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Navy Recommends Possible Punishments for Sen. Mark Kelly Over Illegal Orders Video; First Charges Filed Against Army Doctor Accused of Recording Patients; Trapped Skydiver Dangles From Plane's Tail 15,000 Feet in the Air. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 11, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... Allegedly shot Charlie Kirk dead about three months ago. So the judge is going to come back into open session. We will see that.

And then after a recess, the judge says he will rule today. So today we should know how much of this trial we're going to see -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Nick Watt, thank you so much for the update. We'll hear back as soon as we get word from the judge. Thank you so much.

This just in, CNN learning, the Navy has submitted its recommendation on potential punishments for Senator Mark Kelly over his participation in that video reminding U.S. troops to refuse illegal orders. That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:00]

SANCHEZ: Breaking news to CNN. We've learned the Navy has submitted suggestions on potential punishments for Democratic Senator Mark Kelly. After the former Navy pilot told troops in a video they could refuse illegal orders.

Let's bring in CNN senior national security reporter, Zach Cohen. Zach, walk us through these recommendations.

ZACH COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Boris, we know the Navy secretary has delivered its recommendations to the Office of Legal Counsel at the Pentagon. Where they're being reviewed for input at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Now, what remains to be seen is how those recommendations compare to what Hegseth and President Donald Trump have said publicly. As far as accusing Senator Mark Kelly of things like sedition for participating in that video. Now, Kelly is a retired U.S. Navy captain. And that's part of the reason why Hegseth has singled him out of this group of Democrats who appeared in that video. Urging troops to not to listen to illegal orders. And we've been told that among the options that Hegseth has been

mulling since this all started, was recalling Kelly back into active service and court-martialing him. Other potential punishments included potentially reducing his rank and pension. More administrative type things.

But really, we now know that the Secretary of the Navy has, at the request of Hegseth, provided what he thinks should happen, if anything at all.

SANCHEZ: You're also gathering new reporting, meantime, on the extent of the Signalgate investigation. And finding out that this was not a routine investigation. In other words, it didn't follow the typical protocols.

COHEN: Yes, Boris, we know the Inspector General conducted this investigation where Hegseth had limited cooperation. But that IG report did determine that Hegseth put American troops in danger, potentially by disclosing those sensitive war plans via Signal.

But typically, when a disclosure of this kind happens. What's damage assessment is what it's called. Is conducted internally and separately inside the Pentagon.

To really ensure that the information wasn't compromised. And that there are no really lasting effects to national security. Ultimately, we're told that assessment never happened.

And it was because Hegseth never ordered it to happen. So, it does seem that his lack of authorization is what resulted in no subsequent investigation happening. So, we really don't know the full extent of the impact of Signalgate and Hegseth's messages specifically.

SANCHEZ: Zach Cohen, thank you so much for the reporting -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: An army gynecologist accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of his former patients has been charged with allegedly recording his patients along with several other related charges. Major Blaine McGraw is a doctor at Fort Hood in Texas.

He's now charged with 54 specifications or alleged instances of indecent visual recording. Five specifications of conduct unbecoming an officer. One specification of willful disobedience of a superior officer. And one of making a false statement.

Meanwhile, a civil suit against the doctor has ballooned. 81 alleged victims who are patients of McGraw at Fort Hood in Texas and at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, have now joined an original accuser who filed a suit against him last month. This suit alleges that the 82 women were, quote, "Subjected to invasive, unnecessary, and degrading, touching, voyeurism, and covert filming."

In one example, included in Wednesday's filing, an active duty soldier said she believes McGraw took photos of her during a rape kit examination after she was sexually assaulted.

CNN national security reporter Haley Britsky has been tracking this story for us. What are we learning about these new charges?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, so Brianna, this is four charges with dozens of specifications or incidents within the charges. The main one attached to the allegations that we're hearing is indecent visual recording. There were dozens of specifications with that.

Importantly, this is only looking at charges within this year. So January 1st to December 1st. CNN reporting has shown that there are allegations spanning years beyond -- or earlier than 2025 from when he was in Hawaii as well -- before he got to Texas. But these charges are specifically only looking at that year. And it includes 44 total victims at this point.

KEILAR: And we talked about this civil suit. We reported on this before. It was initially just one Jane Doe, even though in the initial filing it talked about some other alleged incidents.

Now there's another 81 women who are coming forward as part of this suit. What are they alleging?

BRITZKY: Right, so 81 new victims, so 82 total victims as part of this civil lawsuit. They are across 15 states. I mean, these are service members. These are military family members, dependents.

So they move a lot, right? So they've moved since their time in Texas or Hawaii with Major McGraw. A lot of the allegations are similar to what we've heard in the past, that they believe he was recording them without their knowledge, taking photos of them, performing unnecessary exams.

