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CNN Live Event/Special
Happy New Year Bangkok; Thailand Rings In The New Year; Great New Year's Challenge: Abu Dhabi. Aired 12-12:30p ET
Aired December 31, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Dozens and dozens of performers coming out to hit the stage. So much talent in the kingdom tonight.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Mark Tuan just performed.
LU STOUT: Mark Tuan, oh my God. (Inaudible) seven.
RIPLEY: We are now 15 seconds from midnight. Should we do the countdown at 10?
LU STOUT: Let's do it. It's coming up. It's coming right up. Here we go.
RIPLEY: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year.
LU STOUT: Happy New Year.
RIPLEY: Bangkok. Whoo.
(Video plays of New Year Celebrations in Thailand)
[12:05:00]
RIPLEY: Wow.
LU STOUT: We made it, Will. It is now 2026.
RIPLEY: We're now in 2026.
LU STOUT: Happy New Year.
RIPLEY: Happy new year, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Happy New Year.
RIPLEY: So what did you think of the firework?
LU STOUT: OK, this is my first time doing New Year's Eve in Bangkok, one night in Bangkok, and my goodness, my heart is thumping. That was incredible. You know, you're right. The barges are right next to us here in the Chao Phraya River. This is the iconic River in Thailand. It flows for hundreds of miles. The fireworks, they feel like they are literally falling on top of your head, huge blossoms of pyrotechnics. It was gorgeous.
RIPLEY: Can you show us your jacket really quick?
LU STOUT: Oh, here you go.
RIPLEY: Yeah, wow. Now that is what I call some New Year's bling. You can see my -- my attempt to tie a tie out of this, whatever this is. So it hasn't succeeded.
LU STOUT: No, it looks good. It looks good. There is so much magic in the kingdom tonight, right?
RIPLEY: Yes, there is, there is.
LU STOUT: The wonderful revelers that we've been speaking to. Miss World, how lovely was she? Mark Tuan.
RIPLEY: Mark Tuan.
LU STOUT: Immense talent, he was on the stage right behind us all, here at Icon Siam, right in the heart of Bangkok.
RIPLEY: And I just keep thinking about when I was here last year and I had just broken my ankle, so I did this show on crutches. But, you know, we pulled off the interview with Lisa (ph). The show went off without a hitch, and that was a motivational moment where I thought, you know, if I can do this on crutches with a broken ankle, I can do a lot, you know?
And I made a lot of healthy lifestyle changes after this broadcast, so that my ankle would heal faster. I completely quit smoking and vaping finally, for good, after many years.
LU STOUT: Amen.
RIPLEY: Changed my diet. And so actually, in the end, it was a net positive to have the broken ankle, you know, on New Year's.
LU STOUT: That's the thing. It's about new beginnings, right?
RIPLEY: And one year later, here I am with a bionic ankle and dancing badly, but still -- still dancing.
LU STOUT: No, you were fantastic. And we talked about New Year's resolutions earlier. One of my New Year's resolutions, it's about health, it's about fitness, it's about looking after my strength. You know, we're all getting older. We got to keep it looking after ourselves, right?
RIPLEY: We do and we have some revelers that are going to come up on stage --
LU STOUT: Hey, come on up.
RIPLEY: -- I think. Hi.
LU STOUT: Hey, Happy New Year.
RIPLEY: Hello.
LU STOUT: Oh, my goodness, so nice to meet you.
RIPLEY: Hi.
LU STOUT: What's your name? Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm (inaudible) from Thailand.
LU STOUT: Wonderful, Happy New Year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm (inaudible) from Iran, from Philippine.
LU STOUT: Oh, the Philippines. Oh, goodness. What did you think of the firework show? Did you like it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, absolutely.
LU STOUT: What was your highlight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's amazing. And you know, we see the amazing Thailand, and the fireworks is very good.
LU STOUT: Thank you so much. That's the word, isn't it? Amazing Thailand, right? That is what we experience.
RIPLEY: Do you guys have any 2026, resolutions or wishes for the New Year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tomorrow I'm going to go to temple so wish me luck all the year.
