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U.S. Policy Team Met With Ukraine Delegation To End War; Winter Storm Wreaks Havoc On Travel; Brian Walshe Goes On Trial For Wife's Alleged Murder; Mass Shooting At CA Birthday Party; Volkswagen Restores Microbus That Withstood Palisades Fire. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 30, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And yes, her legacy will continue through the Viola Ford Fletcher Foundation but is also reflected in the title of the memoir she wrote with her grandson "Don't Let Them Bury My Story."

And before we go, I just want to read quick a bit because I think it captures who she was, saying, it is easy to be consumed by the darkness to feel small in the face of adversity but you are not small. She goes on to say, hold on to hope, stay true to yourself, and never let anyone bury your story.

That's all I got for you. I'm Omar Jimenez. "CNN Newsroom with Jessica Dean" starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

President Trump tonight returning to Washington hours after his foreign policy team met with the delegation from Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner all participating in talks at a Florida club developed by Witkoff. Substantial changes made to an earlier 28-point plan which was criticized as too friendly to Russia.

But major sticking points remain between Russia and Ukraine and America's European allies. The next major step is Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's meeting tomorrow with the French president in Paris. This as Witkoff travels to Moscow this week to meet with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein is joining us now. Betsy, President Trump just speaking on Air Force One about all of this as he's en route back to Washington. A lot of pieces going to continue to come together over the next several days.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, this will be a very critical moment for the future of Russia's war in Ukraine. And President Trump projecting some optimism. He says that there is a good chance that they can get to a deal. He said that he spoke with Secretary Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff after they wrapped up talks in South Florida a little bit earlier this afternoon. He said, Ukraine has got some difficult problems, but I think Russia would like to see it end. The president was asked for clarity on what those difficult problems are, and he pointed to the corruption situation in Ukraine, which he described as not helpful.

And one of the key things that was different for this round of talks was the absence of a top aide to President Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak, who resigned earlier this week after an anti-corruption raid on his home, really leaving Ukraine without one of its top negotiators who has been deeply involved in these discussions.

But Rubio, speaking to reporters afterward, really tempered expectations after these talks. He said the goal is one, to end the war, two, to help set Ukraine up well economically, and three, to keep Ukraine safe from a future invasion. But Rubio also acknowledged that Russia is going to have to play a central role going forward. He said there is more work to be done and described it as delicate. Listen.

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MARCO RUBIO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: This is comprehensive, what we're working on here today. It's not just about the terms that ends fighting, it's about also the terms that set up Ukraine for long- term prosperity. I thought we started laying the groundwork for that most certainly in Geneva. I think we continue that work in our communications throughout the week. I think we've built on that again today.

But there's more work to be done. This is delicate. It's complicated. There are a lot of moving parts. And obviously, there's another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow.

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KLEIN: Now, Rubio acknowledging that very challenging reality, that Putin is going to have to sign off on anything that is agreed to. There are three key sticking points that remain in these very intensive discussions. Number one, the question of land, whether Ukraine would surrender key territories in the Donbas region that have been annexed but not yet fully conquered. Separately, proposals for Ukraine to limit the size of its military. And third, giving up Ukraine's ambition to become a member of NATO.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff expected to travel on Monday to Russia where he is expected to speak with President Putin about all of these and hear him out on some of these details.

DEAN: Yes. And Betsy, anything else we should know from the president as he was talking to reporters just a short time ago?

KLEIN: There were two things that were really notable here. Number one, the president did confirm a report from over the weekend that he spoke by phone with Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro. Of course, this comes as the U.S. has been creating this very significant show of force in the region after so many strikes on these alleged drug boats.

And separately, the president also commented on reports that a September 2nd strike on one of these alleged drug vessels did not successfully kill everybody aboard and a second strike was launched. That has prompted questions on both sides of the aisle over recent days about whether that constituted a war crime. The president said that he wouldn't have wanted that. So, very interesting. We'll have to see how that plays out, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Betsy Klein with the very latest reporting from the White House, thank you for that. We're joined now by CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger.

[17:05:00]

David is also a New York Times White House national security correspondent. David, good to see you. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. A week ago --

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES: Good Thanksgiving to you, too.

