Deportation Fight Hits Appeals Court - The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown - Podcast on CNN Audio
In just hours the DC Court of Appeals will hear the Trump administration's argument to resume deportation flights under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Plus, the administration is filing new charges against the Columbia University grad student who helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
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Miami Herald
10 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Maduro pushes Colombia-Venezuela alliance as U.S. doubles bounty for his arrest
Facing the highest reward for a capture ever offered by the United States, Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro is calling on Colombia to join forces against what he describes as escalating aggression from Washington. Maduro offered few details on how his proposed alliance with Colombia's leftist president, Gustavo Petro, would work but suggested enhanced cooperation across both governments, including their armed forces. His comments came days after the U.S. announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro's capture, accusing him of heading one of the world's most dangerous drug trafficking networks. Petro, a former guerrilla fighter, responded swiftly, warning that military aggression against Venezuela would be considered an attack on Colombia. In June, Petro accused U.S. officials—specifically naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio—of leading a plot to overthrow him, a charge he later softened in a letter to President Donald Trump. Maduro reinforced his call for unity during his weekly television program, urging 'cooperation between authorities—governors, mayors, legitimate public officials—to unite two national governments with their ministries, to unite Colombia's military forces with the Bolivarian armed forces.' He argued the union was needed to rid border states of violence and dismantle drug trafficking. Maudro's timing suggested a direct response to Washington's accusations that he is among the top drug kingpins in the world. Flanked by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, Maduro emphasized the loyalty of Venezuela's military and security forces, signaling that the $50 million reward would not weaken their support. He praised the armed forces for defending Venezuela's 'peace and sovereignty,' framing them as defenders against foreign aggression. The public display of unity follows intensified pressure from Washington. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told Donald Trump Jr. in an interview this week that 'new actions' to pressure Maduro's regime were coming in the 'days and weeks' ahead. Maduro appears determined to recast the U.S. bounty on his capture as a rallying cry rather than a threat. Local news reports say his government has launched an expensive propaganda campaign promoting the message that the situation is under control. Millions of dollars are reportedly being spent on posters, rallies, promotional merchandise and anti-U.S. slogans. Public sector employees and members of the armed forces have been instructed to join pro-Maduro demonstrations, which have drawn participants in Caracas and other major cities. Top officials—including Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, National Assembly head Jorge Rodríguez and Caracas Mayor Carmen Meléndez—marched alongside loyalists, public workers, and motorcyclist groups in defiant displays following the U.S. announcement of the unprecedented bounty. In revealing the decision to double the existing $25 million reward, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro leads the Cartel of the Suns—a drug trafficking organization embedded in Venezuela's military—and works with groups including Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and other transnational criminal networks. Bondi called Maduro 'one of the world's biggest drug traffickers and a threat to our national security,' adding that the bounty increase was aimed at tightening the net around him. Bondi also announced the seizure of over $700 million in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets, nine vehicles, and several properties. A federal indictment in New York outlines Maduro's alleged ascent in the Cartel of the Suns. According to court filings, after the 2013 death of former president Hugo Chávez, Maduro moved from acting as a facilitator to serving as the cartel's leader, integrating its operations with the Venezuelan state apparatus. Prosecutors allege the cartel's strategy went beyond profits, aiming to export cocaine to the United States. While other top leaders in the Venezuelan regime such as Cabello and Tareck El Aissami were often seen as the cartel's figureheads, new evidence suggests Maduro's role was far more significant than previously believed. The indictment claims the purpose of Venezuela's drug trafficking apparatus goes beyond self-enrichment. The cartel, it says, aimed 'to flood the United States with cocaine and inflict the drug's harmful and addictive effects on users in this country.' U.S. intelligence estimates suggest that more than 250 tons of cocaine pass through Venezuela each year, a figure that may have doubled in recent years due to the economic vacuum created by oil sanctions. The U.S. bounty announcement marked the latest escalation in a long-running standoff between Washington and Caracas. Sanctions, diplomatic isolation and repeated calls for Maduro to step down have failed to dislodge him from power. The reward—now at a historic high—signals a shift toward even more aggressive tactics. Maduro, meantime, is working to project confidence. Analysts believe that by aligning himself closely with Petro and other leftists leaders and attempting to frame the U.S. measures as part of a broader assault on Latin America, he seeks to strengthen regional solidarity and paint Washington as an aggressor. 'While we're dismantling the terrorist plots orchestrated from her country, this woman [Bondi] is coming out with a media circus to please the defeated far right in Venezuela,' said Maduro's foreign minister, Yván Gil, soon after the new reward was annnounced. 'It doesn't surprise us, coming from who she comes from.'
