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Zelenskyy in Florida Ahead of High-Stakes Talks with Trump; Data Indicates Americans' Economic Worries are Growing; NWS: Winter to Hit Upper Midwest, Northeast Today; Junta Holds First Election Since 2021 Coup; Abuse Survivors Denounce Lack of Transparency; Bardot Foundation: Iconic French Actress Has Died at 91. Aired 5-6 am ET

Aired December 28, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:32]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

President Trump is set to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the coming hours. This as Russia ramps up its attacks on Ukraine.

Plus, employers say they can't find workers. Applicants say they can't find work. We'll look at what to expect in the job market in the coming year. Now, all of this coming after a wild year in business.

From firebombs at Tesla dealerships to the uproar over a changed logo, we'll have the top 10 business stories of 2025.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

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

Now, the trip comes hours after Russian drones and missiles pounded Kyiv for almost 10 hours. Officials say at least two people were killed and 44 others wounded. The Ukrainian and Canadian leaders say the missing piece on the path to an agreement is in Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Under President Zelenskyy's leadership, we have the conditions, the possibility of a just and lasting peace. But that requires a will in Russia.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: This attack is, again, Russia's answer on our peace efforts. And it really shows that Putin doesn't want peace. And we want peace. And he's a man of war, but he's afraid to speak about publicly. But we see the steps. And what we need, we need to stop this war in any way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: For more, let's go to London, where Nada Bashir is standing by. Nada, what's the latest?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you heard there from the Ukrainian president, describing President Putin of Russia as a man of war. And what we have seen over the last few days is a real ramping up of Russia's aerial assault on Ukraine. And that is exactly why the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing in his meetings with European leaders, in his meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and now, as expected, in his meeting today with the U.S. President Donald Trump, to push for more concrete commitments when it comes to guaranteeing Ukraine's security, particularly through further support in air defenses.

Now, this is expected to be a high-level discussion on the 10-point, the 20-point peace plan that is currently on the table and that has been hammered out by U.S. officials alongside both Ukrainian and Russian delegations separately over recent weeks.

We have heard from the Ukrainian president saying in a shift from what we have heard in the past that he is possibly willing to make some key concessions when it comes to securing that peace deal, including ceding territory that Russia has long pushed for in the Donetsk region. That includes ceding key cities like Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. These are cities which essentially stand in the way of a further advance of Russian forces into the heart of Ukraine. But, of course, in exchange, Ukraine is expecting a reciprocal ceding of territory by the Russian armed forces in the Donbas region.

These are all details which need to be ironed out and hammered out, and that is what is expected from today's discussions. We have heard from the Ukrainian president saying that he is hoping that these talks with Trump today, because he has landed in Florida now, that they would receive, in his eyes, legally binding commitments and security guarantees as part of that peace deal.

We know that, in preparation for today's talks, the Ukrainian president has spoken with the leaders of NATO, Canada, Germany, Finland and Estonia to coordinate a more well-rounded position on where these partners and allies stand on that peace plan. But, of course, the key part of this puzzle is Russia and finalizing where Russia stands on this peace deal. Take a listen to these comments from President Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We see that smart people also appeared in the West. They recommend the authorities in Kyiv to accept decent conditions of ending the conflict and offer good basic conditions for ensuring Ukraine's long-term security, restoration of relations with the Russian Federation and economic recovery of Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:05:10]

BASHIR: Of course, as part of that wide-ranging 20-point peace plan, President Zelenskyy is also looking for those firm commitments from his international allies, but also looking to secure a non-aggression agreement between Ukraine and Russia, as well as guarantees of Ukraine's sovereignty. And, of course, crucially for so many in Ukraine, commitments from allies and partners of support when it comes to Ukraine's infrastructural and economic recovery in any sort of post-war scenario.

And this could not be underscored more clearly than in the last few days, where we have seen that ramping up of Russia's aerial assault on Ukraine. Just overnight into Saturday, we saw that massive aerial assault targeting Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Some 500 drones and 40 missiles are said to have been used in that assault, which lasted almost 10 hours and forced many residents of Kyiv into shelters throughout most of the day.

And, of course, many buildings as well are now going without heat and electricity in freezing temperatures. So, clearly, this urgency is being felt not only by world leaders, but, crucially, by locals in Ukraine.

Kim.

BRUNHUBER: I appreciate that. Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much.

