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One World with Zain Asher

U.S. in "Active Pursuit" of Oil Tanker Off Venezuela's Coast; U.S. Holds Separate Talks with Russian & Ukrainian Delegations; Australian Lawmakers Debate New Gun Control, Hate Speech Laws; Outrage Grows Over Release of Heavily Redacted Epstein Files; U.S. West Coast to Get Heavy Rain, Snow This Week; Joe DiMeo Shares His Incredible Story With CNN. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired December 22, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello everyone. Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching "One World". We

begin with a chase on the high seas. U.S. forces are in active pursuit of an oil tanker off the Coast of Venezuela.

The tanker under U.S. sanctions for alleged links to Iranian oil was sailing towards Venezuela to pick up oil. U.S. official says when the Coast

Guard attempted to board the ship, it refused to stop. It is the latest escalation in the Trump Administration's pressure campaign against the

government of Nicolas Maduro.

But the administration's end game is still unclear. What initially began as a crackdown on alleged drug traffickers has now expanded to oil. U.S.

forces, meanwhile, have already seized two other ships this month, the latest on Saturday. The moves have come under backlash, even amongst some

Republicans who warned that this could lead to war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I consider it a provocation and a prelude to war, and I hope we don't go to war with Venezuela. Look, at any point in time

there are 20, 30 governments around the world that we don't like that are either socialist or communist or have human rights violations.

We could really, literally go through a couple dozen. But it isn't the job of the American soldier to be the policeman of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak is following the president and joins us from West Palm Beach, Florida. It's clear that

things are escalating. The priorities here and the policies of the administration still unclear. Is it drug trafficking? Is it oil? Is it

regime change?

Now we have three vessels that the U.S. was in pursuit of. Obviously, as we noted, the U.S. is still in pursuit of that Bella 1 tanker that they have

yet to get hold of. What is the administration saying in response to all of this?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and they're saying that this is all meant as an enforcement of the president's embargo that he

announced last week on Venezuela and oil. Remember, he put that out on social media, he called it a complete embargo on sanctioned vessels going

in and out of that country.

And they're saying that this, you know, quite dramatic weekend there in the international waters off the Coast of Venezuela was really meant to advance

the president's policy there. You know, when it comes to the Bella 1, which is that tanker that was heading towards Venezuela, what a U.S. official

says is that it was flying a false flag.

That it was covered by sanctions, that there was a warrant out for its seizure, but that when the Coast Guard attempted to interdict it. The crew

there refused to submit and essentially turned around and began fleeing in the Caribbean Sea, leading to what the White House called an active

pursuit.

Now, the status of that isn't clear this morning, but what is clear is that the tanker is not loading up with oil in Venezuela, which is where it was

destined. It's somewhere in the Caribbean Sea going in the opposite direction. And so, when I was talking to official this morning, they said

that that in itself, was a success, as President Trump looks to cut off Venezuela's most important economic lifeline, it's oil exports.

You know what has really allowed Nicolas Maduro to retain his grip on power. And so, it seems clear that this pattern will continue. This was the

third ship that the U.S. had tried to intercept. We saw it with the tanker called the centuries over the weekend, Kristi Noem posting video, quite

dramatic video of a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the deck as it was seized.

And of course, the tanker called the skipper, seized earlier this month now sits at anchor off of Texas as officials, American officials look to seize

its oil cargo. And so, question, I think, is, where this all heads from here, you've heard escalating rhetoric coming from Maduro.

He calls all of this psychological terrorism, and he's ordered his navy to escort tankers as they are leaving Venezuela. Now, the two ships that had

been leaving prior to this had been in international water, so they weren't being escorted by the Navy, but the idea of Navy ships guarding these

tankers as they leave certainly sets up the risk of armed conflict between the U.S. and Venezuela, which I think is something that President Trump, up

until now, has very much wanted to avoid.

[11:05:00]

You know, you've heard him talk about financial land strikes in Venezuela. He has been saying that those are coming soon for the last several weeks,

but so far, has stopped short of ordering them up, which I do think speaks to some of the reservations he has here about the potential of an

escalating conflict in the U.S. getting mired in a foreign war.

