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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
Round One Of Voting Ends In First Election Since 2021 Coup; Trump-Zelenskyy Cite Progress On Peace Deal After Meeting; Dubai Tennis Exhibition Pits Sabalenka Against Kyrgios. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired December 29, 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]
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Um, do you think you have a better chance in this election?
MYO THEIN, SPOKESPERSON AND CANDIDATE, USDP: (Speaking foreign language).
WATSON (voiceover): He has reason for optimism. The party whose candidates beat him twice can't compete in this election.
WATSON: 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 (voiceover): 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.
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WATSON: Now Fredricka, I was here 10 years ago in the 2015 elections. There was much more buzz and energy, and an excitement -- I think, in part, because the political party that I mentioned -- the NLD, which has been kept out of power. Its leader, who had been kept under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner -- that -- he was allowed to compete in the election and there was -- and won, effectively. And it was seen as a rival to the military when it came to political power in Myanmar and it's now been blocked from power.
On top of that, there have been laws passed that make it illegal to even criticize this election, with people getting serious jail time if they dared to protest against it. And that might be why one voter told me yesterday that she didn't feel that this was an election that really had any real choice compared to the last one even five years ago. The pro-military political party candidate, who I interviewed in that report -- he has told us -- he claims that he won his election after losing to NLD candidates two elections in a row. So he's clearly in a really good mood right now. And he claims -- and we haven't gotten any official results yet -- that his party also did very well in a number of precincts in yesterday's vote.
Still waiting for results though in this first phase of the election here -- Fredricka.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Right, but still very volatile, still very tenuous.
All right. Ivan Watson in Yangon, Myanmar. Thanks so much.
All right. After a year where President Trump's tariffs roiled markets around the world, what will happen with the global economy in 2026? CNN's global economic analyst tells us whether she thinks the U.S. can solve the affordability crisis in the new year.
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[05:36:57]
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to EARLY START. Let's check some of today's business headlines.
Syria plans to kick off the new year by introducing a new national currency. It will replace the former Assad regime's bank notes in a bid to strengthen the Syrian pound. Reports say the updated notes will remove two zeroes from the currency. The exchange period is expected to last 90 days during which both currencies will be recognized as legal tender.
And New York's subway system is going digital in the new year. The city's Metropolitan Transit Authority announced that come January 1 it will no longer sell classic Metro cards used to pay transit fares. For now, riders can use existing cards but soon they'll have to switch to the contactless system One Metro New York, also known as OMNY.
And the latest Avatar film claims the top spot at the U.S. box office once again. "Avatar: Fire and Ash" has now made $760 million worldwide, becoming the year's sixth-highest-grossing movie. The film is expected to become the biggest IMAX film of the year.
And it was a rocky year for the global economy in 2025 as it dealt with the impact of President Trump's tariff policies. In April, the U.S. president kicked off a series of punishing tariffs against a wide variety of countries in what he called "Liberation Day." Many of the tariffs were later delayed or altered, leading to months of uncertainty that roiled markets.
So what can we expect for 2026? Brian Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America, pointed to signs of hope for the year ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRIAN MOYNIHAN, CEO, BANK OF AMERICA: At the end of the day, people are spending. They have good credit quality. They are employed. And we could see wages growing in -- as people's paychecks come in at a three percent clip. So it's a -- it's pretty solid right now.
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WHITFIELD: OK. So one of the key challenges for the U.S. economy will be solving the affordability crisis.
CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar said that she thinks it's unlikely that President Trump will be able to bring down prices.
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RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: If you look at where inflation was when he took office and where it is now there hasn't been much of a shift. If anything, you've seen prices going up a bit.
One thing that we are seeing is that a lot of small and midsized businesses are really having trouble with the tariffs. Some larger companies were able to kind of mitigate those price pressures and not pass on those prices as much to consumers. But small and midsized businesses are really hurting. Many of them have begun laying off people. That has a bigger affect, of course, on consumer spending.
[05:40:00]
Um, you also have just a lot going on in the world that the president really isn't in control of. Um, you know, you may see the Supreme Court striking down his tariff plans. That would be an interesting outcome for this year. It's certainly something I'm watching.
You've also got the appointment of the Federal Reserve chair coming up in a few months.