DEAN: Thank you. A week ago, the US and Ukrainian teams were meeting in Geneva as we heard Marco Rubio talking about there. Now, we have these talks today, and we're looking ahead to a full week as well with more discussions just across the world, really. What is your sense of if we are actually getting any closer to a deal?

SANGER: Well, I think they're getting closer to an understanding with the Ukrainians, but getting to a deal means taking all of these to President Putin and getting Russia's agreement. And the more that you move that early draft that leaked a week ago toward Ukraine that obviously had been quite pro-Russian, the harder it is to get Putin to sign on.

I'm relatively confident, Jessica, that they're going to work out the land issue because, you know, there, you can sort of define the boundaries. It's going to be painful. Giving up Crimea particularly would be hard. And there's the problem that the Ukrainian constitution also puts some limits on what can be done here.

But I think the really hardest questions are going to be about Ukraine's sovereignty, that Ukraine doesn't want to be in the position where the Russians get to sign off on how big their military is, how far their missiles can fly, when they hold elections, any more than we would want another country to be able to decide that for us.

DEAN: Yes. And those sticking points clearly remain. What did you hear about specifically today, the atmosphere of this conversation today, these talks today?

SANGER: I thought it was heartening a bit that when you listened to Secretary of State Rubio, he emphasized the importance of not only having a viable Ukrainian economy in the future, but having a way to assure that Russia could not launch this kind of attack again, and that means that they're going to need some kind of security guarantee.

The Ukrainians are going to be naturally suspicious of this because they got one of these in 1994 from Britain, the United States, and from Russia, and it turned out to be pretty useless when they actually got invaded, in fact, even when they lost Crimea back -- oh, now 10 years ago.

So, I think the Ukrainians are going to really want to make sure that that is ironclad, and the Russians are going to want to make sure that, in fact, Ukraine can't survive as an independent state. It's Putin's desire to make sure that that state crumbles and gets rolled into Russia.

DEAN: And as we look ahead this week, Witkoff, potentially Jared Kushner also, expected to head to Moscow for these talks with Putin, and I'm curious what you think about this idea that they're making this progress with the Ukrainians. As Marco Rubio noted there, the secretary of state, that obviously there's another party involved.

SANGER: Yes.

DEAN: Does Putin unravel any progress or is this meeting with Putin kind of -- is there two steps forward, one step back or one step forward, two steps back situation that they could find themselves in?

SANGER: Well, I'm sure that Putin is going to want to push back because he's going to want to make sure that he ultimately has control over Ukraine's future. That's really what this is about. And the Ukrainian desire to join NATO and the European Union is to make sure that Ukraine and the West have control over Ukraine's future.

So, this is really going to be the front in the new Cold War here because in the end, how this is resolved may well define our relationship with Russia. I think one of the big concerns here is that the Trump administration, in trying to race to an agreement in time for Thanksgiving last week, you remember the president's deadline, was just trying to get it resolved under any circumstances. I think Rubio has now sort of retaken control of this negotiation.

DEAN: Yes. And in the meantime, Zelenskyy is planning to meet tomorrow with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. France, Germany, and the U.K. last week offering this counter proposal to the U.S. plan, which they initially -- which was essentially dismissed. How do you factor in Europe to all of this?

SANGER: Well, Europeans are angry, Jessica. They're angry because they first read about this proposal when it leaked a week ago, and they were completely cut out of this whole process.

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And I think that they believe that after all these different times that they have tried to work together with President Trump on these issues, set a common negotiating position with him before he met with Putin in Anchorage this summer and so forth, at every step along the way, they are kind of pushed to the side. DEAN: Do you think Trump has essentially sidelined Europe here?

SANGER: I think he'd like to. I mean, you know, it's an odd position here where President Trump has said to the Europeans, we expect you, not the United States, to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine. We expect you to pay for their weapons. We'll supply them and sell them, but only in return for being paid by the Europeans.

But he does not expect them to have a major voice in the outcome of this. And frankly, it's their security in their view that is also being negotiated. This isn't to the Germans or to the Poles or to others just about Ukraine, it's about where Russia stops and where they draw the line, and whether Putin has to pay a price for his invasion or whether he gets at least part of what he wanted.

