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Connect the World

Australian Leaders Vow to Toughen Gun Laws After Shooting; Rob Reiner & Wife Dead, Police Investigating Apparent Homicide; Person of Interest in Brown University Shooting Released; Trump Vows Retaliation After Ambush in Syria Kills 3 Americans; Mahomes Hurt as Chiefs Eliminated from Playoff Contention. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired December 15, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This has been the scene throughout the day at Sydney's Bondi Beach. Hundreds paying tributes to the

victims of the country's worst mass shooting in decades. It's now 01:00 a.m. in Sydney. It is 06:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos. This

is "Connect the World".

Also coming up shock over the deaths of Hollywood star Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele. The latest we know on the investigation is coming up live

from Los Angeles. We'll bring you that story. And major police search underway for the shooter who opened fire at Brown University.

We have all of the details for you coming up this hour. I want to check in on how the futures in New York are faring. We're around 30 minutes away

from market open. As you can see, we're all green. Everything is in positive territory. You've got the NASDAQ up six tenths of a percent, the

DOW half a percent higher.

And the reason that we're seeing so much excitement and a push forward is because there's anticipation for the jobs report. The non-farm payrolls for

the month of November are going to be released tomorrow. And also, the big weight on the October retail sales that was delayed because of a government

shutdown in the United States.

Investors will finally have a handle on how investors are going to be faring with regards to the consumer numbers, those are going to be vital.

And we'll check in on those numbers in around 30 minutes from now. In the meantime, we start with the latest details on Australia's deadliest mass

shooting in almost 30 years, which is eliciting a promise by the government to toughen the country's already strict gun laws.

The shooting happened at Bondi Beach during a celebration at the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. At least 15 people were killed.

Now, the youngest, 10 years old, the oldest, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, 27 people remain hospitalized. Police say the shooters were a

father and son.

They opened fire from a bridge overlooking the celebration. The father, who police say held a recreational hunting license is dead, the son is in

hospital. The shooting comes amid warnings of a rising tide of antisemitism in Australia. The prime minister spoke about that earlier Monday. Take a

listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of terror, an act of antisemitism, an attack on

the first day of Hanukkah targeted at the Jewish community, a dark day in Australia's history on what should have been a day of light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, as I mentioned, Australia's leaders are promising to toughen the path to gun ownership. Angus Watson looks at how the shooting could

have happened in a country with some of the strictest gun control laws in the world. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): The horrific violence against Sydney's Jewish community and crowds Bondi Beach on Sunday, the worst mass

shooting in Australia since 1996, when 35 people were killed by a lone gunman at Port Arthur in Tasmania. That attack prompted the center right

government of the time to enact some of the world's strictest gun laws. Rates of gun violence plummeted.

JOHN HOWARD, FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: And the whole country just reeled for days afterwards, and the overwhelming feeling was, this is

terrible. We had to do something about it.

WATSON (voice-over): A multimillion dollar buy back scheme was put in place with a short amnesty period before guns were made illegal, except under

license with strict conditions. Semi-automatic weapons like the one used at Port Arthur are completely banned. But the guns turned on children,

families and the elderly, as they celebrated Hanukkah on Sunday were owned legally.

A 50-year-old suspect killed at the scene held permits to six long barreled guns. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese now says that one response

to this tragedy must be to tighten gun laws further.

ALBANESE: The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws.

WATSON (voice-over): The Australian government has shown it can legislate to curb gun violence. People here in Bondi are demanding an end to

antisemitism along with it. Angus Watson, CNN at Sydney's Bondi Beach.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Right, Will Ripley joins us now from Sydney for more details. Well, it's absolutely devastating to hear some of these stories and what

transpired there. And also, I see behind you, many flowers have been laid a memorial growing. This attack carried out by father and son.

[09:05:00]

We're learning more details about these perpetrators. Give us a sense of what authorities are discovering.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, the authorities have been very busy. In the immediate hours after the attack, they went to

a house here in Sydney, and police raided that house. They ended up bringing out three people, two women, one man, believed to be family

members of this father and son.

