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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
New Video Shows U.S. Forces Seizing Oil Tanker Near Venezuela; Interview with Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA); Trump Continues to Call Affordability a "Democratic Hoax"; Third Federal Judge Grants Request to Unseal Epstein-related Records; Trump Calls Reporting Raising Questions About His Health Seditious, Perhaps Even Treasonous; Prosecution Rests in the Brian Walshe Murder Trial; Syrians Celebrate First Anniversary of Assad Regime's Downfall; Syrian Army Driver Reveals Mass Grave Location; Plane Lands on Car on Florida Highway. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired December 10, 2025 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ... certainly by the spring and the summer they expect there will be something of a community back here. But developers can do this quick, you know, permits in a couple of months, build in a year. For a lot of people, it's going to take a lot longer.
But there is some hope. I mean, Mike, the P.J. here, the photographer can still smell smoke, I can't, but I can see green. We had some rain, so it's lush. There is a feeling rebirth. No one can move into this yet, Erica, but it's still a symbol of hope.
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Yes, it certainly is, it's great. Great to see you, Nick, thank you.
Thanks to all of you for joining us tonight. AC360 starts right now.
[20:00:34]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, the administration escalates the Naval campaign against Venezuela's seizing an oil tanker said to be carrying Venezuelan crude and telling Colombia's President, "He's going to be next".
Also tonight, the President has asked to reconcile his promise to make America affordable again with his claim that affordability is a Democratic hoax. How he answered, how he's dodging responsibility, and where that leaves him with voters.
And later, the subject he says he's tired of hearing about but can't stop talking about his health and the apparent trouble he's having keeping his eyes open. He calls reporting on it, quote, "seditious, perhaps even treasonous."
Good evening, thanks for joining us. We begin tonight with new video of the Trump administrations latest move against Venezuela. Attorney General Pam Bondi put it out this evening, shows American forces boarding an oil tanker coming down lines from hovering choppers, making their way to quoting from the Attorney General's social media post: Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security investigations and the U.S. Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
A senior U.S. official tells CNN it had Venezuelan crude on board, was sailing in international waters, and no one was injured in the boarding operation.
Now, the video came out just a short time after this from the President setting the stage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the Coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually. And other things are happening, so, you'll be seeing that later, and we'll be talking about that later with some other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: They said the tanker was seized, "for very good reason," and when asked what would happen to the oil, he replied, "We keep it, I guess". Late today, the Venezuelan government called the seizure, "Act of International Piracy," calling it "a deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources."
Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, also weighed in shortly before the President announced the operation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELA'S LEADER (through translator): Our message to the people of the United States remains the same -- peace. Peace above all else. No to crazy war. No to bloodshed for oil. No to war for oil, the recipe for eternal wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, the administration, as you know, now has a full carrier battle group in the region, along with other warships and air assets, and though the President had no words for President Maduro today, he had this warning for the President of neighboring Colombia concerning that countries role in the drug trade.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So, he better wise up, or he will be next. He'll be next, too. I hope he's listening. He's going to be next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, as for Venezuela, today's tanker seizure follows weeks of deadly U.S. attacks on Venezuelan small vessels allegedly being used for drug smuggling. The most notorious, of course, being the September 2nd so-called double tap strike, in which two survivors of the initial bombardment were targeted in a follow on strike.
Tonight, the House of Representatives approved a massive new Defense spending bill containing language that cuts off a portion of Defense Secretary Hegseth's travel budget if he does not turn over unedited video of that strike, something the President a week ago today said he had no problem doing. Monday, he denied having said that at all. And today, here's what he said when asked about it by CNN's Kristen Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Has Secretary Hegseth told you why he hasn't released the video of the second strike?
TRUMP: No, he hasn't told me. I thought that issue was dead. It surprised you bringing him. You must be CNN. Are you CNN?
HOLMES: I am with CNN.
TRUMP: Oh, I'm shocked to find out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that isn't the only thing the President had to say about CNN today. He was asked what changes he wants to see at CNN in terms of any deal, it's current parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, makes with Netflix, Paramount or any other potential buyer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I'm not involved in that. I will be probably involved, maybe involved in the decision. It depends.
