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Progress in Engaging People on Climate Change; Create Healthy Eating Pattern for the New Year. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired December 24, 2025 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
ADAM MET, U.N. SUSTAINABILITY ADVOCATE: -- want to see in the world. And so many people say, oh, climate change is so big. It is so existential. It is not something that I can wrap my mind around. And that's true. And so, that's why I always say to start small. There are a lot of people who want to see change in the world. And I say start with getting a stop sign put on your street. There were a couple of races during this last election that were won lost by seven votes at the local level. That means your vote actually matters so much at the local level, even beyond what it does at the congressional level or the presidential level.
So, there's so much that people can do in their own communities where they can see a difference, and that's how we continue to build the movement. It's when people see wins, right? People want to see that they're successful at something. So I say, start with something hyperlocal, and whether you're interested in fighting gun violence or LGBTQ rights or climate change or any issue that's really important to you, start with something really hyperlocal in your own community.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": In your book, you also find some common ground with a pretty unlikely ally, one whose son is a fan of your band, conservative radio host, Glenn Beck. How did that happen? And what did you find you could agree on?
MET: So, Glenn Beck came to one of our shows a handful of years ago, and he posted on Twitter, and he said that he was such a fan, mostly because the music helped him to connect with his son. And I said, that's interesting. So I wrote to him, and I asked him if he would be interviewed for the book. And everything we do at Planet Reimagined is across the political spectrum. We'll work with Republicans and we will work with Democrats, as long as we are moving forward climate action.
And so when I sat down with Glenn, I wanted to find one thing that we could agree on. Now, he was not aware of this. He was not aware that I was trying to find that one thing. And so, we spoke for about four hours and we talked about everything from religion to health -- to his relationship with his family and his son. And finally, after about four hours, he was telling me about how his house is actually powered almost completely by solar, except there's some natural gas. And he said, natural gas is completely clean.
And I said, who told you that? And he said, everybody knows that. And so, I started to talk to him about methane and how methane is even more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the planet. And I said, what about this? One of the biggest contributors to our planet warming is leaks in methane pipelines. I'm not asking you to get rid of your stove; I'm not asking you to change anything about your lifestyle. I'm asking for you to advocate to your audience that we need to plug leaks in these pipelines. And because it was the business case, he said, I'm in.
So, we got Glenn Beck to agree that we should be plugging leaks in methane pipelines, which is one of the biggest contributors to our planet warming.
KEILAR: That is really interesting. A four-hour conversation, sounds like you guys had quite the talk.
(LAUGH)
KEILAR: Adam, it is great to speak with you. Adam Met --
MET: It was great.
KEILAR: You really -- yeah, it sounds amazing. Adam Met, we really appreciate your time.
MET: Thank you so much.
KEILAR: And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:37:22]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A lot of us are right now in resolution-making mode with New Year's just days away, and we're thinking about all the ways we hope to live better lives in 2026.
A Pew poll from 2024 shows that for 79 percent of respondents, the resolutions deal with health, exercise or diet. Let's talk to an expert with Dr. Trisha Pasricha, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She also writes the "Ask a Doctor" column for The Washington Post and is the author of the new book, "You've Been Pooping All Wrong," which is out in April. Doctor, I love the title of that book. Let's talk about the number one resolution we should all be making for 2026. What do you think it should be?
DR. TRISHA PASRICHA, PHYSICIAN, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Thanks for having me here, Boris. You know, my biggest advice for people is actually don't diet. OK?
SANCHEZ: Wow.
PASRICHA: Diet culture really sets us up for failure. I know, you had to hear it. But I think the best diet is one that you're actually going to stick with a year from now. So rather than go from zero to 100 come January 1st, which is what I see a lot of people do making these resolutions I rarely see last, what I really want people to do is focus on building a healthier dietary pattern, a healthy eating pattern. So instead, I tell people, focus on making small changes, ones that you actually like, ones that you're going to stick with and build on them over time.
