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Today: Zelenskyy Meets With European Leaders After Trump Criticism; Soon: Week Two Of Testimony In Brian Walshe Murder Trial Continues Today; Trump Takes Over Kennedy Center Honors. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 08, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:35]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in London for another high-stakes meeting, this time with European leaders, and it comes amid President Trump taking aim at him again. President Trump saying he's "disappointed" with Zelenskyy and accused Zelenskyy of not reading the latest U.S.- authored proposal to end Russia's war on Ukraine.

And then there's this. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., suggesting over the weekend that his father could walk away from Ukraine altogether.

CNN's Clare Sebastian is in London this morning. What are you expecting in this meeting that is upcoming?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well look, we've seen this cycle before, Sara. The Europeans rallying together to try to bolster and strengthen Ukraine to try to provide the optics of unity and support.

I think Zelenskyy is going to be updating his European allies -- the prime minister of the U.K., here at Downing Street. We're expecting the French president Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor Friedrich Merz to arrive. He'll be updating them on the latest talks.

He had a call over the weekend with the Ukrainian and U.S. negotiating delegations who had just spent three days talking in Miami. There didn't seem to have been much that came out of that. President Zelenskyy said that he believes the U.S. understands the Ukrainian position and they discussed next steps.

But I think this really puts the onus on Europe. That are at a critical juncture. They've been sidelined by the U.S. in these talks. They are continually ridiculed by Moscow. And the focus now is on whether Europe can actually stump up the cash to fund Ukraine through the next year. So I think they'll be talk of that. Whether or not they're prepared to use the frozen assets. We know that there's been debating going on behind the scenes on that.

Security guarantees are likely to come up. We know that President Trump wants to Europe to put most of the security guarantees.

So there's a lot on Europe's plate here. And I think we're going to see some diplomatic contortions as they try to sort of argue that the transatlantic alliance is still going strong. There's still a lot of unity behind Ukraine. All of that I think messaging to the U.S. that they still need them to stay engaged for this process to work -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yeah. On the ground in Ukraine there is -- there is a really terrifying prospect. The U.N. nuclear watchdog saying that Chernobyl protective shield can no longer confine radiation after there was a drone strike. We're looking at some of the video.

What do you know about that? What's the latest on the situation there?

SEBASTIAN: Yeah. This is a -- it's called the "New Safe Confinement" -- the NSC. It's this very large steel structure that was built over the destroyed reactor because the reactor that was destroyed in that nuclear accident in 1986, and it was hit by a drone strike in February. And the IEA says that it's now essentially not performing its main task of confining the radioactive waste from that reactor. They are recommending urgent renovations.

But, of course, all of this comes at a critical point for Ukraine. It's not clear if they're going to be able to carry out those renovations.

So look, the IEA monitors the nuclear sites in Ukraine at the moment, and this is a warning that they put out over the weekend. It clearly shows the level of concern at the moment, Sara.

SIDNER: Yeah. This could be another true disaster there in Chernobyl and beyond.

Clare Sebastian, thank you so much. We will be checking in with you on updates throughout the morning. Thank you -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning new information on behind-the-scenes efforts at the White House. The Wall Street Journal reports that top advisers to President Trump fearing a difficult midterm for Republicans, are working to have the president to shift his focus to the economy and the affordability issues facing so many Americans.

[07:35:00]

They have done things like meet with the president in his private dining room. They've had Oval Office meetings showing internal polling over the cost of living concerns. They've shown him social media highlighting posts about affordability. And they plan to focus early speeches next year on the economy, something the president has avoided thus far in his second term.

Again, this is all reporting in The Wall Street Journal.

With us now is CNN political commentator Karen Finney, and Republican strategist Melik Abdul. And what struck me here, Melik, was the suggestion that these White

House advisers are trying to figure out ways to almost trick the president into focusing on this issue, which is so clearly central in Americans' minds.

MELIK ABDUL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. I actually think it's a great move for them. And what I imagine is that there are two camps within the White House. There may be one side -- and I would say even -- I don't know this for sure, but I would imagine there is maybe the Stephen Miller side of the White House but also the maybe more Susie Wiles side of the White House who probably have been trying to push this for Donald Trump for quite some time now.

Because this year was spent -- it was a lot of foreign policy that Donald Trump was focused on -- even some of the things around tariffs. This was more so of a delayed thing that was happening with the tariffs. Things weren't going to be felt immediately. And so without that there was this kind of void on the economic front, which was one of the reasons why Donald Trump was elected.

