The Megyn Kelly Show - The Mission to Capture and Arrest Maduro, Somali Fraud Fallout, Mayor Mamdani Begins: AM Update 1/5

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

In a dramatic overnight operation, U.S. forces capture and arrest Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro inside a heavily fortified Caracas compound, flying him to New York to face sweeping federal charges. The Trump administration calls it a precise law-enforcement action, while critics warn it risks war, constitutional overreach, and chaos for Venezuela’s future. A viral investigation alleges massive taxpayer fraud tied to Somali-run childcare and healthcare operations in Minnesota, prompting a federal payment freeze and a growing FBI probe. Far-left democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as New York City mayor and immediately moves to erase his predecessor’s policies. Riverbend Ranch: Visit https://riverbendranch.com/ | Use promo code MEGYN for $20 off your first order. Lean: If you want to lose meaningful weight at a healthy pace and keep it off... Add LEAN toyour diet and exercise lifestyle. Get 20% OFF WHEN YOU ENTER MK at https://TAKELEAN.com   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Good morning, everyone, and happy new year. We're back. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, January 5th, 2026, and this is your AM update. And it was an assault like people have not seen since World War II. The U.S. military conducts a complex operation resulting in the successful extraction and arrest of Venezuela leader Nicholas Maduro from inside a heavily fortified base. We're not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation. for adversaries. As criticism pours in, the Trump administration defends the bold move. Fallout continues after a mega viral video from an independent journalist appears to show massive fraud from the Somali, Minnesota community hiding in plain sight. And far-left socialist Zoran Mamdani officially becomes New York City Mayor Mamdani and gets right to work.

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the result of months of highly coordinated efforts between multiple U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, along with the U.S. military. The Maduro's transported to a jail in Brooklyn, where they face federal charges filed in the Southern District of New York, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons charges. The action coming after months of rising tensions with Maduro, an authoritarian leader, the U.S., along with more than 50 other nations, does not recognize as Venezuela's legitimate president since in July 24, he lost an election in a landslide to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, but nonetheless declared victory and refused to leave power.

President Donald Trump at a Saturday press conference lauding the success of the operation. Overwhelming American military power, air, land, and sea was used to launch a spectacular assault and it was an assault like people have not seen since World War II. It was a force against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice. This was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history. I want to thank the men and women of our military who achieve such an extraordinary

success overnight with breathtaking speed, power, precision, and competence. If you would have seen what I saw last night, you would have been very impressed. I'm not sure that you'll ever get to see it, but it was an incredible thing to see. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Raisin-Kane, providing more insight into how the military was able to pull off the incredible feat. This was an audacious operation that only the United States could do. It required the utmost of precision. and integration within our joint force.

And the word integration does not explain the sheer complexity of such a mission. It involved more than 150 aircraft launching across the Western Hemisphere, in close coordination, all coming together in time and place to layer effects for a single purpose to get an interdiction force into downtown Caracas, while maintaining the element of tactical surprise. General Kane describing months of work by Intel agents to learn everything about Maduro, from what he ate to what pets he owned. Even then, conditions had to be just right for the mission to succeed. General Kane saying Saturday's weather provided what was needed for America's most skilled aviators to get the green light. Over the course of the night,

aircraft began launching from 20 different bases on land and sea across the Western Hemisphere. In total, than 150 aircraft, bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, rotary wing were in the air last night. As the force began to approach Caracas, the joint air component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela. As the helicopter force ingress towards the objective at low level, we arrived at Maduro's compound at 101 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, and the apprehension force descended into Maduro's compound and moved with speed, precision, and discipline towards their objective, and isolated the area to ensure the safety and security of the ground force while apprehending the indicted persons.

