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Trump Announces $12 Billion Aid Package for Farmers; Court Document Reveal Life Inside Texas ICE Detention Facility; ICEBlock App Hits Trump Administration with New Lawsuit; Gene Simmons Heads to Capitol Hill to Fight for Fairness in Music. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 09, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're getting new information this morning about the $12 billion farm aid package President Trump just announced. A White House official says most of the aid will go toward crop farmers through one-time payments under the Farmer Bridge Assistance. The rest will be put aside for specialty farmers.

The president said the package would not be possible without his tariffs. Those tariffs are also one of the reasons farmers need to bail out in the first place as they struggle to sell crops because of the trade policies, because some countries have all but stopped or did all but stop buying U.S. product.

With us now is Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association. Caleb, it's always great to see you. Your reaction to the news of this $12 billion package. How do you feel about it?

CALEB RAGLAND, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION: Well, John, we're thankful that the administration does serious economic challenges in farm country, and this will help alleviate some of the first of the losses we've had. This is a good first step, but this will only take care of about a quarter of the losses that the average soybean farmer has accumulated this year. We've lost an average of $109 an acre on this crop we just produced, and that's a very serious situation for the American soybean farmer, our number one ag export.

BERMAN: Yes, just give me a sense of what this year has been like for you.

RAGLAND: It's been a year of challenges and uncertainty, whether that be weather, whether it be markets. The cost of production that we have as farmers is at a record high. Fertilize continues to go up.

The cost of our equipment is going up. And unfortunately, we don't have commodity prices that are in line with that inflated production costs that we're continuing to experience. And we're operating at a loss this year, unfortunately.

And without a change in the direction we're going, we're going to have a lot of farmers that are not able to stay in business and farm families that are no longer able to continue that tradition. That not only impacts our farms, but also our rural communities and the economy of our whole nation. It's serious.

BERMAN: The Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, was asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins whether whether the tariffs and trade policies have contributed to the situation that you and other farmers are facing right now. I want you to listen to what the secretary said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ROLLINS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: There is almost zero evidence, if any evidence, that what they are doing and the challenges that our farm economy is facing in row crops has anything to do with these trade renegotiations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: She said your situation has nothing to do with the trade policies. What do you think about that?

RAGLAND: Well, I think our situation is a combination of lack of market based opportunities, which goes back to trade. We need a level playing field to sell our soybeans and other commodities. It also goes back, as I mentioned earlier, to the inflated cost of production that we have.

And this is something that's been a problem going on five, six years, and it's really getting serious. Examples would be five years ago phosphate fertilize was less than half the cost that it is right now. We can look at our cost of equipment, seed, pesticides.

Everything we do is going up, up, up. And our commodity prices, unfortunately, don't reflect that. And the result is net losses for most of our farms.

And that is not a sustainable situation for the agriculture economy or soybean producers.

BERMAN: You know, last time we've had you on and we have had the chance to talk to you pretty regularly throughout this very difficult year. You told us that the government bailouts never make farms profitable. So while you're grateful for this in terms of the long term, does this fix things?

RAGLAND: Well, this is a Band-Aid on an open wound. And again, we're thankful that there's something that this will help keep some farms in business. But what we truly need are market based solutions. Those are sustainable long term.

Here domestically, we have opportunities for the administration to finalize the renewable volume obligations for biofuels here before the end of the year, the 45Z tax credit. We have numerous opportunities to expand markets worldwide, and we truly need demand.

Because without demand, we're not able to receive a price that is economically sustainable for our crop.

[09:35:00] And that's what American soybean farmers want, is opportunities to make a living, to make a profit from the market, not being dependent on the next program to keep us from bleeding to death. But the situation is serious.

I've been farming 21 years now full time. And this is by far the most serious economic situation that I've experienced and my family's experienced. And I think that's the same for many farmers across this country.

We're looking at a 1980s type farm crisis if this trend continues. And we're hoping to turn the tide. We need opportunity. The American farmer is the best in the world.

We simply need a level playing field, both for our cost of production and making sure that we don't have obstacles that are causing our exports to be hindered. Because we're great producers. We just need a level playing field and opportunity moving forward.

And I hope the administration can deliver that in the future.

BERMAN: Caleb Ragland, we're grateful for the work that you do. So thanks so much for being with us -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, ahead, the creator of the ICEBlock app that warns when ICE is in the neighborhood is now suing the White House. A creator asking why it's OK for Waze to show people where police are but not his app warning where ice agents are.

And how do you survive this? A plane crash landing into a car on a highway.

[09:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A CNN exclusive this morning details from inside a Texas detention facility where children are being held. Descriptions of what it really is like in there. New court documents are revealing that immigrant families detailing and describing long days with limited access to drinkable water, worms and mold in food and being denied medical care.

An immigrant's right group even -- an immigration rights group telling CNN this. "Families tell us that their children are weak, faint, pale and often crying because they are so hungry."

