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First Move with Julia Chatterley
House to Vote on Trump-Backed Bill; Lawmakers Try to Avoid Government Shutdown; Mangione Facing Federal and State Charges; Fani Willis Removed from Trump's Georgia Election Case; Dominique Pelicot Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison; People Suing Makers of Weight-Loss Drugs; Putin "Ready" for Potential Talks with Trump; Mike Johnson Gives Remarks on Spending Vote; Biden Unveils New U.S. Emissions Target; Lindsey Vonn Makes a Big Comeback; House Vote on Trump-Backed Bill Fails. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired December 19, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
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JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is 7:00 a.m. in Beijing, midnight in Paris, and 6:00 p.m. here in New York. I'm Jessica Dean, in for Julia Chatterley,
and wherever you are in the world, this is your "First Move."
A warm welcome to "First Move." And here's today's need to know. Deal or no deal? A vote is expected any moment in the U.S. House of Representatives as
lawmakers try to avoid a government shutdown. Luigi Mangione arriving in New York to face federal charges for the alleged murder of CEO Brian
Thompson. Prosecutors now say he could potentially face the death penalty. And, offering help on the holidays. The organization brings chef made meals
to those in need. We're going to speak to the founder of Mercy Chefs. That conversation and plenty more coming up.
But first, new developments in the race to avoid a U.S. government shutdown. The U.S. House of Representatives now expected to vote on a new
funding bill backed by President-Elect Donald Trump. Trump himself calling it, quote, "a very good deal for the American people." But this comes after
he strongly criticized and helped kill the original bipartisan spending agreement just days before federal funding runs out.
The House minority leader meeting with fellow Democrats behind closed doors to discuss this new bill. A source who was in the room tells us Hakeem
Jeffries is strongly against the proposal, saying he's, quote, "a hell no." And we're told Democrats were chanting hell no in that meeting as well.
Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein is here and Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson joining us as well.
Good to have both of you here. Here we are just a few days before the holidays in a time-honored American tradition where maybe they're going to
shut down the government. Ron, I just want to start first with you just to remind our audience that's watching. This had been a very negotiated --
bipartisan negotiated bill that was on the table that everybody seemed OK with it was on track to probably be voted on yesterday until Elon Musk and
President-Elect Donald Trump got involved specifically saying they want to put the debt limit. They want to push that off for two years.
What do you make of what we're seeing because we're starting to see both the power of a person who's not quite president yet and the man who some
Democrats are calling President Musk?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean, talk about a preview of current events. It's easy to forget how much day-to-day
unpredictability and even chaos there was when Donald Trump was president for those four years and then you add to that the kind of venomous
infighting that we saw among house Republicans in '23 and '24 when they had the kind of even a slightly bigger majority than they have going into next
year.
And you add on top of that, you add a dollop of Elon Musk now feeling that he can kind of, you know, meddle in the political system at any moment. And
boy, do you have a combustible recipe at that point. And you know, whether it seems very unlikely they're going to be able to pass this tonight
because of the particular rules, they have to, seems unlikely they're going to be able to pass this without democratic votes, given that some on the
right are already against it, even after they come back with a new kind of procedural mechanism.
So, I just look at this as a preview in a kind of fasten your seat belts, this may be a lot of what we see in the coming months.
DEAN: No doubt about it. And, Stephen, just to kind of set the scene for everyone, what we're going to see here in a few minutes is the House vote,
and not to get to in the weeds on it, but it's important to know they're going to do it in a particular way where they need two-thirds of the House
to get this to pass. Republicans certainly don't have that. As Ron was saying, they have this tiny, tiny majority. Democrats have indicated they
are a hell no on this, that they are not going to bail Republicans out, that then they would have to go through some other hoops to try to get it
back on the floor where they could pass it with a simple majority, which could still be tricky.
But, Stephen, this is an interesting moment for Democrats who really have been kind of in this political wilderness roaming around, trying to figure
out how to effectively push back on Trump since the November election. And suddenly, House Democrats have kind of found a message that they want to
make about how this is about Trump taking care of himself, his rich friends, that they're going to try to and really going after people like
Elon Musk.
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STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think that's a very good point. Democrats were demoralized and directionless ever since the
election. This has given them a chance to make a stand. In that sense, it's an unforced error by the incoming administration of Donald Trump and Elon
Musk. And I think Ron is correct that it's going to be a preview of what we will see unfolding next year.
