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CDC Panel Votes to End Universal Hep B Shots for Newborns; 2026 FIFA World Cup; U.S. and Ukrainian Officials to Meet Again in Coming Hours; ICE Raids Raising Fears around New Orleans Area; Police Release 9-1-1 Calls from Summer Floods; Child Mortality Rates Expected to Rise in 2025. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired December 06, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
New parents face conflicting information about their children's vaccination schedule. We'll look at what president Trump has to say about a new ruling from health officials.
FIFA launches the runup to the 2026 World Cup with a star-studded ceremony and a shiny new prize. How international politics could overshadow the competition.
And there's outrage in Germany over a new law that raises the prospect of a military draft. Why some young people are resisting
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: President Trump is praising CDC advisers for making what he calls a very good decision to abandon universal hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.
The panel is instead recommending that mothers who test negative for the virus consult with the health care provider about giving their children the vaccine.
The president also said he wants the Health and Human Services Department to do a review of vaccine schedules from other countries and better align the U.S. vaccine schedule with them.
Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a longtime anti- vaccine activist. He chose the members of the advisory panel earlier this year and many of them have also expressed anti-vaccine sentiments.
Experts are criticizing Friday's decision, saying it will make America sicker. The American Medical Association says the panel's vote undermines decades of public confidence in a proven, lifesaving vaccine that fights hepatitis B, a liver infection caused by an extremely infectious virus.
CNN's Meg Tirrell has more on the safety and effectiveness of the hepatitis B vaccine.
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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. So for moms who test positive or whose status is unknown 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 decisionmaking.
So parents essentially decide, along with their health care 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 2 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 is a Republican doctor, who chairs the Senate Health Committee.
He posted on social media, quote, "As a liver doctor who treated people with hepatitis B for decades, this change 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.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's medical analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, is expressing deep concern with the CDC under the leadership of health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Have a listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: That's my recommendation to parents. Don't listen to the CDC and HHS anymore. Under this administration, they've become an unreliable source of medical information for this country. Rely on your doctor.
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BRUNHUBER: And pediatricians are expressing concern over what the advisory panel's decision will mean for families and their health. Listen to this.
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DR. EDITH BRACHO-SANCHEZ; COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER: This will cause harm for new moms. It will mean now that the recommendation is not to universally vaccinate all babies within 24 hours of birth against hepatitis B.
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But rather to speak to their physician and engage in shared decisionmaking if they test negative for hepatitis B infection. Now I do want to be clear that, while that is the recommendation of this committee, this deeply flawed committee that met today, that is not what the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending.
That is not what major medical organizations are recommending. We are all still very much recommending that first dose within 24 hours of birth for all babies, the second dose within 1 to 2 months and then the third at 6 months.
So the decision now is going to be with moms on who to listen to, which is incredibly concerning, frustrating and irresponsible.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether president Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship is constitutional. The 14th Amendment guarantees U.S. citizenship to people born here, even if their parents weren't. That's been considered law since the 19th century.
But now the justices are revisiting the issue after sidestepping it earlier this year. They'll hear arguments next year and likely hand down a decision by the end of June.
We're learning more about the double tap U.S. boat strike that happened on September 2nd. According to sources, the alleged drug boat wasn't heading to the U.S. but was bound for a larger vessel on its way to Suriname.
The alleged drug boat was struck four times. The first one split the boat and left two survivors. The three other strikes sunk the vessel and killed the two people. Although it's considered a war crime by the U.S. to kill shipwrecked
survivors, Defense officials argued the sailors remained legitimate targets.
Now this comes as lawmakers were briefed by the admiral who oversaw the strike. But both Republicans and Democrats viewed what happened differently.
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REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT), MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Admiral Bradley has a storied career and he has my respect and he should have the respect of all of us. But what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service.
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs, bound for the United States, back over so they could stay in the fight.
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BRUNHUBER: Now since that strike, the U.S. military has carried out more than 20 additional strikes, killing at least 87 people.
