CSPAN - Washington Journal 01/03/2026

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Jan. 3, 2026 09:44-11:38 - CSPAN

01:53:50

Washington Journal 01/03/2026

Participants

Main

mimi geerges

cspan 21:46

Appearances

brian lamb

cspan 00:34

donald j trump

admin 01:09

kurt nimmo

infowars 02:22

larry nichols

02:19

ray mcgovern

02:04

Clips

david rubenstein

00:02

elise labott

00:10

justice amy coney barrett

scotus 00:12

Callers

owl killer in virginia

callers 02:02

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Show episode speakers

Speaker	Time	Text
elise labott ▲ ● ▼		You know, kind of Andes region, so to speak, and how is that going to affect Americans and then the demand issue, as you said.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And we'll be watching all of that.
		Elise Labbitt is a global affairs journalist and Cosmopolitics Substack founder.
		She's also a professor at the American University School of International Service.
		Thanks so much, Elise, for joining us today.
unidentified		Thank you.
elise labott ▲ ● ▼		Happy New Year.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Happy New Year to you.
		And we are extending our program today until the news conference set to start at 11 a.m. Eastern Time out of Mar-a-Lago.
		We are taking your calls throughout this time period up until then on Venezuela, the U.S. attacks that happened.
		We're going to continue to take your calls, but we'll take a quick break first.
		If you're already on the line, please do stay on the line, and we'll get back to you as soon as we come back.
unidentified		Watch America's Book Club, C-SPAN's bold new original series.
		Sunday with our guest, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, only the fifth woman to serve on the high court and author of the book, Listening to the Law.
		She joins our host, renowned author and civic leader David Rubenstein.
david rubenstein ▲ ● ▼		And what do you hope most people will take away from your book?
justice amy coney barrett ▲ ● ▼		I think what I want them to take away from the book is that they should be proud of the court.
justice amy coney barrett ▲ ● ▼		And I want them to be able, I want them to understand the way the court grapples with the legal questions that matter to the country.
unidentified		Watch America's Book Club with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Sunday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on C-SPAN.
unidentified		On this episode of Book Notes Plus with our host, Brian Lamb.
brian lamb ▲ ● ▼		Irish-American writer Frank McCourt wrote a book in 1996 that was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 100 weeks.
		Over the next 20 years, Angela's Ashes sold close to 10 million books worldwide.
		It was translated into 24 languages.
		McCourt, who was born in New York City, moved with his family to Limerick, Ireland for his childhood years.
		Frank McCord died at age 78 in 2009 of melanoma cancer.
		He was a guest on the BookNotes television program on September 19th, 1996.
unidentified		We revisit an interview with Frank McCord and his book, Angela's Ashes, a memoir.
		BookNotes Plus with our host, Brian Lamb, is available wherever you get your podcasts and on the C-SPAN Now app.
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		Because C-SPAN viewers want the facts straight from the source.
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		unfiltered every day on the c-span networks i have been watching c-span washington journal for over 10 years now This is a great format that C-SPAN offers.
		You're doing a great job.
		I enjoy hearing everybody's opinion.
		I'm a huge C-SPAN fan.
		I listen every morning on the way to work.
		I think C-SPAN should be required viewing for all three branches of government.
		First of all, if you say hello, C-SPAN, and how you covered the hearings.
		Thank you, everyone, at C-SPAN, um, for allowing this interaction with everyday citizens.
		It's an amazing show to get real opinions from real people.
larry nichols ▲ ● ▼		Appreciate you guys' non-biased coverage.
unidentified		I love politics, and I love C-SPAN because I get to hear all the voices.
		You and C-SPAN show the truth.
		Back to the universe for C-SPAN.
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		Washington Journal continues.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We are discussing the strikes against Venezuela overnight and the capturing of Venezuelan President Maduro.
		We have a news conference that is scheduled by President Trump at 11 a.m. Eastern Time out of Palm Beach, Florida.
		We will be providing you with live coverage of that.
		And we are extending today's Washington Journal and taking your calls and reactions up until that time once that news conference gets underway.
		We are going to go back to the calls now to Guy in Maryland, Democrat.
		Go ahead, Guy.
unidentified		Happy New Year.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Happy New Year to you.
unidentified		This wasn't on my Christmas wish list.
		Two things.
		Franco, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler.
		We'll skip over a hundred smaller ones.
		Putin and Trump.
		It came up, you know, what's Trump's strategic plan?
		Where in the history of the world has the strongman model ever worked out for the average citizen?
		You know, it's always chaos and a stack of bodies in its wake.
		We have to decide whether we're going to be a nation of laws or not.
		Trump plays it up to the edge on some things like today.
		You know, now it's a, this is an act of war, without a doubt.
		But we're doing it under our laws of it being a law enforcement action.
		So there's one guy from the Coast Guard or one guy from the Department of Justice on the boat to make it all, to cover it all up.
		Trump, somebody said something about Trump not having a strategic plan.
		He does have a strategic plan.
		It's Project 2025.
		They're disemboweling our government.
		Our ability, we're no longer going to collect facts.
		So as many arguments as we have every day on C-SPAN amongst ourselves from people who all have one thing in common, their love for this country.
		He's taken away our ability to gather facts where we could be confused or wrong or just have a different opinion.
		We don't even have a baseline to operate from.
		The man is a con artist.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, guys.
		And this is from the BBC.
		What President Trump said this morning on Fox News, he said, quote, we were going to do this four days ago, but the weather was not perfect.
		The weather has to be perfect.
		All of a sudden, it opened up and we said, go.
		He adds that when they captured Maduro, he was, quote, in a house that was more like a fortress than a house with solid steel all around.
		Reiterating that he doesn't think any U.S. soldiers were killed, Trump adds, quote, a couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they're supposed to be in pretty good shape.
		Also, Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife are traveling to New York after being captured by President Trump.
		That's what he said to Fox News.
		He adds that the pair have been indicted in New York and will travel to the state via helicopter and ship.
		Quote, they killed a lot of people and a lot of American people, even people in their own country.
		Let's talk to Jonathan in Philadelphia, Independent Line.
		Hello, Jonathan.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		Sorry, I wasn't able to get with the previous guest just to discuss some of the things she was saying.
		You know, this country has a long history of wars, lots of wars, and lying about those wars.
		Vietnam would be a great example.
		The Gulf of Tonkin, that's declassified now.
		That war started over lies.
		This war seems strange.
		You know, when you run into a country and you grab the leader, you're bombing boats, you're seizing oil tankers.
		I mean, those are all clearly acts of war.
		And so I'm very worried about why we're targeting Venezuela.
		Linking it with sort of narco things doesn't make sense because why aren't we doing this to other countries then?
		Why aren't we?
		So this seems to be very specific to Venezuela.
		So again, a previous caller said the logic didn't sort of follow.
		The other thing I'm really worried about is the journalism.
		You know, I know that C-SPAN likes to say that it's on democracy unfelted.
		That's very laughable.
		You guys pick the guests very well.
		We get very, very pro-corporate, pro-billionaire points of view.
		And then you get a smattering of collars with dissent.
		But in general, that's a worry.
		I don't think we have journalists anymore.
		I think we have sort of chained, uncurious dogs.
		They think they're free, but they just don't pull very hard.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Jonathan, where do you get your news from?
unidentified		Oh, well, certainly I do watch C-SPAN.
		I do like hearing from callers, but I often go to independent sources.
		I like Chris Hedges.
		I really wish you guys would bring on Chris Hedges.
		I mean, if you guys, again, want to talk about international law following legal experts, we would not be going after Venezuela right now.
		We would be going after Israel.
		We wouldn't be supplying Israel with weapons.
		We would be making sure that they get tried in a court for laws, for breaking laws against war crimes, famine, using famine as a war tool, indiscriminate bombing of urban areas, the mass killing of children and women.
		That's what we would be doing.
		So I find it very, very, very, I would almost say anti-Semitic of this country, anti-Semitic of C-SPAN and the news media to prosecute a war against Venezuela when Israel is actively doing war crimes, has not had a ceasefire, and there was never a war.
		That was just always a land grab by Israel, and Israel is in six o'clock.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Joe in Tampa, Florida, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Joe.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
unidentified		Happy New Year.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Happy New Year to you.
unidentified		Thank you.
		Amazing to me, the foolishness I hear on sometimes here.
		No better example than the nitwit you just had on there.
		I mean, just the fact that the diversity of opinions you guys have is a joke compared to his statements that, you know, you're some kind of left-leaning deal.
		But any case, even beyond that, my point is that in our country, you know, people need to really do a little bit like I've heard some of the previous Carlos callers talking about, and that is to make sure that they do some of their own research.
		You know, it's unfortunate in our country, there's almost like a triad.
		There is, you know, the media, there's no doubt, is very left-leaning.
		Okay, you'll have the Democrats.
		The media is carrying the water for them.
		And, you know, in our country, unfortunately, the higher institutions of learning have also become extremely, extremely left-leaning.
		So people need to look and see.
		I mean, look at the number of millions of people and family people and families that have been destroyed in this country by drugs.
		Even the individual reporter you had on a minute ago is talking about, oh, well, we're not sure that the drugs are working their way into this country.
		Are you kidding me?
		Come on.
		At the end of the day, when that large number of, I don't care if it's not fentanyl, that's the new talking point by the media.
		It's not fentanyl.
		Well, I guess heroin and other opioids, it's okay for that to come in here, but there's no proof there's fentanyl.
		Ridiculous.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, John.
		And we got this from Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
		He posted on X a few minutes ago for years.
		Nicholas Maduro, the cartel he leads and other cartels in Latin America, have trafficked drugs into the United States, which have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
		President Trump's decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, it continues, but we don't have it.
		And we will go back to Pat, who's calling from New York.
		On the line for Democrats.
		Pat, are you there?
unidentified		Oh, good morning.
		Sorry.
		I was listening to the other comments.
		I'm listening to people calling and saying, happy New Year.
		But the times that we're living in now is uncertainty.
		Uncertainty causes fear.
		And with the things that's going on, with the wars we're involved in and the wars that we seem to be creating, will this come back on us as retaliation?
		The name-calling that goes on with the disagreements and agreements with the people, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats.
		I think that's truly uncalled for.
		That's what's going on now.
		There's no more morals or scruples in the politics in today.
		Will this cause off these wars that we continuously get involved in?
		Will this create a bad place for America and cause us to go into World War III?
		We're involved in so many things that we shouldn't be in.
		And that's all I have to say.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And the New York Times has this.
		UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he was alarmed by the events in Venezuela on Saturday and warned that the U.S. military action there would have wider implications for the region.
		Quote, independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent, he said, calling for international law to be respected.
		That's at the New York Times.
		John Akron, Ohio, Independent Line, you're on the air.
unidentified		Oh, yes, Mimi.
		I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to your guest also.
		But I listened to several calls after that.
		Are you there?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, we're listening.
unidentified		Oh, okay.
		Mimi, and so she defended her allegedly narco-terrorist votes.
		Why would you call Maduro the president when he is the illegitimate president?
		He lost.
		Do I understand it?
		Correct me, Mimi.
		Is he not the, was he elected legitimately or is he an illegitimate president?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So obviously his critics and most election watchers said that he did not win that election fairly.
unidentified		Well, just to watch it, it's not an official thing because your callers called in and they said, and they think Trump should be impeached.
		Trump won the majority of Americans' votes.
		Maduro did not win the votes.
		We're not in there for regime change.
		The Venezuelans, they picked their president, but they didn't get it.
		Who won?
		The girl that won the peace prize.
		Is that correct?
		Mimi?
		Yeah.
		The girl won the peace prize.
		She was elected president.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And take a look at this.
		So this is on the BBC.
		It said, asked if he will support opposition leader Maria Carina Machado, who is currently in Norway, to take over Venezuela, Trump tells Fox News, quote, we're going to have to look at it right now.
		Quote, they, Venezuela, have a vice president, as you know.
		I don't know what kind of an election that was, but you know, the election of the- Are you talking to me now?
		Yeah, no, no, no, I'm reading to you.
		So, listen: the election of Maduro was a disgrace.
		That's from President Trump.
		It says, Maduro's capture, quote, signals sends a signal that we're not going to be, we're not going to be pushed around anymore.
		He alleges the U.S. is losing hundreds of thousands of people a year to drugs, adding, quote, we're not going to allow it anymore with this.
		Okay, go ahead, John.
unidentified		Yeah, that thank you.
		So, his vice president, what makes an illegitimate president's vice president legitimate?
		Come on, Mimi.
		The vice president is not legitimate either, right?
		He's not going to take the whole regime.
		You call it regime change.
		The population of Venezuela decided this.
		Now, your guest came on, and she's from CNN, right?
		CNN owns C-SPAN, and the previous several scholars.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Sorry, that's not true.
		CNN does not own C-SPAN.
		Deborah in Ohio, Republican line.
		Go ahead, you're on the air.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		So, one of the things that I love reading history and trying to understand our nation.
		And something that people are missing is just that.
		And if you go back to the Monroe Doctrine of 1820, and I, too, I'm sorry, I didn't get to talk to the guest about this because she mentioned something about how we have neglected the Western Hemisphere.
		But we clearly had defined our role as a nation in the Western Hemisphere.
		We did it in 1820 in the Monroe Doctrine.
		But what was more important is we did it again in 1947 with the Truman Doctrine.
		And if people were to read the Truman Doctrine, I think they would say, well, basically, what we are and what we're doing is carrying out what we have decided as a nation.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Oh, yeah.
		Sorry, were you going to say something, Deborah?
unidentified		I was going to just say the Truman Doctrine was, you know, was approved by our nation and our representatives and everything.
		And it wasn't like they were ignorant.
		We just finished World War II in 1945.
		So the people that approved of this doctrine, our nation's people at the time, they had just come out of World War II.
		So they were very well informed.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Deborah, let me ask you the Monroe Doctrine.
		You said 1823.
		It says that the European powers, according to Monroe, were obligated to respect the Western Hemisphere as the United States sphere of interest.
		And that's at archives.org if you want to read the whole thing.
		But what does that mean to you, Deborah, as far as that the Western Hemisphere is the U.S.'s sphere of influence?
		What does that mean the U.S. can do in the Western hemisphere?
unidentified		Well, it means that we have to be watchful and participate.
unidentified		And just like what we did in Venezuela this weekend, it means that we have a stake in what goes on in the Western Hemisphere for the security and for the well-being of the Western Hemisphere.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Sorry, here's Ray in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Democrat.
		Good morning, Ray.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		Look, people, you're missing it.
		You're missing it.
		Okay, remember back here when the Republicans were having, was supposed to have a meeting about a strategy to how to combat the Epstein files?
		This is their strategy.
		Deter.
		You understand what I'm talking about?
		It's sad that so many people had to die for them to try to distract the Epstein files.
		Keep your eyes on the prize, people.
		The prize is the Epstein files.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And this is Chris in Washington, D.C., Independent.
		Hi, Chris.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		Thank you for taking the call.
		I had a comment and a question for the professor, but I'll ask them both anyway.
		So, one of the callers just mentioned Truman.
		And in 1948, after World War II, Truman changed the presidential seal so that the eagle faces the olive branch instead of the arrows.
		And he said, from this day forward, we're a nation of peace.
		But Trump changed the Department of Defense back to the Department of War and said we're now a nation of war, I guess, and in a retrospect instead of peace.
		But my question was for the professor: if it is being spun as a law enforcement action, why is the U.S. military involved?
		We're not a law enforcer DOD.
		That should have been the U.N.
		I hope that's maybe asked at 11.
		Why did we go at it alone?
		Because when we do, it makes it look like an invasion or a regime change instead of a law enforcement action.
		So, those are my comments, and thank you for taking my call.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Mason and Eureka Springs, Arkansas Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Mason, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning to you.
		I believe that President Trump has done exactly what he set out to do.
		You know, we had a problem with immigrants, so he closes the border.
		Then we have drugs coming into the United States.
		He attacks the boats.
		Then we're not getting any results to the satisfaction.
		So, what he does is he goes in and he gets the guy who automatically needs to come back to the United States because they had warrants out for him.
		So, I don't understand why everyone's so upset over the fact that all we did was hunt down a crook, bring him to trial, and now we're going to see what's happening.
		So, I disagree and agree with a lot of folks that have said stuff here.
		And I really appreciate you taking my call.
		Been trying to get through on this line for three months.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Wow.
		Thanks for continuing to try, Mason.
		And in case you're wondering why we're still here, past 10 o'clock, we are extending today's Washington Journal in light of last night's events in Venezuela to get your reaction.
		There is a news conference that President Trump has called, and we will be covering that live, scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.
		So, do stay with us for that, and you can continue to call in and let us know your thoughts on your reaction and your opinion on Venezuela.
		Kathy, Fort Edward, New York, Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I would just like to know how he feels he has the right to do what he did.
		How would Trump feel if his family was taken?
		Do you want families to be involved in this so-called war?
		I don't.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Guy in Jacksonville, Florida, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Guy.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		I'm with you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, go ahead.
ray mcgovern ▲ ● ▼		I'm sorry that this whole situation has occurred only from the standpoint of not trying to stop drugs, but I'm concerned more that the Chinese are going to take advantage of this in Taiwan now when they see how busy we are in Venezuela and South America.
		I just don't want to see another war start that we have to stand behind on the west coast to try and protect Taiwan if China sees this as their opportunity to do what we're doing now in Venezuela.
		So, are the drugs of the reason or not?
		I still don't want to see this expand.
unidentified		Thank you for taking the call.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Richard in Kansas, Independent Line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hello, Richard.
larry nichols ▲ ● ▼		Yes, ma'am.
		First of all, I would like to say I have cable TV and I watch this thing.
		It's called Nat Geo to Catch a Smuggler.
		And for over a year now, I've been watching this Trinidad, Tobalgo, and the United States Coast Guard.
		It's kind of like a reality show.
		They take you on these boats and they show you what their operations and what they're doing.
		And they were intercepting these.
		They actually have a name for them.
		They call them GoFast Boats.
		And they were catching about 20%, two out of 10, is what the show was saying.
		And I'm just wondering if the lady from CNN ever watched that show because this isn't something new, these GoFast boats.
		This has been going on now.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Richard, I just want to correct.
		She is no longer with CNN.
		She's an independent global affairs journalist.
larry nichols ▲ ● ▼		Yes, that would be true, but CNN doesn't hire anybody that doesn't have a political agenda.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And from our C-SPAN archives, here is President Trump during his address to Congress.
		This was his 2020 State of the Union address, and he did talk about the Maduro regime, and he praised the opposition leader at the time, who was Juan Guado.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Supporting the hopes of Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to restore democracy, the United States is leading a 59-nation diplomatic coalition against the socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
		Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people, but Maduro's grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken.
		Here this evening is a very brave man who carries with him the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of all Venezuelans.
		Joining us in the gallery is the true and legitimate president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido.
		Mr. President, please take this message back to your family.
unidentified		Thank you,
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Mr. President.
		Great honor.
		Thank you very much.
		Please take this message back that all Americans are united with the Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle for freedom.
		Thank you very much, Mr. President.
unidentified		Thank you very much.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Socialism destroys nations, but always remember freedom unifies the soul.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That was almost six years ago.
		That's from our C-SPAN archives.
		Our current opposition leader is Maria Carina Machado.
		This is the headline of the New York Post.
		Venezuelan opposition leader, 2025, Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado, poised to take the place of Nicholas Maduro.
		She is 58 years old, currently in Norway.
		Here is Mary in Nevada, Line for Democrats.
		You're on the air, Mary.
unidentified		Hi, I'm very concerned about our country.
		We've lost our values, our norms, our morals.
		This is wrong.
		What didn't go through Congress?
		Our Congress has been out on vacation since January.
		It's just wrong on every level.
		About drugs, he pardoned the man from Honduras, the dictator, who dropped off 400 tons of cocaine in the United States.
		He aligns himself.
		He rolls out the red carpet for war criminals, Putin.
		This is about a change in the global order.
		And I'd like to know what those two are cooking up behind the lines, because I don't think he's got Ukraine's best interests at heart.
