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Trump Defends Hegseth Over Reported Follow-Up Strike on Boat; New Winter Storm Threatens More Snow, Travel Disruptions; Four Dead, Including Three Children in California Mass Shooting. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 01, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Did they commit a war crime? New bipartisan question swirling this morning after a lethal order, sources, say given by defense secretary Pete Hegseth.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A new winter storm is sweeping in targeting some 40 million Americans this morning expected to cause major disruptions on the roads and potentially in the skies. In many places, they're still digging out from the last winter blast.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A huge fireball caught on camera, exploding into the sky. You have to see this. 200-plus firefighters called in to help, one witness saying it was so powerful, she thought a nuke had gone off.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. This morning did the Trump administration commit a war crime? President Trump is defending Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth over questions about deadly U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, specifically an attack on September 2nd. CNN has learned that there were survivors from the initial strike, and that a second strike was ordered that killed the remaining crew bringing the death toll there to 11.

The source says that before this operation, Hegseth ordered the military to make sure that everyone on board was killed, though it's not clear whether he knew there were survivors before the second strike. This is how the president framed it overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Number one, I don't know that happened, and Pete said he did not want them -- he didn't even know what people were talking about. So, we'll look at -- we'll look into it, but, no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine. And if there were two people around, but Pete said that didn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: On Capitol Hill, there is growing bipartisan concern over the reports of those survivors being killed. And now the Republican-led Senate and House Armed Services Committees, they're launching investigations.

Let's get right to CNN's Betsy Klein live at the White House this morning. So, the president commented on, but really more around these allegations. What are you hearing this morning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, John, major questions for the White House this morning as to whether they committed a war crime. Our colleague, Natasha Bertrand, over at the Pentagon reported over the weekend that the U.S. military carried out a second follow-up strike on an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean on September. Second, after the first strike did not kill everyone on board.

Now, sources familiar with the matter say that when the initial strike appeared to disable the boat and kill people, it was assessed that there were survivors. That second attack killed the remaining people on board and sunk the ship.

Now, one of the sources says that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the military before the operation to ensure that it killed every single person on board, but it is not clear if he knew whether that there were survivors before the second strike took place.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill now say that this may constitute a war crime. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Obviously if that occurred that would be in be very serious and I agree that would be an illegal act. This is completely outside of anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you received that order, would you have carried it out?

SEN. MARK KELLY (R-AZ): No. No. And I'm a guy who -- I have sunk two ships, but, you know, going after survivors in the water, that is clearly not lawful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, President Trump told reporters that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told him that he did not order the second strike, and President Trump says that he would not have wanted that.

But this comes as the U.S. military has conducted about 20 known strikes on these alleged drug vessels operating in the Caribbean. And the U.S. has also amassed a significant show of force in the region as President Trump weighs his options on Venezuela.

There have been roughly 15,000 military personnel, more than a dozen warships, and the president has been briefed on a range of plans.

[07:05:01]

We've also learned that President Trump did speak with Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro. He did not provide details on the substance of that call, John.

BERMAN: Yes, very important to note, Betsy. That sound you played included both a Democrat and a Republican, raising questions about the actions that took place, concerned that if they took place as reported, they were not legal.

Betsy Klein at the White House, clearly, this is all developing this morning. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Happening right now, a new winter storm threatens to bring more snow, ice, and travel problems to nearly half the country. It will compound the issues in areas already slammed by record snowfall that happened over the weekend.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking this new winter storm threat. Okay, so winter storm alerts, am I right about this, from Kansas to Maine?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. That doesn't mean that the storm is that big, Sara, but it will span this distance over 1,500 miles. You can see the alerts from Kansas all the way to Southern Maine over the coming days.

Impeccable timing, right, Mother Nature, especially after this weekend's mess, we saw daily November. Record snowfall totals, places like Chicago into Madison, Wisconsin. This is what it looked like in Des Moines, people trying to just navigate the very difficult travel conditions, snowplows out in full force, there were jackknifed 18 wheelers. It was a mess if you traveled the roads, you know, and, of course the timing with the busy holiday season, everybody trying to come home, a second storm adds more misery to travelers on the roadways and in the skies.

So, here it is developing across the Central Plains. It's going to take its time as it moves throughout the Tennessee and Ohio River Valley. I'm going to stop it at some key moments here. Tuesday morning, this is the area we're concerned about for snowfall, three to seven inches, potentially across Pennsylvania, Upstate New York. But as we evolve this over the coming hours on Tuesday afternoon, you can see that I-95 corridor critical between D.C., New York and Boston generally rain from the 95 corridor to the coastline.

