Gerald R. Ford carrier nears Venezuela, Trump considers Maduro talks

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00:00The U.S. is now making its biggest show of force in the Caribbean in a generation.

00:07And late last night, the pressure on Venezuela's regime escalated again.

00:12The Navy says the USS Gerald Ford, the most advanced aircraft carrier in the fleet,

00:17crossed into the Caribbean Sea on Sunday.

00:19The Trump administration calls it a counter-drug mission,

00:22but experts say it's a direct warning to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

00:26And just hours later, the U.S. turned up the heat even more.

00:30Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the U.S. will designate Cartel de los Soles

00:35as a foreign terrorist organization.

00:38He says the cartel, allegedly led by Maduro and top figures in his regime,

00:43is responsible for terrorist violence across the hemisphere

00:46and massive drug trafficking in the United States.

00:50The designation takes effect November 24th.

00:53Last night, President Trump added a new twist,

00:56saying the U.S. may be having talks with Maduro,

00:59claiming the Venezuelan leader appears to want to engage.

01:02We may be discussing, we may be having some discussions with Maduro,

01:09and we'll see how that turns out.

01:11They would like, they would like to talk.

01:14The U.S. has already carried out strikes

01:16on at least 22 vessels in the region over the last two months.

01:19The latest strike happened this weekend,

01:21a drone hitting a boat in the eastern Pacific,

01:24killing three men on board.

01:26So far, the administration has not released any evidence

01:28that those killed were narco-terrorists,

01:31and some key allies, including the U.K. and Colombia,

01:34have stopped sharing intelligence over legal concerns about the U.S. operations.

01:39The USS Gerald Ford, along with fighter jets and guided missile destroyers,

01:43are now part of what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

01:46is calling Operation Southern Spear.

01:48Commanders say it's designed to protect the U.S. from narco-terrorism.

01:52Southern Command says the Ford Strike Group,

01:554,000 sailors, dozens of fighter jets, and three warships,

01:59is now joining a growing U.S. naval force

02:01already positioned off Venezuela.

02:03attuttoes to yourselves for the U.S.

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