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One World with Zain Asher
U.S. Justice Department Releases New Batch of Epstein Files; Trump Names New Class of Navy Battleships After Himself; U.S. Strikes Alleged Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing One; Trump Administration Removes Dozens of Career Ambassadors; Ukrainian Men Go to Dangerous Lengths to Evade the Draft; The Reality of the Christmas Tree Business in New York City. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired December 23, 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". Four
days after they were legally required to be released, the Justice Department has just made public a fresh trove of files from its
investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Roughly 30,000 pages worth, to be exact. And a warning some of the details are disturbing. Our CNN teams are working through the heavily redacted
pages as President Trump's name appears in many places. In one hand written postcard sent from prison in August of 2019, the same month that he died by
suicide in jail.
Epstein writes to another infamous sex offender, Larry Nassar, the Disgraced Former USA Gymnastics Team Doctor who was convicted of abusing
dozens of women and girls. In the note, Epstein appears to make references to the U.S. President without using his name while speaking about young
girls.
Separately in a 2020 email, an Assistant U.S. Attorney writes that Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously reported.
The U.S. President is downplaying the importance of the material, saying everybody was friendly with Epstein. And the DOJ posted on social media
Tuesday that some claims about the president are, quote, unfounded and false.
We should also note Trump has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing or charged with any crimes in connection with Epstein. CNN spoke earlier
with Helene Weiss, an attorney who represents survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, and after Congress forced the Justice Department to release these files.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HELENE WEISS, ATTORNEY; LAW FIRM REPRESENTS EPSTEIN SURVIVORS: This is a release from the Justice Department that we've been waiting for. As you
know, it's a release that we were promised on December 19. And the documents that we received in this release, again were heavily redacted.
They included some very inappropriate redactions and the statement now from the DOJ being on the defensive when it was really their job to release
these documents, their job to properly redact victims' names that they completely failed to do. It was their job to provide us with documents with
appropriate redactions, which they completely failed to do.
So, the statement from the DOJ now it's a little confusing and concerning in the context of what we're really seeing happening and what the DOJ has
delivered to us, which is, quite frankly, a complete mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: So, let's bring in Former State and Federal Prosecutor David Weinstein. He's also a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern
District of Florida and a partner with Jones Walker LLP. He joins us now from Miami. So, let's pick up where Helene just left off there, saying that
what the DOJ just dropped is, quote, a complete mess.
And also, let me ask you your views on what the DOJ then, subsequently, after releasing these additional documents, posted on their website and
social media saying that some of the claims about President Trump are, quote, unfounded and false. How should we be reading into all of this?
DAVID WEINSTEIN, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA: Well, Bianna, let's go back and take the first part of it. They're
just doing a document dump. It's not uncommon for the government, when required to provide documents, whether it's in a situation like this, or as
part of discovery, to just turn them over and let the user figure out what's in there, what's helpful, what hurts, how to get to it.
And so, they're complying with the order, and they're dumping the documents on everyone. So, it'll take some time to sort through it, to see what it
is, how it's related to everything, and what nuggets you can get out of there. As to the statement that they made on their post, on X and in social
media, you have to take the statements that we're seeing in context, who they're coming from, how they're being said.
What, in some instances, that person expected to receive from the statements that they're making. And you have to take them a little bit with
a grain of salt. But that doesn't mean that there's nothing there. For example, in some of the statements that are made by Epstein, he's clearly
trying to paint a very dark picture of everyone who he's talking about.
Trying to draw them into whatever it was he was doing so that he might be able to benefit from that in the end, same might be said for some of his
other coconspirators, as for the witnesses who are providing statements.
[11:05:00]
We don't know who they are. A lot of their identities have been blacked out, so we don't know what it is they're trying to get out of the
statements they're making. I think you have to take it all in context. That's what I would do. That's what I'm doing. You have to see where
there's corroboration.
If there's corroboration for the statements that are being made, then perhaps they're not just blanket statements being made. So, it's going to
take some time. Everybody's got to sort through what's in there. So, I think you have to use a little bit of caution in reading what you're
reading, and not just look at a statement that's being made.
GOLODRYGA: Well, one of the more disturbing new documents, as we mentioned there, was Epstein's 2019 handwritten letter from jail to fellow sex
offender, Larry Nassar, who he made crude references about quote our president. Again, this was when President Trump was in office at the time
and then sharing, quote, a love of young, nubile girls.
