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Trump Weighs Potential Military Action Against Venezuela; Iran's Nuclear Program Intact Despite U.S. And Israeli Strikes; U.K. Announces Largest Asylum Policy Overhaul; Chile Heads To A Presidential Run-Off Between Jara And Kast; Greece to supply winter gas to war battered Ukraine; New Netflix Documentary: An Intimate Portrait of Selena; Perfecting the Formula of International Pop Girl Group Katseye. Aired 1-1:45a ET

Aired November 17, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, everybody. I'm Polo Sandoval. 1:00 a.m. here in New York City. And ahead here on CNN Newsroom, President Trump weighing military options for Venezuela as he signals that there may be a diplomatic off ramp.

Iran says its nuclear sites may have been left in ruins by allied airstrikes. But the program, it remains intact, they say.

And we'll talk to the mastermind behind Katseye, the girl group that went viral after a Netflix reality show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York. This is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: We begin with rising tensions between the U.S. And Venezuela as Donald Trump continues to weigh possible military action inside the South American country with it now appears that there might be a diplomatic off ramp with the U.S. President telling reporters on Sunday that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, he says, wants to talk, though he didn't offer a whole lot of details on when those calls could happen.

A day earlier, the U.S. military carried out its 21st known strike of an alleged drug trafficking boat, killing three people. And all 83 people have already been killed in these U.S. strikes. Since early September, Venezuela's government has condemned the U.S. operations, calling them extrajudicial executions.

The Trump administration now planning to designate a Venezuelan cartel known as Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist group, linking to Venezuela's President Maduro as part of its justification as the U.S. tries to ramp up the U.S. military presence in the region. Let's begin with CNN's Betsy Klein, who reports on President Trump's possible next moves.

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BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, we do not know what President Donald Trump intends to do in Venezuela, and that strategic ambiguity may be by design. But what we do know is that the U.S. has amassed significant resources in the region and that President Trump has authorized the CIA to operate inside of Venezuela.

The president was briefed by his team multiple times in recent days on a range of options. Those options include airstrikes on military and government facilities and drug trafficking routes, as well as the possibility of a more direct attempt to oust the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro.

And on Venezuela, the president indicated Sunday evening as he departed Florida that a diplomatic path out might be possible. Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had announced that the State Department intends to designate Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. That group is headed by Nicolas Maduro.

The president was asked whether that move allows the U.S. to target Maduro's assets and infrastructure. Listen.

UNDIENTIFIED FEMALE: Does that mean that the U.S. government can target Maduro's assets or infrastructure inside Venezuela?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It allows us to do that, but we haven't said we're going to do that. And we may be discussing, we may be having some discussions with Maduro and we'll see how that turns out. They would like -- they would like to talk.

KLEIN: Now experts have described that U.S. military buildup in the area as significant. There are more than 15,000 U.S. military personnel in the region, as well as more than a dozen warships, 10 F- 35 fighter jets, and the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arriving in Caribbean waters early in the day on Sunday.

Now, officially, the Trump administration says that they are going after illegal drug trafficking. However, regime change could also be a side effect of any action the president chooses to take. This is extremely high risk. It's unclear who could rise to power in Venezuela in the absence of Maduro. It would require significant U.S. commitment going forward. This is all what the president is weighing as he returns to Washington to begin the workweek. Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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SANDOVAL: Joining us now is Eric Farnsworth. He's a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Welcome to the program, Eric.

ERIC FARNSWORTH, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Thanks, Paul. Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Of course, it's our pleasure. You know, you've previously called this current deployment of the military assets just off the coast of Venezuela the most significant buildup this century.

[01:05:00]

So, given that scale of the U.S. mobilization, Eric, what do you believe to be President Trump's ultimate goal when it comes to Venezuela? Basically, when you take into account everything we've seen the last few weeks.

FARNSWORTH: Well, I think we're getting pretty close to an end game here, or at least a decision point. You have the core, the forward carrier strike group is on station in the Caribbean, and you have 15,000 U.S. troops ready to do something there. You have overflights that are continuing to be conducted, and you have exercises with Trinidad and Tobago and other regional countries that are being conducted.

