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Defense Secretary Hegseth Defends Action In The Caribbean; Ukraine Peace Talks In Miami End With Few New Developments; Supreme Court Agrees To Rule On If The President Can End Birthright Citizenship By Executive Order; New Audio Reveals Chaos As Off-Duty Pilot Tried To Shut Off Engines; Two Of Three Escapees Recaptured After Louisiana Jailbreak; Man Arrested After Stabbing On Charlotte Light Rail Train; Judge Freezes Evidence Tied To Comey Investigation; President Trump Hosting The 2025 Kennedy Center Honors; Dense Fog Advisory Stretches From Texas To D.C.; At Least 25 Killed In Nightclub Fire In India; Ukraine Peace Talks In Miami End Without Breakthrough; Trump Administration Set To Deport Dozens Of Iranians. 18-Year-Old Accused Of Setting NYC Subway Passenger On Fire; Minneapolis Restaurant Stand Firm Against ICE Agents; Netflix, Warner Bros. Deal Under Scrutiny; Quilen Blackwell Named 2025 CNN Hero Of The Year; Trader Joe's Is Not In The UK But Its Bags Are All Over London. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired December 07, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:48]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Sunday, December 7th. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It's a brand new week. Let's make it a good one. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here's what we're following for you right now. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth doubling down on the deadly strikes on a suspected drug smuggling boat even as scrutiny intensifies over the U.S. counterdrug campaign.

Miami peace talks with the U.S. and Ukraine wrap up. No major breakthroughs and big questions still out there. This morning, the sticking points over territory and security, and the Kremlin is continuing to praise President Trump's plan.

Lawmakers and rival studios are sounding an alarm over Netflix's $72 billion push to buy Warner Bros. and HBO. I'll talk with a media analyst about the major obstacles ahead and what this power move could mean for the future of streaming.

President Trump is putting his stamp on America's most iconic arts institution, from remaking the Kennedy Center's leadership to reimagining the program and even suggesting naming it after himself. Tonight, the sweeping changes will take center stage.

All right. Secretary of defense Pete Hegseth defends his department's continued actions in the Caribbean at the National Defense Forum in California Saturday night. The secretary compared drug traffickers to Middle Eastern terrorists. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: These narco-terrorists are the al- Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them, we are killing them, and we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Hegseth is under intense scrutiny after a follow up strike that killed survivors of an alleged drug boat. CNN's Oren Liebermann details Hegseth's comments.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Defense secretary Pete Hegseth spoke here at the Reagan National Defense Forum, and one of the key questions was how he would address the controversy around a double tap strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean from September 2nd.

Well, Hegseth didn't back down at all. He said, these strikes would continue. To date, there have been more than 20 strikes that have killed more than 80 people, and he said they were targeting what he described as narco-terrorists and compared the drugs they were carrying to chemical weapons.

One of the key questions about that September 2nd strike was the timeline itself. And that's where we've seen shifting explanations from Hegseth himself. He initially said that he watched the strike take place, emphasizing the planning that went into it before backing off that and saying he watched the first of what was a double tap strike and then went to meetings. He justified that decision as he continued to say the strike itself met all the criteria of what he described as a legal strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: So, I was satisfied with the with the strike criteria. Yes, saw the strike itself, which all of you have seen. There was probably 30 or 40 minutes, is what I've been told, of dust. And it was on fire for a long time after that.

I stayed for probably five minutes or so after, but ultimately at that point it was a tactical operation. And so, I moved on to other things. I shouldn't be fighting tactics as the secretary of war, so I moved on to other things. Later on, a couple hours later, I was told, hey, there had to be a re-attack because there were a couple folks that could still be in the fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: One of the questions about the fallout from the strike itself is, will the defense department release the video of the double tap strike? President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he wouldn't have any problem with it being released. But when Hegseth was asked if he would authorize that release, he wouldn't give a firm yes. He said the department was reviewing that and would at some point make a decision. When he was pressed on whether that meant yes or no, he basically said the focus has moved on and is elsewhere. So, the controversy around the strikes itself and the decision to carry out a second strike that killed the two survivors who were hanging on to the wreckage, that very much remains.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Simi Valley.

BLACKWELL: All right. Joining me now for analysis "Spectrum News" anchor Errol Louis. Errol, good morning to you. And I want to pick up right where Oren left off and not summarize what we heard from the president and the secretary, but let's hear from them.

