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Trump, Zelenskyy Are Set To Meet In Florida; Zelenskyy Meets With Canadian PM Ahead of Trump Meeting; Trump and Netanyahu to Discuss Next Phase of Gaza Ceasefire; Will The A.I. Hype Of 2025 Burst In 2026?; Political Battle Brewing Over A.I. Ahead Of 2026 Midterms; Ashlee Buzzard Pleads Not Guilty To Daughter's Murder; AAA: Year-End Travel Setting New Record. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 27, 2025 - 17:00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:55]

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

And tonight, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy preparing to meet with president Donald Trump. That's going to happen in Florida tomorrow. The meeting between the two leaders set to take place just one day after Russia carried out one of its largest and longest sustained attacks on Ukraine this year.

Russia launching nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles at Ukraine overnight, primarily targeting civilian and energy infrastructure in Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLENA KARPENKO, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): All night long, there was an air raid siren. And then in the morning we heard a very loud explosion at the thermal power plant.

Then we heard when the drones flew in and there was an explosion and flames broke out. The house shook. We went to the window even though you shouldn't. We got dressed, ran out of the house and heard a man burning on the fourth floor, begging for help. It's horrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, despite Russia's latest attacks, the Kremlin is still engaging in talks to end the war. However, Zelenskyy, who was in Canada earlier today for talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, says Russia's attack speaks for itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: And this attack is again Russia's answer on our peace efforts. And it's really showed that Putin doesn't want peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN is covering the story from all angles. Tonight, CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak and CNN correspondent Paula Newton both joining us now.

Kevin, I do want to start with you. You're there in West Palm Beach. Zelenskyy is headed to that area to Mar-a-Lago, willing to make a series of compromises in order to try to get peace.

What do we know about the plan that's currently on the table?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and Zelenskyy is coming armed with this 20-point peace plan. It's a revision of the proposal that President Trump first put on the table earlier this month.

And what they're trying to do is essentially go from the Ukrainians to the Russians and try and come up with some plan that all sides of this can agree to.

One significant aspect of Zelenskyy's proposal, and he has talked about this over the last several days, is he's no longer ruling out some sort of territorial concession on the part of Ukraine.

And what he says is that he's willing to put this peace plan up for a referendum in his country. You know, the Ukrainian constitution requires a referendum for any sort of change in the territory as long as Moscow agrees to a ceasefire.

But as we've seen and as these images demonstrate from Ukraine overnight, Moscow doesn't appear any more willing to end its assault of Ukraine than it has been. And so I think it remains an open question about what exactly this meeting in Palm Beach can actually yield.

You know, President Trump has sounded somewhat tepid about his expectations. He says that Zelenskyy doesn't have anything until I approve it, referring to that 20-point peace plan and says, we'll see what he's got.

And so the president is not necessarily getting ahead of himself before these talks begin.

At the same time, President Trump did say earlier this month that he did not think it would be useful to sit down with Zelenskyy unless it seemed as if they were close to reaching a deal.

And so it does seem to suggest that there have been some significant advancements, but plenty for these two men to discuss as they head down here to Mar-a-Lago tomorrow.

DEAN: Yes, that will certainly be quite interesting. All right.

And Paula, Zelenskyy met with Canada's Mark Carney earlier today, as we were noting earlier in our show. What was the big takeaway from that meeting? PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this was quite a hasty set

up for the meeting. It was in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Canada's east coast. It was, you know, really in an airport office.

But I believe that for both President Zelenskyy and the so-called coalition of the willing, right, not just Canada but European allies, that this was a foundational meeting before heading to Mar-a-Lago.

[17:04:49]

NEWTON: And their language here, Jessica, was strident when it came to Russia. I mean, Prime Minister Mark Carney using the word "barbarism", describing the Russian attacks overnight in Ukraine.

And President Zelenskyy saying quite clearly that he does not believe that Russia is ready to go to the negotiating table.

