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Hegseth Weighing Punishments for Kelly Over Illegal Orders Video; Wintry Weather and Rain Could Snarl Thanksgiving Travel; Russia Launches New Drone Attack on Ukraine Amid Peace Talks. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 26, 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: All right. Breaking overnight, CNN has learned the secretary of defense now considering several options of taking action to punish a sitting U.S. senator as the FBI is also looking now to interview six lawmakers over their video urging service members to refuse illegal orders.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Today, millions of travelers racing to get to their Thanksgiving destinations, but winter storms, watch out, even blizzard warnings could seriously complicate some travel plans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Drone to the rescue. Incredible images of a man plucked from a raging river, you see it right there, by a drone.

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

BOLDUAN: The breaking news overnight, brand new CNN reporting on the truly escalating battle between the Trump administration and the Democrats that the president is now accusing of sedition. A source tells CNN that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is looking to make an example out of Senator Mark Kelly, the retired Navy captain, one of the six Democratic lawmakers who appeared and made a video urging U.S. service members to disobey illegal orders.

Hegseth is said to be considering a range of potential punishments now from reducing Kelly's rank and pension, to even prosecuting him under military law, though it is not clear what charges he might face in order to get to that point. Hegseth has ordered the Navy to review Kelly for, quote/unquote, potential unlawful conduct, and brief him on potential action items by December 10th.

The FBI is also taking action seeking now to interview Kelly and the five other Democrats that appear in this video. Those lawmakers are accusing the president and the administration of intimidation and saying -- and pushing back and saying they will not be bullied into silence.

CNN and Zach Cohen has some new reporting on this for us just this morning. Zach, what are you learning about these potential punishments, I guess? ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Kate. Publicly, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been highly critical of all six of those Democratic lawmakers who participated in the video. But he's really focused on Senator Mark Kelly, the Democrat from Arizona, who has the longest tenure served in the military and achieved the highest rank among them of captain.

But behind closed doors, I'm told that Hegseth is weighing a variety of options for punishing Mark Kelly and really does see this situation as an opportunity to make an example of the senator. Obviously, that is something that President Donald Trump has also publicly called for as far as reprimanding these lawmakers and potentially forcing them to face criminal charges.

So, while it means unclear what exactly Hegseth is going to do we're told that he is considering anything from essentially demoting Kelly, reducing his rank and reducing his pension, to trying to prosecute him under the military justice system.

Now, that's something that we're told by legal experts would be an unprecedented decision given the variety of factors here, including the fact that Mark Kelly is a sitting U.S. senator. But technically speaking, that would be an option. Because Mark Kelly is a military retiree, he could be recalled into active service and court-martialed, in which case he would have to effectively go through the military justice process potentially to a trial-type situation.

But, look, that would be an extraordinary move. Again, we're told this would be an unprecedented use of the Military Uniform Code of Justice. And it raises questions about separation of power. Obviously, this would be seen by many former military lawyers as the executive branch targeting members of the legislative branch. And also we're told that there's an issue of unlawful influence here because of what Hegseth has said publicly about Kelly to date that might make his case more difficult to bring.

Really, this whole conversation though, Hegseth has been the focus of criticism from a coalition of retired military judge advocates who released an unprecedented statement or a rare statement yesterday saying, we are confident the unlawful influence reflected in the press reports will ultimately disqualify all convening authorities except possibly the president himself from actually referring a case for court martial.

So, obviously, we'll have to see how this plays out. December 10th, Hegseth is asking for a briefing from the Navy secretary.

[07:05:01]

He's asked to review the case.

BOLDUAN: Yes, one thing that just seems certain is that this is escalating rather than calming down in any way.

It's great to see you, Zach. Thank you so much for your reporting. Sara? SIDNER: All right. We're going to give you a live look there of Reagan National Airport. The lines don't look too terribly bad, although there definitely are some this early morning. But what about the weather? Because in parts of the country, it could complicate things. There's some heavy snow and rain in the forecast.

Let's get straight to Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, where are the problems going to be today? We see one of them right there in Minnesota.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this was yesterday in Minnesota. Again, you can see basically whiteout conditions, which obviously led to some major traffic concerns across Clay County and several others in Minnesota. And it's all thanks to this system right here that's spreading rain on the warmer side of this system, and then a lot of heavy snow and very gusty winds too, as that system continues to move off to the east.

So, when we look to the skies in terms of delays, anywhere you see, the yellow, the orange, or even the red dots here, this is where we're likely going to see some of the biggest delays, at least for today specifically. You've also got a lot of winter storm alerts. Now notice in the Midwest, again, it's all from that low pressure system. But over here, you've also got some lake-effect snow warnings because as that wind begins to kick up over the next 12 to 24 hours. It's going to continue to spread some of that lake-effect snow across portions of Upstate New York and areas of Pennsylvania.