Well, President Trump is boasting about the economic impact of his policies. In a social media post, he said tariffs help boost U.S. gross domestic product and lower the trade deficit. The president also said there is no inflation. Numbers released this week show third- quarter GDP rising to 4.3 percent, and the U.S. trade deficit has narrowed significantly, but inflation stands at 2.7 percent.

Now, data indicates that Americans have their doubts about the U.S. economy. Consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since April this month, and the worrisome job market is the reason. The unemployment rate recently hit a four-year high of 4.6 percent. Employers are still hiring, but the pace of job growth is weak. The U.S. added just 64,000 jobs last month. In fact, the labor market is on pace for its weakest year for job creation since 2020, and, before that, the great recession.

Experts say questions about A.I. have businesses cautious about hiring. Earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressed concern about the state of the labor market. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: First of all, gradual cooling in the labor market has continued. Unemployment is now up three-tenths from June through September. Payroll jobs averaging 40,000 per month since April. We think there's an overstatement in these numbers by about 60,000, so that would be negative 20,000 per month. It's a complicated, unusual, difficult situation where the labor market is also under pressure, where job creation may actually be negative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: I want to bring in Daniel Hamermesh, who's an emeritus professor of economics at Royal Holloway University of London and the University of Texas at Austin, and he joins us now from New York.

Thanks so much for being up early with us. Really appreciate it. So, we heard the president talking about strong GDP numbers, but Americans don't seem to feel great about the job market especially. I mean, we've got unemployment creeping up and people staying out of work longer. Should Americans be worried about their job prospects going into 2026?

DANIEL HAMERMESH, EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN: Yes, they should, especially if they've been foolish enough to quit a decent job. The problem is not people being laid off so much yet. The problem is that the number of new jobs being created is very small, and so anybody who is looking for a new job ought to be very, very cautious about thinking about leaving a current job.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right. So, we keep hearing about this K- shaped economy where some people are doing great, others are really struggling. I mean, who's getting behind in this job market and why?

HAMERMESH: This trend has been going on for quite a while now. The problem is that those with a lot of skill, college grads, not in the tech industry so much, but elsewhere who are in finance, legal work, et cetera, are doing very, very well. Those with less education, high school grads, or even just dropouts only, are having a difficult time.

Those low-skilled jobs are not being created, and quite frankly, I don't think they're going to be created very much in the next five or ten years. The people without much education are having difficulties.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, but there's also, I mean, fears that, you know, white-collar jobs as well, because we're seeing companies sort of pull back on hiring because they don't know about tariffs, and then there's also the potential threat of A.I. that we heard about, right? The companies are afraid about how that's going to affect their hiring, so they may be pulling back on their hiring.

HAMERMESH: I think what you've hit upon is the crucial point. There's a tremendous amount of uncertainty about these things. In a very real sense, it's artificial uncertainty, not the A.I., but the tariffs that we've imposed upon ourselves.

[05:10:04]

And when people are uncertain, when employers are uncertain about the future, they're not going to hire, and people are going to pull in their own horns on spending, which will lead to less consumer demand, and essentially an exaggeration of what might be becoming a recession already.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And the confusing thing, I mean, we heard Jerome Powell say that it is kind of complex. I mean, there's this weird thing happening where employers say they can't find workers, but job seekers say they can't find jobs. I mean, you know, you wrote the book on -- on labor demand. I mean, how do you explain both things being true at the same time?

HAMERMESH: It's very straightforward. Remember, it's not just one worker with one skill or one employer with one job. It's incredibly heterogeneous. And this is quite standard problem, what we call mismatch, where a lot of very good jobs going begging, and a lot of people without the skills for them also looking for work. It's a classic problem. I think it's a little bit worse right now, but it certainly is nothing new.

BRUNHUBER: You talked about the uncertainty over A.I. I want to come back to that, because so many people I talk to are -- are afraid of this. And, you know, almost nine out of 10 H.R. executives say they expect A.I. to reshape jobs next year. I mean, is this something that job hunters should be worried about right now, or do you think this is sort of more of a long-term thing?

