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Australian Lawmakers Debate New Gun Control, Hate Speech Laws; CNN Poll: Many Voters Already Thinking about 2028 Election; Facing the Challenge of a Fracturing MAGA Coalition; South Korean President Pushes Health Coverage for Hair Loss; One Week Since the Deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner; Storms Threaten to Disrupt Holiday Travel in the U.S.; From Peru to Rome: A Cobbler's Journey to the Vatican Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 22, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:36]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody, it's great to start the week with you. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. And this is what's coming your way here on CNN Newsroom. A missing photo restored. The U.S. Department of Justice republishes an image of President Trump to a database of Epstein files.

A day after mourners marked one week since the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, some Australian lawmakers are debating gun control and freedom of expression measures. And addressing the friction, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance tells a conservative conference to embrace the debates within their movement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: All right, so let's begin in Washington as several lawmakers are accusing President Trump's Justice Department of flouting the law by releasing only some of the Epstein files. You see, since Friday, the agency has released thousands more documents related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And the U.S. Justice Department says that a photo that includes images of President Trump has been restored to the Epstein files online. Well, it was one more -- it was one of more than a dozen photos that disappeared from the website on Saturday. So what happened?

CNN's Kevin Liptak with the answer.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The Trump administration is on the defensive over bipartisan criticism of its release of Jeffrey Epstein documents on Friday. Criticism coming both from Republicans and Democrats who say that the Justice Department didn't follow the letter of the law by releasing all of those documents within that 30 day deadline. Questions about why so much information was redacted and questions from advocates and victims who wonder why so many of the documents that may have contained some of the revelations that they have been looking for were not included in this latest batch. Now, when it comes to this question of whether the Justice Department removed documents that it had previously released, we are getting more information about why they did that. For example, there was image that included a photograph of President Trump that appeared on the Justice Department's website on Friday. On Saturday, it had disappeared. What the Justice Department said Sunday is that the Southern District of New York flagged an image of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims, they say out of an abundance of caution, the Justice Department temporarily removed the image for further review. And then, quote, after the review, it was determined that there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph.

And it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction. And that does echo what we heard from the number two at the Justice Department, the deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, who is out speaking on Sunday, really trying to rebut some of this criticism, saying that the Justice Department has hundreds of lawyers pouring through more than a million documents trying to ensure that victims' identities aren't exposed.

And he shed some more light about why some of these images appeared on the website and then seemed to disappear. Listen to what he said.

(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 also clear that removing that image of President Trump had nothing to do with the president himself. He said, quote, "We are not redacting information around President Trump." So very much trying to tamp down on some of the criticism here. Of course, criticism of how the Trump administration has handled all of this did not begin on Friday. It's been brewing for months and months, originating in large part by Trump's own supporters, who are animated by this issue of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

You have heard the administration admit that some of this has gone south. You heard the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, say in an interview released last week that the attorney general, Pam Bondi, had whiffed the initial release of these Epstein documents.

[01:05:08]

I think this release and the criticism around it only serves to underscore that President Trump will continue to be dogged by this matter. It doesn't seem to be dying down in the foreseeable Future. Kevin Liptak, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

