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Zelenskyy, Trump To Hold High-Stakes Peace Talks; Ukrainian Teen Who Fled War Thriving In U.S.; Voting Underway In Myanmar. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired December 28, 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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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to all of our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Salma Abdulaziz in Atlanta.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, Ukraine's president meets with U.S. President Donald Trump later today to present Kyiv's positions on a proposed peace plan with Russia. We'll meet a Ukrainian student who fled the war and is now thriving in the U.S.

And people in Myanmar are voting for the first time since the military coup five years ago.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Florida right now ahead of key peace talks with his U.S. counterpart in the coming hours. A Ukrainian official posted an image of President Donald Trump's private plane after they landed. Mr. Zelenskyy made a stopover in Canada earlier on his way to the meeting with Mr. Trump. Sources say the Ukrainian leader lined up more support from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European allies.

The trip came hours after Russia's longest attack on Kyiv this year, which left 2 people dead and 44 wounded. The Ukrainian leader says the strike showed Moscow's real intent.

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

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ABDELAZIZ: But Russia's president is pointing the finger back at Ukraine, saying it is key that is stonewalling peace efforts. He also repeated his threat that Ukraine will have to meet Russia's demands or else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: We see that unfortunately, the ringleaders of the Kyiv regime are in no hurry today to solve this conflict peacefully.

If the authorities in Kyiv do not want to solve the issue in a peaceful way, we will reach all of the goals set in the course of the special military operation by military means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: CNN's Paula Newton has more on Mr. Zelenskyy's talks in Canada.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An unexpected stop for President Zelenskyy in Canada, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Canada's east coast. Prime Minister Mark Carney meeting him, they had a bilateral meeting and then a phone call with the so-called Coalition of the Willing, and that's mostly European allies.

On that phone call, though, they set out exactly what Ukraine would be willing to do, what they would be willing to compromise in order to get Russia to an agreement, and the fact that Ukraine needs security guarantees, not just from Europe and Canada, but from the United States, importantly.

I want you to listen now to both leaders before their meeting earlier in Canada. Listen.

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MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: And the barbarism that we saw overnight, the attack on Kyiv, shows just how important it is that we stand with Ukraine during this difficult time, and that we create the conditions for this just and lasting piece in a true reconstruction.

ZELENSKYY: Last weeks, we had good steps in diplomacy, but we can't live in illusion that it gave us possibility to have less defense with Russia, it doesn't work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Quite strident words there from Prime Minister Mark Carney calling it barbarism. And I have heard at cabinet level from the Canadian government that they believe two things, that only President Trump will be able to convince Russia to come to the table and end this war and that only the American government can put the pressure on Russia economically, including allowing that military aid, that they are the ones that can really force Russia to make any kind of concessions in this peace deal.

President Zelenskyy again, though, pressing his demand, not just for security guarantees from the United States, from Europe and from Canada, but also stressing that he continues to need that military support on the frontlines, and that if Russia is allowed to continue its drive, its push for more land in Ukraine that'll make peace talks even more difficult.

Paul Newton, CNN, Burlington, Ontario.

ABDELAZIZ: A controversial election is underway in Myanmar, conducted by the military rulers who seized power in a coup five years ago.

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The Civil war that followed is still being fought now, and the country's most popular politician, Aung San Suu Kyi, is still languishing in prison, her political party dissolved. The ballot is dominated by parties perceived to be close to the military. Hundreds have been arrested for daring to criticize the poll.

Our Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson is in Yangon.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Myanmar's military rulers are holding the first election in this country since they overthrew an elected government nearly five years ago and effectively plunged this country into a raging civil war. So, I'm in downtown Yangon right now and we're right outside a polling station. As you can see here, there are voter rolls here. So, residents come up, they check their names and then they can go inside and register and go to vote.

This is an election that's taking place again in the midst of a raging conflict and a growing humanitarian catastrophe. But here in Yangon, it's quite peaceful. There are hotels, international hotels that are not functioning since the coup, but, otherwise, life does seem to be operating smoothly and peacefully here. And inside, we can maybe bring you up inside, I can't physically enter, according to the rules, but we can take a look from the entryway at how the voting is progressing and people are casting their ballots using for the very first time an electronic system here.

There are major differences between the last time there was an election that was in 2020. Namely, one of the biggest political parties in the country is effectively dissolved, and its leaders, most of them are in jail, including the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was a state counselor who was thrown under arrest after the coup.

