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Trump Backtracks on Deadline for Ukraine to Accept Peace Deal; At Least 36 Dead, 279 Uncontactable in Apartment Inferno in Hong Kong; Hong Kong Apartment High-rises Still Burning After 12 Hours; Price Increase for Entry to National Parks in the U.S.; HP to Cut Up to 6,000 Jobs in Shift to A.I.; Docs Recommend Walk After Thanksgiving Feast. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 26, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:32]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump is backing away from a Thanksgiving deadline for Ukraine to sign a peace deal with Russia. The president appears to be leaving the details up to his envoys, including top negotiator Steve Witkoff, who's now at the center of a controversial phone leak.

Bloomberg has published what it says is a transcript of an October call where Witkoff appears to offer tips to a top Kremlin aide on how the Russian president could get what he wants from President Trump. When asked about it, the president called the Witkoff conversation standard negotiation. He was also asked what Russia may have to give up for peace. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kinds of concessions are the Russians going to have to make?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, they're making concessions. They're big concessions to say stop fighting and they don't take any more land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss, Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington. He's the Ranking Member on the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, Happy Thanksgiving Eve. Thanks so much for sharing part of your day with us. I want to ask you specifically about one aspect of this leaked conversation. When Witkoff says to this Russian aide, "Me to you, I know what it's going to take to get a peace deal done, Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere." Congressman, would you agree with Witkoff that Ukraine will have to give up some land, even land it currently controls for peace?

[13:35:00]

REP. ADAM SMITH, (D-WA): RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: No. Particularly on your last point, it is ridiculous to ask Ukraine to give up its own sovereign territory that Russia hasn't even taken yet. And that's really the great weakness in Trump's approach here. Look, Russia is backed into a corner. Their economy is suffering. Increasingly, there are articles about how they're struggling to come up with the recruits they need to keep the fight going. They're raising taxes. They have a massive budget deficit. They're starting to have fuel shortages.

If we can keep the pressure on Russia by making it clear that we're going to support Ukraine, that forces Putin to the peace table. But if you keep getting things like what Witkoff said, which implies that we may abandon Ukraine and that we'll give them even more, that's an incentive for Putin to just keep fighting. So, no, I think that's a huge mistake in terms of what Witkoff communicated to the Russians.

SANCHEZ: I didn't specifically see a moment in the transcript where it was clear that Witkoff was suggesting the United States would abandon Ukraine. I wonder what you saw that, that gave you that notion and also whether you reject the assessment from the U.S. that some of the land that's being proposed to be handed over to Russia is land that Kyiv would probably lose anyway in the next year or so.

SMITH: Yeah. On the first point, no, it wasn't necessarily in the call, but you did hear just when this peace plan was first released by President Trump a week ago now, maybe a little longer, that if Ukraine didn't agree to it, we would cut off support. And that caused the whole panic flow of the Europeans and others lobbying, other people in the administration, Republicans in Congress who support Ukraine pushing back. So I wasn't referring to anything specific in the Witkoff call.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

SMITH: But President Trump and especially Vice President Vance have implied and explicitly said that we would cut off Ukraine. So, that was the portion of it that I was most focused on. And as far as the land is concerned, I don't think we can make assumptions about what Ukraine is going to lose at this point. Russia has run into a brick wall. They are taking tiny little steps at the cost of thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of casualties. I don't think we can assume that Russia is going to take any more land going forward, and we certainly shouldn't.

We should force them to the peace table. Because remember, Russia invaded Ukraine, has taken sovereign territory --

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

SMITH: -- of Ukraine by force with no legitimacy behind that whatsoever. We cannot rubber stamp that as OK.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, Congressman, given that these leaks don't happen in a vacuum, this isn't a coincidence, who do you think leaked this recording?

SMITH: Yeah, I think there's real tension on, certainly, amongst Republicans in Congress, but even within the White House. I think you do have a lot of people who really want President Trump to take a more forceful stand in support of Ukraine and put pressure on Putin. And they're worried that people like J.D. Vance and others in the administration want to completely abandon Ukraine and simply give Russia what they want. So yeah, I think you've got some palace intrigue going on here, trying to work the rafts (ph), if you will, to try to get Trump to a better place on this.

I think there's definitely that contradiction within the Republican administration which, I mean, given how that first meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump went back in February, as someone who supports Ukraine strongly, I think it's good news that there are at least some people within the administration who recognize what the right policy should be.

SANCHEZ: While we have you, Congressman, I wonder as you hear that sources have indicated that Secretary Hegseth is exploring potential legal action against some of your Democratic colleagues, specifically Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, for his role in that illegal orders video, what your message is to the Pentagon.

