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Trump: U.S. Captures Venezuelan Leader After Strikes On Country. Trump: U.S. Captures Venezuelan Leader After Strikes On Country; Trump Confirms U.S. Conducted Large-Scale Strike On Venezuela. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired January 03, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: States carried out a, quote, large scale strike against Venezuela overnight and claims that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and removed from the country. The president made the announcement in a post on Truth Social just after 4:00 a.m. Eastern time. CNN teams in the Venezuelan capital Caracas witnessed multiple explosions and heard the sound of aircraft in the early morning hours. Some parts of the city were left without power. The first explosion witnessed by CNN was at about 1:50 a.m. local time.

Venezuela's government, in a statement issued before President Trump's post, condemned what it called a grave military aggression and said that attacks hit Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira. The Venezuelan vice president now calling for proof of life for Maduro, saying that his whereabouts are unknown.

In a brief phone interview with the New York Times, President Trump described the operation as brilliant, but declined to say whether he sought congressional authorization, saying that he will address that question later today. The White House says the president expected to speak from Mar-a-Lago at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. CNN will of course, cover that press conference.

This all comes after weeks of escalating U.S. pressure on Venezuela, including strikes tied to counternarcotics operations and a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers. The stories developing will continue to bring it to you as confirmed details arrive.

Joining me now, Admiral James Stavridis, CNN senior military analyst, former supreme Allied Commander of NATO, partner of the Carlyle Group. That's an international investment firm.

Admiral, you're known as a former supreme allied commander of NATO, but I want to remind the audience, you yourself, also a former combatant commander, and you commanded U.S. Southern Command. So this couldn't be more in your wheelhouse. I know we're going to learn more at 11:00. There's a lot that we don't know. But let's parse what the president told us in that Truth Social post.

He said, for example, that it was a large strike. Thoughts on that?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: I call it a precision strike, personally. A large strike is going downtown Baghdad shock and awe. Turn out every light in the city. Start knocking down every military complex. That's a large strike.

I would call this a highly, highly precise strike with a pretty clear objective of a snatch -- grab and snatch and remove the leadership, a kind of a leadership strike, if you will. And can we just pause there and observe? We're going to learn a lot more about the operational details, but this looks to be executed flawlessly from everything I can see. My hat's off to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Caine, as well as to the combatant commanders, U.S. Southern Command and U.S. special Operations Command. From all we can see, a very capable, precise special operations strike successfully conducted.

SMERCONISH: So again, recognizing there's more unknown than known at this point, I want to continue to parse what the President told us in Truth Social. He said that Maduro had been captured and he also said that he'd been captured along with his wife. Your gut reaction?

STAVRIDIS: He was somewhere in the middle of the night where he felt extremely safe. I think anybody does not bring their spouse into a situation where they feel they could be kidnapped or taken away. One theory, and it would just be an operational theory, would be you start the strikes at say, 1:00 in the morning, you already know because you've observed where Maduro goes when there are some level of danger to him. Waiting for him is Delta 4, Seal Team 6. Obviously this is pure conjecture on my part, but the fact that his wife is with him tells me he was in a place he considered extremely safe before he was apprehended by the United States.

SMERCONISH: One more element then from the President's Truth Social post. He said that it was done in conjunction with law enforcement. Of course, Maduro faces indictment in the Southern District of New York for drug trafficking. Your thought on the fact that this was in conjunction with law enforcement?

STAVRIDIS: When I printed off the president's post, shortly after it came off, I underlined three times, law enforcement. That makes me happy. That means that this is, in fact going to go through our judicial system. He's not going to be hustled off to Guantanamo Bay with a bag over his head. I think this means -- I hope it means that he will arrive in New York City and go through a legal process.

[09:05:00]

From everything I can see, he's someone who ought to face, as President Trump said, the full wrath of American justice. I hope he gets a big sentence.

The comparison here, I think, Michael, is Panama, 1989, when we took Manuel Noriega, the leader of that country. He went through our judicial system, was incarcerated and eventually was served that sentence in the United States. That's what I hope happens to Nicolas Maduro. That's legitimate law enforcement, in my view. SMERCONISH: Reports are -- the early reports are that Delta Force carried out the extraction. Is that the -- and forgive me for not knowing the semantics, is that the unit. Is that the arm of the military that you would expect to be used in this role?