SANDOVAL: U.S. house Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says that under the law, the Department of Justice has to explain why it did not release all of the files. This was him on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: It does appear, of course, that this initial document release is inadequate. It falls short of what the law requires now. The statute requires the so called Department of Justice at this moment within 15 days to provide a written explanation to Congress and to the American people as to why they've withheld certain documents. We expected that written justification should be transmitted within the next week or so and then Congress can take it from there as it relates to determining why this noncompliance has occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: In the last hour, I spoke with former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani on the likelihood of the -- that the courts may get involved in releasing more of the Epstein files.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEAMA RAHMANI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I do think you're going to need the courts and this is why, obviously contempt of Congress is one possible route, but who enforces contempt orders? The Department of Justice. I think you're going to need the judiciary here, an Article 3 judge to weigh in because not only were the complete Epstein files not produced on Friday by the deadline as they should, but at least appears on their face for these redactions to be extensive and potentially overbroad. So what a judge is going to have to do either himself or herself or appoint a special master retarded to actually go through these files themselves and to make a determination whether these redactions are indeed appropriate because if you look at the plain language of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the only redactions that are necessary are those to protect the identity of victims of sex abuse. And at least on their face, it seems like this was way overboard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The day after a memorial for the 15 victims of the Bondi Beach massacre, Australian officials, they're currently looking at how to prevent a tragedy like it from happening again. Lawmakers in the state of New South Wales are attending an emergency session of Parliament. They're debating new laws to tighten gun control in the state, to limit protests and also to ban the display of terror symbols and hate speech. Thousands of mourners, they gathered under tight police security at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening to mark a week since two gunmen targeted a Jewish festival. New South Wales's premier says that new laws are necessary to prevent such incidents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MINNS, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA PREMIER: Today we're introducing new laws, tough new laws to protect the community, to crack down on hate and strengthen public safety. The legislation bans the public displays of terrorist symbols, outlaws violence, incitement to violence in New South Wales and gives police stronger powers during public assemblies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And the premier's comments come amid criticism that the Australian government should be more -- should do more to crack down on anti-Semitism in that country. And we're also learning more about how last week's attack was planned and also how it was carried out as the sole surviving gunman made a court appearance via video link. CNN's Mike Valerio has been following developments out of court. He's live from Beijing at this hour.

Mike, it's good to see you again. The -- there's new evidence that's been surfacing, some more images as well and perhaps more of an idea of a timeline. I mean, what has come out of court?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we want to bring you up to speed. This has happened within the past couple of minutes, Polo. According to our producer, one of them based in Australia, the amazing Hilary Whiteman. She is saying for CNN that the son, the accused gunman here has been moved from his hospital bed by a police riot squad, is well enough after receiving treatment from his injuries to be moved to a jail facility where he will await the trial proceedings and the motions of evidentiary hearings as the motions, as the, you know, mechanics of justice go forward. So he's out of the hospital and now into a jail.

But let's go to the photos. These are the arresting images that came out about two hours ago. New details on how the worst terror attack that has befallen Australia could have had another layer set upon it. And we're talking about the pipe bombs here. So in these images, we see not one but two pipe bombs that police in Australia are saying this father and son accused duo before the shooting threw at the crowd from that footbridge with, you know, perhaps the expectation, the likely expectation that they would explode, again, causing a new level of horror on this Hanukkah gathering.

[01:10:11]

Three pipe bombs, one tennis ball bomb that was assembled according to new police documents, and one large IED found in the trunk of their car. They were all determined to be viable, but none of the bombs thrown at the crowd went off. Backtracking a little bit to October. There are also new still I'm taken from cell phone video. Police seized iPhones belonging to the father and son. So we've been able to see a still image from one of the videos taken on those cell phones of the father and son practicing shooting shotguns in the countryside of New South Wales trying to carry out tactical practice moves.

We get closer to the attack on Friday, December 12th. There are also still images that are released in these new court documents of the father and son seemingly trying to do a dry run going, when was it? I do believe just after 9:00 p.m. Here we go. 9.20 p.m. up until 10:00 p.m. going to that same footbridge in the darkness, scoping out the location. And then we fast forward a little bit more to the day of the attack and the 2:00 a.m. hour, you see CCTV images of the father and son carrying out of their Airbnb, described as a staging post, long, bulky items carried under blankets, which police suspect were not only the weapons but the explosives that the two brought to the attack. So just new details showing not only another layer of depravity, but also the level of preparation that police say these two undertook before that fateful night, Polo.

SANDOVAL: And Mike, I'm about to speak to a constitutional law expert in Australia about these efforts to prevent hate speech to pass legislation. Before that, I'm wondering if you could set up that conversation. Are there any updates or really just remind viewers around the world on this parliamentary debate that's playing out right now.

