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Mass Shooting in California Leaves Four Dead; Ukraine Negotiations Set to Heat Up; National Guard Shooting Victim Remembered; Trump Ramps Up Immigration Crackdown; Massive Winter Storm Pounds U.S. Midwest; Pope Leo's Historic Trip; Authorities Investigate Hong Kong Fire; Sudan: Children Separated from Family. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired November 30, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and a bumbling attempt to steal his own football collectibles. Thanks for watching. Good night.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine are set to heat up as high- level officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio are due to meet with Ukraine's delegation in Miami. A West Virginia community comes together to remember one of the victims of the attack on National Guard members in Washington, and Pope Leo prepares to take the next step on his historic trip to Turkey and Lebanon. We'll have a live report.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We'll get to those stories in a moment, but first, some breaking news. Yet another mass shooting in the U.S., casting a pall on this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Four people were killed and at least 10 wounded in Stockton, California, after gunshots rang out at a family gathering. It happened at a banquet hall around 6:00 in the evening local time. Those shot include children and adults. The sheriff's office says every indication suggests it may be a targeted incident, but cautioned information is very limited. The suspect fled and is at large.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON FREITAS, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We are working very hard with a multi-agency approach, led by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, and with other agencies that are involved, including Stockton Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and the Department of Justice. So, our understanding at this time that the individual responsible is still outstanding.

CHRISTINA FUGAZI, STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA MAYOR: This is Thanksgiving weekend. This is when families come together, celebrate, share memories, give each other love. And unfortunately, tonight, heaven is a little bigger with the individuals, children and adults that unfortunately do not make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Detectives are still trying to determine the motive for the attack. Diplomacy is about to kick into high gear as the U.S. hopes to push its revised Ukraine peace plan forward. Officials say U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators will meet in Miami on Sunday to try to advance that proposal. More talks are expected in Kyiv and Moscow next week. Now, that's happening as Russia's strikes on Ukraine show no signs of slowing down, and as Kyiv made a major change at the top of its negotiating team.

For more, Larry Madowo joins us from Nairobi, Kenya. Larry, for Ukraine, obviously high stakes here, and questions swirling about its negotiating team. Take us through it.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have a new negotiating lead negotiator. That's Rustem Umerov. He is the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. He replaced President Zelenskyy's chief of staff, who resigned Friday after that corruption scandal, and especially after his home was raided. And they're due to meet in the hours ahead in Miami with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy, and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

President Trump has backed away from issuing a firm deadline now. He says the deadline is when it's over, but he's optimistic. And President Zelenskyy, in his nightly address Saturday, said that the Americans were being constructive in these negotiations. So, there is some good progress here, and he thinks that in the next few days they should be able to flesh out some of the details toward ending the war and maybe backing away from this 28-point plan that has been criticized as being too preferential to Russia, essentially giving Russia everything it's been looking for. So, these talks Sunday in Miami are critical to trying to find a way forward to getting closer to the end of the war, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: On the midst of all of this, Ukraine still taking fire from Russia.

MADOWO: That's right. On Friday, Ukraine launched -- Russia launched the largest barrage of drone and missile attacks in more than a month at Ukraine. In Kyiv, we saw some dramatic video, and this continued into Saturday night, where there were even more drone attacks. President Zelenskyy saying that 19 people were wounded and one person killed. And the damage, the most damage in the Kyiv region, but there's people as far as Odessa and Sumy and Kherson who've also been affected by this.

And he says these attacks happen every day, that so far this week, President Zelenskyy's count says, 1,400 attack drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs, and 66 missiles against our people. And one of the most dramatic videos was released by Ukrainian police. It shows first responders rescuing a boy who was in an apartment that appears to be still on fire. And this boy managed to survive. He went to hospital and made it. [04:05:00]

It's one of the most dramatic scenes that that's the kind of work that emergency services are having to do, as these attacks happen mostly overnight. And the Ukrainians say the biggest targets have been critical energy infrastructure and civilian facilities. And that's why they say they need everything they can to shore up their air defense systems so that they are protected when these attacks happen often overnight, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, dramatic example in that video. Larry Madowo, thanks so much. Tensions keep escalating between the U.S. and Venezuela after President Donald Trump warned on social media that Venezuela's airspace should be considered closed. Now, the U.S. isn't able to shut down another country's airspace, but it comes after Trump earlier in the week said that land strikes on Venezuela would come very soon, and after the U.S. aviation authorities warned airlines that flying over Venezuela might be hazardous. Flight radar over Venezuela shows the skies to be all but empty.

