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White House Says Narco Terrorist Groups Are Subject to Lethal Targeting; New Research Shows Smartphones Could Be Putting Your Kids at Risk; Testimony Begins in Trial of Man Accused of Murdering Wife, Brian Walshe Pleaded Guilty to Hiding Wife's Body, Not Murder; Snow, Ice, Cold Temps Disrupt Post-Thanksgiving Travel. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 01, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump will soon hold a meeting in the Oval Office to talk about the next steps on Venezuela, as the administration launches strikes on alleged drug votes in the Caribbean and threatens direct action on land. Plus, Border Patrol agents are setting their sights on the big easy. Communities in New Orleans are bracing as the administration's immigration crackdown could begin in the city as early as today. And you are right to worry, new research showing the real risks of giving a younger child a cell phone. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Happening now, the White House is pushing back on reports that it may have committed a war crime as it targets alleged drug boats. Sources tell CNN, the U.S. military conducted a follow-up strike on September 2nd after the first attack did not kill everyone on board a boat. Sources say before the operation, Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth ordered the military to ensure the strike killed everyone on board, though it remains unclear if he knew there were survivors before the boat was struck again. The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee vowing vigorous oversight of what happened here. CNN's Betsy Klein is live for us at the White House. Betsy, what are officials there saying about this?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Brianna, there have already been questions about the legality of those 20 known strikes on alleged drug vessels operating in the Caribbean. But now, questions of whether the Trump administration has committed a war crime. The White House now saying that they were acting well within their authority. Now, our colleague Natasha Bertrand reported over the weekend that the U.S. military had carried out a second follow-up strike on one of these alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean on September 2nd. After it was assessed that the first strike did not kill everybody on board, that second strike was launched, 11 people ultimately died and the ship then sunk.

Now, one of those sources says that Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth had ordered the military before the operation to ensure that everybody on board was killed. And now, we are learning for the first time who ordered that second strike? According to White House Press Secretary, it was Admiral Mitch Bradley, who at the time was Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. All of this prompting questions and launching investigations on Capitol Hill from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Listen to how Leavitt responded to some of those questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially-designated narco terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war. With respect to the strikes in question, on September 2nd, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, all of this comes as the U.S. has amassed a major show of force in the region, including roughly 15,000 troops and a dozen warships. The president has been briefed on a range of options and all eyes on the White House. Later this evening at 5:00 p.m., he is set to convene top cabinet officials to discuss next steps in Venezuela, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, we'll be looking toward that. Betsy Klein, thank you. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Let's talk more about all of this with Dan Maurer. He's a retired Army JAG and now an Associate Law Professor at Ohio Northern University. Sir, thanks so much for being with us. First, I just want to get your thoughts on what we heard from the White House there, making the case that all of this is legally sanctioned.

DAN MAURER, RETIRED ARMY JAG: It's not, I can't be more clear about how clear the law is on this. The targeting, the attack on shipwrecked crew members, whether they are narco terrorists designated by the president or not, whether they're war criminals or not, it doesn't matter. Killing them while shipwrecked, while they're out of (ph) combat, they're out of the fight, is a war crime. Now, I want to be clear that I don't think we're in an armed conflict with these narco terrorists, which means technically it's not a war crime, it's just extrajudicial killing which is a murder under international law, under our domestic law. There is no authority to do this.

SANCHEZ: If that is the case, how do you get accountability? How do we legally get to that point? What needs to happen?

MAURER: Well, a lot needs to happen. Congress needs to step up. They need to have investigations, which I'm pleased to hear that they are starting to do that. But the bottom line is when, if the reporting is in fact accurate, what Secretary Hegseth did was essentially condone or at least order a murder. What Admiral Bradley did was condone or at least order a murder.

[14:05:00]

And everyone down that chain of command who participated in, who planned, who executed that strike, including the second strike, allegedly killing the shipwrecked survivors, committed a crime. Whether it's a war crime or simply an offense under our own federal, law crimes have been committed. And what's scary is that I doubt very much that there will be any kind of criminal accountability for any of those involved under this administration. Obviously, Trump does not have to worry about this given his blanket immunity from the Supreme Court, but that immunity does not flow down to the chain of command. It simply does not. It stops at his Oval Office.

SANCHEZ: It's pretty clear, Dan, that you reject the argument from the administration that these suspected drug boats and that these narco terrorists, as they call them, are putting American lives at risk by bringing narcotics that kill millions of Americans annually into the country.

