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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Hosts World Leaders At Mar-a-Lago In Push For Peace; FBI, DHS Deepen Investigation Into Alleged Fraud In Minnesota; U.S. Launches New Strike On Suspected Drug Boat; Republicans Begin To Consider 2028 And A Post-Trump Era; Dangerous Winds & Plunging Temps Sweep Parts Of U.S. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 29, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper.

This hour, global diplomacy on the menu at Mar-a-Lago today as President Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the conflict in Gaza. This sit-down coming just hours after a Trump call with Russia's Vladimir Putin, and one day after meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But did these conversations get the U.S. any closer to a peace deal in any of these conflicts?

Plus, more than 20 million Americans under winter weather alerts tonight as a powerful storm sweeps across the country, blizzard conditions, dangerous winds, even tornadoes. We're going live to the CNN Weather Center for an updated forecast.

And wake up and smell the tariffs. The owner of a coffee accessory company says his business is getting roasted by higher import costs. So, what's brewing as we head into the New Year? What about layoffs or higher costs for customers? That's ahead in our small business series.

The Lead tonight, President Trump's Mar-a-Lago at the center of global diplomacy. This morning, President Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just one day after holding high-stakes talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It's part of his push to end Russia's war he once said he could fix in a day. And today, Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hoping to initiate the second phase of a deal that stopped fighting between Israel and Hamas in October.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem, but we start things off with CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, there's a lot to unpack over the course of the last 48 hours, but what's really stood out to you?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's been a ton of diplomacy happening down in Palm Beach while the president is there for the holiday, Phil. But really what stood out to me from this meeting today with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was just how much praise the two leaders lavished on one another. I mean, there weren't major headlines coming out of this summit that they held at Mar-a- Lago, which we've known about for the last six weeks or so.

But just seeing the two leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu giving President Trump, the Israel Prize, their country's top award that typically does not go to non-Israelis and part of this, you know, effort that we've seen where world leaders have come and lavished praise on President Trump and often, you know, to the fact that he did not get the Nobel Peace Prize, which he so publicly was seeking. And they have, in turn, taken this kind of step, as Netanyahu did today, where giving him these prizes in order to kind of bolster their relationship.

And in turn, you saw President Trump also heaping praise on Netanyahu, calling him a wartime president, again saying that he thinks he should get a pardon. And that was really what stood out to me in terms of seeing these two leaders stand side by side, as the president was saying, they have very little differences, Phil, when it comes to what they need to do going forward in terms of Gaza, disarming Hamas, and what that looks like.

And the other thing the president was asked about today ties into his meeting yesterday with President Zelenskyy. They met for several hours in Mar-a-Lago. And then today President Trump had a phone call with the Russian leader. And during that call he talked about something that Ukraine has emphatically denied, which is that they were targeting one of Putin's residences, something he says the Russian leader told him himself,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's another thing to attack his house. It's not the right time to do any of that and can't do it. And I learned about it from President Putin that I was very angry about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, when you listen to that comment, Phil, President Trump seemed to be taking Putin at his word after the Russians said that he was targeting this residence that he was not at. Ukraine says that's not true, that it's a fabrication. They're basically trying to throw off the talks that have been happening between the United States and Ukraine.

And so there are real questions about what that meeting yesterday is going to yield and what this looks like when the president does return to Washington next week after meeting with these two world leaders while he is at Mar-a-Lago.

MATTINGLY: Yes, there's still significant questions outstanding.

Matthew, I wanted to ask you about one of the ones that I've had throughout the course of the day. There seems to be some confusion around a potential pardon for Prime Minister Netanyahu. What's actually going on here?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, I mean, you know, President Trump was asked about that pardon, and he said that he'd spoken to Isaac Herzog, who's the Israeli president and had been told by the Israeli president that the pardon was on its way. It was coming. But within minutes of that remark being made by President Trump, Isaac Herzog, President Herzog issued a statement through his office here in Jerusalem basically saying that there's been no conversation with President Trump, that a few weeks ago, a representative of President Trump had a conversation with him about the status of the pardon, and he was simply informed that, you know, a decision would be made according to the established procedures.

And so, basically, Herzog, you know, kind of rejecting that idea, that suggestion by President Trump, that a conversation had been had and that some sort of assurance had been acquired, that Netanyahu would be getting a pardon from the various corruption charges, cases that he's involved in.

