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U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker off Venezuelan Coast; The Meme-ification of Politics: Trump's Use of Social Media in 2025. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired December 11, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Delicious.
[06:00:07]
The U.S. Powerball jackpot has risen to an estimated $1 billion after nobody won the grand prize in Wednesday night's drawing.
It's been growing steadily since September, when two winning tickets split the last jackpot. That was almost $1.8 billion, the second largest in Powerball history.
The next drawing will be held on Saturday.
Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. seizes an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Is a land invasion next? CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Sounds a lot like the beginning of a war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The Trump administration escalating tensions with Venezuela. Is this about democracy or oil?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEMI PALECEK, ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER: I'm not going to go against my community members, my family, and my culture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: I'll talk to one National Guard member who said she will not be used as a tool in the president's immigration crackdown.
And passport, plane ticket, TikTok handle. Why a social media check could soon be required for tourists visiting the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: This is shameful. It is shameful. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The head of the NTSB calling out Congress over a new bill she says puts safety in the skies at risk.
And a divided Fed lowered the interest rates for the third time. But could this signal trouble ahead for the U.S. economy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC: "DANGER ZONE")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That's right. We're in the era of meme politics. From that viral plane video to surreal social media posts. What the Trump team's online strategy says about the state of politics.
It is 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at Pittsburgh. Good morning everybody there. Good morning to you. It is Thursday, December 11. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish and here is where we begin.
An escalation between the U.S. and Venezuela. So, the U.S. has seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. A large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually. And other things are happening. So, you'll be seeing that later, and you'll be talking about that later with some other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Attorney General Pam Bondi released video of the seizure on x, claiming the tanker was being used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. So, how is Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro responding?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (singing): Don't worry, be happy. La la la la la la la. Don't worry, be happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That was Maduro's message of peace. Later, he called the oil tanker seizure an act of international piracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADURO (through translator): Our message to the people of the United States remains the same: Peace. Peace above all else. No to crazy war. No to bloodshed for oil. No to war for oil. The recipe for eternal wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, today in the group chat to understand this, Betsy Klein, CNN senior White House reporter; Sabrina Singh, former deputy Pentagon press secretary; Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; and Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.
I want to start with you, Sabrina, drawing on some of your defense experience here.
There had already been, I guess, the ability to seize tankers. I mean, we've moved so many military assets into the region. So, help us understand if this is a surprise or not a surprise.
SABRINA SINGH, FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: It's not a surprise that an oil tanker like this was seized at this time. You have nearly 20 percent of naval assets deployed to the region.
And this is something -- this was a ship that is part of a shadow fleet. They sail under different flags. I believe this one was sailing under a different flag of a Latin American country. So, moving and smuggling oil is something that these tankers do.
This ship was sanctioned under the Biden administration, as well, in 2022. The ship also had a warrant out.
So, everything was done by the book.
CORNISH: So, people have been looking for this ship?
SINGH: Yes.
CORNISH: And this is the moment it was captured?
SINGH: Correct. But now we have the assets in the region to actually do it. And this was something that I believe under Trump one, they did want to do.
But now you have such a concentrated force of naval assets there that they were able to do it.
And what you see on the screen there is Coast Guard actually rappelling down and -- and seizing the ship. And that is because this was a law enforcement action.
And that is actually a good thing. This is what the Coast Guard does. So, this is actually not a surprise. I understand why it is deemed as escalatory.
[06:05:05]
CORNISH: Yes.
SINGH: And that's in the context of the strikes, but it's actually something --
CORNISH: There's a couple political people speaking out about that.
SINGH: Yes.
CORNISH: But before we get to it, Maduro accused the U.S. of plotting a war for oil. I'm just bringing this up, because the president --
SINGH: Yes.
CORNISH: -- was also asked about the oil on that tanker. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens to the oil on that ship?
TRUMP: Well, we keep it, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Is that how it works?
SINGH: Well, there. I mean, this is all going to have to go through a legal process now, but there -- because there was a warrant out for this ship. I mean, there's also -- you have to think of the crew. Are they repatriated? Are they prosecuted?
So, this should, in theory, go through a legal process. And that's, you know, during -- in April 2023, under the Biden administration, we -- we seized an Iranian oil tanker. And we did take -- we did, I believe, prosecute some of those individuals.