All right. We've been following the long-awaited draw for next year's FIFA World Cup. The tournament is considered the most widely viewed sports event on the planet.
The draw took place with plenty of fanfare in Washington, D.C., as the 48 national teams learned who they'll play in the opening group stage. The U.S., Canada and Mexico, whose leaders took part in the ceremony, will jointly host the tournament, the first to be held in North America in more than three decades.
Now the draw wasn't the only notable thing that happened on stage in Washington. FIFA president Gianni Infantino also gave president Trump the newly created FIFA peace prize. And you may recall, the president has been vying to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
CNN "WORLD SPORT" anchor Don Riddell was at the draw and he has more on the Washington on the matchups rather from Washington.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: What a day it has been at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, D.C., where the draw was made for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament.
It was bigger than ever before, 48 teams instead of 32, 12 groups instead of eight. And it was a real collision of the worlds of football, sports in general, entertainment and politics.
U.S. president, Donald Trump was lauded by FIFA's President, Gianni Infantino with its inaugural Peace Prize.
We were serenaded by the operatic legend Andrea Bocelli and we listened to the Village People who played "YMCA." And the sports legends, Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal, Wayne Gretzky and Aaron Judge, all helped draw the teams out at random.
And, of course, that's really what this was all about. The host nations, USA, Canada and Mexico all received arguably favorable draws with pundits debating who had been drawn into a so-called group of death.
Perhaps it's Group I with France, Senegal and Norway with an unnamed playoff team yet to come. It's a draw that pits two of the game's biggest young stars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland against each other.
Or the group of death might be L with England and Croatia a repeat of the 2018 semifinal, Panama and Ghana, who are arguably the toughest of the so-called weakest teams.
But arguably there is no group of death this time, because most of the third place teams eight of the 12 will also progress to the knockouts phase. So really the group stage will determine the more favorable roots through the knockout rounds.
On Saturday, FIFA will reveal the venues and the dates for all of the games and in March, the last six playoff teams will be determined to fill out the groups but the starting gun was fired in Washington, D.C., today, the next World Cup is starting to feel very real. Back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: And for more, I'm joined now by Ryan Tolmich, American soccer correspondent for GOAL.
Thank you so much for being here with us. Really appreciate it. So let's just start with the ceremony itself. You were there. Obviously these things tend to be a bit over the top.
But even for FIFA, I mean this looked like something else, right?
I mean, what did you make of it?
RYAN TOLMICH, AMERICAN SOCCER CORRESPONDENT, GOAL: Yes. As you said, these things are this is -- this is how they go, right?
You know, FIFA always puts on a show with these events. Any draw is always going to be a unique spectacle. But this one was a Trump-led spectacle, if you will. There was a moment that kind of summed everything up halfway through the ceremony.
The draw is getting ready to formally begin and Trump walks on the stage and accidentally walks past Gianni Infantino. And Infantino, you know, laughs it off and he says, it's OK. You can do what you want.
And that felt like a pretty good summation of the event. Look, Trump wasn't exactly the main star of the day. But he was certainly one of them. You know, it began with the Bocelli show. It included that peace prize and then it moved right into, you know, the performance of "YMCA" right at the end by the Village People.
So look, this was a World Cup draw. It had all the makings of a World Cup draw. But this was also very much Trump's World Cup draw and kind of an event created in his image and his likeness in a sense.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well put. I just want to ask you about that peace prize. I mean, this was something I'd literally never heard of before they kind of floated this.
I mean, what's your read on FIFA creating this?
And was it just to make president Trump happy?
TOLMICH: Look, it was it was certainly one of the more odd spectacles of the show. And this was a show that included the Village People in it.
Look, there's no pretending that FIFA has morphed into a political entity. And Gianni Infantino has morphed into something of a political figure, a person who's in these sorts of rooms with powerful people and always working with governments to kind of further FIFA's interests.
So this isn't totally out of character for FIFA to have a peace prize. Not at all.
BRUNHUBER: Yes.