So, I spoke with a candidate for a local office who's with one of the main political parties that's aligned with the military government. He said that he'd lost in 2015 and 2020 elections to the NLD opposition, which won convincingly in those elections, but he's much more optimistic this time with the NLD not participating that he is going to win in this election.

The humanitarian catastrophe is very serious. The United Nations' World Food Program is predicting that more than 12 million people in Myanmar will face acute hunger next year. There has been international criticism of this election, saying it will not be free and fair with the draconian law banning criticism of the election, but the military government is very dismissive of this. In fact, a government spokesman has said whether the international community is satisfied or not is irrelevant.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Yangon.

ABDELAZIZ: CNN spoke to U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, and asked him whether this election could be considered credible and legitimate in the current circumstances. Here's what he said.

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TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR: Well, it can't be, frankly. And you have tens of thousands of political prisoners behind bars right now. You have the major most popular political parties outlawed. And you have people under enormous pressure inside of the country right now to go and participate in this election and show the cameras, the international cameras, that people are out there willing to vote.

Those -- the tens of millions in need of humanitarian aid, for example, have been told that, well, if they want humanitarian aid they're going to have to vote. I've spoken with students who have told me that, well, if they want to go to the university, if they want to enroll in the university, they better vote. And it goes right along all phases of life. People are being told that if they know what's good for them and their families, that they better line up and cast their votes so that this has at least an opportunity for the junta to show and demonstrate that it is what it is describing as legitimate, whereas where everyone in the country knows it's absolutely the opposite of that.

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ABDELAZIZ: Students in Serbia are organizing a nationwide protest expected to begin in the coming hours. It is part of a wider months- long movement sparked last year after a roof collapsed at a railway station killed 16 people. Protesters accused the Serbian president and his populist nationalist party of fostering corruption, poor public services and censorship. The government, of course, denies these allegations.

I want to bring in Helena Ivanov, associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. Helena joins us live from Belgrade.

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Thank you, first of all, for being with us on the program.

Start by talking me through what demands these protesters will have today and how these protests are any different, if at all, from all of the demonstrations we've seen throughout the year.

HELENA IVANOV, ASSOCIATE RESEARCH FELLOW, HENRY JACKSON SOCIETY: Well, ever since the canopy collapsed on November 1st, 2024, the students have began a series of protests which originally centered around four key demands. The most important one of which was the release of all documentation pertaining to the reconstruction of the train station, because, as you pointed out, the students are claiming that the reason why the canopy collapsed was a big corruption that was involved in the reconstruction process.

However, that documentation was never released in fully. It was released multiple times over the last few months with government claiming each of those times that everything has been published only later on for everyone to figure out that not everything was in fact published. And this basically lasted until May of 2025, which is when the students declared that they do not receive this government as legitimate anymore, that they do not have any confidence that this government will ever fulfill any of those demands. And, basically, the student movement has ever since centered around one key demand, which is for President Vucic to call for snap elections.

From May onwards, there have been multiple different rounds of protests, some of which even escalated to violence. In many of such instances, the police has been accused of using excessive force against the protesters. However, we still haven't seen any, you know, snap elections announced and President Vucic doesn't really seem inclined to call for snap elections right now.

So, the purpose of today's protest in particular is for the students to invite the citizens to sign a petition basically that would force the president to call for snap elections. There will be multiple different stance and checkpoints across the country, over 400 of those in over a hundred municipalities. And the students are basically hoping that the citizens will come out and show their clear support for snap elections, which is now the student's central demand.

ABDELAZIZ: But as you mentioned in the past, the police have responded with force, some say excessive force, the use of tear gas, the use of grenades, the use of riot police on the streets. How do we expect the government to respond today to these demonstrations, and could we see another crackdown?

IVANOV: I don't necessarily believe that we are going to see another crackdown. I think, you know, the entire situation in the country and the fact that Vucic is no longer able to consolidate power in the same wind, which he was before 1st of November 2024, also means that his leeway for the, you know, famous balancing act that he's been pulling between the west and Russia is now narrowing down.

So, I think if any excessive force was to be used by the police, this would be another serious challenge for President Vucic's foreign policy positioning. So, I do not expect to see any violence of that kind repeat on these protests.

In terms of the students themselves, they have been pretty clear from the beginning that their fight for justice is nonviolent. And even when they've invited people to engage in civil disobedience, they've made it very clear that they want for this to be nonviolent civil disobedience. So, I'm also not expecting the students to call for any violence because they haven't done it so far, and there is no reason for them to do something like that today.

