Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Indiana Senate Republicans Reject Trump Redistricting Push; Interview with Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Senate Votes Down Dueling Health Care Proposals; FBI Official Unable To Give Details On Antifa After Calling In The "Most Immediate Violent Threat" In The U.S.; Heavy Rain Causing Record-Breaking Flooding In Washington State; Crowd At "Redneck Christmas Parade" Weighs In On 2nd Trump Term; Skydiver's Parachute Gets Caught On Plane's Tail At 15,000 Ft. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired December 11, 2025 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AUSTIN MEEK, STAFF WRITER COVERING MICHIGAN FOOTBALL, "THE ATHLETIC": ...You know, that is one of the images that comes to mind when I think about Sherrone Moore is just seeing him after games, he'd often leave the postgame press conferences and his young daughters would be waiting for him with his wife. So, just a very sad situation to think about what it means for him and his family.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yes, yes, absolutely. It was such a such a mystery as we've said, Austin, thanks so much, really appreciate you coming on.
MEEK: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: And thanks to all of you as well for being with us. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:33]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, two big defeats for the President on redistricting and for the second time in a week, the grand jury says, no, to charges against one of the President's leading enemies, New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Also tonight, the President erupts, asking when will Americans give him the credit he says he deserves on the economy, as new polling shows, most are dishing out blame instead.
And later, a terrifying tangle for a skydiver whose parachute got stuck on the jump plane and the remarkable leap of faith he had to make in order to get safely to the ground.
Good evening, we begin tonight with a pair of setbacks for the President. The first one to his plans to reshape the midterms for the state of Indiana. Now, the state Senate there voting down an effort to redraw the congressional map from the current seven and two Democrat Republican and two Democratic seats to one, making the state potentially all red in 2026.
Now, 21 Republicans joined 10 Democrats to quash the plan, which the President himself had been pushing for and he spoke about it tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's funny, because I won Indiana all three times by a landslide, and I wasn't working on it very hard. It would have been nice. I think we would have picked up two seats if we did that. It's a great place. I love the people there. They love me. We won in a landslide all three times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, this followed his second defeat of the day. A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, refusing to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James. That's what multiple sources tell CNN.
Now, a week ago in Norfolk, another federal grand jury also declined to bring charges against James. And late last month, a judge tossed the initial case against her and former FBI Director James Comey.
And after finding that Lindsey Halligan, the President's hand-picked interim U.S. attorney, had not been properly appointed to the position. No comment on any of this from the Justice Department or the President, though he certainly had plenty to say about Miss James before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: By the racist Attorney General of New York State, Letitia "Peekaboo" James.
We have a racist attorney general who's a horror show. She's got serious Trump derangement syndrome.
This judge is a lunatic. And if you've ever watched him and the Attorney General may be worse.
Do you ever watch her? I will get Donald Trump.
James ought to be looked at.
You have an attorney general who's a total stone cold crook? New York State, Letitia James is a total crook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining us now, another of the President's targets for prosecution, California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff.
Senator, the President obviously put a lot of political pressure on those state lawmakers in Indiana. What does it show to you or signal to you about his grip on the Republican Party, that they rejected this push?
SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, it shows that there are some limits, at least in some parts of the country. But I don't know if I would read too much into it, because there's also a heavy dose of self- preservation to the degree that they try to reconfigure these districts.
They potentially put Republicans at risk, Republican incumbents. So, I imagine that in addition to simply not being willing to go to this extreme to alienate their voters with this mid-decade reapportionment, there is also an effort within the legislature, within the congressional delegation on the Republican side, not to put their incumbents in jeopardy by trying to be too greedy with redistricting.
COOPER: The President has also struggled to address widespread concerns about affordability. He's made fun of the whole idea of it, saying it's a Democratic hoax. Does this moment feel different to you? Because, I mean, you look at Marjorie Taylor Greene, other Republicans who seem frustrated, at the very least with the President, but generally he still has overwhelming support in the GOP.
SCHIFF: I think there must be a growing sense of alarm in the GOP. We just had an amazing election about a month ago, where the Republicans were pretty well wiped out in the competitive races, and then more recently, you have the Democratic mayor succeeding in Miami, Democratic candidate in Miami, first time in a long time in Miami.
You had a Georgia legislative seat flipped by a large margin. So, Republicans are alarmed and then you have the President completely tone deaf. Watching him talk about affordability and the challenge Americans' face, paying for things, being able to afford their rent, their mortgage, et cetera., calling it all a hoax. I watched the President say these things and my reaction is, please keep talking. Keep talking because they're going to talk themselves into a very small minority if they keep it up.
