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Witkoff Heads to Russia; Rev. Paul Erickson is Interviewed about ICE Raids on Houses of Worship; Special House Election in Tennessee; Growing Group of Retiring Lawmakers. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 01, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:11]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are voicing serious concerns over reports of a follow up strike that killed survivors on an alleged drug boat near Venezuela.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious. And I agree that that that would be an illegal act.

This 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?

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): No. No. And I --

BASH: Defied orders?

KELLY: 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: Sources familiar with the matter previously told CNN that the follow up strike came on September 2nd, after an initial strike failed to kill everyone on board. The Senate and House Armed Services panels pledged to conduct vigorous oversight.

And today, Indiana house members will push to redraw their states congressional districts to favor Republicans. Right now, Republicans hold seven U.S. congressional seats. The new map would add two more seats favoring the GOP. It's unclear if enough senators will support the new map.

And flying back home just got harder as a cross country winter storm impacts post-Thanksgiving travel. Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed due to the brutal weather. The Midwest saw a record eight inches of snow following the storm.

And U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia today as the Trump administration's diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine continues. The Kremlin confirmed Vladimir Putin will, quote, "receive Witkoff for talks." It's unclear if President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will also be on the trip. Witkoff's Moscow visit comes on the heels of high-level talks with Ukrainian officials in Florida. That happened over the weekend. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sounded optimistic after that meeting

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Much work remains, but today was again a very productive and useful session where I think additional progress was made. And we continue to be realistic about how difficult this is, but optimistic, particularly given the fact that, as we've made progress, I think there is a shared vision here that this is not just about ending the war, which is very important. It is about securing Ukraine's future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, we're seeing Marco Rubio here, group chat, come to the forefront of this, after that very sort of messy first couple of weeks. And people are now looking, though, at Witkoff and his role. I think they're being -- adding more scrutiny. Congressman Don Bacon was writing online after this report from "The Wall Street Journal" that, "it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He should be fired."

We're quoting Don Bacon a lot today, so he's obviously upset at many things. But this -- he's following up reporting from "The Wall Street Journal" about Witkoff's relationship.

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "USA TODAY": Yes, he's sort of emerged as a Republican antagonist for President Donald Trump in this second term.

CORNISH: There's like one for each topic basically. We'll move to Tom Massie next. Yes.

CHAMBERS: But as far as the Russia-Ukraine talks themselves go, you know, Marco Rubio went on to say that there's two parties involved in this, and one of them is Russia. And so, anything that they agree upon with Ukrainians will also have to be agreed upon by the Russians. And the Russians have said all along that they have several red lines, including the expansion of NATO, as well as Ukraine's ability to ever be able to join NATO. Those are things that Ukraine has consistently rejected. And, of course, we've heard European countries also take issue with some of these things that were in this initial proposal. CORNISH: Yes. And I'm glad you're pointing this out, because we hear it in very vague terms. When you hear just like security, secure, future.

MICHELLE PRICE, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "THE ASSOCIATED PRESS": Right.

CORNISH: That actually is about a hard and bright line that is under question.

PRICE: Right. Like what does security -- long term security for Ukraine look like? Does that have a U.S. security commitment? That is something that, you know, has been -- has been a key Russian sticking point, Ukrainian sticking point. It doesn't seem like they've made any clear progress on that. You know, the comments that Secretary Rubio said, he referred to this as delicate right now.

We heard President Trump, back in August, when he met with President Putin in Alaska, he said that they had only, you know, they'd agreed to a lot, that there were only a couple sticking points left. Those are huge sticking points. And it's unclear if they're really making any big headway on these.

CORNISH: Yes.

PIRCE: And it comes when there's increasing pressure here in the U.S. There's Republicans in Congress pushing to impose some steeper sanctions on Russia this week.

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: I think you saw what they did with Gaza, and they tried to replicate that with this type of peace negotiation. The problem is, when you go in on one polar side, you risk alienating the side that you also have to work with, which is what happened, not just with Ukrainian officials, but with Republicans in Congress who came out after that 28-point plan was leaked and said, this looks like Russian talking points. So --

[06:35:08]

CORNISH: And then said, we asked him if it was Russian talking points, and he said, yes. They didn't have to reveal that. And they did.

