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CNN Fact Checks Trump; Trump Hints at Progress in Ukraine; Americans Feelings on the Economy; New Pressure on Vance; Jennifer Mensik Kennedy is Interviewed about Degree Classification Changes; Cowboys Massive Second Half Rally. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired November 24, 2025 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:30:10]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, we're getting in new details on some developments regarding Jeffrey Epstein and the investigation. The Justice Department is again asking a federal judge in Florida to reconsider unsealing grand jury transcripts related to the Epstein investigation. DOJ attorneys, they are now citing the act that Congress just approved with near unanimous support and was also signed by the president last week as part of their new appeal. The Justice Department attorneys are asking the judge to rule quickly because it must comply, it says, with the 30 day deadline mandated now by this act of Congress to release all the documents related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender.
Also this, the woman who more than a decade ago carried out a terrifying attack is back in custody today. Morgan Geyser is now 23 years old and allegedly cut off her ankle bracelet and fled the group home that she had been living in, sparking an urgent dayslong search. Eventually found at a truck stop. But you might not remember her name, but you will recall the crime. It was in 2014 that Geyser, along with a friend, at the age of 12, lured their classmate into a Wisconsin park and stabbed her 19 times, all to impress something called "Slender Man," a fictional internet character that they'd become obsessed with. They left their classmate to die. She survived, but did suffer life threatening injuries. Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted -- to attempted first degree murder, spent seven years in a mental institution until her release to the group home this past January. She's now in police custody once again and facing down a new court date.
John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning, President Trump just wrote earlier on social media something good may be happening in discussions between the U.S. and Ukraine. It comes less than 24 hours after the president appeared to fume about Ukrainian leaders showing what he called zero gratitude to the United States for its efforts to end the conflict.
Let's get right to CNN fact checker in chief Daniel Dale with a fact check on this.
So, you know, no gratitude, Daniel? What did you find here?
DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: I found, John, that this claim is wildly inaccurate. I found more than 70 examples, more than 70, in which President Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the United States, to its people, to its leaders, including President Trump. Now, people might say, well, I remember him doing this under President Biden, who was close with. I don't remember him doing it under Trump. In fact, just under half of the examples I found were under President Trump. Many of them directly to President Trump, even though the Trump presidency has made up well under half of the war so far.
But you don't have to go back far to find these examples, John, I found two just from last week that Zelenskyy told U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll in Kyiv, quote, "we are very grateful to President Trump, to the United States, to the entire American people." And during -- Zelenskyy visited Greece last week where he was talking about energy supplies to Ukraine. He said at a press conference, "I also extend my deep gratitude to the American companies, the Department of Energy and the president of the United States, Donald Trump." And then he added, "we are grateful to the people of the United States and to the president once again."
Now, after Trump's false claim about Zelenskyy on social media yesterday, Zelenskyy quickly posted another message of gratitude on the social media platform X. But this was hardly unusual for him. I found numerous examples of Zelenskyy expressing gratitude to Trump personally in recent months alone.
On October 23rd he thanked President Trump for new sanctions against Russia. September 27th, he says, quote, "we thank the people of the United States, President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump for their attention to Ukrainians" and so on. September 23rd, he says, quote, "I am grateful to President Trump for strong cooperation with the United States. Mr. President clearly understands the situation and is well informed about all aspects of this war. We highly value his resolve to help end this war. Thank you." On August 18th, he says, "I asked President Trump to pass along a letter of gratitude from Ukraine's first lady to Melania." It goes on and on.
Now, perhaps someone who's feeling especially generous to President Trump, John, might say, well, the president's busy. He's not watching Zelenskyy's press conferences in Greece, and he's on Truth Social these days, he's not reading all these tweets. Well, I also found that President Zelenskyy, as many of us just remember, expressed gratitude directly to President Trump's face on multiple occasions. And again, that wasn't long ago.
Listen to what he said in August and in September.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: If I can, first of all --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please. ZELENSKYY: Thank you for invitation and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war.
Thank you so much, Mr. President, first of all. Thank you for this meeting. Thank you for your personal efforts to stop this war just now, Mr. President. And I have to say that just now our first ladies, as ladies of Ukraine and ladies of the United States --
TRUMP: Yes.
ZELENSKYY: Just now will have meeting about Ukrainian children. Thank you for Melania's personal involvement to this topic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:35:04]
DALE: So, Zelenskyy did this over and over, John. There was simply no basis for the claim from President Trump.
