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Democrats Aim to Flip Tennessee; Tennessee Voters Head to Polls; U.S. Gymnastics and SafeSport Hit with New Lawsuit; Trump Threatens to Attack Venezuela; Tom Dupree is Interviewed about the Comey and James Cases. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 02, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:30:55]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning, polls now open for Tennessee's Seventh Congressional District. The election that is such a special election you've got political heavyweights coming in town from all across the country. It is typically a very deep red congressional district that is up for grabs. President Trump, for example, carried it by 22 points last year. But Democratic leaders have a real chance here. They are rallying around Aftyn Behn, who has turned her messaging to affordability and the skyrocketing cost of living. The race is close. So close that House Speaker Mike Johnson has been on the ground campaigning with the Republican candidate, Matt Van Epps, and the president chimed in by phone.

CNN Washington bureau chief David Chalian is breaking down what you should be watching in Tennessee today.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Sara, as you noted, just over a year ago Donald Trump won this district in Tennessee by 22 points. So, why are we even talking about this? How could this be competitive?

Well, the reason both parties are spending millions of dollars on this race is because today's political climate, and in an off-year special election, can produce a very different electorate. And this is what we've seen throughout 2025, not just in the November elections in New Jersey and Virginia and New York City, but in special House elections like this one that took place in deep red territory. Democrats are significantly overperforming how Kamala Harris performed in these districts just a year ago. And that's in large part due to opposition to Donald Trump.

So, Democrats are hoping to ride that wave of enthusiasm and energy in these off-year, off-cycle elections in order to produce upsets.

Now, if the Democrat, Aftyn Behn, were to win here, it would be a political earthquake. So, this is still a very tough climb for Democrats. But even if it is within single digits, that is going to be a warning shot to Republicans as we prepare to turn the calendar to 2026 and the midterm elections and they try to hang on to their House majority,

I will also note one thing else that if indeed the Democrat were to shock the world with a victory, that would take a potential vote away from Mike Johnson in his very narrow majority in the House. He's got 219 Republicans right now. He can only afford to lose two Republicans on any party line vote. He'd like one more for a little cushion. And that's what a Republican victory would deliver to the speaker today.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: David Chalian, you're the best. Thank you so much.

Joining us right now, our Democratic strategist, Meghan Hays, and Republican strategist Doug Heye, two of the best as well. Not to diminish you guys, my friends.

This also gives us the opportunity to play the latest round of our favorite game of big deal or no big deal. Let me set the table with this aspect when it comes to this this race.

Mike Johnson told reporters in Tennessee this. "We think what will happen here will be a bellwether for the midterms next year." And a month ago he said this about Democratic wins in Virginia and New Jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I don't think the loss last night was any reflection about Republicans at all.

What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue. We all saw that coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, it's not a bellwether at all.

Doug, big deal or no big deal, what's going to happen in Tennessee?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think we need to figure out what happens first. And we'll find that out I think pretty quickly tonight as the -- as the votes come in.

David is right, if this is in single digits, it's a big warning sign for Republicans moving to the -- to the midterm elections. Special elections do not determine what happens a year later. We do overrate this. But if it is that close, it's going to be a big deal.

And one of the things when you get to election day that campaigns say to themselves, this is true, Republican or Democrat, Meghan knows this, is you ask yourself, did we leave everything on the field? And my fear for Republicans on this one is, they didn't. They didn't leave everything on the field. And I say that not about Mike Johnson and the NRCC. They have left everything on the field.

[08:35:01] But Donald Trump should have gone on the ground. Donald Trump used to love doing political rallies. I'm surprised he didn't do it here. We saw him phone it in. But that's exactly what he did, he phoned it in. If Donald Trump had gone on the ground in Tennessee and done a big rally for this, he would have been able to claim credit. If Republicans win tonight, about how he brought this race home. That, to me, is a surprise.

BOLDUAN: Meghan, literally phoned it in is -- I mean Doug really means it. He literally was put on speakerphone yesterday.

Meghan, big deal or no big deal?

MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: So, I think the big deal is actually what's happening before anybody's even cast a vote for this. I think that we're even talking about it in a Trump plus 22 district is a huge deal for Democrats. And it also just shows that the Democrats have a chance to open up the map into places that they have not been able to do in a long time. People are tired of Donald Trump's policies. They're tired of Congress bending the knee to Donald Trump. And so they are looking for a different option here. Whether it's a more liberal Democrat or a more conservative Democrat, we don't know. But I think that this just gives Democrats an option to expand the map into far beyond frontline districts.

BOLDUAN: Doug, let me turn to Venezuela here and the growing questions that D's and R's on Capitol Hill are now posing to the White House and the administration over that follow-up strike. It does seem, at least to me, that there is more public criticism from the Republican chairman on this issue than maybe any issue involving the president and the White House so far this term. As John Berman posed the perfect key question about this, do you think that is because there is a real issue and concern with this issue at hand, you know, what they're talking about with this, with this double tap strike, or is it that they really just don't like Pete Hegseth?

HEYE: Both things can be true at once. It's an opportunity for them to maybe criticize somebody that they weren't fully on board about. And they still need to figure out exactly what happened, which we don't know yet.

But what I'll tell you, Kate, is, over the holiday, I was not far from Venezuela. I was in Panama. And we obviously have seen this pardon of the former Honduran president. I had somebody say to me, well, I guess Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian president, he -- maybe he did it wrong. He should have sent more money to the United States and then he would have gotten a pardon. That's a problem for the Trump administration and for congressional Republicans moving forward. If you want to talk about law and order, these pardons that the president is doing right now do not help congressional Republicans running in tough races.

BOLDUAN: That's a really interesting point and something -- let's table that one and talk more about it next time, Dougie.

Meghan, this -- as Doug's saying, this -- it is important to settle the issue at hand given that people are suggesting a war crime may have been committed. But then let's step into the realm that we're talking about here when it comes to politics. In this day and age, does that equal a political problem for Republicans beyond the president?

HAYS: Yes, absolutely, because I don't think that most Americans believe Donald Trump's story and Pete Hegseth's story. I think they believe that they asked for a strike to kill people who were already incapacitated, for lack of a better term, that should have been tried and had due process. So, that is considered a war crime if the facts that are being reported stand to hold true.

So, I just think that people in the United States want people to have due process. We're seeing that with immigration. We're seeing that in other places. And I think it's a real miscalculation for congressional Republicans to not push back on Donald Trump on this because it will impact them in the midterms. They are coming up against a really tight margin and a really tough weight. They are not going to be able to keep the House if they continue down this path. And I think they know it. And you -- and I think that's why you're starting to see some of them deflect on an issue like this.

BOLDUAN: You can wrap it kind of all together a little bit, Doug, because I've been wanting to ask you, as we -- as we look towards the midterms. You see it in Tennessee. The message from Republicans has been, you can't vote for -- you can't vote for the Democrat because she will -- she will do whatever Hakeem Jeffries and AOC tells her to. And it reminds me of a somewhat very successful campaign that maybe Doug Heye pushed in the way back machine of the fire Pelosi campaign and very successfully making all races about one person, whoever that party deems the boogeyman, if you will. Do you think AOC and Hakeem Jeffries fit that same bill?

HEYE: Not that exact same bill. And there are specific reasons for that. One, Democrats were in the House majority when we ran the fire Pelosi campaign. We wanted to fire her as speaker, not as minority leader. And we also had a real flashpoint. We had the vote, the successful vote, that Nancy Pelosi got through on Obamacare.

But ultimately, look, a lot of this is going to be about not Hakeem Jeffries or AOC or Mamdani, obviously, who Republicans are going to talk about as well. It's, what is the direction of the country, how do voters feel about the president. That's going to be a big determinant. But if I'm at the NRCC, I will be talking about Hakeem Jeffries and AOC. That can help a little bit on the margins in some of the closer races, potentially. And it's great for fundraising.

BOLDUAN: Let us see what happens first today. It's great to see you both. Thank you.

HEYE: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning, USA Gymnastics and an Olympic sports watchdog group are facing a new lawsuit from two gymnasts who say they failed to stop sexual abuse happening in an elite training facility in Iowa.

