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U.S. In "Active Pursuit" Of Oil Tanker Linked To Venezuela; Police: Alleged Shooters Appeared To Be Practicing With Shotguns Before Attack; CBS News Abruptly Pulls "60 Minutes" Story On Trump Deportees. Aired 11-11:30a 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]

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: You know, they happen to lose their temper from time to time, Pam, and like you said, hopefully everybody will learn from it. And you know, it's -- it's Christmas time, you know, everyone should just be jolly and joyful right now, right?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: I agree. Let's be jolly, let's be joyful, it's the holidays, folks. Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

Well, the next hour of The Situation Room starts right now.

Happening now, oil tanker seizure. The Trump administration is actively chasing and trying to board a ship that left Venezuela, it's all part of the White House's broadening effort to pressure the country and its leader.

Plus, new court documents reveal startling new details about the father and son suspected in the Bondi Beach massacre and what they did in the days before the attack.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer has the day off, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this hour with a chase that is unfolding right now on the high seas. Happening now, the U.S. Coast Guard is in active pursuit of an oil tanker right near Venezuela. This is a photo of the Bella One from earlier this year. An official tells CNN, when the Coast Guard tried boarding the ship yesterday, it refused to stop. It was en route to Venezuela to pick up oil, but then turned around after the attempted boarding.

Last week, President Trump ordered a complete blockade of sanctioned tankers going in and out of Venezuela in an effort to shut down the country's economic lifeline. And this video shows Saturday's U.S. seizure of a tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela. The White House says it was filled with Venezuelan oil and was the second tanker seized this month.

CNN national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand is here in The Situation Room. What have you learned this morning, Natasha? NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, not much. I mean, the last we heard from the administration is that they were in pursuit of this tanker. I think that a big question we still have is why wasn't the Coast Guard able to board it, even if it was trying to flee? What happened there and why is it still in pursuit of this vessel, which is apparently in international waters?

So it remains unclear whether this ultimately is going to be a successful operation or whether they just kind of let this one go because it's not worth the possible confrontation that you might have with people on board if they are indeed fleeing. Now, this ship is apparently carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil. It's under sanctions for its ties to Iran.

And according to a U.S. official, "the U.S. Coast Guard, as of yesterday, was in active pursuit of this vessel, saying that it was part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion, flying under a false flag and it was under a judicial seizure order." Now, as you mentioned, this is the second tanker that the U.S. has attempted anyway to seize just this weekend alone. On Saturday, they seized the Centuries tanker in international waters. That was also carrying sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

But, you know, this is obviously a new policy from the Trump administration. They are now trying to squeeze Venezuelan President Maduro for, you know, the lifeline that is oil for the Venezuelan economy. But Rand Paul, the Republican senator, he says that he believes that this new policy by the administration is a provocation and a potential prelude to war. Here's what he said.

(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)

BERTRAND: Now, obviously, the administration's explanation for what exactly it's doing in the Southern Command area of responsibility, it has shifted quite a bit over the last couple of months. It has been about drugs, attacking vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific to go after drug trafficking. It was about, you know, pressuring Maduro. Now it's about stolen U.S. assets that the President says that the U.S. needs to get back.

And so the overall strategy here still remains a bit unclear, but I think it all points to one direction, which is trying to put that pressure on Maduro to step down. But so far, it doesn't seem like it's working.

BROWN: Right. And the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, said as such to Vanity Fair, right?

BERTRAND: Yes, she said just last week in an article, or I should say an article that was published last week, that this is about getting Maduro to cry uncle these attacks on vessels in the Caribbean, contradicting the public administration narrative that this is about stopping the flow of drugs to the United States.

BROWN: All right, Natasha Bertrand. Thank you so much.

Well, new this morning, we are getting disturbing new details about the mass shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach that killed 15 people. CNN's Mike Valerio explains the attack could have been even more deadly than it was. Mike?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL 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.

[11:05:16]

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 12th, there's a still from CCTV during the 9:00 p.m. hour in Sydney that appears to show both of the accused going to the same footbridge where the attack started.

And on the day of the attack, in the 2:00 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 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.

BROWN: And our thanks to Mike.

Just ahead here in The Situation Room, officials from the U.S. and Ukraine say weekend peace talks went well, but Russian officials are offering a very different narrative.

And a serious blow to the credibility of "60 Minutes," why some at CBS fear the iconic show is being, "dismantled." You're in The Situation Room, and we'll be right back.

