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Donald Trump And Benjamin Netanyahu To Discuss Phase Two Of Gaza Ceasefire; Volodymyr Zelenskyy Says Peace Plan Proposes That U.S. Guarantees Ukrainian Security For 15 Years; Round One Of Voting Ends In First Election Since 2021 Coup; Bulgaria To Introduce Euro On January 1. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 29, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:59]

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the second hour of the show. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai with the time just after 7:00 in the evening.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu gets set to discuss the next steps in Gaza when he meets Donald Trump later in Florida. Mr. Netanyahu meeting U.S.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio this hour.

Plus, after talks with Ukraine's president this weekend, President Trump says these deal could be 95 percent done, but admits some tough issues

remain.

And voters in Myanmar head to the polls in the first election since a military junta seized power. Why critics say the vote is unlikely to

restore democracy.

All right, for the second time in as many days, the U.S. president is hosting a world leader at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. This time,

Donald Trump welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The meeting comes as the prime minister faces increasing pressure to move on to the second phase of the Gaza cease fire plan brokered by President

Trump and his top White House officials. One of them Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting with Mr. Netanyahu this hour.

We've got CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Matthew Chance, joining us from Jerusalem. Matthew, good to see you.

So, the prime minister is under pressure, both from the United States to advance the ceasefire and also from the right-wing elements of his

coalition at home, who think he's already conceded too much. What is your sense in terms of how this meeting could play out today?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think you're right about that, and I think this is a crucial meeting, because you've got

these two leaders, President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who are going into it with two very different visions of what should happen

next in Gaza.

Now, obviously, President Trump is very keen to move on to the second, more difficult stage of his much vaunted peace plan for Gaza. It is a stage that

would involve Israel withdrawing from large areas of the territory, Hamas giving up its weapons, Israel handing control over to an international

stabilization force, which is still to be put together. All of those things Benjamin Netanyahu quite skeptical about.

Whereas Benjamin Netanyahu, of course, he has that right-wing coalition. He's got, you know, misgivings about the next stage of that plan himself as

well. So, he's going to be looking for ways, at least that's the expectation here, looking for ways to basically hold up the move to that

second stage of the -- of the of Trump's peace plan without outright rejecting it and sort of slapping President Trump in the face.

Now, it's, you know, one of the reasons why accompanying Benjamin Netanyahu are the parents of the last remaining Israeli hostage whose remains are

still inside Gaza haven't been found or haven't been handed over by Hamas Ran Gvili is his name and his parents as they are accompanying Benjamin

Netanyahu.

And what the Israelis are saying, and what the parents are saying is that they don't want the second stage of this peace plan to start until such

times as the remains of their son have been returned to them. Hamas for their part say, they can't find the remains because of the chaos and the

rubble inside the Gaza Strip.

But you know, that's sort of being used as a way by president -- by Prime Minister Netanyahu of saying, look, we can't move to that second stage yet,

until these remains come back home. But really, there is deep skepticism, both by -- from Prime Minister Netanyahu and from his right-wing coalition

about moving ahead with that peace plan and all the concessions it involves for Israel at all.

GIOKOS: Yes, and the time is running out. I mean, phase two was meant to begin early January, so we are going to be watching this meeting very

closely. Matthew Chance in Jerusalem for us. Thank you so much for that updates.

[10:05:05]

Now, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sharing new details about his talks with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday. The Ukrainian president saying the

latest plan to end Russia's war proposes the U.S. guarantee Kyiv's security for 15 years, but the issue of Ukraine's future borders remain a major

sticking point. Mr. Trump admitted Sunday, there was still a lot of work to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're very -- we could be very close. There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues,

but I think we're doing very well. We've made a lot of progress today, but really we've made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process

deal, this is very complicated stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right, so the Kremlin saying, meantime, the U.S. president will call President Putin again to update Moscow on his meeting with President

Zelenskyy.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joining us now from Berlin. Fred, good to see you. I mean, security guarantees for Kyiv, President Trump saying 15 years is

doable. Kyiv obviously wants a lot longer concessions on land and territory, still the major sticking point. Lots of progress, but any real

decision, what is your sense?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I think, yes, there has been substantial progress in these talks, and

I think one of the reasons for that has been a lot of the work that Steve Witkoff has been doing, Jared Kushner have been doing as well.

