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CNN This Morning
U.S. Seizes Second Oil Tanker Off Venezuela's Coast; Peace Talks To Try To End Russia's War On Ukraine War Resume In Miami; Vice President Vance To Speak At Turning Point Conference; Lawmakers Slam DOJ For Failing To Release All Epstein Files; AAA Expects 122M Plus Travelers, Setting New Record; Rain, Storms On The West Coast Expected To Snarl Holiday Travel. Dems Will Not Release "Autopsy" of 2024 Presidential Loss; Rep. Stefanik Ends NY Gov. Bid; Trump Signs Executive Order to Expedite Marijuana Reclassification. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired December 21, 2025 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: It's Sunday, December 21st. Welcome to a brand new week and welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Victor Blackwell.
Here's what's new this morning. The U.S. is ramping up pressure on Venezuela. The Trump administration releases new videos showing the seizure of a vessel off the coast. Ahead, what this signals in the growing tensions between the two countries.
Plus, investigators uncover new information about the Brown University and MIT professor shooting suspect. But even with those findings, there are some key questions still remaining. And a simmering battle over the future of President Trump's political movement. It exploded on one of the right's biggest stages. CNN takes you inside Turning Point USA's annual gathering ahead.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we have not one, but three separate systems that will be making their way into the West Coast. This could impact some holiday travel. We'll take a look coming up.
BLACKWELL: The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Venezuela. On Saturday, the U.S. seized a vessel off the coast of Venezuela. It was not under U.S. sanctions. And it is the second ship the U.S. has seized near that coast this month. On December 10th, the U.S. seized an oil tanker that had been under sanctions for its ties to Iran.
With me now, Colonel Cedric Leighton for analysis. Colonel, let me start right here with that major point that the skipper, the first vessel that was seized, that was under U.S. sanctions. This one was not. What's the significance of that difference?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, good morning, Victor. Yes, the significance is that this vessel, seizing this vessel, actually takes us out of the parameters that President Trump himself had set. And those parameters were, we would only be blockading the Venezuelan associated tankers that were under sanction.
This one, it's called the Centuries, is not under sanction. Even the company that runs this particular vessel, that owns this particular vessel, is not under sanction. It's a Hong Kong-based company. And that's going to have some major implications, I think, not only for relations with Venezuela and the actual impact of what the operation is doing right now, but also with countries like China. And so that's going to be a significant aspect to this, and it could limit the President's options in this case.
BLITZER: And so the crew on board this vessel did not contest the seizure. Does that surprise you?
LEIGHTON: No, not really, because most of the time, these -- if these crews are armed, it's usually with light arms, you know, like pistols and things like that. So they're not going to contest a group of armed people coming in, you know, in this case, the Coast Guard with Navy assistance coming in and taking over the vessel.
They really don't have the firepower to resist. That's going to, of course, change if the Venezuelans continue to escort their tankers. That could make things a little bit different in terms of the actual ability to seize these kinds of vessels, but it certainly won't impact what the crews do themselves.
BLACKWELL: The -- a U.S. official tells us that this ship was under the Panamanian flag carrying Venezuelan oil headed to Asia. And so what are the implications for China, for Iran?
LEIGHTON: Yes, so these vessels are often part of a group of seafaring entities that are actually moving oil all around the world. And a lot of them are connected with Iran, with China, with Russia. And so what this could do is it could really make the Chinese look for other oil sources.
They get a lot of their oil from Venezuela, but it's not enough to actually impact the Chinese market. Now, on the other hand, for Venezuela, this is important because China is its major export destination for its oil. So that complicates things for Venezuela more than anything else.
But the Chinese won't like this because what they want to do is they want to be able to trade wherever their money takes them. In other words, cheap oil is good for them, and that's what they're going to look for.
BLACKWELL: The Department of Defense, we know that there have been several of these alleged drug boat strikes. The President has said that attacks on land in Venezuela could come soon. And those in the context of what we've read in the Vanity Fair article from the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who said that this is all aimed at regime change and removing Nicolas Maduro.
[07:05:00]
Is that where you expect this is heading? And at what point do you expect some retaliation from Maduro?
LEIGHTON: Yes, so this is going to be really an interesting aspect, Victor, because the administration's actions were clearly pointing to a regime change effort as opposed to a counter-drug effort or any other kind of operation. The counter-drug stuff was an excuse, but we were going after the wrong targets.