[18:05:09]

But it was just one of a few sort of incorrect statements made by President Trump in that brief press conference where he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Benjamin Netanyahu. He also said that, you know, Biden had not succeeded in releasing any hostages from Gaza, and it was just him. In fact, more than a hundred hostages being held in Gaza were released during the last months of the presidency of Joe Biden. He also said that he was the only U.S. president to have addressed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. In fact, he was the fourth U.S. president to do that.

So, you know, I think it's quite usual at the moment these days to see the U.S. president make these comments, some of which, many of which do not hold up to scrutiny. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yes. Kaitlan Collins, Matthew Chance, two of the best in the business, I appreciate you guys. Thank you very much.

And, of course, don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins tonight. She'll be joined by Democratic Senator Chris Coons tonight, 9:00 Eastern on CNN.

And I want to bring in CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. Sanger, you were the one who explains all the things to me over the course of the last decade-plus in our interactions. So, we're going to just do that on live T.V. right now. Let me start with the --

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: We'll let's see if it works, Phil. I'm not sure.

MATTINGLY: You have never failed me, my friend. Start with the allegation from President Putin that President Trump allegedly heard about directly from President Putin in the phone call that his home had been targeted by a drone. Trump said he was, quote, very angry about it, then admitted it's possible that the allegation is false. Do we have any sense of what U.S. intelligence has on this allegation if they presented anything to President Trump?

SANGER: Not yet, but based on the president's own reaction, Phil, it sounds like if you -- the first he was hearing of it was from President Putin. He hadn't been alerted by his own intelligence agencies. And it would strike me that while Putin has several residences, each one of them is, you know, pretty known location, and I suspect this would've lit up the boards pretty brightly for those American intelligence agencies that are watching by satellite and other means. And they usually see significant drone attacks.

That doesn't mean it didn't happen, and I'm sure they're all searching right now for the evidence. But it's interesting that the president's first reaction was to say that he was angry rather than to say to President Putin, gee, that's a really significant allegation. I'll look into it. And if we find out that it's true, I'll deal with the Ukrainians on it.

MATTINGLY: Yes. And we should note the Ukrainians have denied that it took place. We're still, I think all of us right now, are trying to figure out more about what actually took place there.

David, I want to ask you. Obviously, Ukraine, Russia Israel, Hamas, two massive issues on the president's plate, foreign policy-wise, but there's also Venezuela where the president said -- he was asked about an operation that he says, took out a facility in Venezuela last week. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area.

REPORTER: Was the facility taken out by the U.S. military or was it another entity, like the CIA?

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: What do you make of all this?

SANGER: Well, first he hasn't been shy in the past about noting American attacks on the small boats, the skiffs that are running out of Venezuela, that the administration alleges are carrying drugs. So, the fact that they didn't release video of this one, when clearly they must have some if it happens, would suggest that it was probably an intelligence operation or sabotage, but we don't know that yet.

Second, it'd be interesting to see what kind of facility this was. You know, the Venezuelans don't produce cocaine, but they traffic in it, for sure. And so, you know, he's closing down, it sounds like, the facilities where the drugs are staged, and this may be the land strikes that he has promised now for months against Venezuela and part of the infrastructure.

Also interesting question, were there civilians there? Was anybody killed? We don't know. That's a significant issue because it raises the same issue that is raised by the attacks on the boats themselves, which is, are these legal if they are essentially summary executions of people working in the drug trade.

[18:10:03]

MATTINGLY: Yes. There's still -- there's so few details from an administration that tends to give a lot of detail about these types of actions. We'll have to continue to wait and see.

One quick one before I let you go. The president weighing in on Iran's missile capability, potential pursuit of nuclear activity. I'm trying to -- is your read of it that the president's threats related to striking Iran, again, was related to their ballistic missile program and any gains they made there or specific to any gains in the nuclear program?

SANGER: So, I read his comments, Phil, and I agree it's not entirely clear that the Israelis would be free to go back and re-attack the missile program if in fact the Iranians are reconstituting their missiles. And there is some intelligence to suggest that they are, again, trying to produce missiles because their inventories were wiped during the days of attacks back in June. But he didn't say the U.S. would participate in that.