Friends and family are honoring the life of U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. The National Guard member was shot in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday in an ambush-style attack, along with U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe. Beckstrom died in hospital the next day. Wolfe remains in critical condition and is hanging on, according to a West Virginia lawmaker.

On Saturday, mourners gathered in Beckstrom's former high school in West Virginia, the school from which she graduated just two years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Webster County High School, Sarah was the kind of student teachers hoped for. She carried herself with quiet strength, a contagious smile, and a positive energy that lifted people around her. She was sweet, caring, and always willing to help others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The suspect in Wednesday's shooting is an Afghan national who worked with the U.S. military and the CIA during the Afghan war. He was granted asylum in the U.S. in April. The Trump administration is using this to enact even harsher crackdowns on immigrants and on asylum seekers. CNN's Kristen Holmes has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump has been trying to ramp up this crackdown on immigration for quite some time. They faced a number of legal battles in the courts, and some of this stuff they were not ready to roll out until this incident happened. And now, there is something to point to as they try to intensify this crackdown on immigration. So, here's just some of what the administration is doing, and it really is a whole-of-government response right now. So, you have USCIS pausing all asylum decisions. You have visa issuances paused for travelers with Afghan passports. We also know they are no longer even looking at any requests for asylum or visas there. The Treasury Department is moving to block undocumented immigrants from receiving federal-based, federal tax-based benefits. So, that was also something that we know they had talked about during the campaign, now they are actually doing it.

They are working on a permanent pause of migration from "all third- world countries," that's in quotes there because that was a post that President Trump made on Truth Social. And then they are also examining all green cards issued to people from 19 countries that they say the administration are of concern.

And lastly, they are reviewing all asylum cases approved under Biden. I would go a little bit further. They are saying that they are looking at all asylum cases approved under Biden, but we should note that the suspect's asylum was actually approved under the Trump administration. So, you are looking at likely not just asylum cases approved under Trump but of course -- I mean Biden, but of course that is how they are framing it at this time.

Just a quick note on those 19 countries. They did outline what countries they were, but you can see it's mostly countries in the Middle East as well as in Africa. There is at one point a couple of countries in South America. Venezuela, unsurprisingly, given the tense relationship there, is one of those countries. The other ones are Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, just for an example there. Another thing President Trump has wanted to do, but is now putting into effect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: For more on this, I want to bring in Jennie Murray, who is the President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, a Washington- based advocacy group working for immigration reform. She joins us from Seville in Spain. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, walk us through what this asylum freeze actually means for the more than 2 million people who are already waiting for a long time, many of them for a decision on their cases.

JENNIE MURRAY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM: Yes, thank you so much for having me. This decision is very difficult for asylum seekers and for the country overall. The asylum system is a legal system that's protected by the superseding law of the land, which is the INA, the Immigration Nationality Act. And these folks are already, to your point, waiting between four to five years for their cases to be adjudicated.

[04:10:00]

And even after that, it takes about, even after they've waited that amount of time, less than half of the folks that do see an immigration judge are actually approved. So, the process is an extreme vetting process and one that protects Americans as well as newcomers.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, I'll ask you about that vetting process in a second, but just to ask you about the decision itself affecting so many people. I mean, it's not just people from Afghanistan, but they must be feeling especially targeted right now. I mean, we're hearing from refugee advocacy groups that Afghan families are afraid to leave their homes right now. I mean, what are you seeing in the communities that you work with?

MURRAY: That's right. And actually, I myself was on the US military bases for Operations Allies Welcome, which is when the 90,000 evacuees were brought to the US and processed. I saw it firsthand for myself, how much processing and vetting these folks went through, how patient they were, even after being our allies and partnering many of them with us for over 20 years awaiting evacuation.

