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Rising Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner?; Transcript Reveals Conversation Between Trump Envoy and Russia; Winter Storm Threatens Holiday Travel; Pete Hegseth Targets Mark Kelly. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 26, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: They're not. They're up.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST: Yes.

EGAN: Tariff rollbacks, they could help a little bit on the margin, but, again, Audie, it's really just a drop in the bucket.

CORNISH: And we know that people are more than willing to share on social media how they're feeling about these things.

Thank you so much for being with us.

EGAN: Thank you.

CORNISH: And thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Singled out. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth weighing how to punish war hero and sitting Senator Mark Kelly for taking part in a video message to U.S. troops telling them they could disobey illegal orders.

Plus: peace talks undermined, a Republican lawmaker accusing Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff of acting like a Russian agent after Witkoff's conversations with the Kremlin are leaked.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: And a fire rips through Hong Kong high-rise buildings. I mean, look at these images, dozens dead, nearly 300 unaccounted for. And the inferno shows no signs of stopping.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. I'm Boris Sanchez, alongside Omar Jimenez...

JIMENEZ: Good to see you.

SANCHEZ: ... for the bro show.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Omar in for Brianna today.

Great to see you, as always.

Happening right now, we're in the thick of the Thanksgiving travel season and what is expected to be the busiest travel day in some 15 years. A record 82 million Americans are expected to crisscross the U.S., some, though, already facing holiday headaches.

A ground stop was issued earlier at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, a critical travel hub, the FAA citing severe icing for that backup.

JIMENEZ: It's always a busy time, but that might just actually be an appetizer ahead of things to come, a winter storm making a frosty mess for millions of travelers.

I know, when I travel, that is not what I want the radar to look like around anywhere I'm going.

CNN's Pete Muntean is live at Reagan National Airport.

I guess, Pete, if I see you at the airport, that probably means something is going on. What are you seeing there right now?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I'm watching a little girl who's probably about 2 years old who just face-planted on the floor here at the Terminal 2 North security checkpoint.

JIMENEZ: That's just the vibe right now.

(LAUGHTER)

MUNTEAN: A lot of people are feeling that way as they're traveling right now, though TSA, the head of the TSA here, tells me they're staffed and smooth, things working pretty well here at the Terminal 2 North checkpoint, just a glut of passengers right now, as so many people are getting off work and people are orienting toward the holiday travel rush here at Reagan National Airport.

It's taking people about five minutes to get through security here right now; 2.7 million people in all will be screened by TSA transport security officers by the end of the day. It's a huge number.

The real drama today has been the delays. The good news is, there's really no air traffic control staffing shortages, like we saw during the government shutdown. In fact, the list -- they call that staffing triggers -- it says no triggers for today. That is huge news and good news for travelers.

But the issue is the weather. And the Federal Aviation Administration has been warning of problems in Minneapolis and San Francisco, the three major New York airports. And then, of course, there is Chicago. And here is the departures board here at DCA, and you can see the delays already piling up. There is a ground stop there right now, expires in a little bit of

time because of snow and ice there at Chicago O'Hare. That's a bit of an issue because it's a huge connecting airport, a major hub not only for United Airlines, also for American Airlines, though American tells me they can weather this storm.

They have only canceled about six or seven flights there at Chicago O'Hare today out of a few hundred passing through Chicago O'Hare. So there is a chance for a good rebound here. We will see, though, as the day goes on, things still pretty early.

Remember, we are now in the official worst time to drive, according to AAA. And that is a problem for so many people across the country. Remember, a lot of confluence all at once in the afternoon on Wednesday leading up to Thanksgiving.

Not only are folks trying to pick up kids from school. There's also folks who are still working. And then, of course, you add holiday traffic on top of that. You're going to be seeing a lot of red on the map.

Here are the statistics from AAA. L.A. to Bakersfield on the 5, it's going to take about 150 percent longer than normal this evening. Of course, we will see the great images on 405 taken from the L.A. news choppers of the brake lights.

And then Palm Springs to San Diego, that's going to be another big hot spot. Of course, so many people will be seeing brake lights today. We are just at the start of this rush, a lot of people probably wishing they were flying as the day goes on.

[13:05:00]

JIMENEZ: Yes, I'm all good on driving today.

Pete Muntean, appreciate you at the airport. Go check on that kid that fell earlier.

SANCHEZ: Yes, seriously. Poor kid.

JIMENEZ: Hope they're all right.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

JIMENEZ: Yes.

