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DOJ Restores Photo Containing Images Of Trump To Epstein Files Web Site; U.S. Working To Intercept Another Vessel Near Venezuela; Only 22 Percent Of Republicans Want J.D. Vance To Run In 2028; Kennedy Center Name Change Sparks Backlash And Legal Concerns; Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson Clash Over Future Of MAGA Party; Britain's Prince William, Son George Lend A Helping Hand; Many Residents Still Struggling From Devastating Eaton Fire. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 21, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: One of the lawmakers who led the charge to get the files released is now indicating he is not satisfied and has some serious questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): The quickest way, and I think the most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. And that doesn't require going through the courts and give her -- and basically Ro Khanna and I are talking about and drafting that right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So as we wait to see what happens with Representative Massie and Khanna, I want to bring in CNN's senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak.

Kevin, there are also -- yesterday there was a lot of uproar over a photo which contained an image of Donald Trump that mysteriously disappeared from the Web site, from the -- from all the files there that were available. That is now back online. How is this being explained?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And what we've heard from the Justice Department is essentially that there were some concerns that that image could potentially expose the identities of some of Epstein's victims. They say that the Southern District of New York flagged this issue for them and that out of an abundance of caution they took it off the Web site as they reviewed whether that was the case.

And the Justice Department saying just in the last couple of hours or so that, quote, "after the review, it was determined there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph. And it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction." And so you see there, the administration really on the defensive in a lot of ways over how they've handled all of this, both whether they followed the letter of the law, which is the question that Thomas Massie raised earlier today.

You know, they didn't release all of the documents within that 30-day time frame, but also questions about why so much was redacted, and certainly from some of the victims and their advocates questions about why documents that could potentially contain some of the revelations that they've been looking for here were not included in this latest batch. And that is sort of the backdrop against which we heard today from Todd Blanche, the number two at the Justice Department, trying to explain all of this.

He says that the Justice Department has hundreds of lawyers going through what he says is more than a million pages of documents here looking to redact some of the information that could potentially expose some of these victims. He also talked about this question of why some of the documents went up and then seemed to disappear from the Web site. Listen to what he said there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: There were a number of photographs that were pulled down after being released on Friday. That's because a judge in New York has ordered us to listen to any victim or victim rights group, if they have any concerns about the material that we're putting up. And so when we hear concerns, whether it's photographs of women that we do not believe are victims or we didn't have information to show that they were victims, but we learned that there are concerns, of course, we're taking that photograph down and we're going to address it. If we need to redact faces or other information, we will, and then we'll put it back up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, Blanche was adamant that the decision to initially take down that photograph that contained an image of Trump had nothing to do with Trump himself. He says that nothing to do with Trump will be redacted in any further releases. So really trying to tamp down on some of the criticism here.

Of course, the criticism did not begin on Friday. The administration has been under fire, including from their own supporters, for months now when it comes to its handling of the Epstein files. But I think it seems clear that the furor is going to continue for the foreseeable future -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, I think that we can definitely count on. Kevin, thank you.

New tonight, we are following developments in the international waters off the coast of Venezuela, where an official says the U.S. is now pursuing yet another tanker. So this would be the second vessel targeted this weekend by the Trump administration. This one was seized, the one you're looking at was seized by the U.S. last night, according to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, after President Trump, of course, last week announced what he called a total blockade of sanctioned oil tankers into and out of Venezuela.

Joining me now, former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela Charles Shapiro, who served in that role during the George W. Bush administration.

Ambassador, good to have you with us tonight. When we look at this strategy by the Trump administration to target Venezuela's oil industry, which is key, of course, to Venezuela's economy, how effective is this in terms of a pressure campaign on Maduro?

CHARLES SHAPIRO, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA: Well, it pressures Venezuela. 90 percent of Venezuela's exports are oil. So it pressures Venezuela. The question for me is how much is it pressure Maduro himself? You see that around the world where you put pressure on dictators and it hurts the country, it hurts the money going into the treasury of the country. But it doesn't necessarily impact the dictator.