[20:05:12]
COOPER: A grand jury declined to indict, as I mentioned, New York Attorney General Letitia James on allegations of mortgage fraud, which she's denied. President has also obviously pushed the Justice Department to go after you for alleged mortgage fraud. You've never been charged, denied any wrongdoing. What does it say about the relative strength of the government's case against Letitia James in struggling to secure an indictment when there isn't even a lawyer in the room from the other side in the room pushing back.
SCHIFF: It is extraordinary, as a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you, it is exceedingly rare for a grand jury to reject a request for indictment because the standard is so low and the prosecutors can share with the grand jury and make whatever arguments they want. So this is very rare.
And, Anderson, when you consider the history here, you see both how dangerous an abuse of power this is. The President going after his political enemies, but also how absurd it has become, because this started when the career U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, appointed by Donald Trump, said, essentially, there's no case there and was fired for it, along with top prosecutors. They bring in Lindsey Halligan, an insurance lawyer and friend of the President to try to indict Letitia James. She is indicted, but Halligan is thrown out as U.S. attorney because she's or the indictment is because she was illegally appointed to that position. They try again before a grand jury. The grand jury refuses to indict. They try again before a different grand jury. That grand jury refuses to indict. Each time they try, each time they fail. They only strengthen the case that this is a purely vindictive prosecution.
But I'll tell you, I talked to one federal prosecutor the other day. I asked, how's morale in the department? And the answer was what morale?
COOPER: Senator Adam Schiff, appreciate your time. Thank you.
More now from Capitol Hill. House Speaker Mike Johnson just got a classified briefing with Admiral Frank Bradley about the follow-up strike on the alleged drug boat in the Caribbean back on September 2nd that killed two survivors of the initial strike, 11 in all were killed. Johnson told reporters he believes this second strike followed the law. Those were his words. He also told reporter this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The video shows is that these individuals were there. They were able-bodied, they were not injured and they were attempting to recover the contents of the boat which was full of narcotics. We have exquisite intelligence about all of this.
There was another vessel in close proximity that was headed their direction. They seem to be waving their arms at some point to indicate that that vessel that was off outside of the video that we have was headed that way, and so that they could continue their mission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was Speaker Johnson tonight. Now, just last week, after Bradley's first briefing on Capitol Hill, we had exclusive reporting from three sources with direct knowledge of that meeting that the two men killed did not appear to have radio or other communication devices. Democrats have called for the video of the second strike released to the public. That has not happened.
The Defense Department continues to push back against claims the secondary strike could be a war crime. And yesterday Mike Rogers, the Republican chair of the house armed services committee, said he doesn't think further investigation is needed.
So, a lot to talk about with Margaret Donovan, former U.S. Army Captain and JAG officer. So, Captain Donovan does the speakers account of what he saw make sense to you based on what others have said as well?
MARGARET DONOVAN, FORMER U.S. ARMY CAPTAIN AND JAG OFFICER: No, it does not, Anderson, and I think the one thing that we can glean from the Speaker's account is that the public really needs to see this. It's great that Mike Rogers feels good about it. It's great that Mike Johnson feels good about it. But the facts, the undisputed facts, as the public knows them, do not add up. And nothing that I have heard has changed my opinion or the opinion of many other scholars on this subject, that this was a war crime.
If Congress has declared war or like here, they haven't, simply an unlawful killing. This new fact that there was a boat somewhere in the distance doesn't change anything. All it means is that these men might have been rescued, which is exactly the definition of being shipwrecked, needing rescue.
The other thing that I'd like to point out, there's been a lot of discussion about whether the men were waiving or surrendering or anything like that. I don't think that we could, in good faith, say that they were surrendering if they had no idea that they were in an armed conflict. If you remember, this was the very first strike of the campaign, September 2nd. Every day up until then, at worst, drug traffickers thought they would be intercepted by the Coast Guard, arrested, maybe prosecuted, maybe repatriated.
Nobody told them that the United States was about to bring lethal force and use lethal force on them. So, I imagine they think their engine exploded, which explains why they would have been waving and trying to find help. They were not aware that we were in an armed conflict. And of course, you know, my position that drug trafficking from point A to point B in countries that are not the United States does not count as armed hostilities against the United States.
[20:10:07]
COOPER: I mean, the speaker repeated the claim that the drugs were enroute to the U.S., CNN had previously reported the boat, at least the boat from that September 2nd secondary strike was headed to Suriname, where narcotics, I'm told, are usually trafficked to Europe, not the U.S. Wouldn't he know that if the intelligence is as good as he claims it is?
