us that Maduro was actually charged in the Southern District of New York with narco-terrorism, conspiracy charges, but his wife was not charged with anything, right?
TREENE: Yes, it's still very much unclear what his wife was charged with. I think it was a surprise this morning to see that both of them were captured, and both of them are now on this boat, the USS Iwo Jima headed to New York. All of that's going to, you know, we're going to have to learn more about that.
I'm hoping President Trump gives us some very more clear details at this press conference at 11:00 at mar a Mar-a-Lago. But there's still a lot that I think everyone is trying to figure out, including lawmakers who it does seem that the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, we saw many of them posting this morning, people like Senator Mike Lee, for example, who initially, you know, a lot of these even Republicans were saying that they were kind of outraged that, you know, what is the reasoning for essentially a declaration of war with these strikes in Venezuela?
What I've been hearing in my conversations, we've heard this via some of the some of the lawmakers opposed as well, is that they're saying that the justification for this is under the Article Two of the Constitution. I'm not sure that's going to make a lot of lawmakers happy, particularly those who were kind of promised by many top officials, like the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and the president himself that they would be briefed by the Trump administration before any such land strikes occurred. So there's going to be a lot of pushback and criticism on that front, too, Wolf.
BLITZER: And there's been briefings with members of Congress, but only after the operation. They're supposed to be briefed in advance.
TREENE: Yes.
BLITZER: Alayna, thank you.
TREENE: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Very, very much. Alayna Treene, our White House reporter.
The strikes began overnight in the middle of the night, early this morning, just across Venezuela. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right, take a look at this. These are live pictures right now. Not these, but we're going to be showing you some live pictures from the capital city of Caracas. Since the strikes ended, it's been, we're told, fairly quiet as people assess the damage.
However, we're learning of possible unrest in at least parts of Caracas. Video geolocated by CNN appears to show armed gangs patrolling traffic, with one gunman firing in a car as it raced away from a traffic stop. And one source tells CNN that the pro-government gangs are on patrol. CNN's chief national security correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, is joining us right now. So what are you learning, Nick? What is happening in Venezuela now?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, I mean, it's still an unclear picture at this stage, Wolf. And as you might have expected, pro-regime gangs will be exercising the influence they can in some of the areas they control. That is perhaps an extension of government control rather than a suggestion that the government is to some degree collapsing.
I should point out the images you showed earlier on, there are multiple explosions at Higuerote. They do appear, some sources suggest, to have been the result of an air defense system being hit. So each of those explosions are secondary explosions rather than a sign of the intensity of the American assault.
That particular operation, relatively short, I should say, in comparable terms, targeted, efficient. You saw those multiple helicopters flying in. It began, it seems, around about 1:00 local time as President Trump said himself, targeting the specific place where they knew Maduro was, swiftly retrieving him and taking him to the assault amphibious ship, the Iwo Jima, now on to a New York court.
As you were hearing there from Alayna, though, what happens next is ultimately key. And Trump was clear in his FOX interview that he does want to see a change in the character of the government inside of Venezuela.
But it's important to remind people, you know, the promises made by exiled opposition politicians don't equate to real change on the ground. We saw years ago how a bid for an uprising to oust Maduro faltered in a matter of hours because they didn't have the security forces onside. Trump certainly wants to see some more substantial change, and says that's being discussed now, and the future will be bad for anyone who chose to remain loyal to Maduro.
But they have certainly, overnight, achieved an extraordinary event of removing Maduro and his wife from the capital where they should have been heavily secured, and frankly, impregnable. But regime change, that is still a question that's yet to be answered. Delcy Rodriguez, essentially answering in the role of president now, while Venezuela saying they want Maduro back, there may possibly be some kind of power struggle between those who feel a more hardline approach is wise and those who seek negotiation with the United States. [10:10:04]
I'm sure anybody contemplating taking Maduro's seat will be cognizant of the fact that they, too, potentially could find themselves on a U.S. special forces helicopter in the dead of night.
But it's really the intensity of the planning for the day after that's key here. Clearly, the military were detailed, competent, extraordinarily effective on what they planned. Probably not the guys you want to be in charge of the day after planning. That would be more down to career diplomats, potentially politicians. That has to be effective. You have to hope that the opposition leaders who say they won the recent election do feature in future planning, but the possibility of having a free and fair election with Venezuela's security forces still wanting a say in the outcome, that's tough.