		This is, you do what you do, but you've got to do it in the right way.
		And this is not the right way.
		We are not going before Congress.
		And he needs to have checks on him.
		And he hasn't had checks.
		Nobody's following the money, the grift in this administration, the billions of dollars.
		There's a reason he went to the Gulf in his first term and the second term.
		Those were his first trips because that's where the money is.
		And billions are being made to enrich himself and his family in crypto.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Mary.
		And here's Chuck in California, Republican line.
		Chuck, your thoughts on the action in Venezuela.
unidentified		Oh, I think it's the right thing to do.
		I've never seen a president like this before where he had the interest of America first.
		And people talk about wanting to enrich himself, which is ridiculous.
		He's already one of the richest persons around.
		And so we all know that Maduro was an illegitimate dictator.
		I mean, people in Chile right now are cheering that this happened.
		I just saw it on TV just a little while ago.
		And I think it's one of the best things that has happened this year.
		Like I said, he has the best interests of America at heart.
		And it's amazing that we have not a politician, but someone that's in a place of a position where he can actually help America.
		And I think that's what he's done all along.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Becky in Camp Verde, Arizona, Independent Line, you're on the air.
unidentified		I can't believe that he's starting a war without anybody trying to stop him from Congress or the Senate.
		It's terribly wrong, terribly wrong.
		He wants peace, peace, peace.
		He speaks up, yet he kills, kills, kills.
		Thank you for letting me speak my mind.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from Margaret in Santa Maria, California, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Margaret.
unidentified		Hello.
		Thank you.
		A NATO country was attacked by another NATO country, and no NATO countries came to their aid.
		So what good is NATO?
		You may not agree with many.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Wait, Which NATO country was attacked?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Venezuela is not NATO.
unidentified		Are you sure?
unidentified		They would spoke in a NATO meeting recently.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		No, Venezuela would not be a part of NATO, Margaret.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I can make sure, but that's North Atlantic.
unidentified		So, yeah.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Is that what you thought?
unidentified		Yes, that is what I thought.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		No, Venezuela is not a member of NATO, for sure.
		Justin in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Independent Line.
		Good morning.
larry nichols ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		So, what I see is just another terrorist attack by global Zionist supremacy.
		As it continues, we won't know freedom.
		So, really, the only way to know freedom again is to destroy the global Zionists.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		And this is Willie in Warner Robbins, Georgia, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yes.
unidentified		You got me?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, I do.
unidentified		Go ahead.
		Okay.
		Okay.
		Well, I was just wanting to say that today is my son's birthday.
		And he's 43 years old if he had lived 23 years ago.
		But he died from crystal myth.
		And I've lost three of my classmates that I went to school with.
		And they also died of cocaine, crystal myth, and other drugs.
		And I've lost my best friend recently from a cocaine overdose.
		And he died in Walmart.
		Check out.
		So if people don't have a stare at a casket and seen this son laying there, they need not even talk about this program.
		I appreciate you taking my call.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Willie.
		Let's talk to Sherry next.
		Democrat, Make Home, Michigan.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I think people are missing the point here.
		This was actually a war on drugs.
		And I'm kind of appalled at the people who, all the Americans are thinking this is so wrong just because it's Trump and they have TDS, as opposed to if you look at the Venezuelan people, if you look at off-mainstream media and just look at, they're cheering right now, all of them in Miami, Florida, cheering.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Chris, Huntsville, Alabama, Independent Line, you're on the air, Chris.
larry nichols ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, America.
		This is a multi-level distraction.
		It's an unbelievable distraction.
		If you look at Ukraine, Trump is going to need an excuse not to send weapons to Ukraine.
		This provides him a distraction not to send weapons to Ukraine.
		He promised the oil guys for however much crypto money he got out of the oil people, he promised them he'd do whatever he'd do if they just contributed to his campaign.
		Boom, they've got all the oil in Venezuela now.
		Also, earlier in the day, you had somebody call in about the Vulcan Mineral Company.
		There's about $17 billion with a B tons of high-grade gold ore in Venezuela.
		That'll also become in play along with the oil.
		And it's just, he's a supplicant to Putin, and this is a great excuse not to send Ukraine weapons.
		Thank you for listening.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to Steve next, Republican in Maitland, Florida.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Steve.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		I'm just sitting here listening to people right now.
		This is amazing, Democrat or Republican or Independent.
		I'm very conservative.
		This is amazing.
		I was raised when Betty Ford was sitting there yelling about your brain on drugs.
		Nancy Reagan was doing commercials about drugs.
		This is amazing.
		The fentanyl, the crack cocaine, the cocaine has destroyed people's lives individually.
		I'm sitting here listening to the Democrats rationalize that he shouldn't be at war.
		This last guy was yelling about weapons going to Ukraine.
		This is under the Monroe Doctrine.
		Okay, people don't remember James Monroe as president.
		Okay, this is our backyard.
		We have Hezbollah and Hamas in Cuba.
		We have Russia, China, Iran, North Korea feeding weapons into this hemisphere.
		We have drug cartels in Mexico.
		I don't understand.
		If someone does something right, regardless if they're Republican or Democrat, I am conservative.
		I go by the Constitution.
		This man is in fully the right way to do something.
		I voted for this man.
		I'll say it up front.
		But on the other hand, he's saving people's lives.
		This is not about oil.
		We have plenty of oil.
		We get oil from anywhere.
		He dropped the price of a barrel of oil to $17 a barrel the last time when he was in office.
		This is a joke.
		This ain't about minerals.
		We can get minerals from Japan.
		Japan has a little island they discovered this week that's full of minerals.
		We don't need minerals.
		We don't need oil.
		We have it.
		This is about common sense, about saving the American people.
		Now, another woman was talking about Nevada.
		I can't believe he's doing this.
		He goes to war.
		Go to war with what?
		We sent in five helicopters, a couple of Delta forts, and flew them out.
		It flew up Madora.
		We did it under Noriega, if anyone remembers history.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Steve, are you expecting this to be the end of any military action on Venezuela?
		Or do you expect it to continue to escalate?
		What do you think?
unidentified		No, I believe this is the end because what he's doing behind backdoor channels now, he's talking to the vice president that is very disgusting, that woman, that Iranian regime.
		The Iranian people are being killed this week.
		No one's even mentioning that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Gary in Pennsylvania, a Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Gary.
kurt nimmo ▲ ● ▼		So much, so much going on.
		Happy New Year, everybody.
		I just got to say that this guy is taking bribes from Syria, Qatar, from everybody around.
		He takes million-dollar bribes to let them out of prison to get pardons.
		He's doing it right in front of your cult.
		Can't they wake up and see all the corruption?
		He got the $400 million airplane when he went to Syria to visit with the president.
		That guy had a $10 million bounty on his head for having organized the barracks bombing that killed 200 Marines.
		He also organized the killing of that reporter and the 9-11 attacks, but yet now he's best friends with them because he's getting money.
unidentified		Wait, who?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Gary?
unidentified		Yes.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Who did all those things and his best friends, you're saying?
kurt nimmo ▲ ● ▼		Trump.
unidentified		Don't be Trump.
unidentified		Is best friends with who?
kurt nimmo ▲ ● ▼		Is friends with the president from Syria and all the Putin.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		The president of Syria didn't do the Marine Barracks bombing in 1982.
kurt nimmo ▲ ● ▼		He was part of the organization of it.
		He didn't personally, but he didn't personally participate in the towers being blown up either.
		But he helped organize it, as well as killing that reporter.
		He was part of all that.
		And if he was so concerned about law and order, he had Putin right here in the U.S.
		He could have arrested him on the war crimes and taken him under arrest.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And here's Van in Paris, Ohio, Independent Line.
		Good morning.
ray mcgovern ▲ ● ▼		Hey, thank you for having me.
		I just want to say, if he's so against the war on drugs, so against the cartels, Mexico is supplying most of the fentanyl.
		And we are right next door, neighbors with Mexico.
		And he pardoned a ruthless drug lord that brought in 400 tons of cocaine.
		He must have made a lot of money on that 400 tons of cocaine when he was in power in Honduras.
		And so now he's pardoned him.
		I wonder if he took any money for that pardon.
		And I wonder how many other pardons he made that were illegitimate.
		All those people in the January 6th pardoned them, 1,600 of them.
		And most of them pleaded guilty.
		And some of them said the only reason why they were there was because Donald Trump asked them to come.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Van.
		We will just pause the calls.
		If you're already on the line, please wait and stay on the line because we're just going to talk briefly to Christian Dayton.
		He is Washington Examiner's White House correspondent.
		Christian, welcome to the program.
		Thanks for joining us this morning.
unidentified		Excuse me.
		Good morning, Mimi.
		Happy to join you guys on such a big news day.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So to what extent has the White House telegraphed what President Trump will be addressing this morning at 11 o'clock?
unidentified		Well, the White House proper is keeping its traps shut.
		Now, we did hear from President Trump on Fox News Saturday morning.
		He called in and did a lengthy half-hour long interview, but they're really leaving this one up to the president to lay out the details, the operational successes, and the near tragedies involving a number of U.S. military members.
		Of course, the president did tell Fox News that multiple service members were hit and injured by gunfire during the raid on Maduro.
		Thankfully, none of them were fatal, but it is something that President Trump is going to have to sell to his base because, of course, this is a move that many in the administration have been pressuring for.
		First and foremost, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
		But we have to think about the President's campaign promise not to put any American boots on the ground overseas, and of course, his pledge to not only end the forever wars which have plagued the United States through the 21st century, but prevent future wars through his P-True Strength dogma.
		So I think it might be a little bit of a difficult sell for some, but we're all anxious to hear what President Trump has to say at 11 a.m. this morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And any information, Christian, on the lieutenants of Maduro and what their fates could be?
unidentified		That certainly is up in the air.
		President Trump addressed this on Fox News as well.
		And he said, look, if they remain quote-unquote loyal to the regime, it's going to be very, very bad for them.
		But he did signal a potential backing of the opposition leader.
		Now, he didn't come out right and say, we are going to install a new government, but he had suggested that if there is a quote-unquote conversion of the government, then things can go along as normal in Venezuela and hopefully even better than normal for the Venezuelan people, who we do know have suffered greatly at the hands of the Maduro regime.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And President Trump also, to Fox, had said that Maduro and his wife were on their way to New York to stand trial.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Do you have any further information or details about that, where they could be held timeline for a trial?
