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Trump Says, Disappointed With Zelenskyy in Latest Round of Talks; Inmates Break Through Wall, Escape Louisiana Jail; Fight Over Trump's Power to Fire FTC Member Heads to Supreme Court. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 08, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Ukraine's president meets with European leaders. So, what does he have to say now about President Trump claiming that Zelenskyy hasn't even read the latest peace plan? And the president's son also saying that his dad is now potentially walking away from the peace talks all together.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, breaking this morning, a man hunt for the last of three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana jail. The escapees using sheets as a rope to scale down the wall.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And did the robot pick a fight with the wrong CEO? Why it kicked the boss to the ground?

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: So, new this morning, President Trump is expressing his frustration now with Ukraine after marathon talks ended over the weekend without a peace deal, though not surprisingly, right? I mean, the hot and cold relationship may be going cold once again, if you're keeping track with the president saying that Ukraine's President Zelenskyy has not read the latest version of the U.S.-backed plan to end Russia's war. Here's what he told reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn't yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago. His people love it. But he has it. Russia's fine with it. Russia's -- you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I'm not sure that Zelenskyy is fine with it. His people love it, but he hasn't read it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: President Zelenskyy is in London today for a meeting with European leaders. That show of solidarity is coming amid real and renewed concern in Europe about the Trump White House's new security strategy that drops language from past administrations describing Russia as a threat.

Adding to those concerns, comments from, the president's own son, Donald Trump Jr., at a conference in the Middle East, suggesting that his dad might walk away from Ukraine all together.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House this morning with much more on this. I mean, what are you hearing about, well, what the president said and what today means then? It seems like a critical day when it comes to Ukraine, Russia, and the path forward.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Oh, absolutely. That meeting with Zelenskyy in London, I should note, he's expected to meet with the French president, with the leader of Germany and also some other European leaders as well, including the British prime minister. Look, I mean, that's going to be a show of solidarity of sorts with Zelenskyy after these harsh comments from the president.

And you said it best, Kate. I think hot and cold is definitely a fair way to put the president's posture towards approaching this war overall, and particularly his posture toward both Ukraine and Russia.

Now, those comments that the president made, essentially accusing Zelenskyy of not fully reading the U.S. proposal on this, you know, potential peace plan, it comes, as we know, that talks, a marathon session of talks on Thursday in Miami between U.S. officials that included the president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, as well as his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then Ukrainian officials, those talks sort of stalled and broke down a bit.

Some of the key sticking points, just to go through where we are in this entire discussion, relates to security guarantees, territorial issues, and the continued concern that perhaps the U.S. proposal is still too -- you know, is offering too many concessions, I should say, for Moscow.

One of the things, one of the big sticking points of this is the Ukrainian surrender of key territories in the Donbas region. It's those security guarantees, of course, that I told you about. That's going to be a high priority in these talks today that Zelenskyy is having with European leaders. This also this idea of Ukrainian permanent no membership for NATO, essentially this idea that they could permanently agree to never joining NATO, that's been a sticking point. And then also this idea, this proposal for Ukraine to limit the size of its military. That's what we are hearing, Kate, that are still kind of keeping these negotiations at a place where people are very much unsure how to move forward here.

And adding to all of this is what you mentioned, the president's own son, Donald Trump Jr., saying at a conference in the Middle East that potentially the president could walk away.

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Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is your hunch that President Trump is going to walk away?

DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: I think he may. What's good about my father and what's unique about my father is you don't know what he's going to do.

You don't know, and so that forces everyone to actually deal in an intellectually honest capacity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, as you heard there, you know, him kind of putting the pressure as well on Ukraine and saying the president could always walk away of this because he's so unpredictable.

And all of this comes as well one of the things that is also going to be discussed likely in that meeting today between Zelenskyy and European leaders is that new national security strategy that was released last week that really has put European allies kind of in this state of concern and uncertainty about what that means about their relationship with the United States.

Russia, for their part, I should say, has welcomed that new proposal with their Kremlin spokesperson essentially saying that it kind of lines up more closely where Russia views the state of the world right now. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. More aligns with their own vision, I think, is how a spokesperson put it.

It's great to see you, Alayna. Thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

It's a jailbreak straight out of a Hollywood script. Three inmates in Louisiana removed a concrete block from a wall then climbed down to the ground using rope made out of sheets. Right now, authorities searching for the final inmate still on the run this morning.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is following the story. This is the second serious jailbreak in Louisiana this year. I thought it was last year and you reminded me.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

SIDNER: No. That happened this year. What are you learning?