So I think that there is clearly an intent to this buildup. What that intent is, we don't actually know the president will be the one who makes that final determination.

But I do think there's a window here that we're looking at probably in the next week or so, because once you have this type of buildup with the world's most advanced aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, as well as all its support elements, you can't keep assets like that on station forever. They're very expensive, and you take them out of the rotation of other parts of the world as well.

If you add that to the fact that the United States has designated the Cartel de Los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization, a designation that's going to go into effect on November 24, which is a week from today, you have really a window of about a week to see what could happen here.

SANDOVAL: And because there's so much writing on it, do you think that the administration, that the White House really has a coherent strategy thus far and perhaps simply just not sharing it?

FARNSWORTH: Well, there's a lot of speculation going on, for sure, because there are a number of options that are in play. I don't get the sense that the White House is looking to invade and occupy the country, and I don't get the sense that the White House is looking to stand down and take its assets and leave the area.

So within those two bookends, there's a lot of things that could be done, and I think that's the realm of discussion that the White House is undertaking right now. Should they be actively going onshore in terms of attacks against drug assets? Should they be looking to actually decapitate the regime? Should they be looking to degrade security assets of the regime that might allow the opposition to uprise and overthrow Maduro and put Edmundo Gonzalez in office?

There are any number of options that could be considered. Neither none of them are guaranteed to be successful. But the Status quo is unsustainable in my view. So something is probably going to break here before too long. SANADOVAL: And, you know, you said it best. There's so much

speculation right now around what could possibly come next and when. I'm just curious if you could just really punctuate one of your earlier points, which is just given that mobilization of forces out there. This is much more than just a few patrol boats in the Caribbean. Is it? Do you get a sense that the White House has to respond and has to do soon?

FARNSWORTH: Well, I think that's where things are heading. I mean, at the end of the day, the President can decide to do nothing, but you certainly have the assets in place and the momentum behind it that would argue for some sort of action here in the near term.

I think it's very clear that the White House and the administration want Mr. Maduro to go. There is a president elect who is democratically elected, who's waiting to take office that Maduro will not allow to occur.

And so I think the question is tactically, what's the best way to try to resolve this really complicated and difficult standoff, at the same time recognizing that it's the Venezuelan people who ultimately are the ones who are going to have to pay the highest cost here if nothing changes.

So there is a lot at stake and I think the administration is trying to work through what are all the permutations about potential action.

SANDOVAL: And finally from Eric, out of the many possible scenarios and possible outcomes, do you see one which the U.S. -- the Pentagon does not have to actively deploy troops or take further military steps and end up instilling some sort of change, regime change in Venezuela. Is that possible?

FARNSWORTH: It is possible. And I think that's what in the back of people's minds they're really hoping will occur. This massive buildup, this intent that's been expressed by the Trump administration really to take the steps that would remove Nicolas Maduro, could encourage him to really seek an exit, a safe haven somewhere outside of Venezuela, to leave and perhaps take his lieutenants with him and his ill-gotten gains and just get out of the country.

That would be a, you know, the best case scenario. Is it the most likely scenario? Is it, I mean, I can't say. Is it possible? Sure it's possible. The question is what is Maduro's determination to stay and does he believe that what the Trump administration is saying and threatening is real or does he believe it's a bluff?

And if he believes it's real, then he's probably going to have to negotiate an exit strategy. If he thinks it's a bluff, he's going to stay and try to ride it out. So we're going to see pretty soon in terms of what he decides to do.

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SANDOVAL: Given us a lot to think about as we continue to watch to see what comes next between Venezuela and the United States. Eric Farnsworth, as always, thanks for your analysis and your time.

FARNSWORTH: Great to be with you. Thanks a lot.

SANDOVAL: And authorities in India say that they have arrested a man accused of helping plan last week's car bombing near Delhi's Red Fort. They say that the suspect is a resident of India Administered Kashmir and that the car involved in the attack was registered in its name. Investigators added that the alleged suicide bomber was also from the same region. At least 10 people were killed and more than 30 injured the day of the attack.