[14:40:00]

And I want to go back to the example that you mentioned earlier, which is a pretty horrific allegation, that a 19-year-old active duty soldier saying that she was raped while she was at Fort Hood. She went to Major McGraw for a rape kit to get a forensic examination done, saying that she believes he was taking photos of her during her exam and that he didn't file the results of that exam. So when she was pressing charges, the prosecution did not have forensic evidence. And in the lawsuit, it says that her alleged assailant was acquitted because of that.

So this is really serious allegations about really deep impact that he had allegedly on the life of these victims. And I want to mention his lawyer, who didn't respond to specific questions yesterday, but had said previously that they've seen no records to support patients were touched in a way that was not medically indicated and that they're fully cooperating with the investigation.

KEILAR: That is a devastating allegation that you highlight from this latest filing. This civil lawsuit, it's not just taking aim at the doctor, right? It alleges systemic feelings by the Army.

Can you tell us about that and also what the Army is doing now? BRITZKY: Yes, so this is pointing back to the case of Vanessa Guillen at Fort Hood several years ago and really the overwhelming cultural changes and really a reckoning within the Army on how they dealt with sexual assault and harassment, how they dealt with the culture at Fort Hood. And there were so many policy changes that came out of that. This lawsuit is saying that those didn't stick, that they, you know, essentially didn't go far enough.

The lawsuit says that Major McGraw's case was an inevitable consequence of a culture that still has not changed, saying that the Army has not gone far enough in addressing some of these issues. The Army says they're taking this very seriously. Just a few moments ago, we confirmed that the Army Inspector General has now launched a probe of the Army's compliance with Defense Health Agency policies.

So they are certainly looking into this, meaning to get to the bottom of this, and we will be following it every step of the way.

KEILAR: Certainly will be. Haley, great reporting. Thank you so much for that.

Next, a skydiver becomes trapped. Look at this video here, dangling from a plane's tail, and that is about 15,000 feet up in the air. So what happens next? You won't believe it.

But we're going to talk to a world champion skydiver about why this happened, how often it happens, and how those considering skydiving can make sure it doesn't happen to them.

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SANCHEZ: If you're a thrill seeker thinking about going on your first skydive, you may want to forget you ever saw this clip. I apologize in advance. This is the moment a skydiver's parachute, in what we want to assume is a freak accident, prematurely deploys, dragging the skydiver onto the tail of the plane, the parachute there getting entangled, leaving him dangling some 15,000 feet in the air.

He's already injured at this point. If you look closely, you can see his legs actually hit the tail when he gets yanked back. Clearly, the plane can't land like that, so the diver actually has to saw through the cords connecting him to his parachute one by one so he can eventually begin his descent.

Thankfully, it was the reserve chute that became trapped, so he was able to deploy his main parachute. He ended up landing safely, though clearly a little beat up and maybe scared.

We've got to talk about this with Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld is a world champion skydiver who's completed more than 32,000 jumps. Thanks so much for being with us, Dan. I wonder how many times you've seen a reserve parachute get tangled like this on a plane.

DAN BRODSKY-CHENFELD, WORLD CHAMPION SKYDIVER: I personally have never seen it. I've been skydiving for 45 years, but I do know of a few different instances where that has happened with either a main or reserve parachute.

SANCHEZ: So what exactly happened here? What's your understanding of how this thing deployed? It got caught on a handle, right?

BRODSKY-CHENFELD: That's what it sounds like. I don't have much more information than you do at the moment, but every skydiver, when they get in the airplane, prior to getting in the airplane, does a complete gear check, makes sure their handles are secure, makes sure the container is properly closed, and they also check this again before getting out of the airplane just to make sure while you were moving inside the airplane that you didn't knock a handle loose or anything else. So as we climb out, everything should be secure without any problems.

Apparently, the skydiver got the handle caught on something getting out of the airplane, which then deployed the reserve parachute while they were standing outside of the airplane, and then it went over the tail.

SANCHEZ: The skydiver survived by cutting himself free with a knife or like this sharp object. You kind of see the angle there. Is that something you typically carry with you in the event that something like this happens?

BRODSKY-CHENFELD: Yes. Most skydivers do have what we call a hook knife, just a small knife. Generally, it is more used for if you have a problem with your own parachute or if you are entangled with another skydiver when you need to cut the lines to get away.

Again, they're hardly ever used. It's very rare that you have this incident or this type of situation at all, but most skydivers do carry a hook knife just in case because we like to be careful.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's clearly a dangerous but very fun sport. Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Because I just wonder what is going through that skydiver's mind when they're dangling like that, and if you've been in something similar or a close call, which I imagine having gone skydiving so many times you probably have, what's the thought process?

