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At Least 51 Killed, Nearly 300 Missing In Hong Kong Fire; Officials Say Guardsmen Were "Targeted" In D.C. Shooting; Donald Trump Brushes Off Concerns Over Leaked Steve Witkoff-Moscow Call. At Least 55 Killed, Nearly 300 Missing in Hong Kong Fire; Firefighters Still Battling Isolated Flames in at Least Three Buildings; DHS Identifies National Guard Shooting Suspect; Two National Guardsmen Shot in D.C., Both in Critical Condition; Air Traffic Briefly Halted in D.C. Amid Shooting Near White House; Thanksgiving Travel Rush in Full Swing; ICE Arrests Woman With Family Ties to White House Press Secretary; Georgia Election Interference Case Against Trump Dropped; Pope Leo to Bring Message of Peace to the Middle East; Semi-trucks Crash on Icy Minnesota Highway; Rain, Snow, Cold Temperatures Expected for Thanksgiving. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 27, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:33]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, a deadly fire ripped through an apartment complex in Hong Kong. We have the latest on the recovery efforts.

Two National Guard members shot in broad daylight near the White House. How the Trump administration is responding.

A winter storm warning is in effect in parts of the U.S. We'll get the latest forecast for the holiday weekend.

And why do people watch football on Thanksgiving? Our sports reporters break down the history of the time-honored tradition.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Appreciate you joining us. It is 3:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, where authorities fear the death toll could rise dramatically in that massive apartment block fire. As it stands right now, 51 people are confirmed dead. Nearly 300 others are unaccounted for, and many may be trapped on the building's higher floors. Firefighters are still working to put out isolated flames. Authorities believe the fire started in one of the buildings under renovation, with bamboo scaffolding on the exterior.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins me now live from Hong Kong. So, Hanako, for nearly 24 hours now, firefighters have been trying to get those flames under control. What's the latest on that effort and of course, the evacuation process, with nearly 300 people still missing.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary, so we're actually in front of the apartment complex right now in Tai Po in Hong Kong, where you can actually see that some of the flames are still a blazing. I'm just going to step out of frame right here so that my cameraman can sort of pan upwards. And you can see that towards the middle of one of these buildings, there are, I mean, orange flames that are still burning inside the building, and you can see plumes of white and black smoke that are emitting from these buildings going up.

And also, if you just pan a little bit higher up there, again, flames towards the top of the building. And Rosemary, you mentioned that the fire department likely haven't been able to get higher up in these buildings and find those individuals still unaccounted for.

And of course, as more and more time passes since those initial flames, since that initial fire on Wednesday afternoon, there is concern that the death toll can go higher.

Now, also, if you just pan slightly to the right, you can see there are several water hoses trying to extinguish this fire. But again, this fire still remains ablaze. It's still going on, even nearly after 24 hours. You can just imagine how devastating and how frightening this can be for residents of Hong Kong, for people who lived in this apartment complex, about a third of whom were actually elderly residents.

Now, we spoke to -- now, we heard from a survivor just moments earlier, and they spoke about just how devastating this fire is. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We bought this building more than 20 years ago. All of our belongings were in this apartment, and now that it is all burned like this, what's left? There's nothing left. What are we supposed to do?

What we hope most is that the government will help us solve this problem. We don't have any other requests. Just hope that the government can help us resolve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: Now, Rosemary, investigators are trying to find out what exactly caused this fire and what caused it to be so deadly, there are some questions about how the fire really started from one building and moved on to another building. Seven out of those eight buildings behind me were ablaze. So, there are questions again about how the fire spread.

Also, as you mentioned, Rosemary, there was bamboo scaffolding surrounding these buildings that were under reconstruction.

Now, actually, as of March, the Hong Kong government decided to phase out bamboo scaffolding because of the safety concerns regarding this material. I mean, bamboo is a type of wood, so it is highly flammable and can be quite dangerous.