HAMERMESH: I think it's very much for the United States, a long-term thing. If I were a low skilled worker in some foreign country with a call center, I'd be very worried because those jobs are easily replaceable or will soon be replaceable by A.I. But a little bit higher skilled things in the U.S., this is not a serious immediate problem. It's been very heavily hyped, I think very much overhyped.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right. So, I want to end on this. If you're somebody who is, let's say, out of work right now heading into 2026, I mean, what should you be doing differently than -- than perhaps you might have been doing, you know, five or 10 years ago in terms of looking and getting work?

HAMERMESH: I don't think there's that much difference that one should be doing. The main thing is to think about what skills are currently in demand and what will be in demand in the next five years. These are not low-level white-collar skills. These are skills that people will always be using, not computer skills, low level computer skills, but higher-level skills, getting trained for things that will be there in the future, not something that might someday be replaceable by A.I.

BRUNHUBER: We'll leave it there. Really appreciate getting your expertise on something so many people are worried about now.

Daniel Hamermesh in New York, thank you so much.

HAMERMESH: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: A winter storm is causing holiday travel havoc in the northeastern U.S. and it's likely going to get worse in the coming hours. The National Weather Service says this winter storm is turning up more snow, wind and rain. TSA says today will be the busiest travel day of the holiday season with nearly three million travelers. But the forecast doesn't bode well for those wrapping up their winter travels.

So far, airlines have canceled more than 100 flights within, to or from the U.S. That's according to FlightAware. There were more than 1000 cancellations on Saturday. Now, train travelers hoping to bypass the holiday airport rush straw, they weren't any better off. Downed wire disrupted service across Amtrak's busy northeast corridor, causing long delays and cancellations. CNN Meteorologist Chris Warren explains what this winter storm will bring to the upper Midwest and northeast.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The northeast getting a bit of a break on Sunday before that next system arrives and not expecting the same situation in terms of snow for the northeast, but we are expecting snow and wind for the upper Midwest, including the Twin Cities and a lot of central and northern Wisconsin during the day here on Sunday. It's going to be pretty mild. In fact, a record warmth, the possibility throughout parts of the southeast.

Here's the precipitation. It's going to be rain in this direction. Snow here in the pink, showing a little bit of a wintry mix, sleet, freezing rain, a possibility here. This rain likely to eat away at some of that snow that we saw Friday night going into early Sunday or Saturday for the northeast. Here are the snow showers that will be lingering right into Monday. So, it might see a quick changeover from rain to snow across parts of the northeast.

But accumulating snow will be well away from the 95 Corridor, which should stay rain late Sunday and Monday. Then there's the wind, which is just that much more headache material here for holiday travel with some of the strongest winds, including some of the big airports from Minneapolis to Chicago and even down into St. Louis, gusting the wind gusts 40 to even 50 miles an hour at times. And then by late Monday, things are going to be breezy, if not downright windy across parts of the northeast as well.

Then a big temperature change after that record warmth across parts of the southeast. Cold air comes crashing into much of the country. In fact, we look at what we're expecting for a daytime high in St. Louis, 71 degrees, not getting out of the 20s on Monday.

[05:15:10]

BRUNHUBER: Voting got underway today in Myanmar's controversial election under the rule of a military junta. We go live to Yangon for a report on what's at stake in the country torn by civil war.

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.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Students in Serbia are organizing a nationwide protest expected to begin in the coming hours. It's part of a wider months long movement sparked last year after a roof collapse 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 denies the allegations.

A new protests in Israel this weekend. Protesters gathered in Tel Aviv demanding an independent state commission of inquiry into the October 7th attacks. They also vowed to rally until the last hostages remains are returned.

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

Under the deal, Hamas was required to return all living and deceased Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. But one set of remains hasn't been located. CNN Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson will be reporting to us a little later from Yangon.

In the meantime -- are we going to Ivan now? OK, we're going to hear from Ivan here from Yangon. Let's roll.

[05:20:12]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 councilor 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, earlier, CNN spoke to U.N. Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, about how this election should be regarded. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR: It has no integrity. I mean, there's no one who looks at this in a straightforward, responsible way would describe this as anything other than an illegitimate process. And it's all designed to try to decrease the pressure of the international community on the military junta. That's what this is all about. The people of Myanmar understand that this is a sham. They're under enormous pressure in so many ways.

This is all about trying to reduce the pressure on the junta so that it can entrench itself in its brutality. Now, the other aspect of this is that violence has been increasing, not decreasing in the country. In fact, there has been an escalation of the use of sophisticated weapons of war, helicopter gunships, jet fighters attacking civilian targets in the run up to this election.

