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Admiral Who Oversaw 'Double-Tap' Boat Strike Heads to Congress; CDC Advisors Set to Vote on Changes to Childhood Vaccines. Aired 6- 6:30a ET
Aired December 04, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: -- all the time but never like this.
[06:00:04]
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SAMANTHA MARTIN, HANOVER COUNTY ANIMAL PROTECTION OFFICER: As far as intoxicated raccoons, that was a first for me. But, in general, raccoons, they get themselves into so many things. I am constantly pushing them out of Dumpsters, all the time. Trash cans under cars, you name it, that's where they're at. They love to get in trouble.
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ABEL: What a story.
That does it for us. Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Defending the double-tap. Today, the man who gave the order to kill survivors of a boat bombing will tell his side of the story. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Each day there's a new explanation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: New this morning: how the commander plans to justify the call.
And sensitive military information compromised. Will Pete Hegseth's boat be sunk over Signalgate?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: We stand firm and rock solid with the Somali people here in Minneapolis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New Orleans right now is in a place of fear.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: Fear wracking immigrant communities as the president's
crackdown expands to new cities.
And it's a routine shot for newborns. But today, the CDC's vaccine board could change when your child gets it.
And this just in: a new poll shows how Americans really feel about Obamacare subsidies expiring.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We have to be more culturally normal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. What does that mean? And does Governor Gavin Newsom have the answer?
It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at my hometown of Boston.
Good morning, everybody. It's Thursday, December 4. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we begin.
In just a few hours, the admiral now at the middle of a political firestorm, heads to Capitol Hill to give lawmakers his story about the follow-up attack on the boat in the Caribbean.
The White House says Admiral Frank Bradley gave the order to strike an alleged drug boat a second time, with two survivors still clinging to the wreckage. He's expected to tell Congress that the strike was legitimate.
"The Wall Street Journal" reports Bradley plans to say he and his legal adviser believed that the survivors were still on the damaged vessel and trying to continue their drug run.
Secretary Hegseth says he stands by the commander's decision, and the president sees it as justified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it is found that survivors were actually killed while clinging onto that boat, should Secretary Hegseth, Admiral Bradley, or others be punished?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think you're going to find that this is war, that these people were killing our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Admiral Bradley will tell his version of the events to top Democrats and Republicans on the Armed Services Committees. And some lawmakers from the president's party don't think the White House explanation holds up. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): If someone knowingly launched a second missile at that boat, which led to the deaths of the other two, then they have to be held accountable; and they shouldn't be in whatever role they're in.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Each day there's a new explanation.
I think it was wrong on all fronts, but I don't like the secretary of defense blaming it on a military commander. These commands came from him, and I think the buck stops with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Betsy Klein, CNN senior White House reporter; Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; and Ashley Etienne, former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Betsy, I want to start with you. This is coming kind of at a high- stakes moment for Hegseth, because then also, somehow, Signalgate is back.
Can you talk about how they plan to approach this?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, just setting aside the legality here, this has become a very serious political problem for this White House, as you saw as these Republican lawmakers are laying out very serious concerns about what took place here, as well as Hegseth's handling of it.
So, the question is, is he going to depart, or will the president continue to go to the mat for him right now? It appears to be the case that the president is all in on Secretary Hegseth. He has given him his full support here.
But the other question is, are Republicans satisfied by what they hear today?
CORNISH: Yes.
KLEIN: Or does this continue to escalate?
CORNISH: And we should note, like, there was the retirement of the previous commander of U.S. Southern Command. It was Admiral Holsey. This was announced back in October.
And CNN, at the time, learned that Hegseth didn't believe that this commander "was moving quickly or aggressively enough to combat drug traffickers." But they were concerned that some of the operations were not lawful.
So, this guy escaped, because he left, obviously. And now we're in the scenario maybe some military people would be concerned about, which is you're on the Hill answering these questions. [06:05:04]
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Right. And, you know -- and they're walking into a Capitol Hill that has a very short leash for this Pentagon. There's been other things that have been happening outside of all of the conversation about the Caribbean and the Venezuelan boats.
A lot of information that the Pentagon is not sharing with both Democrats and Republicans.
CORNISH: Yes. We mentioned that earlier. Yes.
DUBKE: I mean, there is just a -- there is not a deep well of sympathy for either Secretary Hegseth or the civilian command within the Pentagon right now.
And so, they're -- they're walking into that, in addition to all these other items that are -- that are out there.
CORNISH: And to your point, here's how some lawmakers, Republican lawmakers were asked about Hegseth: like, do you have confidence in this guy? So, here's just, like, a sampling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have confidence in Secretary Hegseth?
SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): We'll make our decisions based on the facts of the case. We haven't got the facts yet in front of us in a classified setting.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you have confidence in him? Would you say that? Can you say what you do?
Thanks for your time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Yes. To quote Mariah Carey, "I don't know her."
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Exactly. Exactly.
CORNISH: So, how do Democrats play this moment? They've been on edge, because over the last couple of days, they were raked over the coals for that PSA saying, Look, troops, you don't have to follow unlawful orders. So how do they spend this morning?
ETIENNE: Well, I mean, I think both of those messages are still relevant. I mean, I don't think Democrats are walking off of the point that you should not pursue illegal actions. I mean, that's at the center of this conversation right now: whether or not the administration's actions were actually legal, whether or not there was war crimes committed or even murder that was committed.
So -- so, I think those Democrats are still feeling justified in those messages.
But, you know, I've run communications for all the big investigations from Benghazi to even the Russia investigation, interference in the election. And here's what I think the investigators are going to be focused on in the conversation with the admiral today.
One is, what were the extent of the orders? What were, you know, what were the orders from the secretary?
And then secondly, was the secretary there and in the room, as he said on FOX News, watching the entire strike from beginning?
CORNISH: Right. He said he left, because very busy.
ETIENNE: Which is hard to believe that you would leave. In my understanding, is that these -- the -- the strikes happened back-to- back.
So, those are going to be the questions here. And it's only -- Hegseth continues to dig a hole even deeper for himself.
So, that's really what -- what's at the center of this. I think if Democrats are smart, they'll continue to do this in a bipartisan fashion, you know, not break off.
CORNISH: Let Republicans lead it, yes.
ETIENNE: Absolutely. Let the Republicans lead it.
DUBKE: You know, you're absolutely right. That is the key to this.
ETIENNE: You know, there's blood in the water for Hegseth. These Republicans have had an issue with him since the confirmation. So, I feel like, you know, they -- he's going to remain the focus, and they're going to come after him.
CORNISH: OK. You guys stay with me. We're going to bring on an expert in military law later.
But first, coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, a pardon puzzle. Why would the president pardon a Democrat who's up for reelection in a district Republicans desperately want to win.
Plus, a liquor store ransacked, and the unlikely suspect found passed out next to the toilet.
And the Minneapolis mayor has a message for the president. A Border Patrol zero -- as Border Patrol zeroes in on the Twin Cities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREY: Here's the thing. Come out to Minneapolis. What you won't find is a hellhole, but a beautiful city.
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[06:12:56]
CORNISH: It is 12 minutes past the hour. This is your morning roundup.
Minnesota bracing for stepped-up immigration enforcement targeting the state's undocumented Somali population. It comes as the president continues to disparage the Somali community and reports of fraud schemes involving a group of recently indicted Somali-Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not worried about anything. I'll be honest with you. We're proud of this country.
FREY: You won't find a community that is tearing down Minneapolis in our Somali-Americans. You will find a group of people that is uplifting Minneapolis and is proud to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Minnesota is home to some 80,000 Somali-Americans, the majority of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens.
And the U.S. Institute of Peace now has a new name, the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. His name appeared just ahead of a peace agreement signing ceremony between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is happening at that building later today.
The agency was largely gutted by DOGE cuts earlier this year.
And it's like a scene out of "The Hangover" movie. A raccoon breaks into a Virginia liquor store, ransacks the place, then passes out drunk next to a toilet.
An animal control officer says she could tell he had too much to drink.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA MARTIN, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER: I did see his eyes going back and forth like a typical drunk person. And he obviously could not stand up. So that told me that he needed to lay down for a little bit in order to regain his consciousness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Here's the update. The party animal had to stay at the shelter for about six months [SIC] to sober up. And -- sorry, six hours. That's -- that's something else.
Hanover County now raising money for Animal Control by selling these T-shirts, which read, "Trashed Panda." I don't know.
After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, the Signalgate fallout. A new report from the Pentagon found that Pete Hegseth risked American troops by texting with a journalist.
Plus, RFK Jr. shaped the CDC's vaccine panel in his image. Today, will they follow through on his plans?
[06:15:06]
Good morning to Buffalo. We know Mike's going to be watching this weekend when the Bills take on the Bengals.
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[06:14:28]
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ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Why are we giving hepatitis B vaccine to a one-day-old child? Hepatitis B? You know that the major vectors for that are -- are it's sexually transmitted or by needles. Why would you give that to a one-day-old child? It's -- it's really a profit motive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Health Secretary RFK Jr.'s hand-picked vaccine panel is set to vote today on changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. That includes recommendations on hepatitis B shots.