And for this reason, he really continues to press allies like Canada, like those European allies, and, of course, the United States to continue with that crucial military aid as well as economic aid. Now, Zelenskyy didn't leave empty-handed from Canada, almost 1.9 million in economic aid.

But Zelenskyy wants to be able to continue to prosecute this war because he believes the stronger he is and his country is on the front line, the better positioned they will be in for peace talks.

Jessica, I will note, though, when it comes to President Trump, I've heard at cabinet level here from the Canadian government that they believe two things. There will be no peace deal unless President Trump continues to be engaged. And that no one can really convince Russia and pressure Russia in the way it needs to be pressured to come to that negotiating table; that it is only the United States that can do that.

And for that reason, this phone call with the so-called coalition of the willing, the European allies and Canada really pivotal going into that meeting at Mar-a-Lago.

DEAN: Yes, certainly.

All right. Kevin Liptak, Paula Newton -- our thanks to both of you.

Here to talk more about this CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, good to see you.

As we've noted, Zelenskyy traveling to the U.S. For these talks with the president on the heels of this major attack on Kyiv. And Zelenskyy there in that clip saying that that attack tells you everything you need to know about what Russia thinks of peace.

What do you think the message is that Putin is trying to send? Do you think it is indeed what his thoughts are around peace or the idea of peace?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, I think -- Jessica, it's great to be with you -- I think what Putin is doing is he's sending the message that he, first of all, believes that he can win militarily, and he's putting pressure on the Ukrainians just before these talks between President Zelenskyy and President Trump.

Putin is saying, not so fast. We are not agreeing to any of these so- called peace efforts because we believe we can win militarily. And if we win militarily, we don't need to have any peace negotiations with the Ukrainians or with the U.S. or with anybody else.

So Russia sees its position as basically being one of strength, and they can basically, at will, go after all of the civilian infrastructure targets, such as the heating plant and, you know, some of the other things that, you know, provide for that infrastructure for a normal, civilized society.

And that's really what they're doing here. They're exerting maximum pressure, or at least what they can exert on the Ukrainians in the hopes, from the Russian point of view, that they will prevail militarily and diplomatically.

DEAN: And so we have Zelenskyy coming to the U.S. tomorrow, obviously he was in Canada today. What do you think is the best-case scenario from what he can get from these talks?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think the best-case scenario for President Zelenskyy is that he would be able to get the U.S. on his side. In other words, what I mean by that is that there will be a united front with the Europeans, which are -- who are on Ukraine's side -- and the United States putting pressure on Moscow.

That basically is Zelenskyy's goal. He wants to put pressure on Moscow and basically tell the Russians, you think you can win militarily. But you're wrong because we're going to get more aid from the West. We're going to get air defense systems. We're going to get weapons systems of other types. And we're going to prosecute the war effort in a way that will bring the war home to you.

So that's the kind of thing that Zelenskyy hopes is going to happen. He has certain capabilities indigenous to the Ukrainian military, but he also needs a massive air defense support, and he needs other weapons systems to be brought in.

In essence, he needs the pipeline of military aid to be reopened for the Ukrainians. That's kind of been a bit of a haphazard thing with -- once President Trump assumed office here in the United States. And that's something that in the best-case scenario, Zelenskyy hopes to reverse.

DEAN: And also -- and part of this plan that's being discussed, Zelenskyy has proposed establishing a demilitarized zone around some of the present front lines. How would that work logistically? And what do you make of him being willing to do this?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's certainly a bit of a change from the public position that Zelenskyy has had in the past. And basically what Zelenskyy is saying, he's willing to give up a certain part of the Donbas, which, oh, by the way, happens to basically contain a lot of the fortress belt -- the so-called fortress belt -- of cities in the eastern part of Ukraine.

[17:09:46]

LEIGHTON: That the Ukrainians still control their part of the Donbas region, where it's basically harder for the Russians to move into the rest of Ukraine if the Ukrainians continue to control that fortress belt. So the area, for example, around Kramatorsk being a prime example.