The father moved here to Australia back in 1988. He came first on a student visa, and then around the year 2001 that was transferred to a partner visa.

His son was born here, and his son went to school here. His son, reportedly at one point, was studying the Quran and studying Arabic with a teacher

here who has actually gone on Facebook to publicly condemn this act of violence and distance himself, disassociate himself from this young man.

No idea, authorities say, yet, at least not publicly, how these two were radicalized. In addition to raiding that house, where the family members

were taken out and briefly detained and then they wouldn't return to their home, and they basically have closed the blinds and been camped out in the

house all day, the police went to an Airbnb, a rental property where the father and son were believed to be staying in recent days.

Neighbors told us that the tactical police came basically ordered everybody in that house to leave. People that were staying at the rental house. There

were five or six different separate rooms that were rented out separately. They had to pack up their belongings and get out.

We know that the father was killed on the scene. There's that video of a very heroic Muslim, unarmed bystander, basically without any consideration

for his own safety, just approaching the father as he held the rifle in his hand, grabbing it from him, pointing the rifle at him, not firing, but

getting the father to walk away and go back to that bridge over there where his son was.

That's where he was. The father was shot and killed by police. The son was shot and critically injured, but he is at the hospital, expected to survive

and being closely guarded by police at this hour, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, well, horrific images, you know, as the story develops. But Will, I want to talk about the mood there right now. And from our

understanding that Bondi Beach is Jewish population is 34 times Australia's average. And importantly, there has been a rise in antisemitic attacks.

I'm sure the community is, you know, feeling the pain right now as we get more details on the victims as well.

RIPLEY: Yeah, you know, it's the first -- you know, first days of summer here in Australia, and yet it doesn't feel like it yesterday. It was warm

and sunny today. You can probably see the rain coming down on my glasses here. It's a cold, biting gray feeling. There's a real sadness that has

swept in.

And of course, you can see all of these flowers and these candles behind me. We just chatted a few minutes ago with a young man who wanted to tell

us about his roommate, 27-year-old French football player named Dan Elkayam. And Dan and his roommate came here. His roommate says his car is

still parked behind the police tape.

He can't get to it. They came here, and his roommate had just stepped away for a few minutes and was actually standing right up that ramp there when

the shots started coming. The gun fire started, and he says that his roommate, who was here with his girlfriend, his roommate, was hit in the

head and died on the scene.

And as you know, the number of dead has now climbed up to 15. There were two rabbis who were killed. We actually spoke with the brother-in-law of

one of the rabbis, who said that he was also killed as he was trying to run towards the gun and trying to help other people get away.

There was also, tragically, a 10-year-old girl who was killed. We were told that she is the daughter of Russian immigrants who, like many of the

immigrants in this community and many immigrants here in Australia, came here seeking a safer and better life. We also interviewed earlier today, a

Palestinian man who took some of the most dramatic video of the shooting itself and people running for safety.

He says he moved here back when he was a teenager, hoping to escape the kind of violence that he witnessed on the west bank as a child, and a lot

of people, of course, clinging to hope here, because one of the heroes of this story that that Muslim man, Ahmad Al Ahmed, who put his own life aside

to save other lives, and they believe he saved many lives by taking the rifle away from the shooter.

So, it seems as if people from all corners of this community, people who are Jewish, people who are Muslim, they are together. They're joined in

many ways in their grief, but there's been a lot of concern about antisemitism. And in fact, the roommate that we were speaking with was

showing me some screenshots, Eleni from his Instagram.

And even though he's been posting on Instagram about the death of somebody close to him who he loved, he says, his inbox, his DMs have been full of

hateful messages, including people saying to burn in hell.

[09:10:00]

GIOKOS: It's devastating. Will, really, absolutely haring as you say, youngest victim, 10-year-old girl and oldest, 87-year-old Holocaust

survivor. Thank you so much for bringing the story, and of course, we'll check in with you in the next hour. Thank you. So, we also following a

developing story out of the Hollywood and the entertainment industry.