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WHITFIELD: U.S. President Trump wraps face-to-face talks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Coming up, we're joined by a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine to help unpack Sunday's meeting at Mar-a- Lago.
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[05:45:00]
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are some stories we're watching today.
U.S. Transportation officials are investigation a deadly midair collision between two helicopters. It happened Sunday morning in southern New Jersey. The pilot of one chopped died shortly after the crash. The other pilot was injured and remains hospitalized.
And Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to discuss the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan at Mar- a-Lago in the coming hours. The U.S. president has been urging both Israel and Hamas to work toward this second phase of the peace plan, but both sides continue to accuse each other of violating the deal.
And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is revealing new details of his talks on Sunday with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Zelenskyy says the latest peace plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine proposes that the U.S. guarantees Kyiv's security for 15 years. But he says he asked Trump to extend that for up to 50 -- 5-0 years and the U.S. president said he would think about it.
Mr. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone before meeting Zelenskyy. A Kremlin aide said the call was friendly, cordial, and businesslike. Now the two leaders are expected to talk again.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was on the phone with him for almost, I guess, 2 1/2 hours they're just telling me now. That's a long time. We discussed a lot of things. We didn't talk about the weather. We weren't talking about how -- what a beautiful day it is in Palm Beach, Florida.
Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. Once -- it sounds a little strange, but I was explaining to the president -- President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity, and other things at very low prices.
So a lot of -- a lot of good things came out of that call today, but they were in the works for two weeks with Steve and with Jared and Marco, and everybody.
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WHITFIELD: The question of land concessions remains a major sticking point as Moscow looks to acquire the Eastern Donbas region. Ukraine's president insisted any territorial swaps would need to be put to a vote.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: It's one of the keys we can use. I mean, this possibility of Parliament to vote according to the law or to have referendum. It doesn't matter. I mean, this referendum. If the plan will be very difficult for our society -- very difficult -- of course, our society has to choose and has to vote because it's their land. The land not of one person; it's the land of our nation.
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WHITFIELD: Joining me right now to discuss live from Fairfax, Virginia is John Herbst. He is a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and senior director for the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. Great to see you. Good morning. JOHN HERBST, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE, SENIOR DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S EURASIA CENTER: Thank you, Fredricka. Nice to be with you.
WHITFIELD: So you heard Trump using words like "generous, good things happening," and he says they are closer to a deal.
Are you encouraged by these talks? Did you feel like there was any advancement here?
HERBST: Well, the only advancement is between the United States and Ukraine -- a greater -- a closeness of their positions on the war. There is zero indication, publicly at least, that Putin is willing to compromise in the right way.
The one thing Trump referred to of Russia providing energy to Ukraine -- that's completely irrelevant. Because Russia's position remains that Ukraine must hand over territory, which is very difficult to conquer -- the territory in western Donbas -- and that Ukraine cannot have security guarantees. Ukraine cannot -- must have limits on its armed forces, all things which would make it much easier for Putin to conquer Ukraine.
WHITFIELD: Um-hum.
I mean, you heard, you know, Trump saying -- I mean, some land is up for grabs. I mean, Putin wants land. I mean, isn't that largely what this war is all about?
Do you see this war ending only if Ukraine and its voters -- the leader and its voters were to capitulate?
HERBST: Sadly, if Ukraine were to hand over the heavily fortified western Donbas, which Russia has been unable to conquer in the, what, almost four-plus years -- four years of the big invasion -- they would be dooming their society. Because Putin's aim is not more territory. Putin's aim is to control Ukraine politically.
And we see in occupied Ukraine the great repression of the Ukrainian people. What a tragedy that would be for Ukraine. It would also be a great mistake for President Trump and for the United States to allow that to happen.
WHITFIELD: Hmm. Oh, those are powerful words.
[05:50:00]
So Zelenskyy, you know, says there are one or maybe even two unresolved problems that remain without giving any real specificity here. What do you believe those things might be?
HERBST: Well, it seems that Axios has real access to someone senior in the U.S. administration. And they were talking about the Ukrainian position of withdrawing their troops from the territory Russia wants in the Western Donbas, but Zelenskyy insists that Russia must also withdraw its troops a comparable amount. And Zelenskyy also insists on real security guarantees from the United
States. And according to the information available in Axios, they were talking about the U.S. was talking about perhaps providing that, including with terms that would be ratified by the Senate. Now, if there is a very strong American security guarantee for Ukraine, that would hold Putin's hands from renewing the war.