So once I think perhaps President Trump gets over the success of what we've seen in recent hours and the exhilaration he clearly feels from it, the more complex and harder to answer questions now hove more clearly into view, Wolf, as well as the message this sends globally. This is a White House clearly unrestrained by what its critics say is international law. We've heard the French quite starkly critical from their foreign minister about this. Russia will be paying attention to how potentially crossed Washington could act, China as well.
This is a remarkable moment, a sitting president removed from his capital by the U.S. military to stand criminal trial. President Trump will now have to make the case whether this is a law enforcement matter that ends at Maduro, or whether he has the planning, the detailed grasp to pursue proper, extensive change of government inside Venezuela like he has been angling for for months.
BLITZER: And he says, he says that he's going to be providing a lot more detailed information about what's going on, what has happened, why it has happened at his news conference that's coming up at the top of the hour, and we'll, of course, have live coverage of that. He's going to be speaking from Mar-a-Lago down in Florida.
All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much.
I want to dig deeper right now into all of these important developments. CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier is with us and CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton is with us as well. From a military point of view, Colonel, this was a pretty successful operation, from a military, strictly military point of view. And as the president himself says, the CIA provided a lot of the intelligence what to expect. So it was a joint military intelligence operation.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's right, Wolf. And, you know, when you look at the way in which this was executed, it was almost flawless. And I say almost because, you know, as Alayna was reporting, there apparently was damage to a U.S. helicopter and there were some injuries to U.S. personnel.
But having said that, this was basically textbook from that standpoint. Special operations forces, like Delta Force, who conduct these operations practice this quite a bit. And the fact that they did the planning only since December, as Alayna was reporting, that is actually pretty remarkable, because a lot of these missions take a lot of time to prepare. You know, when we look at the planning that went into Iraq, for example, that took months. Panama took basically over a year with fits and starts. So that is the kind of thing that, you know, when you look at, you have to say from a purely military perspective, this was a very successful operation.
BLITZER: And Trump says that he was in a room at Mar-a-Lago watching all of this live. He says it was like watching television as it was unfolding, because the U.S. has enormous capabilities to feedback not just audio, but video of what's going on.
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, it shows that they've used this five months of military occupation off the coast of Venezuela to build an intelligence picture, not just the human intelligence that the CIA and defense intelligence agency provide, but the geospatial intelligence, the signals intelligence. So you have all of the intelligence agencies building a picture that allows them to plan an operation like this.
And it will be on the minds, as Nick Paton Walsh said, of every Venezuelan official, that if they stand up to the Trump administration, this could happen to them. But the question is, who can the Trump administration reach out to to try and negotiate with? Will they try to get someone in the military to say, overthrow the current government and invite in the opposition if they've been given some sort of a promise that they won't be prosecuted as part of the drug cartel network too.
This is all the stuff that will now be happening behind closed doors, frantic phone calls back and forth. Some people may be looking for a way out. Some people, like the vice president of Venezuela, who says she's now in charge, probably reaching out to Moscow and other guarantors of their power to ask for some sort of support.
BLITZER: This vice president, who is now technically in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, what do we know about this vice president?
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DOZIER: She was foreign minister beforehand. She is a confidante of Maduros, and she's also not as charismatic, though her power extends from him. So it's possibly someone like the defense minister who is much more popular and could challenge her for this power. We could see some sort of a struggle between these various Maduro followers who now see an opportunity but also see a threat.
BLITZER: Venezuela has a pretty sophisticated, large military itself. What are the concerns that the U.S. military has now about some sort of retaliatory action?
LEIGHTON: Well, the Venezuelan military actually has, based on, because of sanctions and because of the inability to train as thoroughly as the U.S. military does, they have some limitations in terms of how they can actually respond. So the way they would probably respond would be in an unconventional way. That's what we would have to expect, and especially if we find ourselves putting boots on the ground, even though the administration, the Trump administration, is very reluctant to do that. The key thing here is that it's always a possibility, especially, as Kim was mentioning, when you have a situation where we really don't know which power is going to be negotiating with the U.S., or who is going to step to the up to the plate from a power standpoint within Venezuela, it may be necessary for the U.S. to actually put boots in there because of that very fact.