And now if the Ukrainians give this up, this doesn't mean that they want the Russians to come in there. What they want is that the demilitarized zone that you mentioned, and they want that to be a neutral zone.

So what would really need to happen is there would have to be some kind of international peacekeeping force there to prevent the Russians from taking it over.

If there is no international peacekeeping force, I think it would be unacceptable for the Ukrainians on their side to give that territory up. And it would also provide an impetus, really, for the Russians to continue with their military efforts.

And that is something that neither the Ukraine or the Ukrainian side nor the European side would want to see.

DEAN: Yes. I also want to ask you about this other major story that we've been following, which is the United States missile attack in Nigeria. U.S. Africa Command says the operation neutralized multiple ISIS militants. However, people on the ground there tell CNN there's no known terrorist groups operating in that area.

How do you kind of put all of those pieces together, and where do you see this going

LEIGHTON: Yes, Jessica, that's a really interesting question. I would love to see the intelligence reporting that they had before they conducted these strikes, because in the region of the state of Sokoto, in the northwest part of Nigeria, it's basically not as violent an area as you would find in the northeast -- basically on the opposite side of the country.

So the question that I would have is, you know, what kind of targets did you actually pick here? And it looks, you know, based on some of the footage that we've seen, like there's basically a, you know, so- called smoking hole in the ground and there's nothing really to show for it.

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that they didn't kill terrorists or people from ISIS. But with the local population saying the things that they say, it leads one to wonder whether or not they did, in fact pick the wrong place, and whether that was a deliberate choice, or just to send a message, or whether there was something else afoot here. It would be something that I would like to know.

But basically, what I make of this is this may not be as successful as Africa Command, or the administration wants us to believe at this point.

DEAN: Yes, it would be really interesting to see that intelligence report, to see what they were operating off as well.

Col. Cedric Leighton, all right, thank you so much. We really, really appreciate it. Good to see you.

LEIGHTON: Good to see you too, Jessica.

DEAN: And still ahead, uncertainty surrounding phase two of the ceasefire deal in Gaza as Israel tightens its military grip on the enclave.

Plus, the mother of the last remaining Israeli hostage prepares to personally deliver an A.I. message to President Trump from her son beyond the grave. We'll explain this.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:12:38]

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DEAN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon head to the U.S. to meet with President Trump, that's happening Monday. The meeting comes at a critical point as the Gaza ceasefire nears the end of phase one.

And under the deal, Hamas was required to return all living and deceased Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. But one set of remains has still not been located.

CNN's Matthew Chance has more on the family's push to bring home their son.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAN GVILI, A.I.-GENERATED IMAGE: President Trump, my name is Ran Gvili, the son of Talik and Itzik.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's an extraordinary message generated by A.I. from beyond the grave in Gaza, recreating the image and voice of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, authorized by his relatives and released by the Hostage Families Forum.

GVILI: Mr. President, I am asking you to see this through.

CHANCE: It's a carefully crafted message his mother tells me shell personally deliver to President Trump when she meets him with the Israeli prime minister in Florida.

Hamas is keeping hold of her son's remains, she insists, as a cynical bargaining chip. The group says it just can't find his body.

TALIK GVILI, MOTHER OF LAST HOSTAGE IN GAZA: We don't go to the second part of the agreement until Rani come back, because everyone in Israel understand it.

CHANCE: U.S. officials, including the ambassador here in Israel from the United States, have suggested that the peace process can advance while the search for your son continues. Would that be --

T. GVILI: No, no.

CHANCE: -- would that be acceptable?

T. GVILI: It's not acceptable because we don't want to -- Gaza will build on my son.

CHANCE: Under the ambitious second phase of the Trump plan, Hamas would be expected to surrender its weapons and power, something the group, which has survived an Israeli onslaught, may be reluctant to do.

Israel would also have to make painful concessions, like withdrawing from Gaza while handing control to an international force. Both sides, it seems, may share a common interest in stopping Trump's peace plan in its tracks.

But frustration in Washington is growing amid concerns both Hamas and a skeptical Israel are dragging their feet.

