Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was officially released from a U.S. prison after being pardoned by President Trump. CBS News' Nancy Cordes reports.

Washington

The former president of Honduras, who had been convicted on drug trafficking charges, was released from a West Virginia prison after serving about one year of a 45-year sentence. This release followed a pardon issued by former U.S. President Donald Trump, with administration officials claiming the former Honduran leader was over-prosecuted and set up by the previous U.S. administration.

White House officials have not fully explained why the case of the Honduran president differs from that of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, despite questions from the press. The release has drawn attention to the administration's approach to international prosecutions and has prompted further inquiries during ongoing cabinet meetings.

Former Honduran president released from U.S. prison after Trump pardon

Let's go live outside the White House to CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes. Good to have you with us, Nancy. So, has the administration answered any of the questions about what makes Hernandez different from Maduro? They have taken questions about it. I don't know that we've gotten a full explanation yet, Reid. What they're essentially saying is that Hernandez was somehow set up by the Biden administration, over-prosecuted. They haven't quite explained why they feel that way. And that he was someone who was merely the leader of Honduras while drugs were coming from Honduras to the U.S. and basically, you know, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, essentially, and that he didn't have much to do with it. Caroline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, was asked about this yesterday. Take a listen to what she had to say. The president, several days ago, said it was his intention to pardon the former president of Honduras, who was a convicted drug trafficker. And yesterday on Air Force One, the president said that if someone sells drugs in that country, that doesn't mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life. How is that different than what the administration is accusing Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro of? You're cherry-picking the president's statement a little bit yesterday. As he also said yesterday, the people of Honduras have highlighted to him how the former president, Hernandez, was set up. This was a clear Biden over-prosecution. He was the president of this country. He was in the opposition party. He was opposed to the values of the previous administration, and they charged him because he was president of Honduras. So the bottom line here is that whatever the reason, Reid, Honduras has been released from a West Virginia prison now, according to his lawyer, after serving about one year of a 45-year sentence. We are also watching for other headlines. We expect to come out of that cabinet meeting today. Of course, Russia, Mr. Putin, Caribbean boat strikes. What else are you looking for? Well, one thing to know about these cabinet meetings is that they are not short. I think the last one that I covered was about three hours long, because the president tends to make an opening statement, talk about how great the country is doing, and then he goes around the table to all of his cabinet-level officials, and there's about 16 of them, and then they lay out what they have been doing in their department. They praise the president effusively and say that they wouldn't be able to do it without him. And then often, I guess I should say always, the president tends to take questions from the press. As you point out, there are a lot of topics to ask him about, from the conversations taking place in Moscow today between Steve Whitkoff and Vladimir Putin, and this controversy that seems to be growing by the hour about these Venezuelan boat strikes. So the reporters in the room will be doing their best to ask the president about all of this at the end of that meeting. Nancy Cordes, always great to talk to you. Thank you so much.

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Moscow

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Breakdown