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Pentagon Threatens to Court Martial Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) Over Illegal Orders Video; DOJ Vows to Appeal After Judge Dismisses Cases Against Comey and James; Today, Peak Travel Day for Flights This Thanksgiving Holiday. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 25, 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]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right, new developments while you were sleeping in the face of a possible court martial. One senator calls new efforts to target him comical as the White House reacts to a judge's ruling, derailing part of its retribution campaign.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And holiday heartache and headaches already. A tornado touches down in Texas damaging at least a hundred homes, forcing travel delays and cancelations as well. And remember, 82 million Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving starting today.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And this morning, an 18-year-old cheerleader found dead under a mattress on a cruise ship. The FBI now reportedly questioning her younger stepbrother in connection with her death.

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

BERMAN: This morning, we are hearing from Democratic Senator Mark Kelly for the first time since the secretary of defense announced the extraordinary step to investigate the retired Navy captain, even threatening to recall him to active duty to potentially face court martial. This is all about a video that Kelly and five other Democrats made urging U.S. troops to defy illegal orders.

The president labeled that, quote, seditious behavior punishable by death. Kelly and the other Democrats say they were merely reminding service members that their oath is to the Constitution, not the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): I'm not going to be silence. I'm not going to be intimidated.

We wanted to just. Remind folks that they need to comply with the law and be reminded and also explain to members of the military that we have their backs.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: This morning, the White House is also reacting to a judge's decision that derails the president's retribution campaign, at least part of it, dismissing indictments against James Comey and Letitia James.

Let's get right to see as Alayna Treene live at the White House this morning, where, you know, the administration targeting of some of its enemies, you know, taking a new path today.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. Look, I mean, this is an unprecedented investigation, John, that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has ordered into Senator Mark Kelly for, quote, serious allegations of misconduct, excuse me, for that loud street sweeper behind me this morning on the White House North Lawn, but a serious allegations of misconduct and could even recall him to active duty to potentially face a court martial or administrative punishment.

Now, because Kelly is a retired senior officer from the Navy, he's also a former astronaut, he is required to remain available for recall by military law. Now, that doesn't apply to some of the other five Democratic lawmakers, all also members of former members of the service or of the intelligence community. This really only applies to Kelly because of the role that he held in the Navy.

This is something that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth actually alluded to in a post yesterday breaking this down. He said, quote, that five of the six individuals in that video do not fall under Department of War jurisdiction. However, Mark Kelly is still subject to UCMJ and he knows that, as was announced, the department is reviewing his statements and actions, which were addressed directly to all troops, while explicitly using his rank and service affiliation, lending the appearance of authority to his words. He went on to argue that Kelly's conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately.

Now, Kelly went on some of the shows yesterday and was very defiant in his response. Listened to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: We know what political violence is and we know what causes it too. You know, the statements that Donald Trump made is inciteful, incites others. He's got millions of supporters. People listen to what he says more so than anybody else in the country, and he should be careful with his words. But I'm not going to be silenced here.

Is it stressful? I've been stressed by, you know, things more important than Donald Trump trying to intimidate me into shutting my mouth and not doing my job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, a few quick things to point out there. One is, clearly, Kelly is leaning in to this fight. And the part where he talks about, you know, political violence, I mean, this is something that many lawmakers have brought up in the aftermath of some of the president's posts, particularly that one saying that these lawmakers engaged in seditious behavior, punishable by death, just noting all of the political violence that we've seen in this country recently.

[07:05:04]

I do -- I will say too, it's not just Democratic lawmakers who are outraged by some of this. We have heard from Republicans as well, who argued, yes, look, that video from these lawmakers was potentially ill-advised, but by doing the response from the administration, they argue, like Don Bacon, for example, a Republican, has been so strong that they don't really agree with the path that they're taking.

BERMAN: And Don Bacon a senior military officer himself.

Alayna Treene at the White House with all the latest this morning, thank you. Kate?

BOLDUAN: The Trump administration is vowing to appeal now after the federal judge's decision to throw out the indictments of two of the president's perceived political enemies. And with that dismissal comes also massive confusion inside the Justice Department's Eastern Virginia office. Prosecutors have been told to still list Lindsey Halligan on case filings despite the judge ruling her appointment to the job was illegal.

