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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Zelenskyy: Russia Launches massive Aerial Attack On Ukraine; Data Centers Powering AI Spark Controversy; Education Department To Investigate Brown University After Shooting. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired December 24, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you mentioned, at least 13 regions impacted by that massive wave of drone and missile strikes carried out by the Russian Armed Forces on Ukrainian territory -- at least 13 regions overnight, Monday.

So clearly, we are seeing that ramping up. And that was a warning -- that really reflects a warning that was issued by the Ukrainian president himself that we would see that ramping up of Russia's offensive against Ukraine over the Christmas period. The Ukrainian Armed Forces were put on high alert by the Ukrainian leader in anticipation for such an attack, and that is certainly something that we have seen in past Christmases over the course of this brutal war.

But again, this is a reminder, particularly on the Ukrainian front, of the real need for progress when it comes to negotiations. And this comes just off the back of a series of talks -- a round of talks being held in the United States between the Ukrainian delegation and U.S. allies, as well as a Russian delegation separately with their U.S. partners carrying out these talks on a U.S. proposal for a peace plan -- a path forward for a peace plan between Russia and Ukraine.

Now on the Ukrainian front we have heard that there has been some progress. That there is perhaps some light when it comes to the potential for a bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the United States alongside a more broader agreement with its international allies, including European leaders.

On the Russian front, though, we are hearing something slightly different. We've heard from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov that there simply have been no breakthroughs. And the messaging that we've been hearing from the Russian President Vladimir Putin is that at this stage, Russia will not concede on its demands when it comes to territory -- Rahel.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Nada Bashir live -- reporting live for us from London this morning. Nada, thank you.

Taking a live look now at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano where it is currently erupting. Look at these pictures. The U.S. Geological Survey says that two lava fountains are spewing from the volcano marking the 39th fountaining episode since the current eruption began about a year ago. And both the north and south vents are erupting simultaneously with the highest reaching up to 1,400 feet. Kilauea has been erupting intermittently since December 23, 2024.

All right. Coming up, the divide over data centers. The AI boom has led to an explosion of these facilities, but local residents warn of a major downside.

We'll be right back.

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[05:36:47]

SOLOMON: Five thirty-six on the East Coast, and welcome back to EARLY START. Time now for your business breakout.

Here is a check on U.S. futures as we await the opening bell on Wall Street in the coming hours. Lower across the board but similar to yesterday. The fractional yesterday was higher, fractionally today it's lower. Fractionally, it is, of course, a shortened trading week and a shortened trading day because of the holiday.

One thing, however, to watch today is weekly jobless claims, which are out today, on Wednesday, as opposed to Thursday because of the holiday.

Checking on some other business headlines today, the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, according to the Commerce Department. GDP growth came in at 4.3 percent, the fastest rate in two years. President Trump claims that his tariffs were behind these numbers, though some economists warn that wealthy Americans were driving much of the growth, something that you might have heard called the K-shaped economy.

And Americans, meantime, who default on their student loans may soon have their wages garnished. The Trump administration says that notices will be sent to 1,000 borrowers starting early January and will increase month-to-month. The Education Department says that more than five million borrowers are currently in default or delinquent, meaning that they have not made a payment in more than 90 days.

The U.S. has banned foreign drone makers from selling any new models in the U.S., although existing drones that are already approved -- well, they can go on being imported. The Federal Communications Commission added foreign companies to a list of entities that it says pose an unacceptable risk to national security. That now includes China's DJI, the world's largest drone maker, which has about 74 percent of the global market. China is calling the move discriminatory.

Well, across the U.S. we're seeing a surge of data centers being built. They store all of the digital information that helps power artificial intelligence. But there is growing division among local residents about the cost of these new facilities.

CNN's Ed Lavandera explains.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): When a company called CloudBurst broke ground on the construction of a new data center in Central Texas, angry neighbors disrupted the event. The protests were led by sisters Abigail and Jennifer Lindsey --

ABIGAIL LINDSEY, LOCAL RESIDENT: This is a map of our area. So this is our neighborhood right here.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): -- who live across the street in this remote patch of Hays County south of Austin.

A. LINDSEY: This is kind of our sanctuary and, yeah, this is home and this is our -- where we've always come back.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): The Lindsey family moved here more than 30 years ago, long before anyone fathomed AI data centers.

LAVANDERA: And the data center will be where?

A. LINDSEY: Right there. Right there.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): Abigail and Jennifer took us on a tour of the family's 16-acre spread.

LAVANDERA: What we're looking at here -- in a few months all of this will look totally different.

A. LINDSEY: Yeah.

JENNIFER LINDSEY, LOCAL RESIDENT: Yeah.

A. LINDSEY: I wasn't aware that it took this much resources. I was naive. I was ignorant on it and now I'm not. This is happening to people all across the country. I mean, people are really struggling with this.

LAVANDERA: One of the executives from CloudBurst said at a public meeting --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your bank, your hospital, your doctors, all the governments -- they couldn't survive without a data center. So I understand that maybe you don't want it next door to you, but it has to go somewhere.