All right, we're following a bunch of other news, including developing now, CNN is learning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is weighing his options for punishing a sitting member of Congress, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

Now, Kelly is one of six Democratic lawmakers who participated in that video telling troops they could disobey illegal orders. SANCHEZ: Hegseth, though, is particularly focused on holding Kelly

accountable. Of course, he's a retired Navy captain who had the longest tenure of the six in the military.

CNN senior international security reporter, Zach Cohen, is here with the latest.

Zach, walk us through these options that Hegseth is looking at.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, guys, we have seen Hegseth publicly single out Mark Kelly in a variety of tweets and statements that he's issued in the last couple days.

But we're learning that behind closed doors, Hegseth is weighing a variety of options to actually punish the retired Navy captain, something that we haven't seen really put into practice yet. But we're told that the options range from reducing his rank and pensions or administrative penalties to using the criminal -- or the military justice system to prosecute him for alleged crimes.

Now, Hegseth and the president and the Trump administration officials who have weighed in on this so far haven't really articulated what exactly about the video they think broke the law, including about -- broke the military law.

But that is something that we see them floating in these public statements. It remains to be seen, though, how this will play out. But Kelly, as a retiree, that status, he could technically be recalled into active duty and court-martialed as a byproduct of that.

Now, the merits of the case itself, legal experts pretty much agree that there aren't any, that there is no clear violation that occurred here, even under military law. One coalition of retired military lawyers issued a pretty rare statement, saying that this whole push to prosecute Kelly is partisan in nature, legally baseless and compromised by unlawful influence.

They go on to say: "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."

Now, for his part, Kelly going on "Jimmy Kimmel" last night and saying that he thinks this is really a reflection of Pete Hegseth's own insecurity about his job status. Take a listen to what Kelly said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): This is the investigation because of what Donald Trump said, from what I can tell.

And I don't know Pete Hegseth. He's not qualified for this job. And from what I can tell in talking to some of my Republican colleagues, I mean, he just wants to please the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So even Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski chiming in, saying: "The Department of Defense and FBI surely have more important priorities than this frivolous investigation."

But the president clearly wants it to move forward.

SANCHEZ: Kelly clearly not backing down. We will see what the legal case portends, if there is one, given that he's also a sitting U.S. senator.

COHEN: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Zach Cohen, thanks so much for that reporting.

Still to come: lawmakers pressuring the president to fire his special envoy after a leaked phone call reveals Steve Witkoff instructing the Russians on how to woo the president.

Plus: Forget chaos in the kitchen. Restaurant reservations are surging this Thanksgiving. We will explain why.

JIMENEZ: And later: a real-life nightmare playing out in Hong Kong, where multiple high-rises have been burning for hours. Helpless crews are on the phone with residents trapped inside, but can't rescue them right now. Fears are growing they won't be able to.

That and much more, we will bring you the details, coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:12:40]

SANCHEZ: Today, President Trump is pushing ahead in his effort to strike a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. And the president says that special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel back to Moscow for more negotiations as soon as next week.

He's also defending his special envoy after Bloomberg News published a transcript of an October call between Witkoff and a top aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. During that call, Witkoff seemed to coach the Russians on how to appeal to President Trump and sell him on a potential peace deal.

Also during the call, Witkoff told his Russian counterpart that he would have wide discretion on the contours of a deal, even advising the Russians that Putin should speak with Trump before Ukrainian President Zelenskyy held talks with Trump at the White House.

JIMENEZ: Now, the Trump -- the transcript -- excuse me -- quickly caused major concern among some Republicans on Capitol Hill.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

JIMENEZ: I mean, Republican Congressman Don Bacon called for Witkoff to be fired, writing -- quote -- "It is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he?"

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live near Mar-a-Lago, where the president is spending the holiday.

Obviously, strong words from the congressman there, Kristen, but how is the White House responding to these questions about Witkoff's interactions with the Kremlin?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris and Omar, unsurprisingly, they are fully backing Witkoff.

You do have to keep in mind that Witkoff is one of President Trump's most trusted advisers. And President Trump credits him and his son-in- law, Jared Kushner, with really negotiating and bringing home the cease-fire deal in the Middle East, as well as that hostage deal.

So it's not surprising that we're hearing this from the White House, and President Trump himself saying this is all part of standard negotiations. I'm sure he's saying the same kind of things to the Ukrainians. You go back and forth. That's how you talk during a negotiation.

But, as you said, there are some major red flags that are being raised right now by Republicans on Capitol Hill. It's not just Don Bacon. We also heard from Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, who called this a -- quote -- "major problem."

So let's talk a little bit about what is actually in that transcript and what people are raising issue with. It wasn't just about the meeting with Zelenskyy. You start off the call, and it seems as though, as you noted, Witkoff is kind of coaching this aide on how Putin should talk to President Trump to start the conversation and to start kind of smoothing things over.

