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Quest Means Business
Sources: CIA Drone Strike Targeted Venezuelan Port Facility; Eurostar Gradually Resuming Channel Tunnel Facility; A.I. Boosts U.S. Markets to Near Record Close in 2025; Meta To Acquire Singapore-Based Manus For More Than $2B; Deep-Sea Hunt Resumes For Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane; Tatiana Schlossberg, Granddaughter Of JFK, Dies At 35. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired December 30, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:19]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Modest losses on the big board today. In fact, modest losses across the board. Look, they are all taking a
breather going into this holiday week.
We will have more on the markets to come in 2026 in a moment, but these are the main events.
Sources say the U.S. attacked a port facility in Venezuela. We will bring you CNN's exclusive reporting.
Traffic between the U.K. and France comes to a halt in the channel tunnel after a power supply failure causes travel mayhem.
And I speak to the CEO of health tech company Oura on how it is trying to get its rings on more fingers.
Live from New York, it is Tuesday, December 30th. I am Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
And a very good evening to everyone.
We start with exclusive reporting. Sources tell CNN, the CIA conducted a drone strike on a Venezuelan port facility earlier this month, marking the
first known U.S. attack inside the country. They say it targeted a dock allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua criminal gang for drug trafficking.
U.S. President Donald Trump has alluded to the port strike in recent days, but offered few details and the Venezuelan government, this is interesting,
hasn't even commented. The attack is a major escalation after months of deadly U.S. campaign against alleged drug boats.
So far, more than 30 vessels have been hit in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, including this one reported on Monday.
Alayna Treene is in Washington with some of these details. And Alayna, first to the CNN exclusive reporting. You know, the President himself
decided he would let the world know about this operation and I am wondering why because in terms of our reporting, this was a CIA operation and those,
by definition, are usually covert.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. No, absolutely, Paula. And I think it was pretty stunning to a lot of people to hear the President kind
of blurt it out last Friday when he went on a radio show with a Republican donor, someone who he is very close friends with and mentioned essentially,
that they had taken out -- the U.S. had taken out some sort of facility in Venezuela.
I would argue, actually, Paula, that there is a good chance that maybe no one would really know about this if he had not gone out and said it
publicly. And of course, he did give more details on Monday about this when reporters like CNN's Kevin Liptak were at Mar-a-Lago with him pressing him
on it, the President actually seemed to not want to give any more details yesterday when he was talking to them.
At one point, CNN's Kevin Liptak asked him, was this a U.S. military operation? Was it a CIA operation? The President would not say, of course,
now, thanks to the reporting from our great colleagues, Natasha Bertrand and Zach Cohen and Jim Sciutto, we do know kind of what happened, which is
essentially that this was a CIA drone strike on a Venezuelan drug facility in Venezuela, I should make that very clear, within Venezuelan sovereign
territory, not like the other attacks that we have seen and have been publicized by the Trump administration, which have been attacks on alleged
drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and also, you know, trying to go after oil tankers carrying Venezuelan oil.
This is very different. This is what our colleagues have reported was a covert CIA operation on Venezuela. Now, to be clear, there were no
casualties at the time the operation was successful and the fact that they had, apparently gotten rid of and destroyed that facility and the drugs
that it was holding, but there were no casualties. There appeared to be no people there when this happened.
But as you mentioned, this is, I think, no question, a significant escalation now, a much more aggressive push and pressure campaign on not
only Venezuela, but specifically on its leader, Nicolas Maduro. And I think it is worth noting as well that there is a difference between this being a
CIA covert operation versus a U.S. military strike.
We know that the President, President Trump, has for weeks now kind of been threatening this idea of land strikes inside Venezuela to kind of up the
ante with this pressure campaign that the administration has been carrying out over recent months, but that is also something that we know they would
-- they've kind of insisted and promised, really, that they would alert Congress to before doing so, because if the U.S. military were to conduct a
land strike, that would essentially be a formal declaration of war.
This is a bit different, and I should note as well, that the President has given more kind of carte blanche, really, to the CIA to carry out covert
operations in recent months. Earlier this year, he gave that go ahead, really, to the CIA to carry out covert operations both within Venezuela,
but also Latin America at large.
[16:05:08]
But I think what is clear is we are still trying to gather details of exactly where this happened, the nature of it. We are also trying to gather
details of whether Venezuela even actually knew about this, the government of this attack before the President came out and said it. But it has been
noteworthy as well, because as someone who covers The White House and, you know, talks to Trump officials daily, they have been very careful in not
wanting to share more information about this.
So it was great reporting done by our colleagues and really does show how eager the President is right now in trying to find new ways to really ramp
up pressure on Maduro. We will have to see, we are kind of waiting to see now really what he and his government says in response to all of this.
NEWTON: Yes, and really looking forward to 2026 what that end game is in Venezuela for the Trump administration.