GINGRAS: Yes, that's what I was going to say. This is a movie we've kind of seen before when you talk about Hollywood script. But, yes, so what basically that is a source of contention right now between the St. Landry Parish and the sheriff who's in charge of housing all of these inmates at various jails in the State of Louisiana. They're saying, you know, we don't have enough -- or the parish is saying there's not enough staff, and the sheriff is saying, no, our conditions are just deteriorating. They put out pictures of this jailbreak to show that their conditions are deteriorating.

So, what happened here was, earlier this week, three men, there's two of them, they escaped through the jail by actually, you know, picking at the mortar and the concrete of the cinder blocks and basically opening, removing some of the cinder blocks, going through the opening, using sheets to climb down and basically land on a roof and then jump from there.

Now, we know that two of the men, one of them, was actually captured, is back in the jail. They were cornered inside a shed by authorities. The second person actually took his own life after also being cornered. But the third person is 24-year-old Keith Eli. He is still on the run and charges that he's facing currently are second-degree murder. So, of course, if you see this person, obviously don't approach this person, call authorities immediately.

But, yes, like you just said, there was the incident that happened in New Orleans when we had ten people escape using hair, beard trimmers. And then there's this incident when it's just really just mortar that was taken out.

So, this is definitely an issue that's being addressed, according to them. The sheriff says they're doing an internal investigation to figure out how this one happened. But this, as to your point, I mean, let's have some discussions here.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean there's a real serious issue here in that what the conditions of the jail are. And if they are really terrible inside, that needs to be addressed as well.

GINGRAS: Exactly.

SIDNER: All right. Brynn, I know you'll be following it all, as usual. We do appreciate you coming on this morning. John?

BERMAN: All right. Standing by for a landmark case at the Supreme Court that could fundamentally reshape the federal government.

New audio from inside the cockpit as an off-duty pilot tries to shut down the engines of a passenger plane mid-life.

And on alert for dangerous flooding, nearly a foot of rain, a huge swath of the country in the path of an atmospheric river.

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BERMAN: All right. We are standing by for a major test of presidential power at the Supreme Court. Can the president fire government officials despite laws meant to shield them from politics? This case this time involves a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Slaughter. President Trump fired her in March saying she did not align with his agenda. But, really, it's about something much bigger than this, and how the court rules will have major implications for all, really, government agencies here. Now, CNN's Chief Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic. We're talking about one of the biggies here, Joan.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Absolutely, John. And today at 10:00 A.M., the justices will hear what is really one of the most important cases. It's not one that, you know, sounds as exciting as, you know, birthright citizenship or some of President Trump's other initiatives, but this one really is going to go deep into the federal bureaucracy and the regulatory agencies that protect us.

The reason that a president is not supposed to be able to fire people across the board when he comes in is because certain agencies are supposed to be independent. They handle matters of, you know, labor relations, federal trade, the economy, the Federal Reserve is one of those independent agencies where the president is essentially kind of roped off so he does not pressure these people and they're not supposed to be removed from office before their term is over, unless they've engaged in some sort of misconduct.

And as you said, Rebecca Slaughter at the Federal Trade Commission received an email in mid-March that said, you are inconsistent with our priorities in this administration.

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She won her case, John, in lower courts because the justices -- the lower court judges were relying on a 1935 case from 90 years ago in which the Supreme Court ruled that FDR could not fire at that time a federal trade commissioner because of just the power of Congress to write independence into these laws.

And what has happened through the years is that this conservative Supreme Court has slowly kind of eroded the power of that case, which is known as Humphreys Executor versus the United States because there was a man by the name of William Humphreys who President Roosevelt was trying to get rid of. So, kind of an awkward name of a case, but that's what you'll hear a lot about today.

And the justices have slowly eroded that over the years but they've never reversed it. And Justice Kagan wrote when Rebecca Slaughter's case first came up to the Supreme Court, the majority may be raring to go to reverse that case, but you cannot reverse it until the deed is actually done because, John, in the first chapter of Ms. Slaughter's case, the justices said, President Trump was allowed to let her go.

So, that was just a temporary statement, but now we'll hear if they're really serious about ending the protections for these independent agencies that, as I say, control so much of our consumer products regulation, financial services regulation, things that really matter to Americans, but that the Supreme Court believes, you know, should be really held by the president of the United States' terms of his power.

Finally, John, we know what this court has already given President Trump last year in that immunity ruling really gave it kind of enhanced his power to be shielded from the checks and balances from the other branches. And then earlier this year, it limited what lower court judges can do to kind of rein in the president.

And so this one, John, it looks like the justices, to use Elena Kagan's words, the majority is raring to go, but if it does, suddenly President Trump will have even more power than he has today to control what used to be called independent agencies. John?

BERMAN: Yes. And Chief Justice John Roberts has had his eye on this from the time before he was ever anywhere near the Supreme Court.

Joan Biskupic, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, a new warning from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, a protective shield around Chernobyl no longer functioning as designed after being punctured during a drone strike.