TOLMICH: Look, the obvious kind of sentiment among people was more so really. And that I think everyone knew which way this was going the second it was announced. It was pretty clear who this was going to.
But there was a sense that that maybe this could have been something a little bit different. You know, if you think about it, FIFA is not a world organization. You know, peace is obviously something to discuss and unity and all of these words.
But FIFA is not a peace organization. It is a soccer entity, you know. And when you look at the state of the world and everything, at the very least, this was a controversial decision.
Could it have been given to a player who's doing charity work?
Could it have been given to a club that's doing something in their local community?
Could it have been given to someone working in a country to ensure that soccer and peace coincide?
BRUNHUBER: Yes.
TOLMICH: Maybe. But again, this wasn't unexpected. And this was kind of always the way this was going to go. BRUNHUBER: Yes. That's right. All right. Let's turn to the soccer
itself here.
I mean, it's tough to make any definitive conclusions about which groups will be toughest, given there are still some play in matches still to happen. A group could suddenly have Italy, for instance, just, you know, plunked into it.
But what are the tastiest groups to you?
What matchups do you have your eyes on?
TOLMICH: Group I obviously is the fun one, just from the soccer fan perspective and that, you know, you have France, who is one of these best teams, arguably the best team in the world, the deepest.
And then you have Norway, which is -- Erling Haaland is arguably the best player in the world. So you have this matchup between Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, which is potentially the new generation Ronaldo and Messi. And that's obviously going to be one to watch.
But yes, right now there's matchups but there isn't necessarily a group of death. You know you look at Brazil-Morocco. That's going to be an incredible game. England-Croatia incredible game. But there aren't really groups of death.
And there isn't as much jeopardy as there used to be simply because of the change in format. So, yes, it's a different vibe. And you have some good matchups in the first round. But it's not -- it's not a situation where many of the heavy hitters will feel wildly threatened when it comes to their group stage status.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right. And so many small, new nations joining as well because of that expanded format that you talked about. Quickly, let's talk through the hosts, Canada and Mexico. But let's start with the U.S.
How does their path look after the draw?
TOLMICH: They'll be pretty happy with it. You know, it's not quite the perfect draw but it's something close to it in the sense that the U.S. got three games that, if all goes well, they should be favored to win all three of them.
Now is that 60-40 or 65-35?
Probably. There isn't a layup in this group. There isn't an easy win. There isn't a lockdown win. And they're going to have to show up for every game.
But the good news is that they're going to know exactly what they're walking into. You know, they just played Paraguay and Australia both this fall. They both put -- they put in good performances against both those teams.
And then when you look at the playoff, you know Turkiye is the team that's favored to get out of that. And that's a team they just played this summer. Now the obvious thing is that these teams weren't the same ones that are going to be playing. The U.S. has been rotating heavily this year.
We haven't quite seen what we would say is a full strength group but the U.S. will feel pretty good about their path just because it seems one that they are equipped to walk, all things concerned.
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BRUNHUBER: Very quick prediction, does Canada or Mexico get out of their groups?
TOLMICH: Mexico is an OK-ish spot. They have a chance. You know, they open the tournament against South Africa, which is a nice little throwback to the World Cup in South Africa.
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TOLMICH: So, yes. Look, Mexico is a team that hasn't particularly been doing as well as everyone would expect, especially in Mexico, where the pressure is sky high. But look, they're going to have their chance to get out of the group.
And Canada, too, Canada has drawn a tougher group. But look, Canada is a team that they're going to have that home field advantage. It's going to be a special moment in Canada in particular, just because of what this has all kind of meant for the rise of soccer in that country.
So look, both of them have had, you know, they don't have the easiest route. And they both are teams that they will be looking to, to get out of this group. But look, they have the chance. They have the home field advantage.
And it's going to surely be a special moment for both of those countries to hear their national anthems and kind of have this experience, because it is such a unique one at the end of the day.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. Some very special stories that will be told both on the pitch and off of it because of all the different controversies that we don't have time to get into now. Plenty of time before the actual World Cup. Really appreciate talking to you, Ryan Tolmich. Thank you so much.
