[Hala Gorani, Cnn International Anchor:] Let's get you up to speed on our breaking news. Juan Guaido, the country's self-declared president and opposition leader says the time has come for President Nicolas Maduro's reign to end, urging the military to take to the streets and join the people and forcing him out. For hours now, we've seen crowds of protestors swarming the streets of the capital, Caracas, they have thinned. At times, the situation has turned violent. We need to warn you that what you're about to see is disturbing. You can see armored vehicles driving straight into a crowd, knocking them down and running over them, deliberately. There's also been tear gas and gunfire and the sound of gunfire. And that's the sound of gunfire we are still hearing. Let's get analysis, Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer, joins me now from New York. What do you make of what's going on in Juan Guaido's timing here in calling on the people and on the military to join him in ousting Maduro, Ian?
[Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group:] Well, it does seem like the Americans were surprised. The statements that we've seen today from the vice president, secretary of state, and others do not seem to be well coordinated. In other words, I think a day ago, a week ago, they were not expecting that Juan Guaido was going to wake up today and declare that it was time to take over. That's that implies that it's going to be harder for him to win and that maybe his hand was forced because there have been some reports that he feared imminent arrest from Maduro's regime. There was also the big demonstrations nationwide, he was calling for tomorrow, perhaps, he felt like they were not going to go the way that he had hoped they might. He does have some more defections on his side and they've taken over a military base. But to be clear, the defense minister in Venezuela and the high command is still very much with Mr. Maduro. And so it's hard to imagine right now that we are very close to Guaido taking over.
[Gorani:] Yes. What would the U.S. be by the way, the president had tweeted 10 minutes ago, Donald Trump, I am monitoring the situation in Venezuela very closely. The United States stands with the people of Venezuela and their freedom. So nothing exceptionally different from what we heard from Mike Pompeo. What would the what would the calculus be here now in Washington?
[Bremmer:] Well, I think that there's a strong opposition among just about everybody to engage militarily on behalf of Guaido and against the Venezuelan military. That's very different from providing communications support, that's very different from perhaps coordinating with Venezuela's neighbors to there are a number of Venezuelan exile soldiers, for example, that are across the border. The Americans might be able to help facilitate that yes?
[Gorani:] Ian, just if you could stand by. John Bolton, the national security advisor is speaking about Venezuela and then I'll get back to you. Listen.
[John Bolton, U.s. National Security Advisor:] This is a very serious situation. The president has been monitoring it minute by minute throughout the day as have his advisers. We see this now as a potentially dispositive moment in the efforts of the Venezuelan people to regain their freedom, which we fully support. There have been a lot of speculation, comment in the media about what's happening in Venezuela. We think it's still very important for key figures in the regime who had been talking to the opposition over these last three months to make good on their commitments to achieve the peaceful transfer of power from the Maduro click to interim president, Juan Guaido. Figures like defense minister Vladimir Padrino, chief judge of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, Maikel Moreno, the commander of the presidential guard, Rafael Hernandez Dala, all agreed that Maduro had to go. They need to be able to act this afternoon or this evening to help bring other military forces to the side of the interim president. The Cubans, we believe, have played a very significant role in propping Maduro up today, possibly with help from the Russians, that's the speculation, certainly, in Caracas. We think this demonstrates why we need Venezuela ruled by the people of Venezuela and not by external forces. That's what we're looking at and I'd be happy to answer a few questions.
[Bolton:] Well, Juan Guaido is out on the streets of Caracas now. He's rallying the people. He's called for the people to come out. And they are they are increasingly on the streets as I think many of you know. There were mass demonstrations planned for tomorrow. The circumstances of what's happened today in Caracas have called people out all over the country. So Guaido is behaving in the same courageous way he and other figures in the opposition have these last three months. We know that over 40 people have been killed by the Maduro regime in the course of these protests. This is an act of bravery by Guaido and others really for the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
[Unidentified Male:] Ambassador, given what you've seen on the ground so far today and the degree of loyalty that Maduro still seems to enjoy from the elements of the Venezuelan military, what do you think the chances that this uprising will work?
[Bolton:] Well, I don't think its support in the military for the Maduro regime. I think its fear. I think its fear of the 20,000 to 25,000 Cuban security forces in the country. I think its fear of the consequences if adhering to the constitutional mandate of the interim president fails. But I think really, now, what we're seeing is the people of Venezuela, this has been building for a long time, that if this effort fails, they will sink into a dictatorship from which there are very few possible alternatives. It's a very delicate moment. I want to stress again, the president wants to see a peaceful transfer of power from Maduro to Guaido. That possibility still exists if enough figures depart from the regime and support the opposition and that's what we would like to see. We want to see the Defense Minister Padrino, the chief judge of the Supreme Court, Mikael Moreno, and particular, Rafael Hernandez Dala of the presidential guard. Yes, sir?
[Unidentified Male:] What happens if Guaido is not able to take power today? What's the next step?