Less than three hours after U.S. forces breached the compound, the Maduros were aboard the USS Iwojima in the custody of the Department of Justice. Trump releasing an image of Maduro with headphones and blindfolded, wearing a gray track suit and donning handcuffs aboard the battleship. CNN military analyst and retired Admiral James DeVritus describing what U.S. adversaries, including China, Russia, and Iran, are likely thinking about such a mission. All three predictably will deplore this kind of activity publicly. Privately, they will be impressed with the military capability here. I would argue none of those three militaries could have executed

an operation like this. And again, we tend to just breeze by this. But the idea of finding, fixing, kidnapping, taking him out alive with his wife, no casualties on the side of the U.S., that's an extraordinary military operation. So I think while there will be a lot of public condemnation of the United States, predictably from those three nations, privately, they'll be saying to themselves, hmm, that's a very capable military. That's not a bad thought to pop up in Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran these days. The three adversaries did indeed express condemnation of the feat, Russia calling it, quote, an act of armed aggression, Iran calling it a, quote, flagrant violation of Venezuela's sovereignty, and China saying it poses a threat to peace

and security in Latin America. By Saturday evening, the Trump administration reposting video of Maduro, now donning an ill-fitting beanie and black sweatsuit, getting perp-walked at the DEA office in New York City before being moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Good night. Happy New Year. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Saturday posting the 25-page superseding indictment

modified from an original 2020 indictment against Maduro. The latest filing, accusing Maduro, his wife, their son, and three others of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. From the indictment, quote, Maduro and his co-conspirators have, for decades, partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world, and relied on corrupt officials throughout the region to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States. The charges carrying the possibility of life in prison

the Maduro's due in court later today. Many now wondering, what's next for Venezuela and was any of this legal? Venezuela's vice president, Delsey Rodriguez, now the acting president of Venezuela, following a Venezuelan Supreme Court ruling appointing her to the role for 90 days. Venezuela's defense minister endorsing the court's decision, which means Rodriguez has the backing of her military, which is key. President Trump also seemingly in support of the move, at least for now, here from Saturday's press conference. I understand she was just sworn in, but she was, as you know, picked by Maduro. So Marco's working on that directly. He just had a conversation with her, and she's essentially willing to do

what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again, very simple. She had a long conversation with Marco, and she said, we'll do whatever you need. I think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn't have a choice. We're going to have this done right. We're not going to just do this with Maduro, then leave, like everybody else, leave and say, you know, let it go to hell. If we just left, it has zero chance of ever coming back. President Trump initially declaring that the U.S. will, quote, run Venezuela,

saying America is, quote, in charge of the nation for now. Later, Secretary of State Rubio clarifying that the U.S. won't actually govern Venezuela, but will press changes through the oil blockade we have in place there. President Trump late last night telling reporters the U.S. will oversee this transition to ensure Venezuela's leadership is acting in line with U.S. wishes, but reiterating that the U.S. is, quote, in charge of Venezuela. U.S. military assets are not deployed inside Venezuela, though President Trump warning they remain parked off the coast. and are ready for a second wave if needed. Secretary of State Rubio expanding on the need for this extraordinary step, Sunday on Meet the Press. Why does the United States need to take over the Venezuelan oil industry? Well, we don't need to. First of all, let me go back up. We don't need Venezuela's oil.

We have plenty of oil in the United States. What we're not going to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to be controlled by adversaries of the United States. You have to understand, why does China need their oil? Why does Russia need their oil? Why does Iran need their oil? They're not even in this continent. This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live. And we're not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries,

competitors, and rivals of the United States. Have specific oil companies? We also want to see that oil and the proceeds from it. Hold on. We want to see the oil proceeds of that country benefit the people of Venezuela. Why have 8 million people left Venezuela? Eight million, the single largest mass migration, probably in modern history, left Venezuela's in 2014, because all the wealth of that country was stolen

to the benefit of Maduro and his cronies in the regime, but not to the benefit of people of Venezuela. President Trump's Sunday night from Air Force One expanding on that idea and issuing a warning for Colombia's president. This isn't a country that's on the other side of the world. This isn't a country like we have to travel 24 hours in an airplane. This is Venezuela. It's in our area.

We're in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful, and where the oil is allowed to freely come out because that's good, it gets the prices down. That's good for our country. We have a very sick neighbor. It's not a neighbor, but it's close to a neighbor. And that's Venezuela, it's very sick.

