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The Situation Room

Parts of Southern California Under High Risk of Flooding; Supreme Court Blocks Trump from Deploying National Guard to Chicago; One-on-One With Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 24, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thank you so much for joining us today. This is a special edition of The Situation Room. I'm Kate Bolduan in for Wolf and Pamela today. Merry Christmas Eve, everyone.

We're following the weather today, for sure, a dangerous storm especially brewing at brewing over California. Overnight, take a look at some of this video, the California coast started to see the effects of this massive storm with heavy winds and rain and everything that it brought with it. As the system moves over Southern California, it's the first time since early February 2024 that area is facing.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking this one for us. Allison, what's the latest here?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. So, we take a look at the radar, and, again, you can kind of see all these boxes here on the map. These indicate flashflood warnings. This is because not only how much rain has already fallen on the ground in some of these spots, but in anticipation of even more. Some of these locations could be looking at rainfall rates of at least an inch an hour, and it's going to be multiple hours of dealing with the rain.

As you can see, just those last couple hours here on the radar, a lot of that heavy rain has really surged back into the state, not just in the southern portion, but also the central and northern portions of the state. But it's in the south where we're really focused on the biggest potential for flooding concerns. You can see we have the pink shaded area here. That is a high risk. That's a level four out of four, as high as it could possibly get in terms of flooding threats. Tomorrow, we also have a high threat, but it's only up around level three.

The point in all of this is just to say that there is the potential for some significant flooding across these areas, because you'll notice we push this forward into Thursday, there's even more rain expected on Christmas Day and even as we head into Friday. So, you're just adding all of this rain. Even though going forward, most of these areas will likely only get an extra one to three inches. It's on top of what they've already had. But some spots could still pick up an extra four to six inches of rain, meaning that a lot of these areas in total could be looking at a foot of rain when all of this is set and done by the end of the week.

And snowpack, especially in the Sierras, you could be looking at an extra one to three feet of snow on top of what they've already had. So, if you have some travel plans, maybe say perhaps from Reno or Tahoe back over towards Sacramento or San Francisco, you are likely going to encounter some pretty significant delays on the highways there.

You've got also the potential for severe storms, yes, damaging winds, some small hail. And we can't roll out the possibility of a very brief tornado for the areas you see here shaded in green. Again, it is rather rare for them to get severe storms, especially this time of year. So, we're going to be also adding that in as a component in addition to the potential for flooding.

Now, we also talked about the snow impacts here, three to eight feet total. This is counting, taking into account all of the different systems that will be moving through, regardless of whether you get the rain or snow, though, there are certainly going to be travel impacts over the next 48 hours.

BOLDUAN: I'm going to have to deal with it. That is for sure. Allison, thank you so much for that. I really appreciate it.

Let's move to Pennsylvania rather right now where two people are now confirmed dead and 20 others are injured, after a really terrifying explosion at a nursing home outside of Philadelphia. Officials say a utility crew responded to reports of the smell of natural gas at the facility. Just look at what happened then. And that is when the first explosion happened.

First responders then raced to evacuate the residents and staff inside. One firefighter was even seen carrying two people out on his shoulders at a time. Within seconds of clearing the building, a second explosion then occurred, which then ignited a flat fire, and you can see at least a partial building collapse then occurred.

It has become a tragic ending to the multi-state months-long search for nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard. She's been missing since October 9th. And the remains of the little girl were just discovered in a rural area of Southern Utah. The sheriff saying that her body was initially found by a couple who were taking photos in that remote part of Wayne County, Utah. The sheriff also saying that it was apparent that she died from gunshot wounds to the head.

The Sheriff's office and the FBI arrested her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, Tuesday morning. She is now charged with first-degree murder. Investigators do not have the murder weapon and do not yet have a motive, describing Ashlee Buzzard as uncooperative, just tragic.

Turning now to a rare and surprising loss for President Trump at the Supreme Court, the justices yesterday blocked the Trump administration from sending the National Guard into Chicago to protect ICE agents. CNN's Kevin Liptak is in Palm Beach, Florida, this morning following the president this holiday season. Kevin, what are you hearing from the White House about this one?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And what they say is that this will not detract from their court agenda of immigration enforcement, but there's no question it's a significant setback for the president's objective of trying to put troops in cities around the country over the objections of local and state officials.

[10:05:05]

So, the courts saying in this unsigned order that the president's attempts here don't meet the exceptional circumstances that would be required.

