Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump to Unveil New Healthcare Proposal as Soon as Today; Trump Hints At Big Progress Being Made in Ukraine Peace Talks; Slenderman Stabbing Attacker Found After Cutting Off Monitor. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 24, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Something good just may be happening. That's the announcement from President Trump this morning about the intensive talks to bring Russia's war on Ukraine to an end. The key question now, who is going to get the good end of this deal, Russia or Ukraine?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the woman convicted of stabbing her classmate when she was 12 years old to impress the fictional online Slenderman character, she's now back in custody after escaping from a group home.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And you've, of course, heard of a wild goose chase, but how about a wild horse chase? Police having to chase down a runaway with some serious horsepower in the streets of New Jersey.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: The breaking news this morning, CNN has learned that President Trump is planning to roll out a new healthcare proposal as early as today. Clock is ticking, as we know, as he and his administration are trying to find a way to stave off becoming spike in healthcare premiums brought on by the fight over the government's shutdown because the enhanced subsidies that millions of Americans rely on will expire will come December 31st. If they do expire, healthcare premiums for millions of Americans are expected to more than double next year.

All of this has long been known. Remember one of the big changes that may be part of the president's proposal, new income limits for those who qualify for subsidies. The previous cap was eliminated in 2021, making it more affordable for people in the middle class. A lot of questions around what's coming, what it actually really does mean.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House Force with much more. What are you learning about this, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, look, Kate, this is a huge deal and the Trump administration recognizes how big of a problem both practically and politically this could be for the administration but also Republicans as a whole. As you mentioned, this was the fight that was core to the government shutdown. Now, it ultimately ended. Without a deal to extend these subsidies that are expected to expire at the end of this year. But now the Trump administration is trying to put forward their own proposal to try and stave some of this off.

And I'm just going to work through what we could expect from the framework. This is what our colleagues, Adam Cancryn and Tami Luhby, are hearing. One is that it would temporarily extend the ACA subsidies, the affordable care subsidies, in some form while also incorporating a series of guardrails that could limit the scope of this.

Now, potentially, this could also include new income limits. That would be, as you mentioned, one of the biggest changes that people, the 22 million Americans, I should say, who rely on Affordable Care Act subsidies could see to get into it a little bit more. The income cap that they could potentially restore, it was previously at 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

Just to give you a sense of where it's been in the past, the monthly premium -- there could be monthly premiums required for all people who rely on these subsidies. And also there we could see some sort of health savings account potential for some of these lower tier plans.

Again, from our conversations with people in the White House, they argue that this plan is fluid, it's a framework, it could change, but this is currently where the Trump administration's mindset is on this. And, again, the big problem that is really kind of staring down all members of Congress and lawmakers in Washington, but specifically Republicans because they were the ones who had argued, you know, we want to just move on without extending these subsidies and keep the government running, the problem is that if these subsidies expire, millions of Americans are going to potentially see their healthcare double, and that is a huge issue for them.

It's also an issue we know that Democrats have kind of expected Republicans to flounder on and expect this to be a huge issue for them in the midterm elections next year, healthcare always an issue that Democrats want Americans to be focusing on. Well, if they do not get this sorted, then this could be a massive issue.

And so I'd remind you that as part of the deal to reopen the government, Republicans, particularly in the Senate, had promised a mid-December vote on extending subsidies. And because of that, the Trump administration had recognized, Kate, that they needed to work on their own competing plan to try and see what they could get for Republicans in this. And a lot of the different parts of this framework that we're learning about are things that Republicans have been pushing for.

[07:05:05]

Now, we'll see where this goes. Healthcare has always been a very long fight. And if this does, this framework does end up becoming some sort of reality, you'd have to see a much longer overhaul of the healthcare plan down the line, all to say, we'll see what happens. And if the president does release this today, but we're told it could be unveiled as early as today or this week.

BOLDUAN: This is also could present an interesting fight within the Republican Party yet again because you had many Republicans who don't like any piece of extending the subsidies for any part of the Affordable Care Act. So, we heard a lot of that during the government shutdown fight. So, we will see.

Alayna, great reporting, thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right, breaking just a few minutes ago, President Trump weighed in on negotiations over Ukraine writing, is it really possible that big progress is being made in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine? Don't believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening.