SANCHEZ: To that point, I see a lot of advice on social media, and I'm not sure it's always good advice. I wonder what you think is something that many -- too many people focus on. But in the long run, it doesn't necessarily make sense when it comes to their health, because you mentioned folks who diet. But are there other things that you see people maybe spin their wheels on too much that don't yield that much benefit?
PASRICHA: You know, I think some of the best dietary advice is the same advice that actually hasn't changed much over the last several decades. So, it's so easy to get caught up in the latest health fad on social media. But when I think of what is the best eating pattern, I really think of three pillars, OK, and that has been the same for our generation. It's been the same for our grandparents' generation. One, eat more fiber, OK? 95 percent of Americans are not meeting our fiber goals for women, that is 25 grams per day. For men, it's 38 grams per day.
Two, I think about making healthier protein choices. And you'll notice I didn't say necessarily eat more protein, which is a big conversation right now, but healthier protein choices. So that's lean proteins like fish, chickens, legumes, beans and fewer red and processed meats. And then third, the big one, and I think if you do nothing else, this is the one which is to eat more whole foods. That means less ultra- processed foods.
[13:40:00]
If you do nothing else but focus on trying to get more whole foods into your diet, a lot of these other issues and what we're eating and the lack of nutrients, that's all going to solve itself because we actually get about 60 percent of our daily intake comes from ultra- processed foods, which is notoriously low in fiber, notoriously high in added sugar, high in salt, high in fat.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, generally, the rule is that when you go to the grocery store, you try to stay on the outside of the interior aisles, because usually the ultra processed food that lasts the longest doesn't need to be refrigerated. Is that generally good advice?
PASRICHA: That's fantastic advice. So definitely stick to the periphery. You're right that even a lot of foods that we think of is like this should be healthy, if you really think about it, why is it so shelf stable? For example, a lot of the breads that we see are actually technically ultra processed. They have a lot of emulsifiers, a lot of additives that are making them last on those shelves for weeks.
Sometimes I say pick the bread that the bakery has made overnight or that have as few ingredients as possible. Now, this is not always easy for a lot of people and there's some tricks and tips to make this kind of more budget friendly. So for example, I tell a lot of folks, yes, the fresh produce section is wonderful.
If that doesn't work with your budget, flash frozen vegetables and fruits are fantastic. They're just as nutritious, right? So it doesn't necessarily have to break the bank in order to be a less-processed food. And sometimes it's hard to say, well, how do I cut out all these ultra-processed foods in my diet? I often tell people, well, a lot of the conversation about our health focuses on added sugar.
Well, guess what? 90 percent of the added sugar in our diets comes from ultra-processed foods. It's not coming from table sugar. So if you want to just focus on one thing when you're looking at different packages and products, home in on the added sugar label, OK? And you can actually find that you're getting your entire daily intake of recommended added sugar from like that one beverage that you're drinking.
And for women, we really want to have no more than 25 grams of added sugars in our diet. And for men, that's 36 grams. So, there's different tricks that you can think about when you're trying to limit the ultra-processed foods, even if you're not entirely cutting them out.
SANCHEZ: That is really good advice. I wonder, doctor, before we go, do you have any resolutions yourself regarding health or wellness for the New Year?
PASRICHA: Well, one sort of biohack, if you will, that I'm trying to stick to more and more often is if you want to make no changes to your plate, you just want to eat a little healthier, how you eat makes a big difference. So say you take the same plate, my resolution and the one that I encourage people to try is to try to eat the fiber and the protein first.
So eat the exact same thing, but just the order of it will be different. And when you do that, if you eat the fiber and the protein on that plate first, you're going to dampen those blood sugar spikes that come from eating the starch or the carbohydrate. And actually, your body will respond very differently than if you had eaten that pasta first, that rice first.
So even a small change, you're making no differences in terms of what you're eating, but how you're doing it can actually benefit your health a lot.
SANCHEZ: That is so interesting. Dr. Trisha Pasricha, thank you so much for the time and the expertise.
