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Funeral for 10-Year-Old Victim of Bondi Beach Massacre; Local Detective Credited with Stopping Bondi Beach Attack; Investigating Claims of Russian Spies in European Waters; Gaza Aid at Risk from Israel's Restrictions; Trump's Bogus Claims in Primetime Address; Hegseth Refuses to Release Full Double-Tap Video; Venezuela Condemns U.S. Blockade on Oil Tankers; U.S. Government Admits Army and Air Traffic Control Failures; LinkedIn Highlights Tough Year for Job Seekers. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired December 18, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai and we start
with emotional pictures from the funeral of the youngest victim killed in the Bondi Beach massacre.
Ten-year-old Matilda was gunned down, along with 14 others, as they enjoyed festivities at the start of Hanukkah. One of the survivors of the attack,
who was at Matilda's funeral, recalled the sheer horror as the shooters targeted beachgoers from a nearby bridge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE MILLER, ATTACK SURVIVOR: The funeral -- I was at the funeral yesterday. They are very innocent children, the -- unbelievable humans that
rob our yesterday, five children. Have got a 2-month old, little 10-year- old girl.
She bumped into my daughter at the event and they collided. And they got up and I just saw like, it's just -- it's just appalling. It's a horror show,
horror show. Bullets locked (ph), lie down on top of it, (INAUDIBLE). People dying around you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: As Bondi Beach starts to reopen to the public, CNN's Will Ripley visited the bridge where the shooter stood as they opened fire on Sunday.
Here's his report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just moments ago, police reopened the bridge that was the epicenter of the Bondi Beach
massacre because that's where the two gunmen, the father and son, were standing as they were firing rounds at the Hanukkah Festival, killing 15
people.
The oldest victim, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor; the youngest, a 10- year-old girl named Matilda, who leaves behind heartbroken parents and a younger sister named Summer.
They may have chosen this spot because they actually have a lot of cover from the trees here. So it was really difficult for the police to fire
back. And they had these huge rifles that they kept reloading as they gunned down innocent people, simply for being Jewish.
It's really haunting to be standing here, frankly, because this is the bridge that we have -- we've seen from almost every angle. Everybody had
their phones out on the day of the massacre, filming.
And this is what the gunman would've been seeing as they carried out their brutal act. And then one of them, the father died here; the son was shot,
he was hospitalized, in a coma for several days. He's now been awake. He's been charged.
And this iconic Australian beach may never feel the same, certainly, for the people whose lives were changed forever on that awful day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Will Ripley there reporting for us. We've got Lynda Kinkade now live in Atlanta to give us more information.
Just a horrific story here. But in all of this, we've got a new story that is emerging about a hero police officer during that attack.
What more can you tell us?
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right. This was an incredible act of bravery. A police officer armed with just a handgun
confronting the attackers during Australia's worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years.
Now the police officer has been identified as Detective Sr. Constable Cesar Barraza. He is a 16-year veteran with the New South Wales Police force. I
just need to warn our viewers that some may find this vision disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE (voice-over): Now the footage does show the officer hiding behind a tree, taking cover, engaging the attackers some 130 feet away. It's about
50 meters. Now Barraza was wearing just a shirt and tie. No protective gear as he confronted the gunman.
Now that, the vision you're seeing there, is the bystander, the hero bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed. That's not the vision I'm talking about right
now. But the police officer I'm talking about took cover behind a tree as these attackers went toward the bridge.
Now what makes Barraza's shots extraordinary is, sources say, even an elite marksman would struggle to hit moving targets at that distance of about 50
meters while under fire. Now we know that his shot killed the 50-year-old Sajid Akram.
The second shot is thought to have critically wounded the 24-year-old son, Naveed, who is still in hospital under police guard.
[10:05:02]
Some experts in Australia are calling this a once-in-a-lifetime shot. And ballistics, of course, is still reviewing the evidence to determine -- to
determine the exact sequence of events. Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. And Lynda, I mean, the Australian government has been very quick to talk, to relook the gun laws as well. And lawmakers are now
responding about -- to the new details about the type of rifles that were used. Tell us more.
KINKADE: Yes, that's right. Authorities are moving quickly because this, as we know, was an attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach. The
federal government is looking to improve hate crime laws. They're looking at any violence that could be motivated by race or religion or ideology.
They have -- they are going to establish a taskforce that looks at identifying potential threats, improving intelligence sharing and also
fast-tracking investigations.
Now the New South Wales parliament has recalled its lawmakers next week before Christmas to debate strengthening the gun laws. They're going to
assess whether they can limit the number of firearms a person can own and whether they can reduce the amount of time a person can have a gun license
before having to apply for a renewal.
And they're going to reclassify certain weapons. Now there's also renewed debate over police equipment. As we know, that police officer was armed
with just a handgun. They are considering whether police officers should have access to heavier firepower.
