Trump says U.S. will "run" Venezuela after Maduro capture

[0:00] somebody like Maria Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, being elected, somebody much [0:06] more friendly to the U.S. government and a lot less friendly to China, Russia, and Iran, which [0:10] essentially had a home in Maduro's Venezuela. But that's to be seen, and I think that's going to be [0:16] a lot of the questions today at the press conference. [0:20] Mick Mulroy, always appreciate your insight, especially on this morning of big breaking news. [0:25] We appreciate you. Thank you for being here. [0:26] And we are keeping a close eye on Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Of course, President Trump is [0:32] expected to speak there at the top of the hour. We're going to bring that to you live here on ABC [0:36] News Live. More on our breaking news, the attack on Venezuela, next, right here on ABC News Live. [0:42] On the floor with blood everywhere. Please hurry. There's a knife sticking out of her heart. 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[3:52] And welcome back to ABC News Live. We continue to follow this breaking story here. The United [3:56] States launching an extraordinary nighttime attack on Venezuela. President Trump confirming [4:00] the strikes and announcing that the U.S. has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. [4:06] Dramatic video capturing the U.S. strikes overnight. Look at that right there. [4:11] Explosions ringing out in Venezuela's capital city beginning just before 2 a.m. local time. So this [4:16] happened in the middle of the night. Venezuela's defense minister calling it the most criminal [4:21] military aggression from the U.S. in the history of the country. The massive escalation coming after [4:27] a significant U.S. military buildup in the region that we've been following with all of those boats that [4:32] were alleged to be drug boats. Let's go ahead and bring in ABC's Alex Perche who joins us now [4:36] from Washington. So Alex I guess the big question is how did we get here? Well Gio and it we really [4:44] cannot underscore enough just how much of an escalation this news overnight has been in the [4:51] relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela. But this is something that has been brewing for for months [4:55] if not even years. Specifically the tension between the U.S. and Nicolás Maduro. But I will say [5:01] we have seen an uptick in in activity by by U.S. operations in that region. Those boat strikes which [5:09] first began back in September have now been more than 30 alleged drug boats that have been struck [5:16] more than 100 or at least 107 individuals killed in those strikes both in the Caribbean and the eastern [5:23] Pacific. And also in December we saw a ratcheting up as the U.S. started what the president basically [5:31] called a blockade against illegal oil tankers. We monitored a number of those seizures of tankers [5:38] and boats that the U.S. said was distributing sanctioned oil in the region from Venezuela. [5:44] And then also specific pressure on the Maduro family. Obviously today's operation which led to [5:52] the capture of Maduro and his wife Celia. But also earlier in December we saw three of his nephews [5:59] sanctioned who were also charged or allegedly charged in in participating in that Venezuelan oil [6:07] or the trafficking of sanctioned oil in the region. Much of that oil going to Cuba one of [6:13] Venezuela's biggest allies. And you know Alex I think people who haven't been following the [6:18] situation in Venezuela might be saying well wait a minute this came out of nowhere. But really when [6:23] you look at it and when you look at the criminal indictment from 2020 Maduro has been wanted by both [6:29] the Trump administration and the Biden administration. Yeah there's a really interesting line here in this [6:34] indictment. Gio if I can read this to you it says for more than 25 years Venezuelan president ousted [6:41] Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro was at the forefront of a narco-terrorism conspiracy that [6:46] imported tons of cocaine into the United States according to this indictment which was unsealed [6:52] hours after President Trump announced the U.S. had captured Maduro for 25 years. And as you noted [6:59] this was something that you know President Biden had gone after him. Most recently the reward for [7:05] his capture was raised to 50 million dollars. So I mean this is someone who's been on the U.S.'s list [7:11] for quite some time now. I think now I mean there's a big question as to okay you have him. You have [7:19] he's going to face the Southern District of New York. But then what does that mean for the future of [7:23] Venezuela? And obviously that power vacuum which is starting to develop right now. Yeah that big [7:28] question. Now what? Alex Preshay thank you so much for reporting on this. And we are learning more [7:34] every minute about this operation overnight. The U.S. conducting strikes on Venezuela. President [7:38] Maduro now en route to the U.S. to face charges here in New York. How U.S. forces tracked him down [7:44] next. This is a global operation. Get your surveillance team in place. LAPD has agreed to help [7:58] the FBI track down terrorist targets. There's nothing like a day in the job to remind you how quickly [8:09] life can change. Get out of there. You called her? I did. I work with Morgan on every case. You want [8:28] a flout procedure at every turn? I've never flouted anything. You sure about that? Yes I am. Mid-air [8:41] homicide. I will work this case for free. I don't mean that. That's just something people say. [8:47] Our fire and dash. Ready PG-13. Now playing. Whenever, wherever news breaks. 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What does it take to be the most watched [10:24] newscast in America? You're part of an operation. Is this our combat operations center? Militants came [10:32] in from different directions. Very active. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go. We've got a home [10:36] right here engulfed in flames. The scene here, apocalyptic. How important. It made the USA. Great work. [10:41] Hi. I appreciate you. Thank you. Ismael. David. David. I'm David Muir. I know you are. I watch you [10:46] every night. ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast. [10:57] And welcome to ABC News Live Weekend. I'm Gio Benitez. And we have big breaking news overnight. [11:02] The U.S. launching military strikes on Venezuela. President Trump announcing the United States [11:10] successfully carried out a large-scale strike early Saturday morning, saying Venezuela, [11:15] Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country. [11:19] We're now learning that Maduro is headed to U.S. soil. Sources telling ABC News that he and his [11:25] wife are expected to come to New York. Attorney General Pam Bondi saying that Maduro will face [11:29] multiple drug charges. Venezuela calling this, quote, an imperialist attack and urging citizens [11:36] to take to the streets. The stunning announcement came a few hours after explosions rocked the [11:40] Venezuelan capital of Caracas. Trump said more information about the U.S. operation would be [11:45] provided at a news conference later this morning that we, of course, will have right here on ABC [11:49] News Live. But right now we have ABC's Matt Rivers here with us. And Matt, you actually just came from [11:55] the region just weeks ago. You were off the coast of Venezuela covering this. And no one, I don't think, [11:59] really thought that this was going to happen. Sure, anything was on the table, right? Everything was a [12:03] possibility. But the idea that in just a matter of hours you had not only massive U.S. military strikes, [12:09] but special forces going in and taking President Maduro out, it is truly a remarkable story. [12:18] The United States launching an extraordinary nighttime attack on Venezuela. Dramatic video [12:27] capturing the U.S. strikes overnight. Explosions ringing out in Venezuela's capital city beginning [12:32] just before 2 a.m. local time. The night sky above Caracas turning bright orange. Massive flames [12:39] engulfing the air. Those giant plumes of smoke seen from miles away. President Trump confirming [12:45] the strikes and announcing the United States has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. [12:51] Trump writing online, the United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale [12:55] strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his [13:01] wife, captured and flown out of the country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. [13:06] law enforcement. [13:10] Venezuela's defense minister, speaking from an unknown place, calling it the most criminal [13:15] military aggression from the U.S. in the history of our country. The massive escalation coming [13:20] after a significant U.S. military buildup in the region. The Pentagon striking more than 30 boats, [13:26] the U.S. alleges were involved in drug trafficking operations, at least 115 people killed since those [13:33] strikes began on September 2nd. In a memo obtained by ABC News in October, the administration telling [13:38] Congress that America is in armed conflict and that drug cartels are deemed unlawful combatants. [13:45] President Maduro facing drug charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy since Trump's first [13:51] administration, after federal prosecutors alleged he deliberately used cocaine as a weapon. Back in [13:57] 2020, U.S. officials telling Americans they plan to eventually gain custody of the Venezuelan leader. [14:03] In recent days, more signs pointing to this latest attack. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the most advanced [14:10] lethal aircraft carrier in the world, spotted on New Year's Day, seen in these satellite images, [14:16] positioned closer to Venezuela's coast than it had ever been amidst the recent bout of tensions [14:21] just some 200 miles away. And the FAA banning U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace [14:28] for, quote, ongoing military activity ahead of the attack. Trump had warned that land strikes were imminent. [14:34] We'll start that on land too. It's going to be starting on land pretty soon. [14:38] Saying in a recent interview with Politico that he wants to see Maduro gone. [14:42] So how far would you go to take Maduro out of office? [14:45] I don't want to say that, but, uh... [14:47] But you want to see him out? [14:49] His days are numbered. [14:53] Can you rule out an American ground invasion? [14:56] I don't want to rule in or out. I don't talk about it. [14:59] For his part, Maduro had said just one day ago that he was open to talks with the U.S. [15:04] And in a separate pre-taped interview released Thursday, described a recent call the two had. [15:11] Saying, I think that conversation was even pleasant, [15:13] but the events following the conversation haven't been pleasant. Let's hope. [15:19] Just absolutely stunning developments here. And Matt, you're learning a lot more about what [15:23] this operation was like, because we're talking about U.S. special forces involved. [15:27] Yeah, each kind of hour that goes by in this story, Gio, we're learning more and more details that [15:32] just are more stunning than the next. And so President Trump was actually just on Fox News, [15:36] and he gave out some details. Forgive me, I'm going to reference my phone here, [15:38] because we're just getting this information in. But he says at one point that special forces went into [15:43] the complex where Maduro was living. They had to break into what he describes as steel doors, [15:49] the kind of safety room that the heads of state often have to kind of hide in in these sorts of [15:54] situations. He's saying lots of helicopters, lots of different fighter jets, and then they had, [15:59] he described it as an Osama Bin Laden type raid where he could watch this raid play out in real time. [16:04] So he basically said that Maduro was trying to do everything possible to stay away from this, [16:09] and yet the special forces were able to get in. Crucially, he says he does not believe, [16:14] he doesn't know, he said on this interview, but he thinks no Americans were killed. He thinks one [16:18] of the American helicopters might have been hit. He thinks there might be some injuries. He says, [16:22] I have to say a couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they're supposed to be in pretty good [16:29] shape. So it does appear that there might have been some American casualties in this raid, but this is [16:34] just these early stages where we're still needing so much more information about what happened here. [16:38] But this does seem like an incredibly complex operation that did perhaps result in some American [16:43] casualties. And difficult to get information because U.S. reporters are not allowed in Venezuela [16:48] at the moment right now. What's the reaction been like? Because you look at the streets and we've [16:53] seen those images. Lots of Venezuelans appear to be celebrating. So, and it really depends on what [16:58] side you're on here. There are going to certainly be people in the capital, many of whom are on the [17:02] Maduro payroll or have been in one way or another, or just are true believers who will come out and be very [17:08] pro-Maduro and want to come out and support the government. But I think it's fair to say that that is a [17:13] minority in the country. Within Venezuela itself, you've got the vast majority of people who are [17:17] not pro-regime. Absolutely not. They might be a bit nervous about what's going to happen next. [17:22] So that's the people in Venezuela. And then outside of Venezuela, we actually have some sound that we [17:26] can play here with people in the diaspora, people who have left. We know millions of Venezuelans have [17:31] left in recent years, many because of political persecution. They will be among the happiest. [17:35] Let's hear what some have to say. [17:49] But the question here, Gio, remains. They can be happy and no question about it, but what happens next? [18:04] Right. Is there anyone in line now? Well, so what you've heard so far is Delcy [18:08] Rodriguez, the vice president, the number two in the country. She's come out and said she's not [18:13] declaring herself interim president, at least not yet. She says Maduro is still the legitimate [18:17] president there. But it does appear that the majority of his inner circle senior officials are [18:23] still in place for the moment. So it does appear that they're still running the country. But President [18:27] Trump was asked about that on Fox. He came out and said, well, we're looking at that. He appeared to say [18:31] that he doesn't want this government to continue. But what he's willing to do to get those people [18:36] out to somehow change this to some sort of democratic transition, free and fair elections. [18:40] We're very far away from figuring out all that just hours away from what unquestionably was one [18:47] of the most stunning U.S. military operations in recent history. So many questions. We'll let you get [18:53] back to your sources here to get more information. Matt Rivers, thank you so much. Let's go ahead and [18:58] bring in ABC's Jay O'Brien on Capitol Hill for more on this, because obviously so many members [19:02] of Congress are now reacting. But Jay, what's the Trump administration saying about this operation? [19:07] First and foremost, beyond the details that President Trump himself gave in that Fox interview [19:12] that Matt was just referencing, the cleanest details we've gotten so far are from Attorney General Pam [19:17] Bondi, who says that Nicolas Maduro and his wife will be indicted in New York for drug smuggling and [19:24] other charges. They will be then brought to New York. That's what President Trump confirmed on [19:29] Fox and the attorney general seemed to indicate as well. And that is where they will stand trial. [19:34] And I can tell you, Gio, that that jives with what members of Congress had heard from the [19:38] administration. We know that several Republican members of Congress have now been briefed by the [19:43] White House and some Democrats too. And the understanding that several of these Republican members have [19:48] publicly said about their briefings from the administration are that the administration framed this to [19:53] them as a law enforcement action and tried to distance the idea that this was a military action, [19:59] despite the fact that it, of course, used U.S. military assets. And instead, what the administration [20:04] told these Republican members is that this was a U.S. kind of type law enforcement action, if you will, [20:11] to capture Nicolas Maduro, and that any strikes that you saw images of were the U.S. military trying to [20:18] keep those U.S. military, U.S. personnel who were there to capture Nicolas Maduro safe. As Matt just [20:24] referenced, the only other detail that we've gotten out of this administration, which members of Congress [20:29] tell me they've been briefed on as well, are the casualties here. There appears to be what the president [20:34] said was a quote unquote couple of U.S. casualties. We don't know how many. We don't know the state of their [20:39] injuries. The president indicating that they are in an okay condition and also indicating the president said on Fox, [20:46] as Matt referenced, that a helicopter was possibly damaged in some way, but was able to return to [20:52] its original base of operations, Gia. And obviously, there will be many questions about whether this [20:57] was done without congressional approval, as it appears to have been done. So, Jay, what are you [21:01] watching for next there on Capitol Hill? So watch for exactly that question you just asked, which is, [21:07] what was the level of congressional involvement here? We do know, according to sources, that the Gang of Eight, [21:12] the group of top Republican and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, as well as the top Republican and [21:17] Democrat on the Intelligence Committees, was not briefed ahead of this operation. Legally, [21:21] top congressional leaders must be told about a military operation within 48 hours. And it appears [21:27] that all the relevant parties have been informed. So it satisfies the statute here. But Democrats are [21:32] already crying foul. Some are calling this a quote unquote illegal operation, because Congress has not [21:38] voted to justify military force in Venezuela. Now, the executive branch, the president, [21:45] has broad war powers. And also, the administration, as you and I were just talking about, is framing this [21:51] as a law enforcement action. So that is their argument against the idea that Congress needed to, [21:57] in some form or fashion, vote to authorize this military action. One more thing to keep an eye on here, [22:03] Gio, which is from the Republican members of Congress, who have come out publicly and shared, [22:08] in a sense, the notes of their briefing from Secretary Rubio. Secretary Rubio has told several [22:12] members of Congress that he doesn't anticipate any further military action in Venezuela at this hour, [22:19] Gio. I imagine that you're going to be hearing from a lot more members of Congress there on Capitol [22:23] Hill all morning long. Jay O'Brien, thank you so much. And of course, we are standing by for President [22:28] Trump to hold a news conference at 11 a.m. Eastern from Mar-a-Lago. And we will have that. [22:33] That press conference coming hours after he confirmed strikes on Venezuela and said President [22:38] Nicolás Maduro and his wife were, quote, captured and flown out of the country. Stay with us as we [22:44] follow all of this big breaking news. It's ABC News Live weekend. We'll be right back. [22:49] House America. Hello. Wherever we are. Welcome. It's good to be home. It feels like home. Hi. [23:03] When's the last time we dropped our things and went? Come somewhere that we've both never been? [23:11] Oh, yeah. Good morning. At the start of the day, letting us into your home, putting the good in your [23:20] morning. Thank you. Man, it's good to be home. PMA. It's an invitation to come together. [23:43] Good birthday. Brighten your morning. I'm George. How are you? And the day ahead. [23:48] My GI is on the floor with blood everywhere. Please hurry. There's a knife sticking out of her heart. [24:01] Philadelphia medical examiner initially ruled Greenberg's death a homicide before switching [24:06] it to suicide. How was this rule to suicide? It just does not add up. Everyone realized how strange [24:14] and twisted this case was. If you want to get away with a homicide, have it declared a suicide. [24:19] Death in apartment 603. What happened to Ellen Greenberg? Only on Hulu. [24:24] Fire and Dash. Rated PG-13. Now playing. You called her? I did. I work with Morgan. [24:59] On every case. You want a flout procedure at every turn? I've never flouted anything. [25:04] You sure about that? Yes, I am. Mid-air homicide. I will work this case for free. I don't mean that. [25:19] That's just something people say. America's number one most watched daytime talk show is ABC's The View. [25:31] View first. I love it. I'm there for it. Hot topics, political views. That's what we're about. [25:38] Voices that matter. It all goes down right here. That's why it's called the what? The View. I love it. [25:45] I'm all in. I second that. This is going to be must-see TV and so much could happen. [25:53] And welcome back to ABC News Live. We continue to follow the big breaking news here. Venezuelan [26:04] President Nicolás Maduro captured amid a U.S. strike against Venezuela overnight. Maduro is [26:09] en route to U.S. sources, U.S. soil, and sources are telling ABC that both he and his wife are [26:14] expected to come to New York. Attorney General Pam Bondi saying that Maduro will face multiple drug [26:19] charges. ABC News chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katursky is here with this. And Aaron, [26:24] you just got your hands on those unsealed charges. What are we seeing in that? [26:28] We are seeing a vast narco conspiracy that's been alleged for the last 25 years. And federal [26:35] prosecutors here in New York, GEO, put Nicolás Maduro right at the top of it. They said that he is at the [26:42] forefront of corruption in Venezuela. And the indictment also says that he, his son, his wife, [26:49] and others worked with the Sinaloa cartel, worked with Colombian militia groups and others to make [26:58] Venezuela a safe haven for drug traffickers so that all could profit and all the while flood the [27:04] United States with tons of cocaine for the last 25 years. And take us through the history here, [27:10] because he's been on a wanted list since 2020, the first time we saw that indictment. That's right. [27:15] He was indicted first six years ago under the first Trump administration, alleging the very same [27:21] things, narco terrorism conspiracy, and saying that he had corrupted Venezuela. And the attorney [27:27] general at the time, Bill Barr, said that corruption has to stop. This has to end, he said. It now appears [27:33] that it has with the capture of Nicolás Maduro, who was taken by U.S. special forces, put on a ship, [27:40] according to President Trump, the USS Iwo Jima. So in that way, Gio, the U.S. is treating Maduro the way [27:46] they would have treated foreign terrorists from Al Qaeda or something, taken off the battlefield in [27:51] the Mideast, put on a ship in international waters. And eventually we're told he will be flown here to [27:56] New York to face these charges, as the attorney general Pam Bondi put it today, the full wrath of [28:02] American justice. And so he's going to face an American court system. We know that potentially in [28:08] Brooklyn, that's where he would be held. He would potentially be held like all other criminal [28:13] defendants awaiting trial in New York at MDC in Brooklyn, the very same place where Sean Combs [28:19] spent some time or Sam Bankman freed or Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, [28:25] who was also convicted of American drug charges before he was pardoned in November by President Trump. [28:33] And we're seeing those live images there. That is the facility there in Brooklyn, [28:37] New York, where he's expected to be taken to. Aaron Katursky, thank you so much. We'll let you [28:42] get back to your sources there and follow more on this. Lots of breaking news to discuss here. [28:46] Let's bring in former National Security Council senior director for counterterrorism, [28:50] Javed Ali, for more on this. Javed, thank you so much for being here. [28:53] What's your reaction to this operation? And why has Trump been so focused on Venezuela? [28:59] So, Gio, nice to be with you this morning as well. And based on what we're hearing about the [29:05] operation, this seems like it was much more limited in scope in the objective being the capture of [29:13] Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Potentially, there may have been other people as well on that target [29:18] list, but Elise Maduro and his wife, because there are standing indictments against them, as Aaron's [29:23] segment just indicated. But this doesn't appear to be a larger military campaign using the much [29:32] broader set of military capabilities in the region that the ABC and other networks have [29:37] been reporting on for months. That doesn't mean that that won't happen in the future, [29:41] but at least right now, this was much more limited in scope. [29:45] We heard Aaron just talk about the narco terrorism charges. What does that mean to people? I mean, [29:51] because I know that a lot of people probably aren't familiar with that term. [29:55] So the specific charges that are captured in the indictment or indictments against Maduro [30:00] Maduro and his wife lay out these federal crimes that they are alleged to have committed with respect to [30:07] conspiracy to import drugs into the United States and perhaps weapons as well, their association with [30:15] what are now organizations labeled as foreign terrorist organizations that also operate as drug cartels. [30:24] And so these are the federal criminal charges that Maduro and his wife are going to face once they [30:31] get arraigned and enter into that federal facility in Brooklyn. And then they're going to go through [30:37] the U.S. legal system. And whether that means a trial, whether it means a plea deal, we don't know how [30:42] that's going to unfold. But the U.S. government still holds the burden of proof to prove in an open [30:48] court that they are guilty of those crimes. And the evidence they will use is going to be interesting as [30:53] well. And Javed, I understand this question may be difficult to answer, but what does this mean [30:57] for Venezuela's future? And of course, the relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela? [31:04] Yeah, Gio, that's a great question. And it's not clear what the next step is. So will [31:11] the current vice president of Venezuela, will she move up in power through some formal process in [31:19] Venezuela to become the sitting president? Likewise, will the military, which is probably the strongest [31:25] institution inside of Venezuela, will they attempt to institute some kind of takeover and restore order [31:34] in the country in the absence of Nicolas Maduro? On the flip side, will there be an attempt by the U.S. [31:40] to bring in opposition leaders and have them become the new president of Venezuela? Maria Machado or [31:50] others, unclear if that's a goal or an outcome and how that will actually happen. But when we've seen [31:56] these kind of regime change operations in the past, it usually doesn't go the way as it initially planned. [32:04] So I would have to think this is something the Trump administration is thinking through, [32:08] sort of what is the next step and how involved does the U.S. want to be in this post-Maduro landscape? [32:14] Absolutely. Javad Ali, thank you so much for all of your insight. We appreciate it. [32:19] All right. Thanks, Gio. 