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Defense Secretary Hegseth Speaks Amid Growing Scrutiny On Boat Strikes; Interview With Representative Don Bacon (R-NE); CDC Panel Votes To Drop Universal Hep B Vaccines For Newborns; Speaker Johnson Faces Criticism From Some GOP Members; Manhunt For Last Three Louisiana Jail Escapees; September Wholesale Inflation Rises, Consumer Spending Stalls. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 06, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defending the U.S. Military's actions against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. He also would not give a definitive answer today on whether he would release a full video that shows the controversial follow-up strike the U.S. carried out in September.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS: So, Mr. Secretary, you will be releasing that full video?

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are reviewing it right now.

TOMLINSON: Is that a yes or no?

HEGSETH: That is -- the most important thing to me are the ongoing operations in the Caribbean with our folks that use bespoke capabilities, techniques, procedures in the process. I'm way more interested in protecting that than anything else. So we're reviewing the process and we'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Hegseth was asked about this at the Reagan Presidential Library where an event is going on today. There have been intense scrutiny on this strike in particular, because two people who survived were then killed in that follow-up attack.

We are covering this from multiple angles. CNN's Julia Benbrook is live at the White House with more on how the president is reacting to it. But first, let's go to CNN's Oren Liebermann, who's there at the Reagan Presidential Library.

Oren, what did we hear from Hegseth today about how the leaders of the Defense Department are viewing that specific strike? OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Defense Secretary

Pete Hegseth, and you heard it right there in that short soundbite, made clear that these strikes will continue and that the strategy is to continue carrying out strikes on what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called narco-terrorists, and he said they were the al Qaeda of the western hemisphere. He said the drugs that they're transporting are so lethal he compared them to chemical weapons, and that was part of the justification he put forward in terms of why these strikes would continue.

Of course, there was tremendous interest in how he would address the strikes themselves and what he would say, given the briefing we saw just a couple of days ago from Admiral Frank Bradley, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, and the justification, the rationale he put forward. He said, the boat itself, according to U.S. intel, was supposed to meet up with a second boat to transfer the drugs that was headed for Suriname. And that, to some extent, undercuts the administration's rationale that the boat itself posed an imminent threat to the United States.

Still, we saw Hegseth say this is the strategy and it will continue. In terms of the strike itself, Hegseth had initially said that he watched the strike itself and emphasized the amount of planning that went into it. But he later acknowledged he saw the first strike and then left to attend meetings. He was not watching when the second strike took place 41 minutes later.

Here's a short part of his explanation on that part of the unfolding timeline here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: So I was satisfied with the strike criteria, yes. Saw the strike itself, which all of you have seen. There was probably 30 or 40 minutes is what I've been told of dust and it was on fire for a long time after that. I stayed for probably five minutes or so after. But ultimately, at that point, it was a tactical operation. And so I moved on to other things. I shouldn't be fighting tactics as the secretary of war, so I moved on to other things.

Later on, a couple hours later, I was told, hey, there had to be a reattack because there were a couple folks that could still be in the fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: It was during that 41 minutes as military officials watched the boat that had been struck a first time and deliberated what to do, Hegseth says he stepped away, and both the White House and the Pentagon have said the decision to make that second strike was Bradley's decision, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command -- Jessica.

DEAN: And, Oren, what is expected to happen next in the Defense Department's review of all of this? LIEBERMANN: Well, one of the key questions here is what happens to

that video here? Will it be released? President Donald Trump said just a few days ago he doesn't mind it being released, but Hegseth refused to answer that one, saying it's under review. That would at least serve to put forward a better and clear explanation of what and how the strike itself and the decision to carry on the double tap strike unfolded.

DEAN: Alright, Oren Liebermann there in Simi Valley, thank you.

Let's go now to Julia, who is standing by at the White House.

Julia, what have we heard from the president on this?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, both Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have indicated that these overall efforts will continue. In fact, at a recent Cabinet meaning Trump praised Hegseth, saying that he believes he's doing an amazing job.

[19:05:02]

But that secondary strike that took place on September 2nd, it continues to draw intense scrutiny. And many are questioning the legality of what Hegseth referred to tonight as a, quote, "reattack." As we get more information from officials there are honestly just more questions being placed out there.

