WEBVTT - FAFO Doctrine in Action, Maduro Learns the Hard Way 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:04.960 And as to this commander in chief, he did something 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:10.360 people talked about doing. You just wait for Cuba. Cuba 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:15.520 is a communist dictatorship that's killed priests and nuns. They've 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.239 prayed on their own people. Their days are numbered. We're 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:21.880 gonna wake up one day, I hope in twenty six 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.080 in our backyard. We're gonna have allies in these countries 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:31.120 doing business with America, not narco terrorist dictators killing Americas. 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:32.000 This is a. 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:33.240 Big frigging day. 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:37.880 You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:39.440 Good Monday morning. It's nice to have you with us 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:41.360 on the forty seven Morning Update, and we've got a 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:44.000 very big story. It's the President of the United States 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:48.880 of America, Donald Trump's foreign policy FAFO. Nicholas Maduro found 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.000 out exactly what happens when you don't listen to the 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.040 President of the United States of America and his warnings. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.880 Now in a jail cell in New York City. So 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.480 how did we pull off this incredible mission and what 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.880 happens next? We have all the details for you. It's 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.840 the forty seven Morning Update and it starts right now. 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:11.000 Story number one, President Donald Trump announcing it in a simple, 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:15.679 true social post. The United States of America has successfully 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.720 carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:24.040 President Nicholas Maduro, who has been along with his wife, 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:29.080 captured and flown out of the country. This operation was 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:33.200 done in conjunction with US law enforcement. Details to follow. 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.000 He then said, there will be a news conference at 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.200 eleven am at mar Lago. Thank you for your attention 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:43.679 this matter, President J. Trump, and this is clearly the 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:49.320 Trump doctrine FAFO, making it clear that you better play 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.240 ball with us when we give you a warning. 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:52.040 JD. 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.520 Vance saying exactly that in his tweet, saying the President 0:01:55.680 --> 0:02:00.200 offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear through out 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.760 the process the drug trafficking must stop and the stolen 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:07.240 oil must be returned to the United States. Maduro is 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:11.120 the newest person to find out that what President Trump says, 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.480 what he means, is what he says. Kudos to our 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:18.400 brave special operators who pulled off a truly impressive operation. 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:23.360 The President then called into Fox News Chump to talk 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.680 about it even before the press conference. Here's part of 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:27.359 what he said. 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:28.480 You tell us. 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.160 Where Maduro and his wife are right. 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.720 The second, well, they'll be heading to New York. You 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.600 know they were indicted in New York and also so 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:38.400 were they take it to. 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:39.519 A ship first? 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:40.400 And then and then. 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:44.760 Yes, the Ewojima they're own a ship. Okay, they'll be 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:49.240 heading into New York. The helicopters took come out and 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:51.880 they went by helicopter to a nice flight. I'm sure 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:55.160 they loved it. But they've they've killed a lot of people. 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:59.080 Remember that, they killed a lot of people, and even 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.360 people in their own country. They killed a lot of 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:06.040 people to maintain power. He's a very vicious person. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.920 A very vicious person. The President wasn't done there. He 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:13.560 also said this about Maduro as well, and why the 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:15.200 operation took place. 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.440 It just was the right time to do it. We 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:20.640 had to do it because it's a war. We're losing 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.680 three hundred thousand people a year. We don't lose that 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.360 much in a war. Okay, if you look, and we 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:31.400 had to do it. But he was in a house 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.320 that was more like a fortress than a house. It 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:38.720 had steel doors, it had what they call the safety space, 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.480 whereas you know, solid steel all around. He didn't get 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.560 that space closed. He was trying to get into it, 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.440 but he got bum rushed so fast that he didn't 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.240 get into that. We were prepared. We had, you know, 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.840 massive blow torches and everything else that you need to 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.640 get through that steel, but we didn't need it. He 0:03:58.280 --> 0:03:59.800 didn't make it to that area. 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:04.360 Of the President Trump giving an update to the world, obviously, 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.480 then having his press conference where he walked out and 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.520 he said, this is his opening statement. 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:16.919 Late last night and early today, at my direction, the 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:24.159 United States Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:31.760 the capital of Venezuela. Overwhelming American military power, AirLand and 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:37.400 sea was used to launch a spectacular assault, and it 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.200 was a assault like people have not seen since World 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:45.360 War Two. It was a force against a heavily fortified 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:50.080 military fortress in the heart of Bracus to bring outlaw 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:54.920 dictator Nicholas Maduro to justice. This was one of the 0:04:54.960 --> 0:05:01.560 most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.600 and confidence in American history. 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:09.080 In American history. It was truly incredible what we'd accomplished. 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:12.800 The President then went on to talk about the Venezuelan 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:16.200 military capabilities and how we were able to take them 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.719 out so quickly. Much of their military powered come from 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:24.080 Russia as well as China, and some of their military 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:28.360 were even mercenaries that were borrowed from Cuba to protect him. 