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[34:16] There's nothing like a day in the job to remind you how quickly life can change. Get out of there. [34:28] And welcome back to ABC News Live Weekend. We are moments away now from President Trump [34:42] addressing the nation following the U.S. military strikes on Venezuela. Trump announcing the U.S. [34:48] carried out a large scale strike this morning saying Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro [34:52] and his wife were captured and flown out of the country. Maduro is now headed to U.S. soil. [34:58] Sources telling ABC News that they are both expected to come to New York. Attorney General [35:03] Pam Bondi saying that Maduro will face multiple drug charges. In fact, we've already seen those unsealed [35:10] charges come out. Venezuela leaders there are calling this, quote, an imperialist attack. [35:17] My next guest is a Venezuelan-American journalist who has been covering financial markets and politics [35:22] in Latin America for the past 23 years. He now serves as managing editor for America's quarterly, [35:28] Jose Enrique Arrioja. Thank you so much for joining us, Jose. We appreciate you. [35:33] Let's start with just your reaction to what happened overnight. [35:36] This has been a shocking series of events, Gio. The historical moment for the nation and to [35:47] good extent for Latin America as well as a whole. You know, the dramatic actions taken by the Trump [35:53] administration earlier today speak volumes about the new strategy that the Trump administration is [35:59] implementing in implementing in the region and specifically, you know, zero tolerance vis-a-vis [36:06] regimes such as the Venezuelan ones involved in narco trafficking and other type of illicit [36:13] activities in the region. This is a historic event with many reverberations still to come. [36:22] So, Jose, what's the current state of play here in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody? [36:27] Yeah, has been a very mixed reaction. Very, very, the situation in Caracas as we speak right now, [36:36] Gio, is rather calm. People, you know, buying groceries, buying, you know, basic staples ahead of what [36:46] might be a very uncertain week, if not months ahead. We have a regime that was widely unpopular [36:55] that since last year when the power after the July 28 elections has been just dealing with [37:05] an increased repression, more authoritarian regime. And therefore, the fact that we have a government, [37:14] we have the head of the state in Venezuelan territory, opens so many questions. And that is a [37:21] situation that deserves definitely a lot of attention in the hours to come. [37:26] A stunning series of developments. Jose Enrique Rioja, thank you so much for joining us here on [37:32] ABC News. Thank you so much for having me, Gio. Absolutely. And we are waiting for President [37:37] Trump to hold that news conference scheduled in just minutes. So stay with us right here on ABC News [37:42] Live. We'll be right back. This is a global operation. Get your surveillance team in place. [37:51] LAPD has agreed to help the FBI track down terrorist targets. There's nothing like a day in the job [38:03] to remind you how quickly life can change. Get out of there. [38:07] Get out of there. [38:12] Gio is on the floor with blood everywhere. Please hurry. There's a knife sticking out of her heart. [38:23] What's the phone now? Philadelphia medical examiner initially ruled Greenberg's death a homicide [38:29] before switching it to suicide. How was this rule to suicide? It just does not add up. [38:36] Everyone realized how strange and twisted this case was. If you want to get away with a homicide, [38:42] have it declared a suicide. Death in apartment 603. What happened to Ellen Greenberg? Only on Hulu. [38:48] Amanda Riley was a mother, wife. Everybody loved her. I heard the words, [38:53] you have stage three blood cancer. We gave our hearts, our prayers. We thought she was God's gift, [39:00] but she was a liar. Why would somebody fake cancer? There's all these pictures of her in the hospital. [39:06] With IVs tubing. It was only a matter of time until Amanda's whole world came tumbling down. [39:12] Oh my God. [39:13] Scamanda. All episodes now streaming on Hulu. [39:18] You called her? I did. I work with Morgan on every case. [39:24] You want to flout procedure at every turn? I've never flouted anything. [39:28] You sure about that? Yes, I am. [39:32] Mid-air homicide. I will work this case for free. I don't mean that. That's just something people say. [39:44] Thank you for joining us here on ABC News Live. I'm Gio Benitez. Any moment now, [39:57] President Trump will address the nation following the U.S. military strikes on Venezuela. Early this [40:02] morning, Trump announced that the U.S. carried out a large-scale strike overnight, saying Venezuelan [40:08] President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country. Maduro is now headed to [40:14] U.S. soil. Sources telling ABC News that he and his wife are expected to come to New York and face [40:19] those charges. The indictment against him just unsealed. You're looking at some of it there, [40:24] alleging in part that he's, quote, at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his [40:29] co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to [40:35] transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States. Venezuela calling all of this, quote, [40:41] an imperialist attack. ABC's Matt Rivers has the latest now. United States launching an extraordinary [40:51] nighttime attack on Venezuela. Dramatic video capturing the U.S. strikes overnight. Explosions [41:00] ringing out in Venezuela's capital city beginning just before 2 a.m. local time. The night sky above [41:06] Caracas turning bright orange. Massive flames engulfing the air. Those giant plumes of smoke seen from miles [41:13] away. President Trump confirming the strikes and announcing the United States has captured Venezuelan [41:19] President Nicolás Maduro. Trump writing online the United States of America has successfully carried [41:25] out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been [41:30] along with his wife captured and flown out of the country. This operation was done in conjunction with [41:36] U.S. law enforcement. Venezuela's defense minister, speaking from an unknown place, calling it the [41:45] most criminal military aggression from the U.S. in the history of our country. The massive escalation [41:50] coming after a significant U.S. military buildup in the region. The Pentagon striking more than 30 boats [41:57] the U.S. alleges were involved in drug trafficking operations. At least 115 people killed since those [42:03] strikes began on September 2. In a memo obtained by ABC News in October, the administration telling [42:09] Congress that America is in armed conflict and that drug cartels are deemed unlawful combatants. [42:16] President Maduro facing drug charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy since Trump's first [42:21] administration after federal prosecutors alleged he deliberately used cocaine as a weapon. Back in 2020, [42:28] U.S. officials telling Americans they plan to eventually gain custody of the Venezuelan [42:33] leader. In recent days, more signs pointing to this latest attack. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the most [42:40] advanced lethal aircraft carrier in the world, spotted on New Year's Day, seen in these satellite [42:46] images, positioned closer to Venezuela's coast than it had ever been amidst the recent bout of tensions [42:52] just some 200 miles away. And the FAA banning U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace for [42:58] quote, ongoing military activity ahead of the attack. Trump had warned that land strikes were imminent. [43:04] We'll start that on land too. It's going to be starting on land pretty soon. [43:08] Saying in a recent interview with Politico that he wants to see Maduro gone. [43:12] So how far would you go to take Maduro out of office? I don't want to say that, but uh... [43:17] But you want to see him out? His days are numbered. Can you rule out an American ground invasion? [43:26] I don't want to rule in or out. I don't talk about it. For his part, Maduro had said just one day ago [43:31] that he was open to talks with the U.S. and in a separate pre-taped interview released Thursday, [43:37] described a recent call the two had. [43:41] Saying, I think that conversation was even pleasant, but the events following the conversation [43:46] haven't been pleasant. Let's hope. [43:48] Okay, Matt Rivers, thank you for that report. Right now I'm joined by ABC News contributor and former [43:54] Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Mick Mulroy. Mick, thank you for joining [43:59] us here. So is an operation like this legal under international law? And how do you expect the Trump [44:04] administration to make its case now? So Gio, that is the question. Both whether it's legal under U.S. [44:12] law, as normally this would require congressional authorization to use military force. And then [44:19] international law really requires an eminent threat to the country under the U.N. charter. [44:25] I think the administration would say, because Maduro has been indicted since 2020, that he was lawfully [44:34] arrested in a legal operation, just like Manuel Noriega was back in 1990s in Panama. There'll be [44:43] people that disagree, potentially on both political parties on Congress, and certainly with allies and [44:49] adversaries around the world. But I think that is where the president is going to hang his legal hat, [44:54] saying that he was lawfully indicted in the United States. It has been for over five years, and [44:59] apparently there's been more indictments coming out recently. And that is the legal justification for [45:05] conducting this operation. And you're exactly right about that. In fact, our Chief Justice [45:09] Correspondent Pierre Thomas is now reporting that all the law enforcement sources that we're talking to [45:15] are saying that the administration will sell this as the military helping the Department of Justice [45:19] execute a federal law enforcement arrest. We are seeing Pam Bondi also mirror that message on X right [45:28] now. We also know that two people familiar with the operation tell us that this was carried out [45:32] by the Army's Delta Forces. What can you tell us about them? [45:36] So inside the Joint Special Operations Command, so JSOC, there are multiple components. The two main [45:44] assault components are Delta Force, also known as the Combat Action Group, and SEAL Team 6, also known as DEV Group. [45:54] They are the two main elements that carry out these really high-profile, very complicated [46:00] apprehension and sometimes hostage rescue operations. In this case, it was Delta, and they proved their [46:07] capability is exactly what we expected. It was a very highly, I think, planned operation and perfectly [46:15] executed to my knowledge based on what we've seen so far. So hats off to them. Even if you disagree with [46:22] the idea that the policy was made to do this, I think we can all understand that it was an exceptional [46:27] operation and be proud of our service, men and women. And for those just tuning into ABC News Live, [46:33] right there in the corner of your screen, you're looking at live images from Mar-a-Lago. We are [46:37] awaiting President Trump to hold that news conference on these stunning new developments [46:42] overnight. Mick, let's continue with you as we wait for the president here. The Trump administration [46:47] claims that illegal drugs have been flowing from Venezuela to the U.S. Could this operation and [46:52] Maduro's capture have an impact on that? Well, the overall campaign might, because of course, [47:00] how many people are going to be willing to get in these small craft and try to bring [47:04] drugs to the United States after 115 of their compatriots have been killed. So [47:10] that plus Maduro's apprehension might decrease this flow, but they also might try land routes now, [47:17] which are obviously more difficult to cover from the intelligence perspective. But the real question [47:24] is going to be what comes next. Obviously, the head of this regime was removed, but that doesn't mean [47:30] the regime itself was removed. The vice president apparently has stood up, the Minister of Defense, [47:35] the Minister of Interior. They still have an apparatus in place. They can still, of course, [47:41] orchestrate these drug deliveries, plus oil, illicit oil revenue, plus the overall hostility toward the [47:50] United States and advocacy for countries like China, Russia and Iran. So the question is, this is [47:57] obviously a big significant step in the change of regime, but it doesn't mean the regime has been [48:04] changed. That is the next question. That is the next question. All right, [48:08] Mick Mulroy, thank you so much for joining us here. Let's go ahead and bring in former National Security [48:12] Council Senior Director for Counterterrorism, Javed Ali, for more on all of this. And Javed, [48:18] while I have you, I want to talk about the Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado. [48:24] She's actually issued a statement calling on all Venezuelans to be ready to mobilize what we will [48:29] soon communicate to you through our official channels. So she's talking there about that. [48:34] She's also calling on the military to recognize opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, [48:39] who ran against Malauro in the last election as the rightful president of Venezuela. She says, quote, [48:45] today we are ready to take over power. We remain vigilant, active and organized until a democratic [48:51] transition is concrete, a transition that needs all of us. You've been following Maria Machado's [48:59] journey for years now. What do you think hearing those comments here? So, Gio, nice to be with you [49:06] again. And just to clarify, I am not actually an expert on Venezuelan politics, but still, [49:10] that said, with Maria Machado and her profile, the statement that she just made, very powerful. [49:16] And one would have to assume that in making a statement that that's sort of bold, that that is [49:21] that bold and declarative, suggests that there's probably been a good deal of planning already or [49:26] coordination with the Trump administration to make sure that if a plan like that is being communicated, [49:33] can Machado and the team around or working with people on the ground currently in Venezuela, [49:40] can they implement a plan like that? And can there be some kind of democratic and orderly transition [49:46] to power in this post-Maduro landscape? Now, as we've talked about just a few minutes ago, [49:51] a lot of times when these plans get drawn up in these transition moments, they don't go according to [49:58] plan. And there tends to be a lot of uncertainty and a lot of variables that can move the plans [50:03] in a lot of different directions. So we don't know how this is going to unfold. But if she's [50:08] making these kinds of statements now, one would think that there's this hope or expectation that [50:13] there will be a lot of effort to make sure a plan like this go or flow smoothly once it sort of begins [50:19] on the ground. And Java, you may not be an expert in Venezuelan politics, but you are an expert in [50:23] counter-terrorism and we know that Maduro is facing narco-terrorism charges. What does that mean? [50:30] So the narco-terrorism charges that have been brought by the Department of Justice against Maduro [50:36] are based on years, if not decades of investigation and the slow and steady building of evidence from [50:43] organizations like the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal law enforcement [50:49] agencies to then have enough evidence that could be shared in an open federal criminal trial, [50:58] which we now know will occur in Manhattan, where the government is going to bear the burden of proof [51:04] to show a jury that Maduro and possibly his wife are guilty of committing these crimes based [51:13] of narco-trafficking and relationships with now designated terrorist organizations, foreign [51:18] terrorist organizations. And that's going to be a high bar. But again, I would have to believe, [51:24] or one would believe that there is a mountain of evidence that the US is willing to now provide [51:30] in that open court hearing if it goes to a trial. And Javed, what does this mean for Venezuela's future? [51:37] Yeah, another great question, Gio. And we don't yet know, again, will Machado come in from the outside [51:46] and oversee this democratic transition to power? Or could it look in a worst case projection like [51:55] the chaos we saw in Iraq in the early 2000s and the aftermath of the capture of Saddam Hussein, [52:03] or in Libya in 2011 in the aftermath of Muammar Gaddafi and his death in that internal civil war? [52:11] I mean, things can get very messy in a worst case scenario. I don't think anyone wants to see that. [52:16] But again, if you're looking at the world of risk and probability, you have to, at least from the [52:22] national security perspective, plan for the worst case and then hope that the worst case doesn't happen. [52:29] So I'd have to believe behind the scenes inside the US government in the national security world [52:34] that Mick and I and others were from, that there's a lot of hard work going on [52:38] right now to make sure that worst case projection actually doesn't come through. [52:42] Yeah, without a doubt. All right, Javed Ali, thank you so much for all of your insight here. [52:46] And with more on this historic strike and capture in Venezuela, let's go ahead and bring in [52:50] ABC's Alex Preshay, who's in Washington right now. Alex, the massive escalation coming after a [52:56] significant US military buildup in the region. We saw all of those, you know, alleged drug boats [53:02] being hit by the US military. So how did we get here? [53:07] Well, you mentioned those alleged drug boat strikes. That's something that's been happening [53:11] basically since around September, Gio. And to date, we know there have been at least 30 of those [53:18] types of strikes, which resulted in the killing of more than 100 people that the administration says [53:24] were allegedly involved in drug operations, both in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. [53:30] It's part of a pressure campaign, a multi-pronged pressure campaign that the US has been [53:36] orchestrating against Venezuela and Nicolas Maduro for months now. We've also seen sanctions placed on [53:43] Venezuelan oil that led to the seizure of a number of ships that the US says that was part of a [53:51] illegally sanctioned oil, likely mostly bound for Cuba. We saw a couple of those massive tankers, [53:58] which carried, had the capacity to carry millions of barrels seized by US Coast Guard in dramatic [54:05] fashion. And then also, we've seen a pressure campaign against Maduro's family. Certainly, [54:10] this operation today leading to his capture, his wife's capture. But earlier on in December, [54:15] Gio, we actually saw at least three of his nephews sanctioned for their role in what the administration [54:22] has said is part of this illegal oil trade, of sanctioned oil, most of that which the US believes [54:30] was bound for Cuba. So this has been a multi-pronged kind of buildup. And when we talk about Maduro in [54:35] general, you mentioned that indictment, which the first line of it says, Nicolas Maduro, for 25 years, [54:43] was at the forefront of a narco-terrorism conspiracy that imported tons of campaign, [54:48] cocaine into the US. This is something, or he is an individual that the US has been off after for [54:54] quite some time. This predates the second term of President Trump. This is someone that President [55:02] Biden had a reward out on. We also recently saw the reward for Nicolas Maduro up to $50 million [55:07] under the Trump administration. So this is something that some would say was a long time coming. [55:12] Well, years in the making since 2020. So let's go through that actually, [55:16] because that initial reward was offered by the Trump administration during his first term [55:22] up to $15 million. And then in January of last year, we actually had the Biden administration [55:28] up that reward up to $25 million. And then of course, the Trump administration up that even more [55:33] to $50 million. So he's been on the wanted list for some six years now. [55:37] That's right. And look, the US has had tension with Venezuela for quite some time. There were these [55:46] allegations of Nicolas Maduro, his authoritarian regime. It's linked to drug trafficking and also [55:55] other violence in the region. But certainly, certainly since the president's second term began, [56:03] you know, it's been ramped up considerably. We've seen this pressure campaign, which has really just [56:08] kind of exploded since the fall. Those really remarkable strikes in the Eastern Pacific and in [56:16] the Caribbean of these drug boats, which the administration says are linked to trafficking, [56:22] that they say is controlled ultimately by Nicolas Maduro and ultimately has led to his capture overnight. [56:28] We know that Maduro's wife will also be charged here. What do we know about Maduro's family? [56:35] Yeah. Well, so there's a lot of questions in which they believe, or excuse me, a lot of answers that [56:44] have still yet to kind of be, or a lot of questions regarding her involvement in this operation. But we [56:51] do know that she has been charged along in this conspiracy. He has basically been charged as the head [56:58] of a major drug operation, trafficking cocaine into the U.S. for the better part of a quarter of a [57:06] century. We know that they've also been charged with having machine guns and a number of outlawed... [57:15] Well, actually, Gio, we're going to take a pause. Yes, thank you so much, Alex. And we now take you to [57:19] a special report from the network. Take a look. ABC News special report. Good morning. I'm Wade Johnson [57:26] at ABC News headquarters in New York. We're interrupting regular programming because President [57:31] Trump is about to speak from Mar-a-Lago following the news from Venezuela overnight. President Trump [57:36] announcing the U.S. has captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a large-scale strike. [57:41] Here's what we know so far. Early this morning, U.S. forces launched strikes on the Venezuelan capital [57:47] of Caracas. Explosions lighting up the night sky there. The U.S. Army's elite Delta Force capturing [57:53] Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife and then flying them out of the country. [57:58] Sources tell ABC News the CIA was able to identify Maduro's precise location. And earlier today, [58:04] President Trump saying Maduro has been taken to the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship. [58:10] Maduro will then be brought here to New York, where he was originally indicted back in 2020 on [58:16] narco-terrorism and conspiracy charges. The Department of Justice this morning announcing a new indictment, [58:22] a superseding indictment against Maduro, his wife and his son. President Trump saying that there [58:27] were injuries among U.S. forces involved in the operation, but he does not believe any Americans [58:33] have been killed. Once again, we're looking at a live picture here. This is from Mar-a-Lago. [58:38] We're expecting the president and a number of top cabinet officials to speak at any moment. [58:43] We're also getting news that top congressional leaders, the so-called Gang of Eight, did not [58:48] receive a briefing before this operation began. Venezuela's defense minister speaking from an [58:54] unknown location today saying a state of emergency has been declared in Venezuela and he called on [58:59] all Venezuelans to resist. The country's vice president demanding proof that Maduro and his [59:04] wife are still alive. International reaction has been swift so far. Moscow saying the U.S. action causes [59:11] deep concern and condemnation. Iran calling it a blatant violation of regional and international [59:17] peace and security. America's allies have been more muted so far, the E.U. saying that it's closely [59:23] monitoring the situation. And, of course, all of this comes after months of attacks on alleged drug [59:29] boats in the region killing at least 121 people. At least 16 were killed in just the past week. This [59:36] morning, the FAA is also declaring the airspace over Venezuela off limits to all commercial and [59:42] private aircraft. So, once again, as we're awaiting the president to come out and speak to the public, [59:47] let's go ahead and check in with our chief global affairs correspondent, Martha Raddatz. [59:51] And, Martha, I know that you've been talking to your sources. We're getting