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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Hosts Netanyahu, Zelenskyy In Florida, Has Second Putin Call In Two Days; Rep. Greene As Trump Hosts Foreign Leaders: "Can We Just Do America?"; Trump Threatens To Sue Fed Chair For "Gross Incompetence"; Marjorie Taylor Greene Says Trump Was Angry In Call About Epstein Docs; Trump: U.S. Took Out "Big Facility" Where Boats Loaded With Drugs. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 29, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:22]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Trump on the global stage saying he, quote, doesn't like it after Russia claims Ukraine tried to attack Putin's home, a claim Ukraine has denied. Is Russia attempting to derail Trump's peace negotiations?
Plus, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, in a new interview revealing a stunning conversation that she had with President Trump about Jeffrey Epstein. Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, is here.
And Trump says a major Venezuelan drug hub is no longer around after a dockside explosion took out boats and infrastructure. But Trump is staying tight lipped on any further details. What we're learning tonight.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
KEILAR: Good evening. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, Trump's global focus. President Trump trying to tackle a number of major international issues tonight. First, the war in Ukraine, where Trump appears to be believing Russia's Vladimir Putin over Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy about a drone strike near one of Putin's residences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't like it. It's not good. I heard about it this morning. You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it early in the morning. He said he was attacked.
It's one thing to be offensive because they're offensive. It's another thing to attack his house. It's not the right time to do any of that, and can't do it. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Trump, as you see there, making those comments while greeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago just hours after his second phone call in two days with Putin, phone calls that bookended his visit with Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago. Zelenskyy today calling Putin's claim a complete fabrication and noting that it came after Zelenskyy spent hours with Trump discussing how to end the war in Ukraine, talks that could be threatened by Putin's allegation, an allegation the Kremlin was very quick to highlight, upset Trump.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
YURI USHAKOV, KREMLIN AIDE: The president of the United States was shocked by this news, literally outraged. He said he could not have imagined such crazy action. And as stated, this will undoubtedly have an impact on the American approach in terms of working with Zelenskyy.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KEILAR: Another major sticking point in the talks to end the war. Zelenskyy saying the latest peace proposal only gives Ukraine security guarantees for 15 years. That's half the amount of time that Ukraine was initially looking for.
Zelenskyy also making a very direct plea to Trump tonight on Fox, saying Ukraine needs the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Can we win without American support? No, without American support, we can't defend this country. And on the battlefield, we use some weapon which we buy from America. Some rounds, artillery and et cetera from American side. Without it, of course, we can't win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And as Trump still seeks a peace deal for the Ukraine war, which he claimed he would end on day one, another major conflict could be on the verge of escalating for the U.S. that is specifically Iran, which was one of the top issues that Trump spoke about with Netanyahu.
Iran's president, saying that his country is in a full scale war against the U.S., Israel and Europe. Today, Trump repeatedly said he'd support new strikes against Iran if they try to rebuild their missile or nuclear program
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we're going to have to knock them down. We'll knock them down. We'll knock the hell out of them.
Iran may be behaving badly. It hasn't been confirmed, but if it's confirmed, look, they know the consequences. You know, consequences will be very powerful. Maybe more powerful than the last time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And Trump's warnings did not stop there. The president telling Hamas it is rapidly running out of time to disarm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If they don't disarm as they agreed to do, they agreed to it, then they'll be hell to pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Kevin Liptak is OUTFRONT in West Palm Beach.
Kevin, a very busy day on the foreign policy front for President Trump.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Certainly was. And I think if you're Netanyahu, who is facing down a tough reelection next year, came into this meeting looking for a degree of political support from President Trump. This could not have gone any better. Whether it was the president's comments about Iran, about Gaza, about Netanyahu himself.
[19:05:00]
Similarly, if you are Vladimir Putin and you are watching the president speaking from the steps of Mar-a-Lago, I don't think that you could have heard anything better. As the president was addressing this Kremlin claim that Ukraine targeted one of Putin's residents in the north of Russia.
Now, what President Trump initially told us was that he didn't know much about this attack. Later, he said that he was told about it by Putin in that phone call. He did allow that it's possible that it's not true. He did not suggest that there was any U.S. intelligence backing up those claims, but he did say that he believed Putin. And of course, this is not the first time that President Trump seems to be taking Putin at his word. And I think it just underscores for all of the optimism that we heard from President Trump and President Zelenskyy yesterday about progress in this peace deal, it's still an open question of whether Russia is going to sign off on any of this.
