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Zelenskyy to Meet British, German, and French Counterparts to Lay Out U.S.-Back Peace Plan to End the War; Syria Commemorates One Year After the Fall of the Assad Regime; Trump to Scrutinize the Warner Bros.-Netflix Deal. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 08, 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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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is getting another show of support from European leaders, but a peace deal does not appear any closer.
The fallout from America's controversial strikes on alleged drug boats intensifies as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for more clarity.
Luigi Mangione is due back in court, a look at the defense strategy that, if successful, could see key pieces of evidence thrown out.
Plus what lies ahead for Syria and the Middle East one year after the fall of the Assad regime.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
Ukraine's President is heading to London to meet with British, French and German leaders after days of peace talks with Trump administration officials. Ukrainian negotiators spent the weekend in Miami hashing out details of the U.S.-backed plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine. They didn't make any breakthroughs and Ukrainian officials say, quote, "difficult issues remain, including Russia's maximalist demands for Ukrainian territory and security guarantees for Ukraine."
Still, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is committed to diplomacy, no matter how tricky it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Yesterday, we spoke with Stephen Witkoff and Jared Kushner; I thank them for their readiness to work together 24/7. The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions. The conversation was constructive, although not easy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Meanwhile, the U.S. president is expressing frustration over the lack of a breakthrough. Donald Trump admits that Russian President Vladimir Putin would prefer to take over all of Ukraine and says Moscow is, quote, "fine with the peace plan." He accuses President Zelenskyy of not having read the deal without explaining what he means.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So we've been speaking to President Putin and we've been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.
And 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 hasn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: One of the peace deals President Trump claims to have secured appears to be unraveling. Thailand has launched airstrikes against Cambodia as a new wave of fighting erupted along their disputed border.
Thailand says the strikes are retaliation for an attack that killed one soldier and wounded others. On Monday, Cambodia's Ministry of National Defense denies the Thai allegations, calling it false information in a statement.
The action marks a major escalation in long running tensions between the two countries. The footage you're seeing now shows civilians evacuating from the border region surrounding the clashes. In July, conflict over the border led to five days of fighting that displaced 200,000 people and killed dozens.
This escalation calls into question a peace plan brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump just two months ago, one he's touted as a rousing success on the international stage now seemingly falling apart.
Top bipartisan lawmakers in the U.S. say they support the release of video from a controversial double tap strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean that killed two survivors in September. The Trump administration says that strike is part of a campaign to end drug trafficking.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the decision to carry out the double tap strike while speaking at an event on Saturday. But some lawmakers are raising concerns amid mounting criticism of Hegseth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): He doesn't look out for anybody. It's not leadership to throw your people under the bus. I mean, he
turned around and ran away from this as fast as he could.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Pete Hegseth, would you vote the same way today to confirm?
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): I'm not going to answer it in front of all these good people.
[03:05:00]
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND "STATE OF THE UNION" ANCHOR: If you were to take the confirmation vote again today, would you vote to make Pete Hegseth Defense Secretary?
SEN. JOHN CURTIS (R-UT): That's a question I can't answer without as much thoughtful research as I did the first time I did that vote.
SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): I've been shot down behind enemy lines under the laws of war. If a pilot bails out, he gets shot down, he bails out. He's in a rubber dinghy in the middle of the ocean.
Under all the international laws of warfare, you are supposed to help render aid to that individual. Everything that they did here was illegal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The Trump administration's top border official, Tom Homan, is defending the immigration crackdown in Minnesota over the weekend. The raids focused on Minnesota's large Somali population, while speaking to CNN, Homan tried to justify the crackdown against critics who say it's racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: What President Trump's doing is fixing the last four years of the open border where millions of people are released in this country, many we don't know who they are. So we're going to do the same thing in the twin cities we've done across the nation. We're going to focus on those illegal alien public safety threats in these cities.
And you know, if they want a sanctuary city, I mean, many people would be apprehended in the safety and security of the county jail. But because you're a sanctuary city, we got to send more resources there to flood the zone because it takes a whole team to find somebody in the community where it would take one agent to arrest one bad guy in a county jail.