There's going to be this tension in the Republican Party, in the administration. On the one hand, you have people like Elon Musk and Vivek
Ramaswamy, who want to tear the entire government down and who wouldn't really mind the government shut down because they don't want the government
to work anyway. And then, at some extent, Trump is sympathetic to that. He has a mandate for that kind of leadership in his mind. But if he wants to
have a successful presidency to pass his tax cuts, to get the funding for his mass deportations of undocumented migrants, if he wants to defend the
country and boost defense spending, at some level, he's going to have to govern. And some of these things he's going to need Democratic votes for,
even though Democrats won't control either House of Congress.
So, this is going to be an absolute mess, and it does raise questions about whether Trump is as powerful as he thinks he is, even though he's going to
be a very powerful president. Last time around, he had a much bigger House majority in his first two years than he does now or will do next year.
DEAN: Yes, and it's important to remind everyone that Republican majority in the House is not always all in alignment with one another. And in fact,
we're seeing some Republicans saying they're not going to support this because of the suspension of the debt limit.
Ron, there were also in this hasty kind of renegotiation amongst just Republicans this time to try to get a bill that would suffice for Trump and
Musk and others. They took out a bunch of provisions that had been put in there previously that were in the legislation from yesterday, including
this kind of restrictions on outbound U.S. investments to China, which some say, you know, of course, could benefit somebody like Elon Musk. And again,
that's a talking -- one of those talking points that Democrats have really started to circle around.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, it's interesting, as Stephen was saying, you know, in this period of demoralization and uncertainty, Democrats have been
pretty hesitant and tenuous in how they have responded to even the most provocative actions and appointments by Trump's since the election.
But what I think they are circle or moving toward or kind of heading toward is a view that if there is a weak link in the armor that Trump presented in
this election where he improved among virtually every demographic group and in every geographic region of the country, it is the tension between his
broad blue-collar support and an agenda that, in many ways, provides the greatest benefits to people at the top, including folks like Elon Musk, who
has made himself, I think, even for Trumpists, uncomfortably visible as someone who sees himself as pulling strings.
So, I mean, you can see how the themes are coming together right away for Democrats, and in many ways, everything we're going to hear about this
bill, perhaps in the next few days, is a preview of what you're going to hear on the much bigger fight next year about extending the Trump tax cuts
for individuals.
I mean, I think Democrats believe -- Democrats recognize that Trump enters in a stronger position institutionally and politically than he did the
first time, but there is still this kind of tension between his broad success among people living paycheck to paycheck and the questions of
whether an agenda centered on tariffs, mass deportation, and tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy will really relieve the financial pressure
they're facing. And I think that's the theme that Democrats are going to be hammering on here, and probably for most of 2025.
DEAN: Yes. And, Ron, as you and Stephen are speaking, we are looking at a live picture there in the House, in the corridor there, where we are
waiting to hear from House Speaker Mike Johnson. So, as soon as he comes up to the podium, we will listen to hear what he has to say in advance of this
vote.
Stephen, of course, in these sorts of situations, there's all these political calculations about who gets the blame. Who's -- if we end up with
the government shut down, is it Republicans that get the blame? Is it Democrats? And everyone trying to calculate that out. We're not there yet.
But again, funding running out tomorrow, Friday. So, what is your sense at this moment in terms of the politics of all of this?
COLLINSON: Well, historically, Republicans have got the blame in previous government shutdowns because they're not very popular, and the longer they
go on, the more punitive they get for the American people. Trump is already out there saying that since President Joe Biden is in the incumbent
president it will be a Biden shutdown.
[18:10:00]
I'm not sure how well that's going to age, simply because President Biden is almost invisible. He's not been part of the negotiations to this. And if
there is a shutdown over Christmas and New Year and the new Republican Congress has to come back and fix it, that is going to be quite a risky
start for the new Trump administration.
When you talk to Republicans, they're very aware of the need to get a very fast start for this second Trump administration. There are -- to your point
about some Republicans voting against this bill, there are real questions about how long the unity of the Republican House coalition can hold
together next year. There's some massive things that need to get done. As Ron was saying, the tax cut, border legislation, at the end, sometime in
the first few months, lifting the debt ceiling, that is going to be very stressful for that coalition.
If you start the new year having to alleviate a government shutdown with very tough votes for new Republican lawmakers and then you have a speaker
election in which Johnson's position is very uncertain after these last few days, that is going to overshadow the start of the Trump administration and
this desire for a quick start.
So, I think it is risky for Trump. On the one hand, this is something that the Republicans think they're elected to do, to cut big government
spending. But these things don't often play out as the people who plan them, going into them, think they will.
DEAN: Yes, it can get a little messy as we're seeing, and we're not really even in it just quite yet. Again, we are waiting on House Speaker Mike
Johnson. Ron and Stephen, stick with us. We're going to come back to this. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
Arriving by helicopter and flanked by police as well as New York City's mayor, Luigi Mangione made his first federal court appearance under high
security. Prosecutors saying the suspected killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson could face the death penalty if he's found guilty of the
federal murder charge against him. But prosecutors have not yet said whether they will seek the death penalty.