TOLMICH: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
BRUNHUBER: All right.
Still to come, president Trump's national security strategy takes aim at America's longstanding allies. We'll look at how Europe is responding next.
And Germany has approved a major military reform bill, which raises the prospect of a draft. We'll look at why young people are protesting in the streets. Those stories and more coming up. Stay with us. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine is assessing the damage this morning after a massive air attack from Russia, one of its largest in months. People took shelter in the metro in Kyiv, where the air alert lasted for eight hours. At least five people were killed.
Ukraine says hundreds of missiles and drones targeted energy infrastructure in regions like Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya and Kyiv. They shot down or suppressed 615 weapons.
Ukraine's foreign affairs minister says Russia's blatantly disregarding peace efforts, even as a Ukrainian delegation is in Miami for talks. Officials are set to meet with U.S. officials again in the coming hours.
America's allies are trying to make sense of the White House's new national security strategy. The 33-page document discusses shifting military resources toward priorities like stopping drug trafficking. Other parts of it take a more confrontational approach with European allies.
That came up during a panel hosted by CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour at the Doha forum. For more, we're joined by CNN's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, this national security strategy is certainly expected to be a topic of conversation at this forum. And as you mentioned, it has already.
Now we heard Christiane Amanpour asking the vice president of the European Commission about this strategy and specifically the part where it appears that the U.S. is not just America First but also rejecting European allies. Let's listen to her response.
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KAJA KALLAS, E.U. HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: I didn't read it like this. I actually read the European part. I haven't read the rest of it. Of course, there's a lot of criticism.
But I think some of it is also true. If you look at Europe, it has been underestimating its own power toward Russia, for example. I mean, we should be more self-confident. That's for sure.
And, you know, U.S. is still our biggest ally. And there, I read it as well, that we are still the biggest ally. And it's in the interest of United States as well, that Europe lasts and that we are really still the ally and working together for these things. I think we haven't always seen eye to eye on different topics. But I
think the overall principle is still there. We are the biggest allies and we should stick together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: She mentioned Russia there also. The Russia-Ukraine war is a key topic as well at this forum.
We have also heard from the French prime minister, Emmanuel Macron, talking about the war but also talking about this national security strategy, saying that the U.S. needs Europe when it comes to trying to create this peace deal that will end the war in Ukraine.
Saying that unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is indispensable. Now he did point out that it is happening on the European continent, that that Europe can deliver these security guarantees Ukraine is looking for, can talk sanctions.
It is Europe that has frozen these assets of Russia. So it is key that the U.S. does work with Europe. Now we have been seeing a far more unilateral approach from the Trump administration. We did see some of his key mediators going to Moscow earlier.
We have seen this weekend as well, there will be further talks with Steve Witkoff, the special envoy, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, meeting with the Ukrainian delegation. Now we heard from the State Department. These are talks in Miami that have happened for two days already and will be taking place again a little later today.
They have been described as constructive discussions. We also understand, from the State Department, they're trying to agree on a framework of security guarantees and also discussing necessary deterrence capabilities.
Now we've seen on Russian state TV that they are saying that they are awaiting results from the United States as to how these talks are going at this point.
But we're really seeing this shuttle diplomacy from the U.S. side, speaking to the Russian delegations and the Russian president, and then back in the U.S., speaking to the Ukrainian delegation.
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So we are hearing, repeatedly, European officials. We have just heard the vice president of the European Commission there, pointing out that Europe needs to be part of this discussion as well. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: I appreciate that. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thanks so much.
German lawmakers have approved a bill to increase the size of its military while moving the armed forces closer to conscription.
Now this comes as tensions with Russia are on the rise across Europe, with many countries looking to beef up their military readiness and capabilities. The vote sparked protests across dozens of German cities. Fred Pleitgen has more from Berlin.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are right in the heart of Berlin today. And we're at one of the big protests against a new law in Germany, which could see some of the folks that you see here conscripted into the German military.