So what they could expect there would be guerrilla type activities. They could expect, you know, some kind of guerrilla movement or, because basically what you're looking at is the plans that the Venezuelans have are based on fighting in an urban terrain. They're based on also moving back into the mountains in case the U.S. invades. So that's the kind of planning that they've done in Venezuela. But how effective that planning is and how effectively the Venezuelan forces can command and control that kind of an action, or the Bolivarian Party or things like that could control things, that really remains to be seen.
BLITZER: Kim, what are you bracing to see now?
DOZIER: Well, we saw those video from the capital of some of those guerrilla militias already out on the streets trying to, quote- unquote, keep the peace. That shows how this place could fracture. Depending on which faction ultimately ends up taking power, say part of the military decides to back the opposition and Maria Machado's government comes in, those people could form the backbone of some civil war type force. We could really see a lot of instability and more refugee flight on top of the 7 million some odd Venezuelans that have fled the Maduro regime.
BLITZER: All right, Kim Dozier, thank you very much. Cedric Leighton, thanks to you as well. Don't go too far away. We're going to be assessing what's going on.
We're getting new information, breaking news coming in to CNN. The U.S. Justice Department has just released the indictment, the official indictment against Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Our team is now going through it. We're going to bring you details on that and a lot more on the major breaking news right after this.
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[10:22:24]
BLITZER: We're now seeing the first clear daylight pictures after the U.S. strikes in Venezuela. State TV crews were allowed inside La Carlota air base in Caracas, the capital, where they found tanks burned out and busses blown apart. We're also hearing reports of armed gangs patrolling the streets, and even some gunfire right now.
Let's go live to journalist Mary Mena, who is in the capital of Caracas. Mary, what are you seeing right now? MARY MENA, JOURNALIST: Well, right now there are empty streets and
empty highways in most of the city. We have learned about some gathering of people, mostly supporters of Nicolas Maduro, that are approaching to the presidential palace, the Miraflores Palace in Caracas. And they are being responding to the call of the authorities, in this case, Venezuelans, by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, which has called the citizens to protect the sovereignty of Venezuela. They are demanding a proof of life from President Nicolas Maduro. They say the international community and other neighboring countries should do the same, to call for the U.S. to release a proof of life of Nicolas Maduro.
There are several reactions from Venezuela, mixed reactions. There were nerve-wracking couple of hours during the day when the strikes began, and then people of the days started to follow, they started to go to some places like pharmacies or supermarkets to buy some food, some provisions for the days. Some others decided to remain at home in case of reprisals or for security reasons. And some others, as I said, decided to support Nicolas Maduro.
Even if some people want to show their support to the actions taken by the U.S., it is difficult to get that in the streets of Caracas, because we need to remember that most Venezuelans were living under a regime mandatory that was authoritarian, and there were taking place many detentions in the country since last year. And right now, most Venezuelans are cautious following the news from home, from home mostly, and trying to keep the situation as follows. It is an unprecedented time for Venezuela.
BLITZER: A very, very tense time indeed. All right, Mary Mena in Caracas for us, thank you very much. And stay safe. Appreciate it.
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We're staying on top of the breaking news here at CNN. President Trump is expected to speak right at the top of the hour, 11:00 a.m. eastern. He says he's got new information he's going to be releasing. We'll have live coverage. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
BLITZER: We're following the breaking news just into CNN. The U.S. Department of Justice has just released the indictment of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. CNN's senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is here with me in "The Situation Room." You've got a lot of papers there in front of you. What are you learning?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this is the basis under which the FBI participated in this, in this mission with the U.S. military to capture Nicolas Maduro, his wife, and a number of other officials who are who are number -- I'm sorry, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, who are under indictment, along with a number of other Venezuelan officials.
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The indictment lists charges related to drug trafficking and the support of various cartels that have been operating in Venezuela in support of trafficking drugs into the United States through Mexico. It goes through a number of allegations made by the prosecutors that Maduro, going back to years ago when he was actually foreign minister, that he essentially used the diplomatic cover of the Venezuelan government to allow cartel leaders to move money, to also move drugs up from South America to the United States, and also move money from, from Mexico, using planes. And, again, diplomatic cover of the Venezuelan government to take that money back to Venezuela.