DEAN: Yes. And to that -- look, the secretary of state is expected to skip this meeting of NATO's foreign ministers next week. We don't know why that is. But you have reported a lot about Rubio's influence just generally in Trump's inner circle. And so, what does it tell you? If Rubio is not going to that, what does it tell you about their priorities and their thinking here?

SANGER: Well, I was a little surprised. This is a meeting that the secretary of state usually goes to, and that has been the case across Republican and Democratic administrations. If it was just one example, I think people might say, well, there's a conflict or he needs to stay closer to Washington.

But the U.S. just sat out the G20 summit because President Trump had objections to South Africa as the host. It has sat out recently of the climate change talks. And now, this meeting. And so, there's just this general sense that the Trump administration just does not want to engage with its allies.

DEAN: Yes. All right, David Sanger, good to have you. A big week ahead. Thank you very much.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

DEAN: Still ahead here, bad timing for those traveling after the Thanksgiving holiday as the monster winter storm that's impacting much of the U.S. right now continues. And we're tracking the impact at airports all across the country as thousands of flights are delayed or cancelled. Stay with us. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: A big winter storm bringing heavy snow and rain to parts of the country, slowing down flights, making driving dangerous for millions of holiday travelers. Chicago is seeing some of the worst disruptions this weekend with more than 1,100 flights canceled or delayed today. In Iowa, the state police said it had to really rescue more than 200 people out of ditches after their cars slid off slick roads like that one.

Meteorologist Chris Warren is tracking this storm. And Chris, I think a lot of people probably on the move tonight. Where is the storm headed next?

CHRIS WARREN, METEOROLOGIST: Well, the storm is moving out. But that's one storm. There's a new storm that will be developing for tomorrow and tomorrow night. But right now, the latest with the airports, LaGuardia and Boston still seeing delays, departure delays around an hour or so. But the areas you mentioned, in Iowa, and then Illinois, and Indiana, getting a break right now.

And for now, one of the other issues we're dealing with across the northeast, the winds. Winds gusting around Buffalo up to 40 miles an hour through tomorrow. Still seeing things rather gusty, 20 to 25 mile an hour winds into the afternoon.

So, here's that departing system right here with the snow showers much more hit and miss at the moment with rain making it at times a little tough on the roadways in terms of seeing some ponding on the road, some of the puddles and some of the just tough. Travel, anyways, kind of making it worse with the rain.

But then the next one, the next one again for tomorrow and tomorrow night, these alerts. Winter weather alerts are in effect for the next system that's going to develop. And this is how it's going to play out. This is the high-resolution future radar. It gives us a general idea of how things, pretty good idea, how things are going to play out in terms of the rain, green, and then the snow, and then the bluish colors. By tomorrow afternoon into the evening, 6:30, snow returns for parts of Iowa, almost all of Illinois, Indiana once again.

So, this is another system. We had the one over the weekend. This is a new one for tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening around the Great Lakes, pushing off by early Tuesday into the northeast. And at times, the snow will be heavy.

But there's also something else. You have the rain down here and some storms, which will be a mess. But in between, there's also the potential for ice. So, while there could be pockets of heavy snow in Pennsylvania and New York, it is going to be this ice, Jessica, we could see up to about a half an inch, that ice, it's that freezing rain that can accumulate on power lines and on trees and branches, bringing them down, causing power outages, and Jessica, making travel very dangerous with ice.

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DEAN: All right, Chris Warren with the look ahead there, it looks quite wintry, thank you so much. And let's bring in going.com's travel expert, Katy Nastro. Katy, good to see you. As Chris was just laying out, we have quite some weather this weekend as people are trying to probably fly home. How would you rate the travel weekend so far?

KATY NASTRO, TRAVEL EXPERT, GOING.COM: You know, look, unfortunately for some travelers, winter storms in the Midwest have upended their journeys as we look at the busiest day when it comes to air travel specifically, which is today. You know, looking at yesterday, 7% of all flights within, in or out of the U.S. were outrightly canceled per Cirium aviation analytics data, which is roughly just over 2,000 flights and 9,000 delayed.

Cities like Chicago, as mentioned, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, as well as Minneapolis, really feeling the pinch, and more regional airports as well. So, in terms of what we're seeing, obviously, winter weather can always be impactful, but this is definitely one for the books, for sure.