Look at some of these totals. Again, these are not going to be the widespread totals. Most of these areas, again, several inches here, but you're going to have some isolated spots on the eastern flanks of these lakes that, yes, could see up to a foot of snow, even some possibly higher amounts incredibly locally. We talk about this with lake-effect snow. It's that very narrow band. So, you know, you could get a foot but your neighbor just three blocks away. They only gets about half of that.

The winds are also going to be a big concern, and this is really going to impact a lot of folks here, because it's going to mainly start in the Midwest for today gradually spreading across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast as we head into Thanksgiving Day. And, yes, you're talking some pretty gusty winds, 40, 50, even possibly as high as 60 miles per hour at times.

Now, the big question is, what about the parade for tomorrow in New York? Yes, it's going to be on the chilly side, and it's certainly going to be windy. You're looking at some of those wind gusts in about the 20-mile-per-hour range, and those temperatures only into about the low 40s. It is expected to be dry, but wind is really going to be the big concern here.

And not just in New York. Take a look at some of these wind chills for Thursday. This is what it's going to feel like when you take that temperature, combine it with the wind, early Thursday morning, 26 in Atlanta, only 14 in Indianapolis. You're talking 25 in Boston. Again, you're talking bitter cold feels like temperatures as that system begins to exit and those much cooler temperatures arrive.

SIDNER: Okay, Allison, thanks a lot, I think.

And don't forget, you can join John Berman, Erica Hill and I, we will be out in those frigid temperatures at the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. But you will see that parade and parades across all of America. Our Thanksgiving in America live coverage starts tomorrow at 8:00 A.M. Eastern on CNN and the CNN app. John?

BERMAN: Very concerned what the wind might do to my hair tomorrow if it's going to be that way.

SIDNER: You and I both.

BERMAN: All right. A woman with family ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been arrested by ICE agents, the Department of Homeland Security calling her a criminal illegal alien.

A new twist in the Slenderman stabbing saga, the woman who stabbed a childhood friend to impress a fictional character, the person who went on the run with the escaped attacker is speaking out.

And how a family, including a 90-year-old man, managed to survive 20 hours right there on a capsized boat.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's a good birthday now when I'm back on land.

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BERMAN: Breaking overnight, Russia launched new drone attacks on Ukraine, injuring dozens in Zaporizhzhia. This attack happened even as the Ukraine source tells CNN that Kyiv has reached what they call a consensus on most of the U.S. draft peace proposals, although key sticking points over NATO membership ceding territory and Ukraine's Army remain. Basically, those are the main points of this whole thing to begin with.

This morning, the Kremlin says it is premature to talk about the war being close to an end. This follows this new stunning reporting from Bloomberg that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff appeared to offer tips to a senior Putin aid about how Putin could get what he wants from President Trump. And now that very envoy, Steve Witkoff will head to Russia to meet with Putin, and Jared Kushner might go along with him.

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REPORTER: What kinds of concessions are the Russians going to have to make? DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, they're making concessions. The big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land.

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BERMAN: All right. Let's get right to CNN's Betsy Klein. Betsy, a lot of talk this morning about this conversation, this transcript between Witkoff and this senior Putin aid where Witkoff just seems to be coaching him.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right John. We are getting new insight and very remarkable details on that 28 -- the path to that 28-point peace plan that has been the subject of intense negotiations between the Trump administration, Ukraine, and Russia. And it starts with this call and the recording of the call obtained by Bloomberg, the transcript really revealing how Witkoff is negotiating with a top Putin adviser, Yuri Ushakov.

Witkoff is advising Ushakov on this call about a potential phone call between Presidents Trump and Putin.

[07:15:05]

He is suggesting that Putin congratulate President Trump in that call on Middle East peace. I want to read to you a little bit of that transcript. Witkoff says, quote, just to reiterate that you congratulate the president on this achievement, that you supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace, and you're just -- you're really glad to have seen it happen. Ushakov goes on to say, I agree with you, that he will congratulate. He will say that Mr. Trump is a real peace man, and so and so.

President Trump was asked about this by reporters on Air Force One last night. He really downplayed the significance of it. He said that Witkoff was being a deal maker and negotiator, and this is standard process. Ushakov, meanwhile saying in a statement, quote, some of these leaks are fake. My conversations with Witkoff are confidential. No one should disclose them, no one.

