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Interview with Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX): Trump, Hegseth Say They Didn't Know About Second Strike on Boat; DHS Launches Immigration Crackdown Operation in New Orleans; Arctic Blast Poised to Shatter Records Across Midwest and Northeast. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 03, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: What are we expecting today?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, today there's going to be more investigators, law enforcement, things entered into evidence that they found from the home, from the dumpsters. Tomorrow, the man she was having the affair with, which is why she wasn't at home for Thanksgiving, she wasn't at home Christmas Eve, she was with him, he is going to take the stand. Very, very wealthy real estate entrepreneur, he's going to take the stand and have to testify.

SIDNER: All right, I know you'll be watching, and we will certainly be bringing you back on the show to talk all about it. Thank you both to you and you, Joe.

JOE JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Congress is preparing to publicly release the Pentagon's investigation into the scandal involving the Defense Secretary, Signal, and military operations. And the Senate's preparing to sit down as well with the admiral who the Defense Secretary says is responsible for that follow-up strike in the Caribbean. What today means for Pete Hegseth's tomorrow.

Plus, if you think it is cold now, buckle up for a new Arctic chill. More than 200 million people are in the freeze zone that's set to break records, reaching from the plains to the Northeast.

And as authorities in Florida put it, how many deputies does it take to evict a 14-foot gator?

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking overnight. Sources tell CNN that Congress has received the classified final Pentagon watchdog report into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his use of the messaging app, Signal, to talk about highly sensitive military operations. This review was launched after a reporter from the Atlantic revealed in March he was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat that discussed upcoming U.S. military strikes in Yemen and included information from Hegseth about U.S. assets and timing, including a very specific message saying, this is when the first bombs will definitely drop.

Now, it's already been a tough week for Hegseth, facing questions about possible war crimes for the double tap strike on an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela. CNN and others have reported that second strike killed survivors. Both President Trump and Hegseth now say they did not know at the time about the second strike.

The White House says the follow-up was ordered by a Navy admiral and maintains it was lawful. Of course, the president has also said he would not have wanted a second strike.

Well, this now is Congressman Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas. Congressman Sessions, good to see you this morning. We heard both President Trump and Secretary Hegseth yesterday explain a little bit more about what they think happened off the coast of Venezuela. Hegseth said he left the room as he was monitoring those attacks before the second strike.

But what questions do you now have about the sequence of events and the decisions that were made?

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): Good morning, John. I think there are a series of questions that surround this. And as you know, those questions are being asked, and that is, who gave the order?

What were the standing orders to be? Had they thought this through? And I will tell you, I had assumed that the military, in their precise fashion, understood directly what the lines of demarcation are, of what they can do, when they can do, whether it's a submarine, whether it's a boat, whether it's in international water, wherever that might be.

But we're going to find out how complete Secretary Hegseth's orders have been, down not just the chain, but to people who might be at SOUTHCOM or wherever they are, that are moving forward on these. So a series of questions, as always, like you've already heard in this earlier report. It takes us time to see, to vet, to get the actual documents.

Congress is going to do it.

BERMAN: You asked about how complete the orders were, maybe even the sequencing of explanations. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, he has some questions about how he says Secretary Hegseth's explanations have changed. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): In this sense, it looks to me like they're trying to pin the blame on somebody else and not them. There's a very distinct statement that was said on Sunday. Secretary Hegseth said he had no knowledge of this and it did not happen. It was fake news. It didn't happen. And then the next day from the podium at the White House, they're saying it did happen.

So either he was lying to us on Sunday or he's incompetent and didn't know it had happened. Do we think there's any chance that on Sunday, the secretary of the defense did not know there had been a second strike?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What do you think of those questions raised by Senator Paul?

SESSIONS: Well, I think that there's a lot of busyness up in Washington, and the White House does not run through their talking points.

[08:05:00]

And the secretary, we need to know what the directions were. And that's really what matters, not necessarily who said what. But what was -- what were the orders?

What was the -- what were the conditions? The military, just like some other branches of the government, have to get it right. And they come off specific orders.

And those orders are followed. So the question is, what were Hegseth's orders? What is the direction they were doing?

And did SOUTHCOM or this admiral act in a way that was consistent with those directions? If they did, then the admiral's clear.

BERMAN: So separately from this, although I suppose somewhat connected, the White House and also Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have sort of gone after these Democrats who put out a video reminding members of the military that they should not follow illegal orders. The president even suggested at one point that people be executed for treason. Along those lines, Secretary Hegseth threatening to recall Senator Mark Kelly and maybe even court-martial him.