DONOVAN: Yes, you would think so and you would also take note of the fact that it is undisputed that none of those drugs were fentanyl. So, even if we were getting to a place where the drugs were headed to the U.S., which, by the way, I don't think you have to be an engineer to understand that a boat of that size does not have the fuel to make it to the United States without some type of stop in between, or refuel in between.
Even if you were to take that to be true, unless we're talking about fentanyl and even if we are, were not talking about armed hostilities. So, the Speaker's opinion, with all respect, is not engaging with the facts, the undisputed facts, at least as we know them. But all of this confusion and these new facts that get added in, just tell me even more, underscore even more that the public needs to know this. There needs to be public, unclassified hearings, and people need to assess the evidence as they hear it.
COOPER: Captain Margaret Donovan, thank you.
Coming up next, how Republicans and Democrats just made sure that millions of Americans are about to pay up to thousands of more dollars a month for health insurance, and why Republicans and the President don't seem to have a way out of it, despite the human and political cost.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I want everyone here to understand just what happened on the senate floor. Senate Republicans just shoved the American people off the side of a cliff with no parachute, and with an anchor tied to their feet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And later, a terrifying accident thousands of feet in the air, a skydiver's parachute accidentally deploys. Look at that, it got stuck wrapped around the tail of the plane he's jumping out of putting the skydiver, the pilot, other jumpers in mortal danger 15,000 feet in the sky. We'll break down how it happened and what happened to the skydiver.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:16:31]
COOPER: Tonight, the affordability crisis just got darker for millions of Americans, and the political hole for the President and Republicans just got deeper.
Today, Senate Republicans blocked Democratic legislation to extend health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. And Democrats, for their part, blocked a Republican proposal to replace those subsidies with expanded health savings accounts and limited direct payments, neither of which would fill that gap.
Now, without action, monthly premiums are expected to soar when the subsidies expire at the end of the month, and both Democrats and Republicans recognize what that means.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHUMER: I want everyone here to understand just what happened on the Senate floor. Senate Republicans just shoved the American people off the side of a cliff with no parachute, and with an anchor tied to their feet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That is Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warning about the human impact of ending the subsidies. Here's Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon underscoring the political damage Republicans could face as a consequence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I think it will be used like a sledgehammer, that is a year from now. The reality will be bad, and all these folks are going to go back home. And you have to look voters in the eye and say, we've done nothing while your premiums are going up like $2,000.00 a month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Congressman Bacon is one of 11 Republican House members who've signed on to a discharge petition seeking a vote to extend the premium subsidies for two years. Late today, CNN's Manu Raju asked House Speaker Johnson about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Speaker, what do you say to these swing-district Republicans who are really clamoring, really begging for a vote on a two-year extension of these ACA subsidies and worried about the impact on their constituents and voters?
JOHNSON: I've spoken to all my colleagues. We've all worked around the clock to try to come up with a solution that satisfies the needs of all of our constituents.
RAJU: But we'll give them a vote, will we give them a vote?
JOHNSON: We're working on a package of legislation that will reduce premiums for all Americans, not just seven percent of them. And I've been talking to every one of these colleagues in the Trump districts about that. So, stay tuned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Stay tuned, which sounds a lot kind of like a talking point. Here's the White House Press Secretary saying much the same thing earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You'll hear more from the President and from the White House on that very soon. The President and Republicans are currently coming up with creative solutions and ideas to lower health care costs for the American people and you'll continue to hear more from them on that.
REPORTER: And they're going to do that before these subsidies expire?
LEAVITT: I just said you're going to continue to hear more from the President and Republicans on this issue, I'm sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So it seems like the words for today are stay tuned and very soon, and you'll be hearing more on this, I'm sure.
Now, keeping them honest, though, that's a promise that goes back a long way. Here's candidate Trump in September last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have concepts of a plan. I'm not President right now, but if we come up with something, I would only change it if we come up with something that's better and less expensive. And there are concepts and options we have to do that, and you'll be hearing about it in the not too distant future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So, promises like this actually date back to the first Trump administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to have a health care plan that's going to be second to none. We have two plans coming out. Coming out in a very short period of time -- The plan is coming out over the next four weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you have to tell people what the plan is?
TRUMP: Yes, we'll be announcing that in about two months, maybe less. We're signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan. We've come up with something better that will be great. And everybody wants it because Obamacare sort of sucks.
Obamacare is a failure. Obamacare is not good. Were really, I think, become the y wants it because Obamacare sort of sucks. Obamacare is a failure. Obamacare is not good.