And so this is a case that the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Justice Department, they've been working on this for years. There was an earlier indictment of Maduro, and this is the new one that has now been unsealed in the Southern District of New York. So now what this does is this lays out what the next steps are. Maduro and his wife are expected to be in court perhaps as soon as Monday. Right now --
BLITZER: In New York.
PEREZ: In New York. The president of the United States says that he is now being held on a U.S. military ship. I believe the Iwo Jima is what the president said.
BLITZER: Right.
PEREZ: So the now there's a logistical issue, which is to get him from that ship to perhaps a U.S. military base. There's a number of bases that they could use, and then transfer him to New York City, where he will face these charges in Manhattan.
Now, this indictment goes beyond just Maduro. It names his wife, Cilia. It names Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. It names a couple of other officials in the U.S., in the Venezuelan government, as well as the leader of the of the Tren de Aragua gang, which is, the U.S. says, has been part of the drug trafficking network that is based in Venezuela. Again, moving drugs from South America, from Colombia mostly, through Venezuela and up to the rest of the world.
A lot of that drugs, a lot of those drugs, though, Wolf, don't come to the United States. They actually go to Europe. But the U.S. government, President Trump has made the argument that all of that is essentially a national security problem for the United States.
So we'll see and we'll learn more from the president in the next hour about all of the ways in which they've made this legal argument, essentially, that this is something the U.S. government has the right to do. Of course, the FBI's participation in this is unusual because they don't tend to operate in international, in foreign countries, right, not in trying to capture people like this. So this is something that is -- the last time this was done really was, was the Noriega case where the U.S. went in, invaded Panama, captured the president of Panama, brought him to trial here in the United States, where he was convicted. BLITZER: Now, this indictment, this charge, narco-terrorism,
conspiracy charges against Maduro, but also specifically against his wife?
PEREZ: Right. It describes -- there's a there's a couple of areas here where they describe that she was present, for instance, in 2007. She personally accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to broker meetings between a known drug trafficker and the director of the -- of the anti-drug agency in the Venezuelan government. And so that is one of the allegations that is made here by prosecutors against Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro. She is the wife of, of the president.
BLITZER: And this indictment was filed in the Southern District of New York by the U.S. attorney there. When was it actually charged? I know it's been released now, but when was the indictment actually affirmed?
PEREZ: It appears it was filed some time ago. I don't -- we don't have exactly the date, but it does say it was filed under seal. And again, it was a superseding indictment because there was a previous indictment of Maduro that dates, I believe, to 2020. So this is brand new and has just been unsealed by the U.S. attorney, Jay Clayton. And it doesn't say exactly what date this was, this was filed, but they went to the grand jury in New York and were able to get this superseding indictment.
BLITZER: And the fact that the Southern District of New York, one of the premier U.S. Justice Department districts, went ahead and filed this, that's pretty significant.
PEREZ: Right, it's significant. This is the district where the earlier case was already being investigated and being prosecuted. So, that fits with why it was, it was filed there. And it also gives you a sense of what they want to do with this.
[10:35:00]
They want to make this, the Justice Department and the Trump administration want this to be, you know, obviously an example to the world about what the capabilities of the United States are, especially when the president has been making these allegations against Maduro and a number of other officials, and other foreign leaders. But Maduro has been the focus of the president's ire for some time.
BLITZER: And we'll hear a lot more of what the president has to say when he addresses --
PEREZ: Some of this began in the first, in the first Trump term, right. You know, he's been going after Maduro since then. And so the focus now is not a surprise.
BLITZER: He'll be making a statement, then answering reporters' questions right at the top of the hour. We'll stand by and hear what he has to say. All right, Evan, thank you very, very much. I want to bring in CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero and CNN senior
legal analyst Elie Honig. He's a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
So what does it say to you, Elie? Your former district, the Southern District of New York, actually filed these conspiracy charges, narco- terrorism charges against Maduro and his wife.
ELIE HONIG, SENIOR CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, very serious charges here. There are six defendants in this indictment, including Maduro, his wife, and his son. The charges here include narco- terrorism conspiracy, massive cocaine importation into the United States, thousands upon thousands of tons, and use of firearms, machine guns, and bombs, incendiary devices. The max penalty here is life. The minimum, if there's a conviction, is 30 years.