He did say that if they reconstitute their nuclear program, he would come back and do what the Israelis call mowing the lawn. That is re- attack. So far, the evidence that we have seen based on, commercial satellites, other analysis, suggests that the Iranians have not yet gone in and gotten that fuel that is buried deep underground.

MATTINGLY: It struck me, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the green light to Israel related to a ballistic missile capability or the pursuit of restocking is not a small thing.

SANGER: That's right.

MATTINGLY: And it's something that we should all be paying attention to with all the news that was going on today.

SANGER: See why you got to come back to the White House, Phil? We miss you.

MATTINGLY: Likewise, my friend. David Sanger, it's always a pleasure. Thanks so much.

SANGER: Great to see you.

MATTINGLY: Well, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posting this video today announcing federal investigators are on the ground in Minnesota, quote, conducting a massive investigation into suspected fraud. What exactly they're looking for, that's next.

And ahead of the famous ball drop on New Year's Eve, organizers tested out the confetti in Times Square today, but will the winter storm bearing down right now clear out in time for the celebrations?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

MATTINGLY: In our National Lead, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are deepening their investigations into alleged fraud involving federal funds in Minnesota. Earlier today, DHS posted several videos on social media of investigators in Minneapolis inspecting what they say are suspected fraud sites, which include daycare centers.

CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild is tracking this development for us. And, Whitney, what prompted the Trump administration to escalate these investigations?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does seem to be in response to this viral video. Right now, what the FBI is saying, it is surging resources into Minnesota. This is just the latest chapter of this sprawling fraud investigation that began in 2022 and has led to more than 75 arrests. Many people are among the Somali community in Minnesota.

The FBI director, Kash Patel, again, tweeting today and it really seemed to be a reaction to this viral video by a YouTube personality named Nick Shirley, which now has more than 115 million views on X, and that number continues to grow.

In the video, Shirley says that he's uncovering more fraudulent businesses in the Somali community. That 42-minute video was re- tweeted by Vice President J.D. Vance and Elon Musk. Director Patel said, the FBI has been all over these cases, posting this on X. Even before the public conversation escalated online, the FBI had surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to dismantle large- scale fraud schemes, exploiting federal programs. In touting the arrests, Patel said that the FBI believes this is just the tip of a very large iceberg.

In several posts, Monday, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, tweeted that HSI agents are on the ground conducting a massive investigation into these suspected fraud sites, saying this. DHS is on the ground in Minneapolis, going door to door at suspected fraud sites, saying that the American people deserve answers on how their taxpayer money is being used and arrests when abuse is found.

These fraud cases, Phil, have become a major political flashpoint for Republicans, and this has been going on for years. A state audit earlier this year -- again, this was just one chapter in this story, a state audit earlier this year found that funds meant for frontline workers in Minneapolis were being scammed away, and Republicans and the administration have begun to target Somali migrants in that state.

Today, in a statement to CNN, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's press office said the governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and asked the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight, including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed.

He has hired an outside law firm to audit payments to high-risk programs. He's also shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely and announced a new statewide program integrity director and supported criminal prosecutions.

Phil, this is the latest chapter. We have no indication this story is anywhere close to over. Attorney General Pam Bondi also tweeting that she -- basically saying that this YouTuber, Nick Shirley, you know, showed Americans how sprawling these cases are and that her office is continuing to work on them to try to root out as much fraud as they possibly can. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yes, certainly seems like a lot more to come. Whitney Wild, great reporting, thanks so much.

Well, our small business series is back tonight with a look at how tariffs are impacting something that most of us have every single day, coffee.

[18:20:01]

Could more price increases be on the way? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: In our World Lead, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has just announced another U.S. military strike on a suspected drug boat in international waters.

I want to get straight to CNN's Kevin Liptak. Kevin, what do we know about the strike?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And what U.S. Southern Command says is that this vessel was in international waters in the Eastern Pacific. They say that it was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, that there were members of designated terrorist organizations aboard, and two male narco-terrorists were killed.

Now, this is the 31st known strike on an alleged drug boat that the Trump administration has carried out, all part of this campaign to up the pressure on Nicolas Maduro. It has drawn a lot of scrutiny in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans alike, asking for more information here and saying that without more information about who these people who are being blown up are, that this could all amount to an extrajudicial killing.