DEAN: Yes. And so, for people out there who are wondering or maybe they have a family member or a friend, if your flight is canceled, what kind of rights do you have? What are you entitled to? What should you know?

NASTRO: Yes, look, first and foremost, if your flight is outrightly canceled, under federal regulation, you have that right to request a refund if you decide, you know what, I don't want to travel, or take a rebooking that the airline that you're flying with provides.

Now, I will say with winter weather, we sometimes see airlines provide winter weather waivers. And all of the big three airlines, American, Delta, United have these winter weather travel alerts in place. And that actually allows you to make changes to your itinerary regardless of your ticket type, even preemptively if your flight is not outrightly canceled but it has the likelihood of getting impacted.

And if you're unsure if the carrier that you're flying with over this weekend has a travel alert in place, it takes not even a moment, go to Google, type in travel alert and then your airline name, and it should pop right up.

DEAN: Yes. And that's important, I think, too, when you know there's going to be weather, like look ahead, see if you can kind of get ahead of everything before you're standing at that gate and they say it's canceled. That always helps. What other ideas and advice do you have for people when it comes to managing a weekend like this? Are there apps you rely on? Obviously, you want to have the airline that you're flying, you want to have their app downloaded. What else would you tell people?

NASTRO: Great point. You definitely want to have your airline app downloaded. You want to make sure you have those push notifications on because those are going to be the fastest form of communication with the airline.

As well as Flighty, a great app that actually pulls in different data sets that will preemptively alert you to whether or not your flight has the likelihood of getting delayed. Now, it is a paid subscription, but it's worth trying out, especially during these winter weather months when we see a higher likelihood of weather playing an impact and whether or not you're going to see a travel disruption as well as flight aware.

And I would say even, you know, if you're not flying to that destination that's impacted, even if you're flying across the country, you still want to keep an eye on the plane that's coming into where you're taking out from because it can get impacted by weather. And as we've seen across the last few weeks, especially with the shutdown, you know, the aviation system is really interconnected and it can have a domino effect. So, you can be outrightly impacted even without being in that area that's seeing weather, for example.

DEAN: Right. It's good to know where your plane is coming from. That always helps, too. And obviously, we're looking ahead now to Christmas. We have New Year. This is a time of year where people continue to travel. What would you -- what recommendations do you have? Should people have already booked those tickets? Are they going to go down? Should you book them now?

NASTRO: Yes. I'm so glad you brought that up because our biggest piece of advice over going would be to get your travel plans booked ASAP, especially those flights. You know, domestic flights, according to Going data, is up 7%. International flights are up around modestly just 1%.

But you want to make sure now that we're heading into those final weeks and we're coming into one of, again, one of those peak times of the year, you want to ensure that you're getting a decent price and not an astronomically-high price when you wait till the last minute.

As well as I want to remind folks, definitely check out Travel Tuesday, this Tuesday coming for some discounts, but look to 2026 travels for taking advantage of it. It's unlikely you're going to find rock bottom discounts at this late in the game for those peak dates across the winter holidays, so definitely get those booked.

DEAN: Book them now and you're probably going to have to pay. All right, Katy, thank you so much. Good to see you.

NASTRO: You as well. Take care.

DEAN: Thanks. Still to come here, a Massachusetts man accused of murdering his wife is on trial after pleading guilty to lesser charges. The challenge Brian Walshe's lawyers will face in trying to explain how he could have disposed of her body without being responsible for her death.

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We'll break down that case next.

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DEAN: Opening statements are expected tomorrow in a gruesome murder case in Massachusetts. Brian Walshe is accused of murdering and dismembering his wife, Ana, the missing mother of three young boys. He has pleaded guilty to some of the charges, but his attorneys insist he's not admitting to murder. CNN's Jeanc Casarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEAN CASAREZ, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Opening statements are set to begin Monday in the criminal case of Brian Walshe. They have 12 jurors, plus four alternates. The case is supposed to last about three weeks.

[17:29:58]

The big question at this point is, what is the defense going to say in their opening statements? What are they going to say happened that night?