LU STOUT: Going to temple. Yes, enjoy that experience. And do you have any wishes for the New Year?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think being more healthy, yeah, healthy.
LU STOUT: That's what I want too. Here's wishing you the very best for your physical life, your spiritual health as well. Happy New Year.
RIPLEY: All right, we are now officially in 2026 here in Bangkok. We have just witnessed a spectacular firework show. Five hours, we've been here with you, ringing in the New Year, starting in Sydney. Then we went to -- we went to Singapore, and we went to --
LU STOUT: We went to Harbin, China. We went to Hong Kong.
RIPLEY: Tokyo.
LU STOUT: We went to Tokyo. We took people all around the world to check in with our pals, our fellow correspondents across the region, and, of course, our special guests right.
RIPLEY: Yes and John and Becky, they have been in Abu Dhabi having lots of adventures. We're going to be coming back to them very soon, but right now, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back with much more CNNs Global New Year's Eve coverage.
LU STOUT: From Bangkok, Happy New Year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:10:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: We want to officially welcome you to the Hilton here on Yas island in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson here with John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are just above the Yas Bay waterfront walk, where revelers are partying, leading up to this incredibly exciting countdown to ring in the New Year. That will happen, I'm bad at the time difference, the math.
That's going to happen in just under three hours. I am reliably assured from right now. And between now and then, Becky, you and I are going to get to mingle. We're going to party. We're going to reminisce about all of our travels across Abu Dhabi, from the desert to the sea, really, the year that I've spent here in the last three days.
And that's what it really feels like. You took me on a year's worth of adventures here. Why you might ask. Why here in Abu Dhabi and not back home for me in New York? There's really a party there too. This is all because you threw down really the coolest gauntlet that I have ever seen.
ANDERSON: Absolutely.
[12:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You're going to help me ring in the New Year here, and boy, have I got some adventures for you set up. The arts culture and a little bit of adrenaline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Becky and I are embracing the theme of new challenges in the New Year here in Abu Dhabi, and I'm not really sure people will believe it all, Becky until they've seen it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The lights green. Here we go. Ah.
BERMAN: Ah.
ANDERSON: It's a pit stop competition. Ready? Let's do it.
BERMAN: This isn't a Formula One car, but it's a lot faster than that.
Happy New Year. Happy New Year.
There's no driver.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No driver. It's a fully autonomous vehicle. This is happening across all domains, on land, sea, air. We have drone deliveries. We have air taxis, autonomous vessels. It's happening. It's a reality here in Abu Dhabi.
ANDERSON: Wow. Look at the color of that. Thank you.
BERMAN: Delicious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So I promised you some adventure, some fun, some arts and culture. Did I rise to the challenge?
BERMAN: You delivered. I can't believe that we've packed all of that into the few days that I've been here.
ANDERSON: He's been here 36 hours.
BERMAN: It's amazing. That was just amazing. I have to say, I don't think I look that graceful in the cars, the vehicles. You look so much --
ANDERSON: Oh, please.
BERMAN: You look like you've done it before.
ANDERSON: There is nothing graceful about getting in and out of an Aston Martin GT4.
BERMAN: That's all the way down here.
ANDERSON: It's right there on the ground. Look, this has been somewhat adrenaline fueled, which is great. I mean, that's not what -- that's not the full sort of SP on Abu Dhabi, but there's a lot of that here, right? And you've got it, you've had it.
BERMAN: There's a lot of it and it's all wonderful.
ANDERSON: Yeah, good. All right, well, in the run up to this big night, and it's going to be a long night tonight, we've been up and down Abu Dhabi, a unique capital made of multiple islands, each with its own identity that adds to the global appeal, and tonight we find ourselves at Yas Island, the home of entertainment and adrenaline hits just down the road from here.
There is Saadiyat Island, where the city's investment is in the arts, and it is very much showcased there. I had a chance to speak with a man behind what is known as the Saadiyat Cultural District. That is a global cultural hub, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, and here John, is how he describes what the UN -- UAE's vision is and what it's achieving here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED KHALIFA AL MUBARAK, CHAIRMAN, DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE AND TOURISM, ABU DHABI: This land has always been a bridge between East and West. You will see that first hand at our national museum right behind us, and you will see this place has always accepted people and religions, and you'll see that at the Abrahamic family house.