And what the Kremlin said today is that this alleged attack is going to cause them to revise their position on all of these negotiations. And I think the fear that you hear, certainly among the Europeans, but also even among some American officials who are pro-Ukraine in their thinking, is that Moscow is just looking for a way to scupper these talks and that this attack could be potentially an opening for them to derail everything without gaining President Trump's blame.
And so, as the president sort of proceeds with these peace talks, he's expected to meet with European leaders in Washington in January. He's expected to remain sort of engaged in all of this. The big question is whether Putin is serious about this at all. Now, I posed a question to President Trump about his phone call with Vladimir Putin that took place today. He said, of course, that there are thorny issues that remain in all of these talks, that if they get resolved, that they can have peace.
But President Trump, certainly very eager to get this conflict finished and relying in some ways on his relationship and his trust in what Vladimir Putin is telling him to navigate all of this -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Yeah. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.
OUTFRONT now, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink. She stepped down in the spring, citing the Trump administration's pressure on Ukraine. The victim, rather than Russia, the aggressor. She's now running in Michigan for U.S. Congress.
Ambassador, Trump appearing to take Putin at his word that Ukraine targeted one of Putin's homes with a drone strike as the Ukrainian president denies it. How are you seeing this?
BRIDGET BRINK, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, Brianna, first of all, thanks so much for having me on. There's no evidence that there was a strike. And the fact that the U.S. president is taking the word of a brutal dictator over that of our democratic ally is exactly the problem. It's exactly why I had to resign and speak out, because not only is President Trump destabilizing our foreign policy and undermining our national security, he's using Putin's playbook at home. And just by amassing vast personal and family wealth, by weaponizing the justice system against perceived opponents, by cracking down on the media, by destabilizing our economy. And while people in Michigan are facing higher prices, losing their health care, but also just questions about their future, this is the problem.
KEILAR: I want to play a little more of what Trump said today about Putin's allegation. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You're saying maybe the attack didn't take place. It's possible to, I guess, but President Putin told me this morning it did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, President Putin also said that Russia wasn't preparing to invade Ukraine, as it was indeed preparing to invade Ukraine, denied that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, even though there's evidence it did. Denied Russian involvement in the downing of the passenger plane MH17, even though there's evidence there was.
How should Trump be reacting to claims from Putin?
BRINK: Well, Putin lies. He's not telling the truth. It's hard to understand a reaction of believing Putin when you just listed all those ways in which he has said, even before the war started, that he had no intention to invade Ukraine, which is absolutely not true. I think if you, you have to wonder, why is our president taking this position? And if you believe "Vanity Fair" and his chief of staff he believes and knows himself that Putin actually wants all of Ukraine. And if that's true, that's a big problem for us as a -- as a negotiator.
KEILAR: And Trump raised eyebrows yesterday when he said that Putin wants peace and that Russia wants Ukraine to succeed, which Zelenskyy himself contradicted in an interview with Fox.
Here's what they both said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Do you think this series about peace this time?
TRUMP: I do, I do.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Is there any indication that you see that Vladimir Putin wants peace by what he's doing or saying?
[19:10:05]
ZELENSKYY: May not be honest.
TRUMP: Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed.
ZELENSKYY: I don't -- I don't trust Putin. And he doesn't want success for Ukraine. Really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: How careful does Zelenskyy have to be here, ambassador, as he's walking a bit of a line to not alienate Trump?
BRINK: Well, I mean, I'd say, first of all, the whole idea is absurd. Putin is actively working toward the destruction of Ukraine. And I lived there for three years under thousands of missiles and drones that were sent to the capitol around the country, to the electrical grid that have now killed tens of thousands of civilians, including 700 children.
So, the whole idea that Putin is interested in Ukraine's success is preposterous, unless you think taking over a sovereign country is success, which, of course it is not. I do think that President Zelenskyy wants to keep us a good relationship with the United States and with President Trump, because, as he said in the interview, it is important for Ukraine for its long-term security, to have the support of the United States and any peace agreement, especially to have some security guarantee.
KEILAR: Ambassador Brink, thank you so much for your time tonight. We appreciate it.
BRINK: Thank you.
