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Australia Begins Enforcing Social Media Ban for Kids Under 16; Democrat Rep. Crockett Launches Texas Senate Bid; 88-Year-Old Becomes Social media Star as Thousands Help Him Retire. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 10, 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]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: ... in the near ter.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we'll see what the U.S. reaction is to this new Ukrainian proposal. Jim Sciutto, great reporting, as always. Thank you -- Kate.

SCIUTTO: Thanks so much.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Australia is now the first country in the world to put in place an all-out ban on social media for kids under the age of 16. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch, and a few others are what the Australian government has now targeted. Teens there are divided about it.

Parents, especially those who blame social media for hurting their children, are praising the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE HOLDSWORTH, PARENT ADVOCATE: Our kids that we've lost haven't died in vain because today they'll be looking down very proud of the work that we've all done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The ban takes effect today, with kids waking up there to their accounts deactivated. It is seen as the most sweeping governmental effort yet to shelter kids from the potential harms. And Denmark and Malaysia are also considering similar bans.

Joining us right now is someone putting out a call to action now for the United States to follow suit. Former ambassador, former mayor, and former White House chief of staff and CNN senior political and global affairs commentator Rahm Emanuel. Thanks for being here.

It's good to see you.

RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Good morning. Good to see you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. Meta says that it's going to comply with what Australia's now law. But says that the law intended to keep kids safe, Meta says will actually make them less safe. The way they argue is it isolates teens from online communities and information.

You know, you announced this call to action, Rahm, on social media. Does this encapsulate the problem and challenge of trying to do this here? Why are you jumping on this?

EMANUEL: Well, because I think you talk to parents across the country, you talk to them all over. They have lost control of being able to raise their children. And because social media is addictive, it's alluring, and it's destructive to kids.

I've never met a parent anywhere who says, I wish my kids spent more time on screen or more time on all these social media apps rather than doing their homework. And if it's a choice for an adolescent or between an adult raising them or an algorithm, I think we should all believe an adult should do that. And the social media, we have all the studies.

No study has ever concluded these apps are better for kids. All of them are on one side of this effort, and we have lost control. Now, we have effectively banned cigarettes from young teens and seen an improvement in their health.

We have banned telephones in classrooms and seen some improvement in kids' education and socialization. We've done that when it comes to designated drivers and drinking. This is the next frontier we have to do to protect our kids.

And either you're going to leave parents alone facing Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all the other social medias, or you're going to help parents do the job of being a parent. Right now, every parent feels hopeless in the fight against something that is more addictive than the homework, which is the telephone.

BOLDUAN: Regulating tech, taking on, you know, regulating the Internet, I mean, you know, it takes -- that is not where Congress is on the forefront or Washington has really ever been on the forefront. If you --

EMANUEL: That's the understatement.

BOLDUAN: Of the -- or at lease today. If you work from the basis that the ban will do good. politically I'm curious what you think about it.

Is this a reaching across the aisle type of issue where you think there is consensus on this? Or do you see this as a space where Democrats can carve out? Like is running against big tech a winner today and in future elections?

EMANUEL: So let's deal with the first part of the question. You know, there's nothing -- there's not a lot that's bipartisan in the House and Senate in Washington. You can count on a single hand.

And in fact, this is one of those issues. And in a time in which people have little faith in Washington to solve any problem, this is something that goes right into the kitchen table, right into the family room. Kids are slamming doors on their parents so they could sit on the phone in their bedroom with the door closed.

Here's something that actually has across the board bipartisan support. So not only would you do good and help parents and empowering parents, you'd actually do something. Washington got off the sidelines because we don't need -- we can't afford as a country to lose another generation.

Every piece of legislation dealing with social media has bipartisan support. In fact, it passed, I think, one bill passed the Senate -- Ninety seven to three. When was the last time that happened outside of naming a post office?

So that's an example of that effort. Now, big tech is bipartisan in the sense of people think it's a threat. And I think then here in this case, even paranoid people have enemies.

Social media is a threat to the well-being of our children, their mental health, their physical health and their intellectual and moral development. We should step in and protect them.

[09:35:00]

And if we're not going to do it, you want to leave this to Facebook? You want to leave this to TikTok and the Chinese? I think not.

