00:00We now have a clearer picture of how far the United States is willing to go and how much muscle it is prepared to use to choke off Venezuela's shadow oil trade.
00:12Overnight, we're seeing new images tied to the seizure of the Bella One, the tanker the U.S. chased for more than two weeks across the Atlantic, changing names, changing flags, even claiming Russian protection.
00:24The U.S. Coast Guard releasing video of one of its ships shadowing the tanker during the operation.
00:30U.S. officials say this was not a routine interdiction.
00:33It was a court-ordered seizure carried out in international waters after the ship was flagged for moving sanctioned oil.
00:40The White House made clear this is now criminal territory.
00:44And this was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that has transported sanctioned oil.
00:48And the United States of America, under this president, is not going to tolerate that.
00:52I would also just add the vessel had a judicial seizure order in the crew.
00:56So that means the crew is now subject to prosecution for any applicable violation of federal law.
01:01And they will be brought to the United States for such prosecution if necessary.
01:06And this wasn't happening in isolation.
01:09At the same time the Bella was taken, U.S. forces also seized another tanker, the Sofia, in the Caribbean, carrying two million barrels of Venezuelan crude.
01:18Together, the moves mark a sharp escalation.
01:21Four vessels are now in American custody.
01:23Several more are being tracked.
01:25We are also learning more about the scale of the operation.
01:29U.S. Special Operations Forces, Coast Guard cutters, fighter jets, surveillance aircraft, and support from allies, including the U.K.
01:36Video here of just some of those aircraft arriving back after the mission.
01:41Russia is furious, accusing the United States of piracy on the high seas and demanding the crew be returned.
01:47Washington is not backing off.
01:50Secretary of State Marco Rubio says this is part of a broader plan for Venezuela's oil and its future.
01:56We are in the midst right now and, in fact, about to execute on a deal to take all the oil.
02:01They have oil that is stuck in Venezuela.
02:02They can't move it because of our quarantine and because it's sanctioned.
02:05We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil.
02:08We're going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting.
02:12That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.
02:21The message is unmistakable.
02:24The embargo isn't symbolic.
02:26The chase doesn't stop at borders.
02:28And the administration says any tanker moving sanctioned oil anywhere is fair game.
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