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White House Says U.S. Admiral Approved Second Boat Strike; Witkoff And Kushner In Moscow For High-Stakes Putin Meeting; Testimony Resumes In Brian Walshe Murder Trial. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 02, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And then follow up with a second strike when it was determined there were survivors after the first hit. So that second strike -- that double-tap we've been talking about.

All of this comes as the United States is moving a massive amount of military might to the region. The show of force in the Caribbean is staggering, really. The U.S. has amassed in the Caribbean more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops as part of what the Pentagon is calling "Operation Southern Spear."

At the center of it all is the world's largest and most lethal aircraft carrier strike group, the USS Gerald Ford. On its deck, F-18 Super Hornets; Growlers, which specialize in electronic warfare. There are also C-2A Greyhound Transports and Seahawk helicopters offering logistics and search and rescue capability.

Escorting the carrier is a screen of destroyer ships, including the guided-missile destroyers USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan, as well as the USS Winston S. Churchill, which is an integrated air and missile defense command ship.

But that's not all. The United States has already deployed other assets nearby, including the amphibious assault ship the USS Iwo Jima and its sister ships Fort Lauderdale and San Antonio. There is also a guided missile cruiser, more destroyers, and the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

Just look at this. P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, Reaper drones, Black Hawks, heavy bombers including the B-52 and the B-2 Stealth bomber -- adding up to what Admiral Stavridis told us recently was likely the largest concentration of Navy force anywhere in the world right now all concentrated in the Caribbean.

Joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Ami Bera of California. He sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees. Congressman, thanks for coming in.

You have all of this military might now concentrated --

REP. AMI BERA (D-CA): Thanks for having me. BOLDUAN: -- in the Caribbean, and you also have real questions facing the administration and the Congress. The press secretary says that the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth initially did authorize the strikes that happened in September but then it was the call of the commander overseeing operations to conduct that second strike that's now facing so much scrutiny.

And The Washington Post has new reporting that distinction from the White House, as The Washington Post reports, elicited a furious backlash within the Defense Department, including this reporting. "This is protect Pete B.S.," one military official who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations told the Post. Another telling the Post, "It's throwing us under the bus -- it's throwing us, the service members, under the bus."

In your mind does all of this leave it up to interpretation who is responsible for that second strike that killed two survivors?

BERA: I mean, it certainly sounds like this is protecting Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. It sounds like the type of thing that Hegseth would actually say in terms of, you know, take lethal action and make sure everyone's dead.

I think this should not be a partisan issue. This should be something that they're willing to come before Congress. Democrats and Republicans are raising questions about it. We also still have questions about the legality of the initial strikes. I mean, there's no due process here. Granted, we all want to break up the cartels and so forth, but we don't want to go to war right now.

BOLDUAN: There is more public scrutiny from, I would say, the Republican chairman, it seems, on this issue than maybe any issue involving the president and the White House so far this term.

Do you trust the Republican chairman of Armed Services, Intel, Foreign Relations and Affairs in the House and the Senate that they're going to get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable if that's warranted?

BERA: You know, I certainly appreciate some of the words that are coming out of Sen. Wicker's mouth that, you know, it does seem like he's working with Sens. Kaine and others in a nonpartisan way. We've been asking for full briefs both in the Intelligence Committee but also in the Foreign Affairs Committee.

You know, again, if the president is going to take us to war, only Congress can take us to war, especially if he's going to put boots on the ground. Again, we've not had that justification. There's no imminent threat from Venezuela to the American homeland. So this is a place where he ought to come to Congress. If we are going to put troops on the ground in Venezuela you've got to prepare the American people. And again, we've not seen the justification for that right now.

BOLDUAN: The second strike now confirmed by the White House. Do you believe a war crime was committed? BERA: I mean, I certainly think this is worth investigating. Again if there were survivors, you know, we should have taken those survivors. If we thought they were, you know, bad guys, then give them the due process and interrogate them. But this is not how you conduct a war.