We were going after targets that really had nothing to do with fentanyl and really weren't impacting that aspect of the drug trade in the United States. Now, when it comes to regime change itself and Maduro's reaction to it, the Venezuelans have plans in case of a U.S. invasion. How effective those plans are, of course, would remain to be seen.
But what the most likely outcome seems to be is that if the U.S. does decide to go forward with Armed Force, then they would use special operations-type missions to go after Maduro in a discreet way and not invade the whole country. We really don't have the number of personnel that would be needed to seize territory for a long time in Venezuela.
In other words, we couldn't really take a large part of the country with the types of people that we have right now, 15,000 or so sailors and marines. They can seize parts of it, but not the whole thing. And that's something that could allow for the Venezuelans to respond to that, use guerrilla actions and that kind of thing. So this could be a very dangerous area to get into because it could result in a kind of quagmire that we really haven't seen since the second Gulf War or Afghanistan.
BLACKWELL: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.
Happening today, Ukraine-Russia talks, they will pick back up. Russia's top negotiator is in Miami for the talks. He met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. He said the talks have been constructive.
Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not at the negotiations in Florida. He was hosting Portugal's prime minister yesterday about support for Kyiv once Russia's war on Ukraine ends. Now, Zelenskyy says that the Trump administration is proposing a new format for peace talk negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and the U.S., which would probably include European representatives.
CNN Reporter Barbie Latza Nadeau is with us now. What do we know about those proposals?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you know, I mean, it's a really important issue here in Europe that they are part -- these European leaders, European countries are part of these negotiations because they're the ones that are going to have to deal with whatever peace looks like at the end of this.
Now, as you said, Zelenskyy is not at the table there in Miami. He's not part of those negotiations, but he is watching closely for any details that come out of it. Let's listen for a minute to what he had to say about the talks. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): Peace is better than war, but not at any price, because we've already paid a high price. For us, it is important that peace is fair and strong, so that it cannot be violated by another desire of Putin or by another Putin.
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NADEAU: And, you know, a lot of what these discussions in Miami are about relate to that 20-point plan that President Trump put forward just earlier. And, you know, there's a lot of tweaking to be done in order for both sides to get closer to a negotiation, to an agreement. There is a red line by both Ukraine and by Russia.
And certainly here in Europe, everybody's eyes are on what's happening next. There's a lot of frustration. The war is still going on. There's a lot of frustration for these refugees, Ukrainians, who are displaced. And so it's a priority here in Europe, and they're not at that negotiation table, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Barbie Latza Nadeau, some work to do. Thank you very much.
All right, later today, Vice President JD Vance is expected to speak at the Turning Point USA's AmericaFest conference. That annual conservative conference is wrapping up with a slate of high-profile speakers. House Speaker Mike Johnson is one of them.
Vance's appearance comes after Erika Kirk, the widow of Turning Point's founder Charlie Kirk, publicly endorsed Vance for President in 2028. CNN's Steve Contorno has more from the conference in Phoenix.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Victor, Vice President JD Vance will address Turning Point's annual gathering on Sunday, and it follows a weekend of speakers that have demonstrated the deep divide in the MAGA movement over some pretty key issues. We have seen some of the speakers sparring with each other on stage over Israel and whether to allow conspiracy theorists and anti-Semitic voices engage -- whether or not to engage with them in the party.
His appearance also comes as Erika Kirk, who is now leading Turning Point USA after the death of her husband, the founder of this organization, Charlie Kirk. She said that this organization will now support JD Vance in the 2028 Presidential election.
[07:10:14]
Now, we had a chance to talk to some of the young attendees here on whether they would support JD Vance for President's next cycle. Here's what they said.
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KATHERINE MUNSON, TURNING POINT USA ATTENDEE: That's the way we should go. Like, if we want to move America forward and to be Christian nation again, we have to keep the same driving force going forward. And right now, President Trump's successor is Vice President JD Vance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Now, one woman I spoke with did say that it was much too soon to be engaging in 2028 chatter, saying, quote, "We should keep focused on Trump right now." Victor?
BLACKWELL: All right, Steve, thank you.
Investigators are looking deeper into the killings of a professor at MIT and two students at Brown University to find out why the shooter did it, to find a motive. The shooting suspect was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities recovered two 9 millimeter guns, high-capacity magazines, and evidence linking him to both crimes. Investigators believe both attacks were targeted and premeditated.