VALERIO: Yes, you know, so we heard from that soundbite in the beginning of the segment from the premier of New South Wales. He set it up pretty well in terms of limiting speech that is allowed under this legislation after a terror event. So, notable, and we did point this out in the last hour, globalize the intifada would be outlawed. No longer would Australian citizens be able to say that in a situation like this, which pro-Palestinian groups are certainly crying foul, saying that this is a rallying point for them, a way to bring awareness for Israel's occupation of the west bank, the war in Gaza. Jewish groups, as we mentioned a couple minutes ago, saying that this is a phrase that is a rallying cry for others to carry out violence against them.

So certainly competing claims from different quarters of society. A heated debate going on in Canberra right now. Polo.

SANDOVAL: That live Update coming from CNN's Mike Valerio in Beijing. Thank you, Mike.

Well, let's go -- turn now to our expert, Luke Beck. He's a professor of constitutional law at Monash University, and he's also a leading scholar in the issues of religious freedom and separation of religion and government under the Australian constitution. He joins us from Melbourne.

Luke, welcome to the program. Thank you for your time.

LUKE BECK, PROFESSOR OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, MONASH UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: So as you're following this parliamentary debate through your legal lens, is it clear to you what the Australian authorities are hoping to accomplish with this proposed reform to curb hate speech? And what would some of these expansions actually entail?

BECK: Yes. So it's not 100 percent clear what the New South Wales government is proposing at the moment in terms of these hate speech laws already in New South Wales. Under state law, it's a crime to deliberately incite hatred against people on the ground of their race. So deliberately inciting anti-Semitism is already a crime in New South Wales. The laws that the premier is talking about today would ban the display of symbols related to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or Hamas.

That's largely just copying and pasting a federal law that already exists in Australia. So that wouldn't really change very much. The second thing he's talking about doing but hasn't introduced a law to do this yet, is to make specific phrases like globalize the intifada, unlawful to speak. And that's tricky. And the premier has said that he's going to refer that to a parliamentary inquiry to look at because he knows there's a constitutional barrier that he's going to run up against in Australia.

We don't have an individual right to free speech like they do in the United States, but our constitution guarantees freedom of political communication. And that's going to provide a limitation on what the New South Wales parliament and indeed the federal parliament and other parliaments might be able to do in relation to that.

[01:15:01]

So at the moment, we have laws, both federal and state in the civil sphere to prohibit racial vilification or racial hatred. And a lot of states also have criminal laws about deliberately inciting racial hatred.

The second proposal that he's got today is around restricting protest rights in New South Wales further after the declaration of a terrorist event happening. So what the legislation introduced to Parliament this morning says is that once a declaration of a terrorist attack has been made, then the Commissioner of Policing, consultation with the minister, can prohibit protests in particular locations or indeed across the entire state for a period of 14 days, renewable up to three months. That is quite an extraordinary protest ban law and will inevitably end up being challenged in the courts. But at the same time it's very narrow because it only applies under after a declaration of the terrorist event. As I'm sure you're aware, terrorist events are not very common in Australia.

So there's a lot of movement, a lot of action. But if you look at the details, some of it is more or less detailed or effective in terms of what it does in practice than other things. So banning hate symbols is already a crime under federal law in Australia. So the New South Wales law doesn't really change what people can and can't do on the street. The protest restriction laws that they introduced this morning would only apply after a terrorist attack.

So it wouldn't restrict other protests that we've seen in recent times against the war in Gaza or against other things that might be of interest to Australians.

SANDOVAL: Right.

BECK: And then the specific proposals around hate speech commentary, particular phrases, that's going to prove very tricky.

SANDOVAL: And Luke, just before we -- before we wrap here, I'm wondering if you could just explore some of the criticism that you're seeing there in Australia about this legislation. Obviously legislators here are trying to walk that delicate line between protecting free speech, but also censorship and cutting down on free speech, I should say, and censorship. So what is some of the criticism that you're seeing as the -- as lawmakers debate it out?