So, this will have to go through a rigorous process. But whether this administration does that, we do know --
CORNISH: OK.
SINGH: -- that this administration has -- does have larger aims, such as regime change. And of course, seizing oil, oil assets in Venezuela, that's going to be very important.
CORNISH: Let me get to the broader thing. Senator Rand Paul, he's using the language of what are we looking at? Is it escalation? Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Sounds a lot like the beginning of a war. You know, I'm not really in favor of beginning wars with other countries. I don't think it's really the job of the American government to go looking for monsters around the world, looking for adversaries and beginning wars.
So, seizing someone's oil tanker is an initiation of war. And if you want war, the president should come to Congress like the Constitution dictates. And he should ask Congress for a declaration of war. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: I heard someone else say this. Ryan Zinke was on set yesterday, former Navy SEAL. Like, Hey, you've got -- like, come to Congress. It's OK to come to Congress and have this conversation. Why do you think they are not so far?
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Coming to Congress?
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: Well, I mean, along the lines of --
CORNISH: Not just about the seizure, but about if you're doing more.
DUBKE: You've got a sanctioned vessel that was taken. It's almost a police action. Why are they not doing more? I think because --
CORNISH: But Congress is starting to say, Hey.
DUBKE: Congress for 30, 40 years, basically abdicate its -- its role in -- in this, whether -- whether it be the Trump administration, the Biden administration, the Obama administration. It does not matter. Congress hasn't stepped to the plate on this.
So, I'm not surprised that you have a sanctioned vessel. We have the assets in the -- in the -- in the area to take care of it. And they -- they took this -- this vessel under control.
CORNISH: So, as of December 2025, looking at recent polling, Americans right now, they are not quite sure. You've got 48 percent who oppose the strikes. Thirty-four percent support. And then this 18 percent unsure is what I'm paying attention to, because everything that happens since is going to sway that group.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yes, absolutely. And I think that Congress is going to start asking questions, right? There -- we can seize an oil tanker, but we can't seize these drug boats and do -- do things by the rule of law that way.
We released a video within an hour, but we can't release the video of the double-tap strike. So, it's -- you know, Congress has some valid questions here to start asking. If you can do some of these things, and we have the ability to do it, why aren't they doing it for everything? Why aren't we following the rule of law for drugs -- drug boat seizure?
So, I do -- I don't understand why Congress isn't taking more of an action, sort of to your point here.
DUBKE: No.
HAYS: But it does make the American people wonder, and it does make the American people question their members of Congress. CORNISH: Betsy, last moment to you. The president of Colombia was
saying, look, this is about oil. He -- it's not about democracy or regime change in Venezuela.
And I feel like that phrase, the leaders in the region know that that is a trigger for the American public.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CORNISH: Going somewhere militarily, with oil being the -- somehow the actual reason.
And to give people some context, look at the five countries with the largest oil reserves. You know, people think of Saudi Arabia, people think of Iran, and then look at Venezuela, like far and away the most.
KLEIN: Right. And I think what the Trump administration is struggling with is really landing a message on why they are doing this. They say this is about stopping the flow of illegal drugs, but it is not breaking through at this point to the American people.
CORNISH: And every time they do, they show the picture of the Honduran leader, right?
KLEIN: Right.
CORNISH: Who had -- who was the narco trafficker, who was pardoned.
SINGH: And I also think to, to Meghan's point, as well, we -- we should stop drugs coming into this country. And there's a way to do it. It doesn't have to be done with our military assets, and it doesn't have to be done with strikes, killing civilians. We are not in an armed conflict.
And so, Congress is raising a lot of questions. And this example today or yesterday is a perfect example of what our law enforcement can do, which is interdict boats. And we can do that with the ones smuggling drugs.
CORNISH: Thank you for this context. Very helpful.
Group chat, stay with me. We've got a lot to talk about this hour.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, regrets. He has a few. Why Elon Musk says he wouldn't lead DOGE again if he had a do-over.
Plus, flood waters surge to dangerous levels in the West Coast. Thousands forced from their homes.