ABDELAZIZ: But there is no doubt, of course, that more than a year of demonstrations has shaken the grip of the government. Can these protesters actually achieve their demand? Because the government only appears to be doubling down, right?

IVANOV: Yes, the government appears to be doubling down. And the reason why they're doing that is because it is very likely that if President Vucic was to call for snap elections right now, he would not win the amount of votes that he wants to win or the amount of votes that he has won in the past with many polls across country, basically confirming what I'm saying right now, which is the reason why he's not calling for snap elections.

If you look at like previous rounds of protests that Serbia had, like the ones that happened after two mass shootings in 2023, or the one with 5 million, which took place a few years prior. The way in which all the protests in Serbia would usually end is President Vucic would call for snap elections. We would have them he would win in a landslide, and that would basically end the protest. He's not doing it this time around because he knows he doesn't have the amount of support that he wants.

So, really, it all comes down to one question, which is, can the students rally enough support to really exert pressure on the government to call for snap elections? And I think today's protest is basically the purpose of that. The idea is to see how many people are going to go out, you know, two years before the New Year's to sign this petition. How many signatures are they going to have in the end? And can this be enough to force President Vucic in a coroner to call for early snap election?

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much, Helena Ivanov in Belgrade with that preview of protests there today.

There's much more to come on CNN, including lingering questions about those U.S. airstrikes in Nigeria that took place on Christmas Day.

And she's no ordinary student in Philadelphia. You'll meet a young woman who fled the war in Ukraine and overcame shyness and language barriers to reach the top of her class.

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ABDELAZIZ: Nigeria says no civilians were killed in U.S. airstrikes targeting ISIS militants, but there are still a lot of questions about those Christmas day strikes.

CNN's Larry Madowo has more for us from London.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are still some unanswered questions over the Thursday night airstrikes in Northwest Nigeria that President Trump called a Christmas gift to Islamic terrorists there that have been primarily targeting innocent Christians. One, the Nigerians disagree on that, but more than that in a little bit.

First, the US military said that multiple terrorists were killed at ISIS camps in Sokoto State, but there has been no battle damage assessment. We have not seen any video of the aftermath. We have not seen any burning bushes. We have not seen anything to confirm that. We did see some craters formed a small scale aftermath in both Sokoto State and Kwara State, but nothing more than that. And it's been more than 48 hours now.

Residents there were also surprised by why Sokoto State was the first to be hit by these airstrikes. It's 90 percent Muslim, and they largely coexist peacefully with the Christian minority there.

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Sokoto is home to what is known as the Sokoto caliphate, essentially the spiritual home of Islam in Nigeria. And they do have some kidnapping, some banditry, and even some attacks from armed groups, like Lakurawa, but nothing to the scale of the militant attacks we've seen in the northeast of Nigeria. So, that caught some residents there by surprise.

The Nigerian government also pushed back on the U.S. characterization as this was an attack on terrorists who target Christians. The Nigerian government maintains that they have a terrorism problem. It's a regional security issue across the Sahel from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, and actually more Muslims than Christians have suffered because most of that region is inhabited by Muslims.

Pete Hegseth, President Trump's secretary of defense, said more to come. It's not clear when that more will come. Will there be in other parts of the region? And could that include American boots on the ground? So, a lot of questions going into the New Year.

Larry Madowo, CNN, London.

ABDELAZIZ: The Nigerian foreign minister said the country's president approved the strike and hailed the collaborative effort with the U.S. He emphasized the operation was not targeting any religion and that Nigeria works with partners like the U.S. to, quote, fight terrorism and protect lives and property.

With the war against Russia raging for nearly four years, life has changed dramatically for some of the thousands who fled Ukraine. CNN's Danny Freeman introduces us to a young woman who came to the U.S. as a shy teenager, but is achieving success despite the adversity in her homeland.

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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On a recent chilly morning in Northeast Philadelphia --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is the real Othello?

FREEMAN: -- an advanced English class read Shakespeare --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's act five, scene two.

FREEMAN: -- acting out a tragedy about unjust violence.

KATE SOBOLEVSKA, FLED WAR IN UKRAINE IN 2022: Then Lord have mercy on me. FREEMAN: But in this class, 18-year-old senior Kate Sobolevska is herself a symbol of resilience in the face of tragedy. Because before she was Kate from Philadelphia --

SOBOLEVSKA: I feel like it's easier to say Kate.