BERMAN: That's a lot of gratitude, Daniel. I mean maybe all caps.
DALE: Sure is. Sure.
BERMAN: Maybe if he writes in all caps it will get noticed. I don't know. Daniel Dale, we would like to express our gratitude to you for this fact check. Let no one say we never said thank you. Thank you.
DALE: Thank you.
BERMAN: Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, to continue the discussion, joining me now is CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk.
Thank you for being here this morning for us.
Look, senators who met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Rubio told them the current plan was a, quote, "wish list to the Russians." The State Department denied that. But how would you characterize the details of the plan, knowing that it's not the final document yet, it's not the final plan yet? But how would you characterize it at this point in time?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Sara, this weekend was dramatic. I mean you had so many leaks and different interpretations of what was actually on the table. You know, every negotiation I've ever done, particularly if you're a mediator coming in to try to end a war, the most difficult diplomatic task. In the spirit of Thanksgiving here, you want to kind of look like a duck. You're smooth on the surface and confident, even if underneath the water your legs are going furiously and there's' a lot of disagreement.
There's clearly disagreement within the U.S. team. I think that was revealed yesterday in the talks in Geneva.
SIDNER: Yes.
MCGURK: They actually put out a statement, I've never seen something like this before, that the first part of the day was coordination, unilateral meetings. Meaning we're meeting with ourself to try to literally get on the same page.
But then when they met with the Ukrainians, it seems like a lot of progress here was made to try to revise this proposal and get to something that might potentially work.
And, Sara, there's two issues here. Again, if you're doing a mediation, a negotiation, you want to focus on the ZOTA (ph). What's the zone of the agreement. There's two key issues to try to stop this war. Number one is the line on the map in the east and where you draw that line. And number two, because you're asking Ukraine to give up some territory, is a security guarantee for Ukraine. Those are really the two issues.
The proposal that came out last week was so lopsided on both of those issues towards the Russians that it was really something Ukraine could never accept. Now that's being revised. But I think this has some time to go. This deadline for Thursday, I don't think is hard and firm. The administration made that clear over the weekend. And these talks are now continuing at a technical level in Geneva I understand.
So, I think some very important days ahead, but really an incredible dramatic roller coaster over the weekend of where exactly this all stands.
SIDNER: Yes, I mean, part of the drama was sort of how President Trump keeps kind of going after -- not kind of, going after Zelenskyy. And essentially at one point giving him a week to accept the peace plan or potentially saying the United States walks away from all this. I mean, do you think that is still a potential? And if so, what would that mean to this war if the United States said, all right, we're done, we're not going to do another thing for you.
MCGURK: I think, you know, President Trump, last month actually, had a statement saying Ukraine might actually win. In all caps he said win. And now it looks like the administration has concluded that the lines in the east might actually collapse very soon. The Russians are making significant gains.
I think the truth is kind of in the middle. The Russians are making very small gains at tremendous cost. And in fact, the proposal, Sara, that was put out over the weekend, which is now not the final proposal, it asks Ukraine to give up 14 percent of its territory in the Donbas. Ukraine calls that territory the fortress belt. It's territory that's very important to their future defense. Estimates from the U.K., one of our key allies, has said Russia really cannot take that territory. It will take them a period of years. Hundreds of thousands, maybe a million or more casualties.
So, I think having some confidence in Ukraine's position and supporting Ukraine's critical. If we withdraw support, I think morale is going to collapse and the Russians might actually succeed in winning the war. And Putin's main objective remains subjugating and taking Kyiv. I mean that is his objective. I don't think he'll ever be able to achieve that unless we really pull the plug.
Look, bottom line, we want this war to stop. I think the administration deserves credit for really the active efforts here to try to get the war to stop. But that's going to require pressure on Russia, including sanctions, continuing support for Ukraine, while also working with Ukrainians to make some compromises. You can't get to a deal without compromises. That's the -- that's the formula. I think they made some progress yesterday, it looks like. But this is going to go on here through the week at least.
SIDNER: Yes. And Russia also has to make some compromises. And we'll see if they are willing to do that as well.
MCGURK: Absolutely.
SIDNER: There is a lot at stake here. So many lives in the balance.
Brett McGurk, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Do appreciate you.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: So, the holiday shopping season kicks off this week. Really? Because I feel like it already started. Millions of Americans are bracing for some sticker shock from tariffs and inflation this time around.