I want to take a look back at a true social post from Trump in September as he announced this attack. He wrote, quote, "The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters, transporting illegal narcotics heading to the United States."

Now, the White House, Hegseth and his team at the Pentagon, have pointed to Admiral Frank Bradley as the official who made the call for another strike, that strike that killed survivors. And as Oren pointed out, Bradley was on Capitol Hill, briefing lawmakers very recently. And during those conversations, according to sources with knowledge of remarks, we learned that the alleged drug traffickers were headed to a larger vessel that was bound for Suriname.

So that, of course, creates more questions related to the argument that there could be an imminent threat to the United States. Now, when it comes to the video here, Trump did say he would be open to releasing it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You released video of that first boat strike on September 2nd but not the second video. Will you release video of that strike so that the American people can see for themselves what happened?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, we'd certainly release. No problem. You know, we stopped every boat we knock out. We saved 25,000 American lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So there you go. Trump says that he is open to releasing this but Hegseth, when asked about it, he said that his team was reviewing it, kind of pointed to maybe some roadblocks and getting it released. And then when he was pressed, multiple times by the reporter there, he did not give a direct answer on if the public will see that video -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Julia Brenbrook, there at the White House. Our thanks to you, and Oren out at the Reagan Presidential Library. Thanks so much for that.

We are joined now by Republican Congressman Don Bacon from Nebraska. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee and Agriculture Committee. He's also a retired brigadier general in the Air Force.

Congressman, thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate your time tonight.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): Thank you.

DEAN: It is good to see you. I just want to start first by asking you if you are satisfied with Secretary Hegseth's explanation today.

BACON: When it comes to targeting the boat, yes, I believe that he did not give the order to kill everybody. We got that pretty well validated. Whether or not we should have hit that boat the second time, I think it's debatable. I think it's probably at a great gray zone but I do think it would be wise just to put out the video and be fully transparent. I think you make a good case either way.

Should we hit the boat or not? On one hand, you got a boat that's floating there or a sinking boat with two survivors. But they're saying that there's still drugs on the boat and another boat was coming to get the drugs. So I -- it's debatable. I think it's in a gray area, but I was relieved to hear that the secretary did not order that everybody should be killed and it killed all the survivors. He did not say that.

DEAN: Yes. What questions do you still have that you think need to be answered?

BACON: Well, what I think that what has not been done is the administration has not come to the Congress and ask for authorization. It's one thing if you hit a few boats and you stop. But since these boats are going to be -- continue to be hit, I believe it's their duty and responsibility to come to Congress, make the case, and get authorization for continued hostilities. So I think that's most important.

And also, make the case to the American people. I would say further when it comes to Venezuela itself, we don't know what's going on. What is the president's mission? What's the plan? Once again, I think he needs to come to the Congress and make the case and to the American people, say, well, this is what we're trying to do in Venezuela.

DEAN: Yes, and listen, respectfully, if you sitting on the House Armed Services Committee don't know what's going on in Venezuela, and you still feel like you need some questions answered, it would -- suffice to say the American people probably feel that way, too. They're not there in Washington. What kind of leverage do you have to compel the administration to give you the information you need?

BACON: Well, we put things in the National Defense Authorization, for example, it's a little off your question. But recently, the secretary of defense withdrew a brigade out of Romania. And he knew that Congress did not want that to happen. We wanted to keep that brigade there. And he also didn't notify the Romanians before making that decision and announcing it.

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So what we're going to do now, we're going to put in the defense authorization bill, I believe, is our goal that they have to get approval from Congress before they do something like that again. So we do have the ability to put things in law. Also, we have funding restraints that we could put on the president. But this is, I believe that the president and the secretary of defense are shortsighted on this by coming to Congress.

If you look at polling, most Americans support hitting these drug boats because we're losing 100,000 people a year but you got to come to Congress and you got to make your case. And I believe there's enough support there that it would happen. I don't know why they would not want to do this right. And by authorizing it, it makes these strikes legal from the White House perspective. When Congress authorizes it, that's -- I think it puts somewhat safer legal footing.

DEAN: Do you think they're illegal right now?

BACON: I think by law and by experience, if they went after couple boats early, and it's OK, we made our case, they would have to come get authorization. But if you're going to do continued strikes or operations against these boats, you do have to come to Congress and get authorization. So I put my name on a war powers act resolution on this to force the president to get approval to do this.

