Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump And Zelenskyy Wrap Up Talks On Ending Russia's War; Life In Gaza More Than Two Months Of Ceasefire; The Politics Of 2025 And Looking Ahead To 2026; Ringing In The New Year With New Goals; Top 10 Of 2025 When It Comes To Health. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 28, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:01:00]

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

And tonight we are following breaking news out of Florida, where just a short time ago, President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrapped up talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Trump calling that meeting terrific.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin that lasted for over two hours. We discussed a lot of points, and I do think we're getting a lot closer, maybe very close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Trump did speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the bilateral talks with Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago, and he plans to speak with Putin again. Meanwhile, Russia continuing its attacks on Ukraine today despite these ongoing negotiations. Friday night into Saturday Russia carrying out the year's longest sustained attack on Kyiv and the surrounding area. Zelenskyy saying Russia targeting energy and civilian infrastructure, leaving more than 40 percent of Kyiv's residential buildings without heat as the city experiences freezing temperatures.

CNN is covering this from all angles, and joining us now is CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak.

Kevin, what was the takeaway from President Trump and Zelenskyy's comments? Where did they leave things today?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and I think they emerged from those three-hour plus talks confident. President Trump said that they were closer than ever before to reaching an agreement here. But at the same time, realistic. You know, President Trump said that there were one or two thorny issues that remain in these talks. He acknowledged that this is quite complicated.

And he said that we would know, perhaps in a few weeks' time, whether or not this was going to be successful or not. You know, President Trump uses that timeframe pretty frequently, and it doesn't always come to bear. And so I do think that that is kind of a tell that these negotiations are not over the finish line just yet. But what President Trump says is that they'll continue talking. He says he will speak with Vladimir Putin today to brief him on how these discussions went.

When it comes to those one or two thorny issues that the president is referencing, he named the issue of land concessions. And as we know, Moscow has been demanding that Ukraine give up the entire Donbas region. What President Trump has said is that Ukraine may be better off just taking what's on the table now in his view because Russia may be able to gain further territory in the next couple of months. So you can see how he's kind of urging Zelenskyy to take the offer there.

The other issue he mentioned was the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russia. He said that he spoke about that issue with some length with Putin in their phone call earlier today.

Now, the talks will continue. Zelenskyy said that President Trump may host European leaders in Washington next month. President Trump even said that he had offered to go to Ukraine to speak to that country's parliament, if he thought it would be useful in getting this peace agreement across the finish line, but that he didn't necessarily think that he would need to do that. And so altogether, I think these were positive talks, certainly more positive than the first meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy back in February.

But at the same time, talks that didn't necessarily yield any sort of major announcement or breakthrough for these two men to come out and speak about -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for that. And earlier, I spoke with a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, about today's meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy. Here's part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So what stuck out to you when you were watching them discuss what they had talked about today?

JOHN HERBST, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, again, they seem to have, well, A, the meeting seems to have been well-prepared by the negotiators on both sides. So, B, that enabled the two leaders to solidify the agreement reached by the negotiators. And that's excellent. But, you know, it's worth remembering that Trump's goal of a durable peace, in pursuit of that, he has offered six or seven ceasefires, every one of which Zelenskyy since the middle of March accepted, and every one of which Putin has not been willing to accept.

[18:05:11]

The key question is Putin now ready to accept?

DEAN: Right. And I think you're exactly right is what is the Putin reaction to all of this? We know that the president spoke with him, plans to speak with him again. How do you see Putin reacting to what we saw today?

HERBST: Well, in order for -- Zelenskyy's idea about dealing with the very difficult issue of western Donbas territory, which Moscow has been able to conquer because it's deeply fortified, I can't imagine the Russians agreeing to Zelenskyy's proposal that, OK, Ukrainian forces would withdraw back from there, but Russian forces need to draw back equally, and there need to be some form of peacekeepers in the middle to make sure Russia does not move forward.

It's hard for me to imagine Putin agreeing to that because Putin doesn't want peace. Putin wants to continue the war to take greater control of Ukraine, and it's hard to imagine if the security guarantees are rock solid the way Zelenskyy has suggested and Trump has also suggested. It's hard to imagine Putin accepting that because he doesn't want -- he does not want to end the fighting.

DEAN: I feel like this is a conversation we have many times -- that we have had many times over the course of many years with many experts like yourself, which is what can the president do that he's currently not doing and the U.S. do that it's currently not doing to push Putin to accept some sort of ceasefire.

