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Judge Dismisses DOJ Cases Against James Comey and Letitia James; Trump to Unveil New Health Care Proposal as Soon as Today; New Zealand Announces Plan to Eradicate Feral Cats; Russian Swimmers Brace the Ice; Slender Man Attacker Captured After Escaping Group Home. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 24, 2025 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[13:33:43]

ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And we're back now with our Breaking News, as a judge has dismissed the federal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York's Attorney General Latitia James.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The judge found that the appointment of Interim U.S. Attorney, Lindsey Halligan was invalid. Remember, Trump handpicked Halligan for the role and made increased pressure to bring criminal cases against his perceived political enemies, including Comey and James. Let's get some perspective from Michael Smerconish. He's a CNN Political Commentator, also the host of CNN Smerconish. Michael, great to see you as always.

Do you think this is the end of the road for DOJ's indictments of Comey and James, or do you think we might see some further legal action down the road?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND HOST OF "CNN SMERCONISH": The latter. I'm convinced that it'll be the latter because these two cases were dismissed without prejudice, which means that the door is open for DOJ to bring them soon, but on different terms. So I think that you will see pursuit of these cases again. I'm very confident of it. It kind of reminds me, Boris, of a -- Jessica, of a conversation that I had with Ellie Honig talking about, our CNN colleague, talking about in particular the Comey case when it was first brought and whether there would be any of the typical pretrial practice that is normally associated with a criminal indictment like this.

[13:35:00]

And we were each speculating that maybe in the end, James Comey would choose to have his day in court so that he'd get a clean bill of health from a jury and not from the potential of a dismissal for prosecution that was brought for political motives. I'm replaying those conversations in my mind because I'm sure this case will go on. Whether it ultimately reaches a jury, I don't know, but it's not over. HILL: And it has been such a piece of the administration, certain members of the administration's kind of calling card in all of this. After the grand jury approved the indictment of Comey, obviously, the details of that have now been called into question. The Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI Director Kash Patel, each of them posted no one is above the law. They've been very forward with all of this, very out in the open pushing this, obviously the president as well. What is -- what does that dynamic mean in all of this?

SMERCONISH: I think that it's a problem for the prosecutors in these cases because it lends credence to the view that the administration is doing something that the administration believes with great conviction was done against President Trump. And that is the use of lawfare for political purposes. He had made great effect about those four indictments and the one criminal trial during the course of the campaign. Now that he's the commander in chief, the same allegation gets made against his DOJ, that they're blending politics and prosecution.

SANCHEZ: I want to pivot now, Michael, to Marjorie Taylor Greene, the big news over the weekend, the Congresswoman announcing her resignation in January. I know you asked her radio audience whether her change was more attributed to evolution or opportunism. Her statement, certainly, had a level of disenchantment, what sounded like disenchantment from her. What do you make of this?

SMERCONISH: It's interesting that you show that result because you can see that nearly two-thirds thought it was a case of opportunism. I don't see wherein lies the opportunism in this incarnation of the Republican Party, a very Trumpian MAGA based GOP to be at odds with Donald Trump. I don't see wherein lies the political upside. Maybe you get invited on "The View" more than you otherwise would, but I don't see advantage.

I'm more inclined to give her benefit of the doubt that she's had some kind of an epiphany moment and that this is all part of a path on which she's traveling. But I, I don't -- what I see in terms of jeopardy for the GOP and for the president, politically speaking, is not so much that she's a nemesis and that she's going to be a burr in his saddle. It's more the issues in her congressional district that gave rise to her complaints, right? It's housing and the price of housing, it's groceries, it's the Epstein file. Those issues are out there, I think, dogging the administration among his base, unlike anything that's come before them.

HILL: Yeah. And you look more broadly, especially at House Republicans, all of whom are going to be running for re-election in less than a year when we have these midterms. I'm curious what you think this says about, kind of where they are in terms of Trump's power over Republican lawmakers. For better part of a decade, he has had -- he has ruled with an iron fist. They've done whatever he told them to, and we're now starting to see some of these cracks. Do you think other people might potentially come forward and say, we don't like being treated like this, or we need to tout some of the benefits of working together to win in some of these more purple districts, things like that? SMERCONISH: Right. Is she a one-off or is this the start of a trend?

HILL: Right.

SMERCONISH: Is I think what you're asking me?

HILL: Yes.