[06:10:03]
And the war on woke has a new target. It's a font. The secretary of state making it his mission to get rid -- to get rid of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS's "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": I
am sick of these snowflake typefaces. From now on, we need to use non- woke fonts like "Impact." Look at that strong alpha font. Its Daddy will be back any day now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:15:00]
CORNISH: It is almost 15 minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your day going.
A flooding disaster unfolds in Washington state. Evacuation orders now being issued for about 100,000 people. Up to seven inches of rain already on the ground, with more expected.
The National Guard is activated to assist in recovery operations.
And the Senate will soon take up a defense bill that the NTSB warns could put safety in the skies around the nation's capital at risk. And that is top of mind after that deadly midair crash in January.
The NTCB [SIC] -- -SB chair says she vehemently opposes the helicopter safety provision in the bill, which she says would roll back safety improvements.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOMENDY: I would not stand up there and say this guarantees safety. It does not. It is a step backward. In fact, I would say it's a safety whitewash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Remember, 67 people were killed in that crash.
And the Department of the Interior overhauls the design on some of its annual national parks passes. They're replacing iconic scenic photos with the face of President Trump. One of the designs features him alongside George Washington.
And an environmental group, the Center for Biological Diversity, is actually suing the administration to prevent the change, which is scheduled for January 1.
And there's a lot of things the secretary of state could be focused on: rising tensions with Venezuela, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Marco Rubio, however, is ordering the State Department to go back to Times New Roman font. He's calling it a return to tradition. Why? Because Calibri, which was the Biden-era font, is informal.
The change was made during the Biden White House, because it's easier to read, especially for people with low vision and dyslexia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE, ACTRESS: But do you see that? Fire is catching. And if we burn, you burn with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Katniss and Peeta returning to the game. "The Hollywood Reporter" has confirmed that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will reprise their roles in the new "Hunger Games" prequel movie. The pair will likely return in a flash forward.
"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" is set to hit theaters in November of next year.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, the Fed cuts interest rates again. But it's still not enough for the president.
Plus, the meme-ification of politics. Some did it right; some did it wrong. But this year was all about the meme in D.C.
And good morning, St. Louis. A live look at the Arch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:22:00]
CORNISH: So, from viral TikTok sounds to deepfakes, the Trump administration memed its way through 2025.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): To catch them is my real test. To train them is my cause.
(MUSIC: "DANGER ZONE")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Have you ever tried this one? Have you ever tried this one? Have you ever tried this one?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Sabrina Carpenter, one of the celebs, actually firing back at the White House for using one of her songs to promote ICE crackdowns.
Trump got a lot of slack for this too. A racist A.I. video of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries here in a sombrero.
Even his allies asked Trump to tone it down. Theo Von, a podcaster credited with helping get Trump support in the election, had an issue with this now-deleted video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard you got deported, dude. Bye. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, he actually replied, telling DHS he didn't approve to be used in that kind of video and to keep him out of their "banger" deportation videos.
In this week's "Assignment," I spoke with "New York Magazine" staff writer Rebecca Alter about meme politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REBECCA ALTER, STAFF WRITER, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": The Trump administration frequently loves to wade into pop culture a ton, right? There was this recent scuffle with Sabrina Carpenter, where ICE used a Sabrina Carpenter song in a recruitment ad, and she got, you know --
CORNISH: Yes, she went into the comments.
ALTER: Yes, she did. And then the -- then, suddenly, something with official White House letterhead is, like, clapping back at Sabrina Carpenter with little references to her lyrics. Right? They're talking like Swifties in this discourse. It's weird.
CORNISH: Yes. No, that's a good point.
ALTER: It's really strange.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORNISH: So, the group chat is back. One of the things I appreciated that she went on to say, is that these are the trappings of online fandom. When she said "Swifties."
Like, this is how stan culture works. Memes of the people that you like. Being quick to clap back at their perceived enemies in their pop culture rivalries.
Betsy, is this a case of, like, there's some sassy social media folks, you know what I mean? An intern run wild.
KLEIN: Yes, but the big difference between Trump one and Trump two, and also every other White House, is that they are able to be really nimble. They do not have the approval chains and the layers of bureaucracy.
So, the digital team has been completely empowered. According to my reporting, they are able to post whatever they want, within reasons. Sometimes, that crosses a line, but they just double down on that.