And Maduro has got to make a decision. I mean, does he want to stay or does he want to go? And clearly, President Trump is turning up the dial on Nicolas Maduro.

[19:05:06]

HILL: Absolutely. And I do want to let you know, I'm just learning, we're just getting a statement in actually from Maduro responding tonight, accusing the U.S. of waging what he calls a campaign of psychological terrorism against Venezuela. That is also obviously an important message to Venezuelans. How do you think both of these will be received by the people of the country?

SHAPIRO: Well, I mean, the economy is in ruins. The people are unhappy. They had elections a year and a half ago that Maduro lost the vote, but then stole the vote count. So people are unhappy. Both Venezuelans, the nine million Venezuelans outside Venezuela and the 30 million Venezuelans inside the country. But the real issue is Maduro and the key group of people around him, and how much are they going to dig in.

HILL: And in terms of that key group of people around him, a lot has been made about the military, about other armed groups. With President Trump, who ran on minimizing U.S. involvement overseas, if he is successful with this pressure campaign enforcing Maduro out, as you note, there were elections, of course. Despite the fact that Maduro has held on to power, how much obligation would the U.S. have then to help usher in what's next? And is that the right role in this moment?

SHAPIRO: Well, that's a great question. That's a question that we need to decide what we want to do. The Venezuelan opposition is arguing that, oh, this will be easy. There will be challenges, but it will be easy. That's one possibility. There's lots of possibilities that are much more complicated than that. And this administration and the president have been pretty steadfast that they're not interested in nation building. And that's exactly what Venezuela is going to need after Maduro leaves.

HILL: Yes. We'll be watching to see how it plays out. Before I let you go quickly, is there anything that you're monitoring specifically in this moment? I mean, we look at what's happening with the tankers, but anything that's on your radar that maybe should be on ours as well? SHAPIRO: Well, I'm sure that the United States, President Trump and

his advisers have got a menu of options that they could undertake to step up. I mean, I have to back up here. I mean, clearly blowing up these speedboats has no impact on Maduro or on the government of Venezuela. I don't think it's had any impact on the amount of cocaine in the United States and zero impact on the amount of fentanyl in the United States. And that's why moving to these tankers is important.

I'm watching that, but I'm watching, you know, what sort of what -- what comes next? Because we have to -- any attack on the Venezuelan military is going to make it much harder to work with the Venezuelan military after that transition takes place and you need to keep security in that country.

HILL: Yes. Ambassador Charles Shapiro --

SHAPIRO: We're going to want to work with that military. Yes.

HILL: Absolutely. Really appreciate your insight, your expertise tonight. Thank you.

SHAPIRO: A pleasure. Thank you so much.

HILL: Still to come here, it is almost 2026. Of course, we're counting down. But there are already people looking ahead to 2028. After the break we're going to dig into some new polling which shows how people are preparing what they want to see in the next presidential election. Plus a battle over the settlements from the Southern California fires. The wildfires earlier this year that destroyed entire neighborhoods.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:13:20]

HILL: If you are already thinking about the 2028 presidential election, well, it turns out you got a lot of company. New CNN polling shows about half of Americans are already looking ahead. And while the majority of respondents don't have a specific candidate in mind, a third of them say they actually do.

Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and Republican strategist Lance Trover join me now.

Great to see both of you.

So, Lance, this new polling also gave us some insight into Republicans opinions of Vice President J.D. Vance. Just 22 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters say they want him to run for president in 2028. What do you make of that reception?

LANCE TROVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, greetings from Southern Illinois, my hometown, where I've been for three days. And let me tell you, Erica, no one has mentioned the 2026 midterm elections, much less the 2028 presidential election here, I just got to tell you. HILL: Well, I'm going to need you to go talk to them.

TROVER: Look, I'm a --

HILL: Drum up support.

TROVER: Yes. Look, I'm a political junkie, so I'm all in for it here. I'm here for it. Look, J.D. Vance has got the nomination. If he wants it, I think it's his. Look, and he will be a great torch carrier for the MAGA movement. He is a great messenger. I think all the excitement is really going to be at Maria's party, right? I mean, you've got over there, you know, Gavin Newsom, who's, like, wrecked his state with high taxes and outlandish spending and every left-wing policy possible.