Now, the suspect took steps to avoid detection, including switching license plates and choosing locations with limited security cameras. But investigators are still searching, as I said, for that motive. The suspect and the MIT professor once studied physics at the same university in Portugal, but officials say it's unclear whether they had a personal relationship.
Now with the suspect dead, of course, there are some key questions about why he carried out the attacks and what ultimately let him to take -- or led him, rather, to take his own life.
Some lawmakers are considering impeaching Attorney General Pam Bondi after the partial release of heavily redacted Epstein files. Democrats and some Republicans are outraged. The DOJ was required by law to release the files in their entirety with limited redactions by Friday. That did not happen, and it's now prompting pushback.
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GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM'S RIGHTS ATTORNEY: The system has failed the survivors, and we want to know, I, as a lawyer want to know, how do we correct the system so that there can be justice for the survivors.
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BLACKWELL: Those survivors are disappointed and frustrated by the DOJ's rollout. One of them is Lisa Phillips, and she tells CNN that she was not surprised by the outcome.
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LISA PHILLIPS, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Victims want answers. We want to know -- we want to connect the dots. We want our stories to make sense. We want to know a lot of different things. So, I mean, of course, they're just going to say that, that despise time, but they're protecting themselves, not the victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Now, adding to the questions surrounding the release is an image containing a photo of President Trump appears to have been removed from the Department of Justice's Epstein library. It's not immediately clear why the photo may have been taken down from the website.
CNN has reached out to the Department of Justice and to the White House for comment. I want to be clear here that the President has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with any crimes in connection with Epstein.
Elise Stefanik, one of President Trump's closest allies, is leaving the race to be New York's next governor. How will her exit impact the race?
Plus, planes, trains, automobiles, millions of Americans are heading home this weekend or somewhere for Christmas. We'll take a look at your travel forecast.
And decking the halls has never been easier. Coming up, we look at the naked Christmas tree trend.
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BLACKWELL: We're learning more about that private jet crash in North Carolina that killed seven people. Federal investigators say the plane was airborne for about 10 minutes after takeoff, then turned back and crashed on a runway. Investigators also confirmed a passenger sent a text that read emergency landing moments before the crash.
Officials don't know who sent the message yet. A former NASCAR driver, Greg Biffle, his wife and their two children were among the victims.
There was a very close call for a police officer in Canton, Ohio. I'm going to show it to you, but a warning, it's disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: So this person was accused of shoplifting at Walmart, pulled that gun, pointed it at an officer's face, and pulled the trigger. This was caught on a body camera. So fortunately, as you saw, the gun did not go off. The suspect is now facing attempted murder and robbery charges and being held on a million-dollar bond. The alleged accomplice is charged with complicity to commit a robbery.
Powerball jackpot, an estimated $1.6 billion. There was no big winner in last night's drawing. This is now the fourth largest Powerball jackpot ever. I'll take fourth. Fourth place is fine with me.
The next drawing is tomorrow night. Cash option worth about $735 million. Powerball officials say this prize has given players a chance to dream big this holiday season. It's a really big dream because the odds are about one in $292 million.
[07:20:02]
All right, no place like home for the holidays. So if you're traveling, brace yourself for traffic on highways and at the airports. AAA is expecting holiday travel numbers to break records this year. Jenn Sullivan has details on what you should expect.
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JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): The holiday travel rush is underway. If you're hitting the roads or skies, you should expect plenty of traffic and long lines at airports.
AIXA DIAZ, AAA SPOKESPERSON: Holiday travel is big.
SULLIVAN (voice-over): AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz says they're expecting more than 122 million people to travel starting Saturday, December 20th through New Year's Day. That would be a new record.
DIAZ: What happens at the end of the year is that you've got this two- week period when people are coming and going during different times.
SULLIVAN (voice-over): AAA says close to 110 million people will drive to their destination. So if you want to see more green than red on your GPS maps, here are the worst times to travel the next few days. AAA recommends leaving very early or late at night.
The lightest traffic days are expected to be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Airports are expected to be packed as well. AAA estimates more than 8 million people will fly. The TSA this week warning passengers to expect busy airports.
JOHN BUSCH, TSA FEDERAL SECURITY DIRECTOR: We do expect a significant increase in holiday travel during this holiday period.