[06:05:05]

This is, first, the president on Wednesday about the release of the video of the strikes. And then this is what the secretary said yesterday in California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

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

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS: President Trump said he would have no problem if the full video of the strike is released. When can we see that video? When will you release it?

HEGSETH: We're reviewing it right now to make sure sources, methods -- I mean, it's an ongoing operation, TTPs. We've got operators out there doing this right now. So, whatever we were to decide to release, we'd have to be very responsible about. So, we're reviewing that right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. From certainly released to we're reviewing it. Those are not contradictory statements. But it's not a commitment from the secretary. What do you hear?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Don't hold your breath waiting for that video. We've got a lot of contradictions here. We have these strikes that they're very eager to put the video out, showing people being blown out of existence.

They've made all kinds of claims about that. There were drugs on the boat and that these are terrorists and so forth. But the reality is, you can't see that in a video. So, we're still waiting on the proof. That's the thing that really matters more than anything. I do believe that when it comes to this particular September incident, they don't necessarily want everyone to see this because we've already, through members of Congress who are on the intelligence committee, heard that it's really quite appalling. They said that and anyone who looks at it will see that this was, you know, basically people who were shipwrecked, who were -- who were helpless and who were killed on sight. If that's the case, this controversy is just not going to go away, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And CNN's reporting is that that boat was not headed toward the U.S. It was going to rendezvous with another boat that was then headed to Suriname. And drug experts in the U.S. government say that that path is actually drugs headed to Europe and not the U.S. The drugs coming to the U.S. usually come from the other coast.

Let me hit a few other topics here. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that he and special envoy Steve Witkoff, the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, they've now agreed on next steps and formats for the talks toward ending the war. But after three days of talks in Florida, there seems to be little progress toward getting to whatever will be the agreement between the U.S., the Ukraine and Russia. And Putin now says that he wants all of the Donbas region going beyond the generous offer of the original 28-point plan from the U.S.

Is it clear that the U.S. even knows what the line is for Putin, much less whether he'll meet it?

LOUIS: Well, look, we have in many cases, people who are amateur diplomats who are conducting all of this, which in itself is irregular. We should never forget -- lose sight of that, that there are people who have commercial interests in the region who are conducting these talks.

So, putting aside whether or not they have a conflict of interest, it has been obvious from the very beginning that Putin wanted territory, that Putin did not want peace. I mean, this is the person who invaded his neighbor. This is not somebody who's going to just kind of give up all of this.

They've had a fearful loss of life on the Russian side, and he's got political pressure internally. Even in an autocracy, you've got to kind of answer to the families who have lost people over the years. I don't see him walking away from this in any way, shape or form. And it looks like he's got all of the cards lined up to get territory that his military never conquered.

It's really quite disturbing. The military and diplomatic stance from the White House that they've talked about has not given any confidence that they're going to stand up to what has clearly been an aggressive invasion, followed by aggressive diplomatic tactics by Moscow.

BLACKWELL: Also, an important announcement from the Supreme Court that they're going to take up this case of birthright citizenship and the president's executive order that would end that. Every federal court up to this point has sided against the president. This has been settled law since the 19th century. Is it possible or how possible do you think it is that that the high court, this court specifically will side with the president on birthright citizenship?

LOUIS: It just -- it just seems like a bridge too far. This is a very friendly court as far as this administration is concerned. They've given them almost everything they've asked for, including some sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution.

[06:10:03]

That is really quite unusual. On the other hand, this one in particular, to do this by executive order, I think is almost a bridge too far. If Congress decided to go through a different process to amend the constitution to make absolutely clear that birthright citizenship no longer exists, that would be one thing. But for a president on his first day in office to simply, you know, sign a piece of paper and put an end to all of this constitutional precedent, I don't think even this very friendly, very conservative court could go that far.

BLACKWELL: All right, Errol Louis, good to start the week with you. Thank you.

LOUIS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Newly released cockpit audio is shedding light on what happened during an in-flight emergency on an Alaska Airlines flight. This audio shows the moments leading up to when off duty pilot Joseph Emerson tried to shut down the engines of the passenger plane. This was mid-flight, October 2023.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that?

JOSEPH EMERSON, OFF-DUTY PILOT: I'm not OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's wrong?

EMERSON: I got to get home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to be home?

