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Russia Pounds Kyiv ahead of Sunday's Peace Talks; No Civilian Casualties in Trump's Strike on Nigeria; Israel Orders West Bank Raid; Top 10 International Stories of 2025; New Law in Mexico to Resolve Pet Custody Battles. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired December 27, 2025 - 03:00 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 AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Kyiv under Russian attack as Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares for a sitdown with Donald Trump in the U.S. We'll have details on the attack and the meeting that's set for Sunday.
Plus new details on the U.S. strike targeting ISIS militants in Nigeria. We'll look at why some are questioning president Trump's decision.
And 2026 is just around the corner. We'll look back at the biggest international stories of the year.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Russia is taking aim at Ukraine's capital just as negotiators are preparing to talk peace in the U.S. Have a look here. These new images show crews scrambling to put out fires after a major attack on Kyiv overnight. The mayor says at least 11 people have been injured.
Now this video shows the moment a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Kyiv. CNN crews are on the ground and they heard at least two attack drones coming in, followed by explosions. A nationwide air alert was announced with drones and missiles reported over several other regions.
Well, Poland says it scrambled fighter jets and temporarily closed two airports because of the strikes in Ukraine. Now this is all happening ahead of a meeting between president Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday. CNN's Nada Bashir has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as mediation efforts continue to try to hammer out a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he plans to meet with U.S. president Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that he could not say whether the meeting would lead to a firm agreement but said the two sides would aim to finalize as many details as possible, with some 90 percent of the 20-point peace plan now said to be ready, according to the Ukrainian leader.
Zelenskyy's remarks come after he shared an optimistic post on social media, writing on X that, quote, "a lot can be decided before the new year."
And after indicating to reporters that Ukraine may be willing to make significant concessions in order to achieve a peace deal, including ceding territory in the Donetsk region, something Russia has long pushed for.
In return, Russia would be expected to also withdraw its forces from parts of Ukraine, essentially ceding control of an equivalent amount of territory and effectively establishing demilitarized zones in parts of the Donbas region.
In addition to concessions on territory, Ukraine is also asking for guarantees when it comes to its security and economic recovery through concrete commitments from the U.S. as well as European and NATO allies.
Zelenskyy also told reporters that Ukraine has not yet received an official response from the Kremlin to its latest proposal, adding that Kyiv is said to be negotiating exclusively with Washington.
The Trump administration is, in turn, communicating with Moscow at this stage. However, no comment from the Kremlin on where peace talks stand -- Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an immediate ceasefire after weeks of fierce border clashes. Both countries announced the deal a short time ago. It follows nearly three weeks of clashes that have killed more than 100 people.
As part of the agreement, the two countries agreed to maintain current troop deployments with no further movement. Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire in the fall that Donald Trump helped broker. The fighting resumed earlier this month when that ceasefire broke down.
Sources tell CNN that the U.S. administration hasn't given up its pursuit of the oil tanker that was chased near Venezuela last weekend. The Bella 1 fled when the Coast Guard tried to stop it and it's still on the run. Officials no longer expect it to return to Venezuela to load up with oil. Now those familiar with the situation say the U.S. is considering
sending a maritime special response team to seize it. The team has experience boarding ships that refuse to submit.
The White House says the Bella 1 is a dark fleet vessel, sailing under a false flag and is covered by U.S. sanctions.
Nigeria's foreign ministry says no civilians were killed in U.S. airstrikes on Christmas Day. The U.S. said that the strikes targeted Islamic State terrorists in locations around the country.
People in one village in northwestern Nigeria say the attacks were shocking and confusing.
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They say that's because Muslims and Christians live in harmony there. CNN's Larry Madowo has more on the strikes.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump said the Christmas night airstrikes carried out by the United States in the northwest of Nigeria against Islamist terrorists were a Christmas present. He told "Politico" that they wanted to do it earlier but he said, no, let's do it on Christmas Day. And they didn't see it coming.
He claims that these camps were decimated. We haven't seen much battle damage assessment, so we don't know the exact impact of airstrikes. We did see some small craters created in one part of Sokoto state where this attack happened and also some criticism from clerics and others in Nigeria.
One Muslim cleric pointing out that Sokoto is about 80-90 percent Muslim and has not had a lot of militant attacks and questioning why the U.S. targeted this largely Muslim province in the country.
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SHEIKH AHMAD GUMI, MUSLIM CLERIC: It has shown that Nigeria is very weak. It's at the weakest point in life of Nigeria, where a foreign force will come on, bully Nigerians into accepting this kind of indignation.
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MADOWO: But Nigeria's foreign minister pushed back on any claims that it allowed the U.S. to violate its airspace. They collaborated in this and they're very proud of the work that was done here.
But they disagree on the Americans characterizing this as a religious fight. They say terrorism affects both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria and across the Sahel, this arid and semi-arid part of Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TUGGAR: It was a collaborative effort between Nigeria and the U.S. And President Tinubu gave the go-ahead before it took place and we don't see it violating our sovereignty or territorial integrity, which is very important. And it is not about religion. It's about the protection of lives and property of Nigerians and our neighbors as well.