[07:35:00]

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you on a different topic because you have a unique perspective on all of the redistricting efforts that are happening across the country. Republicans in Indiana just unveiled a new congressional map aiming to wipe out that state's two Democratic- held U.S. House seats after Prop 50 passed in your state, in California, last month.

You are now running for re-election in a redrawn district. Is gerrymandering a good thing in your view?

BERA: It is not. I think we should -- you know, I'm in favor of banning mid-decade gerrymandering. I think you should have independent commissions that draw the lines every 10 years around the census and then you stick to those lines. But that's not the playing field Donald Trump has created. So we have to do what we did in California to push back on this.

And again, if we get the majority in the House, if we get the White House back, I would hope we'd put forth legislation and pass it that bans mid-decade redistricting.

BOLDUAN: But Congressman, how do you square that logically if you don't support it? Mid-district -- mid-term redistricting isn't a good thing but I'm still going to do it and I'm going to try to take out a Republican to help my -- help Democrats in my state.

BERA: Well, if the Republicans are doing it all across this country it would be foolish for Democrats not to say OK, that's the playing field that we find ourselves in so we're going to have to fight back.

Again, Donald Trump is -- you know, when he went to Texas and said you guys do this, when he went to Missouri and said you guys do this, he took power away from the people. At least in California we did let the voters decide on this and the voters in California overwhelmingly said let's go ahead and fight fire with fire.

BOLDUAN: Democratic Congressman Ami Bera, thank you for your time this morning -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We are standing by for the beginning of a huge meeting in Moscow between President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With us now CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty. Great to see you, Jill.

I have to say over the last several weeks Vladimir Putin has been sort of sitting and watching all of these events unfold. Witkoff meeting in the United States coming up with that 28-point plan -- or signing off on this 28-point plan that was seen as very pro-Russian. Then Marco Rubio and others scrambling to talk to Ukraine to work out a new version. Presumably, that's what's being presented to Putin today.

What do you think his position is today? What does Vladimir Putin think this morning as he heads into this meeting?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (via Webex by Cisco): Well, I think he's thinking about his brick wall strategy. I mean, he is not budging. I think what his strategy is right now is to be unconditional. To make it look inexorable that Russia is going to "win." And if the negotiations fall apart, he will blame it on the Ukrainians and hope, of course, that President Trump and the administration blame it on the Ukrainians.

I mean, if you look, all the messaging, John, that's coming out from Moscow right now -- the picture of President Putin yesterday. He visits the headquarters of these special military operations, and he's dressed in a uniform -- you know, kind of tough talk, et cetera. And the messaging, you know, coming from his aides right now about this.

I think Putin is simply not going to budget, although they will -- and we can talk about this -- I think dangle the idea of let's do a deal with the United States. We can restore the relationship with Russia and the United States, et cetera.

BERMAN: You pointed out to us -- and I want people to see this -- this tweet from Kirill Dmitriev, who I believe was the guy who talked to Steve Witkoff about this 28-point plan. And this AI video -- it's a little bit hard to see here but what it is, it's a train from -- an AI-generated train from Russia to the United States basically. And this guy Dmitriev I think is promoting this idea of this close enough bond that there could be this sort of "Chunnel," you know, underneath the Bering Strait between Russia and the United States.

Why is this important?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I mean, Dmitriev is -- let's call it the economic business side of the Kremlin. He is an aide to Putin. He's not really a government official but he is the head of the Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund. So he is Mr. Investment.

And what he's trying to say is, you know, if we settle this war we can have great relations. Everybody can make a lot of money. Let's do a deal. And that really is his goal.

I just watched on Russian media -- and I'm sure we can, you know, see that video -- that he is -- he met the American delegation with Witkoff and Kushner at the airport and got into the car. This again is based on Russian media, but I think it's true. Got into the car with them. So this is why he is there because he can talk to a person like Mr. Witkoff who is a businessperson.

[07:40:05]

BERMAN: And again, this is the man who just posted an AI video with the hashtag #PutinTrumpTunnel. It gives you a sense of how this meeting is being viewed and where they see their interest.

Jill Dougherty, great to see you this morning. Obviously, a big day. We'll be talking to you throughout it. Thank you.