The people who are protesting here today are mostly students from schools around the Berlin area. But protests like this are happening in 90 cities around Germany.
What's just happened is that the German government, the parliament, have passed a law, allowing for conscription in certain cases in the future. Now a lot of the folks that we've been speaking to here say that they're categorically against that and they will not join the military service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's very important that everyone can choose their own future. And if they don't want to spend it on war, I think it's their right to say that they don't want to go into the military, that they don't want to prepare for war, because preparing for war just brings us closer to it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is our system that's -- that cost so many lives here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we as young people shouldn't fight for old people who are in the government.
PLEITGEN: What the German government wants to do is they want to put together a fighting force of about 460,000, 260,000 active duty and 200,000 reservists.
And if they can't get enough people to sign up for that voluntarily, then they can draft people, many of which you might be seeing right here, right now.
And so a lot of these people are saying, look, for them, it's real. The security situation right now in Europe is difficult. And so a lot of them say they simply don't want to be forced into a military service.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, it took nearly five years but a suspect is now charged with leaving pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., the night before the January 6th U.S. Capitol riot.
Plus, a city on edge as Trump focuses his immigration crackdown on New Orleans. We'll look at how some residents are coping with the fear. Those stories and more coming up. Stay with. Us
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check some of today's top stories.
We're learning more about the double tap U.S. attack back in September. Sources tell CNN that the alleged drug boat was hit four times as it was trying to link up with a larger vessel bound for Suriname. Lawmakers continue to ask why the military struck the vessel more than once.
Donald Trump received FIFA's new peace prize at the World Cup draw in Washington. FIFA president Gianni Infantino gave the U.S. president a medal. Trump said it was truly "one of the greatest honors of my life." The organization Human Rights Watch has criticized the award for a lack of transparency.
President Trump is praising CDC advisors for voting to abandon universal hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns. The panel instead recommended that mothers who test negative for the virus consult with the health care provider about giving their child children the vaccine.
Medical experts are criticizing Friday's decision, saying it will make America sicker.
BRUNHUBER: The man charged with leaving pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., ahead of the January 6th riot in 2021, appeared in court Friday. Brian Cole Jr. is facing federal explosive charges but officials say the investigation is ongoing and more charges could follow. CNN's Brian Todd has details.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wearing a tan jumpsuit and glasses as he made his first court appearance, 30-year-old Brian Cole, Jr. was read his rights today by a federal judge.
Six members of his family, visibly emotional, stood up at various points in the hearing, then shouted, "We love you, Brian. We're here for you, baby."
Cole faces two federal explosives charges connected to two pipe bombs left at Democratic and Republican Party headquarters in Washington nearly five years ago, the night before the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
One of the charges states he allegedly had the intent to kill, injure or intimidate. Attorney General Pam Bondi told FOX News the legal case against him could build.
PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Hundreds of agents are on this case because this is a very dangerous person. And again, I believe there are more charges to come.
TODD (voice-over): Cole did not enter a plea. People briefed on the matter tell CNN, during interviews with the FBI, Cole told investigators he believed the 2020 election was stolen, perhaps providing the first indication of a possible motive.
BRADLEY MOSS, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: Certainly seemed like an effort to disrupt things, to prevent the certification of the electoral slate that next day and to somehow prevent Joe Biden from becoming president two weeks later.
TODD (voice-over): But sources tell CNN Cole made multiple statements with FBI investigators over a period of hours.
And officials are being cautious about discussing a definite motive. Investigators say they used Cole's cell phone data to track his location the night the bombs were dropped and they traced purchases he made of the bomb components, including galvanized pipe timers and batteries.
And new details from neighbors and officials of a reclusive suspect who kept a low profile in the Woodbridge, Virginia, cul-de-sac where he lived.
JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR WASHINGTON, D.C.: His closest friends or his family. He lives with his mom and his sisters. He would go to work for a few hours a day. His father had a bail bonds -- bail bondsman company.