But as we've heard from the police force, this certainly this unfolded rapidly. And in this case, they don't believe any changes are necessary at
this point in time
GIOKOS: All right. Lynda Kinkade, thank you so much for that update.
Now the world is watching as E.U. leaders meet in Brussels to decide on a controversial plan for funding Ukraine's war efforts. They're debating
whether to give Ukraine access to billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to bankroll Kyiv's war effort.
A decision to give Ukraine the assets could trigger legal issues and is facing political resistance, especially from Belgium. Russia is not hiding
its displeasure, with one official saying such a move would be robbery. The Kremlin has warned that any appropriation of its assets won't go
unpunished.
CNN's Clare Sebastian is following the story for us live from Brussels.
Clare, it's a big question about whether Brussels is going to allow the frozen Russian assets to be tapped into. They're talking about legal
worries, financial issues, Russia retaliation. I mean, tell me about how this is all being debated.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, as we understand it, the debate officially on these frozen assets and other funding options for
Ukraine hasn't started yet but it is the main issue at this European Council meeting.
Belgium has made it clear, the prime minister speaking this morning, that its concerns around the legal and financial potential fallout of this have
not been met.
Obviously, the reason why Belgium is so concerned is because most of the assets that are frozen in Europe are held at Euroclear, which is a bank
here in Belgium, some 193 billion euros, which is more than $200 billion. So it is a significant amount of money.
And they're concerned that the safeguards are not enough to cover even beyond any loan being legitimately recalled, the legal contingencies and
extra costs around that. So they are certainly looking for more creative solutions from the European Union to try to cover that.
There does seem, certainly from the majority of countries, to be a will to work through this, to try to come up with a plan here. And I think, you
know, part of what is helping that is that we've seen president Zelenskyy of Ukraine here today and making it a very serious pitch for them to agree
to do this.
He said that not only does this play heavily into ongoing peace talks but that without it, Ukraine is going to struggle to fund its defense into next
year. He said he literally won't be able to produce as many drones, which as we know, are so critical for Ukraine without clear and present funding
from the European Union. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): All these questions are intertwined. Money is needed so that Russia and other
countries in the world does not use these assets as leverage against us. We are more confident at the negotiating table if we have these assets
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: He's going to be more confident, he said, at the negotiating table. This is essentially leverage that Ukraine will have if it can prove
to Russia and, frankly, also to the United States that it has a way to fund its defense over the next couple of years.
Obviously, we now know that Ukraine, Ukrainian and U.S. delegations are going into more talks starting on Friday and Saturday. So timelines are
contracting around this. I think it's possible that it could be a long night here in Brussels.
GIOKOS: All right. Clare Sebastian, thank you so much.
I want to move on now.
[10:10:00]
And I want to move to an exclusive investigation. Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources tell CNN how Russia is using its shadow fleet of oil
tankers, not only to evade sanctions but as cover for espionage in European waters. CNN's Katie Polglase has the story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCHER (voice-over): Looking out over the English Channel, this narrow stretch of water between the U.K. and
France, at points just 20 miles wide, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
POLGLASE: Now CNN can exclusively reveal that there have been ships, ordinary-looking cargo ships, that have sailed right past here with Russian
personnel on board, who, according to Western intelligence sources, are conducting espionage on behalf of the Russian state.
And that includes taking photos of European military installations, they say.
POLGLASE (voice-over): The men on board belong to the Moran Security Group, the sources said, a maritime private security company set up over a
decade ago to defend against piracy.
Last year, the U.S. sanctioned them for providing armed security services to Russian state-owned businesses.
These ships Moran Security are on are not usually Russian nor are the crew but they're known as Russia's shadow fleet, as Western authorities believe
they secretly serve the Kremlins interests, like carrying Russian oil despite Western sanctions.
We asked Ukrainian foreign intelligence, who have been tracking the group, why they think these men from Moran Security were on board.
OLEKSANDR STAKHNEVYCH, UKRAINE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE: For our information, this actually, Moran Security Group, is connected to Russian special
service, GRU military intelligence. And it's coordinated by them.
POLGLASE (voice-over): He said the men are tasked with keeping an eye on non-Russian captains. But that is not the only role.
STAKHNEVYCH: They can be involved in like covert information gathering during the like, traveling during the routes of these vessels.
POLGLASE (voice-over): And a job application form on the Moran Security Group's website makes it clear what skills they're looking for, stating
"Preference is given to former officers who have served in special forces units, including the GRU."
That's Russia's military intelligence agency. We tracked with shipping data and satellite imagery one of the ships Western intelligence sources told us
Moran Security were recently on board.
This ship, the Boracay, is a crude oil tanker. It appears at the port of Primorsk in Russia on September 19th. We obtained the crew list, showing
the boat left Primorsk the next day. And after a long list of non-Russian sailors, at the bottom, are two Russians listed only as technicians.
