What's up, sunshine? Rise up and happy
new year. I'm Koi Wire. Welcome back to
CNN 10. It is so good to be back with
you. Hope you had an awesome holiday
break. And to all my teachers out there,
hope you got some muchdeserved rest. All
right, a lot of important things
happened around the world over the last
couple of weeks. in something very
important just this weekend. Without
further ado, let's get you your news. We
begin in Venezuela where a stunning
regime change is playing out as the
world looks on. We'll break down some of
what's going down based off of our
reporting at the time of this taping. On
Saturday, US military forces captured
and removed President Nicholas Maduro,
the now deposed leader of the South
American nation following weeks of
rising tensions between Venezuela and
the US. The unprecedented development
unfolded as part of a large-scale
American military strike over the
weekend. Maduro is now in custody on US
soil where Attorney General Pam Bondi
says that he will face charges related
to drug trafficking and weapons.
Venezuela's Supreme Court directed the
country's sitting vice president to lead
the oil rich nation, but President
Donald Trump says the US will quote run
the country until a change of leadership
can take place. There are a lot of
opinions about how this all happened.
Some world leaders say the US crossed a
line and Maduro's abduction was in
flagrant violation of international law.
Others like the leader of Argentina are
praising this operation. One thing that
cannot be disputed, Maduro's presidency
was extremely controversial. Our Stefano
Pataban has more context on what led to
this pivotal moment. While the scale of
the strikes may have come as a surprise,
tensions between Venezuela's leader and
the United States have been ratcheting
up for months.
Less than four weeks ago, the US
Treasury slapping sanctions of three
members of Madura's family, two of whom
were dubbed the Narco nephews from
previous drug trafficking convictions.
Madura and his lawyer wife, Celia
Flores, both cut their teeth during the
rule of Yugo Chavez, a socialist
revolutionary who served as Venezuela's
president from 1999 to 2013. While
Flores served as the country's attorney
general, it was in Chaps's government
that Maduro got his big break as foreign
minister, spearheading anti-American
policies and bolstering ties to China,
Russia, and Iran from 2006 to 2013.
After Chavis's death from cancer in
2013, it wasn't long before Maduro
stepped into the top job. A loyal
disciple of Chavis's socialist ideals.
In 2014, Maduro shared his commitment to
keeping his legacy alive with CNN's
Cristiano Mur.
>> I know I've been loyal and I'm
fulfilling the legacy of this marvelous
giant figure who is President Chavez and
it gives me peace of mind. These ideals
didn't help him much in steering
Venezuela's economy through challenges
like plunging oil prices. However, in
fact, his failure to manage the
country's oil wealth triggered an
unprecedented economic collapse.
By the time the public took the ballot
boxes in 2024, the anger could be felt
from all sides.
Despite both Maduro and the opposition
party claiming victory, the president
managed to sansa his way through the
political storm and remain in office.
But in September, the US began striking
alleged drug trafficking vessels in the
Caribbean Sea as President Trump doubled
down on his crackdown on narcotic
smuggling. And while Maduro told CNN in
December he was focused on a message of
peace
to unite for the peace of the continent.
No more endless wars, no more unjust
wars. That call has fallen on their
fears. As this unparalleled situation
continues to play out both in Venezuela
and here in the United States, the world
is eagerly watching for what might come
next. That includes millions of
Venezuelans who have had to flee their
homes over the last decade in a bid to
escape Maduro's regime. In the
neighboring nation of Colombia, crowds
of Venezuelan refugees took to the
streets of Bogotaa to celebrate this
news. Our David Culver is at a major
border checkpoint with more on how this
turn of events could impact the flow of
citizens in and out of Venezuela. A
heavy reinforced military presence on
the Colombian side of the Colombia
Venezuela border. And you can see three
armored vehicles here, a fourth over
there. But it's not just military that
has set up here on this side of the
border, but also, we're told,
humanitarian aid in case anything
happens with regards to a rush of
individuals coming here into Colombia.
Now, let me set the stage a bit for you.
This is the border crossing where we
are, Kuka, Colombia. On the other side,
you enter Venezuela. And you can see on
a Sunday morning, traffic is moving
rather calmly back and forth. This is
pretty typical if you talk to locals.