So this is exactly what President Trump promised American people were going to do. And that's what we're doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Marjorie Taylor Greene is opening up about her split with Donald Trump and her decision to resign from Congress. The outspoken House Republican, once a fierce supporter of the president, told CBS's "60 Minutes" that Trump was extremely angry with her for backing the release of the Epstein files. And she was candid about what some of her Republican colleagues really think of the president behind closed doors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him to when he won the primary in 2024. They all started, excuse my language, Leslie, kissing his ass and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Greene also said once she retires from Congress, she's done running for office.
Well, some congressional Republicans are voicing their growing concerns about the state of the U.S. economy and what some see as an affordability crisis in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): I think affordability is the issue. That's what trumps everything else.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Has your party been making this enough of a focus?
FITZPATRICK: I don't think they have. I don't think they have.
RAJU: Because the president himself called affordability a Democratic scam.
FITZPATRICK: I don't believe that to be true at all.
No, it's real. Believe me, I hear it every day back home. It's real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And that was Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, one of a handful of Republicans who won in a district that Donald Trump lost in the presidential election. Fitzpatrick is among those who are starting to break with party leadership, suggesting the GOP needs to improve its messaging on the affordability issue.
Well joining us now is Natasha Lindstaedt. She is a professor of government at the University of Essex. Thank you so much for joining us.
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROF. OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Thanks for having me. CHURCH: A lot to talk about. Let's start with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth coming under increasing pressure and scrutiny over those strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats, with lawmakers divided along party lines when it comes to calling the follow up strike on two survivors on September 2nd a war crime. How imperative is it that that video is made public to settle this issue?
LINDSTAEDT: I think it's very important that the video be made public, and that's something that the Democrats are trying to fight for at the moment because they think that the public needs to see for themselves exactly what happened here.
Some of the Democratic lawmakers that saw the video were very shaken afterwards, saying that they've never seen anything like this, something so terrible that the U.S. would have done itself. The U.S. is not at war. And if it was at war, this would be a war crime.
If it wasn't at war, then this would be a crime against humanity. This would definitely be a violation of international law and of U.S. law.
And we've seen that there's been some 80 people that have died already. There's a lot of questions about what happened with that second strike.
And what is the reason for doing this? I mean, this is actually something the Coast Guard does. The Coast Guard is supposed to help people and also monitor the borders, but they do it lawfully.
[03:09:53]
And instead, under Trump and Hegseth, they decided to go much more nuclear here and taking on these alleged drug cartels in a way that is unlawful and something that Democratic lawmakers think that the U.S. public deserves to see.
CHURCH: And what about the issue of affordability? One that Donald Trump says is made up by the Democrats, but an issue that has some Republicans sounding the alarm. How damaging could affordability prove to be for the Trump administration if the President fails to make life easier for Americans who are really hurting right now?
LINDSTAEDT: I mean, this is definitely the biggest issue, the most important issue on Americans' mind. And we see poll after poll illustrating this and we see that this is the reason why Democrats had big victories in the elections that happened a few weeks ago and also made huge inroads in the election that happened in Tennessee, because there's just a lot of angst about the economy.
And we have a series of recent polls showing that, for example, there was a political poll that showed that, for instance.
CHURCH: Yes, we're still on. Keep going.
LINDSTAEDT: We're still going, sorry.
There's a political poll recently that showed that 46 percent of Americans think that the economy is worse than it's ever been.
There is a YouGov poll that showed that 49 percent of Americans blame Trump directly. And then there's a recent CBS News poll that showed that 60 percent of Americans think that Trump is completely out of touch of what is happening, that he's out of touch of what's happening with inflation. And 40 percent of Americans -- of Republicans, I should say, agree with that.
And I'd also like to add that because Hispanics were such a big part of why Trump was reelected in 2024, in that same CBS News poll, 70 percent of Hispanics think that Trump is responsible for grocery prices being too high. So this is an issue that he's going to have to get a hold of. But as the polls reveal, not only is there a lot of angst, but a lot of people believe that he's completely out of touch.
CHURCH: Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your analysis.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: Well, celebrations are underway across Syria to mark the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's ouster. But what does Syria's future hold under its new government? More on that just ahead.
Plus, Israel says the Gaza ceasefire plan could soon be entering its next phase. We'll have the details on that and hear what Hamas is saying about its remaining weapons. Back in just a moment.