But Western intelligence sources told us they are Russian contractors, acting in line with the Kremlin's interests and that one is a former member
of Wagner, Russia's most notorious mercenary group.
The cargo ship then sailed through the Baltic Sea and around the coast of Denmark. Mysterious drones were seen over Danish military air bases and
airports at the same time.
After the ship passed Denmark off the coast of France, it was detained by French authorities for not providing proof of the boat's nationality. Even
President Putin was following the news.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): They were apparently searching for some kind of cargo, maybe military equipment,
drones or something similar. There's nothing there and there never was.
POLGLASE: But actually the two Russian men from Moran Security were still on board, according to Western intelligence sources. And the French
authorities questioned them in private.
POLGLASE (voice-over): They were later let go and the ship sailed onto a port in India, where the ship unloaded Russian oil, according to a maritime
analytics firm. CNN was unable to contact the management of the ship.
We called Moran Security's deputy director, Alexey Badikov, about the findings.
He said, "I am not in a position to confirm whether the two men worked for the group," and said, "It was crazy to suggest the Boracay launched the
drones," adding, "If you would like to use drones, you will use fishing vessels or something like that, not from the big oil tanker."
When asked about the claim they are spying for the Russian security services or working for the Russian state, he said, "No comment."
Whatever Moran and Russia are doing at sea, their presence on board these boats is a sign of how brazen Russia has become in the face of their
European neighbors -- Katie Polglase, CNN, Dover.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Right. Ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, dire conditions on the ground in Gaza despite the ceasefire. We'll hear from an expert on the war-shattered
enclave, who says international aid is being blocked
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GIOKOS: In post-ceasefire Gaza, the reality on the ground is more misery. Officials in the war-shattered enclave are appealing for immediate aid
after floods and deep cold killed at least 17 people. Winter storms have also left thousands without shelter.
In the midst of these desperate conditions, aid groups and the U.N. are sounding the alarm. They say life-saving programs in the Palestinian
Territories, especially in Gaza, risk collapse because of new registration hurdles imposed by Israel.
My next guest is Shaina Low, the communications advisor for Palestine at the Norwegian Refugee Council. And she says international aid organizations
remain blocked from bringing relief into Gaza. And she joins me now from Amman, Jordan.
Great to have you with us. Thank you so much. I just want to start with the catastrophic situation that we're seeing in Gaza right now; cold, heavy
rains, the flooding, destroying these temporary shelters. And you can see just how devastating it is. Give me a sense of the reality that people are
facing
SHAINA LOW, COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR FOR PALESTINE, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: Well, people are cold. They are wet. They are unprotected. The
situation is unimaginable.
But at the same time, it's not at all surprising when, for months, we've been sounding the alarm about the need to scale up the amount of aid
entering Gaza and provide support, because we know that winters in Gaza are prone to flooding.
We know that the storms can be harsh and incredibly difficult to live under without any form of protection. In terms of what we saw just last week,
over a dozen people were killed, including two infants that died as a result of exposure and hypothermia.
Others were killed when buildings that they were seeking shelter in collapsed. And I spoke to a colleague who just returned from Gaza this
week, who told me that, in one day alone, 5,000 tents and makeshift shelters were destroyed by the floodwaters.
We've seen only a trickle of shelter assistance enter Gaza over the last two months since the ceasefire came into effect. And it's nowhere near
enough to support the people in need of emergency shelter assistance, which still stands at around 1.3 million people.
GIOKOS: So Shaina, let's talk about that. I want to talk specifically about the ability of NGOs, of aid organizations to enter Gaza, because they
need to meet certain requirements and they're not meeting those requirements. So explain to me how difficult it is for NGOs to work in Gaza
right now.
LOW: Well, there are a few obstacles, some of which have been persistent since October 7th, and some of which have arisen over the last several
months.
First and foremost, it's just the general obstruction that we've seen of aid, the trickle of aid we've had. We had a complete siege on the entry of
aid for several months earlier this year. And then we started to see a trickle of aid enter.
But NGOs now, like the Norwegian Refugee Council, where I work, are facing -- are being forced to reregister by the Israeli authorities. We've had
registration for more than 15 years and been operating in the occupied Palestinian territory for over 15 years as well.
[10:20:04]
And our registration was something that was permanent unless the Israeli authorities took action to revoke that registration. Now we've been faced
with a new registration process, which imposes some requirements that are just simply impossible for us to meet, due to legal and other
considerations.
Including disclosing the personal information of our national staff and also are being judged based on ambiguous criteria that seem to be
politicized and targeting organizations that speak out on behalf of the people that we're there to serve. And so now we're coming toward the end of
the year.
We're coming toward --
(CROSSTALK)
GIOKOS: -- saying you can't operate effectively?
Shaina, you can't operate effectively right now in Gaza.
Are you -- are you fully operational as the Norwegian Refugee Council?
