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CNN This Morning
Russia Pounds Kyiv Ahead Of Sunday's Peace Talks In U.S.; Nigeria: No Civilian Casualties In Christmas Day U.S. Strikes. Perry Bamonte Of The Cure Dies At 65; Michigan Hires Kyle Whittingham As New Head Football Coach; Flu Cases Surging During Holiday Travel; New York Law Mandates Mental Health Warnings For Social Media; Trials, Acquittals And Convictions: The Year In Crime And Court Cases; Poll: Most U.S. Adults Not Making Year-End Charitable Donations; "I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not" Airs New Year's Day At 8:00 P.M. ET. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 27, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:42]
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BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is Saturday, December 27th. Welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Brad Smith in for Victor Blackwell. Hope that you're having a great holiday season.
Here's what's new this morning. It's a travel mess for people in the Northeast right now as flight delays and cancellations piling up after a major snowfall overnight. Well take a look at the impacts on flights and power outages across the region. Plus, breaking news overnight, Russia launches a massive attack on Ukraine's capital. The timing is notable as President Trump is set to meet with Ukraine's president tomorrow.
We'll have a live report on the chaotic scenes in Kyiv right now. And there's an update on the performer who canceled annual Christmas Eve concert at the newly renamed Trump Kennedy Center. That performer said he did it because of the venue's name change and now he's being threatened with a million dollar lawsuit. We've got the details there.
This morning, if you're getting ready to travel home after the holidays, a powerful post Christmas storm is making for dangerous conditions outside. If you're planning to fly and are headed to any of New York's three major airports consider yourself warned. The storm has already prompted a series of cancellations and delays. The FAA says flights at JFK Airport are running about two hours behind on average. There are also ground delays at Newark Liberty Airport and LaGuardia Airport.
This morning there are more than 1,800 flights delayed and at least 600 canceled within the U.S. and flying out of the country, according to FlightAware. If you're planning to hit the road, it'll be slow going. The streets are treacherous to navigate. Just look at scenes like this. In New York, it's going to be a challenge as snow, ice and rain cover the roadways.
Central Park recorded more than 4 inches of snow. That means the city's snowfall total has eclipsed the total in 2022. And out west in California, at least four people have died since last weekend. Relentless rain there has devastated the northern part of the state. First responders have used choppers to rescue people stranded on roofs and trapped in their flooded cars.
Look at what the heavy downpours have done to this road. It's been a scene of mudslides, debris flow and evacuations in the area. A month's worth of rain in just a few days has overwhelmed that region. Cars have been buried in mud. Homes have been destroyed by the floods, and residents are left surveying the damage.
In Ventura County -- in Ventura, California, rather, the fire captain describes one of the rescues.
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CAPTAIN ANTHONY MCHALE, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We sent a firefighter over the side, put a harness on the victim, secured the victim, and then we do what's called a flying stokes operation, lifted the victim up off the river bottom and onto the roadway. It was a very successful operation and fortunately was a good outcome. He's uninjured. We do have significant traffic backups. Our next priority is to get the freeway open so people can head home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: And they've had a lot of work to do as there have been more than 100 water rescues in Southern California due to the Christmas holiday storms. Right now, it's the impacts from snow that we're keeping a close eye on here. Here's a look at Times Square, the crossroads of the world in New York where they're getting ready for the New Year's Eve Baltic drop. In just days, this is the view from Hotel Saranac in New York and a very pretty snowy scene this morning. CNN meteorologist Chris Warren is here with what you need to know.
If you plan to venture outside, I mean, we've got some postcard snow looks like we just saw on screen. But there's some dangerous scenarios that are playing out.
CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Parts of New York and Connecticut did get close to a foot of snow. So it's going to take a little while, especially for the side streets and some of the arterials to really see improvement. So you give it time. That's the best thing to do after a storm. And we are at the after the storm part of this and the cold air moving in.
So one moving out and then another one for tomorrow we're going to watch. But here's the one that did bring in parts of New York and Connecticut, eight, nine, even 10, 11, almost a foot of snow. Meanwhile, Central Park, 4.3 inches. So that's the most snow since 2022 and only a couple of inches, two and a half inches in JFK.
Meanwhile, here's where there's still some advisory, some icy conditions still a possibility in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, but most of the snow really winding down at this time.
