Trump To Announce Shipbuilding Effort As Venezuela Tensions Flare

26:43So what you see on the right-hand side is Ukraine. Dan Banga knows how dangerous these mountains can be. He and his team have rescued hundreds of Ukrainians who tried to cross them. They don't have knowledge, they don't have experience, and they don't have professional equipment because on these mountains you need professional equipment to be alive. To survive. 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. You can see how steep these mountains are. It is frankly astonishing that up to 100 Ukrainians are making the crossing still every single week.

27:34The risks are huge. Since Russia's invasion in 2022, the Salomont 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 Titsa River that separates the two countries. This is a job 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. It's about being human. A human being. Yeah. 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?

28:26I really can't say, don't cross the mountains. I can say, take care of you. It's a lesson that Dima, 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.

29:18And then did they have to remove all the toes?

29:34Stories like Dimas 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.

30:16For those who can afford it, some smugglers openly sell their services on TikTok and Telegram. 9 ,000 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. We rescued, I think, more than, in this moment, more than 600 people. I find it really interesting that you use the word rescue. Of course, because I see this situation like that. And I think we rescue people who just want to leave to build their future. And what do you say to people who view you and who view those who are trying to leave as traitors? I don't take care about them, to be honest.

31:08I help people. I save people. 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. Hi, Viktor. How are you? 34-year-old Kiev taxi driver Viktor Pinchasov has just crossed into Romania. I'm glad you're OK. You survived. How long did it take you? Five days, four nights. Five days, four nights, walking through the mountains. He says the journey was tough, but the decision to leave was easy. His five-month-old daughter, Eva, is in Switzerland, and he has little faith in ongoing negotiations to end the war.

32:01Do you believe that there is going to be peace? No. No. I want to believe, but I see nobody wants peace. What's the most important reason you left? My daughter had freedom. I want to live and understand that I'm free. I can go. I can live in prison. I'm a free man. 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, Mara Mores, Romania. Our thanks to Clarissa Ward for that reporting Well MAGA leaders call each other out by name At a conservative conference deepening a brewing divide What that means for Vice President J.D.

32:49Vance and others Hoping to become Trump's successor That's next

32:58This week on The Assignment with me, Audie Cornish The Winter Fashion Week season is underway There were shows in Milan and Paris And then it all ends in May with Fashion Super Bowl, the Met Gala, which is the kind of event that you can't buy your way into. Like you actually can, as it turns out, because Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, they've literally been ushered to the front rows in recent weeks. Talking with CNN's Rachel Taschen. I cover fashion and style. Someone actually said that they thought Sanchez, who apparently is friends with the Kardashians, is actually pulling directly from that playbook of like how to reinvent your image and in a way upgrade it into this fashion status.

33:42That was actually in my piece that I wrote. Oh, wait. What? Let me check my notes. Listen to The Assignment with me, Audie Cornish, streaming now on your favorite podcast app. The breaking news from Mar-a-Lago just moments ago, President Trump answering a question from a reporter about pictures of former President Bill Clinton that were revealed in the Epstein files, the files at least that have been released so far. Take a listen. But no, I don't like the pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don't like the pictures of other people being shown. I think it's a terrible thing. I think Bill Clinton's a big boy.

34:19He can handle it. But you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago. My panel is here now. Just other people, hypothetically, who met him years ago may be in pictures with him. Jeff Stanley, the response there, I think, is kind of interesting just in terms of how it was framed. What do you make of it? Certainly. And it's the first time we've heard from President Trump since the release of the files late last week. He's been uncharacteristically quiet on Truth Social as well as speaking out. Look, I think he's trying to, you know, certainly he mentioned Bill Clinton by name.

34:58That was not in the question, I don't believe. But he's trying to, again, diminish this. But it does not really change the fact that this still hangs over this administration in ways that really does not resemble anything else. I mean, he's always able to move beyond something by changing the subject, renaming submarines, et cetera. But the Epstein story hangs over him. And it's kind of ironic that he's answering these questions at Mar-a-Lago because he was a very close friend of Jeffrey Epstein's. And a lot of the friendship happened in South Florida. So look, but I think it is interesting. He didn't get in a he didn't lose his temper about it.

35:35He just kind of answered it and moved on. So he would like to move on in larger ways. The president's point is correct. There are a lot of people from celebrities. You saw Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, a slew of people that were pictured with this guy who I think it's perhaps safe to presume. I don't know, but I think it's safe to presume that they had no engagement in any of the alleged illegal and immoral acts of Jeffrey Epstein. I think that's fair. In terms of the politics of this, though, I do think we've got to move on. I'm glad it's all out there. Let people look through all of the thousands of photos.

36:08I think, however, though, the number one focus for my party, the number one focus for the American people is very clear. And that remains the cost of living. And so in terms of pivoting for this, I think focusing on that, I think focusing on the housing issue is how we move on to the tangible things that the millions of Americans out there are wanting to see from the Republican Party. I think you make a really important point and a very salient one. One, especially on the housing stuff, you and I have talked about at length on the policy side, which is supposed to be a focus of the administration first quarter of next year.

36:36We'll see what that actually looks like. Housing is hard, by the way, from the policy side of things. But it was interesting watching the Turnpoint USA convention over the weekend where the kind of fissures within the party are still very real. I think J.D. Vance was kind of the keynote speaker. I want to play something. I think we have it that he said about lack of unity potentially being a good thing. Listen. I know some of you are discouraged by the infighting over any number of issues. Don't be discouraged. Wouldn't you rather lead a movement of free thinkers who sometimes disagree than a bunch of drones who take their orders from George Soros?