In fact, the Ukrainians now saying that actually today, there was another call between the chief negotiator for the Ukrainians, Rustem Umerov, also

with President Zelenskyy, on the phone, and Steve Witkoff, once again, trying to map out the way forward after this key meeting between Zelenskyy

and U.S. President Donald Trump.

But it's interesting to hear both sides saying that around 90 maybe 95 percent of the big sticking points have been dealt with, but it seems as

though the ones that are still open certainly seem to be the most difficult ones.

First of all, as far as those security guarantees is concerned, one of the things that we've heard from the Ukrainians that it appears clear now what

those security guarantees are going to be, that the Europeans somehow are going to be involved. The U.S. is going to be involved, not much in the way

of details beyond that, but you're absolutely right, the duration of those security guarantees is still something where there's a bit of discord

between the United States and the Ukrainian side.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying President Trump put up 15 years, saying he's willing to do it for 15 years, the Ukrainians saying they'd like something

30, 40, possibly even 50 years, because the current conflict has already been taking so long, the Ukrainians saying since 2014.

But the other two main issues, and Zelenskyy said this as well, was the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, very large nuclear power

plant in the south of Ukraine, currently occupied by Russia. What the future of that is going to be, and what the -- where the electricity from

that power plant is going to go to.

But by far the biggest sticking point is, of course, the question of Ukraine possibly ceding territory to the Russians. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has

shown himself more open to possibly doing that, but the Ukrainians are saying they definitely need to hold a referendum if that is to happen, so

the people of Ukraine would have to decide. And in order to hold a referendum, there needs to be a 60-day cease fire.

The Russians, however, have already said they're not going to play along with that. They're not going to play ball. They don't want a cease fire

because they believe that it would allow the Ukrainians to regroup.

And as if to emphasize that point, Russian President Vladimir Putin, a little earlier today, pictured with some of his top military brass, and

they're talking about some of the gains that the Russians have been making in that Donetsk Oblast that so many people have been talking about and

saying that some of the gains now open the perspective for the Russians of taking all of that territory by military force, Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right, Frederik Pleitgen, thank you so much. Live in Berlin for us.

I want to get more and we've got Aaron David Miller, who's a former Middle East negotiator for the U.S. State Department. And he joins us now from

Washington. Aaron, great to see you.

I mean, we know -- I want to start off with Gaza. President Trump wants to see this peace process accelerate. Netanyahu has been accused of not moving

quickly enough. What conversations are you expecting today and are you expecting to see progress?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR FOR THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: You know, thanks for having me, Eleni. It's really hard to

imagine that major decisions on any of the core issues relating to implementation of the president's 20-point plan. Our 28-point plan are

going to be made today, largely because phase two simply is not ready for prime time.

I mean, look at it clearly. You've got an international stabilization force which is not yet -- has not yet been created. You don't have a governing

structure in Gaza. No announcements on 15 Palestinian technocrats, and even if there were to be an announcement, how are 15 technocrats going to deal

with the reality that Gaza, unlike Gaul, which was divided according to Julius Caesar into three parts, Gaza is now divided into two parts, 53

percent controlled by the Israeli Defense Forces and 47 percent controlled. It's quite clear they're deploying thousands of Palestinian police paid by

Hamas, controlled by Hamas, into the 47 percent that Hamas control.

[10:10:26]

So, it's very hard to see how any crucial decisions are going to be made, because the mechanisms, the instruments that require those decisions have

not yet been created.

Look, I think Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu don't trust one another. I'm not sure they even like one another. Both are skilled politicians,

adept in the art of the con. They need each other. Trump needs Netanyahu to avoid Gaza from cratering, and Netanyahu needs Trump not just to deal with

his current political travails, Eleni, but to help him get reelected sometime in 2026. So, I think it'll be a reasonably good meeting. I just

don't think it'll be a determinative one.

GIOKOS: Yes, look, it's a reality check, everything you've just said. And you're right, they need each other, perhaps a symbolic relationship of

sorts, in a way.

But I want to talk about this, the complication about phase two. And you're right, because in the 20-point plan, it was very vague. We didn't have the

mechanisms in terms of how to kick start each phase. And I wonder, because it's demilitarizing Gaza, it's the Israelis moving out on certain parts.

It's making sure that Hamas, of course, is also demilitarized. It's got the peace board that will be implemented.

I mean, there's so many elements to this. Do you think in some way it could be discussed in terms of how they can kick start it, as opposed to fully

implement phase two?

MILLER: I mean, I think you really broke the code. And I think that kick starting is going to be focused primarily on the 53 percent of Gaza.