Also this land, and through the eyes of Sheikh Zayed, the understanding of our environment and how we can sustain and safeguard our world. We'll get that message clearer than ever at our natural history museum. The beautiful thing about the Saadiyat Cultural District, it's a collection of fantastic institutions that tell stories. So when you would have cultural explorers, visitors, more importantly to me, students and youth, it gives them a glimpse into their past, their present and their future.
[12:20:00]
So whether you start at the Louvre where we're standing right now, which is a museum that connects us through our universal themes, and we see our similarities in the beauty of art in this fantastic institution. Or you start in the future with teamLab Phenomena that is really a spiritual slash meditative state. I or you start in the future with Team lap phenomena. That is really a spiritual slash meditative state that you encompass when you're in teamLab Phenomena. It's really, really special.
ANDERSON: Talk to me about the Guggenheim.
AL MUBARAK: So we hope to have this beautiful contemporary art museum that is really grounded to the global south to open its door in 2026.
ANDERSON: You're teasing me.
AL MUBARAK: A little bit.
ANDERSON: Happy New Year.
AL MUBARAK: Happy New Year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And Happy New Year once again. All those incredible sights, and you actually sent me to nearly each one of those places that you and the Chairman mentioned on something of a scavenger hunt looking for some of the iconic pieces in all of these museums. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first stop that we have is the Natural History Museum. What is the first question?
BERMAN: Find the world's most powerful predator?
So this is Stan right here. This is Stan right here. The world's most powerful predator. We got T-Rex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.
BERMAN: That's Stan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amazing job.
BERMAN: Always staying with the hole in his head. The second clue from Becky is find a massive and majestic creature around whom this entire museum was built.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's take a pause here, John.
BERMAN: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we see?
BERMAN: Is that -- is that the whale?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You tell me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have our majestic Blue Whale.
BERMAN: That's a blue whale.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.
BERMAN: It's huge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is huge. It's 25 meters long.
BERMAN: Mission, number three, find two of the most personal objects linked to Sheikh Zayed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in the perfect space Mr. John.
BERMAN: The Zayed National Museum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the two personal belongings of Sheikh Zayed, (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) that symbolizes faith and heritage. So we have here the (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) that symbolizes guiding light through his life and leadership. And on the other side, we have his (FOREIGN LANGUAGE), which is a common herding stick that symbolizes the value of community and the strong connection to his land.
BERMAN: Next clue find the ancient vessel of this region and how it was made. Ah, there it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So behind me is the 18-meter Magan boat, a reconstruction of the design of boats that have sailed the Arabian Gulf during the Bronze age for thousands years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, so much fun right there. And there's so much more fun to come from this once in a lifetime scavenger hunt, including, honestly one of the prettiest and most awe inspiring buildings that I've ever been in in my entire life.
ANDERSON: Yeah, much more of CNN's Special New Year's Eve coverage is coming up and now Grammy nominated singer songwriter Mayssa Karaa for you.
MAYSSA KARAA, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Good evening everyone and Happy New Year. This next song is called "Broken Lines." It's an original song I got to write with my producer, rich Jackson, when I was living in Los Angeles. The song is all about taking a leap of faith. It's an invitation to explore the world and to see things just as they are, because as you are, you're beautiful. Let's go.
(Mayssa Karaa sings and performs on the song, "Broken Lines.")
[12:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Welcome back. We're just about two and a half hours away from 2026 here in Abu Dhabi. I've already had one costume change. By the end of the night, I'm going to be as sparkly as you are, Becky.
ANDERSON: You can have this one.
BERMAN: Right.
ANDERSON: Well, not this one.
BERMAN: One just like it as far as you know, separate story. You stick around with us, you could all usher in the New Year with us.
ANDERSON: Which we just did in Bangkok, in Thailand, fireworks lit up the sky when the clock there struck midnight.
BERMAN: Yeah. And now to another challenge.