Cryptic and non-committal maybe, but U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators are set to return to the table today. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump Administration's 28-point peace plan is evolving after criticism that it was too favorable to Russia. Some senators even said they were told it was drafted by Russia. Secretary of Rubio denied that.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the biggest sticking point is still the pressure for Kyiv to cede land to Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen, to break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty, and that's the main problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: President Trump has set a Thanksgiving deadline for Ukraine to accept the U.S.-proposed plan, though Secretary Rubio now indicates the timing could be fluid.

Let's get right to CNN's Matthew Chance who is live in Geneva, where these negotiations are taking place. Matthew, what's the latest you're hearing?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, the negotiations went on until later night, last night, Sunday night, here in Geneva, here at the U.S Mission in Geneva, which is right behind me. We were invited in as the negotiations were continuing into those evening hours. And, eventually, Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, he came out and he was very positive. He was saying that progress had been made. He was describing the negotiations as constructive.

He told me that President Trump, who had, you know, just a few hours before scolded the Ukrainian leadership on a Truth Social post for being sort of not grateful enough, essentially, is how he characterized it. He said that President Trump was very pleased with the way of the reports as well about how positively the negotiations had gone.

What he would not do, though, John, is describe to me exactly what progress had been made, what concessions had been agreed to, what changes had been discussed in the face-to-face meetings between the United States delegation and their Ukrainian counterparts. But I tried to get something out of him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: So, has Ukraine indicated to you that it's prepared to compromise, for instance, so some of those key issues like territory in exchange for peace with Russia? Have they suggested that they are prepared to give out in any way?

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I'm not going to -- look, it's not because -- for purposes of invasion, it's just I'm not going to get into the details of the topics that were discussed because this is an ongoing process. What is important to understand and how these things work is you have to -- in order to have a proposal, you have to write it. You know, if it's just verbal, it's in the air. You have to put it down on a piece of paper. And just because it's printed on a piece of paper doesn't indicate finality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Yes. I mean, Secretary Rubio absolutely right. I mean, we're not at a final place yet. It's still a living, breathing document. Those are the words of Marco Rubio himself describing what was a 28- point piece proposal. We don't know what form it takes now because there's been no public release of what's actually been drafted.

The big sticking point, though, if it does satisfy the United States, if it does satisfy the concerns of the Ukrainians and the Europeans, as has been suggested, the question is, will it satisfy the Kremlin? Because, previously, up until now, they have been absolutely adamant they will not cross any of their red lines, they will not back down from their maximalist position, the Kremlin could have the say on whether this U.S.-backed peace proposal succeeds or fails, John.

BERMAN: That's right. And Russia wants land they haven't even conquered yet. We will see what their response is if we get a sense of what's in this new document.

Matthew Chance in Geneva monitoring the situation, Matthew, thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, breaking overnight, the woman convicted as a 12-year-old for stabbing a fellow student to impress the shadowy fictional character, Slenderman, back in custody this morning after going missing from her group home. How police managed to track her down.

And federal charges on rigged poker games in a gambling scheme that prosecutors say is linked to the mafia.

[07:10:04] The head coach of the Portland Trailblazers is among some 30 people set to be in court this morning, what to expect.

And delays, cancelations, and severe weather, brace yourself, holiday travel is here. What you need to know to get to where you're going on time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, authorities say the woman convicted in the Slenderman stabbing case that stunned the country more than a decade ago is now back in custody after vanishing over the weekend.

[07:15:05]

23-year-old Morgan Geyser disappeared from a group home in Wisconsin after apparently removing her ankle monitor. At 12 years old, Geyser and a friend lured another 12-year-old girl into the woods where she was attacked. Geyser was convicted of stabbing the girl 19 times. The motive, to appease a fictional character called Slenderman.

CNN's Jean Casarez is joining us now. This case really did shock the nation. What happened here? Where was she captured?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, she was captured last night, shortly before 11:00 PM at night, at a truck stop, but not in Wisconsin where she was in the group home, in Illinois. So, she crossed state lines.

Now, there is more to learn here, but this is what happened, and this is what we know at this point, but the back story shows the seriousness of this. And you gave a capsule of that just a minute ago, but it was back in 2014, Morgan Geyser, she was 12 years old, and she had another 12-year-old friend come over and they lured another friend, we'll call the victim, 12 years old, to a slumber party that night. But then they took that victim out to the woods and that little 12-year-old victim was stabbed 19 times. She was able to crawl away and she was able to get a bicyclist to help her, and she survived. She's alive.