You have some good companies bidding on it. I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace. I think it's imperative that CNN be sold, because you certainly wouldn't want to put people -- just leave those people with some money, good money -- and CNN so that, you know, they can spend even more money spreading poison because it's lies, it's a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: For more on the U.S. presence in the Caribbean, I'm joined by House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith. So, Congressman, do you think the American seizure of the tanker was the right move? And if the goal is to further pressure the Maduro regime ahead of possible land strikes, do you think it will work?
[20:05:16]
REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): No, I don't think it's the right move. And he hasn't adequately explained it. I mean, why did we seize this oil tanker and threatening war against Venezuela I think is a major mistake. I mean, remember, President Trump ran in part saying, we've been engaged in all of these forever wars, these conflicts that we've gotten sucked into that have wound up costing Americans far more than we benefited from. And I think there were a lot of people who were sympathetic to that after 20 plus years of various wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere.
And now, he's doing the exact opposite as President. He's expanding the idea of where we should go to war against all drug traffickers, apparently, and now against any country in the Western Hemisphere that he doesn't think is toeing the American line.
We should not be trying to dominate the Western Hemisphere. This is going to drag us into a conflict that is incredibly costly for the country, and it should be contrary to the values and principles of America. And let's keep in mind there's no congressional authorization for any of this. He's doing it unilaterally and I think contrary to the Constitution.
COOPER: Back when he was first running, back in 2015-2016, he talked a lot about taking Iraq's oil essentially as payment for the war there. Obviously, you know, his plan never saw, you know, fruit on that. Do you think this is about taking oil from Venezuela?
SMITH: I think this is about something broadly worse than that. And if you read the National Security strategy that was released last Thursday, look, we worked very hard over the course of the last 80 years to try to build a world that wasn't just about the most powerful nations, you know, subjugating the less powerful nations. That was the basic principle. You know, after World War I and World War II, we thought having that type of world led to almost the destruction of the planet. Let's move in a different direction.
Let's try to set up a rules based international order based on the rule and let's not try to dominate people. Now, there's all kinds of details around that, to be sure. And President Trump wants to erase all of that. I mean, remember he came to office saying that he wanted to take Greenland and Panama and annex Canada. I mean, those are not the principles our country is supposed to be, you know, advocating
And so, I think it's really troubling that he has expanded this and wants the U.S. to be what we used to refer to as a rogue nation, as a nation that's just going to use its power to dominate its neighbors. We shouldn't be about that.
COOPER: I also want to ask you about the Annual National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed in the House today, as you know, contained language to compel the Pentagon to turn over the unedited video of the September 2nd double strike or the second strike. If it's not turned over, Congress would curtail a quarter of the Defense Secretary's travel budget. Do you think that is enough of a penalty to actually get the secretary to turn over the footage?
SMITH: Probably not, it's what we could get Republicans in Congress to agree to. They are in the majority in the House and the Senate, and by their standards, it's a significant step. And I want to make it clear, the President is wrong, this is not over. I mean, they promised to release this video. And I'll tell you the reason they're not releasing this video is if the American public saw it, they would realize that President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and all manner of different Republicans have been lying about what's on it. It would undercut their basic argument.
COOPER: You've seen the video.
SMITH: There are going to be a lot more robust investigations.
I have, yes. So, and it goes beyond the video. Again, understand the power that the President is trying to assert here, the power to treat any drug trafficker anywhere as a legitimate target for U.S. Military lethal force is an unbelievable expansion of Presidential power. And this point has been made many times. But remember, all the drug dealers that he's pardoned? Certainly the Honduras one, Ross Ulbricht, the silk road guy who was laundering through crypto billions of dollars in drug money.
What this is about is President Trump again, wanting to assert dominance and go outside the rule of law so that the U.S. and he, as President, can do whatever he wants to.
I think we should investigate this aggressively and get after the underpinnings and also the specifics of this strike, which, based on what I've seen, deserve a robust investigation.
COOPER: Congressman Adam Smith, thank you.
Joining us now is CNN global affairs analyst, Brett McGurk. Brett, what stands out to you about this, how this tanker was seized?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, what's interesting about this, Anderson, and look, I agree with Adam Smith. The administration owes transparency on what is going on in Venezuela. We have a quarter of our naval deployed assets off the coast. We have carrier strike groups, amphibious assault ships. But this action, from what I can tell, is actually kind of by the book. This ship, Anderson, was actually sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2022.
So, in the Biden administration, there was a warrant issued by a federal court about two weeks ago for civil forfeiture action. And when that happens, and this happened in the Biden administration, I was a part of some of these. The Justice Department or from Intelligence, you might be able to find the ship. The Justice Department will say, can we seize this ship? Is there a way to do it? There might be foreign policy implications.
