Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Hegseth 'Reviewing' Release of Boat Attack Video; Viral Videos Highlight Lapses in Black Maternal Care. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired December 08, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYLE THOMPSON MURPHY, ORGANIZER, KYLE SAVES CHRISTMAS: -- open it up, and they see that, you know, people around the country are thinking about them, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's still time to help. Links are on her TikTok page and at KyleSavesChristmas.com.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: So many great people out there.
Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Top lawmakers have seen the full video of the double-tap boat strike. So why can't we see it, too? CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): It is a war crime. It's illegal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States and his secretary of defense are conducting murder on the high seas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: What the defense secretary says about releasing the video to the public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn't yet read the proposal.
A lot of good discussion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The president once again seems to blame Ukraine for stalled peace talks.
And they're supposed to be the worst of the worst. But new numbers show tens of thousands of detained migrants have no criminal record at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I think they're terrified to step out of line and get a nasty Truth Social post on them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The loyalty test. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been labeled a traitor by the president. Will that keep other Republicans from speaking out?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE SIMMONS, MUSICIAN/KENNEDY CENTER HONOREE: Shut the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up. What are you complaining about?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Nothing sacred at Donald Trump's Kennedy Center. See what happened at the first woke-free awards night.
It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at the Capitol. Good morning, everybody. It is Monday, December 8. I want to thank you for waking up with me.
I'm Audie Cornish, and here is where we begin, with calls to release the full video of that double-tap strike on an alleged drug boat.
Some lawmakers are calling it a war crime. Right now, the only video we have of the September 2nd attack is the opening strike. But the military hit the boat four times, killing two survivors clinging to the wreckage of the boat.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers believe the full video should be released, but for different reasons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I personally don't -- I don't have any problem with it. It's not gruesome. I didn't find it distressing or disturbing. It looks like any number of a dozens of strikes we've seen on Jeeps and pickup trucks in the Middle East over the years.
REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): I've spent years looking at videos of lethal action taken, often in the terrorism context. And this video was profoundly shaking -- shaken. And I think it's important for Americans to see it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Despite the growing calls from Congress and the president signaling he would be fine with it, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth isn't saying what he plans to do with the full video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Mr. Secretary, you will be releasing that full video?
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We are reviewing it right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a yes or no?
HEGSETH: That is -- the most important thing to me are the ongoing operations in the Caribbean with our folks that use bespoke capabilities, techniques, procedures in the process. I'm way more interested in protecting that than anything else. So, reviewing the process and we'll see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Sara Fischer, CNN senior media analyst and senior media reporter at Axios; Jeff Zeleny, CNN chief national affairs correspondent; and Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for "USA Today."
So, I want to start with you, Francesca. We -- just because we've learned some more details: that the survivors were waving their arms in the air, that it was unclear if they were trying to surrender or -- or flag down help, and that it, at one point, had turned around. How is the administration trying to talk about these details as they come out?
FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "USA TODAY": Well, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, giving out additional details over the weekend as he continued to forcefully defend the Defense Department.
He had said they could have radioed and asked for help. He also said that he would have made the same call.
But going back to the footage of the boat strikes in particular, that's something President Donald Trump has already said that he would not have a problem with them releasing.
CORNISH: Releasing the full video?
CHAMBERS: Releasing the full video. He said that last week. And so, for Hegseth to come out and say that they're reviewing it and to be noncommittal to releasing the video, they're certainly going to be under pressure from members of Congress to do so.
CORNISH: I remember people wanted the video of the killing of bin Laden. People wanted the video, right? Like, it's the idea that, once these things come out, the public can have a better sense of the final call, so to speak. You're remembering this?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I do. Absolutely.
The idea of the president said he has no problem with it being released and the order to release it is a very different thing. He was asked that in the Oval Office, and he said, sure, no problem. That doesn't mean he's exactly going to do it, I think.
[06:05:11]
So, what --
CORNISH: Not like, in a good guy, bad guy scenario.
ZELENY: Yes.
CORNISH: He's the one who gets to be, like, sure.
ZELENY: Yes, exactly. And it never happens. But I'm just struck by even this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but the absolute partisan lens in which this is viewed.
CORNISH: Yes.
ZELENY: I mean, the same video that Senator Cotton looks at and says, It's the same as any other video. And then Jim Himes, of course, been in Congress a long time, said it's the most distressing thing he's seen.
Once again, it just sort of leaves the public to know who's right. So that, I think, is one of the things that bolsters for the release of the video. Just let us see it for ourselves.