KEILAR: And OUTFRONT now, Max Seddon, Moscow bureau chief for "The Financial Times". So, Max, first you heard that Kremlin aide saying that President Trump
was shocked and outraged by Putin's claim that Ukraine tried to strike one of his homes and that it would have an impact on the U.S. approach to working with Zelenskyy.
How did you read how the Kremlin is messaging this?
MAX SEDDON, MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, FINANCIAL TIMES: I think the Kremlin is very eager to portray, Brianna, that Trump is on their side in this, that Ukraine is this unruly country, that these two superpowers are dealing with as equals, as a problem that they're trying to solve together, which, which when, when you have the Kremlin basically announcing Trump's response, getting out before Trump says anything, putting out a full readout, which the White House, to the best of my knowledge, still hasn't done.
They feel like they are driving the narrative on this. And that is clearly because Putin feels like he has Trump's ear. This isn't even the first time that he's managed to, quite successfully derail Zelenskyy's visits to meet Trump in the United States by just getting on the phone and telling Trump, evidently, things that the Trump finds himself to be very receptive to.
KEILAR: There's, you know, when you're talking to someone in diplomacy, there's the question of who do you talk to first and who do you talk to last. And for President Trump, in this case, it's Putin to both of those, Putin made sure that he spoke on the phone to Trump before Trump met with Zelenskyy today. He also spoke with Trump today after the meeting with Zelenskyy twice in two days.
How do you see Putin's playbook for dealing with Trump?
SEDDON: I think it's really pretty, pretty simple. Russia doesn't want to accept this. This deal that Trump is negotiating with Zelenskyy. They've said that they don't really want to accept the original deal that was pitched to them and drafted with quite a lot of their involvement either. But they want Ukraine to get the blame from Trump rather than Russia when it goes wrong.
And so, what they have to do is to say nice things about Trump, make it look like Ukraine is in the wrong, and then when inevitably everything falls, falls apart. The main reason being that Russia won't agree to anything. They hope that that Trump will, as he has multiple times already this year, place the blame on Ukraine and Russia will be able to reap the benefits by pushing forward against the weakened adversary on the battlefield.
KEILAR: What do you think Putin's next move is, Max?
SEDDON: Putin just wants to drag this out for as long as possible, because he thinks he's winning the war. Today, he met with his generals for the -- for the seventh time in the last two or three months. He was wearing military uniform, which is something that he hadn't done at all before this year.
And when he when he meets these generals, they give him these reports of how well Russia is doing on the battlefield. They tend to quite significantly outstrip how far Russia actually is advancing. Russia is advancing, but nothing near like the pace that Putin is, is claiming that they are advancing at.
And he very much thinks that time is on his side, that Ukraine is weak, that Ukraine is reliant on support from the U.S. as President Zelenskyy said, and that if they can push on the quite clearly fraying ties between Ukraine and the U.S., then Ukraine will become weaker and that will help them win the war on the battlefield, because he has no intention of doing anything other than going for the most maximalist goals in this war.
[19:15:09]
And he just doesn't want to be blamed by Trump for the peace process going awry.
KEILAR: Max Seddon, great to get your analysis here. Thank you so much for being with us.
SEDDON: Thanks for having me.
KEILAR: And OUTFRONT next, President Trump's focus on foreign affairs provoking anger from his own party. Is he in danger of losing his base?
Plus, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, in a new interview revealing a conversation that she had with President Trump about the Epstein files. The ranking member of the House Oversight Committee is with us.
And the alleged words from the Washington pipe bomb suspect, quote, "something just snapped". We have more details from court documents on what the man accused of planting those bombs ahead of January 6th apparently admitted to investigators.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Tonight, President Trump's focus on foreign affairs, provoking anger from at least one prominent Republican, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, noting that Trump has hosted the leaders of Ukraine and Israel at Mar-a-Lago over the past two days, asking, quote, "Can we just do America?"
[19:20:08]
Greene's public criticism of Trump coming after the two former allies had an extraordinary falling out over disagreements on the affordability crisis, foreign policy and other issues.
OUTFRONT now, David Axelrod -- David Axelrod, Xochitl Hinojosa, and former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent.
David, I think every president obviously has to focus on diplomacy and foreign affairs. It's a huge part of the job. But is Trump risking being seen as not focusing enough on what people are so concerned about right now, the economy?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it'd be less of a risk if he was in other instances, actually focusing on the things that really matter to them, which is the economy, cost of living. This has not been his focus. Instead, when he does talk about the economy, he tends to lecture people and tell them how great the country is doing and how great -- this is the golden age. And they're sitting there trying to pay their bills.