Now, where this all heads unknown, but we do expect to hear from President Trump today down here in Palm Beach. He's speaking with the Defense

Secretary Pete Hegseth at 04:30 p.m. The announcement itself, we expect to be about ship building and the naval fleet. But certainly, it seems likely

that the president could raise this issue of Venezuela as part of those remarks, Bianna.

Right, this coming at a time when we have the largest U.S. naval presence in the region there, in the Caribbean, surrounding Venezuela in decades.

Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. Well, for more on the military maneuvers, let's bring in CNN's Military Analyst, Retired Air Force Colonel Cedric

Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, it's good to see you. So let me just start with this headline that you don't see every single day, but for the past 24 hours,

has been on our screens and in our newspapers. And that is that the U.S. is in active pursuit of an oil vessel. This is the Bella 1.

How hard is it for the U.S. to seize a tanker? I mean, I can't imagine that they travel at great speed. So, what do you imagine is going on here?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, this is really interesting, Bianna, and it's great to be with you again. One of the things

that you have to notice, these ships are very large, you know, somewhere around, you know, over 300 meters long.

And so, they are very difficult to get a hold of. They're very difficult to control as well. But I one of the key things that is part of this is that,

you know, as they're on the high seas, it's not necessarily easy to capture them. I think with the first two captures, interdictions of vessels, of

these tankers, you know, with the skipper, and then also you have the centuries tanker.

That those two gave us a deceptively easy perception that this could be done very quickly, and you could capture these tankers without too much

trouble. You need the right kind of resources. So, in this particular case, I wonder if it's possible that the -- when they were trying to work with

the Bella 1 and trying to get a hold of it, maybe they didn't have the same number of resources in terms of helicopters, in terms of Coast Guardsmen

that could rappel down to capture it.

That might be one thing. I also wonder if there's a possibility that the crew was armed. And we're about to respond in an armed way toward the U.S.

Coast Guard/U.S. Navy personnel that might be coming down, rappelling down upon them via helicopters. So that's one of the key things, perhaps they

wanted to avoid, in a tactical sense, an escalation.

So that is something that we'll have to learn more about. But it is not easy to intercept these vessels because they're large, the crews could be

on and if they're under escort, like Kevin mentioned in his report, then that presents another dimension of potential risk to anybody who's trying

to capture them.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, let me pick up on that. We have Nicolas Maduro now ordering naval vessels to escort some of those tankers. Now, some of them

are in international waters, but when they are still in Venezuelan territory, how does that change the risk calculus for the U.S. military,

which, as we noted, has a rather large, unusually large presence in the region right now too?

LEIGHTON: Yeah, with those 15,000 sailors and marines in the Caribbean, there's obviously a very large presence there. When you look at the

military assets that are arrayed throughout the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico and all the areas north of Venezuela. It really becomes, you know, a

large preponderance of force.

But here's the issue, once you get into Venezuela and territorial waters, then it gets a little bit dicier, when it comes to international law. You

really can't go in and take out a tanker in the territorial waters of a country, at least not legally, unless you've declared war or there's some

other kind of exigency, you know, when it comes to these kinds of things.

So, the difficulty then becomes, you know, how much force do you have at that particular moment in time? Do you have the capability to eliminate the

threat that a Venezuelan destroyer or something like that could pose to a U.S. vessel where a helicopter that is coming in?

So that is, you know, I think part of the calculation, there's a legal aspect, and then there's the military aspect. And that military aspect

would really depend on how much force you have at that particular location, at that particular moment.

[11:10:00]

GOLODRYGA: And so far, these have been sanctioned tankers that the U.S. has been targeting. But now we're seeing tanker pursuits, seizures, active

chases. Officials are saying this isn't a blockade, but by all intents and purposes, I mean, I'm just wondering, is it everything that you would

describe in a typical blockade that you're seeing?

LEIGHTON: Yeah, it depends. Blockades can be done in several different ways. And you know, in American history, you look at the blockades that the

union mounted against the confederacy during the Civil War, which were to some degree quite effective in really throttling the southern economy at

that time.

So, the idea here is very similar to a blockade. It may be a blockade, except for the name. It is seemingly targeted, at least based on what the

administration is telling us. They're going after sanctioned tankers, although we should note that the second tank, or that they intercepted and

boarded, was not under sanctions.