37:17Purity tests are something I think members of both parties wish that they could do without, oftentimes. Do you think he has a point in general about where the party is Republican-wise going forward? I think it's interesting because I think there has been a departure from this whole notion of an exchange of ideas, freedom of speech, kind of this back and forth. There has been much more of a litmus test that we've seen in the Republican Party. So it would be good if they could uphold this and there could be, I mean, there's no room for dissension. You look at what happened with the Affordable Care Act recently in terms of those subsidies.

37:52Congress left town. Two-thirds of the American public really do support extending those. but they didn't do it because they didn't want to go against the president. So I think this back and forth on freedom of speech and exchange of ideas, that's core to our democracy, but hopefully we can get back to that point at some point. Can I just add, this isn't unique to just the Republican Party. We've seen this on both sides. We've discussed this on this show many, many times. Jeff, you've reported on this ad nauseum, particularly last year on the Democratic side, and the challenges present there. I think it's important, and I've got to be honest, as a strategist, I do not want to deal with this with midterms coming up in 2026.

38:27And so my thoughts on this are simply we need to get it together here because we're going to need every last one of those podcasters, the activists that are working in the communities to turn out the base of the Republican Party and then focus on some of those undecideds to hopefully try to maintain the House. You've done a ton of reporting in this space, both recently but also writ large. The risk that I think Schermichael is getting at going into a midterm year, how real is it? I think it's very real. I mean, Vice President Vance can wish away the differences. He clearly didn't want to take a side or dwell on them.

38:57But those differences exist over Israel, over AI, immigration, so many other matters that and really even bigger picture things. The isolationist strain, the hawkish view, all of this is going to challenge J.D. Vance as he moves closer toward becoming a presidential candidate should he decide to do that. He was endorsed this weekend by Erica Kirk. We will see if he actually runs. But the divisions inside the Republican Party are real. And as Donald Trump sort of, you know, loses his grip ever so slightly, I think those will reveal themselves even more. I think to that point, what's most fascinating about kind of the current dynamic is these aren't small issues.

39:37These are like culturally defining issues in politics that Republicans are grappling with in ways they never had to when Trump was at the top of the ballot or at the top of the ticket because it was just whatever he said kind of won the day. Is it possible to resolve these things internally going into a midterm here? I mean, it's a tough challenge because you want the base to come out. But a lot of the base of the Republican base, a lot of those policies are going to turn off independents, moderates, women, Latino voters. So there's a big tension here. And I think it's going to be hard to do. Look, intellectually, I am not opposed, as I don't think any of us at this table are, with the idea of exchanging what the party could look like in the future.

40:13I'm not against that. But again, electoral politics is about addition. not subtraction. And to your point, I want to reach as many of those darn undecideds as the Republican Party can possibly do without turning them off. And we've got to be mindful of that. Yeah, that's going to be the biggest question going into next year, guys. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Well, up next, we'll check in with CNN Weather Center as dangerous winter weather is on the horizon for millions of Americans.

40:40In our national lead, a series of deadly storms slam northern California and the Sierra Nevada mountains with heavy flooding over the weekend. It's just the start of dangerous winter weather for the state, with multiple storms expected to bring months' worth of rain to Southern California just this week. CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking it all. Derek? Phil, we have some new information to pass along to our viewers. The Weather Prediction Center has really upped the ante for the incoming atmospheric river that will impact Southern California later this week, specifically Christmas Eve. They have just enhanced this to a high risk.

41:15That's a level four of four, and that rarely happens. We'll talk about that in just one moment, but specifically this area, you can see it with a dark shading of purple that is east to west along the transverse mountain ranges, really just in and around the greater Los Angeles area, stretching westward towards Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. This area will potentially see several inches of rainfall, and these high-risk days are very rare. They only occur about 4 % of days from the Weather Prediction Center, but they account for a third of flood-related fatalities and up to 80 % of flood-related damages.

41:51So we need to take them seriously. Take, for instance, the flood that was ongoing across Redding, California earlier today. This is a bird's-eye view of that flooding, and that wasn't even under a high risk. So this atmospheric river is to blame, and the moisture that it is fueling in from the Pacific is going to fluctuate southward. You can see the flood alerts as far south as the U.S. and Mexico border and as far east as Las Vegas and western Arizona. So this narrow directed plume of moisture will make its way into southern California come Tuesday night into Wednesday. There will be a lot of rain associated with it, but because of the direction of the transverse mountain ranges, it is going to help kind of wring out all the available moisture and we will get several days of continuous rainfall that could pile up over a half a foot in some locations.

42:43Phil? Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly. In for Jake Tapper. This hour, the Justice Department is denying accusations of a cover-up in the Epstein files. How the department is defending itself, even as many documents critical to the understanding of the case have yet to appear. Plus, a CBS News 60 Minutes correspondent is accusing her bosses of censorship after CBS editor-in-chief Barry Weiss suddenly shelved a 60-minute segment. Also, a look at the state of holiday travel, as AAA is expecting record-breaking travel numbers this year. And a brand-new CNN investigation uncovers a chilling campaign of ethnically motivated violence carried out by Sudan's army.