BOLDUAN: Rahm, it's really good to see you. Thank you so much for coming in. You're definitely in the forefront of this one when it comes to speaking out about it. Thanks for coming in -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, just ahead, a glimpse at what happened when an officer discovers Luigi Mangione inside of a Pennsylvania McDonald's last year after the shooting of a health care CEO in New York.

And kindness going viral. Why people all over the Internet have rallied behind an 88-year-old veteran that will allow him to retire?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never been on those programs. I don't own one of those fancy cell phones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, big political news this week from Texas, where Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett threw her hat in the ring for the Senate race down there. There's talk that that creates a contested primary between different Democrats. But then it gets to the issue of how much of a chance do Democrats really have to win at all in Texas?

David Urban, you may recall, was on this show yesterday, and he said if Congresswoman Crockett won the race, he would grow hair. David Urban has no hair.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst, Harry Enten. It's good to see you today.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Nice to see you.

BERMAN: Urban not concerned about growing hair, apparently. What did the prediction market say about a Democrat's chance to win there?

ENTEN: You know, David, if you need, I can cut some of my hair off and give it to you. Look, at this point, it's going to be an uphill climb for Democrats. It's going to be an uphill climb, chance of winning the Texas Senate race.

At this point, obviously, we don't know the nominees, so these markets will fluctuate. But at this point, we're looking at 80 percent chance of a Republican win, a 20 percent chance of a Democratic win. Look, this ain't nothing, right?

This 20 percent ain't nothing. But it does indicate that it is an uphill climb for Democrats. At this point, if you're looking at the Lone Star State, you're thinking Republicans are the favorites.

BERMAN: It has been a long time since a Democrat won a Texas Senate race.

ENTEN: Yes, it has been a very long period of time, Mr. Berman, the last Texas Democratic win in a Senate race -- any -- 1988, that was Lloyd Benson.

John Berman, I know you. You're a friend of mine. You, sir, are no Lloyd Benson.

How about a non-incumbent? Same thing, 1970. Again, Lloyd Benson, you have to go back. What is that? That's 55 years ago, 55 years ago, way before I was born, before Johnny Berman was born. That is how long ago you have to go back to find a Democrat winning an open Texas Senate seat.

So history says awfully, awfully difficult.

BERMAN: Trivia. He won the Senate seat in Texas at the same time he lost Texas by being the running mate on the ballot. He was on the ballot twice.

ENTEN: That's right.

BERMAN: Under the LBJ rule, of course, from when LBJ was running for vice president in the Senate in 1960.

All right, let's talk about how President Trump has done in Texas.

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So you see this, right? And you go, what the heck is going on here?

Well, I think it's really important to know just how red of a state Texas is. And you can see this here pretty gosh darn well. Trump's margins in Texas, nine points in 2016.

That was actually deemed a pretty close race. Then you get to 2020. He won it by six.

But then, boom, shot up through the roof, won it by 14 points. His strongest win by far, the strongest Republican performance in over a decade in a presidential race in Texas. So at this point, Texas is a red state, one that has not elected a Democrat statewide.

Forget the Senate races. If you're just talking about any statewide Texas race, we're talking about since 1994.

BERMAN: OK, so we're talking about a margin like 14 points or even, say, 10 points. When was the last time a party was able to flip a seat after a presidential race where a candidate won by that kind of margin?

ENTEN: Yes, so we look at midterm elections, right? OK, last open-seat midterm Senate win in a state the other party won by at least 10 points in the prior presidential election. It was 2010.

John, can you name any of the folks who did it?

BERMAN: We were just trying to brainstorm. Well, Scott Brown, which technically wasn't in the midterm itself in Massachusetts. He won that race against Martha Coakley in the runoff for Ted Kennedy's seat, although it wasn't the Kennedy seat.

It was the people's seat, as Scott Brown liked to say. And I was trying to remember others. I don't know if Wisconsin was also.

ENTEN: That was. It wasn't an open. How about Illinois?

Illinois. How about Illinois?

BERMAN: Kirk -- Mark Kirk.

ENTEN: Mark Kirk. Mark Kirk beat Alexi Giannullis in, of course, Obama's home state in 2010.