[08:40:12]

The lawsuit alleges that the sport's oversight bodies were first told about, quote, "inappropriate and abusive behaviors" from Coach Sean Gardner back in December of 2017 when he coached in Mississippi and failed to take or properly investigate any actions to protect the athletes. The suit says that inaction allowed Gardner to get a job in Iowa in 2018, where he continued to abuse children despite new complaints. He was just arrested earlier this year.

With us now, CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan.

Christine, my friend, great to see you.

You've covered gymnastics for so long. Again, the timeline here. The first complaints against Sean Gardner surfaced in 2017. He wasn't suspended until 2022. And again, just arrested a few months ago. What questions do you have? What does this race for you?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Well, many. And obviously it shows the nation, John, that this is still a problem. I think in many ways we go, well, the horrors of Larry Nassar, Michigan State, USA Gymnastics. We saw the trials play out in Lansing, Michigan. We saw all of that a few years ago. We're like well, we've taken care of that. No, we have not. No, we have not as a nation. This is still a huge problem in youth sports. It's a problem in Olympic sports. And it continues. So, that's, I think, the big siren call, so to speak. That's the headline to the entire nation.

Now, specifically here, there does seem to be a little discrepancy. U.S. Center for SafeSport woefully underfunded, woefully underfunded, understaffed. If we cared about this, we would be throwing money at them to be able to hire the thousands of people they need to investigate alleged abuse. And worse, obviously, sexual abuse throughout youth sports. But we haven't. Congress has not.

They say that they first heard about it in 2022, and that's when -- that Gardner was immediately put on a list. And there is a database that everyone can see. It is public. That means it's a temporary measure or suspension. Some kind of a -- of punishment. And that -- that is true. I've seen that in many of my stories that I've covered. They do that immediately.

The lawsuit alleges it was 2017. That's a five-year gap. So, there are many things we need to still find out about this.

The bottom line, we have young athletes who are being sexually abused in this country. Obviously going back all the way several years ago. And I hate to say it, John, but I think it's probably happening, God forbid, it's happening today somewhere in a gym, and there are people who are not speaking out who should be speaking out.

BERMAN: So, you talked about funding. It gets to the fundamental question here, which you raised at the beginning, Christine, which is, how can this still be happening, you know, or alleged to be happening? I mean given in gymnastics, if there's one thing that all these gymnastics centers need to watch for now, if there's one thing that I think every parent needs to be concerned about, every governing body, it's this, based on what we've seen. So, how? How could it go on for so long, if it did?

BRENNAN: Yes. John, you and I have covered the Olympics for years, and it is mind-boggling. But here's the problem. Parents are invested. They spend a lot of money. Their kids. Young girls, young boys, too, of course, Penn State. We saw that with the awful Jerry Sandusky news. Again, on and on it goes with so many of these stories, young people in college also, as well as even younger. It is very hard for young people to speak up.

So, parents clearly need to be there to watch and see this. And then they're afraid to speak up because you hope your child is going to move up and through the ranks, maybe have a -- the chance to dream for the Olympics. Do you want to then be the one that calls out the coach that is your daughter's or your son's future? And you want to say no, no, no. that coach, in this case the allegations against Gardner, and now these lawsuits, he is abusing my child. Well, that's exactly what you should do, of course, as a parent or a loved one of a young person. But in doing so, you have probably just taken your daughter out of the lineup to potentially make it to a nationals or an Olympics. That's the issue.

And if this country, as I said, was serious about this, the money, and Senator Blumenthal has talked all about this, we've -- they've got to -- it's a rounding error to go from the $20 million something budget, $21 million, $22 million of SafeSport to make it, say, $100 million, John, that's when they could hire the thousands of investigators they need so that lawyers like John Manley, who is, in fact, of course, doing great work for these clients and bringing this to light, that instead of going after SafeSport, you are funding SafeSport so that SafeSport then, of course, they can -- they can investigate and do these things in a very quick manner versus having athletes wait for several years because, again, there's no staffing to do the job properly.

[08:45:15]

BERMAN: Christine Brennan, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thanks so much for the work that you've done on this so consistently.

Sara.

SIDNER: Such an important story. Thank you, John.

Still ahead, armed and dangerous. An inmate on the loose after a wild escape from a Georgia jail.

And a barber shop cat gets snatched. More on a literal cat burglar.