We're really, I think, become the party of good health care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:21]
COOPER: Quite a history only now for millions of Americans this is also current events. It's urgent, It's financially terrifying to many and is playing out within a larger affordability crisis. And doubts about how the President is handling the economy.
New polling tonight, from the Associated Press shows trouble for him there only 31 percent approval on the question, the lowest he's ever had and his reaction seems to be to blame the prior administration, the American public. Quoting now from his social media posting today, "I inherited a mess from the Biden administration, the worst inflation in history and the highest prices our country has ever seen." He went on to say, "When will I get credit for having created, with no inflation, perhaps the greatest economy in the history of our country? When will people understand what is happening? When will polls reflect the greatness of America at this point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?"
So it's hard to see how any President could reassure people, worried about the cost of living and being able to pay the bills by saying things like this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You can give up certain products, you can give up pencils because under the China policy, you know, every child can get 37 pencils. They only need one or two. You know, they don't need that many. You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter, two or three is nice, but you don't need 37 dolls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: When President Jimmy Carter, Democrat, asked Americans to tighten their belts and turn down the heat during the energy crisis, they told him what to do with it.
When the first President, George Bush, seemed out of touch about how supermarket scanners worked and said things like message: I care, voters made him a one term President because, fairly or unfairly, they saw him and President Carter is being out of touch with their concerns.
Well, today, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said much the same about this President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I think the President needs to be aware that he's a billionaire, President of the United States, and you can't gaslight people and tell them that their bills are affordable, and you can't tell them that the economy is an A plus, plus, plus. You just can't do that and I think it's insulting to people's intelligence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining us now, former Trump White House Communications Director Mike Dubke, also CNN political commentator and former DNC communications director, Xochitl Hinojosa.
So, Mike, do Republicans, I mean, is it wise for them to be doing this on, on health care?
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I think we're at this point now because we lost the month of October basically because of the government shutdown. We knew that these subsidies were going to expire. This is part of the typical Washington process. I think when you look at in your reporting, the discharge petition in the House for a two-year extension, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer knew that his three-year extension was untenable.
Republicans were not going to go for it and when you had the four Republicans in the Senate that voted today for that plan, they were all saying the same thing. We just want to bring something to the floor that we can then bring amendments to and negotiate.
We're going to get a solution here. I think Don Bacon is absolutely right. I hope it happens before we get to the end of the year. But these members might have to go home and hear from constituents in January and February of these increased rates. But we've got to get, we've got to get some plan across the finish line.
COOPER: Yes, I mean, Xochi, what is remarkable when you hear and there's live images of the President and the First Lady at the White House now speaking for an event tonight, it is remarkable when you go back and you hear the President time and time again saying, you know, I've got a plan, it's coming, I got a concept of a plan, he's talking two weeks, two months, and yet still there is no plan.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Anderson, it has been 15 years since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have had 15 years to come up with an alternative if they did not like something. And their alternative has always been repeal and replace. The problem is, is that that didn't work out for them. They lost the midterm elections after they tried to repeal the ACA over and over and over. And now the situation that they're in is that the ACA has a 57 percent approval rating, which is way higher than Donald Trump.
And so, you're right. You know, they haven't offered an alternative and this is why you're seeing a discharge position that now as last time I checked in with House Democrats only needed about four Republicans, moderate Republicans to sign on because they understand that affordability is a problem and health care premiums are going to go up.
So, they have had plenty of chances to do this. And now they are in a binder, in a pickle because they understand that the midterms are coming up. And not only do they have rising costs at the grocery store, but now rising health care costs.
DUBKE: I just need to say one thing. I think both parties are in a bind on this issue, we would need subsidies if Obamacare was a perfect health care plan, which it's not. But both parties are suffering here. You have the Democrats with a shutdown over this issue in October, and we lost valuable time talking about it.
And you have Republicans who at this point need to move forward with something that is going to protect, you know, these hundreds or thousands of dollars of increases. So, both of these parties are just butting heads at the moment.
[20:25:08]
COOPER: You know, Xochi, so it's fascinating how history, particularly in politics, repeats President Trump very effectively during the campaign, you know, went after Joe Biden on Bidenomics, which for some reason, the White House thought was a good idea to name what was happening, Bidenomics. He was very effective on the price of eggs and the details of it.
We're now seeing a President who seems to be doing kind of the same thing that that Joe Biden did in the White House, not believing, you know, that he's getting credit for what he sees as advances in the economy when people aren't feeling it on affordability. HINOJOSA: That's right, instead of talking to the American people about what he's going to do to change it, he's instead mocking them. So, I would say that, yes, he's repeating the mistakes of Joe Biden, but it's even worse because he's saying that the affordability crisis is a hoax.