Bamboo scaffolding, though, was widely used in Hong Kong. It is really a mainstay of the city. So, of course, again, this bamboo material, though, it was really well used because of how easy it was to put up and to take down. Again, there are some concerns about safety.

Now, also, Rosemary, I do want to mention here that again, these buildings were under reconstruction, and there are some questions being raised about just who was involved in these materials and whether these materials were actually up to par with safety regulations, there are some concerns that maybe some of the plastics used, some of the nettings used were again highly flammable and might have contributed this to this fire being far more deadly than of course people had hoped, Rosemary.

[02:05:23]

CHURCH: All right, Hanako Montgomery reporting there, we are just getting news of 55 dead so far, still nearly 300 missing in that fire. We'll continue to keep our viewers updated on that. Many thanks, Hanako, for that reporting.

Well, pledges of financial aid are pouring in for those affected by the fire. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is allocating two million yuan, or about $280,000 to the Red Cross. He offered his condolences on Wednesday and ordered government agencies to do everything possible to assist the victims.

Corporate donations are adding up into the millions as well. Tech giant Tencent says it wants to help displaced residents find new housing and to get essential supplies and psychological counseling.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong chief executive John Lee says campaigning ahead of the city's upcoming legislative elections has been suspended.

Law enforcement officials tell CNN, the suspect involved in a shooting that left two National Guardsmen in critical condition has been identified. His name is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, sources say that he's in custody and is not cooperating with police.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says the guardsmen were targeted on Wednesday while on patrol near the White House. President Donald Trump called it a, "Monstrous ambush style attack."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Department of Homeland Security is confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hell hole on Earth. He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021 on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about. Nobody knew who was coming in. Nobody knew anything about it. His status was extended under legislation signed by President Biden. This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Social media video shows an apparent struggle at the scene of the shooting. Law enforcement officials say the FBI believes the suspect immigrated from Afghanistan in 2021. He was granted asylum in April this year.

CNN's Brian Todd reports from the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just about every account from law enforcement officials, from sources and from D.C. city officials, this was an ambush. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser saying that the National Guardsmen were targeted in this shooting.

But a motive for the shooting right now not clear. What we do know from Jeff Carroll, the Assistant Executive police chief of the Metropolitan Washington police force, is that at about 2:15 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, a gunman came around a corner, raised a firearm, discharged it toward a National Guardsman who was a mere few feet away from the suspect. The suspect then turned their gun on a second Guardsman who, according to sources, tried to take cover behind a bus stop shelter.

Sources telling CNN that the gunman and the National Guardsmen exchanged gunfire before the National Guardsmen were shot. At the time of this report, we can tell you that FBI Director Kash Patel says that the two National Guardsmen are in critical condition.

Setting the scene for you here, this is a heavy police presence right near the scene. The scene 17th and I streets Northwest is just beyond where these officers are in the foreground, right back there. This was near a metro stop -- a metro train stop, according to the joint task force.

We did speak to one eyewitness, a young man named Ryan Akeed (ph), a visiting college student, who said that he heard the gunshots. He tried to hide behind some chairs because he knew what was going on. He then looked toward the scene. He said that he saw someone lying on their stomach on the ground with their hands behind their back with at least one person holding them down. He said he assumed that was the shooter. He said he also then saw some people administering CPR to one of the apparent victims. That's a consistent account that we got from another eyewitness, a lady, who said that she saw CPR being administered to a victim after she had heard the gunshots.

As for an apparent motive, we did ask that of the assistant executive police chief, Jeff Carroll, they did not answer that at this time, the two National Guardsmen and the suspect are at local hospitals being treated.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:10:01] CHURCH: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said all immigration cases for Afghan nationals have been stopped indefinitely. The agency said it plans to review security and vetting protocols after President Trump said that all Afghan immigrants who came into the country during the previous administration would be reexamined.

The U.S. president is brushing off concerns about Steve Witkoff after a leaked conversation between the special envoy and a Putin aide, more on that just ahead.