So, all of the indications are that things are bad. And if the junta is successful in getting the international community to in any way recognize this as legitimate, then it will be able to entrench its brutality and things in Myanmar are going to get much, much, much worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right, still to come, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse and exploitation are demanding transparency from the U.S. Government about what they know, but they're going to have to wait longer for more answers.

Plus, filmmaker Tyler Perry is facing a sexual abuse lawsuit for the second time this year. We'll have details ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:28:01]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check some of today's top stories.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Florida preparing for peace talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. Later today, Zelenskyy made a stopover in Canada and reportedly lined up more support from Canadian and European leaders. The Ukrainian president said he was hoping to reach a framework for ending the war at the upcoming talks.

President Trump is touting the impact of his policies on the U.S. economy. He said on social media that tariffs help boost U.S. gross domestic product. New numbers released this week show third quarter GDP with the fastest growth in two years rising to 4.3 percent.

Snow and strong winds are expected across the upper Midwestern U.S. on Sunday as another winter storm moves in. Forecasters are warning of blizzard-like conditions, heavy snowfall and plummeting temperatures. And after a short break Sunday, the Northeast is in for more freezing rain and gusty winds early in the week.

Well, this just into CNN, French actress and animal rights campaigner Brigitte Bardot has died. The Bardot Foundation released a statement a short time ago announcing Bardot had died at the age of 91. Her role in the 1956 film "And God Created Woman" made her an object of desire for many in the 1950s and 60s. And she was one of the first actresses to earn the title "Sex Kitten." In later years, Bardot left acting and focused on promoting animal rights.

Well, we haven't seen the end of the Epstein files. The U.S. Justice Department is expected to continue releasing documents related to the convicted sex abuser in 2026. It's despite a law requiring them to have released all of the files a few weeks ago. Hundreds of thousands have now been made public.

Now, the Trump administration says there are more than a million new documents potentially related to Epstein, and it could take several more weeks to process them. Survivors of Epstein's abuse are denouncing the department's handling of the case. One attorney called it a disaster. They say some files have been overly redacted and others have revealed victims' identities. Republicans and Democratic lawmakers alike are vowing to hold the attorney general accountable.

[05:30:13]

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): The quickest way and I think most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): We're building a bipartisan coalition and it would fine Pam Bondi for every day that she's not releasing these documents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: For more on this, I want to bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, who's a professor of government at the University of Essex, and she joins me now from Colchester, England. Thank you so much for being here with us again. Appreciate it.

So, there's this bipartisan anger right now over the Epstein document release, as we just showed there. You've got Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna on the same side, threatening contempt charges against Pam Bondi. I mean, how unusual is it to see this kind of left- right coalition pressuring a sitting Attorney General?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: So, in the past it wouldn't have been that unusual, but in today's politics, which have become so incredibly polarized, especially in the era of Trump, where Republicans never dared to go against him, this does seem like the one issue that is uniting some Republicans and Democrats, that we have some bipartisan support, and that there seems to be some momentum gaining about seeking contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Pam Bondi.

I think there's more agreement generally that she has really messed this up. This has been just a huge disaster, for the reasons that you've already outlined. So, I think this is the one issue, this Epstein file, the way that this has been handled is the one issue that seems to get Republicans and Democrats on the same side.

And it's not just the lawmakers that are on the same side, but also the American public. You have even 74 percent of Republicans that want all of the documents released, according to a YouGov poll, some 91 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of Independents. And in that same poll revealed that even of MAGA Republicans, only 47 percent agree that Trump has handled this well.

So, he's underwater there with that, and 30 percent of Republicans in total. So, I think this kind of explains the story of why there's more bipartisan support for this.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, even though, you know, as you say, the MAGA world is -- is angry with him, yet to see whether this actually hurts his popularity with him. But you talked about his numbers being underwater there. I mean, looking to the year ahead and the midterms, historically, voters' opinion of the president are the determining factor in the outcome of the midterms, and that is not great news for the GOP. Trump's approval rating at the end of his first year back, 36 percent in Gallup, which ties his own record for the worst of any president at this point in 50 years.

LINDSTAEDT: Right, exactly. And so, I think that's one of the things that Republicans are looking to, is just the fact that his -- his approval ratings are terrible, as you -- as you outlined. And if you even break it down into different topics, where he used to have really strong approval ratings, whether it be on crime or foreign policy, the Gallup poll reveals it's somewhere just above 40 percent, and shockingly, only 37 percent approval rating on immigration.