But we've done this in the past, and this ship was actually implicated for smuggling Iranian oil to benefit the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps under U.S. criminal authorities. So, if that's what happened here, this is actually not totally out of the ordinary. And I would not categorize this the same as a kinetic strikes against the narco- boats, which is very novel and raises serious questions.
[20:10:52]
COOPER: So, you don't think this is part of a larger U.S. pressure campaign on Maduro, or is that, could it be both?
MCGURK: Well, it could be both. I think definitely, look, from what I can see, this is a regime change policy from what the President is saying and this massive military buildup. I mean, it's just incredible, we have not had this type of military presence in the Caribbean and in that part of the Atlantic since the Cuban missile crisis. So, this is, we're kind of in unprecedented territory. So it can be both. But the authorities used today were congressionally mandated authorities. This ship was sanctioned under Iranian related authorities. There was a warrant by U.S. federal court.
So, this seems to have been done as you would want something like this to be done legally with authorization from independent branches of government. In this case, the judicial branch. Again, we've done this, we did one in 2023, a ship called the Suez Rajan. We seized the oil, it was then forfeited by U.S. federal court. It becomes property of the U.S. government. That seems to be what's happening here.
Now, I would want to see over the coming days and weeks, are we seizing every ship that comes out of Venezuela under other authorities or questionable authorities or no authorities? But in this case, with this ship, with this network, part of a vast ghost fleet, Anderson, there's about a thousand of these ships. Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan, that is kind of a cat and mouse game that goes on all around the world.
COOPER: All right, Brett McGurk. Thank you.
Coming up next, the is the President following President Biden's political footsteps when it comes to the economy, how his recent claims about the affordability crisis and who's to blame for it are raising some alarms among Republicans.
And later, the prosecution rests in the murder trial of Brian Walshe. What one of the last people to see his wife alive said on the stand, and a look back at some of the state's evidence, including the defendant's online search history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long before your body starts to smell? Google search. Article, ten ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to, page seven.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:16]
COOPER: President Trump at a roundtable event with business leaders today once again spoke about affordability, but once again likely not in the way his advisers and many fellow Republicans would hope. We'll have more on what he said in a moment. But first, how we got here ever since election day last month, when Democrats won a number of high profile races running on affordability issue, it's become a bit of a fixation for the President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: The word affordability is a con job by the Democrats.
Affordability is a hoax that was started by Democrats.
The word affordability is a Democrat scam.
There's this fake narrative that the Democrats talk about affordability.
They use the word affordability. It's a Democrat hoax.
You can call it affordability or anything you want. But the Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we're the ones that are fixing it.
The Democrats love to say affordability, but then they never talk about it. They're the ones that gave us the high prices. I'm the one that's bringing them down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Democrats have continued to notch wins in recent elections, and it's led to a White House push to get the commander-in-chief out on the road to try to remind Americans that this businessman President can fix the problem, what historically was his number one issue. This was him in an interview with POLITICO's Dasha Burns yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DASHA BURNS, POLITICO, JOURNALIST: I wonder what grade you would give --
TRUMP: A plus.
BURNS: A plus.
TRUMP: A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was followed by a campaign style rally in Pennsylvania.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability. So, they look at the camera and they say, this election is all about affordability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, calling the affordability issue a Democratic hoax, yet again, likely not what his advisers had in mind is not helpful for Republicans certainly running for reelection in the midterms. So, the President was asked about his statement last night at today's roundtable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You have called the affordability crisis as a Democratic hoax, but you also want to make America affordable.
TRUMP: No, the word the word that they use is a hoax. And because they're the ones that caused the problem. I'm only -- no, I'm talking about when you, you know, you're trying to say it a different way. That's pretty simple, though, if you listen, it's a hoax where they created the problem. They're the ones that gave the high prices.
So, when they use the word affordability, they shouldn't be using that word because they're the ones that created this problem. They created the highest inflation in history, and they created the highest prices in history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, after a brief detour about the border, he then did finally end on a more concise message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Very simply, the Democrats created the worst crisis of inflation that this country has ever had. And with that came the highest prices that we've ever had and I'm fixing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:15]
COOPER: For more, I want to bring in Republican strategist, former RNC Communications Director, Doug Heye, along with Gretchen Carlson, journalist and co-founder of "Lift Our Voices."