LOW: Well, we are doing the best that we can to deliver aid. But for more than nine months we've been able to directly bring in any aid ourselves to
distribute. We've been able to get aid through partners that we've been able to distribute during this time.
But we ourselves had had $4 million worth of aid sitting in Egypt and we're unable to bring it in due to repeated rejections, which seem to be linked
to this registration process that I just mentioned.
GIOKOS: Wow. OK, so now I want to talk about these pellets for -- meant for shelter material that is also being blocked right now. You know, we're
a few months into the ceasefire.
You're seeing images like this of shake -- makeshift tents. I mean, clearly not materials that would be used during these kinds of weather conditions.
Are there plans to start building something a bit more permanent for the displaced people there?
LOW: Well, first and foremost, we need to continue to bring in emergency shelter materials. So that includes tents. That includes sealing-off kits,
tarpaulins to help make repairs to the makeshift shelters, because, right now, that's the urgent requirement.
As winter is coming, we also need heavy machinery to help dig drainage channels and reduce the risks of flooding around these sites. In terms of
medium to longer-term solutions, those are things that that we continue to advocate for.
But right now, we're continuing to be in an emergency mode, where we need to get in just the most basic of supplies, at a scale much greater than
what we've seen over the last few months.
Of course, the reconstruction discussions have started and stopped. We've seen various proposals. But what we need to also ensure is that Gaza's
reconstruction is something that is Palestinian-led and respects the rights of the Palestinian people living inside of Gaza.
GIOKOS: So Shaina, 2-week-old baby Muhammad and 8-month-old baby Rahaf dying of hypothermia. There's also stories of disease that is spreading
rapidly. I mean, these are extremely difficult situations, not only for the families, because, as you say, they are wet and they aren't able to stay
warm.
What kind of emergency care and effort by the people that are operating in Gaza right now are there to alleviate some of these realities?
LOW: Well, we're working as fast as we can to distribute tarpaulins, warm clothes, help communities, help the sites to develop flood mitigation
efforts, whether that's using sandbags or digging some type of trenches. But it's nowhere near enough.
Just over the last storm last week, 55,000 families had their belongings destroyed as a result of flooding. That's hundreds of thousands of people
impacted by these floods.
So we desperately need states to continue to put pressure on Israel to open up all the crossings, remove the obstructions, preventing NGOs, and the
U.N. as well, in some cases, from bringing in materials.
We need to see heavy machinery enter and not just the basics of tarpaulins and tents but more equipment to remove rubble so that we can start clearing
spaces for more people to seek safer shelter.
GIOKOS: Shaina Low, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.
And still to come on the show, tensions are escalating between the U.S. and Venezuela. We take a closer look at the conflicts as each leader accuses
the other of having hidden motives
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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.
The funeral was held today for the youngest person killed in the Bondi Beach massacre. Ten-year-old Matilda was enjoying a Hanukkah celebration
with her family when gunmen killed her and 14 others. The attack prompted Australia's prime minister to announce a taskforce to address rising anti-
Semitism.
Brian Walshe has just been sentenced to life in prison without parole. A jury in Massachusetts convicted Walshe of first degree murder in the death
of his wife, Ana, in a case that drew national attention in the United States. She disappeared about three years ago and her body has never been
found.
E.U. leaders are meeting in Brussels to decide on an unprecedented plan for funding Ukraine's war effort. They're debating whether to grant Ukraine
access to billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to bankroll Kyiv's war chest. It's not clear yet what the Europeans will decide.
GIOKOS: U.S. President Donald Trump opened his presidential address on Wednesday by touting what he says he's achieved since retaking office. Take
a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: After 11 months, our border is secure. Inflation has stopped. Wages are up, prices are down. Our nation is strong. America is respected and our
country is back stronger than ever before. We're poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Now the president is known to be hyperbolic but much of the speech was riddled with flat-out falsehoods, many of which have been debunked
before. CNN's Daniel Dale is here to help us get the story straight.
Daniel, great to have you with us. I mean, he was very loose on the facts, specifically around the economy and a very strong statement from the
president. What do you -- give me a sense of what really stood out for you in terms of it being a mistruth.
DANIEL DALE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he said in his grand finale that inflation has stopped and prices are down. Neither of those claims is true.
There has been year-over-year inflation every month of this Trump presidency.
The latest rate, which was released this morning, the morning after the speech, was 2.7 percent in November. That's not especially high, although
it is higher than the U.S. Federal Reserve wants. But it continues. It hasn't ceased.
And so these claims that prices are falling rapidly, as he also said in this, in this speech, just not true. But it's something the president is
saying in virtually every major address and virtually every interview these days
GIOKOS: Yes, exactly. And while inflation has dropped to 2.7 percent, it's still above that 2 percent target rate. So it must be noted there. I want
to talk about the fact that he also said he ended eight wars. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've restored American strength, settled eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat.