[09:05:10]
And then here we go. Here's the next one to watch. Going to make for some tough travel tomorrow. And here's by tomorrow evening into late tomorrow night into Monday, full swing here for the upper Midwest with not just snow but also the wind which can make things tough at the airports. Here's how much snow we're expecting in the pink color, six to eight isolated pockets around a foot or so in parts of Wisconsin, more likely maybe in the Twin Cities.
We'll keep an eye on that. Here's a look at the winds. The red is where the stronger winds are going to be through time. This is tomorrow, early afternoon, 45 to 50 mile an hour wind gusts a possibility. It's not just how strong the winds are, but the direction the winds are going across runways.
They can make for more delays at some of the airports here and eventually once again can be rain in the Northeast, Brad. But also that wind could make travel tough.
SMITH: We went from a warmer Christmas than usual --
WARREN: Very warm.
SMITH: -- to these serious conditions --
WARREN: Yes.
SMITH: -- that we're tracking. Chris, thanks so much.
Breaking overnight, Russia launching a large scale attack on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, killing at least one person and wounding 28 others, according to city officials. New video into CNN captured one of the drone strikes outside Kyiv.
Kyiv's mayor says that a third of the city is without heat or electricity, including thousands of residential buildings and schools as temperatures remain below freezing. The attack happened less than a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to meet with President Trump in Florida on Sunday. The two leaders plan to discuss the 20 point peace plan that has been in the works by U.S. and Ukrainian officials since last week. CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now with more on this.
And Nada, it's hard to imagine many greater instances where the timing is of the essence than like this.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And there's certainly pressure mounting on the Ukrainian side to secure some sort of peace agreement. Of course, a key tenet of that 20 point peace ban would not only be a cease fire, but a non-aggression treaty between Russia and Ukraine. And that is something that President Zelenskyy will be pushing for as he prepares to meet with the U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday to hammer out the final and finer details of that 20 point peace plan. But of course, as we know, the U.S. officials have been meeting separately with both Ukrainian and Russian delegations.
There's no indication at this stage as to the position of Moscow when it comes to finalizing those details on of the peace ban. And we've heard from the White House and the Trump administration saying that nothing is essentially final until it receives approval from the U.S. president. But clearly the ramped up attacks that we have seen carried out by the Russian armed forces on Ukraine has certainly raised the pressure on the international community. We've seen a doubling down in Russian aerial assaults over recent days. And just overnight, we have seen the capital targeted once again in a large scale aerial assault.
According to President Zelenskyy, some 500 drones, at least 40 missiles were used in that assault, which lasted almost 10 hours, according to officials. And we've seen throughout the day air raid sirens being going on and off, forcing civilians into shelters. And this is an attack which has not only impacted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as it so often does, but also, of course, civilian residential infrastructure targeting residential buildings. We've seen fires engulfing parts of apartment buildings and civilians forced to flee. We've been hearing from Ukrainian civilians on the ground describing the horror and shock that they face as they attempted to leave their buildings with emergency services forced to respond to numerous attacks.
And we've been hearing from officials saying that thousands of buildings, several sectors of Kyiv are now without power and heating and freezing conditions. So it has been a distressing troubling night and day now for many in the Ukrainian capital.
Now, what will be the focus going forward for President Zelenskyy will not only be trying to secure some sort of peace agreement, but also to hammer out the concessions that both sides are expected to make to find a compromise to reach that peace agreement. We know that President Zelenskyy has indicated that he may be willing to cede some territory in the Donetsk region that would be in exchange for Russia also ceding and equivalent amount of territory. Remains to be seen how Moscow will respond to this position and of course, the overall position of the United States and other European and NATO allies.
SMITH: Keeping tabs on all of the movements. Nada Bashir, thank you so much.
[09:10:04]
Well, residents of Nigeria are still trying to make sense of the Christmas Day airstrikes that the U.S. says it carried out against Islamic State terrorists. President Trump acted jointly with Nigerian officials and called the strikes a Christmas present. These strikes included Tomahawk missiles fired from a Navy vessel that struck two ISIS camps. CNN's Larry Madowo joins me now from London.