unidentified		I don't have any information on where they will be held, but Attorney General Pam Bondi did confirm an indictment this morning in the Southern District of New York for conspiracy to traffic cocaine and other narcotics-related charges.
		So we'd have to imagine they would be held somewhere in a safe location within New York City itself.
		That being said, this isn't the first time the Trump administration has sought an indictment for Maduro.
		They pursued one back in 2020 when the president was still in office during his first term.
		Obviously, there was a huge four-year-long break during the Biden administration, but this is something that President Trump has sought for years.
		I've been told that he wanted to tackle Nicolas Maduro, topple that government all the way back in 2017 of his first term in office.
		That being said, folks at the time in the cabinet, ALA H.R. McMasters and Jim Mattis, basically walked the president off that position.
		But in his four years down in Florida, again, when President Biden was in office, others in his camp, specifically Marco Rubio, they had really animated the president to reignite this campaign against Maduro, not only to stop the alleged flow of narcotics northward into U.S. streets, but also a potential boon for American energy companies with the takeover of the oil industry down there.
		Now, President Trump did say American energy companies will be very heavily involved in managing those resources moving forward.
		We'll have to see exactly what that looks like, but this is something he's been thinking about and moving towards for a number of years now.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And finally, Christian, any reaction from America's adversaries, namely China and Russia?
unidentified		Nothing from Russia yet so far, Mimi, but China has put out a statement condemning the raid.
		Now, we do know that a number of Chinese diplomats were actually in Caracas when the raid took place.
		This is certainly another fault line that the president needs to monitor closely because, again, there are many not only within his own caucus of support, but in the greater American electorate, who do not want to see not only a hot war with China, but really a prolonged engagement with any country across the global community.
		This is a major success right now for President Trump.
		The fact that this raid was carried off without any fatalities at all.
		That being said, we do know this is not a done deal yet, no matter what the White House is saying.
		And I would point you to none other than U.S. engagements in Latin America, like the invasion of Panama in 1989, the U.S. intervention in the Dominican Civil War back in the 1960s, and of course, those forever wars that the U.S. was entrenched in throughout the entirety of the 21st century following the September 11th terror attack.
		So a lot to keep our eyes on here, but luckily, President Trump is going to be speaking to us from Florida in just a few more minutes.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And that is coming up at scheduled for 11 a.m.
		Today, C-SPAN will have live coverage of that.
		Stay with us for that.
		And Christian Daytalk, White House correspondent for the Washington Examiner.
		Thanks so much for joining us today.
unidentified		Thank you, Mimi.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Get back to your calls.
		Up until that news conference gets underway.
		We will stay with you and get your reaction and opinions and thoughts about the strike against Venezuela and the capturing of Venezuela's leader, Maduro, and his wife.
		Donald is on the line for Democrats in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Mimi, and morning to America.
		I'm listening to these brainwashed Republicans call in and praise President Trump.
		Who's clearly a command and a grifter who has taken bribes from Saudi Arabia, taken bribes from drug dealers, taking bribes from all kinds of people?
		And he was, in his first campaign, sued by a young lady, a 13-year-old young lady, and settled a court.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Donald, getting us back to Venezuela, your reaction.
unidentified		He acted without Congress.
		We have a Republican Congress, House members that don't show up to work, take vacations, while this idiot Trump destroys this country and this Constitution.
		These Republicans need to get their heads out their ass idiots.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, all right, all right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to Raul in Raleigh, North Carolina, Independent Line.
unidentified		I'd like to make a statement briefly and with smiles.
		So thank you for what you do as a medical provider.
		Chat with lots of patients and hear a lot of things that aren't really positive.
		So your job's tough, and I appreciate what you're doing.
		And this does relate to the Venezuela conflict regarding freedom of speech and just peace around the earth.
		So thank you for what you do.
		And my question would be, do you feel like you're inundated with calls from AI bots that present the same message over and over?
		And that's it.
		And thank you.
		And I hope just to say smiles and keep doing what you're doing.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Jake in Franklin Square, New York, Republican, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hi there.
		You know, I really can't believe how democracy is dying.
		What's going to happen, just like that correspondent said, the oil companies are going to exploit Venezuela.
		They're not going to pay them right.
		They're not going to invest in them.
		They're just going to exploit them if there are rare earths.
		They're going to exploit the rare earths.
		You know, first the Trump administration, they tried to get mercenaries to kill Maduro.
		They didn't catch him.
		Trump said funnily on a video, said, hey, I don't know anything about that.
		No, they knew something about that.
		It's always going to be about the oil, about getting rid of China and Russia's influence there.
		Democracy is dead.
		There will never be a true democracy in Venezuela if they oppose Trump, if they oppose those oil companies coming in and exploiting them.
		Democracy, nobody likes democracy.
		And whoever's going to be in charge of Venezuela is going to be a sycophant, someone who fawns over or subservient to the United States.
		And people, I can't believe that people do not fight for democracy.
		Yeah, Maduro was bad and he was horrible.
		He had to go.
		But what's going to happen is it's going to be replaced by this oligarchical, these oligarchs, these fascists that are going to exploit that oil.
		They're going to exploit rare earths if there are any.
		And again, it's going to be whoever is subservient to Trump in the United States, whoever fawns over the United States, whoever names their children these white names, Walter or whatever they name.
		It's this imperialism of culture, imperialism of resources.
		Instead of saying, hey, it's your country, you decide.
		No, America is going to come in there and tell them what to do.
		And the fact that people don't aren't disgusted by that is amazing.
		But that is a colonial culture.
		That's what this country is, a colonial culture.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Sandy, Democrat in Jackson, New Jersey.
		You're on the air, Sandy.
unidentified		Hi.
		I'm just curious, doesn't anybody kind of see this as being a little bit hypocritical?
		I mean, Jack Smith's report just came out on New Year's Eve, and I did listen to it excitedly, only because and he said that Trump was he feels Trump was 100% responsible for trying to take over, trying to overthrow the election.
		Isn't it kind of hypocritical that he thinks he needs to get rid of someone else in another country for doing the same thing that he tried to do?
		Maybe he's upset he couldn't get away with it?
		I don't understand that.
		And then he says he's worried about drugs.
		If he's worried about drugs, do something about the demand.
		What about the people in this country that are selling them?
		What about the organized crime in this country?
		What is he doing for that?
		He sends in the National Guard.
		Oh, yeah, he takes everybody off the street.
		I wonder where the homeless people were taken to.
		Where did they go?
		What did he do to help them?
		He does the easy way out.
		He doesn't care about anybody but himself.
		And let's face it, Venezuela was about the oil.
		It was not about the government.
		He doesn't care because he cares about himself.
		What did he do for Ukraine?
		Nothing.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Sandy.
		Let's talk to Layla in Independent in Johnson City, Tennessee.
		You're on the air, Layla.
unidentified		Okay.
		My issue is, when you take out the president, what vacuum have you created?
		And who are the people who are going to take over?
		The gangs or somebody else?
		And what is it our duty to really, you know, go around and believe the world?
		Now he wants to go to Iran.
		You know, this is really as stupid as we could be.
		It is going.
		Nothing else.
		We're not interested in change of regime unless if the regime is by us put in place.
		It is sad, though, that we are in this position.
		We are looking for an angry place to really go and felt our problems.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Layla, this is the Associated Press.
		DOJ releases new indictment of Maduro and wife on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy.
		It says that the U.S. is now deciding next steps for Venezuela.
		President Donald Trump said Saturday on Fox News, adding, quote, we'll be involved in it very much.
		That's at the Associated Press.
		And we'll talk to David in Tyler, Texas, Republican.
		Good morning, David.
unidentified		Yes, thanks for your call.
		This is a great day for the United States.
		We have to thank the good Lord that we have President Trump who's willing to come in here and deal with these drug cartels.
		We have to get control of the Western hemisphere.
		Or if we don't, the drugs are going to kill the young Americans off.
		We have to get control of it.
		President Trump knows that.
		His administration realizes that.
		He is doing a great job.
		And look out, Mexico and Colombia.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Rob in Richmond, Virginia.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Democrat, you're on the air, Rob.
unidentified		I just want to say you look like a beautiful Finn Patel this morning to address appropriately for this day.
		Let me get a few points, if you don't mind.
		The first point is that if you can, so a lot of these were Republican, mostly Republican, not independent, callers, when they I'd like you to kind of question them when they say that, you know, people died from drugs and this and that, and it's a great day.
		But ask them, what do they think about Trump pardoning a guy that brought 400 tons?
		How many people died from that?
		And it wasn't he wasn't treated unfairly.
		He was prosecuted by a U.S. court.
		It wasn't like a out-of-country court or something like that.
		And secondly, if Trump cared about the, you know, more people die from alcoholism.
		More people die from prescription drug overdoses than they do from illegal overdoses.
		So, why aren't they raiding the executives' homes, the sacklers, alcohol executives, other people?
		Why aren't they shutting all that stuff down?
		People die every day.
		Families are ruined by alcohol, probably more than any other drug in the world.
		And lastly, I just want to say that this is a great distraction.
		These people, I'll tell you, this Trump organization has done a great distraction because everything, the Epsom's now gone, the Jack Smith thing that just came out, that's buried under this thing.
		And he promised, how is this putting America first?
		Everything's supposed to be going great.
		Everything's not going great.
		The economy is in turmoil here.
		So you have to create a distraction to get people off what the promises that were broke.
		America First promises.
		He promised to the billionaires that if you cut their taxes, that they're going to take care of everybody.
		They're going to create jobs.
		People are getting laid off in masses.
		They're speeding up AI to kill people's jobs off permanently.
		So all these things, it's just a distraction.
		And I hope everybody realizes it, which side you're on, it's hurting everybody here.
		And this isn't America First.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Kerry in Illinois, Independent Line.
unidentified		Go ahead, Kerry.
		Thank you, Mimi.
		The last guy that just called, he's correct.
		This is nothing but a distraction.
		If America believed that this was a war on drugs, how do you let a guy to have 400 tons of cocaine?
		You let him off.
		Come on, give me a break.
		Come on, please.
		And also, we won't have any health care.