So, they don't believe that he's focused on their priorities. So, this just exacerbates that. There's a role for the president of the United States to play in the world. We can talk about whether he's playing it in the right way or well, but certainly there's a role for the president to be playing, but he needs to be communicating and doing things on the other stuff, primarily because that's why he was elected. And the fact that he isn't is why he's sitting there at 38 percent approval rating right now.
KEILAR: Charlie, do you think that Trump's base agrees with Marjorie Taylor Greene here, or the fact that they've had this break? Does her actually saying this, perhaps inoculate him against some criticism for this? What does this mean for him politically?
CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, I do think there is an element of the Republican base. Maybe I'll call it the conspiracy theory wing of the base. You know, that whole Steve Bannon wing, Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes wing, that is skeptical of Israel, that doesn't like Zelenskyy, and they probably all none of them probably like the deal to bail out Argentina.
So, I think to the extent that the president is engaging on those issues is alienating that that that hardcore America first MAGA base.
Now, will they abandon him? I doubt it, but it could cause an erosion of support for Republicans in the midterm election. And as David just pointed out correctly, I think most Americans are more focused on these economic issues, things that face them day to day. But President Trump is engaged in a lot of interventions now in the Caribbean and elsewhere, that I think there are a lot of folks who thought Donald Trump was going to be more domestically focused.
So, I think this is a challenge for him, and it is going to create some erosion within the Republican base.
KEILAR: Xochitl, foreign leaders know that if they're going to come meet with Trump, they better be heaping praise on him. We saw Zelenskyy expressing deference and gratitude yesterday. And here's Netanyahu earlier with Trump. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I think Israel is very blessed to have President Trump leading the United States. And I'll say leading the free world at this time. I think it's not merely Israel's great fortune. I think it's the world's great fortune.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Trump clearly likes the praise, Xochitl. And there was this award that Netanyahu bestowed on him today. That doesn't normally go to a non-Israeli. Trump clearly enjoyed that. Trump pursuing perhaps the praise, though, at the expense of these issues that are really so important to people who support him
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the praise hasn't -- hasn't only come from foreign leaders. It's also come from tech CEOs and other business leaders and universities and law firms and others who want something out of Donald Trump.
I think everyone makes a great point that people want to focus on cost of living. The reality is, though, that presidents have to juggle a little bit of both, and the problem for Trump right now is that he's not delivering on either. He's not delivering here at home when it comes to cost, and he's not delivering on his agenda abroad, which is ending the wars.
And so, when you're looking at this, if you are an American and looking at these meetings, here you are can hardly afford a gallon of milk at the grocery store. But yet there isn't even anything coming out of his meetings with foreign leaders currently. And so, it is tough for Donald Trump at the moment. And because it's not like he is, actually has something to give to the American people to show the American people that he's actually accomplished with these meetings, all you're seeing is a love fest for Donald Trump.
KEILAR: What do you think, Congressman? I mean, has he made some progress or is there the hope of some progress when it comes to these wars, as you're seeing it here in the last few days?
DENT: Well, on Russia/Ukraine, what usually happens is there's a -- there's some kind of proposal sent to Zelenskyy with all sorts, expecting him to make concessions.
[19:25:06]
Zelenskyy pushes back, scrubs the agreement. They send it to Putin. And Putin says nyet. Rinse and repeat.
This has always been the process. Put all the pressure on Zelenskyy, force him to make concessions. No pressure on Putin to make concessions.
But Putin, we all know, doesn't really want peace. He wants Ukraine. He wants to be part of Russia. So, I think the president has really made much progress there.
Now to his credit, I think the president has helped negotiate that ceasefire in Gaza. But I mean, his plans for Gaza, you know, about building, making, making it the riviera, the Middle East. I mean, again, I -- there's a lot of work there that's a very tenuous, fragile situation.
So, his -- he hasn't had a lot of results right now other than that ceasefire, which is fragile. So, for all his time and effort on foreign affairs and foreign policy, I don't think we've seen a whole lot yet delivered. And by the way, we don't give Nobel Prizes to people who negotiate surrender agreements and make concessions to brutal dictators, authoritarian dictators.