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MADOWO: Exact numbers of Christian or Muslim victims of these attacks in Nigeria are hard to come by. But the population is evenly split between Christians and Muslims.
Some of the reasons behind these conflicts has been the battle for resources between herders and farmers. There's been ethnic tensions and, yes, there have been religious angles to some of these conflicts. Killings and kidnappings have been widely reported.
But a few days ago, there was an explosion blamed on a suicide bomber at a mosque. The Nigerian vice president visited victims of that attack. It has been an animating issue for many in the U.S. MAGA right and it finally made its way before president Trump.
And we saw this cryptic post from the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who only said "more to come" -- Larry Madowo, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: An explosion during Friday prayers in a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs killed at least eight people. The attack injured another 18 people. Syria's state news agency reports that explosive devices were planted in the mosque to target worshipers. The interior sustained heavy damage and was strewn with debris, as you can see there.
Survivors described the scene as chaos. A group calling itself Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility. Syrian officials have not yet commented on the claim.
CNN has obtained video that shows the moment an Israeli reservist soldier ran over a Palestinian man while he was praying in the West Bank. We just want to warn you, the scenes are disturbing we're going to show you here.
Now the footage shows a Palestinian Muslim praying on the side of a road near Ramallah on Thursday. Then an Israeli drives a quad bike into the man, running him over. The Palestinian eventually gets up.
The Israeli military says the same reservist soldier had been spotted firing his weapon while dressed in civilian clothes in the area earlier in the day.
Separately, Israel's military launched an operation in the occupied West Bank. The mission was ordered shortly after a car and knife attack in northern Israel on Friday. Police say the suspect, a Palestinian man, killed two people when he ran over a pedestrian with a car and stabbed a teen girl.
CNN's Matthew Chance has more from Jerusalem.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, police are calling it a rolling terror attack, in which two people have been killed in northern Israel.
The suspect, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, ran over a 68- year-old Israeli man in the city of Beit She'an, according to police, and then stabbed a teenage Israeli woman near a kibbutz. A 16-year-old boy is also said to have been left injured.
Police say the attacker was ultimately confronted by a civilian bystander and then evacuated to a hospital in what's described as a moderate condition. Shortly after the attacks, a military operation in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, believed to be the suspect's hometown, was launched.
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In a statement, the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, said that he instructed the army to act forcefully and to immediately locate and thwart every terrorist and every terrorist infrastructure in the city.
Well, the attack has also fueled calls in Israel for even tougher anti-terrorism measures, with Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, saying the attack demonstrates, quote, "the urgent need to pass a death penalty for terrorists," which the Israeli government is currently debating.
"Anyone who sets out to carry out anti-Semitic terror attacks must know that Israel will not allow them to continue living. We'll send them straight to hell."
That's what Ben-Gvir said in a statement after the latest incidents, illustrating just how tense the bloodletting continues to be in this region -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
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BRUNHUBER: At least 15 people were injured in a knife attack at a tire factory in Mishima in central Japan on Friday. Police say a 38- year-old man stabbed eight people and injured others by spraying an unspecified liquid believed to be bleach.
Five of those stabbed are reported to be in serious condition. The suspect was arrested at the scene, where authorities say he was carrying a survival knife and appeared to be wearing a gas mask. No word yet on a possible motive.
Parts of the United States are getting hammered by a winter storm. It's snarled travel and knocked out power for thousands in the northeastern U.S. Ahead, we'll look at how much more snow they might get. Plus, one of the biggest art heists of all time; the brazen robbery of
the Louvre ranks in our top 10 stories of the year. We'll have the full list next on CNN. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: From a brazen heist at one of the world's most famous museums to the long-awaited return of the last Israeli hostages in Gaza, they were many stories that made headlines over the course of 2025.
CNN's Clarissa Ward has a look at the 10 biggest. But we just want to warn you, some of you may find some of the images in this report disturbing.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The heist of the century. In just seven minutes four thieves raided the Louvre in October and fled in broad daylight with more than $100 million worth of crowned jewels. French police have since arrested the suspected thieves and their associates. The hunt for the jewels continues.
Two gunmen opened fire at the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor among 15 people killed in the deadliest mass shooting the country has seen in decades. Heroic bystanders risked their lives to stop the attackers, including this Muslim Syrian immigrant. Thousands of mourners gathering to honor the victims, urging the government to examine its response to rising antisemitism and to tighten its gun laws.
An Air India plane en route to the U.K. crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport in June, plummeting into a residential area and killing 260 people, including everyone on board except for one passenger, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national, who miraculously survived the crash.
Intense monsoon season hit South and Southeast Asia with back-to-back cyclones unleashing catastrophic floods and landslides in November, displacing millions of people across Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. A combination of rare weather phenomena amplified by the manmade climate crisis, killing at least 1,700 people. Hundreds of others are still missing.
This was Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's response to the mounting U.S. pressure on his government --
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: (INAUDIBLE). WARD (voice-over): -- seemingly unfazed by the U.S. seizure of a sanctioned tanker carrying Venezuelan oil -- a move that came on the heels of U.S. military strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific that have killed at least 100 people since September, while the campaign is scrutinized domestically with accusations that a double-tape strike in September could constitute a war crime. It is stoking tension across the America's as leaders question Trump's real motives.
