Transcription
And of course, we have team coverage this morning for you. Lilot Luciano is posted at the Colombian Venezuelan border. Matt Gutman is in front of the courthouse here in New York City following the Maduro's appearance. But let's begin with Nicole Killian at the bottom of your screen joining us live now from Capitol Hill. Good morning, Nicole.
So, we heard earlier that each party that was briefed uh privately on the operation had expected responses, but I'm wondering if there's anything in regards to Venezuela that all lawmakers seem unified on after yesterday's briefing.
>> Well, I think where you see some bipartisan consensus is the fact that Maduro for now is out of power, that he was captured, apprehended. Obviously, there is a difference of opinion with respect to how the Trump administration executed this operation, but by and large, both Republicans and Democrats uh agree that this was a dictator [snorts] who needed to go. Really, the big question, the focus of that briefing last night is what comes next? And so, I asked Speaker Mike Johnson his takeaways. Take a listen.
Did the briefers indicate that they want members of the current regime to stay in power or did they specify that they want a change in leadership?
>> Look, this is still developing right now. Obviously, um this this has all just happened within the last couple of days. And so, uh there are more questions ultimately about how it resolves probably than than uh than answers at the moment, but that's to be expected. Now, keep in mind this was a classified briefing, so lawmakers were kind of limited to what they could say. But, uh, you know, why we asked Speaker Mike Johnson that question is obviously because again, an interim government has been installed in Venezuela. But these are Maduro loyalists, particularly the vice president, Deli Rodriguez. And so I did ask other members of Congress if they're okay with members of the Maduro's regime still being in power even after uh this operation uh given their distaste for Maduro. So, uh, you know, what, uh, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, uh, Brian Mass told me is that look, you know, Rodriguez is somebody who can keep the lights on in the country, who knows how to run it operationally, and you need that right now versus having a complete leadership vacuum where you take everybody out all at once. Obviously, they hope that the goal can ultimately be free and fair elections. Uh that is certainly the hope uh that uh lawmakers have going forward. But uh there is a big difference of opinion with Democrats feeling that you know Congress was really bypassed in this process. So any further action the US takes going forward uh they want to stay in the loop and they believe uh that any further military action specifically requires congressional authorization.
All right, Nicole Kellian asking the important questions there on Capitol Hill. Nicole, thank you. Chief correspondent Matt Gutman was on the scene at the federal courthouse yesterday from Maduro's arraignment. You see him there joining us from the same location now. Matt, good morning.
Not an ordinary arraignment by any stretch of the imagination. Help us understand what you witnessed and how jarring it was to see it all unfold yesterday.
>> You know, typically arrow arraignments are very quick, very procedural. Uh the judge is supposed to read the defendant their rights, make sure that they understand the charges against them. They can read the charges in court and then they move on. They set the next date. It's the beginning. You know, is there going to be bail? There are very procedural questions that they have to deal with. But pretty much right off the bat when the judge asked Maduro his name, Maduro began speaking and he said, "I I was kidnapped and I am still the legal president of Venezuela. I a decent man." He said, "I am an innocent man." And at one point, the judge basically just had to cut him off. Um he said, "Listen, I just need to know your name and if you understand the rights and the charges [music] against you, you will have an opportunity later on to be able to say your peace, but not right now." And so that was pretty unusual, but you know, there was that defiance from Maduro. On the other hand, there was great compliance. He said, "Please and thank you." And uh he was speaking through a translator. He was asked if he can understand it. He said yes, amply well. He was writing down notes. He asked to be able to keep [music] the notes. The judge said yes, absolutely. He then asked for um medical [clears throat] attention for him and his wife. His wife had a bandage on her head and her attorney said she'd been wounded or injured in the ribs uh possibly during the raid. The judge said, "Yes, of course, you will get all the medical attention you need." So, it's this combination of defiance and professional and compliance all in the same breath. And you know, it's just very unusual to see that kind of thing. Errol.
Yeah. And now both of them back at that Brooklyn uh detention center. Really remarkable turn of events. Matt, thank you very much.
Now CBS News can confirm the Trump administration ordered the CIA to conduct a report on leadership scenarios in Venezuela should Nicholas Maduro's presidency end. And the analysis didn't explicitly examine regime change nor recommend a course of action. But this comes as the Wall Street Journal reports a classified assessment determined Maduro loyalists were best suited for short-term stability in the country. Let's jump now to CBS News national correspondent Lilia Luciano. She's live at the Colombian Venezuelan border in Kucatar, Colombia as the Venezuelans grapple with the uncertainty. Lilia, good morning to you once again.
