NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Sunday, January 4, 2026

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

Maduro to face charges; Refugees at the border; Political battle over strikes; and more on tonight’s broadcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight Venezuela's captured leader in a New York prison as we learn new details about the overnight raid that took him down. The new images of Nicolas Maduro in handcuffs in U.S. custody, even giving a thumbs up and the new photos of his wife captured alongside him the charges they'll face in an American courtroom tomorrow. Our new reporting on the American raid inside of Venezuela, the months of preparation, and the source on the inside, you'll hear from injured Venezuelan soldiers speaking from the hospital about the American attack that took them by surprise. Our reporter on the Venezuelan border as armed civilians patrol streets inside the country and President Trump's new threat today against Venezuela's vice president and de facto leader after her defiance towards the U.S. Protest against the military action across this country as Democrats blast the mission as reckless. What one key Congress,

told me about who should lead Venezuela. The holiday travel chaos set up by the attack, airspace finally reopened over the Caribbean, Americans now scrambling to book new flights home. While in the U.S., the family of the prominent Ohio couple found murdered in their home speaking out, the chilling 911 call as police plead with the public for help in finding the killer.

Plus, the bus crash in Houston as it slid down the side of a highway. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We begin with those fast-moving developments after that American raid in Venezuela, a country of 30 million people, now bracing for what comes next. While their captured leader, Nicolaas Maduro, is said to appear in an American courtroom tomorrow. Tonight, he's in a federal prison in Brooklyn. And we have these new images to show you of Maduro posing with U.S. agents giving a thumbs up there. being helped out of an armored vehicle at a DEA office, even throwing up a peace sign at one point.

Meanwhile, inside Venezuela, fear and uncertainty about what comes next. President Trump today threatening that country's new interim president, just hours after she assumed that role, with President Trump saying her fate could be worse than Maduro's if she doesn't comply. And here in the U.S., a remarkable split-screen moment, with protests against U.S. intervention in Latin America this weekend, along with celebrations for Maduro's capture. Our team is covering every angle of this story tonight,

including at the Venezuelan border. But we begin with the captured Venezuelan president facing American justice. Tonight, one day after that secret U.S. mission to capture Venezuela's authoritarian leader, Nikola's Maduro, the new images of him in federal custody. These photos show the captured leader coming off the plane, giving a thumbs up and posing with federal agents.

And our first look at his wife, Celia Flores, a source confirming this video of Flores with Maduro as agents help him get out of an armored vehicle after arriving at the offices of the DEA. The White House also sharing this video with a caption, Perp walked, as Maduro says, Happy New Year. The former president appearing relaxed, making a peace sign moments before he was transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center where he's being held. Today, dozens of anti-war protesters were outside as Maduro sits behind bars at the same federal jail that has also held other high-profile inmates, including Sean Diddy Combs, Galane Maxwell, and R. Kelly, as well as Luigi Mangione, who is still in custody there. All of this coming after that stunning operation to capture Maduro early Saturday morning, with 150 aircraft launched from 20 bases. Tonight, President Trump with a new threat to Venezuela's vice president and de facto leader Delci Rodriguez. In a phone interview with the Atlantic, President Trump said if she doesn't do what's right, she's going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.

Rodriguez was sworn in as president on Saturday. She's a Maduro loyalist serving as his vice president since 2018. President Trump said this about her yesterday. She had a long conversation with Marco, and she said, we'll do whatever you need. But on state television, Rodriguez called for the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, calling him, quote, the only president of Venezuela. For the president of Maduro, saying we will never again be a colony to any empire. Her war of words with the U.S. adding to the questions about who will lead the South American country. We're going to run the country until such time.

as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. Today, meet the press moderator, Kristen Welker, Press Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, about the president's statement. Who are those people who will be running the country specifically? Well, it's not running, it's running a policy. The policy with regards to this, we 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. Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart represents a district in southern Florida with many Venezuelan immigrants. He wants to see the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, take over the country. Would Maria Carina Machado be a good leader, Venezuela? I think she's one of the most impressive leaders that I've ever met. She has dedicated her life for the cause of freedom.

She's been fighting that regime, and she has wide popular support within Venezuela. He tells me he believes this could be a turning point. The rest of the cartel knows that either they now become. they start behaving. They start not repressing the people in Venezuela, setting drugs in the United States, bringing in all of our enemies into the region. If they don't stop that, their future could be the same one that Maduro's face. On the ground in Venezuela's capital, armed pro-government civilians patrolled outside supermarkets.