TODD (voice-over): Neighbors told CNN they'd often see Cole walking his chihuahua in the neighborhood. He had quirks, like wearing shorts and red Crocs, even on the coldest days of winter, they said. And they said he was antisocial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never interacted, never made eye contact, always kind of kept to himself, often would be wearing headphones and just seemed like he was either listening to something or just kind of wanted to stay by himself.
TODD: Officials tell CNN this nearly five year investigation is still ongoing, with more search warrants being executed. The criminal complaint against Brian Cole says that in the days after he allegedly planted the pipe bombs on the night before January 6th, he continued to buy components used in bomb making -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: California's attorney general is fighting to block the continued deployment of National Guard troops in and around Los Angeles. His motion for a preliminary injunction was heard Friday in San Francisco.
[05:35:00]
President Trump initially called up some 4,000 California Guard troops in response to protests over his immigration enforcement actions. About 100 troops remain in the L.A. area. The attorney general says the order would ensure the American cities aren't militarized.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB BONTA, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CALIFORNIA: We very strongly believe that the National Guard is not the Royal Guard, that the National Guard is not the president's traveling private army to deploy where he wants, when he wants, for as long as he wants, for any reason he wants or no reason at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The judge who heard Friday's motion hasn't ruled yet.
Minnesota and Louisiana are now the focal points of president Trump's immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Department of Homeland Security says it has detained, quote, "some of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens."
But court documents and federal data show many of those detained haven't been convicted of any crime. And then there was this emotional scene in a New Orleans suburb.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't do that to him. You. You, that is a good man. You have no warrant. You have no warrant.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Multiple agents, many in black hoodies and masks, surrounded a man, while his children and neighbors cried out. It's not clear what happened before the agents showed up. Neighbors say the man works construction and has lived there for many years.
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BRUNHUBER: Earlier, I spoke to Drew Hawkins, a reporter with the "Gulf States Newsroom" and I asked him what the situation was like on the ground in New Orleans. Here he is
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DREW HAWKINS, "GULF STATES NEWSROOM": So far there haven't been many arrests that seem to be people who have serious, you know, criminal convictions or criminal records. Like you just said, you know, people who are born here, people who have legal status to be here.
But you know, the real thing is that we don't actually know much about the people who are detained. It's hard to confirm their identities. It's hard to figure out exactly who everyone, how many people are being detained.
Even when people will ask Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who's leading the operation here, he will not directly answer the identities of people or exactly how many people are being detained or arrested.
So the real challenge is actually determining who -- how many people are being taken and who they are. BRUNHUBER: Yes. And why as well. And the process has been so opaque.
And I mean, just hearing you talk about people being disappeared off the streets, I mean, clearly that would, you know, make people pretty frightened, especially in immigrant communities.
I mean, what are you hearing from parents and families about how they're making decisions day to day?
You know, kids staying home from school, for instance, people staying away from work?
HAWKINS: That's exactly right. So you know, I would describe the mood in the immigrant community here being very fearful, people afraid to go to work, to leave their homes. You're hearing reports about, you know, Hispanic restaurants closing down.
Kids missing school is becoming a big concern. You know, teachers are talking about classmates not coming to school and their classmates asking about where they are. And they're having to answer these heartbreaking questions about saying, I don't know where they are or if you'll see them again.
You know it's -- it -- it's also -- at the same time there's this feeling of anger and frustration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Marjorie Taylor Greene says president Trump was furious at her for signing the discharge petition, forcing a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
The Republican representative, who's resigning in January, discussed the cost of her support for Epstein's victims in an interview with CBS. She described the president's anger to Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" but insisted that the women deserved her support. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): We did talk about the Epstein files and he was extremely angry at me that I had signed the discharge petition to release the files. I fully believe that those women deserve everything they're asking. They're asking for all of it to come out. They deserve it. And he was furious with me.
LESLEY STAHL, CBS NEWS HOST: What did he say?