And the fact that this is charged in our civilian criminal courts to be prosecuted by Justice Department prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, tells me that they are quite serious about doing this case. That is the right district to charge this case. I used to work there. That is an office that knows how to handle the highest security, highest stakes cases over the history of the Southern District of New York have handled trials of terrorist leaders, foreign and domestic, have handled trials of leaders of massive international drug trafficking groups. And so that is absolutely the appropriate and right district to handle these charges.
There has been a debate, Wolf, you may recall this, about whether leaders of foreign terrorist groups can be safely tried here in the United States. It's been done in the Southern District of New York. It can be done again. So it tells me that the U.S. Justice Department and government in particular are very serious about seeing this case through, about giving Maduro his day in court as any other criminal defendant in the federal courts in the United States.
BLITZER: And the attorney general, Pam Bondi, has already issued statements supporting what's going on.
You know, Carrie, we saw Senator Mike Lee say just a little while ago that President Trump's actions in Venezuela, in his view, likely falls within the president's inherent authority under Article Two of the U.S. constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack. What do you make of that argument?
CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Wolf, for weeks and months we've been talking about the military strikes and the military buildup around Venezuela, the strikes that the administration has been launching against the boats. And then just last week, there was reports of a covert action that had been authorized by the president to strike a particular port.
And so Mike Lee's comments as you're reporting them, I think, goes to that first piece, which is an argument that the administration would make, that the military activities of the U.S. government fall under the president's Article Two authorities. Other members of Congress make a different argument when it comes to that. They say that Congress has a role, that the activities rise to the level of hostilities, and that Congress should authorize it. And that would be more aligned with the way that the U.S. government handled the war against Al Qaeda and its progeny when there was an authorization for use of military force against those terrorist groups, as well as an authorization for use of military force against Iraq. So that's in the military context.
This criminal prosecution is really much more straightforward in some ways, as Elie is describing and Evan reported, which is that there is a long track record of the U.S. government bringing a sophisticated criminal indictment in this type of circumstance.
BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Elie, the, now, I guess ex- president Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores, they're supposedly on the USS Iwo Jima, a battleship heading towards New York. They'll be removed from there in the coming days and taken to the U.S. district court in New York City for these charges to be filed. Walk us through this legal process.
HONIG: Yes. So, Wolf, first of all, there is going to be a logistical challenge here, because the courthouse, the federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan is in -- there's federal buildings, state government buildings, all in that area and arranged for him to be presented and to have the court proceedings somewhere else within the Southern District of New York.
[10:40:02]
There was actually talk of doing that with some of the 911 related cases, of having those proceedings, having those trials somewhere in one of the northern counties, Rockland or Orange or Westchester up there, which are still in the Southern District of New York.
But here's what's going to play out in the coming days and weeks. So the first thing is, all the defendants, Nicolas Maduro, his wife, and anyone else we have in custody, they have to be presented in court. They'll be arraigned. They'll be advised of the charges against them in the indictment. They will enter pleas, surely at this point of not guilty. They can always choose to change that later.
The court will ensure that they have defense counsel either of their hiring, or if not, the court will appoint somebody. The court will determine bail. I don't think there's any chance any of these defendants are given bail. I think they will be held pending trial. And then the court will set a schedule. There will have to be discovery, meaning prosecutors will have to turn over their evidence to the defendants. There will be motions, meaning Maduro and others can ask the court to throw the charges out. And eventually there will be a trial date set.
I don't think a trial is anywhere imminent. I think it's going to take many months, quite possibly over a year to get from here to trial. But then again, I think everyone is going to understand that urgency attaches to this case. And so I think prosecutors and potentially the judge here will be looking to get this case tried as soon as humanly possible. BLITZER: I'm sure there will be arguments that will be made from the
critics of President Trump's decision to launch this military strike, that it was illegal since there was no formal, Carrie, declaration of war passed by Congress. I'm already hearing that, but what do you hear?
CORDERO: Well, you know, based on what I imagine that you and our other reporters are hearing, there's going to be members of Congress who say that this was an illegal act of aggression. And there certainly will be some in the international community who will say that the strikes in particular, so, like the strike against the port last week, a little -- and strikes that were involved surrounding this extraction, that they are basically acts of aggression under international law.
