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MAGA Infighting Flares At Turning Point USA Conference; War In Ukraine Blamed For Surge in Wolf Attacks On Reindeer In Finland; Jim Beam Pulls Plug On Production At Its Main Distillery. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired December 22, 2025 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:31:05]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning the battle over the future of the conservative movement and who should be part of it. The Turning Point USA Conference in Phoenix over the weekend exposed some growing rifts.
Vice President JD Vance, who closed out the event, declined to use his speech to condemn some of the more extreme voices on the right. Now compare that to the message from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy who told the crowd bigotry has no place in the movement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY, (R) OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: There's a different vision of American identity that's emergent in certain corridors of the online right, and it says that your identity as an American is based on your lineage. I think the idea of a heritage American is about as looney as anything the woke left has actually put up. There is no American who is more American than somebody else.
JD VANCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless self-defeating purity tests. He says make America great again because every American is invited. The only thing that is truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God we always will be a Christian nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: With us now Democratic strategist Matt Bennett, and CNN senior political commentator David Urban.
David, it was notable because Vice President Vance went on that stage and specifically said you know what, we're not doing purity tests here. I'm not going to condemn anyone. That was on stage in front of the crowd.
He did an interview though privately, separately where he did speak out against some of the hate that's been put forth by some of the people there.
He said, "Let me be clear. Anyone who attacks my wife..." -- and his wife, of course, is of Indian heritage -- Indian American -- "...whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, they can eat blank. That's my official policy as vice president of the United States." He also said, "Antisemitism in all forms of ethnic hatred have no place in the conservative movement." He went on to say, "I think it's disgusting."
So why not say that on stage, David? If you believe that, why not say it in front of the people there?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Yeah, John, I wish he would have. I wish he would have. I think what Vivek said was spot on.
Look, the Republican Party is a big tent, and we've got plenty of space for lots of people and lots of divergent views. However, views that are filled -- people who are filled with hate in their heart, and we have no room in the party for those types of people.
Nick Fuentes -- his rhetoric and the things he says is reprehensible and should be condemned by all. And so, allowing that kind of nascent antisemitism and anti-lots of things that he spews to foment is something that's regrettable. I wish JD would have come out and spoken more strongly against it.
But the reality is that the crowd, right -- this is -- you know, have Bannon -- you have Steve Bannon there, you have Megyn Kelly there, you have other people there on that stage talking about this. Those folks are -- they can take different positions because they're looking for clicks. They're looking for followers. They have a different role in this -- in this whole -- in this big play.
The vice president is looking to potentially -- he has not announced his candidacy yet but potentially run. And that MAGA coalition, John, as you know, is very, very fragile. There are lots of different divergent people. They all follow Trump for a certain reason -- one reason of another. Whether they will follow JD Vance in 2028, let alone any Republicans in 2026, is yet to be seen.
But again, no place for any of it. I wish -- you know, his remarks after that to the reporters, you note, spot on. So I associate myself with those remarks and perhaps wish he would have said those more forcefully at the bigger gathering.
[07:35:05]
BERMAN: Matt, in your experience, can you walk a line the way that Vice President Vance is trying to walk? What happens to candidates in either party who try to thread this kind of needle -- have it both ways?
MATT BENNETT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND CO- FOUNDER, THIRD WAY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY ASSISTANT, CLINTON ADMINISTRATION: Yeah, it doesn't work. I mean, I certainly agree with David that Vance's remarks privately were better than the ones he was not brave enough to give on stage.
But you -- it's very difficult to manage a coalition with people that you don't want in your coalition. I mean, think back to when George H.W. Bush had Pat Buchanan running to his right in 1992. And I remember -- I was on the Clinton campaign and I remember thinking oh, we're going to win when Buchanan gave a -- just a truly hate-filled speech at the convention in '92. It was -- did not reflect what -- George H.W. Bush was a very good man and believed in his heart that he did reflect what a big part of that coalition believed. And I think it was a huge turnoff to a lot of swing voters, and that kind of thing is very, very difficult to manage.
So I think Vance needs to be much clearer. If he wants to run in that party -- if he wants to lead the party into the future, which he clearly does, he is going to have to be a whole lot clearer about what he believes and what he believes does belong in American politics and does not.