CORNISH: To your point, "SNL" featured this in its cold open. And it's not that I think "SNL" is the arbiter of things, but I do think the premise of jokes is that everyone understands the joke; kind of what's being said.
So, here is how they talked about this issue with Hegseth and with these deaths in the Caribbean.
(EGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKEY DAY, CAST MEMBER, NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Is there any truth to the allegations that, after an initial strike on a drug smuggling boat, you ordered a second strike to kill the survivors?
COLIN JOST, CAST MEMBER, NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": First of all, that kind of cruel, heartless act has no place in Operation Kill Everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Like, how the public is starting to get a sense.
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: So first, it started with the Pete Hegseth pull-up video. Remember that?
CORNISH: Oh, right.
FISCHER: And I think what has happened is that he's become the fodder for jokes. So, even in a very serious matter like this, where it shouldn't be the butt of jokes, it's become that. Because people don't take, quite frankly, the office very seriously right now. But I will say --
CORNISH: It sounds like they take seriously the idea that his warrior ethos would be -- would bring a level of aggression to --
FISCHER: Yes.
CORNISH: -- to just about anything.
FISCHER: People take war crimes seriously.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: That's the red line I think, when it comes to the video, what I think the American public wants to see is to what extent the survivors were waving their arms, looking distressed, and looking like there was absolutely no way that they were able to call for backup, and that they were actually in a position of vulnerability.
What it seems like to me is that Republicans seem to think you're not going to see that on the video, and that's why for them, go ahead and release it.
Democrats, on the other hand, if you don't see that in the video, might not want it to be released, because it might not support their public narrative.
Either way, what the "SNL" open shows you is that Americans are going to make fun of this issue, even though they take it seriously, until we see a video for ourselves.
CORNISH: OK, you guys stay with me. We're going to talk more about this. We've got a lawmaker coming on.
But first on CNN THIS MORNING, the changing landscape. How President Trump's influence is shaping legacy media.
Plus, Disney theme parks facing a new lawsuit, accusing them of deciding whether visitors are, quote, "disabled enough."
And a manger without Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but instead a sign that reads, "ICE was here."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jesus spoke up during his time. He spoke truth to power for the injustices he saw.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's entirely inappropriate. It's divisive. It's disrespectful. He's politicizing Christmas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:12:49]
CORNISH: It's almost 15 minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your day going.
President Trump once again blaming Ukraine's president for stalled peace talks.
{BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn't yet read the proposal.
Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I'm not sure that Zelenskyy is fine with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The comments come as talks between the U.S. and Ukraine ended over the weekend with few new developments. Territory and security guarantees remain the biggest sticking points.
Today, the Indiana state Senate votes on a GOP redistricting map that could significantly shift the state's political lines and wipe out both of the state's Democratic-held seats.
The Trump-backed plan would split blue cities like Indianapolis and would give the Republicans control of all nine Indiana House seats.
The state House has already approved the map.
Sunday marked the 84th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. A remembrance ceremony was held at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial to honor the more than 2,400 Americans who lost their lives that day.
No survivors were able to make it to the ceremony this year. Today, just 12 are still alive, all centenarians.
And a Disney fan now filing a lawsuit against the happiest place on earth. The company has narrowed down who can use the disability access service, which allows people with certain disabilities to avoid waiting in long lines.
But the lawsuit claims the new policy is too restrictive, denying people who need to use the service.
And the Boston archdiocese wants a controversial Christmas display removed. It's a nativity, but three central figures -- Jesus, Mary and Joseph -- are missing. In their place, a sign that reads "ICE was here."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pope has condemned ICE. I don't know why the archdiocese is going against them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The local archdiocese called the scene divisive political messaging and says the church didn't get permission.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, should there be checks on who the president can and cannot pardon? One congressman thinks so. I'll be joined by Congressman Johnny O. to talk about his new constitutional amendment.
Plus, giving birth can be life's most beautiful moment. But two viral videos are shedding light on how that experience is sometimes taken from black women.
And good morning, Las Vegas. A live look at the Sphere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:19:50]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter is being kicked out of his hospital because -- and she's in active labor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your due date?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Two women in active labor, struggling, only to be dismissed, delayed, or discharged by hospital staff.
One mother gave birth eight minutes later on the side of the highway. The other reportedly had her baby 12 minutes later, after finally being admitted.
Now, those instances are not uncommon for black pregnant women in America. There is a disparity in care, and it is coming at a cost.
According to the CDC, black mothers are more than three times as likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white mothers. While underlying chronic conditions are a factor, the CDC says racial disparities are real, and there's a bias in health care.