Larry, as we continue to really parse through what the reactions have been, Trump's Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth says more is to come. So how are people in Nigeria reacting to all of this?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People in the northwest of Nigeria and the Sokoto State where this happened were caught by surprise, not just because it was unexpected, but also because the presence of Islamic State in this area is contested even among experts. It is a largely Muslim state, 90 percent Muslim. They largely coexist well with their Christian minority. Sokoto is the home of what is known as the Sokoto Caliphate, the spiritual home of Islam in Nigeria. They have seen some banditry, some kidnappings, even some attacks from militant armed groups such as Lakurawa.
But its connection to Islamic State is not less, is not as clear. They saw these flares and blasts overnight and some people thought it was maybe an airplane crashing before they knew that this was part of these airstrikes carried out by the United States to Islamic terrorists, as President Trump called them, who primarily target innocent Christians. That is not the case in this part specifically. It has been an issue in the northeast of Nigeria and other parts of the north, but not specifically in these areas where you see that impact. And that's why residents were caught by surprise.
And they still don't understand what exactly led to them getting picked for that. And this is some -- one security analyst questioning the timing, but also the location.
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AWWAL ABDULLAHI, SECURITY ANALYST: To eliminate and disengage the Lakurawa, it is a welcome development. But to say that the Lakurawas are ISIS or branded by ISIS, that is where the challenge is. Not only ISIS but saying that Christian genocide taking place in the -- in Sokoto or the entire northwestern state of Nigeria, it is truly a challenge. And then we truly -- there are a lot of questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: And some of those questions linger on that topic of the Christian genocide. The Nigerian government has always maintained that there is no Christian genocide. They have a security problem, terrorism that affects both Christians and Muslims. And recent data indicates that more Muslims than Christians have been affected by this, Brad.
SMITH: Yes, an extremely complicated matter. And we know that there's going to be continued, hopefully continued discourse that takes place both on the U.S. and the side of Nigerian officials. Larry Madowo, thank you so much.
Well, let's get analysis now from CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger.
David, good to have you here with us and thank you for taking the time. Let's just start with those strikes first in international relations in Kyiv. Is Moscow signaling more escalation or is this leverage ahead of these talks between Zelenskyy and Trump?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good to be with you, Brad. Mostly it's about leverage. I mean, Vladimir Putin probably sincerely believes that time is on his side. He has taken out a good amount of Ukraine's ability to produce heat during the winter. I think he thinks he can weaken the will of the population and freeze a lot of people out.
President Trump keeps insisting that Putin is ready for peace. I don't see anybody who actually believes that Putin has shown any indication along those lines. He has every interest in taking this quite interesting 20 point proposal that President Zelenskyy will be discussing with President Trump and sort of dragging out the discussion of the details through the winter for advantage.
SMITH: President Trump said in an interview with Politico that Zelenskyy, quote, "doesn't have anything until I approve it." What do you think that he is likely to press Zelenskyy on during these discussions?
SANGER: So there are two open areas still in those 20 points where the U.S. and Ukraine have not yet come to a full agreement. One is giving up territory in Donetsk, which is the province that's most contested right now and where President Trump would like Ukraine to give up territory that the Russians haven't even been able to manage to take. And it's somewhat strategic territory. President Zelenskyy's idea here is to get a ceasefire and then take this to a referendum of the Ukrainian people, which would of course lift the political pressure off of him for making a decision to give up national territory.
[09:15:16]
The second area of disagreement is over who administers the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and who actually gets the electricity from that plant. And there are two different proposals around. I think that one's resolvable. But the issue of territory is going to be one that I think could prove pretty contentious tomorrow.
SMITH: While we have you here with us, I do want to also ask about Nigeria. Pete Hegseth, secretary of Defense, saying that there is more to come. Is this rhetoric meant more as deterrence or are we seeing early stages of a broader military operation?
SANGER: I think the really interesting question here, Brad and Larry raised this in his good report just a moment ago, is more to come toward what end? It's not clear that these groups are truly ISIS. Even if they are, this is launching Tomahawk missiles into a decades old territorial, pardon me, and ethnic dispute. And it's not clear that launching the missiles does anything more than give you a tactical disruption. It doesn't actually affect the dynamics that have been on the ground for decades.
And this is the issue that keeps coming up in Venezuela, now here in Nigeria, which is what exactly is it that the administration hopes to accomplish with its use of military force? And they have not laid that out.