And I just want to point you to what happened in Miami this week where a Democrat won the Miami mayoral for the first time in 30 years. And if you look at the issue that's happening in Miami, their cost of living is up 21 percent based on and across like compared to the national average. And so we are seeing this play out in real time. But we know how Donald Trump operates. We've seen him over the years.
If something is going wrong it is always someone else's fault. And that's what he's doing here.
COOPER: I got to leave it there. Mike Dubke, great to have you on, Xochitl Hinojosa as well, Thank you.
Up next, an FBI official testifies Antifa is the leading domestic terror threat, but didn't quite have answers when asked to provide some basic information about Antifa.
And a state of emergency in Western Washington State after days of heavy rain causing severe flooding. And it's just getting worse. I'll speak to governor Bob Ferguson ahead tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:31:59]
COOPER: An awkward moment today at a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee after an FBI official testified that the Bureau agrees with President Trump's position that Antifa is the leading domestic terrorist threat. When asked, though, by the committee's top Democrat to provide some basic information about Antifa, he didn't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D), MISSISSIPPI: So where is the Antifa headquarter?
MICHAEL GLASHEEN: A LONGTIME FBI AGENT SERVING AS OPERATIONS DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY BRANCH: What we're doing right now with the organization --
THOMPSON: Where in the United States does Antifa exist? You say Antifa is a terrorist organization. Tell us, as a committee, how did you come to that? Where do they exist? How many members do they have in the United States as of right now?
GLASHEEN: That's very fluid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining us now is CNN Chief Law Enforcement Intelligence Analyst John Miller. I mean, I don't know if he wasn't prepared there or didn't expect questions but, I mean, Antifa is not a traditional organization. It's more -- we've talked about this before, it's more of an ideological movement, isn't it?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Right. And, I mean, I've testified before that committee before and answered questions from Bennie Thompson, but what he's asking Mike Glasheen from the FBI is unanswerable. What is Antifa's address? Where is its headquarters?
It's an ideological platform that many sub-organizations, none of which -- well, only one, the one in Portland calls itself Rose Antifa, but most of the Antifa organizations that adopt the ideology, including those who act out in violent ways, don't have Antifa in their name. And it's really hard to take an ideology and say, here's its headquarters, here's its leader. It's leaderless, it's shapeless.
COOPER: I mean, I remember back in 2023, then FBI Director Chris Wray told Congress, quote, "The top domestic terrorism threat we face continues to be from domestic violent extremists we categorize as racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists and anti- government or anti-authority violent extremists." That could include people who claim to be part of Antifa. That also includes other people as well on the all -- on the full political spectrum.
MILLER: It does. And over time, you will find that when it comes to violent extremists, which is different from protesters, whatever party is out of power is when the extremists usually become more active. We saw a lot of right-wing violence during the Biden administration.
We're seeing an uptick in the kinds of left-wing violence during this Trump administration, examples being not just brawls with the Proud Boys or demonstrations fighting police, but sniper attacks on ICE officials at a detention facility where two migrants were killed in September.
Before that, another sniper attack against a police officer who was trying to stop damage being done to a detention center. So we're seeing the level of violence edge up. The problem that they're going to face is the President of the United States issued an executive order saying Antifa is a designated domestic terrorist organization for which there's no law behind that.
[20:35:09]
We don't have a domestic terrorism law. And that the FBI is under pressure to say what they're doing about it. And you saw that with Mike sitting there under the hot lights today.
COOPER: Yes. John Miller, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
MILLER: Thanks.
COOPER: Coming up next, the flooding emergency in Washington State. I'll talk to the governor ahead and Louisiana voters, many of whom supported the President two years ago, weigh in on his second term. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What did you think of the tariffs?
VIVIAN JOINER, PARADE PARTICIPANT: Oh, now those we can do without.
REEVE: OK, yes --
JOINER: Those we can do without. Trump, baby, we can do without those.
EARL NEEL, PARADE PARTICIPANT: There's no politician that's absolutely be 100 percent do what they say. But I think he's trying to do more than anybody else says.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:40:26]
COOPER: Tonight, parts of western Washington are inundated with record-breaking flooding. A state of emergency has been declared in the northwestern part of the state. As many as 100,000 people who live in the region may be forced to evacuate. A whole swath of the western part of the state is affected.
Some areas have received a foot of rain so far this week. That's what it's the streets look like in Silvana, Washington, just north of Seattle. I spoke with the governor, Bob Ferguson, just before airtime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Governor Ferguson, what's the latest information you have about the flood levels and evacuations?