Alayna Treene grateful to you, a busy 2025, it doesn't seem like it is going to let up for 2026. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now, train service between London and the rest of Europe is slowly resuming now that the Channel Tunnel is partially reopened. A power disruption had
forced Eurostar to halt all its trains during a period of peak holiday travel.
Eurostar operates high speed trains linking London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
Anna Cuban is in London with the latest. You have been following this really from the get go. Are trains moving again and what does that mean for
travelers?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Yes, Paula, the service is resuming and it has been for the past few hours, but it is still not at
full capacity. There are still many, many people that have had their New Year's plans completely upended.
Now, Eurostar has said that despite the resumption in partial service, that they've advised people to, if your train is canceled, don't come to the
station and an implication there that you're not going to get on another train, but also that trains that are running expect severe delays and last
minute cancellations.
Now, this Euro Channel Tunnel is of vital importance. Last year, it transported around up to 20 million people between London and Paris. And
then from London, it goes on to Paris to Amsterdam to Brussels. It is a vital artery linking the U.K. to continental Europe.
And this, if we just take a step back and look at the significance of all of this, it shows that this vital artery is very susceptible to -- when it
is susceptible to issues, the impact has an outsized consequences for people. We've seen thousands of people have their plans completely upended.
I was in King's Cross Train Station in London earlier today, talking to people who have been impacted, they said -- well, one man said that he had
been on a train at the mouth of the Euro Channel Tunnel for six hours earlier in the day. He was above ground. He was then brought back to
London.
Another woman was saying that, you know, she was thinking about canceling plans to see friends in Rotterdam for New Year's Eve. And so that really
gets to the issue here, is that Eurostar has said that people can have their booking refunded, recouped, they can book onto a different service at
a later date. But you cannot, Paula, recreate or get back the time that people would have been spending with their loved ones over New Year's Eve.
NEWTON: Yes, absolutely, Anna. When you look at the disruption, some of the stories, I mean, what have people been going through? I mean, you know,
you've seen some of it firsthand. This -- even though it was only a one day disruption, at least we hope it only becomes a one day disruption, this
could significantly impact peoples' New Year's Eve and New Year's Day plans.
COOBAN: Absolutely. So that woman there says that she is going to have to cancel her plans. There are, you know, on social media, people who have
been in a broken down train in the Euro Channel Tunnel. We are talking about how they were, you know, without food or water supplies, necessary
supplies for a number of hours.
And so it seemed like a real ordeal for people stuck on trains. But that, again, gives you a sense if we just zoom out and look at this, that this is
such a vital link between U.K. and the continent that when something goes wrong, the impact is so outsized and it is like this domino effect.
You then had dozens of trains backed up, hundreds of people at King's Cross Train Station alone, I was talking to earlier. And so, this is really the
worst time possible for something like this to happen, sandwiched right between Christmas and New Year.
NEWTON: Absolutely, Anna. Thank you for following it throughout the day. And as we said, we hope the disruption lasts only for one day.
Anna Cooban for us in London, thank you.
Now, it is the last full trading day of 2025, a year marked by strong gains in A.I. stocks including NVIDIA, AMD and Palantir. Now those A.I. gains
helped boost markets with Wall Street approaching more record highs headed into the New Year.
Now, despite these signs of optimism, safe havens like gold and silver are also performing well. Gold is capping its best year since 1979. Silver up
more than 150 percent.
Sam Stovall is the Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA, and he joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us. And we really want this conversation
to be forward looking, right?
Most analysts agree 2026 will again be a solid year for the markets. Do you have caveats you want to give me on that?
SAM STOVALL, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, CFRA: Yes. Hi, Paula. Happy New Year to you in advance.
[16:10:10]
I would say that 2026 will likely be a good year, but probably not a great year. We just recorded three consecutive double-digit gains, and I don't
expect to see a fourpeat, if you will, next year, because going back 85 years, we've only had that happen two times and once did we have a
fivepeat.
But I would tend to say that because corporate profits are still expected to be up by more than 14 percent next year and expected to be higher by 15
percent in 2027, I think that offers investors a lot of optimism for the year ahead.
NEWTON: Going forward, will it again be about that A.I. trade? I mean, love it or hate it, you kind of have to be in it, right? I am not sure if you
agree with that, and there is so much capital spending on A.I., you know, away from stocks like NVIDIA or Palantir, some argue that's why you have to
be in it. There is capital spending to be had in A.I.
STOVALL: Absolutely and technology is expected to be the sector that posts the highest year-on-year percent change in corporate profits, up 30 percent
expected next year versus the S&P 500's fourteen percent rise.
And many would say that we are still in the early innings of this A.I. expansion, so you have to have some exposure to it. And then finally,
history says that after an up year in the S&P 500, you want to let your winners ride because they tend to outperform in the year ahead as well.