It's the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on this matter. And even though it's a temporary ruling, it could have significant effects for all of the other jurisdictions where the president is trying to deploy troops. It's also just a rare example of this conservative majority Supreme Court ruling against the White House, putting some of their policy initiatives on hold.

Now, in their statement, the White House stopped short of criticizing the court, which is interesting because they have gone pretty far in criticizing judges who, in the past, have put their policies on hold. What the White House spokeswoman said in a statement is that the president promised the American people he would work tirelessly to enforce our immigration laws and protect federal personnel from violent rioters. She goes on to say he activated the National Guard to protect federal law enforcement officers and to ensure rioters did not destroy federal buildings and property. Nothing in today's ruling detracts from that core agenda.

Now, the governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, also put out a statement saying that it is an important step in curbing the Trump administration's abuse of power. Now, it seems likely that this will ultimately go back to the Supreme Court for a final ruling, but the request means the deployments remain blocked for now.

BOLDUAN: For now. Kevin, it's great to see you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Still to come, she's long been a lightning rod outside her party and within her own party. One-on-one with Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, talking everything, from Donald Trump through the Epstein files and her plans after she leaves Congress in the New Year.

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SGT. NICHOLAS BELANGER, U.S. ARMY: Hey, my name is Sergeant Nicholas Belanger from 2ID HHBN at Camp Humphreys. I wanted to wish my family a happy holidays in North Adams, Massachusetts.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, new this morning, President Trump is defending his focus on foreign policy during his second term, even as he faces criticism from a former supporter. Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of his biggest allies on Capitol Hill. Now, she is an outspoken critic, kept some of his policies and plans to leave Congress in January.

Well, here's what President Trump said about her in a recent interview with Politico.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I've watched stupid people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, or some people call her Taylor Greene. Some people call her Taylor Brown because green sometimes turns to brown, which isn't nice. But I've watched her say that he spends too much time on foreign.

When I go on a trip, I only have one place in mind. It's the United States.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And Congresswoman Greene is joining us now live for her first CNN interview since announcing her plans to resign from the House of Representatives. Congresswoman, thanks very much for coming in. Lots going on. This is Pamela Brown, not Pamela Greene. Just want to make that clear.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: And she has a beautiful name.

BLITZER: She has a beautiful name.

BROWN: Thank you. I'm proud of my last name.

GREENE: That's right.

BLITZER: And your name is Greene, not Brown.

GREENE: That's right.

BLITZER: I want to be precise. In addition to what we just heard there, President Trump posted yesterday that you are, quote, and I'm quoting him now, not America first or MAGA. And your, quote, new views are those of a very dumb person. That's the president of the United States speaking about you. What's your response to these latest attacks?

GREENE: Well, actually, Wolf, I feel very sorry for President Trump. I genuinely do. It has to be a hard place for someone that is constantly so hateful and put so much vitriol, name calling, and really tells lies about people in order to try to get his way or win some kind of fight. And I think that's exactly what's wrong in America today. That's what's wrong in this toxic political environment that has ripped our country apart. And I personally think that that's poor leadership from a president. It's a very bad demeanor. And Americans are very tired of it.

And unfortunately, I also am concerned because I don't think the president's team nor the speaker have told the president about the legislation that I've introduced that actually much of it directly, literally aligns with the agenda that he campaigned on. I campaigned on in 2024.

Many of my bills are actually his executive orders in legislative form. And if the speaker would pass my bills, if the president Trump were to sign them into law, guess what? His executive orders, which make him literally a temporary president, his executive orders, which are my bills, would become law that would become permanent. And so, I think it's very unfortunate.

BLITZER: Because when I hear him talk like that about you and insult you and attack you like that, I worry about your security and your family's security. And you've been getting some increasing threats, right?

GREENE: Yes. And that's what I take so seriously. As a Christian, I'm not angry at the president. It's easy for me to say a prayer for him and forgive him. But the part that that I have had a very hard time with is the fact that he called me a traitor. And because of his words, that brought serious threats against myself and my family with a pipe bomb threat on my home, a pipe bomb threat on my family construction company and staff and had multiple pizza dock scenes. But the serious one was the direct death threats on my son.

And I think that goes beyond anyone's arguments or disagreements or politics. All of our children and our family's safety should matter to anyone, no matter if they're mad at us or disagree with us.

[10:15:06]

I think that should be something we respect.

BROWN: And when you told President Trump about this, can you tell us a little bit more about what his reaction was to these threats?

GREENE: Yes, it was shocking to me. I sent those death threats directly to him in a text message and informed him of what his name calling and words were doing the direct result. And it was a direct assassination threat on my son. And he was extremely I won't repeat what he said, but it was extremely unkind. No sympathy, no care.