No more wars for empire. While back here in the U.S., this weekend, there were protesters from San Diego to Washington, D.C., protesting against that military. action. Now, no, now, now, one, we are the people. Two. And as the debate over the strikes heats up, we are learning more tonight about how the CIA spent months preparing for that secret mission to capture Maduro as Venezuelan soldiers injured in the attack speak from the hospital. Courtney Kuby covers the Pentagon for us and has the new details. Tonight, new details on how the intensely coordinated raid in Venezuela came together. A secretive CIA team operating in the country since August, working with a human source inside

Maduro's inner circle, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. The team working for months with stealth drones to build a picture of Maduro's everyday life, while the military used the intelligence to build an exact replica of Maduro's safe house to train on. Secretary of State Marco Rubio today calling it unfriendly territory which required the U.S. military to be involved and saying this was a targeted mission. The Department of War went in. They, they hit anything that was the threat to the agents that were going into arrest them, and they hit anything that was the threat on the way out. Dramatic new images show the scale of the damage inflicted by U.S. military strikes.

As the force began to approach Caracas, the joint air component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area. Striking Venezuela's biggest military complex in a Caracas neighborhood, seen here before with dozens of buildings, and after, smoke and debris clouding what's left of several structures. The helicopters came under fire, and they replied with that fire with overwhelming force and self-defense. Venezuelan soldiers hurt in fighting, speaking from their hospital beds. I heard the explosion, he says.

I heard a whistle, and then suddenly I couldn't hear anything. Another saying, they attacked us when they wanted to land in our unit, we weren't going to allow it. The mission leaving several U.S. troops injured, U.S. officials saying they're in stable condition. And with that, Courtney Kubi joins us tonight. Courtney, we're learning more about what will happen with the massive U.S. military presence now in the Caribbean. Yeah, that's right, Tom. There's no plans for the U.S. military to draw down. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio today describing the force as part of the leverage we have in the region.

And remember, the Pentagon says they're still going to keep striking those alleged drugboats, too. Tom? Courtney and Cuba with some new reporting tonight. Courtney, thank you. Our Gabe Gutierrez is in Colombia tonight, and he and his team have made it to the border with Venezuela. There they found families fleeing the country and its uncertain future. Tonight, at the Venezuelan border, confusion and heartbreak. This family, with an emotional goodbye, he's a Venezuelan crossing into neighboring.

Colombia, perhaps for good. His brother telling us they've been through a lot. But I can't speak freely, he says, because we still live in Venezuela. We're just interested in a better future. Venezuela is right over there, just on the other side of this border crossing behind me. Thousands of Venezuelans cross over here to the Colombian side each day, some to work, others to visit family members. But looming over this city now is a profound sense of uncertainty, as well as these tanks. Security is is ramping up here in Kukuta. A drug trafficking organization known as the ELN controls much of this border and has repeatedly denounced what it calls U.S. imperialism. The group is mentioned in the indictment against Nicolas Maduro, which accuses him of being a partner. Now the Colombian government

is on high alert for any possible retaliation in the wake of Maduro's capture. Caught in the middle, Venezuelans like Patricia Lopez, who just crossed the border today with her two young sons, hoping to write out that uncertainty, at least for now, with relatives in Colombia. How do you feel right now? The truth is, I'm in shock, she says. I don't believe what's happening right now. While in Colombia's capital, Bogota this weekend, a show of support for the U.S. Roxanna Miyon, a Venezuelan immigrant recovering from cancer,

told us she was elated and wanted her country to be free. What is your message to President Trump? What is your message to President Trump? Trump, we're grateful, she says. And Gabe Gutierrez joins us tonight from Colombia's border with Venezuela. Gabe, that country is now preparing for a potential influx of refugees. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Fears of a renewed migration crisis are very real here.

And because of that, Colombia's president has announced that he's searching humanitarian resources. Here are the country's eastern border. All right, Gabe Gutierrez tonight. Gabe, thank you. Travel impact from the military action in Venezuela on this holiday weekend. The airspace over the Caribbean shut down for much of the weekend, stranding Americans. Now those flights are starting back up. Liz Kreis has that part of the story. Tonight, air travel in and out of the Caribbean resuming after the abrupt cancellation of hundreds of flights in the region

following the military action in Venezuela that's left thousands of holiday travelers stranded. What's the mood there? somber. Right now, it just feels like everybody's just kind of drained. The line kind of curse. Danny Cabrera showed us the long lines at the St. Croix Airport, where he was supposed to fly out Saturday to Chicago to see his grandmother in hospice. So this is a race against time for you to get back? It really is. It really is. I'm hoping I can make it there tonight to say goodbye.