BECK: Yes, so there's a variety of views on all sides here and it's not just the Labour Party versus the Conservative Liberal Party here. All sorts of people have different views. So there are protest groups who say that this is sort of pro-Israeli propaganda. That's one view. Other people say this is a well-meaning attempt to protect people from hate and the incitement of violence, but that it just is misguided and goes too far.

Other people say, well actually this doesn't go far enough and there should be more. And we'll see those kinds of critiques and criticisms talking across each other, not really get on the same page as this goes on over the next few months. But I think it's only eight days since this awful attack happened. And so of course, emotions are raw in Australia. We don't have this culture of, you know, all three ball speech should be free.

We have a lot of laws restricting speech in all sorts of different areas. So there is this culture in Australia of acceptance of restrictions, some restrictions on speech. And so it's going to be a little bit interesting to see how this plays out and how -- what the different states do. The state of Victoria, where I'm located here in Melbourne, is proposing similar but not quite the same laws around racial vilification and racial hatred. And so that will inevitably expose differences between different political parties, between different states, and between the federal and state governments.

And then of course, you'll have the usual political debates around that. What's not really controversial in Australia is around tightening gun laws. Everybody in Australia, for the most part seems to be pretty much on board with the idea that we thought we had really strong gun laws in Australia already. And it turns out they perhaps weren't strong enough. And so I think broad community consensus that those need toughening.

SANDOVAL: Constitutional law professor, Luke Beck, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much for all that analysis. Appreciate it.

BECK: My pleasure.

SANDOVAL: And still to come here on CNN Newsroom, the U.S. is chasing down an oil tanker that refused to stop when forces tried to board it. How the recent seizures impact Venezuela and its allies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:23:01] SANDOVAL: The United States is pursuing another oil tanker international waters that it tried to intercept off the coast of Venezuela. Officials say that the U.S. Coast Guard tried boarding the ship as it moved toward Venezuela to pick up oil, but the tanker refused to stop. The ship, it's on a list of vessels sanctioned for ties to Iran. President Trump's crackdown on Venezuela's oil industry, it includes a blockade on all sanctioned tankers. And on December 10, the U.S. seized one tanker that was linked to Venezuelan oil and another one this past Saturday.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says that the U.S. is waging a campaign of, quote, "psychological terrorism against his country."

CNN's Global Affairs Analyst Kimberly Dozier says that the U.S. seizing oil tankers complies with international law. She says interrupting the flow of oil can put major pressure on Nicolas Maduro and his allies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: The actions of seizing a vessel with sanctioned oil on it. It's something largely recognized international law. It's something that the U.S.'s European allies would like the U.S. to be doing to Russian ghost fleet oil tankers. But what it does is also ratchet up the financial and economic pressure on Maduro and on his allies like Cuba. This oil is often headed to Cuba, which either uses it, I believe for free, and what it doesn't use it sells on.

So it's a lifeline both for the Venezuelan regime because Maduro uses it to pay for the security forces and all the people who help him stay in power and then it helps allies like Cuba also stay in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff says that Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace. He'll talk separately with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Florida over the weekend, together with Donald Trump's son in law Jared Kushner. He was also there. They are working to refine the multi point plan to bring peace to Ukraine. A senior Russian negotiator said talks with the U.S. were proceeding constructively, though a Kremlin aide called Ukraine and Europe's changes to the previous U.S. proposal unconstructive.

[01:25:14]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YURI USHAKOV, KREMLIN AIDE (through translator): I think that the majority offers will not work for us because we will stick to the plan that we have decided on in Anchorage and at the other meetings with the American representatives. Yes, what was offered, in my opinion, is quite unconstructive.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: An annual conference of conservative Republicans reveals deep divisions in the MAGA movement, and it also shows the challenges that Vice President J.D. Vance could face if he becomes the Republican nominee come the 2028 presidential election. We'll look far ahead coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:29:41]

SANDOVAL: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.

You know, the next U.S. presidential election, it's still just three years away. And new CNN polling now shows that about half of Americans are already giving at least some thought to the race.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, he seems to be earning the top spot with Democrats and left-leaning Independents. Vice President JD Vance appears to be at least a leader for the Republican Party, at least right now.