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[03:15:00]
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CHURCH: Israel's Prime Minister says his country is very close to advancing to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan.
Benjamin Netanyahu made the remarks during a joint news conference with the German chancellor on Sunday. It marks the first time he's spoken publicly since requesting a presidential pardon from his ongoing corruption trial. Netanyahu also said he would not step down in exchange for that pardon.
The Prime Minister emphasized Israel's priority in the next phase of the ceasefire is to, quote, "disarm Hamas and re-demilitarize Gaza."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We finished the first part, as you know, phase one. We're almost there.
We have one more hostage deceased, Ran Gvili, a hero of Israel, to return here. And then we very shortly expect to move into the second phase, which is more difficult.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the Associated Press the group is, quote, "very open-minded about what to do with its remaining weaponry."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASSEM NAIM, SR. HAMAS OFFICIAL: Hamas is open to discuss such ideas within the context of a long-term ceasefire or truce, within the context of a track -- political track, which have to lead to a Palestinian state. But if not, okay, we are ready to discuss the idea of storing or freezing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Israel's military chief says the current withdrawal line inside Gaza will now serve as a new border. Known as the Yellow Line, it marks the first formal withdrawal point for Israeli forces inside Gaza, that's according to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The line separates areas still occupied by Israel from the rest of the territory from which the IDF has pulled back. Israeli forces hold more than half of Gaza's land area.
Well now to a moment of celebration and uncertainty in Syria, as the country marks the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime. Millions of Syrians fled during the 13-year civil war that ultimately led to the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's brutal rule. Over the past year, more than a million Syrian refugees and nearly two million internally displaced people have returned home, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.
Joining us live from Doha, Qatar, is H.A. Hellyer, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. I appreciate you talking with us.
H.A. HELLYER, SR. ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY STUDIES: Thank you so much, Rosemary. Always a pleasure to join you on the program.
CHURCH: So, as we mark this one-year anniversary of the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, most people in Syria appear optimistic about the future, with a survey by Arab Barometer finding 81 percent of Syrians are confident in the country's new President, while 71 percent are confident in the national government as a whole. So, what's your response to this, and do you share their optimism?
[03:20:01]
HELLYER: So, here's the question, Rosemary. Was Syria going to be getting any better under the Assad regime and the continuation of Baathist party rule?
And the answer to that, I think, is clearly no, and I think that the vast majority of Syrians from north to south, from east to west, were very aware of that. So, the jubilation and the exhilaration that you see expressed in those sorts of polls, I think, is quite indicative of that.
It's not so much a certainty that the new government may be perfect or doesn't have challenges or problems or obstacles to overcome, but that there's finally a chance, that there's an opportunity to craft a new Syria, one that isn't ruled by one of the most brutal authoritarian regimes in our lifetimes within the region, one that provides for the opportunity to build something anew.
And I think that we've seen steps in that direction over the past year. I think it's very clear to anybody that's been looking at Syria that there's far more freedom on the ground for people to express their opinions, to build, yet again, something new for Syria. But, of course, there are obstacles and there are challenges, and I think that the rest of the results from those polls show that very clearly.
Concerns around integrating the different regions of Syria into one unified entity, and here, of course, we're talking about the Kurds in the northeast, but also issues with Israel's strikes on the south and occupation in the south and continual attacks on Syria. So there are obstacles that I think people are concerned about, but I think overall are optimistic about the general trend of the country.
CHURCH: Right. Of course, it is worth pointing out that this same survey shows that the new Syrian government is less popular in the minority areas that have seen the worst violence.
And the U.S. lifted sanctions earlier this year, and the Trump administration is committed to a relationship with the new President, al-Sharaa, but what more should the U.S. be doing and demanding of the government to ensure that these minority groups are protected?
HELLYER: So there's two things here.
One, there's actually a vote later on this week in the United States about completely repealing the Caesar Act, which I think is very important in order for Syria's economy to get back on its feet. But there are two things here. One is about changing the policy towards Syria based on a change in regime in Syria.
Right? So the Caesar Act and a whole bunch of these sanctions, these were really about the Assad regime.