The airspace now reopened. Cabrera says he was lucky to get on another flight leaving today. But not everyone has had that success. She says. Emma Blanco, who's vacationing in Aruba from New York, told us the only flight she's been able to find is not until Wednesday to Toronto. From there, she has a flight Thursday to JFK. This all, despite many of the major U.S. airlines, including American, United, and Delta, saying they're adding flights in the region and in some cases bringing in larger aircrafts to accommodate more people. Megastar Leonardo DiCaprio, apparently among those impacted. The Palm Springs Film Festival saying in a statement he had to their Saturday night event due to unexpected travel disruptions and restricted airspace. Meanwhile, weather is also adding to the travel chaos this holiday weekend, flooding from high tides, closing down this major highway outside San Francisco. And in the Midwest, snow showers putting 9 million under winter alerts from the Dakotas to Michigan, with that system expected to move to the northeast this week.

All right, Liz, let's get back to that travel chaos in the Caribbean. those flight delays impacting not just airlines but also cruise lines? Yeah, Tom, that's right. Princess Cruises says they're now delaying the departure of their cruise out of Puerto Rico from today until tomorrow night to ensure all travelers make it in time. They say because of that, the cruise will skip its first stop and that all guests will be given a partial refund for that lost day. Tom.

Liz, Croyts for us tonight. Liz, thank you. Still ahead here in the broadcast, the search for a killer. Police now asking for the public's help to find the person who killed the dentist and and his wife in their own home. And the dramatic bus crash often overpassed in Houston. How did this happen? That's next.

We're back now with police asking for the public's help to find a killer. After an Ohio couple was found dead in their own home, Ryan Chandler has this report. I will love you forever, and I'm so lucky to be Mrs. Tepe. Tonight, the shocking murders of an Ohio dentist and his wife are still shrouded in mystery as their family pushes for justice. We're all still in shock and obviously angry and just trying to piece this together. Columbus parents Spencer and Monique Tepi found shot to death in the home where they were married

and raising their one and four-year-old children. Police found their bodies last Tuesday during a welfare check after Spencer's co-worker said he didn't show up to work. We're very, very concerned because this is very out of character. And we can't get in touch with his wife, which is probably the more concerning thing. About an hour later, another 911 call out. the house. I can hear kids inside, and I swear, I think I heard one yell, but we can't get in. Minutes after that, this call from a friend.

He appears dead. Okay. He's laying next to his bed off of his bed in this blood. I can't get closer. They'd see more than that. According to the police report, three spent nine millimeter casings were found at the scene. Their two children still inside, unharmed. Police say there were no signs of forced entry, and they're now urging the public to share any information, asking for any video captured in the area between 2 and 5 a.m. Tuesday. And as the community struggles to comprehend their death, their family remembering how they lived. They lived for their children. Their lives became about their children and sharing their children with all of us and just loving them. Flowers left outside the family's home this weekend as questions mount.

Ryan Chandler, NBC News. And we're back at a moment with dramatic new video after a bus fell over an overpass. Look at this, onto its side. We're back now with an emotional tribute in Switzerland today where hundreds of people held a silent memorial march to honor at least 40 people killed at a barfire on New Year's Eve. It happened at a Swiss ski resort in the Alps. More than 100 people were injured. Authorities say today that the victims were as young.

that's 14 years old. Also tonight, some wild new video of a bus that fell off an overpass in Houston. You see it there tipped over on its side. The Houston Metro says 13 people who were on board were taken to the hospital, all with minor injuries. The Metro also said it fell off because it was hit by another vehicle behind it. All right, when we return the message of peace from Venezuelans here in the U.S., my visit to a church here in South Florida as parishioners pray for the country they left behind. Welcome back. The coming days and weeks will be critical as Venezuela possibly transitions from a socialist oppressive regime to one that holds elections and upholds its results,

something that country has not seen in decades. Today, the president issued a warning to Venezuela's new leader, the former vice president and Maduro loyalists, to be careful as she condemned the U.S. capture of her former boss. The uncertainty is on the minds of Venezuelan Americans we spoke to here in South Florida. We met them at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church today. A special hour of prayer was set up for Venezuela. Many of the people we spoke to were Venezuelan Americans, praying for peace and hope, but also cautious about the future. But inside that parish, they told us they are hopeful that one day they may return to their homeland. It's the first time they've had hope like that in decades. That's nightly news for this Sunday. We thank you so much for watching tonight and

always, we're here for you. Good night.