SMITH: And the reason codes for those use of military force in Venezuela since you raised that, that was under the reason code of the war against drugs. And then in the case of what we've seen in Nigeria, the war on -- the persecution of Christians there's so much more that we can continue to discuss around this. There's much to continue to watch going forward.
David, thank you so much for taking the time.
SANGER: Thanks, Brad. Great to be with you.
SMITH: Well, the cancellation of a Christmas eve jazz performance at the newly renamed Trump Kennedy Center has prompted threats of a legal fight. The concert's longtime host, musician Chuck Redd, canceled the annual event after President Trump's name went up on the building, saying that he was saddened by the name change. The center's president, Richard Grennell, blasted the show's cancellation as a costly political stunt and said that the venue will seek $1 million in damages.
The mother of a missing nine-year-old girl now charged with her murder. How investigators were finally able to find nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard's body. We have the details and the full story there. Plus, cheer isn't the only thing that Americans are spreading this holiday season. They're also unfortunately, spreading the flu.
What we're learning about a surge in cases across the U.S. And a perplexed consumer view of the economy is having an impact on the number of Good Samaritans. Charities say that they are seeing fewer donations as 2025 comes to an end. Still ahead, what's driving a decline in charitable giving?
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[09:22:34]
SMITH: OK, this story is getting a lot of attention this morning. A mother pleads not guilty to killing her daughter. Ashlee Buzzard has been charged with killing nine-year-old Melodee. She disappeared on a road trip with her mother and triggered a massive investigation across two months and eight states. The criminal complaint says Ashlee killed Melodee with excess.
CNN's Josh Campbell has been following that.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Brad, an update in the tragic case of Melodee Buzzard, the missing nine-year-old California girl whose remains, police said were found this month in the state of Utah. Her mother, Ashlee Buzzard made her first appearance in court on Friday charged with first degree murder in connection with the death of her daughter. In this brief hearing, Ashlee Buzzard entered a plea of not guilty. CNN has reached out to the public defender representing her for comment. Authorities gave an update on Tuesday laying out various items that they believe connects the mother to this alleged killing.
They said that includes forensic evidence, digital evidence, as well as ballistics evidence, including a comparison of ammunition found at the crime scene with ammo found at the Buzzard family home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHERIFF BILLBROWN, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Sheriff's detectives along with the FBI Evidence Response Team responded and served follow up search warrants at the home of Ashlee Buzzard. During the search of the Mars Avenue residence, an expended cartridge case was recovered. Cartridge cases found at the Utah crime scene resulted in a NIBAN hit linking them to the single cartridge case that was found at the Buzzard residence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: Now this all started in October when the young girl's school contacted authorities after they had not heard from her for some time. Authorities launched an investigation. They determined over the course of days both the mother and the daughter traveled about 1,000 miles from California east as far as the state of Kansas. Authorities released CCTV footage as part of their investigation that allegedly showed both the mother and the daughter wearing wigs. Police say that at times the license plates on their vehicle were swapped out.
The mother returned to California. The young girl was not with her. Authorities say that the mother wasn't cooperative and she didn't have a plausible explanation about where her daughter was.
[09:25:00]
Police say a couple out taking photographs in Utah discovered human remains earlier this month and called police. Investigators say they were able to identify those remains as belonging to Melodee Buzzard based on DNA analysis. Brad.
SMITH: A case that will continue to track, no doubt. Josh Campbell, thank you for that update.
Also in other cases, flu cases surging across the U.S. But fighting the virus just got a little easier. Coming up, the new options to help ease the symptoms. And user beware. Why New York State is requiring social media sites to carry a warning label.
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SMITH: In other headlines that we're following this morning, investigators in Wallace, Idaho are now trying to figure out why a gunman opened fire inside a sheriff's office. The suspect injured three people before he was killed in a standoff yesterday. Deputies say that he first shot at a pickup truck outside the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office and then walked into the lobby and started and kept firing. Two women in the truck were hit in their legs, and a deputy was grazed in the ear. They are all expected to be OK.
And fans are mourning the death of Perry Bamonte, the longtime guitarist and keyboardist for the band The Cure. Bamonte joined The Cure in 1990, and he played on several of their biggest albums and performed more than 400 shows with them before leaving in 2005. He rejoined The Cure for a major tour in 2022.