The snowfall really localized across the higher elevation, the upper Hudson Valley, into the Poconos perhaps the Berkshires, the Massachusetts Turnpike, that could get messy. Look at these snowfall totals, over a half a foot possible in those locations I just mentioned, but where the most population of people live, that looks like it will be mainly a rain event. There could be a rain, snow mix at times, including New York City. But we don't see this to be a blockbuster snow event for the Big Apple or that I-95 quarter. So, what other concerns do we have? Icing. You go a little further south. This becomes a problem with this type of a quick hitting snowstorm into the Southern Appalachians. Heads up, West Virginia, Western North Carolina could accumulate over a quarter of an inch. That will cause headaches on the roadways and the overpasses across that part of the country. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. I was looking at the snow. I was like, am I crazy or is this like a lot of snow for this time of year? And, unfortunately, both things are true.

Thank you so much, Derek Van Dam.

VAN DAM: You're welcome. I appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes and yes, confirmed, confirmed this morning.

So, coming up for us, a manhunt this morning for the person who carried 80 horrible mass shooting at a child's birthday party. Four people were killed, including children. The new clues that police are looking at now today.

And there's an important hearing today in the case against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Could his diary be read in court?

And were you among the almost, I think, it was about 200 million Americans who went shopping on Black Friday? Why people are putting up big numbers already this shopping season, but also taking home less?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: So, this morning there is a desperate search that is happening right now in California. Authorities there are asking for the public's help to find the person who shot and killed four people, including three children, at a child's birthday party. This happened Saturday night in Stockton, California, and the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office says the four people who died, they were ages 8, 9, 14 and 21. They have not released the names of the victims. 11 other people were wounded as well in this in what people -- in what police say the early indications are it was a likely a targeted shooting, all happening again at a kid's birthday party at a banquet hall with between 100 and 150 people attending.

Joining me right now for more on what this investigation needs to look like, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst Jonathan Wackrow. What do you see here in this?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, this is a nightmare.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I mean, a nightmare scene for law enforcement on the initial call. But when you think about, you know, what had happened here, to me, this is really a grievance driven act of, you know, targeted violence. And the reason why I say that, and authorities are saying it, is you really have to look at the attack dynamics, you think about the time of day, right? It was the end of the day on a Saturday. The location specifically is this child's birthday party where a gathering of family and friends are together --

BOLDUAN: You're not walking upon it, right?

WACKROW: Exactly. So, this is not a spontaneous act of violence. This is absolutely targeted. And when I say targeted, it's probably looking for somebody or individuals very specifically. And, again, we go back to the -- investigators are going to go back to the attack dynamics. They're going to look at a shooter walked into a room full of, you know, young children basically at their birthday party and started firing.

What does that signal? And, really, from a behavioral threat standpoint, what that signals is this intentionality, looking for somebody where nothing else matters except finding that target. And when, you get, you know, to this level of really emotional fixation of looking for a target, what ends up happening is you get this cognitive disconnect by the shooter where they're shooting, looking specifically for this target.

[07:15:00]

They don't care if they're shooting children. And look at the victims here, the ones that have passed away and the others that are injured right now, that didn't matter in this case.

Then you look at other factors that investigators are looking at is really this dual location of shooting inside and outside. And the reason why they believe that is because they found shell casings, so shell casings from two different weapons indicating two different shooters at different locations.

So, what does this all mean? Again it's that intentionality, that focus of looking for somebody. They may have found somebody and they went outside or tried to get away and the shooting continued. So, a real mess for investigators to try to unpack, but not uncommon in this area. Gang violence is significantly high in Stockton, California. It has one of the largest or highest crime rates towards violent crime per capita. And that's all driven by this gang violence. So, investigators have to act quickly because if this is tied to gang violence, that there's no retaliation.

BOLDUAN: Is that why the sheriff came out really quickly and said, we need your help and we can't let this happen? If we do, we'll just be -- I think he said something to the effect of, we are basically allowing it to happen if we don't come forward, this appeal to the public.

WACKROW: You have to appeal to the public in a case like this. The reason being is, you know, the gang units that are working this case in conjunction with the investigators, they knew who the shooters are in these instances, they need to locate those individuals quickly because what's going to happen is there's going to be a spillover effect.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

WACRKWO: Or a contagion effect where more violence is we're going to get more violent, and it has to stop.

BOLDUAN: Yes, an 8-year-old and 9-year-old, a 14-year-old and 21- year-old.

