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Russia's Putin Welcomes Visiting Indian Prime Minister; New Zealand Celebrates First IKEA Store. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired December 05, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

Divided opinions as U.S. lawmakers emerge from a briefing on a controversial double-tap strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

A red carpet welcome for Vladimir Putin in New Delhi. The Russian president is meeting India's leader just as he threatens to up the ante in the war with Ukraine.

And French President Emmanuel Macron is in China trying to organize some economic cooperation with so far no word if he's bringing any pandas back to Paris.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Well we begin in Washington where there is growing bipartisan scrutiny over the deadly U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats.

Now, the military says it's carried out yet another deadly attack on a suspected drug boat, this time in the eastern Pacific, killing four people on board. U.S. Southern Command says the strike happened in international waters. It says the boat was carrying illicit narcotics and was operated by a designated terrorist organization, at least 87 people have now been killed in U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats as part of the Trump administration's efforts to fight drug trafficking.

Now, that strike came as Pentagon officials briefed U.S. lawmakers about a different strike, a deadly double tap attack in September on an alleged drug boat. The U.S. Navy Admiral who oversaw that operation says two men who initially survived that strike didn't appear to have a radio or call for backup as they clung to floating remnants of the ship.

Now, that's contrary to previous statements from officials who argued the survivors were legitimate targets because they appeared to be radioing for backup. Top House and Senate lawmakers came out of the closed-door briefing divided along party lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service. You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel who were killed by the United States.

REP. TOM COTTON (R-AK): The first strike, the second strike, and the third and the fourth strike on September 2nd were entirely lawful and needful and they were exactly what we would expect our military commanders to do. I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for the United States back over so they could stay in the fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, a Pentagon watchdog says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered U.S. troops when he used the Signal app on his personal cell phone to discuss attack plans in March.

The unclassified report released on Thursday also details how Hegseth declined to fully operate, cooperate with the investigation. It confirms that Hegseth didn't sit for an in-person interview with the Inspector General and instead sent written responses that says Hegseth didn't turn over his personal cell phone to investigators.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in India right now for a high- stakes meeting with Narendra Modi. The Indian Prime Minister rolled out the red carpet for Putin, welcoming him with a special ceremony at the Presidential Palace. The visit comes as Modi tries to balance his trade relationship with the U.S. and his ties with Russia.

CNN's Will Ripley reports from New Delhi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like two old friends, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting and chatting in an armored SUV in India, just like they did a few months ago in China in Putin's armored limousine for nearly an hour.

Modi was on the tarmac welcoming Putin to India. Before he even landed here in New Delhi, Putin's close relationship with Modi was already on display for the world to see.

Their intended audience? Above all, perhaps, President Donald Trump, who's watching both men closely as he plots his next moves.

The last time the two leaders met in China, Putin and Modi walked hand-in-hand, smiling, laughing, a display of personal warmth rarely seen between world leaders.

We also saw them greeting China's President Xi Jinping together, joking, clasping hands, moving in sync like old buddies.

Putin's visit to India comes at a critical time. The U.S. and Russia are talking through a possible peace plan. U.S.-India relations at a low point.

One major issue? India's reliance on Russian oil.

[03:05:09]

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): You know, neither me nor Prime Minister Modi, despite certain external pressure we face, have ever, and I want to emphasize this, I want you to hear it, approached our collaboration to work against someone. President Trump has his own agenda, his own goals, whereas we focus on ours, not against anyone, but rather aimed at safeguarding our respective interests, India's and Russia's interests. In our dealings, we cause no harm to others, and I believe that leaders from other countries should appreciate this.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Trump's criticism set the stage for a huge tariff hike, arguing India was leaning too heavily on Moscow. India now buys about 35 percent of its oil from Russia, up from just 2.5 percent before the Ukraine invasion, a major factor for an economy serving more than 1.4 billion people.

Washington has pushed Delhi to scale that back. But Modi's warm, very public gestures toward Putin show this relationship is about more than oil. It's about trust, comfort, and decades of political chemistry.

RIPLEY: What happens here in New Delhi could shift the balance of power from Ukraine to Asia and potentially chip away at American and European leverage on Russia.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Because when India's Prime Minister is seen walking hand in hand with Putin, the optics are strategic.