MAURER: So do guns, guns also kill millions of Americans annually, and we're not targeting gun runners. We're not targeting gun companies. These are cartels. They are criminal organizations. They do bad things and their activities do in fact harm everybody. But note that harm is not imminent. That harm is not what would justify a self- defense argument either from individual service members on the ground or on boats or in ships or from Americans on the ground

These drugs are flowing eventually into the United States where they are sold illegally, bought illegally, used illegally. Not all of them result in deaths, nor do guns purchased illegally and then sold legally or illegally. We cannot -- we cannot just blanketly analogize drugs and drug runners to terrorists, the kind that are -- the combatants or unlawful combatants, whatever phrase you want to use, that we've used to label terrorists like ISIS and Al-Qaeda over the last 20 years, they're not the same thing. And this administration treats them as if they were.

In fact, frankly, the administration treats -- using the military kind of like they're playing Call of Duty where there are no constraints, there are no rules, there is no responsibility and there is no accountability. But there are rules in warfare. There are rules in using force, whether it's a police action or a wartime action. And this administration has systematically ignored those rules, downplayed their importance and denigrated the rule of law.

SANCHEZ: Dan Maurer, we appreciate your perspective. We have to leave the conversation there. Thanks so much for joining us.

MAURER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead this afternoon on "News Central," ICE agents could soon be on the streets of New Orleans for the next immigration crackdown. One council member saying that people there are fearful of the unknown. Plus, a shocking strategy from the defense team of a man on trial for his missing wife's murder. We have a live report on the first day of testimony in the Brian Walshe trial. And later, $1 billion ruling about music piracy going to the Supreme Court today, what the justices decide could impact your future internet access. That and much more coming your way, next.

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[14:12:55]

KEILAR: The first day of testimony is underway in the Brian Walshe trial. He is the Massachusetts husband who admits to moving his wife's body, but is denying killing her. 39-year-old Ana Walshe has never been found. She vanished in 2023. And in today's opening statement, the prosecutor pointed out Brian Walshe's Google searches sought answers about divorce and getting rid of a body. But Walshe's defense told jurors the evidence will show Ana died from a little known medical phenomenon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY TIPTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sudden unexplained death is known within the medical community. And you will hear evidence, Brian Walshe never imagined someone (ph) suddenly died. One hour he's with her. He cleans the kitchen, he comes back up, and she is dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Jean Casarez has been following every twist and turn of this case. Jean, get us up to speed on the trial so far.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they got through the openings and now they're on the first witness. Still, a lot of recordings are being played right now because Brian Walshe gave so many interviews. But I want to go back to the opening statements because it's fascinating. We were wondering what is the defense going to say because he pleaded guilty to misleading police and also, conveyance of a body, which he admitted to, body parts were taken. And so, he agreed that he dismembered her during that plea hearing.

But what the defense is saying was he didn't kill her or murder her. And now, we know their theory, sudden death. And they went upstairs, they had a guest for New Year's Eve, and he left about 1:30 a.m. After that, they went upstairs to the bedroom. He decides about an hour later, according to the defense opening, that he's going to wash some dishes, clean the kitchen. So he goes down. When he comes back up, he nudges his wife in the bed. She doesn't move. He nudges her harder. She doesn't move. He nudged her so hard, the defense said in the opening, that she fell off the bed and she was gone.

[14:15:00]

She was dead, and he couldn't believe it. And he panicked and he had to do something. He thought of his three kids and that is when what escalated at that point, that panic. Now, the prosecution on the other hand is saying this was a premeditated intentional murder and their challenges are going to be there's no body. So you cannot have a cause of death at all. Another challenge is premeditation. They've got to put it together. And these Google searches that he did starting with divorce on December 27th, which led to January 1st in the early morning hours, how do you dismember a body? How long before a body starts to smell? How do you stop a body from decomposing? But he also goes into life insurance policies and how long does it take for somebody to inherit these policies in those early morning hours? Prosecutors are going to say it's all about the money, the financial gain. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG CONNOR, PROSECUTOR: You'll also have access to financial records that will show that Ana Walshe had approximately $200,000 in counts of (ph) fidelity and that there was over $1 million in life insurance in Ana Walshe, and that Brian Walshe was the beneficiary of those policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So why is money so important? Brian Walshe had been convicted on a federal level of selling fake Andy Warhol paintings. And he may -- he hadn't been sentenced yet, probably would go to prison, but there was over $400,000 in restitution he had to pay. He didn't have that money. And so, prosecutors are going to say that one motive, one motive was that he could gain those life insurance proceeds, which CNN looked at the records at the time, about $1.7 million altogether in life insurance.