Doug, what are voters supposed to think when they hear the President give himself an a plus, plus on the economy and also at the same time, kind of pooh-pooh affordability?
DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes, Anderson, I just saw some new numbers from a Republican pollster that showed that that the approval on Trump's rhetoric on and his actions on the issue of prices, you can say affordability, you can say costs, you know, but that's the main issue or on the economy as a whole. Both are in the 20's. Those are terrible numbers for any President. They're especially terrible numbers if you're a businessman President and you've built your entire persona for decades on being a successful businessman, somebody who can fix economic issues.
And I'm surprised by Trump, because he did message on this so effectively during the last Presidential election. And right now I'm watching him struggle and it reminds me of the previous administration. Learn some lessons from your own recent past. There are ways that you can talk about it that the numbers are really rough for you on what things cost on the issue of affordability, but there are ways you can talk about it and have some success. This just sure is not it. COOPER: Yes, I mean, Gretchen, it is deja vu all over again. I mean,
it is like, you know, these discussions we had during the Biden administration where Biden was naming it Bidenomics. And, you know, the Republicans were hammering him on it.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, CO-FOUNDER, "LIFT OUR VOICES": Exactly, and the one thing that doesn't lie is the economy. I mean, it's one of these things that Trump just can't lie his way out of or talk his way out of. And that is extremely problematic because when people go to the polls for the midterm elections that are going to be here before we know it, they're going to be voting on how they feel on that particular day. And the economy is an incredibly emotional feeling. This is not necessarily about immigration, where you don't live on a border state, so you're not totally feeling it.
But most Americans are feeling the economy and that's what's problematic for him. Instead, he went on these rants last night against his political enemies again. And if you're coming from a Brown or Black country, you're not going to be welcome in this country. It's like, wait a minute, he could have nuanced this. He could have said, I inherited a horrible inflationary economy. However, this is what I'm doing to try to fix it. And he's not doing that and until he does that, it's going to be a problem.
COOPER: Doug, I want to read something that Erick Erickson, who's a conservative radio host, posted online about how the President and his party are dealing with the economy. Erickson said: Republicans will excuse this the same way Democrats excuses all of Biden's issues and will get the same results Democrats got. Welcome, Speaker Jeffries.
Do you think Erickson is right?
HEYE: Quite potentially so, and look, history tells us that what happens in midterm elections are generally bad. Not every time, but most terms are bad for the party that's in power. And when you have numbers the way that they are right now, granted, were a year out, it's safe to say that it's more likely than not that Democrats would take over the house. But I would caution Democrats just in the past 24 hours, Anderson, following especially this Mayor's race.
In Miami that the Democrats won, I've started to hear the word wave. And I would tell my Democratic friends, learn the lessons from Republicans in 2022. When they talked about a Republican wave a year before the election and then the wave wasn't big enough. They had to say it was going to be a tsunami, and what happened? Republicans succeeded in what their goal was. They removed Nancy Pelosi as Speaker for a second time, but it was the Democrats that got the throw the party after the election.
And we saw Joe Biden on stage saying, what a great night it was for Democrats. And the reality is, sometimes, Anderson, politics isn't hard. Gretchen knows this very well. You communicate plainly and simply, and I'm reminded of Bull Durham. You know, we're going to take this one election at a time, and Good Lord willing, we're going to be there in the fight on election day. If you do that, instead of promising waves and tsunamis months in advance, you do a much better job for your cause.
COOPER: Well, Gretchen, I mean, to Doug's point, again, it is remarkable how history just repeats itself and so quickly.
CARLSON: Because the economy is something you don't fool with. Like you can have rhetoric about a bunch of other things. And we all know politicians like to extrapolate on things that aren't necessarily the truth, but the economy is something that you just can't fool with and people feel it. And so, I would really -- I agree with Doug like it's way too early to be calling anything a wave.
The economy will decide the midterm elections, the economy will decide the Presidential election in three years. It's what it's all about. And if Trump had lived up to his campaign promises where he said he would fix prices on the first day in office, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now, but that's not what happened.
[20:25:11]
COOPER: Gretchen Carlson, Doug Heye, thanks.
Next, with the deadline fast approaching for the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, another federal judge opens the door to the public learning, more from court records about the case.
