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President Trump To Host Tonight's Kennedy Center Honors; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Predicts Prosperity in 2026; Republicans And Affordability Concerns; Trump To Honor Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, Kiss And Others At The Kennedy Center; Brian Walshe Murder Trial Continues; Waymo Cars Getting Way More Aggressive; New Episodes Of Variety's Interview Series Streaming On CNN App. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 07, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:40]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

Any moment now, the annual Kennedy Center Honors is set to get underway in Washington, D.C. Things are going to look different this year, though. Instead of President Trump watching from the presidential box, as is tradition, the president will be hosting tonight's event.

It's just the latest move by President Trump to reshape the nation's cultural institutions. Since taking office, he's completely overhauled the Kennedy Center's leadership, he now serves as chairman of its board, secured millions of dollars from Congress for renovations, and reimagined its programing, to name a few things.

CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook is joining us now from the White House.

Julia, the president obviously quite involved in all of this. It's a very different and just another example of how he is changing things in Washington.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. The Kennedy Center specifically has been one building, one institution that he has really focused in on, and he is going to be taking center stage tonight, both literally and figuratively. Not only is he the sitting president of the United States, but he's also chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center. And when he announced the honorees back in August, he also announced that he would be hosting this main event.

Keep in mind, he did not attend this event repeatedly back during his first term. Now he is going to be leading it. And in addition to being the first president to actually host this, he's also been more involved in the process. He said he was 98 percent involved in selecting this year's winners.

So let's take a closer look at those honorees. It includes country music star George Strait, actor and Broadway alum Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, and members of the rock band Kiss.

Now, when it comes to the Kennedy Center, Trump has made various changes, many of them controversial. Back in February, he dismissed a slew of Democratic appointees to the Board of Trustees and then appointed some aides and allies, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, as well as Second Lady Usha Vance.

Now, when he did that, he was later on named chairman of the board. So he is in that role and continues to push for changes. Some of them related to the building specifically, and in the so-called one big beautiful bill there was more than $250 million allotted for renovations and repairs. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As you know, the building is being renovated. Fully renovated. It's being I would say fixed at a level that nobody has ever seen before. We're going to make it something really special. It is -- it's been tired. It's been mistreated, a little bit like the White House has been mistreated, to be honest with you. And we're bringing it back to a level that I don't think any place in the country will see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And he has touted changes to the exterior marble as well as the interior stage, chairs and the stages there as well. And as these changes are taking place, you know, there's this question at an event earlier today -- earlier this week, he actually referred to it as the Trump Kennedy Center. He did brush that off as a joke, but it was said that way, Jessica.

DEAN: It was all right. Julia Benbrook, from the White House with the latest. Thank you so much.

Meantime, the president's top man on the economy, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, was shining a spotlight this morning on what's positive in the economy under the president. On CBS's "Face the Nation," Bessent said this year has been strong, and he believes next year will be even better.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: The economy has been better than we thought. We've had the 4 percent GDP growth in a couple of quarters. We're going to finish the year despite the Schumer shutdown with 3 percent real GDP growth. And I think next year we're going to move on to prosperity

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now is Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan.

Justin, good to see you. First, I just want to hear if you think what Bessent said and how he is assessing this past year and the year to come, if you think that's right.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, ECONOMIST: I think there's a lot to worry about. Some bad things are yet to happen. Some good things have happened. I think the most important way for thinking about the health of an economy is what's happening with the unemployment rate.

[18:05:05]

Can people find jobs and do they have stable and steady work? That's actually been drifting out. So that says our economy has been underperforming. Inflation is a little above the Fed's target. And there are a lot of economists very worried about things like our fiscal sustainability and the consequences of the tariffs, and to some extent actually concerns about the rule of law and issues like that as well.

DEAN: Yes. And help, like from a psychological standpoint, how consequential are people's feelings about the economy, about the cost of living, inflation, when it comes to how they view the president and this administration?

WOLFERS: It turns out that, you know, the economy is one of the most important subjects if we're thinking about politics. And one thing is, you noticed Bessent was boasting about some of the hard data that he's seen. He didn't talk anything about people's feelings. There's a reason for that. The American people are really very on edge right now.

Consumer confidence is actually at the lowest level it's been pretty much in the history of that series, all the way back for over 50 years. If you ask people how well they think the economy is being managed by the present government, the share of the population saying it's poor is actually the highest that it's ever been. So people's psychology looks like they're really white knuckling this ride.