KEILAR: Yeah. The way the agreement goes down obviously matters a lot.
David, Trump was asked earlier about who he'll pick to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Trump went after Powell again for renovations being done at the Fed building. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're thinking about bringing a gross incompetence, what's called gross incompetence lawsuit. It's gross incompetence against Powell.
I'd love to fire him, but we're so close. You know, maybe -- but maybe I still might.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Powell's term, David, we should note, expires in May. So, it's just months away. But what do you think about him? You know, threatening to fire him again?
AXELROD: I think that it's the last week of December, and there's a lot of reruns on TV. And this is one of them. I mean, we've heard all of this before. He went over to the fed and he made these allegations. And, you know, the chairman gave spontaneous rebuttal.
But here's the thing that people should be concerned about. He wants control of the Fed because he wants to manipulate interest rates to his political advantage, to what he perceives as his political advantage. That's the reason that the fed is an independent agency. That's the reason why the fed chairman has some degree of distance from the president.
So, I think he's looking forward to May. Maybe people believe that their interest rates will come down more. And of course, people are hurting, as we said, and they may in the short run appreciate that.
But Powell is looking at inflation as well as the job situation and trying to balance those two, which is what a Fed chair should.
But let me tell you something. His beef with -- his beef with Powell allegedly, is that Powell mismanaged the remodeling or the rebuilding of the Fed building or the building of the new Fed. And, his obsession with those kinds of issues actually are a political problem for him. I him.
I mean, people are sitting around and thinking about how they're going to pay their bills, and he's posting stuff about how he's going to have marble, hand rails at the Kennedy Center. And he's posting marble pictures of his new marble, palm room at the White House and so on. And people are saying to themselves, what the hell does that have to
do with me? I thought he was going to be fighting for me to bring my costs down. And he seems obsessed with gold and putting his name on things and, remodeling buildings and rebuilding you know, monuments, to himself.
And I think this is a huge political problem for him. It's a symbol of his distraction. It's the Marie Antoinette thing that he's got going. That is a big political problem, and not for him. As Charlie points out, he's not on the ballot in next November, but Republicans should be really concerned about what they're seeing.
KEILAR: And I mean, to that -- in that regard, talking about the Fed chair and whoever the next one is. So, gee, I wonder if it gives you pause that the Fed chair does have to be confirmed. Right. And you do have a midterm election where folks may have to answer for who they pick, who they confirm.
Does that give you hope that there will be a steady hand at the Fed?
HINOJOSA: It does give me hope. I think this is twofold. I think, like David said, he wants to have a grasp on interest rates. I think he's also looking for somebody to blame at a time when the American people are blaming Trump for the economy. And yet Donald Trump won't take responsibility. And so, he needs someone else that he can point the finger at. And right now, he is pointing the finger at the Fed.
But yes, it does give me hope that the Senate's -- the Senate's responsibility to ensure that they are vetting whoever the nominee is.
[19:30:05]
I will say that that Pete Hegseth was confirmed by a very slim margin. And I do think that I wonder whether some senators have that regret, given everything that is happening.
So, we have seen firsthand when a confirmation occurs and the person is not qualified. The Fed is at another level because they should be independent and which raises a number of questions about who he puts in there. As we've seen at the Justice Department, the Justice Department is not independent one bit, and were seeing that with the Epstein files and the prosecutions of Trump's enemies.
And so, yes, the Senate does have a responsibility. And if they don't, if they are just going to go through with whatever Donald Trump wants, then they are going to have to face voters in November, and they have to remember that.
KEILAR: Yeah, there is a lot at stake here. Xochitl, thank you so much. David, Charlie as well. Really appreciate you.
And OUTFRONT next --
AXELROD: Happy new year.
KEILAR: Happy new year to all of you. OUTFRONT next, a stunning claim from Marjorie Taylor Greene about a private conversation with President Trump about the Epstein files, what she says Trump told her next.
And CNN inside Myanmar. It's first election held during a brutal civil war. The military calls it progress. The U.N. calls it a sham. Ivan Watson, with a rare look inside.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:19]
KEILAR: Tonight, congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene revealing a stunning conversation that she had with President Trump about the Epstein files. Greene telling the New York times about a fiery phone call between them in September after Greene, quote, "threatened to identify alleged abusers involved with Epstein".