FISCHER: Yes, they admitted to it. And I think that's because that's part of their negotiation tactics, right? You start on one polar side and you try to get the other to move along with you. The challenge, though, became the pushback from Republicans, who said that this is just not the way that we go into this war. We, from a national security perspective in the United States, have a vested interest in ensuring the security of Ukraine long term and ensuring that our European allies are not pissed off at this plan.

CORNISH: Which they were.

FISCHER: Very pissed off.

CORNISH: Which they were. Yes. CHAMBERS: Which going -- well, and going back to what you were saying about Don Bacon, though. This has emerged as another rift in the Republican Party --

FISCHER: Yes.

CHAMBERS: That President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have had to do. In response to some of those criticisms from Mitch McConnell and other Republicans, the vice president of the United States hit back very hard on social media at the establishment Republicans --

CORNISH: Yes.

CHAMBERS: Saying that this was D.C. -- just essentially D.C. insiders who were -- who were upset about this. But it -- but it wasn't just the D.C. insiders. It was America's allies and, of course, the Ukrainians, who also have to agree to this.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: And just quickly on the Republican pushback. First it was the Epstein files. Donald Trump having to switch his position knowing that he was going to get blown out by that vote. Then it was the Ukraine issue. All of these Republicans on Capitol Hill saying, what is this 28-point plan? Why are we siding with Russia? And now it's the whole situation with Venezuela of Republicans coming out against Donald Trump. This is a clear pattern, ending the year that I was not expecting at the beginning of it.

CORNISH: Yes. We're going to talk about it more, because also some people are heading to the exits as a result.

I want to turn to one more thing, guys. Houses of worship have not been spared from President Trump's immigration crackdown, and that has prompted faith leaders nationwide to sue the Trump administration to block continued ICE raids. So, they're concerned that those raids will have a chilling effect of keeping their congregants away due to fear of arrest. In a 44-page filing, they say those raids violate worshiper's First Amendment rights to free religious expression.

Joining me now is one faith leader who recently joined that suit, Bishop Paul Erickson of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Thank you so much for being here, Reverend.

REV. PAUL ERICKSON, BISHOP, GREATER MILWAUKEE SYNOD: Thank you for having me. Good morning.

CORNISH: Now, I don't think people realize just how many religious organizations have weighed in on this. And to help people understand, the administration rescinded a policy that more or less told ICE, don't go marching into churches. Now, ICE can go into churches if it wants, just not in private areas of the building. From what you're hearing from other pastors, how is that actually playing out?

ERICKSON: Well, we recognize that the sensitive locations policy that was adopted a number of years ago, having been rescinded, it's had a chilling effect, as you mentioned, on participation in worship services, accessing public services, food pantries and the like and other things that the church would want to be doing. So, it has significantly decreased participation. We have not yet heard of ICE invading worship services. That's not been my -- I've not heard reports of that. But certainly we have heard reports that ICE is right near or using the parking lot or around houses of worship, and all of that has decreased participation, particularly amongst our Latino congregants.

CORNISH: I'm going to show you a list of some of the religious groups suing. The font is very tiny because of how many there are. We've got upwards of 27. And I wanted to know, what is the hope here with these lawsuits? Are you trying to just push back this policy altogether? Are you trying to make a broader statement about the role of church as a sanctuary?

ERICKSON: Well, I think it's a both. And there are three separate lawsuits against this. The rescission of the sensitive locations policy, the one that we joined was filed in late July. We're still waiting to hear back whether there will be an injunction offered, which would then certainly prevent the Trump administration from having ICE in houses of worship while the case was being litigated. So, we're waiting to hear back from the judge. That should be coming very shortly. That would prevent ICE activity in houses of worship. So, we're waiting to see what will happen. The other two lawsuits are at different stages of the process, but we certainly want to make sure that our houses of worship are seen as sanctuaries where people can be free to worship without fear.