		We won't have no health care, but we can fight wars and we can go across the world and support dictators who are on our side.
		You're talking about a man who supports dictators, Putin.
		You know, he wants us to be like Hungary.
		Listen to what I'm saying.
		He wants us to be like Hungary.
		America is going to change into Hungary.
		Oh, no, it shouldn't be.
		And then the people in Venezuela, I feel bad for those people because you're bombing innocent people who don't have anything to do.
		8 million people on the run.
		This president is sad.
		It's a joke.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Kerry.
		And we've got a posting on X by Speaker Mike Johnson.
		So I'll read that to you.
		I have spoken in the last several hours with Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth, and the nation will hear from POTUS and his address at 11 a.m.
		Today's military action in Venezuela was a decisive and justified operation that will protect American lives.
		Nicholas Maduro is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans after years of trafficking, illegal drugs, and violent cartel members into our country, crimes for which he's been properly indicted in U.S. courts and an arrest warrant duly issued.
		And today, he learned what accountability looks like.
		President Trump is putting American lives first, succeeding where others have failed.
		And under his leadership, the United States will no longer allow criminal regimes to profit from wreaking havoc and destruction on our country.
		The Trump administration is working to schedule briefings for members of Congress, for members as Congress returns to Washington next week.
		Our brave military personnel who executed a precise, successful operation deserve our gratitude and congratulations.
		That's Speaker Mike Johnson.
		Of course, any of those briefings from members of Congress this week, if they are open and public, we will show that to you here on C-SPAN.
		And the news conference set to start at 11 a.m. Eastern will also be live here on C-SPAN.
		Until then, we'll hear from Ricardo, Port St. Lucie, Florida.
		Republican, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		A beautiful day here in Florida.
		Look, I was born in Colombia, and I really understand the context about what is happening.
		And like millions of Latin Americans, I carry our preview with pain and hope in my heart.
		What happened today, go just beyond politics.
		This represents the end of a chapter driving with fear, with silence, with suffering, because this is a dictatorship that forced millions, millions of families to leave their homes, broke apart communities, and violate the most basic human rights.
		You know, you can even understand how is Miami right now?
		How is Madrid?
		How is Chile?
		How is Argentina?
		And is Latin America celebrating freedom?
		And this is not just for the people of Venezuela.
		It's a hope for the future where no nation in Latin America has to live under oppression again.
		Thank you so much.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Ricardo, before you go, what do you think?
		Do you think that this is the end of dictatorship in Venezuela?
		That it will be a democracy?
unidentified		That's the big question, you know, because they have control of the army.
		So this is the biggest problem.
		They control the army.
		These people that are running the army, they gave millions of dollars for the Cartel de los Soles.
		This is a big organization that is trafficking drugs and a level that the people here in America don't understand, you know.
		And I had family in Venezuela, people with great business that they run the country because these Maduro and Chavez start in 1999.
		And this is the second biggest exodus in the history.
		It's crazy how many people just left the country because they don't have the conditions.
		Trust me, a lot of people from Venezuela don't want to go to Spain.
		They don't want to go to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, United States.
		They were forced to do that because they control everything.
		They put in jail so many people.
		It's so sad.
		It's so sad because they destroyed one of the biggest nations in the world.
		They destroyed it in just 20 years.
		It's crazy how they can do that.
		You know, it's so sad.
		It's like that right now.
		This is the big question.
		And I really want to know what is going to happen because this is going to be a transition.
		This transition is not going to be easy, you know.
		But this is a great day in Latin America.
		You can even imagine.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Ricardo, here's Monty and Democrat in Providence, Kentucky.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You're on the air.
unidentified		Yes, thank you for taking my call.
		I think this is terrible that our military is being used to go in and push somebody out.
		These people that's calling in is very, very intelligent.
		Some of them is very, very dumb.
		But we've got some people that's very, very intelligent that's calling in and putting it just the way it is.
		Now, Putin and Kim Jonging and Kim, whatever he is in Korea, hey, they're sitting back watching us and they're sitting watching how dumb we are by doing this kind of thing.
		And so, okay, when we all come over here and drop bombs on the United States, we all gonna be looking stupid, all of us, because we all gonna be dead.
		So y'all just keep on thinking that what we're doing is all right to go in in these other countries and do something to smaller countries.
		But no, can we go in there and do something to China?
		No, China sits back waiting.
		North Korea and Putin sitting by waiting for all this to fall down.
		All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Monty.
		And we have a text, sorry, a posting on X from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, representative of New York Democrat, who says, it's not about drugs.
		If it was, Trump wouldn't have pardoned one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world last month.
		It's about oil and regime change, and they need a trial now to pretend that it isn't, especially to distract from Epstein and skyrocketing healthcare costs.
		Let's talk to Roberto, Independent in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
		Good morning, Roberto.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thanks for having me.
		And I'll just follow up on a little bit of what this guy from Venezuela said, and that is that, yes, nice, you know, to have a new change in the government.
		Yes, but I was also born in Peru, and I came out here when I was a kid.
		So going back and forth in Peru, you know, it's been nothing but not fun because a lot of Venezuelans have migrated there for the last seven years.
		And I've seen it work in there.
		I've seen some crime.
		I even tried to catch this guy in a motorcycle from a government official.
		You know, and that's not fun to see the newspapers and just rubbish the country.
		People kill left and right.
		There is a cellular.
		They intimidate.
		They have, they call them sicarios, people that, you know, they like the mafia.
		They got a lot of mafia in there.
		It turns out I was there still.
		And now after what happened today or yesterday, there's going to be more aftermath.
		Where do they go?
		A lot of people still don't know.
		And I feel that they're going right back to Colombia and they'll filter through Peru.
		And the people in Peru ended, they're really tightened up.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Roberto.
		On the Republican line, Mary is in Ola, Louisiana.
		Good morning, Mary.
unidentified		Hello.
unidentified		How are you?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good.
unidentified		Yes.
		I just want to say that, well, I'm pulling over here.
		So I want to say that our President Trump ends wars.
		He absolutely ends wars.
		He is ending a civil war in which the power of a duly elected president has been usurped by a rogue person.
		And also the war on America.
		Every boat that is blown up or whether it succeeds in getting to the United States is like a battle.
		And Trump has been battling.
		And Trump's ready to end a war.
		Okay.
		He does not start wars.
		He ends wars.
		The act of wars were drugs perpetuated on American citizens.
		And another act of war was within his country, his own country, against its citizens.
		And that's what I'd like to say.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Tim in Bolige, Alabama.
		Democrat.
		Hi, Tim.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I just find it surprising that people are just so blind by the things and lies that Donald Trump says.
		He says that Medicare fraud, he says IRS fraud, he said federal workers are committing fraud.
		But yet and still, not one person or company was arrested or charged with fraud.
		He says ACA is fraud.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So get us to Venezuela, Tim.
unidentified		Venezuela, he is overthrowing and abducted the president of Venezuela because of what?
		Democracy?
		When he engaged in insurrection in this country.
		And he's abducting American citizens in broad daylight off the streets.
		So, I mean, What kind of leader do the world look at this man and see?
		He is a financial failure.
		Six times he filed for bankruptcy.
		And not only that, how many times have he avoided going in the service to serve his country?
		But yet and still he can go out and use the military.
		Well, he's the leader of this country.
		So I guess he can do anything he wants to, thanks to the Supreme Court.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, here's Laura in Sebring, Florida, Independent Line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Laura.
unidentified		Hello.
		I just wanted to make a statement.
		There's no way that those boats, as small as they were, would have ever been able to make it to the United States of America.
		They're too small.
		There's no way they would have even had the gas to get there.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Laura, many of them would stop at another Caribbean country along the way.
unidentified		Oh, and gas stop.
		Okay.
		But the oil is the main reason that I believe that we're going after that country.
		Because I pray for this country every day because it's getting to be all about money, all about greed, greed, and how much power, how much power you can have.
		Like our White House is torn to shreds for a golden ballroom.
		Come on, we don't need this.
		We don't.
		Come on, people.
		We need to get together and just love our country.
		And Venezuela, you know, what if they want to come here, right?
		What if they want to come here?
		They're not going to be allowed to, right?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And in Pennsylvania, on the line for Republicans, Evelyn, you're on the air.
unidentified		Yes, I want to say President Trump is our best president ever.
		And those boats that got blown up, were they fishing?
		I didn't see any fishing rods.
		So we got to keep drugs out of this country.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Lisa, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Democrat, you're on the air, Lisa.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		I am appalled at the events of yesterday, invading a country, kidnapping their leaders.
		None of us appreciate drugs in our country.
		But Donald Trump's agenda is always personal.
		He does nothing but supports his billionaire friends.
		Every motive he has is to make Trump great again.
		It has nothing to do with the country or the people of this country.
		It's shameful that he's a bully that uses the strongest military in the world to satisfy his power grabs and his greedy billionaire power grabs.
		It's a shame.
		I pray for this country every day that we unite.
		We see the truth about this fascist government.
		And I pray for the people of Venezuela.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to Beth next in Wisconsin, Line for Independence.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Beth.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I believe this whole Venezuela raid is a charade.
		That Trump is showing Putin, who has him in his pocket for whatever reason, blackbail or money, that he's not going to do anything to help the Ukraine.
		And I think it's his way of telling the Ukraine, you might as well just give up because the U.S. is under my thumb and I'm not going to let it help you.
		In the weeks ahead, when bombs start falling on the United States, who is going to be our ally?
		Trump has betrayed every one of them.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And this is David in Fort Lee, New Jersey, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, David.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thanks for taking my call and happy new year.
		I wanted to thank you for several of your commentators who helped elucidate what is actually going on in Venezuela.
		My comment is more about the appearance of impropriety and the unfortunate inability of either Republicans or Democrats to get past the constant barrage of negativity brought upon itself by the Trump administration,
