This week on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan: coverage of a deadly attack at a Hanukkah celebration near Bondi Beach in Sydney and a campus shooting at Brown University; an exclusive interview with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado; and discussions with Sens. Bill Cassidy and Mark Warner and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett on U.S. policy, health care and the economy.
Breaking news and shootings
– Australia: On the first day of Hanukkah, gunmen struck a Jewish holiday gathering in the Bondi Beach area of Sydney. At least 11 people were killed and 29 injured. Video shows multiple gunmen; police have confirmed two suspects — one dead, one hospitalized — and are investigating possible additional accomplices. Australian leaders called the attack an act of anti-Semitic terrorism.
– Brown University: Providence, Rhode Island — a shooting occurred during a final exam review session in the university’s engineering and physics building. Nine people were shot; most were in stable condition. A 24-year-old person of interest, not affiliated with Brown, was detained; investigators continued to seek motive and evidence, and finals were postponed.
Exclusive: María Corina Machado, Nobel laureate
– Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, spoke from Oslo. She declined to describe the clandestine trip she made to Norway, citing security for those who assisted her, but said she would return to Venezuela and dedicate the prize to the Venezuelan people.
– She strongly supported U.S. pressure on the Maduro regime, including sanctions, seizures and interdiction of illicit revenue streams (black-market oil, drug trafficking, gold smuggling). Machado argued the regime’s resources are used for corruption, repression and criminal partnerships with external groups, not public services, and cutting those inflows is necessary to increase the cost of staying in power.
– On the possibility of U.S. military action: Machado said she welcomed increasing pressure that signals the regime must go and maintained that Venezuela is not a conventional dictatorship but a criminal structure intertwined with drug cartels and foreign actors. She insisted she would not ask for arms, but said strength is necessary to achieve freedom and a negotiated transition once the cost of remaining in power becomes too high.
– Machado described divisions and doubts within Venezuela’s security forces and said many military members are quietly sympathetic to the opposition owing to the suffering of families and economic collapse. She emphasized plans for transition — security, power, food, financial order and investment — and said Venezuela’s diaspora was eager to return once democracy is restored. Machado called for legal multilateral coordination to block illegal regime activities and to press for a negotiated transition.
Senators Mark Warner and Bill Cassidy on foreign policy, military strikes and health care
– Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Machado a hero and praised her Nobel recognition. Warner criticized past insufficient pressure on Maduro but expressed concern over the Trump administration’s mixed signals and need to make explicit the objectives and legal justification for strikes or potential troop deployments. He pressed for clarity before exposing U.S. forces to risk.
– Warner also discussed the September “double-tap” strikes on alleged drug traffickers at sea, calling the available video “chilling” and demanding written execution orders, legal opinions, and after-action reports before Congress labels any strikes as war crimes. He warned that making war-crimes accusations has grave consequences for military morale and international perception.
– Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) advocated a health care affordability plan offering tax-free accounts (up to $1,500) to help with out-of-pocket costs and proposed a short-term extension of premium subsidies to prevent sudden premium spikes at year’s end. Cassidy argued such cash would improve access and help with large deductibles, and said he’s open to negotiating with Democrats to find common ground by March. He also pushed for a timely FDA safety study into the abortion drug mifepristone, urging the FDA to prioritize and produce evidence for the public.
Kevin Hassett on the economy, inflation and possible policy actions
– National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett noted progress on price pressures: prescription drug prices and gas have eased from previous highs. He pointed to lower deficits and reduced trade deficits as structural supports for falling inflation and cited 4% GDP growth and rising household real income this year as reasons voters may soon feel economic improvement.
– Hassett said tariff impacts on food prices are mixed and downplayed the risk that enforcement actions against Venezuela’s black-market oil would meaningfully raise global prices, arguing Venezuelan black-market oil flows were already suppressed and that further interdiction would likely not affect broad market prices.
– On the Federal Reserve and potential Fed Chair consideration, Hassett said the Fed should remain independent but that he, as an economic adviser, regularly discusses policy with the president and believes the president’s views should be heard. Hassett also commented that while CEO surveys show some hiring caution, broad government employment data in coming weeks would clarify the jobs picture.
Additional domestic and international coverage
– The program reviewed U.S. and allied responses to the deaths of U.S. troops in Syria and broader counterterrorism posture in the region.
– Discussions covered the legal and diplomatic specifics of U.S. strikes on suspected drug vessels, the administration’s policy memos and the need for congressional briefings and public transparency.
– The show examined domestic concerns such as high holiday-season prices and rising health insurance costs for some, spotlighting the administration’s economic claims and policy options to help Americans with premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
Closing notes
– Full conversations, including Machado’s exclusive interview and extended segments with the senators and Hassett, were available via CBS News’ digital channels and the show’s podcast. Face the Nation noted additional reporting on related events and encouraged viewers to follow ongoing coverage for updates on the Brown University and Bondi Beach incidents and developments in Venezuela.