And so, many of them now feel that we've turned our backs on them. They feel afraid. The folks who once felt to be our best friends, to be our closest partners, now feel that in our country they are vulnerable.

BRUNHUBER: Now, this decision isn't just about asylum, it's also affecting migration for so many different countries. I mean, what would you say to critics who argue that the Trump administration's using this tragedy to justify policies they were already planning to implement?

MURRAY: Yes. I mean, that's an interesting point. If the goal of this effort is to reduce the number of undocumented people that are in the country, which is what the administration has long said is their goal, this absolutely will not get us to that end.

The asylum process is a legal process. It is the safest process we have in this country. As I said, folks are vetted over four to five years adjudicated, and then less than half are actually approved. Once they are approved, there's then an intentional process to help them integrate into society to make sure we're all safer through that process. And the anti-terrorist efforts are very high in our asylum process.

So, removing work permits and removing the ability for someone to be protected here lawfully only would potentially move the line over the people from authorized to unauthorized, which actually would not help the administration in its goals to have less undocumented people in the country. It would actually create more undocumented people.

And so, what we need is Congress to act, to move forward and say that the asylum process is lawful and that we must continue to reduce this very substantive backlog we have to process people in a way that is safe and orderly and humane.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. You bring up Congress. I mean, your organization has worked across party lines on immigration reform. I mean, right now with the way things are polarized and the sort of the tenor of the discourse right now over this issue, I mean, is there any common ground you see right now on how to move forward on some of the things you just spoke about?

MURRAY: Yes, it's a great point. And actually, yes, Americans are not divided on this. We might have some of our politicians and we might have some of the polls of our parties that are divided, but more than 80 percent of Americans want something that's a moderate solution. They want something that is safe, that is orderly, but is humane and helps us to generate our economy. Gallup even found that Americans are over 70 percent supportive of Republicans and Democrats working together on a sensible, moderate solution. So, Americans are not divided, our politicians are.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll leave it there. Jennie Murray, thank you so much for speaking with us. Appreciate it.

MURRAY: Thanks for having me.

BRUNHUBER: A Massachusetts college freshman who was traveling to surprise her family for Thanksgiving has been deported despite a court order. Immigration officials detained Lucia Lopez Belloza at Boston Logan International Airport back on November 20th. Now, within two days, the 19-year-old was deported to Honduras.

Now, this was despite a federal judge's emergency order prohibiting the government from moving Lopez Belloza out of the country for at least three days. ICE says an immigration judge ordered Lopez Belloza deported in 2015. Her lawyer says his client wasn't aware of any removal order.

Well, an Arctic blast sweeps the U.S. Midwest with winter weather wreaking havoc for millions of Americans. Will the bluster let up or is it here to stay? And Americans trying to get home after Thanksgiving are facing dangerous winter conditions while more on the snow and ice and how they're crippling post-holiday travel. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:00]

BRUNHUBER: We see it on the map there, a blustery weather system moving over the Rocky Mountains has turned into a full-blown cross- country storm, placing around 49 million people under winter weather alerts over the weekend.

Now, here is a scene from Iowa, where Interstate 80 saw whiteout conditions with multiple trapped cars and jackknifed semi-trucks stuck in snow. Police say they've rescued close to 200 people whose cars slid into ditches and are urging people not to travel unless necessary.

And authorities in Illinois are also discouraging unnecessary travel as winter weather sweeps across the state. They're warning against hazardous conditions on the roadways, reminding residents that snow plows will stop operating after sunset. The storm's opening the door for a colder rush of Arctic air that will send temperatures plummeting for millions of Americans at the start of the upcoming week.

Meanwhile, the potent storm is threatening to upend post-Thanksgiving travel for millions of Americans, causing crippling plans for car and plane passengers alike. CNN's Jenn Sullivan's tracking the storm and has details on how it's impacting travel.

