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Top Republicans Question 'Double-Tap' Hits on Survivors; Mangione Continues to Attract Fans One Year after Killing Healthcare CEO. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 01, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:07]

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The Trump administration's murky war on drug boats just got a lot murkier. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Going after survivors in the water, that is clearly not lawful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Did the Pentagon cross the line when U.S. forces struck a suspected drug boat a second time?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These animals walked in and shot children at a children's birthday party, and -- and none of us should stand for that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: A gunman is on the run right now after a mass shooting at a child's birthday party in California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We don't just want to end the war. We also want to help Ukraine be safe forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Talks to end the war in Ukraine shift to Moscow today. What is Vladimir Putin willing to do for peace?

And a true crime obsession plays out in real time today. Luigi Mangione heads to court, and his obsessed fans are sure to follow.

And getting home from the holidays turned out to be a lot harder for many of you. Today, it won't get any easier, due to the winter weather.

It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at the White House this morning.

Good morning, everybody. It's Monday, December 1st. Thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we begin.

Rising backlash on Capitol Hill to the Trump administration's strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is now vowing to open an investigation.

So, the strike in issue goes all the way back to September 2, when the U.S. Military carried out an attack on a boat which initially killed nine people.

CNN has learned there was a second strike, which then killed two survivors stuck on the disabled ship.

Now, a source tells CNN that before the mission, Secretary Hegseth had ordered the military to ensure the strike killed everybody on board. Now, the Republican-led House and Senate Armed Services Committees are opening up an investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious. And I agree that that would -- would be an illegal act. This is -- is completely outside of anything that has been discussed with Congress. And there is an ongoing investigation.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: If you received that order, would you have carried it out?

KELLY: No, no.

BASH: Defied the order?

KELLY: And I -- I'm a guy who -- I have sunk two ships.

But, you know, going after survivors in the water, that is clearly not lawful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The Defense Department has denied the reports, and President Trump is backing up Secretary Hegseth's version of events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He said he did not say that, and I believe him 100 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't know if they're --

TRUMP: You're talking about the two men?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The second strike to kill the two men.

TRUMP: No, I -- he said he didn't do it. He said he never said it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you be OK with that if he did?

TRUMP: He said he didn't do it. So, I don't have to make that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Sara Fischer, CNN senior media analyst and senior media reporter at Axios; Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for "USA Today"; and Michelle Price, White House reporter for the A.P.

Michelle, can I start with you? We just -- there, we heard Trump saying that he didn't believe Hegseth, I guess, gave that kind of order that -- to leave no survivors.

Can you talk about how the White House is trying to respond to this as it becomes a bipartisan backlash?

MICHELLE PRICE, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Right. What's interesting about the president's remarks last night is he said that he wouldn't have agreed with that order if it had been given that way. But he says he believes Secretary Hegseth, saying that he didn't give that order.

We haven't heard Secretary Hegseth actually say that, though. He has said that the reporting is false, but they have not denied that this actually happened.

The White House press office has kind of been echoing what Secretary Hegseth has said, but there's still a lot of questions here about what exactly happened.

This was early in these strikes. We know that, since this incident, there was another strike where there were survivors, and the administration seems to have handled it differently. There were two people who were sent back to another country after they survived.

So, it seems like there's some kind of maybe course correction here, or different decisions were made at some point.

But we had heard before that there were simmering and rising concerns at -- on Congress -- in Congress among Republicans about these strikes.

[06:05:08]

CORNISH: Yes.

PRICE: And now we're just hearing it openly. It seems like they're going to have to answer some questions soon.

CORNISH: Very openly. I want to play for you guys Don Bacon, Republican from Nebraska. He was asked about this on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): It is a big concern. Now, Secretary of Defense Hegseth denies it. We should get to the truth.

I don't think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors, because that's a clear violation of the law of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Can I ask you about that?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "USA TODAY": Well, the reporting was that he had said that before the strike took place in the first place, as I understand it.

So, when the president is saying that he never said that, he denies having said to -- to do that. That's where I think some of the confusion is coming from in this.

With respect to Venezuela itself, you know, the president also, when he was on Air Force One last night, was asked about whether or not he spoke to Maduro, and he said that he did. But he didn't want to give additional details of what took place in that conversation.

