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Louvre Security Didn't Get Live Video Feed During Robbery; Australia's Social Media Ban for Kids Under 16 in Effect; Some House GOP Women Push Back on Speaker Johnson. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 10, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news about that October heist at the Louvre in Paris. We have now learned that museum security was not getting a live feed from one of the surveillance cameras during the robbery. A group of thieves made off with a jewelry worth more than $800 million. At least five people have been arrested, but the hall is still missing.

So, let's go right to CNN senior international correspondent. So, Melissa, you're in Paris now covering this. So, basically a security camera caught it, caught the heist as it was going on. But it wasn't being live streamed to the security guards. Is that right?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Pamela. And 30 seconds was the difference. That's what senators have been hearing today, the results of an administrative inquiry that had been launched after that spectacular October heist.

What it found was that previous audits of the infrastructure of the world's most visited museum had meant that they should have been updated. Those audits were ignored or part of their conclusions, which means that there was a camera that filmed the robbers arriving with that truck, lifting that lift up to the window, but it wasn't seen live. So, that by the time the security agents had their eyes on it, the robbers were able to make off.

30 seconds would have made the difference. And those 30 seconds would have been assured, the report says, if those changes to the museum's infrastructure had been made. So, a pretty damning report that we've had today, even as that more than $100 million worth of jewels remains at large, French investigators have managed to make several arrests.

There are now not just the four burglars, suspected burglars now in custody, but also several of their accomplices as well. And this latest twist comes at a particularly bad time. For the Louvre, it's seen a number of issues over the last few weeks since that heist. One gallery that holds Grecian vases had to close because of crumbling infrastructure. These last few weeks, there was damage last week as a result of a water leak to Egyptian books.

And as if that weren't enough for the Louvre Museum, we understand that its staff is to go on strike on December 15th as a result of poor working conditions. So, very damning headlines that continue to highlight the issues at the museum and the changes that might have been made earlier that could have prevented that.

There was another report, by the way, that came out these last few weeks that suggested that one of the problems has been that the museum has gone about spending more on art collection than it has on repairing the infrastructure. That's another issue that's now being looked at.

But of course, all eyes very much on what could have happened to those jewels, especially now that we know that they might've been saved if those changes had been made. Pamela and Wolf.

BROWN: Right. And we know over the past decade, according to our reporting, there have been five audits and a recent audit identified the fact that there were not enough screens in the control room for the guards to view all that the sensitive camera points simultaneously. So, I mean, that is just another data point here of a missed opportunity to correct something. And now, look where we are and those jewels still have not been recovered, right?

BELL: Search goes on, more than a hundred million dollars. And of course, Pamela, that is the price of the jewels themselves. They are of inestimable value when you consider their cultural and historical value as well.

BROWN: All right. Melissa Bell in Paris, thank you so much.

[10:35:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: They got to learn from the blunders that occurred this -- in this particular instance and make sure it doesn't happen again.

BROWN: One would hope.

BLITZER: Coming up, a global first. Australia now blazing a trail and banning social media for kids under 16. We'll take a closer look at how and why this monumental shift become a reality.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, new this morning, Australia's groundbreaking new law banning children under 16 from social media is now in effect. It's meant to protect them from addictive algorithms, online predators, and bullies on these popular platforms.

[10:40:00]

Wayne Holdsworth is applauding the law. He pushed for it after his son was extorted on social media and took his own life at 17.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE HOLDSWORTH, ADVOCATE FOR BAN AFTER SON'S SUICIDE: Our kids that we've lost haven't died in vain. This is the start and education from here on from those 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15-year-olds will be the silver bullet. Because when they're available to then access social media at 16, they will be fully equipped. They will know about the algorithms. They will know about the sexual predators and terrorists out there. The same that terrorized my boy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Critics say the ban infringes on free speech and could push teens to riskier places online. CNN's Angus Watson spoke to two teens fighting it in court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Teenagers Noah and Macy are taking their government to court in a fight to stay on social media.

NOAH JONES, PLAINTIFF: Taking away how we communicate to the world, this is how we do it. It's a modern day. It's social media.

WATSON (voice-over): From Wednesday, Australia will enforce a world- first law banning children under 16 from many of the biggest platforms. Supported by a freedom advocacy group, Macy and Noah's case asserts a right to political communication. The High Court has agreed to hear it next year.

WATSON: So, what will you lose when social media is taken away from you?

MACY NEYLAND, PLAINTIFF: Well, we will lose connections, but we will lose our democracy. This law is saying that democracy begins at 16, which is condescending and it's incorrect.

JONES: Listen, there are definitely negatives on social media. I'm not denying that. I completely agree. We're saying that getting rid of the kids is not the solution. We didn't do anything wrong.

WATSON (voice-over): The government says it is acted to protect children from potentially harmful content, harmful people and addictive algorithms.

JULIE INMAN GRANT, AUSTRALIAN E-SAFETY COMMISSIONER: And there are these powerful, harmful, deceptive design features that even adults are powerless to fight against like autoplay and list scroll and snap streams. So, what chance do our children have?