Well, a video from 2016 of then-citizen Pete Hegseth has surfaced, and I want to play it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, THEN-CITIZEN: I do think there have to be consequences for abject war crimes. If you're doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that. That's why the military said it won't follow unlawful orders from their commander-in-chief.

There's a standard. There's an ethos. There's a belief that we are above what so many things that our enemies or others would do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: So how is that different than citizen Pete Hegseth reminding people there's an ethos not to follow illegal orders than what the Democrats did and that Secretary Hegseth now says is so heinous?

SESSIONS: Well, John, I believe there's a huge blurring of the lines between not only what what means, what the words mean. And the bottom line is there are many people who now want to say that even in protecting this country against a drug boat because of the second strike was against international law. It might be.

It might be not only when you look at it, but it depends what the circumstances are that the president was operating in and those orders that were given. But let's not get past this. Almost every single thing in Washington is political.

It will be seen in two different ways. And I think it's important to note that Republicans disagreed with many of the things that President Biden did and Democrats disagree with Donald Trump. But we're going to have to make sure in the Republican administration by this president that they're very specific about what the instructions are, because everything will be questioned.

What do I think about it? I think it's a terrible mess. And I wish that that said Senator Kelly had been more thoughtful or articulated.

But now that it's out, he needs to defend himself.

BERMAN: Well, do you think Secretary Hegseth should have been more thoughtful when he said it in 2016?

SESSIONS: Well, he was not secretary of defense at that -- secretary for war at that time. We all have opinions, John, and even you have an opinion about things. And these opinions, when they're taken by someone who's the president of the United States or a secretary level or a member of Congress, we do need to be held accountable for the things we say.

So once again, part of the ongoing dialogue of this country that makes us a better country because we're able to effectively listen to each other and we do have to respond. So that's what this Republican Congress is doing. The House and the Senate, we're asking for the direct information.

We are not in any way dismissing this, what could be a very important issue. And I give us credit for that, and I appreciate you asking.

BERMAN: We will wait to see some of the results from those questions. Congressman Pete Sessions from Texas, thank you as always -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, breaking this morning, an immigration crackdown has just started in New Orleans. What we're learning about this brand new operation so far, we are live in New Orleans, our Ryan Young on the scene.

And new body camera footage is giving us a fresh look at what happened in the moments leading up to the Luigi Mangione arrest. Plus, how a goat, yes, a goat, is helping make the holiday season just a little bit brighter, one ring at a time.

[08:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: We have some breaking news coming in. The Department of Homeland Security has announced moments ago it is launching a brand new immigration crackdown in New Orleans now. According to a federal law enforcement official, immigration authorities are aiming to arrest up to 5,000 people, which would be hundreds more than what we've seen in Chicago.

This across a zone extending 80 plus miles northwest to the state capitol. CNN's Ryan Young is in New Orleans this morning as this is about to unfold. Ryan, what are you learning and what are you hearing there?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Katie. As you can imagine, people are terrified. They are scared about what this will mean for their life.

Look, we're in one of the neighborhoods that's outside toward the tourist city center.

[08:15:00]

One of the reasons why we want to show you this is the impact is already being felt. This taqueria up here decided to close its doors because not only they're scared for their customers, they're scared that for their workers as well. And you see signs like this one.

Everyone is welcome here except ICE. And then you see this right here. Do not have consent to enter this business unless they have a valid judicial warrant.

So you see these signs from the community already out here. I will show you this protest that we shot the other night. People making their voices heard throughout the city.

They are concerned about the actions that could take place in the next 24 hours or so. On top of that, what they also have been telling people is almost treat this like COVID. Instead of going out for your day-to-day necessities, stay inside, shelter in place.

The hope here is that they feel like they might be able to sort of outlast the actions here by Border Patrol. No one knows exactly where they're going to be over the first 24 hours. And that's something that has a lot of people concerned.

We even talked to the mayor-elect, someone who hasn't taken office yet, about the actions that could be taking place in this great American city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HELENA MORENO, MAYOR-ELECT OF NEW ORLEANS: What they're seeing on TV and reports that they're seeing is not that Border Patrol is going after the most violent criminals. You know, it's not -- that's not what they're seeing. What they're seeing is what appears to be racial profiling of brown people and then going after these individuals and treating them like they are these significantly violent offenders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Something to mention here, the mayor-elect hasn't taken office yet. That doesn't happen until January. She's the first Hispanic mayor in the city's history.