NEWTON: Interesting. So you're saying anybody who is tempted to really sit on a lot of gains here and pull out, you're saying stay in a bit longer.
STOVALL: Exactly. Going back to 1990, this strategy of holding on to the three best performing sectors beat the market by about three percentage
points per year and did so 70 percent of the time. Of course, that's not a guarantee, but it is an encouragement for investors who don't want to turn
a company that could grow by five times, cutting it off after it has reached only three times.
NEWTON: Yes. Now, so many of the moves this year we described, some of them have been counterintuitive. You know, the rise of gold and silver, but also
the resilience of this market even after the tariffs, the strange behavior of the bond market.
In your opinion, was 2025 an anomaly or will it now be a feature of markets?
STOVALL: I think you have to dig a little bit deeper, because what makes gold and silver prices rise so much, I think is a combination of Central
Banks that are concerned about the tariffs and trade going on globally, combined with the weakening of the U.S. dollar and gold is priced in
dollars, so therefore the lower the dollar, the higher the potential cost of that hard asset.
In terms of price performance, really, we did decline 19 percent earlier in the year, almost a new bear market, but we recovered much more quickly than
we traditionally do, which implied that investors were buying the dips and therefore wanting to stay fully invested.
NEWTON: And can we talk about the Fed of all of this? The Fed has been front and center in 2025. President trump made it that way. And while
nearly everyone pays lip service, including Secretary of the Treasury, to the fact that the Fed needs to stay independent, is that possible in this
Trump administration or even beyond, once you see this kind of meddling, I would say in the Fed in whether or not they need to lower interest rates?
STOVALL: I think that Wall Street certainly wants the Fed to remain independent. Wall Street traditionally does not like it when the government
sticks their nose into Wall Street's business.
Go back to 1962 with President Kennedy, U.S. Steel wanted to raise prices. The President said, no, we don't want you to raise prices that will push up
inflation and we ended up falling into a 28 percent bear market.
So I would tend to say that if there is too much pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates, the worry would be that we overstimulate the economy,
inflation reignites, and that would throw the stock market into a tailspin.
NEWTON: I have to let you go, Sam, but do you have any money on anybody who would be the Fed Reserve? They say there is a shortlist, which we all know
about. Do you think there is a front runner?
STOVALL: It seems like the two Kevins and so, you know, they might be home alone when it comes to the Fed Chair at this point.
NEWTON: Yes. We will see, Kevin Hassett and of course, Kevin Warsh. We will see who ends up winning that contest.
Sam Stovall, Happy New Year to you and we will see what 2026 brings. Appreciate it.
STOVALL: Thank you, Paula.
[16:15:06]
NEWTON: Now, we were just talking about it, right, 2026 is right around the corner. Up next, the Oura CEO will tell me how his company is ringing in
the New Year -- we still have those puns at the end of 2025 -- and how he plans to stay competitive with other wearable fitness products.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Not sure you need the reminder, but we will do it anyway, 2026 is just two days away. That means it is time for New Year's resolutions. Maybe
you want to work on your health and getting into better shape, and perhaps you're considering a wearable device to track your progress, like a watch
to show energy levels or glasses that monitor your heart rate while running.
Maybe you'd prefer a ring. Oura's design focuses on holistic health metrics, from blood oxygen levels to signs of body strain that might
warrant of an oncoming illness.
Tom Hale is the CEO of Oura, and he joins us now. I've got to say, Oura has an impressive pedigree here, and legions of devotees, including pro
athletes, celebrities. But many, like me, frankly, would ask, what is in it for me? What can Oura do for my health and my fitness? Especially with all
of that data? It drives me crazy. Do I even have time to look at it?
TOM HALE, CEO, OURA: Well, you know, we take a very different approach to health, Paula, thanks for having me on the show, by the way.
One of the ways that we think about it is that we don't want to overwhelm you with data. We want to provide you with insights and tools for you to
modify your behavior to be healthy. One of the things that Oura does very uniquely is that because it is just a ring, it sits on your body passively
monitoring you. It is not asking for your attention. It is not another digital mouth to feed. It is not a source of anxiety, and you can consult
it when you want to.
Now, the power of it is that, we can make predictions with this device. Predictions like, hey, when is your cycle coming? Or are you getting sick?
Or how are you doing? What's your readiness for the day? And these kinds of predictions give you a voice for your body, which allows you to make better
decisions and ultimately make choices that will lead to healthy habits because that's really the power of health, is that you control your health
by making healthy choices.
NEWTON: And I want to get to some of the predictive capacity in it and what might be coming from a tech point of view in 2026 and 2027. But getting
back to the actual use of the data itself right now, some have told me that they love it, others loved it and left it.
There is this issue also of perhaps having to pay for a subscription to get more detailed stats. I mean, how do you keep consumers engaged with this?
And frankly, how do you keep competitors at bay?