43:31The lead tonight as we wait for the release of more material related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Fallout over the material that has been released? It's growing. Now lawmakers are threatening legal action to hold the Justice Department accountable. And today, more than a dozen Epstein survivors, along with the family of Virginia Dufresne, issued a joint statement slamming the Justice Department's slow rollout of documents and, quote, quote, abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation. We start things off with CNN's crime and justice correspondent Caitlin Polance. Caitlin, what is the latest in this very rolling story at this point?

44:07Very rolling, Phil, both on the release side and also the response to the Justice Department. Widespread dissatisfaction with how this has been handled by the Justice Department to release all of those files after Congress passed a law demanding transparency with few carve-outs. Now, the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, he's already threatening legal action when the Senate returns to Capitol Hill after the holidays. There's also been discussion from members of the House about potentially holding the Attorney General in contempt, if they can even do that. But the way the Justice Department has defended themselves here, Phil, is they've said they're putting the victims first.

44:48They want to protect them. And indeed, there are laws that protect crime victims, especially related to the crimes of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who do have cases in court, criminal cases that create victims with those needs. But there's still a lot of questions, too, is did the Justice Department make additional choices correctly? And if they didn't, who could enforce this law for transparency? We already saw the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche publicly stepping up in his letter to Congress on Friday saying, yes, we're going to give you redactions, a list of what we kept out of these files within 15 days.

45:29We're still going to keep working on the files we have. It's a very tall task. But Blanche also said that the Justice Department believes they can black out things that are privileged, just deliberations within the executive branch, work product of investigators over the years, or even attorney-client communications. Who could go up and tell a court or anyone else that's the wrong decision? We're just going to see what plays out in the coming days. And Caitlin, the Justice Department has released several photos of former President Bill Clinton with co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell and individuals with redacted faces.

46:02Today, a spokesperson for Clinton also criticized the Justice Department. Yeah, Phil, this is just putting on blast more of this question of did they do it right? The spokesperson for Clinton pointing out that there are a lot of photos of Clinton in that first release, but saying it might have been selective in a way that is, quote unquote, about insinuation, using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about people. And then the Clinton spokesman said, you should release everything that you have on Bill Clinton, not just the ones that came out on Friday. Trump, after that, was pretty quick to say, well, we're both in the files.

46:38Bill? Caitlin Polence, as always, appreciate you, my friend. Well, here now is Jennifer Freeman, a lawyer representing victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Very much appreciate your time. To start with today, several of the Epstein victims you represent signed on to this joint statement. The statement says, in part, quote, numerous victim identities were left unredacted, causing real and immediate harm. No financial documents were released. Grand jury minutes, though approved by a federal judge for release, were fully blacked out. What would you like to hear from the Justice Department, and what can be done to hold them accountable?

47:12I would like to hear that they are releasing all of the Epstein files with the most minimal redactions, only the ones allowed by law. There are specific exemptions, whether it's victim identities, national security, or ongoing investigations. those are the categories on which they are permitted to withhold. But they're withholding, it sounds like they're withholding more than that. And I mean, just you look at one of the clients that I have is Maria Farmer. And they released on Friday, thankfully, I've been looking for it for a long time, Maria's been looking for it for decades, a document confirming that she in fact went to the FBI in 1996, and of course had the government done their job.

47:54We wouldn't be sitting here today, wouldn't have over 1 ,200 victims. We wouldn't have 30 years of trauma to have to worry about and deal with. But what did they do with that? They did redact that document. I mean, that's crazy. We've been asking for those documents for a very long time. We waived Maria's privacy many, many years ago, and yet they redacted that and didn't redact actual other names. I'm glad you brought Maria up. Jake Tapper on Friday spoke to her sister, Annie, also one of the victims you represent. Here's some of her reaction to the initial and incomplete release of the Epstein material.

48:30Take a listen. Just to see it in writing and to know that they had this document this entire time. And how many people were harmed after that date? It just, you know, we've been saying it over and over, but to see it in black and white that way has been very emotional. I think one of the things that survivors have been invaluable in sharing how they feel in this moment, which I think captures something that often gets missed in the discussion about the politics of things or the Justice Department actions of things. What are you hearing from other survivors? Well, what I heard from Maria, Maria Farmer, was that she was shedding on Friday when we showed her the document, tears of joy and tears of sorrow.

49:19Because on the one hand, tears of joy because finally she's getting this information that we've been seeking for the longest time, and tears of sorrow because she had to wait so long and so many people suffered as a result of this. And that sounds like it's very, it seems very across the board that there's very mixed emotions. It's been emotional for me too, because I've been working on this so long and I've been with Maria and Annie and the other survivors every step of the way. And it's magnificent to get this document at this time, but also incredibly painful to actually know that what you've been saying for so many years is accurate, that they didn't do their job and had they've done their job, this would never have happened, all this terrible trauma.

50:05The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, he's attempted to defend the limited release of documents up to this point. Here's what he said on NBC's Meet the Press. Listen. The reason why we are still reviewing documents and still continuing our process is simply that, to protect victims. So the same individuals that are out there complaining about the lack of documents that were produced on Friday are the same individuals who apparently don't want us to protect victims. What's your response to that? Well, no one's called me. I represent Maria, Annie, and many other survivors, and no one from the Department of Justice has said boo to me.

50:46So if they're at an effort to try to deal with survivor interests, they should be contacting the survivor representatives. It is a disconnect that I haven't quite gotten my head around yet. Jennifer Freeman, I really appreciate your time and sharing your perspective. Thanks so much. You bet. Let's turn now to Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell from California. He's a member on the House Judiciary Committee. He's also a candidate for governor. Congressman, appreciate your time. Just to start things off, Republican Thomas Massa said the Justice Department is, quote, flouting the spirit and the letter of the law.