And many analysts, myself included, for the past year have been arguing that you simply cannot hold the new Syrian government under the same restrictions and economic sanctions as you did the old regime when those sanctions were specifically about the old regime. It's completely illegitimate, and those sanctions have to be lifted as soon as possible.
If then the United States wants to engage in a new relationship with Syria that is about cooperation and partnership and indeed concerns about certain issues on the ground, then that's their prerogative. No country ought to be forced to engage in terribly friendly relations with another country if they don't want to.
But to hold the new government accountable to the same sorts of restrictions and sanctions that the old regime had, that was guilty of the most horrific crimes, I think is completely illegitimate. Again, there are concerns, and very legitimate concerns, particularly when it comes to the Alawite community on the coast. I should remind your viewers that there are many on the coast that do not belong to that community.
Syria is not split up into these neat little pockets where this minority lives here and this minority lives there. Syria is much more diverse than that. Even what we call the, quote-unquote, "Kurdish" areas in the northeast, much of it is Arab, but ruled by predominantly Kurdish leadership.
So I think that we have to be very clear here that there are legitimate concerns. There's Suweyda in the south where there were clashes and really horrible things happening in the summer in Suweyda. But also keeping in mind that outside forces, and again, particularly when it comes to the Israelis, are using the issue of minorities to actually try to push for fragmentation within Syria.
This is not what Syrians need writ large. I think they need to be able to build a unified state, but one that allows for every citizen of Syria to live free and with dignity.
CHURCH: H.A. Hellyer, many thanks for joining us, I appreciate it.
HELLYER: My pleasure. Thank you.
CHURCH: And still to come, Ukraine is facing pressure from the U.S. President to accept his plan to end Russia's war despite major sticking points. How Kyiv is turning to European allies for support.
[03:25:10]
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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check today's top stories for you.
Top bipartisan lawmakers in the U.S. say they support the release of video from a controversial double tap strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. Trump previously said he was fine with releasing the video. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, however, was noncommittal when asked if he would release the footage.
Israel's Prime Minister says his country is very close to moving on to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan. According to Netanyahu, Israel's priority in the next phase is to, quote, disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza. Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the Associated Press that the group is willing to discuss freezing or storing its weapons.
In the coming hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with the British, German and French leaders in London. They will discuss the state of negotiations on the U.S.-backed plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
[03:30:05]
Zelenskyy is expected to attend more talks with European allies this week in Brussels and Rome.
Earlier, I spoke with Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Ukraine's Parliament, and I asked him what he hopes to see from the meetings between President Zelenskyy and European leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, CHAIRMAN, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT'S FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Hopefully, it will be expression of solidarity between Ukraine and our European partners and allies. We need a consolidated position of not only of Ukraine, but also of the leaders of Europe like Chancellor Friedrich Merz, prime minister of the United Kingdom and French President.
Because Europe deserves to be also at the table of negotiations. They provide now more assistance to Ukraine, more aid to Ukraine than the United States. And it's better to have one single consolidated position, which will be a guarantee for Ukraine in terms of not violating our red lines, in terms of providing, guaranteeing our security and also a guarantee of territorial integrity of Ukraine.
CHURCH: And Russia's President Putin has said that he intends to seize the eastern Donbass region by any means possible. And yet, President Trump is attacking Ukraine's leader, saying he's disappointed with President Zelenskyy, saying he had not read the latest peace proposal. What's your response to Donald Trump's comments? And what do they signal to you when it comes to trying to end this war?
MEREZHKO: Well, first of all, I'm absolutely certain that President of Ukraine had read any kind of peace plans or deals proposed by President Trump. I haven't read it yet.
And members of Ukrainian parliament, even though we are representative of Ukrainian people, we also haven't read this peace plan. I know only one peace plan, ceasefire, unconditional ceasefire proposal put forward by President Trump in the very beginning. And I think it's realistic and plausible peace plan.
And I believe that President Trump should also come back to this, to his initial proposal. But, of course, we need to see this document, because there are certain red lines for us. For example, we cannot agree to withdraw our troops from the territory which Putin claims, because Putin, he has suffered strategic defeat when he is asking to give to him the territory which hasn't been occupied by Russian troops.