Though, as you can see here, most of them have no candidate in mind. But, you know, for about 22 percent looking to the vice president. But we'll see what happens.

And there's also a gathering of conservative influencers and young Republicans at the Turning Point USA conference, which has really offered a glimpse of some of the challenges that Vance could face if he indeed does run for president in a few years.

Less than a year into Donald Trump's second term, there are some cracks that seem to be growing in the MAGA coalition.

Steve Contorno explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Vice President JD Vance addressed the Turning Point convention in Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday, capping a weekend of tense and simmering conversations and debates all throughout the event.

We saw several speakers publicly clashing with each other over key issues, like whether the U.S. should support Israel in its war with Hamas and the influence of Israel on U.S. policy.

Now, Vance himself said he welcomed this debate within the party and discouraged the attendees from shying away from it.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that some of you are impatient at the pace of progress, and my response to that is "good". Be impatient. Use that desire for justice for your country as fuel to get involved in this movement in a bigger and better and more powerful way. I know some of you are discouraged by the infighting over any number

of issues. Don't be discouraged. Wouldn't you rather lead a movement of free thinkers who sometimes disagree, than a bunch of drones who take their orders from George Soros?

CONTORNO: Earlier in the weekend, Vance was endorsed for president by Erika Kirk, the widow of Turning Point USA's founder Charlie Kirk.

Now, Vance did not directly address that support during his remarks here, but he did take some shots at some of the leading Democratic contenders that he may face if he does decide to run, including Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, as well as former vice president Kamala Harris.

Now, if you take a look at this CNN poll, it shows that Vance is in strong position to lead this party beyond Trump. 22 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said that they would like to see Vance run in 2028. That far outpaces any other Republican figure, none of which eclipsed 5 percent.

Steve Contorno, CNN -- Phoenix, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: The president of South Korea says that he wants to put hair loss on the national health agenda. After the break, we'll take you to Korea for more on the debates that this has sparked around identity, gender and the limits of public health care.

[01:32:56]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: South Korean President Lee Jae-myung says that he wants the country's national health insurance program to start covering hair loss treatment. He's calling it a matter of survival for the younger generation in his country.

In a televised briefing, the president ordered to review expanding insurance coverage to include hair loss treatment. And that, as you can imagine, has set off a national debate on the topic, including on social media.

There are some critics who say that public health resources should be first and foremost directed to life-threatening illnesses, other threats to public health.

Want to go now to James Turnbull. He is the writer and lecturer for the Korean Gender Studies Department at Dongseo University. He joins us now live from Busan, South Korea.

Welcome to the program. Thanks so much for joining us.

JAMES TURNBULL, WRITER/LECTURER, KOREAN GENDER STUDIES, DONGSEO UNIVERSITY: Hi. Thanks for having me. SANDOVAL: So for Korean men, is hair loss really, as the president

puts it, a matter of survival? I know it is a country where men can be really quite meticulous about their grooming.

TURNBULL: Yes and no. I think one of the first things I need to address is just how big of a problem it is in South Korea. I understand the interest and the amusement by overseas observers because, for example, you know, I'm from the U.K., and when I go back to the U.K., men with shaved heads or bald men with, you know, my age group are very common. So I understand the interest in this topic.

But, on the surface, this is not an issue at all in South Korea. It's very strange why the president is raising it, because speaking very, very generally, Korean men have a lot less body hair, a lot less facial hair than Caucasian men and they are much less prone to balding.

So I live in Busan, Korea's second biggest city, and, you know, I commute to my university every day and I can go for many days without seeing another shaved head.

If I do, it will be on another Caucasian man like myself. Of course, you do see balding men, but much older ages, and I would see back in the U.K.

All that said, it is a growing problem. Koreans notoriously have among the longest working hours in the world, overpaid overtime is quite -- is normal, is routine.

Just came out recently, Koreans do have the longest commute in the world, which is nearly two hours. And over the last decade, treatments for insomnia have skyrocketed.