[04:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cruise in St. Louis out-treating the roads as a massive winter storm slams the Midwest. Cars blanketed in snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's still snowing pretty good up here.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): This St. Louisan showing just how slushy and treacherous the roads are even after being treated. Right now, we're fighting the storm. City officials say more than 30 crews were out Saturday clearing the streets and highways.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a very unusually early snow.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): St. Louis could see up to four inches of snow by Sunday. About 95 miles north in Springfield, Illinois, a snow emergency was declared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): More than 20 million people across the Northern Tier are under winter storm warning Saturday. Chicago could see up to 10 inches of snow. As of 4:00 p.m. Eastern, more than 1,000 flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport were canceled Saturday, according to FlightAware. It's one of the busiest airports in the world. All of this coming during the post-Thanksgiving travel rush. AAA estimating nearly 82 million people to travel the week of Thanksgiving through Monday, with Sunday being one of the busiest days for the skies and roads. Drivers in many areas are being warned not to travel.

AIXA DIAZ, AAA SPOKESPERSON: If there's a crash on the interstate and it closes lanes, sometimes that lasts for an hour, if not multiple hours.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): It's not just the snow causing dangerous conditions in some areas. As temperatures dip and winds pick up, the next big concern is ice. Officials in Des Moines, Iowa, say they've already responded to several crashes.

SERGEANT ALEX DINKA, IOWA STATE PATROL PIO: The road conditions are going to get very bad here, very quickly.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): This monster system expected to shift East Sunday, dumping snow and rain and causing more headaches for travelers.

I'm Jen Sullivan reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. For more, we're joined now by William Churchill, senior branch forecaster with the Weather Prediction Center at the National Weather Service. Thanks so much for being here with us early in the morning.

We just saw those pictures from St. Louis and Chicago officials saying that this was unusually early snow. How unusual is it to see a storm this big hitting the Midwest at this time of year?

WILLIAM CHURCHILL, SENIOR BRANCH FORECAST, WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER: Hi, thanks for having me. Yes, definitely somewhat unusual, the earliness of it. You know, we consider this basically a major winter storm bringing a major impacts to some of those areas you mentioned, especially Chicago, which, you know, leads to a lot of the travel disruptions and for there to be a major, what we consider to be a major winter storm when the calendar isn't even quite saying it's winter yet is significant.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

CHURCHILL: Absolutely.

BRUNHUBER: And we're hearing about lake-effect snow dumping up to two feet in parts of Michigan. I mean, why is lake-effect hitting so hard now and who still sort of needs to be on alert then for those sudden whiteouts?

CHURCHILL: Yes, that part actually interestingly is a little bit less unusual. You tend to get your heaviest lake-effect snow events early in the winter and that's because the waters of the lakes are still warm from the summer and it's that heat from the lakes that's actually driving those snow conditions. So, that's a little different though than the snow that came to St. Louis and Chicago. So, the lake-effect snow areas are generally more rural areas that were impacted by that. But yes, I saw even some reports of an excessive two feet, so very impressive.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. Now, the reporter mentioned this storm is expected to shift east. I mean, what's today looking like for people trying to get home? We heard it's the busiest travel day and when can we expect the conditions to finally start improving?

CHURCHILL: Well, the conditions are already rapidly starting to improve in some of those areas. Unfortunately, the lingering impacts of travel will likely remain. But those conditions will improve over the course of the day and it's really looking towards the next storm. So, we get a bit of a break today other than the lake-effect areas and then we're looking towards our next storm late Monday into Tuesday.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, before I get to the next storm, once the snow stops, I understand there's some serious cold moving in. So, how low are the temperatures going to drop and is this going to be anything record-breaking, do you think?

CHURCHILL: We're actually not seeing much in the way of records, surprisingly, and that's despite temperatures definitely will be well below normal for this time of year. We're seeing single digits to negatives even in degrees Fahrenheit. So, very significant, especially across the Midwest, but it'll be chilly for, you know, the bulk of the United States with this pattern and that's what really -- you know, getting to the next winter storm, that is the concern once you have any cold lingering and then another storm system moving in, that's when you're talking additional winter impacts from that.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. All right. So, let's get to that storm then. It's expected, I understand, to move in Monday and Tuesday. What's that one going to bring and who should be watching out for it?