BROWN: I'm just wondering -- and I mean, obviously, it would be good to hear what he said, but do you feel like you were duped? I mean, as you reflect on this moment and these attacks against you, you have been such a staunch supporter and ally of President Trump. Do you feel like you were duped by him?

GREENE: I feel maybe -- I don't know if I would use the word duped. I feel very -- I think it's unfortunate for the entire country. And I think the message is, and many people are saying it directly to me, if the president -- because I stood with rape victims, women that were raped at 14 and 16, victims of Jeffrey Epstein and others, they claim that there's a there are other men because I chose to stand with them. That's what caused the president that I fought so hard for to get elected. That's what caused him to call me a traitor.

And I think what many people are saying to me is if he would do this to you, he would do that to any of us. And that, I think, is a terrible message to be sent to the country and many of the people that stood, goodness, hours in line for a MAGA rally that I went to, by the way, and went to many of those rallies and spoke at on behalf of him. I think that's a terrible message to send. I think our country is in a -- has been in a state of crisis for many years now.

And what I personally want to see happen is all the vitriol and toxic politics to be put away and us to actually leaders actually work for the American people.

BROWN: How much do you think President Trump has is responsible for the toxic politics? I know you've addressed your own role to my colleague, Dana Bash. But what about Trump himself?

GREENE: Oh, absolutely. He's a leader in it. And so, were others on the other side. I mean, we can look. There was a weaponized Biden DOJ against the president and his family and state AGs that went after his family. All of that is extremely toxic and dangerous in itself. I fully am totally against any type of weaponized justice system for political purposes.

However, it's the language that is -- that just continues it. And it's extremely unhealthy. It sets a bad example. But that's what has been created on our I call it the political industrial complex. It's the two parties that are pitted against each other. And the president, he's a leader of that on the Republican side.

BLITZER: It's hard to believe a president of the United States is calling a fellow Republican congresswoman a traitor. I mean, it's pretty, pretty awful.

GREENE: Wolf, I'll add to that. I have a 98 percent voting record with President Trump. 98 percent. I don't see how that can be a traitor.

BROWN: Can you tell us anything more about what he said, though, when you told him about the death threats? Because I think that that's telling.

GREENE: I don't want to at this time directly repeat his words. But I can tell you in nature, I literally was shocked, shocked that he was so unkind and accusatory. There were other things that shocked me, though. I sent those same death threats to his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and his deputy chief of staff, James Blair. They didn't even reply to me. And I would have expected at least Susie Wiles, who's a woman, a mother, a grandmother. I would have expected her to have said, this is unacceptable. We'll send it to Kash Patel, you know, something of that nature. We'll make sure your family's safe. I would have expected those responses, not for them to take sides in any way. I understand they work --

BROWN: J.D. Vance did respond to it, right?

GREENE: J.D. Vance, I give a lot of credit to. He was very kind and caring about that. And I did send to Kash Patel and he said on it.

BROWN: Okay.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, your Republican colleague, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, says in a new opinion piece that Speaker Mike Johnson, and I'm quoting her now, is better than his predecessor. The frustrations of being a rank-and-file House member are compounded as certain individuals or groups remain marginalized within the party, getting little say. Women will never be taken seriously until leadership decides to take us seriously. Speaker Johnson recently said he's the, quote, biggest champion of women GOP lawmakers.

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Do you predict that some sort of women's revolt in the Republican House conference could take place?

GREENE: I read her op-ed and I thought it was masterfully written. And she's right. And this is something that I've been speaking out against for quite some time now. It is extremely frustrating as a rank-and-file Republican member. And in our majority, our Republican majority, that many of us women are not taken seriously and our legislation is not taken seriously.

I'll give you an example right now. Mike Johnson promised me that one of our key -- it's in my bill. It's called Protect Children's Innocence Act. It's a key piece of legislation that is one of President Trump's top campaign promises, and that's to protect any child under the age of 18 from gender-affirming care. Our position is, let these kids grow up. They need to grow up before they do any permanent changes to their body.

Mike Johnson -- that bill has passed through the Judiciary Committee. It is ready to go for a House floor vote. Johnson promised me a vote on it after the shutdown, and it has yet come to the floor.

BROWN: Why do you think, then, Johnson says he is the biggest champion of women? And do you think that there could be more defections, particularly a revolt, as Wolf said, among women in the GOP?