STAVRIDIS: Absolutely. This is the Special Operations Combatant Command. Under that, the Joint Special Operations Command, which operates out of Fort Bragg, its absolute most elite unit. And units are the seals and the Green Berets who are part of this. According to press reports, this is Seal Team 6, that is the force you would use.

When I was Southern Command, we had three American hostages being held by the Colombian FARC, the communist party down there. When went to rescue them, it was this unit that came in. They are utterly competent, the best in the world. Same ones that took out Osama bin Laden.

SMERCONISH: Admiral Stavridis, I also reported that rockets were heard at 1:50 a.m. local time. Is your expectation, again, recognizing there's more unknown than known that would have been diversionary or something representative of the extraction of Maduro himself?

STAVRIDIS: I think the two are tied together. Operationally you want to ensure that the Venezuelan military doesn't have the capacity to interfere. That means taking out those units and their support structures in and around the capital and then also any in air bases or ports that could pursue or respond. So I think this would all fit together as a part of the overall operation, which to my eye anyway, and again, we're going to learn more appears to be directed at taking out Maduro.

Another thought here, Michael. You and I talked weeks ago, I think, a couple of months ago, about this idea of steadily increasing the pressure on Maduro, beginning with going after the drug boats, then seizing the tankers, then striking the pier ashore. Gradual ladder of escalation. I think we talked then at the highest point of that, or leadership strikes. I think that's what you're seeing right here.

SMERCONISH: Admiral Stavridis, if you told me last night before going to bed that I'd awaken in the morning, not do my normal show because there had been a use of U.S. military power and then asked me to guess where, I would have incorrectly said, I guess we came to the defense of the protesters in Iran, given what President Trump had told us in the last 24, 48 hours. I guess my question is, how surprised are you by this turn of events?

STAVRIDIS: I'm not surprised at all. In terms of going up that vertical ladder of escalation, it's been very logical, very smoothly conducted as we've gone up. I am impressed by the boldness of being able to drop in and capture this individual. And you know, Hemingway said, start with a true sentence. Here's a true sentence, Nicolas Maduro is not the legitimate elected president of Venezuela.

He stole two elections that's extremely well documented. He has a $50 million bounty on his head, very legitimately for narcotics trafficking. He's a legitimate law enforcement target. Final thought, Michael, as you look at this, we talked a moment ago about Panama, I'll give you a cautionary tale. 2011, when I was Supreme Allied Commander in NATO, we had a regime changing operation that was conducted in Libya. And after Gaddafi fell, we all did high fives, didn't turn out very well. Libya went into a civil war. The knock on effects of that continue today.

Because the international community simply walked away and dusted its hands of Libya. We need to avoid that, do all we can to steer Venezuela toward a better outcome. I think there's a lot more work to be done beyond this apprehension of this criminal Maduro.

[09:10:03]

SMERCONISH: OK, to that point, I know that you regard yourself as a disciple of the late, great Colin Powell. So let's talk Pottery Barn, do we own it?

STAVRIDIS: I don't think we do at this point, but boy, is that a good question. And a friend of mine e-mailed me this morning referencing the Pottery Barn rule, you break it, you own it. And my friend said, maybe President Trump doesn't think that applies to oil fields. I would say we're pretty close. But owning it would be again, Iraq, 150,000 troops taking down the capital, knocking out every vestige of power, disbanding the armed forces.

That's breaking it. That's owning it. I would say what we've done is remove a cancer from the body of Venezuela. Now it's going to be up to the Venezuelans to try and heal themselves.

SMERCONISH: I made reference to Iran. Tell me how this news is being received in Iran. How's it being received in Russia? How's it being received in China?

STAVRIDIS: All three, predictably, will deplore this kind of activity publicly. Privately, they will be impressed with the military capability here. I would argue none of those three militaries could have executed an operation like this. And again, we just -- we tend to just breeze by this. But the idea of finding, fixing kidnapping, taking him out alive with his wife, no casualties on the side of the U.S., that's an extraordinary military operation.

So I think while there will be a lot of public condemnation of the United States, predictably from those three nations, privately, they'll be saying to themselves, that's a very capable military. That's not a bad thought to pop up in Beijing, Moscow and Tehran these days.