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[11:11:23]

BROWN: Happening now, the Trump administration is turning up the pressure on the Smithsonian. The White House now says it could withhold some of the institution's federal funding if it doesn't comply with the sweeping review.

The Smithsonian has been at odds for months with the White House after the administration demanded information on exhibits and art selection. The White House wasn't happy with what it received, though, saying, "it fell short of what was requested." A museum ethics expert told CNN that gathering everything the White House demanded in the time allotted is, "an impossible task."

Well, new this morning, some "CBS News" employees are threatening to quit amid fears of corporate censorship. That's after the network abruptly pulled a "60 Minutes" investigation hours before it was set to air last night. The segment would have brought viewers the stories of Venezuelan deportees sent to El Salvador's notorious prison.

CBS says that it was still going to air it, but that it needs more reporting. Let's go live now to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter. This is really a severe blow, it seems, to the network's credibility here. What are you hearing from journalists there, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: I think that's accurate. This is a blow to credibility. Whether or not the piece actually airs in the future, an editor-in-chief, Barry Weiss, is saying to the staff this morning this segment will air when it's ready.

But here's what's odd about the situation. We can walk through the timeline and I think it'll -- it'll show how this doesn't really add up, all right? Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi had been working on this segment for weeks. She interviewed some of these deportees who described torturous conditions at CECOT, that prison in El Salvador that the Trump administration has been sending migrants to.

So these interviews were in the can, they were edited, this segment was ready to go according to producers, editors, fact-checkers, and even the lawyers who reviewed the segment. As of Friday, this was ready to go, and that's significant because on Thursday night, editor- in-chief Barry Weiss was able to screen it for the first time. I'm told she had some concerns, but there was sort of an assessment that the piece was going to move forward.

And on Friday afternoon, this broadcast was publicized. It was promoted ahead of time. Alfonsi's segment was announced to the public. And yet, on Saturday morning, Weiss weighed in with additional concerns. And I'm told, according to sources, she was especially concerned about the lack of a Trump administration response to the reporting. Now, Alfonsi says in an internal memo that waiting for a response is unrealistic because it's clear the Trump administration did not want to respond to these allegations.

She said, and I want to pull up the quote here, their refusal to be interviewed was a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story. If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we've effectively handed them a kill switch for any reporting they find inconvenient. So that's the view from the "60 Minutes" reporting team.

The piece was ready to go. It was in the can. It was going to be broadcast on Sunday. But all of a sudden, over the weekend, Weiss decided to shelve it. And that has created a real uproar inside "CBS News" with widespread concerns about political meddling and about corporate interference. All of this coming as CBS's parent company, Paramount, both tries to ingratiate itself with the Trump administration and tries a hostile takeover bid for this network's parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

BROWN: I mean, and it comes as President Trump has really been ratcheting up his criticism of "60 Minutes." Tell us more about that and the timing of this.

STELTER: Yes, that's right. And that is the essential context here. You know, when Paramount changed hands earlier this year, Trump praised the new owners, David Ellison and his father, Larry. He described them as friends and supporters. Trump was very excited to have CBS moving into new hands. But two weeks ago, Trump changed his tunes.

[11:15:01]

He started to criticize the Ellisons and "60 Minutes" specifically. Trump at first was mad about an interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene that aired on the broadcast. We know Trump cares a lot about "60 Minutes" and we know he's been railing against both the broadcast and the new owners of Paramount.

At the same time, these owners need regulatory approval for their future aspirations to grow the company. So that is the political context for the story. Now I'm told by sources at CBS that Barry Weiss became more personally involved at "60 Minutes" in the past couple of weeks. But she said to staffers this morning the story simply was not ready for air yet. It was not ready to go. More reporting must be done.

And frankly, I'm not hearing many supporters of hers internally at CBS. I'm hearing a lot of criticism about this decision. But you know what's happened, Pam? A lot more people are suddenly interested in the story, right? A lot more people suddenly want to know more about what these detain -- detainees have said they've gone through.

BROWN: Right.

STELTER: So this is one of those situations where the controversy, the scandal is actually going to draw more attention onto the Trump administration's effort to deport these migrants to this very hostile prison where some men say they've been tortured.

BROWN: Yes. All right. So tell us more about what Weiss said in her statement. And also, just to be clear, Sharon Alfonsi and the "60 Minutes" team had reached out multiple times to the administration for a statement and interview, right? And the administration declined. I just want to be clear on that.

STELTER: That's right. That is important.

BROWN: Because you can understand, oh, well, if we're not representing one's --

STELTER: That's right. These requests for comments --

BROWN: Yes. Go ahead.