So that's another way that we can have some controls to do a war powers resolution and put my name on it yesterday before coming out to the Reagan Library.

DEAN: Yes. Do you think that the strike should be paused as this gets worked out? So essentially, should they pause this until they have your authorization?

BACON: You know, I don't like to see drugs coming to our country either. And I would just -- my recommendation is come to the Congress tomorrow or today, and say, this is why we're doing -- here's our legal justification. Here's the intelligence that we have, so we know we're hitting the right boats. And, Congress, I'm asking for your approval to do these continued strikes. That's what I would do. But if we have a boat coming to America or to, say, Honduras or

Guatemala, they're going to take it done through Mexico and the United States, I am hard put not to support interdicting those drugs. I mean, I've lost family members to drugs. You know, my immediate family, right?

DEAN: I'm sorry. Yes.

BACON: And there's 100,000 people dying a year. So that's -- so I think there's support there. I just don't know why the White House doesn't come in and do it the right way.

DEAN: I want to ask you about Hegseth specifically. He was asked if he would use Signal again after that watchdog report was released this week. He said, in his words, "I don't live with any regrets." That report did find that he risked endangering troops with the use of that unsecured app.

Do you have confidence in his leadership generally at this point?

BACON: I would say little confidence. He said he was also fully exonerated. He was not. This report was about a 35-page report. They put out an unclassified version thereafter. So I'm not sure how big that one was. But it was very clear that he put targeting information, what time the aircraft were launching, and what time they were going to hit targets in Yemen two hours before the missions were done.

And we know that China and Russia are monitoring his personal phone. It's a top target. And if that data would have got to Yemen, it could have undermined the whole mission and put our airmen at risk. And that was all in the report. So there was surely not an exoneration.

What I wanted to see was I made him to say this. I made a mistake. I'll never -- I won't do it again. I learned my lesson. And that's what leaders do. You take responsibility, and yet he has not taken responsibility. He blames the journalists. He blames everybody else. And that undermines his credibility with many of us. I'm a five-time commander in the Air Force, surely not perfect. When I mess up, you go to your team and your boss, you say, I messed up. This is what I'm going to do about it. You make it right.

And for some reason, he is unable to do that. It's not my only complaint. He's fired a bunch of generals for no reason. We have vacant positions that need to be filled months ago. You know, that's -- what concerns me even more is decisions on NATO that he's making decisions that weaken our relationship with NATO. It hurts our standing with our allies and when he's long gone, these decisions are going to hurt our national security and our country because it's weakened our relationship with many of our European allies and NATO. And so these decisions are long-lasting. And I think they're harmful.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Don Bacon, we really do appreciate your time. Thank you.

BACON: Thank you. DEAN: Still ahead, public health officials slamming the CDC's

controversial vaccine recommendations for Hepatitis B. Critics saying they will only make America sicker.

[19:15:03]

Plus growing frustration and grievances aimed at House Speaker Mike Johnson from his own party. Why some Republican lawmakers say they're not happy with him.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: A controversial change at the CDC this week. The agency's newly appointed vaccine panel voting to revoke the agency's long-standing practice of recommending newborn babies be vaccinated for Hepatitis B.

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It's been credited with nearly eradicating the disease in children. And now the decision is growing criticism for medical experts and lawmakers.

CNN's Meg Tirrell joins us now with more -- Meg.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well this recommendation potentially upends about three decades of U.S. health policy when it comes to Hepatitis B vaccination of newborns. Since 1991, the country has recommended that all babies get a dose of this vaccine in the first days of life to protect them against a highly contagious virus that can cause chronic infection, liver damage, liver cancer, and even be fatal.

And so what this recommendation does is essentially split babies into two groups by the Hepatitis B status of their moms. For moms who test positive or whose status is for Hepatitis B virus, the recommendation actually doesn't change. Still, those babies, they say, should receive the vaccine while they're in the hospital. It's for moms who test negative for the Hepatitis B virus where things are changing.

And there, this changes the recommendation from a blanket recommendation for all babies to one that they call individual-based decision-making so parents essentially decide along with their healthcare providers if they want a birth dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine for their newborn. They also suggest, as part of this recommendation, the committee suggests that if they don't get a birth dose, that they delay getting the vaccine until at least two months of age.