Kamala Harris, I mean, God, Republicans will be on cloud nine if she ran again. And then you have a socialist like AOC who wants to -- so these guys are going to be trying to out left each other. So that's where I think the party is. Get the popcorn and the drinks and watch the Democratic side. I think Republicans at this point are pretty well set on J.D. Vance.

HILL: Well, here's what else I found interesting is that when asked about what they're looking for in their next president, respondents put honesty at the very top of the list, followed by empathy and integrity. They want somebody who's going to help people, who is going to work on the economy and affordability and care about average Americans.

[19:15:04]

It's important to note, this is what we heard across party lines. Larry Sabato, I spoke with him a little earlier. He told me, this is normal at this stage, right, before there's a real candidate. But what struck me is they're not looking for specific positions on issues or ideological viewpoints.

And Maria, Democrats have faced consistent criticism for needing candidates to fit some rigid positions. Is there a takeaway in here for Democrats?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think the takeaway is actually more for Republicans, which is why you see that J.D. Vance only has 22 percent of support because he's not honest. He is not somebody who has empathy. He is not somebody who has those top qualifications. He doesn't seem to be somebody who wants to help people. And that has been why Donald Trump's poll numbers and J.D. Vance's poll numbers are in the toilet right now.

But on the issue of Democrats, Erica, I think what you saw this past year is that they are figuring out exactly how to talk to voters across the board, whether they are in New York from Zohran Mamdani who won, to here in -- next door in Virginia with Abigail Spanberger, or New Jersey with Mikie Sherrill, or frankly, in Miami, where a Democrat just won her race for mayor when a Democrat hadn't won in 30 years. What does that say, Erica? Democrats are speaking to the breadth of

issues that voters care about. Voters trust them. Voters are looking to them to, frankly, solve the issues that they thought Donald Trump was going to solve for them. But instead he has betrayed them. And that is why they are turning their back on the Republican Party.

HILL: So when we look at, though, what's to come, and stick with me on this one, Maria, for a minute, I was struck then after we learned this week the DNC is not going to release this highly anticipated autopsy of the 2024 election, so earlier today, my colleague Kasie Hunt asked Congressman Jamie Raskin about that. Listen to his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Ken Martin, the DNC chair, says, here's our North Star. Does it help us win? If the answer is no, it is a distraction from the core mission. How is learning from mistakes a distraction from the mission?

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): So I've not seen that report. And yes, usually, certainly in Washington, if you're going to do a report, that's something that's going to become public or people are going to find it out one way or another. This is what historians called overdetermined, right? There are so many different available causes for anything that happens in politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: I'm hearing two things there. Number one, the congressman isn't the only one we've learned who hasn't seen that report. But identifying that there are multiple causes, yes. Isn't this something, though, I would think that the Democratic Party would want to learn from?

CARDONA: So, full disclosure, I am a DNC member and I completely agree with Chair Ken Martin that this is this is not necessary at this moment in time, Erica. It's not like Democrats have not been navel- gazing and talking about and really delving into the reasons why we lost in 2024. There have been many reports that have been put out there by many outside groups. It is no secret what happened.

And to the congressman's point, it's not just one thing. And so what I think Democrats got out of this past year is that you need to listen to your voters. You need to speak to them where they are. You need to be dynamic in your approach for solutions, and you need to understand what their needs are. And this is specifically something that Democrats have done across the board, which is why Democrats have won or overperformed in 220 out of 229 special elections this past year.

We have a great record going into the 2026 midterm elections. Republicans are on their heels because voters do not trust them to take care of the issues of affordability when you have Donald Trump mocking that issue, saying that it's a Democratic hoax, and when you have a Republican Congress who refuses to extend health care subsidies, when voters, even their own MAGA Republican voters, are telling them this is something they desperately need in order to make ends meet.