I mean, that was his number one issue. That's, in large part, why he's been elected twice, is that people felt that he was the right president to handle the immigration issue. So, with really deteriorating approval ratings, this is an important point for Republicans to figure out, like, what they're going to do.

But I think that you're not going to see really any defections or defiance of Trump until after the primaries for the midterms have taken place. There are still many Republicans in very red states or very red districts that need his support during these primaries. And so, I think after those primaries, you might see even more cracks amongst Republican lawmakers.

BRUNHUBER: Let's flip it and look at the Democratic side now. They have won some off-year elections, but there's still, you know, no clear leader and no unified message, I guess, beyond maybe, you know, affordability. You've got potential 2028 candidates, you know, jockeying, governors pointing fingers at each other. I mean, is this party any closer to figuring out who they are?

LINDSTAEDT: I mean, that's a great question. I think they're doing better mostly because the Republicans are doing so bad, not just because they've somehow figured things out. But they -- they did, as you already pointed out, have some really important wins.

And of course, they were predicted to win some of these races, but they won by much larger margins. And I think while the Democratic brand, the party in general, has a very poor image, individual Democrats seem to be able to carve out, at least resonate well with their constituencies and have run really good races and have been able to connect with voters on, as you mentioned, issues of affordability and inflation, you know, cost of living, health care. They were able to bring that issue to the forefront to the American public more generally.

[05:35:13]

And they've also been very critical of Donald Trump, who, of course, is a huge liability for the Republican Party. And so, for them to get their act together as a whole, that remains to be seen. But we have at least seen some individual candidates run really successful campaigns and have won by quite a bit.

BRUNHUBER: All right. A minute left. So, I just want this kind of briefly. But when you're looking at the year ahead, I mean, what should we be watching for? What is the thing that you think will most shape where we are a year from now? Is it coming down to -- is the economy stupid?

LINDSTAEDT: Yeah, probably the economy. I mean, you mentioned good growth rates. That's important. But it's the perception of the economy. If Americans still perceive the economy to not be going well, that's going to spell real trouble for the Republicans in the midterms.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Short and sweet. Appreciate it. Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much.

LINDSTAEDT: All right. Take care. Bye.

BRUNHUBER: The filmmaker Tyler Perry is facing a second lawsuit alleging sexual assault. Actor Mario Rodriguez, who appeared in Perry's "Boo! A Madea Halloween" is seeking at least $77 million dollars in damages. He also sued the film's distributor.

Rodriguez claims Perry subjected him to repeated unwanted sexual advances over several years, including sexual battery and assault. Rodriguez says he decided to file his suit after Perry was sued by another actor in June. That sexual assault case has reportedly been moved to federal court in Georgia. Tyler Perry's lawyer denies the allegations of both suits.

We'll be right back here on CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Returning to a breaking news story we brought you a short time ago, French actress and animal rights campaigner Brigitte Bardot has died. The Bardot Foundation released a statement a short time ago announcing Bardot had died at the age of 91. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more now on the life of Brigitte Bardot.

[05:40:08]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brigitte Bardot attacked everything she did in life with brute force and fierce passion, and it was that quality, along with her flawless face, that made her one of the most captivating in the world.

BRIGITTE BARDOT, FRENCH ACTRESS AND SINGER: Always I am myself, really myself, even when I am playing, I don't play, I am myself.

ELAM (voice-over): A testament to her exceptional star power, the French icon didn't need to come to Hollywood to capture the hearts of American audiences. She played only bit parts in a few English language films, including 1956 "Helen of Troy" --

BARDOT: Shall I tell the king you said that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ELAM: -- and 1965's "Dear Brigitte," in which she played herself opposite Jimmy Stewart.

BARDOT: May I join you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you certainly may.

BARDOT: You know, I haven't met a fellow out here in more than a year that wasn't flat broke. ELAM (voice-over): Always one to leave them wanting, the actress turned her back on the flashing lights at age 38, making her final film in 1973. But her star continued to shine. Bardot's effortless glamour situated her among art and fashion royalty.

It was her influence that brought the bikini out of obscurity. Her classic bouffant still inspires copycats. Her face inspired Warhol and became the likeness of France's national emblem, Marianne, goddess of liberty.