		be it the Epstein files or the pardoning of Hernandez in Honduras or any number of other events that don't allow us to come together and discuss whether or not there ought to have been a removal of Maduro.
		And it's hard to talk about Maduro as a drug kingpin when you're pardoning the drunk kingpin next door.
		So again, it's whether or not good or bad is coming out of the actions taken by this administration, it's hard to get past the appearance of impropriety.
		And it appears to me that they don't care.
		No actions or nothing's been done.
		They just do what they want.
		And that's a problem.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		On the line for Democrats in Toledo, Ohio.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Helen.
unidentified		Nope.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Nope.
		Wrong one.
		Sorry.
		Helen in Toledo, Ohio, Democrat.
		Are you on the air?
		You're on the air.
unidentified		Yes.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You're there.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay, good.
unidentified		Go ahead.
		All right.
		I just want to thank a lot of the callers that are not in comatose who see everything that's happening in Venezuela for what it's worth.
		It's strictly for the resources because China and Russia also has a bid into the oil and resources in China, and I'm sorry, in Venezuela.
		And also, different callers said this is a great day in America.
		It is just totally the opposite because 20 over 20 million people have lost health care, premiums, and child care, daycare, and other accommodies for the welfare of the working people.
		This is ridiculous.
		And we do need a different administration.
		The spineless and stepperwise administration we have is just unbelievable.
		We need to have a term limit also, especially when you get over a certain age.
		It should be a term limit for the Supreme Court and Congress and all of the other so-called administrations that are not for the American people.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Ray.
		Sorry, Dwayne in Ohio, Independent Line.
		Go ahead, Dwayne.
unidentified		Yes, thank you.
		I'm confused because if ICE is going after so many Latin Americans and sending them back to their country, and a lot of Venezuelans came here, and now he's bombing that country, where are those people to go?
		Where are those people to go?
		Some have eluded that country to come to America.
		And when they come here, what does he do?
		He apprehends them.
		So if that isn't a conflict of interest, I don't know what is.
		You've got Latin Americans right now celebrating in South Florida.
		And I mean, it was always illegal.
		Whereas I said now.
		So this man is just, he's like a dog chasing his tail.
		He does one thing and then he conflicted with another.
		And, you know, we're the end of this.
		So to me, it's all about trying to master the two issues, you know, which are the Epstein files.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's talk to Ray on the Republican line in Washington State.
unidentified		Go ahead, Ray.
		Yes, I'd like to make a comment.
		Donald Trump is trying to get this world back into order and do the best he can with this administration.
		And I think he's doing a really good job or an excellent job in what he's doing to help the American people and everybody else in the world.
		He's trying to solve many problems, which is a very difficult thing to do.
		And I think he's doing an excellent job.
		Thank you very much.
		Bye.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Lori, Democrat, Louisville, Kentucky.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Lori.
unidentified		Hi, and Mary.
unidentified		Happy New Year to everybody.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Happy New Year, Lori.
unidentified		I was aghast when I heard the news this morning of the attack in Venezuela.
		There's been so many missteps by this administration run by a convicted criminal, 34 counts.
		I don't know what we can expect would happen with having him as our president.
		But everything is not what it seems.
		We didn't strike in Venezuela and remove their leader for drugs.
		It's pretty obvious if drugs was the reason he would not have pardoned a convicted criminal who brought in 400 tons of cocaine into this country directly.
		There's so many conflicts of interest that you can't even count them.
		It's a grift.
		People don't want to see that, but the facts prove it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, and we are standing by for President Trump's news conference that is scheduled to start right now.
		So we are going to just continue to take your calls until the president approaches the podium and starts speaking.
		So we'll talk now to Effie Independent in Newport Ritchie, Florida.
unidentified		Hi, yes.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		For me, this is yet another terrible day for the United States.
		Some of the callers seem to think that invading another country is okay because they've embraced the propaganda that's being provided to them by a very corrupt administration.
		And depending on what news station they're watching, they have agendas.
		And so they are basically embracing these agendas.
		I want to ask, did they learn anything from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, et cetera, et cetera?
		You know, we're not the good guys.
		We're going into a sovereign country, and we're not going after the drugs.
		We're going after the oil.
		And do we honestly think that the Venezuelan people are going to go along with this?
		And if the past serves as a blueprint, we usually stick crony dictators in, and we do it to get control, and we all know how that turns out.
		I'd like to know where our checks and balances have gone in this country.
		And I'm really embarrassed by the callers who think this is a good idea.
		I feel that they did not pay attention in history class.
		In Gaza, he's basically turned a humanitarian crisis into something that seems to be okay as long as we can, you know, fund it with our tax dollars and create a Riviera.
		Yet, Venezuela is something important.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Ethan.
		Let's talk to Martha in Missouri, Republican line.
		Go ahead, Martha.
unidentified		I cannot believe that anybody could say that what he's doing is right.
		He's knocked down our White House.
		Everything he does, he doesn't get any permission from the Congress.
		His remarks were, I'm the president, I can do anything I want.
		That sounds like a damn dictator to me.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And, Martha, you're a Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Did you vote for President Trump?
unidentified		I voted for him the first two times.
		I did not vote for him the last time because I could see the handwriting on the wall.
		He's an egotist.
		He's a pedophile.
		He's a convicted criminal.
		And somebody in Washington needs to stand up to this man.
		I cannot believe he has these people believing he's doing the right thing.
		He is not doing the right thing.
		He's going to get us in a war.
		And this time it may be fought on our soil.
		And I don't agree with anything he does because he does it behind the back of everybody.
		And he's got these Republicans so scared that they're afraid to stand up to him.
		And when he bulldozed down part of the White House, that was and pardoned all those people that came in and tore up my wire.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Martha, we're standing by to take you to Mar-a-Lago for President Trump's news conference.
		In the meantime, Kevin is in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.
		Democrat, go ahead, Kevin.
unidentified		Yes, we ask ourselves what's driving this con man's presidency.
		Why does this grifter continue to draw so much attention every day on our major networks and on the front pages of our nation's newspapers?
		Many of us have concluded that he is the commodity, the product that helps them all attract readers and, more importantly, sell advertising.
		They all make money off the orange man and they love it.
		Many Americans, however, do remember the chaos in the White House during his first term.
		The Secretary of State calling him a moron and then leaving his cabinet, the number of temporary appointments in his administration because he would not keep anyone that did not walk lockstep with him like the Nazi troops did for Hitler.
		We remember the fallout with our European allies, his love for Putin.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Kevin, bring us to Venezuela.
unidentified		He got from his meetings with Putin and his disinterest in paying any attention to our own NSA, CIA, and military intelligence briefings.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		But regarding Venezuela.
unidentified		19.
		I think the number was an additional 500,000 Americans before he took the pandemic seriously and did.
		All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We'll talk to Ed now in Indiana, Independent Lion.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Ed.
unidentified		I'm really disturbed because a lot of people do not actually understand it's not also just about the drugs.
		Everybody's hit on it, and I do support this action.
		We cannot have Iraq, North Korea, China, Russia on our doorstep down here on the south end of the Gulf because it would be a very, very dangerous thing to have them there because it is a back door into Mexico, and then they can flood their people in.
		The other side of this is he is not the first president to drop bombs on a country.
		Obama dropped something like 28,000 bombs without permission from Congress.
		He's done the same thing.
		This is an ongoing thing, and it's a Monroe doctrine thing.
		We're trying to keep our side of the globe clean of, I guess, incursions.
		My son served in the military for 10 years over in the Middle East, and it was no different there than it is here.
		I don't want to see a long war, but if you have to get rid of someone who's paid by narco-traffickers, who's paid by Iraq, who's paid by China to turn his face and do whatever, then so be it.
		It's no different than anywhere else in the world.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to Tim, Republican, Graham, North Carolina.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Tim.
unidentified		Yes, I don't know why they would say it was the wrong idea.
		He's trying to protect the American people.
		People die sitting all overdoses every day.
		And I think he's doing a great job.
		You know, you want to talk about scammers.
		I mean, they left all them people in Gaza over there, all the ISIS people, all kinds of equipment when they've done a pullout.
		I mean, Biden did.
		He's an idiot.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And that's Afghanistan, Tim.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yep.
unidentified		Yes, ma'am.
		Well, Afghanistan, I'm sorry.
		And the ACA ain't nothing but a ripoff.
		The Affordable Care Act, you know, they don't have any.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We're not talking about that right now, but here's Danya in Homestead, Florida.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Democrat, go ahead, Danya.
unidentified		Yes, hi.
		Good morning.
		You know, I don't know why, and I think people need to wake up a little bit to see really what's going on in this country.
		The president had a meeting with Putin not too long ago before all this has happened.
		And he even spoke about it himself, how he would have done it earlier in his first term.
		But of course, the type of influence that he has gained now in this administration in this year and throughout the years, even during Biden, to gain this uproar of this cult of what MAGA is, has allowed him to do whatever he wants.
		Now, the only good thing that the president did was really help out the Venezuelan people.
		And now we really have to ask ourselves, what is exactly that happened in that meeting with President Trump and Putin?
		And if you think it had something to do with Venezuela?
		I think that this meeting was one of the meeting that he had with Putin and what is going on now was a negotiation that he had with President Putin.
		Why is it that he's not taking any action or anything with Ukraine?
		This was a trade-off.
		The trade-off was this.
		I'll let he said to Putin.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		But I'm sure Putin would be.
		Yeah, but I'm sure.
		Okay, no, go ahead.
		What do you think he said to Putin?
unidentified		What I think he said to Putin was, I'll take Venezuela and I'll let you have Ukraine.
		This is exactly what it was planned and agreed on.
		Now, what's going to happen after this, I don't know.
		But I mean, it's really no one knows.
		This is something, you know, that this administration has created chaos, but there's nothing coming out of this that's good.
		President Trump sold our country to foreigners.
		He is selling out our country little by little.
		And everyone needs to wake up.
		It's not about Democrat.
		It's not about Republicans.