HILL: Lance, on the issue of health care and those expiring subsidies, we saw moderate Republicans sign on to that discharge petition to force a vote. The speaker said, not going to happen. As we know before Congress leaves, sent Congress home, these Republicans are frustrated. I just want to play a little bit for folks who may not have heard what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): It's when people feel that they have counted on or waited for their Congress to act on an issue that they feel is a huge priority, and they see no action. There's consequence to that. I do think that there are ramifications if we fail to act on this.

REP. RICHARD HUDSON (R-NC): Well, I think, you know, Republicans need to do a better job of communicating on health care. We don't have a policy problem. We have a messaging problem.

[19:20:05]

REP. Kevin KILEY (R-CA): All of us have constituents who are going to suffer. And I think people will, you know, see it as yet another example of Congress failing and the American people suffering as a result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: There is a lot of frustration. And this is, you know, this is not along party lines. A number of voters are going to be impacted. It's an issue, as we know, Lance, that does really matter to Americans across the board, even if they are not part of the millions of Americans who are, you know, benefiting from those subsidies that expire at the end of the month.

Do you think the speaker specifically, and those in control of the party are listening?

TROVER: Yes. Look, I mean, we just need to go back. The reason we have this problem is because Democrats gave us Obamacare, and the reason we had subsidies --

HILL: Yes, but can I stop you for a minute?

TROVER: -- because Obamacare wasn't --

HILL: Right. But the issue is you've got this now. So I have been -- I've been listening to this forever.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: But, Maria, Maria, stop. Let Lance finish. What I want to know from you is --

TROVER: I got you. Let me -- HILL: Right. Are Republicans listening to the voters who are saying,

we just want you to do something, even if it's temporary?

TROVER: I got it.

HILL: Especially when you have Republicans crossing over and saying, we hear our constituents, Mike Johnson, listen to us.

TROVER: Yes. If you let me finish, I'm getting there. Trust me, I'm getting there. But I just want to remind folks why we're in the situation we're in. Subsidies, which were created by the Democrats five years ago during COVID as a giveaway -- was basically a giveaway to insurance companies, they set this deadline and now it's on Republicans to try to fix all this problem. I got it, and I have been very public in saying, I think this is an issue that Republicans need to address.

Do I think Mike Johnson is listening? Yes. I think he's the most underestimated person in Washington, D.C. He always comes through and follows through and gets people where they need to be. And I think, look, Republicans do need to get on to the health care issue and they need to address it.

But my question is, when Republicans come around and try to tackle this at the beginning of the year, will Democrats step up to help Republicans fix the problems this mess they have created? I mean, these guys are like the arsonist calling the fire department with this health care issue. They've created this problem and we're here to fix it. I think Republicans should step up and do something.

But the question is, will Democrats step up to help as well, other than just saying, let's give away subsidies to the insurance companies, because that's really their position?

CARDONA: Lance --

HILL: See what the proposal is. I have to cut you off both there because we're out of time. But I do still have time to wish the both of you a very happy holiday, and to thank you both for joining me tonight.

CARDONA: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: And to thank you both for joining me tonight.

CARDONA: Same to you.

HILL: Always good to see you guys. Thank you.

CARDONA: Thanks.

TROVER: Yes.

HILL: When it comes to the renaming of the Kennedy Center, there are real questions about whether it's even legal. Also, we're starting to see conservatives turn on one another over the future of MAGA. What's happening there? We're going to break down some of these top headlines. CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:06]

HILL: Tonight the backlash is growing over the renaming of the Kennedy Center after the institution's Board of Trustees voted on Thursday to add President Trump's name to the facility as you see there. Well, the change prompting protests in Washington, D.C. Those came after sharp criticisms from the Kennedy family. And there's also some very real legal questions here.

Joining us now, CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.

Brian, I was struck by, first of all, the response. The White House saying initially this was a unanimous vote. And then, of course, we saw Representative Beatty, who is an ex-officio member of the board, who said this was not a unanimous vote. I was on that call. I'm allowed to vote. I was muted and wasn't able to vote.