[10:30:00]
And ended the war in Gaza, bringing for the first time in 3,000 years peace to the Middle East
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, so dig into that for us.
DALE: So leaving aside this claim about peace in the Middle East, this eight wars ended, a claim, relies on a list of things that are not wars he
ended or wars that are not ended at all.
For example, the White House has made clear this list includes a supposed war between Egypt and Ethiopia, which were not at war under Trump. They're
referring to a long-running diplomatic dispute about an Ethiopian dam project. So no war to end there.
It also includes some mystery situation between Serbia and Kosovo. President has sometimes claimed he prevented the eruption of a new war but
he certainly didn't settle one this presidency.
The list additionally includes the ongoing war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. There was a peace agreement brokered by the Trump
administration but the war didn't actually end. The peace deal wasn't signed by the main rebel group doing the fighting.
And as well, the list includes the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, which your viewers probably know has flared up again. The fighting
continues this week. So that conflict is not over.
Also, there are additional issues with other items on the president's list but even just looking at those four shows you that this eight claim,
settled eight wars claim, is a clear exaggeration at best.
GIOKOS: And very difficult to not notice that Biden came up right at the top of his speech. I mean, really deflecting a lot of the problems that
this administration is facing now, blaming it on the previous administration. I wonder how this is sitting with his base.
DALE: Well, his base very much doesn't like President Biden. But we do know that there has been slippage in the president's polling numbers, even
with some of his own voters. Now the vast majority of them are still with him.
But his overall approval rating in some polls is at or even below 40 percent, which is a poor number. And his numbers with Republicans have gone
from often in the low to mid-90s in polls in his first term to somewhere in the 80s.
And you lose some of those people in the United States where the presidential elections are very close, congressional elections are very
close. And that may well signal trouble for Republicans in the 2026 midterms, if not the 2028 election.
Now we're still well ahead of the 2028 presidential election. I don't want to make any predictions. But certainly those numbers among the Republican
base right now are not where Republican strategists want to see them.
GIOKOS: Daniel Dale, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.
DALE: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Now Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is hitting back at Donald Trump's latest threat against his country. Maduro says president Trump's
true motive for ordering a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers is all about pushing for regime change and taking possession of Venezuela's territory,
as well as resources.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said that Venezuela stole U.S. oil, land and other assets and he said the U.S. military buildup and
blockade would continue until Venezuela returned everything.
Joining us now to discuss all of this, we've got the senior fellow for Latin America from Chatham House in London. We've got Christopher Sabatini
with us.
Chris, really good to have you with us. Listen, there's a lot that's going on and I really want to start off by what we're seeing in terms of the
latest news. The -- Senate lawmakers have passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which basically requires Pentagon to provide unedited
footage of that strike that we saw in September.
And now they're threatening they're going to withhold some of the budget if they do not release it. And I wonder what you make of this, because there's
so much talk about whether these strikes are legal. And, of course, we also saw the U.K. holding back some of the intelligence sharing.
CHRISTOPHER SABATINI, SENIOR FELLOW FOR LATIN AMERICA, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, clearly the Congress is finally stepping up and trying to demand some
accountability for what's going on and some explanation.
So first of all, what we're seeing is a slim minority of Republicans are now aligning themselves with Democrats over concerns, over basically
excessive executive power but even violations of the laws of international water and international norms.
And so even from the beginning, when Trump was taking out these boats, now over 20, more than 90 people have been killed without any sense of due
process, without any sense of evidence that it was occurring, people were already beginning to feel uncomfortable.
And then recently we learned that the September 2nd, the first of the boats, they went back and did what's called a double tap and killed the
survivors, which is in strict violation of the laws of war. So we're seeing a definite ramping up of pressure. We'll see if this is sufficient. But as
we see, Trump is now escalating even more.
GIOKOS: Yes. But I mean, I'm just wondering in terms of releasing this footage, they haven't given a real reason. And I wonder what you think that
reason could be.
Is it a national security threat?
Are they trying to conceal something?
SABATINI: Frankly, I think the administration is embarrassed. From what we've heard from Congress, people, mostly Democrats and a few Republicans
who've seen the video.
[10:35:02]
They say it's very troubling because the claim that the Pentagon originally made was that these people were still signaling that they were in the
fight, they were still combatants and may have been trying to flag down other narco boats.
But in fact, by most accounts, credible accounts, they were simply climbing on top of a submerged boat or capsized boat and trying to get help. And so
this looks clearly almost straightforward.
If those descriptions are correct, this was a violation of the laws of war to take out shipwreck victims who are not still in the fight. And so
consequently, they're covering up, I think.
GIOKOS: OK, so I want to move on and I want to talk about what president Trump posted on social media. And he blatantly said that the United States
wants to take back the stolen oil as well as stolen land.