		We need to stand together and come in unison in an agreement that what this country is going to what's going to happen to this country in the foreseeable years is not going to be something good.
		We already got that point.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		This is Joshua, a Republican in Cleveland, Ohio.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Joshua.
unidentified		Oh, I'm listening to all these folks, and I'm like, where do they get all these information from?
		All I had to say is this guy was a knockoff terrorist guy who was killing American people, and they are complaining about this was a police action.
		We're not, this was a police action.
		I can see why Democrats don't really like him because I guess they agree with the president of Venezuela because he's a Democrat, he's a socialist, and I guess they like this kind of guy.
		So all I got to say is he did a good job.
		All these people are making all these conspiracies need to cut it out.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Joshua.
		And on your screen, you see the reporters are there gathered in anticipation, as we are, of President Trump speaking about the actions taken overnight in Venezuela and the capturing of Maduro and his wife.
		And we will bring that to you just as soon as he approaches the podium.
		Here is John, Pompano Beach, Florida, Independent Line.
unidentified		Go ahead, John.
		Yes.
		Happy New Year.
		Not a great way to start the new year, but where are we going from here?
		Nobody hasn't answered that question.
		Where are we going from here?
		Because the thing is, now, what if China takes over Taiwan?
		Or what if, like the young lady was talking about, what about if it was a negotiation with Putin?
		Okay, you could take Venezuela and I'll just keep on going with Ukraine.
		And I think that's where we're headed, but nobody understands what mess this president, if you want to call him president, what he's getting the United States into.
		Poor service people that have to go and clean up after his mess.
		Thank you very much.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		On the line for Democrats in Andalusia, Illinois, Bill, you're on the air.
unidentified		Yeah, it's pretty disheartening that we have a president that feels he can go into any country and do as he wills.
		And you have Republicans that stand up and root how great this is.
		They hang on to a church and a cross around their neck.
		And the last I heard is that do unto others as you have done to you.
		What if somebody came and stole Donald Trump?
		I think there'd be a lot of happy people.
		Have a good day.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Clay and Hernando, Mississippi, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You're on the air, Clay.
unidentified		Hello, thank you.
		I just wanted to point out the similarity about Ukraine.
		That country was actually trying to be taken over by Russia.
		And what you look and see is that Venezuela is very similar because Venezuela was taken over by corrupt elections, even with the previous elections of Hugo Chavez.
		The people that were from Venezuela were discussing the fact that those elections weren't fair and upright.
		I had a co-worker that I worked with that I met that was from Venezuela.
		And he was an engineer.
		He was a very educated, upstanding person.
		And I've respected him.
		And I asked him about why he had left his country and come to our country.
		We had been employed at our company for about a year.
		He told me that Venezuela had been corrupted in so many ways that there were millions of people who left their country because of the socialism policies that had taken over.
		And basically, the government of Maduro was basically just a cartel that was run by just armed guerrillas.
		They took away all the weapons in the country so that the people couldn't defend themselves.
		Anybody that protested, they murdered them.
		And a lot of people left the country and went everywhere.
		So our country has probably acted in the interest of the condition of our hemisphere and the fact that the destabilization of Brazil is starting to occur.
		And all the drugs and stuff that were probably coming fentanyl is probably coming on those oil tankers.
		I mean, I can't say that for sure.
		Who knows?
		But the nations that have their gross national product basically as drugs and everything is probably coming to an end.
		All the drug dealers are probably getting notice that, you know, our work this morning needs to find something else to do.
		But thank you for letting me know.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Clay.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Chuck in Gadson, Alabama, Independent Line.
unidentified		Go ahead, Chuck.
		Yeah, I've been hearing a lot of people talking about the only reason he's in there is the oil.
		Is that correct?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That's what some people are saying.
unidentified		Well, here's what I want to ask: Are those people in favor of sending the oil to China?
		Are they in favor of sending the oil to Iraq?
		Are they in favor of sending the oil to Cuba?
		Because that's where it's all going.
		That seems to me that this is a great move to, you know, to get back at all those people for all those countries.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Barbara, Democrat, Blue River, Kentucky.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Barbara.
unidentified		Yes, I am appalled.
		I feel like the same way I felt on January the 6th when I woke up and the president, the current resident in the White House, was sending his minions to overthrow our country.
		Christian nationalism is a perversion of Christianity, and they're using Christian nationalism to overthrow our government.
		And I'm just totally appalled.
		And I am encouraged by the number of Republicans that are calling in that are against the overthrow of our country and the total chaos, I believe, is what our current resident in the White House had planned, I mean, from the start.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		But Barbara, how do you see Christian nationalism playing into what happened in Venezuela overnight?
unidentified		I'm seeing that these preachers are going in their churches and telling the people who occupy those buildings, which, you know, Christ is the church, they're occupying those buildings, are saying that whatever Trump does is okay because he's working for God.
		And just when I see that Trump signs Bibles and auctions off a picture of a white, blue-eyed Jesus, you can see this propaganda being gobbled up by these people that are in these buildings with heads of those buildings telling them that that's Christianity.
		And we are not a country based on Christianity.
		We are a country based on religious freedom.
		And our country is being destroyed right now.
		And I'm from East.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Barbara, I just got to move on.
		We got this from JD Vance, the vice president, earlier this morning on X.
		The president offered multiple off-ramps, but was very clear throughout this process.
		The drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States.
		Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump's Trump means what he says.
		Scott in Minnesota, Republican, you're next.
unidentified		Hi.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hi.
unidentified		This is Scott.
		Yes.
		I was very much in favor of the president going to Venezuela.
		How many times do you have to warn this individual on what was coming into this country as far as fentanyl and what it was doing to the American people?
		How many people were dying from it?
		This strike.
		I mean, the guy had been warned for over a month and a half or better and what was going on and didn't want to cooperate.
		Didn't want to stop the flow of drugs.
		So I think what President Trump did, I'll stand behind him 110%.
		And those that don't stand behind him on this because of the fentanyl, I think are Americans.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Because it's mostly cocaine.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It's mostly cocaine.
unidentified		Cocaine is mostly cocaine and fentanyl.
		You know, and that's what's both of them kill many, many, many people.
		And I just feel what he did was true.
		And like I say, he's been warned many, many times.
		So 100% be it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Robert Westbrook, Maine, Independent Line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Everybody out there, okay?
		He Trump invaded striking Venezuela and capturing the president and his wife because of breaking the law and doing things that are very bad.
		But yet, Trump is a convicted son, and he's running the country.
		What?
		How is that possible?
		A convicted son goes to another country to stop crime when he did so much crime and was convicted of it by his peers, and every single day he's doing crazy shit.
		He's a lie, excuse me, he's a live wire.
		He should never have been in the first place.
		He wouldn't even be able to get a job, you know, kick out the trash.
		I'm sorry, but this guy is evil, and there's no better word for it.
		I have no all right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And this, let's talk to Devin in Vienna, West Virginia, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Devin.
unidentified		Oh, hi.
		I really think that we kidnap the next president of the United States, really dictator of the United States.
		I think, really, we should bring in Xi from China.
		I mean, that's what the Democrat policy is now.
		So I think we ought to go with that.
		That's all I got to say.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Daniel, Staten Island, New York, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Daniel.
unidentified		Yes, hi.
		I just want to say President Trump is doing a great job.
		I mean, all these drugs coming into our country, fentanyl killing hundreds of thousands of people each and every year.
		It's about time that one of a United States president stands up to these drug cartels and says enough is enough.
		It's about time that we have a president like Trump that says something and he's going to do it.
		And I'm so proud of calling him Mr. President Donald Trump because he's doing a hell of a job.
		Thank you so much.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Jason, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Independent Line, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hi.
		Yeah, I don't think this is about drugs with Venezuela.
		This is about oil.
		If it was about fentanyl, he would be standing up to China because we all know that China is the biggest importer of fentanyl.
		And fentanyl comes through the ports, okay?
		So this is a dog and pony show.
		I mean, Maduro was a dictator, and, you know, it's good that he's gone, but the Venezuelan people should have freed themselves.
		I don't think regime change is good for our image.
		And as far as Trump, I mean, I voted for him twice, but I'm very disappointed with him.
		The second time, Stephen Miller, his attack on the Venezuelan community, calling them they haven't done nothing.
		They're criminals.
		And I mean, you hear these people are so easily duped.
		You know, they're very easily duped.
		They're like, oh, yeah, this is about drugs.
		Well, a monkey knows what tree to climb.
		If Trump really wanted to go after the fentanyl crisis, he would go after China and say, hey, enough is enough.
		You guys keep doing this.
		And we're just going to put on more sanctions or something.
		But I understand China's another superpower and it's not that easy.
		But Venezuela, Maduro is just a puppet.
		You know, is it good for Venezuela?
		We'll yet to see.
		We'll see.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Jason.
		And here's the Associated Press.
		It says Trump told Fox News he spoke to Maduro several times, including most recently a week ago.
		It says Maduro denied that in an interview on New Year's Eve, saying he had only spoken to Trump in November.
		And we are standing by to hear from President Trump in Mar-a-Lago.
		That's the podium there with reporters assembled.
		And we will take your calls until he gets to the podium.
		Chris, Antioch, Tennessee, Democrat, go ahead.
kurt nimmo ▲ ● ▼		Yes.
unidentified		Hi.
kurt nimmo ▲ ● ▼		I'm a Democrat.
		I'm married to a Venezuelan, and I have a number of Venezuelans and Colombians as in-laws.
		And I think this could be a good thing for Venezuela, although I disagree with a lot of the stuff that Donald Trump has done.
		If you look at what Venezuela has been through for the last 26 years with Chavez and Maduro, it's been horrible for Venezuela.
		And this could be a very good thing for Venezuelans and for the United States.
		And I'm just kind of surprised also by the misinformation on both sides of the aisle, the calls coming in and people comparing this to Gaza or Afghanistan.
		And this looks to me like it's a police action.
		And if there's a peaceful transition to democracy, I think this will be a very good thing.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Chris.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Doug is next in Falls Church, Virginia, Republican.
unidentified		Go ahead.