CHURCHILL: So, some of those same areas will actually see additional snowfall, but we expect a much less significant storm for those locations in the Midwest and in the Great Lakes.

[04:25:00]

But then as the storm system moves east, it's going to take a little bit of a different track and impact more of the East Coast. And while right now it looks like the populated corridor of the East Coast from Washington, D.C. up to New York will remain mostly rain, it's areas further inland, really north and west of the I-95 corridor where the bulk of the population lives that we could see pretty significant snow total. So, four to eight inches and possibly locally higher than that from this coming storm.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. What's -- I mean, so many people are traveling and trying to get home. I mean, what's your advice for folks with all this questionable weather over this weekend?

CHURCHILL: Well, you know, if you have to drive in it, the biggest advice you can have is just to take your time. You know, you need to go slower than you think you do driving in these sorts of conditions. And especially, if you're not used to driving in them, but it's best to just leave additional space, drive as slowly as possible and just be prepared for those delays.

And, you know, unfortunately there's not a lot you can do once the air travel starts to become an issue, but certainly if you're on the roads, you got to be careful and have an emergency kit with you just in case.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, good advice. Finally, I want to ask you sort of the longer range forecast here. I mean, to me, the weather pattern seems pretty active right now. I mean, should people heading into early December, should they expect more of the same or is there relief in sight, do you think?

CHURCHILL: Yes, it is kind of a continually progressive pattern from the looks of it. So, beyond this storm, we're talking about middle of next week, you know, there's already some indications of another East Coast storm heading into next weekend. The details on that are still very fuzzy given it's about an entire week out at this point.

But this pattern where you get these continual storm systems, you get cold air that comes back down behind them and then the next system loads up and, you know, goes over a similar path. So, as long as this pattern remains in place where we have the cold air being filtered down from Canada into the United States, every time one of these storm systems forms in this progressive pattern with this active jet stream, there'll be a risk of wintry weather somewhere. And as we get closer, we're able to pin down those details better.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Not even winter yet, but we'll have to deal with it. William Churchill, thanks so much for being with us. Really appreciate it.

CHURCHILL: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Pope Leo is closing out his time in Turkey and heading to Lebanon during a historic trip abroad. We'll have the latest on his tour of the Middle East. That's coming up next. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Pope Leo is wrapping up his final day in Istanbul before heading to Lebanon for the next leg of his historic trip to the Middle East. He's spent the last three days in Turkey, meeting with political and religious leaders during his first trip abroad as pontiff. He's currently visiting Istanbul's Patriarchal Church of St. George, where he joined the leadership of the Eastern Orthodox Church, deliver a blessing focused on unity between Christians of different denominations and traditions.

All right. For more, let's bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, reporting live from Istanbul. Salma, take us through today and what we're expecting from the next leg, his trip to Lebanon.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've seen so much of who he is as Pope during his first overseas trip. And I know we have live pictures to show you of some of the final events that he's taking part in, including an ecumenical blessing, which should take place shortly. That means it's essentially a prayer service that occurs between the denominations because he's alongside, of course, leaders of the Eastern Orthodox community here in Turkey at a church in Istanbul.

And so, much of Pope Leo's trip has been around that theme of building bridges, of connecting through dialogue, of healing conflict through conversation. I want you to take a listen to what he said at this mass yesterday in Volkswagen Arena, where thousands of people were in attendance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV: Their triple span across the street reminds us of the importance of our common efforts to build bridges of unity on three levels, within the community, in ecumenical relations with members of other Christian denominations, and in our encounters with brothers and sisters belonging to other religions. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Since this is his first overseas trip, Kim, we're getting an understanding of his style, of his personality. He's stepping out onto the world stage. We've had these very key moments where we've seen Pope Leo, for example, high-fiving the faithful as he left a cathedral a couple of days ago, giving us that sense of who he is, thanking reporters on the papal plane and wishing them Happy Thanksgiving as he took pies to celebrate, of course, as the first American pope.