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us now. She's got much more on this. Tell us more about about your new reporting, Priscilla.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this really offers a glimpse into what is happening at this family detention facility in Dilley, Texas, a place where reporters can't visit. But in this case, we are getting these court declarations from families who are detained there through immigration attorneys who are revealing the conditions. Now, Kate, just to level set here, these are families who have been

apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border or even in the United States at encounters like ICE check-ins or vehicle checkpoints. Now, these declarations are about this residential facility, as it's called, but detainees are calling it a prison. Let me read you what one mother who's detained with her daughter had to say.

She said, quote, "It's a prison here -- it is truly a living hell. It's not a good place for anyone. All of the children here are suffering. The mothers are crying -- especially for their children. We are all suffering."

And this is really a theme in the more than two dozen declarations that were filed. Despondent children. As you mentioned there, medical conditions going poorly treated. Children unable to sleep because the lights are always on.

And when we're talking about children here, we're talking as young as infants. There was a nine-month-old mentioned in one of the declarations, as well as teenagers. One of those teenagers also shared a testimony with attorneys, and this is what she had to say.

She said, quote, "The kids here can get sad when people get deported or their friends leave. Kids are tired of doing the same thing every day. We try to help kids who are sad and teach them to play a new game. Sometimes kids don't eat when they are sad."

Now, Kate, I have covered family detention for many years. Oftentimes it has been used especially for families who just crossed the U.S.- Mexico border. So they don't really have bearings in the United States. In this case, however, what was striking with these court declarations is these are families who were living in the United States. These are kids who were enrolled in school and going to school.

So it is a stark reality for them now to be at this detention facility and not have the typical routines that they are used to. And that is why in these declarations they say kids are regressing while they're held and waiting for deportation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says they are improving conditions at the facility.

We also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which has not returned a request for comment.

BOLDUAN: The change here, the difference that you point out is critical. It's not people who have just come over across the border have gone through that long trek. They have no experience of living in the United States.

These are families who were already established, many of them in communities, children enrolled in school. So you can -- that stark change is something that you're seeing revealed so much.

ALVAREZ: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. ALVAREZ: But --

BOLDUAN: Go ahead, yes.

ALVAREZ: Well, no, I'm just going to say that it is a difference, Kate. And it's one that is why these children are suffering the way that they are, because they're used to a certain way of life that they just don't have.

BOLDUAN: Yes, Priscilla, great reporting, as always. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: Oh, that was disturbing. All right, this morning, a new showdown over immigration and free speech. The creator of ICEBlock, the app designed to let users warn communities about ICE sightings, is now suing the Trump administration. The lawsuit claims that the White House pressured Apple to pull the app from its store, calling that an abuse of government power and a violation of constitutionally protected speech.

Named in the lawsuit, a bunch of folks, including Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, the White House borders are Tom Homan. CNN's Clare Duffy is here with me now. Give us some sense of what you're hearing, not only from the administration, but from the creator of this app.

[09:45:00]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes. So at issue here is this app ICEBlock. It launched earlier this year and it allows users to notify people in their community of public ICE.

DUFFY: Yes, so at issue here is this app ICEBlock. It launched earlier this year and it allows users to notify people in their community of public ICE sightings.

And the creator of this app, Joshua Aaron, has always said that this app was designed to allow people to avoid interactions with ICE agents and not to interfere with their activities and their actions. But in October, Apple removed ICEBlock and similar apps from the app store following a request from the Justice Department.

ICEBlock had around a million users at the time. And this movement that new users can't download the app. And at the time, Attorney General Pam Bondi did confirm that she requested that Apple remove this app, saying at the time ICEBlock is designed to put ice agents at risk just for doing their jobs. And violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed.

Trump administration officials also threatened Joshua Aaron with criminal prosecution over the app. Now, he is claiming that both these threats and what he calls the pressure on Apple is a violation of his constitutionally protected speech. He has also pushed back on this idea that the app puts ICE agents at risk.

Take a listen to what he told our Erin Burnett last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSHUA AARON, CREATOR OF ICEBLOCK: Well, I think it comes back to the same rhetoric that's been used since the inception of any kind of public law enforcement reporting in the digital platform. I believe it was Waze who did the first one with speed traps. And so the local, state and federal officials, they use the exact same rhetoric.

Somehow they figured if you could see a police officer doing a speed trap in public and you told somebody else about it, magically they were going to jump out of their car and start smashing the police car and attacking the police officer. Obviously, that's ridiculous. That doesn't happen.

What did they do? They slowed down and they avoid the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: Now, Aaron is asking with this lawsuit for an order from the court barring what he calls future government pressure.

SIDNER: It'll be interesting to watch sort of how this goes through the courts, especially considering that Waze does have an app that does show you where the police officers are when you're driving on the road. Clare Duffy, do appreciate it. Thank you.