The other thing I'd say is his notion that we are a Christian nation is pretty offensive to people like me who are not Christians, and people like his wife who are not Christians. So I find that to be a bad sign for Vance if that -- if he's going to do this kind of heritage idea rather than the creedal idea. We are a nation based on a creed, not based on heritage, and I think that's going to be trouble for him, too.
BERMAN: People should go check out Vivek Ramaswamy. In addition to the speech, he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times. It's an interesting read coming from someone who ran really far to the right in a Republican presidential primary right now. He does take out some interesting territory.
David, different subject. How is the Epstein file release going so far, do you think?
URBAN: (Laughing) Well listen, I think this has been a misstep after misstep and missed opportunity by the Trump administration.
Um, they -- you've had the victims who are still waiting for certain documents to be turned over. You have Congressman Massie, obviously, and Ro Khanna waiting for certain things. You've got the MAGA movement waiting for certain things. So no matter what the administration does it seems like they just -- they're making enemies at some level here.
John, my take on this has always been the same. Dump it all. Get it all out there. There's no -- there's no upside to not -- to letting things trickle out and death by a thousand cuts. You know, back the dump truck out and dump it all out.
The point I've always made though is that no matter what you put out -- no matter how much documents you put out, I think that there's going to be a certain element of this -- the Epstein file crowd that is always going to be un -- dissatisfied. They'll be maybe unhappy in what's out there because they're looking for some document that says these people did this wrong or this person is guilty. I think that this case has been investigated very thoroughly. I'd
still like to hear from the prosecutors, or I'd like to see why the federal prosecutors gave him the deal they did back then. That's been the question I've been asking from the -- from jump street. You know, that's the most important thing I think is why was Epstein allowed to get away with what he was able to get away with. But none of that I see in these documents.
So lots -- more questions than answers, John.
BERMAN: All right. David Urban, Matt Bennett, all politics, all television aside, I hope you both have a wonderful holiday. You're terrific people and it's always nice getting to talk to you, so thank you -- Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the breaking news this morning. A Russian general has been killed in an apparent car bombing in Moscow. It's still early on, obviously, in what will be an investigation, but Russian officials say that they are looking into whether Ukraine was involved in this.
And this comes just as U.S. officials have wrapped a series of meetings this weekend with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Miami. President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff left the meetings calling Sunday's talks productive and constructive. Russia's take not so much. The Kremlin's top foreign policy aide called Ukraine and Europe's suggested changes to the U.S. peace proposal as unconstructive.
And in a newly published interview with the website UnHerd, Vice President Vance is giving his take on the state of the negotiations, really distilling the core issue down to this. I'll read it to you. "I think the Russians really want territorial control of the Donetsk. He Ukrainians understandably see that as a major security problem, [even as] they privately acknowledge that eventually, they'll probably lose Donetsk."
Joining us right now is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier for more on this.
[07:40:00]
What do you think first, Kim, of the take from the vice president there in talking about what really is the sticky issue -- that Russia wants this territorial control? The Ukrainians -- they don't want to give it up but saying privately they acknowledge they eventually will have to.
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): He just put the Ukrainians in a really tough position by making private conversations public -- essentially saying look, we all know, and even the Ukrainians know, they're going to have to give up the Donbas. And what that does is make Russia's demands seem more reasonable.
Meanwhile, I hate to repeat myself but that's exactly what Rubio and Witkoff are hearing at the negotiating table. The Russians keep coming back and saying we will only accept what we agreed on in Anchorage. We will only accept the full territorial occupation of the Donbas -- with taking hundreds of square kilometers of territory, they haven't yet been able to take by war. And that is where they've stayed over and over and over again. And Vance has just essentially endorsed that.
BOLDUAN: And that gets to what -- the big question that does remain, which is what has happened or is happening, or truly hasn't to force Vladimir Putin to change his calculation? To force him to see a need to come to the table and compromise on anything.
Do you see something that has potential, even, to change his -- the calculation?