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:33.919 No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday, 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:37.680 or frankly, in just a short period of time. All 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:43.080 Venezuelan military capacities were rendered perilous as the men and 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:47.800 women of our military, working with US law enforcement, successfully 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:52.760 captured Maduro in the dead of night. It was dark, 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:59.600 the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:05.760 a c expertise that we have. It was dark and 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:11.520 it was deadly, but captured along with his wife, Celia Flores, 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.760 both of whom now faced American justice. 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.960 No nation you listen to the President of the United 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.720 States of America. They are saying, all Venezuelan military capabilities 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.479 and their capacities were rendered powerless as the men and 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.720 women of our military, working with US law enforcement, successfully 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:34.840 captured Maduro in the dead of night. The President then 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.160 explaining what happened to Maduro. 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.120 Maduro and Floras have been indicted in the Southern District 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:46.320 of New York Jay Clayton for their campaign of deadly 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:51.240 narco terrorism against the United States and its citizens. 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:57.680 Three hundred thousand Americans dying a year because of fetnol 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.640 and the drug overdoses that are coming into the country. 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:04.200 The President then, thinking, are men and women in uniform. 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:06.040 I want to thank the men and women of our 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:13.120 military who achieved such an extraordinary success overnight with breathtaking speed, power, precision, 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:17.440 and competence. You rarely see anything like it. You've seen 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:20.000 some raids in this country that didn't go so well. 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:24.119 They were an embarrassment. If you look back to Afghanistan, 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:28.200 or if you look back to the Jimmy Carter days, 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.640 they were different. Days were a respected country again, like 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.200 maybe like never before. I want to thank the men in. 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:39.200 You listen to the President of the United States of America, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.040 it's very clear he was so thankful to those men 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.320 and women in uniform. The President United States of America 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.200 giving a very stark warning to the rest of the world, 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.200 saying the dictator in arras Mandua is finally gone, and 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.640 the Venezuelan and people are free. They're free again. It's 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.080 been a long time for them, but they're free. I 0:07:58.120 --> 0:07:59.720 want you to hear one other thing real quick that 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:01.880 I just want to play, and that is in Congress, 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.440 there are some sane people among the insane. Tom Cotton 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:09.640 saying this about Maduro on Fox News Sunday. Listen carefully. 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:12.960 I've heard from too many Arkanson families who have been 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:17.119 devastated by illegal drugs flowing into this country, who's lost 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.880 a loved one, who've struggled with addiction. Those stories have 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:23.080 been repeated thousands of times across the country. President Trump 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.120 has been clear all along that he wants to the 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.760 flow of drugs from Venezuela to stop. Venezuela is really 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:31.920 unique in Latin America. They weren't just tolerating drug traffickers 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.160 on their territory or lack control of their territory where 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.440 drug traffickers had taken control. They were in league with 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:42.280 drug traffickers. Also, Venezuela is in league with America's adversaries 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.720 Cuba and Iran and Hezbala and other Islamic radicals. President 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.640 Trump made clear yesterday and his remarks that he gave 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:54.199 Nicholas Maduro multiple chances to change his ways and ultimately 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:58.000 to leave and go into exile elsewhere, and Maduro refused 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:02.079 to do that, and our military executed an amazing operation 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:06.120 that I highly command. President Trump for authorizing Secretary Hegseth 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.960 and General Kine and all of our frontline warriors for executing. 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.679 It's hard to overstate just how complex it was. The 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.440 United States military is the only one that could have 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:15.480 pulled off this operation. 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.080 That's a former veteran now member of the United States 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:23.760 Congress and the Senate saying what we pulled off is unbelievable, 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.960 and saying Nicholas Muduro was indicted drug trafficker responsible for 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:32.920 thousands and thousands and thousands of American deaths, which bring 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.160 me to the rage in Cajun a man that I 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:42.120 just love. And this is a moment where you say, 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:44.920 how did we pull it off? I want you to 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.800 hear the timeline in the story. This will be a 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:51.040 movie one day, but this is the man in charge 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:56.400 explaining how we pulled this off, how we were able 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:57.920 to do it. Listen. 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:03.719 This operation, known as Operation Absolute Resolve, was discreete precise, 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.720 and conducted during the darkest hours of January TEWOD and 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.319 was in the culmination of months of planning and rehearsal. 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:18.000 We watched, we waited, we prepared, We remained patient and professional. 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:23.720 This mission was meticulously planned, drawing lessons from decades of 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:27.680 missions over the last many years. Decades are many missions 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:29.160 over these last many years. 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:30.480 This was an. 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:35.720 Audacious operation that only the United States could do. It 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:40.680 required the utmost of precision and integration within our joint force, 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:46.319 and the word integration does not explain the sheer complexity 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:51.520 of such a mission, an extraction so precise. It involved 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.680 more than one hundred and fifty aircraft launching across the 0:10:54.720 --> 0:11:00.679 Western Hemisphere in close coordination, all coming together in time 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:05.640 and place to layer effects for a single purpose to 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:11.160 get an interdiction force into downtown Caraccas while maintaining the 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:16.080 element of tactical surprise. Failure of one component of this 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:20.520 well oiled machine would have endangered the entire mission, and 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:25.800 failure is never an option for America's Joint Force. Those 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.280 in the air over Caraccas last night were willing to 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.200 give their lives for those on the ground and in 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:35.000 the helicopters. Let me talk a little bit about the preparation. 