[05:40:05]

LAVANDERA: When you hear that, what do you think?

J. LINDSEY: F you. It's a rush to market and just to hell with the little people, you know. To hell -- you don't have the power, so screw you.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): CloudBurst tells CNN the company is "committed to being a good neighbor and steward of the local environment."

This site will include three different buildings totaling nearly 700,000 square feet in just phase one of its buildout.

LAVANDERA: CloudBurst says that they're going to have a closed-loop water system, which will help them use far less water. They also say that their facility will essentially be self-sufficient as far -- in terms of energy.

J. LINDSEY: I don't think it's possible. You've just to think everything is operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I mean, it's constant.

PROTESTERS: No data center in Dunn County!

LAVANDERA (voiceover): The rapid construction of data centers are triggering fights across the country. The processing chips in data centers need constant cooling, which requires massive amounts of power and water. A 2024 Department of Energy report estimated data centers are expected to consume between six and 12 percent of the country's electricity in about two years, so the race is on to develop technology that will save the power grid and conserve water.

So we have an actual server rack here.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): Which brings us to this room on the University of Texas at Arlington campus and two Gen Z graduate engineering wizards. Sai Pundla and Braxton Smith have developed a cooling system that could soon be deployed into data centers.

SAI PUNDLA, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON: It's just going to sit on top of the chip and cool it, and this is how it sits.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): The engineers say this could dramatically cut water and electrical usage.

LAVANDERA: That's why you feel the urgency of getting this stuff --

PUNDLA: Uh-huh.

LAVANDERA: -- deployed quickly, right?

PUNDLA: Yes. By minimizing the energy that goes into the cooling, you then minimize the energy that goes into the entire data center by a lot.

PERRIN HATCHER, LOCAL RESIDENT: This is from this morning. This is actually her egg.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): Perrin Hatcher bought this secluded 10-acre property east of San Antonio this year. The Marine veteran and his wife say this was supposed to be their forever home but then they found out a company called Mesi Investments (PH) bought 2,700 acres to build a data center.

LAVANDERA: So the data center is going to be just along that long tree line over there? HATCHER: Yeah, just past these trees about 1,000 yards that way is what I was told. This is the well. This is the only way I get my water.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): Hatcher depends on a well that pulls water from an Aquaphor.

LAVANDERA: You're concerned that the data center is going to pull so much water out of the Aquaphor that you depend on.

HATCHER: Yeah, exactly.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): The owner of the data center says the facility could use up to 25 million gallons of water per year, which is far less, he says, than they're allowed to extract from the Aquaphor.

Hatcher shows us the neighborhood Nextdoor app is flooded with posts from neighbors worried about the water source if the data center opens in three years.

HATCHER: Here's one right here. I mean, I literally just opened that. Look -- I mean, it's everywhere. There's -- I mean, I've even seen petitions on here that people are posting to try to sign to save the Aquaphor.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): Perrin Hatcher moved here to what he calls a diamond in the rough, but AI has found him in the woods.

HATCHER: Come on. Come on.

I don't want to leave having that kind of life and I just -- I don't know -- I can't see that being a future if they -- if I have no water.

LAVANDERA: The developers of these data centers say they're providing an economic boom to these communities across the country, but there's still a great deal of division over all of this.

There are some politicians who welcome the development and being part of this AI race. There's also local politicians, like county commissioners, who are getting an earful from angry residents and concerned neighbors about how all of this is so quickly being built and developed. Some people have told us that it feels like the Wild West in this AI arms race.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right. Still ahead for us, Brown University places its top safety official on leave after the deadly shooting 10 days ago as the school retains new legal counsel. We'll have the latest on the investigation when we come back.

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[05:48:30] SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon. And here are some of the stories we are watching for you this morning.

The latest release of the Epstein files has sparked more questions than answers. That's according to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. One of the concerns is about possible Epstein co- conspirators. Internal FBI messages asked for a status update on 10 people believed to be working with the convicted sex offender. Those names have been redacted, and no more details have been released.

The mother of a missing 9-year-old California girl has been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder. Authorities say that the remains of Ashlee Buzzard's daughter Melodee were discovered in a rural area of southern Utah. They also say that investors -- investigators recovered a significant amount of evidence connecting Ashlee Buzzard to the killing.

A Delaware state trooper is dead after a shooting at the Department of Motor Vehicles. State Police say that a 44-year-old gunman opened fire wounding the trooper. The officer pushed a nearby employee to safety before the suspect then shot him again. Both the gunman and the trooper later died at a hospital.

The U.S. Department of Education says that it is conducting a review of safety measures in force at Brown University. That's following the shooting earlier this month that left two students dead.

CNN's Danny Freeman has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right -- a lot of new developments in this Brown University shooting investigation.

[05:50:00]

First, I want to start with that announcement that we got late Monday about the Department of Education opening up an investigation into their response and the perceived security failures during that Brown University shooting that happened more than a week ago now.