51:19He and Democrat, your colleague Ro Khanna, the two congressmen really behind the bill here that President Trump signed into law, near unanimous vote in the House, said this yesterday about holding the Justice Department accountable. Take a listen. The quickest way and I think most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. We're building a bipartisan coalition, and it would fine Pam Bondi for every day that she's not releasing these documents. How feasible is that? Well, it's feasible, and everything should be on the table, including defunding some of the department's efforts that they're using right now to weaponize government.

52:08They have the power of the person. We have a mandate in Congress, Phil. As you said, nearly every member, 434 out of, I'm sorry, 534 out of 535, essentially, between the House and the Senate voted to have these files released. Now, stepping back, it appears that they're doing this to protect Donald Trump. We know Trump is mentioned 1 ,500 times in the Epstein files. Not surprising, as Epstein has been described by some as one of Trump's best friends. But here's where we stand. Democrats fought for a year for Trump to release the Epstein files. Instead, he released George Santos. The House and the Senate voted overwhelmingly for these to be released.

52:45I see it as the best disinfectant is sunlight, but sunlight will not work when all the names have been blocked out. So release the files. We have a lot that we could do if Republicans want to join us. Trust that the Americans are mature enough to handle it. We can handle the truth regardless of who's in it, Republican or Democrat. That's what the victims deserve. Yesterday, the Justice Department posted a fact sheet. Here's what it says about the current review of the hundreds of thousands of pages that have yet to be released, saying, quote, More than 200 lawyers are working around the clock reviewing each individual file for release.

53:16This is an arduous process, as each document and photograph must be individually reviewed for potential redactions to protect victims or potential victims. Is that valid to you? It's not good enough. No, they've known about the existence of this issue for a very long time. In fact, I have been told by people at the FBI that hundreds of agents at the beginning of the year were pulled off of important cases to look through the Epstein files, particularly to look at Donald Trump's involvement in those files. They knew this was coming. This is just an effort, again, to buy more time. I'm very concerned, Phil, about a memo I saw that was released.

53:59It was a phone memo for Jeffrey Epstein, and it said the caller had females available for him and the name of the caller was blacked out. Doesn't the president of the United States believe the American people should know who was the name of the caller seeking to provide a female to the world's most notorious sex trafficking? Before I let you go, I want to get to another topic, which is last month, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte launched a mortgage fraud probe against you. I think you're like the fifth or sixth Democrat or somebody on the wrong side of Trump politically who has faced something from Bill Pulte or where Bill Pulte has been kind of the originating factor.

54:39You've sued the administration, deny any wrongdoing. Now Reuters reports that Pulte appeared to source a conspiracy theory website as the basis for that probe. What's going on here? well the reuter story shows that what pulte is doing to me and adam schiff is completely nonsense my lawsuit against pulte is not and i'm going to stay on offense it's the only way you can take these guys on i've brought a suit against pulte for a first amendment violation for a privacy law violation we're going to have some news on this as well we're expanding who we believe has information on this but you have to stay on offense with these guys and so as i look at Californians who are running through the fields where they work or who have troops in the streets or cancer funding that's been canceled by the administration, you have to be on offense.

55:26That's the only way you can defend the most vulnerable people in our community. Otherwise, they won't get the message. Congressman Eric Swalwell of California, discovery would be interesting. No question about that. Thank you very much for your time, sir. Appreciate it. My pleasure, Phil. Thanks. Well, coming up, a look at the best and worst days to travel on the road or in the air as we are now in the thick of this holiday season. Plus, legendary singer-songwriter Barry Manilow reveals that he's been diagnosed with lung cancer. We'll ask a lung cancer specialist what sort of treatment may lie ahead.

56:05And our national lead, this probably not the week to start testing the limits of airport arrival times. AAA is predicting Americans will set a new year-end travel record over the next two weeks. Now, take a look. This year's projections of 122.4 million travelers surpasses last year's record of just over 119 million. CNN's Pete Mantine is monitoring the start of the season at Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. Pete, how's it looking? Phil, travelers are telling me what they almost never say, that things are going pretty smooth for a Monday leading into the Christmas holiday.

56:41In fact, the number of cancellations has remained relatively low. The number of delays have remained relatively low, and the FAA has warned of possible ground stops bleeding into today, although a lot of those have not come to fruition. Just a look at the lines here. This is the baggage drop-off point for American Airlines here at Reagan National Airport. This is a huge hub for American Airlines. The numbers have been pretty strong, although the cancellations here have remained low. Only one cancellation in the last 24 hours here at DCA. I've been speaking to travelers. They tell me you should pack your patience, keep a good attitude, have a little bit of festive holiday spirit, because there are so many people traveling right now.

57:22It was great. Really? Yeah, it was fantastic. Got to the airport, got there early. The airline was able to get us on an earlier flight. It was fantastic. Nobody ever says it goes great. It was great today. It was lucky for us. What's your advice? Definitely get to the airport early. You know, plan, pay attention, download your airport apps, because that gives you bag, gate, all that information that comes right there, and just communicate and have a smile. Something goes wrong, it's not their fault. Everybody's trying. The Federal Aviation Administration has warned of flight delays on both coasts, in Seattle, in Southern California, in San Francisco.