GOV. BOB FERGUSON (D), WASHINGTON: Well, the situation remains critical, Anderson. Literally, the report we received from the National Weather Service less than 24 hours ago was the situation is potentially catastrophic, that's their term, and also has the potential for significant loss of life. And that is still the threat that we're under really across Washington State and many counties right now.
COOPER: And are people largely heeding evacuation orders?
FERGUSON: You know, that's a really good question. I asked that. I was, of course, up north just earlier today, a couple hours ago, asking first responders and people on the ground that very question. And the sense that I had from them was there was one area overnight that was especially exposed.
They felt that people in that area last night did largely follow those evacuation orders, which was a good thing. That system in Skagit River, for example, is now moving downriver. That exposes many thousands of more Washingtonians to this threat. There is some concern in some reports that people are going back to their homes or feeling like because it wasn't raining earlier in the day that maybe they're OK. Obviously, our message to them is the river is literally going to reach, Anderson, historic levels on the Skagit River near towns like Burlington and Sedro-Woolley.
Historic levels. As long as we've been recording the river, it's never gone this high in those areas. So we're deeply concerned and want to make sure folks are following those evacuation orders.
COOPER: What do you know about possible injuries or loss of life? And what are the next 24 hours look like for residents in your state?
FERGUSON: So, first, I'll say the next 24 hours could not be more critical. So on the Skagit River, for example, the river will be cresting tomorrow mid-morning. Again, that is expected to be a historic level on that river, just to be clear, historic level.
So for folks who live in that community, this is not something they've experienced before. This is another level. We have not heard of any fatalities at this point from the last 24 hours related to the floods, which is a good thing.
And back to your earlier point, people seem to be following largely those evacuation orders. That said, where the river is moving now, where the flooding is moving, is to a more highly populated area, considerably so. So that's exposing tens of thousands of more Washingtonians to this flood.
And again, just to repeat the words literally from the National Weather Service, potentially significant loss of life. They understand what's at stake. And that's why, as you can see on the video footage you're showing, the situation is quite, quite critical.
COOPER: Yes. Governor Bob Ferguson, thank you very much.
FERGUSON: Thank you, Anderson. Appreciate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: More now on how Americans are viewing the President's second term. Two years ago, CNN's Elle Reeve went to what's known as the Redneck Christmas Parade in Louisiana, where voters were hopeful about candidate Trump. She went back again now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REEVE (voice-over): This is the Redneck Christmas Parade in Bawcomville, Louisiana. It's a holiday toy drive and a celebration of country culture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plungers, through the years, have been the most favorite thing for people to receive. They just dance all over the place when they get a plunger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They go crazy over ramen noodles. They love them. REEVE (voice-over): We came to this parade two years ago to talk about the then-upcoming 2024 election. Lots of people told us they were excited for Donald Trump to come back to the White House, to lower prices and fix the economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're ready for Trump to get back in. Can't wait.
REEVE (voice-over): This time, people's support for Trump was more muted.
TOMMY WILTCHER, PARADE PARTICIPANT: To me, the tariffs that Trump started, I think, is a joke. The American people are paying for it.
REEVE: Right.
WILTCHER: And that's what I don't like.
REEVE: Now, he pledged to lower prices. Do you think he's been able to pull that off?
WILTCHER: No.
REEVE: Do you think he should have promised it?
WILTCHER: Well, he's a politician, so, I mean, you know, politicians promise the world when they want to get elected.
[20:45:00]
REEVE: Well, do you support him -- President Trump?
WILTCHER: Yes, I support him. I'm not happy with him all the time. I think it's a joke about creating the big ballroom --
REEVE: Yes.
WILTCHER: -- up there and wanting to inlay it with all the gold fixtures.
DAVID SALVENT, PARADE SPECTATOR: I'm not the biggest fan, but at least it's not Biden. That's my opinion. I was just hoping for a little bit more personally, you know, especially with, like, all the stuff happening with the Epstein, you know, files and all that. That's got me really nervous as well.
REEVE: Do you want more of the Epstein files to come out?
SALVENT: Absolutely, yes. I really want it to come out. I mean, if he was there, I feel like we deserve to know that, you know, especially if we don't want him in there. I mean, what Epstein did was horrible. That's really bad.
REEVE: How long are you willing to give him to get the prices down?
JOINER: Until his end of term?
REEVE: Yes.
JOINER: I'm willing to stand behind him if he just keeps bringing it down.
REEVE: What do you think of the tariffs?
JOINER: Oh, now those we can do without.
REEVE (voice-over): OK, yes --
JOINER: Those we can do without. Trump, baby, we can do without those.