[13:15:02]

Just remember, at this point, President Trump was saying almost every day that he was very disappointed and frustrated with Vladimir Putin. He says that Putin in the call when the two leaders talk should essentially praise Trump for the Middle East cease-fire deal, saying that he stood by him.

And what's interesting about that is that, when we got the Kremlin's version of the readout of that call, it led with this idea that Putin had praised Trump at the beginning of the call.

Now, on to the part about Zelenskyy. This is really notable for a number of reasons. One is that, at that point, you were starting to hear President Trump really sound angry all the time with Russia, saying things like maybe the Ukrainians could win the war, maybe they could get back all of their territory.

We know that President Zelenskyy was on his way to meeting with President Trump at the White House because he wanted to get a number of things from President Trump, but including these U.S. Tomahawk missiles, these long-range missiles that could go from Ukraine, from the front lines, deep into Russia, which was something Russia did not want.

So, during this phone call, here's what we have between these two people. We have Witkoff saying: "And here's one more thing. Zelenskyy is coming to the White House on Friday."

Yuri Ushakov says, "I know that," and then laughs.

Witkoff says: "I will go to that meeting because they want me there, but I think if possible we have the call with your boss before the Friday meeting."

OK, so here's what we know. They did have that call before the Friday meeting. It was a 2.5-hour-long phone call. In that call, Putin was able to not only convince Trump not to give up those Tomahawks, to say, don't give them to Zelenskyy, but, additionally, we know that the next day, when President Trump met with Zelenskyy, his tone had notably shifted.

He sounded less angry with Russia. And during that meeting, the closed-door session, it grew tense between Zelenskyy and Trump, as Trump was trying to say that he needed to concede more territory to Russia to end the war, so a lot of changes there.

And that's why you're seeing so much pushback and so many of these Republican congressmen, as well as Democrats, saying that this shows that the White House, Witkoff, in particular, favors Russia over Ukraine, which they say sets up a place for Russia or puts them in a place where they can't succeed -- excuse me -- Ukraine can't succeed.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's an interesting leak coming at a sensitive time.

Kristen Holmes traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida, thank you so much.

So it's the biggest home-cooked meal of the year, but many Americans are opting out. What more Americans are doing this year instead of cooking the turkey and stuffing at home for the holiday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:01]

SANCHEZ: A new trend for Thanksgiving, restaurant reservations are now spiking. OpenTable says bookings have jumped 13 percent over last year's holiday period, more people choosing to eat out, which costs -- with costs to eat at home also spiking, taking a bigger bite out of folks' budgets.

The latest available inflation report shows the staples of tomorrow's big meal all are costing more and representing significantly fewer and smaller portions.

JIMENEZ: Yes, "We have food at home" completely different meaning right now, turkey up six-tenths of a percent. Fresh vegetables are 2.8 percent more, potatoes and biscuits nearly 4 percent higher. And pies will cost you four-tenths of a percent more.

Some supermarkets point out better deals come if you buy their holiday meal packages.

So let's talk turkey and other food costs with the one and only Stew Leonard. He's the president and CEO of Stew Leonard's grocery stores, a chain in the New York area, employing more than 2,500 people.

Always right in the middle of the action, Stew. How much is a turkey going to run us this year?

STEW LEONARD JR., PRESIDENT AND CEO, STEW LEONARD'S: Well, you know what? It depends on what you buy. I have seen them out there for like 99 cents a pound, but frozen six months ago. So if that's the kind of meal you want, get a frozen turkey at 99.

You can also bump up to $1.99. We could get a natural one. If you want to go free range, where they're eating outside, eating grass and stuff, probably going to be around $2.99. That's the only turkey Stew Leonard sells right there is -- the $2.99 is fresh, free range, no hormones added, no antibiotics.

It's going to be nice and moist and juicy.

SANCHEZ: And delicious. You're making us hungry here, Stew.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: I wonder, what other items on the holiday menu are you offering or have you seen price increases on?

LEONARD: Well, you see this a lot with these -- we have a dinner for eight.

I know Wegmans, which is a great regional chain here in the Northeast, they have a dinner for 10. So you can go buy the whole meal. I mean, it's beautiful what you can get, a turkey, mashed potato gravies, three sides, cranberry sauce, and a pie and rolls, so basically Thanksgiving in a box.

Don't tell anybody, but that's what I'm doing, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

LEONARD: I'm just getting it all made here at the store. I'm not -- I don't have time. I work right up until the opening bell tomorrow.

JIMENEZ: No, no, no, the grind is always real for you, Stew.