Columbia is very sick, too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he's not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you. So there will be an operation by the U.S. and... It sounds good to me. While most of the domestic outcry comes from Democrats, some Republicans also critical of the operation. Congressman Thomas Massey of Kentucky criticizing the administration for acting without the approval of Congress, which alone has the power to declare war and to authorize military force,

and saying the move is really about taking over Venezuela's oil, a sentiment echoed by many Dems. The very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over and over again was no more endless war. and right now we're headed right into one. It's quite apparent that it was Venezuela's oil wealth that really attracted the Trump administration to carry out this operation. The nature of this is it's all illegal. Let us be clear.

This is a war of choice. Secretary Rubio Sunday on ABC arguing congressional approval was not needed. Why wasn't congressional authorization necessary? It wasn't necessary because this was not an invasion. We didn't occupy a country. This was an arrest operation. This was a law enforcement operation.

He was arrested on the ground in Venezuela by FBI agents, read his rights and removed from the country. Obviously, this was not a friendly territory. So in order to arrest him, we had to ask the Department of War to become involved in this operation. The Department of War went in, they hit anything that was a threat to the agents that were going into arrest them, and they hit anything that was the threat on the way out, and they hit anything that was a threat to them while they were on the ground. And that was a very limited and targeted operation. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, saying on Saturday that the administration will continue working with congressional partners, the secretary joining a group, including Secretary Rubio and A.G. Bondi, briefing congressional leaders tonight on the Hill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday, saying he expects the Senate to vote on a war powers resolution later this week that would bar further action without congressional approval. Such a measure would likely be subject to constitutional challenges. Coming up, an independent. journalist visits Minneapolis to investigate Somali fraud accusations firsthand with his viral video putting the glaring issue into the spotlight. And it's official, Mayor Mamdani takes office in New York City. Lord, help us. You know all those fad diets. Half of Americans do it. And if you do it enough, you could be at risk of diabetes, liver damage, heart attack, and stroke. Weight cycling is when you lose 10 or more pounds, but then you put the pounds back, plus a couple more.

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lean to your diet and exercise lifestyle. Get 20% off when you enter mK at takelein.com. That's code mk at take lean.com. The big story dominating the news since A.M. Update went on Christmas hiatus, independent journalist Nick Shirley's expose on potentially massive Somali fraud in Minnesota. Allegations of staggering fraud perpetrated by the Somali community garnering national attention following reporting by City Journal, claiming the largest funder of the al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia, is the Minnesota taxpayer. City Journal, Walter Kern's County Highway, and the New York Times among the outlets reporting on widespread fraud. Then on December 26th, Nick Shirley posting a 42-minute video to his social media accounts,

racking up more than 137 million views on X alone, in which he and an independent investigator, going only by the name David, visit Somali-run daycares and health companies, they say, have collected millions in taxpayer dollars per year, discovering what they say is up to 110 million in potential fraud in just one day. In the video, which Shirley says was recorded on Tuesday, December 16th,

The pair visits daycare after daycare, finding largely empty warehouse-style buildings and few, if any, children. Well, this is actually two daycares are registered here. One of them is Mako, which you see on this sign. The other one is mini-child care center. And between the two of these child care centers, they're pulling in about $3 million a year. And there are no children. Every facility you go to, the windows will be blocked out so you can't see in. There's nobody here.

you won't see a single child at any of these facilities there are indeed no windows all the windows are blacked out right here all right let's go in and the child care center is locked should we ring the doorbell try to get in rang the doorbell nobody showed up they're open seven days a week at 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. it says here on their sign yet there's absolutely nobody here and this building here right here has generated millions of dollars and it seems like business isn't even open right now and it's a weekday. President Trump weighing in on the stunning story late last night. The Somalians are ripping off our country to the tune of looks like $19 billion, but that's only what they can find. So usually when you're looking at 19, that would mean it could be 50,