new details about how [59:55] this operation was actually carried out. Exactly, Whit. And a source tells ABC News that there had been [1:00:02] a clandestine CIA team on the ground in Venezuela, tracking Maduro's movements, following his pattern [1:00:11] of life to figure out where he would go, where he would sleep, where he and his wife would be. [1:00:17] And they checked out one particular place, which is where they grabbed him overnight. He and his wife [1:00:23] asleep in their beds, presumably. And this Delta Force team going in, [1:00:28] finding the couple and taking them out. A Delta Force team moving in. The president actually said [1:00:37] earlier today to Fox News that the president Maduro had tried to make it to a safe room, [1:00:44] he said, that had steel doors. He said the team on the ground, the U.S. team on the ground, [1:00:49] had blowtorches to blow apart those steel doors if necessary. But he said that wasn't necessary. Maduro [1:00:56] did not make it to that safe room, nor his wife. And they were taken out. Again, as you said, [1:01:03] though, Whit, there were injuries to U.S. forces. We don't know whether those were military or law [1:01:09] enforcement. But he said they were able to make it out and appears they will be OK. He had also said [1:01:17] that a U.S. helicopter had been hit but was also able to make it out of the country. Presumably, [1:01:25] all those forces are now out of Venezuela after that dramatic show of force and targeting those [1:01:32] military installations inside Caracas. Quite a scene for the people of Venezuela. Of course, [1:01:38] the big question, Whit, is what now? Who is in charge? Who is running that country? What is the [1:01:45] military going to do? We have heard today from opposition leader Maria Machado. And she said that [1:01:52] she hopes she is calling on the military to recognize Edmundo Gonzalez-Urutia, who ran against [1:01:58] Maduro. She is calling him the rightful president. But we'll see what happens next. And that is a big [1:02:05] question for President Trump. Yeah, a big question, as we've learned in the past. [1:02:08] Toppling a regime is one thing, but the transition of power is another. And Machado there is also the [1:02:15] Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2025. So that's what she's saying about what she hopes will happen in [1:02:21] the future. We'll see if President Trump, other members of the Cabinet, add to that conversation as [1:02:27] well in the coming moments here. Let's go ahead and check in with our chief justice correspondent, Pierre [1:02:31] Thomas, because, Pierre, a big part of this is the superseding indictment, a new set of charges that [1:02:36] Maduro and his family are facing. Absolutely. And to be clear, what our sources are telling us is that [1:02:42] the military action was in support of the execution of a law enforcement warrant charges against Maduro. [1:02:49] And to be specific, we have an indictment that's been unsealed that you referenced. And it points out [1:02:54] these charges, narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine [1:03:02] guns and conspiracy to possess machine guns. Essentially, what the U.S. government is alleging [1:03:07] here is that Maduro ran a corrupt government that helped facilitate the transfer into the U.S. [1:03:14] millions of pounds of cocaine, thousands of tons, as they say in the indictment. And this, again, [1:03:20] this action by the military was in support of U.S. law enforcement. That is the guidance. We expect [1:03:26] that he will be eventually, as you said earlier, with taken to New York as early as later this [1:03:31] afternoon. All right, Pierre Thomas, for a standby, please, let's bring in our chief investigative [1:03:35] correspondent, Aaron Katursky. As Pierre noted, and we've been reporting Maduro expected to come here [1:03:41] in pretty dramatic fashion to New York. How unprecedented is this? What do we know? [1:03:46] From the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, Whit, as President Trump said, eventually to be flown here to New York to [1:03:51] face charges contained in this new superseding indictment that was just unsealed a short time [1:03:56] ago. As President Trump gets ready to speak in Florida, the indictment puts Maduro at the forefront [1:04:02] of a 25-year narco-terrorism conspiracy that prosecutors say flooded the United States with cocaine [1:04:10] and corrupted his own country. These charges originated against Maduro six years ago under [1:04:16] the first Trump administration. They have been expanded now to include his wife and son as part [1:04:22] of this alleged conspiracy. And they say they partnered with violent drug cartels, militant groups in [1:04:29] Colombia, all to enrich themselves and to poison the United States with tons of cocaine imported over [1:04:36] the last 25 years. And it's pretty remarkable, too, that in just a matter of hours, he could be flying [1:04:41] here to New York. Stunning, Whit. We do expect that he would arrive in New York as soon as later on today [1:04:48] and appear in federal court in Manhattan in the next couple of days to see Nicolas Maduro as president of [1:04:57] Venezuela, defiant against what President Trump had been calling for months on him to do and step aside, [1:05:04] to now a defendant in the dock in Manhattan federal court is quite a transition. [1:05:09] All right, Aaron, once again, stand by for us. We appreciate it. Let's go out to Jay O'Brien on Capitol [1:05:14] Hill in Washington because, Jay, we know that we mentioned the Gang of Eight, members of Congress [1:05:19] from both parties saying they were not briefed on this beforehand, many of them raising questions about [1:05:24] the legality of this operation. Exactly right, Whit, particularly Democrats saying that they view this, [1:05:30] the word that keeps coming up time and time again in their statements as illegal because Congress has [1:05:36] not voted to authorize military action in Venezuela. Now, the administration strongly pushing back on [1:05:42] that. And one of the principal arguments that they're making here, Whit, is because this was a [1:05:46] law enforcement action, as they characterize, serving that arrest warrant that Pierre was just talking [1:05:52] about. There did not need to be any kind of congressional authorization for military action. The vice [1:05:57] president posting earlier today, I'm going to read from it, quote, you don't get to avoid justice for [1:06:02] drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas. But the one thing that [1:06:08] Democrats continue to point out here, Whit, is that while this was a law enforcement action, [1:06:13] as the administration says, it was done with military assets. The U.S. military was integral to this law [1:06:19] enforcement action and in many cases took the lead here. And what we're seeing now is the administration [1:06:23] really kind of split the baby here, saying that they're praising the U.S. military for the actions [1:06:28] that they took, but they're characterizing this as a law enforcement operation to try to circumvent [1:06:34] the congressional process of authorizing the use of military force. [1:06:37] Jay O'Brien, stand by for us once again to our viewers at home. We are awaiting word from President [1:06:42] Trump speaking from Mar-a-Lago about this extraordinary strike on Venezuela, capturing President [1:06:49] Maduro and his wife. These are some of the explosions that were seen in the overnight hours there. [1:06:55] We're also learning that from sources who told ABC News that President Trump had given the green [1:06:59] light to capture Maduro several days ago and that troops are ready to strike on Christmas Day, but they [1:07:05] were actually delayed because of military strikes that were happening in Nigeria against ISIS. And [1:07:12] subsequent opportunities were postponed partly due to weather. So this is something that had been in [1:07:16] the works for a few days. President Trump had signed off on it. You can see some of the helicopters [1:07:21] flying there in the night sky over Caracas, some of this video coming in here. So once again, [1:07:26] we are awaiting reports. We are awaiting the president, members, top members of his cabinet, [1:07:31] secretary of defense, and others to speak about this operation. In the meantime, we're going to [1:07:37] bring in one of our contributors, Steve Ganyard, former Colonel Steve Ganyard, to talk more about [1:07:44] this operation as we know it now. And, Steve, forgive me. I was just getting some instructions [1:07:49] as we're awaiting to hear from the White House and when the president is going to speak. But what do you [1:07:54] make of what we learned about the operation itself, Delta forces involved, the CIA laying the groundwork [1:08:01] and the precise location, and the fact that the administration is really trying to sell this as [1:08:07] a military-supported law enforcement operation? [1:08:10] STEVE GANARD, U.S.: Yes, Whit, from a military perspective, it's quite extraordinary. This is [1:08:15] the largest U.S. comprehensive buildup of military force anywhere in the world, really, in decades. [1:08:20] So every tool in the U.S. toolkit has been deployed, everything from F-22 fighters to F-35 fighters. We see [1:08:29] video this morning of F-35s landing at Roosevelt Roads. We see the RQ-170, the very secret stealthy drone [1:08:37] landing at Roosevelt Roads. We know that combat search and rescue, electronic warfare. So an [1:08:43] unbelievable buildup against this very small country. So the White House wanted to make sure [1:08:49] that this went off without a hitch. But when we look at that video there of those helicopters, [1:08:54] you can count nine in that one video of the helicopters that are moving across the night sky in [1:08:59] Caracas there. Incredibly complex to involve CIA, special operations, conventional forces, [1:09:06] air forces. To put this all together and have only a few injured is really, really extraordinary. [1:09:13] To your other point about how this is being framed, think about how the administration has been looking [1:09:20] at the ships that have been quarantined, the oil tankers that have been quarantined. They're putting it [1:09:25] in terms of quarantine and not blockade, the idea being here that the administration all along has [1:09:30] been trying to keep this as a law enforcement action. So looking at the ships, blocking the cocaine, [1:09:38] going in after Maduro, calling the justification, going after a narco-terrorist, somebody who's drained [1:09:44] the coffers for years. There are other considerations here. Venezuela has been in bed with Hezbollah for [1:09:50] decades in running cocaine into Europe in particular. So many, many pieces here, but really an extraordinary [1:09:57] military operation to pull off the complexity. Working in an urban environment to do a snatch and grab [1:10:04] and have only a couple of casualties, just incredible. [1:10:07] Now, obviously, we're awaiting some clarity from the administration, but so many questions about the [1:10:12] next steps here, Steve. What do we know about how well-positioned the U.S. might be to sort of [1:10:19] spearhead a transition of government? And what role could we play in all of this? [1:10:24] Well, the U.S. hasn't done very well in that transition phase in the past couple of decades [1:10:30] in the countries, other countries where we've done this. So I would imagine the president's going to [1:10:34] stay a bit back from that. I think he will probably insist that an election be held, a free and fair [1:10:40] election. We know that Maduro basically big-footed the last election and has maintained power illegally [1:10:46] since then. But I would imagine that, given what Marco Rubio said today, that this is going to be [1:10:53] the end of military action. There's really, now that they have Maduro, there's really nothing [1:10:57] that the U.S. needs to do. It's up to the Venezuelan people now. But the U.S. certainly is not going to [1:11:02] allow any more oil coming offshore until they're sure that that oil is going back into the coffers, [1:11:08] going back in to support the Venezuelan people, and not to protect and prop up the Maduro regime. [1:11:14] All right, Steve Ganyard, thanks so much. Let's bring in ABC's Matt Rivers, who's joining us now. [1:11:19] Matt, I know that you've recently traveled to the region. You were not far from Venezuela, [1:11:24] off the coast recently. You've talked to people in that country, have sources there. [1:11:29] What are they saying to you about the next steps and how people are reacting in this moment? [1:11:35] Well, I think, you know, going off of what Steve Ganyard just said, talking about fraudulent [1:11:41] elections, I think the vast majority of people, by roughly a three-to-one margin at this point, [1:11:47] voted against the current regime, or the former regime, I guess, with then-president Maduro [1:11:53] standing for president last year, voting instead for the opposition. So I think it's safe to say [1:11:56] that the vast majority of Venezuelans are happy in some respect that Maduro, the long-time strong [1:12:03] man leader of this country, is now out of Venezuela. But I think where the trepidation comes in, [1:12:08] and this goes to your question, Whit, is what happens next? Because Venezuelans, as a collective, [1:12:13] have been through so much, well over a decade of this at this point, with so many struggles [1:12:18] economically, politically, militarily now. And so the question there is, what comes next? [1:12:24] Who's running the government? What we haven't been hearing is, who is the interim president? [1:12:28] Delcy Rodriguez, the current vice president, has not claimed that title yet. It does appear [1:12:33] that the chief members of Maduro's inner circle remain in power at this point. But their hold on [1:12:39] power might be tenuous at this point. We really simply do not know. And we know, you know, given [1:12:44] past American incursions in other countries, the transition, quote unquote, to democracy is not [1:12:49] always a smooth one. So just because Maduro is out of power, he was not a one-man government. He supported [1:12:54] a vast security state apparatus through some of these illicit dealings, according to the United States. [1:13:00] And so there is no guarantee that this is just some sort of peaceful transition of power [1:13:04] to the opposition. There could be some very complicated times ahead for the people of [1:13:09] Venezuela as they figure this out. And even President Trump today said that he doesn't [1:13:13] think on Fox, he was speaking earlier, he doesn't think that this current government should be able [1:13:18] to move forward and that the U.S. is going to keep, you know, the pressure on to make sure that [1:13:23] doesn't happen. So to sum that all up with, there could be some very complicated days ahead for the [1:13:27] country of Venezuela. Absolutely. Matt Rivers for us. Please stand by. I want to go back to [1:13:32] Pierre Thomas because, Pierre, I understand that President Trump has posted a photo of Maduro [1:13:37] in custody. What can you tell us about that? Well, the photo has Maduro appearing to be in [1:13:43] blindfolds. And one of the things you'll notice if you look closely is DEA. And my sources have [1:13:49] been telling me all morning that DEA was central to the law enforcement aspect. They helped build the [1:13:54] case against Maduro in the past. And you're going to see that and hear that all day from [1:13:59] the administration. We expect the president to lay out that, again, this was the military supporting [1:14:04] law enforcement action that Maduro had been indicted. And there's a superseding indictment [1:14:10] that's now unsealed in New York. And that, again, the military was there to conduct this operation on [1:14:16] behalf of U.S. law enforcement. But again, in that picture, you see that's the messaging you're going [1:14:21] to hear throughout the day. And Pierre, while I have you, someone pointed out this contradiction [1:14:25] that, you know, we now have this image of Maduro in custody. But then recently, President Trump [1:14:31] pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, who was actually convicted [1:14:38] on narcotics trafficking charges. You know, how how are your sources responding to that? And what's [1:14:45] likely to be the reaction going forward? Well, that's a very good question. Here's the issue. [1:14:50] The administration and President Trump himself has tried to portray the Biden administration [1:14:55] prosecution of the former president of Honduras as, quote, you know, illegitimate and that it was [1:15:01] bogus in some regards. Having said that, the man was convicted by a jury in the United States of these [1:15:09] crimes. Number two, critics are saying that this is an example of inconsistent, to be kind, [1:15:16] is in terms of their words, action by the administration. On the one hand, you the claim [1:15:22] was very similar about the president, former president of Honduras, that he was engaged and [1:15:27] helped participate in facilitating countless amounts of drugs coming into the United States, [1:15:32] which is the exact charge that's being brought against Maduro today. [1:15:35] All right, Pierre Thomas Forrest, thank you so much. And it's worth reminding our viewers, too, again, [1:15:39] as we're seeing these images coming in from Venezuela and also that the lower corner there, [1:15:44] that is a live picture from Mar-a-Lago where the president is expected to speak any moment. [1:15:49] All of this comes amid these increased tensions with Venezuela and the strikes on alleged drug [1:15:55] boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. There have been at least 121 alleged drug smugglers who've been [1:16:01] killed in some 30 strikes as all of this has been escalating. And we've been talking about the [1:16:06] military buildup in the region. There are now about 15,000 U.S. military personnel [1:16:12] in the Caribbean. We've talked about the USS General Ford there and 2,200 Marines aboard a [1:16:18] number of ships in the Caribbean, no doubt all of them there to support this operation. So let's go [1:16:24] back to our chief foreign affairs correspondent, Martha Raddatz, to talk more about the operation itself. [1:16:31] And Martha, you mentioned that we were getting reports of some injuries as part of this strike. [1:16:37] Apparently, several Americans were injured. There were no deaths. The president announced this on [1:16:44] Fox News earlier today. And a helicopter was damaged, but did manage to make it out of Venezuela. But [1:16:52] this was a remarkable operation. Truly, as far as we know so far, flawlessly performed by U.S. forces and [1:17:00] law enforcement. We did, as you say, have all those U.S. military forces, 15,000 in the area, [1:17:08] and they have been overseeing the strike on these suspected drug boats, 30 suspected drug boats [1:17:16] since September. This was the massive show of force. This was Maduro, get out of there, [1:17:21] stop this drug trade, resign, get out of the country. We also know that President Trump had spoken to [1:17:28] Maduro very recently. That may have been to make him feel comfortable and not afraid. We think it was [1:17:35] probably in the presidential palace where this capture happened, where President Trump described [1:17:41] the forces going in, the military forces, and we presume the law enforcement forces as well, [1:17:46] going after Maduro in the dead of night, capturing him and his wife. U.S. forces had been practicing this, [1:17:55] President Trump said. They built a building. This sounds so much like the death of bin Laden, [1:18:01] building a compound, knowing exactly where you go. This would be standard for something like the [1:18:06] Delta Force or Navy SEALs to go into an area that they knew that they had been surveilling, [1:18:12] likely from drones. And as we said earlier, a source telling us that there was also a CIA clandestine team [1:18:20] on the ground watching Maduro for several weeks, getting his pattern of life, that so-called pattern [1:18:26] of life, where he goes, what are the movements, who are with him, what kind of security does he have [1:18:31] around him, and building, I would imagine, likely from some sort of asset on the ground, some sort of [1:18:38] person who knows Maduro, knows his pattern of life, what exactly that palace looks like, where he sleeps, [1:18:45] where they could enter that building, where that safe room was that they say he never made it into, [1:18:52] even though they said those forces were prepared to breach those doors. But I guess we have the [1:18:59] president coming out here soon with. All right, Martha. Yes. As you noted right there, President [1:19:03] Trump is entering the room here, heading to the podium to speak from Mar-a-Lago about this really [1:19:09] extraordinary strike on Venezuela, taking President Nicolas Maduro and his wife into custody. Once [1:19:16] again, we also learned today about that superseding indictment, new charges facing Maduro. And here is [1:19:21] President Trump from Mar-a-Lago. Okay, thank you very much. This is big stuff. And we appreciate you [1:19:28] being here. Late last night and early today, at my direction, the United States Armed Forces [1:19:41] conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. Overwhelming American [1:19:52] military power, air, land, and sea was used to launch a spectacular assault. And it was an assault [1:20:00] like people have not seen since World War II. It was a force against a heavily fortified military fortress [1:20:11] in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice. This was one of the most [1:20:20] stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history. [1:20:32] And if you think about it, we've done some other good ones like the attack on Soleimani, [1:20:39] the attack on al-Baghdadi, and the obliteration and decimation of the Iran nuclear sites just recently [1:20:54] in an operation known as Midnight Hammer, all perfectly executed and done. No nation in the world [1:21:05] could achieve what America achieved yesterday, or frankly, in just a short period of time. [1:21:11] All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military [1:21:20] working with U.S. law enforcement successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night. It was dark. [1:21:29] The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have. It was dark, [1:21:42] and it was deadly. But captured along with his wife, Celia Flores, both of whom now face American justice. [1:21:56] Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York, [1:22:02] Jay Clayton, for their campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens. [1:22:11] I want to thank the men and women of our military who achieved such an extraordinary success overnight [1:22:17] with breathtaking speed, power, precision, and competence. You rarely see anything like it. [1:22:24] You've seen some raids in this country that didn't go so well. They were an embarrassment. [1:22:29] If you look back to Afghanistan, or if you look back to the Jimmy Carter days, [1:22:36] they were different days. We're a respected country again, like maybe, like never before. [1:22:42] These highly trained warriors operating in collaboration with U.S. law enforcement caught them in a [1:22:50] very ready position. They were waiting for us. They knew we had many ships out in the sea, [1:22:57] just sort of waiting. They knew we were coming. So they were in a ready, what's called a ready position. [1:23:04] But they were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated. If you would have seen what I [1:23:12] saw last night, you would have been very impressed. I'm not sure that you'll ever get to see it, but [1:23:17] it was an incredible thing to see. Not a single American service member was killed, [1:23:23] and not a single piece of American equipment was lost. We had many helicopters, [1:23:29] many planes, many people involved in that fight. But think of that. Not one piece of military equipment [1:23:37] was lost. Not one service member was, more importantly, killed. The United States military [1:23:43] is the strongest and most fearsome military on the planet by far. With capabilities and skills, [1:23:50] our enemies can scarcely begin to imagine we have the best equipment anywhere in the world. [1:23:57] There's no equipment like what we have. And you see that, even if you just look at the boats, [1:24:02] you know, we've knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by sea. 90%. Each boat kills 25, [1:24:10] on average 25,000 people. We knocked out 97%. And those drugs mostly come from a place called Venezuela. [1:24:22] We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious [1:24:28] transition. And we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. [1:24:40] So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious [1:24:48] transition. And it has to be judicious, because that's what we're all about. We want peace, [1:24:55] liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela. And that includes many from Venezuela [1:25:03] that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country. It's their homeland. [1:25:10] We can't take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn't have the good of the [1:25:16] Venezuelan people in mind. We've had decades of that. We're not going to let that happen. [1:25:23] We're there now. And what people don't understand, but they understand as I say this, we're there now, [1:25:33] but we're going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place. So we're going [1:25:41] to stay until such time as we're going to run it essentially until such time as a proper transition [1:25:47] can take place. As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust, a total bust [1:25:53] for a long period of time. They were pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they could [1:26:01] have been pumping and what could have taken place. We're going to have our very large United States [1:26:10] oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken [1:26:19] infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country. [1:26:25] And we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so. So we were prepared to [1:26:36] do a second wave if we needed to do so. We actually assumed that a second wave would [1:26:44] be necessary, but now it's probably not. The first wave, if you'd like to call it that, [1:26:50] the first attack was so successful. We probably don't have to do a second, but we're prepared to do [1:26:55] a second wave, a much bigger wave, actually. This was pinpoint, but we have a much bigger wave that [1:27:03] probably won't have to do. This partnership of Venezuela with the United States of America, [1:27:08] a country that everybody wants to be involved with because of what we were able to do and accomplish, [1:27:16] will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe. And it will also make the many, many people [1:27:24] from Venezuela that are living in the United States extremely happy. They suffered. They suffered. [1:27:31] So much was taken from them. They're not going to suffer anymore. The illegitimate dictator Maduro was [1:27:38] the kingpin of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and [1:27:45] illicit drugs into the United States. As alleged in the indictment, he personally oversaw the vicious [1:27:53] cartel known as Cartel de las Solas, which flooded our nation with lethal poison responsible for the [1:28:02] deaths of countless Americans. The many, many Americans, hundreds of thousands over the years [1:28:08] of Americans died because of him. Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice [1:28:16] and stand trial on American soil. Right now, they're on a ship. They'll be heading to, ultimately, [1:28:24] New York. And then a decision will be made, I assume, between New York and Miami or Florida. [1:28:33] But we have people where the overwhelming evidence of their crimes will be presented in a court of law. [1:28:43] And I've seen it. I've seen what we have. It's both horrible and breathtaking that something like this [1:28:51] could have been allowed to take place. For many years after his term as president of Venezuela, [1:28:58] expired Maduro, remained in power and waged a ceaseless campaign of violence, terror and subversion [1:29:07] against the United States of America, threatening not only our people, but the stability of the entire [1:29:13] region. And you all saw it. In addition to trafficking gigantic amounts of illegal drugs [1:29:20] that inflicted untold suffering and human destruction all over the country, all over, in particular, [1:29:27] the United States. Maduro sent savage and murderous gangs, including the bloodthirsty prison gang [1:29:33] trend de Aragua to terrorize American communities nationwide. And he did indeed. They were in [1:29:40] Colorado. They took over apartment complexes. They cut the fingers off people if they call police. [1:29:46] They were brutal. But they're not so brutal now. And I just have to congratulate our military, [1:29:55] Pete and everybody in our National Guard, because the job that they've done, whether it's in Washington, [1:30:00] D.C., where we have a totally safe city, where it was one of the most unsafe cities anywhere in the [1:30:08] world, frankly. And now we have no crime in Washington, D.C. We haven't had a killing. We had [1:30:14] the terrorist attack a few weeks ago, a little bit of a different kind of a threat. But we haven't had [1:30:24] a killing in a long period of time, six, seven months. We used to have two, on average, two a week [1:30:31] in Washington, our capital. We don't have that anymore. The restaurants are opening. Everyone's happy. [1:30:37] They're going. They're walking their daughters. They're walking their children, their wives. They [1:30:42] walk to restaurants. Restaurants are opening all over Washington, D.C. So I want to thank the [1:30:48] National Guard. I want to thank our military. And I want to thank law enforcement. It's been amazing. [1:30:53] And they should do it with more cities. We're doing it, as you know. And we're doing it in [1:30:58] Memphis, Tennessee right now. And crime is down. We've just sort of started a few weeks ago. But crime is [1:31:04] down now 77 percent. And the governor of Louisiana called. Great person. And he wanted us to help him, [1:31:14] as you know, in a certain very nice part of Louisiana. And we have done that. And it's a rough, [1:31:23] it was a rough, rough section. And we have climbed down. I understand it's down to almost nothing already [1:31:29] after two and a half weeks. New Orleans, it's down to almost nothing. And we've only been there for [1:31:36] two and a half weeks. Can't imagine why governors wouldn't want us to help. We also helped, as you [1:31:41] know, in Chicago. Then crime went down a little bit there. We did a very small help because we had no [1:31:48] no we had no working ability with the governor. The governor was a disaster and the mayor was a [1:31:54] disaster. But it knocked down crime. But we're pulling out of there when when they need us. [1:31:59] We'll know. You'll know. You'll be writing about it. And likewise, Los Angeles, where we saved Los [1:32:05] Angeles early on, where the head of the police department made a statement that if the federal [1:32:12] government didn't come in, we would have lost Los Angeles. That's after long after the fires. [1:32:18] That's when they had the riots in Los Angeles. We did a great job. Got no credit for it whatsoever. [1:32:22] But that's OK. It doesn't matter. We don't need the credit. But we'll be pulling out when they need [1:32:27] us. They'll call or we'll go back if we have to. We'll go back. But we did a great job in various [1:32:33] cities. But the thing the place that we're very proud of is Washington, D.C. because it's our nation's [1:32:38] capital. We took it from being a crime ridden mess to being one of the safest cities in the country. [1:32:45] But the gangs that they sent raped, tortured and murdered American women and children. [1:32:52] They were in all of the cities I mentioned, Trenda, Aragua. And they were sent by Maduro [1:32:59] to terrorize our people. And now Maduro will never again be able to threaten an American citizen or [1:33:08] anybody from Venezuela. There will no longer be threats. For years, I've highlighted the stories of [1:33:13] those innocent Americans whose lives were so heartlessly robbed by this Venezuelan [1:33:20] terrorist organization. Really one of the worst. One of the worst. They say the worst. [1:33:26] Americans like 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungary from Houston. Beautiful Jocelyn Nungary. What happened to [1:33:33] her? They, as you know, they kidnapped, assaulted and murdered by Trenda Aragua animals. They murdered [1:33:44] Jocelyn. And left her dead under the bridge. It was a bridge. A bridge that will never be the same to [1:33:55] so many people after seeing what happened. As I've said many times, the Maduro regime emptied out their [1:34:01] prisons, sent their worst and most violent monsters into the United States to steal American lives. And [1:34:09] they came from mental institutions and insane asylums. They came from [1:34:14] prisons and jails. The reason I say both, they sound similar. Actually prisons, a little bit more, [1:34:22] a little bit more hostile, a little bit tougher. A mental institution isn't as tough as an insane asylum. [1:34:29] But we got them both. They sent from their mental institutions. They sent from their jails, prisons. [1:34:34] They were drug dealers. They were drug kingpins. They sent everybody bad into the United States. [1:34:41] But no longer. And we have now a border where nobody gets through. In addition, Venezuela [1:34:48] unilaterally seized and stole American oil, American assets and American platforms, costing us [1:34:57] billions and billions of dollars. They did this a while ago, but we never had a president that did [1:35:03] anything about it. They took all of our property. It was our property. We built it. And we never had [1:35:10] a president that decided to do anything about it. Instead, they fought wars that were 10,000 miles away. [1:35:18] We built Venezuela oil industry with American talent, drive and skill. And the socialist regime [1:35:26] stole it from us during those previous administrations. And they stole it through force. [1:35:33] This constituted one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country, [1:35:38] considered the largest theft of property in the history of our country. [1:35:42] Massive oil infrastructure was taken like we were babies, so we didn't do anything about it. [1:35:47] I would have done something about it. America will never allow foreign powers to rob our people or [1:35:54] drive us back into and out of our own hemisphere. That's what they did. [1:36:00] Furthermore, under the now deposed dictator Maduro, Venezuela was increasingly hosting foreign adversaries [1:36:07] in our region and acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten U.S. interests and [1:36:13] lives. And they used those weapons last night. They used those weapons last night, potentially in league [1:36:19] with the cartels operating along our border. All of these actions were in gross violation of the core [1:36:26] principles of American foreign policy, dating back more than two centuries. And not anymore. [1:36:35] All the way back, it dated to the Monroe Doctrines. And the Monroe Doctrine is a big deal. [1:36:43] But we've superseded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the Monroe Doctrines. I don't know. [1:36:52] It's Monroe Doctrine. We sort of forgot about it. It was very important, but we forgot about it. We [1:37:00] don't forget about it anymore. Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western [1:37:06] hemisphere will never be questioned again. Won't happen. So just in concluding for decades, [1:37:13] other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats [1:37:20] in the Western hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American [1:37:26] power in a very powerful way in our home region. And our home region is very different than it was [1:37:34] just a short while ago. The future will be. And we did this in my first term. We had great dominance [1:37:39] in my first term. And we have far greater dominance right now. Everyone's coming back to us. The future [1:37:47] will be determined by the ability to protect commerce and territory and resources that are core to national [1:37:55] security. These are core to our national security. Just like tariffs are, they've made our country rich [1:38:04] and they've made our national security strong, stronger than ever before. But these are the iron laws [1:38:11] that have always determined global power. And we're going to keep it that way. We will secure our borders. [1:38:20] We will stop the terrorists. We will crash the cartels and we will defend our citizens against all threats, [1:38:27] foreign and domestic. Other presidents may have lacked the courage or whatever to defend America. [1:38:35] But I will never allow terrorists and criminals to operate with impunity against the United States. [1:38:42] This extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American [1:38:47] sovereignty or endanger American lives. Very importantly, the embargo on all Venezuelan oil [1:38:54] remains in full effect. The American armada remains poised in position and the United States retains all [1:39:03] military options until United States demands have been fully met and fully satisfied. All political [1:39:11] and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them. And it will [1:39:18] happen to them if they aren't just fair even to their people. The dictator and terrorist Maduro is finally [1:39:29] gone in Venezuela. People are free. They're free again. It's been a long time for them, but they're free. [1:39:36] America is a safer nation this morning. It's a prouder nation this morning because it didn't allow [1:39:44] this horrible person and this country that was doing very bad things to us. It didn't allow it to happen. [1:39:53] And the Western Hemisphere is right now a much safer place to be. So I want to thank everybody for being [1:39:59] here. I want to thank General Raisin Cain. He's a fantastic man. I've worked with a lot of generals. [1:40:06] I worked with some I didn't like. I worked with some I didn't respect. I worked with some they just weren't [1:40:11] good. But this guy is fantastic. I watched last night one of the most precise attacks on sovereignty. [1:40:21] I mean, it was an attack for justice. And I'm very proud of him. And I'm very proud of our secretary [1:40:27] of war, Pete Hegseth, who I'm going to ask to say a few words. Thank you very much. [1:40:32] Mr. President, can you explain how the U.S. will run Venezuela? [1:40:37] Well, thank you, Mr. President. Finally, a commander in chief the world respects [1:40:42] and the American people deserve. And as the president said, words can barely capture [1:40:47] the bravery and the power and the precision of this historic operation, a massive joint military [1:40:53] and law enforcement raid flawlessly executed by the greatest Americans our country has to offer. [1:41:00] American warriors are second to none, the best in the world and the best of our country. [1:41:06] What I what all of us witnessed last night was sheer guts and grit, gallantry and glory of the American [1:41:14] warrior. I'm simply humbled by such men, such men. And I tip my hat to our chairman, Dan Raisin Cain [1:41:22] and all those Americans who stood watch last night. Our warriors are the elite of America. And again, [1:41:29] President Trump has your back. No other country on planet Earth and it's not even close could pull [1:41:37] this kind of operation off. And no other president has ever shown this kind of leadership, courage and [1:41:43] resolve. The most powerful combination the world has ever seen. As the president said, our adversaries [1:41:51] remain on notice. America can project our will anywhere, anytime. The coordination, the stealth, [1:41:59] the lethality, the precision, the very long arm of American justice all on full display in the middle [1:42:06] of the night. Nicolas Maduro had his chance just like Iran had their chance until they didn't and until [1:42:15] he didn't. He effed around and he found out. President Trump is deadly serious about stopping [1:42:23] the flow of gangs and violence to our country. Deadly serious about stopping the flow of drugs [1:42:29] and poison to our people. Deadly serious about getting back the oil that was stolen from us [1:42:36] and deadly serious about reestablishing American deterrence and dominance in the western hemisphere. This [1:42:43] is about the safety, security, freedom and prosperity of the American people. This is America first. This [1:42:53] is peace through strength. And the United States War Department is proud to help deliver it. Welcome to 2026 [1:43:03] and under President Trump, America is back. I'd like to welcome now our chairman, Chairman Raisin [1:43:10] Kane to give a few more details about the operation. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. [1:43:18] Thank you, Mr. President. And good morning. Last night on the order of the President of the United [1:43:24] States and in support of a request from the Department of Justice, as the President said, [1:43:29] the United States military conducted an apprehension mission in Caracas, Venezuela to bring to justice [1:43:36] two indicted persons, Nicolas and Cecilia Maduro. This operation, known as Operation Absolute Resolve, [1:43:43] was discreet, precise and conducted during the darkest hours of January 2nd and was in the [1:43:49] culmination of months of planning and rehearsal, an operation that frankly, only the United States [1:43:56] military could undertake. What I'd like to do this morning is talk to you through some of the preparation [1:44:01] and the details without compromising any of our tactics, techniques and procedures. There is always a [1:44:09] chance that we'll be tasked to do this type of mission again. Our interagency work began months ago and [1:44:16] built on decades of experience of integrating complex air, ground, space and maritime operations. [1:44:23] While the past two decades have honed the skills of our Special Operations Forces, this particular [1:44:30] mission required every component of our joint force with soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, [1:44:37] and guardians working in unison with our intelligence agency partners and law enforcement teammates [1:44:43] in an unprecedented operation. We leveraged our unmatched intelligence capabilities and our years of [1:44:51] experience in hunting terrorists. And we could not have done this mission without the incredible work [1:44:57] by various intelligence agencies, including the CIA, NSA, and NGA. We watched, we waited, we prepared, [1:45:07] we remained patient and professional. This mission was meticulously planned, drawing lessons from decades [1:45:15] of missions over the last many years, decades or many missions over these last many years. This was an [1:45:22] audacious operation that only the United States could do. It required the utmost of precision and [1:45:30] integration within our joint force. And the word integration does not explain the sheer complexity of [1:45:38] such a mission. An extraction so precise, it involved more than 150 aircraft launching across the Western [1:45:47] hemisphere in close coordination, all coming together in time and place to layer effects for a single purpose, [1:45:57] to get an interdiction force into downtown Caracas while maintaining the element of tactical surprise. [1:46:05] Failure of one component of this well-oiled machine would have endangered the entire mission, [1:46:12] and failure is never an option for America's joint force. Those in the air over Caracas last night [1:46:20] were willing to give their lives for those on the ground and in the helicopters. Let me talk a little [1:46:26] bit about the preparation. After months of work by our intelligence teammates to find Maduro and understand [1:46:34] how he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets, [1:46:42] in early December. Our force was set pending a series of aligned events. Key was choosing the right [1:46:51] day to minimize the potential for civilian harm and maximize the element of surprise and minimize the [1:46:59] harm to the indicted personnel. So as the president said, they could be brought to justice. And as the [1:47:05] president said earlier today, weather in Venezuela is always a factor this time of the year. And over the [1:47:13] weeks through Christmas and New Year's, the men and women of the United States military sat ready, [1:47:19] patiently waiting for the right triggers to be met and the president to order us into action. [1:47:26] Last night, the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only the most skilled aviators in the [1:47:33] world could maneuver through. Ocean, mountain, low clouds, ceilings. But when tasked with a mission, [1:47:41] this organization does not quit. At 10 46 p.m. Eastern time last night, the president ordered [1:47:49] the United States military to move forward with this mission. He said to us, and we appreciate it, [1:47:55] Mr. President, good luck and Godspeed. And those words were transmitted to the entire joint force. [1:48:02] Over the course of the night, aircraft began launching from 20 different bases [1:48:06] on land and sea across the western hemisphere. In total, more than 150 aircraft, bombers, fighters, [1:48:15] intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, rotary wing were in the air last night. Thousands and [1:48:21] thousands of hours of experience were airborne. Our youngest crew member was 20 and our oldest crew [1:48:28] member was 49. And there's simply no match for American military might. As the night began, [1:48:34] the helicopters took off with the extraction force, which included law enforcement officers, [1:48:39] and began their flight into Venezuela at 100 feet above the water. As they approached Venezuelan shores, [1:48:46] the United States began layering different effects provided by Spacecom, Cybercom, and other members [1:48:52] of the interagency to create a pathway. Overhead, those forces were protected from aircraft, were protected [1:48:59] by aircraft from the United States Marines, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, and the [1:49:05] Air National Guard. The force included F-22s, F-35s, F-18s, EA-18s, E-2s, B-1 bombers, and other support [1:49:16] aircraft as well as numerous remotely piloted drones. As the force began to approach Caracas, the joint air [1:49:24] component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to [1:49:33] ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area. The goal of our air component is, was, [1:49:42] and always will be to protect the helicopters and the ground force and get them to the target and get [1:49:49] them home. As the force crossed the last point of high terrain where they'd been hiding in the clutter, we [1:49:56] assessed that we had maintained totally the element of surprise. As the helicopter force ingressed towards [1:50:05] the objective at low level, we arrived at Maduro's compound at 1 0 1 a.m eastern standard time or 2 0 1 a.m [1:50:14] Caracas local time and the apprehension force descended into Maduro's compound and moved with speed, precision, [1:50:22] and discipline towards their objective and isolated the area to ensure the safety and security of the [1:50:29] ground force while apprehending the indicted persons. On arrival into the target area, the helicopters came [1:50:36] under fire and they replied with that fire with overwhelming force and self-defense. One of our aircraft [1:50:43] was hit but remained flyable and as the president said earlier today, all of our aircraft came home [1:50:48] and that aircraft remained flyable during the rest of the mission. As the operation unfolded at the [1:50:54] compound, our air and ground intelligence teams provided real-time updates to the ground force, [1:51:00] ensuring those forces could safely navigate the complex environment without unnecessary risk. [1:51:06] The force remained protected by overhead tactical aviation. Maduro and his wife, both indicted, [1:51:14] gave up and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by our incredible U.S. [1:51:20] military with professionalism and precision with no loss of U.S. life. After securing the indicted [1:51:29] persons, the force began to prep for departure. Helicopters were called in to exfiltrate the extraction force [1:51:36] while fighter aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft provided overhead coverage and suppressive fire. [1:51:43] There were multiple self-defense engagements as the force began to withdraw out of Venezuela. The force [1:51:51] successfully exfiltrated and returned to their afloat launch bases and the force was over the water at 3.29 [1:52:00] a.m. Eastern Standard Time with indicted persons on board and both Maduro and his wife were embarked [1:52:08] aboard the U.S.S. Uwajima. In closing, what we've witnessed today is a powerful demonstration of America's joint force. [1:52:18] We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again, not to get it right, [1:52:29] but to ensure that we cannot get it wrong. Our jobs are to integrate combat power so when the order comes, [1:52:39] we can deliver overwhelming force at the time and the place of our choosing against any foe anywhere in [1:52:48] the world. I am immensely proud today of our joint force and filled with gratitude to represent them [1:52:56] here today. There is simply no mission too difficult for these incredible professionals [1:53:02] and the families that stand by them and support them. As we stand here this morning, our forces remain [1:53:10] in the region at a high state of readiness, prepared to project power, defend themselves and our interests [1:53:18] in the region. This operation is a testament to the dedication and unwavering commitment to justice [1:53:26] and our resolve to hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability. In closing, I want to express [1:53:34] my heartfelt gratitude to the brave men and women who executed this mission. Their courage and tireless [1:53:41] commitment to our nation are what makes us strong. Thank you, Mr. Secretary and thank you, Mr. President. [1:53:51] Well, I don't have much to add to what you've heard now other than the following points. [1:53:54] Nicolas Maduro was indicted in 2020 in the United States. He is not the legitimate president of [1:54:00] Venezuela. That's not just us saying it. The first Trump administration, the Biden administration, [1:54:05] the second Trump administration, none of those three recognize him. He's not recognized by the [1:54:09] European Union and multiple countries around the world. He is a fugitive of American justice [1:54:13] with a $50 million reward, which I guess we say $50 million. And I make sure. Yeah, exactly. But [1:54:21] don't let anybody claim it. Nobody deserves it but us. But I want to be clear about one thing. [1:54:27] Nicolas Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this. He was provided multiple very, very, very generous [1:54:33] offers and chose instead to act like a wild man, chose instead to play around. And the result is [1:54:39] what we saw tonight. The other message here is the following. You have a guy, like many people around [1:54:44] the world, they like to play games. You have a guy who decides he's going to invite Iran into his [1:54:48] country, is going to, you know, do the confiscation of American oil companies, is going to flood our [1:54:53] country with gang members, is going to take Americans prisoner and try to hold them for hostage and [1:54:59] trade them like he was able to do with the Biden administration. Basically likes to play games all [1:55:03] this time and thinks nothing's going to happen. And I hope what people now understand is we have [1:55:07] a president. The 47th president of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you [1:55:12] that he's going to do something, when he tells you he's going to address a problem, he means it. He [1:55:17] actions it. I can tell you, I've watched this process now for 14, 15 years, been around it. [1:55:21] Everybody talks. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. When I get there, we're going to do this. [1:55:24] We're going to take this is a president of action. Like, I don't understand yet how they haven't [1:55:28] figured this out. And now if you don't know, now, you know, because this is the way it's going to [1:55:33] play out. And I think people need to understand that this is not a president that just talks and [1:55:37] does letters and press conferences. And, you know, if he says he's serious about something, [1:55:41] he means it. And this is something that was a direct threat to the national interest of the [1:55:45] United States. And the president addressed it. There's a president of peace, by the way. I told you [1:55:49] what I just said earlier. This guy had multiple opportunities to find his way somewhere else and figure out [1:55:54] another. He could have been living somewhere else right now, very happy. But instead, he wanted to [1:55:58] play big boy. And so now, you know, he's got other sets of problems on his hands. And but I think [1:56:03] that the message here should be for the world. But the president doesn't go out looking for people [1:56:07] to pick fights with. He's not generally wants to get along with everybody. We'll talk and meet with [1:56:12] anybody. But don't play games. Don't play games with this president's in office because it's not going to [1:56:17] turn out well. And so I hope that, you know, you know, I guess that lesson was learned last night [1:56:24] and and we hope it will be instructive moving forward. Mr. President, you said that the U.S. [1:56:36] is going to run Venezuela. So who's in power right now? Well, we're going to be running it with a group [1:56:41] and we're going to make sure it's run properly. We're going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, [1:56:45] which will cost billions of dollars. It'll be paid for by the oil companies directly. [1:56:50] They will be reimbursed for what they're doing. But that's going to be paid. [1:56:56] And we're going to get the oil flowing the way it should be. As you know, it was just a minor flow. [1:57:00] It was actually a minor flow for what they have. But we're going to run it properly. [1:57:04] And we're going to make sure the people of Venezuela are taken care of. [1:57:07] We're going to make sure the people that were forced out of Venezuela by this thug are also taken care of. [1:57:17] President, does the U.S. running the country mean that U.S. troops will be on the ground? [1:57:21] How will that work? Well, you know, they always say boots on the ground. [1:57:24] So we're not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have. We had boots on the ground last night [1:57:29] at a very high level, actually. We're not afraid of it. We don't mind saying it. [1:57:34] But we're going to make sure that that country is run properly. We're not doing this in vain. [1:57:38] This is not this is a very dangerous attack. This is an attack that could have gone very, [1:57:43] very badly. Could have gone very badly. We could have lost a lot of people last night. We could [1:57:47] have lost a lot of dignity. We could have lost a lot of equipment. The equipment is less important, [1:57:53] but we could have lost a lot. And we're going to make sure that this is proper. We're there now. [1:58:00] We're ready to go again if we have to. We're going to run the country right. It's going to run very [1:58:06] judiciously, very fairly. It's going to make a lot of money. We're going to give money to the people. [1:58:12] We're going to reimburse people that we're taking advantage of. We're going to take care of [1:58:17] everybody. It's very important. We couldn't let them get away with it. You know, they stole [1:58:22] our oil. We built that whole industry there and they just took it over like we were nothing. And [1:58:28] we had a president that decided not to do anything about it. So we did something about it. We're late, [1:58:35] but we did something about it. Yeah, please. [1:58:36] Are you explaining the exact mechanism by which you're going to run the country? Are you going to [1:58:41] designate a U.S. official to coordinate? Yes. It's all being done right now. We're [1:58:45] designating people. We're talking to people. We're designating various people. And we're going to let [1:58:50] you know who those people are. That would run Venezuela. Well, it's largely going to be [1:58:56] for a period of time. The people that are standing right behind me, we're going to be running it. [1:59:01] We're going to be bringing it back. It's a it's a dead. You know, I talk about a dead country. [1:59:05] A year and a half ago, we were a dead country. Now we're [1:59:08] the hottest country anywhere in the world. We're a country doing better than any country [1:59:13] anywhere in the world. And it required leadership. Venezuela has a lot of bad people in there, [1:59:20] a lot of bad people that shouldn't be leading. We're not going to take a chance at one of those [1:59:24] people take over for Maduro. So you can look at and others. We have fantastic people, including people [1:59:31] in the military. So we're going to have a group of people running it until such time as it can be [1:59:36] put back on track, make a lot of money for the people and give people a great way of life. [1:59:42] And also reimbursement for people in our country that were forced out of Venezuela. [1:59:46] You said earlier today that you weren't going to back Machado to come back and be the opposition [1:59:53] later in your Fox and Friends interview. And then you also mentioned the vice president of Venezuela. [1:59:58] Are you going to work with the vice president of Venezuela? Or how do you foresee the relationship? [2:00:01] I understand she was just sworn in. But she was, as you know, picked by Maduro. So Marco's working [2:00:08] on that directly. Just had a conversation with her. And she's essentially willing to do what [2:00:14] we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again. Very simple. [2:00:19] Mr. President, so Colombian President Gustavo Petro, [2:00:22] you know, a couple of weeks ago, you said he's got to watch his ass. [2:00:26] And today he said he's not concerned about anything happening to him in the aftermath of [2:00:29] this operation. So just what your message is. Well, he has cocaine mills. He has factories [2:00:35] where he makes cocaine. And yeah, I think I stick by my first statement. He's making cocaine. They're [2:00:41] sending it into the United States. So he does have to watch his ass. [2:00:47] Did you notify any members of Congress in advance? [2:00:49] And Marco, do you want to talk about that? Because you were involved. [2:00:52] Sure. We call members of Congress immediately after. This was not the kind of mission that you can do [2:00:56] congressional notification on. It was a trigger based mission in which conditions [2:01:00] had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days. [2:01:03] So it's just simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, hey, we may do this at [2:01:07] some point in the next 15 days. But it's largely a law enforcement function. Remember, at the end of [2:01:11] the day, at its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice. And the [2:01:17] Department of War supported the Department of Justice in that job. Now, there are broader policy [2:01:21] implications here, but it's just not the kind of mission that you can pre-notify because it [2:01:25] endangers the mission. Plus, if I could add one thing to that. Congress has a tendency to leak. [2:01:33] This would not be good. If they leaked, General, I think it would have been maybe a very different [2:01:38] result. But I have to say, they knew we were coming at some point. You know, we had a lot of [2:01:43] ships out there. They sort of knew we were coming. We weren't. But Congress, Congress will leak, [2:01:49] and we don't want leakers. You were one of the only people to watch this all play out live. What was [2:01:56] Maduro doing when the U.S. forces entered what I assume would be his home? And also, was there any [2:02:01] point where the U.S. was considering if Maduro pushed back or resisted killing Maduro? [2:02:06] It could have happened. It could have happened. He was trying to get into a safe place. You know, [2:02:11] the safe place is all steel. And he wasn't able to make it to the door because our guys were so fast. [2:02:17] They went through the opposition so fast. And there was a lot of opposition. You know, people were [2:02:23] wondering, do we get him by surprise? Sort of surprised. But they were waiting for something. [2:02:27] There was a lot of opposition. There was a lot of gunfire. You saw some of it today. [2:02:32] But he was trying to get to a safe place, which wasn't safe because we would have had the door [2:02:37] blown up in about 47, I think 47 seconds, they say on average, regardless of how thick the seal was. [2:02:45] It was a very thick door. It was a very heavy door. But he was unable to get to that door. He made it to [2:02:51] the door. He was unable to close it. Where is Maduro going to be in the time being right now? [2:02:59] Do you know his exact... Well, eventually, ultimately, in the near future, [2:03:02] he's going to be brought to New York. And where is he going to be held? [2:03:04] Where is he going to be held in New York? Do you know? [2:03:06] That's going to be up to the officials that do these things. [2:03:09] Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, the U.S. has something of a mixed track record [2:03:13] of ousting dictators without necessarily a plan for what comes afterwards. [2:03:17] Not with me. Did that weigh on your decision? [2:03:19] Well, that's when we had different presidents. But with me, that's not true. With me, [2:03:22] we've had a perfect track record of winning. We win a lot. And we win. If you look at Soleimani, [2:03:29] you look at al-Baghdadi, you look at the Midnight Hammer. Midnight Hammer was incredible. Right now, [2:03:36] you wouldn't have peace in the Middle East. We have essentially peace in the Middle East because of [2:03:40] that. If you didn't, if we weren't successful with Midnight Hammer, you wouldn't have peace in the [2:03:45] Middle East. So with me, you've had a lot of victory. You've had only victories. You've had no losses. [2:03:51] Yeah. Mr. President, how long do you expect the U.S. to run Venezuela, [2:03:56] and how soon do you want the Venezuelan people to hold elections? [2:03:59] So I'd like to do it quickly, but it takes a period of time. You know, we're rebuilding. [2:04:03] We have to rebuild their whole infrastructure. The infrastructure is rotted. It's actually very [2:04:08] dangerous. It's, you know, blow-up territory. Oil is very dangerous. It's a very dangerous thing to [2:04:13] take out of the ground. It can kill a lot of people. It has killed a lot of people doing just [2:04:19] that. The infrastructure is old. It's rotted. Much of it is stuff that we put there 25 years ago, [2:04:26] and we're going to be replacing it. And we're going to take a lot of money out so that we can [2:04:31] take care of the country. Mr. President, China, Russia, and Iran have interests in Venezuela. [2:04:40] How does this operation affect your relationships with them when it comes to the oil and drugs? [2:04:45] In terms of China and Russia, well, Russia, when we get things straightened out, [2:04:50] but in terms of other countries that want oil, we're in the oil business. We're going to sell it [2:04:55] to them. We're not going to say we're not going to go there. In other words, we'll be selling oil, [2:05:00] probably in much larger doses because they couldn't produce very much because their [2:05:03] infrastructure was so bad. So we'll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries, [2:05:08] many of whom are using it now. But I would say many more will come. [2:05:12] Mr. President, thank you. What is your message to the people of Venezuela today? Of course, [2:05:23] the civilian population specifically, they have a lot of questions. What is your message to the people [2:05:28] of Venezuela? That you're going to have peace, justice. You're going to have [2:05:32] some of the riches that you should have had for a long period of time. It was stolen from you. [2:05:37] But you're going to have peace and you're going to have safety. You're going to have justice. [2:05:40] You're going to have a country. You're going to have a real country. You're going to have [2:05:42] potentially a great country. You know, if you go back 20 years, maybe even a little longer ago, [2:05:47] that was a great country and they destroyed it. Remember I said that if we lose this election, [2:05:54] the United States will be Venezuela on steroids. That's what would have happened had we lost the [2:06:00] election, the 2024 election. We suffered so badly. When you look at the border from 2020, [2:06:06] what what they did, what Joe Biden administration did to our country should never be forgotten. [2:06:12] But if we had to go through another year that we wouldn't have, we would be exactly where [2:06:16] Venezuela was in terms. I used to say if they win, we're going to be Venezuela on steroids. And that's [2:06:23] what would have happened. Thank you. Are you saying that Secretary [2:06:27] Hegseth and Rubio are going to be running Venezuela? And will you be sending in U.S. military troops [2:06:32] to provide that's working with the people of Venezuela to make sure that we have Venezuela, [2:06:37] right? Because for us to just leave, who's going to take over? I mean, there is nobody to take over. [2:06:43] You have a vice president who's been appointed by Maduro. And right now she's the vice president. [2:06:48] And she's, I guess, the president. She was sworn as president just a little while ago. [2:06:53] She had a long conversation with Marco and she said, we'll do whatever you need. [2:06:59] I think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn't have a choice. We're going to have this [2:07:04] done right. We're not going to just do this with Maduro, then leave like everybody else, [2:07:08] leave and say, you know, let it go to hell. If we just left, it has zero chance of ever coming back. [2:07:15] We'll run it properly. We'll run it professionally. We'll have the greatest oil companies in the world [2:07:20] going and invest billions and billions of dollars and take out money, use that money in Venezuela. [2:07:26] And the biggest beneficiary are going to be the people of Venezuela. And also, [2:07:30] I can't stress this strongly enough, the people that got thrown out of Venezuela [2:07:35] that are now in the United States. And frankly, some want to stay and some probably want to go back. [2:07:39] Yeah. What's being done to protect Americans in the country? And were any of the detained Americans [2:07:46] Well, right now, they're very protected because nobody's going to mess with us. [2:07:49] They're very protected. The people of and we let them know that you better not touch one of them. [2:07:55] Are you concerned that bad elements of the Maduro regime will remain in place? [2:07:59] Well, we know who they are. We're on them. And they're acting much differently now than they [2:08:06] would have acted two days ago. Okay, wait behind you, please. [2:08:09] Mr. President, why is running a country in South America America first? [2:08:13] Well, I think it is because we want to surround ourselves with good neighbors. We want to [2:08:18] surround ourselves with stability. We want to surround ourselves with energy. We have tremendous [2:08:23] energy in that country. It's very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that [2:08:28] for the world. And we want to make sure we can protect it. Yes, sir, please. Go ahead. [2:08:34] Is there a message here for Cuba and Diazcanal? [2:08:35] Well, Cuba is an interesting case. Cuba is, you know, not doing very well right now. [2:08:41] That system has not been a very good one for Cuba. The people there have suffered for many, many years. [2:08:46] And I think Cuba is going to be something we'll end up talking about because Cuba is a failing [2:08:52] nation right now, very badly failing nation. And we want to help the people. It's very similar in the [2:08:57] sense that we want to help the people in Cuba. But we want to also help the people that were forced [2:09:02] out of Cuba and living in this country. Do you want to say something about that, Marco, please? [2:09:07] Well, I mean, I just gave you a statement a few minutes ago about, you know, when the president [2:09:11] speaks, you should take him seriously. Suffice it to say, you know, Cuba is a disaster. It's run by [2:09:16] incompetent, senile men. And in some cases, not senile, but incompetent nonetheless. It has no economy. [2:09:24] It's in total collapse. And by the way, you know, they were, you know, all of the guards [2:09:28] that helped protect Maduro, this is well known, their whole spy agency, all that were full of [2:09:32] Cubans. I mean, they basically, it's amazing. This poor island took over Venezuela in some cases. [2:09:38] One of the biggest problems that Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba. [2:09:41] They tried to basically colonize it from a security standpoint. So yeah, look, if I lived in Havana [2:09:45] and I was in the government, I'd be concerned at least a little bit. [2:09:48] Turning off the oil flow to Cuba from Venezuela? [2:09:51] Well, the president already announced a week ago that anything that's sanctioned, [2:09:54] it's sanctioned oil, it's not going to be allowed to get there. So that's, that's pre-existing. [2:09:59] Mr. President, the answer is, the answer is yes. [2:10:04] Mr. President? [2:10:05] Yes. [2:10:05] Is the U.S. aware of the location of opposition leader Machado and have you been in contact with her? [2:10:10] No, we haven't really. No, we haven't. [2:10:13] Mr. President, how much do you have any hesitations about Machado? [2:10:17] Mr. President, on, on Monday. [2:10:18] Oh, I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support within, [2:10:22] or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect to be the leader. [2:10:26] Mr. President, is it possible that the U.S. ends up administrating Venezuela for years, you know, in a situation? [2:10:31] Well, you know, it won't cost us anything because the, uh, money coming out of the ground is very [2:10:36] substantial. So it's not going to cost us anything. We will. Well, we want safety there. We want to [2:10:42] be surrounded by countries that aren't housing all of our enemies all over the world. That's what, [2:10:47] that was happening. And you don't want to have that. Uh, but we're going to be rebuilding and, [2:10:53] and we're, we're not spending money. Uh, the oil companies are going to go in. They're going to [2:10:57] spend money. They're going to, we're going to take back the oil that frankly, we should have taken [2:11:01] back a long time ago. A lot of money is coming out of the ground. We're going to get reimbursed for all of [2:11:06] that. We're going to get reimbursed for everything that we spend. So it's going to be, uh, it's going [2:11:12] to be a very important, it's going to be a very important, this is a very big evening that took [2:11:16] place last night. We have to be surrounded by safe, secure countries. And we also have to have [2:11:23] energy, very important. We have to have energy. That's real energy, not where they're getting 4% and [2:11:29] 5% of the energy out of the ground. You take a look, it was such a disaster. So what's going to happen [2:11:35] with Venezuela, I think over the next period of a year is going to be a great thing. And the people [2:11:40] of Venezuela will be the biggest beneficiaries. Mr. President, thank you. What did you last [2:11:49] speak to Maduro about when you spoke? And is the, well, I don't want to get into the conversations, [2:11:54] but I did have conversations with him and I said, uh, you gotta surrender. And I actually thought he [2:12:03] was pretty close to doing so, but now he wished he did. Yeah. [2:12:06] Mr. President, can you explain, you said that Maduro is responsible for drug trafficking. [2:12:11] You recently pardoned the former president of Honduras who was convicted for many drug trafficking. [2:12:16] Can you explain how these two situations are different? And would you have a pardon Maduro? [2:12:20] I endorsed, as you know, the winning president, the man who won in Honduras. I endorsed the man who won [2:12:25] in Chile. I endorsed the man who won in Argentina. And we are doing very well with that whole group. [2:12:32] What the man that I pardoned was if you could equate it to us, he was treated like the Biden [2:12:39] administration treated a man named Trump that didn't work out too well for them. This was a [2:12:44] man who was persecuted very unfairly. He was the head of the country. He was persecuted very unfairly. [2:12:49] And there are a number of them. And we felt that it was a very unfair situation that happened to him. [2:12:55] He's also a party member of the man who won. So obviously the people liked what I did. [2:13:01] And one of the reasons that was done is because of the fact that the party in power [2:13:06] felt very strongly that that man was treated very badly. [2:13:09] I studied it very quickly. And then I studied it in great detail. [2:13:13] I went to a lot of the people standing behind me and they felt that that man was persecuted [2:13:18] and treated very badly. That's why I gave him a pardon. [2:13:20] You referenced boots on the ground earlier. Can you just sort of button this up? [2:13:26] Do you envision the U.S. military having a presence in Venezuela as the U.S. runs that country? [2:13:31] Well, no, we're going to have a presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil, because we have to have, [2:13:36] we're sending our expertise in. So you may need something, not very much. But no, [2:13:42] we're going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground. And that wealth is going [2:13:47] to the people of Venezuela and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela. [2:13:52] And it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused [2:13:59] us by that country. So I want to thank you all very much. Thank you. Do you have one? Yes, [2:14:03] please. You were so nice before. I'm going to give you the final question. [2:14:06] Thank you, Mr. President. Unless it's a bad question, in which case I'll go one word. [2:14:10] It's about who? It's about Putin, if you want. [2:14:12] About Putin. That's always nice to talk about Putin. [2:14:15] You had a phone call with him on Monday. Did he talk at all about Maduro? Did y'all talk about this? [2:14:20] No, we didn't. We never spoke about Maduro. Are you mad at him right now? I mean, [2:14:23] there's this intelligence. I'm not thrilled with Putin. I'm not thrilled with Putin. [2:14:27] He's killing too many people. I thought that would be so. I settled eight and one quarter [2:14:35] war. You know what the one quarter was? Thailand and Cambodia. I did it again. They were, [2:14:41] they broke out and I did it in about five hours and I settled it. I'm giving myself one quarter. So I'm [2:14:48] up to now eight and one quarter. In other words, I settled the war, but then they broke out. They [2:14:52] had a pretty bad breakout over the last four days. I got them to go back to peace. So I only give one [2:14:59] quarter. I thought the easiest one would be, one of the easier ones would be Russia, Ukraine. [2:15:05] It's not. And they both have done some pretty bad things. And look, that's Biden's war. That's not my war. [2:15:13] But I want to stop the lives. Did you see where last month, 30,000, this last, it was 27, 27,000, [2:15:22] the month before 30,000, mostly soldiers were killed this last month, 30,000. I want to stop that. [2:15:31] You know, I got NATO to pay 5% instead of the 2% that they weren't paying, they weren't paying to now [2:15:39] they pay five. And we send them a lot of munitions. We send them a lot of things, missiles and various [2:15:44] other things, a lot. And they pay. The United States is not losing money. We're probably making [2:15:50] money on that. It's the last thing I care about. I just want to stop all those people. We're losing [2:15:55] 25, 30,000 human beings. They come from two places that are very far away. But if I can stop, [2:16:02] because it's something I've been pretty good at doing deals, I guess, it's all a deal. Life is a [2:16:08] big deal. But if I can stop that war and stop 30,000 young people, in addition to the fact that [2:16:15] people are being killed in Kiev, people are being killed in other cities throughout, you know, [2:16:19] a much smaller number, but they're being killed, viciously killed. So I'm not happy about it. I [2:16:24] thought that would be something that would get solved. We have Mr. Witkoff here. I think that we're [2:16:29] making progress. But that's a war that should have never happened if I were president. Putin [2:16:35] says it. Everybody says it. If I were president, that would have never happened. But I inherited [2:16:40] that war. That was Joe Biden, Zelensky and Putin. I came into the situation and it's a mess. [2:16:48] And I will say this. I watched an operation last night that was so precise, that was so brilliant. [2:16:54] I mean, it was incredible. If we had our people like this general and our people involved, [2:17:01] that war, that war would not have gone on very long, that I can tell you. [2:17:06] That war, to use an old term, that war has become a bloodbath and we want it to get stopped. Thank you [2:17:14] very much. And I'm Gio Benitez in New York. You've been watching an ABC News special report. [2:17:27] President Trump addressing the nation after announcing the U.S. has captured Venezuelan [2:17:32] President Nicolás Maduro and his wife after a large scale strike. President Trump saying, quote, [2:17:37] we are going to run the country after that strike and, quote, Maduro and his wife will soon face the [2:17:43] full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil. President Trump saying that the [2:17:49] U.S. is, quote, not afraid of boots on the ground. Let's go ahead and bring in ABC's Alex Perche. [2:17:55] The president said so much, Alex, because when we're looking at this, we're also seeing that [2:18:00] the president said that we, as in the United States, are going to run the country until a judicious [2:18:07] transition takes place. He says that we can't take a chance on someone else taking over without [2:18:12] Venezuela's interests in mind. That was a very surprising note there from the president. [2:18:16] You're absolutely right, Gio. That was a remarkable development in this – what's been a remarkable [2:18:23] day as we're learning more about this operation, which has led to the capture and later trial of [2:18:28] Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia. But the president saying that we are going to run the country until [2:18:34] such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. Gio, the other part of this is that we [2:18:41] heard the president talk about investment from U.S. oil