57:52A lot of those really did not come to fruition because of low cloud ceilings. There's also been a warning by the FAA for wind at the New York area airports and in Boston. If you're going to be driving to try and skip all of this mess, Then the worst times to go are between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time, according to AAA. And on Monday and Tuesday, AAA warns that could be especially bad because it's not a holiday for a lot of folks. Most people who work, the holiday really starts to fall on Christmas Eve. So you might be intermixing holiday traffic with work commute traffic. That is when it becomes really tough.

58:28Bill. Beatmont Team Forest, thanks so much. Well, for decades, iconic singer-songwriter Barry Manilow has brought us classic songs with his classically soothing voice. But Manilow has been forced to cancel some concerts after revealing a serious diagnosis. That's next.

58:50Sad news in our health lead. Singer Barry Manilow is revealing that he's been diagnosed with lung cancer. The 82-year-old Copacabana singer made the announcement on Instagram saying he's canceling his upcoming concerts as he undergoes treatment and writing, quote, The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed. It's pure luck and a great doctor that it was found so early. That's the good news. Let's discuss now with Dr. Roy Herbst, the deputy director of Yale Cancer Center and a lung cancer specialist to start with. For folks watching at home, huge fans, many of them, I'm sure.

59:23How serious is this sort of cancer for someone who's 82 years old? And what kind of recovery would Barry Manilow be looking at here? Well, lung cancer is a tough disease. It's the number one cause of cancer death worldwide. That said, the fact that this was found early is really good news. And hopefully he'll be able to have some local treatments, including surgery. And then once we know a little bit more about the cancer, we're not treating him. You know, figure out how to treat it and give him the longest possible life. I was struck by Manilow calling it, quote, pure luck that the cancerous spot was even detected.

59:57Can you explain that? And is this something others should be on the lookout for as well? Absolutely. It's not uncommon that someone's having another procedure, another symptom. You're having cold and flu symptoms and you get an x-ray and you see something early. And the key thing is to then pursue that because it could be something benign, something that will just go away. But it could be a cancer. And in this case, he's found the lung cancer. And it sounds like it's at an early stage where it can be cut out. You know, one of the most important things will be prevention of this disease. There are many people who are eligible for prevention who don't have it done.

1:00:30So I think this tells us that it really is important to find this disease at the earliest possible time. Yeah, a critical message to convey. The diagnosis itself, in terms of Manilow's ability to perform, I understand that's not the most important thing. But friends of mine, notably Dana Bash, my colleague, who is more dedicated to Barry Manilow than just about anybody, I've ever met. What does this say for the future of his ability to perform? Well, in the best of all circumstances, this can be removed by surgery. There are some amazing techniques now, minimally invasive, where you can use video-assisted techniques, robots, and hopefully it can be removed.

1:01:06And hopefully if he's in good physical shape, he'll recover quickly. Then, of course, we need to know what is it about this cancer? What's causing it to tick? What are the molecular drivers of the cancer? Because that might predicate whether he needs additional therapy, whether it be a chemotherapy, what we call targeted therapy that targets the very workings of the cancer, or even immunotherapy. But the good news is when lung cancer is found early and we use all these different modalities, bringing surgery, radiation, and all these scientific advances together, the prognosis can be quite good.

1:01:37But again, we need to wait and see. But I think it is good that he found this at an early stage, always better before it spreads. Yeah, no question about that. Dr. Roy Harps, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much. Thank you. Well, last month, President Trump pledged to end the war in Sudan. Just ahead, an exclusive report reveals just how bad things are. CNN finding evidence that Sudan's army carried out killings based on ethnicity.

1:02:08Our world lead takes us to Moscow, where Russian officials are working to determine if Ukraine was behind the apparent car bombing of a prominent Russian general in southern Moscow neighborhood this morning. General Fenil Tsarkhov, killed in the attack, was in charge of training Russian forces. It's the latest in a string of top Russian officials killed by explosive devices far from the front lines. Ukraine still hasn't offered an official comment. Also in our world lead, President Donald Trump last month pledged to end the war in Sudan as part of his efforts to play peacemaker in conflicts across the globe.

1:02:42A bloody civil war has been raging in the country for more than two years, with almost 12 million people displaced, according to the UN. In this CNN-exclusive, Nada Bashir uncovers a chilling campaign of ethnically motivated violence carried out by Sudan's army and its allied militias. CNN reviewed satellite imagery and obtained rare testimony from survivors and whistleblowers. We need to warn you, there are some disturbing images in this report.

1:03:11Sudan is in the grip of a brutal civil war. The government-aligned Sudanese armed forces are fighting for control of the country against the rival paramilitary rapid support forces, or RSF. Almost three years of bloody fighting has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis. And in recent weeks, atrocities committed by the RSF appear to have reached new extremes, with thousands reportedly killed. Under the command of rival generals, both sides have been accused by the United States and the UN of war crimes. But abuses carried out by the Sudanese armed forces, who are under the command of Sudan's de facto leader, have been largely unreported and left in the shadows.

1:03:53Now, a joint investigation by CNN and investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports has uncovered a campaign of ethnically-fuelled atrocities targeting non-Arabs, carried out by the Sudanese armed forces and their allies across Sudan's Jazeera state. The evidence is harrowing. Bodies, like in this video, thrown into canals. Some stripped, others with their hands tied. Other victims buried in mass graves. And farming communities torched. Anyone who appeared to be Nuba from Western Sudan or from the South was immediately shot. It's a campaign that was orchestrated from the top, four well-placed sources including serving security officials tell us.