HERBST: President Trump has been slow to put the necessary pressure on Putin, but he did take a very strong step in mid to late October when he put sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, the two principal Russian oil firms. You need more of that because Putin has correctly relied on weakness of Western leadership to support Ukraine, and he thinks he's able to manipulate President Trump, which is why Putin, in their phone calls, treats the president with tremendous respect, even deference, even as he and his team say no to all the proposals Trump has put in play.

So I guess the -- I guess the same approach was to try today by Putin. And until the United States presents to Russia the actual proposals that were discussed today with Zelenskyy, we'll see. Until then, President Trump can think Putin will say yes, but it'd be -- it's doubtful that he will because he believes he can continue to pursue the war without major pressure coming from Washington.

DEAN: Zelenskyy said just a little bit ago he believes they're quite close on security guarantees. He said 95 percent there. What does Zelenskyy need to get formalized from the U.S. on this front? What's he, you know, still lacking? And do you think that's a red line for Russia?

HERBST: Well, we know that the assurances offered when Ukraine agreed to denuclearize and the better -- Putin past memorandum from 1994 were worthless when Russia began the war in 2014, and then the big invasion in 2022. So he wants a firm commitment for the United States, at a minimum, to back up the Europeans. If the Russians start shooting at Europeans as they've tried to prevent Russia from renewing aggression.

And, you know, we've had reports on what the United States must do, but we don't know precisely. And there were senior American officials saying on background that this would involve ratification by the Senate, suggesting it would be a treaty type obligation. If that's true, that's a very important commitment. And it's hard for me to imagine Putin accepting it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And our thanks to Ambassador John Herbst for that conversation.

Still ahead here, a brutal winter is making life more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians already struggling to survive after two years of war. We're going to speak to a spokesperson for UNICEF about the urgent need to get more aid into Gaza. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:13:12]

DEAN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Florida ahead of a meeting with President Trump scheduled for tomorrow, and the meeting comes at a pivotal point as the Gaza ceasefire nears the end of phase one. Trump is pushing Israel to advance to now phase two of this deal. But no international force has been created to govern Gaza, and the prospects of Hamas disarming seem remote.

The remains of one hostage (INAUDIBLE) is still being held in Gaza. Under phase one of the ceasefire deal, Hamas was required to return all living and deceased hostages. This is also an important time for Netanyahu politically at home, with elections scheduled in October of next year. And more than two months into the ceasefire, life for Palestinians in Gaza still incredibly difficult.

Thousands of displaced people are living in tents and enduring round after round of chilly winter rain. Israel still controls the amount of aid into the enclave, which some groups say simply isn't enough.

We are joined now by UNICEF emergency communications specialist Joe English.

Joe, thanks for being here being here with us as we near the end of 2025. Now that this ceasefire has been in place for a little bit, help people understand what life looks like in Gaza especially. I know your focus often -- focuses on children, especially for the children there in Gaza, as people try to get back to life but it's quite difficult.

JOE ENGLISH, UNICEF EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST: It is. Good to be with you, Jessica. You know, at the moment, as you say, we are seeing absolutely abhorrent weather. And for the hundreds of thousands of people whose homes have been destroyed, parents, families are faced with an impossible choice. They can choose to stay in a tent. And, you know, in many of these tents, there's very little protection from the elements.

We have seen multiple children, one just 28 days old, who succumbed to hypothermia recently, or they can try and take shelter in buildings which may provide a slightly greater level of warmth but that are unstable, that may be damaged, you know, may collapse. [18:15:11]

And just this afternoon, we saw a 7-year-old boy who was killed as a building collapsed. So these are choices that no family, no parent should be forced into making. And so the threats for children, they continue. You know, we are so grateful that we were able to see a ceasefire come into place. You know, it's important to note that we are still seeing children killed since the ceasefire, dozens killed since the ceasefire came into place. But the threats are not just from the violence. It's the cold. It's disease. It's more or less everything for children now.

DEAN: Right. I mean, because there's such a lack of infrastructure there as well. A United Nations backed hunger monitor recently said there's no longer famine in Gaza, but that there are still high levels of food insecurity. Of course, as you and I have discussed many times, children were hit especially hard by those famine conditions.

What are your colleagues telling you on the ground about the food situation there in Gaza?