Sources also tell CNN now that some prosecutors in there are concerned that any of their work, all of their work, even on unrelated cases under Halligan's name, may now be in jeopardy.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is following this one. She's got much more reporting on this. Katelyn, what are you learning coming out of the Eastern District?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Kate, I'm hearing from the sources that I have around that prosecutor's office that there is confusion, partly because the Justice Department didn't give any guidance to the prosecutors there on what to do after this ruling came down for several hours.

Initially, they told them you're going to have to list somebody else on all of the court filings. There were prosecutors in that office that were already deciding on their own. It might not be a good idea to make new court filings at this moment when there is no -- potentially no valid U.S. attorney in that district with this ruling saying that Lindsey Halligan is not the U.S. attorney, she is not a valid interim U.S. attorney sent by the White House without Senate confirmation at this time, and she has no lawful authority to present previously the Comey and James indictments or theoretically to sign any filings going forward.

Although by the end of the day, I do understand that the main justice, the Deputy Attorney General's Office, was in touch with prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia and giving them more direction. Ultimately, they have said that Lindsey Halligan should be still -- her name should be still listed on the filings that prosecutors are putting into the court in that office. But there are still a lot of questions about what happens next, Kate. One of the things here is that where's this appeal? There's still no appeal notice filed in either of these cases, though the attorney general said yesterday that they do believe there is going to be an appeal filed.

Here's more from Attorney General Pam Bondi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We will be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal to hold Letitia James and James Comey accountable for their unlawful conduct. I'm going to keep going on this. I'm not -- you know, I'm not worried about someone who has been charged with a very serious crime. His alleged actions were a betrayal of public trust, so --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: Still though other questions about what happens today and in the coming days in the federal district court in the Eastern District of Virginia due the judges, instead put someone in place or what is the next move by the Justice Department for both Comey, James and for the U.S. attorney, the leadership of that key prosecutorial office. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Katelyn, thank you so much. Great reporting on this one, I really appreciate it. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Today, expected to be the busiest day to hit the roads, the cost at the pump heading in the same direction as the cost of groceries.

And new reporting fallout after a new feature on X exposed the location of some political social media accounts. It turns out some top MAGA influencers' accounts are being run from outside the United States.

And I'm not dead yet, a woman who was set to be cremated was actually found alive after someone heard a faint knocking coming from inside her coffin. The incredible story coming up.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: Hold on to your hats. The Thanksgiving travel rush is now on. The FAA says today is the peak travel day at airport with more than 50,000 flights. Nearly 82 million people are expected to travel for Thanksgiving over the next few days. And most though will be on the move by car.

And just as millions take the roads and skies, a blast of arctic air set to sweep across much of the country. It's not the coldest that we've seen so far but it's going to be a big shift for millions who have been able to wear sort of short sleeves or light sweaters for the past week.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is in Atlanta. Oh, I see. You're out there, but you have your hoodie on and like a jacket. So, it's happening? Are you starting to feel it?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I got a little comfortable the past couple of days with the warm weather, but it's all about to change and that cold front is actually responsible for triggering off some stronger thunderstorms that are headed our way. Beautiful landscape behind me, the city of Atlanta, Midtown Atlanta, I-75, I-85 interchange, it's rocking and rolling this morning, lots of cars moving through, but it's about to get walloped by a strong line of storms.

[07:15:08]

First, let me show you a video coming out of Western Harris County. This is just outside of Houston in Texas yesterday, where a tornado touched down, damaged over a hundred homes and caused a significant path of destruction as it made its brief landfall, or I should say touchdown.

Now, that same line of thunderstorms that caused the tornadoes marched eastward overnight, now we're waking up many people hitting the roads, hitting the airports, including Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. But, you know, look, the weather -- we can't lie about the weather, right? We know that it is going to impact the conditions here. It's racing along Interstate 20 already causing ponding on the roadways. It'll enter the Atlanta metropolitan here in the next half hour or so, but it's part of a larger storm system that spans about a thousand miles to the north. On the north side, it's also creating snow.

Here's our severe weather chances today, by the way, Atlanta, Birmingham to Jackson, that'll start to be shaved off from the west as this cold front continues to advance eastward. But it's the snow that's prompted the National Weather Service to already issue winter storm warnings in and around Minneapolis, St. Paul. They could pick up a half a foot of snow. And then on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, we've got the lake effect snow machine kicking into high gear. So, my home state of Michigan, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, heads up, it'll be a rough go for you. And then the wet weather right along that I-95 corridor impacting places like D.C., New York, as well as Boston for Wednesday.