Well, five months after the U.S. and Israel carried out strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, it's not clear just how much damage was actually done. You recall last summer, U.S. President Donald Trump initially claimed that the Fordo nuclear facility had been obliterated. But U.S. intelligence assessments later suggested that Iran's nuclear program may have only been set back about two years.

So our Frederik Pleitgen sat down for an exclusive interview with Iran's deputy foreign minister. They discussed the strikes and the states of that nuclear program. We're going to work to get you more on that a little later. But again, that's just some of the latest reporting from our Frederic Pleitgen. I'll let you listen to that interview, that exclusive interview that he had with one Iranian official.

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SAEED KHATIBZADEH, IRAN'S DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: The nuclear program, the peaceful nuclear program is intact as we are speaking. Yes, they have attacked. They have ruined many of our infrastructure, machineries, you know, buildings. But the program is very much based on our indigenous knowledge, very much spread across our country, which is a huge country, 90 million people, 1,600,000 square meter country.

And this country is not a country that you can bomb and then think that you know you are going to ruin everything. This is a science and this is a knowledge and this is a knowhow that we actually possess. And we are going to be protecting that.

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SANDOVAL: We'll take a let American ex-voters in Chile. They have narrowed their presidential choices down to two, one on the far left, the other on the far right. Just ahead, a closer look at the choice that's facing voters in the runoff election next month.

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SANDOVAL: In the coming hours, the British government is expected to announce full details on a massive reform of its asylum policy. Among some of the changes that you can expect, refugees will have to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement in that country, and the government will be removing housing and weekly stipends from any refugee who has the right but chooses not to.

The new policy takes some inspiration from Denmark, which has one of the most challenging settlement programs in Europe. The UK's Labour government says that the refugee system is out of control and, they say, is also broken.

When no candidates want a majority in Chile's vote for president on Sunday, that means the top two contenders will have to face each other in a runoff election on December 14th.

One of those contenders is a member of the Communist Party, the other an ultraconservative veteran politician. CNN's Cristopher Ulloa with more from Santiago.

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CRISTOPHER ULLOA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chile's presidential race is going to a tense runoff between Communists and hard right candidates after neither of them getting the necessary vote to become the president of Chile in a first round.

With 99 percent of the votes counted, Chileans have decided between eight candidates who will be the two options for a second round on December 14th to finally decide who will be the next president of Chile. In the first place, we are talking about Jeannette Jara from the Communist Party and Foreign Minister of President Gabriel Boric, who got at least 26 percent of the preferences.

On the other hand, the veteran politician Jose Antonio Kast, the founder of the Republican Party in Chile, who got at least 23 percent of the votes. We have to remember that this time the vote was mandatory and there were more than 12 million people who assisted to the polls to also decide the new members of the Congress.

The president, Gabriel Boric, gave the congratulations to both candidates and said that he trusts that dialogue, respect and love for Chile will prevail over any differences. But what are the topics that most worry to the Chileans? Security, the fight against organized crime, illegal immigration and improvement of the economy.

The final results of this presidential race will be known in one more month when Chileans will have to go back to the polls to decide if Chileans will keep on a left government or if Chile turns to a hard right government. For CNN, Cristopher Ulloa, Santiago, Chile.

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SANDOVAL: And right after the break, we'll take a closer look at what's happening right now in Ukraine's capital as Russian attacks hit civilian targets as well as the country's energy infrastructure ahead of their winter.

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[01:24:11] SANDOVAL: Ukraine will get a massive supply of American natural gas from Greece. President Zelenskyy signed that deal on Sunday in Athens. It will cover Ukraine's winter supply from December until March 2026. The Greek prime minister says that the agreement will help stem the flow of Russian natural gas into Europe.

And this comes as the Kremlin ramps up attacks ahead of winter, heavily targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure. On Friday, at least six people were killed during one of Russia's largest aerial assaults on Kyiv.

Andrey Stavnitser joining us from Kyiv at the sour. He's the co-owner and CEO of one of Ukraine's largest ports. He's also the founder of the Superhumans Center rehabilitating people severely injured in the war in Russia. Welcome to the program. Andrey, good to have you with us.