KEILAR: So, they're trying -- the defense will want jurors to believe that he panicked and dismembered his wife's body even though he didn't kill her, rather than say just alerting authorities that his wife had died?

CASAREZ: Basically, yes. But there's one point, and I listened to it again a few minutes ago. I wanted to make sure I heard it right. He says, the defense in the opening statements and they're talking about that he might have to go to prison and so the kids would go to Washington, D.C. to live where Ana had a very big job. He says, as Brian Walshe will tell you, how is it that I make sure that my sons are secure if I have to go to prison? As Brian Walshe will tell you, was that a misstatement? Will there be a document that will show what Brian Walshe said in regards to his son? Or will Brian Walshe have to take the stand because he was the only one in that bedroom who would be able to describe what he went through and what he says happened.

KEILAR: Yeah, that is a very interesting question. We'll see. Jean, thank you so much. Very interesting day in court.

Still to come, Donald Trump is getting involved in a Congressional race where a Democrat is looking to flip a Republican stronghold in Tennessee. What tomorrow's special election could mean for the balance of power in 2026. And the Thanksgiving weekend sent record numbers of travelers through TSA checkpoints. We'll have a live look at today's final rush to get back home and how a major storm is affecting that. We'll have those stories and many more, coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:23:05]

SANCHEZ: For folks hoping to dodge any travel trouble by waiting until after the Thanksgiving holiday to head home, there's a significant complication, A fast-moving powerful storm is barreling across the Midwest and headed east. It's already disrupting post- holiday travel with delays and cancellations. That's why we now go to CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean, who's inside Reagan National Airport for us. Pete, on top of severe weather, airports also saw a record number of visitors over the last few days.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: So many people and the numbers simply just keep going up, Boris. Here's the latest from the Federal Aviation Administration. There's now a departure delay, sorry, a ground delay, for flights going to Chicago O'Hare until Midnight Eastern, 11 p.m. Central time, due to snow and ice there. That is huge because Chicago O'Hare, a major hub not only for United Airlines, also American Airlines. Right now, mostly nuisance level stuff, although not great for airlines on what's really supposed to be a recovery day after a really rough weekend for air travel.

Saturday was the fourth worst day for flight cancellations we have seen in 2025, 1,979 flights canceled for the entire day according to FlightAware. Sunday, that number went down by about half. Today, the numbers hovered in the hundreds. We're less than 400 right now. Just check FlightAware. But the delays keep going up, more on that in a second. Even in spite of all of this, it was a record for air travel just yesterday. The TSA says more people flew yesterday than any time in TSA history. 3.13 million people screened at airport checkpoints like this one nationwide. That puts it in the top slot of the top 10.

Now, eight of the top 10 days in TSA history occurred in 2025. So the numbers simply just keep going up. And travelers I've spoken to say things sure are pretty crowded, though they're taking this all in stride given the delays and the weather. Listen.

[14:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARIN ZEMP, TRAVELER: What do (ph), TSA no problem. Flight was delayed a little bit coming out of -- I forget where it was coming out of, but it was delayed by 10 minutes. That was it.

ERIN WHITE, TRAVELER: Travel was great. A lot less disruption than I was anticipating considering it is the first Monday after Thanksgiving.

DANIELLE FELLER, TRAVELER: Just roll with it. Take a little extra time and just expect delays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Federal Aviation Administration is warning of more problems. Low cloud ceilings in San Francisco could be a ground stop there later. High winds in the New York area that impacts Newark, LaGuardia and JFK. That could be a problem for later when it comes to ground stops. There was a delay program in place that the FAA implemented for flights going into Palm Beach International just because of the sheer volume of planes there. And of course, there are the issues at Chicago O'Hare. Also Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport now listed for a 15-minute departure delay due to thunderstorms there. So things keep piling up. The day is young. We're at 4,100 delays so far and it could get worse for us.

SANCHEZ: Pete, why are so many people flying back today?

MUNTEAN: It's so interesting. AAA says it's been warning of Sunday as the big day for air travel after the holiday rush. The phenomenon is really this. So many people are really sort of compacting their trip into just a couple of days, whereas they can spread it out a little bit more leading up to the holiday. Tuesday, Wednesday often big days. Of course, some people fly Thursday. That's the big secret. But really it is just more people spilling over from Sunday, huge day, into Monday. So, we're not totally out of the woods yet. We'll probably see another big number today.

SANCHEZ: Pete Muntean, live for us at Reagan National. Thank you so much.

Still to come, another city preparing for an immigration crackdown. Why one elected official there says the anticipation of this campaign is already causing mass chaos.

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