That's obviously something else that we're going to want to watch very closely, because he had -- he had said in the lead-up to all this that he was going to speak with him. He also said he was going to close the airspace over Venezuela.

CORNISH: Yes. Maduro kind of -- he was in Caracas.

CHAMBERS: Yes.

CORNISH: We were reporting this weekend.

CHAMBERS: Something happened in that conversation that would have changed the president's calculus here about whether or not he wants to make land strikes. We don't know yet.

CORNISH: Yes. Sara, there's two reasons why we're talking about this today, and I think why Americans should care about it is, one, there has been a question about whether or not we are effectively somehow going to war with Venezuela.

But two, you saw Mark Kelly there. Democrats just finished getting in a battle saying, Hey, troops, pay attention to unlawful orders, illegal orders.

And then you have various Republicans coming out and saying, Was this unlawful? Was this illegal? It feels like it sort of undermines what the White House has been saying.

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: The wording matters a lot here, Audie, when you say were in a war on drugs, one of the things that Republicans have come out and said is, if this is something that you're going to characterize as a war, that's why we're going to view these as war crimes. So, you don't get to have it both ways.

And then, two: on the Republicans coming out against this, I've seen in the past few months, there's been so much drama around, whether it's been lawful use of the National Guard to go into cities and to sort of temper whatever illegal action they say is happening there.

You feel this sense that the military is being used for political purposes, broadly speaking, whether it's here at home or it's internationally. And I think Democrats are seeing that as a key issue ahead of the midterms next year.

It plays into this issue that was a winning one for them around preserving democracy. And so, I think that they're going to continue to hone in on that.

Republicans, of course, hate that narrative. But the fact that you have so many coming out and saying that this could be a potential war crime means that they don't want to be on the wrong side of history.

CORNISH: Yes, I was seeing one more thing. I want to show you guys "The National Review." You had commentator Andrew Mark [SIC] -- McCarthy, saying, "If this happened as described in the Post report, it was, at best, a war crime under federal law. It's a serious matter. The administration's defense cannot be 'we killed them because our plan is to use lethal force.'"

The way people are talking about this doesn't feel like you could kind of meme your way out of it.

PRICE: Yes. And the secretary of defense last night was posting a mock-up of a children's book of a character gleefully killing what he called narco terrorists.

So, he seemed to be, you know, embracing this as kind of a joke, that there was any kind of backlash. There did not seem to be any kind of reflection or commentary that they were taking it seriously, when you're posting images and memes like this.

CORNISH: Yes. And I'll be interested to see what other Republicans talk this week, if this investigation actually goes any further.

You guys stay with me. We've got a lot more to talk about today.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, a mass shooting at a child's birthday party. Is no place safe from gun violence in America?

Plus, an accused killer with legions of fans. Why does Mangione Mania persist almost a year later?

And new glasses that could help your nearsighted child see. How much it could cost you. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:14:02]

CORNISH: It's almost 15 minutes past the hour, and here is your morning roundup.

A full-scale manhunt underway in Stockton, California, this morning after a mass shooting Saturday at a child's birthday party left four people dead, including three children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF PATRICK WITHROW, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We're confident that this was not a random act. They walked into this area and was probably looking for somebody in particular. Why they did that, what they're part of, who they are, we don't know. But this was not somebody who was unacquainted with them, we don't believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: About ten others were also injured. Investigators say the shooting happened at a family gathering of about 100 people. Detectives are still trying to determine the motive for the attack.

And President Trump said he has invited the families of the National Guard members who were shot last week to the White House, saying he spoke to both of their parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have spoken to both families. Well, I mean, I can give you an update. They're devastated. Does that make sense to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course.

TRUMP: They're devastated. One is no longer with us, and Andrew is fighting for his life. And his parents are unbelievably great people, highly religious people. And they're praying, and they want everybody to pray for Andrew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: U.S. Army Specialist Sara Beckstrom died after the Wednesday shooting in Washington, D.C., while her seriously injured colleague, U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, remains in critical condition.

Both are members of the West Virginia National Guard and were honored with vigils over the weekend.