From my perspective, at least, it's a very clear signal of weakness. He understands that he is not capable to take this by military force. That's why he is trying to do it through diplomatic, political means.
And unfortunately, he might be using to reach his goal our American friends. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: A local news broadcaster in Nigeria is reporting that the government has secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted last month from a Catholic boarding school. More than 300 students and school staff were taken in the attack, it's one of the country's worst mass kidnappings.
This latest incident followed several other attacks and abductions in northern Nigeria last month in the span of just days. Data from a crisis monitoring group shows there have been more than 1900 attacks against civilians in Nigeria this year, which have killed more than 3000 people.
At least 13 soldiers have been arrested in a failed coup attempt in Benin, according to local reports. But it's unclear if the group's leader has been caught. The group, who call themselves the Military Committee for Refoundation, appeared on state T.V. early Sunday, declaring that the government had been dissolved and the President removed from office.
But the President later appeared, saying that the coup had been foiled. He praised the military's response and condemned those who planned the attempt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICE TALON, BENIN PRESIDENT (through translator): A small group of soldiers, under the pretext of false claims, began a mutiny with the aim of attacking the institutions of the Republic and destabilizing our nation.
I have taken the necessary actions to maintain peace, to ensure the security and tranquility of all throughout the national territory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: This is just the latest in a string of coup attempts that have plagued West Africa. Neighboring countries are now sending troops to assist Benin's army in restoring order.
[03:34:59]
At least 50 people have been killed, including 33 children, after a drone attack by paramilitary forces hit a kindergarten in Sudan's South Kordofan region on Thursday. The Sudan Doctors Network says paramedics were targeted in a second attack.
The strike is the latest in the fighting between the rebel group, the rapid support forces and the Sudanese military. The civil war, which began in 2023, has killed more than 150,000 people.
Still to come, the U.S. president says he's keeping a close eye on the proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Brothers. How he really feels about the massive Hollywood deal, that's just ahead.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN, this is your Business Breakout and here is a look at U.S. futures as we await the opening bell on Wall Street in the coming hours. You can see the S&P 500 and Nasdaq just slightly up there.
And these are the business headlines.
The Department of Education is temporarily bringing back about 250 federal workers it had placed on administrative leave during Trump administration cuts to the Office for Civil Rights in March. Officials say staff are being recalled because the job cuts are tied up in court. Until they're resolved, the workers will be returning to help manage civil rights complaints for the department.
An air travel crisis in India is starting to ease, but the country's largest airline is still reeling from days of cancelled flights. Indigo scrapped more than 1000 flights on Sunday, including all departures from New Delhi, that's on top of thousands of other cancellations over the past week. The company admits it failed to properly prepare for new rules regarding how often pilots can fly and when.
Sequels dominated the U.S. box office this week.
[03:40:01]
Supernatural horror film "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" claimed top spot in theaters, earning $63 million in the U.S. and beating an expected $55 million opening weekend. A second "Zootopia" film from Disney and "Wicked for Good" also continue to perform well.
Well President Trump is weighing in on a proposed deal that's rocking Hollywood. Netflix's bid to buy Warner Brothers and HBO for more than $72 billion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, that's got to go through a process and we'll see what happens. Netflix is a great company, they've done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man, I have a lot of respect for him, but it's a lot of market share.
So we'll have to see what happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: There are still details to work out concerning the deal with CNN's parent company Warner Brothers Discovery and President Trump said he'll be involved in the scrutiny of the merger. Netflix bested both Paramount and Comcast in the deal, which now faces regulatory approval. A recent Bank of America analyst report said, quote, "if Netflix acquires Warner Brothers, the streaming wars are effectively over."
We'll take a quick break now for our viewers in North America, I'll have more news in just a moment. And for our international viewers, "World Sport" is coming up next. Stick around.
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[03:45:00]
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CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and in Canada, I'm Rosemary Church in Atlanta.
President Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday amid a year of massive restructuring of the inner workings of the arts center. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more on how he prepared for the night and how he's pushing back against criticism of his changes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Kennedy Center Honors is, of course, a longtime tradition spanning decades. But the event looked quite different Sunday night.