Bardot first became an international sensation after starring in Roger Vadim's French new wave film, "And God Created Woman."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'd make a good wife, wouldn't you?

BARDOT: I suppose so someday.

ELAM (voice-over): Vadim, so enchanted by the young siren, married her when she was just 18 years old. The marriage was her first of four. But Bardot's most famous relationship was with a man she never wed, the legendary musician Serge Gainsbourg.

The brief coupling led to the creation of several songs in the 60s and 70s. In 2003, she incited anger and disappointment among many fans by writing a book, "Un Cri dans le Silence," or "A Cry in Silence," which took aim at France's unemployed, gays and Muslims. Bardot was several times convicted of inciting racial and religious hatred, paying her largest fine in 2008, over $23,000 U.S. dollars.

She was also feverishly passionate about the rights of animals. In 1986, she established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals. And in 2013, the aging star threatened to leave France and move to Russia in protest of the pending euthanasia of two zoo elephants suspected of having contracted tuberculosis.

As proof of her everlasting influence, the elephants were granted reprieve. Bardot said in a 2019 memoir that she felt suffocated by her fame, but that a love of animals gave her comfort and a new calling. Humans have hurt me, she wrote, and it is only with animals, with nature, that I found peace.

As an activist, as an artist, Brigitte Bardot played her parts to the fullest by being true to herself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:43]

BRUNHUBER: With stocks hitting record highs, consumer backlash, CEO shakeups, and new government policies, 2025 was an economic roller coaster. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich brings us the year's top 10 business stories. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Trump's trade war sends shockwaves across global markets. Two popular companies make changes that court controversy, while another is facing its own challenges as its CEO goes DOGE. And the "Oracle of Omaha" takes his final bow. These are the top business stories of 2025.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Number ten, Warren Buffett retires. In May, a surprising announcement from America's most admired CEO.

WARREN BUFFETT, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY CHAIRPERSON: The time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Buffett is stepping down after more than 60 years at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway. The famed investor is a towering figure in American finance. Now 95, Buffett said no magic moment sparked the decision.

Number nine, a corporate facelift becomes an about face.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like it. I wish that they would keep it the way that it is.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): A new logo was a no go for Cracker Barrel. It quickly backpedaled in August after online backlash, even from the Oval Office, expressing outrage at the updated look. The company also canceled restaurant remodels, part of a turnaround plan for the struggling brand.

Number eight, Target tanks. It was a walk back of a different kind that put Target in the crosshairs after a rollback of so-called DEI initiatives in January.

REV. JAMAL H. BRYANT, LEADING TARGET BOYCOTT OVER DEI POLICY BACKLASH: It would be less expensive and less cost if they would just do right by humanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allow them to see our power.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Foot traffic fell nine percent year over year in the next month due to a consumer boycott. Another dent to earnings amid slumping sales and tariff pressure. The company still hasn't recovered, and CEO Brian Cornell is stepping down after 11 years on the job.

YURKEVICH: Number seven, Elon goes DOGE. It's been a tumultuous year for Tesla too. Elon Musk's company suffering slumping sales, stock price volatility --

CROWD: Elon Musk has got to go.

YURKEVICH: Protests, and at times even vandalism.

CROWD: Deport Musk. YURKEVICH (voice-over): Consumer backlash was aimed at Musk's work with President Donald Trump's administration as part of the Department of Government Efficiency.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can't be penalized for being a patriot. And he's a great patriot.

YURKEVICH: Musk stepped away from the government in May, but despite a rocky year, this fall --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With over 75 percent voting in favor.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Tesla shareholders showed a vote of confidence in the CEO, awarding him the biggest pay package in corporate history.

ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA: If there's something incredible that's done, that compensation should match, that something incredible was done.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): That puts Elon Musk in the express lane to potentially become the world's first trillionaire.

Number six, sticky inflation.

TRUMP: Prices are coming down very substantially on groceries and things.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Despite what the president says, and despite being a major factor in last year's election, inflation is still above two percent.

[05:50:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With tariffs and all the things that are happening, there's a rise in costs.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Consumer sentiment is near record lows as Americans struggle with affordability.

YURKEVICH (on camera): Number five, the K-shaped economy or America's uneven recovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're the top of the K, you're pretty wealthy and you're doing pretty good right now. Stocks are near an all-time high, and that's padding your bottom line. But if you're making less than $100,000, you're not in that category. Inflation is really taking a bite and you're making some very difficult financial decisions right now.