And the FDA just approved new glasses that can actually slow down nearsightedness in children. The lenses use tiny, specialized light- scattering dots, which help reduce eye strain, and that prevents the eye from elongating, which can make vision worse over time.

The suggested retail price: $450. Insurance providers are expected to cover at least some of the costs. And later on CNN THIS MORNING, the Justice Department wants to appeal

after charges against Jim Comey and Letitia James were tossed. Is that a good idea?

But first, famous for all the wrong reasons. What are people still obsessed with accused killer Luigi Mangione, one year later?

And good morning, Chicago. If you're heading home from your holiday weekend today, you've got to check the weather forecast first. Snow and cold has delayed quite a few flights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:60]

CORNISH: Support for Luigi Mangione continues to build, even as serious legal proceedings against him continue.

He's back in court for a week of crucial hearings about evidence that may be used in his case.

Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson nearly a year ago. Prosecutors say the death penalty against Mangione should remain on the table, despite pushback from his attorneys.

Now, since his arrest, Mangione has managed to attract a sympathetic social media following. An online fundraising campaign for him managed to raise 1.4 million for his legal defense so far.

Joining me to discuss, Corinne Ramey. She's a reporter at "The Wall Street Journal."

Corinne, thanks so much for being with us.

CORINNE RAMEY, REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: Now, I wanted to talk to you because the headline on your story said, "Billboards, Donations, and 6,000 Letters. Why Mangione Fans Won't Quit."

First, let's talk about those letters. Six thousand?

RAMEY: Yes.

CORNISH: Who's writing him? And is he responding?

RAMEY: So, he's largely not responding, but he has posted records of every letter that he has received, and it totals about 73 pages in, sort of, written on a yellow legal pad. He's keeping track of these letters in jail.

And he came up with a code. So, the code is to use the initials of the sender, and then two digits of their ZIP code, so that people can see if Luigi Mangione read their mail.

CORNISH: I know that people are also donating money. The legal defense fund for him raised 1.4 million, with a median donation of $15.

And I was thinking about how this compares, say, to someone like Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of killing two protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest. He raised $2 million. So, it's not that unusual for people to become fascinated to the case, to the point where they're giving.

RAMEY: Yes, I think that's true. And I think, in cases like the two you've mentioned, you have a contingent of the population who does feel that kind of sympathy; who feels like there's some cause behind the act of violence that either makes it so they want to support this person's defense or kind of stand behind them in this way.

CORNISH: Right. In Rittenhouse's case, it was people argued that he was doing self-defense, Second Amendment rights and other things.

I do want to ask, in this case, the people who have embraced the cause are people who are concerned about health insurance companies denying care. So, there was actually a digital billboard truck. People are flying, I guess, banners over Manhattan, like, on his birthday.

Can you talk about the world of people who basically are upset about insurance? What are the kinds of things they're talking about on top of this case?

RAMEY: So, a lot of what they're talking about is health care denials. That maybe their doctor tells them they need a particular procedure, and then they go to their insurance company. And the insurance company says, Oh, we're not going to cover that.

And, you know, this is incredibly frustrating for folks, because in some cases, they say these particular procedures could save their lives.

And so, I think one of the things that was surprising to me about this story is that I have been covering this case in court. So, I've seen this -- these folks outside the courthouse. I've seen them, you know, crowding the hallway and trying to get into court.

But that there are all kinds of supporters that weren't the ones I was seeing: folks from all over the country of all ages who aren't just interested in sort of him as a person, but this larger kind of cause that he's come to symbolize.

CORNISH: Before I let you go, can you tell me what we're expected to hear about in this hearing?

RAMEY: Yes. So, he's expected to be in court for 5 to 7 days of hearings over evidence. And this is in state court. And so, it's about what evidence prosecutors could ultimately use at a future state trial.

And we expect some of these same supporters to be out there this morning with those digital trucks and their signs. And probably some will be trying to get in the courtroom, too.

[06:25:01]

CORNISH: That's Corinne Ramey. Thanks so much for speaking with us.

RAMEY: Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump's new redistricting battleground. What's happening on that front in Indiana today?

Plus, a U.S. delegation heads to Russia today for face-to-face talks on Ukraine. Something has to give. But what will it be?

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