DOZIER: Not coming out of the White House. I mean, we've seen the public statements coming out from Putin and from his adviser Yuri Ushakov that keep going back to basically, they want their core demands met, meaning they want the Ukrainian army shrunk. They want full territorial control of the Donbas, which means it's got mineral rich areas. It's got hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who don't want to be forced to not speak Ukrainian and have their children rounded up and taught to believe Russian dogma, et cetera. So that is what Ukraine has to weigh.
You've got Europe in Ukraine's corner. Europe has just agreed to lend something like $100 million to help Ukraine --
BOLDUAN: Billion -- um-hum.
DOZIER: -- keep building the drones and keep going with the war effort. But even that -- Europe has been somewhat divided. They didn't decide to come up with a plan to seize all of the Russian assets that they're holding in their banks.
So from Putin's perspective, he feels like he's got Trump in his court, the Europeans are divided. Why not keep pushing with the war?
BOLDUAN: Yeah. I mean -- and you do -- you have many contacts with foreign diplomats. I mean, what is your sense that you are getting from them around -- after these kind of round after round of talks? You mentioned the big loan that they agreed to give to Ukraine. This was after they --
DOZIER: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: -- kind of moved away from what was the consideration and the proposal of using frozen Russian assets to help fund it.
Where is the big focus do you think among European leaders right now?
DOZIER: They are just trying to keep Donald Trump essentially talking, just like the Russians are trying to keep Trump talking in that they're afraid that Trump is just going to get frustrated not with the Russian, which he only did briefly this year, but with the Ukrainians, and walk away. And Europe is not, at this point, ready to backfill all of the weapons technology, et cetera to keep Ukraine in the fight. So it is a tough situation as Kyiv and the whole country goes into the holiday season with the continual rain of weapons overhead and no sign of peace yet coming out of Miami.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
Kim, it's good to see you. Thanks for coming in -- Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right.
The war in Ukraine may be creating a dangerous threat more than 1,000 miles away in northern Finland. What Putin's war has to do with reindeer being killed.
CNN's Isobel Yeung reports from deep in the Arctic Circle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Russia's war in Ukraine is having far-reaching and surprising impacts even hundreds of miles away here in Finland.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world flock here to the Arctic Circle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a feeling that you came to see Santa.
YEUNG (voiceover): Finish legend has it that this is the home --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hooray! Santa!
YEUNG (voiceover): -- of Santa Claus. The iconic reindeer are at the heart of Finland's culture and economy, but Finland's reindeer are in trouble. Thousands are showing up dead and you might be surprised to know who people here blame -- Russian President Vladimir Putin.
[07:45:00]
Russia's border with Finland stretches over 800 miles, the longest of any NATO country.
Juha Kujala lives just a few miles away. His family have been wrangling reindeer for over 400 years. He now sells reindeer everything from reindeer yoga --
YEUNG: Think like a reindeer.
YEUNG (voiceover): -- to sleigh rides.
YEUNG: Oh, poor reindeer.
What is it that's killing the reindeer?
JUHA KUJALA, REINDEER HERDER: Wolf is the worst --
YEUNG: Um-hum. KUJALA: -- and they just kill, kill, kill, kill. It's awful. This area was -- most of them come farther east -- the Russian side.
YEUNG: How do you know that?
KUJALA: You see the tracks. They come from the Russian side.
YEUNG: Why do you think there are more Russian wolves?
KUJALA: That's the Putin, who changed the world.
YEUNG: Putin?
KUJALA: Yeah. The soldiers and the young hunters -- they hunt the wolves, but now they're hunting people in Ukraine. There's nobody anymore that are left who is hunting wolves.
YEUNG: So do you blame Vladimir Putin for these dead reindeer?
KUJALA: Ah, who could I blame? I could blame the whole world -- why this has happened. It's getting worse after the Ukraine war.
YEUNG (voiceover): In an effort to control the thriving wolf population, Russian men have long been paid bounties by the state for every wolf they hunt. But experts who track the Russian military tell us that recruitment drives into the war in Ukraine have been intense, leaving fewer people to hunt the wolves.
Now reports in Russian media say wolves are increasingly entering villages and towns and it seems they're crossing the border. Extensive wolf DNA testing supports that theory.