GREENE: Well, you're seeing it. I don't know how he can speak out of one side of his mouth, but his actions fully show the hypocrisy. Anna Paulina Luna, she has a discharge petition now on a bill that she fully believes in to change the way members of Congress are allowed to own stocks. And she has that in a discharge petition, can't get the support from the speaker to bring it to the floor for a vote. But you've seen Elise Stefanik. She went to war with the speaker just last week over an amendment she had that was extremely important. So, you're seeing Republican women lash out directly at the speaker because he sidelines us and doesn't take us seriously.

BLITZER: What's next for you? What are you planning on doing now that you're leaving Congress?

GREENE: A lot of happiness.

BROWN: Because you were a big fundraiser in the GOP. I mean --

GREENE: Yes. As a matter of fact, I paid my dues to the NRCC. Every single Congress raised hundreds of thousands of dollars more and paid in, supported many Republican candidates and raised money for them, but didn't get treated very well, unfortunately, not only by our Republican majority, but also, unfortunately, by the president, which I supported. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends a lot more.

BLITZER: You're going to have some happiness indeed.

GREENE: Yes.

BROWN: Well, you came and sat here and you said, I'm a lot happier now, but I just have to quickly ask, what do you say to the critics after you announce your resignation who say you should stay in the fight or you're only doing this to receive your pension? You're announcing the date. I just want to get your response to that.

GREENE: Yes. You know, I think that's unfair criticism and I would ask anyone. I've had over 60,000 people say that to me. 773 death threats that we -- my office reported to Capitol Police and a direct death threat on my son. I would ask anyone to consider, should I have to become like Charlie Kirk? Is that what I have to do. And I --

BROWN: Because this have a big impact on you.

GREENE: Yes, and I think that's too much to ask. And then as far as the pension is concerned, we're required. Did you know? We are not allowed to exclude ourselves from it. It's taken out of our paycheck and we are forced into it. It's -- Congress would have to change that with a vote. So, that's a pension I'll get. I think it'll be like $700 and something and it -- at the rate of health insurance going up I think by the age of 62 I might need that $700.

No. I say that in jest. But the criticism -- like I get criticized for coming on CNN and you just had a Republican before me on CNN, and it's unfair criticism because Fox News doesn't ever invite me on. They invited me one time recently after I resigned. We've responded back to the producer and they still haven't said when I can come on. So, I thank you I enjoy coming on and I appreciate the questions.

BLITZER: And we hope everything turns out great. How old is your son?

GREENE: He is 22.

BLITZER: 22.

GREENE: Yes. BLITZER: So, he's a big boy already.

GREENE: Oh, he's a big boy and nobody wants to mess with him.

BLITZER: No. Okay. Good.

BROWN: And no one should get death threats.

BLITZER: No.

GREENE: That's right.

BLITZER: Terrible. It's awful. Congresswoman, thanks so much for coming in.

GREENE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And good luck.

GREENE: Thank you.

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CAPT. SCOTT THOMSEN, U.S. ARMY: Good morning, Baltimore. Hello, I'm Captain Scott Thomsen of 26 Alpha, network engineering officer assigned to 21st Theater Sustainment Command in Kaiser Sloth in Germany. I would like to wish my friends and family in Baltimore, Maryland, a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy New Year.

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BLITZER: Whether it's something new or an old favorite, the holidays are an ideal time for watching movies.

BROWN: Emmy Award-winning journalist, Segun Oduolowu joins us now to talk about this. So, we know about the classics, right, Segun, It's a Wonderful Life, one of my personal favorites, A Christmas Story, Elf, there are so many. But tell us about some of the new movies we're getting this season.

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, EMMY AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST: So, Pam, let's start with Oh. What. Fun. It's got the beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer. She looks amazing and you wish they gave her more material. This is a -- like a schlocked together, pieced together, little bit of Home Alone meets A Bad Mom's Christmas, which, in 2017, that movie is fantastic with Mila Kunis. I advise people to actually go see A Bad Mom's Christmas or watch that instead of, Oh. What. Fun., because it's, oh, What Could Have Been and Ain't It Fun, to be honest.

So, let's move past that. That's on Amazon. We can move past that and get to Jingle Heist. And that is on Netflix. That's fun. It's actually good. It takes place in London, so you get a little bit of that, you know, rise cynicism that comes from British humor. It's a setup that you can see a mile away.

There's a security guard down on his luck. There's a store clerk down on her luck who has a pension for stealing, all -- a lot of hilarity ensues.

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But it is worth a watch, it's easy fun, and the critics --