Defense ties run deep, and India is now signaling interest in more Russian fighter jets.

UNKNOWN: SU-57's, best plane in the world.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Russian jets anchor India's air force. Delhi wants upgrades, and it is resisting U.S. pressure to cut military links with Moscow.

India is the world's largest democracy, and Russia wants to pull it further from Washington. And these images of warmth, the hand-holding, the laughter, send the clearest signal of all. India is keeping its options open, no matter what happens with the U.S.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: It really has been extraordinary, not surprising, but quite remarkable to see the red carpet welcome and the warm embrace given to Vladimir Putin by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, even just within the last few hours. We saw them with the honor guard. Prime Minister Modi gifted Mr. Putin with a book of Hindu scripture.

And in the coming hours, they're expected to sign deals on areas that include energy, that include trade, and also potentially the sharing of sensitive military technology, which is something that only the closest of friends do.

So even though the West and the United States has tried to isolate Vladimir Putin with sanctions and make him a global pariah, he's getting economic support. And perhaps even more valuably, he's getting the optics of respect, friendship, and a true welcome from his ally here in India, Narendra Modi. The signaling to the White House and President Trump could not be more clear.

Even though, Kim, next week, Modi's expected to host a trade delegation from the United States to talk about ways to get the 50 percent tariff slapped on India down. We'll see how that goes. And if they talk about Putin behind closed doors, almost certainly.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. They will. Will Ripley, thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

All right. For more on this, I want to bring in Subir Sinha, director of the SOAS South Asia Institute and he joins me now from London. Thanks so much for being here with us.

I want to start with what our correspondent ended there with, the optics of this visit, that warm red carpet treatment at a time when Washington is really leaning on India over Russian oil. So what message is New Delhi trying to send here?

SUBIR SINHA, DIRECTOR, SOAS SOUTH ASIA INSTITUTE: Well, I mean, firstly, thanks for having me. And the optics are both external and internal. The optics of the U.S., obviously, is that, listen, you know, here we were.

We were good friends. Personal relations between the leaders were good. Then came the tariffs.

Obviously, everyone is trading with Russia. But you singled us out. And specifically with relation to Mr. Trump's repeated attempts to speak down to India and to Mr. Modi, and one could even say to humiliate him publicly, this is effectively a kind of a very strong riposte to that.

And as far as the West as a whole is concerned, you know, you've got the strong letter from leaders of three European countries basically condemning India for cozying up to Putin. But that disregards the fact that, you know, there's been a very long relation that predates Putin and Modi between India and Russia and previously the Soviet Union.

[03:10:02]

And of course, the Indian side would like to posture around the question of sovereign autonomy. Don't forget that in India, as in many other countries, defying the U.S. in international politics is very much the hallmark of a strong leader.

And all of these optics regarding traveling in the car together, holding hands, just a few weeks ago, the idea that Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin had given a lift to Modi at the SCO meeting, that was itself, you know, blown out of proportion in the Indian media.

So this is a good thing for Mr. Modi and not as good a thing for Mr. Trump and obviously it is a good thing for Putin because of the fact that here is someone that the West has some degree of transaction with who basically saves Putin's pariah status by signing all of these deals and bonhomie could not be clearer.

BRUNHUBER: I love the metaphor from one of our analysts who called it sort of India's diplomatic split screen with the U.S. on one side, Russia on the other, especially on Ukraine. I mean, how sustainable is this? Will India be squeezed into making a choice here?

SINHA: India has been playing both sides on Ukraine for as long as the conflict has been around. So, you know, there is that, you know, they have been able to sneak through the sort of very narrow crack that exists over there. Let's not forget that, you know, India's, the fact that India got a lot of Russian crude oil, it also was able to sell it on the international market.

So even in terms of the fact that there was a kind of verbal sanctioning, India was allowed to get away with that. And, you know, that sort of basically points to the oil dependence of the global economy.

And it is just, I don't think that it is a sustainable claim to make that some countries, you know, didn't buy and other countries did, Indian oil. And of course, even if you take a look at Putin's own statement yesterday in New Delhi, saying that the U.S. buys all kinds of things from Russia despite the sanctions, as does Europe.