On top of the fact that Congress established the Kennedy Center more than 50 years ago, does this stick?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: The response from Richard Grenell and other Trump allies has been that the actual memorial to John F. Kennedy has remained untouched, and that is the part that Congress was trying to ensure in the 1960s. But this is still very much an ongoing legal debate and argument. And I suspect that the day a Democrat takes power in the White House, there might be a change to that sign.

You already see a lot of energy from the left saying that that's got to change when Trump is out of office. But it's a little bit like the Gulf of Mexico-slash-Gulf of America renaming that happened in January. In that case, big mapping platforms did follow suit, but media outlets did not uniformly follow suit. And most people are still using the phrase Gulf of Mexico, I suspect.

You know, if you look tonight on StubHub, on Ticketmaster, on ChatGPT, if you ask what the Kennedy Center is named, you're still going to see the venue name as the Kennedy Center and not the Trump Kennedy Center. So it reminds me a little bit of Reagan National Airport, you know, 1998 Bill Clinton signed the bill into law naming national airport in honor of Ronald Reagan.

And yet, whenever I fly in, I still think of it as National Airport. And I think a lot of old timers do as well. It's one of those things you can go ahead, you can change the name. In this case, you can put up a sign. Whether it sticks is very much an open question still.

HILL: All right. So we'll continue to watch for that.

There were certainly a lot of lines coming out of Turning Point USA's annual conference, including the fact that conservative commentators Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson were really taking jabs at one another over the future of the MAGA movement. Where do things stand? STELTER: And what a change from three months ago. If you think about

the horrible aftermath, you think about the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September, and all of the conversations immediately thereafter. There was talk about conservatives projecting power outward, taking on leftist extremism, cracking down in some cases on free speech.

You remember the efforts to get some people fired for posts they shared about Kirk that were very critical. There was a real attempt to make it outward, but instead now, three months later, it seems all the attention is inward, with conservatives fighting amongst themselves about the future of the movement. And a lot of that was happening at Kirk's Talking Points USA -- Turning Points USA event, you know, over the weekend in Phoenix.

It's really a reckoning with conspiracy culture, with figures like Ben Shapiro trying to take on conspiracy theorists like Candace Owens, but a lot of these -- you know, very, very prominent conspiracy theorists have a lot of power within the party right now.

[19:30:16]

I love what Ben Shapiro said on stage over the weekend. He said, conspiracies, they don't make your life better. When you listen to this nonsense, when it goes on for an hour and hours, when you buy in down these rabbit holes, it doesn't actually improve anyone's lives -- and I thought that was a really powerful message.

By the way, today, Alex Jones, of all people, says he is going to be taking on Owens in the days to come.

So you see a real reckoning with conspiracy culture happening right now on the right, and I don't think it is what anybody would have predicted was going to happen right after Charlie Kirk was assassinated three months ago.

HILL: No, but fascinating that you mentioned Alex Jones, especially given what he spread on so many different topics, including Sandy Hook. That is another -- we will leave that one alone for now.

When we look at, as we are wrapping up this year, right, the return of President Trump to The White House. When we look at what it has meant for the First Amendment and specifically for journalism, for news outlets suing news outlets, defunding NPR, PBS; continually attacking reporters, specifically female reporters, the President doesn't like a question, he starts calling them names, calling them stupid, which is ridiculously inappropriate and inaccurate.

How would you assess the state of the media under the Trump administration?

STELTER: The word that comes to my mind is the word resiliency. I would describe this as a year of resiliency. You know, it has been a year of free speech tests, a year of First Amendment tests. Not all of them have been easily passed. But, you know, the news outlets that were perceived to be folding to Trump at various times, like "The Washington Post," they suffered subscriber losses, they suffered protests.

The brands that have stood up to President Trump, for example, "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal" have been sued by the President, and they are defending those suits, and they've been cheered and they've been credited and they've been applauded.

At PBS and NPR were defunded, the federal funding has been lost, but those brands are still out there. They are still going on the air every day, taking more and more viewer and listener donations.

So what I see across the board, even though it has been a very complicated picture, is resiliency. An example of -- many examples of resiliency for the national media, for the local media, it is important to continue to keep a very close eye on this, because these are First Amendment tests that are going to continue pretty much every day, and certainly in the months to come.