SMERCONISH: Final subject, if I may. Let's go back big picture. I made reference to you once being responsible for Southern Command. So put this now in a broader context. Is -- do you see this, Admiral Stavridis, as the U.S. exerting influence in the Western Hemisphere writ large in a way that we've not recently done?

STAVRIDIS: It will be interpreted in that way in the region, and therefore those governments in the region, say Argentina, the new government in Chile, the governments that are roughly aligned with the United States will applaud this. Until the most recent administration in Bogota in Colombia, the Colombians would have been leading the cheers. Now there is a left wing government with whom we are in some disagreement in Bogota, unfortunately. So the point is, Michael, as you look across the region, this will land differently in different capitals.

But I'll close on this, Nicolas Maduro has almost no friends. Maybe a few in Havana, maybe over in Nicaragua with Daniel Ortega. Maybe a few. But overall, the region will be glad to see the retreat of Maduro. They will also be praying that we don't see a civil war occur here.

I don't think we will. Edmund (ph ) Gonzalez, the elected leader, Maria Machado, the recent Nobel Prize laureate. There are good leaders in Venezuela who had the election stolen. Let's hope that's where the people of Venezuela turn in this moment.

SMERCONISH: But let me just pursue a point that you raised, because relative to Russia and relative to Putin, you know that we've been tracking that particular tanker and they tried to hang a flag. You know the nomenclature and also the law of the sea better than I do, better than anybody does. You know what I'm making reference to. It seems like the Trump administration was not dissuaded, was not coward, by the prospect that maybe Putin would be in the camp of Maduro in this instance.

STAVRIDIS: I am unsurprised to see the Russians do everything they can here. And back to Russia, China and Iran, all three have reasons to want Maduro to remain in power and they will do what they can to support him, but they don't have the military capability to come in and challenge the United States.

One other aspect here is oil. From the perspective, particularly of Russia and Iran, they're very happy to see a Maduro in charge of Venezuela, which effectively locks up 300 billion barrels of oil off the market, increasing the price of oil. That's good news in Tehran, good news in Moscow.

[09:15:07]

If we can get a positive pro-Western regime in place here and start unlocking that Venezuelan oil, that'll be a big win in a lot of places, but not in Tehran, not in Moscow, and not in Beijing.

SMERCONISH: Former Southern Commander, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Admiral James Stavridis. we thank you.

Still to come, much more on our breaking news out of Venezuela. President Trump is going to speak at an 11:00 a.m. news conference live from Mar-a-Lago. We will of course cover it. He already confirmed a U.S. strike there, saying Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife have been captured. So with Maduro out, who's in?

And is there a clear path to a democratic transition?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:05]

SMERCONISH: We're continuing to follow major breaking news out of Venezuela. President Trump says the United States carried out a, quote, "large scale strike against Venezuela overnight" and claims that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and removed from the country. The president made the announcement in a post on Truth Social just after 4:00 a.m. Eastern time. Venezuela's government, in a statement issued before President Trump's post, condemned what it called a grave military aggression and said attacks hit Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira. The Venezuelan vice president now calling for proof of life for Maduro, saying that his whereabouts are unknown.

This comes after weeks of escalating U.S. pressure on Venezuela, including strikes tied to counternarcotics operations and at a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers.

Joining me now is Christopher Sabatini. He's a Senior Fellow for Latin America at the Chatham House at a lecture in discipline in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University where he's taught since 2008.

Dr. Sabatini, I'm sure I'm not the only one in America and around the globe today thinking of Maria Corina Machado and what this all might mean relative to a path toward true democracy in this country. Will you speak to that issue?

CHRIS SABATINI, SENIOR FELLOW FOR LATIN AMERICA, CHATHAM HOUSE: Michael, it's not entirely clear. It's exactly the question to ask because as you saw -- as we all saw, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo recently. She's still on tour. She's outside Venezuela. What's not clear and never has been from the beginning of this buildup six months ago now was what was the path between an eventual regime change?

First, the Trump administration was hoping that would happen because of defections within the military. They would scare them. When that didn't happen, they started taking out the narco boats, then they started seizing the oil tankers. When that didn't work, then they went in for the big smash and grab expedition adventure that you just saw, which is very important, very impressive. But simply removing Maduro is not enough to bring the democratic opposition to power.