[16:20:10 ]
Right? You have a lot of competition in this space already.
HALE: Well, consumers love the device and I think it is when we tell them things that they don't know about themselves that it really makes a
difference.
So for example, when you get a notification from Symptom Radar and it tells you that you're going to be getting sick maybe in two or three days and you
think, oh, I am fine, I am fine. But then two or three days later, you're lying on the couch watching Netflix, drinking tea, surrounded by Kleenex.
You think, this is something I didn't know?
And when you have that kind of information that's proactive and perspective, like looking ahead, it really changes the game.
Most wearables tell you what has happened -- your heart rate, your exercise for the day. We tell you what is going to happen, and that's really
powerful.
Now, going to that, when we see people who have Symptom Radar Alerts and they've had the kind of sense of the power that this wearable device gives
them, you know, they actually have no issue paying the subscription. They feel like we've given them a tool that they didn't have before. It is very
unique and very powerful.
So we are excited as we look ahead. We had an incredible 2025. It was an amazing year for Oura. We had $1 billion in sales. We raised $900 million
on $11 billion valuation. But as we look ahead to 2026, we see lots of opportunities to reach into the health care space and to help people think
about the way that they live their lives to live longer, healthier lives.
NEWTON: And I am really interested in this early warning system that you talk about and the approach to holistic health. But first and foremost,
what about the quality of your data? How do we know it is accurate? I mean, if a ring is going to tell me that I am going to have a sore throat or a
cold or a flu in two days, can it really do that? And what predictive capacity do you see coming with A.I. and other tools for the Oura ring?
HALE: Well, one of the most powerful things about Oura is that it measures from the finger. The finger is actually one of the most accurate places on
the human body to measure from. You know, think about your heart pounding and blood shooting down your arm. This is one of the first places that the
blood stops.
And so the ability for us to see information in that signal is very great. It is much, much better than it is at the wrist. If you think about it,
when you go to the hospital, where do they put the sensor? Do they put a sensor on the back of your wrist? No, they put it on the tip of your finger
and that's because it is a great place to measure.
Now the power of the prediction is also because you wear the device all day, but you primarily get a benefit from it when you wear it at night. And
wearing at night means that we can see your body in like a relaxed state night over night, and that allows us to see small changes each night. And a
small change could be a signal of something happening. That's what gives us the ability to make an accurate prediction.
Now, of course, we are also very based in science and medicine. We have a chief medical officer and a clinical staff and a scientific staff, 25 PhDs
who are doing core research on the accuracy and validation of the device. We are very, very confident that the accuracy of the sensors and of the
algorithms provides you with an incredible amount of information and an incredible amount of confidence that the predictions that we are making are
accurate.
An example would be for a woman, when we predict your cycle is coming, we can do that plus or minus half a day, which, by the way, is more accurate
than I think most people actually can be themselves in anticipating their cycle. It is a very powerful tool and one that I think gives your body a
unique voice. You just need to listen to it.
NEWTON: Okay, Tom, I appreciate the research. I appreciate the PhDs, but we are going to get real here. Tom, give me some experience from your own
personal life, whether it is your friends or your family.
Like, my son texted me this morning that he had a sore throat. I did not buy any rings for the family, A) because of the expense; and B) I was
afraid they just wouldn't use them. It would be another thing that would be in the drawer.
Are you telling me that if I had gotten them the ring for Christmas, he would have known about that sore throat a couple of days ago?
HALE: Well, I can't speak, you know, categorically about your son's sore throat, but I will -- I can tell you this. I think one of the things that I
find most interesting about Oura is that the retention of the device, meaning the time duration, which with people keep wearing the device is
stunning. We have retention that's better than Netflix or Spotify.
At the three-year mark, we see, you know, the significant majority of people are still using the device. It is not something that's made it into
the drawer. And I think part of that is because of the value that it provides, is truly differentiated.
Now, going back to your son's case, you know, if your son had, you know, a slightly elevated temperature or a heart rate variability shift, or we saw
that his heart rate, you know, is resting heart rate had risen, we probably would have notified him with Symptom Radar and we would have said, not this
morning when you got the call, but maybe a couple of days ago saying, hey, listen, you probably should take it easy and that's powerful.
NEWTON: But Tom, I have to go. I don't have a lot of time. But do you have a personal example you can give me, just from your own life?
HALE: From my own life? You know, what's interesting is I often travel, and I find that when I get Symptom Radar Alerts, it is guaranteeing me that I
had better take it easy or I am going to get sick. And of course, as someone who travels quite a lot, that's a powerful tool.
[16:25:10]
But I will say this, and I think this is almost New Year's Eve, one of the most profound impacts that I've had from the Oura ring, which is replicated
across many other users, is they drink less because you start to see the impact of alcohol on your body. I know that's off target for New Year's
Eve.