CORNISH: Yes.
KLEIN: And when you're nimble --
CORNISH: -- the leader on that when "The Washington Post" asked them earlier this year about what they've been doing, they said that they didn't want to comment on errors they had made. Because they had actually inserted old video footage, implying it was a place where it wasn't.
And they said that they wanted to continue to "highlight the many successes of the president's agenda through engaging content and banger memes on social media."
[06:25:08]
I want to come to you messaging folks.
DUBKE: Yes.
CORNISH: Because now everybody feels like they've got to respond.
Gavin Newsom is probably a great example, where his social media feed has had a lot of funny things. A good example here, he pretends to have received the Kohl department store's peace prize.
And people have responded. And it annoys the Trump administration, actually.
DUBKE: Well, look, Dan Scavino on steroids is what I think you're referring to, Betsy. Dan Scavino, in the White House when I was in the Trump one White House. We tried to do some of this, but it really was through the use of Twitter, now X.
And the president, responding to things in real time. They learned some valuable lessons in Trump one. And now we're seeing that operate in Trump 2.0.
This is a way to communicate with your supporters, with your detractors, with others. I mean, they are in the zeitgeist.
CORNISH: Yes, but let me ask you a question.
DUBKE: So, I don't understand why we're upset about this.
CORNISH: Oh, whoa. We're not saying we're upset.
DUBKE: OK.
CORNISH: OK? Don't jump to that.
DUBKE: All right. All right.
CORNISH: We're saying that memes are the love language of the Internet. And now, the government is speaking that language. The problem is, it is not your native tongue.
Here is "South Park" responding, which they have been doing all year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, we'll ask the same determination of you, because detaining and questioning people is never easy.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: They've had images of her face melting off. They have had images of Trump in bed with Satan. The Internet's undefeated. Pop culture will clap back itself.
HAYS: Yes, I just -- the issue I have is the three of us have all worked in the White House. Is this just sets an unserious tone coming from the leader of the free world. And I just that's what I think bothers me. I mean, there's a difference in clapping back at your detractors. There's a difference between some back and forth.
But the -- the meme of pooping on people and all these different things, that's -- that's an unserious tone for the leader of the free world.
CORNISH: But does that sound silly in this day and age? I feel like that's the thing Democrats reckoned with after the last election, which is there were too self-serious.
HAYS: But that's fine. You also -- we need to be serious. There's a lot of things at stake. People's lives are at stake. You can -- you can have a balance here.
And I was in the approval chain in the Biden White House when I was there. It is very -- it was very arduous. It took a long time. There was not rapid response.
There's a difference in being -- to be able to clap back and to be in on the joke, and then take it to a whole new level, which the Trump administration is doing.
SINGH: And I will say, like, using pop culture songs when people are getting arrested, when they're being separated from their families.
I mean, people turn to pop culture, people turn to music to kind of tune out. And to have, you know -- when I have worked on different campaigns, in the White House, when you use an artist's song, you usually have to get approval.
And not only do they not get approval and -- and Sabrina Carpenter at this moment said, you know, stop using my song. Then they used it again. So, there's this sense of recklessness here.
CORNISH: But isn't that understanding how the Internet works? Right? Like you bait someone into a conversation.
SINGH: Yes.
CORNISH: They bring all their followers. You attack them. Like, Sabrina carpenter kind of gave them what they wanted.
SINGH: I think -- I think this administration and the Trump campaign in particular -- and I know you've covered this so much, uses the Internet and uses A.I. in a way that I think is uncomfortable.
But they use it in a way to reach such a following of people, and particularly younger voters -- CORNISH: Yes.
SINGH: -- that we didn't tap into.
DUBKE: This interested voters.
HAYS: But it promotes hate.
SINGH: It does promote hate, yes.
HAYS: It promotes hate, in so many ways.
CORNISH: Well, yes. Well, what you're referring to is the embrace of alt-right meme makers, of which I urge you all to check out the episode as we talk more about the world of people who do this stuff.
"The Assignment" episodes, they drop every Thursday.
And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the redistricting -- redistricting wars. Today, Indiana could eliminate every blue district in the state.
Plus, I'll talk to a National Guard member who says she won't go if she's called up in the president's immigration crackdown.
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[06:30:00]