CORNISH: When I was going down the rabbit hole trying to see how people are talking about this within the community, more than a few people would cite a particular Bible verse, which is Romans 13, "let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. And the authorities that exist have been established by God."

Have you heard people using this kind of like biblical justification? And what is the response to it?

ERICKSON: Well, certainly folks will want to make sure that we stay within our lane, so to speak

[06:40:00]

But we understand that God instituted government as a means of executing God's will. We can't just equate whatever the government does with God's will. And if the government starts to stray from what we believe is God's intention for creation, we need to be the critics and the conscience of government, calling them back to accountability to recognize that all people are created in the image and likeness of God. Similarly, in our governing documents of this country, all people are created equal. And when the government starts to distinguish between people, because of their skin color, their language, their country of origin, and treat people differently based on those things, we need to call the government back to accountability.

CORNISH: Would you like to see more faith leaders speak out? I know some were, for instance, arrested outside of an ICE facility in Chicago many weeks back. Is there fear among religious leaders?

ERICKSON: Well, certainly there's a lot of fear, not just amongst religious leaders, but amongst participants as well. This is a very divisive time in our nation's history. And I think it is important for us to not shy away from these controversial and difficult topics, but to walk into them, holding true to our principles that, again, all people are created equal, that everyone is worthy of dignity, love and respect, and we need to work together to build the community and the congregations and the -- and the nation that we want to see happen in the world.

CORNISH: We've been talking very formally here, but I'm wondering how you're feeling. It's the end of the year. You're probably writing a lot of sermons. Is this weighing on you?

ERICKSON: Well, certainly. I know that there are -- we have a number of worshiping communities that offer worship services in Spanish in our synod. And it pains me just to know that folks are not able to go and be connected to one another. This policy seems to drive people into isolation. And that is contrary to all of our natural instincts at this time of year when we should be connecting and gathering with family and friends to feel the support and love of the surrounding community. And that's just not happening because of the ICE activity within our communities.

CORNISH: OK. Reverend Paul Erickson, thank you so much for your time.

ERICKSON: Thank you.

CORNISH: And if you miss any of that conversation with the bishop, any other part of the show, you want to share it, know that we are a podcast too. So, just scan the QR code now. Here's where you find it. CNN THIS MORNING is available anywhere you get your podcasts.

And next on CNN THIS MORNING, could a deeply red district in Tennessee be up for grabs? While Democrats may now have a chance in that -- in a place that previously supported President Trump.

Plus, what's next for Pam Bondi's cases against James Comey and Letitia James? Does her case stand a chance of being resurrected?

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[06:47:12]

CORNISH: A special election in a deep red congressional district in Tennessee is drawing national attention for both parties. President Trump is expected to hold a virtual rally for Republican Matt Van Epps, along with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Now, Trump carried the district by 22 points a year ago. But recent polling shows the race getting tight ahead of election day tomorrow. The Democratic challenger, Aftyn Behn, is countering with her own high-profile appearances. Those include Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Vice President Al Gore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AFTYN BEHN (D), CANDIDATE FOR TENNESSEE'S SEVENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: I look at it as iconic that you have, you know, Democrats from all political stripes joining in on this moment and saying, you know, we are standing up to what is happening in Washington, and we want to be part of the solution rather than the problem

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

I wanted to talk about this because clearly every vote counts when you won it by 22 points, but you're like, let's stop by and make a call. Just to remind people, here is the House balance of power. If it feels like there's not much difference, that's because it's a very slim margin. And then you've got vacancies.

So, I don't know, Sara, I want to talk with you about just the names that are, like, bringing out Al Gore.

FISCHER: Yes. Well, this is a guy with --

CORNISH: For Tennessee.

FISCHER: He has Tennessee roots. His father was in Tennessee politics. He was raised there, although born in Washington, D.C. So, it's not a completely shocking surrogate. But it's named familiarity that he brings to the table. And it's not just him. It's Vice President Kamala Harris.

CORNISH: And AOC, yes.

FISCHER: Yes, and AOC. So, these are big, heavy hitters that they're bringing in to counter what are big, heavy hitters on the right. I mean the fact that Donald Trump is expected, according to an "Axios" report, to be making a virtual appearance alongside the House speaker tells you how much this matters in order for them to hold the math next year.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: You just saw, those are very slim margins.