NEWTON: I'm sorry to laugh, but --
HALE: New Year's Day is always the worst slept day around the planet, bar none. Always. It shows up in the data.
NEWTON: All right, and now we have the data to prove it.
Tom Hale, Happy New Year to you and we will see where --
HALE: Happy New Year!
NEWTON: We will see where the Oura ring takes us in the years to come. Appreciate it.
Now talking about that New Year, we will see a change of leadership at one of Latin America's largest e-commerce platforms, Mercado Libre's incoming
CEO recently sat down with Gabriela Frias and explained his vision for the future of the company.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABRIELA FRIAS, CNN ESPANOL ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This audience in Miami is getting its first impression of the man at the heart
of the succession plan in e-commerce giant, Mercado Libre.
ARIEL SZARFSZTEJN, CEO, MERCADO LIBRE: I think the Mercado Libre that I joined nine years ago is extremely different from Mercado Libre that we
have today.
FRIAS (voice over): On January 1st, Szarfsztejn will take over as CEO of the online platform where buyers and sellers exchange goods in 18 Latin
American countries. It is the dominant player in nations like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.
The ecosystem also provides standalone Fintech and shipping services.
Shortly after leaving the stage, a smiling and informal Szarfsztejn, emerged, eager to talk about his company, its culture and what he sees as
the vast opportunities ahead.
SZARFSZTEJN: We are the biggest or one of the two biggest retailers in the region, but we are not a retailer. If you look at banking, we are
definitely the biggest financial technology company in the region. But we are not a bank.
We are the biggest, logistics employer in Latin America, but we are not a logistics 3P leader. So I would say we are a tech and product company who
is very much obsessed with changing lives of Latin Americans through democratizing commerce and financial services.
FRIAS (voice over): Szarfsztejn joined Mercado Libre as head of strategy in 2017. He zeroed in on its logistics division, which was in its early stages
and relied on post offices and third party deliveries.
SZARFSZTEJN: We were outgrowing their capacity. We need better deliveries, we needed faster deliveries, we needed more reliability. So it was a matter
of we need to build this because nobody will do this for us.
FRIAS (voice over): Szarfsztejn imagined aggressive growth, distribution centers, planes, delivery trucks and an expansion of its employee base that
was only 60 people at the time.
When he presented his strategy to company leadership, to his surprise, they asked him to carry out the plan.
SZARFSZTEJN: They told them, look, I know nothing about logistics. Why don't you go and find a guy who can bring expertise? And they basically
told me, you me, you know what? We need somebody who can lead with the culture, who can learn and I am sure you will find whoever has the
expertise that needs -- that you need to help you, but building this from scratch with our culture was key.
FRIAS (voice over): Today, the distribution division has a robust infrastructure and a workforce of 70,000 employees. Szarfsztejn's portfolio
has also grown. He is currently President of Commerce. He says fintech is a top priority.
SZARFSZTEJN: Financial inclusion is still pending across Latin America. We are growing at triple-digit rate across every single market, but we are
tiny compared to the system, right? So our opportunity to generate an impact, to provide credit to those who are not getting access to credit
today, to provide digital accounts, investment products is huge.
The idea of changing lives is really present in our everyday decision making and you can see that whenever you walk a street in Lat-Am.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, the search for MH 370 is starting back up after nearly 12 years since the flight disappeared. We will explain the significance of
this latest search after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:32:32]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Paula Newton. And there's more Quest Means Business in a moment when a new search is underway for MH370, 12
years after the plane disappeared over the Indian Ocean.
And Meta is buying the Chinese-founded A.I. startup Manus. Before that, though, the headlines this hour.
Sources tell CNN, the CIA carried out a drone strike this month on a port facility in Venezuela that would be the first known U.S. attack inside that
country. We're told the target was a remote dock allegedly used for drug trafficking. President Trump has acknowledged the attack, saying there was
a major explosion. No official comment yet from Venezuela.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says some peace plan documents will be ready for signing in January. Ukraine and some of its closest European
allies will hold talks next week. Zelenskyy says he told President Trump and European leaders that he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir
Putin in any format.
The United Arab Emirates says it is withdrawing its remaining forces in Yemen. This after its close ally, Saudi Arabia, bombed a Yemeni port.
Riyadh says it targeted the port after two ships from the UAE delivered weapons to separatist forces. The UAE initially denied the accusations, but
later announced it would voluntarily withdraw what it called its counterterrorism units in Yemen.
Meta has agreed to acquire the Singapore-based A.I. startup Manus. Now, the deal is worth more than $2 billion, with Meta saying it plans to integrate
Manus' A.I. services into its social media products. The acquisition is the latest in Meta's effort to keep pace with its competitors in A.I.
investment.
Paul Triolo is a partner at Albright Stonebridge Group. He's one of their China regional experts. And I'm glad to have you with us to try and really
parse this acquisition. I'm wondering, would you tell us that this is a sign of Meta's weakness in A.I., or a sign more of a nuanced, nimble
strategy in A.I.?