ENGLISH: Yes, it's still incredibly precarious and it all feeds into each other because what we know is that children who are malnourished, even for a short period of time, it is a slow process to get them back up to full health. And during that time they are more vulnerable to water borne diseases. They're more vulnerable to hypothermia. You know, this time last year we were seeing the same thing of children, very young children, infants who were succumbing to the cold.

And we have people coming back to us and saying, oh, but it's, you know, it's 38, 40, 42 degrees as if that is warm enough. You know, these children we are providing warm clothes, we're providing blankets. But as soon as these clothes or blankets are wet and we're seeing these storms and huge amounts of rain, children are vulnerable. And so we will continue to see children die.

And so what we need is, as you said in your introduction, we need to see not just an increased amount of aid, which we've seen after the ceasefire, but it needs to be predictable, it needs to be sustained, and we need to be able to get everything that we need in to provide that level of protection for children.

DEAN: Yes. And how is UNICEF operating at this point? I know in the past being able to get to people was obviously quite difficult. Are your colleagues able to move around to get aid, to take it to the people, or are they still having to come to them?

ENGLISH: It's still challenging. You know, things have improved, but, you know, you just look at the pictures and you think in terms of the logistics, the amount of rubble, the amount of roads that need clearing. You know, we have many, many people living in close proximity, which raises the risk of disease. You know, and at a time of year when so many people around the world are coming together to remember the story of a child who was born not so far from Gaza, and now we have children being born every day in tents, in shelters, in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, you know, it really is a reminder that every child, every child on earth deserves that safe, warm, comforting, loving start in life. And that's what we're trying to provide.

DEAN: Yes. And what is the future look like for the children of Gaza right now? Are they able to go back to school at this point? Is there infrastructure to support them returning to some kind of routine?

ENGLISH: Yes. So we're doing everything we can to sort of try and bring back that sense of stability. And that includes, you know, reaching children with psychosocial support to help. You know, we estimate that every single child in Gaza and this is no, you know, this is no exaggeration, every single child in Gaza will need some kind of psychosocial support to help them process the experience of the last couple of years. So that's something that we work to do.

We provide these child-friendly spaces where children and parents know that, you know, they should be safe there. They should be able to just play. But getting kids back into school is going to be critical because this is the generation who eventually are going to have to rebuild Gaza. So we have to equip them with the tools to do it. And so that is, you know, in terms of our long term priorities, there is no greater priority than education for Gazan children. But at the moment, we're just trying to keep them alive.

DEAN: Yes. All right. We will see what 2026 will bring.

Joe English, always nice to have you. Thank you for walking us through all of that. We appreciate it.

ENGLISH: Thanks so much, Jessica.

DEAN: Still to come, nearly a year has come and gone for President Trump's second term in office. Our political panel joins us to talk about the administration's successes, failures and challenges ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:23:45]

DEAN: Land concessions remain a main sticking point after high level talks today between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine back in 2022, it's captured significant territory along the eastern front, land it now wants recognized as Russian.

We're joined now by two former U.S. representatives, Republican Charlie Dent from Pennsylvania and Democrat Max Rose from New York, who's also a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran and senior adviser to VoteVets.

It is great to have both of you here. Thanks so much for being here on this Sunday before the New Year.

Charlie, I want to start first with you because President Trump campaigned on ending this -- ending this war. He said he'd end it on day one. And we're obviously almost a year into his second term now. There are the humanitarian pieces of this war not ending, of course, but politically, where does this leave the president?

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE, PENNSYLVANIA: Well, I think the president is in the same place where he has been, where he is expecting the Ukrainians to make all sorts of concessions, no concessions from the Russians. So they float a proposal to Zelenskyy with no NATO, no security guarantees, territorial concessions, and all sorts of things that are highly objectionable. Zelenskyy then changes the deal, sends back to Putin, and Putin says nyet. Rinse and repeat.

[18:25:06]

That's where we are. And I hope that's not where we are today. But I have a feeling that's what will happen. Again I'm waiting to see what concessions Vladimir Putin will be making. So far, we haven't seen anything. I don't think he really wants peace. He simply wants Ukraine. And that has been the problem. And the president himself, President Trump, has acknowledged that he's been tapped along by Vladimir Putin. And I feel like that's where we are.

But until we get a good readout from this meeting, it's hard to say what happened today. We all want the war to end, but we don't want this Ukraine to enter into a surrender agreement.

DEAN: Do you think the president is doing enough to push Putin?