Donald Trump was there as the sitting President of the United States, but also as the Kennedy Center Chairman of the Board and the host. As he walked the red carpet on the way in, he was asked how he prepared for the night.
He said, maybe I didn't prepare. Sometimes it's good to be a little loose that he didn't think he needed to prepare much.
Now, during his second term, he has had an intense focus on this performing arts center. Back in February, he dismissed a slew of Democratic appointees to the board of trustees and replaced them with aides and allies, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, as well as second lady Usha Vance. He was subsequently elected chairman of the board.
TRUMP: Well, it's very exciting being Chairman, but maybe more importantly, saving this incredible structure and building and concept. And it's done so well. You know, we've raised a tremendous amount of money tonight for the building itself and for the charities overall.
And we're really happy. It's been a, I mean, you see the way it's been received. It's been like it's never been before.
And this building, this beautiful building is going to be brought back to life. We've already started and it'll be better than it was from day one.
BENBROOK: This comes as Trump has really been putting an emphasis on trying to reshape Washington to fit his ideal. In the so-called one Big Beautiful bill, more than $250 million was allotted for restoration and repairs around the Kennedy Center building. And Trump has touted changes to the exterior marble, as well as the interior chairs and stages.
He said that he was 98 percent involved in selecting the winners this year. So let's take a closer look at that.
They include country music star George Strait, actor and Broadway alum Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester Stallone, members of the rock band Kiss and singer Gloria Gaynor.
In remarks just a few days ago now, Trump referred to it as the Trump Kennedy Center.
Now, he did push that off as a joke on the red carpet. He was asked if that was a possibility. He said it's ultimately up to the board, but added, I don't know, I heard that.
Julia Benbrook, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the U.S. National Guardsman shot near the White House last week is doing well in his recovery. Bondi said she visited 24-year-old Andy Wolfe in the hospital before attending the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday. Wolfe was shot the day before Thanksgiving, along with Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom, who died from her injuries.
Meanwhile, Bondi would not comment on whether the Justice Department will try again to reindict New York Attorney General Letitia James on mortgage fraud charges. A federal judge tossed the original indictment and a grand jury rejected the second attempt last week.
Well, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December is due back in court today. A critical pre-trial evidence hearing for Luigi Mangione began last week in New York. His attorneys are trying to suppress evidence in the state's murder trial against him.
CNN's Leigh Waldman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've had a few big moments in the courthouse already, most notably audio from that 911 call that was made that alerted police that the defendant, Luigi Mangione, was at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania. We've also seen body camera video showing the moments that he was arrested.
Now we're starting to see some more of those photos of the evidence that's being presented in the court.
[03:49:51]
What appears to be a USB drive attached to a necklace, what appears to be a medical mask that the 911 audio, the caller there stated that they saw Luigi Mangione wearing inside of the McDonald's, but also a handwritten note, it looks like a to-do list from December 8th and 9th. And you'll remember that Mr. Mangione was arrested last year on December 9th. Part of that note was a future to-do list, like packing a survival kit
and an Intel check-in. During his arrest, law enforcement searched through his backpack and identified some key pieces of evidence, including a gun that they say tie him to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. What the defense here is arguing is that the law enforcement searched that backpack without a warrant, and that they also questioned Mangione without reading him his Miranda warning.
Now, prosecutors obviously don't agree with this. They say that the law was followed, which is why we're seeing this hearing take place before a trial has even started. What we're going to see on Monday is two of those officers who actually searched that backpack, they're going to be taking the stand, talking about what they saw.
More body camera video is going to be shown, it's going to be a sharp focus on the backpack itself. Now, police are arguing that they followed Pennsylvania law in searching Mr. Mangione and also his belongings.
Now, they have to convince a judge that they did follow the law. Otherwise, the judge could order that all of that evidence be thrown out, including the gun, another USB and what is being described as Mangione's manifesto.
In New York, Leigh Waldman, CNN.
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CHURCH: A new report shows thousands of people detained by U.S. immigration agents do not have a criminal background. From January to October, ICE officials have detained nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records. That number is from the Data Deportation Project, a research group at the University of California, Berkeley.
They found that roughly 220,000 people have been arrested in the nine months since President Donald Trump took office. The numbers support a previous report that found less than 10 percent of immigrants taken into ICE custody since October had any serious criminal convictions.