PASRICHA: My pleasure.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much. And we'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:47:30]
KEILAR: From a blockbuster album and engagement for Taylor Swift to a controversial jeans ad, to the rise of A.I. in Hollywood, 2025 was a big year for entertainment news. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister looks at the top-10 stories of the year for entertainment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: From Hollywood's battle with Trump to courtroom drama and the engagement we were all waiting for. Here are the top-10 entertainment stories of 2025.
Number 10, a supersized controversy.
BAD BUNNY, PUERTO RICAN RAPPER AND SINGER: I'm doing the Super Bowl halftime show.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Bad Bunny is named halftime headliner, delighting his global fan base.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bad Bunny is slated to become the first Latino male artist to headline the Super Bowl.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But some others blasted the choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This guy does not seem like a unifying entertainer.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The Trump critic decided not to tour the U.S. mainland amid ICE raids, opting for 31 shows in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And by the way, ICE did show up during his shows. So he did not want to have that happen for the Latino communities here in the United States.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): In response, conservative group, Turning Point USA is producing their own halftime show.
Number nine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's get to know each other and thanks for watching.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Artificial intelligence invades Hollywood. Meet Tilly Norwood, a British actress who is not real.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Real-life Hollywood stars are condemning the project.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a rip-off.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But AI. .is coming to Hollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey have partnered with ElevenLabs that will allow the voice cloning company to use A.I. technology to replicate their voices.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): And Disney, while suing one A.I. startup, is licensing its characters to another.
Number eight.
STEVE, PORTRAYED BY JACK BLACK, "MINECRAFT": Don't I know it.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The box office rollercoaster, as "Minecraft" and "Lilo & Stitch" wipe away early-year box office bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen here, this ain't no house party.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): "Beyond Sinners" and "Weapons", many original stories failed to hit big. Theaters turned to special events to fill seats.
TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER, SONGWRITER: Hey, it's Taylor.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): A Taylor Swift album party and a K-pop Demon Hunter sing-along prove that fans can be wooed into theaters.
Number seven. The Sydney Sweeney saga.
SYDNEY SWEENEY, ACTRESS: I'm not here to tell you to buy American Eagle jeans.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Sweeney's American Eagle ads led to a political firestorm.
SWEENEY: Jeans are passed down from parents to offsprings.
[13:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.
SWEENEY: You see what I did there, right?
SANCHEZ: The ads featuring the blonde, blue-eyed actress generated a storm of criticism, accused of promoting eugenics.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The internet blew up with calls of racism and Nazism. The ads spawned endless parodies.
SANCHEZ: American Eagle stocks soaring, up 35 percent.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): American Eagle had the last laugh. The jeans sold out within a week.
Number six.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are houses on fire.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The L.A. fires ravage Hollywood. Celebrities like Mark Hamill and Dick Van Dyke fled for their lives, while Jeff Bridges, Billy Crystal, and Paris Hilton are among those who lost their homes. Actor Steve Guttenberg sprung into action as fires raged.
STEVE GUTTENBERG, ACTOR: I was helping people in wheelchairs and there were mothers who were hysterical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know one guy that lost his entire studio, burned.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Award show producers had a dilemma. Should the show go on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a sense of community right now in Los Angeles that I personally haven't seen before.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The Grammys did go on, honoring firefighters and raising millions for victims.
Number five, the war for Warner Brothers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a mega deal that could reshape the entire entertainment industry.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Netflix wins a bidding war for the storied film studio in HBO. The streamer could change how we watch legendary titles like "Batman, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones."
KEILAR: Paramount CEO, David Ellison is turning up the heat, launching a hostile takeover bid.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Taking its bid for Warners directly to shareholders. Any deal needs federal approval.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's a lot of market share, so we'll have to see what happens.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Number four.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Taylor Swift!
CROWD: Oh my God!
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Another year of Taylor-mania.
CROWD: This is so good!
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): First, her engagement to Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Posting their engagement on Instagram today with the caption, "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married."
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Then came the number one album of the year, "The Life of a Showgirl," which Swift announced on a record-breaking podcast with Kelce.
JASON KELCE, AMERICAN FOOTBALLER: Do I have to wait till October 3rd?