I won't get into any more of the details here, I think it's too disturbing, but I think it's pretty clear the accusations that he's trying to make and
the picture he's trying to paint of the president at the time, which he describes as our president. Legally speaking, how should one understand
this type of language and the evidentiary value of this type of statement when he is deceased, and apparently this was written just before he took
his own life?
WEINSTEIN: Well, Bianna, let's you know, take everybody back to law school. There is a rule that talks about hearsay. Hearsay statements are out of
court statements that are untruthful and not necessarily believed and not admitted into evidence for a variety of reasons.
You don't know what the state of mind was of the person who was making the statement. There's no way to corroborate it. This is a classic hearsay
statement that's made by Epstein. He's putting this statement in a letter that he's sending to somebody else who's in jail.
We don't know if it's true or if it's not true, and until it's corroborated, and until there's a way to attach some truth to the
statement, it could be nothing more than puffery on the part of Epstein trying to get a message across to somebody else who's incarcerated. If the
letter itself was going to another individual, there's no way to know whether it would ever see the light of day.
And so, you have to take it with some apprehension as to the truth of the matter that's in it. There are those who would say, well, he made that
statement. That's an admission on his part. He's making an admission about somebody else. It is, in fact, apparently, a letter he wrote, he made a
statement.
Do we know if that's true or not? We don't know. We've seen other statements that he's made that we know are not true. So, I think you have
to take it with a grain of salt, and again, that's why we have this hearsay rule. It's a complete out of course statement, and he's no longer here to
verify.
Nobody can cross examine him to ask whether or not made the statement. So, you have to take some caution when you look at that.
GOLODRYGA: One of the explanations for the delay in the release from the DOJ was the significance, the importance, the attention that they were
putting forward in going through all of these documents and redacting names, specifically of victims and survivors. And yet, now the DOJ is
acknowledging that they made redaction errors as well, including a survivor's name.
It appeared un redacted. Now in our previous hour on CNN, a survivor spoke with one of my colleagues, saying that she thinks this was intentional,
sort of a retribution. That's her opinion here, but just talk about the issue at hand and how much harm can be done when these names are
unredacted.
WEINSTEIN: A lot of harm can be done when these names are not redacted, which is why the judge in the Southern District of New York issued a
specific ruling that says you need to redact any victims name or any identifying information that would potentially expose or identify a victim.
And when I say you, the judge said, I mean the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and you have to go through and you have to
be very careful. Now, the problem is, you're dealing with thousands upon thousands and thousands of pages of documents, having had to redact
information myself.
There are times when you simply miss it, whether you're counting on a computer to do your work for you, whether you're doing it by hand, whether
you have 25, 30 people helping you to do it, there's always a chance that one name slips through, and so it may simply be a mistake that happened.
I'm sure there are others that would say it is retribution and it is unfortunate that this name came out, but we've seen a lot of redactions,
and its thousands of pages of documents. So, I'm not sure how we can say it was intentional, but it is absolutely unfortunate and they have to be
careful.
[11:10:00]
You have to go through it with two or three fine tooth combs, because you need to protect people who are victims, alleged victims, and people who
don't need to go through the pain and suffering that they've gone through before, only have to go through it again.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. David Weinstein, thank you so much. I believe we'll be speaking with you more in our next hour. Meantime, President Trump is once
again intensifying his threats against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro at the U.N. Security Council preparing to hold an emergency session today on
deadly U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats.
The death toll from those attacks, meanwhile, keeps mounting. On Monday, one person was killed in a strike in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing
the total number of deaths since September to 105. Now it all comes as the U.S. is still actively pursuing an oil tanker, more than 48 hours after the
chase began off the coast of Venezuela.
When asked what the administration's ultimate goal is, Trump said he thinks it would be smart for President Nicolas Maduro to step down. This comes as
the president touted a new class of Navy battleships named after himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: These are the best in the world. They'll be the fastest, the biggest and by far, 100 times
more powerful than any battleship ever built. The U.S. Navy will lead the design of the ships along with me, because I'm a very esthetic person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Kevin Liptak is in West Palm Beach, Florida, with the very latest. And Kevin a lot you're juggling here reaction in real time to the
Epstein files, the latest batch that has been released, but also to what the president's ultimate goals are as it relates to Venezuela, so much
attention focused on whether or not this is regime change.