That democratic opposition did win legitimate, well, elections legitimately in 2024 that were denied them by Nicolas Maduro. But if you remove Nicolas Maduro, you still have his inner circle. And what we're seeing right now are elements of that inner circle not just trying to claim the representation of the Venezuelan people and denounce the United States predictably, but also trying to jockey for who should inherit the Nicolas Maduro regime, if you will. There's no talk right now of having the democratic opposition come into power because quite frankly, those elements around Nicolas -- formerly around Nicolas Maduro, are quite frankly very opposed to the democratic opposition, which you see it as putting them at risk of also being put on trial for human rights abuses and corruption and illicit activity.

SMERCONISH: Well, we're going to know more in about an hour and 40 minutes when the president addresses the world from Mar-a-Lago and we'll of course cover that here on CNN. My hunch is that we're going to hear the president refer to this as a law enforcement action, much like he said in his Truth Social post. Because I think the administration doesn't want to be involved in regime change. Even though if you're removing Maduro, that's what you're involved with, right?

SABATINI: What you've left is a vacuum, quite frankly. We don't know whether the regime will change. And if you track Donald Trump's statements over the course of the last six months, it was first about narco terrorism, then about denying revenue to the regime and then about removing Maduro. He's never talked about full on regime change that would bring the democratic opposition to power. Secretary State Marc -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio very much wants that.

That is his goal. But the truth is that plan has never been fully fleshed out or even articulated. So we don't know how they plan to get there. Quite frankly, it's possible for the reasons you just say, Michael, that Donald Trump will say mission accomplished, Nicolas Maduro's gone, we're done with this, without being engaged over the long term process. It's going to be necessary to ensure stability and to ensure that all of the elements of the Nicolas Maduro government are removed from power and there's some form of a democratic government and transition in place.

I don't see how you get there quite frankly from here.

SMERCONISH: Let me just remind the audience and Catherine, my producer, if you could put that New York Times headline up on the screen from 2020. I want to read the lead professor from a story that was headlined Venezuelan leader Maduro charged in the U.S. with drug trafficking. Just to provide some context, President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela was indicted in the United States on Thursday from this story, in 2020, in a decades long narco terrorism and international cocaine trafficking conspiracy in which prosecutors say he violent drug cartel even as he ascended to the top of government.

[09:25:04]

To the Trump administration, I'm sure they will say that's what this is all about. There's nothing new.

SABATINI: It is true that Nicolas Maduro has led a regime that has been deeply involved in all sorts of illicit activities, money laundering, illegal gold mining, the transshipment of narcotics, not so much the production of narcotics as well as just blatant outright forms of other transnational crime. But the truth is that what this really is about, especially for Marco Rubio and many elements of the diaspora in Florida, is about regime change. Because quite frankly, you don't just, as anyone knows, if indeed Donald Trump believes the statement about Nicolas Maduro once heading a criminal enterprise, you don't just decapitate the capo of that enterprise and believe that it will collapse of its own. There will be other leaders that fulfill this.

So even if that is the goal, even if Donald Trump tries to claim victory later today, the truth is that simply removing whoever it may be, whether it's Al Capone or whether it's Pablo Escobar, does not remove the threat if that threat is only defined as narcotics trafficking and criminal activity.

SMERCONISH: Thank you so much for your expertise. We appreciate it.

We're going to be back in just a moment with our breaking news. President Trump confirms the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife as the U.S. Launches airstrikes on the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:54]

SMERCONISH: We're tracking out of Venezuela. President Donald Trump says the U.S. carried out military strikes there this morning, and that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and flown out of the country.

U.S. Senator Mike Lee says he spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and that Rubio told him Maduro will stand trial on criminal charges in the U.S. The Venezuelan vice president says they're not sure where Maduro and his wife are, and they're demanding proof of life.

Joining me now is Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst in the Andes Region for the International Crisis Group. Elizabeth, a pair of questions that are interconnected. What's the anticipated reaction from your perspective in Venezuela itself and in the region generally?

ELIZABETH DICKINSON, SENIOR ANALYST, ANDES REGION, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Sure. Well, I think at the moment I think there's quite a lot of confusion. Certainly within Venezuela, there will be some who feel a sense of relief. This is a government that have forcibly repressed opposition and rewarded loyalty in a way that consolidated its power through decades.

