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Trump Says He Will Not Tolerate The Persecution of Christians in Nigeria; Turkish Police Launch Major Anti-Terror Raids Across The Country, Detains at Least 115 Suspected ISIS Members; U.S. and Ukrainian Leaders Plan to Meet Soon in Person; Thousands Gather in St. Peter's for Pope Leo's First Christmas Mass. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired December 26, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom. President Trump says he ordered a deadly U.S. military strike on ISIS terrorists in Nigeria. We'll look at why he did it and the reaction from the region.

A top Israeli official says Israel will never leave Gaza. So is Israel doing enough to help Palestinians still living in miserable conditions? Plus --

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Pope Leo's first Christmas speech as Pontiff, his message to the world's Catholics ahead.

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BRUNHUNER: U.S. President Donald Trump says he will not tolerate the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, so he ordered a military strike against Islamic State targets late Thursday in coordination with Nigerian authorities. U.S. Africa Command says multiple terrorists have been killed. The strike happened in a northwestern Nigerian state on the border with Niger.

Islamic militants have carried out attacks on Christians and Muslims throughout Nigeria. President Trump posted on social media, quote, "I have previously warned these terrorists that if they do not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight there was." An advisor to Nigeria's President tell CNN, the U.S. and Nigeria are on the same page in the fight against terrorism.

I want to bring in Yinka Adegoke, who's the Africa editor for Semaphore, and he joins me now from New York. Thank you so much for being here with us. I really appreciate it. So just to start off, are you surprised by this action by the U.S. government? YINKA ADEGOKE,"SEMAPHOR AFRICA" EDITOR: Well, I think, you know, they

had to deliver after the President, you know, made that kind of very, you know, aggressive promise that they will be held to pay and all what have you because of attacks on Christians. Listen, it's very strange situation that we have here.

We have a situation where, you know, the reasons for this attack by the U.S. might not be the right reasons, but actually maybe the end result will be a positive thing because the insecurity problem in Nigeria affects, as you said earlier, you know, all types of Nigerians.

The fact that the U.S. government has framed this as an attack that has been happening on Christians alone might not be totally correct, but the fact is Christians have been attacks along with Muslims and other Nigerians. So, we might get to a positive outcome if the Nigerian government itself is made to take this problem has been going on for a while over a decade far more seriously.

BRUNHUBER: I have a couple more questions about both the motive and the outcomes of this. But I just want to ask you something about the perception first. Nigeria's foreign ministry says the two countries coordinated on this but there's been a lot of tension obviously as you kind of alluded to since Trump threatened to go in guns blazing back in November. So, how is all this playing domestically in Nigeria right now?

ADEGOKE: Well, you've got this classic situation of the policies of the country playing out, right, where you have clearly, Christian groups and other sort of ethnic groups that are also predominantly Christian, claiming that, you know, making a very strong case that Christians are being killed because they are Christian, you know.

And you can argue that back and forth this kind of thing will be well received by those in particular who have felt for a long time that this Nigerian administration and previous administrations have not taken the security of certain parts of the country or certain groups as seriously as they should have, right? They've been too focused on other issues.

And insecurity is a really rampant problem across the country with large straits of the country literally in lockdown.

[02:05:00]

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

ADEGOKE: So, it will be welcomed. There have been people calling for this. This is not just even though, you know, it feels very much like a U.S.-driven agenda about, you know, protecting Christians and evangelical Christians in the U.S. pushing this agenda, but also there is the pull from Nigeria itself --

BRUNHUBER: Right.

ADEGOKE: --among certain groups who want some sort of action. BRUNHUBER: Let me dig in a bit more about that agenda, because the

data we have from groups like ACLED shows both Christians and Muslims are victims of violence.

ADEGOKE: Correct.

BRUNHUBER: So, why is the framing in Washington becomes so focused on Christians specifically? I know you've been reporting extensively on the lobbying battle in Washington over this issue. So, talk to me about how much that as well has sort of shaped the narrative that President Trump is responding to.