SMITH: Yeah, two things. First of all, Secretary Hegseth is increasingly an embarrassment to the Department of Defense. I mean, targeting a decorated war hero and veteran for political purposes, I mean, let's have Secretary Hegseth pay attention to maybe getting the Pentagon to move forward with some of these programs that are way over budget, to get us a new national security strategy which is overdue, to meeting the national security interests of this country instead of playing out all these petty, vindictive attacks on his political opponents.

But second, understand what Trump and Hegseth are doing is a direct attack on representative democracy and to push us towards a totalitarian government, basically using the (inaudible) of the government, whether it's the Pentagon threatening to court martial Mark or the Justice Department threatening to target political opponents, this is what a totalitarian dictator does. This is not what an elected president and a representative democracy does. And it's a threat to everybody.

Everyone go to Article (inaudible) Mark can probably survive this. But this sends a chilling effect to everybody else, it chills them from feeling like they can criticize this government.

[13:40:00]

This is America. You ought to be able to do that without this type of threat.

SANCHEZ: On the substance of the video, do you believe the president has issued illegal orders?

SMITH: Yes, I do. But more to the point on the video, I mean that why can't an elected representative express that opinion? All right. It's an opinion that's been expressed many times over many conflicts. Yeah. I think the order to blow up those boats in the Caribbean without any actual probable cause, national security justification, or any declaration of war, or armed conflict by the U.S. Congress, I think it is illegal. That's a legitimate opinion to hold, and it's a legitimate opinion to express. It should not face the threat of legal action if you exercise your First Amendment rights, especially these six who are elected representatives of the people. They actually have an obligation to stand up for what they believe in, to do their jobs as elected representatives.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Adam Smith, we have to leave the conversation there. Again, we appreciate the time and Happy Thanksgiving.

SMITH: Yep. Thank you, Boris. I appreciate the chance.

SANCHEZ: Of course. We have a horrifying scene to share with you unfolding in Hong Kong right now where multiple high rises are on fire. Officials say that trapped residents have been calling emergency crews for help for hours, but firefighters simply can't reach them. We're going to take you live to Hong Kong in just moments.

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[13:46:09]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We want to get you update on some Breaking News we're following. A huge fire burning through multiple high-rise apartment buildings in Hong Kong has killed at least 36 people, but likely many, many more. A city official says nearly 280 people are unaccounted for this hour. Look at some of these images. And based on what we know, we know that earlier today, trapped residents were calling the city's emergency line, begging for rescue, but fire crews were unable to reach them.

I want to bring in CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Ivan Watson, who joins us now from Hong Kong. So Ivan, do we know if anyone has been rescued since those calls were made hours ago?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Omar, I wish I could report there had been some rescue, but the authorities have not said anything to that effect. Instead, the death toll has grown. According to the top official in the city, at least 36 people killed and more ominous, some 279 people uncontactable in the words of John Lee, the Chief Executive. So, you know, this fire was first reported almost 12 hours ago and as you can see, we've been here for hours. The flames continue to burn out of control.

I can see a drone flying above one of the towers with a spotlight. And we've seen that kind of through the smoke on occasion. Now it's moved out of sight. It may come in again. But what we heard from a senior official in the fire department here is that they had been getting phone calls from residents, and that they simply couldn't reach them because the heat was so extreme. And they were urging residents to give them their apartment numbers and kind of put wet towels around the doors and wait for rescue.

And with the kind of heat that's been generated here, the amount of smoke that's been generated, I don't even want to imagine what it would've been like to have been trapped in this building for these last 12 hours. More than 4,000 people lived in this public housing development. There were more -- nearly 2,000 apartments. So in addition to the loss of life which -- this is the deadliest fire Hong Kong has seen in decades now, you also have thousands of people who've been made homeless within the past matter of hours. Omar?

JIMENEZ: And Ivan, I mean, it's pretty incredible. You talk about this burning for 12 hours and you just showed us behind you the progress. What seems like not much progress to new eyes, but the fact that the flames are still burning so powerfully right now. I mean, I know it's still early and they're just trying to get this under control, but do investigators have any indication on how this started and why it spread like it did?

WATSON: So far we haven't heard an explanation. These buildings were wrapped in this kind of bamboo scaffolding and construction netting. They were being renovated. And the account that we've heard is that there was an initial report of a fire at one end of this place. And by the time the fire department showed up, the fires had already started spreading up through the tower and up the construction scaffolding.

What is the big question is here, is how it then spread to seven of the eight towers and killed so many people and made so many homeless and injured so many more. That's a big question that needs to be answered. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Yeah. 36 dead to this point, 279 uncontactable. Ivan Watson following that for us, as crews still try to get that under control. Thanks for the report, Ivan.

[13:50:00]

All right, coming up, we're following a lot of news right now, about 49 past the hour. Visits to America's national parks could soon cost a lot more, but only for some tourists. We'll explain, next.