Plus, the Olympic torch is now lit with the winter games coming up in February, we will hear from Ukraine's Minister of Sport on the possible reintegration of Russian athletes at the games, back with that and more in just a moment.

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[02:15:15]

CHURCH: Donald Trump may have backed off his Thanksgiving deadline for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, but he's still pushing ahead in his effort to stop the fighting, and now he's also defending Special Envoy Steve Witkoff over a leaked phone call with Moscow.

Bloomberg published a transcript of an October call between Witkoff and a top aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which showed Witkoff counseling the aide on how Putin should approach a call with Trump. It's noted he even encouraged the Russian official to have Putin speak with Trump before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with the U.S. president at the White House.

Witkoff is set to travel to Moscow next week, and the transcript has caused concern among some Republican lawmakers, including Don Bacon, who wrote and I'm quoting here, 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? He should be fired.

Joining me now from Kyiv is Timofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics and a former Minister of Economic Development of Ukraine. Appreciate you talking with us.

TIMOFIY MYLOVANOV, PRESIDENT, KYIV SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, as these negotiations for peace in Ukraine continue, so too does the fallout from that leaked phone call between U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and a top Putin aide in October, as reported by Bloomberg, and it's blowing up in the administration's face, isn't it, with some Republicans concerned about Witkoff appearing to coach the aide and even suggest President Putin speak with Trump ahead of his meeting with Ukraine's president. What does all of this signal to you?

MYLOVANOV: Well, indeed, the optics are pretty bad, and given that the plan is favoring Russia heavily. And then there is perception, and probably reality, that it is completely drafted by Russia and then presented as being a United States plan. You know, this is not what appears to be prudent, or, you know, lacks

integrity, or it shows that, you know, like you don't want the United States to rubber stamped Russian proposals

At the same time, you know, it's a trained economist, a game theorist speaking in me, I have read the transcript, and I don't see there anything fundamentally different from an attempt to sort of plant the idea into Russians' head that guys make an open bid, a particular -- of a particular interest, I think what the news cycle missed, is the discussion that Witkoff says that he knows what it takes -- what it takes to make a deal is to for Ukraine to give up Donbas, I think that's for me, is the most interesting thing.

CHURCH: Look, let's look at that, because the State Department is now insisting that the U.S. wrote the initial 28-point peace plan that favored Russia. This coming after some elected officials claimed that us, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them that it was actually a Russian proposal that he had to rewrite.

So, it sounds like you believe that this peace proposal was actually written by the Kremlin. We don't know that for sure, but if that were the case, what's in it for the Trump administration to have the Kremlin draft even a framework of a deal like this and then just tweak the edges. What's the sense of that?

MYLOVANOV: Well, so yes, so I agree with you, absolutely. I don't have evidence. We do not know for sure, but I am convinced that -- I believe, I don't have evidence, but I believe that the plan has been drafted by the Russian's side.

You know, why? Well, so, you know, partly it might be just laziness, in the sense that, OK, we don't know what's going to happen. Let's have Russia draft something and go from there.

But there could be a little bit more, sort of, you know, gracious explanation. You know, they're trying to give Russia a little bit of flattery, an opportunity. You know, it doesn't cost much, in some sense, but you make Putin feel that he is driving the agenda, and it's flattery, and he's a narcissist, and it might work

But I'm a little bit skeptical, I think it's more like, OK, we do not have leverage of Russia. Let's take their proposal and we have leverage over Ukraine. Let's push Ukraine in the corner. Unfortunately.

CHURCH: Of course, meantime, it doesn't even look like Russia will sign this newly revised 19 point peace plan when Witkoff actually arrives in Moscow next week. So, where do they go from here?

[02:20:11]

MYLOVANOV: I think we're quite a long way from signing anything if we judge the process by the previous experience of interacting between Russia and Ukraine, it will take multiple meetings to iron out any details, but it's not even clear if we -- as you said, if Russia is serious about this proposal. Now, we can't read Russia, and Russia will definitely use its usual

tactics. It will deny everything. It will say, listen, we are not satisfied. It will impose maximalist demands. It will bomb Ukraine in the meantime, but in the end, they will agree to something.