WATSON (voice-over): Under the new law, young social media users won't be punished for being on age-restricted apps, nor will their parents. Instead, Australia is requiring tech companies to take reasonable steps to keep under 16s off their platforms and threatening fines in the tens of millions of dollars.

Tech companies say they are already building safer systems. A.I. face detectors will likely be employed to verify age, with tools provided by third-party companies like Verifymy. Users may also be asked to upload their identity documents.

ANDY LULHAM, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, VERIFYMY: Australia is certainly leading the way when it comes to requiring an age check for every user to determine that they are over 16 or not.

WATSON: The government's ban is a catch-all. If you're under the age of 16, you're off social media. But children are all different. They've engaged with social media differently and they feel differently about the ban.

WATSON (voice-over): The students at All Saints Anglican School on Australia's Gold Coast are learning from cyber safety advocate, Kirra Pendergast, about how to best avoid danger on social media.

KIRRA PENDERGAST, CYBER SAFETY ADVOCATE, CTRL+SHIFT: Because it is a delay. It's not a flat-out ban. They're not banning the internet. We're not trying to boil the ocean. It's literally just a delay age. And so. they've got time to catch up to become more resilient and think more critically about that how they use apps.

WATSON (voice-over): In their final year, Nicholas and Ruby wonder if maybe their school career would have been easier without the distraction of social media.

RUBY PETTY, ALL SAINTS ANGLICAN SCHOOL CAPTAIN: Nick and I were talking before about how if we could we would delete Snapchat today. But it's more the fact that because there's now so much reliability and connection based off one app, you don't want to delete it.

WATSON (voice-over): Perhaps for young Australians, the fear of missing out won't be so bad if everyone is forced to miss out together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks to Angus Watson for that report. Pamela.

BROWN: Coming up here in the Situation Room, some Republican women in Congress are speaking out against Speaker Mike Johnson, even accusing the speaker of not taking them or their legislation seriously. I'll speak with one congresswoman who's been at odds with him. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

BROWN: Happening now, House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding a news conference on Capitol Hill as he grapples with backlash from within his Republican conference, this time from some female members. New York's Elise Stefanik recently labeled Johnson an ineffective leader who certainly wouldn't have the votes to win re-election as Speaker. South Carolina's Nancy Mace accused him of marginalizing women members of the GOP.

And just yesterday, here in the Situation Room, Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene said women and their legislative proposals are not taken seriously by him. Now, Johnson, for his part, says he is the, quote, biggest champion of women in his conference. And his spokesperson says the Speaker is working hard to recruit even more women to the House. Joining us now to discuss is Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida. Hi, Congresswoman, thank you for coming on. So, you're a staunch conservative, but you're also no stranger to challenging your fellow Republicans. You oppose the previous Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and you've launched this discharge petition to circumvent Speaker Johnson for your congressional stock trading ban bill. Where do you stand on his leadership right now?

REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, I'm circumventing not just Speaker Johnson, but also Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Look, it's no question that insider trading is a massive issue in Congress, and I think that that's probably a separate segment.

So, to go back to your question, you know, Speaker Johnson, as you know, I've had many public disagreements with him, but it's all done above board, and obviously I'd be supporting his next speakership if he chooses to run, but I would never want to be him in his job. That's one of the toughest jobs in Washington, D.C.

And I will tell you, you know, for members of Congress to say their legislation isn't taken seriously, I understand the frustrations on certain things, right? Like, we have a bill to cap student loan interest at 2 percent. We have a bill to cap the prescription drug pricing, codifying President Trump's executive order.

[10:50:00]

And now, in this discharge petition to ban insider trading for members of Congress, they didn't want to bring that up, but that's where you have to know your legislative abilities as being able to bring forward the petitions. You have to know the rules. And so, that's why I'm doing some of this archaic stuff to get my legislation through. I think that we can talk about affordability, we can talk about what each party's doing, but I think that we're both complicit in it if we don't actually solve the root issue, which is the insider trading happening here in Congress. And so, that's why I've chosen to make this my next big battle.

BROWN: All right. So, you have this discharge petition on that.

LUNA: Yes.

BROWN: So, we had your Republican colleague, Marjorie Taylor Greene, on this program yesterday. I want us to listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREEN (R-GA): As a rank-and-file Republican member and in our majority, our Republican majority, that many of us women are not taken seriously and our legislation is not taken seriously. Anna Paulina Luna, she has a discharge petition now on a bill that she fully believes in to change the way members of Congress are allowed to own stocks, and she has that in a discharge petition, can't get the support from the speaker to bring it to the floor for a vote. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And you also, of course, had the legislation on proxy voting for new mothers in Congress. That was met with resistance. Tell us more about what you think of Greene's view there and sort of what you have faced.

LUNA: Well, I do think that she's accurate in that this legislation, specifically on the insider trading stuff, is vehemently opposed by both parties. Look, you just had Leader Hakeem Jeffries that said recently that he doesn't want to support it if it doesn't include the executive branch. But I would argue, look, I'm open for negotiations. I'll even talk to the speaker. I'll talk to Hakeem Jeffries about this.