So I think the entire sort of question regarding sanctions for those who are on one side of the Ukraine conflict and the other, it is not a really credible claim to make that if you defy these, you know, sanctions or that the West itself is entirely closed off, you know, to Russian products, these are easily verifiable not to be true. So I think the Indian side has some justification in saying that it is somewhat hypocritical for the West to give lectures regarding what India should or should not do when it can be seen to be in breach of many of these restrictions itself.

Whether or not this basically allows Modi to play a role in solving the problem, as I think he had hoped he would be given credit for, I think that sort of ship has sailed. Interesting.

BRUNHUBER: Before we go, I just want to ask you on the issue of the oil, I mean, Russia, you know, pretty desperate for buyers right now. So how much do you think India can squeeze Moscow for better deals, knowing that Putin really needs them right now?

SINHA: Yes. And I think, you know, I mean, if you just take a look at the shift towards Russian oil in the last half a decade in terms of India's own oil supply, that is massive.

India's price of the pump is still higher than many other countries. This would go down really well for a populist Prime Minister if he was able to reduce oil prices at the pump, we've got state elections coming and so on. So I think the Indian side has some advantages.

On the disadvantage side, the Indians have a $64 billion trade deficit with the U.S. And there are many things that they would like to sell to the U.S. with the Russians. And there are many things that they would like to sell there, including electronics, vehicles, agricultural products, health and pharmaceutical products and things like that.

So there is an opening here. But it is not without cost.

BRUNHUBER: We'll see what comes of all that, I really appreciate your analysis. Subir Sinha, thank you so much.

SINHA: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Vladimir Putin's forces aren't easing up in their assaults on Ukraine. New attacks are targeting the country's infrastructure, leaving many people in the dark. That's next on "CNN Newsroom," stay with us.

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[03:15:00]

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BRUNHUBER: As discussions about ending the war in Ukraine happen around the globe, Russia isn't easing its attacks against Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities say Russian airstrikes killed two people in the Donetsk region on Wednesday. And energy officials say a Russian drone attack struck a power plant in the southern Odessa region, triggering fires and knocking out power to more than 50,000 homes. Crews are working to get the electricity back on but living in the dark has become a familiar challenge for many in Ukraine.

Anastasiia Lapatina is a Ukrainian journalist who is working as a Ukraine fellow for the non-profit media organization Lawfare and she writes about life, politics and culture in her Substack, "Yours Ukrainian."

[03:20:02]

Anastasiia joins me now from Kyiv. Thank you so much for being here with us.

You wrote recently about how the sound of generators has become basically the soundtrack of life in Kyiv now. I mean, we have a graphic here we just want to put up on the screen of the power schedule that you shared in your piece. So for viewers who've never experienced anything like this, I mean, can you explain how Ukrainians figure out when to squeeze normal life into these narrow windows when the electricity is actually on?

ANASTASIIA LAPATINA, UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST: First of all, thank you so much for having me.

And yes, you're right that Ukrainians have learned to figure out how to live with this extremely precarious situation that we have. And the reason is that it's not the first time that this is happening to us. Ever since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it has tried every single cold season, every fall and every winter to destroy Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

So Ukrainians have learned to live with it because we don't really have another choice. So right now there are rolling power outages all across Ukraine in all Ukrainian regions. And the length of power outages varies and I think it very much depends on the scale and continuity of Russian attacks.

So, for example, today, I personally will have no power for five hours, which is pretty short, and that's a pretty comfortable power outage. Sometimes the outages are as long as 16 or even 18 hours a day. So for the vast majority of the day, that happens right around the time that Russian attacks happen.

And there haven't been any large scale Russian attacks in a little while, in at least a week. So it's pretty comfortable right now, relatively comfortable.

But to figure out how to live with it, you stock up on portable batteries, on generators. I personally have a Starlink because I need internet for my work all the time, and that's dependent on electricity as well.

So it's a lot of juggling your schedule around and figuring out when you can wash your clothes, when you can wash your hair, because all of that is very much dependent on electricity. It's tough, but we make it work.

BRUNHUBER: It's stuff that most of us here, at least in North America, take for granted. The attacks on the power infrastructure are one thing, but Russia is also targeting civilians, residential neighborhoods.