1:04:35They say an official within Sudan's General Intelligence Service was involved in coordinating the attacks in Jazira State. And one of those sources told us Army Chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan was made aware of the killings. January 2025, Jazira State. The Sudanese armed forces are advancing to recapture the strategic city of Wad Madani from the RSF. But as they converge on the city, atrocities are unfolding. Video geolocated by CNN shows advancing troops stopped in the village of Kariba. Here they detain and assault young men, accusing them of belonging to the RSF. As troops advance towards the outskirts of Wad Madani, the violence continues to intensify.

1:05:19We verified several videos captured at this intersection, known as Police Bridge, over a period of days, reconstructing evidence of an eventual massacre.

1:05:31In this video, we see deadly clashes between army forces and RSF fighters who were ambushed as they fled Wadmedani. The aftermath is distressing. Bodies scattered across the street, some wearing the light fatigues of the RSF. Others are dressed in civilian clothing. In another video, a man is seen beaten and bloodied on the ground, surrounded by soldiers. He is injured and appears to be unarmed. Just seconds later, he is hit by a volley of gunfire. The fate of others captured at police bridge is unclear. Many appear to have been detained and driven away, their whereabouts unknown. The next day, fighters are seen relaxing in a courtyard beside police bridge.

1:06:19We can tell it was likely filmed in the morning from the cast of the shadows on the ground. The intersection appears to be cleared of the body seen earlier, suggesting that the Sudanese army has regained control and armed combat in the area is now over. But in just a matter of hours, this. The same courtyard becomes the scene of a massacre. The bodies of at least 50 young men, all in civilian clothing and unarmed. Some are lined against the wall, pools of blood beneath them, gunshot wounds visible to the head.

1:06:58In this clip, a fighter claims the men are foreign, accusing them of being from other countries. The execution of civilians or unarmed combatants is a war crime under international humanitarian law. We were able to track down a whistleblower from within the senior ranks of Sudan's General Intelligence Service. Speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, the official told us that victims killed at Police Bridge were then buried in mass graves. civilians alongside RSF fighters. An allegation we then verified through satellite imagery, reviewed alongside the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab.

1:07:36Here you can see five new patches of disturbed earth at Police Bridge in the days following the alleged killings. And in this image, white objects consistent with wrapped corpses are visible in one of the graves. In subsequent imagery, the bodies appear to have been covered with dirt. But mass graves were not the only method used by the Sudanese armed forces and their allies to dispose of the bodies of their victims. We spoke to a second whistleblower from Sudan's intelligence service. He told us that some of those accused of collaborating with the RSF were shot and then thrown into canals. Just four miles away, in the village of Bika, the whistleblower said bodies were thrown into the water, some while they were still alive.

1:08:23Days later, Sudan's de facto leader, al-Burhan, addressed his forces behind the very canal where, according to the official, the bodies were dumped. Satellite imagery captured in May, after water levels receded, shows what appeared to be dozens of bodies on the canal bed, metres from where the army leader had stood.

1:08:47Some 50 miles downstream, at least eight bodies are seen lodged along the same canal system, captured in videos posted one week after the army seized control of Wad Madani. The Sudanese Armed Forces in January condemned what they described as individual violations after the recapture of Wad Madani and announced an investigation into the attacks. CNN has asked the Sunni's armed forces and its leader Al-Burhan about the outcome and about the allegations within this report. These horrifying attacks along the road toward Madani, however, were not isolated. They formed part of a wider campaign of ethnically targeted assaults carried out on at least 39 villages across Jazira state, which targeted the Qanabi, a non-Arab farming community often labeled by Arab-aligned militias as black Sudanese.

1:09:38They agreed they don't want any black people here. They said, we want to kill everyone. We will not leave anyone. They were shot in the chest, near the heart, and in the back. Every few days, the canal would bring one or two bodies. A member of a UN facts-finding mission described the military campaign to CNN as a, quote, targeted extermination of people along ethnic lines, in some cases amounting to what they described as ethnic cleansing. It's an allegation that has also been laid against the RSF during this war. Months after the atrocities in Jazeera State, there is no sign of accountability.

1:10:16And for now, justice for the victims remains out of reach. Neda Bashir, CNN, in London. Our thanks to Nada and her team for that report. Well, CBS editor-in-chief Barry Weiss pulled a 60-minute segment just hours before it was supposed to air. Is there any merit to her reasoning? We'll discuss with our political panel next.

1:10:42And our politics lead, the newly minted head of CBS News, is pushing back against claims of corporate censorship. Now, this all stems from a complaint made by a 60 Minutes correspondent, Sharon Alfonsi, after CBS announced just hours before it was set to air yesterday that Alfonsi's piece would be shelved until a later date. Her report detailed the Trump administration sending Venezuelan migrants to a notoriously brutal maximum security mega prison in El Salvador. In an email to her colleagues, Alfonso wrote, quote, Our story was screened five times and cleared by CBS attorneys and standards and practices.

1:11:15It is factually correct. In my view, polling it now after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision. It is a political one. The public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. In a statement to The New York Times, Weiss wrote in part,

1:11:43My panel joins me now. And Sarah Fisher, I want to start with you. One, because this is your world and you've broken a ton of news on this throughout the course of the day. But also because this isn't happening in isolation. When I say this is your world, this is also happening in the midst of a major corporate hostile takeover. Involves CNN. I am not directly involved in it. Way above my pay grade. Explain what's actually happening here. Okay. So Paramount, which is the parent company to CBS and CBS News, has waged a hostile takeover bid for Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent to CNN, as well as HBO Max and Warner Brothers Pictures.