He's also been charged with stalking and firearms offenses, again those are federal charges. Afterward, his attorney spoke briefly outside the
courthouse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're going to respectfully decline to make any comment at this time. Mr. Mangione appreciates
everyone's support. Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: She also said in court she was seeking clarity on how her client is facing both state and federal charges at the same time. Federal prosecutors
said later on that New York State's case against Mangione will likely begin before theirs.
Steve Moore is a law enforcement contributor and a retired supervisory special agent at the FBI. Thanks so much for being here with us. I just
want to start there. He did get slapped, Mangione, with these federal charges today where he had really only been -- he had only been charged
these -- with these state charges. Explain why that is significant.
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR AND RETIRED SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: Well, it's significant because in New York, there is no death penalty
and in the federal system there is. And this is not really uncommon. And I think his lawyer actually knows that. When there is an act, a murder, or an
act of terrorism say in a large metropolitan area like this, you're going to get the police who are going to want to prosecute this case, but the
feds also have jurisdiction over this case if they want it.
So, by offering up the potential of a death penalty case, what happens now is you have to get the D.A. in New York and the United States attorney for
the Southern District of New York to get together and decide who's going to take the first bite at the apple.
DEAN: And that can get tricky sometimes with all of those relationships, the local authorities, the federal authorities, who's going to take the
lead. But we do know now that it is -- that he will likely be facing those state charges first. But you mentioned the death penalty. Obviously, we're
not there yet, knowing if that will be a factor in this case or not. But how likely do you think that might be with those federal charges?
MOORE: Well, I think it's certainly on the table because the feds would not have come in and put these charges out there if that was not on their
list of possibilities. And the federal system does execute people. I mean, Timothy McVeigh from the Oklahoma bombing. And if you do receive a death
sentence through the federal system, these things don't last 20, 30 years. It happens relatively quickly.
DEAN: And I also -- as you're talking, we're watching this video of Mangione being perp walked by New York City police, the feds. We saw the
New York City mayor behind him. It was quite a production, them parading him out in front of these cameras. What do you make of those visuals?
Because I think there's some people that say, this is good, we're showing people that if you do this in New York, we will come find you. There are
other people that say this really lifts him up, and he's already getting so much attention online that it makes him look even more like this folk hero
that some people have tried to paint him out to be. What do you think?
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MOORE: I was really disappointed at that visual. Obviously, it was contrived because the helicopter had landed at the Wall Street helicopter
pad there. And if you're familiar with it, you can have vehicles not very far from your helicopter. You could have walked him right over to that
vehicle.
This to me seems a contrived a photo opportunity for, what, 20 to 25 people standing behind him to take credit for something that was done. And that's
embarrassing for law enforcement. But at the same time, that does feed right into this. What do we know from school shooters, from domestic
terrorists, from terrorists in general, or from people here who might be considered socioeconomic terrorists? They want attention. They want
validation. And many times, they want personal validation, and they want to be famous. They want to be infamous if necessary, and we just gave it to
him.
The mayor of New York walking two steps behind him. And, you know, the SWAT team out there. I get it. You're afraid that somebody may try to release
him because they feel he's a Robin Hood. But if you thought that, why wasn't anybody standing directly in front of him? This was just a staged
perp walk for people to photo bomb.
DEAN: All right. Steve Moore, thank you so much for your analysis there. We appreciate it.
MOORE: Thank you.
DEAN: The top prosecutor in the Georgia election subversion case against Donald Trump and others have now been disqualified. The state's appeal
court ruling Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis cannot prosecute the case after finding quote, "a significant appearance of impropriety."
Her team says it's asking Georgia Supreme Court to review today's decision.
And Paula Reid is joining us now with details. And, Paula, this is just the latest in a case that has just been full of twists and turns in Georgia.
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a much- anticipated decision. And look, the case is still lives on life support. The appeals court did not toss the case itself, but says that it will need
a new district attorney and a new office to handle it. But that's going to be very difficult to find someone who's willing to take that on.
Now, here, the Trump team has been trying to get Fani Willis removed from the case because of her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor
she selected to oversee this case. The trial court did not believe that their relationship was enough to disqualify her. But here, in the appellate
court, just they're saying something really interesting. They said, normally the appearance of in propriety isn't enough to disqualify a
prosecutor, but they said, given the facts here, they believe the only way to restore public trust in this case is to have Fani Willis removed.