CHURCH: And of course, we know that one Republican is calling for Witkoff to be fired. Others are just furious about this situation. Is Witkoff equipped to continue fair and equitable peace negotiations with all that's come to light in recent days?

MYLOVANOV: Fair and equitable, definitely not. To get something done favoring Russia, possibly, yes. I do not know. I cannot speak for that, because I don't know the true evidence of what's happening behind the doors, but the optics are awful.

CHURCH: Timofiy Mylovanov, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

All right. So, with the Winter Olympics now, just a couple of months away, the possibility of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could mean a return of the Russian Olympic team to the world stage.

CNN's Amanda Davies sat down with the Ukrainian Sports Minister, who says it's too soon to talk about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN HOST: We are speaking today with the countdown very much on to the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. What would your view be -- if peace was to be reached in the coming days or weeks, what would be your view on Russian athletes being allowed to compete at the Winter Olympics next February?

MATVII BIDNYI, UKRAINIAN SPORTS MINISTER: I think it's too early to talk about it. It's too early to talk about the just being achieved. We have a lot of issues with preparation to competition. We have a lot of killed coaches and athletes. We heard a lot of losers because of the war, because of the Russia.

DAVIES: What needs to happen, in your opinion, for the reintegration of Russian athletes into the international sporting community?

BIDNYI At least, I think we must have strong cease fire. We should have I think the final agreement and the kill in everyday attacks and the killing and murdering the Ukrainian citizens should be stopped.

I think in terms of recovery, we must have some understanding about finding Ukrainian rebuilding from the assets of Russia, from the European Union and USA. And maybe next we can talk about the negotiation about coming back the Russian assets into international sports area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The president of Nigeria has declared a nationwide security emergency following a series of mass abductions of school children. He has also ordered the military and police to boost their personnel. A presidential spokesperson says the police will recruit about 20,000 more officers. More than 300 students were kidnapped by armed groups last week, which followed a similar incident where gunmen abducted 25 students from a girls' boarding school. One of the girls managed to escape and the others were later rescued.

The Dominican Republic has agreed to let the U.S. military use. One of its air bases to fight drug trafficking. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the deal alongside the country's president in Santo Domingo on Wednesday, the U.S. has amassed a fleet of warships in the region as part of an operation to disrupt the flow of drugs through the region, and it's launched nearly two dozen lethal strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September

Rescue efforts are underway in Hong Kong, along with a criminal investigation into that deadly apartment fire, we will look into the possible cause and why it spreads so quickly.

Plus, a woman arrested by ICE near Boston has family ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

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[02:29:49]

CHURCH: Authorities in Hong Kong have launched a criminal investigation into the high-rise fire that has killed at least 55 people. Nearly 300 others are missing. Firefighters are still battling isolated flames in several buildings and searching for people trapped on higher floors.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is allocating 2 million yuans, or about $280,000 to rescue efforts. Chinese companies have announced donations totaling tens of millions of dollars to help affected residents.

Let's bring in Xinyan Huang, Associate Professor in the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Good to have you with us, Professor.

XINYAN HUANG, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY ENGINEERING, THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY: Thank you.

CHURCH: So as an investigation gets underway to try to determine the possible cause of this deadly fire, what role do you think the renovations may have played in this disaster, particularly the bamboo scaffolding?

HUANG: Yes. So right now, the exact cause of the fire is still unknown. I think we need to wait for the more detailed fire investigation. But when the fire happens, definitely the bamboo scaffolding, together with the plastic net, or other construction, flammable material, contributed significantly to the rapid vertical, upward fire spread, as well as the fire spread to other buildings. CHURCH: And I did want to ask you this, I mean, as an engineering expert, of course, and an engineer yourself, why is the city of Hong Kong still using bamboo scaffolding in the 21st century? And is it time to ban the use of bamboo on construction sites, particularly of this size?

