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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Unclear If Maria Machado Will Attend Nobel Award Ceremony; Paramount Launches Hostile Takeover Bid For Warner Bros. Discovery; Prosecution Presents Witness Testimony As Part Of Its Case. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired December 09, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voiceover): Twenty twenty-five has been a rollercoaster for the Venezuelan opposition leader, from leading mass demonstrations in Caracas to hiding in her own country, and now the world's most prestigious recognition in between chasing the goal that defined her life rescuing Venezuela from the rule of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): What they have done is brutal. More than 2,500 people arrested, including more than 150 children -- imprisoned children.

POZZEBON (voiceover): The Venezuelan government denies these allegations, but the press committee said the Nobel was awarded for Machado's efforts last year when she defied all expectations to build a movement that challenged Maduro at the polls. Independent observers and CNN's own analysis found Machado's candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, beat Maduro by a landslide. And yet, Venezuelan authorities claim Maduro had won without showing evidence and triggering a brutal wave of repression that forced Machado into hiding.

A few days earlier she told CNN that exile was not an option.

POZZEBON: If you considered plan B, are you open to the idea that maybe one day you'll have to join one Leopoldo Antonio and everybody else who is abroad?

MACHADO: We will win, we will succeed, and we will bring everyone that has been forced to leave to come back. That's my only plan.

POZZEBON (voiceover): This year, Machado's actions sparked controversy as she cozied up to U.S. President Donald Trump and his anti- narcotrafficking campaign. The U.S. claims to have killed more than 80 alleged drug traffickers without showing any evidence despite many of them thought to be Venezuelans. Machado has applauded Trump's actions, at times seemingly supporting a military intervention and dedicating her prize to Trump himself.

Her victory celebrated by Venezuelans around the world but silenced at home where Maduro still rules unabashed. Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Caracas.

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BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: It is a plot twist everyone saw coming. A hostile takeover bid for one of the biggest movie studios in Hollywood that also happens to be our parent company. Details next on EARLY START.

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ABEL: Welcome back to EARLY START. This is your business breakout.

Wall Street is looking to get back on track after a lackluster start to the week. Here is where the U.S. futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street this morning. The Dow, the S&P, and the Nasdaq all starting the day slightly up.

Let's check some of today's business headlines now.

President Trump has approved the export of computer chips used to help complete tasks performed by AI. The NVIDIA chips are just one of many chips wanted by China. The president suggested the U.S. government will take a cut of the profit from those sales and says the Department of Defense is working on deals with other chip companies as well.

The U.S. Transportation Department says it wants to make travel family-friendly again. It is launching a campaign with the Department of Health and Human Services to create more resources for families at airports, including healthier food options and expanded play areas for kids. The grant money could also be used to add workout areas.

Jimmy Kimmel and his late-night show will stay on ABC through May of 2027, according to a source, after extending his contract for one year. The network briefly pulled "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!" in September over his comments about Charlie Kirk's suspected killer. ABC's actions sparked a boycott of Disney, which owns the network, in a national debate over threats to free speech.

The battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, is heating up. Just three days after the media giant accepted a buyout offer from Netflix, Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile takeover bid.

CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter reports.

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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: World famous movie and TV studios very rarely come on the market. These kinds of assets are not often up for sale. That helps explain why there is now a public tug- of-war for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Paramount announcing a hostile takeover bid on Monday, one of the largest of this kind ever in corporate America. Paramount determined to show investors, to show shareholders that it has the superior bid for WBD, including the HBO Max streaming service, the Warner Bros. TV and movie studio, and this channel, CNN.

Now, Paramount started this auction process a few months ago by making unsolicited bids for all of WBD. Then a bidding war launched, first in private and now here it is in public, with Netflix making several offers for the Warner Bros. and HBO assets. The WBD board sided with Netflix last week, choosing those bids and moving forward with Netflix signing the paperwork and announcing the deal.

But Paramount is not going away quietly. CEO David Ellison sounding bitter about how he was treated by the WBD board, saying the process was unfair and saying shareholders should be able to decide for themselves who has the superior offer.

Ellison saying on CNBC that the Netflix-Warner tie-up is "bad for the consumer, bad for the creative community." He also warned it would be the death of the theatrical movie business in Hollywood because Netflix has historically not prioritized theaters. They don't care if you're watching on your couch the way most people are.