And questions continue to be asked from lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, what is the administration saying?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and just on the Epstein thing, I'll just tell you that the White House isn't commenting on
any of these revolutions. They're pointing back to that kind of extraordinary Justice Department statement saying that some of these
mentions were false and sensationalist, really kind of trying to preempt some of the questions here.
But obviously that's something we'll continue to track during the day, but it is, I think, the situation that has been really escalating around
Venezuela that has occupied a lot of the president's time. In a lot of ways, we just saw overnight the 29th strike on an alleged drug boat.
What the U.S. Southern Command said was that it was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes. Although, as they have in the past, they have not
provided any actual evidence for those claims. The other interesting thing about this latest strike is that when you look at the video, it does differ
somewhat from what we've seen previously.
You know, those previous strikes appear to have been carried out by a missile fired at some distance. In some instances, you saw the actual
projectile going down and the boat exploded immediately. In this latest case, what and -- you see instead, is sort of these repeated small impacts,
various splashes around the boat.
And then finally it becoming engulfed in flames, which suggests they were using a different kind of weapon, you know, cannon fire, or machine gun
fire or something else. So that's something that we're following as well. You know, the president says that they're still trying to pursue this oil
tanker that fled into the Caribbean Sea after the Coast Guard tried to board it.
It's called the Bella 1. We're now sort of past the 48-hour mark of this active pursuit, which I do think leads to some questions about what exactly
is holding up the U.S. from actually interdicting it. The president yesterday, I think the hope had been that he would lend some more light on
what the end game in this, all of this, but he was somewhat equivocal, he says.
That his goal would probably be to oust Maduro for power, and that if he plays tough, it will be the last time he's ever able to play tough, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Kevin Liptak, you're covering it all for us. Thanks so much. Well, just days after U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that
Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine. Moscow launched a massive nationwide aerial attack on its democratic neighbor.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least three people were killed, including a four-year-old child, in an airstrike that caused widespread
power cuts and prompted Poland to once again scramble its jets. This deadly strike comes after Zelenskyy put the military on high alert for potential
Russian attacks around Christmas.
Meantime, President Zelenskyy is signaling some progress in peace talks, but he's also warning the world that it must apply more pressure to Russian
President Vladimir Putin. Clare Sebastian joins me live from London to cover it.
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Also, according to Ukraine's Air Force some 635 drones and 38 missiles were used in this attack. You can sense the anger there from President Zelenskyy
saying this is targeting not only Ukraine's infrastructure, but obviously its civilian population. And you see the casualties there, including a
small child.
But at the same time, he's saying that perhaps we are reaching a turning point in terms of the negotiations. Just help us square both realities now.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look the daily reality, or almost daily reality, of these overnight attacks. And by the way, this was a major
attack, but only the second biggest in December. That is really underscoring, I think, the Russian intransigence when it comes to agreeing
to an interim ceasefire.
They have maintained all along that they want to have just a final peace deal, which clearly suggests that they want to keep Ukraine under military
pressure while it negotiates. So that's on the one hand, the progress that Zelenskyy is talking about is in the sort of track of negotiations that
continues with the U.S., sometimes involving Europe.
And we know that he's had a detailed report today from his top negotiators who spent the weekend in Miami talking to the U.S. side. And he talks
about, you know, a number of draft documents that have been, perhaps not fully agreed on, but have made progress. We've got the framework for the
eventual peace agreement, this 20-point plan.
We've got a document on Ukraine's sort of economic future, its reconstruction and revival. And then there is the security guarantees,
which seems to be the area where they may have made the most progress. There's a security guarantee document with Europe, and then one with the
U.S. that Zelenskyy said needs to go through Congress, but he describes it as quite solid and dignified, obviously, where the rubber meets the road.
Here is when we come to how Russia will react. And as you know, they have been signaling now for a while that anything that deviates from that
original 28-point peace plan, which contained many of their maxim is demands would be unacceptable. And Zelenskyy talked about how this really
now puts the onus on the United States. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: It's important that the American side can also get a response from Russia, real readiness on the part of
that state to focus on something other than aggression. Of course, after so many years of initially hybrid war and now full-scale war, it's hard to
believe that Putin can live without killings and invasions.