At the same time, I think there's a lot of concern about this critical question of, what happens next? We have learned time and time again, through military intervention, that removing a single leader does not necessarily translate into a peaceful transition. And as of yet, we have very little indication as to what is the plan for how to guarantee that this is a peaceful transition out of one government into a potential other scenario.

In the broader region, you know, I think it's been mixed views. There's -- it's really critical to understand that very few governments in Latin America had recognized Nicolas Maduro's reelection in 2024 when he claimed victory in a vote that he lost.

However, despite that, you know, I think a long history of U.S. military intervention in Latin America still leaves a bit of a sour taste with the way that this was done. And so you see reactions that are quite mixed across the region.

Here in Colombia, where I am, a lot of concern about potential fallout. Colombia has already said that it will send more troops to the border with Venezuela, preparing for possible influx of migrants. Mexico quite a strong statement rejecting the intervention. But then, in contrast, Trump ally Milei in Argentina has welcomed the operation.

So, we see mixed reactions that are largely calibrated, frankly, on the relationship with Donald Trump.

SMERCONISH: We don't regard -- the United States doesn't regard him as being a legitimate president. Is he regarded as being a legitimate president within Venezuela?

DICKINSON: You know, as I said, it's very clear that he lost the election in 2024. I think that is widely known.

What you have to understand, however, is that Venezuela is living day to day. We're talking about a situation of resource scarcity. Families that are having to eat sometimes only two times a day. And the way that the government has consolidated its power has really been through that redistribution of limited resources, handing out both, you know, food, but also just basic supplies to its allies, while again, repressing any attempts to stand up against it.

SMERCONISH: I know that there are a lot of, as they say, known unknowns, but what might be the future for Maria Corina Machado in all of this, the Nobel Prize recipient?

DICKINSON: Well, you know, the opposition so far has been very quiet. And all the indications that we've seen so far, and I will really underline here that it is very early, we don't understand what the plan for a possible transition could be.

But at the moment, everything indicates that the base of the regime, everything that held together the Maduro government continues to be in place. Figures like the defense minister, the minister of interior affairs, real hardliners who had consolidated power over the last decade they remain in power at the moment. So, removing Maduro did not necessarily change the fundamental equation of control.

I think the critical questions in the coming hours are, for example, who has control over critical infrastructure? What are the conditions for security on the streets? Who is maintaining basic order?

[09:35:01]

Will there be a potential plan for elections, for transition? These are all questions that, I think, the next 48 hours have to answer, and will give us critical clues about the possible direction that this could take.

SMERCONISH: Elizabeth, speaking of questions, we're less than 90 minutes away from President Trump's press conference from Mar-a-Lago. CNN will, of course, carry it. If you were there and had the opportunity to pose a question, I know I'm catching you cold with this, but what would you most want to ask?

DICKINSON: I think, again, the question for us is, what next? The United States and globally we have learned through experience that changing governments often sets off a chain of destabilization that can have very dangerous effects for the civilian population in terms of, you know, generating competition for control, a lack of clarity about who maintains basic security, critical infrastructure. Those are questions for the coming hours.

I think we have to really have in mind the situation in Venezuela, again, a country that has lived under this government for more than 10 years, the military and security apparatuses were very consolidated under Maduro's control precisely because loyalty was rewarded and any dissent was so grievously punished within the military infrastructure that we don't know where security forces will stand if there are parts of those structures that will resist a possible transition.

There are also non-state armed groups in Venezuela. The most notable is the Colombian group known as ELN that has been on record saying it would defend the government of Venezuela and of Maduro, and has promised to retaliate against U.S. intervention.

So, what does that mean in the days coming forward? What is the plan? What is the day after?

SMERCONISH: Elizabeth Dickinson, thank you for your expertise. Up ahead, Attorney General Pam Bondi says that Nicolas Maduro, quote, "will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts." How is that going to play out? CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig will join me in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:12]

SMERCONISH: Attorney General Pam Bondi says Nicolas Maduro will, quote, "soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts." The Trump administration has long accused Nicolas Maduro of running a criminal enterprise. Maduro was first indicted back in 2020 on narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking charges by the Southern District of New York.