GREENE: He said that it was going to hurt people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Texas police have released the 9-1-1 calls from last summer's deadly floods. And they're warning that the calls are highly distressing, especially for families who are impacted. One call among hundreds reported dozens of girls were missing at a summer camp. Listen to this. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this referencing the flooding?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is. We are missing a whole cabin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're missing -- you said you're missing an entire cabin full of girls?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I'm going to go ahead --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're missing 14, 14 and 20 total.
What does that add up to?
Yes, 30. About 30.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, about 30 girls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The devastating flash flooding on the 4th of July killed 136 people.
[05:40:00]
Including 25 girls and two counselors, who were swept away from Camp Mystic. The community has criticized the local emergency response and alleged that officials were unprepared for the disaster.
Child deaths are projected to rise worldwide this year, reversing decades of progress. Just ahead, we'll find out what's behind an alarming new report on the state of global health care.
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BRUNHUBER: For the first time this century, the number of children dying under the age of 5 is expected to rise worldwide. The Gates Foundation is projecting a total of 4.8 million deaths in 2025. That's an increase of 200,000 preventable deaths compared to 2024.
The foundation attributes the unprecedented increase in part to significant cuts to global health funding from several countries. For 2025, global aid funding for health care sits at about 27 percent below 2024 funding levels.
For instance, earlier this year in the U.S. the Trump administration announced steep spending cuts in addition to fully shutting down USAID. The Gates Foundation predicts that, if aid cuts continue at this level, there will be an additional 12 million child deaths globally by 2045.
All right. Joining me now to break down these numbers is Dr. Chris Beyrer, the director of the Duke Global Health Institute. And he's in Durham, North Carolina.
Thank you so much for being here with us, Doctor. So the conclusions of that report were alarming. I mean, you've spent decades working on global health.
What went through your mind when you saw those numbers?
DR. CHRIS BEYRER, DIRECTOR, DUKE GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: Well, first of all, you have to say that the numbers are tragic. And, you know, any single child death is a tragedy. But when you're talking about increases in global numbers, it really is tragic.
Secondly, it's not unexpected. You know, budget cuts have been really remarkable after a number of years of sustained funding for global health, for child survival programs in low and middle income countries.
[05:45:07]
And 2025 has been the worst year we've seen in decades.
BRUNHUBER: So I mean, you speak of 2025, I mean, how much of those predicted deaths are due directly, do you think -- I mean, it's hard to attribute directly.
But how much do you think due to, for instance, here in the U.S., the Trump administration, the cuts to foreign aid and health programs?
BEYRER: Well, leading in to January of 2025, so the administration's announcements of cessation of foreign aid, really on the first day, January 20th, we already were seeing in the previous several years declines from the other major donors.
The second largest donor in global health after the U.S. was the U.K. And since Brexit, the U.K. has been declining in overseas development assistance. Germany, the third largest donor, was also a declining.
A number of the Nordics, including Sweden, countries that have traditionally been very generous, have also been cutting back. So the U.S. was increasingly standing alone as the single largest donor, about 45 billion a year, for example, in USAID funding alone.
So the U.S. cuts really came on top of reductions from other major donors. And that has made them, I think, so much more impactful.
I think people have to understand the scale of this. USAID in 2024 had an allocated budget of 35 billion. A lot of that was for child survival, maternal child health, food, supplemental nutrition. That is entirely gone. The HIV program PEPFAR has had also significant cuts. And I should say
that, leading in, again, to through 2024, if you look at globally, children were doing the worst in terms of HIV survival. So there were problems but they have really been exacerbated by these massive cuts.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. I mean, you talk there about PEPFAR. I mean, you worked on the front lines of HIV and other infectious disease control for 30 years in places like Thailand, across Africa.
I mean, when funding like this gets cut, what actually happens on the ground to the programs, like the ones you've been part of?
BEYRER: Well, you know, the first thing that happens -- and it began really with the stop work orders early in the year, early in the new administration -- is that people start getting laid off. The actual people who deliver the programs, who deliver the services.