But lowering the price of Russian oil, strong global sanctions and continued other forms of pressure are what can convince even such a
stubborn person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: So, he wants more pressure on Russia from his allies. And I think, underscoring the military pressure that Ukraine is under, Bianna,
we've heard in the last hour from the Ukrainian general staff that they've had to withdraw from the Donetsk town of Siversk.
It's not a large town, but it is 30 kilometers from Sloviansk, which is one of those fortress cities on the Eastern Front.
GOLODRYGA: Clare Sebastian live in London for us. Thank you so much. And we'll have much more on the war in Ukraine later in the hour, as our
Clarissa Ward shows us the dangerous lengths some Ukrainian men are taking to escape fighting Russian forces.
But still to come on "One World", tensions amid the frozen tundra, why Denmark says Donald Trump's Special Envoy to Greenland is completely
unacceptable. Plus, dozens of career U.S. diplomats told to leave their posts, why the Trump Administration's latest move is facing pushback.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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GOLODRYGA: Denmark's Foreign Minister says that he is deeply upset that Donald Trump has appointed a special envoy to Greenland. Trump tapped
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry for the role which did not previously exist. It is a volunteer position, and Landry will not quit his job as governor to
become envoy.
Denmark says that having an envoy to Greenland is unnecessary, and it strongly objects to Landry's comments that he wants the U.S. to annex the
self-governing Danish territory. Trump says getting control of Greenland is essential for U.S. security. So why is Greenland so important to both
Denmark and the United States?
CNN's Matthew Chance recently observed Danish military exercises in Greenland. And he says the drills may have been a message to Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a vast landscape, remote and virtually untamed, but Greenland has emerged as
a key Arctic battleground as Russia and China vie with NATO allies for Arctic influence.
CNN was invited here by the Danish military to observe their biggest ever combat exercise dubbed Arctic light. Much of Greenland, ruled by Denmark
for three centuries, is a moonscape of jagged ice. A frozen desert rich in resources the size of Alaska and California combined.
Danish military officials say this unforgiving terrain is virtually unconquerable, but they're still training hard to repulse any would be
attackers.
SOREN ANDERSEN, COMMANDER OF DANISH JOINT ARCTIC COMMAND: We are here to protect Greenland, and in order to protect Greenland, we have to train. And
because if you're not up here and conduct training, you're not able to defend Greenland, so that's what we're doing.
CHANCE: What are the security threats to Greenland? Who you protecting it from?
ANDERSEN: Yeah, against Russia. That is the main threat for Greenland. There's not a threat now, but there's a future threat. So, we are looking
into a threat when the war in Ukraine is over.
CHANCE (voice-over): But such a remote danger begs the question why Denmark is ramping up military spending right now to the tune of billions of
dollars and pouring its limited resources into the Arctic.
CHANCE: Well, Greenland has become a highly contested territory seen as strategically important. And Denmark has deployed its air force, its navy
and its land assets here to show that it is in charge very much, and is increasing its presence. Now the purpose of this exercise is to deter
countries like Russia and China, we're told by Danish military officials, which are increasingly active in the Arctic region.
But the real message, the real target audience for all of this, is in Washington and President Trump.
TRUMP: We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it.
CHANCE (voice-over): But in the icy fjords of Greenland, with naval exercises underway too, it's still seen as the most pressing diplomatic
challenge. Although Denmark's top General, who CNN met on board a Danish frigate, was careful not to admit it in public.
CHANCE: Is the real reason for these maneuvers the remarks by President Trump about the sovereignty of Greenland, is it intended to send a message
to Washington?
MICHAEL HYLDGAARD, DANISH CHIEF OF DEFENSE: This is a military exercise. It is to demonstrate our ability to protect Greenland, and that's the military
side of it.
CHANCE: It's not meant as a message to Washington, Greenland can protect this. Denmark can protect Greenland.
HYLDGAARD: I'm not politician, so I have a military task.
[11:25:00]
CHANCE (voice-over): But as we flew out of Greenland, it was clear that military task carries a key Danish political goal, not just to deter Moscow
and Beijing from ever invading this vast Arctic expanse, but also to convince Washington. There's no need to take Greenland as its own. Matthew
Chance, CNN in Greenland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Now that development comes as the Trump Administration is removing dozens of career U.S. diplomats from overseas posts. Former
officials called the move unprecedented. Sources say at least two dozen senior ambassadors have been told to leave next month.