One would assume this is dating back to a nationalization that we saw from 1976 during the Perez administration. Then in the early 2000s, during Hugo
Chavez, where we saw land being expropriated without compensation.
Is that what he's alluding to here?
Because we still don't have a full-out explanation.
SABATINI: Frankly, I really don't know what he's referring to. I've studied Latin American history for now decades. And the truth is, is, yes,
there were oil fields that were expropriated. Many of those were U.S. companies -- ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and others.
But the truth is, is there was not land that was expropriated from the United States. And those expropriations, as you mentioned, occurred under
Carlos Andres Perez and then Hugo Chavez.
He's trying to make the case, which could be a credible case, that the U.S. will start to intercept, as it did last week, with sanctioned oil tankers
that are flying false flags and that are really violation of international law.
But now suddenly he distorts this into a giant land grab that the U.S. is trying to make, which only fuels the flames that Nicolas Maduro, the
president he does want to unseat, that this is about imperialism and land grabs and invasion, which is not, quite frankly, the best argument to make.
And, quite frankly, American citizens are not buying it. More than 65 percent of American citizens, according to a Quinnipiac poll, are opposed
to this military action in Venezuela. So he keeps swerving, changing the narrative. And it ain't -- it ain't selling.
GIOKOS: So we keep asking the question, is it about oil?
Is it about regime change?
Is it about critical minerals now?
Is it about land?
What's your take?
SABATINI: Well, this is why the narrative keeps switching, why people aren't -- American citizens aren't buying it.
GIOKOS: Yes.
SABATINI: The truth is this is about regime change. This is a government that has been in power since basically 1999, first under Hugo Chavez and
later Nicolas Maduro. Last year, they blatantly stole an election. And -- over the opposition, which won almost 70 percent of the votes.
This is -- on this, Trump is correct. This is a deeply criminal regime that's engaged in all sorts of illicit activities. It's been evading
sanctions.
This is about ramping up pressure on the Maduro government in the hopes that either Maduro will say uncle and leave or those around him will defect
and overthrow him and stage some sort of a palace coup. But it hasn't worked.
And with each step, as we see in this escalation, going back all the way to August, he's added more troops, he's added an aircraft carrier, he's added
nuclear submarines, he's added flights and now he's seizing oil tankers and, of course, killing potentially innocent civilians.
We don't know how much farther he'll be willing to go, because right now he's stated publicly, Maduro has to go.
So what will come next?
We really don't know.
GIOKOS: OK, I want to talk about this oil embargo, this full blockade, because that embargo actually came into effect in 2017. It was partial.
And if you look at the numbers, Venezuela has been exporting between 27 million to 30 million barrels of oil per month. And some of that was even
going to the United States illegally in oil, in a debt-for-oil deal.
Now this is a full blockade, which means that Venezuela cannot export anything.
So how long can Maduro last now that his money machine has ended?
SABATINI: Well, this is going to represent a serious cramp on their revenue. About 80 percent of Venezuela's oil exports or exports generally
are under these illicit fleets, these sanctioned fleets.
There are about 75 ships now off the coast of Venezuela that are moving or attempting to move sanctioned oil. Only about 30 of those, a little over,
are actually under U.S. sanctions.
Quite frankly, he's on better footing here. But yes, since the government receives so much revenue from this oil, this is going to represent a
serious ability for them to pay public officials, to bribe others and to even engage in things like importing medicine, importing food, because
Venezuela is a large food and medicine importer.
So this is really ramping up the pressure. We'll see if this causes the defection that Trump has hoped for. If it doesn't, it could cause a huge
economic collapse within Venezuela.
GIOKOS: All right, Christopher Sabatini, really great to have you with us. Thank you so much.
SABATINI: Thank you
[10:40:00]
GIOKOS: All right. Trump says Susie Wiles will remain his chief of staff after an explosive interview with "Vanity Fair." In the piece that was
published, Wiles was quoted, giving an unflattering assessment of the president, likening his behavior to that of an alcoholic.
The magazine also put out some up close and personal photos of Mr. Trump's inner circle in the White House. But president Trump appears unfazed,
saying he thinks Wiles is doing an excellent job.
He also told the "New York Post" he not only didn't mind her comments on his personality, he agreed with her.
And still to come, new information about a deadly in-flight collision outside Washington, D.C. The government now assigning blame for the
accident that left 67 people dead. We'll be right back.
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GIOKOS: There are new revelations about a deadly in-flight collision earlier this year outside Washington, D.C.; 67 people were killed when an
Army helicopter struck a passenger plane coming in for landing at Reagan National Airport.
The U.S. government is now admitting there were failures on the parts of the Army pilots and a controller in the airport tower. CNN aviation
correspondent Pete Muntean joins us now from Washington.
Pete, great to have you with us.
This government admission is part of a court case, what more can you tell us about what went wrong?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, remember, this is not the final word here and the National Transportation Safety Board has an investigation
that's still ongoing. That final report, not expected until sometime later next month.