The Pentagon has been very eager to broadcast these strikes. You see the video of the latest strike that they put out on social media that does contrast somewhat with how unwilling they have been to talk about this facility that President Trump says was blown up in Venezuela.

[18:25:13]

He sort of made an offhand comment in a radio interview last week. But beyond that, the president very tight-lipped a about all of this. I asked him earlier today over at Mar-a-Lago whether this was the U.S. military or the CIA, he wouldn't even say who carried out that strike. So, notable difference in how they're carrying out all of this public relations. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yes, no question about it. Great work all day from you, Kevin Liptak, in Mar-a-Lago with the president, thank you so much.

Well, also in our World Lead, voters in Myanmar lined up to cast ballots in a staggered, controversial general election. A U.N human rights expert labeled the election controlled by the country's military leaders, quote, a sham. The election is taking place despite an ongoing civil war that followed the military's 2021 coup.

CNN's Ivan Watson is in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city. Ivan, just to start, why are these elections happening now?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, the elections have been happening in a five year cycle, so it's time right now. But, of course, the situation's so dramatically different from the last one five years ago, because shortly after that election, and when it didn't go well for the Myanmar military's political party, the generals here staged a coup. They overthrew the elected government, threw top officials in jail and cracked down violently on the ensuing protests and plunged this country into a grinding civil war that's got about 4 million people displaced, the U.N.'s World Food Program warning about some 12 million people facing acute hunger.

So it's against that backdrop that an election is being held in three phases. We saw the first phase on Sunday, but it's only being held in parts of the country that the military still controls because that bloody civil war is raging in other parts of the country. And it does appear to be welcomed by some patrons, like China and Russia, who have sent some emissaries to meet with the Myanmar government just this week, and, in fact, a Russian official kind of welcoming this election, which has been criticized by the British government and the E.U. as not fair and free. Phil?

MATTINGLY: I think some of our viewers may be familiar with Aung San Suu Kyi, who's the country's most popular leader, received the Nobel Peace Prize. She's 80 years old. She's behind bars. Her sentence is 27 years. Critics say it's designed to keep her silent in local politics. What is her role now?

WATSON: Right. Well, she was a state counselor. It was her party that swept the elections in 2015 and 2020. And she was thrown in jail. She hasn't been seen in public since the coup, top officials from her party also thrown in jail. And I've been outside the party offices here in Yangon, they're effectively boarded up right now. And so that party and many others aren't participating in the election. They've basically been dissolved.

So, what kind of an election is it? One voter I talked to said, hey I'm not excited to vote in this election. We had more freedom of choice the last time. And this time, you know, the most popular party in the last two elections wasn't allowed to participate. Its people are in jail. So, we don't know where she is exactly. She's been sentenced for everything, from corruption to treason, to decades behind bars.

And this country is really at an impasse. The economy is suffering. There is high on inflation here, people complaining about lack of electricity and water, and then that grinding war that has plunged people into hunger and forced them from their homes by the millions.

MATTINGLY: It's just a remarkable turn from a few years ago when President Obama visited and actually met with Aung San Suu Kyi at her home to where they are now.

Ivan Watson, great reporting, as always, my friend. Thank you.

Well, between holiday travel, buying gifts and hosting big family meals, it's been inexpensive last few weeks for many Americans. So, what should we expect to see happen to the U.S. economy in the New Year? I'll ask two experts in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

MATTINGLY: In our Money Lead, President Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend to reassure the country his, quote, tariffs are creating great wealth and there's no inflation, three exclamation points. But polls keep indicating not every American really agrees there.

Let's look ahead with a pair of economic experts, two individuals I go to when I want to understand what's exactly happening. And, Doug, let's start with you, the assertion that tariffs are creating great wealth at this point in time, explain to people whether or not that's the case.

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, FORMER SENIOR STAFF ECONOMIST, G. H.W. BUSH WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: It's not the case. You can just believe your eyes. You could make the same argument about the corporation income tax. It's creating great wealth because it's about the same size and attacks on some of the business, not, but not all of them. You wouldn't believe that. And this stems from you know, literally this 1600s and 1700s, when mercantilists were on a gold standard and when you paid for something, gold flew out of the country. And so if you stopped all those nasty imports and paying other people, you held onto your wealth. But it's not anything like what the modern economy works like and it's not something that's happening right now.