But it is something that certainly is -- when someone has defined the years for this year for the media and I come away with the word resilient.

HILL: All right, I like resilience. We will go with that.

Brian, good to see you, my friend. Have a good night. Thank you.

STELTER: You, too. Thanks.

HILL: Turning now to the U.K. Britain's Prince William teaching his son an invaluable lesson about the importance of giving back. Recently, the future king took his eldest son, Prince George, who, of course, is also in line for the throne, to a London charity that provides meals to the city's homeless population.

As Rafael Romo reports, the visit is similar to one that Prince William took with his late mother, Princess Diana many years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the pictures shows Prince George wearing an apron in the middle of placing buns in a tray, his gaze fixed on the task at hand. Another picture shows a more relaxed moment, with Prince George smiling but still focused on his task, and Prince William, his father, affectionately placing his hands on the shoulders of the head chef at The Passage, a Central London charity for homeless people.

Father and son volunteered at the passage on Tuesday as the British charity was getting ready for its Annual Christmas Lunch.

William first visited The Passage with his late mother, Diana, when he was 11, a pivotal moment that he says helped shape his ongoing work to tackle homelessness, including the launch of his Homewards Program, which provides funding to support homeless initiatives across the U.K.

Kensington Palace published two photos side by side, showing the one taken Tuesday, with Chef Claudette, Prince William and his son, and the other one from 1993 showing Princess Diana and a then 11-year-old Prince William posing with kitchen staff at the same charity.

"I've never been to anything like that before, and I was a bit anxious as to what to expect," William said of his first visit to the charity in a documentary about homelessness released last year. "That's when it dawned on me that there are other people out there who don't have the same life as you do."

"Powerful legacy," a woman commented on X in reaction to the post. "Diana would be proud."

"This is a profoundly moving testament to the enduring power of compassion and example," said another person.

Kensington Palace also published the video on YouTube showing the visit from the moment father and son arrived at the charity to Prince George decorating a Christmas tree, setting dining room tables and warmly greeting people with hugs.

According to a Kensington Palace source, during Tuesday's visit, George signed The Passages visitors' book on the same page previously signed by his father and his late grandmother, Diana.

Rafael Romo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:35:06]

HILL: After the break, they're being offered compensation, but in most cases it is nowhere near enough to recover from the damage. Victims from the Southern California Eaton Fire sharing their stories with CNN, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: This holiday season, beloved classics like "The Nutcracker" are drawing crowds as they usually do. When it comes to Broadway musicals, which are such an iconic part of New York City and its culture, it turns out, many of those shows are struggling to turn a profit, despite star power from people like George Clooney and Denzel Washington.

[19:40:14]

Broadway shows are dealing with the same rising costs and financial challenges that so many other businesses are facing nationwide.

Here is CNN's Leigh Waldman with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON LAKS, PRESIDENT, THE BROADWAY LEAGUE: There is something really special about seeing live theater that is different than everything else.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For over a century, Broadway has been at the heart of New York City culture, glittering marquees welcoming audiences to step inside, defy gravity and give them the razzle dazzle.

LAKS: As New York City goes, so goes Broadway in many respects, and vice versa.

WALDMAN (voice over): However, the rising cost of musical production is leaving the Great White Way in the red. According to "The New York Times," of the 18 musicals that opened last season, none made a profit as of late September.

Jason Laks, President of The Broadway League, says he expects only one in 10 shows will make their money back.

LAKS: It has only gotten harder since the pandemic. We are not immune from the same cost pressures that affect lots of industries.

WALDMAN (voice over): He credits much of that to skyrocketing production costs. While ticket prices have only risen slightly over the past 10 years, league data shows Broadway as a whole had its highest grossing season in a decade.

James L. Walker, Jr. says he invested $50,000.00 in the recent revival of "Cabaret," which closed early at what producers are calling a total loss.

JAMES L. WALKER, JR., BROADWAY INVESTOR: When you look at a play that's grossing an upwards of nearly a hundred million, it is hard to explain how we didn't make our money back.