SULLIVAN (voice-over): If you are flying, the TSA has some reminders for passengers -- do not bring a snow globe on board. The amount of water inside likely exceeds the 3.4 ounce liquid rule, so it must be checked. They also discourage people from wrapping presents.
CARTER LANGSTON, TSA REGIONAL SPOKESPERSON: Anything that's fully wrapped, our officers who screen the checked baggage may need to unwrap this in the checked baggage screening as well.
SULLIVAN (voice-over): Instead, they suggest putting gifts in bags like this, so TSA agents can easily screen what's inside. Here's the good news for travelers. Gas prices are cheaper than last year. As of Saturday, the national average for a regular gallon of gas was around $2.87.
In New York, I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.
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BLACKWELL: All right, Jenn, thank you.
So weather for most folks should be pretty nice and warm, I hear, but up in the northwest, not so much. Allison Chinchar is back, and we were talking about the odds of winning Powerball, one in $292 million.
CHINCHAR: You are more likely to be struck by lightning twice in your lifetime, or bitten by a shark twice.
BLACKWELL: I'm still going to play.
CHINCHAR: Well, yes, same.
BLACKWELL: Yes, I mean, this is $1.6 billion. But the weather, most of us are going to be -- I know the transition is rough, but the weather for most of us is pretty good?
CHINCHAR: Really, if you don't live along the west coast, your weather for Christmas Day is actually going to be really nice, especially if you like warmer temperatures rather than cold.
BLACKWELL: And I do.
CHINCHAR: Yes, it's the west where we're going to have a lot of the problems. We're talking rain, we're talking snow, and also some very gusty winds. Now, it's starting in portions of the northwest, but it's going to gradually shift more of that rain farther south.
In fact, by Tuesday, Wednesday, even southern California could be looking at some pretty heavy rain showers. Right now, the heaviest rain is focused over northern California and portions of Oregon, mild compared to what it has been the last week there in terms of very heavy rain, but at this point, the ground is already saturated. It doesn't take much to cause some flooding concerns.
Here's a look at the forecast radar. Again, you can see a lot of that heavy rain still over the same places, Oregon and northern California, but then we start to see it spreading farther south into central California and eventually into southern California, like I said, especially as we get into Tuesday and Wednesday.
Because it's back-to-back systems, you've got the system today, then Tuesday, then Thursday. In total, for the next five days, some of these areas could see 7 inches to 10 inches of rain total. And snow, you're looking at 2 feet to perhaps as much as 6 feet of snow in some of these locations. Again, obviously talking the highest elevations there for those high-end markers.
But California is really going to be the target point both for that heavy rain and the snow over the next few days. It's why you have the potential for excessive rainfall, meaning flooding, not just today, but also tomorrow and into Tuesday and Wednesday. It just keeps coming because the systems just keep coming. The only difference is you're going to notice the shift of where that heavy rain continues to focus. The one thing to note is all of this rain is going to keep the temperatures out west either close to average or slightly below. That's about it. Everybody else is orange or red on this map, indicating you are going to be very warm for Christmas Day.
I'm not just talking 5 degrees, 10 degrees above average. I'm talking record-breaking warmth. Every single one of these dots has the potential to break a record on Christmas Day. Some of those dots are there on Tuesday, they're there on Wednesday, they're there Thursday, they're there on Friday.
So you could be looking at four to five days in a row of record- breaking heat for Christmas Day.
BLACKWELL: I love it.
CHINCHAR: Yes. I do too, personally. But --
BLACKWELL: Allison, thank you.
The President's Executive Order on Marijuana opens the door to medical research on the drug. How the shift could impact the multi-billion dollar cannabis business.
[07:25:04]
And President Trump plans to celebrate America's 250th birthday with its first ever Patriot Games. We'll discuss those topics and more in this morning's roundup.
And tonight, back-to-back specials on CNN at 8:00 p.m. on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, the latest on the Rob Reiner saga, his life and legacy. And then at 9:00, from the CNN archives, an encore presentation of Larry King Live, featuring Reiner's wide-ranging interview with King.
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BLACKWELL: The Democratic National Committee announced this week it will not release its highly anticipated autopsy report of last year's presidential election. Why? Well, the chair of the DNC argues Democrats are already back to winning again.