companies into Venezuela during this transition. [2:18:49] He didn't give specifics as to how that would play out, but mentioned that millions, [2:18:54] if not billions of dollars, were going to be flowing into Venezuela to really kind of build [2:18:59] the infrastructure and ramp up oil production there. That is something that Maduro had really kind of [2:19:04] criticized President Trump of as he was escalating and certainly putting additional pressure on Maduro, [2:19:11] saying that this was something about oil. The president now saying that the U.S. is going to [2:19:17] oversee Venezuela until they can determine a safe, proper, and judicious transition. What that looks like, [2:19:25] we don't yet know, but certainly it seems as though there's going to be a prolonged U.S. presence in Venezuela. [2:19:32] Alex, stand by. I want to bring in ABC News national security and defense analyst Mick Mulroy right now, [2:19:38] because Mick, you've had so much experience with the military, and we've learned that 150 aircraft [2:19:44] were used in this operation from 20 different locations. The president said that this was an [2:19:49] assault not seen since World War II. That was his quote, calling it an overwhelming American military [2:19:56] power, a show of force there. What are your thoughts when you hear all of those details? [2:20:00] Well, it certainly wasn't overwhelming use of military force as it should be. It's the best way to [2:20:08] essentially secure the good of the force going in, essentially make sure that they have everything [2:20:15] they need to protect the force. That is standard. There's a lot of aircraft used for mitigating air [2:20:24] threats, and that was the biggest concern bringing this assault force with those helicopters. So I think that is [2:20:29] what the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff was talking about specifically, and it was really [2:20:35] needed, and it proved to be correct. They did take some casualties and did take some damage to a [2:20:40] helicopter, but essentially the force came out intact with the objective met, which was capturing [2:20:47] Nicolas Maduro. What's also interesting is that the president said that they were essentially planning [2:20:52] two different waves, and they called this the first wave. A second wave, he said, was probably not going [2:20:59] to be needed here. When you hear this, obviously they were capturing the president, President Maduro in [2:21:06] that first wave, as he calls it. What do you think about this? Do you think that more could be coming? [2:21:12] Well, you might have been talking specifically, Gio, about this operation. So generally speaking, [2:21:19] there's a main effort, in this case it was Delta Force, that went in there to do the assault and [2:21:24] capture Maduro. If anything were to go wrong that required more forces, then they would be what's called [2:21:30] the QRF, a quick reaction force that's going to be stationed outside of the direct area of operations, [2:21:36] but they can respond and essentially help out if there is an overwhelming force that is met. That [2:21:43] wasn't the case here, so it wasn't used. That may be what he's talking about specific to this operation. [2:21:48] If he's talking about a follow-on operation, that's likely talking about whether the new [2:21:53] government is going to be friendly to the United States or the United States is going to continue [2:21:58] its direct military action to try to influence, if not bring down the regime. [2:22:03] ABC News National Security and Defense Analyst Mick Mulroy. Mick, thank you so much. Let's go ahead and [2:22:08] bring in Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas now. And Pierre, one of the things, [2:22:12] the big questions here has been about notifying members of Congress in advance of the strike. [2:22:18] And the president flat out said, no, we didn't. That's what he said. And the reason [2:22:23] he gave is that this was the military acting to support the arrest of Maduro and his wife, [2:22:30] who had been indicted. That is the cover that they're using. That's the language they're using for [2:22:35] how this operation of this scale could be conducted without notifying Congress. The president made [2:22:40] a huge point of the fact that he felt that Congress would leak. But the broader implications now are [2:22:46] coming to full frame. You heard the president say, we are going to run the country, and it will be [2:22:51] there as long as that they need it to be. He also made the point of the fact that a second wave was [2:22:59] prepared if it had been necessary. He left over the option that that could be pursued if necessary. [2:23:06] So there are a lot of broader questions about the national security and diplomatic moves going [2:23:12] forward here. But again, the key, and you saw in that photograph of Maduro in U.S. custody, [2:23:18] there was a DEA personnel with him. Law enforcement was there on the ground, allegedly with the military, [2:23:25] to help bring Maduro to justice. They were there to arrest him, if you will. But this was an enormous [2:23:33] military operation involving multiple layers of the military, also the intelligence community, [2:23:38] and U.S. law enforcement that we saw play out overnight. All right. Chief Justice correspondent [2:23:43] Pierre Thomas, thank you so much. Aaron Katursky, our chief investigative correspondent, [2:23:48] has been following this. You've been looking at all of these charges because they were unsealed [2:23:53] earlier today. These are charges that go back to 2020, but now we also have a superseding indictment. [2:23:58] We do. And it charges not only Maduro, but also his wife and son, Gio, with sitting atop a narco [2:24:03] terrorism conspiracy that federal prosecutors here in New York allege put tons of cocaine onto [2:24:11] American streets while enriching and corrupting Maduro and his close allies. And at least two of them [2:24:19] are charged. And federal prosecutors accused them of working with some of the most dangerous [2:24:24] and violent drug traffickers, including members of the Sinaloa cartel once run by Joaquin Guzman, [2:24:31] known as El Chapo, and the FARC rebels who operated in Colombia producing a lot of this cocaine. But, [2:24:40] Gio, ostensibly this was an operation to extract someone like Maduro who's indicted on all of these [2:24:49] charges. But as you heard from President Trump in his remarks a short while ago, it seems he had [2:24:56] greater ambitions than just making sure Maduro faced these charges in a New York City courtroom. [2:25:01] And we heard Secretary of State Marco Rubio there at the press conference talk about the fact that it [2:25:06] wasn't just the Trump administration, but the Biden administration also had Maduro on a wanted list. [2:25:12] Well, he had been facing these charges since 2020. They've been expanded now. The timeline [2:25:17] has caught up to the present day, according to the superseding indictment. So he had been wanted [2:25:23] in the United States at least since 2020. Secretary Rubio said it was under President Trump's direction [2:25:30] where the U.S. military was finally able to go in and get him. And he said that should send a message [2:25:36] to others who may be likewise positioned. The president, though, drew a line against Juan Orlando Hernandez, [2:25:44] the former president of Honduras, who faced very similar drug trafficking charges with much of the [2:25:49] same language. But he says the Biden administration gave him a raw deal. And that's why Trump decided to [2:25:56] pardon Hernandez last November. All right, Aaron Katursky, I know you're going to stay on top of [2:26:00] your sources on this. Thank you so much. We do have the opportunity now to go to Anna Navarro, [2:26:05] ABC's the host of the co-host of ABC's The View right now. Anna, it is no secret, [2:26:11] you have been a longtime critic of the president. On this issue specifically, [2:26:15] you have some different views, though. Well, no, I criticize the way he did it. [2:26:21] I criticize his method. I criticize the fact that for months now, he has been lying to the American [2:26:27] people by saying this is about drugs, when in fact, today in that press room, he said it was about oil. [2:26:35] But two things can be true at once. I criticize his method, but I am happy about the outcome. [2:26:41] Nicolas Maduro is a thug and a dictator. He has inflicted incredible suffering on the Venezuelan [2:26:49] people. He has expropriated U.S. property. He has held U.S. citizens hostages. He has made [2:26:56] millions of Venezuelans. Eight million Venezuelans are exiled all over the world. Many, Gio, [2:27:02] in our hometown of Miami, many here in Madrid, where I am today, who are celebrating in the streets [2:27:09] because Maduro has left. Now, what Trump said in that presser has me incredibly concerned. He talked [2:27:16] all about oil. He talked about running Venezuela. He talked about U.S. companies going in and putting [2:27:23] in the structure and paying themselves back and selling oil. I don't think any Venezuelan wants [2:27:30] to be held like a U.S. protector. I think what the Venezuelan people want 25 years of suffering, [2:27:38] oppression and dictatorship is freedom, democracy and justice. And I saw video you posted there from [2:27:46] the streets of Madrid. It looked like several folks there. Many folks were out there celebrating [2:27:51] what has happened. What do you think Venezuelans across this country, across the world are feeling [2:27:57] right now? Relief. The same kind of relief that so many Cuban exiles felt when they learned that [2:28:04] Fidel Castro had died. The same kind of relief that I hope to hear as a Nicaraguan American one day when [2:28:11] they tell me Ortega is gone. I think Nicolas Maduro was the symbol of dictatorship. Remember, Gio, that this [2:28:20] began over 25 years ago with Hugo Chavez. Nicolas Maduro is the heir to Hugo Chavez after he died and left and he [2:28:29] has fulfilled the same type of oppression. There are, as we speak right now, there are people, political [2:28:37] dissidents of Maduro who are still being held in jail, disappeared. I have friends right now with their [2:28:44] relatives being held. They don't know where and disappeared. The interrogation houses and then in [2:28:55] jails. And so those things have been happening in Venezuela, which is why it is why the Venezuelan [2:29:02] people on their own probably could not get rid of Maduro because for 25 years, Chavez and then Maduro [2:29:09] have had every institution under their grip and have oppressed the people, taken away their arms, [2:29:16] but people was going to be very, very difficult. But there is a legitimately elected government of [2:29:26] Venezuela. Let's remember that Nicolas Maduro faced elections July 2024 and lost handling to Maria [2:29:35] Corina Machado's party. The candidate was in Mundo Gonzalez because they had banned Maria Corina from [2:29:43] being able to run. So there is a legitimate government that the Venezuelan people voted for. [2:29:51] The Venezuelan people did not vote to be a U.S. protectorate. And I'm not sure how many Americans are [2:29:57] too happy about the idea of maybe having troops on the ground and being in Venezuela long term running that [2:30:04] country like if it was a farm store. It's not. Anna Navarro, the co-host of ABC's The View. [2:30:11] So grateful that you can take some time from there from your trip in Madrid to join us. [2:30:16] Thank you so much on this big breaking news day. And I'm so grateful that you are there [2:30:21] doing this coverage because you know how much it means in our community of South Florida. [2:30:25] Gracias, mi amiga. Thank you so much. Let's turn it over to ABC's Matt Rivers now. And Matt, [2:30:31] you were there for several weeks just a few weeks ago off the coast of Venezuela covering this, [2:30:37] looking at all of the potential impacts that something like this could have. You knew that [2:30:43] something was possible because you saw the military force there in the waters. [2:30:48] Yeah, no question, Gio. And I think this is the kind of apprehension that millions of Venezuelans, [2:30:55] including members of the government there that we're in touch with, had been wondering about. [2:30:59] What was going to happen? What was the end game for the Trump administration here? [2:31:03] Would it be a limited number of strikes? Would it be continued negotiations? I don't think a lot [2:31:07] of people had this on their bingo card, this level of attack from the United States, the brazenness [2:31:12] of a capture and extraction of, for, you know, whether he's legitimate or not, the effective head [2:31:18] of state at that time in Venezuela. I think it stunned a lot of people. I think the question now [2:31:24] is what happens next. And I think that press conference, Gio, that we just listened to from the [2:31:28] president of the United States where he basically laid out a plan to run the country of Venezuela [2:31:32] has stunned a lot of Venezuelans, including those that I'm in touch with right now. I was just [2:31:37] texting with someone who said to me watching the press conference live, did Trump really just say [2:31:41] he was going to run Venezuela? And so at the same time, and you just heard Ana talk about this [2:31:46] a little bit, Gio, you have people who are incredibly happy that Maduro was gone. He was outvoted [2:31:51] by a three to one margin in those clearly fraudulent elections from last year in which [2:31:56] he manipulated the results. So there are people, including those I'm speaking with on the ground, [2:32:00] who are thrilled about this. At the same time, there are legitimate concerns about what the [2:32:04] president means when he says taking Venezuelan natural resources, promising to give the profits [2:32:09] of that to Venezuelans. Obviously, this is early days, and maybe there is a more formulated plan than [2:32:14] what the president laid out in a simple press conference, but that we didn't hear the details of [2:32:18] those plans. All we heard was some people, including those behind me, would be running [2:32:23] the country in some way, shape, or form. Well, what does that mean? And what does that mean for [2:32:28] the ordinary Venezuelan? And he also talked about the oil blockade continuing, Gio. That kind of [2:32:33] blockade affects the pockets of every single Venezuelan because that oil money trickles through [2:32:38] every part of the Venezuelan economy. And the last thing I'll say here is we are in touch with members, [2:32:43] senior members of the Maduro government who are nominally still in power there, and we've asked them for [2:32:48] their response about some of these claims from President Trump. At least outwardly, they remain [2:32:53] defiant. But one telltale sign here that I think many of these senior officials know that the end [2:32:58] is coming swifter rather than later is that some of these officials that we're in touch with have sent [2:33:02] their children, their adult children, or even in some cases younger children, out of Venezuela for fear [2:33:07] of what might happen. So I think there is a sense of fatalism right now among senior members of the [2:33:11] Maduro government, no question about it. All right, Matt Rivers, thank you so much. Let's bring in [2:33:15] retired Lieutenant General Doug Lute, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO. And Lieutenant General, [2:33:21] the big question right now, the reality of running the country. You know, this reminds me of past cases [2:33:31] where the United States imagined that it could run a country from afar and that that effort would be [2:33:39] welcomed by the successor regime in that country, by the people of that country, and so forth. So when the [2:33:45] president says he's going to run the country, I'd be very interested in the coming days to figure out [2:33:50] how exactly is that going to happen? Does the successor regime, so the vice president, the security [2:33:57] structure that remains after Maduro, are they compliant? Do they agree with this approach? What [2:34:02] about the people of Venezuela? And with regard to rebuilding oil infrastructure, do the privately owned [2:34:09] oil companies agree that they're going to take this project on? So I think there are a lot of open-ended [2:34:15] questions here that border on potential overreach. A very successful military operation, but the big [2:34:22] questions now are what follows. The president also called Maduro a kingpin who personally oversaw the [2:34:28] cartel de las soles. So obviously that's going to be a big issue here because we're talking about drugs [2:34:34] coming into the country. But as Marjorie Taylor Greene just posted, she said 70% of fentanyl is coming from [2:34:41] Mexico. Well, that's right. I mean, fentanyl, which kills Americans and the numbers that the [2:34:48] administration cites, does not come from Venezuela or Colombia. It comes almost entirely via Mexico. [2:34:56] Now, cocaine flows from Venezuela, but much of that cocaine doesn't reach the United States. It [2:35:02] actually flows to Europe. So the drug intervention, the drug interdiction argument for these military [2:35:11] actions I think are really pretty slim. All right, Lieutenant, Lieutenant General, [2:35:17] retired Lieutenant General Doug Lute, thank you so much for joining us here on this pivotal day in [2:35:22] American politics and just American history as a whole. And we will have continuing updates right [2:35:29] here on ABC News Live throughout the day. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Gio Benitez. We'll have [2:35:33] much more news right after the break. What does it take to be the most watched newscast in America? [2:35:55] We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from four or five different directions. [2:36:00] Operational nuclear reactors. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go. [2:36:07] The house is destroyed, but the flag, there's not a tear in it. Not a tear in it. [2:36:10] How important is this label right here made the USA? Look at your smile. You're proud of this. [2:36:14] I love it. Great work. Hi. Where are you? Where are you? I appreciate you. Thank you, David. Good [2:36:22] to meet you. 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[2:38:00] America's number one most watched daytime talk show is ABC's The View. [2:38:18] You are the first. I love it. I'm there for it. Hot topics, political views. That's what we're about. [2:38:24] Voices that matter. It all goes down right here. That's why it's called the what? The View. I love it. [2:38:32] I'm all in. I second that. This is going to be must-see TV and so much could happen. [2:38:40] You called her? I did. I work with Morgan on every case. You want a flout procedure at every turn? [2:38:49] I've never flouted anything. You sure about that? Yes, I am. Mid-air homicide. I will work this case [2:39:03] for free. I don't mean that. That's just something people say. It's a new year, 2026. Wouldn't it be [2:39:13] nice for your family to have more money to play with and in your savings? A lot of people think [2:39:18] that it probably takes a lot more money than it really does. Well, this week, Rebecca Jarvis with [2:39:22] the tips, secrets, and little things you can do right now to make it happen. This week, the rich [2:39:27] advice for your family money matters is on Good Morning America. Welcome to ABC News Live Weekend. [2:39:38] I'm Micah Giacci. Moments ago, President Trump praising the overnight U.S. military operation in [2:39:42] Venezuela, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He said that the United [2:39:48] States will, quote, run Venezuela as the country transitions. He spoke moments ago at a news [2:39:54] conference in Mar-a-Lago. Take a listen. At my direction, the United States Armed Forces [2:40:03] conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. Overwhelming American [2:40:12] military power, air, land, and sea was used to launch a spectacular assault. And it was an assault like [2:40:21] people have not seen since World War II. We're going to run the country until such time as we [2:40:29] can do a safe, proper, and judicious transitions. All right, let's bring in our Alex Preshay with [2:40:37] more on this. Alex, the President is saying the U.S. will run Venezuela. And it's raising a lot of [2:40:42] questions right now. Did he give any insight of what that would actually look like? Well, Ike, it's been a [2:40:46] remarkable development in what's been a remarkable storyline over the last 24 hours. The President, [2:40:51] as you laid out, said that the U.S. was going to run Venezuela. I'm going to quote from him here. He [2:40:56] said, we're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious [2:41:03] transition. Now, to answer your question, we don't know exactly what that looks like. He did not give a [2:41:11] timeline for how this would play out. He also did not say exactly who was going to be involved in running [2:41:20] Venezuela on the day-to-day if this would include some sort of U.S. commitment on the ground in [2:41:27] Venezuela. We would be doing it from afar. Still a lot of questions there. But Ike, the other thing [2:41:32] that I would point out is the President did say that we were going to start oil producing in [2:41:38] Venezuela as well. He said that we are going to have our very large United States oil companies, [2:41:43] the biggest anywhere in the world, are going to go in and spend billions of dollars to fix the badly [2:41:48] broken infrastructure there. So it does appear that U.S. oil production in what is now the world's [2:41:55] largest oil reserves is going to resume in Venezuela. All right, I want to bring in ABC News' Matt Rivers. [2:42:02] He's joining us now. Matt, we're learning more about the details of this operation, including that 150 [2:42:06] aircrafts were involved in the attack. What more did we learn? Well, this is just an incredibly complex [2:42:14] attack. No question about it, Ike. I mean, you're talking about the amount of logistics involved here. [2:42:18] This isn't some random military base in the middle of nowhere. You are attacking multiple military [2:42:24] sites in a dense urban environment like Caracas, which has millions of people in that metropolitan [2:42:30] area. Not to mention, at the same time, you are carrying out a highly specific, highly technical [2:42:36] raid to capture and extract a sitting head of state with all kinds of security, who, by the way, [2:42:43] was planning for this kind of thing for months because they've been staring at thousands of U.S. [2:42:49] troops just miles off of their coast knowing that this kind of thing was possible. So the fact that [2:42:54] this raid worked, the fact that this was carried out, the fact that there were just a few injuries [2:42:58] involved from the United States, the fact that no military equipment from the United States apparently [2:43:02] was lost in this raid, is truly remarkable. And probably it is a testament to the professionalism [2:43:09] of the U.S. military members involved in all of this. I think the question now, and setting aside [2:43:14] what the U.S. military did here, is what happens next? And that is the question that we don't seem [2:43:19] to have an answer from, Ike, at the moment, from the President of the United States. Maybe there is a plan, [2:43:24] maybe there's more detail to be had out there that he didn't put into a press conference. We simply don't [2:43:29] know. But that lack of a detail, I can tell you from the Venezuelans with whom I'm speaking on a [2:43:34] regular basis throughout all of this, they're concerned about it. On the one hand, they're [2:43:37] thrilled that Maduro is gone. They did not vote for this man. They did not like this man. They did [2:43:41] not want him to be their head of state. But they are not exactly convinced that the United States [2:43:46] should be coming in there and administering their country for them when they feel that they had [2:43:51] legitimate elections last year that would have a government available to run that country. So [2:43:56] there are major, major questions at this point, no question about it. After that raid, [2:44:01] the question is, what comes next? [2:44:03] Now, Alex, I want to go back to you with this. The President also suggesting that U.S. forces [2:44:08] remain ready to do a much bigger second-wave attack on Venezuela. If that happens, how significant [2:44:14] would that be? Well, it'd be incredibly significant, Ike. But it's still unknown, as when the President was [2:44:21] talking about that or alluding to that, if that would have been a part of the operation that already [2:44:26] played out today, is this something that could potentially come in the coming days or weeks? [2:44:33] But we know the reaction already in that region has been pretty massive. Certainly, this is something [2:44:40] that has alarmed next-door neighbor Colombia. It's something that's been applauded by Argentina. [2:44:46] Argentina, Argentina, obviously, the beneficiary of U.S. money in recent months there. But the [2:44:54] repercussions of today's actions on Venezuela's allies, primarily Cuba, is something that we're [2:45:02] certainly going to be paying attention to. Trinidad and Tobago, where the U.S. has a large [2:45:08] military presence, just miles, at its closest point, about seven miles off the coast of Venezuela [2:45:14] there, also something that we're monitoring. But certainly, certainly, you know, it appears that [2:45:19] the U.S. was at least prepared to have a second phase here. All right, Matt Rivers and Alex Preshay, [2:45:25] thank you for that. Let's bring in ABC's Jay O'Brien on Capitol Hill for more. Jay, [2:45:29] what are you hearing from lawmakers about the prospect of U.S. running Venezuela? Well, [2:45:34] we just got a statement moments ago, Ike, from Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate. [2:45:39] It just hit my phone. I'm going to read it to you. It says, quote, [2:45:42] the idea that President Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts [2:45:48] of all Americans. That is, of course, in reference to what you were just speaking with Alex about, [2:45:52] President Trump saying the U.S. will, quote-unquote, run Venezuela, in his words, [2:45:57] until there is a transition, but not indicating a timeline on when that transition would take place. [2:46:03] Democrats have predictably been very critical of this, some calling this action illegal, [2:46:08] saying that