R. GVILI: Mr. President, finish what you started. Bring me home before it's too late.

CHANCE: While the unknown whereabouts of the last Israeli hostage is further complicating Trump's Gaza peace plan.

Matthew Chance, CNN -- Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Matthew, thank you.

And we're joined now by CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier. Kim, thanks so much for being here with us. We look ahead now to Monday and this meeting between the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Set the stage for everyone where we are in this process and what the goals will likely be for both sides.

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, what the White House needs to see is some move forward on the peace process towards phase two.

At this point, there are arguments over every possible modality you could think of.

[17:19:47] DOZIER: Who's going to make up the Palestinian government? Who's going to patrol the streets as a peacekeeping force from the Arab nations? And most importantly, where will Israel withdraw to and when will Hamas disarm?

What you've got the main thing holding everything back is that Israel wants Hamas to disarm first, and Hamas says Israel should pull out first.

DEAN: Right. Right. And so, as phase one nears completion, what would you say is the appetite for all sides to move forward with phase two? And how likely do you think it is that we get to that point?

DOZIER: Well, from Hamas' perspective, the closer they get to handing over to some sort of a civilian authority, means the closer they get to losing power. So they want to maintain power as long as possible.

For the Israelis, they still have no trust that whatever they withdraw from in Gaza won't present a threat to Israelis afterwards.

Also, you've got elections, legislative elections in Israel coming in October. And two members of Netanyahu's coalition have threatened to pull out if Netanyahu goes through with phase two before then.

DEAN: And so you mentioned the, you know, what a civilian authority might, might mean. And there's a -- you know, there is a lot of -- there are a lot of questions around what any sort of different governance in Gaza could look like as we get into phase two.

Do we have any working understanding of what that could potentially look like?

DOZIER: Something like a bit over a dozen technocrats have been identified who could take this role. But the problem is, you know, you always hear about negotiations. The devil is in the details. And none of these details were decided before the signing of this deal.

So right now you've got negotiations going back and forth from Cairo to Doha, now to Miami. And you have various parties to this that don't really want it to move forward.

From Netanyahu's perspective, it's better if it stays frozen until those October elections. And one of the things that he's going to bring up when he comes to meet Trump is that you've just had a couple of IDF soldiers killed in Gaza by an explosion that they're going to say shows that Hamas is still active and actively targeting Israeli soldiers, even though Hamas says it was just a leftover bomb. It didn't -- it wasn't targeted.

You'll also have Netanyahu bringing up Iran's attempts to rebuild its ballistic missile program as sort of a, you know, we've got bigger things to work on theme.

And that's some of the things that Netanyahu will use to say it's not time yet to hand over more power to the Palestinians. DEAN: What does it say, if anything, in your mind that Prime Minister

Netanyahu's coming to Florida, that he's meeting with the president here in the U.S.?

DOZIER: Well, there has been some reporting, including by CNN contributor Barak Ravid, that many of the negotiators involved have gotten very disillusioned with Bibi Netanyahu but the only person still in his corner is Donald Trump.

So this, in a sense, is going over the heads of all the negotiators to the top guy and trying to win him over to his point of view. Will it work? Netanyahu often does manage to charm Trump in person, but he's going to have to come with a really strong case to explain why Hamas can't be trusted to move forward at this time, because as long as Gaza remains unstable, Trump can't move forward with the expansion of the Abraham Accords. And that is key to him possibly winning the peace prize next year.

DEAN: Right. And it is interesting, as you lay that out at the push and pull here on both sides, because Trump certainly has his eye, as you note, on expanding the Abraham Accords. That's quite important to him. And it's been something that's very important to his administration.

DOZIER: Yes. And you know, the thing I have to bring up is the people with the least amount of power in all of this are the Palestinians in Gaza, who, according to the U.N. and other aid bodies right now have inadequate food and shelter.