GUSTAVO PETRO, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Oil. Venezuela has one of the largest, if not the largest, reserves of oil in the world.
WARD (voice-over): The United Nations declared famine in two Sudanese cities in November warning that nearly half of the population across the African country face extreme food shortages due to a brutal years- long civil war that has displaced more than 12 million and killed tens of thousands of people. The battles between the Sudanese Army and the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces left a trail of destruction across the country.
Both sides are sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged atrocities that include mass killings and rape. Mediators failing to get them to agree on a sustained ceasefire in what the U.N. calls one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're gambling with World War III and what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country.
JD VANCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Have you said "thank you" once this entire meeting?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: A lot of time.
VANCE: No.
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WARD (voice-over): The public humiliation of the Ukrainian president at the White House sent shockwaves across the world. Alarmed European allies tried to placate the American president, increasing defense spending and showering Trump with praise.
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: This president -- when it comes to it, yes, he's a man of peace. But if necessary, he is willing to use strength.
WARD (voice-over): The comparison to the warm reception the Russian president received six months later in Alaska wasn't lost on anyone.
TRUMP: Thank you very much, Vladimir.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: Next time in Moscow.
WARD (voice-over): The Ukraine-Russia war Trump once said he could stop on day one of his presidency continues. Attacks on Kyiv got deadlier and Russia made gains on the front line. Ukraine and NATO leaders voicing unease with Russian demands and the U.S. peace proposal.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Now Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice -- either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news into CNN. Pope Francis has died.
WARD (voice-over): The ailing Pope Francis made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday. His signature brand of tolerance evident throughout his funeral as world leaders and mourners from across the globe paid their respects providing the world with a much-needed moment of unity.
Behind closed doors cardinals elected the first American-born pontiff, Pope Leo XIV.
Israel struck nuclear and military facilities in Iran in June. The unprecedented air campaign killed dozens of high-profile Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones in retaliation.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: They are arch terrorists of the world. They want to have nuclear terrorism, which will put the entire world under nuclear blackmail.
AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER (through translator): The Zionist regime has made a big mistake -- a grave error.
WARD (voice-over): For 12 days, the skies of Tehran and Tel Aviv were lit with the terrifying blaze of missiles and interceptors. Explosions rocked military targets and civilian areas claiming the lives of hundreds of people in Iran and 29 in Israel, pushing the region closer all-out war.
TRUMP: A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on --
WARD (voice-over): U.S. bombers struck the Fordham, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. Leading to a dramatic end to the conflict, the two countries agreed on a ceasefire on June 24.
Flanked by world leaders, President Trump signed the Gaza ceasefire deal in Egypt in October, bringing the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages back home and ending the two-year war that the U.N. says killed over 70,000 people in the Palestinian enclave.
The horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza had drawn international condemnation with a U.N. body declaring famine in parts of the north. Hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives due to starvation and in shootings at the few aid distribution sites.
TRUMP: This took 3,000 years to get to this point -- can you believe it -- and it's going to hold up, too. WARD (voice-over): A promise undermined by regular infractions and continued strikes. And both sides have yet to agree on the second phase of the deal that could one day bring an enduring end to this conflict -- Clarissa Ward, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: More than 23 million people are under winter storm warnings in the northeastern U.S. The region is getting heavy snow and treacherous ice with the heaviest snow expected in the coming hours.
Parts of New York could get up to 10 inches or about 25 centimeters of snow. New York City could have its biggest snowfall in years. The FlightAware website says the storm has already forced airlines to cancel or delay hundreds of flights in New York and Philadelphia.
In Michigan, ice is weighing down trees and power lines. The website poweroutage.us says tens of thousands of customers have lost power.
When relationships end, some couples fight over custody of the children.
But what about the pets?
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Well, now lawmakers in Mexico passed a law to resolve that question. CNN's Valeria Leon has more.
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VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): In Mexico City, pets are no longer considered mere property in the case of a breakup. A new reform to the civil code now treats dogs and cats as family members, allowing judges to grant custody when couples separate.
For Leslie and David that change reflects a decision they made on their own. Even six months after they split, they're still connected not by legal paperwork but by the three dogs they adopted during their five-year relationship.
Leslie says it wasn't based on convenience but on the emotional bond each dog had with its caregiver.
David agreed. "Any decision," he says, "had to cost the least amount of emotional stress possible for their dogs."
And that approach prioritizing the animals' well-being is exactly what lawmakers say that was missing in many breakups.
Ledesma (ph) says that behavior is far more common than cases like Leslie and David's.
In many separations dogs and cats become bargaining tools used as leverage or to cause emotional damage. That pattern is what prompted Congress to act. Lawmakers approved the reform known as "Who Gets the Dog," which formally recognizes animals in divorce cases. Under the law, judges can grant full or shared custody. And just like in child custody cases, failure to comply with the judge's decision can carry legal consequences.
And while the law is meant to resolve disagreements, for Leslie and David, it confirms something they already knew -- that sometimes love means letting go and putting the dogs first -- Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "INSIDE AFRICA" is next.