EMERSON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Dude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uhh --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Horizon, we need to make an emergency landing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry. Who was that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Horizon 2059. We got a jump seater just tried to shut our engines off. We need to go direct to Portland now.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The flight crew averted catastrophe and safely landed at Portland International Airport. Emerson was taken into custody and escorted off the plane. After his arrest, Emerson told police he had taken psychedelic drugs two days earlier and said he believed he was dreaming at the time. Last month, a judge sentenced Emerson to time served and three years of supervised release.

Authorities have recaptured two of the three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana prison. The three inmates escaped after they removed concrete blocks from a deteriorating wall. CNN's Rafael Romo has the latest.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, good morning. What we know is that out of three inmates who authorities say escaped this week from a jail in Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana, located about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge, only one remains at large. The fugitive has been identified as 24-year-old Keith Eli, who was facing a second degree attempted murder charge.

A second escapee, identified as 24-year-old Johnathan Jevon Joseph and who was facing several charges, including principal to first degree rape, has been captured, according to the Saint Landry Parish sheriff's office. The third escapee, 26-year-old Joseph Allen Harrington, who faced several felony charges including home invasion, killed himself after he was found, as Port Barre Police chief Deon Boudreaux told CNN affiliate KADN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DEON BOUDREAUX, PORT BARRE POLICE: We're able to go inside the home and found Mr. Harrington. Of course, he was deceased from a single gunshot wound, self-inflicted gunshot wound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: This latest jailbreak adds to several brazen escapes from Louisiana prisons so far in 2025. An inmate escaped from the same Saint Landry Parish jail on October 23rd and was recaptured by the Opelousas Police Department only a day later as KADN reported.

Then 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail in May in a stunning overnight escape using electric hair trimmers with multiple clipper blades to help cut their way through the cell walls, according to a source. The last of those 10 prisoners was at large for nearly five months before being recaptured here in Atlanta. Victor, now back to you.

BLACKWELL: Headlines for you this morning. Police say a 33-year-old man is facing attempted first degree murder charges after stabbing a passenger on Charlotte's light rail train. Now, this is the same route on which a Ukrainian refugee was killed in September.

Officers say the suspect is Oscar Solorzano, a man who had been deported before. They say on Friday he attacked the passenger with a large knife while intoxicated. The victim is in critical but stable condition. Solorzano is being held without bond.

A federal judge has blocked prosecutors from using evidence in the case against former FBI director James Comey. This ruling stops them from accessing emails and computer data tied to Daniel Richman, is a longtime friend and former lawyer for Comey. That information was part of what prosecutors used to build the case that was dismissed last week.

The judge says the way agents seized it may have violated the Fourth Amendment, protection against unreasonable search and seizure. The decision could be a major setback for prosecutors who are getting ready to seek a new indictment.

[06:15:05]

Tonight, President Trump is expected to host the Kennedy Center honors. He handpicked many of the awardees and presented them with medals at the White House, Saturday. The ceremony will be recorded tonight and will later air this month on CBS.

Trump has been reshaping the center's leadership and programing, which has sparked backlash. Several artists have backed out of performances and ticket sales have dropped. Democrats in Congress are investigating whether the center is being mismanaged under Trump's watch.

All right. If you're headed out this morning, take it slow. Dense fog advisory now stretches from Texas to D.C. Pockets of freezing fog are forming from northern Alabama all the way to Delaware. CNN's Allison Chinchar is here. So, I saw a lot of this fog this morning. It is thick.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, yes. And that's -- and it's -- this is overachieved this morning. We knew there was going to be some fog this morning. But you're talking over 60 million people are dealing with dense fog this morning. It is widespread.

We take a look at the map here to show you where all those alerts are. The gray color that indicates the dense fog warning where you're talking visibility is less than a quarter of a mile. In some spots, it's just a few hundred feet.

Now, the kind of like the teal-ish color that you can see here, that's where were talking about areas of freezing fog. Basically, what this means is as you're driving, it looks exactly like fog, but then it makes contact with your car or the road or anything around you and instantly turns to ice, making it even more dangerous than your regular fog.

Here's a look what we've got going on, because in addition to that, we still have some areas that are dealing with snow showers. Here you can see portions of the Midwest where we've got some snow showers that are sliding across these areas. This is going to continue throughout the next few hours.