HUANG: Well, this is a very critical question. First of all, I want to say, Hong Kong is a place very respect to the tradition. And we have been using bamboo for hundreds of years, and that's one reason. The second reason is bamboo is very light. One worker can carry a few. And it's also the living condition, the living space in Hong Kong is very small, very narrow.

So sometimes you don't have the space to drive some heavy-duty machine to lift these steel scaffoldings. Instead, carrying -- workers carrying the bamboo scaffolding is very easy to do the installation. And also, because the space is very small, they can cut the bamboo very easily. So that's a major reason the bamboo is so popular in Hong Kong and are still using today.

CHURCH: If this investigation finds that bamboo is the cause of this fire, and this is just -- I mean, it's terrifying because nearly 300 people are still missing, aren't they? So if that's the case and it's bamboo, then is it time to ban this and to look at other options for scaffolding?

HUANG: Yes, I agree. Most of other cities are using steel scaffolding. Probably Hong Kong is one of the few remaining cities still using bamboo. And you don't even need to bend the bamboo. You just need to include the scaffolding as part of the building. Then, everything outside of the building must be non-combustible, so that automatically will not violate the Hong Kong fire code. So, it's not just about banning, it could be how to define the building domain.

CHURCH: Yeah, it's more the use of scaffolding in buildings, I mean, high -- skyscrapers like this, isn't it really? So, why do you think the flames spread so quickly through this building and why are nearly 300 people still missing? What does that indicate to you?

HUANG: First of all, there are two major contribution to the faster fire spread. The first one is of course, the bamboo, the plastic net, and other combustible material outside of the building. They create the combustible facade, almost like a facade and support the upward fire spread. The other reason is there are some, we call that cold alley area between apartments, so these are empty channels for additional light and ventilation. And these channels create the chimney effect for the fire, for the hot gas moving up so quickly.

So that's the reason that fire spreading from the lower floor to higher floor in just one or two minutes. And it's a renovation project, so all the people are still living there, living in their homes. So that's the reason it's different from a new building construction. Nobody in the new building. This is a renovation. So that's the reason the population inside the building is very high.

CHURCH: Yeah. And another point they need to consider in this investigation, of course. Professor Huang, thank you so much for joining us, unfortunate circumstances, of course. Appreciate it.

[02:35:00]

HUANG: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, U.S. officials say two National Guardsmen who were shot near the White House are still in critical condition. The Department of Homeland Security has now identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who was granted asylum earlier this year. Sources say he is in custody and is not cooperating with police. I have to warn you, some may find this next video disturbing.

It shows police giving chest compressions to one Guardsman on the ground next to a shattered bus stop station. And you can then see what appears to be the second Guardsman also on the ground surrounded by police. Officials say both National Guard members were targeted. President Donald Trump condemned the attack and said it was carried out at point blank range.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This heinous assault was an act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity. I have directed the Department of War to mobilize an additional 500 troops to help protect our capital city. We will make America totally safe again, and we will bring the perpetrator of this barbaric attack to swift and certain justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The FAA briefly halted all air traffic at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday after the shooting in D.C. CNN's Pete Muntean has more on the ground stop amid the Thanksgiving holiday travel rush.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Things pretty much back to normal now here at Reagan National Airport, after the Federal Aviation Administration briefly halted all flights to here because of that shooting near the White House involving two members of the National Guard. That ground stop now lifted, which is welcome news to the 2.7 million people passing through TSA security checkpoints like this one. That is the forecast from the TSA when Wednesday is said and done.