But we're also hearing that he has a much more reserved and quiet manner about him, especially when you compare him to his predecessor, Pope Francis. And perhaps no moment showed that more than yesterday when Pope Leo visited the Blue Mosque. He took off his shoes, of course, as is required, as is custom. He quietly and respectfully looked around the mosque. The Vatican later said that he was there in quiet reflection. This is a departure from what his predecessors have done, which is pray at the Blue Mosque.

So, you're seeing a departure from how other popes have handled these overseas opportunities. And we're getting to understand who Pope Leo is. But of course, his turkey leg is wrapping up now. In a few hours' time, he's expected to take off for Lebanon. And there, perhaps, there's an even greater challenge because so much of his papacy now is focused on resolving conflict, on choosing dialogue rather than dispute. And in Lebanon, that will be highlighted because it's only a few days ago that the country was hit by Israeli airstrikes. It is very much a nation at the heart of a conflict right now.

And Pope Leo is going to want to be seen as a moral authority, but also as one who is fair and equal and not politically involved, but has that voice and has that authority to speak to communities across the region, both within the Catholic community, which here in Turkey is an absolute minority, but also across faiths and religions, as he supports this idea of interfaith dialogue. He signed a joint declaration as well, along with Patriarch Bartholomew, the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, emphasizing that.

[04:35:00]

So, more of those images we're going to see here in Turkey just before he takes off for Turkey in a short time -- for Lebanon, rather, in a short time.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. We'll be watching for that. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much, appreciate it. Authorities investigating the Hong Kong apartment fire say the death toll has climbed to 146 people. They had already revised the number of missing down from 200 to 150. A three-day mourning period has begun throughout Hong Kong. With so many missing, the death toll is expected to continue to rise. Fourteen arrests have been made in connection with the incident. Investigators are looking into possible corruption and the use of faulty building materials.

All right. Still ahead, people being forced to move and family separation amid the civil war in Sudan. We'll discuss the dire effects, especially on children. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Mass displacement of people is taking a toll on people in Sudan as the civil war rages on. The humanitarian crisis in El Fasher is restricting the delivery of much-needed aid. There are widespread warnings of trafficking and sexual violence, and the recruitment of children to be fighters is strategically separating them from their families.

So, to tell us more about the situation, I'm joined now by Mathilde Vu. She's the advocacy manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council based in Sudan. So, we are hearing that more than 400 children have arrived without their parents at a displacement camp called Tawila, which is where you are, about 40 miles from the fighting in El Fasher. Take us through what you've seen.

[04:40:00]

MATHILDE VU, ADVOCACY MANAGER, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL IN SUDAN: Sure. I mean, this is really terrifying. 400 children, probably more, have arrived without their parents. That means that either their parents have disappeared, they may have been killed, they may have been detained, they may have been forced to give their children to strangers, extended relatives, or even neighbors, et cetera., so that they cross this terrible and very dangerous journey that is between El Fasher and Tawila.

On the way, these children have suffered from hunger, thirst. Some of the kids arrive here completely dehydrated. They can't even talk. We have to refer them to the hospital. Many of them have seen mass atrocities, really, on the way, their parents or their relatives being killed just in front of them, their water being looted. They've been beaten as well by armed groups. And you know like this comes after also being stuck and stranded in El Fasher for 18 months, resorting to even eating animal food, cow skin, children eating cow skin in El Fasher. And so, they arrive here in a level of distress, in a level of trauma that I've personally never seen before.

BRUNHUBER: Gosh, it sounds absolutely heartbreaking. I mean, just from your perspective, you've seen suffering on unimaginable scales, but seeing something like this, I mean, it just must be absolutely heartbreaking.

VU: It's terrible. I was in the camp just a few days ago in the tent that we set up for the new arrivals. It's a minute school in a tent. I mean, it's a classroom in a tent. There were hundreds of children there. I was looking at them. They were so skinny. They were so skinny because they've, you know, they've faced terrible hunger over these past months. Many of them were wearing clothes that were so dirty and completely, you know, worn out. And that was the only thing that they brought with them into Tawila.