What do you have in front of you there? Any tips for food shoppers looking to save a little this holiday season? I always -- I see some produce right there.

SANCHEZ: He's always got the props. JIMENEZ: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

LEONARD: Yes.

Well, before I get the produce, I want to show you this guy.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: All right.

JIMENEZ: There we go.

LEONARD: This is something -- this is probably something, the tomahawk steak, our ranchers from Kansas when they come back to business, this is what they want right here.

Now, meat prices are highest I have ever seen them in my 50 years of retailing right now.

[13:25:03]

JIMENEZ: Wow.

LEONARD: And that's herd sizes are the smallest they have ever been.

So you're -- if you're going to have beef, like filet mignon right now is like $20 a pound. I have never seen that in my life. But meat is high. But then, you know what? You get a little bit of relief. This is like a poster child.

Eggs have gone down. You save about a dollar a dozen on eggs. Butter, which is huge at the holidays, right now is down a dollar, milk down a dollar. Now here's something. Up $2 is coffee. You know, we have droughts in Brazil and Colombia, where we get a lot of coffee. So those are up in price. Meat's up in price.

And this guy right here, which is the mainstay of everybody's turkey Thanksgiving, same price as last year. So, look, there's ups and downs. I'm on razor-thin margins here at the store. I can't eat all of the tariff costs or any energy increases, labor increases. You have to pass a little bit of it along.

We buy most of our product here at Stew Leonard U.S.-made, but I can't get bananas in the U.S. I can't get mangoes in the U.S. I can't get pineapples in the U.S. I'm getting hit with a little bit of a tariff. And we're eating about a quarter of those costs right now, our family is at Stew Leonard's.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we're hearing a lot of that from producers and folks just like you trying to provide folks with food.

I wonder what your reaction is to then hearing that a lot of folks are headed to restaurants for Thanksgiving.

LEONARD: Well, look, I can tell you, I get sticker shock right now when I go out to a restaurant. It's so expensive.

And I can understand their point. Labor's gone up, energy. A lot of packaging, a lot of their costs have gone up. So I can understand their -- why they have to raise their price on the menu. But you can cook at home for maybe a quarter to a third of the price you would spend at a restaurant.

The other thing you can do to save money this holiday right now, not only eat at home, but prep it and chop it yourself, OK?We have all these chefs. We have all these people packing and cooking, and basically you just put it in the oven when you get home. That's going to cost you more.

The other thing is shop for specials right now. And there's always specials going on. Look for the specials. And it's OK to freeze things. You can even freeze milk, and it comes out fine after you thaw it out overnight.

So there are some ways to save money. The one thing I recommend -- is there any managers around, because I don't want them to hear me? Don't buy the extra item that we're demoing in the store, like Costco does. It has demos all the time. They're impulse buys, and you don't want to get that item. Stick to your shopping list would be my advice.

JIMENEZ: Stew Leonard...

SANCHEZ: Telling it like it is.

(LAUGHTER)

JIMENEZ: I know. I was going to say, always keep it in real.

I got to shop with you, Stew. I will stay on task.

LEONARD: Hey, hold on.

Before you go, we just had...

SANCHEZ: There it is.

LEONARD: ... Senator Blumenthal here. And he just pardoned the turkey, and we named it Butter Coat, OK...

JIMENEZ: OK.

SANCHEZ: Nice.

LEONARD: ... the pardoned turkey, because of this. You see this?

JIMENEZ: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Love that. I love that.

LEONARD: You know how you dip your ice cream cones in chocolate? This is dipped in butter.

SANCHEZ: Oof.

LEONARD: OK, it's going viral on TikTok right now.

JIMENEZ: I won't tell your personal trainer, Stew.

LEONARD: It's an ice cream cone dipped in butter with a little...

(LAUGHTER)

LEONARD: Oh.

SANCHEZ: Yes, there it is.

JIMENEZ: There it is. There it is.

SANCHEZ: That looks incredible.

LEONARD: And it tastes like a pancake.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Oh.

JIMENEZ: Stew, appreciate the time, as always. Happy Thanksgiving. We will see you soon.

LEONARD: Happy Thanksgiving. And you know what? I just want to say thank you to all our customers that have been donating food...

JIMENEZ: Yes.

LEONARD: ... and turkeys and our family.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

LEONARD: Because, even though there's abundance of food on all of our tables, there's a lot of people out there that really need food.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Good point. Good point, Stew.

LEONARD: We have a swelling of support.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

LEONARD: So thank you everybody. Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Thank you, Stew.

SANCHEZ: Love to see it. Love to see them holding an ice cream cone.

LEONARD: Happy Thanksgiving.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

We will be right back, everyone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)