Thursday's another story. I want to show you why, because this cold front is going to dramatically cool our temperatures and it'll be well offshore just in time for turkey day, but it will feel markedly cooler here. Sara?

SIDNER: Derek Van Dam, I do appreciate you. Thank you so much.

And if you're looking for something that's going to warm your heart, well, we've got something for you. John Berman, Erica Hill and I are going to do Thanksgiving morning for live coverage of the biggest parades across the country, and special performances. Our Thanksgiving and America live coverage starts Thursday, 8:00 A.M. while you're sipping your co coffee right here on CNN. And you can also join us on the app. John?

BERMAN: I will most likely be there.

All right, breaking overnight new details about a high ranking meeting happening out between U.S. and Russian negotiators as Russia launches new attacks on Ukraine.

And she lived through -- she was born in the Grover Cleveland administration and lasted long enough to see Taylor Kelce -- Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce engaged, the tortoise that saw it all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: In just the last few minutes, Kate, Sara and I each individually picked off 49ers Quarterback Brock Purdy, and the 49ers still managed to win.

Let's get right to CNN's Coy Wire for the latest. Everyone was like, interception, interception, interception. How did they win?

WIRE: It is exactly. I think that's what a lot of people were thinking. A lot of people were wanting to see, John, though, the 49ers all-world (ph) running back, Christian McCaffrey, playing his former team for the first time. But that storyline, the 49ers and their quarterback got off to a rough start, not Purdy for Brock Purdy, three interceptions in the first half. Two of them picked off by J.C. Horn, the other by Mike Jackson, hee, hee. And as bad as that was John, the 49ers still had the lead at halftime.

And then McCaffrey did what McCaffrey does, 142 yards from scrimmage and this touchdown and crushing the hopes and dreams of anyone who had to play against him at fantasy, like me. The Niners, get the win in the end here.

But let's go for some highlights to low blows. During the game, Tre'von Moehrig punched 49ers Jauan Jennings right where the sun doesn't shine. Get an ice pack for that, or maybe not, actually. That's not a good situation. Both players got in a scuffle afterwards. I'm sure they will be hearing from the league.

Now, the NBA hottest team right now, Detroit Pistons looking to extend their 12-game win streak facing the Pacers in Cade Cunningham helped seal the deal in the final seconds, 24 points, 11 rebounds for him. Detroit wins 122-117, tying their franchise record with 13 straight wins. The other two times they've done that in the '89, '90 and '03, '04 seasons. They went on to win championships, just saying.

All right, John, something you have to see from the English Premier League, Man United facing Everton. and Everton's Idrissa Gueye gets into a fight with his own teammate. Michael Keane hits him right in the face. The goalie, Jordan Pickford, trying to keep the peace. Gueye is incensed, and get this, John, he gets a red card, his violent conduct, and he leaves the game. And then with just ten men, Everton takes the lead shortly afterwards with a stunning goal. The game winner from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, curling it into the back of the net. Everton wins 1-0.

I didn't even know you could get a red card for hitting your own teammate, but, apparently, it's happened three times in Premier League history, John. I'm sure that Kate and Sara never find themselves in a situation where they want to slap one of their own teammates ever. So, it wouldn't happen for you.

BOLDUAN: I hear Sara's heels right now.

BERMAN: Yes, it's never happened. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.

WIRE: Bam, right in the kisser. There you go.

BERMAN: We've just --

BOLDUAN: Don't touch the moneymaker.

BERMAN: Just warnings. We've just received warnings. No actual cards here for the physical violence.

BOLDUAN: Oh my God. I'm a walking red card.

WIRE: It's good thing she didn't go the Jauan Jennings route on you. That has very nice of her.

BOLDUAN: Well, they day is young still. The day is young, Coy.

BERMAN: All right. Kate, go ahead.

BOLDUAN: Here we go. All right, coming up for us, what is the next move now for the attorney general after a judge dismisses the cases against James Comey and Letitia James? And what does this mean for President Trump's retribution campaign?

[07:25:01]

And a new world record in free diving, the video is just astonishing. What the diver described hearing as she descended 300 feet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This morning, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice are vowing to appeal after a federal judge threw out the indictments against two of the president's perceived political enemies. The judge saying that she had to dismiss the cases against former FBI, director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James because the prosecutor installed by Trump to bring the cases was put in the job illegally.

The White House though says this fight is far from over.

[07:30:01] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This judge took an unprecedented action to throw these cases out to shield James Comey and Letitia James from.