I mean, that is really significant. They're basically saying that her conduct undercut the public's ability to trust the integrity of this case
and the integrity of the process. Now, speaking with one source close to this case, who said, yes, this is a win for Trump. But this person, again,
who's on the sort of the Trump side of things, said this is also a win for the rule of law.
You know, Trump and his lawyers they're always attacking the credibility of prosecutors and judges. But here, Fani Willis' romantic relationship with
Nathan Wade really handed them something to legitimately litigate. Here they've been successful, though, of course, this decision will now be
appealed.
DEAN: All right. Paula Reid for us. Thank you so much for that reporting. We're going to take you now to southern France, where Gisele Pelicot, the
72-year-old woman whose former husband, Dominique Pelicot, and others, dozens of others, were sentenced, hours ago, for her horrifying mass rape
that spanned a decade.
Across the world, she's become a figure of strength and resilience for going public with her case. It's a decision she says she has never
regretted. The perpetrators of her abuse include these 50 men, as well as Dominique Pelicot, sentenced to more than 400 combined years. Our Melissa
Bell has more from the months long trial.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gisele Pelicot was determined that the shame should not be hers. Waving her
anonymity, and with it, that of her rapists.
Rapists, we see you, shouted the crowd outside as inside Dominique Pelicot received the maximum sentence of 20 years for the drugging and mass rape of
his then-wife Gisele over nearly a decade.
Outside the court, there was anger that the 50 other men on trial alongside him had not received the maximum sentences sought by prosecutors. But as
she left the court, Gisele Pelicot made no comment on the verdicts.
[18:20:00]
GISELE PELICOT, SURVIVOR OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE (through translator): I have faith now in our capacity to carve out collectively, a future where
everyone, women and men, can live in harmony in respect and mutual understanding.
BELL (voice-over): A stark contrast to the brutality of a trial that saw the violent rapes of an unconscious Gisele Pelicot shown in court day after
day. Through the videos shot by her then-husband of more than 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, unmasked by chance in 2020, when a guard caught him
filming up women's skirts in a supermarket. An incident that led police to the horrors that this unassuming retiree had on his phone and computer.
Videos of more than 200 acts of aggravated rape against his wife, most, including other men.
It was not far from the couple's home in the sleepy town of Mazon in Southern France that he met the men after recruiting them online. Dominique
Pelicot's lawyer said her client will consider whether to appeal.
We are going to take advantage of the delay, which gives us 10 days to decide if we want to appeal this decision, she said.
As she left court, Gisele Pelicot was again celebrated for making the trial public and for having, in her own words, forced shame onto the perpetrators
and where it belongs.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Avignon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Straight ahead, a weighty issue for users of weight-loss drug Ozempic. Does the popular medication cause dangerous side effects?
Plus, Vonn, but not forgotten, the queen of the slopes, Lindsey Vonn, planning a remarkable comeback at the age of 40. We'll have her amazing
story that's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: Welcome back. A volatile day on Wall Street after Wednesday's Fed induced freak out topping today's Money Move. U.S. stocks giving up early
session gains to finish a little change. The Dow ending a rare 10-session losing streak, but just barely, as investors continue to process the feds
outlook for fewer interest rate cuts next year. And from the Fed to FedEx. Shares of the package delivery firm rallying almost 9 percent in afterhours
trading. It's planning to spin off its freight business.
Weakness across the board in Asia, though, stocks pressured by Wednesday's big sell-off on Wall Street. All this as the Japanese central bank left its
interest rates unchanged.
[18:25:00]
Over a thousand people are suing the makers of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, saying the medications gave them debilitating side effects,
including diarrhea, bleeding, and vomiting. But are the potential side effects enough to scare off patients? Nick Watt joining us now with more on
this. Nick, what did you find out?
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, there are many, many people who are taking these drugs very happily and getting great benefit from
them. But I have spoken to a number of people who say that these drugs hurt them and change their lives for the worse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICIA, FORMER OZEMPIC USER: I'm always going to the bathroom. I had to prepare myself for this and I don't know how long I could sit.
WATT (voice-over): Patricia is one of the 15 million or so Americans who've taken Ozempic or one of the other GLP-1 drugs. She is diabetic.
WATT: What did you kind of hope it would achieve for you?
PATRICIA: Lower my A1C and help me to lose weight.
WATT (voice-over): She's a veteran.
PATRICIA: This is my battalion I was in. Can you pick me out?
WATT: There. Am I right?
PATRICIA: Yes.
WATT: Yes.
WATT (voice-over): She did lose weight. Her A1C did fall. Then, she says, her doctor doubled the dose, as suggested by the manufacturer. And within
two weeks --
PATRICIA: I was going so often, it began -- I began to bleed. When it became bright red blood, I knew it was hospital time.