His final performance with them was in London last year. The band says that he died after a short illness and will be greatly missed. Perry Bamonte was 65.
And the University of Michigan has named Kyle Whittingham as its new head football coach. The 66-year-old joins the Wolverines after the school fired previous head coach Sherrone Moore. The university said Moore had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Moore was later arrested and charged with home invasion and misdemeanor stalking.
And flu cases right now, they are on the rise across the country this holiday season. In its latest report, the CDC says that flu cases nationwide jumped nearly 15 percent over the previous week. Nearly 10,000 people have been hospitalized, and Tamiflu is widely prescribed as a treatment for the flu but it's not the only option.
CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard has more on what other flu treatments are available.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: The CDC recommends four different antiviral flu medications for this flu season. One of them is Tamiflu.
That one is already widely used, widely available. It's typically taken twice daily over the course of five days, and it can be administered either in pill form or liquid form. It's approved for nearly everyone, ages two weeks and older now.
Now, there's also Relenza. This is typically inhaled as powder form. It's approved for ages seven and older.
There's also Rapivab. It's an IV infusion for ages six months and older. And there's Xofluza. Now this is a single dose pill and it's approved for ages five and older. And Xofluza is growing in popularity because of that convenience of having just one dose to take and then you should be good to go.
Now, if you have flu symptoms, it's important to get tested. If you test positive, call your doctor right away because all of those antiviral medications, they are prescription drugs. So, you do need to be prescribed the treatment. And once you're prescribed, it's important to start your treatment as soon as possible because these medications work best when taken within the first 48 hours after your symptoms start.
And again, while Tamiflu is widely popular, Xofluza is becoming more well-known. There are slight differences. The side effects associated with Tamiflu are typically nausea and vomiting. But with Xofluza, most people typically experience nausea and diarrhea.
Now, Tamiflu does tend to cost less than Xofluza, but with Xofluza you could look into getting manufacturer coupons to help lessen the cost. And for both medications, they do work prophylactically as well. So, if you've been exposed to the flu virus or if someone in your household has the flu, your doctor may prescribe either medication to help reduce your risk of getting sick, as well.
SMITH: Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much. We're all familiar with warning labels on many of the medicines that we were just talking about, but New York is now going to require some of those warning labels for social media sites. This, as governor Kathy Hochul signed the new law on Friday. She compared it to warning labels on tobacco products, the law. It actually targets features like infinite scrolling, autoplay and algorithm driven feeds that encourage excessive use.
Violations can trigger civil penalties of up to $5,000 per incident. And it is worth noting that this is not the first time that we've seen this at the state level. California and Minnesota have similar laws.
Twenty twenty-five, it brought plenty of legal and criminal drama, from the daring daylight robbery of the Louvre to Sean Combs' trial. We've got the top 10 legal stories of 2025 coming your way.
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[09:38:33]
SMITH: This morning, we're taking a look back at the biggest crime and court dramas of 2025. Here's CNN's Jean Casarez with the top 10 legal stories that made headlines this year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At number 10, the Massey murder trial. Illinois sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson, convicted of second degree murder for shooting the 36-year-old Sonya Massey inside her home. Massey had actually called 911 to report a suspected prowler, but body cam footage shown at trial showed tensions rising after the officer confronted Massey for how she was handling a pot of hot water.
Number nine, held accountable. A jury awarded Virginia teacher Abby Zwerner $10 million after she sued the ex-assistant principal at her school for failing to act before Zwerner's six-year-old student shot her in the chest and hand. In gripping testimony, Zwerner told the jury after being shot, she was sure she was going to die.
ABBY ZWERNER, TEACHER SHOT BY SIX-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: I thought I had died. I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Number eight shocking museum heist.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's begin with breaking news out of Paris. Priceless jewels are stolen from the Louvre in an audacious daytime heist that took only seven minutes.
[09:40:06]
CASAREZ (voice-over): It all happened at the Louvre in Paris, when thieves stole more than $100 million in crown jewels and slipped away in broad daylight. All eight suspects were later arrested, but the jewels are still missing to this day.
Number seven, Karen Read acquitted. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What say you? Is the defendant guilty or not guilty?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not guilty.