CORNISH: They are. And, you know, the thing about special elections is, half the battle is telling people they're happening.

CHAMBERS: And my colleagues, by the way, in "USA Today," have also been doing amazing reporting. Joey Garrison, Zach Anderson, they're doing great job on this. The 22-points is interesting because of Emerson College. They just had a poll that showed that it was a two- point margin. Now that seems a little -- a little tight, but polls do show a tightening.

CORNISH: You mean the 22 points comes from how much the -- Trump won it a long time ago. The two points is today.

CHAMBERS: It's Trump -- Trump -- the 22, 22 points. That's right, two points is the Emerson poll that shows that this race is -- it's a 2 point margin.

CORNISH: Yes.

CHAMBERS: Which I was saying, which seems a little bit, seems a little bit tight, but they do say that these races tighten in the end.

Democrats generally think that if they can get this into single digits, that that would be a victory for them, even if they don't win it at all.

CORNISH: Yes. But you're subject to conditions on the ground. I know, like, I lived in Tennessee for a while. Like Nashville, Memphis, the cities, liberal cities, have been basically at battle with the state house and kind of pushing back against the conservatism overall of the state.

[06:50:01]

And is this like a sign that that movement is starting to catch?

PRICE: I mean it's a sign. There's always asterisks with a special election.

CORNISH: Yes.

PRICE: You know, you've got the voters who are most fired up, who want to get in there. And in a year when there's Republicans in power, and Democrats are frustrated, you're -- we're expecting more Democrats to turn out. But the question is, how many of those independent voters or voters who voted for Trump might be choosing to vote for a Democrat in this race?

I mean one of the things about Donald Trump in 2024 was he actually built a big tent that we hadn't seen Republicans have before, but we've not seen any evidence that that translates to other Republicans. And the spread of, you know, Al Gore and AOC, there's a --

CORNISH: There's a lot of --

PRICE: That's a wide range that the Democrats are kind of bringing back this big tent.

FISCHER: We've seen Democrats -- exactly, have built their big tent. Look at the midterms, where you have two women, Democrats, military, moderates, winning, at the same time as Zohran Mamdani in New York City. And so, I think that Democrats are seeing this as an opportunity to win back votes when Donald Trump is not on the ticket, expand the tent, and that's why you can have AOC alongside Al Gore. CORNISH: The other thing is that House Republicans are retiring or

seeking other office. Our current number is at 21. And what has shocked me about this is, you know, usually when you're a lawmaker and your party's the majority, you're like, this is our time. Like, you are head of every committee. You want to have an investigation, go ahead and have it.

I was looking at the names of people. Kay Granger, Texas. She's, I think, on the Appropriations Committee, which is like -- used to be a plum job. You have people like Ken Buck who said he's going to resign. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. And I think what's interesting is they're saying, it's hard to work here.

CHAMBERS: Well, Marjorie Taylor Greene, I think is -- is the most prominent example --

CORNISH: She's been a big vein (ph) of this, right? Because she's just leaving without even waiting.

CHAMBERS: The most prominent -- the most prominent example. But part of the reason that she said that she was going is that she's concerned that Republicans are going to lose the majority in the midterm elections. So, this is a --

CORNISH: I think she said they will. She was sort of a Cassandra here.

CHAMBERS: This is going to happen.

CORNISH: Yes.

CHAMBERS: But she's asking what the message is. What is it that they're going to campaign on? What are you going to get to get people out to vote?

And I wrote about this over the weekend that Vice President J.D. Vance has also been asking, you know, hey, what are we going to do with Donald Trump off the ballot? We've got to find a way to motivate these people to get out.

So, this will at least be a test -- another test of that, after these off year elections, to see if how motivated Republicans are if Donald Trump isn't there.

CORNISH: Can we talk a little bit about that power thing? Because it's supposed -- you're smiling. It's supposed to be an exciting time.