Here for your morning roundup, Ernie Suggs, race and culture reporter for the Atlantic Journal-Constitution, core TV anchor Julia Jenea, and 11Alive reporter Kaitlin Ross. Welcome to you all.
And, Ernie, let me start with you. Ken Martin, the head of the DNC says we're aligned on what's important and that's learning from the past and winning the future. Does it matter if they release this?
ERNIE SUGGS, RACE AND CULTURE REPORTER, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: I think it does. I'm of two minds of this. I understand what he's saying about they want to move forward, but they -- you know, they, if you look at the 2024 election, you had a president -- you had a sitting president who was there who probably stayed in the race too long. You had Kamala Harris who had this fantastic 100-day race, which she spent a billion dollars to run for president, but she lost all seven swing states.
So, you had this historic loss. And I think it's important that you publicly, and I think that's the important word, you publicly say what went wrong so that you can have momentum going into 2028, which is going to be a crucial election because you have the, you have basically an open seat. So, I think that they're making a mistake by not publicly releasing this.
BLACKWELL: So, let me challenge that. And, Julie, I'll bring it to you because after Mitt Romney lost in 2012, Republicans completed an autopsy and they detailed exactly how they thought they can win in 2016. Donald Trump came along, was none of those things and won anyway. So, what's the value of these, these reports?
JULIA JENAE, ANCHOR, COURT TV AND ATTORNEY: Well, I think the problem is the headline. People are going to wonder, what do you have to hide? And transparency is so big that goes across any lines. That's nonpartisan. People want to know what people in power are doing. They don't want them to be hiding things. And if you're in a criminal trial and the prosecution says, we're not going to be giving you the autopsy, you know, this isn't a real one, but good luck getting a jury to convict.
So, I think even in this era with the Epstein files and everything else that's happening, people don't want to see a headline where it's, oh, we spent all of this time to put this together, but we don't want to show you the results.
BLACKWELL: And money. Yes.
JENAE: Exactly.
BLACKWELL: Yes. So, let me ask you about Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. You're from New York. She obviously was running up until a couple of days ago for the governor's office there in New York. She's not only out of that race, she's not coming back to Congress. And today -- or actually yesterday, the president endorsed her former primary opponent, the Nassau County executive. She is a really close ally of the president. What's going on here?
KAITLYN ROSS, REPORTER, ATLANTA'S 11ALIVE: She has been. And that's why it was so surprising. She got in the race. She was very outspoken talking about how much she wanted to make a difference here. And then to get out so quickly was really surprising. And so, my guess would be she knew an endorsement was coming for her opponent and she decided I'm going to get out of this before it gets messy. Because if you went to a head-to-head competition, that was going to get very messy.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Errol Louis at the top of the last hour said that she's on her way to the door out of politics. You don't think there's a space for her in the administration? The president still speaks glowingly of her. SUGGS: Well, he speaks glowingly also about Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom we spoke about about a month ago. And this -- you know, Elise is the second woman, the second really, really key Trump ally who's kind of left, who decided, you know, she was going to be the U.N. ambassador, and he pulled that. She was going to -- you know, she was running for governor, as you mentioned. He endorsed someone else.
So, I think that you have these politicians who are in the maggot world who have been scorned and who are leaving and they're seeing that it's time maybe to jump the ship. So, whether or not she has a future in the party right now with Trump, I agree with Errol. I don't think so right now, at least.
BLACKWELL: This week, we saw the unveiling of the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. It's a lot. And so, the president says, oh, this was a surprise. I had no idea that this was coming from the board. Despite having teased this a couple of weeks ago while he was -- yes, yes. A charity board.
ROSS: And also, you saw how quickly that sign went up. I mean, those letters were going up immediately.
BLACKWELL: Right. Who has that font just sitting around?
JENAE: And all of the Twitter handles, everything Twitter X now everything has changed already. So, this happened pretty quickly. But, you know, we hear the term it takes an act of Congress. Hakeem Jeffries saying that, no, this is illegal.
BLACKWELL: Let's play that. Let's play it. Yes.
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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): They don't have the power to do it. Only Congress can rename the Kennedy Center. The wannabe king and his sycophantic minions can't do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And so, is he right that he can't change that?
JENAE: He could be. You know, there's the Commemorative Works Act of 1986, which says for these national monuments and memorials that Congress is the one who can make major changes. There's a reference to FDR's wheelchair at his memorial. And that change was added. And Congress had to approve that.