And the stage is set for the college football playoffs, why Notre Dame is fighting mad about it.

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BOLDUAN: So, the 12 team college football playoff field is set. Well, maybe no surprise when it comes to the top tier, the top four, Notre Dame is definitely not happy about any of this.

Coy Wire is looking into this. Coy, why is Notre Dame so upset?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, they're 10-2, right, the last year's runner up. They're left out despite winning ten straight and having one of the Heisman favorites running back, Jeremiyah Love. So, the Fighting Irish declined to participate in a bowl game, Kate, another devastating blow for the bowl system with so many future NFLs already opting out in recent years.

Here's a look at the bracket. Top four seeds are Indiana, Ohio State, defending champs Georgia and Texas Tech. They all get first round bye straight into the quarterfinals, which are on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

All the drama came, Kate, at those last four spots. Alabama getting the nine seed despite getting blown out in the SEC championship game by Georgia. Miami edges out Notre Dame for that final at-large spot. And Tulane and James Madison are in having won their conferences.

This is incredible stuff. Notre Dame, the entire team just deciding, we're going to take this one out and hope to win in 2026.

All right, for the first time in a dynastic decade, the Chiefs cannot win in the AFC West. Houston's C.J. Stroud threw for 203 yards and a score. 121 of his yards going to Nico Collins. While that Texans defense, they were like elf on a shelf, Kate, never know where they might pop up. Rashee Rice meet Jalen Pitre. They also might steal your cookies. They intercepted Patrick Mahomes three times, including during a late comeback attempt. That is not Mahomes' fault. Travis Kelce had butter fingers right there.

Houston wins 20-10. They're now 8-5 after beating some of the best offenses in the last three weeks, the Bills, the Colts, now the Chiefs.

The biggest game of the weekend so far, Bears and Packers with the NFC North on the line. Chicago's Caleb Williams is a magician. He pulls off this incredible pass to Cole Kmet after that escape job there. They were down 14-3. And then he does this, more sorcery, somehow zipping it to Olamide Zaccheaus for this score.

The Bears eventually tied it up, but in crunch time, here comes Josh Jacobs in Green Bay. He ran through four dudes right there, Kate. He would then punch the next one in for the score. That put the Packers up 28-21. Williams, with 20 seconds left, goes to try to tie it, but it's intercepted by (INAUDIBLE). Bears already tied record with five fourth quarter comeback attempts, not this time. 28-21 is the final. Packers star quarterback Jordan Love knows this isn't the last time they'll see those Bears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN LOVE, GREEN BAY PACKERS QUARTERBACK: We got some really good teams in this division.

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And obviously the Bears were on top. So, we knew what it was coming into it and it's a huge win. And, obviously, you know, we'll be seeing these guys again in here in a couple weeks.

CALEB WILLIAMS, CHICAGO BEARS QUARTERBACK: You love being in these games. You love being in these competitive games. You love being in these high-stake games. You love being in, you know, away games and things like that. And, you know, that's what it's going to take.

Just being able to cherish these moments and learn from them, whether it's a win or a loss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now, the Bears, they held the one spot, the top seed in the attire NFC heading into that game, Kate. Now, they fall to the final wild card spot. There was a saying used to happen in the NFL. The games they remember are played in December and it's all starting to shape up. Big stuff happening in the league.

BOLDUAN: That was a -- I watched that last night. That was a crazy pass to that -- from the Bears quarterback to that bears player whose name's none of them I know. But I watched it and it was crazy. It was a beautiful pass. What a fun game to watch.

WIRE: Yes. He's making it very exciting for Bears fans this year. Incredible story, they might be the best story in the entire league this year what they've been able to pull off so far.

BOLDUAN: I think John Berman just had an aneurysm back there. Don't worry about that.

SIDNER: I got a Bear story.

BOLDUAN: We'll call him -- we'll call the medical teams. We'll call the medical teams. Thank you, Coy.

SIDNER: Stick around for the Bears story that I have. I can still do the Super Bowl shuffle. I have not been a fan since they lost the Super Bowl after that because they broke my heart and I never got over it. I swear I was a Bears fan until --

WIRE: That's for Rams now. The Rams are now the top seed in the NFC. So, there you go.

SIDNER: Hello.

BOLDUAN: Clearly not a true Bears fan to all of my family living in Chicago, clearly not.

SIDNER: They nearly broke -- They broke my heart as a kid. I'm over it. I'm done. I'm finished.

BOLDUAN: Just move on past it. Just move on past there.

SIDNER: I'll move on.

All right, ahead, coming up in just a bit, the medical examiner takes a stand in an alleged murder case where no body has been found. The Brian Walshe murder trial and update coming up.

And President Trump taking center stage of the Kennedy Center Honors and he again joked about renaming it after himself.

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