FISCHER: Yes, but --

CORNISH: What I used to hear was minority party people being like, you know, it really stinks for us. This is -- we're not in charge of anything. We can't get anything going. And now we have people leaving. But then also, like, with the Venezuelan boat things, people talking about actually having investigations, actually doing oversight.

FISCHER: Yes, you're definitely seeing pushback against the administration from the Republican Party in Congress. But there's a timing thing here, Audie, which really matters, which is, if you leave at this midterm, you get two years to find yourself a cushy lobbying job where you can work your Republican connections while the Republicans are still in power.

CORNISH: Say that again. So basically there is an actual benefit to ditching ahead of time.

FISCHER: Yes. Yes. If you -- if you ditch when it's -- when you're about to lose -- your party is about to lose power, you have way fewer opportunities to go out and get one of those cushy jobs. That's also why you see them exit now, not versus two years from now.

CORNISH: Michelle.

PRICE: Well, one of the other things that was significant about what Marjorie Taylor Greene said was also that her -- one of her complaints was that her bills were not moving. If you're -- you have control of both chambers, you have a Republican in the White House --

CORNISH: And the ear of the president.

PRICE: Why are you not getting more legislation passed through -- you could see that there's frustration about, does this job kind of stink? You know, like, you're spending all this time fundraising. Nothing's getting done. You're in a shut down for a while. You know, it's kind of like, we're in this moment of like, you break it, you buy it. Now, everything that Republicans are doing, they know that next year voters are going to be holding them accountable for it.

CORNISH: I want to talk about messaging, because one of the things that Behn is doing is talking about, guess what, affordability, drink. But it's one of those things that, obviously, was successful for Mamdani. The president is now thinking and talking more about costs.

And I want to -- I want to talk about that because she also has been sort of criticized as being like a liberal who hates her community. Do you know what I mean? She was asked about these quotes where she was like, I don't like this about Nashville. I don't like that about Nashville. And it feels like the way to beat that back is talking about affordability.

FISCHER: Yes, affordability wins across the board because we still have issues with inflation. We're coming off this health care subsidies debate. And overall, things like mortgage rates, nothing's going down. So, people feel it.

I think one of the issues that she faces is that, you want to be in touch with your constituency, but she does have this very nationalized constituency. Nashville is a -- is the hub of music and capitalism within an otherwise very red state. So, she's kind of caught between this rock and the hard place. You're right, the way to win it would be affordability. It does not seem to be the route she's taking.

CORNISH: Yes.

[06:55:03] CHAMBERS: It's not every day that you see the president of the United States attack someone as hating country music as a reason not to vote for them. No, that's what he said in his post.

CORNISH: Did he really?

CHAMBERS: Yes, yes. One of the things was it was that she didn't like country music, which in Nashville is something that can really get you.

CORNISH: Honestly.

CHAMBERS: On the affordability argument though, there is this negative voter sentiment nationwide about the economy that has carried over since last year. And they're still very upset, including with the president of the United States. Many people blaming the sitting president. So, will this once again be a potential referendum on those policies? It will be, again, tough, given how many points Donald Trump won this district by.

CORNISH: All right, you guys, I want to ask you what's in your group chats. I always like talking to reporters about this at the start of the week, because this is where you guys are about to beat back bad assignments with your better pitches to your editors.

Francesca, what are you listening for?

CHAMBERS: OK, I'm watching this FIFA World Cup draw on Friday. You're like, how does this relate to you? They are giving out a peace prize this year for the first time. This is being held in Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center. I don't know, who do we think is going to win? I know you love a good Nobel Peace Prize. This is the FIFA World Cup Peace Prize.

CORNISH: Wait, I'm sorry, did they make up the prize? Did the prize exist prior to this one (ph).

CHAMBERS: There is a peace prize. This is a -- this is new.

CORNISH: OK.

CHAMBERS: They are giving out a peace prize at the World Cup draw on Friday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

FISCHER: It's a way to -- it's a way to bring D.C. in because we are one of the only host countries that is not having a match in our capital city. This is part of why we're building a new stadium. So, at least it brings D.C. into the fold a little bit, because we've otherwise been boxed out of the World Cup.