So those are the kinds of things that, you know, I think will kind of factor into any decision, but the effect of what they're doing is basically

similar to a kind of blockade. It may not be a full blockade, but it has a similar impact, because what they're going after, of course, is the oil,

and that is the lifeblood of the Venezuelan economy.

GOLODRYGA: All right. CNN's Military Analyst Cedric Leighton, thank you so much. Good to see you, my friend.

LEIGHTON: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff says Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine follows a weekend of talks with

Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami, Florida. There's no word on whether any agreements were actually struck on ending the conflict, but Russia says

it views changes made by Europe and Ukraine to U.S. proposals as largely unconstructive.

Witkoff and Donald Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, have been working to fine tune a multi-point plan that would end the conflict through U.S.

backed security guarantees for Ukraine and land concessions. The U.S. team held separate meetings in Florida with a delegation from Ukraine.

The U.S. and Ukraine both called those talks productive. Meantime, a Senior Russian General has been killed in a car bombing in Moscow. It appears to

be the latest targeted assassination of a senior military official inside Russia. Investigators say the general ran the Armed Forces operation

training department.

Images from the scene show damage to multiple vehicles in a parking lot. Investigators have now opened a criminal case. And officials say one theory

is that Ukraine's special services may have been behind the attack. Let's go to Fred Pleitgen in Moscow for more on this.

We've seen these types of targeted attacks in the past. Fred, how is the Kremlin responding? And what more do we know about this general?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Kremlin -- yeah, the Kremlin is saying that Vladimir Putin was immediately

informed after all of this happened. They certainly, at this point in time, at least, are not yet pointing the finger at the Ukrainians.

But if you -- if we listen to the investigative committee here in Moscow, they are certainly saying that one of the directions that they're going in,

or one of the theories that they have is that Ukrainian special services could be behind this. And this really happened Bianna, in the very early

morning hours of this morning.

The Investigative Committee saying it was around 07:00 a.m. when a bomb exploded that appeared to have been underneath the car or attached to the

bottom of the car of this General Fanil Sarvarov, who was going in that car in the early morning hours. And we can see here on our screens that the

damage to that car appears to be more underneath the car and at the bottom of the car.

The top of the car appears to be mostly intact, but if you look inside the car, you can see there's substantial damage. And one of the things the

investigator said is that the general sustained severe injuries and then died of those injuries later in hospital. And they are saying that they

have specialists on the scene right now, or had specialists on the scene earlier today, forensics experts.

And then we're also talking to witnesses as well. As you've noted, they say that there's a criminal investigation ongoing right now. They certainly

haven't, with certainty, said that they believe that the Ukrainians are behind it, but they certainly do say that that is one of the things that

they're looking into, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right, Fred Pleitgen in Moscow for us. Thank you. We are learning new details about the men accused of carrying out that deadly

attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia. New court documents say the father and son threw four improvised explosive devices at the crowd on

Bondi Beach moments before they started shooting, though none of them detonated.

Court documents also suggest the pair might have had some tactical training. This says lawmakers in the State of New South Wales are debating

new gun laws to tighten gun control, limit protests and ban the display of terror symbols.

[11:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MINNS, NEW SOUTH WALES PREMIER: Today we're introducing new laws, tough new laws to protect the community, to crack down on hate and

strengthen public safety. The legislation bans the public displays of terror symbols, outlaws, violence, incitement to violence in New South

Wales, and gives police stronger powers during public assemblies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Mike Valerio has more on how the deadly attack unfolded.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police say the accused attackers had three pipe bombs and one tennis ball bomb thrown into the crowd before the

accused father and son started shooting. Key here, according to investigators, all those bombs, all those explosive devices were viable,

but none of them detonated.

So, in addition to those four, we have the three pipe bombs, the tennis ball bomb. There was also another larger IED that was found in the trunk of

the father and son's car. Bringing the total to five explosives. And then there's the level of alleged preparation. Investigators looked at videos

found on the cell phones of the father and son.

And in October, police say both appear to be practicing firing shotguns in the countryside of New South Wales, trying to move tactically. And as we

move closer to the attack on Friday, December 12, there is a still from CCTV during the 09:00 p.m. hour in Sydney. That appears to show both of the

accused going to the same foot bridge where the attack started.