BERMAN: I forgot that completely. So it's not impossible to do.

ENTEN: Not impossible. But it's been a long period of time.

BERMAN: All right, Harry Enten thank you for this walk down memory lane.

ENTEN: Boom, boom.

BERMAN: We'll be right back.

[09:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: There's new video released showing the moment the police confronted Luigi Mangione inside a McDonalds last year. This really was seconds before he was then arrested.

Mangione is charged with the killing, murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER: How you doing? Can you put your mask down real quick for me?

LUIGI MANGIONE, CHARGE WITH MURDER OF BRIAN THOMPSON: Yeah, sure.

POLICE OFFICER: I appreciate it. Thank you.

MANGIONE: Um-hum.

POLICE OFFICER: OK. Um, what's your name?

MANGIONE: Uh, Mark.

POLICE OFFICER: What is it?

MANGIONE: Mark.

POLICE OFFICER: Mark?

MANGIONE: Yes, sir.

POLICE OFFICER: Mark what?

MANGIONE: Rosario.

POLICE OFFICER: Rosario. Someone called and they thought you were suspicious.

MANGIONE: Oh, I'm sorry. Um --

POLICE OFFICER: Do you have your I.D. on you?

MANGIONE; Uh, yes, sir.

POLICE OFFICER: Thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That video also shows officers debating whether they needed a search warrant to look through Mangione's backpack inside. As we now know from evidence in pretrial hearings, the pictures of it, officers found a gun, a loaded magazine, a silencer, a cell phone and passport, along with a handwritten to-do list. The prosecutors say it included writings like, quote, change hat, shoes and pluck eyebrows.

Mangione's lawyers argue the contents of the bag should not be allowed in trial because they argue the search was unlawful and violated his constitutional rights.

[09:50:00] We also have new video we wanted to show you of the atmospheric river just pummeling the Pacific Northwest, hitting Washington state with even more rain today. Highways, as you've seen, just encircled by water.

Major flooding is likely to continue there. And some rivers could reach a second higher crest today. In Oregon, also hit hard.

Saw almost six inches of rain in one day. The devastating rains there triggering mudslides and sending rivers surging to near record levels.

And they weren't even born when he was in office, but a bunch of Chicago students got a huge surprise from former President Barack Obama. The kindergartners and first and second graders were in story time in the library when the former president stopped on by, wearing a Santa's hat, no less, to read to them the book Flying Free, How Bessie Coleman's Dreams Took Flight. The kids also each got a hat, gloves, and book to take home to remember this special day -- Guys.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate. We want you to meet the guy who helped an 88-year-old Army veteran finally retire by making his story go viral.

The two men, complete strangers. One worked at a grocery store in Michigan. The other was a customer who also happened to be a social media influencer who asked a simple question.

Why are you still working?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED BAMBAS, ARMY VETERAN: Retired from General Motors in '99. In 2012 they went bankrupt and they took my pension away from me.

SAMUEL WEIDENHOFER, RAISED $1.9 MILLION FOR VETERAN ON GOFUNDME: Oh my gosh. Do you have a wife?

BAMBAS: She passed away seven years ago.

BAMBAS: I try very hard to go to her grave site every day and say hi.

WEIDENHOFER: Well, how important is that part of your day for you?

BAMBAS: It helps me get through a day. It does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right. That was Mr. Bambas. But Samuel Weidenhofer was so moved by his conversation, he started a GoFundMe to help Bambas retire. It has now become one of the biggest grossing GoFundMe campaigns in history. And Mr. Bambas is going to retire well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAMBAS: I've never been on those programs. I don't own one of those fancy cell phones. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: He doesn't own the technology, but he is benefiting from it -- Sam.

BOLDUAN: Overdone. I don't want --

SIDNER: One of those fancy friends -- those programs.

(CROSSTALK)

SIDNER: Sam, thank you for being here. You do this quite a bit where you meet people and you ask them what their needs are. Did you have any inkling once you heard this story that this was going to be big, that people were going to respond this way?

WEIDENHOFER (on camera): To be honest, not really. I just got a Facebook comment, you know, saying there's an 80-year-old guy working at Meijer in his 80s. He has to work because, you know, he has no other choice.

