00:01Today, a fall from power beats federal court.
00:04Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife face a U.S. judge.
00:09Plus, who really runs Venezuela now?
00:12President Trump says the United States is in control.
00:15Marco Rubio walks it back.
00:17The future of power in Caracas still very much up for grabs.
00:21And a sharp warning from Europe.
00:23Denmark tells the U.S. to back off, making it clear Greenland is not up for grabs.
00:31The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:37These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:42Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
00:44At noon Eastern today, Nicolas Maduro will be in a U.S. courtroom.
00:49The deposed Venezuelan leader and his wife, Celia Flores, are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in lower Manhattan on major drug trafficking charges.
00:57They were whisked to New York after Saturday's American military operation, flown out of Venezuela by helicopter, transferred to a Navy ship offshore, then taken to the city.
01:08Right now, both are being held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center under federal custody, awaiting today's court appearance.
01:16The indictment accuses Maduro and Flores of enriching themselves while conspiring to flood the U.S. with cocaine.
01:22Charges Maduro has long denied.
01:25All of this unfolding as President Trump sharpens his warning to Venezuela's vice president, Delce Rodriguez, whom that country's military says it now recognizes as their interim leader.
01:36In an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday, Trump says if she doesn't do what's right, she will pay, quote, a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.
01:45Over the weekend, the president told reporters that the U.S. will run Venezuela, language that raised eyebrows and forced a clarification and cleanup effort from Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday.
01:58President Trump said we're going to run the country.
02:01So is it you?
02:03Is it Secretary Hegseth?
02:04Who are those people who will be running the country specifically?
02:07Well, it's not running the country policy, the policy with regards to this.
02:13We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction because not only do we think it's good for the people of Venezuela, it's in our national interest.
02:19But that walk back did not last long.
02:21Speaking to reporters Sunday night on Air Force One, the president doubled down, saying again, the United States is in charge.
02:28Of total access, we need total access, we need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.
02:39The United States will run Venezuela.
02:42We have learned through the years when America tries to do regime change and nation building in this way, the American people pay the price.
02:53Rubio says the United States is applying pressure, not governing, using oil sanctions and military leverage to force change.
03:01But Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, who you just saw, and others say Congress was cut out entirely.
03:07I've had zero outreach and no Democrat that I'm aware of has had any outreach whatsoever.
03:11So apparently we're now in a world where the legal obligation to keep the Congress informed only applies to your party, which is really something.
03:18Late Sunday, Venezuela's defense minister, Padrino Lopez, rejected any claim that the United States would run the country, demanding Maduro's immediate release and calling his capture, quote, profound malice.
03:31So the question now, who will actually lead Venezuela?
03:35For months, many assumed it would be Maria Carina Machado, the opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and once seen as a Trump ally.
03:43But over the weekend, the president knocked that idea down.
03:46Oh, I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader.
03:49She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country.
03:53She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect to be the leader.
03:55Is it possible at the U.S.?
03:57Trump told reporters he hasn't spoken with Machado recently and says she lacks the backing needed to govern.
04:03But analysts say that's less about public opinion and more about the military.
04:08Some commanders are believed to favor Maduro's vice president.
04:11The lady you see right here, Delcy Rodriguez, who, as we mentioned earlier, is now the interim leader of Venezuela.
04:18Machado's current whereabouts are unclear.
04:20She had been in hiding in Venezuela before a risky covert operation helped her get away and make it to Norway for the aftermath of the Nobel Peace Prize festivities last month.
04:30Since Maduro's capture early Saturday, she's also limited herself to an open letter, calling this a time of freedom and urging the military to recognize opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as president.
04:43For now, she remains the face of the opposition, but not the person Washington appears ready to put in charge.
04:49Now to Europe, where Denmark is drawing a very firm line.
04:54The country's prime minister is urging President Trump to stop talking about taking over Greenland, calling the rhetoric dangerous, unnecessary and flat-out wrong.
05:03In a blunt public statement, Danish Prime Minister Mete Fredriksson said the United States has no right to annex Greenland, reminding Washington that Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and a NATO ally.
05:15She stressed that the U.S. already has wide military access to Greenland through existing defense agreements, and that Denmark has poured billions into Arctic security.
