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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump: U.S. Military Struck ISIS Terrorists In Nigeria; Zelenskyy Says He And Trump Agreed To Meet "In Near Future"; Millions At Risk Of Flooding In Southern California Counties; Defense Minister: Israel "Will Never Withdraw" From Gaza. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 26, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:29]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York.

And we are learning more this morning about those strikes that U.S. President Donald Trump says he ordered against Islamic militants in Nigeria. The Defense Department released video of a missile launched from a ship.

U.S. Africa Command says that it conducted the strike in Sokoto state, which borders Niger to the north. It adds that it was done in coordination with Nigerian authorities. In just a moment, I'm going to be joined by Nigeria's foreign minister.

But in the meantime, an initial assessment by Africom says that. And I'm quoting here, multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps. Now, you may remember Trump saying that he would not tolerate the persecutions of Christians in Nigeria. President Trump posting this on social media. I've previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay. And tonight, there was. Now, of course, we should note that Muslims have been the target of militant attacks as well.

CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton says that this strike alone may not be enough of a difference to curb sectarian violence.

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COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The way most of these strikes work is that they need to be part of a larger campaign. And what we're not seeing here is that larger campaign. So, I think it could disrupt ISIS operations in the short term. But the long-term issues that surround violence in Nigeria are extremely complex.

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SOLOMON: Joining me now is Nigerian minister of foreign affairs, Yusuf Tuggar.

Foreign Minister, we appreciate you being here. This morning, you posted a statement to X shortly after the strike saying that terrorist violence in any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims or other communities, remains an affront to Nigeria's values and to international peace and security. Foreign minister, that is a different message than what we've heard from President Trump, who has really focused on the killing of Christians.

What can you explain for our viewers is really happening on the ground here, who's -- who's really being targeted?

YUSUF TUGGAR, NIGERIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Terrorists are being targeted. This has always been Nigeria's approach, and this this also puts paid or it puts to rest any doubt with regards to the administrations resolve to fight terrorism. And this was coordinated with the U.S. the same way that we've been saying we are ready, willing and able to collaborate, to coordinate with any foreign government that is committed to the fight against terrorism.

This is not about religion. It is about Nigerians, innocent civilians and the wider region as a whole. And even before the strike was carried out, I had a 90-minute phone call with secretary of state, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after which I discussed with President Tinubu, and I later spoke again to President Tinubu. He gave the go ahead. And then Marco Rubio called me once more for five minute discussion and subsequently, the attacks were carried out

SOLOMON: Foreign Minister, I want to play for you a clip of President Trump from November, and then get your comment on the back of this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you envisage U.S. boots on the ground?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Could be. I mean, a lot of things. I envisage a lot of things. They're killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria, the killing of Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We're not going to allow that to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: So, the president says that a record number of Christians are being killed. Do you dispute that? And if so, what's the true number of people being killed?

TUGGAR: We're not going to dwell or pore over forensically of what has been said or what hasn't been said. For us, it's a matter of what I can only describe as perhaps the choice between deontology and consequentialism. So, for us in this particular matter, we're focusing more on consequentialism.

So, the end the end is to fight against terrorism, to stop, the terrorists from killing innocent Nigerians, be they Muslim, Christian, atheist, whatever religion, and to also understand that this is a regional conflict.

[05:05:04]

It is happening in West Africa. It's happening in the Sahel region. It's happening in the Lake Chad basin region. So, this is -- this is important. But for us, whoever is prepared to work with us, to fight terrorism, we're ready, willing and able.

SOLOMON: And I want to talk about that in just a moment. But just to sort of circle back, it's not about disputing what has been said or hasn't been said. But I do think it's about understanding the scope of the problem on the ground and understanding who and who has not been a victim of this. And so, to help our viewers understand, you said its not just Christians, explain some of the factors sort of at issue here.

TUGGAR: So, the factors at issue, like I said, its a regional conflict. It goes back to the effect of the Leahy laws that stopped that precluded the sale of kinetic and nonmilitary equipment to countries like Nigeria. It goes back to the breaking down of government and governance in Libya, the killing of Gadhafi, the proliferation of weaponry and fighters from Libya, the attempt at a Sahel strategy by our neighbors to the north to stop the flow of migrants in a region in the Sahel region, which is arid or semi-arid and life depends on movement and, that created tensions because some of the countries, found themselves having to, to deal with outside, initiatives that were collaborating with Azawad Tuareg groups.