Now, the prosecution has charged Brian Walshe with first-degree murder because they are saying that on the night of New Year's Eve into the actually early morning hours of January 1st, 2023, that he murdered his wife in their home with deliberate premeditation. Now, the question is, why would he do this? Well, the prosecution does not have to prove motive.

But here's what was going on in his life and his marriage. He was married to Ana Walshe, who had just gotten a very big job the year before. She was regional general manager of Tishman Speyer, real estate firm in Washington, D.C. So, she would work there during the week, come back home to Massachusetts where Brian was with their three very young children.

Brian had some issues going on. He had been convicted of selling fake Andy Warhol paintings. He was awaiting his sentencing. He was probably going to go to prison. So, he couldn't go to Washington, D.C.

Now, Ana had actually met someone in D.C. She was seeing this guy, and they were potentially going to be serious. He will be a witness at that trial that is set to begin.

But the shocker came shortly before the opening statements because about a week ago, Brian Walshe pleaded guilty to two of the three counts, intentionally misleading a police investigation and conveyance of a human body or dismemberment of a human body. He pleaded guilty, saying that he dismembered his wife, but he did not kill her.

So, the big question on Monday is, what is the defense going to say happened? You dismember your wife, you don't kill her. So, was it an intruder? Was it a terrible, terrible accident? Was it a self-defense? Was it a suicide or none of the above? That's what we're waiting to see. But the trial of Brian Walshe in Massachusetts is set to begin on Monday.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

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DEAN: All right, Jean, thanks for that. CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson is joining us now. Joey, there's this last-minute surprise admission to dumping her body. How abnormal is this?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Jessica, good to be with you. Highly abnormal, but I think it's a strategic play. And I think it's something that the defense had to concede.

The evidence was overwhelming with respect to his discarding of his wife's body. How? You saw evidence as it related to the sanitation pickups that the police did, finding a hacksaw, finding her blood, finding her DNA, having surveillance of him dumping those items, having her Prada bag there, having her boots there. You know, how else did they get there? They see him dumping them there. They have surveillance of him buying all types of cleaning supplies and other things.

And so, the issue is his admission as to the disposing of the body is unusual, but I think it was the only play here, in addition to his lying to the police and pleading guilty to that as well with regard to the time he last saw her, where he was going. And so, I can only surmise that the defense is looking really to get rid of that first- degree murder count because that's the count.

There's no death penalty in this jurisdiction in Massachusetts. However, they have life in prison without parole. So, all those things go to show that yes, he disposed of the body, yes, he lied, but how he killed her is at issue. And in the event he could show it was an accident or disclaim it in some other way, it saves him from a life sentence. So, that's the strategic play the defense has made here.

DEAN: And her body has never been found. What does that mean for this case

JACKSON: So, under these circumstances, it's not going to mean an awful lot. And why I say that is, you know, there are cases that have been tried aplenty in history where there has been no body.

But all indications are that the person is dead here to the extent, Jessica, that he has made the admission he has disposed of her body. We know by implication, right, that he's saying that she's dead. And so, the fact that there's not a body, I think, is something certainly that the prosecution would have to prove.

But owing to the fact that he has already admitted that he has disposed of her body, I don't think it'll be an issue of proof as to the fact that she is indeed dead, even in the absence of them discovering her body itself.

DEAN: And so, looking ahead, how -- again, how would you defend Walshe?

[17:34:56]

How do you anticipate this defense team, in addition to what you laid out there, with this idea that they admit to dumping the body, what might we see from them?

JACKSON: So, I think the ultimate play is to save him from a life sentence. And, therefore, as Jean spelled out and I think in an excellent way, the defense has to come up with some alternate theories as to how she died. Now, why is that significant, Jessica? It's significant because first- degree murder is premeditation. And so, with premeditation, that gets you life, you're never going to see the light of day. Second-degree murder, however, is yes, he killed her, but it wasn't premeditated. Right? It was a killing but not without premeditation. And therefore, that gets you a minimum of 15 years up to 25. He's in his 50s. He'd get out.

And then the last play is whether or not it was manslaughter. That's heat of passion. That could get you up to 20 years, but you're eligible for parole a lot earlier. So, what I'm really looking to see is what of those variations is a defense going to embrace. Now, you could come up with anything.