Then you have disruptions in the supply chains. And the supply chains are, for example, with PEPFAR, have been really fundamental in getting drugs, commodities, tests, bed nets, you know, for malaria prevention, to the last mile, to the most vulnerable people, the people who need them most.
And those are really the low income people in low income countries. So that whole infrastructure starts to go away. What we've seen is that, in many countries, governments, quite appropriately, have prioritized treatment. So trying to keep people alive.
But that also means that prevention programs go away. And that's very, very important, for example, for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, for preventing malaria and, for example, preventing tuberculosis spread within households.
BRUNHUBER: Yes.
BEYRER: So we have seen --
BRUNHUBER: Let me -- let me jump in because I don't have much time. But this is -- this is important because some of the things that you're talking about there, some of our viewers might say, well, you know, these things are happening in other countries. I mean, it's sad if children die.
But you know, does it really affect us?
But we are all interconnected. And some of the programs that you're talking about, I mean, the disease prevention, it does help in other countries, like in the U.S. And it doesn't actually cost that much. I understand some of the deaths can be prevented for less than $100 per person per year.
I mean, it seems like it might be a sound investment, even just thinking, you know, selfishly.
BEYRER: That's right, that's right. Well, you know, before the PEPFAR program, when AIDS was ravaging Africa in the in the late '90s and early 2000s, those countries were seeing significant declines in GDP, down 2 percent a year in some countries.
They have rebounded because of these investments by the U.S. and other donors. Their economies came back. People were able to go back to work and back to school. And that's important for the whole global economy and for everybody's prosperity and well-being.
I would add that, you know, we're also seeing increases in vaccine hesitancy after COVID and that has increased significantly in a number of countries. And childhood immunization is probably the single most cost-effective tool we have to prevent these deaths in kids under 5.
[05:50:04]
And we are seeing declines there. And, of course, the statement just yesterday, that the U.S. is not going to continue recommending universal hepatitis B immunization for newborns, is a really worrisome decision. And that is going to impact other countries.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. It does seem shortsighted. We'll have to leave it there but appreciate getting your perspective on this. Dr. Chris Beyrer, thank you so much.
BEYRER: Thank you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: The runup to next year's World Cup is now in full swing. Fans in New York City showed team pride at a watch party for the World Cup draw, taking place in Washington. The U.S., Canada and Mexico are joint hosts for the tournament.
Valeria Leon is in Mexico City, where the first match will take place between Mexico and Brazil on June 11th.
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VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is really shaping up to be a World Cup of firsts, especially for Mexico, the only country in history to host three World Cups.
And this time only 13 of the 104 matches will be played in Mexico, five of them in the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
[05:55:02]
Including the opening match, where Mexico will take the field.
And for this draw, we've seen screens in some of the streets in Mexico City to follow the minute-to-minute of this draw, including one of them is Gerardo. He's joining me. Gerardo, how do you feel to be here in Mexico for this third World
Cup?
It's your first one, isn't it?
GERARDO, WORLD CUP FAN: Yes, it's my first one. I'm very excited. I've been following this historic event every step of the way. Real close. So I'm super excited.
LEON: What do you expect for the Mexican team?
GERARDO: I expect -- well, it's a recurring theme from Mexico, to pass a certain point of the tournament. But I'm hoping that -- so they can go all the way to the final and win it all the way.
LEON: Thank you, Gerardo.
We all hope that -- we call that "la maldicion del quinto partido," that Mexico never passes far away from that five -- the five match. But the Estadio Azteca stadium in Mexico City is seeing this full makeover. Renovations are underway and need to wrap up before the end of March to see the friendly between Mexico and Portugal.
Once it's ready, the Estadio Azteca will make history officially as the first stadium in the world to host three World Cup games in three separate occasions, in 1970, 1986 and finally next summer.
So clock is ticking and Mexico is racing to get the 80,000-seat Estadio Azteca ready for this World Cup -- Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City
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BRUNHUBER: All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."