WACKROW: devastating.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming in.

WACKROW: Oh, my pleasure.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you. I really appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. Witnesses say it looked like a nuclear explosion. This morning, an investigation into what caused this giant fireball.

And did anyone actually read the instructions? The 2025 Oxford Word of the Year is not actually a single word, but multiple words, and that's not even the most infuriating part.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

SIDNER: An overtime thriller on Sunday Night Football between Denver and Washington that featured one of the best catches of the season.

CNN's Carolyn Manno has the highlights for us. Take us to the catch.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I will, let's go right away. I mean, this is big for the Broncos, now one step closer, by the way, to just securing their spot in the playoffs. It wasn't easy. Washington really came to play in this game, a chance for a statement win, and Treylon Burks, as Sara just mentioned, perhaps to catch of the year in the third quarter, one handed grab, an extra point afterwards that gave Washington over one point lead.

Look at this play. Commanders kicked a field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime. The Broncos scored first. The Commanders would answer. But instead of kicking an extra point to potentially play for another possession in this game, the Commanders choosing to go for two and the pass batted away. Denver escapes 27-26 for its ninth straight win, extending their lead in the AFC West.

This was just a wild back and forth game. Washington really had no business being in this game, but Denver ultimately escaping with the win.

Meantime, the Panthers upset over the Rams shaking up the NFC on Sunday. Carolina's defense was the key. They forced three turnovers from Rams Quarterback Matthew Stafford. That included a pick six from Mike Jackson, a strip stack late in the fourth quarter, those two plays in particular really proving crucial. Panthers Quarterback Bryce Young also playing one of his most composed game, finished with 206 yards, three touchdowns. The Panthers best of the Rams, 31-28, big upset, snapping the Rams' six-game winning streak, knocking them out of the top spot in the conference, and the Bears who are 9-3 after a Friday winner, where Philly are now on top in the NFC playoff picture.

And the Lane Kiffin coaching question mark has finally been answered in college football. We know what's coming this weekend and now it's official. After building a really successful program at Ole Miss, Kiffin is heading to LSU, signing a contract rumored to be worth upwards of $100 million over seven-year period, Sara. So, that would make him one of the most well-paid coaches in the sport.

His immediate departure means that he won't be coaching Ole Miss though in the college football playoff. He said on social media, he asked the school to finish the season. That request was denied. And right after the announcement, Ole Miss promoting their defensive coordinator to head coach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANE KIFFIN, LEAVING OLE MISS FOR LSU HEAD COACHING JOB: It was really difficult. This has been a really special place, six years here. I know that there's a lot of feelings and emotions right now around I hope when they settle down that there's an appreciation about what we were able to do here and having, you know, the best run that's ever been done in the history of the school and brought some exciting times.

So, I'm so appreciative to the people of Oxford and the relationships that I developed here. I just prayed a lot and made a family decision and, you know, hopefully get a chance to go, you know, impact a whole new set of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: He certainly deserves this opportunity. With a lot of cash, though, Sara, comes a lot of responsibility. And LSU, a team, as you know better than anybody, with very high championship aspirations, so we'll see if he can deliver.

SIDNER: Ole Miss is mad though.

MANNO: Yes, and so are the Florida Gators. because we kind of wanted him too.

SIDNER: Yes, that is true. What happened, Gators? Why? Although that is a lot of money.

MANNO: It is.

SIDNER: But they have it.

Carolyn Manno, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: A lot of money and a lot of drama, which seems to follow Lane Kiffin wherever he goes.

All right, how about some bad math here? New data just out shows how Americans paid a lot more during Black Friday, but actually got a lot less.

And a plane skids off the runway in nearly a foot of snow. A new report this morning on the passengers,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, the Trump administration and the president himself on defense over growing questions about whether there were war crimes committed. It centers around a September 2nd attack on an alleged drug boat. Sources tell CNN that after the first strike left survivors, the U.S. military conducted a second strike that killed remaining crew.

Now, The Washington Post was first to report that Pete Hegseth issued an order before all of this to kill everybody. Now, it's not clear whether Hegseth knew about the second round of attacks. I want you to listen carefully though to how the president answered questions on it last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Number one, I don't know whether that happened. And Pete said he did not want them -- he didn't even know what people were talking about. So, we'll look at -- we'll look into it. But. no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal.

[07:30:00]

It was fine. And if there were two people around, but Pete said that didn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with this now CNN Political Commentators David Urban and Karen Finney. And, Karen, first to you, because I.