The U.S. accused Maduro of heading a cartel the government labeled a foreign terrorist organization. Overnight, a GOP senator said that he was told by the secretary of state that the military strike was done to protect U.S. troops executing the Maduro arrest warrant.

Joining me now, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. Elie, I have to say it has always been my view that the Southern District of New York is where we should have dealt with the 9/11 defendants. So to you I ask, how big a stretch is it to bring a foreign leader into Manhattan and try him there?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Michael, I was at the Southern District of New York when that very debate was being had. I, of course, agreed with you. I think a lot of people in the justice department at the time felt that leaders of foreign terrorist groups can and should be tried in our civilian criminal courts in the United States. So, this is not a stretch.

Now, I've looked at the indictment. It appears to be very strong and very serious. Let me sort of lay it out. Maduro is one of six defendants in this indictment which actually came down in the year 2020. Two of them, at least, have already been successfully prosecuted.

One of them pled guilty this past summer in June of 2025. It does not appear he's been sentenced. Another one was sentenced in 2024 to 260 months. So, 22 or so years in federal prison.

So, the feds at DOJ have already shown they have the capacity to handle these cases. Now, Maduro would be something different, but we have had trials in the Southern District of New York of foreign officials, of terrorist leaders. The capacities there, you'd have to be very careful about security, but he absolutely can be safely and securely tried in our federal courts in the United States.

SMERCONISH: Earlier in the program, Admiral Stavridis dropped the name of Manuel Noriega. I think it's been nearly 40 years but that would seem to be some kind of a precedent for what is going to happen in this case.

HONIG: Yes, that was a prosecution handled by the feds in 1992. That case was actually tried in federal court in Florida. But yes, that's exactly right. That's the closest precedent.

Michael, if you look at the charges in this indictment and I just read through it, let me lay out sort of what DOJ has charged Maduro with. So first of all, there's participating in a narco-terrorist conspiracy. Second of all, there's mass importation of cocaine into the United States.

If you look at the indictment, it alleges that Maduro was involved in the importation of at least 250 tons. That's about a half a million pounds of cocaine per year. He's also charged with machine gun offenses, with incendiary device, bomb related offenses.

And if you look at the total penalties here, the life -- the sentence, the max sentence, if convicted is life imprisonment. And the minimum sentence here, if convicted, would be 30 years behind bars. So, we are looking at major high stakes here with this indictment, with this prosecution.

SMERCONISH: Elie, is there any reference to his wife? Because of course, Maduro was captured with his wife. That's what the president told us in that Truth Social post.

HONIG: Right. So, I had looked at the indictment. There are five coconspirators. I don't believe any of them are his wife.

Now, it's possible she could be or anybody could be indicted in a separate indictment. There's two ways that could happen. One, there could be other indictments, what we call under seal. Meaning, we have not yet seen them publicly but they've been lodged with the court.

[09:45:02]

If that's the case, I would like to see those indictments unsealed at some point very soon. The other option is prosecutors always have the option to go into a grand jury, to go back to a grand jury and do what we call supersede. Meaning, to update the indictment, to bring new charges, to adjust it to whatever the current reality is.

So, it will be really interesting and important to see what is done with respect to the wife, if she knew about or participated in this conspiracy in any way, even in a minor way, she too can absolutely be charged.

SMERCONISH: I referenced that the indictment was in 2020. Are there any statute of limitations issues here?

HONIG: So, ordinarily, statutes of limitations for federal crimes run up to five years. But here there's not going to be a problem. We're beyond five years from 2020, of course, because while somebody is a fugitive, generally, the statute of limitations is what we call tolled. Meaning, essentially put on pause. So long as the government is actively looking for that person. That clearly has been the case here with respect to Maduro.

I don't think he's going to be able to beat this case based on a statute of limitations argument. And I should add, again, it would not at all surprise me to see a superseding indictment which updates the 2020 indictment and alleges much more recent conduct as well. So, I don't think he's got an out there.

SMERCONISH: Elie, who from a judicial, from the bench, who oversaw this indictment? Is that individual still wearing a robe, as they say?

HONIG: Yes. So, the judge who these cases have been assigned to is Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein. He's been on the bench for several decades. I happen to have had a lot of experience in front of him.

I tried, I think, three full cases, full trials in front of him. He is very experienced. And notably, he knows how to run a large, complicated trial. I'll give you one example.