And on the day of the attack in the 02:00 a.m. hour, police say the father and the son are seen moving large, long items believed to be the weapons

and explosives brought to the attack, and they're wrapped in blankets, putting them in their car. Also, police shared a photo of an ISIS flag that

they say the father and son made.

And they added that in another October video, the father and son made quote, a number of statements regarding their motivation for the Bondi

attack and condemned quote, the acts of Zionists. Furthermore, worth noting, the surviving son was moved from his hospital bed today where he

was receiving treatment escorted by a police riot squad to a penitentiary facility. Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.

GOLODRYGA: Really disturbing details there. Thanks to Mike Valerio for that report. Still to come for us, outrage grows over the U.S. Department of

Justice's slow roll out of the Epstein files. And what some lawmakers are calling a violation of federal law. We'll explain just ahead.

Plus, a new CNN poll looks ahead to 2028 and the race to replace Donald Trump. So, who is getting some early attention? We'll take a look after the

break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:00]

GOLODRYGA: The U.S. Justice Department is under growing pressure for not releasing all of the Epstein files required by federal law on Friday. The

files that were made public were heavily redacted with no explanation, including a 119-page grand jury document that was completely blacked out,

while many of the other files had previously already been released.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen files, including an image of President Donald Trump, were removed from the DOJ website over the weekend. It was later

restored. The bipartisan sponsors of the bill are now threatening to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress.

And a top Republican senator warns that this could hurt the Trump Administration in the long run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: I think that trust in government as at a low ebb, and that people need to trust that justice is the same, whether you're rich or poor, and

people tend to believe that some rich people got off scot-free in this, in the Epstein case, in the Epstein files. So, I think it all should be

released.

I think it's a big mistake. I mean, look, the administration has struggled for months and months with something they initially genned up and then sort

of tried to tamp down. So, any evidence or any kind of indication that there's not a full reveal on this, this will just plague them for months

and months more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Katelyn Polantz has all the latest developments from Washington.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The Justice Department is saying that it may have even been an over redaction of the

Epstein files that were released on Friday over redaction. That's the word that they used in a court filing recently explaining how they were going

about protecting victims.

Basically, in a way that made all kinds of caution to make sure that victim names and images weren't released. Ultimately, the Justice Department

redacted any women in photographs with Jeffrey Epstein. And also, they redacted things that would have been executive branch or attorney

privileges.

So internal deliberations within the Justice Department or other agencies, as well as attorney work products, so drafts, perhaps, of documents and

then attorney client communications. A lot more redactions than what the law allowed the Southern District of New York's U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.

He said in that court filing on Friday night that not only was it an over redaction, there was just so much information and such a time crunch that

the Justice Department was going to err on the side of caution to make sure they were protecting victims. Now this played out with that photograph of

Donald Trump that was on the website released among many new photographs taken from the Jeffrey Epstein files that the FBI the Justice Department

had held in their possession for years.

That photograph of Donald Trump, it was of Trump, among many others. There's a bunch of photographs string out on the desk, and then someone

took a photo of that. In that way, the Southern District of New York after that photo was up on the website of the Justice Department's release,

lawyers said that they might need to take potential further action to protect victims.

That image was pulled down on Saturday. And then once the department determined that there was no evidence of victims anywhere in that

photograph, that they reposted it without any alteration or redaction. So, the Justice Department does have the photo of Donald Trump up again.

Same thing happened, apparently, with grand jury transcripts from the 2021 indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell in the Southern District of New York as

well the initially that grand jury transcript, it was fully blacked out, and then the Justice Department went through and redacted only certain

things, certain discussions or names in that document a grand jury transcript something we had never seen before.

But the law is only allowing for so much redaction, so there is going to be a question on what happens next. Will a court intervene, or even

potentially members of Congress unhappy with how the Justice Department complied with this law or did not? Back to you.

GOLODRYGA: All right, the busy holiday travel week is going to be even tougher for some across the United States. Our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam

has the severe weather outlook for many across California. That is still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:25:00]

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Here's some headlines we're watching today. The U.S. is pursuing another

oil tanker linked to Venezuela, saying that it has ties to Iranian oil. It's part of Trump Administration's crackdown on Venezuela's oil industry

and the government of Nicolas Maduro.