DENT: No, absolutely not. I mean, he should be pressuring the Europeans to basically to confiscate that $300 billion worth of Russian -- frozen Russian assets and use those for the war effort and for Ukrainian reconstruction, certainly can do more on the sanctions -- on sanctions on Russian oil than we've done to date. So I think there's plenty more pressure. We can give Ukrainians more offensive weaponry, all sorts of things we can do to support the Ukrainian government.

But again, I think the president wants to fundamentally change our relationship with Russia. He sees he wants to create more business opportunities with Russia. Who wouldn't want to do that? But Russia has to change its behavior before we can welcome them back into the family of nations.

DEAN: Max, what are your thoughts on this?

MAX ROSE, FORMER DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE, NEW YORK: Well, a few things here. First of all, Donald Trump has for this past year sought to negotiate in reverse when it comes to Russia. He has stopped any effort to additionally fund Ukraine, particularly in partnership with Congress. He's used the harshest of language towards Europe, working to further alienate and disconnect the United States from its NATO allies.

But we have to look at the entire map here as well. Although Donald Trump has renamed his Department of Defense into the Department of War, in effect, he's turned it into the department of forever war. Refocusing America's military might and its resources on Venezuela and its own hemisphere, much to the delight of Vladimir Putin and his cronies, because that is far fewer resources that can actually be targeted towards aid to Ukraine.

So this has yet again been Vladimir Putin's dream for who could be occupying the White House, and that is to the detriment of Ukraine.

DEAN: And Charlie, look, President Trump, some in his party, in his base, have criticized him for being so focused on foreign policy this year. He has had some wins. He was able to get the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. And he has been quite focused on foreign policy. As we look toward the midterms, though, we are hearing him talk a little bit more about affordability. He's calling it pricing. He's promising to bring the cost of things down.

How urgent of a need is that, though, for the White House to focus on and get sorted out before we head into these midterms?

DENT: Well, President Trump, you can argue, won the election in large part because many of those voters who had some doubts about both candidates supported Donald Trump because they thought he would be stronger on the economy. And so to the extent that we haven't made a whole lot of progress on inflation and the job market is very soft, there's a lot of voter angst over the economy.

While I don't begrudge any president for working on foreign policy, the president does seem to be fixated on things that I think a lot of his base isn't too interested in, like bailing out the Argentinians, for example, and even this adventure down in the Caribbean with Venezuela. I think they're more focused on a lot of issues that matter to them, their pocketbooks and even other distractions, not foreign policy related, but with a fixation on the ballroom, renaming the Kennedy Center.

All these things again that these don't matter to normal Americans. They care about how their future is. They're worried about things like tariffs, the cost of health care. These are all economic issues for voters. And that's what's driving the president's low approval ratings right now. And ultimately, a real drag on the Republican Party moving into this midterm. And we saw that the challenges that they faced all throughout 2025 in the various special elections and, of course, in the off-year election in November. So the economic issues, I think, are front and center. That's driving everything for the president.

DEAN: Yes. And, Max, look, Democrats have to be ready to pounce on that, on that messaging about the economy, about affordability. That's what we heard from all Democrats, really, in those elections, you know, just about a month ago, a month and a half ago.

ROSE: Look, this is not complicated. When we're articulating this, the level of discipline that the Democrats should have right now, it's about anti-corruption.

[18:30:02]

It's about addressing affordability matters, and it is about hyper focusing on the fact that the Donald Trump in the White House is so vastly different from the Donald Trump that he promised to be during his presidential election. He promised to lower costs right away. He promised to end the war in Ukraine on day one. He promised, in his hyper focus on Hunter Biden, to be the president, that put the people first, when in actuality, he's putting the wealth generation of his family first.

So the calculus is clear for Democrats. But it is all in the execution. Now they started off slow certainly in early 2025. But I got to tell you, the Democrats are ending this year on such a high note of bold unity. I think the American people are seeing very clearly that they are ready to govern, and they are ready to speak with one voice. And here's to hoping they continue into 2026 in exactly that same way.

DEAN: All right. We will see what 2026 holds for us.

Charlie Dent and Max Rose, great to have you both. Thanks so much.

DENT: Thanks, Jessica.

ROSE: Thank you.

DEAN: Still to come --

ROSE: Happy New Year.