DOUGHERTY: Thank you.

BERMAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, John.

Happening today, testimony is resuming in the criminal trial of Brian Walshe, the man accused of murdering and dismembering his wife in 2023.

On Monday, the defense, for the first time, offered its explanation for his wife Ana Walshe's death.

CNN's Jean Casarez is joining me now with details. I know that we have been waiting for this because of what he has already pleaded to, which is moving the body and lying to police.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And so the death, the defense said in their opening statements, the evidence will show sudden, unexplained death in her bed that night -- the early morning hours of January 1.

But, you know, we learned things yesterday in these openings we had never heard before.

Let's start with the prosecution, all right, because the defense -- Brian Walshe's story to authorities was my wife left about 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. She had to leave on January 1 because of a work emergency.

Prosecutors brought out that on December 29 -- and they've got to show premeditation, right? December 29, Brian Walshe was searching on his cell phone, researching buildings that Ana Walshe, who was in the real estate field, managed for Tishman Speyer, and emergencies that she had handled for them in the past -- emergencies. And then he said she had to leave for a work emergency. That's an interesting point right there.

I think we have some brand-new searches we had never heard about before from the prosecution because all the searches were really the aftermath, right -- dismembering a body. Well, look at these searches we learned yesterday. Best way to dispose of body parts after a murder. Cleaning blood with ammonia, bleach, and hydrogen peroxide. Whether it's better to throw away crime scene clothes or wash them -- crime scene clothes. You want to get away with murder, use a special detergent.

Now I want you to listen to some of the opening statements yourselves. First, we have the prosecution and then we have the defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG CONNOR, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: You'll also have access to financial records that will show that Ana Walshe had approximately $200,000 in accounts a Fidelity, and that there was over $1 million in life insurance in Ana Walshe, and that Brian Walshe was the beneficiary of those policies.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The defense made a lot of points in their openings also. The fact that on the days before she obviously died, she had just sold a property and she was texting with Brian about some other properties they could buy, looking forward in their marriage, in their relationship. So there would be no motivation here to kill her.

Also this unexplained, sudden death described that -- you're going to hear from an expert -- and that it can be cardiovascular. It can be pulmonary. It can be electrical in the system. And many times the first sign or symptom that someone has -- that they have an unexplained, sudden death is the death itself.

And Sara, he went down -- they went to bed about 1:30. He goes downstairs about an hour later to wash the dishes, right -- clean the kitchen. She's up in the bed. He goes back up. He nudges her. She's not moving. He nudges her again and she's not moving. He nudged her so hard she rolled off the bed, and she was dead.

And then the defense says he panicked and went to a very dark space because his children could not know what had happened to their mother.

SIDNER: It is a fascinating defense in this case, also knowing that the body is still missing and he has not told the court where the body may be. There are so many details of this case, and I know you'll be watching them all as you always do, Jean Casarez. It is a pleasure to have you on, as usual.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right -- John.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning there are new concerns about cryptocurrency as a slump continues. This has been going on for, like, a month now. Bitcoin has seen intense swings. Some analysts worry that it could signal trouble ahead for the stock market as a whole.

Let's get right to CNN's Matt Egan for the latest on this. Good morning, sir.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORT: Good morning, John.

Well look, as you know, Bitcoin is no stranger to volatility but even by Bitcoin's standards the ride has gotten pretty wild of late. So Bitcoin has lost more than 30 percent of its value in just the past eight weeks. That translates to the loss of nearly three-quarters -- actually, it's a little bit more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars. Just stunning.

[07:45:12]

And this is coming despite the fact that the crypto industry really has a friend in the White House right now, right? President Trump was elected with significant support from the crypto industry. He promised to make America the crypto capital of the world.

And what's notable here is that crypto is -- Bitcoin, in particular, is actually trading below where it was back in January --

BERMAN: Right.

EGAN: -- when President Trump took office. Back then it was trading a little over $100,000. Now it's below $88,000.