Two other ships were seized earlier this month. Many lawmakers, including Republicans, are criticizing the moves. We are learning new details about

Australia's worst terror attack. Court documents allege the father and son accused in the Bondi Beach attack threw four improvised explosive devices

at the crowds before opening fire.

None of the devices exploded. 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration were killed in the attack more than a week ago. A Russian General has been

killed in a car bombing in Moscow. It appears to be the latest targeted assassination of a senior military official inside Russia.

Investigators say the general ran the Armed Forces operational training department. Officials say one theory is that Ukraine's special services may

be behind the attack. The Justice Department claims it is doing everything possible to comply with the law demanding the full release of the Epstein

files.

But lawmakers say Friday's release of heavily redacted documents and photos was far from complete. And they're threatening contempt proceedings against

Attorney General Pam Bondi if there is not full compliance. Well, the next U.S. presidential election is still about three years away.

It will be the first time in 12 years without a sitting president seeking his party's nomination. And many voters are already thinking about who they

want to see run. New CNN polling finds 33 percent of Americans surveyed say they have a candidate in mind.

[11:30:00]

Among Democrats or left leaning independents California Governor Gavin Newsom's name was mentioned the most often. He was followed by former vice

president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. And on the Republican side, Vice President JD Vance is the early leader right now, followed by

Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

Although most Democrats and Republicans say they have no specific candidate in mind. With more on all of this, we welcome CNN's Jeff Zeleny. So, Jeff,

how much should we be reading into these early pollings? Again, we are a number of years away before the next presidential election.

It is interesting, though, what we saw over the weekend, at Turning Point USA conference where the widow where Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk

endorsed JD Vance. How important was that endorsement?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly very interesting, given the fact that Vice President Vance has not even declared

his intention to run for president, getting that endorsement from Erika Kirk, certainly very important, but it's unclear actually, how much weight

it will carry going forward.

Look, we are three years out, as you said, but it's actually quite less than that. When you think about it, a year from now, the midterm elections

will be over in the rear-view mirror, and both sides, Democrats and Republicans, so we'll be quickly deciding if they're going to announce for

president.

So, in a year, they are likely to be presidential announcements. We're actually not that far away, but I was really struck by some of those

numbers that you showed, particularly of Vice President Vance. Really at the 22 percent it does not have a significant hold over the Republican

Party.

Perhaps not surprising, because this has been the president of Donald Trump, the party of Donald Trump, for nearly a decade, but it certainly

shows that there is room for someone else but Vice President Vance showed over the weekend at that event in Phoenix that he's trying to walk a very

fine line inside this conservative movement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters

through endless self-defeating purity tests. He says, Make America Great Again, because every American is invited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So those self-defeating purity tests, what the vice president was referring to is really this open debate and disagreement inside the

conservative movement about a host of issues that really were on display over the weekend at this large gathering of a conservative activist,

specifically over Israel, over big tech companies, over so many things, over a foreign policy, hawkish views versus more isolationist views.

So, there is very much an identity crisis happening in some parts of the conservative movement, and certainly when President Trump takes his leave

from the party, where does the party go? So, the vice president not wanting to address some very specific issues, like the strengths of antisemitism

also coursing through the conservative movement, he stepped away from that.

But many other leaders at that conference this weekend attacked that head on and called it very dangerous for this party.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Vivek Ramaswamy, Ben Shapiro also, I mean, we're not talking about different viewpoints on strategic policies. We're talking

about those who consider themselves conspiracy theorists, who espouse very antisemitic views and say so publicly, who are white nationalists as well?

Are we hearing JD Vance basically saying all are welcome in this movement?

ZELENY: That's certainly what he seemed to be suggesting at the public forum. Now he has given other interviews as one as recently as Friday, and

talked very specifically about defending his wife, for example, who has been the subject of much criticism by some of those leaders, Nicholas

Fuentes and others.

So, it was pretty striking to not hear Vice President Vance effectively say what Ben Shapiro, of course, the leading conservative voice and influencer,

really call out members of the party like Tucker Carlson and others for espousing these views. So, the vice president, clearly, it seemed to those

watching, did not want to offend anyone.