DEAN: Yes. You too. The New Year means new goals and resolutions. But how many Americans will drop the ball on making those plans? Harry Enten joins us to run the numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:49]

DEAN: Let's take a look at some of the other top stories we're following today. One person was killed, another critically injured after two helicopters collided midair over southern New Jersey earlier today. According to local authorities, one of the helicopters burst into flames and that crash occurred about 35 miles from Philadelphia. The cause remains under investigation.

Brigitte Bardot, the iconic French sex symbol turned animal rights activist, has died at the age of 91. Bardot tantalized audiences and scandalized moral authorities with her raw display of sexuality in the 1950s and '60s. She became a box office phenomenon in the U.S. at a time when censorship in Hollywood movies did not allow frank discussions of sex. At age 39, Bardot abandoned film work, turning her attention to animal rights and far-right politics in France.

Snowplows are out in force as more than 30 million people are under winter weather alerts across the country. Another storm now threatening to upend travelers plans on what's expected to be one of the busiest travel days this holiday season. Tonight, FlightAware says thousands of flights are being delayed, hundreds canceled.

As the New Year approaches, a lot of Americans are coming up with new goals. CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten breaks down the top resolutions people are looking to accomplish in 2026.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey, Jessica, can you believe it? We're already at the end of 2025. We're about to jump into 2026 come Thursday, New Year's Eve of course being on Wednesday and I think the number one question we have going into New Year's Eve, at least if you're an elderly gentleman like myself, is whether or not I'm actually going to be awake come midnight.

Well, I'll be working come midnight. I'll be working out in Prescott, Arizona. But if I wasn't working, would I actually stay awake? And this number actually surprised me a little bit. Awake at midnight on New Year's Eve, look at this. 55 percent. Only about 55 percent of us say yes, we will be awake come midnight on New Year's Eve. Look at this sizable plurality, 44 percent say no, no, they won't be awake.

I feel like they might have polled folks like my father. My father never, ever, as far as I can recall, ever stayed awake on New Year's Eve going into New Year's Day? I guess he wanted to get a jump start in the New Year and wake up refreshed instead of partying on New Year's Eve.

Now, of course, if we're going to go into New Year's, what does that mean? That means resolutions. It's a fresh start, baby. And how many Americans are actually going to make a New Year's resolution? Well, get this, about 40 percent of us, 2 in 5 say yes, 60 percent, the lion's share say, nah, we're good. We don't need to make a resolution, but we do, in fact, see 2 in 5 Americans saying, yes, you know what? I do want to get a jump start on the New Year. Try and do something different. Try and do something new, better for myself.

Now the question is, what are Americans going to try and do better for themselves come 2026? Well, here's the resolution list. Some top resolutions for 2026 for Americans. Not much of a surprise. Exercise more. That's always right near the top of the list. I know it's easy to start off running in that gym class come January. The question is, can you actually stay in it come February or March?

This one was interesting to me. How about being happy? I think mental health has definitely jumped to the top of a lot of people's charts. Being happy, better mental health. I think that one is a pretty big one going into 2026, sort of showing up on the charts more than it used to. Not much of a surprise, how about eating better, eating healthier, right?

I think I'm eating a little too much carbs these days. I think I've shied away from the fried chicken. That's good. But I picked up some carbs, so I definitely think that I could eat better, eat healthier come 2026. And here's one for you. How about learning a new skill? Learning a new skill come 2026. Maybe my new skill would perhaps be not be as loud, not be as loud, especially in public places.

Yes, I know I'm loud on TV. You can't believe how loud I am sometimes in restaurants. I don't mean to be loud, I just am loud. But maybe it's something that I can work on. But I definitely think of all of these, being happy, I think, is numero uno for me. I think, you know, I am happy already, but being happier come 2026, even happier than I am now, and maintaining more than that, at least maintaining the level of happiness would be rather important.

[18:40:05]

Now when it comes to resolutions, I don't know if you can recall this, Jessica, but last year we learned that I in fact failed. Failed my 2024 resolution. What was it? Well, what was it -- it was keeping a clean desk. It was keeping a clean desk. We actually showed this video on air. My desk was absolutely disgusting back in 2024, as we turned the clocks to 2025. Turn those calendars. You see my nice Buffalo Bill somewhere right there. I got a Buffalo Bills jersey. That's all good. But the desk was messy.

Now, going into 2026, we can look back at 2025. Did I in fact get a clean desk? Well, the good news is, the good news is the desk I worked at in 2024 that is clean now. The bad news is that's because I'm no longer at that desk. Somebody else took that desk. So if we take a look at this fresh video that was shot earlier today by our main man, LJ, here on the news desk, what you see is I'm just as dirty. I'm just as dirty.