The big days for air travel still ahead and Sunday is anticipated to be the biggest with TSA anticipating 3 million people at airports nationwide. Thanksgiving Day is the best kept secret when it comes to air travel, also when it comes to driving. And AAA says road traffic will be not much to speak of on Thursday because some commutes when you mix in people going home from school, going home from work, and holiday traffic can be three and four times the norm on Wednesday evening.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

CHURCH: A woman with family ties to the White House Press Secretary is now in ICE custody. Bruna Caroline Ferreira is a Brazilian native and the mother of Karoline Leavitt's nephew. She was arrested near Boston earlier this month. Her attorney says Ferreira was a former recipient of DACA, which grants temporary protection from deportation for those brought to the U.S. as children. He says she was currently in the middle of a lawful immigration process for citizenship when she was arrested.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD POMERLEAU, ATTORNEY FOR BRUNA FERREIRA: Like many other days, it was around noontime. She was leaving her home to go pick up her son, Michael. He lives in Southern New Hampshire, about 35 miles away from where Bruna lives. And she's being characterized as somebody who never sees her son. She sees him regularly. He has lived with her. So, she lives in an apartment complex. So when she walked out of her home, at first, she thought it was a traffic stop because a vehicle pulled up and then she was surrounded by three or four unmarked vehicles and people got out of the cars with masks over their faces.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's the standard operating procedure. We've heard so many stories. Do you believe her arrest was entirely random?

POMERLEAU: No.

SCIUTTO: Tell me why.

POMERLEAU: Because she was surrounded by four unmarked vehicles, clearly from ICE. She watches the news; she sees people with masks over their faces, and that's how Immigration and Customs Enforcement rolls these days. But what was strange about it is when they approached her, they asked her for her driver's license. So at first, she was kind of like, why are you asking me for my driver's license? This doesn't appear to be a traffic stop.

Then they asked her if she had her license? She said it was in her purse. Then they asked her if she was Bruna? And she said, why are you asking me that? And then they immediately arrested her. They took her to a police station in the Boston suburbs, and they took her to New Hampshire. Then they took her to Vermont, and now she's sitting in Louisiana.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A prosecutor here in the state of Georgia has killed the last remaining case hanging over President Trump in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which he clearly lost. Now, this means he and his 18 co-conspirators will face no legal consequences for their alleged efforts to interfere with the vote. The Georgia prosecutor said bringing the case before a jury in 2029 or later would be nothing short of a remarkable feat and that any attempt to try him separately would be unduly burdensome and costly for the state.

[02:40:00] The case peaked in August of 2023 when Donald Trump surrendered to an Atlanta jail and was forced to provide a mugshot. The other federal cases against President Trump were previously dismissed.

Still to come, could an underwater symphony of reef music be the next tool in reef restoration? We will travel to Hawaii to see how sound could help rebuild coral ecosystems.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

CHURCH: Well, few ecosystems are struggling more than our coral reefs. They are facing a variety of threats, including warmer temperatures, pollution, and overfishing. Globally, we have lost around 50 percent of our reefs since the 1950s. Today, on Call to earth, we dive into Hawaiian waters with a team of scientists who are experimenting with sound to help revive them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Beneath the waves, we often picture a quiet stillness. But if you listen closely, the sea floor is bustling with crackles, chirps and pops.

ARAN MOONEY, MARINE BIOLOGIST, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: A healthy reef is really just vibrant with sounds. You can actually hear fish calling to each other, and so that might be a pair of fish scraping on the reef or attracting mates or defending territories.

ASHER (voice-over): Aran Mooney is the Principal Investigator of Reef Soundscapes and Biodiversity at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts.

MOONEY: We started listening to reefs really in the Virgin Islands in about 2012. The focus of that was how to really understand or use sound to measure the health of reefs.

ASHER (voice-over): Over the last few months, Aran and his coral reef solution team have been conducting a field study on the reefs around Maui, Hawaii.

MOONEY: We're going to go pick up the surface buoy first and then we will suit up.

ASHER (voice-over): But they're not here to listen. They're here to play their own symphony of reef noises to test if it can spark new life on decaying areas.

MOONEY: When you lose these reefs, you begin to kind of lose the vibrancy, the sound cues or the scents that might attract those baby fish and baby corals back to the reefs.

ASHER (voice-over): In a Caribbean based study, Aran's team discovered that coral larvae were more likely to settle when healthy reef sounds were broadcasted underwater compared to those left in silence.