DEAN: Yes. And so what does this all mean taken together? There's this week's Federal Reserve meeting. President Trump obviously pressuring the panel to continue to cut rates. What does this all mean as we head into that meeting?

WOLFERS: We shouldn't look to the White House -- sorry, we shouldn't look to the Federal Reserve to solve all of our ills or believe that a small shift in interest rates can make a big difference. So directly, yes, people at home care, the Fed is likely to cut rates. It's not certain to do so. The prospect for further rate cuts is a little less likely than it was a few months ago.

But realize things like tariffs, tariff causes both inflation to rise and the economy to slow. An interest rate cut can't get rid of tariffs and it can't fix both of those problems at the same time. An interest rate cut can't make it so that an employer has the immigrant workers that they need access to. An interest rate cut can't restore people's confidence in the White House. So there's some stuff that the Fed can do, but it's not everything.

DEAN: It's not a magic wand, is what you're saying? WOLFERS: I wish it was.

DEAN: I also want to ask you about this executive order the president just signed yesterday to investigate higher food prices or higher prices from food companies, especially foreign food companies. First, does a task force like that, is there merit to that? Can that make a difference?

WOLFERS: When you really don't know what to do about something, just employ a task force. Look, they do that at my workplace, too. I'm not surprised the White House does it. They probably do it at yours as well. But, you know, it's not just a task force. It's then the, oh, let's go beat up on someone. So commonly on the left, they say, well, it's all big businesses' fault. And you're hearing some of that now from Trump, except you got that special Trump twist. It's foreign businesses. So we've got the foreigners in there as well.

Look, the idea that high prices are due to corporate greed is a little bit like saying plane crashes are due to gravity. At a literal level, it's true, but it doesn't really get to the heart of the problem. Gravity is an eternal constant. It's always with us. Corporations are always greedy. What governments get to do is change the circumstances that affect how that greed expresses itself.

DEAN: And so I think I know your answer to this, but I still want to ask you, can this ultimately lead to a difference for the prices we see at the store?

WOLFERS: Goodness, I hope so. When we talk about affordability, so much of what's going on with prices is in fact a direct result of public policy. We've seen tariffs that have raised costs. We've seen big rise in deportations, which are making it difficult for farmers to bring in their crops. We've seen health insurance premiums rise as Congress has fiddled with Obamacare subsidies. We've seen inflation expectations rise as the Fed has come under threat.

The point here is that in every sense affordability is actually the direct result of the -- of the actions of the White House. And so if the task force takes their job seriously there's a lot that policy can do to help make stuff more affordable.

DEAN: All right. We will see. Justin Wolfers, great to see you, though. Thank you so much.

WOLFERS: You too. Pleasure.

DEAN: Still ahead, we are digging deeper into that affordability issue. Our political panel will debate how each party is handling that issue as we head into next year's midterms. Plus, week two is about to start in the trial of a Massachusetts man accused of murdering his wife. We'll have details on what to expect about that ahead.

And Waymo getting way more aggressive? Growing concern over the self- driving car's newest road etiquette.

[18:10:00] You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): I think affordability is the issue. That's what Trump's everything else.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Has your party been making this enough of a focus, affordability?

FITZPATRICK: I don't think they have. I don't think they have.

RAJU: Because the president himself called affordability a Democratic scam this week.

FITZPATRICK: I don't believe that to be true at all. No, it's real. Believe me, I hear it every day back home. It's real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:15:01]

DEAN: That's Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, one of a handful of Republicans who won in a district that Donald Trump lost in the 2024 presidential election. Fitzpatrick is raising alarms inside his own party about its messaging on affordability, an issue more Republicans are starting to break with party leadership on.

Let's bring in CNN senior political commentator and former senior adviser to Mitch McConnell, Scott Jennings, and CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, Xochitl Hinojosa.

Xochitl and Scott, it's good to see both of you.

Scott, I want to start first with you, listening to Fitzpatrick talking about that. Do you think Republicans are talking about affordability enough? And do you think people, in the words of Bill Clinton, feel like they feel their pain?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing to do something about it. So, I mean, a lot of politicians talk about things. The question is, what are the parties going to do? And who put us in this crisis in the first place? I mean, I'm not really interested in taking lectures from Democrats about affordability and sort of ignoring what they did to the country during the four years under Joe Biden.