And those Tuareg groups were irredentists. They were separatists trying to create their own country. And the military are trained to keep countries together. So that put them at loggerheads with military in countries like Niger, like Mali, like Burkina Faso, which ultimately led to the, takeover of government by the military in those countries and ultimately led to the pulling out of a country like Niger from the multinational joint task force that had been combating terrorism effectively in the region, and which meant that what we the progress that we had made, I came to a standstill.

So, you can see that these are exogenous factors. It and they're all tied to the wider region. It's not a Nigerian problem. It's not a Christian Muslim problem. It is a regional problem. But we're putting all of that aside.

We accept that we need the support of other countries and any country that is willing to work with Nigeria based on our moral precepts and ethical considerations and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, we're prepared to do so, and we demonstrated this yesterday.

SOLOMON: Are you prepared, sir?

TUGGAR: All of this happened -- sorry. Go ahead.

SOLOMON: Are you prepared, sir, to allow U.S. troops on the ground? To use President Trump's words, guns a blazing? When you say that you're prepared to accept help, are you prepared for U.S. troops on the ground if that is, in fact, what the commander in chief, supposes?

TUGGAR: These are operational issues that would have to be considered by our military. I am heading foreign policy. I'm heading the ministry of foreign affairs and diplomacy, and it's something that the minister of defense and some of our security agencies would be in a better position to respond to.

But for now, we have collaborated on this attack. It was a collaborative effort between Nigeria and the U.S., and the President Tinubu gave the go ahead before it took place, and we don't see it violating our sovereignty or territorial integrity, which is very important. And it's not about religion. It's about the protection of lives and property of Nigerians. And our neighbors as well.

SOLOMON: And I take your point that some of the factors at play here on the ground are factors that may stretch beyond the border of Nigeria, that may stretch beyond even the continent. But I do want to ask, I mean, these are Nigerians who have been killed, Muslim, Christian and otherwise. For those who say, you know, you said a moment ago that this is not a Nigerian problem. This is not a Christian problem.

[05:10:02]

For those who say that Nigerian lawmakers haven't done enough to protect Christians, haven't done enough to protect Nigerians who have been the victim of these crimes, what do you say? What do you say to those concerns?

TUGGAR: What took place yesterday clearly underscores the fact that Nigeria is not lacking in will and a commitment to the fight against terrorism. We may have institutional challenges, partly due to for instance, the Leahy law that stopped the sale of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic, to countries like Nigeria.

And I have to say here also that even when the Leahy law was in effect, President Trump in his first administration, acquiesced to the sale of aircraft, military aircraft, the Super Tucano to, Nigeria. And we appreciate that. And you could see that, it was the aircraft were put to work and this is a sort of collaborative effort that is required in the fight against terrorism and securing the region.

And it is -- we are at the forefront of the fight against terrorism globally, because most of the threat is taking place in the Sahel region. And you could -- you can even see from the records that the Sahel registered more deaths in terms of terrorist acts than any other part of the world. And when you talk about the Sahel, majority are Muslims, they're not Christians. We're talking about are the Sahelian countries, not even Nigeria here.

SOLOMON: Understood. And then lastly, I just want to circle back to something our military analyst said just shortly before we came to you, Mr. Foreign Minister, that a strike like this, sort of limited in scope in terms of the impact on the ground to sort of isolate militants, what comes next? I mean, his point was that you would need to see a larger military campaign to really, see some sort of substantial effect. What comes now? What happens next?

TUGGAR: For us, it's both a kinetic and non-kinetic approach. We had the operation safe corridor. It was working so well when the multinational joint task force with Niger, with Chad, with Cameroon and Republic of Benin was working well.

But as I said, the military coup in Niger as a result of the failure of the U.S. health strategy led to the pulling out of Niger Republic from the multinational joint task force, which meant there was no longer the effective use of the, right of pursuit so that the military in one country could pursue terrorists up to 20 or 30 kilometers into the territory of its neighbor, and vice versa.

But prior to that, we had operation safe corridor. We had a lot of Boko Haram terrorists surrendering. So, it was a matter of sorting out who was an insurgent, who was simply a villager caught up in the in the conflict and so forth. And we were doing that. We were overwhelmed with the number of people that were turning themselves in.

But, you could -- you could see a spike in Boko Haram activities because of, as I said, the knock on effect of, the challenges we had with the military coup in Niger. So, all of these things are interconnected, which is why we welcome a global effort. We welcome, collaboration with countries like the United States and others in fighting terrorism.