PAUL TRIOLO, PARTNER, ALBRIGHT STONEBRIDGE GROUP: Great question, Paula. Look, this is a complicated issue. I think it probably is a combination of
both. If we look at a year ago, for example, Meta was leading in the open- source, open-weight model arena with Llama. But a year later, after Chinese companies have come to dominate that space, Meta is really playing catch-up
in the sort of pure model development side of things.
[16:35:11]
And also, importantly, we've also entered into the agentic A.I. age here. And that's where the Manus acquisition becomes so important because Meta
has really been spinning its wheels a little bit in the last year. And then all of a sudden, Mark Zuckerberg has been really, over the last six months,
trying to acquire talent and companies that can help Meta compete with the big players like Google and OpenAI. And also, the agentic piece of this has
become much more important.
So I think the Manus acquisition has to be viewed in terms of Meta is struggling, but this is a really interesting acquisition, particularly
given where we are in the development of A.I.
NEWTON: And you're very pointed about saying where we are. Meta, as you've just said, will use Manus to hone and improve those A.I. agents. You point
out that this is the hyper-competitive A.I. dogfight of 2026. I am wondering, though, given the research and reporting that you do, does China
have an edge here or Asia in general? I mean, we saw the freak out over DeepSeek earlier this year.
TRIOLO: Right.
NEWTON: What, you know, the fact that they maybe could have built it faster, better, cheaper. Is that turning out to be true?
TRIOLO: Well, it's a great question. Look, I mean, the thing to remember here is each of these companies has sort of a different business model
here. So in this case, for example, Meta is really going up in the U.S. against the big players like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
In China, it's a little bit different ballgame. They've been very focused over the last year on deploying A.I. very broadly in industry and at the
consumer level. So one really important point is late this year, for example, ByteDance came out with a new agentic A.I. smartphone in
partnership with ZTE.
And that really got a lot of people talking in China. It's a really cool device which allows you to interact with your phone by voice. And that
agent platform then has access to all your apps on your phone. And so that's where sort of the cutting edge in China now is between these
different ecosystems like Tencent and WeChat, and then between ByteDance and its, of course, its short video platforms.
The goal here is to keep users in these ecosystems. And so again, Meta in the U.S. has a big ecosystem with Facebook and WhatsApp and many of its
other platforms. And so next year, the agentic game here is to try to get people, get consumers to stay in these ecosystems. And I think that's,
again, the way to view this menace play here. But China has some advantages because of companies like ByteDance, which is very skilled in its user
applications, and other companies like Tencent, which has a super app called WeChat that everybody uses in China.
So the Chinese companies are really pushing the envelope here on figuring out how to improve the user experience with the use of more agents.
NEWTON: I'm really finding all of this fascinating, especially given what's to come in 2026. And a reminder to our audience, right, ByteDance,
obviously involved in TikTok there, at least, we're not sure for how much longer. Paul Triolo, we wish you a very happy New Year and we'll continue
to check in with you. Appreciate it.
TRIOLO: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now the search is back on for a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared nearly 12 years ago. MH370 was carrying 239 people when it
vanished without a trace. Ocean Infinity, a U.S. marine robotics company, has agreed to look for it once more. Richard Quest explains the
significance.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: It is remarkable, but it goes to the fundamental tenet of aviation mysteries, which is you cannot have
this sort of event happen and not know why or what or who or how. The industry needs still to know what happened to MH370.
And the difference this time on the previous searches is advances in things like oceanography, radar technology, sub-ocean abilities and submarine
abilities to search. In the last four, 12, 14 years, there have been huge advances. And that's why the Malaysian government has, for the second time,
agreed to let Ocean Infinity search this area.
They're keeping very quiet about the area, the search details, the technology being used. If you look at Ocean Infinity's website, there's
very little that's there. And the entire search is being done on the basis of no find, no feed.
And I've got a little secret to tell you. To this day, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. We have no greater information about what happened.
Anybody who says they do is simply either speculating, fabricating, extrapolating.
[16:40:09]
The reality is, since that map that you're looking at, so the plane goes up, turns left, goes right over the country, over Indonesia, straight the
way down off the western coast of Australia.
Now, the thing that happened in the year or two after is debris. Only three or four confirmed pieces of debris washed up on the West Indian. That
allowed them to drift flow, if you will, and model where the plane came from. But to the core, there you see the flapper on and all the various
bits that did get washed up.
But was it Captain Zaharie in some sort of perverted suicide attempt? Was it a major malfunction of the aircraft? We don't know. We have no more
information now than we did when you and I were going night after night trying to understand what took place. That's why this search is so
important.
NEWTON: And our thanks to Richard for that perspective.
Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 35. We talk about her life and legacy next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, has died of cancer at the age of 35. She was an accomplished environmental
journalist and author. Just last month, she wrote about her terminal leukemia diagnosis in an essay for "The New Yorker." Schlossberg explained
that the disease was discovered last year, shortly after she gave birth to her daughter.
In that essay, she expressed concerns about her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy, and the cuts he's made as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. She
also, though, discussed the difficulty of knowing she would not live long enough to raise her small children.
[16:45:03]
Tom Foreman joins me now. I mean, obviously, the Kennedy family, political royalty here, and that is quite a legacy in itself. But, Tom, what strikes
me is the enormous personal loss for this family.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, this is really just one of those stories that is just almost hard to comprehend. The idea that she found
out, she gave birth to her daughter, and it was that process, the blood test related to that, that revealed to doctors that she had leukemia. And
she writes in this just stunning essay that came out in November in "The New Yorker."
She wrote about how healthy she felt and how she was a runner and a swimmer and thought they had to simply be wrong. But then she went through all this
testing. She went through, you know, chemotherapy. She went through various sort of transmissions of blood and cells and things to try to -- none of
which worked, none of which worked.
And this amazing quote from the essay, just striking, she said, for my whole life, I've tried to be a good, to be a good student and a good sister
and a good daughter and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I've added a new tragedy to her life, to her family's life, and
there's nothing I can do to stop it. That's what she was thinking at the end.
Now, think about her mother here. Her mother is Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy. And as you noted a minute ago, Paula, one of
her concerns, one of Tatiana Schlossberg's concern is that her children were so young or are so young that they won't really even remember her.
Well, her mother was five years old when John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. So just an amazing peril and such a terribly sad story.
NEWTON: Yes. You know, the irony of all that is just, as you said, so stunning and sad. There is a political element, though, here as well.
FOREMAN: Yes.
NEWTON: And she chose to write about that in the essay.
FOREMAN: Yes, she went after her mother's cousin, RFK Jr., and his role in the Trump administration, saying, look, some of the things he's doing with
the health systems in the United States will actually interfere with the kind of cancer treatment that she not only suffered from and died from, but
ironically, again, before she was ever sick, that she raised money for because she thought this was so important.
So, yes, she spoke out, as did her mother, saying, look, what he is doing from their perspective victimizes cancer patients by not helping them, by
promoting the science that can help them. So, again, it's just -- this the essay is really worth a read. And to think she wrote it so close to her
passing, unbelievable. And of course, the family's loss just beyond comprehension.
NEWTON: Yes. And her choosing to speak out now is firmly a part of her legacy, dying at the age of 35. Incredible. Our condolences to her family.
And obviously, we wish them much strength in the new year. Tom Foreman, thank you.
FOREMAN: You're welcome.
NEWTON: And we'll be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:35]
NEWTON: The New Year may still be around the corner, but the party already started in Scotland, where the annual Hogmanay celebrations are giving 2025
a spectacular send-off. On Monday, a torch-lit procession of about 15,000 people lined the streets of Edinburgh. Today, there will be a feast of
late-night comedy shows at the city's famed assembly rooms.
It's part of three days of events culminating in a massive street party in the Scottish capital on New Year's Eve. And of course, our Max Foster is in
Edinburgh. OK, I do not want you to give me a full description about how much fun you're having. But I confess, Max, I really didn't know much about
this celebration, and I'm now riveted.
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have to say I'm exhausted already. It's been going for 24 hours. Concert, I'd say comedy club. I've been up to
the castle looking at the fireworks. They're getting all that ready. Tomorrow is just wall-to-wall parties.
This is Pete and Diesel. I forgot for a moment, but they are a folk and Celtic rock band. They're from the Outer Hebrides. I have to say to you,
Paula, they are the hardiest group of fans I've ever seen in my life. It's below zero here, Celsius, and you've got everyone taking their tops off,
going absolutely crazy for these guys. Unbelievable.
But, you know, this is the nation that brought you the kilt, of course, which takes me seamlessly into my package with the celebrity kilt-maker.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Howie?
HOWIE NICHOLSBY, KILT MAKER, 21ST CENTURY KILTS: Max.
FOSTER: You've got some fabric here.
NICHOLSBY: Yes.
FOSTER: How much do you need for a kilt?
NICHOLSBY: Well, it's 7.3 meters, eight yards.
FOSTER: All of this?
NICHOLSBY: All of this is what I'm wearing in one kilt.
FOSTER: Just explain where all the fabric goes then.
NICHOLSBY: All the fabric goes into the pleats. There's over 30 pleats here, and it has to recreate the pattern, and it's fully hand-stitched. The
only part of this kilt machined is the waistband.
FOSTER: Yes.
NICHOLSBY: So when you're wearing it, you still get that swing and that masculine feeling, but it's not a woman's skirt. It's made for a man.