Now, experts say this is not a science-based recommendation and will put babies in danger of getting infected with this virus. You're also hearing criticism from people like Senator Bill Cassidy, who's a Republican doctor who chairs the Senate Health Committee. He posted on social media, quote, "As a liver doctor who's treated people with Hepatitis B for decades, this changed to the vaccine schedule is a mistake. The Hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective. The birth dose is a recommendation, not a mandate."

So essentially saying already it was a choice of what parents should do. It was a recommendation that all babies get this. Now that that blanket recommendation has changed, experts fear a lot of uncertainty will be introduced, and that means confusion and barriers and maybe more babies being left vulnerable unnecessarily.

DEAN: All right. Meg Tirrell with the latest. Thank you for that.

Let's bring in economist Emily Oster, who specializes in data-driven information for parenting and health.

Emily, thanks for being here. When I told my friends, all who have young children, that I was talking to you tonight, it's like I have a rock star on the show, so we're very happy to have you to talk through some of this --

EMILY OSTER, FOUNDER AND CEO OF PARENTDATA: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes. To talk through some of this with us. So, first off, why do babies get this vaccine so early, oftentimes just hours after they're born?

OSTER: So the main reason is that if mom has Hepatitis B, the chance of transmission to the baby is high and then the chance the baby becomes a carrier is extremely high, and that can lead to liver cancer and liver failure later. So getting babies vaccinated very early is the best way to prevent them from developing chronic Hepatitis B, and that's why we do it typically in the hospital.

DEAN: Right. And they're saying, OK, you could delay it. You could delay it until like two months. But what you're saying and what doctors will say is that the risk is immediate, that the baby could pick this up. And if they do develop this, these are long-term health effects.

OSTER: That's absolutely true. And what is also true is that mom tests negative, the risks to the baby of getting hepatitis in those first two months is very small. Intra-household risk is pretty rare. So this is already a recommendation that many doctors were following, were having conversations with their patients, were doing some conversations like this before.

Where I think it has moved now is as we change the recommendation from universal to talk about it, I think it sows distrust in the vaccine. It makes people think, huh, there must be something wrong with this when, in fact, there are decades of safety information, and there's no new signals here. And that's what I think is really concerning that the erosion of trust in what is a really safe and effective vaccine.

DEAN: Right, so that's what I wanted to ask you, knowing your expertise and having combed through all of this data. What does it say about this vaccine in particular?

OSTER: This vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective. It has been used for decades. It is responsible for a tremendous decline in the number of people with chronic Hepatitis B. It's just -- it's a miracle. And, you know, when you watched the ACIP meeting yesterday, what was so frustrating I think was the -- some of the members saying, how are we missing the miracle that this vaccine has brought the incredible health benefits?

How is that not the thing we're focused on, when in fact there has been no significant evidence of risk, and this is known to be a very safe vaccine that millions and millions and millions of people have gotten?

DEAN: Yes. And so, if you're a parent out there who is maybe going to have to make this decision, you know, in the next year or several months or in the future. What would you tell parents? How should they be thinking about this?

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OSTER: I would tell parents that this is a safe and effective vaccine and getting the birth dose at the hospital is a good idea for everybody. If you know you are negative for hepatitis B, you can talk with your doctor about whether you want to do the first dose a little bit later, perhaps at two months but you really do want to get this vaccine when your baby is small because there are risks of developing hepatitis and the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing this.

DEAN: Yes, and you mentioned just what this really does is eat away at the credibility of these institutions of the years of research and data that we do have. Do you worry about that longer term? Again, as someone who works with numbers, works with studies, that's your bread and butter. Do you worry that these things start to lose their credibility and then people don't know who to turn to?

OSTER: Absolutely. Watching that meeting yesterday, not just the hepatitis decision, but every other part of it was just a consistent effort to erode people's trust in these vaccines that the data that was being cited was poor. It was from discredited studies. It was from studies where if you dig in even a little bit, you can see we are not learning anything from this evidence. And I just see a continued sense that we're moving people away from the best data into something else and trying to purposely make them think this is something they should be afraid of instead of recognizing that we have decades of safety data on vaccines and as parents stop vaccinating.

