PCT claiming priority of CIP

Steven, there is more to that outside the US. PCT priority rules are based on the Paris Convention. You can only claim priority on a FIRST patent application. A CIP is necessarily a second or subsequent application, so the priority claim based on the CIP is invalid, UNLESS the PCT is directed exclusively to the new matter that was added in the CIP. Since the PCT was filed more than 12 months after the initial US application, the priority claim cannot be rectified to be based on the initial US application.

In summary, the priority claim being invalid, anything published before the filing of the PCT application, even by the inventors themselves is prior art against the PCT application. If the publication of the initial US application is the first publication of the invention, the PCT application may still survive, but you need to hope that no other prior art was published up to the filing date of the PCT.