SMERCONISH: And I see her more as a one-off. I don't see -- I don't see sign of a trend here. And the data that I've seen pertaining to Republicans is that, OK, maybe the approval rating of President Trump is not at 88%, but it's still somewhere at like 82%. He's got a lot of ground that he can afford to give. And I think that anyone who's contemplating stepping out against him is going to look at that data and say, no, it's unwise.

HILL: It's not worth it. All right. Michael Smerconish, good to see you. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

SMERCONISH: Thank you.

HILL: So to come, the clock is ticking for Republicans to come up with their own plan to prevent healthcare premiums from skyrocketing. This as we are learning, the president is set to unveil a plan of his own as soon as today. We've got reaction from an Obamacare architect. That's next.

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[13:44:07]

SANCHEZ: CNN has learned that President Trump plans to unveil a proposal to keep health insurance premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans once Obamacare enhanced subsidies expire at the end of the year. Sources tell us the plan could be announced as soon as today. The Trump administration has been under pressure to come up with an affordable plan after Senate Republicans agreed to hold a vote next month to extend those expiring subsidies in exchange for Democrats voting to end that historic 43-day government shutdown.

While the details of the plan are unclear, sources tell CNN it would temporarily extend those subsidies in some form. It would also include some new income limits, require all enrollees to pay some form of a premium, and offer a health savings account for lower-tier customers. Let's get the thoughts of Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel. He's a former Obama administration health policy adviser and the architect of Obamacare.

[13:45:00]

He's also the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the forthcoming book " Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life." I do appreciate that advice, sir. Thanks so much for being with us.

Obviously, the Affordable Care Act was passed more than 15 years ago and it remains controversial. Millions of people who weren't previously insured now are, but healthcare remains a huge financial burden for millions. So, how do you weigh its impact?

EZEKIEL EMANUEL, OBAMACARE ARCHITECT: Well, the Affordable Care Act has been a huge success. As you say, more than 24 million people have gotten health insurance. We went from an uninsured rate of roughly, 15, 16 percent down to an uninsured rate of eight percent. We've also kept healthcare costs flat as a proportion of the GDP, from roughly the time of the Affordable Care Act to 2023. The last few years, it's gone up substantially.

Now, it is the case that Americans are suffering. We have an affordability crisis. Even when we were passing the Affordable Care Act, I said we've got to emphasize controlling healthcare costs. We put a number of provisions in, but more has to be done. So I think that is definitely true. The American public feels the pain of rising healthcare costs, rising drug costs, rising insurance premiums and co- pays and deductibles.

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about the subsidies that are set to expire because they're going to be the crux of this upcoming fight. Why was it necessary to provide those subsidies during the COVID pandemic and why were they structured to expire now?

EMANUEL: Well, they were important to get as many people insured as possible because we wanted people who got COVID or suspected COVID to test themselves if they had COVID, and were sick to go to the hospital and not avoid getting healthcare because of cost. That was the main reason. And we saw, in fact, in one year, I think something like a seven million more people got health insurance because of the enhanced subsidies. So again, they were very effective in the goal of getting people coverage, so that they would not avoid getting healthcare services. They were set to expire for financial reasons because they have -- they are expensive, as healthcare is expensive.

SANCHEZ: So if the idea partly was that having millions more people get healthcare would help drive costs down, why are they remaining unsustainable for so many people?

EMANUEL: Well, there's a lot of reasons why they're going up. Probably the main two or three drivers of rising healthcare costs, one is hospital costs have gone up way faster than any other single part of the healthcare system, hospital costs rising. They're now about a third -- just under a third of all healthcare spending are related to hospitals. You have drug costs, where the average price is going down, but new specialty drugs are super high and people understand this from the GLP-1s. The prices could and probably have to come down.

We also have some perverse incentives in the system. We pay doctors to do more rather than to keep people healthy. We have administrative costs that are at 20% of total healthcare spending, way too high by anyone's estimation. So there are a number of factors driving healthcare costs up and the public is experiencing those problems.

SANCHEZ: I wonder whether you see some of the sort of proposed fixes or proposed adjustments, I should say, as fixes. Having a cap on income to receive those enhanced subsidies if they are to be extended and further also, mandating that everyone pay at least some monthly premium. How does this shape affordability going into the future?

EMANUEL: First of all, we should be clear, it does absolutely nothing for affordability. People who are above 400% of the poverty line will have to pay more. They're not going to see it be more affordable. People at the low end who have to pay something, they're not going to see it become more affordable. So, those proposals don't do anything for affordability. And by driving out people who are relatively healthy, they're actually going to raise premiums even more.