And just very briefly, you might remember the Casey Anthony case where you had Caylee Anthony, who was two at the time, three at the time of trial, ended up dying. Now, Casey Anthony was on trial for murder and the death penalty was on the table. Her defense lawyers argued that she drowned in a pool. And guess what? She was acquitted of the actual murder and only convicted of lying to the police.

So, I think here, the issue is going to be, what is the defense going to come up with? Embracing, yes, I dispose of the body. Embracing, yes, I lie to the police. But what prosecutors have to prove, and it's not a slam dunk, is that it was premeditated. And they have all these Google searches about how to dispose of a body, how to clean up blood, how to do this, how to do that, but they don't have searches saying how to plan for a murder, and that is what the defense is going to really hang their hat on. Yes, he may have killed her, but how he killed her is very much at issue.

DEAN: How he -- yes. And that premeditation, as you note. All right, Joey Jackson, thank you so much. Great to have you here with us. We appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: And don't miss Joey Jackson along with CNN's Jean Casarez tomorrow, Laura Coates, as they cover that entire trial on CNN's All Access channel. It starts tomorrow at 8.50 a.m. You can check that out again on our All Access channel.

And still ahead, a manhunt is underway after a mass shooting at a birthday party in California. We'll have an update on that investigation next.

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[17:40:00]

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DEAN: A suspected shooter remains at large after killing four people and injuring 11 others at a birthday party in California Saturday night. Three of the four victims were children. They're ages eight, nine, and 14. The fourth victim was just 21. While the investigation is ongoing, officials believe it may have been a targeted attack.

Julia Vargas Jones is here with more. So, Julia, what are they saying about this investigation and who and why might they have been targeting?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the suspect is still at large. They said they're still looking at all possibilities. Investigators believe that this was not a random attack, Jessica, and they're stressing that there is no ongoing threat to the community because of that. They're asking for the public's help as they work to determine a motive here. And as I said, they're exploring all the possibilities.

The shooting took place just before 6 p.m. in a banquet hall in the northern part of the city where investigators were told there was a family gathering of 100 to 150 people. They were celebrating a child's birthday party.

Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the shooting, according to his office. And the Stockton mayor, Christina Fugazi, said in a statement that the governor has offered the full support of the State of California to assist the community at this time.

DEAN: And Julia, what else do we know about the victims? These victims were very young.

VARGAS JONES: Yes. Presumably, the investigators say they were there to take part in this celebration. Unclear if they're all members of the same family or not. But they're so young, just eight, nine, 14- year-old, 21-year-old. You know, 11 other people were wounded and taken to area hospitals, Jessica. We still don't know their conditions or any other details about them.

Yet, of course, this shooting is part of a troubling trend nationwide, and there have been at least 380 mass shootings in the U.S. this year so far. That is when at least four people are shot, not including the shooter, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Now, Stockton joining this growing list of communities dealing with the aftermath of a mass shooting like this. But in the next hour, so the next 15 minutes, faith leaders and community members are planning to hold a candlelight vigil to honor those lives lost and pray for those injured and stand with their community, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Julia Vargas Jones with the latest on that, thank you so much. Widespread flooding and landslides in Asia have killed more than 700 people. Hundreds more are still missing. Relief efforts now underway after downpours from a cyclone in Southeast Asia. The heavy rain devastating parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. A separate storm is also hitting Sri Lanka with the system now approaching India's southern coast.

Tonight, voters are headed to the polls to elect a new president in Honduras. But the election has been shadowed by a threat from President Trump, saying if his preferred candidate from the right-wing party loses the election, that the president might cut off all financial aid to the country. Trump also plans to pardon the country's former president, who is in a U.S. prison for drug trafficking.

[17:45:03]

Tonight, Pope Leo bringing the message of peace to Lebanon, where he is on a three-day visit. The pontiff calling for peace and unity just days after an Israeli airstrike killed five people in Beirut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, BISHOP OF ROME, SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE: It is a great joy for me to meet with you, to visit this land where peace is much more than just a word. For here, peace is a desire and a vocation. It is a gift and a work in progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The pope will be meeting political leaders and young people, and participate in an interfaith gathering en masse. It is the American pope's first international trip since his election in May.