Now, I know what you're thinking. If I don't own Bitcoin, why should I care about this? And even though Bitcoin is -- it's usually thought about as a way to kind of diversify your portfolio. What's notable is its fate is often linked to that of the stock market, especially during times of market stress. We can actually see Bitcoin and the stock market go down in tandem and go up in tandem.

Now, that hasn't necessarily been the case of late. We see the S&P 500, despite losses yesterday, still up 16 percent on the year. A really solid year. Gold -- look at this -- 62 percent. And silver has basically doubled in value. But look at Bitcoin. It's down seven percent on the year.

Now the risk though is that if the selling continues you could see some of that crypto selling spill over into the stock market. Again, that hasn't happened all that much to this point, but it is something that market analysts and investors are watching closely as we take a look at U.S. stock futures set to open slightly higher.

BERMAN: A little flat but slightly higher.

All right. So crypto, one more thing to worry about. Thanks a lot for that.

Matt Egan, appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right.

Coming up for us, holiday classics -- teddy bears and other stuffed animals. Many now come equipped with AI chatbots to interact with kids. Why one toy executive is now doing a safety audit though on these AI toys.

And an incredibly rare Faberge egg goes on auction. Take a look at that. What the "Winter Egg" could be going for today.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:35] SIDNER: Today state lawmakers in Indiana taking another step -- an important one to try to fast-track redistricting efforts meant to give Republicans more seats in Congress. Now, like the move made in Texas, it's a reaction to President Trump's push to get states to redraw congressional lines to favor Republicans in the midterms. But unlike Texas, in Indiana it has sparked a fierce debate among Republican lawmakers there.

And joining me now one of the lawmakers in the midst of the friction, Republican State Sen. Michael Bohacek. Thank you so much for being here this morning.

First of all, let me just ask you plainly, how will you vote on redistricting?

MICHAEL BOHACEK, (R), INDIANA STATE SENATOR (via Webex by Cisco): I've already came out last week that I am, in fact, a firm no. I've seen the maps -- they were just released yesterday -- and it just really further strengthens my opinion that this is really not the best way the state of Indiana needs to go.

SIDNER: What was it that prompted you to sort of stand up and speak out -- you've been very vocal about this -- against the president's push to redistrict?

BOHACEK: You know, I think sometimes we confuse campaign rhetoric with the speech you use while you're actually in office. And while you get a little bit looser leash, so to speak, during a campaign season now is the time to govern. And when it seems quite clear that we're isolating the population by the use of a slur, at some point you have to speak out and make sure that that's known.

SIDNER: What was the slur that really sent you on this path to speak out very strongly against what you heard come out of the mouth of the president?

BOHACEK: Sure. I'm not going to say the word. It's the "R" word. People know what it is, and it's a word that's used to denigrate the intellectually disabled community.

My own daughter, as I expressed in my -- in my post, has Down syndrome.

My wife works for a community intellectual development center here in -- here in my district. As a matter of fact, she was able to secure a grant for that district -- a bipartisan grant several years ago. And now, of course, the folks that are trying to push me to vote for this are now -- have turned their -- turned their anger at her, unfortunately.

But, you know, at some point we have to stand up. And you can't -- you can't validate slurs like that and rhetoric like that because how do we expect our children to not use terms like this and to be respectful of each other when the most powerful person in the world is using them? It just -- it just goes to a matter of character. And somebody has to speak up and at this point I have the microphone. SIDNER: You felt, you know, very strongly that you wanted to speak up

on behalf of your daughter and anyone else, as you said, who has some intellectual disabilities.

I do want to ask you how your Republican colleagues are responding to you after you took this stance.

BOHACEK: You know, I spoke to leadership in the Senate yesterday. They understand how I feel about this. They know how strongly I advocate for this community and this population and they're supportive. That they understand that it's an unmovable situation for me and they respect that.

[07:55:00]

SIDNER: I do want to ask you because these are two different issues. One is being really horrible to people of a certain community, and the other is redistricting.

How do those two things meet in your mind, or is it that you just generally disagree with redistricting and sort of making these maps so that they are very much leaning one way or the other? In this case, leaning towards Republicans getting more seats in Congress if they are passed.