USA Today
10 minutes ago
- USA Today
Israel ambassador Mike Huckabee says Hamas 'could use some Ozempic'
"Instead of food, they could use some Ozempic," the U.S. ambassador to Israel said of Hamas during an interview with Piers Morgan. Amid mass starvation in Gaza, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said the leaders of Hamas aren't experiencing anything close to the famine-like conditions civilians are enduring. "They don't care about people getting to eat," Ambassador Mike Huckabee told TV host Piers Morgan. "And if you look at the people from Hamas when they get photographed, they're well-fed. None of them are hungry. I guarantee you – look at their faces; look at their bodes. And instead of food, they could use some Ozempic." The comments came as international outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks. The United Nations' World Food Programme has warned that a third of Gaza's population isn't eating for days at a time. (Starvation of a civilian population as a method of war is a crime under international laws.) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to deny that civilians are starving, saying as he announced a new offensive into the Gaza Strip that assessments of the situation have been exaggerated. Read more: One meal a day. $20 for an egg. Choosing which kid gets fed. Starvation stalks Gaza In the interview on Aug. 11, Huckabee defended the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an aid distribution system supported by the U.S. and Israel that has been criticized by other foreign leaders and international organizations for generating violence near distribution sites. Huckabee said Hamas, the Palestinian militant group designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization, "hates" the GHF because its aid distribution methods have hurt Hamas' capacity to "control the food market." "Yeah, there's some real deprivation in that country," he said. "But it's not because GHF is killing people."
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Threat of West Bank terror down 80%, Katz credits IDF's 'powerful offensive' policy
Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps were "hotbeds of terrorism built with Iranian financing, arms, and guidance, Katz claimed. The number of terror attack threats in the West Bank has dropped by 80%, Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed on Sunday in a post on X/Twitter. Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps were 'hotbeds of terrorism built with Iranian financing, arms, and guidance as an additional front' in the Axis of Resistance's fight against Israel, Katz stated. These locations were used to launch terror attacks across the West Bank, he added. In response to the threat, he instructed the IDF to change its counterterrorism policy, launching a 'powerful offensive' against the refugee camps, including evacuating residents, killing terrorists, dismantling and destroying terror infrastructure, and maintaining a military presence until at least the end of 2025, Katz wrote. 'This is the correct model for fighting terrorism: to strike it and pursue it in the West Bank, in Gaza, and everywhere,' he concluded. Operation Iron Wall a success? The IDF began a wide-ranging operation on Palestinian terror in Jenin in January, killing several terrorists in the mission that was meant to last a minimum of several days but will potentially be much longer. Known as Operation Iron Wall, the campaign is being led in coordination with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and is targeting armed terror cells, some directly funded by Iran. Wearing a face mask outdoors in the West Bank will now be punishable by up to six months in prison, the army announced on July 20. If an individual is caught committing a crime while wearing one, they can be sentenced to a minimum of two years, solely based on the face mask aspect of the offense. This unusual move is an initiative to make it harder for both Hamas terrorists and Jewish extremists perpetrating violence and nationalistic offenses to avoid arrest. Yonah Jeremy Bob and Amir Bohbot contributed to this report.