As I suggested, if you really want to get your arms around healthcare costs, you're going to have to address hospital costs, pharmaceutical costs, administrative costs. Those are the things that we need to get our arms around.

[13:50:00]

And you need to have a much more comprehensive proposal than it appears the one the president is going to suggest, which isn't really going to address affordability at all, except to the extent that they will then agree to extend the enhanced subsidies in the exchanges.

SANCHEZ: We'll obviously take a closer look at the proposal once we get it, and we hope to have your perspective then too. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, thank you so much.

EMANUEL: It was a pleasure to be here. I hope I was helpful.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much. Up next, a woman who attacked her classmate in a case known as the Slender Man stabbing is back in custody after cutting off her tracking device and skipping town. We'll tell you where police found her and who she was with.

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[13:55:40]

HILL: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour, the man who helped popularize the reggae genre, Jimmy Cliff has died at the age of 81. The smooth-voiced singer is known for hits like "You Can Get It If You Really Want", and "The Harder They Come." Born in Western Jamaica, Cliff grew up in poverty and sang in church. He had his first hit when he was just 14. It was "Hurricane Hattie." Cliff would later work with acts like the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello and Paul Simon. The Jamaican prime minister paying tribute to him on X, calling him a true cultural giant whose music carried the heart of our nation to the world.

Also, New Zealand says it plans to eradicate its feral cat population in an effort to boost biodiversity. In a new radio interview, the country's conservation minister referred to the wild cats as "stone cold killers" that live independently of humans and kill to survive. Among the options being considered to get rid of them are poisoned sausage bait and a poison that would be sprayed from a device on a tree when a cat walks by. So that's what's going on in New Zealand.

SANCHEZ: What could go wrong -- (LAUGH)

HILL: No.

SANCHEZ: -- there? They're so cute though. Why would you want to --

HILL: I know. Stone cold killers.

SANCHEZ: Even not one with a bone in its mouth.

HILL: Yeah. Well.

SANCHEZ: Meantime, over in Russia, swimmers are braving negative 22- degree temps for a quick dip. This is a swimming hole that's been carved into the ice. One of the brave bathers says that being in the water isn't that bad. What sucks is getting out. They say it feels like your entire body is being needled. So I guess, if that's what you call fun, it does not look like fun.

Alas, the woman institutionalized for stabbing her friend in the name of the internet boogeyman, known as Slender Man, is back in custody. Police in Madison, Wisconsin say that on Saturday night, Morgan Geyser left the group home where she was living, after cutting off her monitoring bracelet. Officials say they found her sleeping at a truck stop about 150 miles away in Posen, Illinois last night. Back in 2014, when Geyser was in middle school, the world followed her case. You might remember, she and a classmate attacked their friend after a sleepover, citing an obsession with this fictional character. CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now with the latest. Jean, bring us up to speed with her capture, and apparently she wasn't alone at this truck stop.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. She had a companion with her, and it was at the truck stop and the police, and this is Illinois, all right? So this all started Saturday night, around eight o'clock, at the group home in Wisconsin where authorities say she cut off her electronic monitoring bracelet and then left. She just fled. And she was seen with an adult companion at that point. We don't know if it's the same person, but she was basically on the run for about 24 hours and late last night, at this truck stop as they're calling it in Illinois, about 150 miles away from Wisconsin where she was, they saw her and a companion sleeping on the sidewalk.

So then they walk up and they ask her, her name, she won't say it, and it's Morgan Geyser. She wouldn't say it, then she said a false name. And then she said, I'm not going to give you my name because I've done something really bad. She said, just Google me if you want to. And so they ultimately found out who she was. They arrested her. So she's in custody at this point, we believe still in Illinois, because she needs to be extradited back to Wisconsin. But this started in 2014. You gave a synopsis a minute ago. I'll add a little bit more.

She was 12-years-old and she had her friend, also 12-years-old. They got together and invited the victim who was 12-years-old, over for a sleepover. But the plan was they were going to kill her. And so the next day, they lured the victim into the woods and Morgan, and she pleaded guilty to this, stabbed her 19 times. And then that little 12- year-old was able to crawl and found a bicyclist and said, help me and she survived. She is still alive. But Morgan pleaded guilty to attempted first degree murder. At her sentencing hearing, the defense put on a lot of mental health testimony and the judge determined in sentencing, she'd be committed to 40 years in a state mental hospital.

Well, this video that you've just been showing is from this January, and that's because a judge made the decision after her being in the state mental hospital for about seven years there, she had --