But this is a major concession from the United States government in the civil suit brought by the families of those who died on American Eagle
Flight 5342.
The Justice Department now admits failures the night of January 29th by the pilots of the other aircraft involved, that Army Black Hawk helicopter on a
low altitude training mission.
The government also admits failure by the air traffic controller in the DCA tower, who was attempting to alert the helicopter pilots to the passenger
plane that was about to land at Reagan National Airport.
This new court filing is pretty lengthy, 209 pages long, just filed in U.S. district court.
And lawyers for the Department of Justice said this, quote, "The United States admits pilots flying PAT25" -- that's the call sign of the
helicopter involved here -- "failed to maintain proper and safe, visual separation from American Eagle Flight 5342."
The government calls that a cause in fact and a proximate cause of the accident and death, which means it is appropriate now to hold the
government responsible for this, clearing the way for families to seek damages from the federal government.
This appears to lay a little less blame at the feet of the air traffic controller in the tower at DCA at Reagan National Airport. But it does say
the controller did not comply with a very narrow order, the rules governing what's called visual separation.
It's a specific phrase used between pilots and air traffic controllers. It was used that night, where the pilot takes on the responsibility to stay
away from other aircraft.
[10:45:04]
Still no response here from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control. No response from the Pentagon, which oversees
the military.
As you set up, 67 people were killed in this crash and families say it was totally preventable. They're now calling this new court filing a win.
But they're still seeking damages from American Airlines and PSA Airlines, which operated this regional flight for American. In a court filing,
American Airlines is moving to have this case dismissed. But any way you slice it, this is a huge admission from the federal government.
GIOKOS: It is indeed. Pete Muntean, great to have you with us. Thank you.
Well, the manhunt for the person of interest in the Brown University shooting is now entering its sixth day. Police say the description of the
gunman provided by witnesses matches the description of the person authorities are looking for.
They also want to talk with another person who may have crossed paths with this person of interest and may be able to provide some relevant
information. Meanwhile, the school security measures are under growing scrutiny. One student described the harrowing moments when he and his
fellow classmates hid from the shooter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARJUN PURI, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I think that my friends and I were all like pretty scared at the beginning just because, at that point, it's
out of your hands. It's just a question of what's going to happen, is the person going to come up the stairs or are the police going to find you
first?
And then after a while, eventually, we heard some footsteps outside and we saw through one of the cracks in this curtain that there were police
officers outside.
And I think after that we all like felt a little bit more calm, just because we knew that the situation was getting a little bit more under
control, like they had at least our area of the building secured by then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Brian Todd has the latest on the manhunt from Providence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHIEF OSCAR L. PEREZ JR., PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We still don't know where the person is or who he is.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Still no break in the manhunt for the gunman behind the deadly Brown University shooting.
Five days after the shooting, police asking for the public's help, finding a person who may have crossed paths with the person they're looking for,
saying they don't believe the second person is necessarily involved in any type of criminal contact.
PEREZ: We have video footage of that, determines to us and the detectives that can tell that this person was in the vicinity where the subject of
interest was that we want to -- that we actually have an interest on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How close?
PEREZ: Close; close enough that we feel that we need to speak with them.
TODD (voice-over): Police also releasing this map on Wednesday, showing the person of interest's movements before and after the shooting and the
area police are focused on searching.
Officials have been pressed as to why Brown University didn't have surveillance video of the building where the shooting took place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a multi-million dollar school and did not have a bunch of cameras in the hallway?
TODD (voice-over): Providence Mayor, Brett Smiley telling CNN --
MAYOR BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE: This building is on the literal edge of the campus and the person of interest walked out the door that as soon as
he stepped onto the sidewalk, was no longer on campus.
TODD (voice-over): We spoke to some students about how they felt about the lack of cameras. Joseph McGonagle Jr. is a friend of the deceased student,
Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov. He says Muhammad Aziz sent him these two photos from the same room where the shooting occurred less than an hour before the
shooting.
The caption reads "Got dragged to an Econ review."
He wasn't even supposed to be there, McGonagle says. This is the only building without a security guard beyond the lobbies.
JOSEPH MCGONAGLE JR., BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Barus and Holley was one of the only buildings that didn't have something like that, where they
didn't have like a security guard waiting there out, like checking you in at the lobby.
TODD (voice-over): He thinks there should be cameras.
MCGONAGLE: If I'm being honest, this is probably the worst building for this to happen in, specifically because of these sorts of failures.
TODD (voice-over): Graduate student, Ref Bari was just eight feet from the door where the gunman came in.
REF BARI, BROWN UNIVERSITY GRADUATE STUDENT: I mean, no question., of course, there should be cameras in the physics side of the building. That's
without a doubt, right?
And cameras, security, locked doors, all of this is like on people's minds right now.