FOSTER: So when someone flies in from another part of the world, is it acceptable for them to wear the tartan?
NICHOLSBY: Absolutely. It's all about how you feel mentally and physically in a kilt. You've got to feel confident.
FOSTER: So you showed how much fabric was used. It's a lot of fabric. It gets heavy, but weirdly, when you wear them, it doesn't feel heavy. What's
the secret?
NICHOLSBY: You've got to adjust a little bit. The weight of the kilt is very proportioned around the body.
FOSTER: Yes.
NICHOLSBY: I want people to enjoy wearing a kilt, so it has to be comfortable and shaped to the body.
FOSTER: And the length?
NICHOLSBY: The length is personal preference. Now, I measure from the pelvis to the kneecap, top of the kneecap, and that's where Queen Victoria
liked it, and that's where it should be worn for formal wear.
FOSTER: Why did she like that?
NICHOLSBY: She liked to see the soldier's knees.
FOSTER: This is what people will recognize, the sporran.
NICHOLSBY: Yes, this is Gordon Winkleman.
FOSTER: What was the thinking behind the sporran?
NICHOLSBY: Well, the sporran was a pouch originally, and when it became more military, they were long-haired like this and more centralized, and
French royalty were wearing it. They were worried about a man being aroused, so the sporran got put in the middle as a kind of protection.
FOSTER: Really?
NICHOLSBY: So the legend goes.
FOSTER: So your view is that anyone, anywhere in the world can wear a kilt?
NICHOLSBY: Yes. Yes, just as long as it's a nice kilt, properly made, hopefully made in Scotland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now you know, Paula, you're going to ask me if I'm wearing a kilt. You can't see right now, and I'm not telling you if you're wearing one
tomorrow night. So tune in to our endless coverage on T.V. and on all the digital and social platforms.
NEWTON: We will indeed, Max Foster. But I shall note, disappointingly, you did not put on a kilt in that piece. Were you not confident in that?
FOSTER: You don't know that. You don't know that. I'm not giving you the information.
NEWTON: Well, maybe we didn't see it. Mr. Max Foster.
FOSTER: We have to tune in tomorrow.
NEWTON: Well, I guess we'll have to now. OK, I know you're good for it, Max, so don't disappoint us. Happy New Year to you, if I do not see you,
and in the meantime, the countdown is on until 2026.
Join us for New Year's Eve around the world as we bring you celebrations from around the globe, that includes Max. If you're heading, though, to the
U.K. for New Year's, chances are a British pub may be on your to-do list. It better be. But if you're confused about your loggers or your last
orders, fear not. We've compiled a helpful guide of etiquette to this great British institution. CNN Travel's global editor Barry Neild educates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[16:55:17]
BARRY NEILD, CNN TRAVEL'S GLOBAL EDITOR: When someone walks into a British pub for the first time, they might have certain expectations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The slaughtered lamb.
NEILD: Or even a sense of trepidation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.
NEILD: A sentiment clearly felt over 80 years ago, when a film was made to teach American troops stationed in England.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, England, here I am.
NEILD: How to behave in one of these fine establishments. Currently, there are about 45,000 pubs in Great Britain. But recently, many have been forced
to close their doors as the price of business goes up. While pub culture varies across the country, there are a few basic things to keep in mind if
you want to blend in with the regulars. Head straight to the bar and place your order.
If you sit down at a table, you'll be waiting an eternity. The Brits do love to queue, but there's no need for that here. Spread out and kindly get
the bartender's attention. Generally, there are no tabs. Pay as you go and don't worry about tipping. In a group, the traditional way is to buy drinks
in a round. That means taking it in turns to buy everyone else's drinks.
This is a public house, a community space. We share our tables and we share our snacks. A traditional pub is run by a landlady or a landlord. They hold
the license and often live on the premises. Also known as a publican, some are so iconic that the pub is known because of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a sense of belonging that you can only really get from a pub. And I can't explain what that is, but it's something
beautiful to see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very hard to find a pub which is like a British pub anywhere outside of the British eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody's going to be bothering you unless you want to be bothered. It's a very easy place to sort of come by yourself, come with
your mates.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like a second family almost, in a way. We're in here, we see the same faces all the time. And it's nice to just have that
place to be that isn't at home.
NEILD: So what do we drink here? Well, everything from wines and spirits to pilsers and pale ales. But what pubs like this are really well known for
are real ales lovingly hand pumped at the bar. And contrary to popular belief, they're not served warm. If you get a warm pint, I wouldn't drink
it.
It's good. And finally, a law dating back more than 100 years means that last orders in most pubs is just before 11:00 p.m. So don't lose track of
the time. But if you do, there will be a helpful reminder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last order.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Great way to send all of you off into the New Year. Happy New Year to all of you. Thanks for watching. That was Quest News Business. I'm Paula
Newton. Believe is next.
END