The ambassadors were appointed during the Biden Administration, but have served for years in the foreign service. A Senior State Department Official
says that it's routine, but some former diplomats warn that it could weaken U.S. diplomacy and influence abroad. Christopher Hill is a Former U.S.
Ambassador to South Korea and Iraq and Former Assistant Secretary of State.
He's also the author of outpost, "A Diplomat at Work". And he joins me now from Treasure Island, Florida. Ambassador Hill, thank you so much for
joining us. So, let me just get you to respond to what the State Department is officially saying, calling this move routine, is it?
AMB. CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: It's anything but routine. You know, it's true, ambassadors are eventually recalled. I
mean, these are not lifetime positions, but when they're recalled, at the same time, their successor is announced, or at least announced, for the
purpose of the Senate to begin its work.
And there's absolutely nobody in the pipeline. So, what we're going to see, really, is whole swaths of the world uncovered by any American Ambassadors,
and it's quite troublesome, and it really speaks to the question of, what are they trying to accomplish with this?
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, well, the administration says that it wants diplomacy to do more of the work, but forcing out career ambassadors seems like an odd
way to go about doing that. What does this actually do to America's diplomatic capacity right now?
HILL: It completely undermines our capacity, especially as the places like Africa are basically all career there are few people appointed directly by
the president, but 90 something percent of them are appointed by the State Department with the concurrence of the White House.
So, we're kind of wiping out our ambassador ranks in Africa. Meanwhile, the Chinese are sending their foreign minister on a pretty detailed trip
through Africa, and all these Chinese Ambassadors will be there, and their staffs fully manned, and you get the impression we're kind of absent.
And I simply don't understand why they would do this. It doesn't make sense for our country's interests. And again, it seems to be this kind of odd
notion that anybody who is not with the president or doesn't openly proclaim fidelity to the president is some kind of enemy from within.
And this is a really wrong-headed view of what a professional American diplomat who swears an oath to the country, not to the president, should be
doing.
GOLODRYGA: So, in practical terms, what do these posts going dark mean, especially during these troubled times when there are so many hot spots
around the world?
HILL: Ambassadors are about leadership. They're people who should be able to engage in the local government. Should be able to address bilateral
problems, but if there's issues of you know regional conflict, they should be very much in the process of trying to do something about it that can't
be done in the Oval Office, notwithstanding, the president's claim to have stopped many of these wars, it has to be done locally.
War is often a very local thing, and U.S. Ambassadors, and I've been in some of these posts where you're dealing with these issues, such as the
Balkans, and it's kind of hard to imagine that the U.S. is going to be able to play a role when we have no leadership at our embassies?
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, this is something clearly that not only our allies are worried about, but our adversaries are watching and perhaps trying to
figure out how they can take best advantage of these opportunities and of the vacuum created with these ambassadors and statesmen no longer at their
posts.
The timing is interesting, given that we just have for the very first time, a U.S. envoy appointed to Greenland, as we are pulling back ambassadors and
diplomats from other posts from around the world. What message do you think that is sending, both to allies and adversaries?
HILL: Well, obviously, it's bewildering. It should be bewildering to the voters of Louisiana, who, I doubt, elected Governor Landry on the basis
that he would somehow do something positive in Greenland. It's utterly bewildering to our NATO allies, one of the best of which, of course, is
Denmark.
[11:30:00]
And it really speaks to the question is, what does the president think an ambassador actually does? I mean, it seems there's this idea that they go
to cocktail parties or make speeches. Actually, it's kind of hard work, and you're, you know, working most of your time without a necktie, with your
sleeves rolled up, dealing with some nasty issue that you're trying to keep off the plate in Washington.
So, it's kind of -- it's strange, and it really speaks to the question of what this administration thinks diplomacy really is.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, well, Mr. Landry, or Governor Landry clearly understands the ultimate goal here for President Trump posting on X. It's an honor to
serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the United States. And equally strange that this is the president's second term.
He did this once before. So, to your point about, does he not understand what these ambassadors and diplomats do? He should, I mean he's been here
before. We will continue to follow both stories. Ambassador Christopher Hill, happy holidays. Thank you so much for joining us.
HILL: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: And still ahead on "One World", a Christmas tree can put you in the holiday spirit. I'll speak to the makers of a new documentary about the
sometimes-cutthroat Christmas tree business.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Here are some of our headlines we're following today. CNN is
digging into a massive trove of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, released by the U.S. Justice Department.