1:12:16And there is a sense that in order to get that merger possibly approved from a regulatory perspective, if their bid gets selected by Warner Brothers Discovery, it's so far been rejected, that they would need to cozy up to the administration. So you have that happening at one sense. And then in the other, you see this interview getting yanked from the air on Sunday. The woman who yanked it, CBS's new editor-in-chief, Barry Weiss, says that she wasn't canceling it. She just was delaying it until further reporting was done. People look at that move of pulling this at the 11th hour and they say, wow, that seems like it could be politically motivated, that the owners of Paramount wanted to shelve this interview critical of the Trump administration to possibly get the favor of their deal.

1:13:02Personally, I've done a lot of reporting on this. I've talked to a lot of people here. I think that those two things actually are happening a little bit in isolation of one another. I think Barry Weiss got a look at this on Thursday. She saw that it did not include comment from Trump administration officials, even though, according to my reporting, they did provide comment ahead of AIR. The State Department, the DHS, and the White House all provided comment that wasn't included. And so that's why she decided to spike it. Now, could she have handled it differently? Sure, and we can discuss that with the panel.

1:13:33But I think the problem, Phil, is that even if you have good reason to delay a segment like that, people don't trust your reasoning, given the political climate. I wanted to get on that in a second. But just real quick, you said spike it or delay it or whatever. Do we expect that this is ever going to run at this point? Well, a leaked copy of it is out. So I have reviewed that video. And if you go to Axios.com, I have a piece explaining everything that's in it. But essentially, I don't know how you run it now that it's all over YouTube and TikTok and X. The leaked video, it shows a 13-minute segment, shows the correspondent from 60 Minutes, Sharon Alfonsi, interviewing someone from Human Rights Watch, students at the University of Berkeley that worked with Human Rights Watch on data, and two prisoners that were held captive in CECOT.

1:14:24It does not include any administration officials on the record except for a few cut videos, one from Kristi Noem, the DHS secretary and Caroline Leavitt. And I don't know how you run the segment now that it's been leaked out like this. I think what happened was a Canadian broadcaster inadvertently ran it because you yank it so last minute. Sometimes people don't get the memo. Someone recorded it with their phone and now it's viral. And now you have it, which is actually the natural progression of things for somebody who breaks all the news that you break. Well, I think a lot of people probably shared initial reactions of, uh-oh, on some level.

1:14:59After listening to all that and kind of how this has played out throughout the course of the day, where are you on kind of how this all transpired? I don't know. I mean, this whole thing seems like it's a huge mess, right? But I do think Sarah brings up one really important point, well, many important points, but the one that really resonated with me is that there is a trust issue right now. We were talking in the green room earlier. when these big corporate entities are making plays to buy large news companies, and those corporate entities either have business that they're trying to put before the administration or a political agenda sometimes.

1:15:35I mean, when the Ellisons first said that they were taking over CBS, yes, President Trump praised it because these guys were big supporters of mine, he said, right? And so this challenge that we have with trust in the media seems to be getting exacerbated, not resolved by some of the moves that we're seeing take place out there. I mean, look, I see this in two different directions. I agree with Sarah's point. I don't know how you run a story without getting someone from the administration, a higher ranking official on the record on camera, not just a mere statement from someone like a press secretary, but someone like a Stephen Miller on camera and say, look, we want to get your thoughts on our reporting.

1:16:20And maybe you can't pull that off at the last minute. Maybe you've got to schedule that a month in advance, and maybe that does indeed delay the story. So in that vein, I would agree you've got to get somebody on the record, in my personal opinion. And by the way, I would have the same expectation if it was a conservative leaning outlet covering a Democrat. I would say, look, guys, we need to get someone from the other side, from the administration, on the record on this. before we just run this story. Two, I agree with every single thing that Mo said. The general public has got to understand that major corporations have a singular fiduciary responsibility as it pertains to finances.

1:16:52And when you're buying an organization, even if it's a news one, you're going to be guided. Your decision-making at the end of the day is by the finances. And so if you're going to make a decision that may abruptly disrupt what a major corporation is trying to do, vis-a-vis buying CNN, buying Warner Brothers, etc., But as a CEO, I'm going to say you need to can that because this is not in the interest of our long-term goals. And by the way, you've got a board. And that board is going to more than likely tell you to do the same thing whether people like it or not. It's all about the finances. I would just push back on that in that there is a lot of money to be made in really good quality journalism.

1:17:24Sure. Like 60 Minutes is the number one news program in America for 51 seasons consecutively. Obviously, it shows after football, but it still speaks to the fact that you have a very lucrative program here that you don't want to be messing with. And so I do think that I hear you, Sir Michael, but I also think that actually sometimes the fastest shortcut to success is actually taking no shortcuts. And in this case, if you had just let the journalism be independent, I actually think that's the best business case. If I could just real quick. I agree with that, Sarah. But I would say under the circumstances where the president pretty publicly in the past several weeks have made some very interesting statements about Skydance, the parent company of CBS, where it appears that he may not be on board with them purchasing a Warner Brothers discovery.