[14:50:00]

BRODSKY-CHENFELD: You know, every skydiver, again, is prepared and takes the proper precautions for pretty much any situation, but something like this, you really are caught by surprise. You're standing outside the airplane, you're getting ready to exit and enjoy the sport with your friends, and suddenly you get pulled off the airplane, and you're hanging underneath the tail.

You're really a skydiver generally in these situations. You just look at what it is and what you can do about it, how you're going to fix it. If it was the main parachute, you would just hang underneath the tail. You would just cut the main parachute away and release yourself from it.

Because it was the reserve parachute, it was a little bit more complicated because you can't cut away the reserve parachute. The reserve parachute is there to stay. So then your only option at that point is to use your hook knife and cut the lines off until you can release from there.

Many of the skydiving airplanes, too, depending on the type of airplane it is, the tail is in a different location. Some tails on certain airplanes are lower, some are higher. The higher they are, the less likely it is that you would ever get caught in a situation like this.

SANCHEZ: Should anybody watching this footage maybe be dissuaded from going skydiving? Should it give anyone pause?

BRODSKY-CHENFELD: No, I don't think so. If skydiving is something that you've looked at and that you think is just amazing to watch and you have the same dream of human flight that the rest of us do, then I would look further into it and pursue it. It's an absolutely amazing sport.

As you mentioned, I've got over 32,000 jumps. I've been doing it for 45 years and have yet to hurt myself.

SANCHEZ: Yes, probably a good idea if you're considering it to look for professionals like Dan to help you live that dream. Dan Brodsky- Chenfield, thanks so much for the time.

BRODSKY-CHENFELD: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We'll be right back.

[14:55:00]

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KEILAR: A brand new episode of "ACTORS ON ACTORS" is now available exclusively on CNN's app. And this one brings together Sydney Sweeney and Ethan Hawke. CNN Entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister is joining us now on this.

What are some of the surprising moments from this pairing, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: So, Brianna, this may be an unconventional pairing to many people who have been surprised and have been talking about Ethan Hawke with Sydney Sweeney on social media. This has been a trending topic. But I have to tell you, I was on set when they were in production.

It was a fascinating conversation. And Ethan Hawke, he's talking about his film Blue Moon, for which he was just nominated this week for a Golden Globe. So congrats to Ethan Hawke.

And Sydney Sweeney is talking about her film Christy, in which she portrays the boxer Christy Martin. Take a look at this clip from their conversation where Sydney talks about her training in doing her own stunts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNEY SWEENEY, ACTOR: I got a concussion, though.

ETHAN HAWKE, ACTOR: You did.

SWEENEY: I did.

HAWKE: You said that with pride. You said like that --

SWEENEY: I was proud of it.

HAWKE: You were.

SWEENEY: Yes. I loved the fighting sequences in the movie.

HAWKE: Tell me about it.

SWEENEY: We actually took all the real fights from Christy's real life. So every fight that you saw in the movie was the exact combinations that she had in those fights. And then I told all the stunt girls, I was like, I really want to be hit.

And they were down for me to hit them. So everything you see, we were just going at each other. There were bloody noses. It was real.

HAWKE: It's kind of fun to know that you're not as fragile as we think we are.

SWEENEY: Yeah, you can take a lot.

HAWKE: Yeah, we're tougher than we think we are as human beings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Now, on Actors on Actors, the actors aren't just talking about their projects, their films that are in contention. They talk about a lot of different topics. And, of course, Ethan Hawke had to ask Sydney Sweeney about Euphoria season three.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAWKE: What was Euphoria like?

SWEENEY: I think Euphoria was the beginning of everything for me. Cassie is a very emotional and heart driven character. And so I had to be very free with every choice that I made.

I had to not question myself. I had to just like dive in, make crazy decisions and not judge what I was doing. And the more and more I did it -- I just wrapped season three -- I am so thankful for it because I'm so free in all my choices.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WAGMEISTER: Now, after their conversation, I caught up with Ethan Hawke and Sydney Sweeney off the set. And we spoke about how fame has changed over the years.

Ethan Hawke, of course, rising to fame in the late 80s, early 90s. He was very young. Sydney Sweeney, certainly one of the most talked about stars today. So they bonded over that.

And Ethan Hawke also told Sydney that he took his daughter to see Christie and that she was so moved by it. And Sydney got very moved by hearing that. So I encourage everyone not just to watch the latest episode on the CNN app, but also to check out our off-the-set conversation, Brianna, which is now on CNN's YouTube.

KEILAR: Really interesting. What are some of the future pairings of "ACTORS ON ACTORS" that we can expect, Elizabeth?

WAGMEISTER: OK, so I have to tell you, one of my favorite episodes is dropping tomorrow. And we have father and son, Alexander and Stellan Skarsgard. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say come for Alexander Skarsgard's outfit and stay for the conversation.

It really goes off the rails. And the finale, which will be next week ...

END