TODD: The Chief of the Brown University Police, Rodney Chatman did confirm the account from student Joseph McGonagle Jr. that there was no security
guard inside this building at the time the shooting occurred.
We reached out to school officials to respond to McGonagle's assertion that the lack of a security guard and the lack of surveillance cameras in the
old part of the building where the shooting occurred constituted security failures. They haven't gotten back to us -- Brian Todd, CNN, Providence,
Rhode Island.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: As the manhunt goes on, the Providence community, especially students at Brown University, have been turning out in droves to give
blood.
The Rhode Island Blood Center calls the response in the hours following the deadly shooting "deeply moving." It says hundreds of units of blood have
been collected and more than 2,000 appointments have been made, double the usual volume.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There's more news right ahead. Stay with us.
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[10:50:00]
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GIOKOS: The White House has installed new plaques along the president's Trump (sic) so-called presidential walk of fame, offering pointed
descriptions of his predecessors.
The plaques lined the walkway outside the West Wing and many of them read like one of president Trump's social media posts, including insults,
baseless claims as well as random capitalization.
The plaque for former President Joe Biden, who is represented by a photo of an autopen, leans on familiar Trump grievances. It refers to him as Sleepy
Joe Biden and crooked, as well as repeats the false claim that Biden's 2020 election victory was the most corrupt in history.
The plaque for president Barack Obama calls him, quote, "one of the most divisive political figures in American history."
Presidents of both parties get criticized, though some descriptions of earlier presidents appear less politicized.
The White House stands by the descriptions, telling CNN, quote, "the plaques are eloquently written by descriptions of each president and the
legacy they left behind. As a student of history, many were written directly by the president himself."
It has been a tough year for job seekers. And a new feature on LinkedIn is making it hard to forget that. The app just launched its first every year
in review, showing users who they connected with and how many connections they landed new jobs. But the timing couldn't be much worse.
Unemployment in the U.S. is at a four-year high. Hiring is slowing and job seekers are now outnumbered. The job vacancies LinkedIn has defended the
feature, saying it highlights learning and community. But maybe not everyone wants to have their year summarized.
And we've got Anna Cooban joining us now to explain this.
I mean, frankly, I don't really want my year summarized in terms of how fed on a social media platform.
But, hey, how are users responding to this feature?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it looks like LinkedIn is trying to do a Spotify. It's really trying to copy this Spotify
wrapped feature. But not everybody wants to see this.
Some of the metrics that it's distilling and throwing back to people are the number of connections they've made, how long they've spent on the
platform but also how many jobs their connections made.
And if you're somebody who's out of work, I don't think you really want to have information on how many people you know are getting jobs. So it's been
widely mocked online.
And, you know, the editor-in-chief of LinkedIn, Dan Roth, has acknowledged the response to this. And he says that it has been a challenging year for
many job seekers. But he said that the year in review, in defending this, he said that it's meant to reflect the full picture of how somebody shows
up professionally.
So it's not just about whether or not you do or don't have a job. It's also about the skills that you build and the connections that you make.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, people, you know, even get rated, like you could be in the top 10 of users, which is kind of wild. And this is why, you know,
people are questioning this.
But let's talk about what job seekers are experiencing right now, specifically in the United States. You've got unemployment hitting 4.6
percent. There's a bit of softness in the labor market.
What can they expect in the new year?
COOBAN: Yes. As you've said, it's been a very difficult year for U.S. job seekers. We've seekers. We've seen that four-year high in unemployment,
rising layoffs, fewer hirings. And we're yet to see this December jobs report come out yet. It's been delayed.
But it's already shaping up, 2025, to be the weakest year in hiring since 2020, which, of course, we know was the pandemic. But it's not all
negative.
We are looking at these Federal Reserve rate cuts and whether or not they're going to feed through to the real economy, to the job market, the
idea being that cutting interest rates lowers borrowing and, therefore, encourages investors and businesses to invest and to hire.
[10:55:00]
And also, we saw a report recently from Vanguard, an asset management company, which basically said that a lot of the fears around AI coming for
people's jobs in certain industries, industries like HR and data, data science, are overblown, at least at the moment.
We've actually seen job growth over the past couple of years in some of these sectors.
GIOKOS: OK, Anna Cooban, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.
Right. The queen of Christmas has been dethroned.
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GIOKOS (voice-over): I mean, how could this beat Mariah Carey's holiday hit?
"All I Want for Christmas Is You," has dropped from the top of Billboard's Global 200 for the first time since 2020. The new number one -- wait for it
...
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GIOKOS (voice-over): "Last Christmas," the 1984 classic by Wham, is the new Billboard chart topper. The estate of late Wham member George Michael
said in a statement, "It's a testament to a brilliant song and timeless record that embodies the very sound of Christmas."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" still tops the U.S. charts.
And, by the way, I have those two songs on repeat over the Christmas period.
Well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
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