Your old neighborhood got hit by missiles back in August, I understand, and now your new neighborhood's been struck by drones. I mean, how do you and other Kyiv residents cope psychologically when you presumably feel nowhere in the city feels truly safe anymore?

LAPATINA: You're right. Nowhere in Kyiv feels safe anymore. That didn't used to be the case.

I used to feel relatively safe in different areas, and the area where I live now really hasn't been attacked, I'd say ever, or it has been attacked, but their defense has always been sufficient to protect it. But that changed recently.

Several weeks ago, there were hits to civilian infrastructure not too far away from me, maybe a 10-minute walk. Again, I think it's the same as with electricity. These things have been happening for so long that you kind of have no choice but to adapt like your body just learns how to live with it, and there are nights where we don't even go to the shelter anymore. I personally barely go to the shelter anymore, and I have a daughter who's a toddler.

So you can imagine the calculations that I'm making. I'm listening to the sound of drones, and I'm trying to figure out, okay, how close is that to me? I'm listening to the air defense, and I'm trying to figure out, okay, is that the sound of a Patriot? Is that ballistics? Or is that cruise missiles?

And then I make a calculation of what I think is more dangerous, ballistics, of course, being more dangerous, because they're harder to shoot down. So there are a lot of these, I think, kind of shocking calculations that Ukrainians make pretty regularly. But again, we don't really have a choice.

BRUNHUBER: It's just listening to you. I mean, it's incredible how these things can just become normalized, things that really should not be normal. It's worth pointing out, civilian casualties in Kyiv this year are reportedly nearly four times higher than all of last year.

So that just underscores sort of what you're saying there. But you mentioned in your piece that the little things, like nail salons and coffee shops and late-night grocery stores are what make life in Kyiv livable, despite all of what you're talking about there. But what keeps you and other young Ukrainians from leaving?

LAPATINA: I think it's the realization that, after all, this is our home. This is our homeland, and there is nowhere else in the world that we could be as comfortable as we are here.

[03:24:57]

And if you've never been to Kyiv, it's very hard to understand what life here really looks like, because if you only read the news, it may seem to you like there are attacks every single night, that it's extremely dangerous, that it's some sort of a typical war zone that you can imagine.

But there's really nothing like that most of the time and so it's this very weird mix of, you know, there's this joke that Ukrainians say that Kyiv is Monaco by day and Afghanistan by night, where it's like, in the day, it's one of the most beautiful European capitals.

Things are open, things are functioning, despite the air raids, despite the electricity cuts. Every business has got its own big generator now and spending money on that to keep things open.

And then at night, you know, air raids come in, Russian drones come in. There was an air raid and drones targeting Kyiv just last night, so, you know, a few hours ago. And people just figure out how to combine those two realities in one and life really is both terrifying and deadly, but it's also comfortable if you make it so. BRUNHUBER: It's a fascinating window into life in Kyiv, I really

appreciate you sharing that with us. Anastasiia Lapatina in Kyiv, thank you so much.

LAPATINA: Thank you so much for having me.

BRUNHUBER: The French president is wrapping up an eventful trip to China still ahead. What Emmanuel Macron discussed with Xi Jinping during his three day trip, including what they said about Ukraine. Stay with us.

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[03:30:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check today's top stories.

The U.S. military has carried out another deadly strike on an alleged drug boat killing four people. U.S. Southern Command says the boat was operated by a designated terrorist organization. At least 87 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of the Trump administration's efforts to fight trafficking.

Vladimir Putin is getting a warm welcome in New Delhi. The Russian leader sat down for a critical meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who's looking to boost trade while being squeezed by Western sanctions. He attended a special ceremony and laid a wreath at the Gandhi Memorial.

Israel says it struck two buildings in southern towns in Lebanon. The IDF claims they were being used by Hezbollah militants. The strikes come one day after Israel in Lebanon sent civilian envoys to a committee overseeing a fragile ceasefire.

French President Emmanuel Macron is wrapping up his trip to China with a visit to Chengdu. We just want to show you some live pictures here of Macron speaking to students. Now the city is famously home to China's iconic giant pandas.