So with this combination, you know, Korea is a very stressful, tense society to live in these days. So it's not implausible that despite what you may see in the subways and so on, that male baldness is a growing problem.

And indeed last year at a 40 percent, you know, 40 percent of 240,000 hair loss patients I believe in Korea, 40 percent were, you know, men in their 20s and 30s.

SANDOVAL: And let's expand the scope a little bit, you know, on that last point. You've also previously shared -- shared with us that baldness is perceived differently in South Korea than it is in the West. And perhaps maybe that could be really fueling this -- this interest that you mentioned. So -- so why is that?

TURNBULL: Yes. That's very true. So some very important context to how baldness is perceived in South Korea. It's very different to again, back in the U.K., it's not like we're in reaction to thinning hair. You can just decide to shave your head and everyone's good with that.

There's two key things that I think everyone needs to know about how baldness is perceived in Korea, and why this is a much bigger issue for Korean men than it is for, you know, Western men. [01:39:52]

TURNBULL: The first is that Korea has a history of public protest where to highlight that you're protesting, Koreans will shave their heads.

CNN will have thousands of hours of stock footage of labor union leaders, et cetera, in the 80s, 90s, 2000s shaving their heads quite ritualistically, quite publicly, as a sign of their dissatisfaction with whatever issue they're protesting about.

This has declined significantly, I think. But with these connotations, then, you know, it's yes -- it's not just a neutral decision to shave your head, like, again, back in the U.K.

The second thing is a lot of people have spoken about strict body ideals, beauty ideals for Korean men. And this is certainly true and I don't mean to discount them at all.

But with hair specifically, you know, they weren't really any beauty ideals. The ideal is, you know, don't be bald. But the mechanism by which this affects Korean men is something very important that I feel that viewers of CNN need to know is that in Korea, resumes require photographs and have for a long time.

In 2017 to 2022, the Moon Jae-in administration, we got rid of this requirement for government positions, but it still occurs for private. Yes.

So this spawned an industry in the 2000, 2010s where every corner there's a mom-and-pop store --

(CROSSTALKING)

SANDOVAL: James, we have to -- I'm being told we do have to leave it there. Thank you so much for that conversation. And thank you so much for joining us here on CNN.

TURNBULL: Ok. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: We'll take a quick break. For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next.

[01:41:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Well, it's been now one week since Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead in their California home. "Saturday Night Live", they paid tribute to the late actor and director over the weekend. Reiner was the show's third ever host back in 1975. Tributes, they poured in for the Hollywood legend, who directed iconic films like "Spinal Tap", "The Princess Bride", also "Misery" as well as "When Harry Met Sally". And that's just to name a few.

Reiner's son Nick, he has been accused of fatally stabbing his parents. He appeared in court just last week. If convicted, Nick Reiner could get life in prison or even the death penalty.

Let's get more now from Dominic Patten. He's the executive editor for legal, labor and politics at "Deadline Hollywood". He joins me from Los Angeles. Dominic, it's great to -- I'm so glad you could join us. Thank you so much.

DOMINIC PATTEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR FOR LEGAL, LABOR AND POLITICS, "DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD": Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: I'm curious if we could dive right into perhaps some of your latest reporting. I mean, what is the latest? Have you heard an update on the investigation thus far? Now, a week later -- a week after their bodies were found in their home?

PATTEN: Well, yes. What we know from the LAPD is an ongoing investigation that they are looking at exactly what occurred in the hours of last weekend. We have a pretty good sense of what that is now.

We have from the L.A. County medical examiner a sense of the time. The Reiners definitely died, we know now, on December 14th. There was some suspicion of maybe their bodies had been there overnight, et cetera, et cetera.

That has pretty much been determined. The date of death was December 14th, which was, of course, the same day that they were discovered by their daughter, their youngest child, and a friend of their daughter's, who promptly called 911.

L.A. Fire Department appeared on the scene pretty quickly in an ambulance, followed by the LAPD.