MOONEY: From there, we actually worked on building a system, what we call, the RAPS or the Reef Acoustic Playback System. It's a little sort of electronics integrated in a buoy. We tend to load in these healthy reef sounds and we put them on in the afternoon, evening and replay all night. And then it is generally thought the coral larva selecting or settling their habitats at night. Different coral species have been responding to sound so far, but in sort of different ways.

ASHER (voice-over): Today Aran and his team are returning to the ocean floor to wrap up the controlled soundscape experiment they've been running over the summer.

SIERRA JARRIEL, RESEARCH ASSISTANT, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: Ready?

MOONEY: Perfect. Light the fires, kick the tires.

JARRIEL: So we have two sites here. We have a speaker connected to a RAP that is playing back healthy reef sound. And then we have a fake speaker. So it looks the same, but there's no sound being played back. At each site, we have settlement tiles at one and ten meters away from the speaker or fake speaker. There are attached to the bottom as a place for coral to settle on. So we're going to be taking these into to score settlement.

MOONEY: So the work we study here was sort of multiple goals. Basically, do Pacific coral respond to these sound cues at all, or is this a phenomenon that's just in the Caribbean? Or is there a coral dialect essentially? Does it need Maui specific sounds or can we use just a really wonderful healthy reef sound from elsewhere? And then which species might be most responsive or easiest for us to work with?

ASHER (voice-over): The dive is done, but their work is far from over. At Maui Ocean Center's lab, Aran's team will now examine the tiles under a microscope and UV light. It will take weeks to go through all 240 tiles.

MOONEY: Caroline (ph) is looking at the fresh tiles and we're going through there and quantifying what's there. Wow, this is a really beautiful coral skeleton.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a nice one.

MOONEY: Another cool thing we can actually measure is like the community that shows up. So, the sponges or oysters that show up on those tiles.

ASHER (voice-over): While the early results are encouraging, Aran says there's still a lot to learn, but he believes sound could become an important tool in rebuilding reefs.

MOONEY: Restoration of reefs is going to require a lot of different solutions. And reefs are different around the world, so we think we potentially have one option. There's other components in the ocean, of course, that we need to think about, but we do think we have a pretty interesting solution here. One is that it's using natural sounds out there. I want to go to bed at night thinking that I did the best to build environment for our future, our kids to thrive in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Fascinating solution there. So let us know what you are doing to answer the call with the hashtag #calltoearth and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:50:00]

CHURCH: Pope Leo is on his way to the Middle East on his first foreign trip as the leader of the Catholic Church. The Pope is traveling to Turkey and Lebanon where he's expected to meet the Turkish president in the coming hours. He will also address the local Catholic community and focus attention on key regional issues. While in Turkey, the Pontiff will mark the feast of St. Andrew, an important ceremony for the Orthodox Church.

Pope Leo will arrive Sunday in Lebanon, where he'll take part in an inter-religious gathering and celebrate a mass on the Beirut waterfront.

Well, if you plan to be driving for Thanksgiving on some of the northern U.S. states, you might be battling snow. And these are pictures from Minnesota after semi-trucks jackknifed in blizzard conditions, but more snow is in the forecast for later this week. CNN's Allison Chinchar has Thanksgiving forecast.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: For anyone who has any last- minute travel plans, truly on Thanksgiving Day, the southern tier of the U.S. actually looks relatively dry. It's the northern part of the country where we're really going to see the bulk of the problems. We've got rain and snow across portions of the Northwest, snow around the Midwest and Great Lakes region, and even some rain right there along the coast of the Mid-Atlantic region.

But the snow is the concern because this is where it could pile up in really high amounts. Now widespread, most of these areas likely to get a couple of inches here, but especially if you're on the eastern flanks of the Great Lakes, you could be looking at least a foot of snow before all of it is finally said and done. And wind is also going to be an issue. It's really strong early in the day on Thursday in the Midwest, but we gradually start to see those winds beginning to pick up across the Northeast as we make our way through the day.