REEVE: So Trump's been in office about a year. How do you think he's done so far?
THERESA DELRIO, PARADE PARTICIPANT: I think it's still too early to tell. I was watching the news last night down in New Orleans where the border control was active. And some of the things I didn't, I was not comfortable with at all.
REEVE: Tell us more what you think about the deportations.
DELRIO: You know, I know there has to be a limit sometimes. And they fight hard for the border control because of the drug issue and things like that. But then I see some people that just seem so innocent. There was one particular girl who was born and raised here. And they chased her down the street into her house. That really upset me.
There's citizens here that are being chased. And with the last name of DelRio, you know?
REEVE: Yes.
DELRIO: I don't want anybody chasing me down the road.
REEVE: What grade would you give Trump after a year in office?
DELRIO: Probably a seven.
REEVE: Seven?
DELRIO: One to 10, maybe a seven.
REEVE (voice-over): Others loved the whole package.
REEVE: Were you excited for Trump to get back in office?
SANDRA LACOURSE, PARADE PARTICIPANT: Absolutely. He opened up Christianity again. Things were just being not as free to be a Christian.
REEVE: Anything about deportation?
LACOURSE: It was harsh, but it probably needed to be harsh because we had so many coming in. We saw the rapes, the murders. It was just not a good situation. REEVE: Now some of the people who have been deported weren't criminals, you know?
LACOURSE: Yes, that's why it's like kind of harsh sometimes.
REEVE: Do you feel like that reflected Christian values?
LACOURSE: Yes, there's a lot of prayer going on. That he seek wisdom. And he tries.
SCOTTY ADAMS, PARADE PARTICIPANT: I like the economy. I love the gas. We have some of the cheapest gas right now. With the gas prices coming down lower, it should transfer over to food prices and other items eventually. And I'm loving it.
NEEL: Since Trump's been in, the gas is going down, everything's getting better, and he's deporting all these criminals that come over from other countries. I think it's great. I think he ought to run again, if he could.
REEVE: If he could.
NEEL: Or maybe his Vice President, Vance, can get in there and run.
REEVE: So, OK, if he doesn't come through on all his promises, then why do you still like him?
NEEL: Because I think he's honest.
REEVE: OK.
NEEL: You know? He's got all these people against him trying to put him out and get him in jail, and they're just lying about him. There's no politician that's absolutely be 100 percent do what they say. But I think he's trying to do more than anybody else says.
REEVE: And employment is lower --
REEVE (voice-over): We talked to Toni Boler two years ago and found her again in this same spot.
REEVE: Just give me some details.
TONI BOLER, PARADE SPECTATOR: Well, I mean, look at our pocketbooks.
Yes.
REEVE: Good to see you again.
BOLER: You too.
REEVE: Two years ago, you were talking about the economy being really tough for people.
BOLER: Right.
REEVE: Has it changed since then?
BOLER: I think it has a little. It's gotten a little better. I think things are -- I mean, the gas prices have gone down. I haven't seen a lot of difference in the grocery prices. I don't know that we will but hopefully.
Personally, like his policies, I think it's been less than a year, so still a lot yet to be seen. I think probably in two more years, things will be a lot better. Is it perfect? No. I mean, he's got a lot more to do, in my opinion.
REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Bawcomville, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Coming up next, a terrifying moment caught on video at 15,000 feet. How this tangled-up skydiver managed to survive, along with everyone on the jump plane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:54:24]
COOPER: An Australian skydiver is lucky to be alive after his reserve parachute accidentally deployed early, sucking him out of the plane, wrapping around the tail of the aircraft, as you see. He was suspended 15,000 feet above the ground. He was forced finally to cut through 11 lines of cord with a hook knife, freeing himself from the snared parachute.
The skydiver then was free-falling with part of his reserve chute still attached to him, tangled with his main chute a bit, managed to open the main chute and land safely. The incident happened back in September, was just released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau today.
Joining me now is Jimmy Hatch, a Retired Special Operations Navy SEAL with 27 years' experience skydiving. He's also the founder of Spike's K9 Fund and a friend.
[20:55:06]
Jimmy, have you seen stuff like this before? I mean, does this happen regularly?
JIMMY HATCH, RETIRED SPECIAL OPERATIONS NAVY SEAL: I don't say it happens regularly, but it certainly can happen. And you can tell by the video that it is something that they train for. You can see that everybody kind of did what they were supposed to do. Everybody was heads up, including the fellow with the hook knife.
And we've had arguments in skydiving. That's often a discussion about, should I carry a hook knife? Yes, you should.