WATT (voice-over): She saw a doctor in the ER.
PATRICIA: He said, you have a lower GI erectile infection and you're hemorrhaging.
WATT (voice-over): More than 1,300 people have already filed suit against the makers of these drugs over side effects they say they suffered and
inadequate warnings. Patricia plans to file soon.
WATT: And how many clients do you have now on this?
ANDREW VAN ARSDALE, PATRICIA'S ATTORNEY: We have over 6,000 clients.
PATRICIA: It doesn't say it on the pamphlet that you're going to be hemorrhaging.
WATT: And if it had said that on the --
PATRICIA: I wouldn't have taken it.
WATT (voice-over): The label does warn of diarrhea, but not hemorrhaging.
VAN ARSDALE: I do think we'll find evidence that they were aware that some of these reports were coming in, and maybe they didn't do enough about it.
WATT (voice-over): The maker of Ozempic declined an interview, but gave us a statement that reads in part, Novo Nordisk believes that the allegations
in these lawsuits are without merit, and we intend to vigorously defend against these claims. The known risks and benefits are described in their
FDA approved labeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may have seen photos of celebrities and others showing off dramatic weight-loss.
WATT (voice-over): These drugs are now ingrained in the zeitgeist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Party time, guys.
WATT (voice-over): "South Park," "SNL."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since my doctor prescribed Ozempic for Ramadan, I've never gotten more work done.
WATT (voice-over): And so, many commercials in between.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WATT: I can hum the tune from the commercial.
VAN ARSDALE: There's a reason you can hum the tune. There's a reason everybody knows about this. Because of the amount of money they're putting
into the marketing of these products.
PATRICIA: I heard about Ozempic on the TV.
WATT (voice-over): Patricia has now stopped taking it, but she says, is still suffering.
PATRICIA: Uncontrollable diarrhea.
WATT: Which makes life quite hard to live.
PATRICIA: Right. So, I stay pretty much close to the house. I still have the effects of uncontrollable going to the bathroom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (on camera): Now, Patricia and her lawyer are not saying that these drugs should be banned. What they want is the manufacturers to put a little
bit more effort into researching the potential side effects and also make the warnings about those potential side effects much more explicit. There
is, of course, a long and complicated legal road ahead. Back to you.
DEAN: No doubt about that. All right. Nick Watt, thank you so much for that reporting. We appreciate it. And coming up, Vladimir Putin under
pressure. The Russian president talks about his relationship with Donald Trump as Moscow faces setbacks in the Middle East and also in Ukraine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
DEAN: Welcome back to "First Move." We're going to look at more international headlines this hour. Drones are now restricted from flying
over parts of the U.S. State of New Jersey. The Federal Aviation Administration says the ban aims to limit flights over power stations and
other infrastructure. And the order comes after a series of mysterious drone sightings in the Eastern United States.
In Syria, former Assad regime security forces have begun handing over their weapons to the rebel linked transitional government. And in return for the
firearms, authorities are issuing temporary cards allowing the freedom of movement in Syria's liberated areas until legal proceedings are completed.
Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is asking European leaders for more air defenses. He needs help protecting his country's power grid as it faces now
a third winter of Russian airstrikes. Zelenskyy also says he needs the European Union and incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to cooperate on
securing a durable peace.
Amazon workers have gone on strike at seven U.S. facilities, the Teamsters Union organizing that walkout. It claims to represent about 7,000 Amazon
workers nationwide. That's less than 1 percent of the company's U.S. workforce. Strikers say they are fighting for basic benefits and more pay.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin held his annual news conference, offering a rare look into his approach to policy. He fielded questions from
the public, defending setbacks in Syria and Ukraine. He even said he'd be open to meeting with the incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. Our Matthew
Chance has more on this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vladimir Putin's audience virtually standing to attention as he swaggered
into the auditorium. But the Kremlin's strongman is under intense pressure on his devastating war in Ukraine, for instance, and he's keen to promote
Russia's recent territorial gains.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The situation is changing dramatically, as you well know. Movement is taking place along the
entire front line, every day.
CHANCE (voice-over): But every day, the cost of the war, blood and treasure, is also rocketing. With an incoming President Trump calling for a
rapid end to the conflict, the Russian leader said he was open to compromise on Ukraine and ready at any time for a Trump meeting.
PUTIN (through translator): First of all, I don't know when we will meet, because he doesn't say anything about it. I haven't spoken to him at all
for over four years.
CHANCE (voice-over): But it would be, Putin added, from a position of Russian strength.