MATTINGLY: Rohit, when it comes to, you know, Americans who are looking around right now and poll after poll saying, look, affordability is an issue, there's no question about it, this has been static over the course of a number of years now, particularly post COVID. Do you look at kind of the landscape going forward and see areas where there will be a natural disinflation of prices in the months ahead? ROHIT CHOPRA, FORMER DIRECTOR, CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU: Well, here's why people are feeling panicked is because whether it's groceries or energy prices, insurance costs, and even housing, people have not really felt any meaningful relief. Even for Christmas, they felt the gifts were more expensive, the Christmas meal, the travel.

We're not really sure how this is going to play out because it is not clear that if Donald Trump keeps meddling with the Fed or surprising us with more tariffs or more retaliation, I don't know how this is going to end.

[18:35:04]

Now, there are people who are very happy. The stock market is doing great, but people who are trying to just make it paycheck to paycheck, what they are seeing is more credit card debt, more auto loan debt, and they feel like they are on a treadmill that is just getting faster.

MATTINGLY: Well, we're going to do housing reform in Q1, and that's an easy fix in my experience of covering housing in the last 20 years, which I joke a little bit. But it underscores that issues like housing in particular are very complicated and have structural issues that are far beyond what policymakers can necessarily do.

But you did mention the Fed. The president was talking about J. Powell again today. Put aside the firing or not firing or lawsuit or no lawsuit, who is he going to pick and how big of a deal is it?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: I don't know who is going to pick. You see the handicapping, just like I do. We got a couple of Kevins and a sitting board of -- member of the Board of Governors. So, I don't know who he'll pick. But the reality is that regardless of who he picks, he has already damaged that chairman. Because it'll be presumed by everyone that some deal had to be cut to get the job, and that undercuts the Fed as an independent agency and its conduct of monetary policy.

And the baffling part about this, honestly, Phil, is there's an enormous amount of research that shows that independent monetary authorities produce better results, lower inflation, lower unemployment, exactly what you'd want. So, by interfering with the Fed, he's getting the wrong outcomes. He's getting higher unemployment. We've seen it go up more than the percentage point in the past year and a half, higher inflation, we're going in the wrong direction at the moment. It's not in his interest to have that happen on his watch. He should just back off, let them do their job.

MATTINGLY: It is like the one thing in economics, maybe aside from tariffs prior to this year that there was no disagreement about.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Right.

MATTINGLY: And I guess to that point, is it possible for whoever he selects as the Fed chair to be able to get past that at some point, or is that just baked in, the idea of the influence, the lack of independence is going to be baked in no matter who he picks? CHOPRA: Well, I think the independence has already died. J. Powell, others, they might be trying to show that they're doing, you know, this independently. We see time and time again, they're already bending to the politics. The chair -- potential chair candidates are auditioning on T.V. on how much they can impress the president. So, markets are already factoring this in. We are seeing our borrowing costs really spiral and that's going to be paid for by taxpayers, higher mortgage rates and more.

And I think the president, he seems really much more focused on now marble armchairs in the Kennedy Center --

MATTINGLY: They look nice though.

CHOPRA: -- rather than actually people being able to afford these really high prices.

MATTINGLY: It's a really good point. And one I think his advisers sometimes see those Truth posts and say, what are we doing here?

Real quick, we got a minute left. Something that you are watching in 2026 in the economy that maybe isn't getting as much attention as it should be, both of you guys.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Oh, well, I think one that is getting attention but is not been getting enough is, I think, inflation's going to remain stubbornly high. And we have seen it is the most damaging political phenomenon. It affects everyone, it makes people very unpopular, and I think the president should be afraid of that.

CHOPRA: The dollar has weakened a lot this year against major currencies. That hasn't necessarily brought back all sorts of manufacturing. In fact, our trade deficit is still huge, but it has actually made imports more expensive in addition to tariffs as well. And that could continue regardless if these tariffs are overturned.

MATTINGLY: Yes, that Supreme Court case, pretty huge as well.

I could do this for many hours. Thank you guys for coming in, I really appreciate it.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, turning to our Business Leaders series where we speak to small business owners from coast to coast about President Trump's tariffs, some optimistic others, not so much.