As we also know as you -- as you pointed out, Nick Reiner, the youngest son, middle child of Rob and Michele Reiner, was very quickly apprehended and is currently in custody in downtown L.A.

He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, which usually in the state of California, results in life without the possibility of parole if you are found guilty. There is a possibility that as the L.A. District county district attorney said earlier this week, that that might actually include the death penalty.

What we're seeing now, almost a week afterwards is a family in mourning. We know there's been some gatherings at various homes of various Reiners across Los Angeles. Friends like the likes of Billy Crystal, Larry David and others have come out and spoken about this.

And I still think on this last day of Hanukkah from a tragedy that happened on the first day of Hanukkah, there is shock at what has happened. Shock at the reaction of a son potentially allegedly killing his parents, a son who clearly struggled with addiction issues. Shock at the president of the United States acting in such a cruel and soulless manner when speaking about this. And shock in trying to understand almost something that's completely unable to be understood.

SANDOVAL: Yes, that shock likely not to wear off any time soon. When you consider other high-profile cases that the LAPD has worked on, just to give us a sense, perhaps a rough estimate of maybe the timing of how soon we can get a better, a clearer picture, I should say, of the events of last week.

I mean, is there any telling when we could perhaps have a better understanding of these murders?

PATTEN: Well, I think some of that, my friend, depends on Nick Reiner. The 32-year-old is, as we understand, in solitary confinement, in prison in downtown L.A. When he appeared in court last week, where he only really said three words, which was, "yes, your honor" when asked if he was willing to waive his right to a speedy trial, he was wearing an out -- he was in shackles, and he was wearing what is essentially a suicide proof outfit.

So that gives you a little bit of a sense where this is. There's been a lot of stories out there about his mental state, his state and his struggle with addiction and what have you. I think there's going to have to be a greater sense of what exactly happened.

There's been talk of this party at Conan O'Brien's house and an argument between the parents and Nick Reiner. I think there's trying to draw out a pattern here. Also trying to get a sense of we know he was living in the guest house on their property for the past several weeks.

[01:49:50]

PATTEN: And again, I don't think anyone is saying anything out of school. The Reiners were very open about their son's struggle with addiction. They, he -- Rob Reiner and Nick Reiner made a film about it about ten years ago called "Being Charlie", a fictional take on a father and son with the son dealing with addiction issues.

So I think that that's a lot of what the LAPD have to do here. The homicide and robbery squad are deep in this. Sources tell us they've got a lot of manpower, police power on board here. But there's a lot to find out.

And the prosecutors are also trying to find it out, too. It's interesting when the D.A. filed their complaint earlier this week, it was literally three pages -- one for each count, one for Michele, one for Rob Reiner, and then the signatures and what have you that were required by law to be there.

This is an ongoing investigation. And I think there's still a lot to be discovered here about how this happened. And hopefully at some point about why this happened.

SANDOVAL: Dominic Patten, thank you so much for your reporting and your analysis.

PATTEN: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Let's talk weather and travel. More than 122 million people are expected to hit the roads and airports this week for one of the busiest times of travel this holiday season. But multiple storms and also surprising weather changes, that seems to be threatening to disrupt not only holiday travel in the U.S., but most hopes for a white Christmas.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has your holiday forecast.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Back-to-back systems are expected across portions of the West Coast throughout this entire week. And unfortunately, that could cause some travel delays.

We've already had the first round that came in on Sunday. Now we've kind of got a little bit of a lull period before the next round of heavy rain comes in late Monday and into Tuesday.

And you're looking at two separate areas here. We've got more rain coming to the Pacific Northwest, so places like Seattle and Portland looking at yet again another round of rain. But then the focus starts to shift from northern California into central and even southern California.

While all of these areas expect rain over the next several days, the heaviest is going to be focused over California. Notice all of the red and orange colors you see here. We're talking widespread rainfall totals in those locations of 3 to 6 inches.

However, because of the fact that its multiple systems back-to-back, some of these areas could pick up as much as 7 to 10 inches of rain all the way through Thursday.