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:39.120 After months of work by our intelligence teammates to find 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:44.520 Maduro and understand how he moved, where he lived, where 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:48.560 he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:53.240 his pets. In early December. Our force was set pending 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:58.400 a series of aligned events. Key was choosing the right 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:03.120 day to minimize the potential for civilian harm and maximize 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.760 the element of surprise, and minimize the harm to the 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:10.079 indicted personnel, so as the President said, they could be 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:14.280 brought to justice. And as the President said earlier today, 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:18.440 weather in Venezuela is always a factor this time of 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.760 the year, and over the weeks through Christmas and New 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.960 Year's the men and women of the United States Military 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:29.400 sat ready, patiently, waiting for the right triggers to be 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:33.840 met and the President to order us into action. Last night, 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.640 the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:43.040 the most skilled aviators in the world could maneuver through ocean, 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:48.199 mountain low cloud ceilings. But when tasked with a mission, 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:53.360 this organization does not quit. At ten forty six pm 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:58.079 Eastern time last night, the President ordered Cofford with this mission. 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:02.800 President good luck and godspeed, and those words were transmitted 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.040 to the entire joint force. Over the course of the night, 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:10.560 aircraft began launching from twenty different bases on land and 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.480 sea across the Western Hemisphere. In total, more than one 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:20.640 hundred and fifty aircraft, bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, rotary 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:24.400 wing were in the air last night. Thousands and thousands 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.439 of hours of experience were airborne. Our youngest crew member 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.720 was twenty and our oldest crew member was forty nine. 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:36.120 And there's simply no match for American military might. As 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.880 the night began, the helicopters took off with the Extraction Force, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.640 which included law enforcement officers, and began their flight into 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.120 Venezuela at one hundred feet above the water. As they 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:52.079 approached Venezuelan shores, the United States began layering different effects 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.360 provided by Spacecom, Cybercom and other members of the Inner 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:59.920 Agency to create a pathway overhead. Those forces were per 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:03.679 detected from aircraft were protected by aircraft from the United 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.920 States Marines, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:11.480 and the Air National Guard. The force included F twenty 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:17.080 two's F thirty fives, F eighteen's, EA eighteens, E twos, 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.240 B one bombers, and other support aircraft, as well as 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:25.840 numerous remotely piloted drones. As the force began to approach Caracas, 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:31.560 the Joint Air Component began dismantling and disabling the air 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:36.520 defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to ensure the safe 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:41.000 passage of the helicopters into the target area. The goal 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:46.000 of our air component is was and always will be 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.160 to protect the helicopters and the ground force and get 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.920 them to the target and get them home. As the 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.560 force crossed the last point of high terrain where they'd 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:59.800 been hiding in the clutter, we assessed that we had 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:05.040 made maintained totally the element of surprise. As the helicopter 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:09.240 force ingressed towards the objective at low level. We arrived 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:13.960 at Maduro's compound at one one am Eastern Standard time 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:18.080 or two to one am Caracas local time, and the 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:24.160 apprehension force descended into Maduro's compound and moved with speed, precision, 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:28.600 and discipline towards their objective and isolated the area to 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:32.360 ensure the safety and security of the ground force while 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:37.280 apprehending the indicted persons. On arrival into the target area, 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.680 the helicopters came under fire and they replied with that 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:44.480 fire with overwhelming force and self defense. One of our 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.520 aircraft was hit but remained fliable, and as the President 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.680 said earlier today, all of our aircraft came home, and 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.240 that aircraft remained fliable during the rest of the mission. 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.440 As the operation unfolded at the compound, our air and 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:01.960 ground intelligence teams provided real time updates to the ground force, 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:06.520 ensuring those forces could safely navigate the complex environment without 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:12.440 unnecessary risk. The force remained protected by overhead tactical aviation. 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:17.320 Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up and were 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:20.960 taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:26.600 our incredible US military with professionalism and precision, which with 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:28.600 no loss of US life. 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:35.920 Truly incredible. That is the story of American resilience, of leadership, 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.160 of President trumping the right people to be in the 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:43.280 right positions of power, and also I think in God 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:48.400 protecting them. God bless America. God bless our President, God 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.360 bless his cabinet, and God bless our men and women 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:51.960 in uniform. 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.680 Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:58.960 with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:02.120 you're listening to this right now and for more in 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:06.159 depth news. Also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast and 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:07.880 we will see you back here tomorrow.