So I think it's smart for them to push. How -- look, from my perspective, however -- whether they have to trick him or whatever it is -- drag him over the coals to the finish line -- I think that they definitely need to push Donald Trump to focus more on the economy. But at the end of the day this is about Donald Trump doing it and, you know, you can't necessarily make Donald Trump do anything.

BERMAN: We are seeing perhaps on his schedule, Karen, a few things that indicate that the White House is succeeding here. He is -- he is apparently going to talk about beef prices and work with ranchers to lower beef prices. He's got an event in Pennsylvania, I believe tomorrow, which will presumably focus on the economy and affordability.

So if he starts doing it now, Karen, 11 months -- that's a fair amount of time before the midterms.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER AND SPOKESPERSON, HILLARY CLINTON 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN (via Webex by Cisco): Well, here's the thing. It's not just about what he says, which I agree with Melik. The -- you can put him in front of, you know, a group of farmers but if he doesn't -- if he trails off and starts talking about how he won this state or that state or deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, it really doesn't matter.

But the reality is, you know, think about this. The president is so out of touch. He does not realize that -- how people are living their lives. I mean, just this -- you know, this holiday season I was watching over the weekend. They're saying that people -- sort of the buy now-pay later has -- is as high as it has even been. We're seeing people default on car loans. And what that tells us is the fundamentals for the majority of Americans are not working.

So he can talk about it but if they can't do anything over the course of the next 11 months to actually lower costs it doesn't matter what he says because people are feeling it in their own lives.

And the last thing I'll just mention -- you know, John, this week we're also going to hopefully see a vote on whether or not to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies. And that is another huge cost that is going to hit every single American starting in January.

BERMAN: That will happen. It's supposed to be on the Democratic version of the bill. Not expected to pass the Senate. So we'll see what happens after that.

Melik, I'm glad both of you are here. Melik, I'm glad you're here to explain what's going on inside the Republican Party right now. Tucker Carlson --

ABDUL: Oh, Lord.

BERMAN: Tucker Carlson went to Qatar and took part in a forum there. When he was on stage talking to people and answering questions -- hang on before you read that out loud there. Close your eyes if you're a kid. Tucker Carlson said he was going to buy a house in Qatar, right?

Ted Cruz -- Sen. Ted Cruz, from Texas, who has a feud with Carlson over a number of issues, really, like went to 11 on social media. I'm not going to show you all his posts but the one we just put up I'll put again. And again, kids shut your eyes and earmuffs right now. Ted Cruz wrote, "I thought fellatio was illegal in Qatar."

So Melik, my question to you -- I know, Karen -- what's going on here, and what does this rift inside the party -- what is it over? What does it tell you right now about cohesion in the Republican Party?

ABDUL: So I think the larger issue is -- and for people like Tucker Carlson -- and I always remind people that Tucker Carlson, even when he was at Fox News -- we remember around the Dominion lawsuit there were things that he said on camera that was different than what he said behind the camera. So for many of us, the Tucker Carlson that many people are now against is the same Tucker Carlston that has existed all along.

[07:40:00]

So when he went and interviewed Nick Fuentes many people pushed back on him -- on Nick Fuentes and particularly with Ted Cruz. And it is true. When the pushback that Ted Cruz got when he was interviewed by Tucker Carlson was in no way similar to the lack of pushback -- that when it came to Nick Fuentes.

And then you had people like Vice President Vance kind of double down somewhat in support of what Tucker Carlson was doing, arguing it was free speech, knowing that he didn't push back against an antisemite.

So for Ted Cruz's perspective I think that he's a bit faulty on this idea of Tucker Carlson. But I will say come on, Ted Cruz. Like, some of the -- it's almost like an obsession at this point because he talks about Tucker Carlson almost every single day. But I think the larger issue is that it represents a rift not really in the Republican Party. It represents a rift in that far-right, probably MAGA wing of, you know, Donald Trump's coalition.

BERMAN: Karen, what do you think?

FINNEY: I -- oh, you don't want to know what I think this early in the morning. Look, I mean, it's an interesting topic for the fellows to be talking about there.

Look, I think this is all about these two, you know, man child -- man children, you know, wanting -- who is going to be more popular. Who is going to -- you know, Ted Cruz is trying to build himself up ahead of what we all expect will be a run in 2028 unless JD Vance -- they can clear the field. He's got a podcast. He's trying to get more ratings. Tucker Carlson -- you know, he and Tucker clearly don't get along, and this is a great way to build ratings.