The DOE cited the Clery Act, which basically requires that higher education institutions maintain certain standards of safety and security, and also help with data sharing as well. And the return on that is that they -- these higher education institutions will then continue to receive federal funding. That's why the DOE is targeting this specific act here.

Now we know that not only has Brown faced criticism from both the Brown community and the Providence community, but we've heard criticism from the president himself and the White House over these perceived security failures, including perhaps most notably a lack of cameras, specifically in the area where this shooting took place in the back of that particularly old engineering and science building.

Now, Brown has until the end of January at this point to respond to the inquiry, basically, that the DOE is putting forward and share data and information that is relevant about their security practices. But also note that one of CNN's affiliates, WJR, reported that Brown has retained a former federal prosecutor to help move forward with any of these impending legal matters.

Now the other thing that we learned late Monday night was very interesting. Hours later, the head of Brown's Safety and Emergency Management, Rodney Chatman -- it was announced was placed on indefinite leave. Now in the meantime, the interim head of the safety apparatus there at Brown University is going to be one of the former police chiefs of the Providence Police Department.

But Brown's president emphasized that this is all part of a "thorough after-action review" that the school is doing to see what improvements when it comes to safety and security need to be made at the university. Brown's president, Christina Paxson, saying, "The concerns our community has about safety and security are real and I share them."

So you can really tell that Brown is acknowledging that perhaps there was more that they could have done or certainly more that they can do in the future to ensure their students and the community's safety. The president adding that they intend to add enhanced security measures in the future.

But certainly between the president acknowledging this -- the president of Brown, that is -- and also the federal government now taking a closer look at Brown's security, this story far from over and taking a new turn this week.

Danny Freeman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right. Still to come, how Santa Claus is bringing more than just gifts and joy to communities around the world. We'll be right back.

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[05:57:08]

SOLOMON: Christmas now just hours away and final preparations are officially underway for Santa Claus' long journey to homes around the world. He was spotted in his official hometown in the Arctic Circle setting up his sleigh and the reindeer as he gets ready to deliver gifts to children. Santa's village also buzzing with thousands of tourists experiencing the magic of Christmas.

Santa has been spotted without his sleigh recently across the globe. But as CNN's Polo Sandoval explains, his new rides have a bigger meaning -- helping others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Santa's got a new ride. We don't know if the sleigh is busy with the big night but in Venice many of Santa's helpers were spotted rowing gondolas through the canals, and in Rome riding bicycles past the Colosseum. It's all part of the Christmas fun, says the bike event's organizer, and the proceeds go to a charity that supports families of children fighting cancer.

RICCARDO LOCHE, ORGANIZER, BIKE RIDE (through translator): We always raise significant funds, which undoubtedly provides considerable help to the facility that welcomes these families who may come from anywhere in the world and have to leave their homes, jobs, and loved ones behind. So we support them in this way.

SANDOVAL (voiceover): In Bulgaria, Santa opted for transport with a little more kick. The festive crew there packed the streets of Sofia with motorbikes, also for a good cause.

GEORGI YANCHEV, ORGANIZER (through translator): After touring the capital's boulevards we stop at the final point and distribute treats to the children who can take photos with the motorcycles.

SANDOVAL (voiceover): In Rio, Santa took a dive in the aquarium. The reindeer set this one out, but Santa was accompanied by a variety of sharks and fish, which delighted some onlookers.

CAMILA FIGUEIREDO DE ASUNCAO, STUDENT (through translator): It's surprising. He only gives gifts to us -- to humans. But apparently, he gives gifts to fish too. How incredible. Inclusion always -- that's a good thing.

SANDOVAL (voiceover): And on the banks of the Brazilian Amazon, a barge decorated with a huge Santa display brought presents and holiday cheer to some of the most remote stops on Santa's list.

FABIANA BRAGA, RESIDENT (through translator): There are many families who can't afford to take their children to the city to enjoy these experiences -- to go to the mall and see Santa Claus. And here we have all of that right at the port of our community on the banks of the river. It's wonderful.

SANDOVAL (voiceover): And for those not quite in the holiday spirit yet there's always the Grinch mototaxi in Lima, which seems to have a very un-Grinchy effect of making customers feel happy and safe for the short trips around town.

JEFERSON CASTRO, MOTOTAXI DRIVER (through translator): To not see my mototaxi empty. A simple driver like me -- I decided to use the Grinch theme to fit the occasion and for people's enjoyment. They really like it.

SANDOVAL (voiceover): Something surely Santa and the Grinch can both agree on.

Polo Sandoval, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And now to a special holiday message from space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greetings to Planet Earth, all of our friends and family from Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station flying high above. Thinking of you during this holiday season. During this season we're really -- it's about --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:00:00]

SOLOMON: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station wishing everyone on Earth a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. They are in the middle of a long duration stay to test new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions in space.

And that will do it for us here at EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. If you celebrate Christmas, have a very merry Christmas. I will see you on Friday. But for now, "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.