So that's number one. Number two, I think the Republicans have taken some steps already, locking in the tax cuts, energy policy that has driven gas prices to a four-year low. Those are good things. Number three, House Speaker Johnson says he's going to unveil a health care bill this week. We'll see what that looks like. Number four, the president is hitting the road to talk about Republican ideas versus Democratic ideas. And number five, growth. We're going to have economic growth. And I

think that's what the president has to sell on the road. So we're just at the beginning of the 2026 midterm campaign. Both parties are going to get a chance to make their case. But somebody has to remind the country Democrats put us in this crisis. They're the ones with the shovels, and Republicans are the ones with the ladders trying to get us out.

DEAN: Xochitl, look, I think a number of Democrats will say we didn't talk about affordability enough in 2024. We were trying to tell everyone that the economy was OK, and we didn't do that enough. Do you think that they are doing it the right way this time around?

XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that Republicans are actually -- they should learn some lessons from Joe Biden, blaming the previous president never actually works. This is why Democrats are in the situation that they are in now. The reality is, is that when you have the House, the Senate and the White House, Americans count on you to bring down prices.

And Donald Trump has so far said, please be patient with me. Well, people are running out of patience. They are seeing their costs go up and healthcare is going to go up for millions of Americans at the end of this year. So it is very hard right now. And I agree with Scott. You can't just talk about it. You have to show people. And right now the American people aren't feeling it. And that was also the problem with Joe Biden is that he believed that if the economy looked good, if the numbers look good, if the jobs report looked good, then therefore people should be feeling it.

And that wasn't necessarily the case. And so do I think that, yes, have we learned from before? Yes. But Democrats are also not in power. And so what Democrats are trying to say right now is they're trying to fight on things like health care. They're speaking out against tariffs and they're ensuring that they are talking directly to the American people about, hey, listen, your costs have not gone down.

Please vote for us. We will do things like ensure that healthcare remains affordable, ensure that we are lowering costs at the grocery store. And those are the things that Democrats need to talk about.

DEAN: And Scott, Xochitl just mentioned health care. They are trying -- they're going to have this vote on Thursday in the Senate over these ACA subsidies, which was a huge piece of the government shutdown. There's like eight days left, I think, in session before they go to holiday vacation. It's a very short amount of time.

Do you think that the health care issue is going to be a good one for Republicans going into these midterms? Do you think they're handling this correctly with -- there's a real likelihood that these prices go skyrocketing for people without any remedy?

JENNINGS: Well, first of all, Republicans don't believe in inflicting pain on people the way Democrats do. Democrats shut down the government and deliberately inflicted pain on federal workers, our military and other people. That's their plan. The Republican plan is to try to make lives better. So that's number one. So when you ask, is health care going to be a winning issue? Look, it's a Democrat bill. We live under the Obamacare regime.

We live under Obamacare subsidy plan, subsidies needed for a bill that wasn't working. And the Democratic plan to sunset those subsidies. It's all their plan. I don't know how it's going to shake out this week. I know House Speaker Johnson says they're going to unveil a bill in the House. There's going to be this vote in the Senate. I don't ultimately know how it's going to shake out.

I can tell you there is some conservative resistance to simply continuing to pay health insurance companies that do nothing for their consumers except raise premiums and raise deductibles and continue to give you products that you don't feel like you can use or don't really function like insurance at all.

So it's a big week. I have no -- I'm under no illusion. It's a pivotal week for Republicans. I don't know how it's going to shake out, but they are cleaning up a Democratic mess just the way they're cleaning up a Democratic mess on inflation.

[18:20:05]

DEAN: Xochitl, I just want to get your thoughts on all of those points Scott just made.

HINOJOSA: Well, I obviously disagree with him. I will say that on health care, Republicans have had the opportunity to put forward a plan for many, many years now, and they have not. And what Obamacare, I mean, frankly, Obamacare, the reason why we have Obamacare is because nobody was dealing with the issue of the uninsured. And that is where we ended up with Obamacare. And it has been able to cover many people.

I will say that this was somewhat of a Republican plan before, but yet, since everyone keeps on talking about how they hate Obamacare and the last time that Republicans really tried to strip and repeal Obamacare over and over and over, they lost the midterm elections. The American people don't want that. They want to be insured and they want affordable health insurance. And if Republicans come up with a better plan than Obamacare, that would do that and would not take away health insurance from the American people, hell, Democrats may embrace it, I don't know.