And for Tucker, Tucker is all about Tucker. I've known him since he and I worked together at a different cable network when he had a bow tie. And this is a person who will do anything. He's so craven he'll do anything for clicks and attention. And, you know, he's decided that persona is got -- has gotten him, you know, more of the fame that he craves. So, you know, it's all very performative.

BERMAN: We'll see what happens next. I'm not sure Ted Cruz can, you know, raise the level any higher after what he -- and that was the clean one. I'm telling you both that was the clean one from over the weekend.

Karen Finney, Melik Abdul --

FINNEY: I believe you.

BERMAN: -- great to see both of you. Thank you very much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And don't level it as a challenge --

BERMAN: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- because you just never know where this could go.

The Treasury Department is getting a taste of internet clap backs right now. The agency bragged that U.S. treasuries are having their best year since 2020, posting a chart on X that celebrated higher borrowing costs under President Trump. But people on both sides of the aisle -- they were quick to ridicule that, pointing out that those high numbers can actually be a sign of economic weakness.

Matt Egan has more on this. What happened?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Kate. Well look, this post from the Treasury Department on X has gone viral, right -- almost 11 million views -- and sparking a lot of serious pushback --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

EGAN: -- from people on the internet. Now, the Treasury Department -- they posted that, as you mentioned, treasuries this year have had their best year since 2020, and they're arguing that investors who had confidence in President Trump's policies have been richly rewarded. They add, "Never bet against the president or America."

Now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent -- he even doubled down here. He posted a meme of the children's book character Franklin the Turtle wearing a MAGA hat and holding a wad of cash, as you can see here.

But the problem is that rising treasury prices are not a sign of confidence, right? This is a sign often of nervousness among investors, right? That's -- hence the comparison to 2020.

BOLDUAN: Right.

EGAN: A lot of people were really nervous.

I mean, you've got to remember that treasuries are kind of like the lifeboats in financial markets, right? that's where people pile into when they're scared.

Now, RSM economist Joe Brusuelas -- he told me that this post from treasury is "Slightly south of embarrassing because higher bond prices are often linked to rising economic risk and the possible onslaught of a recession."

There were a number of other different responses. There's an economist editor who -- Mike Berger -- who also posted the same character, saying that "Franklin the Turtle discovers that rising bond prices can also imply lower future growth expectations."

Conservative writer Bill Kristol -- he responded as well. He said, "This is total economic illiteracy or gaslighting from the U.S. Treasury. This is like saying sales of cold medicine are having a great year, aren't our health policies working great!"

The other point here though is that one of the reasons why treasuries have had a strong year is because rates are really high, right? They've come down a bit but they're still north of four percent. That's significant because the higher the rates are the higher it is for all of us to borrow, right -- mortgages, car loans. Also for the government to borrow.

Look at this. This is spending last fiscal year -- the fiscal year that just ended October 1. And it shows that the government spent almost a trillion dollars just on interest. Kate, that's more than the government spends on the national defense.

[07:45:05]

BOLDUAN: Alrighty. There's a lot to -- there is a lot there and a lot to learn from --

EGAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- especially including the next Franklin the Turtle meme that comes up.

It's great to see you, buddy. Thank you.

EGAN: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right.

This morning a medical examiner expected to retake the stand soon, though no body has been found in the Brian Walshe murder trial. Walshe admits to dismembering his wife Ana in 2023 but says he did not kill her.

Week one of the trial was filled with grisly details, alleged Google searches, and photos of Ana's bloodstained clothing.

Joining me now is CNN's Jean Casarez. It was so dramatic -- some of the things that came out in the first week of the trial. What are we expecting on week two?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, week two is going to have that medical examiner, and I'm going to tell you about that in just a minute.

But I want to show you where we left off on Friday because Connor Keefe is the Massachusetts state trooper that specializes in forensics. And so on direct examination it was everywhere that phone pinged -- the dumpsters, the Home Depot, the Lowe's -- they haven't seen the video yet -- the jurors. That should come this week.

But then on cross-examination, the defense decided they were going to go for it because the prosecution has to prove premeditation. If they cannot prove premeditation to commit murder beyond a reasonable doubt, there could be an acquittal in all of this.