PUTIN (through translator): I believe Russia has become much stronger over the past two or three years. Why? Because we are becoming a truly sovereign
country. We are no longer depended on anyone.
CHANCE (voice-over): But that strength seems to have disappeared recently in Syria, where key Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad was overthrown. It was a
geopolitical blow for an overstretched Russia, which maintained critical bases in Syria.
[18:35:00]
And now, Putin, who admits he hasn't even spoken to Assad since he escaped to Moscow earlier this month, is forced to negotiate, if not plead, with
the Syrian rebels he once ruthlessly bombed.
PUTIN (through translator): The overwhelming majority of the groups tell us that they would be interested in us keeping our military bases in Syria.
I don't know, we have to think about it.
CHANCE (voice-over): This annual Putin extravaganza, highly choreographed and tightly controlled, is designed to trumpet achievements. But it is
getting hard for the Kremlin amid a spate of setbacks to claim everything is going Russia's way.
Matthew Chance, CNN London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Matthew, thank you. Let -- OK. I believe House Speaker Mike Johnson is speaking. Let's listen in to what he has to say.
MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: We're excited about that because Republicans will have control of the White House and the Senate and the
House, and we'll be able to make the key decisions about funding for the 2025 fiscal year. So, this will allow us the opportunity to do that.
In addition, we're going to take care of Americans who have suffered true devastating emergencies and disasters. We had, of course, a record
hurricane season with Helene and Milton that did real damage across as many as six states. There was a hundred billion dollars to provide much needed
relief to those people, those Americans who have really been struggling and still are from those storms. In addition to that, we have $10 billion of
emergency aid to our farmers and ranchers.
Many of the small farms in America are on the verge of collapse, primarily because of Bidenomics and inflation. The high cost of inputs and fertilizer
and seed and everything that they need to keep those farms going, and they've had three lost years in a row, some of it because of drought, a lot
of it because of the economics of it, and it doesn't make sense for lenders to provide them funding anymore.
And so, this is a stopgap measure to save those farms, to save food production in America, to ensure that we have that diversity in the
marketplace and our food supply is directly related to national security. So, it's a very, very important thing for both parties to do to provide
that aid.
We also have a clean extension of the Farm Bill, a clean extension of health extenders that are necessary, and a couple of other details.
Everything that I just told you was negotiated in a bipartisan fashion. Both parties agreed to these terms, and that's what's on the floor right
now. The only change in this legislation is that we are going to push the debt limit to January 30th of 2027. We will push it beyond that -- or to
that time point. And that will allow us to do the important work of governing in the new Congress.
Why does that matter? Because we are committed to cutting hundreds of billions of dollars of wasteful spending out of the federal budget. That's
what we're going to do. The Doge effort with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the commitments that President Trump made on the campaign trail will come
to fruition when we get about that very important work for the American people.
The government is too big, it does too many things, and it does very few things well. We're going to cut and limit the size and scope of the
government and get it under control for the American people. We have a mandate to do so.
President Trump received 77 million votes in the election. House Republicans, 74.7 million votes, the most in history. We know what we are
to do, we're determined to do that. And even though this vote would push the debt limit to 2027, it in no way reflects any lack of enthusiasm on our
part to get about those serious cuts for the American people. We have to have fiscal responsibility as a core principle of our party.
So, that's what the House Republicans are committed to, every single one of them. We will get together and do that work and it begins in early January.
I hope that this vote passes tonight. We will send it to the Senate. We will extend funding and we'll come back, and we will have the America first
agenda come in roaring in January for the American people. Thank you so much.
DEAN: Again, that was House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking as the House is currently voting. You see it right there on screen on this hastily put
together bill to avert a government shutdown. Senior reporter Stephen Collinson is back with us. Stephen, it was interesting to hear how he tried
to spin that because publicly he's saying, look, this is not a big deal. We just changed a couple things, and the only difference is this debt
suspension, which is actually a very big deal and was not in this original legislation that was negotiated by both parties.
There are also some provisions in there that have been dropped out to be clear, that are not in this current legislation that's being voted on. And
the current situation is, if you look there, you see Republicans, 15 against. That is much bigger than the tiny, tiny margin that they have
there. So, this does not look on track to pass. It's likely to fail.
[18:40:00]
Again, they need two-thirds majority, which, again, at this point, it does not look like it is on track to do that. Stephen, this doesn't look great
in terms of being able to avoid a government shutdown. We do have another day to go, but right now, this doesn't look great.
COLLINSON: Right. There's this tradition in Washington whereby the smell of jet fuel before Christmas tends to get people to vote for things that
are very difficult to get through because they want to get home. But with one day to go, it's very difficult to see what they can do now to put on
the floor, because President Trump has made this lifting of the debt ceiling for two years to be -- you know, he's made a stand on that, and if
he backs down on that, that makes him look impotent even before he takes office in terms of his political standing.