[07:35:00]
We know even buildings like the FBI building with J. Edgar Hoover's name, there have been different bills on both sides of the aisle trying to change that. And it's a difficult thing. So, I'm curious to see there's at least one senator that says he's going to file an amendment as soon as things get back into session.
BLACKWELL: I also wonder here, and this is me really wondering out loud, if they really changed the name of the center, or if they voted to just add the Donald J. Trump and on top of it, because you'll acknowledge that they changed nothing about the complete name. And phonetically and grammatically, it doesn't make sense to say the Donald J. Trump memorial when he's still with us.
ROSS: Right. The memorial is a good point, because this was, as you noted with Congress, voted on as a memorial. And so, to have that in the beginning. Yes.
BLACKWELL: One other change announced by the administration this week, and I know this is a story you've paid attention to, is the reclassification of marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. What's the importance?
ROSS: So, the big deal here is for families who use medical marijuana to help treat a whole host of symptoms, this makes it easier for scientists doing the work to access that drug and to work with it. And so, that's the exciting part for these families who use this as a medication, is that it's going to be easier. But legally, it's still not legal.
So, that's the confusing part about this. People see that rescheduling, and they think, OK, maybe weed is legal now. It is not. It's just a rescheduling of that drug.
BLACKWELL: Yes, something important to remember. Last thing here, the president had a big announcement to celebrate America's 250th. He announced the Patriot Games four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory. Early on social media, folks said this reminded them of something they've seen before.
SUGGS: Well, it reminds them of "The Hunger Games," but at least they're not going to be killing each other, which I hope --
BLACKWELL: Well, that's a plus.
SUGGS: -- is the plus.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SUGGS: You know, I'm of two minds of this as well. I'd like the idea of states competing or kids from each of the states competing in a big, giant national championship. But I feel that the way we're doing things, the USC -- the UCF -- or the Ultimate Fighting Championships is going to be on the lawn of the White House. And this is all just kind of this whole menagerie of chaos that the White House is presenting. And -- you know, I just see these kids just going out there competing against each other. It just seems to be this really, really crazy thing that's going on.
JENAE: I want to see how they figure out the logistics of all this. How are they picking the one young man and young woman from each of these states on every sport? What's the score? What's going to happen? And is Lenny Kravitz going to be handling the wardrobe? That's what I need to know. BLACKWELL: And do they volunteer a tribute? All right. Ernie, Julia, Caitlin, stick around. We got a lot to talk about. The holidays. We got a little treat this morning. We have some cookies and cocktails Americans are craving according to their Google searches.
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[07:40:00]
BLACKWELL: If you're having some last-minute holiday parties and you're wondering what to make, we have some advice based on the top trends on Google. What folks are searching for. Ernie, Julia and Caitlin are back with me for the morning roundup.
So, we've learned from Google that the top search for cookie recipes and drink recipes are these two. So, for cookies, you've got the peanut butter blossom, which I have here. And for the cocktail, the poinsettia. So, we have for you guys this morning, some of the peanut butter blossoms. Kaitlyn, I'll let you start. You can pass them down.
ROSS: Love it. Yes.
BLACKWELL: They're essentially peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's kiss dropped right in the center. And the poinsettia is champagne, cranberry juice, orange liqueur and a rosemary sprig dropped right in here. Cheers for the holidays.
JENAE: Looks amazing.
SUGGS: Cheers.
BLACKWELL: Man, that is good.
JENAE: That is delicious.
BLACKWELL: Thanks for my producer for making these and my producer Marcus for making the cookies. I just brought the plate. But I don't really see this as a Christmas cookie.
ROSS: No.
SUGGS: When you sent these last night, when you sent over the talking notes, I had never heard of these as a Christmas cookie.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SUGGS: I'm thinking about, you know, raisin or something sugar.
BLACKWELL: Yes, something frosted or something.
ROSS: All right. I'm coming in to defend the peanut butter blossom.
BLACKWELL: OK. All right.
ROSS: These are delicious. We eat them every year at Christmas and I love them. I love a peanut butter cookie. I love the Hershey kiss in the middle. It's perfect.
BLACKWELL: Now, I don't know that you've heard me say I wouldn't eat the cookies. I just (INAUDIBLE) it's a Christmas cookie. But how about the cocktail? Because you were talking about one you made recently.