"The Times" writes, quote, "Trump called Greene to voice his displeasure". Greene was in her Capitol Hill office and, according to a staff member, everyone in the suite of rooms could hear him yelling at her as she listened to him on speakerphone, Greene says she expressed her perplexity over his intransigence. According to Greene, Trump replied, "my friends will get hurt."
A White House spokesperson responded to Greene's wide-ranging interview with, which was a on a number of topics, including the MAGA coalition, saying, quote, we don't have time for her petty bitterness. We should note that Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing in regards to Epstein.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, who is the ranking member of the house oversight committee. What's your reaction to that anecdote there about Marjorie Taylor Greene conversation?
REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I mean, obviously, very concerning. I obviously read that in the article that came out. And again, just another level of concern, new questions every day. What is he hiding? Who is he protecting?
It's been pretty clear, I think, from day one, that the White House has been actively trying to cover up this Epstein investigation, has been actively trying to stop and slow down the work of the committee, and certainly has done everything that they have possibly been able to do to stop the law that just passed, that got both houses of Congress to move it forward.
And so, this idea, now that we're seeing Republican members of Congress and it's not just Marjorie Taylor Greene, it's Tom Massie and others come out so forcefully, really, to support the survivors, I think speaks to how bipartisan it is. This is maybe the most bipartisan issue in the country.
Everyone wants a release of the files. Clearly, Donald Trump is hiding something and protecting people. And who is he protecting? We're talking about people that abused, trafficked and raped women and girls. All the files need to be released there illegally right now, withholding them. And I'm hopeful that hopeful that in the days ahead, there will be more accountability and all the files will be released.
KEILAR: You have called DOJs redactions illegal. DOJ says it has found over a million additional documents potentially related to Epstein. You say it's outrageous that those records have not been released at this point. Do you have any idea if or when we'll see them?
GARCIA: I don't. And let's be clear. I mean, over a million pages of new documents just appeared? I mean, this White House and the DOJ cannot be believed. They can't be trusted. You can't spend your whole campaign saying you're going to release the files, then exactly then flip flopped completely, then call it a hoax.
I mean, just a couple of days ago, the president said that the Epstein investigation was essentially over. What's he talking about? This work is just getting started.
And what's really unfortunate is not only are they finding this additional million documents, which is its crazy to think that that just somehow got discovered. But in which they're actually releasing they are doing a horrible job of protecting the survivors. Numerous names have now appeared in the documents. Survivors have literally been demanding that they actually follow the law to redact those names.
And instead, who are they redacting? They're redacting the names of the coconspirators possibly. They've overly redacted possible information about Donald Trump, including photographs. There's all these strange photographs of the president appearing and then disappearing. You know his name somehow not appearing in certain documents where we know they should.
And so, these are all concerning revelations. I think it all adds up to the simple fact that this White House continues to cover up whatever Epstein and his coconspirators did to these survivors.
KEILAR: "Miami Herald" journalist Julie Brown -- Julie K. Brown, who has reported extensively on Epstein, is speaking out after a record of a flight that she purchased from 2019 appeared in the Epstein files. CNN reached out to Brown about this, and she says it was a flight for Epstein survivor Annie Farmer and her employer, the "Miami Herald", purchased it. She raised a concern about why anyone's flight was being tracked in 2019, including the victims.
How significant is that to you
GARCIA: I think it's very significant. I mean, first, Julie is a very well-known journalist, particularly as it relates to Epstein. I mean, literally launched a lot of the investigation that we're seeing now is because of a lot of her work.
[19:40:04]
And so, the idea that the DOJ is tracking journalists and their flight, I think, is very concerning. We have asked and are asking the same questions. Why was the Department of Justice tracking a journalist and their bookings and their itinerary? That is a serious question that the DOJ is going to need to answer.
And it's not just that. There continues to be a both a sloppiness and quite frankly, a very dangerous way that these documents are being redacted and presented. What is not happening is the law is not being followed. A bipartisan law that, as you know, was essentially unanimous by both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and in the House. And so why the president is doing this now? He needs to answer for it.
KEILAR: Before I let you go, when is Bill Clinton, who has been subpoenaed to testify, going to testify before the committee? Do you know?
GARCIA: So, it's looking like that could happen in the middle of January. The dates kind of final negotiations are being discussed. Could be middle of January. And look, President Clinton has also said that he'd like every single file to be released. That includes his name on it. The president should do the same.