With us today is Jess Nepstad, the owner of Planetary Design, a Montana-based coffee accessory company. I really appreciate your time.

Just to kind of start from the top, tell us more about your business and how tariffs really changed things forward this year.

JESS NEPSTAD, OWNER, PLANETARY DESIGNS: Thanks for having me. Well, it changed a lot in April. We weren't expecting that. We're a small company out of Montana with about 20 employees, and we import a lot of coffee accessories, as you shared, but everything comes in from China and we were more pretty rocked in April, and it probably took us four or five months to get our feet kind of on the ground again and figure out a game plan. But it was, you know, more than upsetting, for sure.

MATTINGLY: The four to five months when you kind of got your feet, figured out your game plan, what did that entail?

NEPSTAD: Well, it was -- you know, we just figured out there was so much drag here in the United States. We had to go elsewhere for growth and elsewhere for consistency. So, we made a pretty hard pivot opening a warehouse up in Canada so we could ship direct into Canada to avoid that. We got a warehouse open up in the Netherlands so we could service, you know, the whole U.K. area and everything with shorter supply chains, which is better for our business, but also avoid all the tariffs and, you know, the volatility.

[18:40:07]

And then in the United States, at the end of four months when we realized it really wasn't going away, we reduced head count by about 10 percent, raised our prices by 21 percent and, you know, just kind of been holding on there.

I'm proud to say, you know, I'm happy to say that the American consumer had a great Q4 for us, but it was just a lot of work that we probably didn't feel like we needed to go through, but we had to.

MATTINGLY: So, reduced headcount, raised prices. When you are looking out into Q1, Q2, I mean, you got a plan your business in terms of how you forecast what business looks like going forward. Is there a plausible option to bring back some of those that you were forced to let go? Is there a chance that you could lower prices or is this kind of the new norm?

NEPSTAD: I hope all of those things can happen. I would love to keep growing here in Montana, employ the great people in Montana that do great jobs. But, you know, we're going to wait and see on how the United States kind of weathers the storm. The 10 percent recent reduction in the fentanyl I see us being able to lower prices slightly, but it's a -- you know, we got priceless -- you know, a lot of priceless. So, it's quite a bit to move prices.

It's easy to come down. It's hard to go up. But we'd like to come down if we can in prices. But before we make any major jumps, I'd like to see what the Supreme Court rules here in the next, you know, 45 days, hopefully.

MATTINGLY: Yes, understandably so. Just before I let you go, if you could pass along a message to policymakers here in Washington, what would it be?

NEPSTAD: Let the legislative branch, you know, issue the tariffs. I think there is a space and a place for tariffs, but they have to be done surgically and just not broad brushed because this arbitrariness is just really hard for us to, you know, employ people, you know, make forecasts, build plans, bring innovation to the country. Just let's have a plan that's a little more succinct and maybe well thought out.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it is literally in Article 1 of the Constitution.

Jess Nepstad, I really appreciate your time, owner of Planetary Design, thank you very much for sharing your story.

NEPSTAD: Thank you for your time.

MATTINGLY: Well, up next a new report detailing how Vice President J.D. Vance is allegedly already working on his plans for 2028. My political panel weighs in in moments.

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[18:46:16]

MATTINGLY: In our politics lead, as we say goodbye to 2025, we're just three days away from the start of a new election year. Yes, I'm sure you're all saying in your heads right now, with control of Congress on the line and as presidential hopefuls maneuver for the post-Trump era.

Let's bring back Republican strategist Rina Shah, Democratic strategist, and Biden White House adviser Yemisi Egbewole.

Okay, Rina, there's a new story in "Axios" about how J.D. Vance is kind of mapping out plotting, if you will, for his 2028 run.

RINA SHAH, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Right.

MATTINGLY: If you ask anybody in any of these camps. No, of course not. We'd never consider it. Do you think people are actually starting to map out what they're going to do for 2028 post-Trump?

SHAH: Which people?

MATTINGLY: Republicans who are eyeing the potential to be the next --

SHAH: Oh, that's a tough question, because right now the party is fractured a bit with the coalitions being what they are. I mean, MAGA and America first are no longer one in the same. So, what you see the vice president doing is going out there trying to reconnect with state parties, earn goodwill on the road, do some grassroots politicking as one should in this moment, because I don't think the reports of the party fissures really coming to the surface are overblown. I actually think we'll see them get worse in the new year.