[08:40:02]
CNN's Harry Enten is running the numbers on the state of inflation and the state of how people feel about it.
I mean, how do Americans feel about inflation, how it's impacting their lives, Harry?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: They think prices are rising, rising, rising. And it's across different -- look at this. I mean just -- your costs are up versus a year ago. Groceries, 85 percent. Utilities, 78 percent. Health care, 67 percent. Housing, 66 percent. Gasoline, 54 percent.
The bottom line is this, Americans feel like prices are rising in each and every single part of their lives. Rising. Ever climber. And they just don't feel like, Kate Bolduan, that they can catch a break.
BOLDUAN: The Treasury secretary, in new comments, kind of dismissed the impact tariffs is having on inflation, also saying that prices are going to be coming down in weeks. Some of the prices are going to be coming down in months. What do Americans think about that?
ENTEN: Yes, they think he's full of it. That's exactly what they think. I mean just take a look here, tariffs rising -- raising prices or raising prices right now. I'm going to come over to Kate's side of the screen, 71 percent. BOLDUAN: How dare you.
ENTEN: How dare I do that. Eighty-four percent of Democrats, 74 percent of independents and even a majority of Republicans. When you can get a majority of Republicans to agree with majority of Democrats, you know that the pain is being felt by the American public right now. The Treasury secretary can try and tell the people something, but they can feel in their pocketbooks, they, simply put, don't buy what he and this administration is selling when it comes to tariffs.
BOLDUAN: You know, and, Harry, one thing we've heard over and over again is the president and many of those around him blaming the Biden administration for where inflation is right now. Do people agree with that?
ENTEN: No. No, no, no. You know what, I want to quote Judge Judy, but I'm not going to. I'm merely going to try and say, it's like they're trying to sell ice up at the North Pole when it comes to this.
More responsible for the current economy. Sixty-two percent of Americans say it's Donald Trump. Just 32 percent say it's Joe Biden.
Look, Donald Trump did, in fact, inherit an economy from Joe Biden, but now we are nearly a year into the Donald Trump administration. If the Trump administration is trying to push -- push the book over there, the, simply put, the American folks aren't buying it. They say, at this point, it is Donald Trump's economy and what is happening in terms of inflation is his responsibility.
BOLDUAN: That's what happens when you become president.
ENTEN: Who knew? You know what --
BOLDUAN: You inherit the economy.
ENTEN: That's exactly right. If you want the power, you get the power. But with great power comes great responsibility.
BOLDUAN: Oh, Harry Enten and the quotes. Thank you so much, my dear.
John.
BERMAN: I love "Spider-man."
All right, a CNN exclusive. The vice president's ties to a tech company with high-powered data analytics. And these ties have some on the right a bit nervous.
And a watch that survived the sinking of the Titanic. It sells for millions. What does it know about whether Rose had room on the door for Jack?
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[08:47:18] BERMAN: All right, this morning, new CNN reporting on Vice President J.D. Vance and his ties to a tech company. And those ties are raising some concerns among conservatives. Some worry that Palantir, a firm with powerful data analytics tools, could give the government sweeping almost futuristic surveillance capabilities. The co-founder of Palantir, Peter Thiel, spent some $15 million helping J.D. Vance win his 2022 Senate race.
Let's get right to CNN's Steve Contorno, who is picking up some of this concern in your reporting.
Steve, what are you hearing?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, this is another example of some of the unease within Trump's coalition with his alliance with big tech companies. Let me start by explaining what Palantir is. It is a software company that is used in the private and public sector to help companies and its clients analyze massive sets of data. It is used by aerospace companies and hospitals, but also law enforcement agencies and foreign militaries, and increasingly under Donald Trump, the United States government. It has been helpful for DOGE. It has been used in part of his immigration crackdown. The Department of Veteran Affairs, the IRS, they have a $10 billion Army contract that just came online.
And the fear on the right is that having one company, one big tech company with so much access to government data is going to create the foundation for a surveillance state. And some of these fears are reaching Vance because of his ties to Palantir's co-founder, Peter Thiel, someone who he actually once worked for and has supported him financially, politically and in his business work.