Also tonight, why the President is calling a report about his health seditious, perhaps even treasonous. We are keeping them honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: For the third time in as many days, a federal judge has ruled to release documents relating to the investigation into accused sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. Now, grand jury transcripts and other investigative materials in the New York case against Epstein are going to be unsealed in accordance with that Epstein Transparency Act that as you know was signed into law last month.
[20:30:25]
Now, it's unclear how much of the evidence will be new to the public. Yesterday, a separate judge ordered the release of grand jury materials on the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell. And again, the Justice Department now has just nine days to release that redacted version of the rest of its files on Epstein.
We're joined by New York Democratic Congressman and former Federal Prosecutor, Dan Goldman. Is it clear to you, Congressman, how much light these newly -- these newly unsealed documents may shed on Epstein's alleged sex trafficking operation? For instance, I mean, do you expect to see the contents of his electronic devices that were seized from his apartment in Manhattan?
REP. DANIEL GOLDMAN, (D-NY) JUDICIARY AND HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEES: Well, those should be released under these orders, and it's not because of the grand jury transcripts that are being unsealed, it's because the protective orders are being unsealed. And that is what prevented the Department of Justice, in theory, from turning over so many of the critical evidentiary materials. The grand jury transcripts are not going to reveal that much. It's likely, I believe, it's already out there, that there's one FBI agent, maybe another agent as well, who summarized testimony.
But the discovery materials, the evidentiary files that are referenced in those orders, that is where the meat and the nuts of the case will be. And so, they should turn all that over and that will be what we want to see.
COOPER: I was talking to Miami Herald's Julie K. Brown last night. As you know, her reporting was crucial in exposing the Epstein scandal. She again raised the fact that his autopsy report has never been released and it hasn't really been much talked about. Do you think that could and should be released by federal authorities?
GOLDMAN: Yeah, I think, I mean, if it's in the Department of Justice's possession, it is part of the Epstein Investigative Files, and therefore, under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, it must be disclosed to Congress. And this is why it was so important that that bill pass, because everything else that the Republicans have done, as a sham investigation, didn't include all of these critical materials. And so this is a good sign, at least, that they're going to the judge to get the unsealing orders that they need to get in order to turn over the materials. I'm very curious how much they are going to redact, however, Anderson.
COOPER: And that's of course, up to Pam Bondi, essentially.
GOLDMAN: Right. And the bill makes it very clear that it is just information related to victims, but there are other exceptions in the bill that could be abused and misused. And that I think is important for us to understand what is an itemized list of what the evidence is, what was turned over and what was -- is not being turned over pursuant to any exception that they want to invoke.
COOPER: Well, as you know, at the president's encouragement, shall we say, Pam Bondi has opened up an -- or says that there's an investigation related to Democrats and the Epstein files, do you think that will be used as reason to say some things can't be released?
GOLDMAN: It absolutely should not. That is a farce. That is designed solely by the president to direct his Department of Justice to conceal evidence that could potentially incriminate him or involve him. That is a massive red herring, that is completely bogus. And if the Department of Justice does try to rely on that, then there better be a full outcry, not only from the American public, but from House Republicans and Senate Republicans who voted for this bill. That is a bogus reason that should never be cited for withholding any documents.
COOPER: And before I let you go, I know you're supporting legislation that would stop ICE from arresting immigrants when they show up for court appearances. Obviously, that's unlikely to be passed by their Republican-controlled Congress, nevermind, signed into law by the president. Do you have a plan B? GOLDMAN: Well, it's a really important step that we took on Monday, with my colleagues from New York, Adriano Espaillat and Nydia Velazquez, to introduce a bill that makes it very clear that those who are appearing in court or checking in with ICE, because they are following legal pathways to immigrate to this country, cannot be arrested. What we found when we went to 26 Federal Plaza on Monday is that an estimated 75 to 80 percent of those who have court appearances are not showing up because of fear of being arrested.
That means they're foregoing their asylum case or their other lawful application, they're going underground. That is exactly what we do not want. And yet, that is what this administration's immigration dragnet is doing.
[20:35:00]
COOPER: Yeah. Congressman Dan Goldman, appreciate it. Thank you.
GOLDMAN: Thank you.