COOPER: Well, what's -- he also -- I mean, his legs hit the wing, which has got to be incredibly painful. I don't know how injured he was. So what do you do in a situation like that? That is actually his reserve chute that was -- that's jammed on the plane. So what is a hook knife? What's so special about that?
HATCH: Yes, it's just a knife that's built like a hook, so you can't tear everything apart, just the things you grab, the lines. And, you know, he was heads up.
If you watch it in slow motion, he hits -- definitely hits his legs on it, and then he comes back, and he kind of gets his sense about him, and then he knows what he has to do, and he goes to work. Same with the videographer who had stepped out first. He understood, hey, I've got to get tight to the airplane because I can see what's getting ready to happen, and then he let go.
It just goes to show you, a lot of things can go wrong, and if you train for it. Let's go jumping again, Anderson.
COOPER: Well, yes, I went jumping with Jimmy, and it's an incredible experience. But, I mean, was there any other option? Could the plane have suddenly tried to just descend really fast and with him stuck to the wing? I guess that -- I mean, he wouldn't have been able to land with this guy stuck to the wing, right?
HATCH: Yes, I don't think he would have. I don't think that would have worked out well for anybody, so I think what happened was probably the best case, you know, in all the bad things going on, what happened. And the fellow being so -- the fellow who's hanging there being so, you know, he was aware, and he took care of it quickly.
It was done relatively quickly, and then it made it a lot easier. The pilot, I think he still landed it with some of the parachute attached to the plane. But he did it well, yes.
COOPER: What's so crazy to me is, too, like when you jump out of a plane, I mean, not only is it just so not a normal experience is if you're doing it for the first time, which is clearly this person's very experience. But the wind is whipping so hard.
I mean, I don't know that how this person had the presence of mind to, like, get his bearings and figure out -- I mean, as you said, he kind of got his bearings very quickly.
HATCH: Yes, you see him, he touches his helmet, he's like, OK, then he just figures he's looking around, he sees what he's got to do, and he goes to work. It's just cool, it's just a testament to training, and that's what, you know, when you go skydiving, it's certainly something you want to do, practice all these things. But it -- I mean, this is not something that happens often, and they did a really good job.
COOPER: This is me plummeting to the earth, not doing anything. Thankfully, I --
HATCH: Yes.
COOPER: -- was tandem jumping with somebody who was very experienced, a friend of yours. But it is such a crazy -- HATCH: Yes.
COOPER: -- feeling, that initial -- I mean, you feel like you're in this -- if you're tandem, you're like in this BabyBjorn, you have no control over it, and suddenly the guy's, like, inching toward the, you know, outside the plane, and it's such an unnatural act to step outside of the aircraft.
It's -- it was an incredible experience. We got to do it down in Norfolk.
HATCH: It was.
COOPER: Yes.
Jimmy Hatch, great to have you on.
HATCH: Exhausting (ph).
COOPER: Thank you so much.
HATCH: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: All right. Take care.
HATCH: Let's go again.
COOPER: I would like to.
In about 15 minutes, at 9:15 Eastern, I hope you join me online for my new streaming show. It's called All There Is Live. It's a companion show to my podcast about grief and loss. I talk with podcast listeners and others about their experiences with loss and interact with everyone watching and commenting online during the show.
It's a very casual, interesting show. I hope you tune in in about 15 minutes from now. This is one of the voicemail messages I recently got from a voicemail listener that I'll be talking about tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Grace. One thing I've learned in my grief, now being almost five years since my mom died by suicide, especially as we're approaching the holidays, that the best place to be on a holiday for me is where there's no expectations of me and where I don't put expectations on myself because I think I have to make a good impression or I think I'm bringing the moon down.
And it took me four and a half years to find it, but I did. I go to birthday parties, and I go to Thanksgivings and Christmases. And if I want to talk about my mom, they listen. And if I want to cancel at the last minute, I won't hurt anyone's feelings. For me on holidays, I feel like those are the days where I let myself just pick me.
One thing I'm going to ask, though, someone told me that the fifth year of grief is hardest. And I responded by telling them every year, at least one person has told me that the year I'm in is the hardest year. And I asked them, what year is the easiest?
When will I have the easiest year? And I really hope I haven't already had it because living without my mom for five years is just too many. So if anyone's left a voicemail telling you what year is the easiest, I'd love to know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, thank you for that voicemail, which is one of many I get from podcast listeners. I hope you join me. You know, a lot of people say the news doesn't seem real. This is the most real show that there is. Fifteen minutes from now, All There Is Live, it's called at CNN.com/AllThereIs. That's our grief community page. I'll see you there.
The news continues with The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