ADEGOKE: Well, it's as someone put it to me some weeks ago. It almost feels on so many issues with the Trump administration that they have certain agendas that they care about, or certain, you know, as you say, certain groups within the administration care about and they go chasing them, right?

So, you see with Nigeria is very much about the push from the Christian evangelical sort of groups within the administration and alongside the administration who are very concerned about Christians everywhere and not just Christians in the United States.

The same sort of thing -- you got that same sort of feeling with South Africa and the kind of idea that there's a white genocide going on. Again, it's the same sort of thing where, you know, Elon Musk and a -- few others were pushing this sort of narrative.

So, they're kind of bringing their own U.S. focus, their own U.S. worldview, onto issues which are, you know, have very little to do directly with the U.S., America's own problems, right? But because this is such a powerful country, it can have both positive and frankly, disruptive and negative impacts depending on how look at, who you're speaking to on any given day.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely, and we still don't know concretely what effect the strike has had. We might know more in the coming days. Until then, appreciate your analysis, Adegoke. Thank you so much for joining us, really appreciate it.

ADEGOKE: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: Turkish police have launched major anti-terror raids across the country, detaining at least 115 suspected members of ISIS. Authorities say they were plotting attacks linked to Christmas and New Year's celebrations and were targeting non-Muslims. Istanbul prosecutors say operations to apprehend another 22 suspects are ongoing. Police say so far they have seized guns, ammunition and organizational documents.

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

New video shows the moment an Israeli reservist soldier ran over a Palestinian man while he was praying in the occupied West Bank. So, we just want to warn you the video is obviously very disturbing.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Have a look here. Footage obtained by CNN shows a Palestinian Muslim man praying on the side of a road in Ramallah on Thursday. Then, an Israeli man drives a quad bike or four- wheeler into the man, running him over. The Palestinian man eventually stumbles up.

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BRUNHUBER: Israeli military says the same reservist soldier had been spotted firing his weapon while dressed in civilian clothes in the area just hours before this incident. The Israel Defense Forces says the incidents are under review, quote, "Based on the findings, the matter will be transferred to the relevant authorities." The IDF terminated the soldiers' reserve service and confiscated his weapons.

And staying in the region, Israel's defense minister says his country will never withdraw from Gaza. Israel Katz is calling for the creation of a significant security zone in the enclave, along with militarized outposts in northern areas.

On Thursday, the defense minister reiterated his support for establishing Israeli settlements in Gaza. Katz's plan would violate the terms of the U.S. Brokered Ceasefire Agreement reached in October between Israel and Hamas. The agreement states that Israeli forces would eventually withdraw from Gaza.

Meanwhile, humanitarian groups say not enough aid is being allowed into Gaza as required by the ceasefire agreement. The non-profit Refugees International says commercial supplies are often prioritized ahead of aid deliveries, yet do not address humanitarian needs. Israel disputes the claim. The U.N. and Coordination Office, the OCHA says significant restrictions and impediments continue to hamper relief efforts.

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My next guest is humanitarian coordinator Eyad Amawi. He joins us live from Gaza. Thank you so much for being here with us. Really appreciate your time here. You spoke to CNN in October. You told us your four- year-old son was suffering from liver inflammation and intestinal infections from malnutrition. I mean, it's been a couple of more months now. How is he doing and how are your other children holding up there?

EYAD AMAWI, HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR: Thank you so much for hosting me again. Yes, we touched slightly enhancement in general life conditions, but it's not as we hoped for just more than 60 (mic off). But the achievement of ceasefire is very good, but we need more enhancement in entering aids and as (mic off). So it's far we had hoped before.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, obviously, not enough aid is going in and on that, I mean, Pope Leo -- AMAWI: Yes.

BRUNHUBER: -- just gave his Christmas message calling out the suffering in Gaza, the tents exposed to cold and rain, I mean, you've been living through this winter on the ground and you you've seen certainly so many people who've been affected by this. Walk us through what a typical night looks like right now for families in those camps.