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[08:50:02] BOLDUAN: As President Trump weighs next steps when it comes to Venezuela, the State Department is pushing back on questions of whether oil is a driving factor for the U.S. military buildup in the region. The White House insists military operations there are about stopping drug trafficking. But Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims that it's all about oil. CNN's Matt Egan joins us now. He's looking into this.

Matt, what's going on and why the focus on oil? Remind people.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Kate, look, Venezuela is a country that's just in deep economic crisis, right? Inflation is through the roof. Their currency has crashed. And yet they are sitting on this pot of black gold, right? Venezuela has over 300 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, right? That's more than any country on the planet. It's more than Saudi Arabia. It's more than Iraq as well.

But what's striking is that even though Venezuela has this world leading amount of oil reserves, it's actually not a major oil producer, right? It actually accounts for less than one percent of world oil production. That's really just a drop in the bucket. This is a look at the leading countries by oil reserves. And again, you can see Venezuela at the top of the list there.

But because the country's been under sanctions, because of the economic crisis there, they're actually producing less than they were back in 2013 when Nicolas Maduro took power. Less than even in 1999. And analysts say it would take years and just gobs of money from international oil companies before they could dramatically ramp up production.

But as you mentioned, Maduro has claimed that this potential military confrontation is being driven by a desire to control Venezuela's oil reserves. And, yes, the State Department has denied that. The Trump administration says this is really all about trying to stop the flow of illegal drugs and undocumented migrants.

But it can't be lost on U.S. officials as they scan around the world that this is a place of potential new sources of increased oil production. And it's right in the U.S.' backyard.

Now, all of this comes as we're getting a new major milestone on energy prices, right? Gas prices dropping below $3 a gallon this morning. For the first time in four and a half years you see just the fraction of a penny below $3 a gallon, down by about $0.06 from a week ago. Not dramatically lower than at this point last year. But still, this is a win. It's miles away from that spike to $5 gas just three years ago after Russia invaded Ukraine.

We know the White House has been really focused on this. It's not really been driven by the drill, baby, drill production. And the U.S. is at all-time highs. But it's only up a little bit. But still, this is a rare, bright spot in the affordability crisis, not doubt.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and getting below that $3 mark is always something to mark. ENTEN: Yes, absolutely.

BOLDUAN: Great to see you, Matt. Thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you to you both.

New this morning, sources telling CNN, prosecutors will likely present new indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to a grand jury. According to people familiar with the situation inside the Justice Department, it is expected to happen quickly. Perhaps within a week. The court tossed out both the Comey and James cases. The judge found interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan did not have the legal authority of a prosecutor when the two were indicted.

Joining us now is Tom Dupree, the former deputy assistant attorney general.

Thank you so much for being here this morning.

All right, so given that the judge's ruling focused very closely on Lindsey Halligan's lack of lawful authority, not the substance of the indictments themselves, do you expect the new indictments could be different in any way, or would be different in any way?

TOM DUPREE, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't think the new indictments will be that different, frankly, I don't -- I'm not aware that the Justice Department has amassed new evidence that they would include in the indictment. I think, from the Justice Department's perspective, and certainly, as you note, from the perspective of the court, the sole flaw in the existing, the original indictments was simply that Halligan was unlawfully appointed. So, I think from the Justice Department's perspective, and there's no indication they're planning on waving a white flag here. They're going to re-indict. I think the only thing they need to change, and they plan to change on those indictments, is the name of the prosecutor who signs it.

SIDNER: For the Comey case, in particular, Comey's legal team is arguing that the indictment was void, and therefore the clock has run out. Is there an issue of the statute of limitations in his particular case?

DUPREE: There sure is an issue here. And look, you'll recall that when the Justice Department filed that Comey indictment, they did so as the clock was ticking down to midnight. They literally had to file that indictment just days before the statute of limitations expired, which would mean it would be too late to charge Comey. Now they're going to have another problem, because when they file that new indictment, Comey's lawyers, the first thing they're going to argue is to say, too late, the statute of limitations ran several months ago.

[08:55:05]

This complaint is untimely.

Now, look, the law is a little unclear on this, but I will say the Comey team does have one important thing in their favor, which is that the federal judge who declared Halligan's appointment unlawful has already said she thinks it's too late for them to re-indict Comey. She's not necessarily the final word on that question, but it is a pretty significant hurdle the Justice Department is going to have to surmount.