They contain many references to the U.S. President. The Justice Department says the some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims
made against Donald Trump submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. The U.S. military says it conducted a strike against a low-
profile vessel allegedly trafficking drugs in the Eastern Pacific on Monday.
At least one person was killed. This as the U.S. is still chasing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. At least five people were killed,
including a two-year-old child, when a Mexican Navy plane crashed into Galveston Bay, Texas on Monday. Authorities say four crew members and four
civilians were on the plane, which was transporting burn patients.
One person remains unaccounted for. And the U.S. is banning all new drone models made by foreign manufacturers, including the world's largest drone
maker, Chinese giant DJI. The FCC says the drones were added to a list of companies determined to pose an unacceptable risk to the U.S. National
Security.
Well as the war in Ukraine rages on. CNN's Clarissa Ward shows us the dangerous lengths some Ukrainian men are taking to escape fighting Russian
forces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN BENGA, DIRECTOR OF SALVAMONT MARAMURES MOUNTAIN RESCUE: So, what you see on the right-hand side, there's Ukraine.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dan Benga knows how dangerous these mountains can be. He and his team have
rescued hundreds of Ukrainians who tried to cross them.
BENGA: They don't have the knowledge, they don't have experience, and they don't have professional equipment, because on this mountain, you need
professional equipment to be alive.
WARD: To survive.
WARD (voice-over): The Carpathian Mountains that cut along Romania's 400- mile border with Ukraine have become a deadly magnet for Ukrainian men fleeing conscription at home and seeking freedom in the EU.
WARD: You can see how steep these mountains are. It is, frankly astonishing that up to 100 Ukrainians are making this crossing still every single week.
WARD (voice-over): The risks are huge. Since Russia's invasion in 2022 the Salvamont Mountain Rescue Service has carried out countless perilous
missions that have saved 377 Ukrainian lives. The longest operation lasted nearly six days. Not everyone makes it, the Romanian border police say 29
Ukrainians have died crossing the mountains and the Tisza River that separates the two countries.
BENGA: This is a job we were we were prepared. We are training every day, and this is a job we are doing. It's not about being Ukrainian or Russian
or American is about being human.
WARD: A human being.
BENGA: Yeah.
WARD: So, if you could deliver a message to the men of Ukraine, would you tell them stop trying to cross through these mountains. It's too dangerous.
BENGA: I really can't say, don't cross the mountains. I can say, take care of you.
WARD (voice-over): It's a lesson that Dima (ph), who asked us not to reveal his identity, learned the hard way. He made the crossing shortly after
receiving his draft papers early on in the war, things quickly went wrong when his group got lost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -20 degrees Celsius without food, without water.
WARD: No water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
WARD: No food.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Only snow.
WARD: Just the snow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I walked 20 kilometers barefoot. I realized that I had problems with my feet. But at that time, I didn't feel it. I only felt it
when I was already in the hospital.
WARD: And then did they have to remove all the toes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. If the rescuers hadn't found me within two hours, I wouldn't be talking to you now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom.
WARD (voice-over): Yeah. Stories like Dima's (ph) have done little to stop the flow. According to the Romanian border police, more than 30,000
Ukrainians have entered the country illegally since the war began. Martial law prohibits eligible men between the ages of 23 and 60 from leaving
Ukraine, many see crossing these mountains as their only option.
Numbers are down from their peak in 2024 when the mobilization age was lowered to 25 but even now, as winter sets in, the crossings continue.
[11:40:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends, this is the place for a proven, safe, reliable and fast way out abroad for men.
WARD (voice-over): For those who can afford it, some smugglers openly sell their services on TikTok and telegram. 9000 euros to get to Moldova. 12,000
euros, or around $14,000 to Romania. Artem, as he calls himself, says he helps facilitate these escapes.
"ARTEM", BORDER-CROSSING FACILITATOR: We rescued, I think, more than in this moment, more than 600 people.
WARD: I find it really interesting that you use the word rescue.
"ARTEM": Of course, because I see this situation like that, and I think we rescue people who just want to leave to build their future.
WARD: And what do you say to people who view you and who view those who are trying to leave as traitors?
"ARTEM": I don't take care about them, to be honest. I help people. I save people.
WARD (voice-over): Ukrainian authorities see it differently. Faced with a manpower crisis, as the war heads towards its fifth year. Men caught trying
to leave the country illegally are rounded up. Some have reported being mobilized shortly afterwards.