[15:30:08]

WALDMAN (voice over): In August, Walker filed a lawsuit against the show's producers with the New York State Supreme Court, alleging breach of contract in what the suit calls a deliberate scheme to strip him and other investors of their money.

WALKER: Obviously, we want our money back, but yes, a major consideration is how do we change the overall infrastructure?

WALDMAN (voice over): ATG Entertainment, the defendant in the lawsuit, would not comment on active litigation, but has previously denied any wrongdoing and filed a motion to dismiss the suit.

WALDMAN (on camera): While traditional Broadway musicals are struggling to find a solution to their money problems, off-Broadway fan favorites like "Phantom of the Opera" are being reimagined, drawing in crowds for an interactive experience.

RANDY WEINER, PRODUCER, MASQUERADE: This is a part of the show that's not in the Broadway performance of it.

WALDMAN (voice over): Broadway legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber helped produce this $25 million experience, which takes place in an old six- story art shop where the audience donned masks for six nearly simultaneous nightly shows, thrusting them into the "Phantom's" world. WEINER: We are doing everything Broadway does, except we are even

doing it more.

WALDMAN (voice over): Producer, Randy Weiner doesn't plan to bring his show to Broadway, and he is not sure if this concept is the solution to Broadway's financial woes.

But as a lifelong New Yorker, he is sure of one thing --

WEINER: I am not worried that Broadway won't figure out its model, because it is an incredible New York experience. That's something that's not going anywhere.

WALDMAN (voice over): Leigh Waldman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Taking a look at some of the other top stories were following for you on this Sunday evening.

A bit of a rideshare nightmare. Take a look at some of this video. So what you're seeing here is a self-driving Waymo taxi stopped in the middle of a busy street in San Francisco after the city suffered a power outage that caused a blackout in several parts of the city. It was restored in most places by this morning.

No word if anyone was inside that Waymo when it stopped.

Well, there were no winners for the big jackpot in last night's Powerball drawing, so it is now up to $1.6 billion. This makes it the fourth largest in the game's history, although no one did win the grand prize, winners in six states matched all six numbers, so they each won $1 million.

And you know, I won 12 bucks. So there's that. Coffee is on me.

The next drawing is tomorrow night.

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" raking in an estimated $88 million domestically in its opening weekend. Hollywood is keeping a really close eye on these numbers because movie theater attendance has declined in recent years as more people turn to streaming services in the comfort of their couch.

Avatar's director, James Cameron says that could be a real problem for future blockbusters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CAMERON, FILMMAKER: Theater is a sacred space for me as a filmmaker. It is something that I think we all need. It is an art form that I think we've collectively enjoyed for the last 130 years.

I think it is never going to go away, but I think that it can fall below a threshold where the kinds of movies that I like to make and that I like to see, and we were talking about some of them won't be sustainable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The first two "Avatar" films crossed the $100 million threshold in their opening weekends.

Much more ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

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[19:49:48]

HILL: It has been nearly one year since the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. The Eaton Fire killed 17 people, destroyed thousands of structures and displaced so many families, families who tonight are still fighting with insurance companies in many cases because while their homes may not have been fully destroyed, they are not safe to live in.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has more on those battles.

[19:50:10]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A house frozen in time.

ANDREW WESSELS, EATON FIRE SURVIVOR: The first thing I see every time I have to walk into this house is this Christmas tree, all the ornaments that my kids selected are on here, and then the toys that they had just opened up. Definitely like a time capsule. Nothing basically has been touched.

JONES (voice over): Andrew Wessels and his family fled the Eaton Fire nearly a year ago. Their home looks eerily normal, but he says its poisoned.

WESSELS: Someone tested and found 25 percent ash and soot behind that wall, and so everything in here, this whole room, is going to be gutted because there is so much ash.

JONES (voice over): Among those toxins, he says, are lead at up to 20 times EPA limits in some areas, as well as arsenic, nickel and other heavy metals.

Contamination, Wessels says, makes the house unsafe for his two young children.