But in not offending anyone, he certainly made a choice in not standing up for what many people believe is a cancer inside the movement, specifically

on the conspiracy theorists like you mentioned. I mean, not surprising that this has bubbled up in the Trump era, if you will.

He has led the charge on many of them, but it certainly speaks to the conservative movement going forward here, how long it can survive with

these fissures inside here. So, something very interesting to keep an eye on there, and you know, certainly not strong words from the vice president.

[11:35:00]

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, it wasn't so long ago that he called Nick Fuentes a loser. We didn't hear those words addressing some very dangerous commentary, very

antisemitic, very white nationalist, very conspiracy theorist, minded from the likes of Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens, especially over the last few

months.

Jeff Zeleny in Washington, D.C., for us. Thank you so much.

ZELENY: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: And this is a very busy week for Santa Claus. Coming up, we are shifting major gears here. We'll visit the hometown where Santa lives and

see how things are going. As he's preparing for Christmas day, he's got to hurry up. We're only a few days away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: California is being hit by heavy rain, flooding and even snow during this busy holiday travel week, a dangerous sequence of storms from

the Pacific Ocean is sweeping through Northern California and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. At least one person died when flash floods hit Redding,

which is about 150 miles north of Sacramento.

And in the Sierras, up to four feet of snow is in the forecast. Meanwhile, the flood threat moves to Southern California on Tuesday. Let's bring in

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, who joins us from the Weather Center in Atlanta. Wow, Derek, I mean, California is a massive state, but still rare

to be inundated with so much bad weather.

And unfortunately coming at a bad time for those who are traveling ahead of the holidays, when can we expect to see some relief?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, trust me, Bianna, this is on nobody's wish list for Christmas. We're getting this new video coming out

of Redding. You showed some still photos a moment ago. This is a bird's eye perspective of the flooding that's ongoing.

This morning, we had a direct fire hose of heavy rainfall funneled right into this portion of Northern California. This is coming out of Redding.

Some of this flood water here is up to the bottom of some of the billboard signs. And really incredible. Not a great decision by this driver here to

drive through that flooded I noticed as I watched this through, this individual decided to turn around.

That's why the National Weather Service has a slogan in America, Turn Around, Don't Drown. There's a reason for that. You don't know how deep

that flood water actually can be there. There's often pot holes or even ditches to the side of roads that you don't know how deep that water could

be.

So that's how a lot of fatalities occur, unfortunately. So, look, we've got this atmospheric river. It was pointed at the Pacific Northwest last week

at this time. Now, it's kind of centered over Northern California, and as you mentioned, it's going to start traveling southward through the course

of the week into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

[11:40:00]

These are the rainfall totals. In the past three days, OK, and we're talking over a foot of rain. So, this is a very saturated environment.

You're looking at the current radar. It's kind of looped over the past 24 hours. But notice this very potent band of heavy rain now, moving into the

San Francisco region right now.

We'll zoom in a little closer highway five, right here, popular destination or popular location for people to travel north and south bound across the

state. This alert map paints a broader picture of what's to come. So, look how far the watches for floods extend all the way to the border of Mexico

and the U.S., as well as far east as Las Vegas and western portions of Arizona.

So, there's a lot of rain to come that hasn't quite impacted this region just yet, but trust me, it's coming, because we have these computer models

that have the ability to hone in on this precipitation as it taps into moisture from the Eastern Pacific Ocean. We know where the rain will set

up.

And unfortunately, the trajectory, kind of the way that this will ring itself out along the coastal range of Southern California that will

maximize the rainfall totals in and around Los Angeles as we head into Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after so a lot of snow fall.

We'll be measuring this in feet for the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, but where the majority of the population lives, we're talking anywhere from six

to eight inches of rainfall, and that will be problematic, especially in the recent burn scars in Southern California. So, mudslides, landslides,

rock slides, urban flash flooding, rapid rises in rivers.

It's all on the table here as this difficult week ahead starts across the state of California, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right, Derek, thank you so much. Well, the weather isn't so frightful right now at Santa Claus official address in Norway. But snow or

no snow, thousands of letters arrive for him from around the world each year. And locals who live and work there take their jobs as Santa's helpers

very seriously. CNN's Richard Quest has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE (voice-over): In Norway, this is the official address of Santa, located in the charming little town of

Drobak. It is a Christmas themed shop and post office which receives thousands of letters each year from around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From Taiwan.