In Finland, there's been a dramatic rise in wolves, which are killing reindeer in record numbers. Sightings like these are increasingly common all along eastern Finland. That's something that will be difficult to stop as tensions along this over 800-mile border are at their highest point in decades.
YEUNG: So right now we are with some Finish conscripts in the northernmost part of the European Union.
YEUNG (voiceover): Finland has increased defense spending and is carrying out largescale military training.
YEUNG: Finland seems like a very optimistic but also very prepared country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's smart to prepare.
YEUNG (voiceover): As Finland preps for the worst, Kujala is hoping for the best.
KUJALA: Hopefully, Mr. Trump, if you hear me, do everything to try to stop this war. If we cannot fix this wolf situation quickly some part of the area is going to be without reindeers.
YEUNG: And what would that mean to you?
KUJALA: Like, somebody took my life away.
YEUNG (voiceover): Isobel Yeung, CNN, in northern Finland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: What a look inside.
All right. How many Powerball tickets have you bought that did not win? Now is your chance to get even more. A mammoth jackpot is at stake.
And with Santa's big night approaching, if the sleigh -- if the sleigh does not work there might be another way to get around.
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[07:51:50]
BOLDUAN: The Jim Beam is hitting pause at its main distillery starting January 1. The famed bourbon producer is shutting down production at the facility on Kentucky -- on the Kentucky bourbon trail. This is as U.S. distillers all over are facing uncertainty in part of -- in part due to President Trump's trade war, especially the trade war with Canada, which has contributed to a significant decline in U.S. liquor sales after that country, Canada, ushered in a boycott of U.S. booze over Trump's trade policies.
The company sharing a statement with CNN saying this. "We are always assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand and recently met with our team to discuss our volumes for 2026."
Well, they won't make new bourbon in the new year. Bottling and warehousing will continue at the Kentucky site. Officials have not announced any layoffs but say they're talking to employees about how the workforce will be impacted.
The Powerball jackpot has now soared and now to an estimated $1.6 billion after there was no big winners in Saturday's drawing. That makes it the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot ever. The next drawing is tonight with a cash option worth about $735 million. Your odds, horrendous -- about one in 292 million, but someone's got to win, Sara. Someone's got to win.
SIDNER: Those are the odds of me making sense in the morning, so I'll take 'em. Thank you so much, Kate.
Big media mergers, the battle over publicity-funded TV -- or publicly- funded TV -- see -- and a push to redefine free speech in America. CNN's Brian Stelter ticks through the top 10 media moments of 2025.
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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Coming in at number 10 on the list of the top 10 media stories of 2025, big media mergers with political overtones.
David Ellison's Skydance finally won approval to take over Paramount, but only after Paramount's previous owners agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump against CBS. Then Ellison offered to buy something much bigger, CNN's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, leading to a bidding war and deal for Netflix to buy Warner Bros. and HBO. Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid, arguing a Netflix- Warner combo would be worse for shareholders and for Hollywood. CNN's future ownership hangs in the balance.
Number nine, remodeling the press room. The White House banned the Associated Press from events, tried to bully other news outlets, and invited Trump promoters into the press pool.
REPORTER: Will you guys also consider releasing the president's fitness plan? He actually looks healthier than ever before.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can confirm the president is in every good shape.
STELTER: Trump loyalists, like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, followed along by severely restricting press access at the Pentagon, leading beat reporters to surrender their press passes instead of agreeing to his terms. Hegseth tried to crack down on leaks even as he was scrutinized for leaking secret war plans by the Signal app.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Those folks who were leaking, who have been pushed out of the building, are not attempting to leak and sabotage the president's agenda.
[07:55:00]
STELTER: And while Trump tries to shape the news to his liking --
REPORTER: If there's nothing incriminating in the files, sir, why not act --
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Quiet. Quiet, piggy.
REPORTER: Why do you blame the Biden administration for what this man did?
TRUMP: Because they let him in. Are you stupid?
STELTER: -- reporters just keep on reporting.
Number eight, the TikTok ban that was and then wasn't. In January, the Supreme Court upheld the Biden era law pressuring TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell the app's U.S. operations to American owners.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge news out of the Supreme Court as the justices uphold a controversial ban on the social media app TikTok.