And, if you've ever been to Israel during the winter it's like it constantly rains and the chill just gets into your bones. I can't imagine being under a piece of tarp trying to keep children warm in that situation. And they're stuck between two sides that don't have any real impetus right now to move forward.

[17:24:47]

DEAN: Yes, I did want to ask you about that, because I think sometimes, you know, we see ok, ceasefire -- check that has happened. Everyone can move ahead now. And, you know, there's not an active war going on.

But so many of the people living in Gaza are still suffering, to your -- to your point and trying to still get access to aid, et cetera, et cetera.

DOZIER: Absolutely. And it's also a dangerous situation for them. The Palestinian health authority says something like 400 people have been killed since this ceasefire was declared. And the U.N. also endorsed it.

And that means that if you are a family who has survived everything that's happened in the past couple of years, and you've been displaced from your home and you're in some sort of a tent city, you're afraid to move forward back to wherever your house was. It's probably rubble and aid agencies that would help you rebuild,

they can't really move that freely right now either. Because there are still the occasional drone attacks, mortar attacks, and there are still armed groups that aren't under the control of Hamas, as well as Hamas fighters who want to survive to fight another day.

DEAN: Yes. So we look to Monday to see what we might see come out of that meeting.

Kim Dozier, great to see you. Thank you so much.

DOZIER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still to come, what does the New Year hold for the future of artificial intelligence? We're going to talk to a leading expert about why this year's A.I. hype could fade faster than one might think in 2026.

[17:26:22]

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[17:30:43]

DEAN: It's been a big year for artificial intelligence. Tech companies have been shelling out hundreds of billions of dollars, betting big on the technology and its future in our economy. Politics, really our everyday lives in all shapes and forms.

But all this hype has also sparked fears of a potential A.I. bubble. One A.I. expert predicts, if 2025 was the peak bubble, 2026 will likely be the year it all falls apart.

And joining us now is that expert, Gary Marcus. Gary, great to have you. Thanks for being here. In your Substack, you say the clues are everywhere. Tell us what you are seeing when it comes to some of your predictions for A.I. in 2026.

GARY MARCUS, LEADING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPERT: Well, it all starts with generative A.I., with large language models, and the inherent problems that they have. They are basically statistical mimicking machines. They regurgitate what they see.

That doesn't mean that they are genuine intelligence. And what happened is, in 2023, people had never seen these things before, they got very excited. They imagine they might be super intelligent. But what's happened over time is people have realized, no, they are inherently flawed. They hallucinate. They make stupid mistakes. You can't really trust them on their own. You can only really use them with humans in the loop, and that has a lot of implications.

Number one is you can't make that much money from them because they don't work as well for companies as companies imagine. So, companies aren't getting the return on investment that they imagine from these products. Meanwhile, there is a price war, because a lot of people have figured out how to make them, so they come down and price by a factor of a hundred, which is pretty impressive, it makes them cheaper to operate. But it means that except for Nvidia, who is making the chips, nobody is really making a profit.

And unless these things magically turn into so called artificial general intelligence, which now seems unlikely, most companies are building this stuff are not going to make profits. And then, a whole bunch of dominoes are going to fall.

There is huge investments, over a trillion dollars in all these data centers. It's not clear that those are going to make their money back. We might have an oversupply. We might get into position where banks have went too much money to these companies, we could wind up in a repeat of 2008.

DEAN: Yes. And some people, though, argue this isn't a bubble. It's different than, say, the.com bubble, because this investment, in a lot of cases, is backed by these huge companies that have solid cash flow. They have billions in profits. Some of the startups are beginning to see real profits. What do you say to that?

MARCUS: I mean, most of the startups are not actually seeing real profits. So, take OpenAI, they are losing a few billion dollars every month. They are losing massive amount of money. They can't afford to do that indefinitely. You know, the latest funding round was about $500 billion that means the next one has to be $750 billion. It's not clear that people are going to invest in them, especially with Google catching up.

Gemini is arguably better than anything that OpenAI has managed to put out. So, OpenAI had a big lead, but they are not making money, and they have lost that lead. So, I think that they are actually in trouble.