But so far they have not come up with anything that would actually cover the American people and bring down costs. And I think that is the worry from the American people.

DEAN: Yes. I mean, I think, Scott, too, when it comes to just this issue of health care, Republicans have not been able to put forth any sort of plan that they can unify behind. And when they've tried to, you know, undo parts of it, they have failed among their own party. They haven't been able to get the votes. So what is the impetus for them? Or can they find their way to something that's unifying that would get everyone's support and be able to replace this, or at least reform it? JENNINGS: Yes, well, I don't think replacing the failed Obamacare

regime with another government overlay is really the answer. I think most Republicans would say we need less government involvement and more free market options. We need things like association health plans. We need situations where if we're going to spend a bunch of money on health care, the money is going to patients and doctors and not these insurance companies that do nothing but line their own pockets while bilking American taxpayers and American consumers.

And so this week is a big week. Johnson has got a plan that he's going to roll out. They're having a vote in the Senate. I do concede the point there is some Republican undulation on this inside the conference. But there does need to be a unified position ultimately. I actually think the president laid out some positive messaging on this several weeks ago when he said, I don't know why we want to go down the road of the Democratic idea here, which is just to continue to send billions of dollars to insurance companies, which we all hate.

Why can't we find a way to spend that money directly on consumers? I think if that's the baseline idea that you're working from, you know, that's workable politically. Obviously, you got to put the policy framework around it. But politically, I think most people would look at that and say, yes, I don't want to give money to insurance companies. How do they get it myself and feel like I can actually go to the doctor, which under many of these Obamacare plans, you don't even feel that way right now.

DEAN: Xochitl, just lastly, what do we expect from Democrats this week as we go through this?

HINOJOSA: Listen, I think Democrats have been saying from the beginning that they want to extend these ACA subsidies for quite some time and what their position is on health care. And I do think that, you know, they've been waiting for this to happen. They wouldn't -- Republicans wouldn't agree to it earlier this year. And this is why they've been holding strong on this issue.

And so, listen, if we're able to get ACA subsidies extended, if we're able to lower costs for the American people, I do see Democrats as taking that as a win. So we'll see.

DEAN: All right, Scott and Xochitl, thank you so much. Good to see both of you. Appreciate it.

JENNINGS: Thanks, ladies.

DEAN: Moments ago, President Trump and the first lady on the red carpet. Why the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony may look a bit different this year.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:28:07] DEAN: And you are looking live at President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, as they are on the red carpet for tonight's Kennedy Center Honors. The president breaking with tradition instead of simply sitting in the presidential box and watching, he'll be hosting tonight's show. He also hand-picked many of the honorees, completely remade the board, which then elected him president. All part of his transformation of the Kennedy Center earlier this year.

"New York Times" cultural reporter Robin Pogrebin is joining us now to kind of talk through some of this.

Robin, thanks for being here with us. I think, first, if you can help --

ROBIN POGREBIN, CULTURE REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes. It's great to have you. If you can talk people through why the Kennedy Center matters, what it has historically represented. I think a lot of people, you know, across the country may not be totally familiar with it, except for, you know, one night a year we have the Kennedy Center Honors, of course. But historically, how -- what kind of role has it played and how has it been shaped?

POGREBIN: Yes, the Kennedy Center has just been important symbolically. It's in the nation's capital, and it is sort of a cultural hub for our country. It was obviously named after John F. Kennedy. And you know, every year these Kennedy Center Honors really anchor the center because it is broadcast on CBS and now Paramount as well. And it's a chance to really honor the arts and culture, you know, something that doesn't necessarily have a lot of currency or get a lot of attention in our country.

And the president has always traditionally given it a lot of attention. It becomes a whole weekend of events. And the honorees are hosted at the White House. And it's a star-studded event in terms of those who attend, as well as those who go on stage to pay tribute to these honorees. And they -- it becomes kind of like a hall of fame, for our country. And past honorees have included, for example, Al Pacino or Johnny Cash, Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen.

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And it is, as you know, a big deal. And it's really been considered nonpartizan up until now. And things have really changed a lot under Trump in that regard.

DEAN: Yes. And really focused on the honorees and really celebrating. It's a lot about their work, what they've contributed to American culture, and really focused on them. As I noted at the beginning of our segment, we talked about earlier in our show as well, the president has been quite focused on the Kennedy Center, kind of remaking it in his image. Much like he's doing with a lot of the federal government.