CASAREZ (voice-over): A jury found Read not guilty of hitting and killing her boyfriend, off duty Boston police officer John O'Keefe with her car.
KAREN READ, ACQUITTED OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER: No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have. Than I have and my team. Thank you.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Large crowds celebrated the decision outside the Massachusetts courthouse.
Number six, Minnesota lawmakers attacked. A man disguised as a police officer ambushed two state Democratic officials at their homes. Minnesota House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, while state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot but survived.
Vance Boelter was arrested after a two-day statewide manhunt. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder.
Number five, deadly stabbing in North Carolina. Passengers watched in horror as 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed three times in an unprovoked attack on Charlotte's light rail system.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER (on the phone): So tell me exactly what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 CALLER (on the phone): I don't know. We didn't see it. There's just a lady right now on the ground with a lot of blood and everybody's screaming that she got stabbed, and I don't know if anybody's called 911 yet. People are just freaking out.
CASAREZ (voice-over): The case became a political lightning rod after the public learned the suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, had an extensive criminal record. Number four --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As to count one, wherein the defendant, Brian Walshe, is charged with murder in the first degree. What say the jury? Is the defendant guilty or not guilty?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guilty.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Brian Walshe convicted. Jurors in Massachusetts found Walshe guilty of murdering his wife, Ana. But unbeknownst to the jury, even before the trial began, Walshe pleaded guilty to illegally disposing of Ana's body and misleading police. Walshe's defense argued that Ana died in a sudden, unexplained death, something prosecutors told jurors defies common sense.
The defense rested without Walshe testifying or even putting up any evidence to back their claims. Walshe now faces years in prison. Ana's body has never been found.
Number three, Catholic schoolchildren gunned down.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We're following breaking news of a deadly mass shooting at a Catholic school and church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
CASAREZ (voice-over): August 27th, a shooter fired dozens of rounds through stained glass windows into the sanctuary of Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis. Students from the Annunciation Catholic School were gathered inside to celebrate a mass in honor of their first week of school. The attack killed two children and wounded two dozen others as well as adults.
JESSE MERKEL, FATHER OF FLETCHER MERKEL: A coward decided to take our eight-year-old year old son, Fletcher, away from us. Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming.
CASAREZ (voice-over): The suspected shooter, a 23-year-old who graduated from the school in 2017, died of a self-inflicted gunshot. Sadly, this was just one of more than 70 school shootings in the United States this year. Number two, controversial plea deal.
JUDGE STEVEN HIPPLER, IDAHO FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT: Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?
BRYAN KOHBERGER, DEFENDANT: Yes.
CASAREZ (voice-over): In a move that blindsided the families, Bryan Kohberger took a plea deal before heading to trial for the grisly murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022. In exchange for the guilty plea, the government removed the potential for the death penalty.
At the emotional sentencing hearing, the families of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen had their turn to speak directly to the killer.
STEVE GONCALVES, KAYLEE GONCALVES' FATHER: Police officers tell us within minutes they had your DNA like a calling card. You were that careless, that foolish, that stupid.
RANDY DAVIS, XANA KERNODLE'S STEPFATHER: You're going to go to hell. I know people believe in other stuff. You're -- you're evil. There's no place for you in heaven.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Kohberger is now serving four consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole. And number one --
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
[09:45:00] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, some breaking news coming in. Jurors in the trial of Sean Diddy Combs have reached a verdict on all counts.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs found guilty. But Combs avoided the most serious charges stemming from his federal sex trafficking trial and was found guilty of lesser counts, including transportation to engage in prostitution.
Each day, hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse to follow the proceedings despite no cameras being allowed in the courtroom. Combs got more than four years in prison and was fined $500,000. His attorneys are now appealing.
Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: The season of giving includes giving to those in need, but fewer Americans plan on making charitable contributions. We dig into the reasons why.
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[09:50:08]
SMITH: A new poll shows most Americans are not planning to make end of year charitable contributions and donations despite fundraising appeals. People's dollars, they're stretched thin with tighter budgets, rising prices, worry over jobs, and an unpredictable economy.
About half of adults surveyed for the AP-NORC poll say that they've already made their charitable donations for the year. Eighteen percent say that they have given and will donate again before the year ends. And just six percent planned to donate for the first time this month. The rest, 30 percent, say they haven't donated and don't plan to.