COOPER: Coming up next, the president rails against reporting on his health, calling it seditious, perhaps even treasonous. We're keeping him honest. And the prosecution rests in the trial of Brian Walshe, who is accused of murdering his wife. He was one of the last people to see her alive, testified to it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:40:00]
COOPER: Keeping them honest. Tonight, the president of the United States wants you to know a thing or two or three about his health. Now, when we left you last night, he was in the middle of a long campaign rally type speech in eastern Pennsylvania. It was billed as his answer to the affordability crisis, complete with signs saying lower prices and bigger paychecks. It turned into a long monolog covering everything from windmills to transgender athletes to late night comedy shows, and sleepy Joe Biden. The last of which might have gotten him thinking because not long afterwards, he posted a long missive on his social media.
Quoting the first line, "There has never been a president that has worked as hard as me." Now he goes on to say, "After all the work I have done with medical exams, cognitive exams, and everything else, I actually believe it's seditious, perhaps even treasonous for the New York Times and others to consistently do fake reports in order to libel and demean the president of the United States. They are true enemies of the people, and we should do something about it."
So it's now potentially treasonous, he says, to report on questions surrounding the president's health, stamina, and cognitive abilities, even though there are multiple videos of him appearing to nod off or at least close his eyes for rather long periods of time during some recent public appearances. This is from one cabinet meeting last week, which has led to similar questions, to the kind that were asked when Joe Biden was in the White House or on the debate stage. And now, this president who certainly can appear very vigorous at times and seems to be up often during the night on social media, is chafing when people notice he does not seem to be able to keep his eyes open even when being loudly praised by a cabinet member sitting right next to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Listen, we got a million things to focus on in the world as a country, but he's the only leader in the world that can help end it. And that's why we're -- that's why even as we speak to you now, Steve Witkoff is in Moscow, trying to find a way to end this war to save lives of 8,000 to 9,000 people, Mr. President, as you well know, are dying every week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, he did a lot of listening with his eyes closed during the last photo -- that photo op. And again, it is not the only such instance. Late last month, the New York Times published a lengthy piece on the subject under the headline, "Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Reality of Aging in Office." And earlier this week, columnist Frank Bruni wrote an op-ed titled "Trump's Approval Ratings Have Declined, So Has His Vigor." Now in it, Bruni refers to that cabinet meeting, writing just how rundown must a raging narcissist be to snooze through tributes to his own greatness, which is the sort of thing that could get under anyone's skin, president or not.
But if this president is tired of hearing about it, he's certainly never tired of talking about it in a way almost guaranteed to keep the conversation going, especially his cognitive fitness, and it's been that way for years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It was just an MRI. What part of the body? It wasn't the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it. I got a perfect mark, which you would be incapable of doing.
And I took a cognitive exam and I would challenge anybody here to meet those marks.
I took two cognitive tests and I aced them both.
I am cognitively great. Perfect. And I've had tests.
I took a cognitive test my doctor gave me and I aced it.
Like a memory question, it's, like you'll go person, woman, man, camera, TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining us now CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Anchor of "The Source," Kaitlan Collins. What more do you know about what prompted the president to kind of go down this road, most recently?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF "THE SOURCE": I think, Anderson, it's pretty easy to surmise actually. And it's two of the most sensitive things for the president, and that is reporting on his health or comments or speculation on it, and coverage by the New York Times, which bothers him it seems almost more than any other outlet that covers him. And so I think it's the twin realities of that, that is something that has clearly gotten under the president's skin and is why he's still lashing out about that report that came out a few weeks ago by the New York Times, which was a deeply reported analysis of the president's activities, what he's been doing this term compared to the last term.
And I don't think it's that surprising actually, if he has scaled back domestic travel as it noted in that report. But he is increased foreign travel, because obviously the president has aged since he was last in office. That's not surprising to anyone. It's something that we've had a huge conversation about from President Biden to now President Trump. And so, it's something that obviously bothered the president because he doesn't like when people question his age or imply that he is not up for the job. And I think that really this was just an analysis of what that looks like now compared to eight years ago.
And so, one thing I will note, Anderson, is the White House always talks about their desire to be the most transparent administration. It is something the president himself always touts. But you heard him there talking about his MRI saying he didn't get it for his brain because he has aced cognitive test. It actually took a long time for us to get answers, concrete answers from the White House about why the president did actually get an MRI when he went back to Walter Reed in October. That was something we didn't get until earlier this month, about two months after that had happened.
And so, that is why there's actually been so many questions about this. Also, just given the nature of him being one of the oldest presidents in office at the time that he is in office, naturally raises questions about his age.