The only difference is the military
presence and the press. And you've got
many of individuals uh from media across
Latin America who have set up here to
get a sense of what could happen next.
Now, Kukata is really an interesting
town and that this is a pressure valve,
if you will, a real indicator of of what
could come next. This is a place that
really saw a lot of the surge of outward
migration from Venezuela in the past
decade plus. Here in Colombia, you have
the largest diaspora of Venezuelans,
some three million according to some
estimates. And of course, you had
Venezuelans who passed through here to
then continue up into Central America,
through Mexico, and into the US. Many of
them we've met along the way in recent
years. And a lot of them reference the
instability, the uncertainty, the
insecurity of living in Venezuela. So
the folks here who have made their lives
in Kukata, for example, they were out in
the streets late into the night. In
fact, we touched down just before
midnight and folks were still out
celebrating. You had families draping
themselves in flags. There were a lot of
emotions. People seemingly very happy.
What's interesting is when you speak to
those individuals, those who have been,
say, 10 plus years out of Venezuela say
they have their lives here in Colombia.
No matter what changes in Venezuela,
they have no real desire to move back.
But those who have been here less than
that, and it seems to be a rough average
of 10 years or so, say they do want to
go home. They want to try to reestablish
their lives. So, this could be a place
where we see a few things. You could see
folks who are fearing the chaos, fearing
more instability, fearing more
fracturing coming from Venezuela into
Colombia. You could also see those who
are fearing retaliation because perhaps
they're aligned with Maduro. But then on
this side, you could see a reverse
migration. Folks who want to go home,
want to go back to Venezuela, and this
is where many of them would return on
that crossing. But on this Sunday
morning, as of now, it's tranquil. It's
not a rush in either direction. Folks,
skeptical, hopeful, but uncertainty
still in place.
>> Pop quiz hot shot. In the practice of
Buddhism, what does the word Buddha
mean? Holy one, wise king, enlightened
one, or peaceful leader.
If you said enlightened one, keep
shining. In Buddhism, monks work to
achieve enlightenment through a long
process of understanding, ethical
living, and mental training.
Across the United States, a journey for
peace is moving forward one step at a
time. Right now, a group of 19 Buddhist
monks and their dog named Aloca are on a
2,300mile
so-called walk for peace. The walk began
on October 26th in Fort Worth, Texas,
and is set to end in Washington DC in
February. Wearing their traditional
orange robes, the monks are following
ancient monastic traditions of walking,
chanting, and relying on community
support along the way. At each stop,
they pause for meditation, reflection,
and public gatherings where they invite
local residents to take part in
conversations about compassion,
detachment from material possessions,
and unity. During one stop in Marorrow,
Georgia, hundreds of people gathered at
a community center to see them arrive,
offer support, and take part in a peace
ceremony.
>> I was sincerely moved that it was the
monks, but I think I would have been
moved if anyone were doing it um just to
walk for peace with the times times that
we're living in right now. I loved how
people are showing love and I feel like
with a world with so much hate in it,
it's good to see the light and the good,
you know, and seeing everybody come
together for peace.
>> The group has already passed through
several southern states, including
Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, now Georgia,
and is continuing north towards South
Carolina as their journey continues.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. a
Wisconsin family who transformed their
quiet backyard into a hockey rink. Coach
Jake and his wife Jamie decided to swap
grass for glass. There's only one ice
rink in their town, and as our
Midwesterners know, in Wisconsin
especially, hockey is life.
>> I don't have to go to a rink to skate. I
can just come out to my backyard and
like mess around. We're just trying to
have fun and be the best. The rink has
grown every winter, now clocking in at
80 by 40 ft. And it's not just their
kids getting to benefit from this rink.
Their teammates, their friends, all come
by to slap some slap shots while their
parents can stay warm on the porch. All
right, superstars. I have two shoutouts
to start off our 2026. First up, Mr.
Sapco and Miss Barry at Coonsmiller
Creative Arts Academy in Denver,
Colorado. Rise up. Thank you for making
us a part of your day. And this shout
out goes to Mrs. Zapeda and our friends
shining bright at Herds Middle School in
Reno, Nevada. I see you, Lyanna. Go out,
make someone smile today. Remember that
you are more powerful than you know.
Make it an awesome day and I'll see you
right back here tomorrow. I'm Koi Wire
and we are CNN 10.