So, we seem to be racing towards a government shutdown over the Christmas holidays unless there is some change of heart on behalf of the Republicans.
This debt ceiling issue is very important. Most countries around the world don't require the federal authority or the executive to go to Congress to
ask permission to raise the amount of money that they're allowed to borrow.
Democrats have long argued that they should get rid of this entirely because many Democratic presidents have been held hostage by Republicans
who want massive spending cuts. But it's not surprising that Democrats are against this now because if they were to agree to this, they would be
giving up all of their leverage on President Trump.
If the debt ceiling isn't raised and the U.S. goes into a debt default, that could cause a huge domestic and international financial crisis. So,
that is something presidents always try to avoid and they have to make concessions to the other party.
So, even when Republicans control the House and the Senate, you'll still need a 60-vote majority in the Senate, which Republicans don't have on
their own to get the debt ceiling raised. So, you can see why this is such a big deal. And Democrats are arguing that the reason Trump wants to raise
it for two years is that gives him latitude for massive tax cuts. And if there are anything like the tax cuts in the first Trump administration,
they'll benefit richer Americans over every day Americans, the ones that Trump promised to help in the election. So, you can see all the politics
that's bound up in this.
And if Democrats had let the debt ceiling be raised for two years, I think there would have been a massive backlash against them from rank-and-file
Democratic voters.
DEAN: Yes, and then there's, of course, the Mike Johnson of this all, the house speaker, who let us rewind just a moment that he came into power
because there was no consensus candidate after Kevin McCarthy got booted, after going through all of that two Januaries ago all the rounds of voting.
So, you know, Republicans certainly, if you look at the numbers and they continue the no votes against this continue to go up, if it was even just a
simple majority, they would lose this vote. And so, Mike Johnson's got a lot of work to do to get this through the House. And then, there's the
question of more broadly, what does this mean for his leadership?
COLLINSON: Right, he has to get re-elected as the first act of the new House, which will be seated on January the 3rd. His majority next year is
even less than the handful of votes he has this year because Trump has taken a couple of members of the House to join his administration. So, he's
going to find it very difficult to get re-elected.
There are a number of Republican lawmakers who have already said they're not going to vote for Johnson because they were angry over the previous
deal that he did with Democrats that was torpedoed by Elon Musk and President Trump -- President-Elect Trump yesterday. So, his only hope of
keeping his job is doing exactly what Donald Trump wants him to do, and that might entail going into a government shutdown because that seems to be
the only path that is available to him that doesn't involve making concessions to Democrats. So, his position is very tenuous.
The problem for Republicans, though, is if you cast your mind back two years, to the beginning of the last Congress, it was very difficult to get
the short-lived speaker, Kevin McCarthy, elected because he had a very thin majority, that took 15 rounds of voting and days and it was a political
crisis and a farcical situation for the Republican Party. He got ousted and then Johnson was really a compromised candidate from the back benches who a
lot of people had never heard of because they couldn't, you know, agree on anybody else.
So, if Mike Johnson can't be the speaker of the Republican Party in the House, there's a real question about who they could find that could unite
the party. And if they can't get a speaker and they can't get their act together early in the next Congress, that's going to be a real problem for
Trump's presidency.
DEAN: Yes, there's so many questions around it. And I sat through those 15 rounds of voting. I'd never seen anything quite like it. And the way you're
laying this all out, we -- who knows what will come in this new year.
[18:45:00]
But again, we're continuing to watch this vote in the House as the U.S. House of Representatives tries to avert a government shutdown that is set
for tomorrow. Stephen Collinson, and thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.
Stay with "First Move." We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: One month before moving out of the White House, President Joe Biden is unveiling ambitious new climate goals for the United States. The new
target under the Paris Climate Agreement is for American greenhouse gas emissions to fall by between 61 and 66 percent by 2035. Long before then,
though, President-Elect Trump wants to, once again, pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir explains the
Biden target reduction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Studies show that it will get the country to about 50 percent of those goals. Now, Biden going to 61 to
66 percent ambitious even if Kamala Harris were to win. That's a tough one to meet, but it really speaks to the urgency of the crisis and also just
setting that standard regardless of American politics, that the world will continue this fight.
Democrat, big cities, governors will continue this fight in the United States regardless of Donald Trump's hostility to the topic at hand. And
some of the momentum is sort of built-in, in terms of electric vehicles, for example. The EPA under Biden tried to agree with California saying
they're going to limit the sales of those, no new gas-powered cars by 2035. Trump will certainly try to challenge that, but it could take a couple of
years in court.
