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Growing Outrage Over Release of Heavily Redacted Epstein Files; U.S. Pursuing Another Oil Tanker Near Venezuela Amid Trump Blockade; Year-End Holiday Travel to Hit New Record; CBS News Abruptly Shelves "60 Minutes" Segment on Trump Deportees. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 22, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's far behind where the technology is. People around the world are going to be confused as to what's real and what's not.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST (voice-over): Companies like Meta are doubling down on their bets. And Trump is taking a light touch, low regulation approach, hoping rapid AI expansion keeps fueling the U.S.

And the number one media story of 2025, it's the power of the people. Real people, not chatbots.

From folks in their cars making selfie videos, talking about the high cost of living, to dramatic recordings of ICE arrests gone wrong, to videos of MAGA media influencers criticizing Trump over the Epstein file.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREEN (R-GA): I'll tell you right now, this has been one of the most destructive things to MAGA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many of you are satisfied with the results of the Epstein investigation? Clap.

STELTER: We're seeing people power all over the place. While media moguls fight and political hacks try to twist the news, normal everyday people are telling their own stories, making their own media, and sometimes forcing those in power to pay attention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, accusation of a cover-up over the way the DOJ is releasing the Epstein files, which included page upon page, completely blacked out. Lawmakers demanding the Justice Department release all the files and reduce the redactions or they will move to hold the Attorney General accountable.

Plus, a record number of Americans are expected to head over the river and through the woods to see family for the holidays. What you need to know if you're preparing to travel. And a body camera capturing the moment a shoplifting suspect pulls out

a gun on a police officer.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this morning we're standing by to see if and when more of the investigative files into Jeffrey Epstein are released. And when they come, what you can actually see and read of them. There are quote -- there are quote, unquote a million or so pages.

That's according to a top official from the Justice Department's investigation. What's been put out so far is clearly just not cutting it. Not satisfying lawmakers, not satisfying the victims and survivors of Epstein's abuse.

Which means the pressure is only mounting still on the Justice Department, facing criticism not only over the slow pace of the rollout, but also how heavily redacted the initial batch of files was. The department says it erred on the side of over redaction, if you will, to protect victims. Some though are accusing the Justice Department now of a White House cover up and only adding fuel to that fire.

Yesterday, the department republished a photo after taking it down, which had included an image featuring President Trump. All of this pushing one of the lawmakers who's led this fight for release to now threaten to take this thing to a whole new level.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): The quickest way and I think most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): We're building a bipartisan coalition and it would fine Pam Bondi for every day that she's not releasing these documents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Katelyn Polantz says much more on where we stand and where things stand right now. What are you hearing about what and when more documents can come?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the law said that the Justice Department should make the Epstein files public by Friday. That was the deadline, but it's clearly a work in progress at this time. The Justice Department, they are still working through to redact documents that they didn't get to because of the sheer volume.

And then they're also correcting mistakes that they made. Two examples, grand jury material that had been posted entirely redacted, 119 pages from the re-indictment or one of the indictments against Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021. They went through that again, made many fewer redactions and posted that document back on the website after Friday.

The other thing was that there was a photo of Donald Trump that was released on Friday in the initial batch. The Justice Department pulled that down on Saturday from the Internet and then reinstated it on Sunday. They gave an explanation in that there was sensitivity around victims.

The Justice Department's U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York had flagged an image in the Justice Department of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims out of an abundance of caution. The Justice Department temporarily removed the image for further review.

[08:05:00]

After the review, it was determined there was no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph and it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction. So that's an image of Donald Trump in a desk full of pictures of different people, including Epstein.

So that's why that was pulled down, a question of whether there was other people there. It needed a second look. But the Justice Department, they took extreme caution in the way that they were redacting, even telling a court on Friday that some may call this a quote, over redaction.

The reasons that they were redacting so much, they decided that any women in photographs with Epstein could be victims. So they ended up redacting more than 1,200 individuals, victims, relatives and even others that may not even be victims. They also are redacting what would be called privileged material, the sort of thing that the law did not specify to allow the Justice Department to hold back.

But that would be internal deliberations in the executive branch, attorney work, attorney client communications. But what the law actually allowed, Kate, was much more succinct. It was protect victims, protect personally identifiable information, don't put out images of death, abuse, violence, and also don't disclose anything in ongoing national defense or investigations.

So, Kate, this ended up being something that is just not done yet. But keep watching. There are very likely to be more released with many more redactions.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Katelyn, thanks so much -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning, a hot pursuit at sea. Right now, U.S. forces are actively chasing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. We are told the ship, which is under U.S. sanctions for alleged links to Iranian oil, was sailing toward Venezuela for a pickup. But a U.S. official says that when the Coast Guard attempted to board the ship, it refused to stop. This is the newest escalation of President Trump, what he calls a blockade on the sanctioned vessels of Venezuela's oil industry.