And if we erode trust enough, we're going to have a lot more disease and we're going to have children die of vaccine-preventable diseases, which is a tragedy.

DEAN: It absolutely would be. And just lastly, underscoring, I think with a broad question around this, too, is RFK Jr. and the health department trying to figure out what causes autism and really, you know, putting a lot of fear into parents that autism could be caused by any sort of vaccinations that kids are getting. But that is not shown in the data either.

OSTER: No, in the best data we absolutely did not see a link between vaccines and autism. And again, I think this not only sows fear, but it actually moves our focus away from trying to understand what is causing rises in autism, some of it is diagnosis. There may be other things. By focusing on something like vaccines, which we know don't cause autism we are missing an opportunity to learn about the actual answers that might help people, which is its own problem.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Emily Oster, thank you so much. Great to have you on. I really appreciate it.

OSTER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still to come, Republican lawmakers attacking Speaker Mike Johnson, criticizing his leadership for being MIA. We're going to look at the political battle brewing inside the House. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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DEAN: House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing some growing criticism from some members of his own party as American shoulder higher prices and affordability issues. Some Republicans are calling on Johnson to pivot on strategy and avoid Democratic attacks in the run-up to next year's midterms.

Joining us now, Rachael Bade, whose newsletter "The Inner Circle" started this week. She is also the co-host of the upcoming show, "The Huddle" with Sean Spicer and Dan Turrentine.

Rachael, great to have you here. Congrats on all the new things. That's wonderful. What would it take --

RACHAEL BADE, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: Yes. Thanks.

DEAN: What would it take -- yes, let's talk a little bit about the Speaker. What would it take for this pressure to actually change how he is doing things? And just how intense is that pressure right now?

BADE: Yes, look, I mean, Johnson would argue that he feels like he is sort of caught and cannot do a lot differently right now. I mean, there are a lot of members that come to him with a bunch of different, you know, contradictory sort of concerns. And the problem is, if he assuages one side, oftentimes, he repels another.

I mean, just think about healthcare, for instance. There are members who are in these frontline districts, Jessica, who want to extend Obamacare subsidies. They are concerned about premiums going up on Americans, if he sort of gives them what they want, there is a bunch of conservatives that actually rebel against him.

But look, I think the reason you're seeing a lot of this member frustration is because Republicans across the board, no matter their ideology, whether they be moderate or be conservative, they are starting to see the writing on the wall, and that is that their majority is slipping away. I mean, Democrats, they are coming back. They are coming back strong. They are looking at the polling right now, and they know they can't come out and blame Donald Trump for this, even though privately, a lot of them do, they don't want to say that on the record. So, where do they put their anger? They put it at the Speaker, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, and so that is my second question, which is, how much of this is really about Mike Johnson versus how much of this is about their frustration with the President or even how The White House is handling things.

BADE: Yes. Members are angry right now. So I think they are mad at everyone. I mean, some of the members will -- they blame Johnson for keeping the House out for, like, two months during the shutdown. They heard a lot from constituents who were saying, why weren't you working? Why weren't you trying to get something done? And they wanted to come back and Johnson, you know, kept them out.

But then there are some of the stuff that is out of Johnson's control. I have heard a lot of Republicans say, why haven't we done a better job from The White House standpoint, selling The Big Beautiful Bill this year? Why aren't we talking more about our accomplishments? And for that, you know, they are privately blaming The White House again, not saying it publicly, but saying it privately.

And there is this sense, Jessica, that they are going to get blamed when these Obamacare subsidies expire. They are really concerned about that and they just feel like they don't have a unified message right now.

And so the frustration is, it is across the leadership board. That's for sure.

DEAN: Yes, and let's talk about those subsidies, because obviously that is what the shutdown hinged upon.

[19:35:10]

And now we have essentially two weeks of them in session before these expire, and they are done for the year. What is your sense of the likelihood of any movement on that, and I would assume, to your point, some Republicans are quite concerned they are going to get blamed if nothing is done, and those go up.

BADE: Yes, it is a really interesting coalition of Republicans you see forming right now, both moderate sort of centrist Republicans in these swing districts. They want to extend these subsidies, even without reforms, like some other Republicans are pushing if they can't get a bipartisan deal with Democrats.