DEAN: This month, the president signed this executive order to block states from enforcing their own regulations around A.I., and the White House has argued this is to make the us more competitive by creating what they call a single national framework for all states to follow. And this is divided lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

How do you see the politics of A.I. unfolding in 2026?

MARCUS: I think by the end of the year, Trump's going to change his tune. Right now, he's kind of all in on AI. He is trying to keep there from being any regulation. He just wants to push the accelerator as fast as possible. He thinks it will drive the stock market up.

But the reality is that a lot of the left and a lot of the right don't really like the policies he's making. A lot of the right people like DeSantis and Bannon are like, hold on, we still need to protect our citizens here.

DeSantis actually proposed a Bill of A.I. Rights for Florida. There is nothing like that on a federal level. And now, Trump is saying you can't do that on the state level. So, there is a schism within the Republican Party right now about how to handle A.I.

DEAN: And what about --

(CROSSTALK)

MARCUS: And on the left, nobody is happy with a complete lack.

DEAN: Yes, and what about --

(CROSSTALK)

MARCUS: Nobody is happy with the complete lack of regulation.

DEAN: Right. And then, what about this new kind of cold war that's undergo that we are seeing in the form of A.I. that's really unfolding between the U.S. and China.

[17:35:00]

I mean to your point, the president wants to make the U.S. the most competitive, and there are arguments among Republicans and Democrats about how best to do that. But, how do you see that piece of it unfolding?

MARCUS: I think it's a little bit oversold. So, because the formula is fairly widely known for how to make these large language models, China is going to make their own. We are going to make our own.

It's going to be more like Coke and Pepsi. You know, Coke has its part of the market and Pepsi has its part of the market. There is not going to be like a clear victory. A lot of people are using sort of fear of missing out or whatever to say, oh, my God, what if China gets ahead?

Or, you know, can we dominate here? The truth is, both sides are building essentially the same product, and there is not going to be a clear winner, and it's not going to like, lead to this fundamental change in military strategy or something like that.

Like, there was a big question, who was going to get GPT-5 first? And people thought, oh my God, if China gets GPT-5, first, then, they will invade Taiwan, or all this kind of craziness. And then, we got it first, and it didn't really make that much difference at all. Right?

Each of these technologies is incrementally better than the last. Both sides have it. There is not going to be a clear winner here. And so, the race to try to win an unwinnable wars, to me, seems a little silly. Obviously, we should participate. We should build some infrastructure. But it doesn't mean -- it doesn't mean we need to put in so many trillions and leave our citizens vulnerable.

DEAN: And so, do you not think A.I. will play a big role when it comes to a military of the future? Let's, let's call it?

MARCUS: I think you have to be really careful to distinguish between generative A.I., which is what we know how to build right now, which is things chat bots, like ChatGPT. In future forms of A.I., someday, we will have A.I. that really is as intelligent and as flexible as a human mind. And maybe that will make a big difference. The technology we have is flawed. The generative A.I. that we have right now, you can't really plan a war with something that hallucinates. It's also not very good at dealing with unpredictability, incomplete information. War is about the fog of war, dealing with situations you haven't seen before. This technology just isn't very good at that.

Some future technology might be that might be 10 or 20 or 30 years away.

DEAN: All right. Gary Marcus, thanks so much for your time. We do appreciate it.

MARCUS: Always a pleasure to be here. Thanks a lot.

DEAN: Thank you. We'll be right back.

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[17:41:24]

DEAN: At least 15 people are dead and 19 others injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in Guatemala, officials saying it took first responders' hours to rescue those injured passengers, who were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Road accidents are common in Guatemala. This crash happened in an area known for its dense fog.

More Americans appear to be coming down with the flu. According to the latest data from the CDC, four percent of all visits to health care providers during the week of December 13th were from people suffering from respiratory illnesses. The agency also notes nearly 10,000 people were hospitalized with the flu during that time.