He's made a bunch of changes there. He now is the president of the board. He's reshaped programing there because there's other programing, as you noted, that comes in throughout the year there. Do you think these changes are here to stay, or do you think these are really just linked with President Trump while he's in office?

POGREBIN: I mean, I think the big question is whether they're here to stay. They have signaled a really big shift in terms of this administration caring about culture in a way that the previous Trump administration didn't so much. He has turned his attention to the Smithsonian as well, which is also in the nation's capital, in terms of weighing in on content and, you know, wanting a say in governance.

And with the Kennedy Center it was very extreme because he ousted the chairman, David Rubenstein. He got himself elected as chairman, then installed his own president that was his preferences. And he ousted all of the Democratic appointees that had been appointed by Biden. He also really complained about the programing besides the Kennedy Center Honors. So he felt like it was too woke and really complained about, you know, the programing and the content and wanted to say and seeing that change, he also wants to renovate the building.

There was even a Republican proposal to name the Opera House after Melania Trump. So there is this feeling like it has been in the crosshairs. And now Trump is the host on stage, not in the president's box, as you noted. So he's the host as well as the chairman, and he claims he's going to get very big ratings. I guess we'll see how that pans out.

DEAN: Yes, it will air, I think, in a few weeks. And just this idea of him now turning so much attention to something like this, to the Kennedy Center, which again, as you note, is really, you know, the home to so many important shows and also just where we celebrate the arts in this country in Washington, D.C., in our nation's capital. And it is such a departure from his first term, where he really didn't attend.

He didn't -- he did not pay a lot of attention to these sort of things. And now, not only is he there, as we've noted, he's hosting it. He's at the center -- he's in the center of it all.

POGREBIN: He's hosting it and he had a big role, I think, in selecting these honorees. He loves "Phantom of the Opera," that's why he chose Michael Crawford among them. He is, I think, friendly with Sly Stallone, Sylvester Stallone, who's one of the honorees. But I think, as you point out, the reason that Trump has taken an interest, in part, because of the Kennedy Center -- into the Kennedy Center is because of past hurts, you know, past injuries.

And in his previous administration, there were honorees who threatened to boycott the event. And they said they weren't going to show up to accept their awards or to participate at all because -- as a protest to Trump and ultimately Trump backed down. He never attended a Kennedy Center event the last time around, nor did Melania.

And so this was a real attempt, I think, to sort of make that right for himself to kind of set the record straight that, you know, he not only belongs there, but he should be central. And that was, you know, something he didn't quite get over and he wanted to repair. And this is his effort to do that.

DEAN: Yes. And there's also, as you were noting, just this used to be so nonpartisan. Certainly, and this is not, you know, not surprising, President Trump has interjected partisanship into a lot of things that were often not partisan. It's kind of his trademark. And so now this has kind of become very much about Republicans, and as you noted, pushing Democrats off of the board and whatnot, these appointees, and that means now some people are boycotting the Kennedy Center.

More people are going, some people, you know, want to go more. Some people want to boycott. What might that mean for the actual Kennedy Center as they try to run, you know, this organization moving forward?

POGREBIN: Well, I think they've actually been struggling over the last year. I mean, there are reports that we did and my colleague Sean McCreesh wrote about ticket sales being down. A lot of employees have left or been ousted under the new president, Richard Grenell. And you did see some performers who just say they refused to perform there now, most notably the cast of "Hamilton." That whole production sort of canceled its installation there, and that would have been lucrative, profitable for the Kennedy Center.

[18:35:06]

And you know, they -- every arts institution needs revenue. So it's hurting them, I think, to some degree. But I think this is also it remains to be seen whether this can be a politicized organization now and still succeed. In the past, it was not a political football. It is now.

DEAN: All right, Robin Pogrebin, thanks for your time. We really appreciate it.

POGREBIN: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:11]

DEAN: The Brian Walshe murder trial is about to enter its second week in Massachusetts. Jurors heard testimony from about two dozen witnesses last week. The medical examiner will be back on the stand tomorrow as prosecutors try to prove he killed his wife, Ana, around New Year's Day in 2023.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now with more -- Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, the prosecution continues to build its case in this next week of the Brian Walshe case currently on the stand. And he'll take the stand again on Monday as Dr. Michael Atkinson. He is from the chief medical examiner's office in Norfolk County, Massachusetts.