		Hey, good morning.
		Thank you all so much for taking my call.
		I haven't listened to you all for the most of the morning, and I feel like so many callers are getting this wrong on many levels, right?
		Venezuela has, I believe, the largest oil reserve in the world.
		Everyone's talking about that this is mainly about oil.
		Yes and no.
		I think the implication that people are saying is that we're going to go down there and take this oil.
		That's not what's happening, right?
		The intent of this is to really about regime change.
		I think it has nothing to do with really drugs.
		I think that's like maybe tertiary or the fourth reason to do this.
		It's mainly because we sanctioned them so much that now they're selling oil at a severe Discount to China and giving it or giving it or selling to the Cubans at a very, very reduced rate, which is very much propping up both those countries and regimes, which is obviously not in our interest.
		At the same time, because of how Maduro is treating his people, right, that so many of them are leaving their country and going everywhere.
		If you look at the Biden administration, millions of Venezuelans have come into our country because they've been trying to escape their own, as well as gone all throughout that region and potentially are destabilizing all those countries around it, whether it's Chile or Colombia or Venezuela, so many of those different countries, even Argentina, they've had such a massive shift to the right as a direct response to all the immigration and migration that is exiting Maduro's Venezuela.
		At the same time, there's all this gang activity from Trende Agua that is now going to all this other region.
		If people were to look at the regional response to this activity, you have people cheering in the streets, like the capital of Chile, applauding this action because Maduro is so severely disliked.
		And if you look back at the Biden administration, part of what they were trying to do was, hey, push Maduro to have these free and fair elections and trying to have a sanction relief being like a trade-off.
		And they conducted those elections, and Maduro lost resoundly.
		I think he got a third of the vote, and the opponent, I think, was that Lopez got two-thirds of the vote.
		So people are calling this regime change.
		It's not.
		Maduro lost an election, refused to leave, and now this is undoing the coup basically that Maduro did by staying in office.
		This is validating those elections.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Mark, West Point, Kentucky, Independent Line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Mark.
unidentified		Yes, I'm a 68-year-old American.
unidentified		I have been voting since 1976.
ray mcgovern ▲ ● ▼		Since January 6th, attack on our capital, I have never in my life seen what I have seen Americans starting to go through.
		This person in charge, I do believe he is the Antichrist.
		And when he starts doing nuclear, I pray to God for our world.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Josh in Georgia, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Josh.
unidentified		Hey, how are y'all doing?
		I guess it put me on the Democrat line.
		It's a Republican yet.
		I love everything that Trump's doing.
		My father has actually worked security for him, multiple details in making Georgia.
		My grandmother for him every morning.
		I mean, what he's doing right now is needed because America does not need to look weak.
		Granted, multiple presidents have made us look weak over the past term or years over the past terms.
		But when I tell you, I appreciate everything Trump's doing.
		You got to put your boot down sometimes.
		That's what we got to do.
		Sick of everybody talking mad about him, saying he's antichrist.
		Every president was an antichrist before him, and it's just upsetting.
		I would shake his hand every morning if I could.
		He's a great person.
		God loves him.
		And he's going to keep this country safe, whether he's got to put his boot down once or twice.
		That's what's got to happen.
		And I'm going to leave it at that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And the Republican line in Virginia Beach.
		Sorry, Strattonville, Pennsylvania.
		Glenn, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hi, how are you doing?
		Thank you for taking my call today.
		We've got a lot of people in this country with a lot of messed up thinking.
		So I'm just going to say what I got to say.
		Maduro lost the election.
		You talk about a dictator and a half.
		Let's talk about their oil.
		I challenge anyone out there to do the research on Venezuela oil.
		It's junk.
		It costs more to refine it than anything.
		Okay?
		Now, the people of Venezuela, look at them.
		Are you showing videos of them on the streets celebrating, tearing down all Maduro posters, burning them?
		They're happy.
		They're celebrating in the streets.
		This was all about the drugs coming into our country, not the oil.
		And last but not least, he's a socialist.
		This is why the Democrats are really upset because another socialist crony was taken down.
		A dictator, socialist crony was taken down.
		The Democrats can't stand it.
		And I'll tell you why the Democrats weren't notified this was going to happen because they're known to leak.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And this is what President Trump has posted on Truth Social.
		Nicholas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima.
		And it shows here Nicholas Maduro.
		He's in sweats.
		He's got blindfolds over his eyes and he's got a bottle of water in his hands.
		This is the only picture, it looks like, that we've got of him.
		So that's on President Trump's Truth Social post.
		Virginia Beach, Virginia, Independent Line.
		Is it NOLOC?
owl killer in virginia ▲ ● ▼		Yes, this is NOLOC.
		Yes, I'm independent, also retired military.
		I lean more towards the right.
		So I'd be, you know, 20, 30 years ago, I'd probably decide Democrat.
		But no, I just common sense approach.
		This is Monroe Doctrine 101.
		You can't be a communist dictator in our hemisphere.
		It just is what it is.
		We have the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963.
		It's the same premise.
		It's the drugs, the Trende Aragua.
		And, you know, you can't flood a country with millions of people.
		I think Mexico is watching out, is looking over their shoulder now.
		This is an example of how military can be used as a scalpel rather than just a club.
		And where I support this, I would really like to see him bring peace between Russia and Ukraine because there's no, there's the outcome of that is going to be the same regardless.
		Russia's going to keep what they have.
		All we're doing is sending people into a meat grinder.
		I like what he did here, and I would like him to bring peace to the rest of the world.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So when you mentioned, you mentioned Mexico.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Would you be okay with military action against Mexico?
owl killer in virginia ▲ ● ▼		If it's done the way that this operation was done, quick action, people in and out.
		You know, I don't want to see basically where it's anarchy and chaos in the street, but it seems that they're, I mean, their leaders pretty much look at us as a joke.
		They, you know, they flood us with millions of people.
		They just let it happen.
		And I understand that they were pretty much given a green light by the last administration.
		But if it's done like this and there's an actual plan for succession where you see Venezuela, Maduro clearly did lose an election.
		If it was something where the people are actually supporting it, which you've been seeing the last three or four weeks in Mexico, people are fed up over there.
		Mexico is artificially suppressed in the same way that Venezuela was.
		It's just they've never had freedom in that part of the country, so they don't know really what to subscribe to.
		If we gave them a plan of, hey, this is what your country could be, I would definitely support it.
		Not if it's just going to be like, we're going to remove a dictator and then whatever fills a vacuum.
		No, I would not.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Roger, Newport, Kentucky, Democrat, go ahead, Roger.
unidentified		Hi, thanks for making my call.
		First of all, just to the last caller.
		I think the people of Mexico and Venezuela would disagree.
		They definitely have had freedom and liberty at some point in their past.
		As a Democrat, I fully am glad that Maduro is gone.
		This is good for the Venezuelan people, but this could have been done in a better way.
		This could have been done with coordination by regional partners.
		We also could have relied on the UN, and we could have gotten approval from Congress to do this before executing it.
		Overall, though, I hope that this works out for Venezuelans.
		Thank you.
		That's all I got.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Angela, Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Angela.
unidentified		Hi, I'm Mark from Abbottstown.
		I'm from Chambersburg.
		Sorry.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		But still Pennsylvania, right?
unidentified		It is still Pennsylvania, ma'am.
		Okay.
		I just want to say, first of all, I live in the greatest country in the world.
		Okay.
		And I sat here and for the last half hour and I've listened to so many people tear down our president and what he's doing.
		You know, Abraham Lincoln once said, a country divided cannot stand.
		And I look at this country and it saddens me that we live in the greatest country in the world, but the people are divided.
		It's time Democrats, Republicans come together.
		Okay.
		We live in the greatest country in the world and we put down our president.
		I'm proud of our president.
		Yeah, he's brash at times.
		Yeah, he's mouthy at times, but I trust him and I believe that he's doing what's best for my freedom.
		Okay.
		If anybody does not appreciate their freedoms, then you shouldn't live in the United States.
		If you want to live in a socialistic country where you're controlled, where your guns are taken away, if you want to live in a place like Venezuela, please be my guest and leave.
		Because you know what?
		If you don't appreciate your country, you cannot be a true American.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And the Associated Press has this.
		Several callers have brought up the pardoning of the ex-Honduran president.
		It says that Trump's dramatic action against Maduro is the polar opposite of the clemency he granted to former Honduran President Hernandez.
		Trump in December pardoned Hernandez, though he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for helping drug traffickers to safely move hundreds of tons of cocaine north through his country to the U.S. Hernandez, who enjoyed support from officials in the first Trump administration, was convicted by a U.S. jury in New York, which Maduro is now set to face.
		When asked in an interview with Politico about the pardon, Trump said, quote, I don't know him, and I know very little about him, but added that he was told that Hernandez, quote, was set up.
		The country deals in drugs, like probably you could say that about every country.
		And because he was the president, they gave him like 45 years in prison.
		That's a quote from President Trump.
		Patrick is calling us from Columbus, Ohio, Independent Line.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Hi, thanks for taking my call.
		I just want to bring up a point Nelly's really talked about.
		Venezuela has one of the world's largest gold deposits.
		There was a Canadian company called Crystal X International Corporation.
		There's been multiple legal fights over this reserve going back and forth.
		But I just want to bring up that point that there's a lot of resources there.
		I hope the best for Venezuela and the United States of America.
		But I just want to bring that up.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here's Michael in Samarina, Georgia, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Michael.
unidentified		Well, I think it's a great day for the U.S. and a great day for the world.
		We've got a dictator who basically ran the country into the ground.
		Venezuelans have been trying to leave into the U.S. and other countries for years under the Chavez regime as well as the Maduro regime.
		And so I think that the world should take notice that President Trump is doing exactly what he was supposed to do, and that is restore peace to the world.
		I don't understand some of these other callers have been calling and trying to slam Trump for not doing his job.
		I don't see how you have sympathizers with a dictator who has basically starved his people and ran drugs across into the U.S. and other countries and think, well, that's a bad thing that Trump did.
		We should be basically rejoicing in what happened today.
		And I'm excited to hear what Trump has to say about it.
		But I think the rest of the world, and the caller you just mentioned, talked about Mexico.
		I think Mexico should really be watching as well because they should be helping us.

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