A mother's not guilty plea in the death of her 9 -year-old daughter created a stir in a California courtroom Friday. Ashlee Buzzard is now charged with first degree murder in her daughter, Melodee's death.

Melodee Buzzard vanished on a road trip with her mother back in October, and her body was discovered in Utah earlier this month by a couple who ventured down a nondescript road in a sparsely populated area.

CNN's Marybel Gonzalez has been following this from Los Angeles. Marybel, now that the mother has pleaded not guilty, what comes next in this case?

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jessica.

Well, Ashley Buzzard is expected back in court in January for a preliminary hearing. Now, that is just the beginning of the legal aspect of this case.

Now, investigators say they have evidence that links Ashlee Buzzard to the murder of her daughter, including cartridges cases found at the scene where the body of Melodee was discovered, which they say matched a single cartridge found at her mother's home.

Now, they have also searched the Buzzard's home, a storage unit she had rented, and the rental vehicle she drove during the road trip where Melodee was last spotted.

Now, prosecutors also later said, Buzzard allegedly killed Melodee using a nine-millimeter gun. Buzzard was formally charged with first degree murder on Christmas Eve and is currently being held without bail. Prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty if she is convicted, but would instead ask for life in prison without parole.

Now, Melodee's paternal family responded to that announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARVIN MEZA, PATERNAL UNCLE OF MELODEE BUZZARD: The prosecution stating that they are not going to seek the death penalty. I don't understand why.

I think, I mean, they are going to seek life in prison. That's fine, but I think for what she's -- what she did, it should be a lot worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: Now, investigators searched for Melodee for two months and across eight states, but it was ultimately a couple who ventured down a dirt road in the rural community of Caineville, Utah, who discovered the decomposed remains of the 9-year-old little girl.

Now, authorities say she had died from gunshot wounds to her head. And right now, investigators have not located a weapon or have been able to pinpoint a motive, but they believe Melodee's murder was planned before the duo embarked on their road trip.

They say their investigation was hindered by, deliberate efforts to hide the truth, including clumsy disguises, swapped license plates, and an uncooperative Buzzard who could not provide an explanation for her daughter's whereabouts.

Now, we have reached out to Ashlee's attorney for comment. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Marybel Gonzalez with the latest. Thank you so much for that.

A new CNN original series follows a crime story that shocked a small town. "Death Cap: The Mushroom Murders" takes viewers to Australia and inside the jaw dropping murder investigation into Erin Patterson and the lethal lunch that killed her in laws and estranged husband's aunt. Was it a premeditated murder or a horrible accident?

[17:44:59]

All episodes are now available on the CNN app, and here is a preview for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are talking about an area down at South Gippsland, where it's ideal for growing mushrooms. There is plenty of moisture, there is trees in cover, and the soil is very fertile. It's easy to grow mushrooms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was two types of mushrooms. There was mushrooms and there was toadstools. And you just don't go near the toadstools, and that's basically what the death caps are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, it's a toadstool, not a mushroom.

Mushrooms, to us, were and they were pink underneath or black, but never white or yellow. They were toadstools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Don't miss it. You can stream all those episodes right now on the CNN app.

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[17:50:14]

DEAN: With 2025 coming to a close, millions of people will be traveling back home after the holidays. AAA expecting the end of your travel to set a new record, with more than 122.4 million Americans traveling at least 50 miles this holiday season. And here to give us some tips on how to avoid the travel headaches and how to get the best deal, yes, for the New Year is going.com travel expert, Katy Nastro.

Katy, good to see you. We are seeing a number, really, thousands of flight delays and cancelations pile up in the Northeast due to this winter storm that has moved through. So, if you or someone you know is dealing with that headache right now, what immediate advice do you have for them?

KATY NASTRO, GOING.COM TRAVEL EXPERT: Immediately, we want travelers to take advantage of the travel waivers that airlines have out. We typically see these during peak periods of really bad weather, where you can actually make changes to your flight without any additional cost to you, as well as it doesn't matter what ticket type you have.