Now, here's the problem. They don't have a body in this case. And one of the elements that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt is that Brian Walshe caused the death. So there won't be a cause of death. There won't be a manner of death. And that really is a challenge for the prosecution. Not their fault. So what they've done is they are calling someone from the medical examiner's office, and that's Dr. Atkinson.

He went out to where the trash was being looked at and assessed, and the items of the home were there. And he started testimony on Friday. So I want you to listen to a little bit of him saying that what he was doing with some of these items that were collected from inside the Walshe home. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RICHARD ATKINSON, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Normally, we're not involved in examining items. Just bodies of people. In this case, the objective was to determine whether there was any human tissue on these items. There were seven, though. I think some of them are not in the image. Seven pieces of rolled up blue and white carpet with some stains on them. And the pieces of debris that you can see just above the ruler.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Doctor, is this one of the carpets that you had the opportunity to see that night or see that day when you were at OCME?

ATKINSON: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The other issue the prosecution has is that there isn't direct evidence that this was a premeditated murder. And that is something that they must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. And so one thing they will be looking at into this next week are the videotapes. The jury has not seen these. Video, surveillance video from Lowe's, from Home Depot, from CVS, other stores where Brian Walshe purchased so many cleaning supplies.

And the prosecution will then be able to argue that the lengths he went to clean up his house was because he knew he had premeditated and murdered his wife. So that's how they'll try to show this. The prosecution's case is continuing to build right now.

Big question will be the defense. Will the defendant take the stand? Now, we know that he's already pleaded guilty to intentionally misleading a police investigation. Already pleaded guilty to the conveyance of his wife's body, body parts. And so the question will be, will he take the stand? Because the defense said in their opening that it was sudden, unexplained death, that he nudged her in the middle of the night. She didn't move and she was dead.

Who can explain that in that bedroom of that couple other than Brian Walshe? We will see the evidence. The trial continues for a second week, and the judge has announced it will most likely go into the third week of evidence. That's before closings. So we've got a lot more in this trial -- Jessica.

DEAN: Jean Casarez for us, thank you for that.

A drone attack in South Central Sudan has killed at least 50 people, including 33 children. That's according to a doctor's group in the country. The group says the strike hit a kindergarten on Thursday. Paramedics who were on the scene treating survivors and other civilians were also reportedly targeted in further strikes.

For more than two years, fighting between the RSF rebel group and Sudanese military has been ongoing, with estimates of more than 150,000 people having died and more than 14 million people being displaced from their homes.

A remembrance ceremony held in Hawaii today to mark the 84th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Just a dozen survivors of that surprise attack are still alive, and all of them are now more than 100. None of them could make the trip to Hawaii for today's service, which began with a moment of silence and some somber rituals, including wreaths to honor those who died that fateful day.

Japan's raid killed more than 2300 U.S. troops and turned into a pivotal event in history, marking America's entry into World War II.

[18:45:06]

Seven decades after she became a civil rights icon for refusing to give up her bus seat, new photos of Rosa Parks are being made public for the first time. Those pictures were taken by the late civil rights photographer Matt Herron, and they show Parks at the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. They were released to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery.

The Supreme Court takes on the power of the president. The big case that justices will begin to hear tomorrow.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:15]

DEAN: Waymo says its robotaxis could reduce crashes by 91 percent compared to human drivers. And it sounds like it might be a great leap in safety. And if you live in one of the five cities where Waymos are common on the roads, you know they often drive very politely. Until now.

This week, the "Wall Street Journal" reported Waymo cars have suddenly started driving more aggressively in San Francisco. And Waymo, owned by the same company as Google, confirmed it has updated the car's software to be more, in their words, confidently assertive.

CNN's Clare Duffy explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Anyone who's familiar with a Waymo will probably know that these cars are known for being overly polite, overly deferential, almost to the point of being annoying to users or inadvertently causing other issues because they're trying so hard to follow the rules of the road. So now Waymo has updated its software to try to make its cars more what it calls safely or confidently assertive.

Essentially, the idea here is to take the knowledge from human drivers that sometimes you can't necessarily follow the rules of the road in the way that you would expect. So, for example, if a moving truck is blocking the lane and unloading packages for 20 minutes, sometimes you might have to go around, cross that double yellow line to go around the truck and avoid holding up traffic.