WESSELS: Lead and asbestos are not visible and they're odorless. And so if I let my baby play on this, they have lead poisoning.

JONES (voice over): Wessels says he has moved his family through 12 different homes this year, all while fighting his insurance company to pay for testing, specialized cleanup and ripping out contaminated material. It is the kind of damage you can't always see, and that's what makes

it so hard to prove.

WESSELS: If everything had burned down to ash, there would be no argument.

JONES (voice over): The cause of the Eaton Fire is still under investigation, but video from that night shows sparks near Southern California Edison tower. After initially denying involvement, Edison now is saying its equipment may have been responsible for the ignition, but the company continues to deny any negligence.

In October, the utility company rolled out a voluntary compensation program offering a $10,000.00 flat fee for smoke, ash, infiltration or soot damage. And for families like the Wessels, $10,000.00 per adult and $5,000.00 per child for things like emotional distress. But to receive payment, survivors must sign a full release, waiving all past and future claims against Edison related to the Eaton Fire.

JOY CHEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EATON FIRE SURVIVORS' NETWORK: We are hearing from families jumping at that Edison offer. They're saying, well, I need money and this is something that I can use to pay my rent for the next two or three months.

JONES (voice over): Chen represents more than 10,000 fire survivors, many faced with an impossible choice, take the money and waive their rights or shoulder massive out-of-pocket costs alone.

CHEN: Eighty percent of us are still displaced, and most of us are running out of housing funds. Families without stable housing cannot make free or informed legal decisions.

JONES (voice over): That is why survivors are now pressing Edison for more generous payments, which the state would reimburse out of a disaster fund.

CHEN: Edison should front up to $200,000.00 per displaced household in urgent housing relief, based on verified costs. We are not asking Edison to pay for our housing.

California created the wildfire fund to protect utilities from the fires they caused. There are $19 billion that fund today.

JONES (voice over): Edison can only access that money if California Wildfire Fund administrators find them to have acted prudently in relation to the fire.

From Rossana Valverde's front yard, you can see where the fire began.

ROSSANA VALVERDE, LOCAL RESIDENT: It started right up there --

JONES (on camera): Right -- that second tower over there.

VALVERDE: That tower. Yes.

JONES (voice over): When her house was spared, she counted her blessings.

VALVERDE: We thought at first we were so incredibly lucky that our house is saved, and then we found out. Yes, its saved, but it is a huge task to get all of these heavy metals out of the house.

JONES (voice over): She says nearly everything inside has to go, including floors that will be ripped out, walls sealed, and an HVAC system that may need to be replaced.

VALVERDE: It would have been easier if it burned down. We had a lot of people that we know who their houses did burn down and they said, yes, it is easier and what they're going through is not easy. But they said there isn't as much of a fight because it is gone completely. Whereas this stayed for a long, long time did not want to recognize smoke damage.

JONES (on camera): But there is another battle, which is the battle with Southern California Edison. Now they are offering a settlement basically. You've decided to not take that.

VALVERDE: That is correct.

JONES: Why is that?

VALVERDE: The offer is, $10,000.00 for the remediation of the house. This is close to $350,000.00 for all of this. So $10,000.00 is not going to do anything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (on camera): And Erica, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison says that the company continues to encourage survivors to submit claims through their program. And so far, they've received 1,500 claims and the first payment has already gone out.

[19:55:01]

Now, Andrew, he says he is now meeting with contractors and getting estimates to be able to move back into his house. He is hopeful he will be able to do that by the spring -- Erica.

HILL: Wow. That is really something, Julia. Important to keep those stories with us. Thank you.

Just ahead here at the top of the hour on "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, the latest on Rob Reiner, his life and legacy. And then at 9:00, from the CNN archives, an encore presentation of a "Larry King Live" exclusive, a wide ranging interview with the legendary director, in his own words.

Thanks so much for spending part of your evening with me tonight. I am Erica Hill. Just a reminder, if you're in the U.S., you can now stream CNN whenever you want on the CNN app, just visit cnn.com/watch for more.

Thanks so much. Good night and Happy Holidays. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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