The good news is, once it transitions back over into the northeast, it does kind of fall apart. So, we're not looking at quite as much snow to impact some of the northeastern states. Down to the south, the big concern here is just going to be the rain, and it is very heavy in some spots, especially along the Gulf Coast.

This front right through here, again bringing a tremendous amount of rain. Now, you can see across Tallahassee. That heavy rain is going to slide into New Orleans, as well as Mobile and Pensacola as we go through the next few hours. That's going to continue throughout much of the day, because that front just isn't going to go anywhere the next few days.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thank you. Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND, fire rips through a packed nightclub in India. At least 25 people have been killed. We'll tell you what we're learning from investigators as they look into how this started.

Also, Ukrainian peace talks end in Miami without a major breakthrough. Are they any closer to a peace deal? We're live with the latest.

And business owners are taking a stand against ICE agents in their community. You're going to hear about one of the encounters in Minneapolis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:36]

BLACKWELL: At least 25 people are dead after a fire ripped through a nightclub in western India. CNN affiliate News18 says this fire broke out after a cylinder exploded in the kitchen before spreading through the club. More than a dozen kitchen staff members were among those killed. Also, four tourists who were visiting the popular resort region. Their nationalities have not yet been confirmed.

Now, Goa is a small Indian -- state on India's west coast, known for its beaches. It attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. India's prime minister has pledged compensation to the families of those killed and to those injured. An inquiry has now started to examine the exact cause of the fire and if fire safety rules and building rules were followed.

Ukrainian peace talks have wrapped up in Miami without a clear breakthrough on ending the war with Russia. After three days of talks between the U.S. and Ukrainian officials, there are still major questions lingering over security guarantees and territorial issues.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, the Kremlin says it welcomes a revised U.S. security strategy document, which reportedly stops calling Russia a threat. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me now with more. As I said earlier, Paula, President Zelenskyy says that he has agreed with Witkoff and Kushner on some of the path forward. But still, some major questions out there. PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Victor. We've heard from the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. as well, saying, quote, "difficult issues remain." As you mentioned, that the two issues that really seem to be the hurdles at this point is territory and also guarantees. These are really long standing issues that we're hearing from the Ukrainian side.

They are still trying to work through to get something that is acceptable to both sides, meaning the U.S. and Ukraine, when it comes to these talks. But this is the concern Ukraine has that as of now, Russia has not shown any sign of backing down from its maximalist demands. It hasn't shown any sign of wanting to compromise either. So, Ukraine says it needs those security guarantees to make sure it won't have to surrender territory to Russia in the future.

[06:25:03]

In fact, we heard from Russia's president Vladimir Putin as he was in India. He told reporters that he intends to seize the eastern Donbas region by any means. So, certainly those concerns on the Ukrainian side appear to be well sourced.

Now, we know that Zelenskyy did have a long conversation with Steve Witkoff, with Jared Kushner, the two U.S. mediators as well. He called those talks constructive. And we also heard some positive words from the U.S. ambassador to NATO. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW WHITAKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: You know, we're close -- we are closer than we've ever been to peace. And this is -- you know, as President Trump has said, this is a -- this is a tough situation to get to the right spot. And, you know, ultimately this war needs to end. It has been going on for almost four years with millions of casualties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So, three days of those talks have ended in Miami. We know looking forward, President Zelenskyy will be in London on Monday. He'll be then talking to the European leaders. He'll be talking to the leaders of the U.K., of Germany, of France.

At this point, there appears to be a number of different tracks where this diplomacy is continuing. But we did see a statement from the U.S. mediators, which was very enlightening over the weekend saying that all parties agree. Real progress depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and not clear if they are ready to show that commitment. Paula Hancocks, thanks so much.

The Trump administration is also preparing to deport dozens of Iranians today. It's the latest push by the White House to expel undocumented immigrants. This will be the second deportation flight to Iran after a rare agreement between Washington and Tehran, has no formal diplomatic relations between the two.

Advocacy groups are urging the administration to stop the deportations. They cite the state department's own reports issued under Trump over significant human rights issues in Iran. One person who expects to be on the flight today says their life will be at risk if they return.

Next, a high school senior is charged with setting a New York subway passenger on fire. What we're learning from investigators about what led to this and what city officials are saying about overall subway safety.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:54]

BLACKWELL: A tragic story out of New York. A high school senior has been charged with federal arson after allegedly setting a subway passenger on fire. This is an 18-year-old who was arrested on Thursday. Police said that he lit a piece of paper and then dropped it near a sleeping passenger.