DUFFY: Thank you.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right, Mr. Simmons goes to Washington. That is Gene Simmons from KISS. He gets ready to speak to Congress. So what does it mean for his tongue?

A commuter train slams right into a car. New reporting on what went wrong there.

[09:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, new details this morning. After a small plane made an emergency landing on a Florida highway, the plane crashed into a car right on 495 -- sorry, I-95.

The car's driver was taken into the hospital with minor injuries. The two people on the plane were not hurt. The FAA is investigating and said the pilot had reported engine issues.

So this morning, a tsunami warning has been lifted in Japan after the powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake there. The epicenter was about 45 miles off the country's east coast. Dozens of people were injured. Officials there have warned there could be strong aftershocks for the next few days.

This morning, an Illinois driver is recovering after a commuter train slammed into a car. The impact sent the car flying. You can see that right there. Police say the driver did suffer minor injuries -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So this afternoon, KISS frontman and bassist Gene Simmons will be on Capitol Hill putting his star power behind a push right now to essentially get Congress to tell radio stations to pay up. Simmons wants Congress to pass a bill before them being considered, which would require AM and FM radio stations to pay royalties to recording artists and performers when they broadcast their music, ending a decades-old exemption in U.S. copyright law. Simmons came on CNN just ahead of this congressional performance.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE SIMMONS, CO-LEAD SINGER AND BASSIST OF KISS: It's not going to be a shakeup. We're going just -- we're going to fix an injustice that has been ongoing in America, sadly, for generations, perhaps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is someone else who will be testifying today, the president and CEO of SoundExchange, Michael Huppe, who's been a leading advocate on this issue. Thanks for coming in.

Radio royalties, this has been debated for years. Why is now the moment, Michael?

MICHAEL HUPPE, CEO, SOUNDEXCHANGE: Well, Kate, thanks for having us on for this very important issue. On the fact that a lot of people don't know that, you know, when your favorite artists are streamed on AM, FM radio, they actually are paid nothing. And the reason for the change now is, first of all, it's never too late to fix an injustice.

But the justification for this historic imbalance was, you know, people used to say that radio promoted sales. Unfortunately, as you know, Kate, the days of hearing a song on FM and going and buying an album or a CD in a record store are long gone. The modern music industry is all about streaming.

Eighty-five percent of the revenue from the recorded music industry comes from streaming these days. So far from promoting that, radio actually competes with those very same platforms. And this bill just attempts to bring them on the same level playing field as all the other platforms that pay the artists.

BOLDUAN: And you're responding to it already, but the National Association of Broadcasters says that you're wrong, saying that this change would financially cripple local radio stations, harming millions of listeners, especially in rural areas who depend on AM and FM radio. And they also say this directly to what you were just saying.

"For nearly a century, record labels and performers have thrived from airplay -- which is essentially free advertising -- from local radio stations. But as the big record labels struggle to keep profit margins high, they're urging Congress to impose a tax on these local radio stations that are, ironically, their greatest promotional tool."

Why are they wrong?

HUPPE: They're wrong for several reasons, Kate. First of all, this isn't a tax. This is a royalty paid to artists for their work and their hard labor.

You know, in America, paying people for their work is an important concept that is core to who we are as a country.

[09:55:00]

The radio industry makes $14 billion a year, with a B, $14 billion off of the backs of the artists, and they just deserve to share some of that with the artists.

In terms of radio stations being able to afford this, all the other platforms seem to work this into their business model, and radio pays their DJs, they pay their talk radio hosts, whether it's news or politics or sports. We're simply asking that the artists get paid their fair share for forming, really, the product that is the foundation of the entire radio model. No one would tune into FM to listen to static.

BOLDUAN: I mean, this gets to kind of the core of intellectual property and kind of the changing landscape of it. But when you think of rural local radio stations where people do rely on them for, I don't know, emergency information, news, and much more, including also entertainment, if this financially straps radio stations to an extent that it puts them out of business, is it worth it?

HUPPE: Well, this wouldn't actually hurt small local radio stations. There's a carve-out for small local and independent radio stations. Look, we believe that radio is an important part of the ecosystem.

Obviously, radio is still a platform that we want music to be played on, but the bill carves out about two-thirds of radio stations, including many of those small local independent stations, where they're able to play all the music they want for $500 a year. That's less than $1.37 a day for unlimited music. So I think the argument that it will put small broadcasters out of business is not really supportable.

BOLDUAN: All right, well, testifying today, let's see what Congress does about it now. Michael Huppe, thanks for coming in.

SIDNER: And I have an unpopular opinion to share with you, in that I do like to listen to the radio with the commercials while I'm on a long road trip. Is that weird?

BERMAN: Soft rock. Nothing's better than soft rock.

SIDNER: See? All right. Thank you for joining us.

I hope you enjoyed listening to us a bit. Probably not. Anyway, Situation Room is up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)