Look, Gaza is 363 square kilometers. It's roughly twice the size of the district Columbia where I'm talking to you from.

But I think they will focus on what they can focus on, and it will not be trying to demilitarize Hamas. I mean, it took the Brits in the Good Friday

Agreement from 1998 to 2005 to decommission the IRA weapons, ultra constabulary weapons and the IRA was offered a power share in that

agreement, Hamas has offered a ticket to nowhere.

So, there isn't going to be demilitarization, but there could be. The Emiratis are cooking up a 20,000 -- 20,000 unit model community in Rafah to

demonstrate that for the 200,000 Palestinians that live in the area that the Israelis control. I can see that getting kick started. I can see some

deployment by elements of international stabilization force in the area that the Israelis control, but not while Hamas is armed in the 47 percent.

GIOKOS: I want to move -- I want to move to Ukraine, but I quickly want to ask you a question about Netanyahu kick starting his re-election bid, and

will Trump play a key role in this? We know that Netanyahu has always tried to protect his political, you know, future. What's your sense on that?

MILLER: Look, no Israeli prime minister -- I worked in administration for Jimmy Carter to Bush 43, no Israeli prime minister can get re-elected if

the perception is that he is mishandling the U.S. Israeli relationship, particularly when you have an American president that is more popular in

Israel than the current Israeli prime minister. No.

What Netanyahu needs is Donald Trump to give the kind of speech he gave in the Israeli Knesset in October, where he turned to the president of Israel

and all but requested, and now he's done so in a formal letter requesting that Netanyahu be pardoned.

Netanyahu needs Trump not as a bystander, but as an active campaigner if he wants to be re-elected, and that makes Netanyahu extremely vulnerable to

Trump's pressure should he want to exercise it.

GIOKOS: OK. So, I want to move on to Ukraine meeting -- Zelenskyy meeting with Trump. And one of the big outcomes is, of course, that 15-year

guarantee, security guarantee. Zelenskyy once longer is talking about 30, 40, and 50 years security guarantee. None of this means anything if it

doesn't get approved by Congress, will the American people want to give Ukrainians these security guarantees?

MILLER: I think the odds of us of a NATO -- a NATO like Article 5 commitment that gets ratified by the Senate. The chances of that happening,

as far as I'm concerned, are slim to none. The last time the United States gave such a commitment to anyone was a revision of the 1960 U.S.-Japan

Security Treaty.

[10:15:12]

And frankly, that would -- that kind of commitment would basically assume that Ukraine was a vital national interest to the United States, which an

American president would be obligated, if circumstances required it, to deploy American forces and to defend Ukraine against Russia. I cannot see

that happening. I cannot see the American public supporting it.

And frankly, I'm not sure it's in the American interest to get into a position where we are obligated to defend -- to send young American men and

women to Ukraine. I don't think it's politically feasible, certainly not with a MAGA base, and certainly not with this president.

GIOKOS: All right, well. Aaron David Miller, always good to have a conversation with you. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

MILLER: Thanks for having me. Happy New Year.

GIOKOS: All right. And still to come, you too. All the best.

All right, and still to come on the show. The first round of Myanmar's controversial election has finished all while civil war rages in some parts

of the country. We'll have more details straight ahead from the ground, stick with CNN.

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GIOKOS: The first round of Myanmar's controversial election is over. The next two rounds will take place in January.

The country's military junta seized power from the electorate government nearly five years ago. The group's leaders say the vote will restore

democratic rule, but critics and human rights groups say that is highly unlikely. Entire sections of the country will not get to vote because of

the Civil War spot by the coup. CNN's Ivan Watson brings us the latest from Yangon Myanmar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At polling stations across Myanmar's largest city, this song played on a

constant loop: an anthem urging citizens to vote.

Myanmar's military is holding an election in the midst of a brutal civil war. The conflict, triggered nearly five years ago when the military staged

a coup, overthrowing an elected government, and violently crushing subsequent protests.

This voter told me he hopes the election would help Myanmar chart a way out of its difficult situation. My family live in the countryside where it's

not safe, he says. I want the fighting to stop and wish for peace.

The situation in this Southeast Asian country is dire. The U.N. predicts more than 12 million people will suffer from acute hunger in 2026, with

some four million people displaced by the war.

[10:20:06]

Meanwhile, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights calls the election a sham.

TOM ANDREWS, U.S. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR: There has been an escalation of the use of sophisticated weapons of war. A

helicopter, gunships, jet fighters attacking civilian targets in the run-up to this -- this election.