And then you have people on the very opposite end of the spectrum in the Republican Party, the MAGA wing and you're actually starting to hear some of these sort of populist Republicans come out and say, we've got to extend these subsidies, even if we don't get a deal with Democrats. We just have to do it. Republicans, a lot of Republican leaders and more traditional minded Republicans who, frankly hate Obamacare, they only want to extend these subsidies if they can reform them. The problem is, it is really hard to get a deal with Democrats in such a short amount of time and healthcare is one of those issues where it is very difficult to find a deal between both parties. So there is this fracture happening right now in the Republican Party between the MAGA and moderate wing and the more traditional wing.

GOP leaders, like I just mentioned, they are probably not going to just extend these things without a change. The only thing that could change that, Jessica is the President himself. And right now, the President really hasn't leaned in on this.

Unless he goes out there and says, look, I am using my bully pulpit, and I am telling you Republican Congress to extend these subsidies, it is really hard for me to see anything getting extended beyond December.

DEAN: Yes, and it is such a short timeframe.

All right, Rachael, thank you so much. Great to see you.

BADE: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Coming up, not just one but two jail breaks in just a matter of months, what officials are saying after another group of inmates managed to escape a Louisiana prison.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:41:45]

DEAN: A manhunt is taking place tonight for the last of three Louisiana jail escapees. The three inmates broke out of the St. Landry Parish Jail earlier this week by removing mortar and concrete blocks from a jail wall, then using bedsheets to lower themselves to the ground.

One of the three is now back in custody. The second killed himself after being found. CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us now.

Rafael, this is the second escape from the same jail since October. What do you know about all of this?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, what we know is that out of three inmates who authorities say escaped this week from a jail in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana located about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge, only one, Jessica, remains at-large. The fugitive has been identified as 24-year-old Keith Eli, who is facing a second-degree attempted murder charge. A second escapee identified as 24-year-old, Jonathan Jevon Joseph, and who was facing several charges, including principal to first-degree rape has been captured, according to the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office.

The third escape, 26-year-old joseph Allen Harrington, who face several charges -- felony charges, I should say, including home invasion, killed himself after he was found says Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux told CNN affiliate, KADN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DEON BOUDREAUX, PORT BARRE POLICE: Eventually, we were able to go inside the home and found Mr. Harrington, of course, he was deceased from a single gunshot wound, a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Regarding how the inmates were able to escape, St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said that the inmates discovered a degrading part of an upper wall area, and over time removed the mortar, allowing them to remove concrete blocks and provide their exit. The Sheriff added that the inmates used sheets and other items to scale the outer wall, drop onto the first-floor roof, and lowered themselves to the ground.

But St. Landry Parish President Jesse Bellard disputed that statement saying at a news conference that the comment about crumbling walls is not true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE BELLARD ST. LANDRY PARISH PRESIDENT: As you can see, the walls are not crumbling. Our jail is in good shape. We had structure engineers coming in last year, look at our jail for the possibility of expanding our jail and the structure engineers came back with a clean bill of health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Jessica, we have reported this before, this latest jailbreak adds to several brazen escapes from Louisiana Prison so far in 2025. An inmate escaped from the same St. Landry Parish Jail on October 23rd, and was recaptured by the Okaloosa Police Department, only a day later as KADN reported then. And then you'll remember this, 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans Jail in May in a stunning overnight escape using electric hair trimmers with multiple clipper blades to help cut their way through the cell walls, according to a source.

The last of those ten prisoners was at large for nearly five months before being recaptured here in Atlanta -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Rafael Romo with the latest, thanks so much for that.

New tonight, the protective shield built around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site in Ukraine is no longer able to contain radioactive waste after being damaged by drone strikes earlier this year according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

[19:45:05]

Ukraine accused Russia of severely damaging the new safe confinement shield during a strike in February. Russia has denied that. Agency officials say they support efforts to fully restore the steel structure.

Still ahead here tonight, we break down the latest economic data that shows inflation moving in the wrong direction. Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:02]

DEAN: A new wholesale inflation report out this week from the Commerce Department, and this is a key piece of evidence, the Federal Reserve uses when it makes interest-rate decisions. The next meeting coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday.