STELTER: But then Trump granted an extension, and then another, and then another, even though legal experts doubted his ability to do so. In late December, TikTok said it has signed a deal to spin off its U.S. entity to American investors like Larry Ellison, though the deal is still expected to need approval from the Chinese government before closing.
Number seven --
ANDREW SCHULZ, HOST, "FLAGRANT" PODCAST: What's up, guys? Today we are joined by the Democrat's secret weapon. Give it up for Pete Buttigieg.
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, X "TUCKER": Senator, thank you very much for spending the time to have this conversation.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): It's good to be with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a Zohran Mamdani Reddit?
ZOHRAN MAMDANI, (D) NEW YORK CITY MAYOR-ELECT: I don't know, is there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably. Don't check it though.
STELTER: -- the influencer boom. More and more newsworthy moments are happening on Substack accounts and podcast streams.
TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER-SONGWRITER: So I wanted to show you something -- yep.
JASON KELCE, CO-HOST, "NEW HEIGHTS" PODCAST: What's in it?
SWIFT: This is my brand new album, "The Life of a Showgirl."
J. KELCE: AAAAAAGGHH.
TRAVIS KELCE, CO-HOST, "NEW HEIGHTS" PODCAST: TS 12!
SWIFT: Yeah.
STELTER: That's Taylor Swift on her fiance's podcast "New Heights" announcing the release of her 12th album.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: This is Gavin Newsom.
STELTER: Politicians like Gavin Newsom are launching chat shows trying to foster more personal connections with voters. And nowadays it feels like every audio podcast is on camera too, creating a new form of TV.
Number six, a struggle over publicly-funded media. Public broadcasters are under pressure around the world. And in the U.S., Trump targeted PBS and NPR.
TRUMP: The kind of money that's being wasted -- and it's a very biased view. And I'd be honored to see it end.
STELTER: The president urged Congress to strip away the funding they had already approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And Republicans did just that, defunding PBS and NPR stations across the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's not going to be any other entity that broadcasts the legislature, the meetings, and providing the transparency in government that Arkansas PBS does.
STELTER: Stations are still on the air, but they say they need viewer donations now more than ever.
Number five, a sports fan's dream come true or worst nightmare? In the streaming era it's getting harder to watch your favorite teams. YouTube kicked off the NFL season with its first live global stream, and Netflix signaled it's going to spend more on sports rights. But with rights being sold to the highest big tech bidders, games are showing up on different apps and different sites, frustrating fans who just want to flip on the TV and watch.
Number four, fight or fold? Trump's pressure campaign against the media caused some outlets to cave and others to combat his threats in court. As Paramount tried to get the Trump administration to approve its merger, Stephen Colbert found out that his late-night show was canceled.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending the "THE LATE SHOW" in May.
STELTER: CBS said the decision was financial, not political, but Colbert's fans did not buy that.
As some media owners stand accused of capitulating to Trump other outlets want to be seen as doing the opposite. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both vowed to fight Trump's lawsuits against their publications.
Number three, free speech battles taking center stage. The assassination of Charlie Kirk horrified America and drew even more attention to Kirk's campus debate crusade.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: We are hearing from President Trump. He is on his Truth Social platform saying that Charlie Kirk has passed away.
STELTER: When Jimmy Kimmel referenced the political arguments about Kirk's alleged killer --
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.
STELTER: Trump's SEC chairman Brendan Carr cried foul and threatened ABC and its local affiliates. Two big station owners said they would preempt Kimmel's show, leaving ABC to yank it off the air altogether and sparking outrage in Hollywood over government censorship. Nearly a week later, Kimmel returned to the airwaves.
KIMMEL: Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted -- STELTER: Number two, the generative AI race gets costlier and even more competitive. Tech giants keep one-upping each other with new chatbots and new upgrades. OpenAI's Sora 2 model stunned users and scared Hollywood studios by generating artificial mini movies that sure looked real.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Societal understanding of AI trails far behind where the technology is. People around the world are going to be confused as to what's real and what's not.
STELTER: Companies like Meta are doubling down on their bets, and Trump is taking a light touch.