CORNISH: OK.

CHAMBERS: I mean, you could have other guesses as to who might win.

CORNISH: You're telling us here something. OK, blink twice. Yes, we know -- CHAMBERS: I don't know who's going to win.

CORNISH: Michelle, what's in your group chat?

PRICE: Mine's a little more serious. You know, I've still got folks talking a lot about the National Guard shooting last week here in Washington. What's going to happen with the soldiers who are deployed? You know, we're seeing a lot more on the streets, even just since then.

CORNISH: Well, I thought the White House was deploying another 500. Did they followed through on that?

PRICE: They are. And how are people reacting to that? How are they treating them in the streets? How long is this going to go on? That's kind of the questions I've been getting from a lot of family and friends right now.

CORNISH: It's interesting. Francesca, I know you follow the White House very closely. How has -- we heard Trump on Air Force One. How has this been talked about around the White House? His initial reaction was to just start talking about immigration.

CHAMBERS: But that's how it's continued to be. I mean, that's what he was bringing up on Air Force One last night. And again, referring to the 19 countries of concern that seemingly refers to the countries that they issued a full or partial travel ban against over the summer.

CORNISH: Yes. But has it -- has it been complicated by these reports of the shooter's background potentially being connected to CIA partnership while working in Afghanistan? Like, how does that shape how the White House talks about it?

CHAMBERS: Sure. Sure. And that is connected to them saying that they were not vetted heavily enough, the folks who came in on these special immigrant visas from Afghanistan, and wanting more aggressive, heavier vetting and going back and re-vetting not just those folks, but other folks who came in on asylum.

CORNISH: So, they're not talking about the CIA of it yet?

PRICE: And we -- what we've -- no. We've seen the president actually pushing back on questions about his administration, finishing the vetting and approving this individual earlier this year. He's been very dismissive of that whole line of questioning at this point.

CORNISH: OK, Sara, I want to come to you. What is in your group chat?

FISCHER: I will bring you one fun thing, which is that "Zootopia" just crushed it over the weekend.

CORNISH: Like, insane.

FISCHER: Insane.

CORNISH: Like half a billion dollars globally. FISCHER: Yes. Yes. And so there's a couple reasons for that. One, G-

rated movies are crushing it at the box office writ large. We've come to find that family entertainment is what's fueling the box office, not just domestically, but overseas.

One of the things that fueled that number, though, Audie, was the Chinese box office just absolutely loved this film. So much of the international market came from China.

And then the last fun thing about "Zootopia" is that this is actually one of those few animated movies that's very critically acclaimed. I mean the first one, in 2016, won the 2017 Oscar for best animated film and the Golden Globe for best animated film.

CORNISH: I'm sort of surprised the anti-woke brigade hasn't come out to raise fists at "Zootopia."

FISCHER: Yes. It's because it's too well liked by families. It has that much reception. I mean, we're talking about, at the domestic box office, Audie, records. So, I just think that it's just too well liked by everybody.

CORNISH: It's also interesting because we were talking about last week comedies and dramas absolutely tanking the last couple of months. A lot of movie stars are finding they were not enough to draw people back to the theaters.

FISCHER: Yes. And they're also super expensive to market. Whereas animated features tend to be a lot cheaper to produce and to market. You also have name recognition with this one, right? We've had ten years of "Zootopia" on Disney Plus, or several years of it on Disney Plus, ten years since it came out. There's a ton of familiarity with it. You don't have to spend as much to try to get people familiar with what even this title is.

[07:00:01]

PRICE: And it seems like there's a lot of sequels these days too.

FISCHER: Oh, my God.

CORNISH: That's probably everything up. Yes, this was the year.

PRICE: We're expecting -- I mean, really, is it all sequels? Like --

FISCHER: Totally. But you know what's actually different this year? The amount of time between sequels. We're seeing record amounts of time between them that we didn't used to see. I mean ten years between the first and second. That's a lot of time.

CHAMBERS: Maybe next time we'll talk about "Avatar."

CORNISH: Yes. I'm sure we will.

You guys, thank you so much for starting the week with me. Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. And the headlines are next.