Nicholas Maduro is expected to appear in federal court in New York today.

That's where we're starting The Seven from the Washington Post.

I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Monday, January 5th.

Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.

Early on Saturday, elite U.S. Army Commandos arrived in Venezuela by helicopter.

They descended into a compound where President Nicholas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores were sleeping. The couple were taken by helicopter to a U.S. ship positioned off Venezuela. From there,

they were flown to New York, where they will face drug trafficking charges. The deposed

Venezuelan president is expected to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Manhattan at noon

eastern. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will run Venezuela

for an unspecified length of time. That plan is clouded in confusion. Venezuela has one of the largest

oil reserves in the world. Trump also said U.S. oil companies would move into the country and try and boost

oil production. That plan also faces major challenges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the

operation on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday. This was not an action that required congressional

approval. In fact, it couldn't require congressional approval because this was not an invasion.

This is not an extended military operation.

This was a very precise operation that involved a couple of hours of action.

It was a very delicate operation too.

It was one that required all these conditions to be in place at the right time and the right

place. You couldn't afford leaks.

We couldn't afford anything out there that would have endangered the mission and gotten people killed or killed off the mission and the optionality.

Also speaking to meet the press, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pushed back on that argument.

So, of course, this was the military action.

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