When I talked to the teachers, they told me that in the first days that they arrived, many of those children were completely unengaged. They were fighting with each other. They were crying a lot. Parents were reporting nightmares. When we were doing drawing sessions, they were drawing bodies, blood, armed cars, et cetera. It took a lot of time from the teachers, a lot of psychological support and games, et cetera, to just, you know, start seeing smile, start seeing butterflies on paper rather than blood. But frankly, like the situation where they're in right now is also heartbreaking. They lack everything.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. The physical and emotional toll, just unimaginable. You say their parents may be missing or dead. I mean, what will happen to these children next?

VU: I mean, for example, just to give you like an illustration of what that means, I've seen 10 years old caring for their three-year- old brother because now that 10-year-old was the only bigger person in the family. And thankfully, you know, like the community is not leaving them alone. They're being supported. But, you know, they have no one else now.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

VU: So, those children right now in Tawila, they're living in very bad condition. Many of them barely have a shelter. Some of them, you know, hosted by family, et cetera, are sometimes families that they don't even know, you know, sleep on the ground, on the sand. They survive on one meal a day. They have barely any access to like, you know, health care, for example. They are very also exposed to child labor, right? Because the family that they're in can't really afford to feed them. And so, you see a lot of them in the market, et cetera. The perspective is really, really bleak, to be honest, unless the humanitarian assistance is being scaled up.

BRUNHUBER: And just for context, I mean, Tawila has grown, I understand, from around 200,000 people earlier this year to more than half a million people now, basically a makeshift city in the desert. You described the conditions there, but certainly probably better for those than the ones who haven't escaped.

I mean, this week, the U.N. experts, they warned about child trafficking, the recruitment of children as fighters. I mean, how worried are you about what might be happening to the people and especially the children who never made it out of El Fasher?

VU: Yes, you're pointing something very important. Yes, there are over a half a million people right now in Tawila. And, you know, as you look at the horizon, you can only see tens of makeshift shelter. And what is also worrying us is the fact that only a very small number of people have arrived in Tawila since the fall of El Fasher, roughly 15,000 people.

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What this means is that there's a lot of civilians who are stuck. They're stranded either in the desert, either they are prevented to flee, there are reports of detention, there are reports of people not being able to afford the transportation to here. And there are all those risks on the way, extortion, abduction, kidnapping, killing, which means that we are extremely worried with, you know, the situation of the children who can be can be disappeared and also of their parents who, you know, many of them have been unaccounted for.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, the situation there just is intolerable. I understand, you know, one side has agreed to a ceasefire, but the fighting still continues there. Certainly, more pressure and more international involvement is needed both to establish peace and also to help those in need, so many of them, and too many of them children. Mathilde Vu in Sudan, thank you so much for speaking with us.

A manhunt for a missing high school football coach is underway in rural Virginia. Police say Travis Turner is wanted for possession of child pornography and soliciting a minor, but he's vanished into the Appalachian wilderness. CNN's Rafael Romo brings us the latest.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the search for coach Travis Turner continues, the high school football team he coaches played a second game without him Saturday afternoon. It was a regional championship game that started at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time after the Union High School Bears won a playoff game last Saturday, also without their coach.

Days into their search, Virginia State Police announced on Tuesday that 46-year-old Travis Turner is wanted on five counts of possession of what its laws call child pornography and an additional five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. Police also said they had obtained 10 warrants relating to the charges on Monday, but did not release additional details about the allegations.

In a new development, the coach's family issued a statement Friday that in part says the last known contact the family had with Travis occurred on or about Thursday, November 20th, after he left his residence to walk in the woods. He is believed to have entered a heavily wooded and mountainous area, at which point no warrants had been issued for his arrest. An earlier statement from the family said he had a firearm with him, but the latest statement dropped that reference. We've reached out to the attorney to ask why.

Searching the area where the coach went missing is not easy. It's nestled in a sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains, where the rugged topography features rivers and forests, as well as elevations that vary from low valleys to high peaks. A local woman who told CNN affiliate WCYB she has been acquainted with Turner since high school said the Union High School head football coach needs to come forward.