YURKEVICH: Higher earners are weathering higher prices by trading down in where they shop, like Walmart. That's propping up spending, while lower income Americans are pulling back.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Number four, a shaky job market.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER: You can see how bumpy the ride has gotten recently. In fact, we now know that out of three -- three out of the last six months the economy has lost jobs.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The job market is slowing. June, August and October saw the first losses since the pandemic.

DANIEL ZHAO, CHIEF ECONOMIST, GLASSDOOR: Uncertainty really is the theme for 2025. It's been a big driver for why the economy has slowed down over the course of the year. And it is probably the blocker that is going to prevent hiring from picking up through the rest of the year.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Trump blamed the worse than expected job market on the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics firing her in August.

TRUMP: We had no confidence. I mean the numbers were ridiculous.

YURKEVICH (on camera): He accused her, without evidence, of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for, quote, political purposes.

Number three, the Fed acts.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We begin with our major breaking economic news. The Federal Reserve announcing its decision on whether to make its first interest rate cut this year. And it's happening after months of pressure from President Trump.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Despite months of threats and taunts from President Trump, the Federal Reserve made the first of three rate cuts in September. The Fed held rates steady for nine straight months to assess how President Trump's tariff policy would impact jobs and inflation.

EGAN: And it does lower Fed rates to the lowest level in three years.

YURKEVICH: Interest rates affect what Americans pay for mortgages and other loans.

Number two, Wall Street's roller coaster. Over a single year, the major U.S. indices lost nearly 20 percent in market value in the spring, then gained it back a few months later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stocks in a freefall on President Trump's decision to further escalate his trade war.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wall Street closed last hour with the Dow above 48,000 for the very first time.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The market madness driven by the president's on and off tariff policy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of much bigger things are going on, namely AI.

YURKEVICH: A.I. is fueling a technology boom and a boom on trading floors led by Nvidia, whose market cap is approaching $5 trillion. But A.I.'s meteoric rise is fueling concerns of a bubble burst on the horizon.

And number one, the launch of a historic trade war.

TRUMP: This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history. It's our declaration of economic independence.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): With a signature on April 2nd, the United States entered a new era of trade policy, announcing steep tariffs on allies and enemies alike.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The president declared a national economic emergency, and that allows him to really launch what many see as an escalating trade war. This is an historic move.

YURKEVICH (on camera): That historic move moving markets, sending countries scrambling for new trade deals with the U.S. and stoking concerns for business owners and customers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a business owner, you always have uncertainty. But these are -- these are things we didn't plan for.

YURKEVICH: But the U.S. Supreme Court is getting ready to rule on whether Trump's tariffs are legal, a precedent-setting ruling.

EGAN: The president clearly thinks that the stakes here are massive. He put up on Truth Social yesterday a post in which he said that this case presents "literally, life or death for country."

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, NEW York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Millions of people are traveling back home today. AAA says more than 122 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles this holiday season. Now, that would be a new record. With winter storms hitting the Northeast, flight delays are piling up. The website FlightAware says so far today there have been more than 600 delays and more than 140 cancellations. That's in addition to what happened Saturday, when more than 10,000 flights into or within the U.S. were delayed.

Now, CNN spoke to Going.com travel expert Katy Nastro to find out how Flyers can ensure a smooth trip despite weather delays. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

[05:55:17] So, if you purchased 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 -- is no different in terms of volume. So, act quickly and take advantage of the waivers when you can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right, have a look at this. Some stunning pictures showing explosive activity at Italy's Mount Etna. You can see thick plumes of volcanic ash billowing into the sky. That was Saturday. Scientists issued the highest aviation warning level to signal a potential risk to aircraft, but no serious disruptions were reported.

Have a look here. Footage of three unsuspecting goldfish having the shimmies as a magnitude 7 earthquake rumbles off northern Taiwan. The tremor made the water in their tanks splash as it shook buildings across Taipei on Saturday.

Now, although the quake could be felt throughout the island, no major damage was reported because of the quake's depth of more than 44 miles or 70 kilometers. And so experts warned of possible aftershocks in the coming days.

And 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.

All right. That wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks for watching. "CNN This Morning" is next right after this break.

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