If we had the same standards as the executive branch, insider trading wouldn't be happening. But the fact is that it's no question that if you don't necessarily fall in line, and it happens in both parties, that they will try to prevent your legislation from coming to the floor. But it doesn't mean that you give up, and so that's exactly why I have this discharge petition, of which I will say every single member of Congress, if you've told your voters that you actually fight for them, I don't care what party you are.

You need to support this because there's so much happening here on the Hill, so much special interest money, so much lobbying that goes into it, and it's not fair. You can never genuinely advocate on behalf of the American people, and so I will continue to do what I have to do, but I think that this is more, not just a single-party issue, I think that this is a systemic issue in Congress.

It really started, I think, more so in the '90s, and it's consolidated. But as you know, I will continue to try to reform the institution from within to include, yes, letting new moms vote proxy.

BROWN: I know that's been a big priority for you as well.

LUNA: Yes.

BROWN: So, several women in the GOP have been speaking out recently, as I laid out earlier. One of them has been Congresswoman Nancy Mace, and she wrote in this op-ed, quote, "Speaker Mike Johnson is better than his predecessor, but the frustrations of being a rank-and-file House member are compounded as certain individuals or groups remain marginalized within the party, getting little say. Women will never be taken seriously until leadership decides to take us seriously, and I'm no longer holding my breath." Do you agree with her?

LUNA: I mean, I think that this frustration goes to really how slow the process has been on legislation, and I don't think it's just women. Again, I think that this is just frustrations that you see with how the process functions here in the House. But again, you have to continue to fight. You can't tap out. You have to push forward.

And what I will continue to say is I know Nancy Mace, I know Marjorie Taylor Greene, I know all of these members, and I share their same frustrations, but that doesn't necessarily mean that this is an issue that just all of a sudden, you know, became apparent now.

Let me just put it this way. My legislation to ban insider trading is being taken so seriously that I'm hearing that both Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the speaker and potentially House leadership are considering sending members home because they don't want to have members sign on to the legislation overwhelmingly supported by the American people to ban insider trading.

So, I think that, you know, obviously this place can be a pressure cooker. You guys know this being in the press. I think every single member of Congress will tell you that. But again, we're not going to stop fighting. I can understand the frustrations, but I'm here to deliver wins, and I think that we're going to get a win. We'll get negotiations for sure. I just hope that CNN continues to put pressure on some of my colleagues to get onto that legislation.

BROWN: Well, we will certainly cover the issue. That is for sure --

LUNA: Thank you.

BROWN: -- as we're covering it right now. But, you know, in terms of just going back to what we just heard from your colleague, Nancy Mace, and other women, I'm just wondering what the conversations are like behind the scenes, because it seems like you are not as convinced as perhaps some of your other female colleagues are in terms of the way women are treated and the GOP. But I'm wondering what those conversations are. Have there been any talks to band together and come forward as a united front? You mean to unionize?

LUNA: Look, I can tell you that I had some very public frustrations with the speaker, and specifically how this institution, in my opinion, is not family-friendly, especially at the beginning of this year on the vote-by-proxy stuff. But I believe also, too, look, I grew up -- I was in the military at an early age, and then ultimately have been in male-dominated career fields.

[10:55:00]

And I think that the important thing to remember, not just for women here in the House of Representatives, but I think women in, you know, corporate America, is if you're frustrated, make sure that you're sitting yourself at the table even if you're not invited. And so, I think that those conversations are important to have. And I've seldom been in a situation where I show up and I'm being told to leave, maybe not invited, but I make sure that I'm there.

BROWN: Making sure your voice is heard.

LUNA: Yes.

BROWN: Quickly, before we let you go, I do want to play this sound from Speaker Johnson, what he said on a recent podcast appearance with his wife that has received some attention. So, I'm curious what your take is on it. Let's take a listen and talk on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: And, you know, men and women are different in this way, is that men have -- can compartmentalize things better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And men's brains are like waffles?

JOHNSON: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What do you think about that? That gets some attention, saying that basically women's brains and men's brains are different and men are better at compartmentalizing.

LUNA: Well, I would say that, at least in my opinion, women can be better strategic thinkers from time to time. And so, obviously, the speaker, I don't know the full context of the conversation, but, you know, he has his opinions, I have mine. Obviously, I think that this also gets into just the biological differences between men and women, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't want us to engage in the process.

And so, again, we'll see what happens on the discharge petition, but I think it just really depends on how aggressive you are. And as you guys know, I'm very aggressive. So, to be determined on that.

BROWN: All right. we shall see. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, thank you so much for your time.

LUNA: Thank you.

BROWN: Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, Ukraine's president now says he plans to share an updated peace plan with the White House today, as President Trump claims Ukraine is losing to Russia on the battlefield.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Happening now, three separate strikes on alleged drug boats have left behind survivors. New CNN reporting --

[11:00:00]