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PAULA BARKER, WISE COUNTY RESIDENT: I couldn't see him doing it, but if the charges they just put on him are true, then he needs to be brought for justice. If he did do it, he needs to turn himself in for the sake of the victims and for his family.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMO: And according to the Bristol Herald Courier, a local newspaper, Turner was a quarterback at Appalachia High School before it consolidated with another school to form Union High in 2011. That school's team is the one he now coaches and played a regional championship game Saturday afternoon, beating their opponent by a final score of 21 to 14.

Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.

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BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back with more here on CNN Newsroom. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: A storied college football rivalry was on full display Saturday between Auburn and 10th-ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Quarterback Ty Simpson slinging three touchdowns all to Isaiah Horton to beat Auburn 27-20. Alabama now faces fourth-ranked Georgia in the SEC Championship next weekend here in Atlanta.

L.A.'s crosstown rivalry saw the USC Trojans taking on UCLA's Bruins at the Coliseum. Southern Cal trailed by three at halftime. Despite the slow start, the Trojans mounted a comeback, reclaiming the lead with just seconds left in the third quarter. UCLA couldn't recover, and the Trojans won 29-10.

While it seems Black Friday shopping in the U.S. was strong, Friday, after the Thanksgiving holiday, is always the busiest shopping day of the year. CNN's Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten runs the numbers for us.

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HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Happy weekend to you. Of course, this is a holiday weekend. We had Thanksgiving on Thursday. We had Black Friday yesterday. We're going to have Cyber Monday coming up in just two days. And so, this is a big season for shopping. Of course, the start of the holiday shopping season, and we're expecting record numbers this weekend. What are we talking about? Record shoppers this weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Woo. 187 million Americans either shopping online or in person.

I must admit, I am not necessarily one to be shopping in person. I like to avoid the crowds. That's what I like to do. That's why I'm a much bigger fan of Cyber Monday than I am of Black Friday. I prefer to spend my weekends at home or maybe going to a nice little luncheonette. But this 187 million is 3 million more than we had last year. Again, record numbers shopping this weekend.

Of course, it's not all good news when it comes to the economy because we're in a bit of a K-shape, right, whereby the top of the economic spectrum seems to be going along as if everything is normal, nice, fantastic, while those on the lower rung facing tougher times. And we see that when it comes to shopping this holiday season, expected holiday shopping in terms of money versus 2024 by household income.

You can see that this is a real economic divide in terms of how much folks are expecting to spend this year versus last year when it comes to shopping during the holiday season.

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If you make less than $50,000 in your household income, the expected amount to be spent down, down 16 percent versus a year ago. You jump to the middle rung, 50,000 to 100,000. Again, down, but by less, down 6 percent. Look at those making at least $100,000 in terms of their household income, it's actually up. It's up about 5 percent or at least the expected amount versus last year. Again, illustrative of this K-shaped economy whereby the wealthier folks are spending as if nothing is wrong, spending as if times are good, while those on the lower rung of the economic spectrum not seeing the good times nearly as much. In fact, seeing some bad times in a number of cases.

Of course, this is not the only sign that the economy is perhaps not as strong as some might necessarily want. Of course, this holiday season, if you're going to be buying something, you might be putting it on your credit card. And we're seeing some potentially troubling numbers when it comes to that credit card debt. What are we talking about here? Well, let's take a look at credit card balance. That's 90 days or more late, 90 days or more late. We're talking about the highest percentage since the Great Recession.

You know, you go back to quarter three of 2022, three years ago, 7.6 percent of all credit card balances were 90 days or more late, late in terms of their payment. You jump over now, look at this, this percentage has really climbed in quarter three of 2025, which, of course, is last quarter. We're talking about 12.4 percent. That is a significant, significant rise. I think the question is, will this percentage become worse during the holiday season? We've obviously seen that those who earn less are cutting back on their spending, expecting to cut back on their spending.

Of course, there are plenty of wealthier people who also have big credit card debts as well. So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. But this, me, is a troublesome sign. Folks spending money that they simply put do not have, and we're seeing it at a higher percentage since the Great Recession.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.

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