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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Trump: U.S. Military Struck ISIS Terrorists in Nigeria; New Storms Slam California with Flooding, Rain, High Winds; Zelenskyy Praises 'Very Good' Christmas Day Talks with U.S.; Jackman and Hudson Star in 'Song Sung Blue'. Aired 12-12:30a ET

Aired December 26, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE STORY IS. I'm Kim Brunhuber, in for Elex Michaelson.

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Tonight, the top story is U.S. President Donald Trump sending what he calls a powerful message to members of the Islamic State in Nigeria.

U.S. Africa Command says a military strike has killed multiple terrorists in coordination with Nigerian authorities. The Defense Department released video of what appears to be a missile launched from a ship. The president says it struck, quote, "terrorist scum" in the Northwestern Nigerian state on the border with Niger.

The president went on to say, quote, "I have previously warned these terrorists that, if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay. And tonight, there was."

An adviser to Nigeria's president tells CNN the U.S. and Nigeria are on the same page in the fight against terrorism.

All right. Joining me now, CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Good to see you again. Thank you so much for being here with us.

So, when you see a strike like this one, walk us through what this operation probably looked like. What -- what sort of assets are we likely talking about here?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Kim, good evening. It's good to be with you. One of the things that we look at, of course, is that video that you just showed. And that was a destroyer launching a Tomahawk missile.

So, what appears to be going on here is the launch of Tomahawk missiles against these targets in Sokoto state, which is on that Northwestern border of Nigeria with the country of Niger.

And what this -- what this means is that we're using, basically, stand-off weapons to go after terrorist targets. We do know that there are terrorist encampments, ISIS-related

encampments in that area, and the intelligence work that was done in preparation for this attack probably cataloged where those places were, the type of traffic that was going in and out of those places, and possibly even assess the number of terrorists that were associated with each of these areas.

So, depending on the number of targets actually struck and the number of casualties, it really is something that remains to be seen, how big a situation this was, how effective this strike was.

But the basic idea was they found a strike, they found an area to go after, and they hit that target.

BRUNHUBER: You talk about preparation there. I mean, the president announced the strike from Mar-a-Lago on Christmas night. From a -- from a military planning perspective, how long would an operation like this have been in the works?

I mean, was this something that was, say, you know, opportunistic or something they'd been preparing for a while, do you think?

LEIGHTON: It looks like it took -- it was something that was not opportunistic. In other words, it took a while for it to actually be finalized and to select the targets.

We know that the U.S. did conduct reconnaissance missions over large portions of Nigeria, probably including the Northwestern area. And that is really where they found a possible set of targets to go after.

So, generally, what happens in cases like this, Kim, is that they find a set of targets. They then pick the ones that are the best, the most effective to strike, and the ones that they have, the weapons systems that they can use to strike those targets. So, that's what it appears to be in this particular case.

And I think the planning effort probably was something that took place over the last several weeks, possibly, you know, almost a month ago when the president of the United States announced that he was going after these kinds of targets. It stands to reason that the planning probably started at about that time.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right. So, you mentioned a little while ago, we don't know the number of casualties, of course, but knowing what you know about the groups involved, how they operate, would these types of strikes, you know, work in terms of making a meaningful dent on the groups and improving the situation in terms of security for -- for Nigerians?

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's a really good question, because the way most of these strikes work is that they need to be part of a larger campaign. And what we're not seeing here is that larger campaign.

So, I think it could disrupt ISIS operations in the short term. But the long-term issues that surround violence in Nigeria are extremely complex. And it's not just a religious war that's going on there or a religious conflict.

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But what's happening there are economic issues, economic conflicts. There's a lot of violence associated with criminality. So, there are a lot of different factors here.

And in this particular case, I don't think there is a basic campaign plan, either from the U.S. or from the Nigerians, that would basically have included these Tomahawk missile strikes in that campaign plan.

This is kind of an added feature that could be used for a campaign against these terrorist groups, but I'm not sure that that is actually the step -- the step that has been taken in this case.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. The situation, as you say, very complex there. And yet to see whether this will have any meaningful effect.

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, thanks so much for speaking with us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Kim. Thanks for having me.

BRUNHUBER: Turkish police have launched major anti-terror raids across the country, detaining at least 115 suspected members of ISIS.

Authorities say they were plotting attacks linked to Christmas and New Year's celebrations, and were targeting non-Muslims.