And one thing that Vance has been clear about, which is interesting, is that he says he will have a sit down with Trump after the midterms. Why would you hit the road now? You're going to spend a whole year out there connecting for -- for what reason? Your guy is not going to be on the ballot again. Vance knows that, and I think it sits where it sits.

He's got to keep the GOP majorities intact. I think he sees himself as pivotal in that. I think a great many people actually don't see him pivotal in that. I actually see him being iced out of the room right now. That's a tough one for him to overcome.

MATTINGLY: As a Democrat. You guys have never had fissures.

(LAUGHTER)

MATTINGLY: It's always just a unified front.

YEMISI EGBEWOLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: We're perfect. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: But this idea that Vance is trying to not kind of get in the middle of it, not try and unify either side, just kind of step back and say like, hey, we should all be getting along here. Is that tenable over time, if you want to run for president?

EGBEWOLE: The thing about J.D. Vance is he never really picks a side. He just gets along and enjoys being in the room. Look, he booted Elon Musk out. He gets to be right next to the president. He's learned how to be dependable but not outshine Trump.

But when you want to be the main guy, you kind of have to stand for something. And we saw the Turning Point conference that there were different factions, but we saw J.D. Vance tend to the middle. And I mean, I know Erika Kirk has basically given him the de facto nomination, but he still has to earn a lot of people's trust, people who are a bit suspicious of his close ties to Silicon Valley, Peter Thiel, people that don't buy as much this rural Ohio story. I know you're an Ohio guy, so you can give your own opinion about that.

But there are different factions that he will have to pull together. And I don't know if he inspires the same level of enthusiasm that a figure like Donald Trump does.

SHAH: You touched on something interesting, though. It's the donor class, though, that I think is most nervous about him. If you go into the Midwest, people generally like him. I'm from next door, West Virginia. I did not like "Hillbilly Elegy", I must say. I thought it was something that, well, from where I'm from, the South, as a girl raised in the South, you don't spit on the place you were born and raised from.

And I think that's -- one thing about him is that his inauthenticity doesn't really play too well with the donors. They think he's going to have a hard time with voters come past the midterms. But again, we can't talk about life after the midterms if we don't acknowledge reality right now.

Right now, it's Hegseth who's by Trump's side right now because Trump wants a strong man. He doesn't really see J.D. as one. So, look at all these big conversations. Do we see J.D. there? No, we see Pete Hegseth there.

MATTINGLY: It will be fascinating to watch play out. Okay, I got to ask you about Marjorie Taylor Greene who has -- what was that?

[18:50:04] It has been -- it has been a journey the last couple of months in particular. I don't think any of us at the start of this year would have figured we would have been at this point, but in particular, Robert Draper has a really great piece, a fantastic journalist in "The New York Times", has a great piece out, a profile of her. She's set to resign from Congress one week from today, gave a very revealing interview where she says, quote, Trump called Greene -- in the piece, it says Trump called Greene to voice his displeasure. Greene was in her Capitol Hill office and according to a staff member, everyone in the suite of rooms could hear him yelling at her as she listened in on the speakerphone, Greene says she expressed her perplexity over his intransigence.

According to Ggreene, Trump replied, my friends will get hurt. This was about the Epstein documents, and I think one of the things I'm trying to figure out is the Marjorie Taylor Greene story is one thing, but Trump and the Epstein documents and kind of how this has been allowed to live in perpetuity, it seems like over the course of the last several months is just a political own goal that I haven't been able to get my head around on some level.

Why?

EGBEWOLE: I mean, why Marjorie Taylor Greene thought that President Trump was going to come forth and give her everything she wanted on the Epstein files when she knows the close relationship that the president did have, he hung out. He is a billionaire who hung out with the billionaire class. What she saw was a man in power who, for a very short minute, had the sunshine on her. And so therefore she ignored the toxicity that she was a foot soldier in pushing around Washington for years.

And when the sun no longer shined on her, she decided that the president had to go and she couldn't be in alliance with him anymore. Well, we'll still talk about the Epstein files moving into 2026, but we simply wont talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene. I hope she does well making a podcast or building that YouTube channel that she's clearly trying to do right now.

MATTINGLY: I will put you down as skeptical in transformation.