Here with me now, we've got Laura Hennighausen, who is the director of Strategic Philanthropy at Purpose Possible. Great to have you here with us.
LAURA HENNIGHAUSEN, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY, PURPOSE POSSIBLE: Yes, thanks for having me.
SMITH: Let's dive into this a little bit. This new poll shows Americans are giving. But nonprofits, they are saying that they're stretched thinner than ever.
From your vantage point, what is driving this gap right now between generosity and the reality that nonprofits are facing on the ground?
HENNIGHAUSEN: Well, it's interesting. The poll actually shows that about 70 percent of people have either given or plan to give by the end of the year, which is on par with last year and years prior. So, we're not necessarily seeing that individuals are being less generous. But what we are seeing is that the nonprofits are really suffering from a lot of other existential crises, maybe.
So, we have the changes in federal funding, state funding and other local funding. That's changing. And then our area foundations are responding to that. So, it's not that we're becoming less generous, but it's becoming that nonprofits need our support more than ever. And if we are not ramping up that support, then it's not keeping pace with demand.
SMITH: You know, it's interesting to track what we're seeing year over year from Giving Tuesday as well. They hit another record this year and individual giving starting to stabilize from --
HENNIGHAUSEN: Yes.
SMITH: -- what we're hearing. Individual giving stabilizing, a rough stretch that had just moved through as well. What do you see as the bright spots right now in terms of the donor behavior and how nonprofits can actually build on that momentum?
HENNIGHAUSEN: I think that right now, we're seeing a lot of folks responding to great need in the community. So, for instance, a lot of our area food banks put out calls, especially when SNAP benefits were in question. And we saw a huge amount of folks rally to donate products, to donate cash.
And I think that people do, are, and will continue to still respond to emergency giving in those crises. But what we need really are for individuals to give on a monthly basis and a more continuous basis, and not just when something is really bad. But kind of continue that support throughout the year so that nonprofits can expect and know when they will have that support that's needed.
SMITH: This holiday season -- I think back to some of the stories that we heard about not enough bell ringers outside of retail places and facilities, meaning less people were actually signing up to be bell ringers. Less people participating in the service side of nonprofits as well.
HENNIGHAUSEN: Interesting.
SMITH: Where do you believe that we can actually kind of fill the gap between some of those challenges and making sure that staffing is up to snuff at a lot of the nonprofit efforts?
HENNIGHAUSEN: Yes, that's hard. I think that overall volunteering, I believe, is up. But I think that with folks really struggling to pay their mortgage each month, it's harder and harder to find time to volunteer for those things.
I think that companies that give their employees time to volunteer is really key, so that folks can have that extra moment to do that. And I think that finding opportunities for families or for, you know, your friends to get together and go, maybe work at a food bank for one day is really important, because the research also shows that people give to people. People give when they're asked and people give to people. So, they want to have that personal interaction. And nonprofits that can leverage that will succeed ultimately.
SMITH: Laura Hennighausen, thank you so much for joining us here on CNN.
HENNIGHAUSEN: Thank you.
SMITH: Appreciate it. Well, Chevy Chase helped define a generation of comedy from his early days on "Saturday Night Live," to movie stardom. The CNN film, "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT," explores the life and career of this comedy icon. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE A huge fan, Mr. Chase. A huge fan.
CHEVY CHASE, ACTOR: Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you like a signed picture?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have one available?
CHASE: I might. I might have one.
MARTIN SHORT, ACTOR: We were at the AFI tribute to Gregory Peck. Way, way in the corner, Mary Hart was interviewing someone live. And Chevy said, I wonder if I can hit her with this roll.
[09:55:00]
And he whipped it as far as he could and hit her right in the head in the middle of the thing. And then he had to sit down like a kid.
KEVIN NEALON, ACTOR: I was at an event. And this young caterer came up with a tray full of chocolate mousse, like shots of chocolate mousse. And she went, you guys like some chocolate mousse? And Chevy looked at it and he stuck his finger in one, no, thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT" premieres New Year's day at 8 p.m. eastern, and the next day on the CNN app. Thanks so much for joining me. This hour. We have more headlines coming up shortly after the break.
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