WARD: Hi, Victor, how are you?
WARD (voice-over): 34-year-old Kyiv taxi driver, Viktor Pinkhasov, has just crossed into Romania.
WARD: I'm glad you're OK.
VIKTOR PINKHASOV, UKRAINIAN DRAFT EVADER: Yeah. Thank you.
WARD: You survived. How long did it take you?
PINKHASOV: Five days, four nights.
WARD: Five days, four nights, walking through the mountains.
PINKHASOV: Yeah, three big mountains.
WARD (voice-over): He says the journey was tough, but the decision to leave was easy. His five-month-old daughter, Ava (ph), is in Switzerland, and he
has little faith in ongoing negotiations to end the war.
WARD: Do you believe that there is going to be peace?
PINKHASOV: No, I want to believe, but I see nobody wants peace.
WARD: What's the most important reason you left?
PINKHASOV: My daughter had freedom. I want to live and understand that I'm free. I can go I can live in prison. I'm free man.
WARD (voice-over): It is a bleak outlook shared by many Ukrainian men willing to leave their homeland behind, to take their futures into their
own hands. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Maramures, Romania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
GOLODRYGA: Well, supplying Christmas trees during the holidays might seem like a magical job, but it turns out, sellers don't just take an ax to the
trees. They try to take an ax to their competition in a friendly way. The new documentary, available on Amazon prime the merchants of joy, takes
viewers behind the scenes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Selling trees in New York for 38 years, tree that were actually successful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The stakes are -- high.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty difficult for anybody to compete with me. You can't trust
anybody in business. When I play, I play the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a vicious turf war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to pay off the mafia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a competitor murdered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right, I'm joined by one of the sellers featured in the documentary, George Smith and Celia Aniskovich, the Director of "The
Merchants of Joy". Welcome both of you. I'll get to you, George in a minute, but let me just start with you, Celia and the idea to make a film
based on these five families, the five sellers of Christmas trees here in New York City.
Where did that idea come from? And what were some of your most burning questions going into filming?
CELIA ANISKOVICH, DIRECTOR OF "THE MERCHANTS OF JOY": Absolutely. So, this came to me because an article was published a couple of years ago, an Epic
magazine sort of peeling the curtain back on the five families that run the Christmas tree trade in New York City.
I think I, like many New Yorkers, go to bed one day and wake up and a forest is built in our city. And we don't think, how did they get here? And
what's happening behind the scenes? I'm a huge Christmas tree and Christmas fan. And so, I when I got to know a little bit more about how it worked,
immediately said, I've got to make a documentary about this.
And you know, I was dying to know how it all worked and who these people were, and I got a good taste of all of that.
GOLODRYGA: Well, I think George says it best when he says they play to win. And George, what's fascinating here is that you and these four other
families and sellers have been doing this for years. It is a cutthroat business. It starts it's basically almost year-round.
Half the year you're picking the trees. You're going out in search of where to buy them. Then come September, there's a big bidding war as to where you
can actually sell these trees. And what street corners in an auction here, and we see a bit of that in the film, and you talk about a steep learning
curve as well.
What draws you to do this every single year, and what makes you think you're the best at it.
GEORGE SMITH, OWNER OF NYC TREE SHOP: Well, like I said in the movie, I'm second to nobody. What makes me the best? What's the one I love doing? It
is I bring the joy and happiness here to families. And Christmas tree is a symbol of love, and get together and family and enjoy bill.
So, this business helps me bring that forward, and the movie much the joy helps people see exactly what we do, that people just think like, you wake
up one morning, poof, you got a tree stand your door. There are so much more work and hard work and dedication into it.
So, it's pretty obvious. It takes a lot of time and effort to do what we do.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
SMITH: And I'm happy that in the movie is show what we do and I love that the movie came out now to give us, like respect and more, like a hard work
and dedication is not wasted.
GOLODRYGA: Oh, trust me, the level of respect I have for you and your four frenemies, the competitors and yet friends along the way you've been doing
this with for so long is so immense now. I mean, as a New Yorker myself, I walk by so many of these street corners where I see these tree stands and
sellers, and I don't think much about it.
But of course, going forward now, that's all changed. What makes New York so special, in your view, George? I mean, trees are sold around the world,
but what's special and significant about New York?