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But obviously, as you could tell there, from his post, suggesting that this could be treasonous or seditious, he does not appreciate reporting on his age.
COOPER: Is there any concern behind the scenes of the White House that he's throwing around terms like treason and seditious?
COLLINS: Not really. I mean, this is something that he did with those Democrats after they put out that video. It's something that the White House -- it's not that they have like a thick skin on, Anderson. It's just something that's not that surprising for the president, if people go to work for him. Obviously maybe in round one, certainly we talked to White House staffers who were shocked when the president would tweet personal insults or go after people or say certain things. That seems to have really faded, based on my experience and from speaking with White House officials the second time around.
And in this term, a lot of the people that are also covering him or that worked for him, I should note, right now, worked for him in his first term in office and so are well aware of that. But also, Anderson, I think when it comes to the president's age, they are also very defensive about it publicly and talk about the level of energy that he does have. They'll point to things like on Halloween when he came back to White House and passed out candy after that foreign trip to Asia. He was there for hours after that.
But privately behind the scenes, they also acknowledge that he has aged. Obviously, it's been eight years since he's been in this public life.
COOPER: Yeah, Kaitlan, thanks. We'll see you at the top of the hour for "The Source." We have more Breaking News. In the suburbs of Boston, the prosecution has rested its case in the Brian Walshe trial, after testimony from nearly 50 witnesses over eight days. Walshe is accused of murdering his wife, Ana, on New Year's Day 2023. He initially told investigators he had last seen her that day when she left for -- she left her Massachusetts home for the airport. Prosecutors say his statements to police were misleading and he dismembered her body and disposed of her remains. Randi Kaye has more.
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LARRY TIPTON, ATTORNEY FOR BRIAN WALSHE: Brian Walshe never killed him.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On recordings of police interviews played in court --
BRIAN WALSHE, ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS WIFE ANA: Please, please, look at anything that's going to help you.
KAYE (voice-over): Brian Walshe told police his wife, Ana, left the house the morning of January 1st for a work emergency, then vanished. Investigators say it was a lie. Data from Brian Walshe's cell phone shared with the jury, show he texted his wife's phone in the days after her disappearance.
January 2nd, 7:18 p.m., where are you? Please call, text or email.
January 3rd, 6:39 a.m. I'm worried. Please call or email.
A couple hours later, if I don't hear from you this morning, I am going to report you missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, her device (ph) was never recovered, sir.
KAYE (voice-over): By the time Walshe sent those texts, he knew his wife was dead. The defense now claims she died suddenly in bed and that Brian Walshe panicked after finding her. Just before his trial started, unbeknownst to the jury, Walshe pleaded guilty to disposing of her body and misleading police, but insists he didn't kill her. He has pleaded not guilty to murder. Witnesses for the prosecution laid out in disturbing detail, internet searches that Walshe allegedly made, starting before 5:00 a.m. the day in question.
NICHOLAS GUARINO, MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE TROOPER: How long before a body starts to smell, Google search. Article, 10 ways to dispose a dead body if you really need to, Page 7.
KAYE (voice-over): Prosecutor Greg Connor says Walshe also searched, " is it possible to clean DNA off a knife? Best way to dispose of body parts after a murder. And better to throw away crime scene clothes or wash them?" Cell phone data shared with jurors show after his wife's death, Brian Walshe went shopping. That's him on January 1st on surveillance video at Lowe's, wearing a mask and surgical gloves, purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of supplies according to prosecutors. In his cart, five gallon buckets, dozens of towels, disposable rags, and a hacksaw. Prosecutors say this is him on surveillance video at a CVS.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was purchased in the transaction? According to the receipt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five bottles of hydrogen peroxide spray.
KAYE (voice-over): Prosecutors say a man matching Walshe's description appeared on surveillance at Home Depot too, where he bought cleaning supplies and a hatchet. After that, the jurors learned of more Google searches. "Hacksaw best tool to dismember. Can you be charged with murder without a body? And can you identify a body with broken teeth?" On cross-examination, Walshe's defense attorney argued those Google searches may not have been anything nefarious.
TIPTON: That if someone entered specific search terms like how to dispose of a body, the results could simply be here, take the body to a cemetery, something like that.
KAYE (voice-over): Prosecutors also shared this surveillance video of a man resembling Walshe from early January 2023, throwing away black trash bags in a dumpster near Walshe's mother's home and various other locations. The jury was shown photos of several items recovered from the trash that appeared to be covered in blood.