Istanbul prosecutors say operations to apprehend another 22 suspects are ongoing. Police say so far they've seized guns, ammunition, and organizational documents.

Now, Turkey regularly ramps up counterterrorism operations around year's end, particularly since an ISIS attack on an Istanbul nightclub killed dozens of people during New Year's celebrations in 2017.

California is bracing for new, potentially life-threatening storms in the coming hours.

On Christmas day, a line of severe thunderstorms moved into the Northeastern part of the state, with winds gusting more than 70 miles per hour, or about 112 kilometers per hour. Flooding and rain put about 15 million people at risk on Christmas day in several counties in Southern California, including Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties.

The heavy rain created mudslides, rockslides, debris flows, especially where the ground has been scorched by recent wildfires.

Now, some people are under evacuation warnings and orders because of the widespread flooding. Weather-related incidents in California have killed at least two people this week.

For more on this, I want to bring in Captain Adam VanGerpen, who's with the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Good to see you again. Thank you so much for speaking with us.

We've -- we've now had record rainfall over the past 48 hours. I mean, talk to me about what you're seeing on the ground right now in terms of the damage and so on.

CAPTAIN ADAM VANGERPEN, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Yes. So, you're correct. Yesterday, Christmas Eve, was our largest the most amount of rain that we've had since 1971.

So, on the ground right now, we do have -- we've extended our mandatory warnings to -- for people to shelter in place. We also are -- have some evacuation orders that have been given.

And we are anticipating that there is a large storm cell that is moving into the area, and it's going to be a direct hit for the Pacific Palisades area, where we had our recent burn scar.

So, we're monitoring that very closely. We're at our emergency operations center, where we've been here since the 23rd, round the clock, monitoring the situation.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. I mean, you and I spoke yesterday about those burn scars in, you know, the Palisades and because of the Eaton Fire and so on. I mean, getting hit already before, now in the target of more storms.

I mean, talk to me specifically about what you're seeing in those areas and how bad the debris flow situation is there.

VANGERPEN: Yes. So, we did have to perform one helicopter rescue where we also -- some of our dams are at their capacity. So, they're letting some of the water out of some of the dams up in our valley area.

So, we did have to perform one rescue yesterday, using our helicopter in a hoist operation. But we are seeing some debris that's been coming over the freeways. We've been monitoring it in Ventura county, just North of us, where they did have some flooding on the 101 Freeway.

So, we're watching that to make sure that we don't have that happen here. If we -- if it does, we can notify people immediately.

So, it's -- our firefighters are out on patrol. We have additional fire resources we have that have off-roading capability that were provided to us from -- from the state. So, we have five additional engines that are out there.

Our swift water teams are standing by, and we're anticipating the cell coming through, in the later evening hours.

BRUNHUBER: I mean, what you're describing, I mean, so many resources, they must be getting stretched. And then, we're hearing that some people who were told to shelter in place or evacuate. I mean, they ended up needing to be rescued anyway, because they weren't necessarily listening to the instructions. I mean, how frustrating is that?

VANGERPEN: Well, we tell people that it's -- whenever we -- these are specific homes that were identified to be the most at threat.

So, we -- actually, our LAPD police officers,, when they did door knocking, they left fliers on there. They made every attempt to get a hold of people.

Many of the people did not want to leave. They say they've been through this before. But what we tell people is that we can't predict what's going to happen with nature.

So, we're getting a large influx. We're anticipating we could have up to an inch and a half tonight, which is on top of what we've already had.

So, the ground is already saturated, so we just really want people to know that, if you get an order to evacuate, you need to heed that and leave immediately, because there could be a mud and debris flow heading your way.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Super important advice for people to heed out there. An inch and a half more rain. The last thing you needed. We'll stay in touch. Adam VanGerpen in Los Angeles. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

VANGERPEN: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Ukrainians say they're bringing back Christmas traditions not seen for decades. Have a look.

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BRUNHUBER: People sang Christmas carols on the streets Thursday during a holiday march in Kyiv.

Now, those stars you see there are traditional Christmas symbols in Ukraine. And they say those symbols were suppressed when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Some marchers attached the names of fallen soldiers to the stars to honor their sacrifice. Meanwhile -- meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a very good conversation with U.S. peace negotiators on Christmas day. But as Nada Bashir reports, the reality on the ground was anything but peaceful.

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NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In his annual Christmas address to the nation, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid tribute to those on the front line as well as those celebrating the holidays away from home. Praying for peace in Ukraine.