For instance, false assumptions about pain tolerance that can contribute to delayed care for black people. That's according to the National Black Nurses Association.
Now, here's the thing: 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Under the Trump administration, grants and programs designed to study or reduce maternal deaths have been cut or eliminated, and data tracking efforts have been shuttered under the administration's anti-DEI policies.
Joining me now, Dr. Chris Pernell, director of the NAACP's Chapter for Health Equity. Welcome back to the program.
DR. CHRIS T. PERNELL, DIRECTOR, NAACP'S CHAPTER FOR HEALTH EQUITY: Happy Monday. Glad to be here.
CORNISH: So, I wanted to talk to you, because for years, we have been hearing about black maternal health, the disparity in numbers.
And what was the research starting to focus on? What was the thing we were coming to understand about maybe, if not incidences like these viral moments, how there can be this gap?
PERNELL: Definitely. We were understanding that maternal mortality in the United States, first, exists at a higher rate than other similarly higher income nations.
And the black maternal mortality rate is because of complex, multifactorial issues, of which systemic racism, implicit and explicit bias are among the causes, as are disparities related to decreased access and care, whether those are insurance gaps, the lack of access to Medicaid during the postpartum period, and then because of social determinants or environmental factors that are contributing to worse outcomes, as well as preexisting conditions.
So, it's not that we're lost in the dark. It's that the will is not there to solve an issue that, unfortunately, has not gotten better.
CORNISH: So, that gets to this issue of the impact of these cuts. Just for one example, I know that there was this professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He had, like, a $2.4 million grant on black maternal research terminated. He barely got 500K out of it.
Can you talk about the impact of these cuts at these various programs, which have basically been pushed to the side as being biased or woke or DEI?
PERNELL: Unfortunately, it's not just because of the cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion, but the United States already had a problem with maternity care deserts.
Approximately 35 percent of counties in the United States are places where women or birthing people live, with no appropriate access to birthing centers.
So, if you think about that as the foundation, that on top of that, there's this chilling effect where things or programs that consider the needs, the priorities, and the disparities related to women, other birthing people, and people from historically marginalized groups, that just makes an already dangerous situation worse.
And the last thing during this current administration, there have been enactment of these Project 2025 policies, where you see access to reproductive care being shuttered.
With those three things combined, unfortunately, it is a death trap, and it is worse for those who are experiencing racism and sexism.
CORNISH: Hospitals, for a time, were talking about implicit bias training, safety protocols. Have those things gone to the wayside, as well, as they try not to draw the, you know, attention of the federal government?
PERNELL: It's variable. Look, I was a health systems leader before I became director at the NAACP, leading at a safety net institution in Newark, New Jersey.
And at that time, there were campaigns like Hear Her, where there was training not just on implicit and explicit bias, but communication programs that make patient-centered care a high-quality human experience.
The focus of the provider and the patient interaction in an environment where there is this contraction, in an environment where you can't say words like "women," you can't say words like "racism," it makes that bad, that rough and shameful situation, definitely more challenging.
And hospitals are still having to deal with equity and equality, but they may not be naming them as explicitly as they once were.
CORNISH: Before I let you go, there's going to be some people who see these videos and be freaked out, frankly.
[06:25:04]
I remember with my kids, I ended up getting, like, a doula, you know. Not because I was so earthy crunchy, but because I just wanted one more advocate with me in the hospital.
For people who don't have that kind of access, what are you suggesting they do? What should they think about on that important day?
PERNELL: Definitely. Advocate, advocate, advocate. Sometimes the advocate is not the doula, but the advocate is a family member. Have a plan.
I tell this to people whenever you go into the U.S. health system, whenever you see a provider. You and your family sit down before you go into that visit, write out questions, write out scenarios.
When you're at the hospital, know that the patient or the human experience team is there to protect the patient's rights. If at any time you feel like you are not receiving appropriate care, ask to speak to someone from the patient experience team.
And finally, I tell people when they are interacting with the provider, if you don't have the benefit of a doula, if you haven't been able to have a community health worker that's focused on maternal issues, if you don't have a provider who has similar racial and gender congruency, then ask a physician or a treating person what else could this be? Especially if you feel like you're being dismissed.
Stop them in that moment and try to force them into their empathy, if you will, and to do an appropriate differential diagnosis.
CORNISH: OK, Dr. Chris Pernell, thanks for those tips. Appreciate your time. PERNELL: Thank you.
CORNISH: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the honorees took a back seat as the president took center stage at the Kennedy Center.
Plus, today, the Supreme Court will take up a case that's about more than just firing an FTC chair.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