[Bolton:] Well, I think it's possible. This situation could persist. I think the people have shown they're prepared to protect Guaido. We don't see any indication that there's any substantial part of the military that's ready to fire on innocent civilians, their fellow countryman. We know that the Cuban Colectivo, these thugs, these motorcycle gangs that the Cubans have put together, are out protecting certain buildings controlled by Maduro, not the military but the Colectivos. This really demonstrates the depths to which the Maduro regime had sunk that they're using these Cuban direct thugs to conduct their affairs. And it's one reason why I think there's such overwhelming public support for Guaido. It needs to be translated into a transition of power.
[Unidentified Male:] Is the U.S. prepared to use any option including the military option to support Juan Guaido?
[Bolton:] Let me say two things to be very clear, number one, we want as our principal objective, the peaceful transfer of power. But I will say again, as the president has said from the outset and that Nicolas Maduro and those supporting him, particularly those who are not Venezuelan, should know, is all options are on the table.
[Unidentified Female:] providing any support other than
[Bolton:] Sorry. Say that say that again.
[Unidentified Female:] Is the administration providing any other types of support other
[Bolton:] We're providing support in a variety of respects. Certainly, we have done everything we can to get humanitarian assistance into the country. We're doing a lot of other things, some of which I'm not going to talk about. And we're certainly working with the Lima group, the organization of American state, the over 50 countries that support Guaido's legitimacy democratically. And let me answer the last part of your question. This is clearly not a coup. We recognize Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela. And just as it's not a coup when the president of the United States gives an order to the department of defense, it's not a coup for Juan Guaido to try and take command of the Venezuelan military. Yes, sir?
[Unidentified Male:] Ambassador, you said all options are on the table still for military action. And I wanted to ask you about a different military action that you did advocate
[Bolton:] As I've said before, I've got a lot of opinions I've expressed over many years in the public space, those were my opinions. What I'm speaking about now is the policy of the U.S. government and I've answered the question on force
[Unidentified Male:] Do you feel this moment that we're in right now is sort of a building block or do you think it is the moment, the tipping point as to where something needs to happen?
[Bolton:] Well, I think from the perspective of the humanitarian crisis that we face in Venezuela, I hope this is enough to tip Maduro out of power, because it's only when he and his fellow kleptocrats who have plundered the Venezuelan economy for the last 20 years or remove from power that we can put the Venezuelan economy back on its feet for the for the benefit of the people. The sooner Maduro is gone, the sooner is the possibility of justice and real economic growth for the Venezuelan people. Yes, sir?
[Unidentified Male:] Can you just stress were you surprised, at all, by today's action? Were you given a heads-up and can you address reports from Venezuela that some of the military officials that were supposed to support Guaido actually backed away when it was moved a day earlier?
[Bolton:] I'll just say we feel very well informed about what's going on. And the point I was making a moment ago by naming specifically the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, the chief justice of the supreme court, Mikael Moreno, and the commander of the presidential guard, Hernandez Dala, as is well known to the opposition, all across Venezuela, they committed the support ousting Maduro and it's time for them now, if the Cubans will let them do it, to fulfill their commitments and it's time for the rest of the military to show what their own families believed what happened and that's Maduro needs to go.
[Unidentified Female:] My question, if actually Maduro forces fire against the people in Venezuela, Guaido's forces, will the United States and troops or act in any use any kind of military action at this decisive moment?
[Bolton:] Yes. Well, as I've said, all options remain on the table. I'm simply not going to be more specific to that. But recall that right at the beginning, three months ago, we said that it would be a big mistake for Maduro and those supporting him to use force against innocent civilians. We feel very strongly about it. We felt that way then. We feel that way now. Yes, ma'am?
[Unidentified Female:] We've seen video footage of protestors seemingly being run over by tanks in the streets in Venezuela. What is the point of which you think enforce
[Bolton:] Well, we're watching very carefully what's happening. As I say, we've been trying to explain to everybody who will listen that we want people to go through with what they've agreed to do in terms of transitioning power. I don't doubt that there are Colectivos, these motorcycle gangs organized by the Cubans and I don't doubt there's some in the Venezuelan military itself who don't view the lives of their fellow Venezuelans highly. We don't know exactly what the command structure is now other than probably it reports to Havana. I saw that film myself. It could be an isolated incident. We're not going to draw conclusions imprudently. It's something that we want to stress as much as we can how closely we're following it and how much we want this peaceful transfer of power to proceed. I'll just take one or two more. Yes, sir?
[Unidentified Male:] Why don't you
[Bolton:] I'm sorry, I can't
[Unidentified Male:] If you stand with Venezuela, why didn't the U.S. given them temporary protection status?
[Bolton:] Look, we have that question under review. Obviously, our hope is that we can get a change in the regime in Caracas as soon as possible so that Venezuelans can return and help rebuild their country. We don't want to send anybody back into what is now, obviously, an even more dangerous situation. And that's the policy we've been doing. Yes, ma'am?