So, the big question they'll be figuring out: whether a dose of that vaccine, along with a handful of others, should be given to newborns.
The recommendations have been in place for more than 30 years. The vote comes as an internal memo penned by RFK's vaccine chief at the FDA linked the COVID-19 vaccine to the death of at least ten children.
Now, nearly 1,700 children died from COVID from 2020 to 2023, according to data from the CDC.
Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Chris Pernell, director of the NAACP's Chapter for Health Equity.
So, before I get to this vote, can you answer what we just heard from RFK? Because this is what we hear in the world of MAHA about this settled science.
Why give a vaccine that has aluminum in it to a newborn, especially if their mother hasn't tested positive for Hep B?
DR. CHRIS T. PERNELL, DIRECTOR, NAACP'S CHAPTER FOR HEALTH EQUITY: Thank you.
So, the basic understanding that I think it's important for everyone to have is that you want to protect a newborn or a baby when they have the lowest chance of exposure to something that can become life debilitating or even fatal.
So, a young person, a baby's immune system is complex in nature, and it's actually expertly designed to handle thousands or even millions of antigens, these foreign substances that the baby gets exposed to immediately after it comes out of the sterile womb environment.
So, exposing a child to a vaccine within the first 24 hours of life, it is not anything that overwhelms the immune system or anything that causes the immune system to work other than what it's supposed to do in giving that person the best gold-standard protection.
CORNISH: How big a deal are these recommendations? Because I understand they're not requirements. So, they're just recommendations. Why are so many experts concerned?
PERNELL: It's a huge deal. And why it's a huge deal: because these recommendations then influence the shared decision making between the patient and their provider.
These recommendations influence whether or not insurance companies cover clinical preventive services. And vaccines are an example of clinical prevention.
These recommendations influence whether families feel comfortable and trust the science and trust a long-standing public health process to ensure that their children are kept safe and that our communities are kept safe in the long run.
So, any effort to undermine it or to sow distrust could have catastrophic consequences.
CORNISH: We were talking earlier about that internal memo from RFK's FDA vaccine chief, and according to the reporting here at CNN, Dr. Vinay Prasad basically said this, that "the agency will adopt a new approval process for vaccines that will require more evidence of their safety and value before they can be marketed."
And it mentions stricter requirements for the authorization of vaccines. Certain trials need to prove the shots reduce disease.
The reason why I wanted to ask you about this is because the argument is just because its settled science doesn't mean you can't review it, you can't return to it, and that doing that helps build trust and transparency. What's your response?
PERNELL: I want people to understand what the scientific process entails. When we say settled science, it means that there is conclusive data: conclusive, indisputable evidence of something's benefit and/or its safety.
So, to rehash something is really not being done for a -- a genuine purpose. Rather, it is being done to fuel a political agenda. And the skepticism of -- of people who have long sought to undermine vaccine science and vaccine safety in the United States.
And it is never appropriate to politicize a public health process, especially when lives are at stake and the most vulnerable lives are at stake. CORNISH: To that point, I went and did some research. In Kentucky,
there were three infants that have died recently from whooping cough. In Texas, an infant dying from whooping cough amid an outbreak.
And then also in Ohio, unvaccinated child who died from complications of measles. And this was the first death from measles in the state in more than a decade.
How do you and other doctors respond to questions from parents who, for this whole debate, it has sown more confusion and more doubt?
PERNELL: You know, the patient-doctor relationship is now more important than ever. In health care, we talk about shared decision making.
And what's going to have to happen in those doctors' offices are trusted, confidential conversations that will allow parents to -- to even share whether or not they have doubts or concerns without stigmatizing them and being able to provide hard-core science and proof and reassurance that they are making the right and informed choice and decision to protect their child.
[06:25:17]
We're not talking about a small amount of data. We're not talking about something that there are competing theories on among the majority of scientists.
We're talking about well-established, if I could say bread-and-butter public health understanding that has saved over hundreds of millions of lives across the globe.
And now, doctors are going to be on the front line of that decision making. And I'm hopeful that parents will be able to sift through this misinformation and disinformation.
But the recent outbreaks that you have described, and unfortunately, those deaths, they point to cause for concern.
CORNISH: Dr. Chris Pernell, thanks so much for your time.
PERNELL: Thank you.
CORNISH: And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, new polling just in shows that the majority of Americans want Congress to extend ACA subsidies. So how do MAGA Republicans feel?
Plus, the Trump administration pointing the finger at him. Now he's in the hot seat over that so-called double-tap strike on an alleged drug boat.
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