1:18:14I'll just tell you a little. They're probably thinking, hey, maybe we need to be careful here. But they have really, really good lobbyists. They know it actually doesn't matter. Like the president can try to push his DOJ to sue to block any deal. Ultimately, and I sat in court for the AT &T Time Warner case. Ultimately, it's going to come down to you need to convince an independent judge that you have a case. And so the president doesn't actually have that much sway over this deal. Are they thinking about it that way, though? Yeah, yeah, yeah. A hundred percent. Can I just follow on one thing?

1:18:41And then I want real quick to have Mo's response to it as well. To be very clear, and I think Alfonso says this in her email, they reached out, they asked to have somebody on camera. They did not get any response to have somebody on camera. Whether they got response, I think to Sarah's point, to have somebody on camera, which I think was one of the critical aspects that they thought was missing. And let's be honest here, for people who don't necessarily understand how this works, administration officials, or the side that you're writing about, decides not to put somebody on camera precisely to try and undercut or make it difficult for you to complete a story at times.

1:19:09That is a strategy, and an intentional one at that. And so the idea of, well, if you don't have anybody on camera we can't run the story, if the administration knows that they're going to say, we're not running this story. Especially if they've got written comment from them, if that's, you know, indeed the case. She didn't have to pull the story. She could have just included the written comment, right, as a, you know, the written response. So the whole thing was sloppy. It was messy. And it feeds into the political, you know, stuff that, which the president himself fuels constantly. Yeah, there's, this is complicated.

1:19:43And it also underscores why There's a lack of literacy into what we do that is really hanging over all of this on some level. Appreciate your great reporting. Appreciate you guys, as always. Thank you very much. Well, the dog days of tariffs. While they're eating into the profits of one pet food business, the founder joins us next.

1:20:04We're back now with our Business Leaders series, where we talk to small business owners from coast to coast about the impact of President Trump's tariffs. Bundle Enjoy Pet Food and Treats hit shelves three years ago. It's a brand dedicated to gut-healthy and allergy-friendly products for dogs and one of the only female-founded pet food companies in the U.S. Founder Jess Berger joins me now. Just really appreciate your time. Just to start, kind of top line, how have tariffs impacted the growth of your business this year? Well, we're really proud that this year in 2025, we'll grow nearly 3x to last year.

1:20:38As a three-year-old company, we've already hit the shelves of retailers like Walmart and PetSmart. Unfortunately, this year, a small section of our business was impacted by tariffs. We had committed a retailer buy, which means over a year ago, we had committed to product going into a store. And I got the call that the tariffs were suddenly being hiked up to 145%. And all of a sudden, I had a$200 ,000 bill I was not prepared for. What's your response? I mean, I'm trying to think through how a small business owner would be able to react in that moment. What do you do when you lose capital like that?

1:21:16Well, you know, in that moment, immediately, I was like, what can I do right now? Right. I was calling my broker. I was calling my manufacturer. Can I delay picking up this product? You know, it was in the moment where 145 percent tariffs were a reality. And I was given no options. I wasn't able to find alternate methods to get my products here. And so I was basically told that I didn't have options. This year, that$200 ,000 may not sound like a lot, but as a small business, it has entirely impacted our operating cash flow. We've had to take on more debt. We've had to lay off employees. We're a small team of five.

1:21:51And even though we're growing, it has put such a cloud on our business this year. Looking forward, there's been, you talk to administration officials, they say, look, there's some stability now, some certainty now about the path forward. Obviously, the 145 % has been dropped on some pretty significant amount. How durable that is, we'll see over time. Do you feel like you're able to plan to expand at all? Are you still kind of in the same place of uncertainty? Complete uncertainty this year. We have had to take a subsection of our brand. You know, luckily, a lot of our products, our nutrition products are all made here in the U.S., but we haven't known how to pivot or how to move forward in our pet toy business, for example.

1:22:29The pet industry has already seen a 30 % increase in toys, supplies, things that structurally just don't make sense to manufacture here in the U.S. And so for us as a small business, we've had to completely set aside a portion of our business, find ways to make up that revenue. And candidly, we've been in a holding pattern because how do I commit pricing to retailers a year from now, having no clue what's even going to happen in 90 days? Just real quick before I let you go, if there's one thing you could tell the administration or policymakers, what would it be? You know, I continue to hear that the tariffs really, you know, stuck it to somebody else.

1:23:04And the reality is I'm a small business owner and I stand before you to say I'm the one that was impacted by those tariffs, my community, my team. And we're still struggling. We're a very strong small business and I'm trying to pursue the American dream. And I'm still struggling. And I don't know when and if I'll ever see those funds come back. But I'm going to move forward and I'm going to persevere despite that. But I feel for a lot of small business owners this year that weren't able to turn the corner. Well, we really appreciate your time. And we want viewers to know you can buy Bundle and Joy Pet Food at Costco, PetSmart, Walmart, Whole Foods and Sprouts and online at Amazon and Chewy.

1:23:42Jess Berger, really appreciate it. Thanks so much. Yeah, thank you so much. Happy holidays. Likewise. Well, you can follow the show on X and Instagram at The Lead CNN. And if you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett out front. Starts now.

1:24:03Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. You'll hear deeply moving and honest discussions with people who have faced and are living with life-altering losses. My guest is writer, poet Megan Fowley, who is married to the poet Andrea Gibson. Andrea died last summer after a years-long battle with cancer. Is grief different than you thought it would be? Yes, it is. I don't think that I thought that I would be able to have as much joy as I've had. I guess if I wasn't able to find joy and laughter now, I would have missed the point of Andrew's messaging.

1:24:47Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.