So I want you to listen to the defense attorney with a text exchange between Brian and Ana very close in time to when her life ended -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY TIPTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR BRIAN WALSHE: There is a text that comes from the phone assigned to Brian Walshe that says, "love you," correct?

CONNOR O'KEEFE; MASSACHUSETTS STATE TROOPER SPECIALIZING IN FORENSICS: Yes, correct.

TIPTON: And then immediately thereafter there is a text, page 16, immediately following that text coming from the phone assigned to Ana Walshe, and she says, "love..." -- or the phone says, "love you, too."

KEEFE: Correct. TIPTON: And are you aware of the fact that in your investigation of the case that Mr. Walshe actually made a reservation for a New Year's Day dinner?

KEEFE: I was not aware of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The last witness on Friday, which will retake the stand in minutes, is Dr. Richard Atkinson from the medical examiner's office. Now, he testified we don't usually do this, but we went out to where the trash compacting area was to assess the items that had been found in the trash. Listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LARRY ATKINSON, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, MA OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Um, normally, we're not involved in examining items -- just bodies of people. Um, in this case, the objective was to determine whether there was any human tissue on these items.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So Sara, this jury is going to learn if there was human tissue.

SIDNER: Yeah.

CASAREZ: He or someone else will determine it was Ana's human tissue.

But here is something else -- big pretrial issue. On the hacksaw, they believe they found bone fragments --

SIDNER: Oh, God.

CASAREZ: -- and testing the bone fragments can determine DNA. And that's been a big pretrial issue. The defense doesn't want it; the prosecutor does. Let's see if he talks about fragments of bone or what appeared to be bone on the hacksaw.

SIDNER: The details are just so grisly each and every day. A very hard trial to watch but you can watch it all. I know you are following every single moment of it.

Thank you so much, Jean Casarez.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

SIDNER: You can watch the live coverage of the Brian Walshe trial, which continues. You can stream it on CNN's app -- John.

BERMAN: All right.

Bracing for an absolute washout. An atmospheric river could dump up to 10 inches of rain.

And what happens when a robot kicks the heck out of the boss?

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[07:53:10]

BERMAN: All right.

Overnight, an unprecedented ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington. For the first time ever, the president served as the onstage host of the annual honors event. President Trump even called it the Trump Kennedy Center, joking -- maybe? The president told reporters he was "98 percent involved in selecting this year's honorees. KISS, Sylvester Stalone, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, and George Strait.

CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter is with us now. And the Kennedy Center Honors have never looked like this, Brian, period.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, that is absolutely true. Now, this broadcast airs on CBS later in the month, closer to Christmas, but it was taped last night in front of a MAGA media- friendly crowd. And, of course, groups of thousands of people, some just ordinary Washingtonians wanting to see these celebrities.

But it very much reflected Trump's makeover and renovation of the Kennedy Center. We know he's physically renovating the property, but he has also retrofitted it, in some ways taking it back. You know, bringing in celebrities and stars that are reminders of how he grew up and stars that he enjoyed in the '70s and '80s, for example. He is friends with Sylvester Stallone, to name one example.

So this Trump putting his mark again on an institution -- this time a cultural institution.

And, of course, he couldn't resist making jabs at former President Joe Biden on stage. At one point he said, "Our country is back. They tried to get Biden to do this four years in a row." There's no evidence Biden would have ever hosted the Kennedy Center Honors. Normally, a celebrity -- normally, a Hollywood actor of someone like that is up on stage. But the fact that the president was doing it, it speaks to how he wants to put on a show in so many different ways.

And now it's up to CBS to edit this down and get it ready -- the finished product. It airs closer to Christmas, John.

BERMAN: Yeah, and we saw pictures of it before. As you said, we haven't seen him on stage yet because it doesn't air for a few weeks. But we did see the red carpet, and he answered a lot of questions --

[07:55:05]

STELTER: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- including about a business deal that sort of is close to our hearts here. This is the Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery deal. STELTER: Yeah, and this is really important that the president is now on the record talking about what he thinks of Netflix's proposal to buy Warner Bros. and HBO. Here is what the president said on the red carpet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, it's got to go through a process and we'll see what happens. It's a -- Netflix is a great company, and they've done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man, and I have a lot of respect for him. But it's a -- it's a lot of market share so we'll have to see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Now this could portend a long and politically tainted process. Trump said the combined size of the two streaming players would be "could" -- could -- "could be a problem." But it's also notable that he did not expressly oppose the deal.