CNN's Leigh Waldman has the story.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Victor, that 18-year-old high school senior, Hiram Carrero, is facing a federal arson charge that comes with a minimum punishment of seven years in prison. On top of that, the NYPD says he is facing an attempted murder charge, three assault charges, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment.

We know that his preliminary hearing is happening on January 4th, but let's talk about what happened here. This all happened on Monday on the northbound 3 train passing by 34th Penn Station, not far from where we are right now. Authorities say that Carrero lit a piece of paper on fire and set it near the 56-year-old victim before he got off the train and hopped on a bus toward Harlem, where his attorney says that he lives.

We see from surveillance images that 56-year-old victim, he got off the train at 42nd Times Square Station, and he stumbled out of the train, his torso, his legs on fire, having to be extinguished by the NYPD. They said that he is in the hospital with critical injuries as a result of this. The U.S. District Judge that's overseeing this is ordering that Carrero be detained ahead of that preliminary hearing.

We're hearing from his lawyer, and his lawyer, Jennifer Brown, issuing a statement that acknowledges the seriousness of these allegations against her client, but says that he is a young man with no criminal record and a mother who is willing to take him in.

Now, despite what happened on Monday and what happened a little more than a year ago when a woman was set on fire and actually died from her injuries, also on a subway, the NYPD says that crime here in the city, violent crime, is down. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch issuing a statement saying this has been the safest November on the subway system outside of that pandemic period. Let's take a look at those crime stats overall for the city of New York in the month of November. Transit crime down 24.8%. Shooting incidents down 19.1%. Murder down nearly 50%. Ahead of the holidays, retail theft is also down 20%. The only area where we saw an increase in violent crime were those felony assaults increased by 1.5%.

Now, NYPD says that they've seen a fall in crime numbers due to their fall violence reduction plan, which is a data-driven, precision policing strategy used to combat violent crime and to combat shootings.

Victor, back to you.

V. BLACKWELL: All right, Leigh Waldman for us in New York. Thank you.

Restaurants in Minnesota are pushing back against federal immigration agents. Some businesses are posting signs to tell ICE to stay out.

At one restaurant in Minneapolis, managers say that they had to make some quick decisions when agents showed up without warning.

Jason Rantala from Minneapolis affiliate WCCO has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[06:35:03]

NAOMI RATHKE, GENERAL MANAGER, HOLA AREPA: They said to me, we're from the Department of Homeland Security.

JASON RANTALA, REPORTER, WCCO (voice-over): Hola Arepa in Minneapolis was heading into dinner rush Wednesday night when two plain clothed individuals enter the restaurant.

That's general manager Naomi Rathke speaking with the men who she said identified themselves as ICE.

RATHKE: Whipped out a badge really quickly and then flashed a photo of someone on their phone. And then they said, we're looking for this person. I said, this person doesn't work here.

They had said, well, we see her in the back right now. And I said, that person is not here.

RANTALA (voice-over): Naomi refused to let the men into the restaurant's back of house.

RATHKE: They said, we don't need a warrant. I said, yes, you do.

RANTALA (voice-over): She says the men told them the restaurant was surrounded and they'd be waiting outside for the individual they were looking to apprehend.

RATHKE: I guess it's just sort of this fight or flight sort of response.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get the license plate. Yes.

RANTALA (voice-over): Employees were rolling. As they say, the men left the parking lot in two vehicles.

CHRISTINA NGUYEN, OWNER, HOLE AREPA: I think it's posturing. I think it's intimidation.

RANTALA (voice-over): Hola Arepa's owner and chef, Christina Nguyen says her restaurant closed early that night and safely escorted employees to their cars. She says her surveillance cameras also captured ICE leaving her lot the morning before.

The National Immigration Law Center says ICE needs a judicial warrant to enter a private area of a business. An administrative warrant does not allow agents to enter private areas without your permission.

NGUYEN: You really have to do what Naomi did and just like, you know, stay strong and just know, like, don't get don't let them intimidate you.

Yes, and you did amazing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

V. BLACKWELL: All right, that was Jason Rantala from our Minneapolis affiliate WCCO.

Next, we're digging into the blockbuster move by Netflix plans to buy CNN's parent company, Warner Brothers.