But Morgan Geyser was sentenced after pleading guilty to first-degree intentional attempted murder. The judge sentenced her to 40 years in a mental estate hospital because of the mental issues they brought up. But the judge said you intended to kill someone, and this was premeditated. Well, in January, a judge downgraded her to a group home, so she had more responsibility in that group home, less monitoring, more responsibility.

In August, the group home they had designated, they wouldn't accept her. So, she hasn't been in that group home for too long. But Saturday night, around 8:00, she cut off that electronic monitoring and got out of that home on her own. She was seen with an adult companion. So, we need to learn more about that, captured last night.

Now, I was looking up Wisconsin Law, all right? This could be a totally different scenario. First of all, you've got additional charges, right? Escape, number one. Number two, under Wisconsin law, if you cross state lines, it is prima facie evidence of intent to avoid apprehension. That makes it even more serious right there.

And with that judge downgrading her, more responsibility is on her. So, I don't know if the mental defense will be able to work at this point. She's 23 years old. She's committed potentially more crimes. It'll go before a judge. First though, there has to be an extradition proceeding because she's in another state.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, you pointed out that the victim all these many years ago was stabbed 19 times, but she did manage to survive. And hearing that her perpetrator has been gotten out and then is being brought back there, there'll be a lot of consequences --

CASAREZ: And Morgan's attorney came out last night pleading for her to turn herself in. We've come too far. I've helped you the whole way to get where you are, but obviously she did not do that.

SIDNER: Jean Casarez, thank you so much for that reporting. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, what data was stolen and from whom? Big Wall Street banks are scrambling today doing damage control after a massive hack. More details are coming in about that just this morning.

And also the Wicked sequel soars to record highs at the box office.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: This morning, the busiest travel week of the year is upon us. So, will the weather behave?

Let's get right to CNN's Derek Van Dam for the latest on this. All right, what are you seeing?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. Well, we have the potential, unfortunately, for problems not only in the sky but on the roadways. Currently, the two airports in and around Dallas, Dallas Love Field, as well as Dallas-Fort Worth International, has ground stops because of this band of weather that's moving through right now. That means that if your plane has not taken off from your destination headed towards Dallas, it is not going to happen until they lift that ground stop.

Lots of wet weather, the potential here for some flooding on the ground, so not only issues in the sky, but Interstate 20, I-35 corridor that runs north and south through Dallas-Fort Worth, all the way to Oklahoma City. That's where the bulk of the rain is this morning. It's part of a larger storm system that could cause some severe weather. We got to keep an eye to the sky today for the potential of large hail damaging winds, even a few brief tornadoes, Greenville, Mississippi, Shreveport, Louisiana, all the way to Austin, inclusive of Houston.

We're just drawing in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. The trigger mechanism is a cold front that's going to march eastward, bringing our chances of rain along with it. So, 8:00 P.M. tonight, it's across the Southern Mississippi Valley. By tomorrow morning, it impacts places like Birmingham, as well as Atlanta. So, if you're traveling in and around those locations, certainly some wet weather, could be some ponding on the roadways as we look a little further to the north and east on Tuesday and Wednesday, that will bring some problems to the I- 95 corridor.

And then on top of that, we've got fresh snow, over a foot of it, across the Northern Great Lake. So, in terms of traveling in the skies, this is the potential trouble spots, Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta, that's for Tuesday, maybe some minor weather delays for the East Coast. But LaGuardia, look, as we head into Wednesday, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, we do have the potential here for some more wet weather that could cause problems at the major international airports.

So, John, we're looking closely at this.

BERMAN: Yes. It's going to be like a day by day situation as this storm moves east. It looks pretty serious in some places right there.

VAN DAM: Yes, absolutely. That's where it's going.

BERMAN: All right. Derek, keep us posted. And, of course, make sure join will do CNN Thanksgiving morning for live coverage of the biggest parades across the country. You're going to get a look on this whole thing like you've never had before, behind the scenes images, and, of course, the Four Tops, Brad Paisley, the Temptations, the Harlem Gospel Choir.

[07:25:09]

Erica Hill, Sara Sidner and me, we'll be hosting Thanksgiving in America. Live coverage starts Thursday, eight Eastern on CNN, and watch on the CNN app. Sara?

SIDNER: It will be fun, John. Bundle up.

All right, in just hours, the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers will face federal charges for his alleged role in a rigged poker ring. What we expect in court today.

Also, major health scare for award-winning rapper and actor Donald Glover, details on the stroke he suffered in the middle of his tour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, President Trump is posting that, quote, something good just may be happening after Secretary of State Marco Rubio's.