I did a human trafficking trial in front of Judge Hellerstein where we had five defendants being tried at once. So, each of those defendants had two or three lawyers, paralegals. It was a very crowded courtroom. And he ran it very well.

It was a clean trial. He kept order in the courtroom. So, this is a judge who's been around a long, long time.

I think he was put on the bench in the 1990s, I believe. So he's had 30 or so years of experience. He knows what he's doing. He takes no nonsense. He's not going to be overwhelmed by a case of this magnitude.

SMERCONISH: All roads lead through Elie Honig. Elie, thank you as always. We appreciate your expertise.

HONIG: Thanks, Michael. Appreciate it.

SMERCONISH: Still to come, President Trump called the strikes in Venezuela a brilliant operation. Telling "The New York Times" in a brief phone interview this morning that the U.S. has captured and removed President Nicolas Maduro. We'll talk to an expert on who exactly is in charge of the country now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:54]

SMERCONISH: We're following breaking news out of Venezuela. President Trump confirming on Truth Social that the U.S. has carried out a large scale overnight strike against Venezuela and that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been captured and flown out of the country. The Venezuelan government, condemning what it calls a very serious, grave military aggression by the U.S. against multiple parts of the country.

CNN crews witnessed several explosions in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. Just before 1:00 a.m. parts of the city now without power. The Venezuelan government has declared a state of emergency and says Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira were all attacked.

Joining me now, University of Florida professor at the Center for Latin American studies, Rebecca Hanson. Professor, we're trying to read a lot of tea leaves here this morning. Among them, how will the Venezuelan people react to this news? Your thoughts?

REBECCA HANSON, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES: Yes, I think this is a really important question, right? So, you know, there's a question about what this will have -- what will happen to Maduro, but also how this is going to affect his popularity or his status within the country. And I think it's important -- it's very important to remember right now that in general, Venezuelans, at least according to polls, were not in favor of a military intervention in Venezuela. They weren't in favor of the Trump administration capturing its oil boats, right?

So, it we have to wait and see. But it seems likely that the more radical right wing opposition will very much still be in favor of this most likely. Everyday Venezuelans, though, I'm not really so sure. You know, one of the most salient aspects of Chavismo's discourse for a long time was his stance against U.S. imperialism. And it's hard to think of an action that would be more -- that would more clearly project U.S. interventionist power in the country, in the region, than what happened last night.

SMERCONISH: Well, maybe a question that we just are incapable of knowing because of a lack of polling information, but do they really regard him as their legitimate president?

HANSON: No, the majority of Venezuelans do not regard Maduro as a legitimate president -- as their legitimate president. He has a popularity rate of around 30 percent, maybe, and that's probably inflated. But just because Maduro is not popular doesn't mean that Venezuelans support a military -- a U.S. intervention into their country, right?

Neither does it mean that this is going to result in a democratic transition, right? In fact, I think myself and many Venezuelan experts do not believe that this is going to lead to any kind of democratic or peaceful transition.

SMERCONISH: I recognize that it was a military intervention. After all, he's been captured. At the same time, President Trump, very careful, I think, to couch it in his Truth Social post as this being in connection with law enforcement. And now it seems Maduro is going to face trial in the United States.

If that's the extent of it and if the U.S. is not boots on the ground any further, how will that impact the future for Venezuela?

HANSON: Yes. And I think this is very indicative of, you know, what happened last night and how it could have happened. You know, there are, I think, a couple of facts to keep in mind here.

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One is that Maduro is one of multiple major players in Chavismo and these other major players are alive and well, and they maintain their current positions. Indeed, the attack is not dislodged Chavismo at all. It doesn't seem that that was really the intention.

Second, there wasn't really any kind of meaningful response by the Venezuelan military to the attack. And this could be because they were totally unprepared, right? Or it could be because there are negotiations behind the scenes between the military and the Trump administration to remove Maduro, which has nothing to do with getting Chavismo out of power, right?

So, I think we have to remember that Maduro is a person. Chavismo is a larger movement, is a larger representation of different powerful actors in the government. And most of those powerful actors still remain.

SMERCONISH: Professor Hanson, that's a great observation. We'll see how it plays out. We're about an hour away from President Trump addressing the overnight strikes in Venezuela. CNN will carry that live. Until then, Wolf Blitzer has the latest.

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