And it's mourning the loss of a legend after actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, were found dead in their California home, Sunday. The

source telling CNN, a family member discovered the couple. Los Angeles police detectives are investigating what they call an apparent homicide,

but did not provide any other details in a late-night news conference. Take a listen to what we know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN HAMILTON, LAPD DEPUTY CHIEF: Our detectives will be responding, along with our forensic science division and our technical investigation division

investigators to conduct a full crime scene investigation and determine the appropriateness of the investigation moving forward.

At this time, the Los Angeles Police Department is not seeking anyone as a suspect or as a person of interest or in any other manner. And we will not

be doing that until we conduct our investigation and we move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right, let's get the latest from CNN Stephanie Elam. She's live in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Great to have you with us.

Stephanie, an important story that we're tracking today. So, authorities waiting for that search warrant of Rob Reiner's house. What do we know

about the investigation right now? Any new details that have emerged?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Eleni, what's happening right now is that we've been out here overnight, and the police just cleared out the

tape and said that they're opening up the road in front of the Reiner household. So, there's a lot of movement out here right now, as people are

trying to make their way closer, that probably means that they were able to execute that search warrant, but we do not have that confirmed at this

point.

We know that they were looking to do this. We know that the couple was discovered in the late afternoon, local time yesterday. So, all of that

leading to so many questions. And the number one question, who did this and why? Two questions we still don't have the answers to, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, OK, so he's also being remembered for the mark that he's left on Hollywood and beyond, as both an actor as well as director, he was also

known for his active role in politics. Give me a sense of his legacy.

ELAM: Yeah, you know, you hear someone's being called the titan of the industry. But that really does apply to Rob Reiner. He came to fame as an

actor and then went on to direct some of the movies that many of us still quote to this day. In fact, take a longer look at the life of Rob Reiner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB REINER, AMERICAN FILM ACTOR AND DIRECTOR: I've often said, you know, no matter what happens to me, I'll always be, you know, I could win the Nobel

Prize. They'll say Meathead wins Nobel.

ELAM (voice-over): Rob Reiner needn't have worried. Yes, he was known for playing Meathead on "All in the Family", but his career had a remarkable

second act as a successful and versatile film director from the mid-80s to the early 90s, Reiner had a phenomenal run directing a diverse range of

films. He practically invented the mockumentary with his musical comedy, "This Is Spinal Tap".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The numbers all go to a 11.

ELAM (voice-over): There was the Stephen King coming of age story, stand by me, and the modern fairy tale, "The Princess Bride".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepared to die.

ELAM (voice-over): And the classic romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally", which had that famous line delivered by his mom, Estelle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll have what she's having.

ELAM (voice-over): Another Stephen King adaptation, "Misery" earned an Oscar for leading lady Kathy Bates. Well, his military courtroom drama, "A

Few Good Men" had this famous exchange between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want the truth. You can't handle the truth.

ELAM (voice-over): Rob, son of TV comedy pioneer Carl Reiner found it a challenge to step out from his father's shadow.

REINER: Getting in the door is important but having staying power and being able to sustain a career, at least on the level of or exceed your famous

father and mother, is very, very difficult. I mean, you're under an enormous pressure and scrutiny.

ELAM (voice-over): He first earned fame in his own right as the liberal Mike Stivic on the ground breaking 1970s TV sitcom, "All in the Family".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just don't like the idea of America fighting an illegal and immoral war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if they don't like it, they can lump it.

ELAM (voice-over): Stivic's arguments with his conservative, bigoted father-in-law, Archie Bunker, were a hallmark of the show as they debated

politics, social and cultural issues through comedy.

[09:15:00]

The show earned Reiner two Emmy Awards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The subjects you took on and the way that you approached them, and we're talking the 70s, were unheard of in television at the time.

REINER: Yeah, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much resistance did you all get from CBS?

REINER: Tremendous resistance. At first, when the first, the show first came on, they had a huge disclaimer that preceded the show. It was

basically the show doesn't reflect the views of the network blah blah. Basically, it was saying, we don't know how the show got on.