GREG CONNOR, PROSECUTOR: The police went to those dumpsters, rugs, a Tyvek suit, a hammer, shears, snips, a hatchet, and a hacksaw.
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KAYE (voice-over): Jurors also heard from a forensic scientist who testified, he found traces of blood at the Walshe home on a kitchen knife, the stairs leading down to the basement, and on the basement floor. Prosecutors have previously said Ana Walshe's blood was recovered in the basement of her home and that the couple's DNA was found on items located in dumpsters. During a police interview played in court, Walshe told investigators he had no idea how graphic internet searches ended up on his six-year-old's iPad. Those searches began before dawn the day Ana Walshe allegedly died and included how to clean blood from wooden floor.
WALSHE: I mean, I don't use an iPad, so that's really weird. KAYE (voice-over): Ana Walshe's former boss also testified. He spent New Year's Eve at the couple's home and was the last person known to have seen Ana alive other than her husband. He offered this detail about when Brian Walshe called him to say his wife was "missing."
GEM MUTLU, ANA WALSHE'S FORMER BOSS AND FRIEND: I said, listen, did you guys have an argument or something? Did you have a fight? Well, his response was, no. Did it look like we had an argument? You were there. I said, you've got to call the police. His tone was not panicked.
KAYE (voice-over): Why would Brian Walshe allegedly kill his wife? Prosecutors have suggested he knew she was having an affair. He was also the sole beneficiary of her $2.7 million life insurance policy. Walshe faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first degree murder.
Randi Kaye, CNN.
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COOPER: Incredible. Just ahead, a desolate patch of Syria where one man says thousands of the former dictator, Bashar al-Assad's victims are buried. Clarissa Ward takes us there next. And an incredible scene caught on camera.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, girl, I have jobs, I swear. Oh! Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.
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COOPER: Syrians waved the country's new flags as they gathered this week to celebrate the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's downfall. And while it may be a new day for Syria, the terror of the past is still being uncovered. Thousands of Syrians disappeared under the brutal dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. CNN's Clarissa Ward spoke to one man who says he knows where many bodies are buried.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This man says he transported the bodies of hundreds of Syrian prisoners every week back in 2014. Now, he's revealing where he says they were buried.
ABU ALI, FORMER SYRIAN ARMY DRIVER (through translator): I was a truck driver. It was a big fridge.
WARD: Like a freezer truck?
ALI (through translator): The bodies came without names. They only had the body number and the number of the security branch.
WARD: His job was basically to drive the bodies from the military hospital and to bring them here to be buried in these mass graves.
WARD (voice-over): Abu Ali, as we're calling him, does not want to reveal his identity out of fear of retribution. Haunted by the shame of his past role under the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
ALI (through translator): We used to come here every week.
WARD (through translator): Every week?
ALI (through translator): Every week.
WARD: So for the period of a year, he was bringing bodies here every week.
ALI (through translator): Sometimes 80, 100, 150, 200, 250, up to 300 bodies approximately.
WARD (through translator): 100, 200 every week?
ALI (through translator): Yes.
WARD: Monitoring groups and investigators believe that there are dozens of mass graves around the country with tens of thousands of bodies in them. But the trouble they have right now is that there simply isn't the expertise, the equipment to do the excavation, the forensic investigation that would be needed to try to identify these people and give their families the closure that they're so desperately seeking.
WARD (voice-over): U.S. based advocacy group, the Syrian Emergency Task Force discovered this site earlier this year. The hope is that Abu Ali's account could help some Syrian families find their loved ones.
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WARD (on camera): Now, clearly there is an uphill battle that Syria and Syrians are facing, both in terms of the economic situation, the massive reconstruction that remains to be done, the security situation with Israel particularly, but also, Anderson, domestically, sectarian tensions and sectarian killings throughout the year. And I think, of course, as you saw also in our story, Anderson, the road towards truth and accountability and justice is going to be a very long one for so many Syrians who suffered crimes and atrocities over 14 years of civil war. Anderson?
COOPER: Clarissa Ward, thank you. Incredible. The next video is pretty amazing. This is what it's like when two men driving on I-95 in Florida see a plane land on a car right in front of them.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, girl, I have jobs, I swear. Oh! Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. A plane just crashed onto a car on a highway right in front of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to pull off.
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COOPER: And the driver --