Well, it's shaping up to be a wet week for the northwestern U.S. as a series of storm systems take aim at the Pacific coast. CNN meteorologist Alison Chinchar has the forecast.
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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Back-to-back systems are expected to push in across the Pacific Northwest as we head through the week. Again, you can see all of that moisture just being funneled into portions of Washington and Oregon at least through the first half of the week. This is going to bring a tremendous amount of moisture to these areas.
Keep in mind, a lot of these areas also got rain and snow over the weekend, so that ground is already saturated before the really heavy stuff begins to push in. You can see overnight and into very early Monday morning, these areas are going to get a little bit of a break.
But by late Monday morning, we start to see a lot more of that moisture funneling back into the areas, especially Washington. But by late Monday, now you start to see more of that sliding in across portions of western Oregon.
You've got the potential for excessive rainfall, not just Monday, but even into Tuesday and into Wednesday and into Thursday, because you're going to see a lot of these same areas being highlighted with the green and the yellow shaded colors, indicating they have that risk for flooding over the next several days.
In total, the heaviest rain is certainly going to be right here along the coastal regions. You're talking 5 to 10 inches of rain. But even cities like Seattle, Tacoma, Portland expected to get several inches of rain over the next few days.
If this is the case, that means a place like Seattle could end up getting a month's worth of rain in just 3 to 5 days. You're also looking at very heavy snow across the Rockies, the Cascades and even into the Olympic Mountains.
Looking at the forecast for Seattle, well, it's a lot of the same. It's expected to see temperatures pretty stable, but also rain every single day in the forecast for the next seven days.
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CHURCH: The 12-team field is now set for the U.S. college football playoffs, but of course, not without some controversial snubs. World Sport's Patrick Snell breaks down who's in, who's out and what comes next.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, excitement and plenty of debate too after we learned the 12 teams that will compete in the college football playoff.
Notre Dame fans will definitely be upset. The Fighting Irish went 10-2 but lost the season opener to Miami, who also went 10-2. But the Hurricanes did make the field, so what did it all come down to?
HUNTER YURACHEK, CHAIRMAN, COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SELECTION COMMITTEE: You look at those two teams on paper and they're almost equal in their schedule, strength, their common opponents, the results against their common opponents. But the one metric we had to fall back on again was the head-to-head.
SNELL: Well, Notre Dame has since declined to participate in a bowl game this postseason. Alabama is also in despite having three losses, but do keep in mind Alabama are in one of the top and toughest conferences. Here's their most recent game against Georgia on Saturday.
[03:55:00] Georgia just dominating this mash-up against Alabama, exercising some demons in the process. Head coach Kirby Smart was 0-4 against Alabama in the SEC title game, and just 1-7 overall coming into this one. But Gunnar Stockton throwing for three touchdowns, and that vaunted Georgia defense was pretty much unstoppable throughout.
The Bulldogs are cut apart in this game and winning it convincingly 28 points to seven.
In the Big Ten title game, we had number one Ohio State against number two Indiana. The Heisman Trophy likely on the line too, as the two frontrunners are the Buckeyes' Julian Sane and Indiana's Fernando Mendoza.
Third quarter, Indiana down 10-6. Mendoza to Elijah Sarat here for the touchdown. Indiana taking the 13-10 lead.
And after Ohio State missing a game-time field goal, Mendoza puts this game away. Check this out. It's a beautiful pass to Charlie Becker.
Indiana winning 13-10, snapping a 30-game losing streak against Ohio State. They complete their first ever undefeated 13-0 campaign. Indiana, Big Ten champs for the first time since 1967 and will be the top overall seed in the playoffs.
Well, as we scan the bracket, the top four seeds then, Indiana, Ohio State, the defending champions. We also have Georgia and Texas Tech as well. They all earn first-round byes and will automatically advance to the quarterfinals, which begin just a few days after Christmas, New Year's Eve in fact, and on the first day of January 2026 as well.
Confirmation that Miami make the playoffs while Notre Dame and ACC champions Duke are left out.
And with that, it's right back to you.
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CHURCH: I want to thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "American Pulse" is next, then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Brian Abel beginning at 5 a.m. in New York.
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