We'll talk to an industry expert about what this means for the future of entertainment with HBO, Warner Brothers Studios and other premier assets changing hands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:48]

V. BLACKWELL: Well after months of deliberation Netflix emerged victorious in its bid to buy Warner Brothers Discovery or at least Warner Brothers and HBO. The deal is worth $72 billion to buy part of the parent company of CNN.

But it's under scrutiny from lawmakers and unions here in the U.S. Global regulators could raise objections to.

Joining us now Managing Director for Strat Americas, Seth Schachner. Seth good morning to you.

All right so let's start here with a bit of bipartisanship. You got Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren calling this an anti-monopoly nightmare. Republican Senator Mike Lee says there's a lot of antitrust red flags here.

Talk to me about the regulatory fight ahead for this potential deal.

SETH SCHACHNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STRAT AMERICAS: Great to be here Victor.

Yes, this specific one probably does have more serious regulatory concerns than just about I think any of the other bids that are out there.

You know the real -- the real thing here is that we have kind of big tech swallowing up one of our most storied film studios with -- with tons of content from, you know, Casablanca to Batman to Barbie in it. And, you know, it's really about the ascendance of big tech. And if you're talent, you're a writer, you're an actor, a director you're going to have one less place to sell and partner with your content basically. It's not a disaster. There's other studios here.

But I think that's a very, very substantive consideration really on the side of workers and the folks who work here in L.A. I mean for sure there's going to be some questions about prices. I'm a little bit of the mindset that you'll see bundles there might actually be better deals for consumers.

But we're really talking about a consolidation of power into a tech titan that you know practices entertainment in a really different way than some of the traditional studios do. And I think it'll get very heavy scrutiny. It's probably going to go out for a year to a year and a half. And you know it may not actually happen basically.

V. BLACKWELL: There's also the potential for some partisan influence. The New Yorker reported that back when AT&T was starting its deal to buy Time Warner then the parent company of CNN. President Trump then wanted to stop the deal because he didn't like CNN.

What is the potential for that fit that piece of the puzzle into this?

SCHACHNER: I mean look I think there would probably be more of a pushback just in terms of the loss of a studio and workers' rights and you know the loss of an ability to sell stuff to a studio in this town.

You know, I think what the common wisdom has been out here is that this one Netflix as well as NBC Comcast that was also in the mix maybe weren't as much in favor as Paramount who have been going at this extremely aggressively. And there is some possibility that Mr. Ellison could go nuclear and pay a breakup fee and still try to topple the offer or go straight to shareholders basically.

[06:44:59]

But yes, I think -- I think -- I think probably Paramount was the one that was supposed to have the best political relationship. But, you know, Netflix is bored seems super committed to doing this. They were obviously very enthusiastic about doing it. And they put a super bid on the table, which was aligned with what Discovery Warner's board had actually asked for, if you look at the fine lines of it.

So, you know, they're definitely the leading horse to get it now.

V. BLACKWELL: Yes. You mentioned Larry Ellison's Skydance's purchasing Paramount. And then, of course, discussion of they're wanting to buy the entire Warner Brothers Discovery ahead of any potential split between some of the assets.

Let me ask you about what this means for people who are just fans of movies and watching them in theaters. Netflix says that they're committed to still releasing Warner Brothers pictures in theaters. But do you buy that? What could this mean for just the movie going public?

SCHACHNER: I mean, maybe for the next couple of years, assuming they get it, maybe. But I think over time, if they were to get it three, five, 10 years out from now, yes, I would expect in the short term, you'd see a lot more pressure in what we call the window.

So before it goes to rental, you know, after theaters, I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on that period of time. But, you know, they pledged to do it. I mean, the real thing here is, you know, Warner is like the studio out here that kind of pioneered the big theatrical release, you know, a perfect storm, Batman, Barbie.

And so, you know, it's going to be really tough to me to see to see something change on that. I think a lot of people have that concern here, basically.

But, you know, I will say on the upside, there's so much content available. YouTube is really the nearest kind of universe that competes with Netflix now. And, you know, I kind of have a hard time when people talk about, you know, we're going to lose content out of this. I think there's still going to be tons and tons of consumer choice.

I just think you're probably going to see some, you know, maybe less of a theatrical window and some pressure on that because Netflix hasn't really been a supporter of theaters at all, actually.