Give us an update on the view of these events from where you are.
>> Well, Errol, what you were just talking about is critical. I have been thinking since Saturday morning when the when the bombings happened when we knew that it was coming from the US and was captured. I kept thinking about precisely those groups that you're talking about that the CIA talked about. When they say Maduro loyalists, they're talking about a number of armed groups including what are called the collectivos. These collectivos are kind of paramilitary groups that support the regime uh unofficially or extra officially and and really do intimidate people on the daily. What I heard yesterday was checkpoints, cell phones being monitored and checked, people being sought to see whether they were expressing the support for the regime. That is ongoing as the regime leadership remains in place. Shots rang out Monday evening in Karakas. Reportedly, Venezuela's security forces shooting down a commercial drone, disrupting a fragile sense of calm after Saturday's surprise attack by US forces. [music] Stability and power is the message coming from the Venezuelan government. With regime leader Deli Rodriguez officially sworn in as interim president, she's walking a fine line condemning Maduro's capture as a kidnapping while negotiating the future of Venezuela with the Trump administration.
But repression is still the law of the land.
Deli Rodriguez, as you know, is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narco uh trafficking. Opposition leader Maria Korina Machado seemed patient as Trump currently appears to favor continuity in Venezuela over regime change.
In free and fair elections, we will win with by over 90% of the votes. I have no doubt about it.
On the Colombian side of the border, we met Kimberly Rampers. She's a former accountant in Venezuela who says she might return to her country if it had a new leader elected by the people. How far do you think freedom is for the people of Venezuela? Or how close?
Well, right now it's the same because they're still in power.
Even at the border within Colombia, it was hard to find Venezuelans to speak openly about the regime.
I am here in Colombia. Venezuela government can't do not. You're safe here.
I'm safe here. Yes. But because
So you can speak your mind.
Yeah. I speak away. [laughter]
And that Arrol is such an important distinction. I want to go back to a conversation you and I had yesterday about Colombia because after the capture of Maduro, I think the Trump administration has been messaging, you know, we own uh the Americas. We are the we are establishing order in the hemisphere. And there's those threats to potentially Cuba. Cuba is one thing. Cuba is an authoritarian regime like Venezuela. But when it comes to where I am, Colombia, Colombia is absolutely a democracy. It's a democracy that's about to hold an election in a few months. It's a place where people can speak their minds. And it's somewhere, it's a country that has been a longtime ally not just on the uh war on drugs really, but on many other um aspects of the region. So, it's very important to stress the difference. I've been hearing a lot of pundits and people talking about, you know, establishing order. And yes, the president of Colombia is absolutely a a leftist leader. He does not agree on most things with President Trump, but this is still a democracy where people can speak their minds. And that's why the majority of Venezuelans who left Venezuela seeking safety and some kind of economic opportunity came to this country a lot more than got to the United States.
That's great perspective, Lilia, and why it's wonderful to have you there physically and to share on your expertise as well. Lilia Luciano in Colombia for us.
Now, Deli Rodriguez has officially ascended to the Venezuelan presidency as its interim president, and she became acting president Saturday, shortly after the removal of Nicholas Maduro and his wife from the country. But she spent a decade in multiple sectors of the Venezuelan government, including the oil ministry. Let's just quickly dive deeper into who she is and how she got here. Maduro has called her a tigris for her ferocious defense of his government. She got her start in Venezuelan politics during then President Ugo Chavez's tenure. He ran the country from 1999 until his death in 2013. Under Chavez, she worked in lower level positions related to foreign affairs and energy. And she also served as the general coordinator for her brother who was the vice president at the time. Now, once Maduro took power in 2013, Rodriguez took on more prominent roles. She worked for about a year as minister of communications before becoming head of foreign affairs. Rodriguez was elected as head of the body charged with writing a new constitution as well back in 2017. And that constitution expanded Maduro's powers. She officially became his vice president in 2018. And since then, Rodriguez has slowly accumulated more leadership roles. Get this. She is the head of the country's main intelligence agency, its economic ministry, and its petroleum ministry. Rodriguez has never been charged with a crime here in the United States, though she was sanctioned back in 2018 during the first Trump administration for enabling quote Maduro to sol solidify his hold on the military and the government while the Venezuelan people suffer.