TRAVIS KELCE, FOOTBALL TIGHT END AND TAYLOR SWIFT'S FIANCE: Yes, you do, Jason. J. KELCE: This is unfair.
SWIFT: We don't trust you at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The album is a coda to her biggest year yet. She finished her record-shattering Eras Tour. She announced in an Instagram post that she owns her master's (ph).
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Cementing her as the most influential celebrity in the world.
Number three, shocking celebrity deaths.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hollywood legend, Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, found dead in their Los Angeles home, an apparent homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 9.15 p.m., a suspect arrested, the couple's son, Nick Reiner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reiner had well-known battles with substance abuse. But by 2015, he said he was clean and co-wrote the film, "Being Charlie," inspired by his own experiences with drug addiction, directed by his father.
ROB REINER, DIRECTOR: It forced me to have to see more clearly and understand more deeply what Nick had gone through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This actor, writer, director, producer, political activist, Harry Shearer, one of the stars of Spinal Tap, said this is unspeakable, the stuff of Greek tragedy.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We begin this hour with the shocking death of actor Gene Hackman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 95-year-old Hollywood icon was found dead Wednesday, inside his New Mexico home, along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and a dog, according to officials.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mystery ended when the cause of death was finally revealed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Betsy Arakawa Hackman died from the Hanta virus. When she died, authorities say that Gene Hackman was unable to care for himself. He had advanced Alzheimer's.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): "French Connection, Unforgiving, Crimson Tide," Gene Hackman's legacy will endure. The deaths of Hollywood legends brought the end of an era.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much can you tell me about Deep Throat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much do you need to know?
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Robert Redford transcended the screen.
GLENN CLOSE, ACTRESS: He had the heart and soul of an artist. WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Oscar-winner Diane Keaton.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Along the way, she became an icon of beauty and fashion, of eccentricity and humor.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Ozzy Osbourne, the eccentric rocker turned reality star.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, when he put out a record that had like Post Malone, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, it's like, look at all these people that want to work with Ozzy Osbourne, there's a reason for that.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Number two, late-night chaos. Jimmy Kimmel pulled off the air by ABC.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The decision to pull the show came hours after Federal Communications Commission Chair, Brendan Carr, publicly pressured the company to punish Kimmel for recent comments he made about the reaction to Charlie Kirk's shooting death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a tremendous backlash to this. Not just among the left, you saw people on the right saying you can't -- the government can't do this.
JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC HOST OF "JIMMY KIMMEL SHOW": I'm happy to be here tonight with you all.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Six days later, ABC put Kimmel back on the air. The return set a ratings record for Kimmel. But that wasn't the only late-night drama in 2025.
STEPHEN COLBERT, CBS HOST OF "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Next year will be our last season.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CBS said it is canceling the late show with Stephen Colbert.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): CBS said the show was too expensive. Critics called it political. Coming two weeks after, CBS settled a lawsuit filed by President Trump.
[13:55:00]
Colbert was later crowned with an Emmy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stephen Colbert.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHEERING)
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): And after the Kimmel saga, the hosts made history, appearing on each other's shows on the same night.
KIMMEL: I'll say I've never been happier to lose the Emmy. (LAUGH)
COLBERT: I was never been happier for you to lose the Emmy.
(LAUGH)
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Number one, the trial and downfall of a music mogul.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sean "Diddy" Combs told the judge, "I'm a little nervous today." He should be. Jury selection started this morning.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): It was the trial that had everyone talking, as shocking details came out on the stand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She described the freak-offs in lurid detail.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The verdict was mixed.
WAGMEISTER: The most serious charges he has been acquitted on.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But Combs was found guilty on prostitution charges.
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Sean "Diddy" Combs will be sentenced to 50, 5-0, 50 months in prison, from billionaire to behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's never going to be who he was again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the dirtiest of dirty.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): A Netflix doc produced by his longtime rival, 50 Cent, further tarnished Diddy's legacy, capping off a stunning fall for the man who once sat atop the music industry.
WAGMEISTER And with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni set for trial next year, it'll be another year with Hollywood in the headlines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Our thanks to Elizabeth Wagmeister for that. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