V. BLACKWELL: Yes, that window, the typical two-month release has now been shortened in many cases to 45 days. And we'll see if this goes through, as you say, if that gets even slimmer.

All right, Seth Schachner thanks so much for your time.

All right, CNN has unveiled its 2025 Hero of the Year. Quilen Blackwell, no relation, manages a non-profit on Chicago's South Side that transforms vacant lots into flower farms.

The farms employ at-risk young people to grow and arrange and sell flowers.

Here's a look at the really emotional moment when he won and his acceptance speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The 2025 --

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: -- CNN Hero of the Year is --

COOPER: -- Hero of the Year is.

COATES: Quilen Blackwell.

COOPER: Congratulations (INAUDIBLE).

COATES: Congratulations to you. Amazing.

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: You did it. Good job.

COOPER: (INAUDIBLE).

QUILEN BLACKWELL, OWNER, SOUTHSIDE BLOOMS: Thank you.

COOPER: Fantastic.

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: So how you feel?

Q. BLACKWELL: Oh, I'm shocked. You know, I got to be honest. I got to thank Hannah, you know, my wife, I can't take full credit for this, you know, for Hannah and I, like this has really been Jesus is the one who got us here, you know, like we're both staunch Christians and we just try to say yes every day and, you know, he's really the Hero of the Year for us every year and this year and I'm just stunned.

And it's like a big win for the hood, you know, I love the hood, I love it so much, you know, we get a bad rap but, you know, we're going to shine the path forward for the country. There's a lot of amazing things going on in the inner cities that is going to surprise a lot of people and I'm really thankful for all the young men and women who've been a part of our work because they're the stars. I don't, truth be told, I don't know how to make a centerpiece, I don't know how to make a bouquet.

COOPER: I don't know either.

Q. BLACKWELL: So, they're the ones who are leading the way. So, thank you to all of our youth, thank you to all of the hoods across America, I love you, and thank you --

COOPER: Incredible.

Q. BLACKWELL: -- CNN, appreciate you guys.

COATES: Congratulations.

COOPER: Yes. Amazing.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

V. BLACKWELL: Oh man, isn't that great? Congratulations to Quilen and of course to the other nominees.

You can watch the CNN Heroes All-Star Special hosted by Anderson Cooper and Laura Coates as you saw there right now on the CNN app.

All right, next, forget the designer labels, tote bags from Trader Joe's are turning heads across the country, across the world, actually including in London.

Why are shoppers turning grocery sacks into fashion statements?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:54:27]

V. BLACKWELL: Suddenly, the must-have accessory in London is a Trader Joe's bag. It's selling, or reselling I should say, well above the list price.

So how did a simple grocery tote turn into a status symbol in the UK?

CNN's Anna Cooban and Richard Quest teamed up to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Trader Joe's is a grocery store institution known for high quality and reasonable prices. They're everywhere.

The bags are also ubiquitous. They used to be a bit of a fashion statement here in New York. But now, the way they've taken off overseas, it's worth a great deal more.

[06:55:10]

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS REPORTER: I'm in a trendy part of East London on a fact-finding mission, because I want to know why these bags have really taken off in the UK, despite the fact that Trader Joe's doesn't even have a store in the country.

JOHN STAHL, SHOPPER: Anytime I go anywhere, people are complimenting me on it, which is odd, because it's just a thing you would have in the States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe people saw it on TikTok.

TITIEN GUNTER, SHOPPER: You see something, a piece of, like, something that people wear online, you see it, you like it, because you see it more and more and more, you get used to it, and you think that's what you want to wear, because everybody wears it, basically.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did bring this back from L.A., all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to London.

AMANDA DE GODOL, SHOPPER: It feels like it's not luxury, but something, like, niched, you know? You have to be in America to have one of those, so maybe that's the reason why people think it's cool, but it's basically just a supermarket. COOBAN (voice-over): As with all fashion trends, it's about individual taste.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wouldn't wear it, but I'm a black-only wearer.

COOBAN (voice-over): Anna Cooban, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

V. BLACKWELL: Looking for a side hustle? Get you a Trader Joe's bag.

All right, now streaming, candid conversations between Hollywood's hottest actors. They talk in-depth about show business.

New episodes of Variety's Actors on Actors, streaming exclusively on the CNN app.

We'll be back.

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