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Now, Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix, pushed back on Monday afternoon saying the Paramount bid would be bad for employees. He said we're creating and protecting jobs in production. He predicted that Paramount would cut many, many jobs if he was -- if Paramount were able to prevail in the WBD bidding war. Maybe most importantly, Sarandos said Netflix is moving forward with its plans to buy Warner Bros. and HBO.

And, indeed, this is going to be a pretty lengthy process, but we will probably see some sort of outcome in this Paramount hostile takeover bid in the coming weeks.

Brian Stelter, CNN.

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ABEL: The murder trial of Brian Walshe continues in a Massachusetts courtroom today. Coming up, how surveillance footage of a shopping trip on the day his wife was killed is helping prosecutors build their case against Walshe.

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ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel. Here are some stories we are watching today.

Later today the U.S. Defense secretary is expected to brief a group of top congressional leaders on military operations in Latin America. Discussions are likely to include the controversial double-tap strike on an alleged drug boat that killed two survivors. The Secretary of State and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will also take part in the briefing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Italy where he just met with Pope Leo. The Vatican says the pope expressed his hope that diplomacy can bring about a just and lasting peace. The two also spoke about the need to return Ukrainian children to their families. Analysts believe more than 30,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia since the war began.

Japan's prime minister says at least 30 people are injured after a massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the country Monday night. The U.S. Geological Survey reports it struck about 44 miles off Japan's northeast coast. More than 114,000 people were evacuated from their homes due to fears of potential tsunami waves.

Republicans in Congress are still struggling to unite around a healthcare plan as key Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire later this week. They are still weeding through a patchwork of competing proposals but not consensus on a path forward. Some Republicans are calling for bipartisan cooperation while other, like Sen. John Kennedy, argue the GOP should take the wheel and forge ahead.

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SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): The only way for us to be able to lower the cost of healthcare is to do another reconciliation bill. I think there are some Democrats that are in very good faith, but most of them just want to keep the cost of healthcare as a campaign issue for the midterms.

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ABEL: The reconciliation bill he mentioned could allow Republicans to pass a plan with just 51 votes or, in other words, without the participation of Democrats. But considering Republicans have yet to unite behind any proposed plan a vote is unlikely anytime soon.

In the coming hours court resumes in the trial of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. Mangione's legal team is attempting to get key evidence in the trial thrown out. They argue a search of his backpack was illegal because officers didn't have a warrant.

Mangione had been on the run and officers did find his cellphone, passport, a gun with a silencer, and writings that prosecutors have referred to as a manifesto. Police eventually obtained a search warrant hours later but one officer under oath testified she's conducted hundreds of similar searches without a warrant.

And today we expect to hear more witness testimony in the murder trial of Brian Walshe. Prosecutors argue that Walshe killed his wife Ana around New Year's Day in 2023. On Monday, they showed the jury photos of bloodstained items recovered from dumpsters near Walshe's mother's home.

CNN's Jean Casarez reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Monday was a very important day in the Brian Walshe trial. Of course, we are in the prosecution's case- in-chief, but the defense made points on cross-examination. You cannot take that away from them.

The witness that began the day -- and it was a continuation from Friday -- was Dr. Richard Atkinson. He was a deputy medical examiner back in 2023. And he testified that he went out to the area where the trash was and saw the items from some of those bags and made the decision of certain things that he saw that he thought were relevant.

He said that he thought he saw what was a blood clot on a part of the rug. He also found a clump of hair. So he wanted those preserved for testing. And he actually did some of the testing but then froze it so it could go to the DNA laboratory and the scientists that do those -- that type of testing.

But he also found something that was extremely potentially significant for the prosecution, and this was -- it was a piece of metal that had a loop on it -- like it was from a necklace -- and it was broken off and it was engraved Gucci in very small print. Well, we've heard from prior testimony that she had a necklace. It was a Gucci necklace. She loved the necklace and wore it all the time. So that was significant.