The fact that there is an indictment in place and that the new - wife in addition to Maduro and other individuals, that's a distinction from the March 2020 indictment. And so, since there is that indictment in place, then there is an argument that this process of removing them was person to that indictment, and there will be a lawful process.
But the strikes overall and the activity in the sovereign territory of another country will certainly raise criticism from some parts of Congress within our own government and certainly from the international community to some extent that taking an action into the sovereignty of another country violates international law.
BLITZER: And very quickly, before I let you go, Elie, is it too early to speculate on what kind of punishment Nicolas Maduro could face if convicted of these narco-terrorism conspiracy charges?
HONIG: Well, I can tell you, without speculating, Wolf, that the mandatory minimum sentence, if there's a conviction here, is 30 years in prison, meaning no matter what, if he's convicted on the top charges, he will have to do 30 years in prison. And the life here could be as high as -- the max sentence here could be as high as life.
There was a codefendant, I should mention, who was charged back in the earlier 2020 case, who pled guilty and was sentenced in 2024 to 260 months in prison. So he was given a lesser plea deal. So that person was sentenced to 22 or so years in prison. So any way you cut this, Wolf, the stakes are very high for Maduro. Given his age, he's likely, if convicted, looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars.
BLITZER: Yes, that's very, very true. All right, Carrie Cordero and Elie Honig, as usual, thank you very, very much.
And we're going to have much more on the breaking news just ahead. The Venezuelan president, as you know, Nicolas Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, are now on their way to the United States, to New York City, after being captured overnight. We're going to hear directly from President Trump right at the top of the hour. He's standing by in Mar- a-Lago for a news conference.
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[10:47:18]
BLITZER: Minutes from now, President Trump will speak from mar a Mar- a-Lago in Florida after a U.S. military strike on Venezuela. Earlier this morning, he confirmed the capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores. The Venezuelan leader is now en route to New York City, where he will face criminal charges in Manhattan federal court.
The president says the U.S. will be involved in Venezuela's next government, with high level talks already underway. That's what he says.
Joining us now to discuss what's going on, CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene, CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh, CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner, and CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk.
Alayna, let me begin with you. You cover the White House. What are you hearing? What's the latest information on what the Trump administration is planning to do with the Venezuelan government in the coming days?
TREENE: Yes, well, look, we reported this morning after these strikes that -- planned, Wolf, since mid-December. And -- they want to set up a transition government inside Venezuela and call for elections. And all of this is really about trying to ensure that Maduro, but mainly, you know, the people who work alongside him, like the vice president, are the ones who hold on to power. And so that's going to be a key part for next steps.
We did hear the president as well this morning say on FOX News that the Trump administration is going to be very involved in what happens next inside Venezuela and how they want to set up the government. I was told, we'll see if this is actually the case, that we should be hearing more about this for the next steps at 11:00, when the president takes the stage for this news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
But what is clear is that they very much have been working on day after plans for when this would happen, if Maduro was either to voluntarily step down -- of course, that did not happen -- or if he was to be forcefully ousted, as is what's clear that happened today. And what they don't want is to have other people filling that power vacuum. They want to be the ones very much involved in the process --
BLITZER: You're the former deputy press secretary over at the Pentagon, Sabrina. What's your reaction to what these dramatic developments underscore right now?
SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think there's no question that this was an incredible operation that was conducted by our military. And it took a lot of planning. I mean, something like this, I think we're getting reporting on how this operation came together. But to have sourcing on the ground that basically established a pattern of life for Maduro and his wife, and then also these precision airstrikes that we saw took place. I mean, took out these airfields and air defenses that, you know, we needed to do in order to basically capture and seize Nicolas Maduro.
[10:50:00]
I mean, it shows that the units that did this operation were incredibly precise. They were -- it was a very quick operation. And I think, you know, having been in the Pentagon, I know Brett and I have been on many calls about this. I mean, this is something that probably the secretary of defense was getting briefed on almost daily. The president was as well. And then they took the opportunity when they had the cover of darkness to execute on that operation.