ROSS: OK. I made a jingle Rita, which was delicious. Margarita with a little bit of cranberry and don't kill me but a little bit of Goldschlager, like add a little cinnamon flavor. It was really good.
BLACKWELL: Goldschlager? What are we, 22?
ROSS: And sparkly.
SUGGS: (INAUDIBLE) for Christmas.
ROSS: Yes, come on over. Come to my house.
BLACKWELL: And so, we've also seen -- I'm sorry, I got a Christmas cookie in my mouth -- a big shift at the top of the billboard charts. Mariah has been dethroned.
JENAE: I don't believe that. I don't believe it.
ROSS: This is shocking.
BLACKWELL: Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Wham's 1984 hit "Last Christmas" is now number one on the Global 200 for the first time in a December since the chart was introduced in 2020. Of course, Mariah's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has been number one in that chart for for as long as most can remember.
[07:45:00]
I love it, I love it.
JENAE: But what's it saying about us as society? All -- is all --
BLACKWELL: What does it say about society?
JENAE: -- is all about romance and "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and togetherness. "Last Christmas" is kind of sad. I love this song.
BLACKWELL: It is a breakup song. Yes.
ROSS: It is, yes. It is a little sad.
JENAE: It is a breakup song. It's emotionally -- you know, I'm just surprised that that's the one that upset "All I Want for Christmas." That's what kicks off the holiday season.
ROSS: It is, she is the queen of Christmas. She is the absolute queen. And I love that song and I was a little sad about it too.
JENAE: Yes.
SUGGS: But you know, ironically, my wife and I were coming from a Christmas party last week and we were listening to Wham! the whole time.
ROSS: Really?
SUGGS: Yes. That's all we listened to was Wham!
BLACKWELL: I feel like we need some new Christmas hits.
ROSS: We do, we need some new Christmas blood.
BLACKWELL: We're just bouncing between the '80s and '90s now with these two songs.
ROSS: We need some new bangers.
BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about this trend that is dividing at least two people.
ROSS: Yes, we have straight divide here.
BLACKWELL: This new trend of naked Christmas trees, Julianne Moore, Khloe Kardashian, Michelle Pfeiffer, other celebrities are going very minimalistic here with the decorations. Maybe a few string of lights -- oh, that's pretty, that's Khloe's house -- but no ornaments on these trees.
ROSS: I hate this.
JENAE: I love this.
ROSS: I hate it, I hate it.
SUGGS: I'm in the middle.
ROSS: Your Christmas tree should be as ugly as possible. Put all of the mismatched ornaments, give me tinsel. I hate this naked Christmas tree.
JENAE: OK. I didn't know about this until yesterday, but I now see that I'm accidentally part of this trend. I haven't put the ornaments on the tree yet. And I'm thinking, it looks fine the way it is with just the lights. Now, I know, I'm trendy this year. Let's do it, minimalism.
BLACKWELL: I mean, my lights are the favorite part for me, but the ornaments still are where you put your personality on the tree.
ROSS: Yes. BLACKWELL: Because all those white lights on the tree is just a pretty white lights.
ROSS: Yes. No personality. No, it's terrible, it's terrible.
BLACKWELL: All right, One more fight here. "Die Hard," is it or is it not a Christmas movie? We now have, I think the authority on Christmas movies weighing in. Before we get to him, yes or no down the panel. Is it a Christmas movie?
ROSS: Yes.
JENAE: Maybe.
SUGGS: Yes.
BLACKWELL: Yes, maybe, yes. Here's Macaulay Culkin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is "Die Hard" a Christmas movie?
MACAULAY CULKIN, ACTOR: No, it's not. It's based around Christmas. Don't fight, fight me on the moon. It's really messed up. It's based around Christmas, but if it was also St. Patrick's Day, it would still be, it would work. But you couldn't do Memorial Day, "Home Alone." No, it doesn't work that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think Arbor Day works. He could be in a tree house.
CULKIN: I mean, I'm just saying is that, listen, I'm kind of the godfather of Christmas nowadays. So, you know, yes, my opinion has some sway in this argument.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: I buy that justification.
JENAE: I agree with that argument.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ROSS: OK. He brings a strong argument, but it is a Christmas movie. There is Christmas music. It's based around Christmas. Yes, the plot would hold up, but it is a Christmas movie.
SUGGS: I think it's a Christmas movie.