KEILAR: Congressman Robert Garcia, thank you so much for being with us
OUTFRONT next, President Trump says a major Venezuelan drug hub was wiped out in a coastal explosion. The boats gone, the site gone. But the president is short on details, including which U.S. agency took it out.
And confession, new court filings reveal the alleged D.C. pipe bomber's motives. Prosecutors say he claimed the election was tampered with and felt compelled to act. What does it mean for the charges that he's now facing?
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[19:45:39]
KEILAR: Breaking news, two people are dead after U.S. forces struck another suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific. You're looking at explosions just engulfing the vessel in flames. As President Trump today revealed a mysterious strike in Venezuela, claiming a big facility tied to drug trafficking was wiped out in a powerful explosion along the coast.
Trump offering few answers about who carried out the operation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It was a major explosion, and the dock area, where they load the boats up with drugs, they load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area at sea implementation area. That's where they implement. And that is no longer around.
REPORTER: The facility taken out by the U.S. military, or was it another entity like the CIA?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Alayna Treene is with us now.
Alayna, what are you learning about this strike? And who carried it out?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, Brianna. So, the president first brought this up during a radio interview with Republican donor John Catsimatidis on Friday, telling him that the U.S. had just knocked out what he called a big facility where the ships come from in Venezuela and the White House and Trump administration did not offer any more details beyond that.
But then CNN's Kevin Liptak pressed the president on this today. And as you mentioned, Trump told him that there was essentially a major explosion in the dock area where they load up the boats with drugs and said that an implementation area was no longer around. But it wasn't exactly clear what facility the president was referring to, nor where it was located.
And then pressed, Brianna, on whether it was the U.S. military or an entity like the CIA behind the operation, Trump would not say. Now, one U.S. official did tell CNN that the president was describing a drug facility, but declined to provide further details about it. And there have been no reports from Venezuela of a major facility like the one the president described being destroyed. So, depending really on what took place, this could be a major escalation of the presidents ongoing military campaign against Venezuela and its leader, Nicolas Maduro.
I would remind you that in recent months, the U.S. has amassed thousands of troops in the region. They've carried out a series of strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. And they've also issued a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers. And Trump, for his part, has repeatedly threatened strikes on land in Venezuela for weeks, even though he and some of his top officials, like the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, said that they would alert Congress before doing so. Now, Trump administration officials have also previously told me that targets could include drug production facilities or known trafficking routes should they strike land targets in Venezuela.
We also know that the president has authorized covert CIA action inside the country as part of its campaign to increase pressure on Maduro. The CIA did not comment on Trump's remarks today.
But look, there's still a lot we don't know about this operation that Trump is referring to. And the administration is being very tight lipped on the specifics. But we do know is that the president is looking for more ways to put even more pressure on Maduro -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Alayna Treene, thank you.
Also tonight, CNN goes inside Myanmar. It's a rare look at the war torn country holding its first election since the military staged a coup nearly five years ago.
Ivan Watson is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At polling stations across Myanmar's largest city. This song played on a constant loop, an anthem urging citizens to vote.
Myanmar's military is holding an election in the midst of a brutal civil war. The conflict triggered nearly five years ago when the military staged a coup, overthrowing an elected government and violently crushing subsequent protests.
This voter told me he hopes the election would help Myanmar chart a way out of its difficult situation. "My family live in the countryside where it's not safe," he says. "I want the fighting to stop and wish for peace."
The situation in this Southeast Asian country is dire. The U.N. predicts more than 12 million people will suffer from acute hunger in 2026, with some four million people displaced by the war.
Meanwhile, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights calls the election a sham.
[19:50:01]
TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR: There has been an escalation of the use of sophisticated weapons of war, attacking civilian targets in the run up to this election.
WATSON (voice-over): The military government concedes it can't hold the election in large parts of the country, now controlled by armed opposition groups.
WATSON: Is it difficult to have an election when there's a civil war.
WATSON (voice-over): "In Yangon, it's safe," says Myo Thein.
MYO THEIN, SPOKESPERSON AND CANDIDATE, USDP: No problem, no problem.
WATSON (voice-over): He's running for office with the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party.
WATSON: You lost in the last two elections.
THEIN: Yeah.
WATSON: Do you think you have a better chance in this election?
WATSON (voice-over): He has reason for optimism. The party whose candidates beat him twice can't compete in this election.