It's been an eventful trip for Macron, who looked to secure economic cooperation with China. He also discussed Ukraine with China's President Xi Jinping.

CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang has more on the reaction to Macron's trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Kim. From Macron's and many Western leaders' perspective, China really has been providing Russia with this economic lifeline. In the face of Western sanctions and the two countries between Moscow and Beijing, their relationship has grown ever closer, not only economically but also politically, militarily, with a lot of allegations of China even basically propping up the Russian defense industrial complex, something Beijing has denied.

But obviously Macron wants Xi to use that leverage to lean on his buddy Putin to at least stop these continuous attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, especially civilian energy facilities, as winter approached. That's something Macron actually said in public on Thursday, saying at the very least, in his words, he hoped to see Xi join these efforts.

Now, the two sides just a short while ago actually issued a joint statement and mentioned Ukraine specifically. But I think the language is perhaps a lot more vague than Macron would have hoped in this statement. Both sides said they would support all efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire and also restoring peace based on international law.

So China is still very much not trying to assign blame and claim neutrality. And also remember Xi Jinping has said repeatedly China's bottom line is a quote unquote "fair, lasting and binding agreement" and not sacrifice one party's security to guarantee another party's. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. And then take us through the economy as well, obviously a huge issue. So take us through what's coming from those discussions.

JIANG: That's right. That's the other big ticket item, if you will, on Macron's agenda. Just like Donald Trump, like the U.S. government, European leaders like Macron have grown increasingly frustrated over this trading balance.

[03:34:54]

And they have seen, of course, Chinese manufacturing becomes more and more dominant in a growing number of fields, flooding world markets, but including European markets with cheap exports, in some cases, of course, decimating local sectors and economies. So that has indeed been one of their biggest complaints and grievances in the past. We have seen Macron joining other European leaders trying to emphasize the need to de-risk from China to even raise the possibility of raising tariffs.

But this time doing his trip, he has struck a more cooperative, consideratory tone, really emphasizing the potential for a win-win cooperation, if you will, in fields ranging from nuclear energy to aerospace and also emerging fields like A.I. and biopharmaceuticals.

But so far, though, even though he brought with him some three dozen corporate executives, we have not seen a lot of major deals to be signed. So it's really a lot of platitudes, but not that much concrete progress being made. We haven't even seen, for example, what some had predicted, a huge order from China of Airbus commercial jets.

So that's why with a lot of these smiles and pageantry, we are still not seeing too much substance. But given where he is, Kim, in Chengdu, maybe the best he could hope for is bringing back to France a pair of pandas, because France just recently lost their last two pandas, sending them back to China. So maybe that's a front he can make some progress on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: New Zealanders can now join millions of furniture shoppers getting lost in their local IKEA. See the huge welcome Auckland gave the Swedish retailer just ahead here on "CNN Newsroom." Stay with us.

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[03:40:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," this is your Business Breakout.

Here's a look at the Asia markets. The Hang Seng was up 149 points, the Nikkei down more than 500 points, and the KOSPI up about 71 points.

And checking some of today's business headlines.

New Zealand is celebrating IKEA opening its first store in the country. Now, it might not sound like a big deal, but that's the Prime Minister cutting the ribbon. New Zealand is one of the last developed countries in the world to get an IKEA, Australia has had one for 50 years.

Pantone has unveiled its color of the year for 2026. It's called Cloud Dancer, described as a very precise shade of white with an equal balance of cool and warm undertones. Pantone officials say it represents new beginnings and fresh starts; it replaces 2025's color of the year, Mocha Mousse.

The number of billionaires has reached an all-time high, that's according to the Swiss bank UBS. There are now more than 2900 billionaires on the planet, with almost a third of them coming from the United States. Gains in tech stocks have helped those numbers reach a new record.

Sky watchers in Argentina took in a heavenly show from the banks of the Rio de la Plata. The rise of this year's third and last supermoon that's when a full moon appears as its orbit in the highest point to Earth. The moon appears bigger and brighter than usual in the northern hemisphere, it's also known as the cold moon because temperatures are falling.

That wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom," I'm Kim Brunhuber. "World Sport" is next and stay tuned for "Amanpour."

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[03:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)