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.

WATSON (voice-over): The military government concedes it can't hold the election in large parts of the country, now controlled by armed opposition

groups.

WATSON: Is it difficult to have an election when there's a civil war?

In Yangon? It's safe, says Myo Thei.

No problem, no problem.

WATSON (voice-over): He's running for office with the military-aligned Union, Solidarity, and Development Party.

WATSON: You lost in the last two elections.

MYO THEIN, RUNNING FOR OFFICE IN MYANMAR: Yes.

WATSON: Do you think you have a better chance in this election?

WATSON (voice-over): He has reason for optimism. The party whose candidates beat him twice can't compete in this election. These are the offices of the

National League for Democracy, or NLD party.

Now, it won conclusively in national elections that were held in 2015 and 2020. But since the coup, many of its leaders have been arrested and thrown

in jail.

WATSON (voice-over): The U.K. and European Union say this election is neither free nor fair. But a Myanmar military government spokesman calls

their criticism irrelevant.

The junta, trying to generate excitement for this controversial process. Two more phases of the election are scheduled to take place in other parts

of the country next month.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Yangon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: A right, I want to get you up to speed on some of the stories that are on our radar right now. British boxing star Joshua has been injured in

a car crash in Nigeria. Local police report the crash killed two people. Joshua sustained only minor injuries. The former World Heavyweight Champion

had returned to the boxing ring just 10 days ago, knocking out American social media star Jake Paul in Miami.

Three Turkish police officers have been killed in a shootout with ISIS militants. It happened during a raid on a suspected safe house in

northwestern Turkey. Authorities say six ISIS militants were killed and five people were detained during the seven-hour operation.

Two helicopters collided in flight on Sunday over New Jersey, killing one person and injuring another, according to officials. Only the pilots were

on board at the time of the crash. A local fire chief says one of them may have been in cardiac arrest when emergency services arrived.

And coming up, a new year, a new currency for Bulgaria. 2026 is said to be the year of the Euro, we'll show you how the locals are feeling about the

switch.

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GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, I'm Eleni Giokos.

Now, big changes are coming to the economy in Bulgaria, which will transition to the Euro at the start of the new year. That's on the first of

January. It comes just two weeks after the Bulgarian government resigned amid widespread protests over alleged corruption as well as the state of

the economy. CNN's Lynda Kinkade has more.

[10:25:20]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dual pricing at a Bulgarian grocery store, the cost of goods displayed in both the outgoing

Bulgarian currency, the lev, and euros, a soft launch of what customers can expect to pay on January 1st when Bulgaria adopts the euro as its official

currency.

It's taken many years for Bulgaria to meet the economic criteria to join the euro, after becoming a member of the European Union back in 2007.

And now that the time has come for the switch, Bulgarians are divided on how it will affect them. Some people say it would be good to integrate more

with other E.U. countries.

VESELINA APOSTOVIOVA, PENSIONER (through translator): Because in the entire E.U., the euro can be used. Not only older people but also young people can

easily travel using euros instead of having to exchange currency. KINKADE (voice-over): But a recent poll says that about half the

country, which is one of the poorest nations in the E.U., is skeptical, fearing the change would drive up prices.

EMIL IVANOV, PENSIONER (through translator): I am against it: first, because the lev is our national currency. Secondly, Europe is heading

towards demise, which even the American president mentioned in the new national security strategy.

KINKADE (voice-over): Euro starter coin kits are now being circulated. Analysts say there may be some confusion, especially amongst the elderly,

as people use the new banknotes and coins.

But some processes will be automatic. Lev bank accounts will be converted into euros on the first of the year, a necessary adjustment period,

according to some economists.

STEFAN LUKOV, ECONOMIST (through translator): First and foremost, it will further integrate our economy. And in the end, at least, our central bank

will become a full member of the European central bank family and will have the right to participate in decision making.

KINKADE (voice-over): But the transition comes at a time of political turmoil in the country. The prime minister resigned in December after less

than a year in office, following weeks of mass protests against corruption and a controversial 2026 budget proposal, which means Bulgaria's entry into

the eurozone will be happening as the country tries to form a new government.

That's a lot of change in the new year, but one thing is certain: as of January 1, there will be a period of one month where there will be dual

circulation of both the lev and the euro for payments.

And after that, the euro will be Bulgaria's sole legal tender, and the lev, part of the country's past.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai. "GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES" is up next.

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