So here's a look at the system as a whole. Slowly sliding off to the east and north as we go through Thanksgiving Day, but still providing some snow even into the day on Friday as well. For those who are concerned about the actual parade taking place, as we mentioned, dry conditions. But the thing is going to be wind. That's going to be the biggest concern. Some of those gusts up around that 20 mile per hour range. The temperatures themselves will be in the low 40s. But when you factor in that wind, it's going to feel more like it's in the mid to upper 30s.

So definitely bundle up if you are planning to head out to not just the New York parade, but really parades or festivals anywhere tomorrow. Because look at some of these, feels like temperatures to start off the day, Thursday, even down into the Deep South, you're looking at those feels like temperatures in the 20s, 25 in Atlanta, 23 in Nashville, barely above the freezing mark for Jackson and even Jacksonville. So again, it's going to be a very, very cold day.

And for many of these areas, we spent much of the last couple weeks above average temperature-wise. Now we're going to see the opposite. Take a look at New York City, several degrees below the 50, which is where they normally would be this time of year. Atlanta should be about 60 degrees.

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We're going to see those temperatures about five to 10 degrees below average, and that is likely going to stick around for the rest of the weekend.

CHURCH: In the hours ahead, Americans will be gathering with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving. And for many, watching some NFL games is just as traditional as the turkey World Sport's Andy Scholes takes a look at this time-honored tradition and this year's matchups.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (voice-over): Family, food and football -- that's what Thanksgiving is all about. Do you ever wonder why the Lions and Cowboys play every Thanksgiving? Well, it all started back in 1934. The Detroit Lions were a brand new team struggling to fill their stadium. So owner George Richards came up with a brilliant idea, host a game on Thanksgiving Day and broadcast it nationwide on his radio network. And the Lions sold out that first game and the tradition stuck.

Fast forward to 1966, Dallas wanted in. The Cowboys were still building their fan base and General Manager, Tex Schramm figured a Thanksgiving game would put the Cowboys on the map. And he was right. The rating soared and outside of a couple years in the '70s, Dallas has been a Thanksgiving mainstay ever since. So now, every year, Detroit kicks things off early. Dallas takes the late afternoon spot. And since 2006, the NFL has added a primetime game to make it a full day of football feasting from sunup to lights out.

And this year's slate has two great divisional matchups. The Lions hosting the Packers in an NFC North division showdown. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens host the Bengals in the nightcap. And Patrick Mahomes will make his Thanksgiving Day debut. He returns home to Texas to take on the Cowboys.

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: It's about rebounding fast, trying to be better, even better this next week, going into a big environment, big game, and trying to get that win. It's going to be -- it's going to be a lot of fun going to Dallas and getting to play on Thanksgiving.

SCHOLES (voice-over): For my entire childhood, John Madden and Pat Summerall were the voices of Thanksgiving.

JOHN MADDEN, PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL COACH AND SPORTS COMMENTATOR, NFL: It's fun. We're here. It's football. Turkey, football, you can't beat that.

SCHOLES (voice-over): Starting in 1981, they began a run-up calling Thanksgiving Games together for two decades. And in 1997, they helped introduce the world to their Turducken.

MADDEN: What a Turducken, it is a de-boned duck stuffed in a de-boned chicken stuffed in a de-bone turkey with stuffing, now you're talking.

SCHOLES (voice-over): Even Tom Brady loves them, some Turducken.

TOM BRADY, COMMENTATOR, NFL: How did the duck and the chicken get roped into this? They thought -- I don't know, Turkey was a Thanksgiving (inaudible). Oh, that was good.

SCHOLES (voice-over): Madden introduced the players of the game celebrating with a turkey leg back in 1989. And it's a tradition that is still going today. From the Lions and Cowboys to the turkey legs and Turducken, Thanksgiving football is more than a game. It's a holiday tradition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A fun history lesson there. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Do stick around.

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