And for some sports news, a major shakeup in college football. Lane Kiffin saying he's leaving Ole Miss and headed to Louisiana State University. Kiffin led Ole Miss to their best season in more than six decades. This will be his fifth head coach, head college coaching job.

Still to come, dozens of people killed, thousands of structures destroyed. Now, a year later, a blue symbol of resilience and hope for Los Angeles is back on the road and never looked better. We're going to have that story straight ahead.

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[17:50:00]

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DEAN: A vintage Volkswagen microbus famous for surviving the Palisades fire is now good as new and back on the road again. Earlier this year, CNN's Erin Burnett found the vehicle barely burned while everything else around it was destroyed. That story went viral. And after Volkswagen saw it, the company jumped in to help. That's where CNN's Nick Watt picks the story up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So many people saw hope in this picture. The little blue miracle of 1977 VW Microbus among the grays and blacks of destruction and despair.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: This went through the fire. You see the burnt headlight.

WATT (voice-over): "OutFront" was on the case. This was back in January. Found the bus and --

BURNETT: So, we wanted to know who owned it to get the story here, and we found them.

MEGAN WEINRAUB, OWNER OF VW MICROBUS: Wow, it is magic.

WATT (voice-over): Current owner, Megan Weinraub, Malibu surfer.

WEINRAUB: I'm speechless to see all the houses burnt, and I can't believe that Azul, the bus, that's what we named it, survived. Like it's -- I'm just in shock.

WATT (voice-over): Now, more shock, good shock, the magic bus has had a makeover. Now, reunited with her owner.

WEINRAUB: She's beautiful.

WATT (voice-over): How did this happen? Well, Volkswagen folks also saw that viral pic of the little survivor and they asked if they could help, picked Azul up, and got to work.

GUNNAR WYNARSKI, TECHNICIAN, VOLKSWAGEN: We found the car with the busted rear windows. We had ashes inside, we had embers inside. And nothing combusted. And we drained 11 gallons of fuel out of the car. Why didn't it burn? I don't know.

WATT (voice-over): They worked on Azul for 2000 hours to bring a bus back to life. Every part was restored. That eye-catching blue paint had to be custom mixed.

But what about the palisades? Then? Now? Nearly 7000 structures destroyed. So far, only one home has been completely rebuilt. A certificate of occupancy was issued just last week.

Azul is now back. Charm intact and even better than before. Can we hope for the same for the Palisades?

WATT: Azul is now on display at the L.A. Auto Show. Been interesting hearing what people say when they come up. A lot of people still obsessed with just how Azul survived. An act of God? Who knows?

Anyway, also the detail people have. One guy said, oh, yeah, I remember that was the light that was busted. They have done a job on this. I was just told that one part for the engine they found had been sitting in a warehouse for 40 years in France. They shipped that in, put it in Azul.

So, Azul was a symbol of survival. Now, people say to me, Azul is a symbol that you can rebuild, you can restore, you can come back.

Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, Nick Watt, thanks so much for that. We appreciate it. Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," a major winter storm is wreaking havoc for millions of Americans traveling after the holiday weekend. CNN's Rafael Romo is keeping track of all of it at the world's busiest airport in Atlanta. Rafael, what are you finding? RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, it is the busiest travel time of the year and several regions of the country are being pummeled by powerful storms at the world's busiest airport. Coming up, I'll tell you what you can expect when it comes to travel conditions.

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[17:55:00]

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DEAN: Just released data showing Black Friday sales rose a hearty 4.1% this year as Americans looked for bargains this holiday season. That's from spending tracker MasterCard. Adobe Analytics showing online sales shot up more than 9%.

Inflation can play a big role though in pushing those numbers higher. Think about it if you have to pay more for the same items you would previously have bought. There have been several signals from both the Federal Reserve and major retailers that while richer Americans are spending freely right now, lower and middle-income consumers are keeping a tighter rein on their spending.

And you are in the "CNN Newsroom." Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York. Right now, President Donald Trump touching back down in Washington, D.C., returning to the White House after being in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the U.S. had productive talks today with the delegation from Ukraine over ending Russia's war on Ukraine.

[17:59:58]

Rubio, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner all participating in those talks that took place near Miami, Florida. Trump saying tonight he believes there's a good chance of an agreement to end the war.