Congress has not authorized the use of military force in Venezuela, [2:46:12] and therefore the administration is acting illegally without congressional authorization. [2:46:17] The administration is strongly pushing back on that, and in part, they argue, [2:46:20] because this was a joint law enforcement military operation to apprehend what they say are fugitives, [2:46:27] Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Therefore, they are – they didn't need congressional approval for [2:46:33] something of this nature. But this was a military operation. While it had law enforcement, [2:46:37] the military was integral to this. All of that to say there is one more thing that President Trump [2:46:42] said in that news conference that is going over like a lead balloon with some Republicans up here [2:46:47] on Capitol Hill. And that was his mention of the possibility of American boots on the ground in [2:46:53] Venezuela, saying, quote, we are not afraid of boots on the ground. There are some Republicans that [2:46:58] I'm texting with at this hour who say that is something that they are not inclined to support, [2:47:03] the idea that they would be U.S. military assets potentially in a prolonged military presence [2:47:10] in Venezuela. There are even some Republicans who are strongly pushing back on President Trump publicly. [2:47:16] One of them is Marjorie Taylor Greene, who, remember, previously resigned from her seat in [2:47:21] Congress. Her last day up here on the Hill is actually on Monday. She posted earlier today, [2:47:26] quote, this is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Then she goes on to say, quote, boy, [2:47:33] they were wrong, Ike. Now, Jay, sources tell ABC that top congressional leaders were [2:47:39] not briefed ahead of this operation. So what are you specifically hearing about that aspect? [2:47:44] And you heard in the press conference there, President Trump and other administration [2:47:48] officials acknowledge that they briefed members of Congress while this operation was underway. [2:47:53] And in some cases, after it concluded, you usually, with an operation of this nature, [2:47:59] brief what's called the Gang of Eight. That's the group of top Republicans and Democrats in both the [2:48:04] House and Senate, as well as the top members of both parties on the House and Senate [2:48:08] intelligence committees. You do not have to brief the Gang of Eight prior to an action taking place. [2:48:14] They briefed this Gang of Eight after this operation was underway. And President Trump said [2:48:19] he did that because he was concerned that news of this operation would leak. Now, by law, [2:48:25] you do have to notify Congress of a military action within two days of that action taking place. [2:48:31] It looks like that those notifications have now all gone out. So they've satisfied that. [2:48:36] But more broadly, Ike, there is likely to be this ongoing debate up here on Capitol Hill and members [2:48:41] start to return on Monday about whether or not this was an appropriate use of military force. [2:48:46] And keep an eye on the Senate and House floors because we expect Democrats to, as they've done [2:48:51] in the past, unsuccessfully because it's been blocked by Republicans, put resolutions on the floor [2:48:56] to try to curtail President Trump's military power when it comes to Venezuela. [2:49:01] All right, Jay O'Brien, thank you for that insight. Let's turn now to the reaction from the international [2:49:05] community. Our Lama Hassan joins us now from London with that part of the story. Lama, [2:49:09] pretty strong statements from Russia and China this morning. What more can you tell us about that? [2:49:14] Yeah, you're absolutely right, Ike. You know, as you can imagine, so many leaders of so many [2:49:19] countries are following events quite closely and watching what is going on in Venezuela. And reaction has been [2:49:25] flooding in. Strong condemnation, as you said, from Russia, which has been one of Nicolas Maduro's [2:49:30] longtime ally. The Russian foreign ministry saying that the U.S. has committed an act of armed [2:49:36] aggression against Venezuela, which, quote, causes deep concern and condemnation. The Russian ministry [2:49:43] also adding that Caracas must be allowed to determine its own destiny without any destructive [2:49:49] military intervention from the outside. So strong words. But as you said, from China as well, [2:49:54] the Chinese foreign ministry says that they're deeply shocked and strongly condemn the U.S.'s, [2:50:00] quote, blatant use of force against the sovereign state and its attack on its president, urging the [2:50:05] U.S. to abide by international law as well, Ike. All right, Lama Hassan, thank you for that analysis. [2:50:11] Let's get straight to our ABC News contributor and former U.K. national security official Steve Hill. [2:50:16] Steve, the European Union is staying pretty mute on this move from the U.S. What do you make of that? [2:50:23] I think that's right, Ike. I think everybody is trying to draw that line where, on the one hand, [2:50:30] they are immensely impressed by U.S. capabilities. I mean, this was an astonishing operation. [2:50:35] But the premise, the legal premise for it, I think, does cause misgivings. It's not wholly convincing [2:50:41] that this was either in self-defense or it was a narco-terrorist operation. It felt like a much more [2:50:48] military operation. And I think they're also waiting to see what happens next. I think the [2:50:54] positive news from the press conference was that there clearly has been some thought about what [2:50:58] comes next, but not quite yet clear what that thought really amounts to in any sort of detail. [2:51:06] So the European Union and my own Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, I think, are trying to, on the one hand, [2:51:13] make statements which President Trump can't take any offense by, but register the fact that they do [2:51:19] have some concerns around the legality and what comes next. [2:51:23] So what are some of the wider implications this may have on the U.S. and the rest of the world? [2:51:31] I think it shows that the U.S. continues to drive the global agenda. The fact is that this is, [2:51:39] again, everybody else on the back foot responding to what the U.S. has been doing. The comments that [2:51:45] President Trump made about this being about near neighbors maybe plays into slight narrative that [2:51:53] there is concern in Europe about that we are reverting to a world of spheres of influence where [2:51:59] essentially the Russians or the Chinese or the Americans have a say on what goes on in their [2:52:05] neighborhood. That feels like a step backwards. I think also your previous reporter was talking [2:52:11] about the Russian and the Chinese statements. Clearly, they do perceive that particularly in the [2:52:17] global South, there's a little bit of an opportunity for them to establish themselves as the force for [2:52:23] reliability, stability, respect for international law, which traditionally the Americans and our other [2:52:30] allies have held that ground. They're very much looking to fill that room and influence all of the [2:52:37] global South to see them as prime partners, both economically and politically. [2:52:42] And Steve, is there a chance the U.S. may face repercussions from other countries [2:52:48] because of this, maybe in the form of sanctions or what have you? [2:52:51] I think at the moment you see that everybody is on the back foot in terms of not wanting to take on [2:52:58] the U.S. The U.S. power remains unparalleled. I don't think that we will see that happening. [2:53:04] There may be some votes in the U.N., but it's a sort of political theater, which we've been seeing. [2:53:12] The fact is, though, that I think if you're sitting in Tehran, for example, where there's [2:53:16] recent rhetoric between the U.S. and Iran following the demonstrations on the streets, [2:53:23] you take the U.S. very seriously. You take this president very seriously in a way that perhaps [2:53:27] previously you haven't. Around Ukraine, I think also the president's comments about not being [2:53:33] thrilled by the behavior of President Putin. I thought that was a really interesting last comment [2:53:37] that he made. That's gone backwards and forwards. But in terms of sanctions against the U.S., [2:53:43] at the moment, everybody is simply trying to respond to U.S. moves on issues like tariffs [2:53:49] and get the best terms that they can. So I really don't see anybody really putting their head above [2:53:54] the parapet. All right, Steve Hill, thank you for your analysis. And stay with us as we stay on top [2:53:59] of the latest on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Continuing coverage coming up next. [2:54:05] Wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed. [2:54:15] Here in London, in Buffalo, Uvalde, Texas, Edinburgh, Scotland, from Poland once again tonight. Thank you [2:54:22] so much for streaming with us Ukrainian refugees here in Warsaw. Do you think you'll ever be able [2:54:27] to go back home? We're heading to a small community outside of Mexico City. Splintered houses and splintered [2:54:34] lives. The magnitude of the devastation. You're streaming ABC News Live. Reporting from Rolling [2:54:39] Fork, Mississippi. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Raleigh, North Carolina. The U.S. Capitol. Mayfield, Kentucky. [2:54:46] Minneapolis. Mexico. Tongass National Forest, Alaska. Getting you behind the stories as they happen. [2:54:52] Giving you a front row seat to our world as it plays out in real time, live. [2:54:57] ABC News Live Prime. We'll take you there. Stream ABC News Live weeknights. America's most honored [2:55:04] streaming news program. Only on ABC News Live. Streaming free right now, wherever you stream your news. [2:55:09] I'd never seen that many skeletal remains. Thousands. This killer, he's the dumber you've never heard of. [2:55:16] There were mannequins, almost like it was a club. I felt the presence of people. [2:55:22] Never before a face-to-face interview with a camera. Why now? Let me ask you. Am I the evil culprit? [2:55:29] The accomplice? I'd like to know how the audience views me. The Fox Hollow murders. Playground of a serial killer. [2:55:37] Only on Hulu. Um, tell a joke. I think I'm getting a divorce. What tipped me off was living in an apartment [2:55:47] on my own. Doesn't have to be awkward, right? I've been doing open mic nights. Is it like a hobby? [2:55:56] It's actually pretty amazing. Are you gonna be okay? I'm gonna be okay! [2:56:00] Doing this, it helps. How does it help to have a room full of people laughing at you? [2:56:05] Is this thing on? Rated R. [2:56:11] Across America. Good morning! Hello! [2:56:14] Wherever we are. Welcome! [2:56:16] It's good to be home. [2:56:17] It feels like home. Hi! [2:56:19] The last time we dropped our things and went. Woke up somewhere that we've both never been. [2:56:29] Good morning! [2:56:30] How are you? [2:56:30] At the start of the day, letting us into your home. Putting the good. [2:56:34] Thank you! [2:56:35] In your morning. [2:56:36] Man, it's good to be home. [2:56:37] VMA. [2:56:56] Hey everybody! [2:56:56] It's an invitation to come together. [2:56:59] Happy birthday! [2:57:00] Brighten your morning. [2:57:01] I'm John Charlie. [2:57:02] And the day ahead. [2:57:15] Welcome back to ABC News Live. We continue with our breaking news coverage of the U.S. [2:57:19] capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, now on route to U.S. soil, where he'll face charges [2:57:24] here in New York City. ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katursky joins us now with [2:57:29] more. Aaron, I want to talk about the indictment that we're seeing that was levied against Maduro. [2:57:33] We know that there was one from the past and this superseding indictment. Can you tell us the [2:57:37] difference between the two and what exactly he's facing now? [2:57:40] Sure, because whatever other intentions President Trump laid out in terms of taking over and running [2:57:46] Venezuela, running its oil industry, this operation ostensibly was about taking someone who [2:57:54] was indicted in the United States and bringing him to the jurisdiction to face criminal charges. [2:58:01] And the indictment was first brought against Maduro Ike in 2020, charged with narco-terrorism [2:58:06] conspiracy. The new indictment unsealed just hours after the military operation concluded, [2:58:12] includes the same charges, but expands the time frame to bring the alleged criminal conduct [2:58:18] up into the present day. And the indictment portrays Maduro as the leader of a 25-year [2:58:25] narco-terrorism conspiracy that flooded the United States with cocaine and enriched himself and [2:58:31] members of his family at the expense of his country. Now, what happens next when he finally [2:58:36] gets to U.S. soil right here in New York City? He made a brief stop at the U.S. military base in [2:58:42] Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and now is on his way to the U.S. mainland to face criminal charges. He'll be [2:58:49] brought to New York City. Like most criminal defendants awaiting federal court trials in [2:58:55] Manhattan, he could stay at MDC in Brooklyn, a jail where Luigi Mangione is currently hanging out, [2:59:01] where Sean Combs hung out for a little while, Sam Bankman freed. And it's there where now [2:59:08] Nicolas Maduro could be awaiting his trial after, you know, so many years in Venezuela. [2:59:14] But there are a few steps that have to occur first. It'll have to be processed like any ordinary [2:59:18] criminal defendant. And then he'll have to make an initial appearance in federal court. That could [2:59:23] happen in the coming days. Wow. Just stunning developments happening right here in New York City. [2:59:27] Truly a remarkable transition from what the U.S. considered an illegitimate presidency [2:59:33] to now indicted defendant in Manhattan. Absolutely. Aaron Katursky, thank you for that analysis. [2:59:39] All right, coming up here on ABC News Live, how Venezuelan Americans are reacting after the U.S. [2:59:43] moved to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. That's next. Amanda Riley was a mother, [2:59:54] wife. Everybody loved her. I heard the words, you have stage three blood cancer. We gave our hearts, [3:00:01] our prayers. We thought she was God's gift, but she was a liar. Why would somebody fake cancer? There's all [3:00:09] these pictures of her in the hospital with IVs tubing. It was only a matter of time until Amanda's [3:00:15] whole world came tumbling down. Oh my God. Scamanda, all episodes now streaming on Hulu. [3:00:22] This is a global operation. Get your surveillance team in place. How you like me now? LAPD has agreed to [3:00:29] help the FBI track down terrorist targets. There's nothing like a day in the job to remind you how [3:00:39] quickly life can change. Get out of there. Get away from the bed. 9-1-1 Nashville is [3:00:56] television's number one new show. Get out of there now. With crazy rescues. We're coming to you. I got [3:01:03] you. And jaw-dropping moments. Blames hit that and Thursday. The city's been hacked. It would be a [3:01:10] catastrophic loss of lives. An emergency that will touch every corner of Nashville. Every light in the [3:01:15] city went green at the same time. It's Thursday on ABC and stream on Hulu. You called her? I did. [3:01:25] I work with Morgan on every case. You want a flout procedure at every turn? I've never flouted [3:01:32] anything. You sure about that? Yes, I am. Mid-air homicide. I will work this case for free. I don't [3:01:47] mean that. That's just something people say. There was the doctor, the loving husband, [3:01:56] who? The incredible stepfather. And then there's this monster. There was a bombshell. Someone found [3:02:03] a hidden camera in the bathroom. 3,000 videos, 1,400 photos. This betrayal was terrifying. He wanted to [3:02:11] kill my son. Once I tell the police what I have to say, he'll never get out. Betrayal under his eye, [3:02:20] only on Hulu. America's number one most watched daytime talk show is ABC's The View. You were [3:02:30] her first. I love it. I'm there for it. Hot topics, political views. That's what we're about. Voices [3:02:36] that matter. It all goes down right here. That's why it's called the what? The View. I love it. I'm all in. [3:02:44] I love it. Second that. This is going to be must-see TV. And so much could happen. [3:02:53] Reporting from the path of Hurricane Helene in Tallahassee, Florida, I'm Micah Jachi. [3:02:57] Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're streaming ABC News Live. [3:03:01] Welcome back to ABC News Live. We continue our breaking news coverage of the overnight U.S. [3:03:11] military operation in Venezuela, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. [3:03:17] For more, let's bring in political analyst and CEO of Project Pulso, Liz Alarcón. Liz, [3:03:21] thank you for joining me. How do you expect the people of Venezuela to react to the U.S. [3:03:26] running the country now in the meantime? Venezuelans today are celebrating that the [3:03:33] dictator is out. Now the question is, will the dictatorship be out too? Everyone is, of course, [3:03:41] rejoicing that the illegitimate leader of Venezuela is out of the country. But we don't want to replace [3:03:48] one unwanted regime with another. I think that goes so far as to include, of course, the allies of [3:03:56] Maduro that are still remaining in Venezuela. But that also means not respecting the democratic will of [3:04:01] the Venezuelan people who elected Edmundo González Urrutia and the opposition leader who just won the [3:04:07] Nobel Peace Prize, María Corina Machado, in July of 2024. We, both inside of Venezuela and outside of [3:04:15] Venezuela, want to see a peaceful democratic transition towards those who the people elected with more than [3:04:22] than 80 percent of the vote. And I think that's where so many of us are still holding onto our seats [3:04:27] to see what is going to happen with the future governance of the country, of course, as we see [3:04:32] everything unfold over the course of the last hours. You know, Liz, you mentioned allies of Maduro. [3:04:39] There are still many of Maduro's people in charge. Do you think they'll oblige to the U.S. here? [3:04:46] Look, there are so many conversations happening here on our phone, whether it be that the vice [3:04:52] president, Elci Rodriguez, may be a contender to lead or the very preoccupying statements, [3:04:59] honestly, from President Trump disavowing the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, you know, [3:05:05] putting her to the side and saying that she doesn't have the respect of the country. [3:05:10] Quite the contrary, right? I think what I would like to see from the United States is a commitment [3:05:17] to a democratic transition led by the Venezuelan people, led by the folks who were elected into [3:05:24] power, and honestly, to turn down the rhetoric around staying in control until American interests [3:05:32] are met, until American financial interests are also met. And again, the big question of who [3:05:39] is controlling the oil is something that we are all privy to. So what I would like to see is for [3:05:46] those still in power in Venezuela to receive guarantees, to exit peacefully, and to give way to [3:05:53] the liberty that so many Venezuelans here in Doral, where I live, at El Arepaso, were screaming and [3:05:59] chanting and wanting. And that means liberty from everyone, and to see the country governed by those [3:06:06] who we elected. Now, Liz, Maduro lost his reelection by almost two-thirds. Is there a chance we see [3:06:13] support from Maria Corina Machado to run this country by her own people? That is exactly what [3:06:20] exists already. That's why I emphasize that from listening to Donald Trump's words a little bit [3:06:26] earlier. I get nervous, right? Because what we want to see is, of course, the support of the entire [3:06:35] international community, including the United States, to oust an illegitimate leader like Nicolás Maduro [3:06:41] from the country, which is why so many are celebrating. But we also want our will, [3:06:46] as Venezuelans, inside and outside of the country, to be respected. And that will is for Maria Corina [3:06:52] Machado, Edmundo González Urrutia to eventually take hold. We don't know how that transition is [3:06:57] going to happen. We know that geopolitics is complicated, that many negotiations, we hope, [3:07:03] are taking place to, one, make sure that the least amount of people lose their lives, [3:07:07] and to make sure, again, that we don't replace one unwanted regime, those in Venezuela that don't [3:07:13] want to leave, with an intervention from U.S. forces that is also not what the Venezuelan people [3:07:20] voted for in July. And so, as a Venezuelan American, you can imagine how many emotions [3:07:25] we're feeling. We also want to see protections for those with TPS, right? There's 600,000 Venezuelans [3:07:30] in limbo here in the country. And so we have Venezuelans here, Venezuelans there, a democratically [3:07:36] elected opposition that we want to see in power, Maduro's allies still governing, and no word yet from [3:07:43] the U.S. administration on how they are going to help usher in what Venezuelans want, which is a [3:07:48] transition to democracy and freedom from any internal malaligned forces or external forces [3:07:56] that won't allow the people to govern as they voted to. All right, Liz Alarcón, thank you for your [3:08:03] analysis. Stay with us as we stay on top of the latest on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President [3:08:08] Nicolas Maduro. Continuing coverage is up next. ABC's Nightline, the stories that shape your world, [3:08:19] that shape your life. Dramatic, stunning, empowering, life-changing. For 45 years, [3:08:26] the most powerful stories of our time. This is Nightline. Wherever the story is, [3:08:31] Nightline will take you there. Just because it's late night doesn't mean you should be in the dark. [3:08:37] For a brighter take on the day, this is ABC's Nightline. Late night on ABC. Get this, people. [3:08:47] Now we're streaming every weekend right to you. With an all-new show, an all-new View special for [3:08:53] the weekends. Now you can catch The View seven days a week. I wonder if you can handle it. It's The [3:08:58] Weekend View. The Weekend View. It's The Weekend View. Streaming on ABC News Live wherever you stream. [3:09:06] Take a little time to enjoy The Weekend View. See you on the weekend. Now streaming Saturdays and Sundays on [3:09:13] ABC News Live wherever you stream. Amanda Riley was a mother, wife. Everybody loved her. I heard [3:09:20] the words, you have stage three blood cancer. We gave our hearts, our prayers. We thought she was [3:09:27] God's gift, but she was a liar. Why would somebody fake cancer? There's all these pictures of her in the [3:09:34] hospital with IV tubing. It was only a matter of time until Amanda's whole world came tumbling down. [3:09:40] Oh, my God. [3:09:42] All episodes now streaming on Hulu. [3:09:46] Have it on three, have it on me. [3:09:48] Entry. [3:09:53] I'm gonna need a big amount. [3:09:54] How are we supposed to teach here? [3:09:56] Why don't we do Zoom room? [3:09:57] You out of your mind. [3:09:59] This time up. [3:09:59] Yeah. [3:10:00] Oh. [3:10:01] We are ready to welcome the kids to the new average. [3:10:05] Anybody else hearing that? [3:10:07] Come upon the comments, cause I promise you. [3:10:15] 9-1-1 Nashville is television's number one new show. [3:10:22] Get out of there now. [3:10:24] With crazy rescues. [3:10:25] We're coming to you. [3:10:26] I got you. [3:10:27] And jaw-dropping moments. [3:10:28] Blames hit that and. [3:10:31] Thursday. [3:10:32] The city's been hacked. [3:10:33] It would be a catastrophic loss of lives. [3:10:35] An emergency that will touch every corner of Nashville. [3:10:38] Every light in the city went green at the same time. [3:10:41] It's Thursday on ABC and stream on Hulu. [3:10:46] What does it take to be the most watched newscast in America? [3:10:51] They're part of an operation. [3:10:54] Is this our combat operations center? [3:10:56] Militants came in from different directions. [3:10:58] So you have a couple loaded and ready to go. [3:11:00] We've got a home right here, engulfed in flames. [3:11:02] The scene here, apocalyptic. [3:11:04] How important it made the USA. [3:11:06] Great work. [3:11:06] Hi. [3:11:07] Appreciate you. [3:11:07] Thank you. [3:11:08] Ismael? [3:11:08] David. [3:11:09] David. [3:11:09] I'm David Muir. [3:11:10] I know you are. [3:11:11] You do? [3:11:11] I watch you every night. [3:11:12] ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast. [3:11:16] Welcome to ABC News Live Weekend. [3:11:23] I'm Ike Adiachi. [3:11:24] Moments ago, President Trump praising the overnight U.S. military operation in Venezuela, [3:11:28] resulting in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. [3:11:31] He said that the United States will, quote, run Venezuela as the country transitions. [3:11:37] Here's what the president had to say. [3:11:39] Take a listen. [3:11:39] At my direction, the United States Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation [3:11:50] in the capital of Venezuela. [3:11:54] Overwhelming American military power, air, land and sea, was used to launch a spectacular assault. [3:12:03] And it was an assault like people have not seen since World War II. [3:12:09] We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transitions. [3:12:17] All right. [3:12:18] Let's bring in ABC's Matt Rivers and White House correspondent Selina Wang, [3:12:22] who's traveling with the president. [3:12:23] Selina, I want to begin with you. [3:12:25] You asked the president about his comments about running Venezuela. [3:12:29] What did he tell you? [3:12:31] Yeah, I just got back from that press conference at Mar-a-Lago minutes ago. [3:12:35] And Ike, I asked the president about his comments in terms of the U.S. running the country. [3:12:40] What exactly does that mean? [3:12:43] The president told me that a, quote, group will be running Venezuela. [3:12:47] And he gestured to the people behind him when I asked who that group exactly is. [3:12:51] People behind him included Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Rubio. [3:12:54] Take a listen to what the president told me. [3:12:56] What's the group you mentioned that would run