But something that other folks are talking about, especially in the crime space, is the fact that people here in this state can carry guns. You don't have to have a license to carry concealed weapons here in this state. And they're concerned if somebody jumps out with a mask, could they be responded to with someone shooting because they were in fear of their life.

So there's a conversation about keeping everyone safe, not only the Border Patrol agents, but obviously the people in these neighborhoods. You look at the crime numbers year to date, the numbers are actually down in terms of total crime and murders in the city of New Orleans. They feel like they have some positive motion when it comes to cracking down on crime.

They are scared that this action will actually have some communities actually not calling 911. It's something that we'll see playing out over the next few days. We'll be here on the ground to check it all out -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, positive momentum on bringing down those crime statistics is also a theme amongst the cities that we've seen these operations already taking place. Ryan Young on the ground there for us. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, President Trump using some of his most xenophobic language yet against immigrants and a sitting member of Congress, Trump calling Somali refugees, including Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, garbage. The president said he didn't want Somalis in the country during a cabinet meeting yesterday.

Those comments coming as ICE is preparing to launch a new operation targeting Somali immigrants in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minnesota is home to more than 79,000 Somalis. About 87 percent of Somalis are naturalized citizens, but 80 percent of them live in the Twin Cities.

This is all coming after a report where prosecutors say there was a major fraud scandal involving Somalis there in that area. We will have to wait and see what happens going forward with the new ICE raids -- John.

BERMAN: All right, a tractor trailer crashes on a snowy highway and goes right over a bridge just as a new blast of Arctic air is about to hit much of the country. And one of the nation's top universities offers a new college degree

in artificial intelligence. The question is, can you ask ChatGPT to write your thesis for it?

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, an Arctic blast set to break records across much of the country. Freezing temperatures will hit some 200 million Americans. Let's get right to CNN's Derek Van Dam for the latest on this.

How do things look, Derek, besides cold?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Who opened the freezer door and forgot to shut it, John? Come on, man, we're talking two-thirds of America's population here in the lower 48 that will experience below freezing temperatures in the next week. Yes, do with that information as you may, but what we know is that it's incredibly cold and this is going to be dangerous cold for many locations.

So not only will we set records Thursday to Friday, especially record low temperatures from the Great Lakes, the Midwest, all the way to the East Coast, but the bottom is going to drop out on our temperatures going forward for the next couple of weeks.

So this is a live look at Denver. This is the Colorado State Capitol building in the background. You can barely make it out, but it is snowing heavily. This is the first snowstorm, significant snowstorm of the year in Denver. And this is all part of the bigger story here, right?

So across the lower 48, we've got over 40 percent of snow coverage. There's only been three other seasons since records began in 2003, where we've seen more snow coverage than what we're experiencing now. Snow has a very reflective property.

So any of that solar radiation coming in from the sun is actually being bounced back off into sky and not allowing for the temperatures to warm up nicely. So you get these reinforcing shots of cold air from the Arctic and yes, they're going to combine with the snowpack that's on the ground and it is going to feel well below freezing for many locations from Fargo all the way to Chicago and Detroit.

So this is the departing storm system that dropped that fresh layer of snow across Northern New England yesterday. We'll talk about records in just a moment, but this is the cold front that means business. Behind it, very cold Arctic air is setting up. We saw double digit snowfalls in New Hampshire and New York over a foot of snow in some locations, but the hits, they just keep on coming.

[08:25:00]

Look at the Arctic air, lots of purple, lots of blue on this map. And John, we all know what that means. Winter's here and it's here to stay.

BERMAN: No fun. All right, Derek Van Dam. Thanks for nothing, my friend. Appreciate it. All right, Sara.

SIDNER: It makes me think of purple rain. Sorry, that's-

BERMAN: No, it can't rain. It's too cold.

SIDNER: That's true. Purple snow, that doesn't have the same ring to it.

All right. Why Democrats are still celebrating even after a Republican wins a special election in Tennessee.

And see you later, alligator. How deputies wrangled a 600 pound, 14 foot gator on a neighborhood street. Just another day in the state I'd like to call Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: New details this morning about Luigi Mangione's arrest last year at a Pennsylvania McDonald's. In court, police body camera footage of his arrest was played, showing officers questioning him and searching his bags for roughly 20 minutes without giving a Miranda warning. Mangione's defense team argues this violates his constitutional rights.