But it's unclear, again, if this will actually happen. But if it does, I would -- I would applaud the administration and I would say that Moscow would in no way agree to that.
WHITFIELD: Hmm.
All right. Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. Thank you so much.
HERBST: My pleasure. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dubai hosted a modern-day Battle of the Sexes tennis match this weekend. Ahead, why this high-profile exhibition didn't have the impact of the original 1973 Bobby Riggs, Billie Jean King. Hello?
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[05:55:55]
WHITFIELD: All right. It was a real doozy as the last Sunday night football game of 2025. Well, it might have been the most exciting, in fact, of the season with the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Chicago Bears. Let's take a look.
It was a high-scoring back-and-forth battle between two teams right there trying to make it to the playoffs. Trailing late in the fourth quarter, the 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy hit Jauan Jennings for a touchdown to give the Niners a four-point lead.
But then the Bears, right there, driving down the field and the game came really close -- down to the very last play. Chicago's quarterback, as you see right there, Caleb Williams -- he was scrambling, trying to find somebody. Oh, boy -- but the pass fell incomplete.
The 49ers winning a wild game 42-38, and the crowd goes wild.
All right. This weekend in Dubai event organizers billed a high- profile tennis exhibition match as a modern-day battle of the sexes, but it didn't have the cultural stakes of the 1973 original, which has gone down in history as a defining moment in sports. This event landed more as a spectacle than a statement.
CNN's Don Riddell explains.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It's been 52 years now since the famous Battle of the Sexes when Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome. More than half a century later, another Battle of the Sexes. On Sunday, in Dubai, Arayna Sabalenka went head-to-head with Nick Kyrgios.
Now to set the scene for you. Sabalenka is on top of her game. She's won four grand slam titles, including the U.S. Open in September. She is the world number one female right now. Kyrgios, on the other hand, has never won a major title and his ranking has plummeted because of recent injuries. He's actually only played a handful of games this year.
But there is so much disparity between the way that men and women strike the ball that the organizers reduced the size of Sabalenka's half of the court to level the playing field. Neither player was given a second serve. They broke each other throughout the opening set and although Kyrgios seemed to be tiring halfway through the match, he ultimately won it in straight sets, 6-3 6-3.
ARYNA SABALENKA, WOMEN'S WORLD #1 TENNIS PLAYER: I think it was a great level, I made a lot of great shots, moved a lot to the net, drop shots, great serving. And, yeah, I really enjoyed the show. And I think -- not I think, I feel like next time when I play him, I already know the tactic, I know his strengths, his weaknesses, and it's going to be a better match for sure.
NICK KYRGIOS, TENNIS PLAYER: I had to strap in because she was putting on. She was hitting some amazing shots. And honestly, I would -- I would love to play her again and showcase her talent and also what I have left in the tank. But ultimately, it was -- it was a really hard- fought battle and there was breaks back and forth. And I think this is a great stepping stone forward for the sport of tennis.
RIDDELL: This match did not capture the world's attention like the original in 1973, nor did it feel like there was as much riding on the outcome. It was an exhibition match with a twist. But both players said they enjoyed it, and they said they'd be open to a rematch. And it is clear that Sabalenka thinks the next time she could win.
Back to you.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Good sports -- good sports, nonetheless.
All right. The Olympic torch is making its way across Italy before next year's Winter Games. The 21st leg of the relay took the torch to the city of Potenza in the mountains east of Naples. The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held at sites across Northern Italy in just over a months' time. The games begin in Milan February 6.
All right -- 2026 just days away and New Yorkers are ready to leave something behind in 2025. The Times Square Alliance put on a "Good Riddance Day" celebration on Sunday. Attendees shared some of their worst moments of the year with actor Jonathan Bennett and looked forward to what they want the new year to bring.
[06:00:10]
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JONATHAN BENNETT, ACTOR: Tom, I have to know, what are you saying goodbye to and closing the curtain on in 2025?
TOM HARRIS, PRESIDENT, TIMES SQUARE ALLIANCE: I am closing the curtain on negativity in 2025. I want us to focus on what unites us and not what divides us.
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WHITFIELD: I like that. Negativity, get outta here.
All right. Thank you so much for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.