I think in many ways this articulates the difference between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0. In Trump 1.0, when Time Warner was being sold to AT&T -- including Warner, and HBO, and CNN -- Trump came out against it right away. And there was speculation for years about whether his Justice Department was meddling with the case because of Trump's personal feelings.

This time around Netflix went out and sought Trump out ahead of time. Ted Sarandos flew to the White House, flew to the -- and met with Trump in the Oval Office to try to persuade him about the deal ahead of time. And it was notable that Trump was praising and crediting Sarandos at the -- on the red carpet last night.

So Netflix playing to Trump's personal touch, right, trying to win Trump over personally. It's notable that Trump did not completely come out against the deal. But what's most notable is that he said he will be involved in the decision. That's yet another norm-shattering moment for Trump and the Justice Department, John.

BERMAN: Yeah. What will it mean? We'll have to wait and see.

Brian Stelter, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, too.

BERMAN: Always great to see you.

BOLDUAN: Always great to see you.

Let's go here. Florida's first black bear hunt in a decade is now underway. The state issued 172 permits for the three-week hunting period that started Saturday. Wildlife officials say it is needed to control the bear population. But get this -- at least 43 of those permits went to opponents of the hunt who never intend to use them. That's according to the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, which encouraged critics to apply in the hopes of saving the bears, they said. During the last hunt back in 2015 more than 300 bears were killed in two days.

There is new police body camera video coming in showing the moment authorities arrest seven teenagers, including two dressed in full-on Care Bear outfits. Why not? They're cozy. They're all inside a vacant hotel in Wisconsin. This feels like a Mad Libs. All between the ages of 16 and 19 years old. Well, that's the lucky Care Bear in case you're curious.

Officers searched multiple floors, clearing dozens of empty rooms. Again, this hotel is vacant since, like, last year, I believe. And they found the teens hiding throughout the building.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER: What are you guys, Care Bears?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

POLICE OFFICER: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This feels very weird.

POLICE OFFICER: Well, you are trespassing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

POLICE OFFICER: It's going to feel weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I mean, I was expecting the officers to be the ones being, like, this feels weird, right?

What were they doing? Hmm. Police say the group just said that they were exploring and making videos. No criminal charges were filed but they were ticketed for trespassing. So many thought bubbles on that one.

Talk about a power move or maybe a questionable way to deal with your boss. It's video from Chinese robotics firm EngineAI. It shows their humanoid robot kicking the you know what out of the CEO of the company. Kicked him flat to the ground. That was, as you can guess, on purpose. He was wearing protective gear. EngineAI says the demonstration was designed to silence skeptics who claim that their latest model was not real, just CGI. How dare you? I mean, couldn't it still be just CGI? But I'm not trying to fuel any conspiracy theories here.

SIDNER: I'm not commenting on kicking the boss's behind.

BOLDUAN: Do you want to go back to Care Bears?

SIDNER: But I'd like to go back to Care Bears --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SIDNER: -- because what the actual --

BOLDUAN: Now, now -- just saying.

SIDNER: What is going on?

BOLDUAN: I will not jump to conclusions.

SIDNER: It's very --

BOLDUAN: I'm just saying the Care Bear snuggies are comfortable. I know this because my daughter was a Care Bear for Halloween and she could not have been happier.

SIDNER: OK.

BOLDUAN: She was also not found in a vacant hotel though.

SIDNER: To be fair.

BOLDUAN: I will say that.

SIDNER: The images are priceless.

BOLDUAN: This, to me, just says this is what teenagers do.

SIDNER: It could've been us in the '80s or '90s --

BOLDUAN: I mean --

SIDNER: -- or 2000s.

BOLDUAN: You and I were friends in high school. You know this would have gone down.

SIDNER: Correct. Just saying.

BOLDUAN: Like, legit.

SIDNER: That's why they keep us apart.

All right. This morning we're tracking a strong atmospheric river in the Pacific Northwest. Washington and Oregon could get several inches of rain through the week, and it could mean landslides, flash flooding, and rivers spilling over into neighborhoods.

Let's turn to CNN's Derek Van Dam. First, it was bomb cyclones, now it's atmospheric rivers. Like, give us a break, dude.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, all this terminology, right, Sara? I mean, it is that time of year we talk about atmospheric rivers. One way for you to think about this is just a river in the sky.