ROSS: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: I think people have so much invested in this fight of whether "Die Hard" is or not a Christmas movie. If you love it at Christmas, make it a Christmas -- I think "The Wizard of Oz" is a Christmas movie.
ROSS: Oh, that's a hot take. OK.
JENAE: Tell me more.
BLACKWELL: Brows furrowed across the panel. You know why? Because they always play it at Christmas and it's kind of the reference for the season for me because it's always on this time of the year. So, not because of the theme.
All right. Ernie, Kaitlyn, and Julia, thank you all for coming in.
ROSS: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Enjoy the cookies. Cheers. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:50:00]
BLACKWELL: A busy day of football ends with the Bears getting a thrilling overtime win over the Packers. CNN's Andy Scholes is with me now.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Victor, football bonanza yesterday.
BLACKWELL: A bonanza.
SCHOLES: It was great, never left the couch. We had three college football playoff games, two games in the NFL, and the Bears and Packers renewing their rivalry. And this is one of the biggest home games for Chicago in years. A win would just be huge for the Bears' hopes of winning the NFC North Division. Now, second quarter, there's a big play in this game. Jordan Love back to pass, but he lowers his head right into Austin Booker, who just lights him up. Now, they did call roughing the passer on the play, but it knocked Love out of the game.
Now, the Packers were up 10 with two minutes left, but Caleb Williams led an amazing rally. On fourth down, down seven with 28 seconds left, Williams is his day walker for the touchdown. So, we go to overtime, and in OT Williams going deeper. DJ Moore, who makes an amazing catch here for the walk-off touchdown. Bears win 22-16 to improve to 11-4 on the season.
Eagles, meanwhile, they are NFC East champs for the second straight season. Saquon Barkley, 132 yards rushing, including this awesome 12- yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Now, things got chippy with the Commanders after the Eagles went for two when they were already up 17 points. They went on to win 29-18, but here's what Washington head coach Dan Quinn had to say when asked, was it disrespectful for the Eagles to go for two there?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN QUINN, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS HEAD COACH: I can only answer from, you know, my side what I would do, but amen, like, that's how they want to get down, and like, all good, we'll play them again in two weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: If that's how they want to get down, a great soundbite there. All right. In college football playoffs, meanwhile, the Aggies and Hurricanes, they were in a defensive struggle in College Station yesterday. It was 0-0 at halftime, very windy conditions, but Malachi Toney, who scored the first touchdown of the game here with a minute 44 left. Now, Texas A&M, they then drove all the way down the field, but Marcel Reed's pass here going to be picked off by Bryce Fitzgerald. That was the second pick of the game. Hurricanes celebrate their first ever playoff win, 10 to 3, they now move on to face Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Eve.
In Oxford, meanwhile, it was no-lane Kiffin, no problem for the Rebels against Tulane. Ole Miss just dominating the green wave, winning 41 to 10, Pete Golding getting his first win as the Ole Miss head coach. His team now heads to New Orleans to play Georgia in the Super Bowl on New Year's Day. Ole Miss, they lost to the Bulldogs 43-35 earlier this season.
[07:55:00]
Finally, Oregon blasted James Madison in the final playoff game of the day. They're up 34 to 6 at halftime, they went on to win 51 to 34 in Eugene. Now, Ducks head coach, Dan Lanning, he was not happy after this game. They won by 17, but he was actually quite mad afterwards because in the second half, they were outscored 27-17. He said, guys, did not meet the standard for Oregon football.
But I bet Dan Lanning there was happy that that happened because now he can just light the team up, you know, all week because they've been prepared to play Texas Tech on New Year's Day.
BLACKWELL: You know what I've been saying all day? Listen, if that's the way you want to get down, we can do it.
SCHOLES: That's great.
BLACKWELL: If that's the way you want to get down, we can do it. I see you have found some peanut butter blossoms.
ALLISAN CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and I got two chocolate chips. Obviously, Marcus likes me better than you, it's fine. No, these are really good. Fantastic, actually.
BLACKWELL: He did a very good job, and I appreciate him baking because I can't really.
CHINCHAR: Same.
BLACKWELL: No cookie for you?
SCHOLES: I don't like peanut butter, but I will eat other cookies all day. Don't worry. BLACKWELL: All right. All right. Well, I hope you enjoy them. And thank you so much for joining us this morning for CNN This Morning Weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:00:00]