05:25Then came the warning, quote,
05:27I would therefore strongly urge the United States to stop the threats against a historically close ally, and against another country and another people who have said very clearly that they are not for sale.
05:39The pushback follows renewed talk from Trump about annexing Greenland.
05:43In an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday, the president said the territory could be subject to U.S. intervention, insisting, quote,
05:51We do need Greenland, absolutely.
05:53It also follows a provocative social media post over the weekend from MAGA podcaster Katie Miller, showing a U.S. flag draped over the island captioned,
06:03Soon.
06:04Denmark's ambassador to Washington fired back, reminding the U.S. that Greenland is already covered by NATO's security guarantees.
06:12Authorities in Switzerland say they have now identified all 40 victims killed in that deadly New Year's Eve bar fire in the Alps.
06:21A mass was held on Sunday for the victims, who investigators say range in age from 14 to 39, with most of the dead in their teens and 20s.
06:29In addition to the 40 people killed, 119 others were injured when the fire broke out around 1.30 a.m.
06:35On January 1st, at the Lake Constellation Bar in the resort town of Kranz, Montana.
06:41Investigators believe sparklers attached to champagne bottles inside the bar caused the flames that quickly spread into a deadly inferno.
06:50Authorities say the sparklers were too close to the ceiling, which was lined with soundproofing material that quickly caught fire.
06:56Swiss prosecutors have now opened a criminal investigation into the bar's two managers.
07:01Back in this country, the children of a Minnesota state lawmaker who was killed in what authorities call a politically motivated shooting
07:09are now urging President Trump to take down a social media post, saying it pushes a false and painful conspiracy about their parents' death.
07:18Over the weekend, Trump shared a post on Truth Social claiming, without evidence,
07:22that Minnesota Governor Tim Walls was behind the shooting deaths of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman
07:28and her husband Mark, who were killed in their home in June.
07:31That same day, a gunman shot and wounded State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman in their home.
07:38Authorities say the attacks were carried out by Vance Bolter, a Minnesota man now facing federal murder charges.
07:44He was indicted in July and has pleaded not guilty.
07:47Governor Walls fired back at Trump's post, calling it, quote,
07:51dangerous, depraved behavior from the sitting president of the United States.
07:55Walls warned that pushing false claims while deflecting blame from the accused gunman risks putting more innocent lives in danger.
08:03Finally this morning, a big finish to the NFL regular season.
08:07The playoff field is now set, and there's a new name at the top of the record books.
08:11Miles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns set a new single-season sack record on Sunday,
08:17taking down the quarterback for the 23rd time this year.
08:20Garrett, one of the few bright spots in a tough season for Cleveland,
08:24came around the end with little more than five minutes left against the Cincinnati Bengals.
08:28He was credited with sacking quarterback Joe Burrow as Burrow fell to the ground amid heavy pressure.
08:34Garrett had been chasing the record for the last few weeks and was down to the last quarter
08:38and the last few minutes of the season, wow, to try to pass T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan,
08:43who shared the record at 22.5 sacks.
08:46Garrett's teammates celebrated with him on the field and later carried him on their shoulders.
08:51The NFL, by the way, first began keeping track of sacks in 1982,
08:54and now the defensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns is at the top.
09:00It was a crazy day yesterday.
09:01I think I turned from the Giants game to the Texans, then over to the Bears,
09:05checked in on the Chiefs game, and last night went to bed as Pittsburgh and Baltimore are battling.
09:11My head's still spinning.
09:13All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
09:15On Capitol Hill, the U.S. Senate gambles in for the start of a new session.
09:20Then at the United Nations, the U.N. Security Council holds an emergency meeting at 10 to take up Venezuela.
09:26At noon, Nicolas Maduro is expected in Manhattan federal court
09:29as the Trump administration lays out drug and weapons charges.
09:33And later today, the first criminal trial tied to the Uvalde school shooting begins,
09:38a case that puts police response under the microscope.
09:42No spin, no drama, just the news you need.
09:45Sign up for our Unbiased Updates newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox each morning.
09:49Go to san.com slash newsletters.
09:52Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Monday.
09:54We'll see you back here tomorrow.
09:55For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
09:58Have a great day.
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