BOHACEK: Right. To me it's difficult to bifurcate between attitude and the demonstration of conscience and policy, especially when it's coming from a leader. And I think, to me, they merge at some point, and I think we're at that point.

I don't agree with the redistricting as it is anyway after seeing the maps. Like I said just this past -- just yesterday, it further strengthens that resolve. But it's hard to split this into two even pieces because to me they merge.

SIDNER: Just a really quick question. Do you think this is actually going to pass -- the maps as they are today?

BOHACEK: I don't know. I know it's starting in the House. They're taking it up, I believe, today in committee. They will vote on it by the end of the week. The Senate will convene next week and that process will start all over again.

I don't know. There's quite a few senators. I believe there is nine or 10 that have already come out against it so -- and we have I think 19 that have come out in favor of it. So there's some folks still in the middle. And it's a challenging vote. I mean, nobody wants to go against the president. Nobody wants to go against the administration.

And, you know, look, we're all on the same team. We're all Americans, whether you're Republican or Democrat, we want the president to do good. We want the administration to succeed because to not would just be foolish. You don't throw water into your own boat.

So hopefully, we can move past this redistricting issue and get back to the business of governing not only in the state of Indiana but the country as well.

SIDNER: All right, State Sen. Michael Bohacek. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk us through that -- appreciate it.

BOHACEK: Thank you now.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: More than a dozen people had to be rescued at a ski resort in Wisconsin, stuck on a chairlift after downed trees caused a power outage there. Ski patrols used a rope and pulley system to help -- as you can see, help people down. They had to do it one-by-one before the fire department arrived. It took about an hour to get everyone safely on the ground. They did -- and the ski area is back open today.

And take a look at this -- there it is. An egg expected to sell at auction for upwards of $26 million. Christie's Auction House in London is selling this Faberge Imperial Easter Egg today known as the "Winter Egg" -- so appropriate. Only 50 of these were ever produced for two Russian czars, as one does, who commissioned them as Easter gifts from 1885 to 1916. And this one -- it is from 1913 in case you are wondering -- is expected to shatter the existing record for a Faberge egg.

Christie's says the "Winter Egg" has 4,500 diamonds in the design and describing a basket of flowers hanging in the center as a "Kinder Surprise." A very, very expensive Kinder Surprise, John.

BERMAN: Yeah. All I can say is it didn't go well for the czars when they owned those eggs, so just think carefully before you bid.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it's up for interpretation, John -- up for interpretation.

BERMAN: It didn't end well. I mean, objectively, that did badly for them.

All right. This morning a new twist on a Christmas time toy favorite. Ever since forever there have been dolls or action figures that you pull a string or push them in the belly and they talk -- they say things. Generally, though, they would keep saying the same things. But this year it's different -- way different. These toys are talking back with artificial intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This isn't the same old story. Meet Poe, the AI story bear.

POE, AI STORY BEAR: Chloe loved adventures. And her loyal companion Dawson was a shaggy dog with big, kind eyes that made him seem strangely human.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Poe makes up wildly original stories completely from scratch using kid-safe AI technology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right -- I'm concerned already.

With us now CNN's AI correspondent -- newly-dubbed AI correspondent Hadas Gold. You're real; not AI.

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: I'm real, as far as I know.

BERMAN: You cover AI.

GOLD: I cover AI.

BERMAN: All right. So these toys, like, talk back to us with artificial intelligence.

GOLD: Yeah. I mean, I remember as a young girl playing with my dolls and really wishing they could talk back to me, but now they can.

And as you noted, one of the hottest new things for this holiday season are these AI-powered toys. These are Wi-Fi connected. They have mics enabled in them. They are using large language models. This is what powers your ChatGPT. And they can do things -- like, a child can go to them and say, "Make up a bedtime story where I'm riding a unicorn with my mom," and it will. That is really cool.

But a lot of child safety experts are very concerned because while some of these are marketed as, you know, educational robots, others are these sort of plush toys. And this is kind of an unregulated market.