Snowpack also expected to be high. We could be looking at additional 3 to 6 feet of snow on top of what the Sierras have already had as we round out Christmas week.

This is a concern because all of that moisture in a short period of time can lead to flooding.

So for Monday, we do have a level three out of four risk across a small portion of northern and central California. But these risks are expected to stay all through the week.

The only difference is, as we transition into Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, you start to see more of that focus become central and southern California, where the systems are expected to slide southward.

Now it is going to keep that area a little on the cooler side. So California, you're looking at temperatures either at or slightly below normal. Everywhere else is looking at temperatures above average. And we're not just talking 5 or 10 degrees above. Some of these cases, you could be looking at 20 to 30 degrees above average.

That means lots of high temperatures -- every single one of these dots, and there's more than 40 of them, has the potential to break a record high temperature on Christmas day. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Look at this. Santa Claus not coming down a chimney when he paid an early visit to some children in Guatemala. He used a rope. To be fair, this was actually one of Santa's helpers.

A firefighter, Hector Chacon, for nearly 30 years, he has collected gifts at fire stations and then distributed them to children from low- income families.

And we're also getting multiple reports of a Santa sighting, one under water. I want to show you this diver in Croatia. He donned a Santa suit and some fake bread to place a Christmas tree at the bottom of a popular Lake Zagreb, near Zagreb. It's actually a holiday tradition for the diving club, and they've been doing this for ten years.

And in the warm waters off of Florida, Santa swapping his sleigh for some scuba gear for a holiday appearance on Sunday. Local dive operators Spencer Slate, he put on a red suit over his wet suit to portray Father Christmas. And then let it dive off of Key Largo. Look at that. Even has the white beard.

And he also wasn't alone, along with a curious fish and a moray eel, Santa swam with elves and costumes, an effectively dressed mermaid you see there. No comment from Mrs. Claus. This is a little controversial.

And out of the heart of Rome, where a father and son cobbler duo, they are leaving their mark on the Vatican one pair of shoes at a time.

Here's CNN's Christopher Lamb with the story.

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CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here in the Borgo Pio, a traditional district in the heart of Rome, and a stone's throw from the Vatican. It's a place where many pilgrims have been visiting Saint Peter's come afterwards.

[01:54:52]

LAMB: This is also a place that is full of small businesses and privately-owned shops, including a shoemaker.

Antonio Arellano has lived in Italy for more than 30 years. He is from a family of cobblers. And he emigrated to Rome from Peru in 1990.

Over the years he's made shoes for cardinals and popes, including the red shoes worn by Pope Benedict XVI, and now for Pope Leo, who spent years as a missionary in Arellano's home country.

ANTONIO ARELLANO, SHOEMAKER, ARELLANO CALZOLALO (via graphics): It's a beautiful thing as he is a citizen of Peru. It's something that makes me proud to make his shoes.

LAMB: The father-and-son team met Pope Leo to give him some shoes, and they say he has ordered more. DANIEL ARELLANO, SHOEMAKER, ARELLANO CALZOLALO (via graphics): We have

recently already made three pairs. He wanted a classic shoe with leather and one also with a rubber sole because he likes to walk a lot and maybe for occasions he wants to be more comfortable.

When he saw us, "Ah Arellano, finally I know Arellano." And we were surprised, he knew us by name, so to speak.

And then he spoke. He spoke to us in Spanish. And so he said, I carry Peru in my heart because I've been so many years in Peru.

LAMB: A pair of handcrafted shoes from the Arellano store takes a month and a half to make. And it's a tradition they believe must be maintained today.

ARELLANO: The shoes we make is a shoe that will last for 20 years. And it is made with care.

Every detail from the leather which must be durable but comfortable. Leather to the sole and then in short, it always made accordingly to the customer's request.

LAMB: From Trujillo in Peru to papal shoemaker in Rome -- Arellano's story is remarkable.

Christopher Lamb, CNN -- Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And from the entire team, want to thank you so much for watching the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.

The news continues with my colleague Rosemary Church in Atlanta after a short break.

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