AMAWI: Yes, excellent notes. Look, we floated six times here from the beginning of limitations, ceasefire from the rain waters. Under this complete destruction of our infrastructure and complete destroy of everything's heat, we cannot continue our life with this bad conditions. More than 28,000 (inaudible) was flooded and more than 14 people was died (mic-off) bad conditions.

And we expected within 48 hours -- next 48 hours, the bad news storm will hit Gaza again. So urgently we need humanitarian interventions without Israeli restrictions over the trucks and let the mobile homes entering with more than thousands. Our needs here is immense and no one can imagine the bad situation.

The bad situation is more aggressive than the bombardment itself. And also the explosions and robotic explosions continuing. We're hearing at every night, especially in the east of the Gaza Strip. More than 60 percent of Gaza is under the military Israeli control.

So, there is no ability to distribute pebbles and to prevent crowded areas and prevent spreading the infectious diseases here, especially within the winter conditions.

BRUNHUBER: Yes and those conditions have been terrible for so many people living in tents. And we've unfortunately seen children, babies dying of hypothermia which should never happen.

And on the malnutrition, I mean, you've described how you and your wife were skipping meals entirely so your kids could eat surviving mostly on lentils and rice. You mentioned back then that, you know, meat, eggs, chicken, other nutritious foods weren't being allowed in. Are those protein sources getting through now or is it still sort of facing the same restrictions as before?

AMAWI: Yes, when we compare the current situation with the before, it's better slightly more than. But you know, with the inability and the economical exhaustion from our families here, they cannot meet their basic needs daily. So when we talk about losing for more than half million people their jobs, there is no economical ability to secure their food. So there is no food security by daily needs.

So, when we talk about entering aid trucks and distributing foods with no -- and also instability in prices and also running of black markets of our peoples, the sufferings is still going over the ground, and with this likely some situation after they held a huge bombardment. But you know, the famine and is still ongoing especially for people with the lowest level of the economic hardship here.

BRUNHUBER: Before we go, I want to ask you, sort of on the big picture, mean, your life, like so many in Gaza, has gone from, you know, stability and safety, having electricity, food, water, everything, to now struggling to find all of these basics.

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When you hear Israel's defense minister saying that they won't leave Gaza, Israel won't leave Gaza, and then on the other hand, you know, the Pope wishing conditions be better in Gaza, you have world leaders talking about, you know, recovery, and reconstruction. I mean, do you believe that is actually coming? Do you feel hope at this hour?

AMAWI: We hope that the peace plan for Mr. President Trump to be implemented completely and to force Israel to withdraw completely from Gaza. We hope that. But from my witness testimonies over the ground, they're still controlling more than 60 percent of our Gaza and development aid stocks.

So, when we hear they complete destroying the remaining infrastructure and remaining homes in that regions, and their talks about controlling Gaza forever, it will devastate us and it will cause us to lose our final hope.

So, we hope from the International Community and Mr. President Trump again to complete, implement the ceasefire and peace plan without any discriminations, and reconstruct our homeland without indiscriminations (mic-off) about the reconstruction plan. It's unlogic by rebuilding just Rafah.

We hope to rebuild all of the Gaza systematically with all of the system and handle the news for their owners, not the others, to prevent civil wars and prevent social conflicts here.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, we wish you and your family all the best. Really appreciate you speaking with us. Eyad Amawi, thanks so much.

AMAWI: Thank you so much again.

BRUNHUBER: All right, just into CNN, word that the U.S. and Ukrainian leaders plan to meet soon in person. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media a short time ago that he and Donald Trump agreed to meet in the near future. He added that, quote, "A lot can be decided before the New Year."

Earlier, Zelenskyy praised what he called very good conversations with U.S. negotiators on Christmas Day. Zelenskyy said this week that he floated the idea of a de facto demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine. Russia says it's analyzing the proposal. Meanwhile, Russia says it's making slow but steady progress in its talks with the U.S.