Venezuela? [3:13:00] Well, it's largely going to be, for a period of time, the people that are standing right behind me. [3:13:05] We're going to be running it. [3:13:06] We're going to be bringing it back. [3:13:08] It's a, it's a dead, you know, I talk about a dead country. [3:13:11] A year and a half ago, we were a dead country. [3:13:13] Now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. [3:13:16] We're a country doing better than any country anywhere in the world. [3:13:20] And it required leadership. [3:13:22] Venezuela has a lot of bad people in there, a lot of bad people that shouldn't be leading. [3:13:27] We're not going to take a chance that one of those people take over for Maduro. [3:13:32] So you can look at, and others, we have fantastic people, including people in the military. [3:13:38] So we're going to have a group of people running it until such time as it can be put back on track. [3:13:43] You heard the president at the end there saying they will be running it until such a time can be. [3:13:50] This is extremely significant. [3:13:53] The president is essentially talking about an open-ended commitment, but not providing details on what exactly this would entail. [3:14:00] I followed up with the president asking him if he does, in fact, mean that Secretary Hegset, Secretary Rubio would be running Venezuela. [3:14:08] The president said they would be part of a team working along with the people of Venezuela, saying that they would be there to, quote, get this right. [3:14:17] The president also telling me that they're going to run Venezuela, quote, properly, quote, professionally. [3:14:22] Then he went quickly to pivot to say that oil companies are also going to be going into the country to invest billions and billions of dollars, take out money, use that money in Venezuela. [3:14:33] I also asked the president about whether military troops would be sent to the country. [3:14:37] The president did not address that part of my question. [3:14:40] All right, Matt, I want to talk to you now. [3:14:43] We're learning more about the details about the logistics behind the operation. [3:14:46] It took months of preparation. [3:14:48] What else did we learn? [3:14:49] I mean, just think about what this might entail, like, I mean, just if you just do a thought experiment on it, right? [3:14:55] You're flying into a crowded urban environment filled with a state run security apparatus that is attuned to outsider threats at all time. [3:15:04] Not to mention that the entire state security apparatus has had its eyes on the coast because the U.S. military has positioned thousands of U.S. military members, warships, an aircraft carrier right off the coast. [3:15:16] They knew that something like this was possible for a long time. [3:15:20] And yet, what did the U.S. do? [3:15:21] This brazen attack that I think really took a lot of people by surprise. [3:15:25] I think a lot of people I was talking to thought that maybe there would be port facilities hit, the kinds of facilities you could tie to the drug trade directly. [3:15:32] But the idea that you saw the use of U.S. troops, the exposure to risk for these U.S. troops going into this area, attacking these high-value military targets for the Venezuelans, while at the same time undergoing this Osama bin Laden-style raid in a secure compound guarded by all kinds of people with high-powered weapons to go in and take out a sitting head of state out of the country. [3:15:57] It is a remarkable level of execution that the U.S. military undertook here. [3:16:03] There is no other way to look at it. [3:16:04] The conversations, though, I'll say, Ike, that I'm having with Venezuelans now are both in awe about that conversation. [3:16:10] But also, you know, we were listening to Selena ask those questions and push the president on what running a country actually looks like. [3:16:16] It wasn't just us listening to her ask those questions. [3:16:18] It was Venezuelans I'm talking to, and they are very confused and very concerned in some cases about what this is going to look like. [3:16:25] They've seen what the U.S. has done in other countries around the world, and they're wondering if this is going to be different this time when it comes to the U.S. administering a country that it clearly wants oil from. [3:16:35] All right, a lot of questions remain unanswered for the people in Venezuela there. [3:16:39] Selena, I want to go back to you. [3:16:40] What more are we learning about the president's order of this strike and Maduro's capture? [3:16:45] Yeah, well, you heard Matt just lay it out, how incredibly complex and detailed this was. [3:16:52] You heard not only from the president, but also from Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Rubio, as well as from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Cain, talking about how much extensive preparation went into this. [3:17:03] The president saying this was perfectly executed. [3:17:06] It was incredibly successful. [3:17:08] The president saying that no U.S. forces were killed, though he did earlier say that there were injuries. [3:17:15] Now, look, this is something that was very unexpected. [3:17:19] The president had been escalating his threats against Maduro for months, but the scale of this operation was not what many people had in mind, especially not lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. [3:17:30] And when it comes to what comes next, though, the president offering very few details there, saying that the U.S. will be, quote, running it, not giving details on how exactly that would work. [3:17:41] If this involves U.S. troops, the president leaning heavily on this idea of the U.S. being involved in the future of Venezuelan oil, but still huge questions about what all of this is going to look like and if he has just pulled the U.S. into another long and protracted conflict. [3:17:57] All right, Selena Wang, Matt Rivers, thank you for your reporting. [3:18:01] Let's turn now to the reaction from the international community. [3:18:04] Our Lama Hassan joins us now from London with that part of the story. [3:18:07] Lama, I want to talk to you about this. [3:18:09] Last month, President Trump warned Colombian President Gustavo Petro that his country could be next in the U.S. campaign against drug trafficking. [3:18:16] So what are we hearing from Colombia today? [3:18:19] Yeah, Ike, it's almost like a warning, isn't it? [3:18:22] Well, we did hear from the president of Colombia, Venezuela's largest neighbor, saying that Caracas is, quote, under attack, alert the world. [3:18:30] Venezuela has been attacked, is what he wrote. [3:18:32] Now, you heard President Trump. [3:18:34] He described the attack as something that nobody else could have done, saying it is extremely complex, executed with speed and violence. [3:18:41] And I think there will be many countries right now, like Colombia and Iran as well, they will be watching and watching closely. [3:18:48] And they'll be nervous about how the U.S. was able to swoop in and capture the Venezuelan president and his wife with such ease and so quickly as well, Ike. [3:18:58] Hassan, thank you for that reporting. [3:19:00] Let's get straight to our ABC News contributor and former U.K. national security official, Steve Hill. [3:19:08] Steve, the European Union is staying pretty mute on this move from the U.S. [3:19:13] What do you make of that? [3:19:16] I think that's right, Ike. [3:19:17] I think everybody is trying to draw that line where, on the one hand, they are immensely impressed by U.S. capabilities. [3:19:25] I mean, this was an astonishing operation. [3:19:27] But the premise, the legal premise for it, I think does cause misgivings. [3:19:32] It's not wholly convincing that this was either in self-defense or it was a narco-terrorist operation. [3:19:39] It felt like a much more military operation. [3:19:42] And I think they're also waiting to see what happens next. [3:19:46] I think the positive news from the press conference was that there clearly has been some thought about what comes next, but not quite yet clear what that thought really amounts to in any sort of detail. [3:19:58] So, the European Union and my own Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, I think are trying to, on the one hand, make statements which President Trump can't take any offense by, but register the fact that they do have some concerns around the legality and what comes next. [3:20:16] So, what are some of the wider implications this may have on the U.S. and the rest of the world? [3:20:24] I think it shows that the U.S. continues to drive the global agenda. [3:20:29] The fact is that this is, again, everybody else on the back foot responding to what the U.S. has been doing. [3:20:36] The comments that President Trump made about this being about near neighbors maybe plays into a slight narrative that there is concern in Europe about that we are reverting to a world of spheres of influence where essentially the Russians or the Chinese or the Americans have a say on what goes on in their neighborhood. [3:20:58] That feels like a step backwards. [3:21:01] I think also your previous reporter was talking about the Russian and the Chinese statements. [3:21:06] Clearly, they do perceive that, particularly in the global south, there's a little bit of an opportunity for them to establish themselves as the force for reliability, stability, respect for international law, which traditionally the Americans and our other allies have held that ground. [3:21:24] They're very much looking to fill that room and influence all of the global south to see them as prime partners, both economically and politically. [3:21:36] And Steve, is there a chance the U.S. may face repercussions from other countries because of this, maybe in the form of sanctions or what have you? [3:21:43] I think at the moment you see that everybody is on the back foot in terms of not wanting to take on the U.S. [3:21:51] The U.S. power remains unparalleled. [3:21:54] I don't think that we will see that happening. [3:21:57] There may be some votes in the U.N., but it's a sort of political theater which we've been seeing. [3:22:04] The fact is, though, that I think if you're sitting in Tehran, for example, where there's recent rhetoric between the U.S. and Iran following the demonstrations on the streets, you take the U.S. very seriously. [3:22:17] You take this president very seriously in a way that perhaps previously you haven't. [3:22:21] Around Ukraine, I think also the president's comments about not being thrilled by the behavior of President Putin, I thought that was a really interesting last comment that he made that's gone backwards and forwards. [3:22:32] But in terms of sanctions against the U.S., at the moment, everybody is simply trying to respond to U.S. moves on issues like tariffs and get the best terms that they can. [3:22:43] So I really don't see anybody really putting their head above the parapet. [3:22:47] All right, Steve Hill, thank you for your analysis. And stay with us as we stay on top of the latest on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, what we know about the charges he'll face and the legality of U.S. military action in Venezuela. That's all up next. [3:23:02] We were two perfect little families that are all best friends, but he was crazy. Denise calls me and said Mike hasn't come home. [3:23:17] There was speculation that he got eaten by an alligator. [3:23:20] She starts an affair with my husband, Brian. It involved decadent sexual behavior. [3:23:25] We don't need to be wiring up soccer masks, but she wanted answers. [3:23:29] My heart is racing. This is where the good stuff starts. [3:23:33] Mr. and Mrs. Murder. [3:23:35] Only on Hulu. [3:23:38] It's on the floor with blood everywhere. Please hurry. There's a knife sticking out of her heart. [3:23:44] Philadelphia medical examiner initially ruled Greenberg's death a homicide before switching it to suicide. [3:23:51] How was this rule to suicide? [3:23:54] It just does not add up. [3:23:56] Everyone realized how strange and twisted this case was. [3:23:59] If you want to get away with a homicide, have it declared a suicide. [3:24:03] Death in apartment 603. What happened to Ellen Greenberg? Only on Hulu. [3:24:08] There was the doctor. Who? The loving husband. Who? The incredible stepfather. And then there's this monster. [3:24:16] There was a bombshell. Someone found a hidden camera in the bathroom. [3:24:20] 3,000 videos. 1,400 photos. This betrayal was terrifying. [3:24:25] He wanted to kill my son. [3:24:27] Once I tell the police what I have to say, he'll never get out. [3:24:33] Betrayal under his eye. Only on Hulu. [3:24:36] Iron Dash, rated PG-13. Now playing. [3:25:07] Abby and Libby had gone on a walk, but we went to pick them up. They weren't there. [3:25:12] When the bodies were found, it felt different than any crime scene that I have ever seen. [3:25:17] She captured the image of her own murderer. [3:25:20] That Libby was able to get the video was very amazing. [3:25:23] There were dozens of viable suspects. [3:25:26] Here's the rest of the story. Here's what they didn't tell you. [3:25:29] The person that did this is your evil. [3:25:32] Capturing their killer. The girls on the high bridge. Only on Hulu. [3:25:37] Your friends think I'm crazy. [3:25:45] College is the most unserious part of your life. [3:25:47] He's not someone who lets things go. [3:25:51] Why are you doing this? [3:25:52] Because I want to hurt you. And I don't know how else to do it. [3:26:01] I just really feel like things are going to be different this time. [3:26:03] Welcome back to ABC News Live. [3:26:14] We continue with our breaking news coverage of the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. [3:26:19] Maduro is now on route to U.S. soil where he'll face charges right here in New York City. [3:26:24] Let's bring in ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katursky. [3:26:28] Aaron, can you walk us through this new indictment that we're seeing for Maduro now? [3:26:31] It's 25 pages long. And in many ways, Ike, it mirrors the charges that Maduro faced in this country from the first Trump administration six years ago. [3:26:40] In 2020, he was charged along with others in a vast narco-terrorism conspiracy. [3:26:45] And the superseding indictment says that Maduro was the leader of a 25-year narco-terrorism conspiracy. [3:26:52] This time, though, the conduct is brought up to date into the present day. [3:26:57] It also adds his wife, who was captured along with him by U.S. special forces and is en route now to the United States herself. [3:27:05] It also names his son, who apparently has eluded capture so far. [3:27:09] But the indictment portrays Maduro as corrupting every office he has held of using those offices to benefit himself at the expense of Venezuela [3:27:20] and of working with some of the world's most violent and dangerous drug traffickers from the Sinaloa cartel to Colombian rebels [3:27:27] in order to flood the United States with cocaine. [3:27:30] You know, we've seen so many big cases go through right here in New York City. [3:27:33] This seemingly seems like it'll be another one. [3:27:35] So what's the next steps once Maduro touches land right here in New York City? [3:27:39] Once he touches down, he'll be processed like any ordinary criminal defendant, [3:27:43] although he is hardly an ordinary criminal defendant. [3:27:46] In all likelihood, like most criminal defendants, he would be housed at MDC Brooklyn, which is the federal jail [3:27:52] where Luigi Mangione is currently locked up awaiting trial, where we've seen Sean Combs being housed, [3:27:59] Sam Bankman freed, Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was there for a time as he went through a federal drug prosecution until he was pardoned by President Trump in November. [3:28:09] And so once he's here, he's treated like any other criminal defendant. [3:28:15] But the circumstances in which he arrived certainly are beyond anything that most criminal defendants ever see. [3:28:23] And the Supreme Court has suggested it doesn't necessarily matter, even as critics will decry the methods that the United States used. [3:28:32] Once he's in front of a federal judge in an American courtroom, there's not really an option to question how he got there. [3:28:39] Interesting point. Thank you for that. I want to bring in our legal analyst, Brian Buckmeyer. [3:28:44] Brian, under what authority is the U.S. allowed to run another foreign country? [3:28:49] So run another foreign country, that's the stickler, and that's what's going to make it really difficult. [3:28:56] I actually don't know, to be off the top of my head. [3:28:59] I know that you can use the authorization to use military force, you can use Congress. [3:29:03] That's to invade or to attack another country, but to basically usurp the leadership and then say that you are the bona fide co-runners of a country, that's new territory. [3:29:14] I know that the president has said that there are going to be numerous oil companies who will come in. [3:29:20] I think we've heard reporting from our own ABC saying that the people behind them, it might have been at this very meeting, are going to work in conjunction with others. [3:29:29] How that framework is going to work will then give us some sort of glimpse as to the legal justification behind it. [3:29:36] But without a framework, it's very difficult to say how can one country run another. [3:29:41] At this point in time, I don't see how it works. [3:29:43] I don't see how it's legal, but this might be something that's all the way up to the Supreme Court. [3:29:47] All right, Brian, that's about running the country. I want to talk about the operation itself. [3:29:50] There are a lot of questions about the legality of this strike and including this capture. [3:29:55] So what do you make of the Trump administration's rationale? [3:29:58] So the rationale seems to be shifting, but any way it shifts, it does seem to have some sort of footing. [3:30:06] It's just where it lands and what evidence is going to provide. [3:30:09] You can say that Maduro was operating with a number of other illegal entities and that there was an indictment from, as Aaron pointed out, back in 2020. [3:30:18] I recently updated one in a few weeks or months ago to bring it up to this timeline, again, as Aaron pointed out. [3:30:25] And that could give justification for the actions, at least as it was brought to the United States and Maduro and his family had done so as well. [3:30:34] But narco terrorism, I guess you can say, you could say that this is a form of war, but Congress hasn't authorized it. [3:30:42] Maybe some sort of retroactive briefing and then Congress can get involved later. [3:30:46] But this really does seem like the cart was put before the horse in terms of how it's typically done. [3:30:51] Maybe there could be some retroactive justification. [3:30:53] But what reason and what legal justification is anyone's guess until we get the DOJ's and the U.S. government's explanation for it. [3:31:01] All right. Aaron Katursky and Brian Buckmeyer, thank you. [3:31:04] Coming up here on ABC News Live, a look at some of the other top stories of the day, including the latest on the deadly fire at a Swiss ski resort. [3:31:11] What investigators are saying about the cause? [3:31:20] Cross America. [3:31:21] Good morning. [3:31:22] Hello. [3:31:23] Wherever we are. [3:31:24] Welcome. [3:31:25] It's good to be home. [3:31:26] It feels like home. [3:31:28] The last time we dropped our things and went. [3:31:31] Come somewhere that we've both never been. [3:31:35] Good morning. [3:31:38] At the start of the day, letting us into your home. [3:31:42] Putting the good. [3:31:43] Thank you. [3:31:44] In your morning. [3:31:45] Man, it's good to be home. [3:32:04] It's an invitation to come together. [3:32:07] Happy birthday. [3:32:08] Brighten your morning. [3:32:09] I'm George. [3:32:10] How are you? [3:32:11] And the day ahead. [3:32:12] Wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed. [3:32:24] Here in London. [3:32:25] In Buffalo. [3:32:26] Uvalde, Texas. [3:32:27] Edinburgh, Scotland. [3:32:28] Reporting from Rolling Fork, Mississippi. [3:32:30] Ukrainian refugees here in Warsaw. [3:32:32] We're heading to a small community outside of Mexico City. [3:32:36] Getting you behind the stories as they happen. [3:32:39] ABC News Live Prime. [3:32:41] We'll take you there. [3:32:42] Stream ABC News Live weeknights wherever you stream your news. [3:32:46] Only on ABC News Live. [3:32:50] You called her? [3:32:51] I did. [3:32:52] I work with Morgan. [3:32:53] On every case. [3:32:54] You want to flout procedure at every turn? [3:32:57] I've never flouted anything. [3:32:59] You sure about that? [3:33:01] Yes, I am. [3:33:03] Mid-air homicide. [3:33:10] I will work this case for free. [3:33:12] I don't mean that. [3:33:13] That's just something people say. [3:33:14] Tell a joke. [3:33:20] I think I'm getting a divorce. [3:33:22] What tipped me off was living in an apartment on my own. [3:33:27] It doesn't have to be awkward, right? [3:33:30] I've been doing open mic nights. [3:33:34] It's like a hobby. [3:33:35] It's actually pretty amazing. [3:33:36] Are you going to be okay? [3:33:37] I'm going to be okay! [3:33:38] Doing this, it helps. [3:33:40] How does it help to have a room full of people laughing at you? [3:33:44] Is this thing on? [3:33:48] Rated R. [3:33:49] Abby and Libby had gone on a walk, but we went to pick them up. [3:33:52] They weren't there. [3:33:54] When the bodies were found, it felt different than any crime scene that I've ever seen. [3:33:59] She captured the image of her own murderer. [3:34:02] That Libby was able to get the video was very amazing. [3:34:05] There were dozens of viable suspects. [3:34:07] Here's the rest of the story. [3:34:09] Here's what they didn't tell you. [3:34:10] The person that did this is your evil. [3:34:13] Capturing their killer. [3:34:15] The girls on the high bridge. [3:34:17] Only on Hulu. [3:34:18] Reporting from Rockland County, New York, I'm Ginger Z. [3:34:21] Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. [3:34:24] You're streaming ABC News Live. [3:34:26] Welcome back. [3:34:34] Let's take a look at some other top headlines we're following this hour. [3:34:36] Swiss investigators say they believe a deadly New Year's Eve bar fire may have been started [3:34:41] by sparklers attached to champagne bottles that came too close to the sea lake. [3:34:46] Swiss authorities say 40 people were killed and 119 others were injured in the fire. [3:34:51] The U.S. Embassy in Switzerland says at this time they are unaware of any U.S. victims. [3:34:56] And the FBI says it thwarted a potential New Year's Eve terror plot in North Carolina. [3:35:01] Court records show the Justice Department charged 18-year-old Christian Sturvidian with [3:35:06] allegedly attempting to carry out a knife and hammer attack against random individuals in support of ISIS. [3:35:11] Investigators claim he allegedly planned to target a grocery store or a Burger King. [3:35:15] And the suspect's attorney information is not immediately available and it's not clear if he's entered a plea yet. [3:35:22] And a close call for a parachutist in Fort Worth, Texas. [3:35:25] The skydiver was part of a pre-game festivities and a bowl game. [3:35:29] The parachute gets caught in the netting and the stuntman then crashing to the ground. [3:35:33] Bowl officials say he got up and walked away on his own power. [3:35:37] And it's the final weekend of the 2025 NFL regular season. [3:35:41] The two big games with some major playoff implications today. [3:35:44] Starting at 4.30 p.m. Eastern, the Carolina Panthers will face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [3:35:49] in a game that could determine the winner of the NFC South. [3:35:52] And later tonight, the Seattle Seahawks are set to take on the San Francisco 49ers. [3:35:56] The winner will clinch the NFC West and the number one seed in the playoffs. [3:36:01] You can catch both games tonight on ABC and ESPN. [3:36:04] Now, let's get a check of your weekend weather meteorologist Jeff Banson is tracking the forecast. [3:36:09] Jeff, what's it looking like outside right now? [3:36:11] What else, Ike? Stormy for the West Coast, right? [3:36:14] Stop me if you've heard that before. [3:36:15] I mean, it seems like every week we're getting a new storm here. [3:36:17] We've had the atmospheric river. [3:36:19] And really, since Christmas, we've seen the Pacific Northwest get a bit of a break. [3:36:24] Now, really, California has been in the bullseye here in the crosshairs. [3:36:28] So we have the flood watches from Eureka down through the San Bernardino Valley. [3:36:32] We've, of course, for the Sierra Nevada here, got the incredible feet of snow for some of those mountain ranges there. [3:36:38] Winter storm warnings up for them. [3:36:39] This storm coming into the West Coast also has a wind component that is pretty robust here. [3:36:44] So we have in the tan coloring here, wind advisories all the way down to SoCal. [3:36:49] And we've also got coastal flood alerts pretty much all up and down from Seattle, Washington, all the way down to San Diego here. [3:36:56] Some degree of coastal flooding during high tides. [3:36:58] Now, as you can see, those storms just plowing into the coastline. [3:37:01] And again, inches of rain up to about a half foot of rain possible here in parts of Central California. [3:37:06] Obviously, the big snow is one, two plus feet. [3:37:09] You can see that two to four feet possible for parts of the Sierra Nevada. [3:37:13] We transition to the northeast here where it is just cold. [3:37:15] It's been mostly quiet here, but we do have some minor snow events. [3:37:19] You can see those wind chills, single digits to teens to around 20 over the next afternoon here. [3:37:24] And then we've got some snow, minor snows here coming in as we head through the weekend as well. [3:37:29] But generally, minor accumulations. [3:37:31] All right, Jeff Bantz. [3:37:32] Thank you for that. [3:37:33] And thank you, guys. [3:37:34] I'm Mike Ogiaci. [3:37:35] Thanks for streaming with us. [3:37:36] The news never stops. [3:37:37] You can find us anywhere. [3:37:38] You stream live news. [3:37:39] And if you're on the go, we're on the ABC News app and abcnews.com, too. [3:37:42] More news is up next. [3:37:44] Wednesday night. [3:37:49] The Golden Girls? [3:37:50] Who wasn't a fan of the Golden Girls? [3:37:53] It's 40 years and it's day one fresh. [3:37:55] Oh, I love you guys. [3:37:58] Now get out. 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