CNN senior reporter, Matt Egan breaks down the numbers -- Matt.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Jessica, the latest inflation numbers, they really underscore the cost of living struggles that many Americans are dealing with right now. Prices are not skyrocketing like they were a few years ago, but they are still going up way too fast.

So this is PCE, which is the Fed's go-to inflation metric and it is showing inflation as of September. This report has been delayed by the government shutdown. It shows that prices were up by 0.3 percent month-over-month. That was slightly higher than expected and flat with the prior month, and it did push up the annual rate to 2.8 percent. That's significant because that's the highest inflation rate from this gauge since April of 2024.

And when you look at the trend, you can see that it is really moving in the wrong direction, right, moving further and further away from the Fed's two percent target and inflation is higher than it was at this point last year.

So why is this happening? Well, part of the story is higher food prices. It is also higher energy prices. Thankfully, we know that since this survey was taken, gasoline prices have moved below $3.00 a gallon, so hopefully some of the energy pressure has come off.

And the good news is that core inflation, which excludes food and energy, it did cool slightly in September and economists, investors on Wall Street think that this inflation report was good enough, that it seals the deal on an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve in the coming days.

However, there is also some spending numbers out that were concerning because it showed that consumer spending, it did slow between August and September and real spending, which adjusts for inflation came in at zero in September. More evidence of how higher prices are really impacting consumers.

Now, the University of Michigan also put out new numbers on how Americans are feeling right now. The good news is that consumer sentiment, it did tick higher in December, and that was led by less pessimism from younger Americans. So that, of course, is great to see.

However, big picture look at this, consumer sentiment, it is almost 30 percent lower than it was at this point last year, and it remains near all-time lows and the director of the survey, I think summed it best saying that the overall tenor of views is broadly somber as consumers continue to cite the burden of high prices.

So, look, bottom line, the President continues to suggest that this affordability crisis is a hoax but the latest surveys and inflation numbers clearly suggest otherwise.

Back to you, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Matt Egan, thank you for that.

Today, all the dates, times, and locations for the men's World Cup games were announced. The kickoff will be June 11th in Mexico City. Team USA's first game will be June 12 against Paraguay in Los Angeles. They will play against Australia and Seattle on June 19th and then head back to L.A., June 25th,

Eleven U.S. cities will host World Cup matches with the final game on July 19th near New York City. Matches will also be played in Canada and Mexico.

And one of the greatest soccer players has a new trophy, the MLS Cup. The great Leonel Messi, had two assists helping lead Inter-Miami to its first-ever Major League Soccer championship with a three win over Vancouver. It is the 44th title of Messi's career, including the latest World Cup with Argentina back in 2022.

We will be right back.

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[19:58:22]

DEAN: This weekend on "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, CNN goes to Nairobi, Kenya with a rare look inside some of Africa's harshest prisons. These jails are often overcrowded with men and women who can wait years before trial.

But the group, Justice Defenders wants to change that. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": How common is it to meet people who have never had an attorney and they've been incarcerated for years awaiting at trial?

ALEXANDER MCLEAN, FOUNDER, JUSTICE DEFENDERS: In countries like Kenya and Uganda, but all around Sub-Saharan Africa and far beyond, you will find it and often 70 percent or 80 percent or 90 percent of the prison population has never met a lawyer.

COOPER: I mean, that's incredible.

MCLEAN: Many people don't understand that they have a right to speak in court. A senior officer in the Kenya Prison Service said to me once, we reckon about half of our prisoners are innocent because they've gone to court. They've gone for trial and they've had no one to speak on their behalf.

COOPER (voice over): At FICA, incarcerated men and women from a nearby prison have come to hear the presentation by Justice Defenders.

COOPER (on camera): This is a legal training session that Justice Defenders is holding. There is probably about 150, maybe 200 incarcerated people here. Some have already been convicted of crimes. Many, though, are still awaiting trial and they may be here for years, a session like this will give them just some basic information about what lies ahead for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Be sure to tune in. It is an all-new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, one whole hour, one whole story. It airs tomorrow at 8:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN and then will air the next day on the CNN app.

In the meantime, thank you so much for joining me this evening. I am Jessica Dean. Remember, if you're here in the U.S., you can now stream CNN whenever you want using our CNN app, visit cnn.com/watch for more on that.

I am going to see you right back here again tomorrow night. We start at 5:00 P.M. Eastern.

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