But he also drew focus to Russia's continued assault on the country.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): On Christmas eve, the Russians once again showed us who they really are. Massive shelling, hundreds of Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, Kinzhal missiles. Everything was used. This is how godless people strike. This is what those who have absolutely nothing in common with Christianity or with anything human do. But we are holding on.

BASHIR: Christmas day in Ukraine was marked by yet another large-scale attack by Russia --

BASHIR (voice-over): -- targeting a market in the center of Kherson. At least one person is reported to have been killed, according to a regional military official.

The attack comes despite apparent indications of progress in peace talks. Zelenskyy this week signaled his willingness to make concessions on several key negotiation points, most crucially, concessions on withdrawing troops from parts of --

BASHIR: -- the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control.

In return, Russia would be expected to also withdraw --

BASHIR (voice-over): -- its forces from parts of Ukraine, effectively ceding control of an equivalent amount of territory and effectively establishing a demilitarized zone.

BASHIR: The proposed withdrawal comes as part of a broader 20-point peace plan hammered out by the U.S. and European allies.

In addition to concessions on territory, Ukraine is also asking for guarantees when it comes to its security and economic recovery --

BASHIR (voice-over): -- through concrete commitments from the U.S., as well as European and NATO states.

BASHIR: Moscow has not offered any details regarding peace talks.

BASHIR (voice-over): However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier this week that the Kremlin would continue --

BASHIR: -- to maintain contact in the near future through existing channels.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.

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BRUNHUBER: We go to the Middle East now, where Israel's defense minister says his country will never withdraw from Gaza.

Israel Katz is calling for the creation of a significant security zone in the enclave, along with militarized outposts in Northern areas.

On Thursday, the defense minister reiterated his support for establishing Israeli settlements in Gaza. Katz's plan would violate the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement reached in October between Israel and Hamas, which states that Israeli forces would eventually fully withdraw from Gaza. Katz's remarks come on the heels of the Israeli government approving

19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank earlier this month. The Israeli security cabinet's decision was condemned by 12 European countries Canada and Japan.

All this comes as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has spiked in recent months.

And Pope Leo is denouncing the suffering in Gaza and calling for the guns to fall silent in Ukraine. He delivered his first Urbi et Orbi, or "to the City and to the World" blessing from the famous balcony at St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas day.

Listen to this.

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POPE LEO XIV, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): From God, let us ask for justice, peace and stability for Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Syria. Trusting in these divine words, the effect of righteousness will be peace; and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.

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BRUNHUBER: The first U.S.-born pope also called for compassion for those who fled their homelands to seek a future in Europe and America.

The Vatican said 6,000 people attended mass inside the basilica, and another 5,000 gathered outside in the soggy square, many carrying umbrellas.

Well, a movie about the music of Neil Diamond. Just ahead, how the new film with Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman is based on a real-life couple who paid tribute to the American singing superstar. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

Millions of people are at risk for new flooding from storms throughout California in the coming hours. Heavy rain has created mudslides, rockslides, and debris flows.

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Thunderstorms set off flash flooding in San Francisco on Christmas day. Tens of thousands of customers are without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

President Trump posted a Christmas message on social media decrying the Jeffrey Epstein controversy. The president called it a radical left witch hunt and said he dropped Epstein before it was fashionable to do so. The Justice Department has released multiple batches of documents

related to the late convicted sex offender, which contains several mentions of President Trump.

Gold is on track to have its best market year since the 1970s. U.S. futures have skyrocketed more than 70 percent this year, and some analysts expect prices to keep rising.

Gold is considered a safety net in times of uncertainty, maintaining its value despite market fluctuations caused by events like the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East, and U.S. tariffs.

Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has endorsed his son's 2026 presidential bid. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro read the endorsement letter from his father outside a hospital where Jair Bolsonaro was receiving treatment.

He says he wants to preserve his father's legacy when he tries to unseat President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next year.

Jair Bolsonaro was temporarily released from prison for a procedure related to injuries from a 2018 stabbing attack.

The former leader was detained in November. He's serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup.

Hollywood royalty Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson star as Lightning and Thunder in a new movie that features the songs of American music legend Neil Diamond.

As CNN's Lynda Kinkade reports, the love story about a tribute band has already garnered awards and nominations for its stars.

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HUGH JACKMAN (SINGING): Tell your mama, girl, we can't stay long.