ELAM (voice-over): Like his "All in the Family" character, Reiner was passionate about progressive candidates and causes. He supported Democratic

presidential candidates and was an advocate for free preschool education. Reiner would occasionally step back in front of the camera for small roles

in films like "Sleepless in Seattle".

REINER: Tiramisu?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is tiramisu?

REINER: You'll find out.

ELAM (voice-over): Rob Reiner was a character in his own right with an enduring body of work that reflects his generation's humor and passion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (on camera): Such a devastating loss, and we're hearing from so many celebrities, both in the political world and also people that he directed

and worked with, using words saying that they were heartbroken and devastated by this loss that is still not really being processed by people

here in Los Angeles and throughout the greater Hollywood community.

GIOKOS: Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for that update. Well, still to come on the show, investigators have released their only person of interest

in Saturday's deadly shooting at Brown University, where will the police investigation go from here? Plus, President Zelenskyy's peace talks with

the United States have wrapped up in Berlin.

But what exactly has been achieved, will bring you the details right after this. Stick with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: In Providence, Rhode Island, the search for a suspect is in its third day after a mass shooting at Brown University left two people dead.

Police still looking for the attacker after releasing a person of interest late Sunday night. Here's more from the Mayor of Providence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND MAYOR: We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community. And we want to reiterate what we

said earlier, which remains true, which is ever since the initial call, now a day and a half ago, we have not received any credible or specific threats

to the Providence community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Take a look at this video. Police believe the person you see here in this surveillance video is the shooter. The footage showing the person

dress in black, walking away from the scene of the shooting on Saturday. CNN's Brian Todd is following the story for us from Providence, Rhode

Island.

So, Brian, here's the thing we've got this details, very short clip, a man wearing black. They released a person of interest on Sunday night because

of lack of evidence.

[09:20:00]

Where are they with the investigation? The reality is that the killer is still on the run as we speak.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Eleni, the killer is still on the run as we speak, and it seems, by every indication that they are back to square

one in this investigation, an extraordinary turn of events overnight, Sunday night, when they announced that they had to release the person of

interest who they had taken into custody early Sunday morning after --

And after processing a lot of evidence, by the way, relating to that person, they determined that, that evidence just didn't point them in the

right direction, and they released that person of interest. Now, as for the hunt for the killer, it does seem like they are at a point of frustration

here, but they're sending different signals on this.

You mentioned that piece of video, the surveillance video. It's about a 10 second piece of surveillance video. The Police Chief, Oscar Perez, was

asked about that, and whether that was, in fact, the person who they are looking for or not. Take a listen to what the police chief said on that.

And then just after that, the State Attorney General, Peter Neronha, speaks up about that. Take a listen to that section of the news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR PEREZ, POLICE CHIEF OF PROVIDENCE: What we saw in the video is the person we're looking for, correct?

PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: I would describe that person as a person of interest. So, there are a lot of unknowns in this case, and

that's one unknown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So that is where they are. There's one person that's the person of interest that they're saying, that person that is seen walking around the

corner dressed in black, but they clearly don't have a very good look at him. And what they also alluded to was that they're at least publicly,

they're saying that they really don't have much video evidence that, that piece of evidence that you saw, that 10 second clip, is pretty much the

best piece of surveillance video that they have.

They seem to be frustrated by that the Attorney General, Peter Neronha, was pressed on that, like, why don't you have more surveillance video, possibly

showing this guy? And he said, look, there just wasn't much, there weren't many cameras in the building. He said it's an old building attached to a

new building, and there aren't many cameras in there and he seemed to be a little bit frustrated with that aspect of it as well, Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Brian Todd, thank you so much for that update. Well, as this investigation continues, we're hearing from more Brown students a

short time ago, CNN's John Berman, spoke with one of them about his chilling experience on the day of the shooting. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLE FRANCIS, SENIOR AT BROWN UNIVERSITY: I don't feel safe here whatsoever. I tried to spend most of the night in community with other

folks, other students that had experienced similar effects to what happened on Saturday, but then beyond that, it's just me alone.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Being alone is hard in situations like this. Is always good to lean on your friends in the community, if you can.