And I really didn't know much about his story. So I just had this feeling come over me. I honestly think it was God sent.

Now looking at the situation, how it's all come about, I just had a feeling. I have to go to Meijer that day. I have to ask him about his story.

And that's what came out of it. And it just, you know, it shocked me.

BOLDUAN: When you saw the numbers coming in, I think I was just looking at, like, on the first day it had raised over $800,000. Then by the end of the week, you're at $1.7 million. And I think it's now even close to, is that the latest total?

SIDNER: Yes, almost $2 million.

BOLDUAN: Like, clearly, Ed Bambas has moved to tears. What did you think when you saw this?

WEIDENHOFER: To be honest, it was, like, unbelievable. I saw it hit, like, $30,000 in about an hour. And I just turned to my friend, and I said, this is going to, like, hit a million.

And he looks at me and laughs. I go, no, I know it will. I had this feeling, you know?

BOLDUAN: Oh, Pollyanna Sam, there we go.

WEIDENHOFER: I just knew. I was like, this is unbelievable. But to be honest, it still doesn't feel real, you know?

Having a community as strong as that, like, you know, you put a video out online, and it can change someone's life. Like, it's the world we live in. And, you know, we need more feel-good media out there.

So it's just, it's incredible. It really is.

BERMAN: I mean, you seem, like, super nice, and that's reason enough to do it. But what drives you to do things like that?

WEIDENHOFER: Yes, so when I was 10, I remember sitting in the lounge room one day. I picked up the phone call to my uncle. My mom was in the shower.

I was in, like, he was in tears, right? He was super, like, the pain in his voice. I've never heard anything like it.

I remember swearing at my mom, get out of the shower. And she's like, why are you swearing? I'm like, something is wrong.

So my auntie took her life that night. They came back the next morning, and it just broke me. That's why I do this.

You know, I was bullied all through school. I was born with a speech disability. I was an outcast.

I never fitted in. And then I realized later on, the things that happened to me were my greatest strengths. That's who made me who I am.

SIDNER: It's a beautiful way to sort of turn things around because you've been through it. So many hard things. I do want to ask you if you have advice for others.

[09:55:00]

Because sometimes social media is a cesspool.

BOLDUAN: Sometimes? Rahm Emanuel said understatement a couple of segments ago. Understatement of the day.

SIDNER: Understatement of the day. I'm curious what your message is to people who are on social media who do see so much hateful stuff. What would you say to them as to what they should be doing?

WEIDENHOFER: Just to honestly be kind. Like, it doesn't take much. And it's a ripple effect.

You can have a compliment. You can hug a stranger, right? Like, I remember one day, a lady was walking through the mall, and she was on her way home to end her life.

Six months later, she messaged me saying a simple hug is what saved her, right? So all you have to do in your community is a compliment, a hug, give someone a rose. All of this, like, creates a ripple effect, and it really can save someone's life.

BOLDUAN: OK, real quick. Who's next? Who are you helping?

WEIDENHOFER: Well, yes, that's a good point. I'm doing a couple things. I'm taking a girl battling cancer to meet Zara Larsen in a couple days. She has no idea, so I hope she's not hearing this.

BERMAN: She's a big CNN fan.

SIDNER: She's probably in class.

WEIDENHOFER: And then we're also taking a young boy to the WWE for Cena's last match, so we're hoping to set up the meet there. So, yes, we're just doing lots of things, you know, as much as we can.

So I'm going to head out to Times Square and buy some families their dream Christmas presents and, you know, run around the city.

BOLDUAN: Honestly.

WEIDENHOFER: Yes, many things are planned. There's heaps that we've already done, stuff with Saquon Barkley, Trey Young, Nick Kyrgios, and Sabalenka, so lots of sports stars.

BOLDUAN: The need never ends, right?

WEIDENHOFER: So the need never ends. So there's many things planned, and, yes, we're not going to stop here. This is just the start, of course.

SIDNER: We need more Sams in the world.

BOLDUAN: Sam, can you be the CNC mascot, please? Please, please, please.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for everything.

SIDNER: We'll have you back, I'm sure. The next one's going to be good.

WEIDENHOFER: Of course. Thank you so much.

BERMAN: Thank you all for being with us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.