Take a listen to what Vance said recently when he was confronted about some of Palantir's work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here's the thing. So, I get asked about Palantir a lot because there's this internet meme out there that somehow I am super in bed with Palantir. And here's the thing that I'd say about this. Palantir is a private company. They sometimes do a useful service. And sometimes they're going to do things that we don't like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Now Palantir heavily objects to some of this narrative that has been created on the right about its work. In fact, in a statement on its website, it says, quote, "we are not a surveillance company. We do not sell personal data of any kind. We don't provide data mining as a service. Palantir is a software company.
But these concerns have persisted and they've become a persistent problem for Vance. Not only as someone who is trying to hold together the Trump coalition through the midterms, but as someone who, obviously, John, would potentially lead that coalition of tech allies and populists and podcasting bros and the MAGA verse beyond Trump's presidency.
[08:50:14]
BERMAN: Yes. Yes, look, the posturing has already begun for 2028. And this is something that could have an impact.
Steve Contorno, interesting reporting. Thanks so much for being with us.
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JIMMY CLIFF, MUSICIAN: You can get it if you really want. You can get it if you really want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: The music world is remembering right now reggae legend Jimmy Cliff. Cliff widely recognized for popularizing reggae music with hits like, as you just heard it, "You Can Get it if You Really Want" and "Wonderful World, Beautiful People." He's the only Jamaican besides Bob Marley to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cliff's wife says he died from complications related to pneumonia. Jimmy Cliff was 81 years old.
Also this morning, New Orleans is preparing to be the next target of President Trump's immigration crackdown. An operation set to begin the first week of December. The Associated Press now reports that it's going to be called Operation Swamp Sweep. And sources say that this operation, like others, will be led by top Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who has already overseen aggressive campaigns in Los Angeles, Chicago and, most recently, Charlotte, North Carolina.
A viral video from Hawaii is fueling outrage over the safety of turtles. Video was posted on TikTok, and it shows a person picking up an endangered sea turtle for, yes, just a photo, despite very present and very clear signs, rules and warnings, making it clear to people to not approach them. Its incidents like this that have locals -- local officials in Hawaii now raising fresh alarm, even as they are still investigating this incident.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON REDULLA, DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES: Knock it off. Respect our wildlife as you would the wildlife where you come from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Also, they are also -- they are warning, harassing or harming a turtle there can lead to hefty fines and even jail time.
It is a piece of Titanic history. A gold pocket watch worn by Isidor Straus, the Macy's co-owner who died alongside his wife Ida in the 1912 disaster. The couple remembered for refusing to be separated, were among the most famous first-class passengers who did not survive. The watch was recovered, kept in the family for generations, and has sold over the weekend for $2.3 million.
Sara.
SIDNER: All right, outrage in the medical field over Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill in a mission that could have a major consequence for nurses and others and eventually patients. A change in language of that bill primarily impacts student's ability to take out loans for graduate programs and will impact multiple notable professions, including physicians assistants, physical therapists, and nurses. As part of Trump's bill, nursing is not listed as a professional degree. A key loan program is also marked for elimination.
Jennifer Mensik Kennedy joins me now. She is the president of the American Nurses Association and has a PhD in nursing with a focus on health systems.
First of all, the Department of Education says, look, nursing wasn't removed, that it simply was never included in the definition. Is that a change from the past? What has changed?
JENNIFER MENSIK KENNEDY, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN NURSES ASSOCIATION: Now, that is correct, but they've always allowed us to have those additional limits. So, the change is clearly calling us out this time and excluding us this time. And that is the change. So, we weren't included, but we were included. So -- which makes it kind of a semantics thing. But this is really important because nursing is a profession. We are professionals. And we meet the definition. The advanced practice registered nurses meet that definition that they put forward, but yet they explicitly excluded us.
SIDNER: What impact is this likely to have on nursing and some of the other professions that were listed there? What impact might this have on not only nurses but -- and hospitals, but also patients?
KENNEDY: Now, this is going to have a really horrible impact. So, hundreds of thousands of advanced practice nurses across this country, these are roles such as nurse practitioners who provide the majority of primary care in this country, CRNAs, certified registered nurse anesthetists, who provide really needed anesthesia services, particularly in rural areas, certified nurse midwives, when we have organizations and hospitals pulling back on maternity services and nurse faculty, for instance, are just some of these roles. If we don't have these roles, we're going to see communities, particularly those in the rural areas, even further underserved.
I was talking to a patient who's -- I was talking to a nurse practitioner, and this nurse practitioner was the only provider of services for 90 miles.