In fact, I've spread out. I've spread out my dirtiness. I mean, we can see this right over here. We look at the desk. Look at this. I still got the Bills helmet there, but I got packaging going on there. I got a jacket. I've got an open present over there, some boxes. What am I even doing here? And I've spread out. Look at this. I have a Doritos. "Welcome to the renaissance of snacking box." Those Doritos were absolutely fantastic, but maybe I can try and contain myself for 2026 not be as messy.

I mean, maybe third times the charm, Jessica? We'll just have to wait and see. But I can just say that 2025 and being with you has been absolutely delightful. Happy early New Year, my friend. Back to you.

DEAN: Thanks, Harry. It's been delightful to be with you, too, but you may just be who you are. And that could be a messy desk guy. It's OK. We love you anyway.

Be sure to check out the Enten scale. It's online right now at CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:46:28]

DEAN: Now to a look at the top health and medical stories of 2025 with CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: 2025 was a veritable battleground for public health as it faced challenge after challenge.

PROTESTERS: Join us. United, we'll never defeated.

GUPTA: Mass layoffs, an armed attack on the CDC, and as misinformation gained momentum, once forgotten viruses took hold on U.S. soil. But as always with science and medicine, progress does persist.

(Voice-over): It is impossible to ignore the impact of MAHA. It's been the rallying cry of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: The real overhaul is improving the health of the entire nation to make America healthy again.

GUPTA: The main driver of the movement, reducing chronic disease and a lot of efforts to that end, like condemning ultra processed foods and taking action on artificial food dyes, those have been largely applauded by public health experts. But other targets of the MAHA movement, those have them worried.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): We currently have our current vaccine schedule based upon a lot of people who know a heck of a lot looking at things not to make mandates but to make recommendations.

KENNEDY: It makes no sense to have fluoride in our water.

GUPTA: This year, we saw some states take steps to ban fluoride in their water supply. Dentists and other public health experts worry that its removal will increase cavities, especially for people without access to regular dental care. But supporters of these bans point to studies that found children exposed to higher fluoride levels have lower IQs and more neurobehavioral issues. But as with so many things this year, there is important nuance.

Those studies looked at levels much higher, almost double than the levels found in the majority of public water systems. In fact, another study found that fluoride at the recommended levels in drinking water did not negatively affect cognitive ability.

DR. MARTY MAKARY, FDA COMMISSIONER: There may be no other medication in the modern era that can improve the health outcomes of women on a population level than hormone replacement therapy.

GUPTA: In November, the FDA announced that it was taking steps to remove what is known as a black box warning for many hormone treatments for women with menopause symptoms. Now, while this change is expected to give women more options for treatments, I do want to stress that it needs to still start with a conversation with your doctor.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. today publicly linking the rise in the number of cases of autism to the use of acetaminophen or Tylenol by women during pregnancy.

KENNEDY: Today, the FDA will issue physician's notice about the risk of acetaminophen during pregnancy and begin the process to initiate a safety label change.

TRUMP: Don't take Tylenol. Don't take it.

GUPTA: Now, the FDA was much more nuanced in its warning, saying that pregnant women should use the lowest effective dose for the shortest necessary duration and only when treatment is required. However, there is decades of evidence that Tylenol or acetaminophen is among the safest options for pregnant women dealing with fever or pain, and that it does not cause autism.

DR. EDITH BRACHO-SANCHEZ, PRIMARY CARE PEDIATRICIAN: I understand the risk of a fever in pregnancy, which is risk of miscarriage, risk of birth defects, and I said, no way am I taking that risk.

[18:50:09]

TIM ANDREWS, PIG KIDNEY RECIPIENT: It may shorten your life, but you're going to do something for humanity.

GUPTA: This year, we follow the courageous journey of Tim Andrews, the fourth living patient in the United States to get a genetically modified pig kidney transplant. It's a process known as xenotransplant.

ANDREWS: And the little pig is right there so I can pat it?

GUPTA: Tim lived with a pig kidney for a record 271 days. And while he did have to have it removed, his case helps move this field farther into the future, especially as larger scale human clinical trials are just on the horizon.

When do you think this might be available for the average person?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think less than five years.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We just learned that Robert Kennedy, Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, will announce huge layoffs today. Some 10,000 jobs across the agency. And this comes on top of some 10,000 employees who left the department voluntarily.