EGBEWOLE: Skeptical of Marjorie Taylor Greene's moral compass.

MATTINGLY: What do you think, though, about kind of the transformation that we've seen?

SHAH: This is a story that I think has taken on too many different lives. And in some of those lives, Marjorie Taylor Greene had a starring role, and now she will no longer. But the one thing I think will be most memorable about her is that she always said this was about the survivors. This was about the victims.

And for whatever it's worth, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert I know there are many people out there who don't always agree with the other things that come out of those women's mouths, but they stood there with Massie and Khanna, too. And let's not forget the people that actually said this is about the

victims. They tried to take the veneer of this whole being an elite thing and really focusing on the women that were misused, abused, taken advantage of, and a lot of those kind of women come from districts like the one that Marjorie Taylor Greene represents. So, I think it was personal to her.

But I will say she's a woman who always tries to make always tried to make one plus one not equal two. And then she started this year being a little bit more clear.

I think she was trying to say, Trump, I've been loyal to you. You're a loyalty guy. Why haven't you been giving me what I need in return for my years of loyalty?

And that's, I think, puts a bow on it. It's a bad relationship now because Trump -- her loyalty to Trump meant nothing in the end.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. Your point about the survivors is the most important one that I try to remember every single day.

Guys, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

Well, a winter storm bearing down on millions of Americans tonight. This video from buffalo, New York, where snow is melting wind gusts up to 79 miles per hour. We're heading to the CNN weather center next for an update on the forecast.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:16]

MATTINGLY: Iin our national lead, a powerful winter storm is bearing down on much of the U.S., bringing blizzard conditions and ice storms. Severe thunderstorms and plunging temperatures, and the storm is causing major problems on the roads as millions travel home from Christmas gatherings.

Just take a look at this massive pileup in Detroit earlier today.

Meteorologist Chris Warren is in the CNN weather center.

And Chris, who is seeing the impact now and where's the storm headed?

CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, around the Great Lakes is where were still seeing some of the biggest impacts with lake effect snow, but widespread areas of wind. This was the scene in Detroit earlier, when wind and snow likely the main culprit, leading to at least a couple dozen vehicles involved with this right here, parts of 75 -- Interstate 75 closed for a while.

So what we're going to be watching, continue to see, will be some of the snow showers reducing visibility at times coming off of the great lakes, whether its straight up lake effect, snow, lake enhanced snow, some of these snow squalls that well see here can bring that blinding snow seemingly out of nowhere, especially if you're driving down a highway or interstate. It's almost like hitting a wall of white, a wall of snow.

So, it can be very, very dangerous when we see these and you're on the roads, winds have been up there as well, still gusting pretty strong, close to 40 miles an hour in some areas. Buffalo is at 79 mile-per- hour wind gusts today. Strongest wind gusts at the airport in 45 years. Meanwhile, winter storm warnings still in effect for parts of the Great Lakes into the northeast, expecting to see in some areas coming off the lake still about a foot of snow a possibility.

Then there's the wind, of course, the wind making it feel just that much colder out there. But the winds also are a big reason why we're going to see some of the lingering travel issues here.

And then, Phil, when you look at just how cold it is, some areas remember this, some areas yesterday were in the upper 70s near 80 degrees. Some of those same areas like St. Louis in the 20s today.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, nightmare.

All right. Hit me. New Year's Eve forecast, what are we looking at?

WARREN: Well, take a look. Short answer, Phil, it's going to be cold temperatures over the next few days are going to be in the 30s for New York. But just to pin it down for you here during the day on New Year's Eve at noon, you start to notice a little bit of breezy.

The thermometer is not going to read warmer than freezing. It'll be 30 degrees right around freezing. Windchills, though, are going to feel like they are in the 20s. That goes at 6:00. And then, Phil, still at midnight, ringing in the New Year, some 20-mile-per-hour wind gusts here in New York City. It's going to feel colder than that 32 .

MATTINGLY: Chris Warren, appreciate you, man. Thanks so much.

And of course, it's almost time to countdown to 2026. The reason I'm asking about the weather. New Year's Eve live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen starts at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday night on CNN and streaming on the CNN app. You can, of course, follow the show on X and Instagram at CNN. If you've ever missed an episode of THE LEAD, you can watch the show on the CNN app. On

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.