but the numbers are astronomical. And every one of them should be forced to leave this country, including Ilhan Omar, who's a total crook. And she's one of the leaders of it, not the only because he's not that smart. But think of it. $19 billion at least they've stolen from Minnesota and from the United States. HHS last week announcing a freeze on all child care payments to Minnesota in the wake of the viral video demanding an audit of the programs from Governor Walsh, whose initial reaction to the story was to blame, quote, white supremacy. Governor Walsh later sort of acknowledging the staggering fraud while taking a shot at President Trump. In a post on X, quote, Our State's generosity has been taken advantage of by an organized group of fraudsters who have

put their greed and self-dealing above the needs of children, seniors, and people with disabilities. And it's my responsibility to fix it. What is not helpful is the President of the United States demonizing an entire community. Within days of Nick Shirley's reporting, FBI director Cash Patel posting a lengthy update on the FBI's fraud investigation. writing, quote, the FBI believes this is just the tip of a very large iceberg. We will continue to follow the money and protect children, and this investigation very much remains ongoing. Democratic Socialist Zora Mamm Dani officially sworn in as mayor of New York City in a private

ceremony inside an abandoned subway station shortly after midnight on New York's day. New York Attorney General Letitia James administering the oath, Mamdani, the first Muslim elected to the office, taking the oath over to Korans. Later in the afternoon, Vermont Senator and political mentor to Mamdani, Bernie Sanders, administering the oath in a public ceremony at City Hall. This moment from Mamdani's inaugural address, sending a chill down the spine of pretty much anyone who knows anything about the United States of America and the principles on which it was founded. To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I'm

I say this. No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers' lives. We will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. If our campaign demonstrated that the people of New York yearn for solidarity, then let this government foster it. Mayor Mamdani quickly getting to work, signing a sweeping executive order revoking all executive orders signed by his predecessor Eric Adams from September 26th, 2024 through the end of his term. Mamdani later telling reporters that the date marks the former mayor's indictment on bribery charges, which the Trump DOJ later dismissed, a move many of Adams' critics in New York described as corrupt.

Drawing national attention in Mayor Mamdani's blanket executive order, two issued by Mayor Adams relating to Israel and Israel. anti-Semitism. One order codifying a definition of anti-Semitism as drafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which critics say conflates criticism of Israel, with hatred of Jewish people. The other barring city agencies from participating in boycotts against Israel. That's now just fine. New York City is home to the world's largest population of Jewish people outside of Israel. Mayor Mamdani is an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and knew scrapping these two previous executive orders would upset some Jewish groups.

The New York Times reporting that Mamdani chose a broader reversal tied to the indictment, quote, allowing him to frame the choice as a matter of good governance. Mayor Mamdani saying he will keep the Adams-created office within City Hall to combat anti-Semitism. Mayor Mamdani also signing a slate of new orders addressing New York City's housing affordability crisis, one renewing the office to protect tenants and two orders establishing housing-focused task forces. In one of his first photo ops as mayor, Mamdani touring a Brooklyn apartment complex

owned by Pinnacle Realty, a landlord company with thousands of reported violations, Mamdani inspecting a tenant's ramshackle bathroom. And you told the landlord about this? Yes. And what was the response? I caused some number, but nobody won't do anything about it. Many noting that the apartment is

rent-stabilized, meaning it's rented out for less than market value. A policy, many say, discourages investment into properties because landlords are unable to recoup their investments. Following the tour, the mayor giving remarks outside of the building, announcing his administration will intervene in the housing group's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, though he did not offer specifics on what that involvement will look like. On Saturday, Mayor Mamdani weighing in on former Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro's arrest by U.S. forces because everyone was thinking, gee, I wonder what the socialist from Uganda is thinking

about Maduro. Maduro now held on federal charges inside of Mamdani's city. I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change to the violation of federal international law and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day. And what was his response to you in that conversation? I registered my opposition. I made it clear and we left it at that. Despite some calls from Mamdani's comrades in the DSA or Democratic Socialists of America to return Maduro to Venezuela, the mayor has no real recourse, as it is entirely a federal matter, and he had zero right in his role as mayor of New York to demand

answers from anyone about it. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK show, live on SiriusXMs, the Megan Kelly channel, 11 at noon east, on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.