But I want to put this in the context of timing. This call took place on October 14th. One day later, October 15th, President Trump spoke by phone with -- sorry, excuse me. Two days later, President Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Putin, where Putin did indeed convey his congratulations to the president on his Middle East peace deal. He said that Trump said that he believed that momentum from that will help solve Russia's war in Ukraine.

And then one day after that, October 17th, Trump hosted Ukraine's President Zelenskyy in the White House. That meeting turned tense as the president was pushing Zelenskyy for Ukraine to make territorial concessions. Witkoff now set to travel to Moscow for additional talks with the Kremlin, and he may be joined by Jared Kushner for those talks, according to the president.

We have also learned that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is going to go to Kyiv later this week for talks on that end. President Trump says that he will meet with Presidents Putin and Zelenskyy, but they have to if I have a deal that is final or in the final stages. The president pressed on whether that Thanksgiving deadline still holds. He said the deadline for him now is when it's over. John?

BERMAN: All right. Betsy Klein for in Washington, Betsy, thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, an incredible rescue. A man could have drowned, but then in comes the drone.

And call it Cool Runnings the sequel, the Jamaican bobsled team making history.

Those stories are more ahead.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: All right. In sports, an inner city rivalry to establish dominance in the NBA cut the Lakers reign supreme led by Luka Doncic.

CNN's Coy Wire joining me now. All right, what happened? Give us the good stuff.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: What's up, California girl? Yes, the battle for Los Angeles was less of a battle, more of a lopsided Luka landslide. Doncic had a sensational stat line, Sara, 43 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds, including 7 three pointers.

Now, late in the fourth things got physical. Kris Dunn pushed Luka. Luka puffed up a bit and Dunn shoved the ball right in Luka's chest. Well, of course his teammates didn't like that. Jackson Hayes steps in pushes Dunn. Dunn given two technicals. He's ejected from the game. The Lakers win 135-118. Luka now tied for most career 40-point in ten of his games with 23 of them and he says, I like my teammate had my back. I'm going to pay Jackson's fine.

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LUKA DONCIC, LOS ANGELES LAKERS GUARD: I mean, everybody got each other's back on this team, you know? So, I appreciate him. I'll pay him his fine for sure. But that show what kind of team we are.

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WIRE: Now time for an alley-oop. You have to see the Magic's Jalen Suggs to Anthony Black. Oh my goodness, Anthony going up, up, up, like it's his moment, K-Pop Demon Hunter-style. He had 31 points off the bench. Orlando facing the 76ers in NBA Cup group play match.

This one not without a scuffle of its own. Andre Drummond and Carter there, they're squaring up like they're going to go full on boxing match. Orlando's Suggs didn't like it one bit, so he gets to shoving all kinds of shoving and jawing ensue. Carter was telling Drummond at one point, go ahead, do it like, swing on me, man. Suggs gets tossed for the shove. This one was all Orlando, 144-103.

Now, the birthplace of the Olympic Games held a flame-lighting ceremony. The Olympic flame is now lit in Olympia, Greece. Approximately 10,000 torch bearers will begin a relay through 300 cities. It's about 1,300 miles. They'll go in the coming weeks to take the flame to Milan for the opening ceremony, the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

One team to watch, Sara, the Jamaica bobsleigh team making history this week, the first four-man teams to win gold at an international bobsleigh competition. They beat out Canada and some other nations at the North American Cup in Whistler. They qualify for the 2022 game, Sara. They said they're just starting to gain momentum. Trust us, you will see more good things to come. 72 days until the Olympic Games.

SIDNER: Yes, man. I love it. It sounds great.

WIRE: Feel the rhythm. Feel the rhyme, girl.

SIDNER: I'm so happy for them.

Coy Wire, thank you so much, I do appreciate you.

WIRE: You got it.

SIDNER: Kate?

BOLDUAN: I'm so jazzed the Olympics are upon us once again, almost, yay.

All right, let's get to this, your number of the hour, friends, 82 million. That is the record-breaking number of people expected to travel for Thanksgiving. We're going to check in at the world's busiest airport for you this morning.

And there's a developing situation that we're tracking out of Hong Kong. Just look at this. Terrifying images coming out as a raging fire continues to burn at a high rise apartment complex there.

[07:25:02]

At least four people have already been said to have been killed. We've got an update,

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BOLDUAN: So, brace yourselves, friends. Today is expected to be one of the busiest of the holiday travel days. Millions of people are getting on their way for Thanksgiving. Some things to watch, winter weather, for one, which has already complicated travel in many places, especially in North Dakota with some really wintry conditions and like many inches of snow.

[07:30:01]

And at airports across the United States, they are preparing for record-breaking numbers. The FAA is expecting more than 50,000 flights today alone.