SIDNER: It's quite a big argument on the point of Comey, judging from what you just reminded us all that the judge said earlier.

I do want to take you to another issue. It's not just one court, but two courts now that have ruled President Trump's picks for U.S. attorneys are unlawful. The latest is appellate judges saying that Alina Habba, who, of course, you know, was Trump's personal attorney at one point, is unlawfully serving as U.S. attorney in New Jersey. And I just want to quickly read a little bit of the 32-page ruling that was (INAUDIBLE) down.

U.S. Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote, "it's efforts to evaluate its preferred candidate for U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to role of acting U.S. attorney, demonstrate the difficulties it has faced. Yet the citizens of New Jersey, and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney's Office, deserve some clarity and stability."

How do you expect the DOJ to respond to this?

DUPREE: Well, in ordinary times, I think the DOJ would respond to it simply by getting a Senate confirmed U.S. attorney, following the process that's specified in the United States Constitution for appointing these U.S. attorneys and getting them confirmed by the United States Senate.

But look, what we have seen from the Trump administration is that they dig in their heels, they stand their ground, they fight. So, although I think the right course here would simply be to go to the Senate and get the prosecutors Trump wants to serve confirmed so they can serve lawfully, it wouldn't surprise me if the administration continues to fight this battle, possibly taking this issue all the way up to the United States Supreme Court and says, look, these U.S. attorneys are the people the president wants in the position. They were, in the administration's view, lawfully appointed, and they should be reinstated and allowed to continue serving.

SIDNER: Yes, you just mentioned sort of this all kind of revolves around the appointments clause of the Constitution, which demands that the Senate confirm U.S. attorneys and other senior federal officers. Why do you think this fight continues to happen? And what do you see going forward?

DUPREE: Yeah, look, I think going forward we are going to see this playing out in multiple states. This is not an issue that is confined to Virginia and New Jersey. There are a number of U.S. attorneys who are appointed in this fashion, meaning they were basically replacing an existing U.S. attorney and the law says, well, you can only have that for a limited time. Ultimately, you have to go to the Senate and get your nominees confirmed.

So, this is not going to go away. I think that unless the administration changes course and decides to get these people confirmed, we are going to see this pattern continue to play out. We're going to see criminal defendants charging that these U.S. attorneys who are prosecuting them are unlawfully serving in their role, and that the indictment should be thrown out on that basis, or at least the U.S. attorneys should be disqualified on that basis.

So, I don't think this issue is going to go away anytime soon. And if the administration wants to keep fighting, my guess is they will fight this as far as they can, up to and including the Supreme Court of the United States.

SIDNER: Yes, I -- just quickly, yes or no, do you think that it's hurting the U.S. attorney's offices across the country?

DUPREE: I think there is a question of stability here. Look, prosecutors prosecute all sorts of cases. They need to understand who their boss is. They need to understand that the leadership in the office is properly serving and is stable and is going to be there for a long time. And if you have a situation where U.S. attorneys are being put in the role on short notice, disqualified by the courts, new people coming in, it can make it a little bit unstable.

SIDNER: Understood.

Tom Dupree, thank you for coming on and giving us that analysis this morning.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, a Georgia inmate described as armed and dangerous is on the run. Police say Timothy Shane escaped an Atlanta hospital, then stole an SUV and a handgun before crashing the vehicle less than a mile away. Authorities are asking if -- asking the public to call 911 if they see him and do not approach him.

The owner of a Los Angeles barbershop is hoping for the return of his pet after he was taken during a Thanksgiving Day robbery. Suspects backed a truck into the front of the shop, grabbing machines, tools, cash and a large kennel that held the owner's cat. The owner is worried because he says the cat has special needs.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, some good news for you. You can still fly if you haven't gotten around to getting a Real I.D., or simply don't want to, but it will cost you. Now TSA is announcing that starting February 1st you'll pay $45 at the airport to confirm your identity without Real I.D.

[09:00:00] But what is this going to mean, though, for security lines? Because that really is always the question.

CNN's Pete Muntean tracking this one for us.

Pete, what are you learning about all of this and this rollout?