U.S. forces have already seized two other ships. With us now, retired Admiral James Stavridis, a CNN senior military analyst. He's the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and a partner of the Carlisle Group, an international investment firm.

Admiral, great to see you this morning. What's the point of what President Trump is calling a blockade? I'm putting that in quotation marks because a blockade means something specific.

It's unclear exactly what he means by it. But what do you see as the strategy here?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: To put pressure on Maduro. I think we've talked about it, John. It's kind of like Maduro is this frog in a pot.

You keep adding more heat. You kind of boil that water. Your hope is that after seeing drug boats blow up and loss of income from drugs, now he's going to lose income from oil.

All of that ought to contribute to that pot boiling. Hopefully the frog jumps out. We'll see if it's going to be successful.

But I'll close with this. I've done a lot of blockades off of Haiti, off of the Balkans, in the Arabian Gulf. Blockades are challenging.

Venezuela has a huge coastline, 1,800 miles, only a few ports. But a lot of places you can smuggle, break down, contraband. It's going to be quite a game of whack-a-mole out there tracking these ships down and taking them down.

BERMAN: So these aren't Venezuelan vessels per se. But what is the likelihood of Venezuela in some way fighting back?

STAVRIDIS: I think that's going up. And Venezuela doesn't have significant or overwhelmingly powerful armed forces at sea or in the air. They have about 40 fighters.

They have about 40 coastal kind of warships. But if Maduro wants to kind of have Nicolas Maduro's last stand and start fighting back, you'll see the Coast Guard step back. You'll see the U.S. Navy step in. You'll see ships get sunk. Let's hope we don't get to that point. Let's hope the Venezuelans exercise restraint.

But bottom line, what the Coast Guard is doing here is legal. Everything I can see it's being done with real efficiency. And it's appropriate given what these smugglers are trying to do with this oil.

BERMAN: These are sanctioned vessels and for the most part being seized with judicial orders there. The president has flirted with and dangled the possibility of land strikes on Venezuela. What's the likelihood of that that you see?

STAVRIDIS: I think it is increasing the longer the frog hangs around in the pot. But there'll be a period here where we will continue to go after tankers because that's the money. That's where Maduro gets his financing.

[08:10:00]

His army wants to get paid. His senior officers want their beautiful haciendas and access to them. So going after the money at this stage ought to put a lot of pressure on. If that doesn't succeed in the new year, next logical step on that ladder of escalation is in fact land strikes.

The president has said he's considering doing them. He'll go after drug targets ashore. Maybe eventually the military and ultimately he could go after, shall we say, John, leadership targets.

BERMAN: Again, in theory, state targets or leadership targets would require some kind of congressional involvement, which doesn't seem to be happening, at least at this point. Admiral James Stavridis, obviously this is the discussion that will be ongoing. We thank you for your expertise on it this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, CBS management facing backlash this morning after a last minute decision to pull a report on the El Salvador prison where the Trump administration has sent deportees. The correspondent who reported the piece says plain and simple, it's corporate censorship.

And a record number of Americans are expected to travel this week. We'll tell you when the best time is to try to hit the road in the airports.

Plus, a self-driving car creating traffic trouble. What happened and how the company is responding this morning?

[08:15:00]

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SIDNER: It's the holidays and you know that means that crowds are going to be there no matter how you travel. But this year it's expected to be busier than ever. AAA projecting more than 122 million Americans will travel for Christmas and New Years more than ever before.

Most are expected to drive with gas prices lower, but air travel is also expected to reach all time highs. CNN's Pete Muntean is at Reagan National Airport where we expect you all day, every day outside Washington there tracking what you need to know before you go. What are you seeing so far?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It's been pretty busy here, Sara, and things are picking up as the moment goes on. You know, the TSA says we've already seen huge air travel days. On Friday, screened about 2.8 million people at airport checkpoints nationwide. Saturday, about 2.8 million people at airport checkpoints nationwide. The Federal Aviation Administration actually says the number of flights peaked on Friday and continued through the weekend. I just want to give you a look at what it was like here as folks were trying to get the first flight out of the day here.

7 a.m. this morning, the line was pretty long, although the good news for travelers right now, just checked, the line here at TSA, Terminal 2 North Checkpoint, only about five minutes if you're going through here. Just take a little look here at the departures board. More good news for travelers.

About 100 flights on this board right now. We have seen only two delays. Here is the thing that AAA says people are not preparing for.

It is the traffic, the drive into the airport. We have seen that over and over again during the Thanksgiving rush, and I want you to listen now to AAA's Aixa Diaz. She says that this holiday is a little bit more spread out, so you may have some better luck when it comes to traffic, although people are not accounting for it when they're coming to the airport.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX DIAZ, AAA SPOKESPERSON: I think the two biggest concerns for air travelers are going to be the weather and traffic around the airport. I think a lot of times people just think about the long TSA lines as being the only line they're going to have to sit in. There's also traffic.