[Unidentified Female:] Have you or the president spoken with Juan Guaido? And given the sort of influence of the Russians here, as the president spoken with their plan this week Putin or your Russian counterparts?
[Bolton:] Well, I'd rather not get into those kinds of conversations. I can tell you, we've made it clear to Russia in both public and private statements throughout this that we regard the actions that they've taken in Venezuela as something that we regard with the utmost seriousness. And particularly now when innocent Venezuelans civilian lives are on the line, we expect the Russians not to interfere in what's happening in Venezuela. Yes, ma'am? Yes, ma'am?
[Unidentified Female:] And if they did
[Bolton:] Well, we have followed in the financial markets all of the consequences of the sanctions we've imposed. We're looking to follow through with more specifics on those right along and so there are a number of steps that are in preparation. I should also say that we have been planning for what we call the day after, the day after Maduro for quite some time. And indeed, we're thinking of having a briefing on Thursday or Friday of this week. I think we may speed that up, but we wanted to point out that it's been very much on our mind that we can provide a lot of assistance to the Guaido government when it assumes power to try and get the Venezuelan economy out of the ditch that Maduro has put it in. Those plans obviously were moving ahead on trying to refine them here in these recent days because things might move quickly. Let me just take one more question.
[Unidentified Female:] Sir, how close this administration to labeling the Muslim brotherhood and terrorist group?
[Bolton:] That's not a question about Venezuela. I'll take one Venezuela question. Yes, sir?
[Unidentified Male:] Thanks, Mr. Ambassador. Let's say this works, Guaido takes power, everything is as the administration would like. Will the administration turn its attention to other
[Bolton:] Well, I just say in this hemisphere, we've called out the Troika of Tyranny, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. There's no doubt that Cuba, in particular, has benefitted from the authoritarian government in Venezuela by getting below world market oil prices. That's going to cease once Guaido takes power. But our focus right now, as you can well understand, for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and because of the interest of the United States, is on this peaceful transition of power in Venezuela. Thank you very much.
[Unidentified Female:] Thank you.
[Gorani:] The American national security adviser, John Bolton, there calling on key figures in Venezuela to make good on commitments to ensure a peaceful transition of power from Nicolas Maduro to Juan Guaido. He's specifically mentioned the defense minister who today reiterated the army's support for Maduro, Vladimir Padrino, calling what Guaido, Juan Guaido has done an act of bravery. Ian Bremmer is still with us. Thanks for staying with us and being patient there through this. What was your main takeaway from what John Bolton said? He said the president, as well, supports a peaceful transition?
[Bremmer:] Yes. Literally, no change in what he's had to say just now from what he's been saying over the last few weeks. Again, reiterating the point that I made before, that they weren't ready for this. This was a surprise to the Trump administration and the U.S. government. They're making the same calls for those supporting Maduro to leave him. But he did not sound in any way in that presentation optimistic that he believed that Guaido was about to persevere and succeed in removing Maduro, nor did I hear any policies or plans that might be put in place to help facilitate that. I'm not just talking militarily. There's been it seems like very little diplomacy that's happened between the U.S. and other allies in responding to today's moves. And so far, at least, the Venezuelan military remains pretty solidly behind this President Maduro.
[Gorani:] He wouldn't answer the question about whether or not the the president or anyone else in the administration had spoken to Juan Guaido, either before he called on the military to switch sides and the people to support him or after. So what's next here for the United States? I mean, Russia is clearly supporting Maduro. They have some Russian military assets in the country. What happens now?
[Bremmer:] I thought it was interesting that Bolton was careful. He pointed out the Cubans on many occasions. He talked about the Colectivos and said they were all backed by Cubans, that's true. It was also backed by Venezuelan street gangs. They're doing some of the dirty work for Maduro, these militias. But he didn't want to point out the Russians particularly strongly. I think in part it's because the Russians have shown behind the scenes that they would like to be part of a diplomatic engagement. They want to make sure they have a seat at the table in case Maduro does go away and I think Bolton is hopeful that the Russians can be enticed if there is progress. But right now, there is not progress. Right now, it's very dangerous. The fact that Guaido had his hand forced to move ahead with this effort to remove Maduro today means that if he's unsuccessful, the likelihood that he eventually gets arrested or is forced into exile goes up significantly. Maduro's not Maduro doesn't need to feel like he's going to live with Guaido in opposition sitting there in his country after he's backed the Americans down and succeeded in resisting a call internally for what he would perceive as a coup. So definitely, tensions have escalated significantly. But the danger, the risks that have been taken on in the last 24 hours have been taken on by Guaido.
[Gorani:] Thanks so much, Ian Bremmer, for joining us this evening on our breaking news story there. The crisis unfolding in Venezuela. You're seeing live images there from the streets of Caracas. We'll be right back.