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[13:55:00]

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. HP says they plan to cut up to 6,000 jobs over three years to save about $1 billion as it shifts to artificial intelligence. The PC and printer maker says this year's profits will be disappointing. It has already laid off up to 2,000 workers in 2025. Also, foreign tourists are going to have to pay triple to visit America's most popular national parks compared to U.S. citizens. Given its America First pricing, the Trump administration says that starting in January, people who do not live in the United States are going to have to pay $250 for an annual pass to parks, including Yellowstone in Wyoming. Or they can pay $100 per person fee plus the standard entry price. The White House rationale, it says, "Americans offered affordable prices while foreigners pay much more."

JIMENEZ: And caught on camera, take a look at this, dash cam video shows this pickup truck on the right barely missing a state trooper. Look at that as it flies off the side of the road. They were helping stranded drivers, the state trooper and firefighters. The truck slid off the road, icy clearly in North Dakota, near the Minnesota border, where a winter storm had been dumping several inches of snow. Amazingly, no one was hurt here, but clearly, scary moments as they were just trying to help someone else out.

All right, Thanksgiving, almost here, right? We're there -- we're there.

SANCHEZ: On the Verge.

JIMENEZ: Eve, means a full dinner table followed by a full belly. And if you tend to overeat on the turkey and stuffing, there is a trick for possible relief. I'm told it's natural.

SANCHEZ: It is very natural. And if you're offended by juvenile humor or gas, it's probably a good time to save the tweets and just change the channel because we're going to talk about fart walks.

JIMENEZ: Yep.

SANCHEZ: Health professionals are here for fart walks. Let's get some perspective from a health professional, Trisha Pasricha, the Director of the Gut-Brain Research Institute at BIDMC in Boston is with us. She's also an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. And the Ask a Doctor Columnist at "The Washington Post," also the author of the book you see in the background of her shot there, " You've Been Pooping All Wrong: How to Make Your Bowel Movements a Joy." I could spend all segment asking you doctor about that book, but we're here to talk about fart walks. So, are you in favor of the post-meal flatulence walk?

DR. TRISHA PASRICHA, DIRECTOR, BIDMC GUT-BRAIN RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Absolutely. And we're going to see if the three of us can get through the next few minutes together with a straight face. But yes. So the fart walk, it's the highly scientific term for just a walk that you take for about 10, 15 minutes shortly after eating a big meal, like the kinds we're all going to be having tomorrow. And what it does is help relieve bloating and flatulence.

Now, the term fart walk, which I didn't come up with myself, I obviously wish I had. It's been trending on social media for a couple of years, but it's actually based on science that gastroenterologists like myself have known about for a decade. So in the mid-2000s, researchers did this study where they looked at a meal simulation and what happened when people after eating stayed, sat around at rest versus engaged in some mild physical activity. They found that if you sit around, all of the gas that's produced by that meal expands, you feel more ill.

But if you go for even just a short walk, a little bit of physical activity, you can quickly expel all of that gas. And there's actually a second very good reason to engage in the fart walk, which is that going for a walk after eating, it actually helps prevent spikes in your blood sugar. So it kind of bring those blood sugar levels down. If you do that consistently, you make it a daily habit to go for a walk after your meals, you can actually improve your hemoglobin A1c, which is a marker of diabetes and pre-diabetes. So the fart walk, it's actually pretty good public health messaging. It's just kind of disguised as a dad joke.

JIMENEZ: Well, I was just going to say, I mean, I think people hear fart walk. They think, hey, this is the preview of what happens before I actually make it to the bathroom --

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

JIMENEZ: -- when you're in the hallway going towards the restroom. But like, how long should the walk be? Should people be walking together? That feels like -- that feels like it might be a little difficult. Like how -- how exactly should that aspect work?

(LAUGH)

PASRICHA: It should be soon after eating. So, it doesn't have to be a lot. Like we're not asking you to go for a 5,000 turkey trot right after that big meal, but it can just be a 10, 15 minute leisurely walk. I like the idea of doing it as a family. I think you're going to actually bond if you do that, but you can certainly take a solo walk.

(CROSSTALK)

JIMENEZ: Yes, you will bond, no doubt.

PASRICHA: But it doesn't have to be strenuous.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, doctor, are there any potential adverse health reactions from inhaling fumes? Noxious fumes?

(LAUGH)

PASRICHA: You know, I am not familiar with any case reports of this happening, but I will say, tomorrow is a high-stress day for a lot of people. You might be meeting your future in-laws for the first time, you're meeting your partner's family. So if you have any concerns that you might be the perpetrator, you can always take something like Pepto-Bismol. So Pepto-Bismol contains bismuth subsalicylate. That has been shown in decades-old studies to neutralize 99 percent --