So, Saturday, it was finals here. You were studying in this building behind us. Walk me through what happened?

FRANCIS: Yes, so I was actually embarrassing -- for most of the day, studying for my finals, I found a private classroom to study in with my

friend. And then all of a sudden, we started hearing like a popping noise. It almost sounded like the door was -- like a door was banging multiple

times over and over we tried to get out of the window.

The windows don't open, so then we had to bolt out of a door and try to exit as quickly as we could, not really knowing what was going on, but just

ultimately glad that we were in safety. We saw the first few police cars pull up, and knew that this wasn't just a random occurrence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: On Sunday, President Trump spoke at the White House about the multiple tragedies that have taken place over the last few days. CNN's

Julia Benbrook has the details.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump is offering his condolences, his thoughts and prayers to those impacted by several tragic

events that took place this weekend. During a pre-planned holiday party here at the White House, he opened remarks by speaking about the shooting

at Brown University as well as the deadly attack that took place in Australia. We want to play you what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I want to just pay my respects to the people. Unfortunately, two are no longer with us. Brown

University, nine injured, and two are looking down on us right now from heaven. And likewise, in Australia, as you know, that was a terrible

attack, and that was an antisemitic attack, obviously, and it I just want to pay my respects to everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:25:00]

BENBROOK: He also spoke about a deadly attack that took place in Syria over the weekend. It left two U.S. army soldiers and one civilian interpreter

dead, as well as three others wounded. Trump has referred to this as an ambush attack. He said it was an ISIS attack against the United States and

Syria, and he has vowed retaliation.

In fact, in these recent remarks, he said, quote, a lot of damage will be done to the people who did it. Now these remarks like I said, they came

during a pre-planned holiday party. And after this somber beginning, he did pivot his comments to more campaign style rhetoric.

He was introducing notable attendees speaking about his golf game, he took at least one dig at his predecessor as he touted his administration's work

so far. At the end of those remarks, First Lady Melania Trump also spoke though about those that were impacted by these tragedies, saying that she

is thinking of them, adding quote, my heart is with them. Julie Benbrook, CNN, the White House.

GIOKOS: Still to come on "Connect the World" as peace talks between the U.S. and Ukraine wrap up in Berlin. Will unpack what the delegations have

discussed and what's next on President Zelenskyy's agenda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos live in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching, "Connect the World". These are your headlines. Australia's Prime

Minister says his government will move to toughen gun control laws after a mass shooting on Sydney's Bondi Beach killed at least 15 people.

Victims were celebrating the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Police say the shooters were a father and a son who targeted people

from a nearby bridge. The father is dead. The son is in the hospital awaiting charges. Police in Rhode Island have released a man detained in

connection with Saturday's deadly shooting at Brown University.

Officials say they had followed a tip to detain the person of interest, but evidence now points in a different direction. The search for a suspect

continues. And these 37 people have died after flooding hit Morocco's Port City of Safi on Sunday night. Rescue teams are working in the city, about

330 kilometers south of Rabat.

All schools are closed because of heavy rain. Police are investigating what they call an apparent homicide after legendary Hollywood Actor and Director

Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead in their California home, Sunday. The LAPD says they're not speaking or seeking, rather, any suspects

at this point.

[09:30:00]

All right, we're a few seconds away from the start of trade in. New York, and, of course, quite a bit of excitement leading into this week, and it's

all going to do with two major economic reports that I anticipated tomorrow, the non-farm payrolls for November, as well as retail sales.

And there you have it. That is the opening well in New York. So, the economic data that we're expected to be released this week are going to

really drive market sentiments. And importantly, after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent, a lot of investors are

waiting to see the economic signs that interest rate cut was, in fact, warranted.

Let's take a look to see how the DOW JONES is faring. And as you can see, it is up three tenths of a percent. NASDAQ, also sitting in green territory

as well as S&P up around a quarter of a percent. All right, now we move to Berlin, where peace talks between the United States and Ukraine delegations

have wrapped up after two days of discussions at the table where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and German

leaders.