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ANDREY STAVNITSER, CO-OWNER AND CEO, TIS: Thank you for having me. Good morning from rainy Kyiv.

SANDOVAL: Yes, good morning to you. And I'm sorry it's under these circumstances. We're going to talk a little bit more about some of that amazing work that you're doing right now at your organization. But I'm wondering if you could just give us the latest right now from where you are. Can you describe the current situation in Kyiv? Have you seen Russian strikes intensify and against what targets?

STAVNITSER: Yes, they intensified the shelling of our energy distribution and generation. We are receiving four to 500 drones per night, including some ballistic rockets and they target mainly energy generation and energy distribution networks.

So the problem here is that distribution, you know, obviously prevents from transporting energy, but generation in Ukraine is heavily linked to our heat generation. So as soon as the temperatures get negative, we're going to have a serious issue here.

It's already 5, 6 degrees Celsius. In a couple of weeks it's going to be negative and then people will start actually feeling it. So right now who is getting cut offs are businesses mainly and up to 20 to 30 percent of regions closer to the front line, they get cut offs when they will not have heating, that's when the problem is going to strike.

SANDOVAL: And let's stay on what you just mentioned there, which is this upcoming winter. This will now be, if I'm not mistaken, the fourth since the war began as Russia really steps up its attacks on power and gas facilities.

Are there any worries in Ukraine and you touched on it briefly, but are there some concerns that this winter could be particularly bad?

STAVNITSER: Well, the issue here is to have enough repair materials and zips to fix everything. But some things they just cannot be fixed. So this winter seems to be a difficult than the previous ones. And to be honest, the reason for these attacks are nonmilitary. So it doesn't make any military sense to attack this infrastructure. It's to make people scared.

I think the Russians are judging us by themselves, so they think if they scare us, we will be more likely to sit at a table and agree on something. The problem here is that we are not like them. And these attacks, they actually make us more furious. And as it's the same crowd, it's being translated to the soldiers at the frontline. So it actually reaches the opposite effect right now.

SANDOVAL: Can you just briefly tell us how you and your family have been personally affected? I understand that you previously lost a home in this conflict near Kyv.

STAVNITSER: Well, I lost a home. I lost my hotel in Odesa. My office in Kyiv was heavily damaged. My port gets strikes every couple of weeks. I cannot report it, of course, it's strategic infrastructure. About 19 people working for me at the port are unfortunately, forever not with us.

It's horrific. Every week, somebody that I know personally is either dead or wounded. It's a very difficult situation. But again, Polo, it doesn't make us scared. It makes us even more furious. I think -- I think we call it in Ukraine the slavery mentality of Russia.

So, you know, the Soviet Union broke apart 35 years ago and Ukraine separated, but Russians, I guess they never did. So it would work for them, you know, to cut off their electricity, to cut off their heating. Not with Ukrainians. It triggers exactly the opposite reaction here.

SANDOVAL: Andrey, I have about a minute and a half left with you. Let's end on a positive note. Tell us a little bit about that work that you do for your organization, really shifting your focus now from as an entrepreneur but now to helping people have a second chance at life.

STAVNITSER: Well, Superhumans Center is the largest war trauma center in the country. We help people get prosthetics. We help them to learn how to walk again. People who lost limbs, people who lost faces, we do reconstructive surgeries.

And the more I talk to our patients, and we have thousands of patients by now, the more I understand how incredible Ukrainians are, how encouraged, how brave they are. And it gives me a lot of pleasure to know that I live in a country like this. This country is truly incredible, truly marvelous. And people who live here, they deserve to be part of the European community, the Western community, and to separate from the evil empire for good.

SANDOVAL: Four years of war, it has brought a lot of death and destruction, but it also has brought certainly some incredible stories of survival and some inspirational stories as well, Andrey. So thank you so much for sharing some of that. And we're certainly sorry about the losses that you've experienced. We'll stay in touch with you. STAVNITSER: Thank you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: We'll start to come here on CNN Newsroom, creating the style for the new big pop group. CNN spoke with the creative director for Katseye about what goes into their look and also how it's inspired by each member of the group.