Ukraine says Russia launched a massive attack on the city of Kherson on Christmas Day, killing one person. The strike hit a busy market in the city center, just as people were preparing for the holiday. Officials say the victim was a market employee.

Calls for compassion from the new leader of the world's techflix (ph). More on what he told Rome and the world during his first Christmas as Pope. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The first American-born pope has delivered his first Christmas Mass and his first Christmas blessing from the famous balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. CNN's Christopher Lamb brings us Pope Leo's Christmas message.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, despite the cold and the rain, thousands gathered in St Peter's for the first Christmas celebrated by Pope Leo since his election.

Leo was out in the Pope Mobile on Christmas Day and on Christmas Eve before the midnight mass came out to the square to greet the thousands gathered under umbrellas to follow the mass from outside. And he said he admired them for their courage in coming out to be part of the celebrations.

Now, Leo in his messages has emphasized that Christmas is about peace. He specifically called for peace and for concern and solidarity with people in Gaza. And he made that call during the homily that he gave on Christmas Day morning from St. Peter's Basilica.

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POPE LEO, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: How then can we not think of the tents in Gaza exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold? Of those so many others, refugees and displaced persons on every continent? Or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities?

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LAMB: Leo came onto the balcony of St. Peter's where he greeted people in different languages, wishing them a happy Christmas. He spoke in Arabic, in Chinese, in Polish, showing his linguistic skills. Leo, in his Christmas message, calling for the guns to fall silent in Ukraine. Before Christmas, he said he hoped that there could be a ceasefire in Ukraine just for Christmas Day for 24 hours.

He also talked about different conflicts taking place around the world, trying to bring the Christmas message to the here and now in what he was saying. Leo, seeming in festive spirit, seeming happy to be marking the first Christmas since his election. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

BRUNHUBER: One of the most famous landmarks in Rome is shrouded in scaffolding, but tourists will get a fresh new look at the ancient column once a high-tech restoration project is completed next year. CNN's Ben Wedeman reports.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Slowly, painstakingly, they've been using lasers to clean ancient marble, almost 100 feet of it, on the column of Marcus Aurelius in the heart of Rome. For now, the column is shrouded in scaffolding concealing artwork chronicling the wars of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the last of the so-called five good emperors who died in 180 A.D.

WEDEMAN: Marcus Aurelius was essentially trying to make the Roman Empire great again, but it was at a very difficult time in the empire's history.

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It was under attack by wave after wave of Germanic and Iranian tribes, and had been wrapped by a plague that killed as many as 10 percent of the population of the empire.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The empire was no longer expanding, and decline soon followed. Historians say the brutality depicted on the column presaged an empire in crisis, brute strength replacing the confidence of a rising superpower.

Today, the struggle is against the ravages of time and modern man. Decades of smog have left the marble with black blotches, now being removed with high tech. Chief Restorer Marta Baumgartner says the laser technology is an effective, innovative technique that has had a lot of success in restoration because it gives optimal results while respecting the marble. Restoration will be complete by next spring, allowing visitors to glimpse a towering monument to imperial pride before the fall. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.

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BRUNHUBER: Moreover, one step closer to the end of the hit show "Stranger Things". Have a look.

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GATEN MATARAZZO, "STRANGER THINGS": This home (inaudible) everything we have ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Three new episodes are now streaming on Netflix. This is the second installment of the fifth and final season. The finale drops on New Year's Eve. Last week, the show's creators spoke to CNN about what fans can expect from the last episodes.

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MATT DUFFER, "STRANGER THINGS" CREATOR: I don't know how exactly people are going to feel. I imagine they're going to kind of sort of feel how we felt, which is a mix of emotions and you know, confusing emotions.

So I mean, there's an inevitability to it. Like it is not a part of me going, I wish this continued on to season six. It feels like this is the right time, you know, to end it. But at the same time, it's been really hard and really sad to say goodbye to this story and these characters. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Hard to say goodbye to you. Thanks for joining me. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "The Journey Matters, The Philippines".

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