GUPTA: Thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in research funding stripped. It's almost unimaginable to predict the long-term impacts of the Trump administration's cuts to public health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to make it more challenging to bring the best new treatments for children with cancer.

GUPTA: And the cuts extended beyond America's shores.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Withdrawing from the World Health Organization, sir?

GUPTA: Global programs like GAVI and USAID also had funding pulled by the administration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please just give us medication. We still want to survive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Milwaukee, one kid was found to have really elevated blood lead levels. And that sparked this whole public health investigation. GUPTA: And that investigation led them to Milwaukee's public schools

and several other children who had elevated blood lead levels. For the first time, they were able to link lead poisoning in children to the city's aging schools. The problem we found when traveling there is that most of the school buildings were built before 1978. That's before lead paint was banned. And to further complicate the city's efforts to handle this crisis, those cuts I was just talking about, that left the city without federal support.

DR. MICHAEL TOTORAITIS, MILWAUKEE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH: Investigation into the potential chronic exposures of students at the districts is a part that we were really looking to the CDC to help us with. And unfortunately, HHS had laid off that entire team for childhood lead exposure. These are the best and brightest minds in these areas around lead poisoning, and now they're gone.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The FDA just did something that could be a game changer for people living with pain.

GUPTA: For the first time in more than 25 years, the agency approved a new class of pain medication. It's called Suzetrigine. It's not an opioid. It works by preventing pain signaling nerves around the body from firing in the first place. So that message of pain never makes it to the brain. And even cooler, this medication was actually discovered after researchers learned about a family of fire walkers in Pakistan that lacked a gene allowing those pain signals to be sent. Those people, they could walk on hot coals without flinching.

A new FDA approved blood test could help diagnose Alzheimer's by detecting certain biomarkers of the disease. It will still need to be used alongside other diagnostic tools like neurological exams and brain imaging, but preventative neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson says that he thinks blood tests will be a great new option for screening.

DR. RICHARD ISAACSON, NEUROLOGIST: I believe this is a screening test that may predict if a person is going to be more likely to be on the road to Alzheimer's or dementia in 10, 20, 30 to 40 years.

GUPTA: And that means patients including myself who went through a battery of tests with Isaacson can get a baseline for their risk. And they can also track their progress while applying certain lifestyle interventions.

ISAACSON: Your numbers went from eh to now working faster and better than your age. You're actually six years younger than your age.

GUPTA: Six years younger.

Have you ever seen measles before?

DR. JENNIFER SHUFORD, COMMISSIONER, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES: No. And I'm an infectious disease physician. I've never diagnosed a case.

GUPTA: That's incredible. SHUFORD: It's because, you know, measles was declared eliminated from

the United States back in the year 2000 because of the effectiveness of that vaccine.

GUPTA: A measles outbreak that started in Texas earlier this year. It signaled a worrying trend as cases continue to grow across the country, putting the U.S.'s elimination status in jeopardy. But this is also symbolic of the larger fight over vaccines, especially as the RFK appointed members of the highly influential Vaccine Advisory Committee to the CDC has pledged to reexamine the entire vaccine schedule, even for shots that have long established safety records.

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: The ACIP is full of people who are anti- vaccine activists and science denialists. So you know that the decisions that they're going to be making are not science based.

[18:55:07]

GUPTA: As always, we'll continue our reporting and we'll bring you everything you need to know when it comes to your health in 2026. See you next year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Sanjay, thank you.

Chevy Chase helped define a generation of comedy and became a widely recognized name. The CNN Film, "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not," explores the man both on and off the screen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge fan, Mr. Chase. Huge fan.

CHEVY CHASE, ACTOR: Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you like a signed picture?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have one available?

CHASE: I might. I might have one.

MARTIN SHORT, ACTOR: We were at the AFI tribute to Gregory Peck. Way, way in the corner Mary Hart was interviewing someone live and Chevy said, I wonder if I can hit her with this roll. And he whipped it as far as he can and hit her right in the head in the middle of the thing. And then he had to sit down like a kid.

Kevin NEALON, ACTOR: I was at an event, and this young caterer came up with a tray full of chocolate mousse like shots of chocolate mousse. And she said, would you guys like some chocolate mousse? And Chevy looked at it and he stuck his finger in one. It out, no, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not" premieres New Year's Day at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and the next day on the CNN app.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)