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SANDOVAL: Look at this moment that a volcano in Japan erupted. It sent massive plumes of smoke and ash as high as four kilometers or -- kilometers, or nearly three miles into the air. The volcano called Sakurajima, it is actually one of Japan's most active volcanoes.

Multiple eruptions throughout the day, they caused dozens of flight cancellations. Fortunately, though, there have been no reports of injuries or damage.

A new documentary about the late Latin musician Selena, giving fans an intimate look at the star through footage that was captured by her sister.

Take a look.

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SELENA QUINTANILLA, SINGER: You have to sacrifice something in life in order to get ahead. No one in our family has a job. We make a living off of it. And that's why it means so much to us.

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SANDOVAL: The film, executive produced by her siblings, featured never-before-seen home videos, letters and also some candid moments recorded during her rise in the 80s and 90s. Family members, friends and bandmates, they share memories that highlight the woman behind the music.

Such an extraordinary talent she was. From her Tejano roots to her impact on the rise of Latin music in America. Selena was shot and killed by her fan club president Yolanda Saldivar, who was denied parole earlier this year.

This film debuts Monday on Netflix. I'll be watching.

International pop group Katseye burst onto the music scene last year. A collaboration of talent put together through a Netflix competition show.

They've since gone viral with songs like "Gnarly" and touched with a unique style blending their individual backgrounds, inspiration from K-Pop and other famous girl groups as well. CNN's Max Burnell spoke with their creative director about their

recipe for all their success.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make some noise for Katseye.

MAX BURNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two years ago six young women were plucked from relative obscurity when a Netflix reality show turned them into the girl group, Katseye.

K-Pop inspired, catchy melodies, synchronized dance moves and bold visuals, as seen and heard in their first single debut, quickly propelled them to viral fame.

Fashion industry veteran, restaurateur and all-round arbiter of cool Humberto Leon, is the mastermind behind their image.

HUMBERTO LEON, FASHION DESIGNER: I've always celebrated bringing culture together. In many ways, Katseye is just A different version of that.

We get to work with these six incredible human beings that are so talented and it's really about bringing to life their story.

I think about all the incredible girl groups that have come before us, whether its Destiny's Child to Spice Girls, Blackpink or 2NE1 -- there's so many great ideologies and virtues that these girl groups bring.

So it's exciting to just see where we came from and what part of the future can we carve out for Katseye? How can Katseye make a mark?

The first thing I said to them was, I want to hear about your background and how you grew up, what you truly love and are inspired by.

I think what you see that's beautiful in Katseye is that we celebrate their individuality while still maintaining this group presence.

In K-Pop, a lot of training programs, the school uniform is definitely something that is played with and I think for us, we wanted to differentiate.

All the jackets were actually boys' blazers. It was like tomboy meets girly, a bit of rebellion. I think seeing those uniforms really kind of allowed the. World to see that they went through this training.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're done. It's done. We're there.

LEON: I would say the song is what starts the inspiration. What's the perfect outfits for these dance moves? Are they going up? Are they going down? Are they doing a leg kick? So we have to consider all of this to make sure that our outfits enhance their choreography.

If you look at "Gabriela", it's very different than most of the other songs that we've put out. There's this femininity to it.

It has this Latin vibe that we want to make sure that we capture, and there's a part of the choreo where the members have to go down on the ground. It all has to be done seamlessly, without anybody fixing their clothing.

So I think there's a lot of interesting complexities to it, but it's a fun puzzle to work out.

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SANDOVAL: Thousands of people, they lined up at one of the most famous boulevards in the world, all for this moment. That was, of course, when the Christmas lights were switched on along the Champs-Elysee in Paris.

The dazzling display, including dozens of twinkling trees and stunning lights as the city kicks off the holiday season and gears up for millions of visitors.

The annual tradition a reminder of why Paris is truly the City of Lights. It's also just one of the signs of the start of the holiday season.

From the entire team here at CNN NEWSROOM, thank you so much for watching the last 40 minutes of news. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

"WORLDSPORT" is next, and the news continues with my colleague Ben Hunte at the top of the hour.

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