STELTER: -- went unanswered, according to Alfonsi.

BROWN: It was also for an interview --

STELTER: And she's saying you can't wait around forever and only broadcast the segment if they agree to be interviewed. She says that would amount to a kill switch. However, Weiss said this morning on the network's early morning editorial call, "We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera." She means someone like Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff at the White House.

She's insisting on having those interviews. And again, that is her prerogative as editor-in-chief of the organization. But if she felt so strongly, why did she only make this decision over the weekend after the segment was announced, after it was ready to go, according to staffers --

BROWN: Yes.

STELTER: -- after it was already publicized. There's something strange about the process here, and then there's the political overtones that are inescapable. And that is why so many CBS staffers are now alarmed in this moment.

BROWN: Yes. And just to be precise, "60 Minutes" asked for an interview, well, not just comment, right? It asked for interviews with administration officials, and that was denied. OK. Brian Stelter, thank you.

STELTER: That is what Alfonsi says. And it's notable that Alfonsi wrote this memo to memorialize all of it, because she wanted everyone to know what happened. Yes, that's right.

BROWN: Right. And administrations do this intentionally sometimes. They stay silent, they don't put anyone out, they don't provide comment as part of a strategy. And Alfonsi is saying that to override that is not journalistically sound. All right, Brian, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Up next, evacuations are underway on the West Coast as heavy rain, flooding, and snow slams the region and triggers a deadly flooding emergency. And there's even more rain on the way.

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[11:22:24]

BROWN: Happening now, intense flash flooding out west as an atmospheric river dumps heavy rain and snow onto parts of California. New drone video shows several streets and writing completely underwater, and you can see the water nearly reaching the bottom of a billboard. And take a look at this street. A geyser of water bubbling up from a manhole as cars try to drive past. Let's go live now to see a meteorologist Derek Van Dam at the weather center. Derek, how much more rain is in the forecast? My goodness.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This is terrible. And trust me, it's on nobody's wish list for Christmas. That's for sure, Pamela. Just one round of heavy rain after another. We're going through it right now across northern California. Of course, this past weekend was extremely wet. You saw the scenes coming out of northern California. Here's Humboldt County, for instance. Some of the flooding reaching these buildings and homes and businesses.

It's all because of the atmospheric river that we've talked about last week. It was the Pacific Northwest. Now it's aimed at the state of California. Pretty clear right there with the satellite imagery where this is and how it's picking up the moisture over the eastern Pacific. Look at some of these updated rainfall totals over a foot of liquid precipitation in Placer County. That, you better believe, will flood low-lying areas.

And that's what's happening. We're seeing this localized flash flooding. And look at this radar. Very busy. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to zoom into the San Francisco area because you can see this kind of fire hose of heavy rainfall that's now entering into the greater Bay region. We've got a live shot of the Bay Bridge right now.

You see a lot of rain on the bridge. Motorists traveling very slow. A lot of fog inundating this area as well. What we would expect with this heavy surge, mighty but narrow band of heavy rainfall that is moving into San Francisco right now. That could easily dump one to three inches of additional rainfall. But this really tells the broader picture here of what's to come.

This is the flood watches that are in place. That stretches far east as Las Vegas, even western portions of Arizona, inclusive of southern California. So this atmospheric river you saw on the satellite that's pointed across the northern parts of the state will eventually make its way into the central and southern portions of California and direct this fire hose of heavy rainfall into places like Los Angeles.

Millions of people will call this place home. Remember, we've got the recent burn scars across this area, so that could add more misery. The potential for landslides, mudslides, rockslides, and urban flooding certainly exists. This is the high res forecast imagery. It shows you on Wednesday how busy it will get across the state of California, but we take it out past that and you can see the constant deluge of rainfall into the early parts of the weekend.

[11:25:03]

We're talking several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountain range with six to eight inches of rain across the coastal ranges and the valleys in Southern California. Pamela?

BROWN: Alright, Derek Van Dam, thanks for bringing us the latest there.

VAN DAM: You got it.

BROWN: One of the biggest bourbon sellers in the world says that on January 1st it will pause production at its main distillery because of uncertainty over retaliatory tariffs sparked by President Trump's trade war. The iconic Jim Bean company based in Kentucky says it will maintain production at two other locations and no layoffs are planned. An industry association says Kentucky distilleries have an all-time high of bourbon barrels on hand and that's because rising prices have people cutting back on their spending.

Well, coming up how the slow pace of the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein file release could set the administration up for another legal battle. We'll be right back.

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