[08:55:08]
You're going to see communities driving further for the care that they should be able to get very much locally. And we're in a nursing shortage. Tens of thousands of individuals. And we turned away over 80,000 qualified applicants last year, in part because we did not have enough nurse faculty. This is going to continue to drive not enough faculty to teach the future nurses. This is going to have a devastating effect for everyone trying to get health care services.
SIDNER: Can I ask you about -- talking about the fact that this is not -- it's no longer considered a profession, that nursing is no longer considered a profession. Does that mean that -- really that there will be fewer people that might go into the profession because they can't get the loans or the loans are too expensive because they have to go outside of the government loans? Is that -- am I reading that correctly?
KENNEDY: Yes. So, the Department of Education, in their initial proposal, and we are hoping that they change this proposal before it goes to public comment. What they did was they capped at $100,000 lifetime, $20,000 per year. And so nursing school does cost more. For instance, I completed all of my education over 20 years ago, and I paid $100,000 20 years ago.
SIDNER: Wow.
KENNEDY: So, this education is much more expensive today. And there are programs that clearly cost way more than $20,000 per year for those individuals.
The issue here is, they said, high return on investment. And high return on investment means those individuals who will make enough money basically to pay back their loans. These are those professional roles which will have -- which will be able to do this. Plus, only federal loans qualify for repayment programs, such as public service loan forgiveness and some of those rural health loan forgiveness programs where we have nurses, advanced practice nurses, going into rural communities and having -- and serving for so many years to get their loans repaid. Only federal loans qualify for that. So, if some individual needed to get private loans, it would not qualify for any of those repayment programs. This is devastating.
SIDNER: Jennifer Mensik Kennedy --
KENNEDY: So, you will have more nurses --
SIDNER: Go ahead.
KENNEDY: Yes.
SIDNER: Go ahead. You said you will have more nurses.
KENNEDY: Oh, and, you know, and we'll -- we're going to have more nurses just not go into these communities because they're going to, you know, need to find higher paying jobs in other communities to help pay back their loans. So, we really need nurses to be able to have those loan repayment options when it comes to those rural areas. And we're asking for all of, you know, everyone, nurses, and not only nurses, community members, to go to rnaction.com -- rnaction.org and sign our petition asking the Department of Education to change this definition. We've already had over 125,000 signatures.
SIDNER: A lot of people engaged on this. You're certainly seeing it across all of social media as well now. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, thank you for taking the time to speak to us about this important issue. Appreciate it.
John.
BERMAN: All right, this morning, who is actually good in the National Football League? Let's get right to CNN's Coy Wire with the latest on this.
Every time I think a team gets really, really good, they get knocked down. You know, Exhibit A, the Philadelphia Eagles.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Yes, and don't forget those Patriots, nine straight, leading the NFL for most consecutive wins right now. But the Cowboys were a microcosm of what we're seeing across the league this season, John. Teams we thought were going to be a "House of Cards" headed into a windstorm are finding ways to weather it. The Cowboys were down 21 nothing and they start chipping away. First, Dak hits George Pickens, touchdown. He finished with 146 yards in the score. Then Dak, 354 yards passing on the day, roll out to Spann-Ford, another touchdown. But this one play sums up how the Cowboys pulled off this comeback. Never give up. You get knocked down. You get bullied. You get up and you keep chasing the goal.
Alijah Clark, undrafted rookie, incorrigible effort. Teaching tape you can show any kid. He forces the fumble. That was vital to them winning the game. Their long snapper hustled his butt 50 yards down the field to recover it. They scored 24 unanswered points, beat the Eagles 24- 21, tying their franchise record for largest comeback ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAK PRESCOTT, DALLAS COWBOYS QB: We've only been hurting ourselves. We know what we're capable of doing. Come out, stay focused, stick together and we can win this thing. Nobody blinked, everybody believed it and we got it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Some wild overtime games. One, Lions hosting Giants who brought out all the tricks. The throwback to Jameis Winston, who heaves a touchdown to Wan'Dale Robinson. And then famous Jameis would give us a play of the year candidate. He catches a pass and somehow finds a way to score. And, John, you know he was going to do some sort of celebration that just makes you want to dance.
[09:00:02]
The Lions kept fighting then in overtime. Their star running back, Jahmyr Gibbs, makes a house call. These teams combined for more than