We saw it over Thanksgiving, some people waiting half an hour, even an hour, trying to get to the airport itself. So be mindful of that. Tack on an extra 30 minutes to your trip to get to the airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The best and worst times to travel. The best time, according to AAA, is about right now, before 10 a.m. That's sort of a nationwide blanket statement. Although things get worse as the day goes on.

If you're driving to Grandma's, AAA anticipating so many people driving 50 miles or more, about a percent or two percent increase over last year, between 1 and 7 p.m. That is the worst time to drive. And that's because not only are some schools still in, even today, but also folks are going to intermix for holiday traffic along with the commute for folks still working today. The good news, if you're driving the national average for a gallon of gasoline, only $2.85. It has gone down compared to the holidays a year ago.

SIDNER: Pete Muntean, before 10 a.m., what you're trying to tell people is not to watch the rest of this show. We don't appreciate it, but I'm sure that travelers will.

MUNTEAN: Sorry.

SIDNER: All right, Pete. Go ahead, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sit in traffic or miss our show. I mean, we know where everyone is going to decide. We know exactly how this goes. OK, coming up for us, a huge $6 billion nuclear deal, why it's raising eyebrows, and ethical questions this morning.

And an editorial call made by CBS News that's getting a lot of attention today. Why the correspondent on the story is speaking out after the piece on 60 Minutes was pulled just hours before it was set to air.

[08:20:00]

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BOLDUAN: CBS News pulls a segment and sparks an uproar. The network abruptly pulled a planned 60 Minutes investigation hours before it was set to air Sunday night.

The segment, called "Inside CECOT," took viewers inside the Trump administration's deportation of migrants to El Salvador's maximum -- notorious maximum security prison, uncovering the alleged brutal conditions inside. Some of the criticism about this move, then, by CBS, the network, is coming from the very correspondent who reported the piece.

CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, has much more on this. Brian, walk us through what happened here.

What are you hearing?

STELTER: Well, I'd say this turmoil started a couple of weeks ago when President Trump weighed in against 60 Minutes. You'll remember, he sued the network last year over a segment, Paramount settled that lawsuit. Trump then praised the new owners of Paramount, but two weeks ago, he came out railing against 60 Minutes because the program interviewed Marjorie Taylor Greene.

After that point, I'm told new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, became more personally involved in the politics stories that 60 Minutes was working on, and in recent days, there was a lot of internal scrutiny over this planned segment about that notorious prison in El Salvador.

On Saturday, according to correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, the piece was spiked by Bari Weiss, and Sharyn Alfonsi says in a memo -- we can put part of her quote on screen -- "In my view, pulling the piece now after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one."

This correspondent went on to say that the public is going to view this as corporate censorship, and they are right to do so.

[08:25:00]

Furthermore, she said it's a betrayal to the people she interviewed, some of these deportees who described torturous conditions inside the prison.

So you have this incredibly unusual situation now inside the most watched news magazine in America, with one of the correspondents accusing the company of censorship, and with questions now about when or whether the piece will air at all -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And how is CBS? How is Bari Weiss? How are they responding to all of this now?

STELTER: Well, initially CBS said that this piece was being held, and it was going to be revisited, and it was going to be broadcast in the future. Once Alfonsi's internal memo was leaked to reporters last night, Bari Weiss responded in a statement, and here's what she said to the New York Times.

"My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be, holding stories that aren't ready for whatever reason -- that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they're missing critical voices -- happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it's ready."

Now Weiss is technically correct, that, you know, stories are held every day, editors are involved in deciding when a piece is ready to go. But at 60 Minutes, a segment like this is worked on for weeks ahead of time.

It is screened numerous times in advance. And by Friday, this piece was ready to go according to the lawyers, according to the producers, and it was publicized. CBS announced this segment ahead of time.

Only on Saturday did Weiss weigh in with editorial changes. And her top concern, I'm told according to CBS sources, was the lack of response from the Trump White House or the administration. However, Alfonsi says in her memo that the White House was offered a chance to respond, so was the Department of Homeland Security, and the departments did not respond.

And Alfonsi makes the point that a lack of response cannot be treated as a veto, because that would be like a kill switch for any government to stop a story that it didn't want to run. All of this comes as Paramount is under scrutiny for its ties to the Trump administration, and as Paramount tries to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, including this channel, CNN.

Just a few minutes ago, Paramount revised its offer and reiterated that it wants to take over all of WBD -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: There is a lot going on here, Brian, to say the very least. Thank you so much. This is clearly not over -- John.

BERMAN: Yes. Merry Christmas.

All right, body camera video capturing the moment accused -- a man accused of shoplifting, pulled a gun on an officer.

And he is Chevy Chase, and you're not. The legendary comedian and actor with a lot to say.

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