Witkoff insists that a lot of progress was made over the weekend, but the work isn't done for President Zelenskyy, who is meeting with European

leaders later today to continue those talks. I want to get more of a sense on this. We've got CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who joins us live from Berlin.

And Fred, good to have you with us. So, the United States wants to see some major concessions from Ukraine, to cede some of its territory to Russia.

Importantly, Zelenskyy is in conversation with the United States, with Steve Witkoff, but also needs to achieve certain elements with the European

counterparts. How is this all going to land?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Eleni, one of the things that you definitely feel here on the ground in

Berlin is that the talks are very high stakes that went on in the Chancellery that you see behind me. And you're absolutely right, those are

definitely some of the key issues that appear to have been very difficult for the parties involved.

And if you look at the talks, they are quite interesting because they are mediated by the German side, but essentially, especially the ones last

night, essentially happened between the U.S. delegation and the delegation of the Ukrainians, led by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Now the latest that we're getting from inside those talks is that there has been progress made. As Steve Witkoff put it, there are, of course, still

some very major questions that are on the table, and certainly some very difficult questions that are on the table as far as possible, NATO

membership by the Ukrainians.

It seems as though, for now, that is off the table for the Ukrainians, certainly a concession that they appear to have made. But the territorial

issue about whether or not the Ukrainians make any territorial concessions, and what those territorial concessions look like, whether they would

officially give up those territories or simply freeze the front lines.

That is something where there does not appear to have been a lot of headway made. And of course, one of the things that we have to keep in mind with

everything that's being talked about here is that the Russians, for their part, would also have to sign on to any sort of agreement.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the Envoys of the U.S. President Donald Trump, would at some point, of course, brief the Russians on that issue and

see whether or not the Russians would be in the court. So far, the Russians do not appear to indicate that they are willing to make major compromises

on that issue.

One thing that I think is important about these talks, though, is that the Germans are saying that they believe that these talks have been quite

successful, simply for the fact that they brought the western side of the equation, the U.S., the U.S.'s NATO allies and also the Ukrainians back

together to speaking once again to try and sort out the issues that they've had, even though, of course, they understand that it is still a rocky and

very difficult road forward to actually end the fighting in Ukraine, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, all right. So, I mean, you mentioned Mark Rutte the NATO Chief also heading to Berlin, those talks are going to be significant.

Ukraine, obviously, is seeking at some point NATO membership. I'm sure NATO members and Europeans are watching very closely as to what if Ukraine is

going to be giving up any kind of territory, because that is a risk for Europe as well. So, what are you expecting to be discussed at this meeting?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, there is going to be one more very large meeting coming up later today, and I think that is going to be a very key one, because what

we've seen so far is we've seen these bilateral talks between the U.S. delegation and the Ukrainian delegation that were actually mediated by the

Germans.

And now what you've had here over the past couple of hours is a lot of European heads of government and heads of state coming in, the leadership

of NATO coming in, but then also the European institutions, and all of them are going to have a very large meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the

President of Ukraine, but also with the United States delegation, with Steve Witkoff and with Jared Kushner as well.

And whether or not some sort of agreement can be reached there, is going to be interesting to see, and whether or not we're going to hear what sort of

results are going to come out of that. But certainly, of course, all of them want to hear where things stand, how things can move forward and

whether or not some sort of agreement can be made that could then be presented to the Russian side and see whether or not they would be willing

to play ball and come to some sort of agreement.

[09:35:00]

The territorial issue is definitely the most important one for the Ukrainians, and certainly also the most contentious one. Right now, the

latest that we have been hearing, for instance, from the Russian side is that they certainly don't want to make any sort of concession to the

Ukrainians as far as that is concerned.

They certainly want those areas that have been talked about, Donetsk and Luhansk, and they certainly want to freeze the conflict in other areas. But

they say they want that to happen officially, and that doesn't appear to be something that the Ukrainians are willing to do.