So, if you purchase a basic economy ticket, for example, the most restrictive ticket type in this scenario, with the travel waiver, you are allowed to make changes. And again, we want people to act quickly. If you are going to take advantage of one of these waivers, and, say, take a flight in a few days, or maybe even, you know, try to get that first flight out, which typically see a higher on time arrival rate. You want to act quickly, because so many more people are traveling over a peak time period, like the winter holidays.

And 2025 has seen some record-breaking days, and this past week is no different in terms of volume. So, act quickly and take advantage of the waivers when you can.

DEAN: Yes, those are good tips. I do want to ask you about these records. Every time I talk to you, I feel like we are saying it's another record-breaking travel weekend. Why do you think so many people are on the move right now?

NASTRO: Look, despite sort of a -- sort of pullback that we have seen across a few months in 2025, we have still seen those record-breaking days. Perfect example over Thanksgiving, we saw that Sunday after, over 3 million people traveling, and that is the busiest day on record, according to TSA ever. And it's really due to the fact that regardless of what the economy is doing, we prioritize travel around these peak moments, these holiday moments, when we want to spend them with family and friends.

So, regardless of what is going on in the greater market, we still want to spend that those coveted moments with loved ones. And this year is no different.

DEAN: Yes, that's certainly true. And so, now, we look to 2026, I'm curious what's on your radar in terms of people who are looking ahead to maybe taking that one great vacation next year, or if they are starting to plan ahead for what they might want to do, what are some of the trends you are looking at and noticing?

NASTRO: Yes, you know, what we've noticed in our going state of travel is that we are sort of seeing people being more intentional about where they travel and really answering that why they are traveling. And partly, in due to -- again, that theme of economic uncertainty, time constraints, as well as political concern, is sort of rounds out the top three reasons why people might be slightly pulling back.

And if they are going to travel, they are going to make each trip count. And one way that we want people to take advantage of affordability in 2026 when it comes to travel, is trying to travel in January and February. One of the best time periods out of the entire year, arguably the best when it comes to savings, and we see fewer travelers in general during this period.

And it's not just airfare that drops drastically. Also, we see experiences and hotels come down quite considerably.

So, some deals that you can take advantage of right now in the going app, L.A. to Auckland, get this $587-round trip. That's almost 60 percent off average prices.

DEAN: Wow.

NASTRO: Yes, Seattle to Tokyo, another very popular region that we are anticipating for 2026 that American travelers are interested in. Seattle to Tokyo. $589. Again, very much more affordable than we've seen in past years, coming out of the pandemic. And even closer to home, Chicago to Puerto Rico. $159, round trip. Those are all on full- service carriers, by the way, not on budget carriers.

So, we want people to sort of not wait until just the summer to take a trip. Try to -- try to target taking your vacations earlier in the year, especially if you are looking for affordability.

DEAN: Wow, that's a great tip, and those prices, yes, you're right, compared to what we see sometimes it's really great deal.

Katy Nastro, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

NASTRO: Thanks so much. Happy travels, everyone.

DEAN: Thank you.

Chevy Chase helped define a generation of comedy and became a widely recognized name from his early days on SNL, to becoming a movie star.

[17:55:02]

And even the sometimes-complicated moments in his private life.

The CNN film, "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT", explores the man both on and off the screen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lorne Michaels, when he's given the job to develop a show for Saturday Night. He's got a blank slate.

LORNE MICHAELS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, I'd spend my 20s in a television studio, so, I was comfortable in that environment. We were just filled with possibility of what we could do and what we couldn't do.

ALAN ZWEIBEL, WRITER, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: When I met with Lorne, he described this new show, it spun my head around. Said it would be live. Be 11:30 to 1:00 on Saturday night, and go, what? Who is going to watch that?

You know, angry people, people who are not getting late.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a call. Lorne said, do you want to start this show with me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you could try to look at me instead of looking directly in the camera, unless you --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard for me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I invented weekend updates so I could look in the camera.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT" premieres New Year's Day,

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