But again, we have the non-kinetic approach, which continues just like safe corridor was looking to sort, people out and also which also entails reorientation and so forth.

SOLOMON: Okay. We'll leave it here. Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf, we appreciate the time this morning. Thank you.

TUGGAR: Thank you, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Well, we could see another meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian president soon. Volodymyr Zelenskyy posting on social media a short time ago that he and Donald Trump agreed to meet in the near future. He added that, quote, "a lot can be decided before the new year."

[05:15:02]

No word yet from the White House. But earlier, Mr. Zelenskyy praised what he called a very good conversation with U.S. negotiators on Christmas Day.

Zelenskyy said that this week he floated the idea of a de facto demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine. Russia says it's analyzing the proposal. Meanwhile, Russia says it's making slow but steady progress in its talks with the U.S.

And still ahead for us, people in parts of California have spent the last few days dealing with life threatening storms, flooding and mudslides. Still ahead, how they're working together to recover.

And later, the fallout from the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files continues as the Justice Department pours over, additional documents.

We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back.

California is bracing for new, potentially life-threatening storms in the coming hours.

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On Christmas Day, massive snow hit the mountains and a line of severe thunderstorms moved into northern California. Those storms brought wind gusts of more than 70 miles per hour. Flooding and rain put about 15 million people at risk on Christmas Day, and several counties in southern California, including Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. Heavy rain created mudslides, rock slides and debris flows, especially where the ground has already been scorched by recent wildfires. Some residents are helping each other get through the situation.

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DAVEY SCHNEIDER, WRIGHTWOOD, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: I find it kind of fitting because the holidays for me are supposed to be supposed to be about being about being together and about helping one another out. So being able to be given as bad as it sounds, kind of in a kind of -- kind of an opportunity like this to get out and help folks, I enjoyed being able to get out and help.

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SOLOMON: The widespread flooding has some people under evacuation warnings and orders. A Los Angeles City fire department captain tells CNN that some people were told to shelter in place, but wound up needing to be rescued.

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CAPT. ADAM VANGERPEN, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We tell the people that it's -- whenever we -- these are specific homes that were identified to be the most at threat. So, we actually are LAPD police officers went and they did door knocking. They left fliers on there. They made every attempt to get a hold of people.

Many of the people did not want to leave. They say they've been through this before. But what we tell people is that we can't predict what's going to happen with nature. So, we're getting a large influx. We're anticipating we could have up to an inch and a half tonight, which is on top of what we've already had. So, the ground is already saturated.

So, we just really want people to know that if you get an order to evacuate, you need to heed that and leave immediately, because there could be a mud or debris flow heading your way.

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SOLOMON: Still ahead for us, the top Israeli official says that Israeli forces will never leave Gaza. Still ahead, new details about what the defense minister would like to see happen in the enclave. And it goes against the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Plus, as 2025 comes to a close, we are looking at the global trade stories that shaped the year and how they'll shape the years to come.

We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Israel's defense minister says that his country will never withdraw from Gaza. Israel Katz is calling for the creation of a significant security zone in the enclave, along with militarized outposts in northern areas. On Thursday, the defense minister reiterated his support for reestablishing Israeli settlements in Gaza, which it gave up in 2005.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out the possibility of new settlements in Gaza, though some ultranationalist members of his coalition say they want to reoccupy the enclave. Katz's plan would violate the terms of the U.S. brokered ceasefire agreement reached in October between Israel and Hamas. The agreement states that Israeli forces would eventually fully withdraw from Gaza.

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ISRAEL KATZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: We are in Gaza and we will never leave Gaza. We are there to defend, to prevent what happened. We are standing, as we said, we trust the rock of Israel and the IDF in defending Israel in a fierce battle between jihadist enemies of this kind and Israeli enemies of this kind.

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SOLOMON: Katz's remarks come on the heels of the Israeli government approval for 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank earlier this month, the Israeli security cabinets decision was condemned by 12 European countries Canada and Japan, and a joint statement. They criticized the decision, saying it not only violates international law but also risks fueling instability.

Israel's foreign minister rejected that statement and asserted that Jewish people have the right to establish a national homeland over the entire territory. Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law. Governments decision comes as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has surged in recent months. The U.N. says at least 233 Palestinians, including 52 children, were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, this year alone. All right, coming up for us, a volatile year for the U.S. economy with

inflation and tariffs. Coming up, we will look ahead to what you can expect in 2026. We'll be right back.

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