GIOKOS: Yeah, all right. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much. Well, the Kansas City Chiefs will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014 but that

wasn't the worst part of their day. We've got more on that story up next. Stick with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Britain is bubbling. The English winery Domaine Evremond has released its first vintage of English sparkling wine. One dismissed -- once

dismissed as a curiosity, English bubbly has become fashionable. Laura Jackson, host of CNN "Seasons" series, travels to Kent to meet the team

during harvest and learns what it takes to bring French champagne heritage to English soil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA JACKSON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Spread over 120 hectares, this is Domaine Evremond, the English home of champagne house Taittinger. Harvest

is in full swing, and it runs like clockwork, under the watchful eye of Vineyard Director, Christelle Rinville.

JACKSON: This is harvesting week?

CHRISTELLE RINVILLE, VINEYARD DIRECTOR OF CHAMPAGNE TAITTINGER: RINVILLE: Yeah.

JACKSON: Everything is done by hand.

RINVILLE: We always pick grape by hand.

JACKSON: OK.

RINVILLE: It's very important for us.

JACKSON (voice-over): The estate grows three different grape varieties, all brought from France, just like Taittinger's expertise, Christelle leads the

operation with a passion that comes with nearly 30 years of experience and a work ethic to match.

RINVILLE: Now it's time to work.

JACKSON: OK.

RINVILLE: Welcome.

JACKSON: I get a bottle of sparkling afterwards, right for all my hard work.

RINVILLE: Yeah, yeah, you need it.

JACKSON: OK. So, pick it what --

[09:40:00]

RINVILLE: So, take your second toes and your basket.

JACKSON: Yep. OK.

RINVILLE: OK.

JACKSON: -- great, seems quite simple.

RINVILLE: And be careful with your finger.

JACKSON: OK, Ouch.

RINVILLE: Oh, no.

JACKSON: Joking.

RINVILLE: No, no, no.

JACKSON: How many days do the pickers work for to get all of the grapes here?

RINVILLE: Between one week and 10 days.

JACKSON: It's so therapeutic.

JACKSON (voice-over): Taittinger, a house with almost three centuries of heritage planted these vines in 2017, becoming the first champagne house to

bet on Britain for sparkling wine production. Company President Vitalie Taittinger is determined to honor the family's legacy while creating

something unique to this region.

VITALIE TAITTINGER, PRESIDENT OF CHAMPAGNE TAITTINGER: The aim of the adventure was not to imitate Taittinger. You have in the Kent kind of some

composition of soil, you have a lot of chalk, you find a lot of flits, and this is the same in Champagne. That's why, also we have chosen this place.

JACKSON (voice-over): Their timing proved to be crucial with climate change reshaping growing conditions, vineyards have quadrupled here since 2000.

And viticulture is now Britain's fastest growing agricultural sector.

PATRICK MCGRATH, CO-FOUNDER OF DOMAINE EVREMOND: I've known what's going on in the English wine industry for a long time, and the fact that passenger

chose to get involved with us was fantastic news, I think, good news for the English wine industry

as well.

JACKSON (voice-over): As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

JACKSON: Cheers.

MCGRATH: Cheers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. Sunday's game went from bad to worse for the Kansas City Chiefs, they lost to knock them out of play, of contention, and they also

lost their star quarterback in the process. Coy Wire joining me now. I mean, I was taking a look. This is the third las in a row for them.

Pretty dramatic. I think people asking the question, if this is the end of an NFL dynasty? Too dramatic?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Is it the end of a dynasty? Is it just a pause in the dynasty? But this scene right here, this

injury to the all-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes absolutely heartbreaking, not just for the team, but for fans, right?

GIOKOS: Yeah.

WIRE: The -- NFL fans in general have seen these chiefs making the playoffs every year since 2014 and that's not going to happen now, after that loss,

and Mahome's posted on social media his response, we're going to hear more about what this might mean, is it an end to the dynasty?

Is it a pause in the dynasty? We'll have an expert analyst to come in and break it all down for us on "World Sport" coming up in just a bit.

GIOKOS: Yeah. Well, I look forward to that update. I mean, I know that Patrick Mahomes saying it hurts. I'm sure you go through his social media

updates, really dramatic, but Coy, good to see you. We'll check you out after the break. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more news. Stay

with CNN.

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

END