FREEMAN: -- she was Kateryna from Ukraine.

SOBOLEVSKA: I'm from Lviv, not exactly the city, the smaller city in the region.

FREEMAN: Just a few years ago, Kateryna was living happily in her peaceful community.

SOBOLEVSKA: It's very cozy. It's very small. I can cross the whole city in like a day.

FREEMAN: A big sister with a loving family, president of her student government who loved handball and ballroom dancing.

Like waltz?

SOBOLEVSKA: Yes, cha-cha-cha. Yes.

FREEMAN: Really?

SOBOLEVSKA: Yes.

FREEMAN: You did all of that in Ukraine in your small --

SOBOLEVSKA: Slick hair and heels.

FREEMAN: Do you remember when it all changed?

SOBOLEVSKA: I do.

FREEMAN: In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Kate, her mom and her little brother quickly decided they had to leave the country.

What went through your mind when you heard that news that you were leaving your home?

SOBOLEVSKA: It was really stressful, but I believed it would be for like two weeks, then a month, then two months.

FREEMAN: And men between the ages of 18 and 60 were banned initially from leaving the country, so her father had to stay behind.

SOBOLEVSKA: I talk with him every single day and he's my main support and he's really proud. And I just wish he could see me grow up. And just understanding that last time he saw me was when I was 14 is really hard.

FREEMAN: Kate's family traveled through Europe and passed through New York before settling in Philadelphia where she started attending George Washington High School. How would you describe yourself when you first got here?

SOBOLEVSKA: Very lost. The school was very big and also, again, language barrier. I wasn't really confident speaking and I was also really shy and I didn't know anyone.

GIANNA LOZZI, HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER: She's very quiet, very reserved.

FREEMAN: But then South Philly English Teacher Gianna Lozzi started to read Kate's work.

LOZZI: There's something about being an English teacher and getting that first paper from a kid and being like, oh, okay, like you could write.

FREEMAN: But she had no idea about Kate's journey.

LOZZI: She would start to come for lunch and, you know, sit closer to me and we'd talk a lot. And that's when she opened up about, you know, all the things that she's been through, what brought her here.

FREEMAN: English Teacher Billy Marchio runs the school's honors program.

BILL MARCHIO, HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER: I said, you know, what do you, what can you tell me about Kate? And they said, oh, you know, the levels are off the charts. So, I took Kate in.

FREEMAN: And it sounds like she rose to the occasion?

MARCHIO: She did.

FREEMAN: While frequently translating for her family at home and helping take care of her younger brother since arriving in 2022, Kate has simultaneously risen to the top of her class, become a member of the National Honor Society, and even gotten to a summer journalism program at Princeton.

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MARCHIO: We're academics first and then artist after.

FREEMAN: This past fall, Mr. Marchio nominated Kate to be senior of the month of the month across the entire Philadelphia school district, and she got it.

MARCHIO: Not many people can, you know, do calculus and do these chemical equations with all of that weighing in their mind,

LOZZI: I think that her classmates are very, you know, inspired by her. We have a lot of, you know, Ukrainian refugees here, and I think it's going to be so encouraging and the hopeful scenario for them.

FREEMAN: And Kate from Ukraine understands the responsibility. SOBOLEVSKA: There are kids in Ukraine who don't have ability to go to school or who go to school and they have to go to bomb shelter every single day. I feel like I just have to be grateful for what I have, and that's the best thing I could do.

FREEMAN: Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

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ABDELAZIZ: Winter storms are snarling post-Christmas travel across the Northeastern United States. The FlightAware tracking site says nearly 600 flights have already been delayed for today, and more than 100 have been canceled. That's on top of more than a thousand cancelations on Saturday.

JFK, LaGuardia and Newark are among the hardest hit airports with delays of up to two hours, according to the FAA. The delays come ahead of the busiest travel day of the holiday season, with the TSA estimating, nearly 3 million passengers are expected to fly this Sunday.

A pair of giant panda twins spent the post-Christmas weekend frolicking in the snow, Zhishi and Zhima delighted visitors at a panda pavilion in Northeast China. The giant pandas jumped, tumbled and rolled in the snow, and they did somersaults on a slide that zookeepers kept building for them with that snow.

Thank you so much for watching us. I'm Sam Abdelaziz. Quest's World of Wonder is up next.

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