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But on cross-examination with this deputy medical examiner the defense really went for it. I will say it was a long cross-examination all about sudden, unexplained death. And that the witness -- the medical examiner -- said it was common. It happens more than people know that people just suddenly die and there's no explanation. It can be cardiac. It can be pulmonary. It can be electrical. It can be many, many different aspects of the body.

Here is a little example of part of that cross-examination from the defense in the Brian Walshe trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And is it fair to say, Doctor, that without a physical body the office of the chief medical examiner cannot make a finding of either manner of death or cause of death?

DR. RICHARD ATKINSON, MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Without what? Sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With a body. With a physical body.

ATKINSON: Generally, we don't do that, no.

CASAREZ: Following that testimony, there was a lot of video that went before the jury from a liquor store where Brian Walshe was putting something into a dumpster. After that it was Lowe's. And this is on January first he went to Lowe's. He went again on the fourth. But on the first, he went to Lowe's. He took his basket. It was around late, late afternoon. And he is going through the aisles, and you suddenly see him at the

self-checkout with a basket full of cleaning supplies. You see the blue buckets there. He had five, 5-gallon buckets that he was checking out with, along with other aspects of cleaning supplies, and mops, and terrycloth towels, and a full Tyvek coverage suit.

And the prosecution was showing this video. There was no cross- examination at all. But the jury had to be intently looking because prosecutors should argue at the end of this case in their closing arguments that it was consciousness of guilt. He knew he had murdered his wife. He knew he had to clean it up. He knew he had to get rid of it. And so he had his list, went to Lowe's, and shopped for those items to protect him from being the killer of his wife. No cross- examination.

This trial goes on again on Tuesday. The prosecution really probably getting into the home stretch of their case-in-chief, and then it's all about the defense case.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

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ABEL: Prison authorities in South Carolina making an unusual bust when they intercepted a drone attempting to smuggle all of what you see here -- crab legs, steak, tobacco, marijuana, and other contraband -- into a correctional facility on Sunday. It was all wrapped neatly inside a Piggly Wiggly shopping bag. A prison spokesperson says drone threats are nothing new, but this delivery was pretty unique. And the inmates waiting for it may be feeling a bit crabby. No arrests have been made.

Well, imagine getting directions, answering a call, or searching the internet without ever touching your phone. Still ahead how Google is using artificial intelligence to power its new smart glasses.

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[05:57:55]

ABEL: The nominations for the 83rd Golden Globes are out and one film and one TV series are standing out above the rest. Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" leads the film categories with nine nominations, including Best Director and Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. And coming in a close second is the film "Sentimental Value."

The latest season of "THE WHITE LOTUS" tops the television categories with six nominations. It's nominated for Best Drama Series facing off against "SEVERANCE," "THE PITT," and more.

And there's an honorable mention to the animated film that took the world by storm earlier this year. "KPop Demon Hunters" received three nominations, including Best Animated Motion Picture.

Well, imagine being able to look at something and information about it appears right before your eyes. Well, that's the goal of Google's new smart glasses. And CNN's Lisa Eadicicco got the chance to try out a protype.

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LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: I had the chance to try out some prototype smart glasses from Google that will be launching next year. The company is working with partners like Samsung, Warby Parker, and Gentle Monster to design the glasses.

And Google has shown this prototype before but what's new is the software that it was running on. I got an early look at some apps like Google Maps and Uber. That gives us a closer look at what the glasses will be like when consumers are able to buy them.

And the idea behind these glasses isn't necessarily to replace your phone but to make certain things easier so that you don't have to reach for your phone as often. And after using these glasses I can kind of get a sense of what that's like. For example, when using Google Maps I was able to look ahead to see turn-by-turn directions and then glanced down to see the map. That's just one example.

Glasses like these are also really useful for live language translation. In my demo I had someone speak to me in Chinese and have the glasses show an also recite translations in English in real time.

Now this isn't Google's first time trying this. They released Google Glass roughly a decade ago, but those glasses largely failed to catch on with consumers for a few reasons. They were expensive, they weren't very functional, and they didn't look like a pair of glasses.

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But Google and other companies that are in the smart glasses race -- like Meta, especially, and SNAP -- believe that things will be different this time around because of AI, which allows you to do things like look at books on a shelf and ask for details about it. And, you know, really process information about the world around you and get answers in real time without having to take out your phone.

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ABEL: All right. Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.