QUEST (voice-over): And all of them addressed just Santa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 10 to 15,000 --

QUEST (voice-over): 10 to 15,000 -- right now --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

QUEST (voice-over): So, these -- that come from everywhere --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- from Taiwan.

QUEST (voice-over): The shop is run by Eva Johansen, who is part post mistress and part elf, I just not. The Santa in this part of Norway is a

little bit different to the one with which we're all familiar.

QUEST: Santa Claus is a big fat jolly man or woman these days, yours is small, short and with a weird face.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's different from all, you see, knitted sweaters, knickers, riots and looks different.

QUEST: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it belongs to our culture over history, from all time.

QUEST (voice-over): Eva, the elf, agreed to let me open and read a few of the letters that have been sent to Santa.

QUEST: Once an MP3 player, some of the content is a little surprising, but more of that in a moment.

QUEST (voice-over): In Norway, they take Christmas very seriously. After all, so many Christmas trees have grown here and in December everywhere is

filled with twinkly lights, trees and markets. This is one of the biggest and it's run by one of the country's most successful business leaders.

CARL OTTO LOVENSKIOLD, OWNER OF BAERUMS VERK: We like the summers with the long light and bright days, but then we had the pressure also enjoying the

four seasons, strong season, wonderful fall, the winter is now coming, where we can go skiing and live a completely different lifestyle before

summer comes again. Well, we adjust to the to the seasons and enjoy them.

QUEST: Enjoy them.

LOVENSKIOLD: That is very important.

QUEST: -- let's have a look. -- this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that.

QUEST (voice-over): Looking for that, enjoying the other I could have spent many hours here filling stockings, but back in Drobak, there were still

letters to Santa. Oh, look at this. It had to be opened and red heartwarming messages the lot,

QUEST: Dear Santa Claus, my favorite holiday, Christmas is coming soon. Oh, look at that nice little hat. Oh, Uzbekistan, Dear Santa Claus, Merry

Christmas. Can I have a froggy toy from Hong Kong?

[11:45:00]

My daughter will turn five in December. She's kind to friends. She loves practicing K Pop dancing.

QUEST (voice-over): Before I left, there was one last letter thrust in front of me, and I was in for a shock.

QUEST: This year, our brother has been a very good boy, much like you he's been traveling the world. It's highly likely he'll be working on December.

Is there any chance you could give him a small present in advance? Anything chocolate related? Would, in our experience, work?

Well, thank you very much. Beverly (ph), La Ray (ph) and Caroline (ph), my three sisters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

QUEST: Yes. What a coincidence. Well done. Thank you. I'll take that. Sorry. I'm taking this one with me.

QUEST (voice-over): Now, I just have to wait and see whether Santa thinks I deserve that gold chocolate bar. Richard Quest, CNN at Santa's Village in

Norway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Very thoughtful of Richard's sisters there. We'll see if he ultimately gets the chocolates. All right, still to come, after a horrific

crash left him with life threatening burns, one man fought to reclaim his life and his strength. Now he shares his story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: This holiday season, we wanted to bring you an inspiring story of survival, science and the strength of the human spirit. After a

devastating car accident left him with burns over 80 percent of his body. Joe DiMeo faced years of unimaginable pain and uncertainty.

At just 22 a historic surgery gave him a second chance at life. In 2020, Joe DiMeo became the world's first recipient of a successful face and

double hand transplant. His new book, 80 percent gone, tells a deeply personal story of resilience, recovery and learning how to live again.

Joseph DiMeo joins me now from New York. And Joe, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for your courage to speak out and for writing this

book about the incredible turn that your life has taken after such tragedy, you became, as we noted, the first person to successfully receive a face

and double hand transplant.

[11:50:00]

How do you process the weight of both being a patient and a medical milestone?

JOE DIMEO, FACE & DOUBLE HAND TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: Yeah, thank you for having on. And I think it was kind of easy to be a patient, because I had a

really good staff around me, really good doctors and especially good nurses to take care of me after the surgery. And it's just being like a nice

person. They'll take care if you look really good.