That is the kind of issue that Waymo is trying to get its cars to better understand with this update. But of course, this is a fine line to walk and comes as Waymo cars have been involved in some pretty high profile safety incidents. There was a beloved bodega cat in San Francisco that was hit and killed by a Waymo recently. We've seen reports of Waymo vehicles going around stopped school busses with their stop signs out indicating that kids were getting off the busses.

We've also seen a Waymo that was pulled over by California police after pulling an illegal U-turn. And this of course also all coming as the company rapidly expands across the country. Waymos are currently available in five cities, and the company is either testing or planning rollouts in more than 20 cities. But Waymo says that those safety incidents are disconnected from this move to become more confidently assertive.

The company says its cars continue to be safer than human drivers, and Waymo vehicles have now driven more than 100 million miles without a human behind the wheel. The company says it has 92 percent fewer crashes with pedestrian injuries than human drivers. And when I asked Waymo about these safety concerns, a spokesperson told me, "Safety is fundamental to everything that we do. The data shows we are improving road safety in the communities in which we operate, and we are proud of our record of achieving a fivefold reduction in injury related crashes, and 12 times fewer injury crashes involving pedestrians compared to human drivers."

But one of the challenges here is that there isn't a clear path to accountability for a driverless car in the way that there is for a human driver. The regulations are sort of all over the place, depending on where this technology is being rolled out. California, for example, passed a law that's set to go into effect next year that says that police can cite driverless vehicles, but it's not clear what the penalty is going to be for those citations. So that I think is going to be a challenge as we continue to see this technology roll out across the country.

Back to you.

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DEAN: All right. Clare Duffy, thanks so much. Now streaming on the CNN app, candid conversations between Hollywood's

hottest actors on their craft, their process and the work driving this year's award season. Here's a preview.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: What do you get when you pair the sexiest man alive with Superman? Well, you get a very fun conversation that you are not going to see anywhere else other than "Actors on Actors."

Just now what is "Actors on Actors"? It is an entertainment series where you get actors sitting down with one another to interview each other. And I am so excited that "Actors on Actors" is now here at CNN because it is one of my favorite and one of the biggest series in the entertainment news world.

Now, Jonathan Bailey, who you may know from "Wicked" or from "Jurassic World," and David Corenswet, "Superman" himself, they were paired together for a conversation. It was actually the first time they met. And I want to warn you and your viewers, prepare for maybe a little too much fun. Let's take a look.

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DAVID CORENSWET, ACTOR: Let me ask you this. Sexiest man alive, Jonathan Bailey. Sexiest man alive.

JONATHAN BAILEY, ACTOR: OK. It was so lovely to chat.

CORENSWET: Where do you go from here? Sexiest man alive 2026. How do you do it?

BAILEY: How dare you? That is that software, not hardware.

CORENSWET: OK, back tomorrow for part two?

BAILEY: Yes. Maybe we'll just sit down in another 10? Should we just check up on each other every 10 years?

CORENSWET: That's a good idea.

BAILEY: That would be a real privilege.

CORENSWET: You know, at some point there's no -- there's no alternative.

BAILEY: I know.

[18:55:01]

CORENSWET: You can't actually be friends with all the lovely people there are in the -- in the industry and in the world. You just have some people --

BAILEY: I'll be your friend.

CORENSWET: Well, great. Do you have time for me? I feel like you've got --

BAILEY: Yes, I do actually.

CORENSWET: Oh, really?

BAILEY: Yes. Yes.

CORENSWET: Well, I haven't got time for you. I've got a 2-year-old at home.

BAILEY: Yes.

CORENSWET: I'll talk to you in 10 years.

BAILEY: OK, great.

CORENSWET: So how do you top sexiest man alive? No, no, I'm kidding. OK.

Good? Shall we kiss or something?

BAILEY: Just make out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Now I was there at "Actors on Actors," and I interviewed Jonathan Bailey and David Corenswet after. And let me tell you that our interview went off the rails in the best way possible. They serenaded each other, they broke out in song and dance. They told me that they want to work together on a project, maybe a musical.

So "Actors on Actors" not just providing good conversations, but also making friendships in Hollywood -- Jess.

DEAN: Hey, they can do it all. You can stream new episodes of Variety's "Actors on Actors" now exclusively on the CNN app.

We'll be right back.

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