WATSON: These are the offices of the National League for Democracy, or NLD party. Now, it won conclusively in national elections that were held in 2015 and 2020. But since the coup, many of its leaders have been arrested and thrown in jail.
WATSON (voice-over): Last month, the U.S. secretary of homeland security announced the Trump administration was terminating temporary protected status for Myanmar, which Washington refers to as Burma, since it, quote, "made" notable progress in governance and stability and plans for free and fair elections.
But the U.K. and European Union say this election is neither free nor fair. A Myanmar military government spokesman calls any criticism of its election irrelevant.
The junta, trying to generate excitement for this controversial process. Two more phases of the election are scheduled to take place in other parts of the country next month.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON (on camera): Now, I cover -- I covered elections here in 2015 and I just didn't see the same vibe, that same energy and excitement from that election. One voter told me that it didn't feel like she had the same choice in this election that she'd had in the last one. The pro-government military candidate that I interviewed in that report, he's happy because he says he's won after losing two elections in a row.
It's worth noting that there are delegations from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus that are here, and they're quoted in the state media complimenting the military government for holding what they call a free and fair election.
Back to you.
KEILAR: Great report, Ivan Watson. Thank you so much for that.
And OUTFRONT next, new court filings revealing what prosecutors say drove the alleged D.C. pipe bomber to act after the 2020 election. What he admitted, allegedly, in his own words next.
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KEILAR: Tonight, an alleged confession from the D.C. pipe bomb suspect. Federal prosecutors releasing new court filings that show Brian Cole Jr. told them something just snapped, and he needed to speak up after the 2020 election for those who felt it had been tampered with and that he really doesn't like either party at this point. Cole is accused of planting pipe bombs outside both the Republican and Democratic National Committees the night before the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. This all coming before Cole is expected to appear in court tomorrow.
OUTFRONT now, former federal prosecutor, Berit Berger.
Berit, prosecutors are calling this a detailed confession. What stands out to you? BERIT BERGER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yeah. It was an extremely
detailed confession. It's not always the case that you get a suspect to detail with such clarity, their motive behind why they chose to do something.
Here, not only do you have him talking about the means and methods that he used for committing this crime, but giving a really interesting explanation that we would have had no way of understanding, you know, what motivated this crime but for this confession. This certainly gives prosecutors a lot to work with as they move forward in this case, not only putting the case together to get ready for trial, but in arguing for detention, which is what they're doing right now.
KEILAR: How much does Cole's claim that he's not an openly political person, but became frustrated by the 2020 election and what Trump was saying about it being stolen? How do you see that? How does that play into this?
BERGER: So I don't think it plays into any of the legal substance of the case. Certainly, it's not a defense to the charges. So, it doesn't have a lot of legal relevancy. What it could have is relevancy for prosecutors, as they're trying to make the argument that he should be detained.
So, prosecutors just put forth a memo that was very comprehensive, outlining all the reasons why he's a danger to the community and should be detained prior to trial. This plays into that because here he's not saying, you know, I was really just after one person. He's saying, I didn't like the Democrats. I didn't like the Republicans. I was just angry.
He says, you know, I just snapped this all paints the picture of somebody who's not stable, the prosecutors argue, who should not be allowed to remain in the community because he would prove to be a potential threat. So, I think that's the most relevant part of the confession right now for the government.
KEILAR: "The New York Times" reporting Cole's lawyers say he has autism. Does that meaningfully affect how this case moves forward?
BERGER: So, on its own, no, there's nothing dispositive about the fact that he has autism. Could it play a role in a potential defense for him? Possibly. The prosecutors I doubt would use that as any reason again, for this detention motion. I didn't see that in their papers. I can't imagine that they would really draw much reference from that.
So, on its own, nothing legally significant about it other than the defense may want to do something to help explain. You know, perhaps there was a change in medication. Perhaps there was, you know, some reason that played into it. But no, on its own, there's nothing particularly significant about that for legal purposes.
KEILAR: Very interesting. As we continue to watch this.
Berit Berger, thank you so much. BERGER: Happy to be here.
KEILAR: And a quick programing note before we go. CNN is ringing in the new year with comedy legend Chevy Chase in a new revealing CNN film. Catch the new CNN film, "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT", when it premieres New Year's Day at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and you can watch it the next day on the CNN app. Take it with you.
And thank you so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