SMITH: Well, like, I say, like in the movie and here, there's no place like New York. The spirit of Christmas in New York is amazing. We have the
Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. We have all the merchants on the street selling trees, and the magic we bring to the city.
It just anywhere around the world. You don't have New York. It's just an amazing place to have Christmas, to be here, you know, it's an amazing
opportunity if you have the time to come. I always say, come to New York. Talk to the street vendors. Talk to all the tree merchants, even in your
own place, anywhere around the world, that's not a tree, you know, buy, I always say, buy a local tree from a vendor.
Talk to them. Ask them questions. And they'll tell you more about the tree than any chain store wood, and they'll educate you on the tree where it is
from. How does it grow. How we will see and everything else. So, you have more. And the movie says a lot of it. You see the process from start to
finish, how it comes here, and we bring it all to life and make the magic happen.
[11:50:00]
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and you mentioned the chain stores, I mean some of your biggest competitors are big box prices, right where a lot of these buyers
can get a cheaper tree, but perhaps not one that you have invested biggest competitors are big box prices, right, where a lot of these buyers can get
a cheaper tree, but perhaps not one that you've invested so much time in and hand picking for all of them. And it's funny.
SMITH: Yeah -- I'm sorry --
GOLODRYGA: -- you are very funny and very honest about your views on not only the big box sellers, but also fake trees. And you say you wouldn't
want a fake man in your bed next to you. So why would you want a fake tree? But just tell us quickly about why people maybe should even pay a little
bit more money for your trees than they would get at a big box store.
SMITH: Well, we sell quality trees -- seller. Box stores are like a number two or number three. We sell number ones in premiums. So, it's always
better to buy from a street vendor. You get a better-quality product. OK? And secondly is, you know, box stores, they sell some countries at a loss.
They want you to buy the other things they're selling. They don't really care about Christmas. You know, they don't give the customer service that
we give and how we help you. And we'll educate you on your tree, and we cut the bottom make sure it survives, tell you how to take care of it.
We go above and beyond. That's why we say you always buy locally from a local vendor.
GOLODRYGA: Wow, I have to say --
SMITH: I also say, I'm sorry.
GOLODRYGA: Go ahead.
SMITH: I also say, like, you know, I also say, like, real trees is the best thing to buy. Fake trees are terrible. They do nothing. They do very bad
for the environment. OK?
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
SMITH: We're a real tree. They're grown for Christmas.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
SMITH: It takes an average tree size in America or around the world. It's like a six, seven feet. Is it average. Solid six to eight foot, you can say
is the most we sell. And those trees, it takes seven, eight years to grow. So, you get all that -- where they clean the air, and you getting more, and
you helping the environment clean the fresh air and everything else.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah --
SMITH: -- Christmas, then just Christmas trees to family.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
SMITH: It's the environment cleaning it.
GOLODRYGA: And Celia, you focus on that in the film as well. And something that you do so well and beautifully is really delve into the lives of all
of these families, at the end of the day, I mean, you all are friends. I don't put words in your mouth, but it was really heartening and heart
breaking to meet Greg Walsh and his son, little Greg, not so little, but Greg there you'll see.
He looks just like Santa. He's a big Santa Claus loves the holiday spirit and visiting with young children, and has been doing this for so long. And
sadly, he passed away earlier this year, as you document in the film, he's diagnosed with cancer. So, our thoughts are with you.
George and all of the other families, and of course, Greg's family. I was so moved by this film. And again, we'll never walk by a Christmas tree
vendor without thanking them and speaking to them thanks to what you've done with this film. Celia Aniskovich, George Smith, best of luck.
Congratulations on the engagement to Karen George wishing you all the best happy holidays to you both.
SMITH: Thank you very much.
ANISKOVICH: Thank you.
SMITH: Have a merry, merry Christmas.
GOLODRYGA: You too. Thanks for bringing the tree as well. And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:00]
GOLODRYGA: And finally, this hour, a special holiday message from the astronauts on the International Space Station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greetings to planet Earth, all of our friends and family from Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station, flying high
above, thinking of you during this holiday season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: There you see astronauts, Mike Fink, Zena Cardman, Chris Williams and Kimiya Yui, wishing everyone on Earth a Merry Christmas and a
happy holiday season. The Quartet found time to record this message amid a busy mission aimed at testing new technologies for future human and robotic
exploration in space.
Always love getting these messages from space. All right, stay with CNN. I'll have more "One World" after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