And so, auto manufacturers, for example, have to follow where the customers are going, and that's where the rest of the world is going regardless of
Trump politics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Bill Weir, thank you. Coming up on "First Move," ready to race out of retirement and defying age. Legendary skier, Lindsey Vonn, making a big
comeback. Details on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
DEAN: Welcome back to "First Move." Skiing legend Lindsey Vonn returns at 40 years of age and five years after her retirement. She's now preparing to
compete in this weekend's World Cup in Switzerland. She sat down with our partners at Eurosport for an exclusive global interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LINDSEY VONN, RETURNS TO SKI CIRCUIT FIVE YEARS AFTER RETIRING AND 82 CAREER WORLD CUP WINS: I don't think about it. It's like night and day.
Before surgery I thought about my knee almost every single day, for the majority of the day. It was always hurting and, you know, I would go on a
walk with my friend seven-year-old and, you know, Aunt Linds has to take a break after 10 minutes because my knee hurts. You know, it wasn't easy and
I thought, you know, after my skiing career it would get better, but it really didn't.
And so, I've had multiple surgeries since retiring, even before the replacement. And now, I don't think about it. I don't think about when I
wake up in the morning, I don't think about it when I'm skiing. I don't think about it when I'm in the weight room, like it is like I am brand-new
again. And it's such an amazing feeling.
VIKTORIA REBENSBURG, EUROSPORT EXPERT: When you think about like skiing in general. I mean, there is always a risk, a certain risk, especially when
you do the speed disciplines, maybe a little bit more. Is it like in your head now that -- with you -- with the knee replacement or everything, or is
it you feel like it's the same risk like you had before, like, I'd say first career or first part of your career?
VONN: I mean, anytime you're skiing downhill or honestly, any Alpine events, you always take a risk. It doesn't matter who you are, anything can
happen. And that's the risk that we all take. And that's part of the -- I think the thrill of downhill is that it's dangerous. You have to be willing
to risk everything in order to succeed. And it's always been the case.
You know, I wouldn't be doing downhill if I wasn't willing to take the risk. And things haven't changed now that I've had a knee replacement. My
doctors have cleared me. You know, they're very confident in what I'm doing. I wouldn't be doing it if it was like a reckless, you know, idea.
I'm -- you know, I think a lot of people have a lot of wild ideas about how crazy it is that what I'm doing, but I'm not as -- I'm not a dumb person.
I've talked to the best doctors in the world, and they've cleared me to do this. So, it's not a bigger risk. I'm sure I'm going to have to have
another knee replacement at some point in the future because I'm only 40 years old. But that would happen whether I skied or didn't ski. So, to me
it's the same.
REBENSBURG: When someone knows downhill skiing better than you or like you are the one who knows this sport the best, you know? So --
VONN: I think that's something that bothers me is that people think that I'm taking more risk than anyone else, but I know downhill probably better
than almost anyone out there.
REBENSBURG: Who else? Absolutely.
VONN: So, I mean, you know, there's 18-year-olds out there skiing downhill who probably have never run a World Cup downhill. I'm definitely a lot
safer than those people. And I also feel like I have a lot of knowledge that I want to share, you know, with my teammates. And honestly, I've
always said, anyone that wants help or has a question, I'm always open.
I mean, I'm always open to sharing and I want to share, you know, my knowledge because downhill is a sport where the more knowledge you have,
the better you can be. And I want to help others succeed as well.
[18:55:00]
REBENSBURG: Is there something like, let's say, mistake or something you did in your first part of your career that you will not repeat now in the
next part of your journey?
VONN: I feel like I have a renewed energy, you know. I'm fresh and I'm excited and, you know, sometimes being on the road for so long can be
really hard and I've been at home for the last six years. So, you know, I just -- I feel like I'm young and excited and it's like the first time I've
been on the World Cup.
I think the only thing that I would hope to do better this time around is just to be a little bit more patient. You know, I'm not a patient person. I
love competing. I love pushing myself. And I'm trying to make sure I take it step by step. You know, I'm trying to lower my expectations, which is
really, really hard for me to do. But I think that's the smart thing to do, you know, just ease my way back into it and take it step by step and not
expect myself to win the first race.
REBENSBURG: Yes, absolutely. Thank you very much, Lindsey, for your time. And I wish you all the best for the first races and have fun out there.
VONN: I will. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: And just in, the House of Representatives in the United States appearing to have failed to pass the funding bill backed by President-Elect
Donald Trump. It was unlikely to pass, it needed two-thirds to succeed. So, now, they go back to the drawing board.
That's going to just about wrap up the show. Thanks so much for joining us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