So I think, you know, there's a lot of questions that I have, of course, of what comes next, and what is, you know, to what Alayna was saying, what is the day after plan? Because we've seen what happens with regime changes, whether it be in Libya or Iraq, it doesn't always work out the way you think it's going to. So if we're going to be heavily involved in Venezuela, I mean, Trump promised to end all wars. This is not something that's just going to, now there's going to be an established government and everything becomes a democratic process. I mean, this is something that's going to take a lot of time. So what is this administration's commitment to that?
BLITZER: And I'm wondering if the administration has actually thought through what the implications of all of this are going to be.
SINGH: And the regional implications as well.
BLITZER: And global implications, for that matter. Russia, Iran, they're watching all of this very, very closely, U.S. adversaries. And there's some speculation they might do something as well.
BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Perhaps. I mean, you know, I do think that, obviously, our adversaries are looking at it. Some of them are commenting on it. We have, for sure, representatives of these nations on the ground. A representative, a special envoy from China, was there, met with Maduro in Caracas just hours before this operation. So clearly China was caught off guard. I mean, you can call it an intel failure by China, by Russia. I mean, you have to congratulate the administration on being able to keep this quiet.
And I want to add to Sabrina, the role of the CIA in this operation is absolutely clear. But, you know, the United States, this is a return of the United States to Latin America, the national security strategy as written is playing out before our very eyes. And, you know, we're back in a big way as the policemen of this region.
BLITZER: What do you think, Brett?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Look, I think when this -- the professionalism and execution of our special operators fuse with intelligence is extraordinary. I've been involved in these types of operations. What we just saw -- effective, decisive, kept secret. I think you have to pause and reflect on that. These are volunteers who serve our country every day, no matter who's in power. So that's my first thought, the men and women who executed this operation. What comes next we're going to see. Like the trial in New York, in a
trial, you have to have facts. So you're going to see facts presented about the Maduro regime, about his connections with Iran and Russia, this illicit drug trade, all the illicit commerce that goes on around the world. That will be fascinating.
In terms of the political transition, we just don't know. I hope the president speaks to it. I mean, the Venezuelan constitution actually requires, if the president is out of power, the vice president has to call for an election within 30 days. Whether or not she actually does that, whether they declare some sort of martial law, emergency law, we have no idea.
So right now, a lot of questions, but I think it's worth pausing. And just the men and women who do these types of operations, regardless of who's in power, regardless of what Democrats or Republicans might think of this operation, it is extraordinary. They serve our country. And I think we owe them all an extraordinary debt of gratitude.
BLITZER: We'll see what happens, and the stakes right now clearly are enormous. Everybody, stand by with us. We're waiting to hear from the president of the United States. He's getting ready to address the issues of this operation that led to the capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro.
A new hour of CNN's special live coverage will start right after a short break.
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[10:58:05]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
BLITZER: Hello, I'm Wolf blitzer in Washington alongside my colleague and friend Erin Burnett, who is in New York. I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.
We're continuing to follow major breaking news out of Venezuela. Right now, we're standing by to hear directly from President Trump. He's getting ready to have a news conference at any moment now down at Mar- a-Lago in Florida. The president confirming this morning that the U.S. military forces carried out large scale strikes on Venezuela overnight and captured, yes, captured the country's president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Sources telling CNN the couple was captured right in the middle of the night, around 1:30 a.m. eastern, and dragged from their bedroom by the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force. President Trump says he watched the operation and captured all the play out in real time. He says it was like watching a television show from a room. He just called it a room, didn't call it the Situation Room, from a room in his Florida home alongside U.S. military generals.
The U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, says both Maduro and his wife have now been indicted on drug and weapons charges and will face, quote, "the full wrath of American justice in the United States." That's where Pam Bondi says.
Trump says the couple were flown to the U.S. Navy ship the USS Iwo Jima, a battleship, and according to people briefed on the matter, plans are now in the works to take Maduro and his wife to New York where they will face charges in a Manhattan federal court.
I want to bring back our panel of experts right now. CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene is with us, CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh, CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner, and CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk.
Alayna, let me begin with you. What else are you hearing from officials at the White House right now?
TREENE: Yes. Look, I mean, clearly the president and his team are very happy with this operation. It was very precise. It was able to be kept under wraps, of course, the way that they wanted it. And they were able to execute it successfully. The president said there were no --