GOLODRYGA: And the book isn't just about surgery. It's about rebuilding your independence. You had a horrific car accident which almost took your

life. You fell asleep while driving, and you were in a coma for months, and agony with pain for so much longer.

Talk about the recovery process, both emotionally and physically, after undergoing everything that you endured following that surgery to then start

to gain some independence.

DIMEO: Yeah, that's a pretty good question. So, like in the burn unit, I think I was like, pretty like, happy, go lucky. I didn't really know the

significance of my burns, so, like, that was, like, the emotional aspect, and they had me on a lot of medication, so I was kind of in and out of it.

But then, like, the physical aspect, that was hard, because I lost about 30 pounds of muscle, and that's the reason why I survived. So, I couldn't walk

again. I had to relearn to walk, and it was hard, because just doing a sit up, I was out of breath. I felt like I was running a mile.

And then just it took me, like a day and a half just to stand up from the side of my bed. It also took four and five, like nurses to help me stand

too on top of that, because I'm 61 at that time, I was 170 and it took all those nurses and PT to hold me up. So that was, like, really hard.

GOLODRYGA: Looking at this press release that was issued by NYU Langone where this operation was conducted more than 140 medical personnel were

involved in your surgery, which took 23 hours to complete. Both your hands and your face came from a 47-year-old donor, so someone nearly twice your

age. What did you learn about this donor?

DIMEO: Not too much. It's not to the donor family, if they want to tell me more about it, but all I know that he passed away of a stroke, and he was,

like, 47 years old. That's it. But, you know, I understand that the donor family doesn't want to reach out and because, you know, they lost the loved

one, it's on, like, my face and hands, so I totally understand.

But I'm also like down to hang out with them too, so like whatever they want.

GOLODRYGA: Well, they certainly gave you a new chance at life, and we should let our viewers know that you have taken that chance at life and

blossomed. You have recently been married. You mentioned the nurses that helped you. Your wife, Jessica, learned about you through her colleagues at

nursing school, and she watched a documentary about you.

There we see the two of you together. Just talk about what she's added to your life and reflect on all of the joy that you have to look forward to

together in the years to come.

DIMEO: Yeah, she's a huge impact on my life now. She always helps, you know, every day, like, what everything like, even the little things they

open up a jar, because I can't do that, anything like tight I can't really do. So, she helps you a lot, and then just, you know, she's also, like,

inspires me to travel, because I never been to Hawaii before, and she's the reason why I went to Hawaii three times.

So, it's just opened a whole new like, aspect in life, and not be a home body, and just always helps me out. It's always there for me.

GOLODRYGA: Well, you really said it all in an interview with People magazine, you said it sucks. I got into the accident. I lost 80 percent of

my skin. I have someone else's face and hands on me, but then I also found my life partner, and if I wouldn't have had the accident, I'd probably

still be a cocky 26-year-old.

I would prefer not to be burned, but I like my life now, just because I have Jessica around, please give Jessica our best joy, Joe and continued

joy and success for the two of you in your future together. Happy holidays, happy New Year and Merry Christmas to you. Thank you for joining us.

DIMEO: Yeah, thank you and happy holidays and Merry Christmas.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Spain's national El Gordo lottery drawing has begun. The name of the 200-year-old tradition translate into "The Fat One". It's

called that because it has a huge prize pot, typically more than $2 billion.

[11:55:00]

There are several prize levels and first prize is usually worth nearly half a million dollars. People often come together in groups to buy tickets, or

even fractions of tickets. Good luck to them all. Well, the Olympic flame is moving its way through Italy ahead of next year's Winter Olympics.

Torch bearers completed the 16th leg of the relay Sunday moving from the southern city of Cosenza, and ending is in Salerno, some 188 kilometers

away. The torch was lit last month in Olympia, of course, that's the Greek home of the ancient games. And it's now on its journey across every Italian

province until it reaches its final destination in Milan.

The Winter Games begin just a few weeks away, actually, on February 6th. And finally, this hour, we're getting multiple reports of a Santa sighting

underway. This diver in Croatia donned a Santa suit and fake beer to place a Christmas tree at the bottom of the popular lake near Zagreb.

It's actually a holiday tradition for their diving club, and they've been doing it for 10 years. Now look at that tree and the star. All right, do

stay with CNN. I'll have more "One World" after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END