KATE HUDSON (SINGING): We got things we got to catch up on. Dee dee dee dee dee.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson bringing music and messy, honest love to life in the film "Song Sung Blue," inspired by a true story about a Neil Diamond tribute band.

JACKMAN: I'm not a songwriter. I'm not a sex symbol. I just want to entertain people.

HUDSON: I don't want to be a hairdresser. I want to sing. I want to dance. I want to garden. I want a cat.

KINKADE: What resonated with you and what hit home when you first read the script?

JACKMAN: It's real family showing up with some regrets, with some left turns, with some difficulties. And yet, they're still showing up for each other.

KINKADE: What was the biggest challenge in putting this film together?

JACKMAN: Well, getting it made. Everyone turned this film down except one, Universal Focus.

JACKMAN: We should call ourselves Lightning and Thunder.

KINKADE: And I heard you two felt like a married couple making this movie.

JACKMAN: Yes.

HUDSON: Yes.

KINKADE: How did you build that chemistry?

JACKMAN: It was thankfully easy.

HUDSON: But this love story is central. Like, if it doesn't work, the movie doesn't work. So, it was our job to make sure that we were -- you know, that we had that connection. And thank God it -- thank God it was you.

HUDSON (singing): Take my hand, sweet Lord. Walk with me this day.

KINKADE: Congratulations on your nomination for the Golden Globe.

HUDSON: Thank you very much.

KINKADE: Why do you think this was a bit of a breakout for you in terms of showcasing all of your talents?

HUDSON: Well, I don't think these roles come around very often. There's musicals, and there's, you know, dramatic stories and things like that. But this kind of walks this line of entertainment and drama and art.

KINKADE: You did such a fabulous job at the Milwaukee accent.

HUDSON: I would slip into it sometimes, even -- even when we're doing press.

HUDSON: Just try it.

JACKMAN: I told you, I'm lactose intolerant.

HUDSON: I know, but it's just a little gas.

JACKMAN: I can't eat cheese.

HUDSON: We had a great dialect coach. He kept us in line.

KINKADE: How's Kate's Australian accent?

JACKMAN: It's -- HUDSON: It's awful. It's my -- it's my -- it's my -- it's the hardest one for me.

JACKMAN: Not many people do it well, right.

KINKADE: No, maybe.

HUDSON: No, no.

JACKMAN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): I can't begin to know.

KINKADE: And I loved when I saw you two just pop up at a bar, beer in hand, and start singing.

JACKMAN: It was so great. We went down to Old Mates, which is an Aussie Bar.

HUDSON: Also, what a great bar.

JACKMAN: Yes.

HUDSON: But it's literally like you step into Australia when you're -- I mean, everyone's Australian.

KINKADE: Where do we turn up to for the next performance at a bar?

HUDSON: Well --

JACKMAN: Well, we're touring the world.

KINKADE: Over the holidays and looking forward to 2026, wishes and hopes.

HUDSON: I'm going back to Neil Diamond's house. I've decided I'm spending the holidays with the Diamonds. On cinnamon sticks.

JACKMAN: Goal is to get invited to Kate Hudson's for Christmas. That's the epic Christmas.

KINKADE: That -- that would be gold. Like her family, I just feel like you just want to hug them all.

JACKMAN: It's true.

HUDSON: Oh, well, it depends on if we're playing games. If we're playing games, you won't want to hug us. We get really competitive.

JACKMAN: Really?

HUDSON: My mom leaves the room.

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JACKMAN: There's a line in our movie, "Dream huge." And I wish that for every single one of you for 2026.

JACKMAN (singing): Sweet Caroline. Good times never seemed so good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So good, so good, so good!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So good, so good, so good!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So good, so good, so good!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh boy!

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BRUNHUBER: Oh, that song will be stuck in my head. Great.

Netflix gave "Bridgerton" fans the ultimate Christmas present: a new trailer for season four. Have a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We begin another season.

GOLDA ROSHEUVEL, ACTRESS: I should like great gossip.

NICOLA COUGHLAN, ACTRESS: The social season might look a little different this year.

ROSHEUVEL: No, no, you must begin the proper way.

COUGHLAN: Dearest gentle reader.

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BRUNHUBER: This season follows the second Bridgerton son, Benedict, as he searches for love in a Cinderella retelling. He sets out to uncover the identity of the mysterious lady in silver he meets at a masquerade ball.

New and old faces are returning for season four. The first installment drops January 29, followed by part two on February 26.

All right. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Stay with us. BLUEPRINT MONGOLIA is next.

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