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Mass Shooting in California Leaves 4 Dead, 10 Injured; Ukraine Reels From Russia's Largest Strikes in a Month; Powerful Winter Storm Threatens Post-Thanksgiving Travel; Maduro's Government Rejects Trump's Airspace Announcement; 3 Candidates Emerges as Frontrunners in Honduras Elections; Trump Ramps Up Immigration Crackdown After National Guard Shooting; Pope Leo Wraps Up Turkey Visit Before Heading to Lebanon. Aired 5-6 am ET

Aired November 30, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:38]

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."

As the bombardment continues in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials are heading to Miami for another round of talks. We'll tell you who's replacing a top Zelenskyy aide in the midst of a nationwide scandal.

A winter storm is wreaking havoc on people in the U.S. Midwest. We'll take a look at the impact. And today could be one of the busiest travel days of the year. We'll share what you need to know before you hit the road or head to the airport.

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

BRUNHUBER: We'll have those stories in a moment, but first some breaking news. This Thanksgiving holiday weekend is supposed to be a happy time, but yet another mass shooting in the U.S. is a sad reminder of violence in the country. Four people were killed and at least ten 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 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 as Kyiv made a major change at the top of its negotiating team.

For more, Larry Madowo joins us now live from Nairobi, Kenya.

So, Larry, huge stakes for Ukraine with a new lead negotiator as well.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Major stakes in these talks expected to kick off in Miami in the hours ahead. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is joining those talks alongside Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The Ukrainians have a new lead negotiator. He is Rustem Umerov. He is the Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. He replaced Andrii Yermak. That was Zelenskyy's chief of staff until he resigned Friday. He was so powerful he was seen as the shadow prime minister, but he's been engulfed in this 100-million-dollar corruption scandal and after his home was raided his position became untenable.

What the Ukrainians are hoping to do is build on the negotiations that happened in Geneva to offer a counter proposal to the U.S. 28-point plan that has been criticized as too Russia friendly, giving Putin everything he's been asking for. President Zelenskyy in his Saturday night address said that the U.S. was being constructive in these negotiations and he expects that this can be fleshed out a way to bring the war to a dignified end within the coming days and President Trump as well backing away from a firm deadline.

On his way into Florida he said we won't know for a little while but he thinks there's great progress being made here so these are critical talks in the hours ahead and then there will be a follow-on as the Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll has been leading these talks in Geneva expected back in Kyiv to kind of update President Zelenskyy. The big plan here is eventually President Trump can meet President Putin and President Zelenskyy but only when a deal has been agreed on.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah we'll be waiting for that. And Larry as those negotiations continue the fighting isn't letting up Ukraine still being hit.

MADOWO: Russia has ramped up its attacks against Ukraine in the last two days it's launched the widest and the strongest barrage of missile and drone attacks against Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine. President Zelenskyy saying these have been happening every day.

[05:05:07]

On Saturday night, more attacks, which killed one person, wounded 15. And they hit the city with drones. And some children were hurt, as well. According to President Zelenskyy's tally, so far, this week alone, nearly 1,400 attack drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs and 66 missiles against the Ukrainian people. And he says this is exactly why we must strengthen Ukraine's resilience. Every single day, he's asking for more aerial defense systems so that they can be protected.

But in the middle of that, we saw this dramatic video Friday night from a Ukrainian police rescuing a 10-year-old boy who was stuck in what appeared to be an apartment building, partially collapsed, still on fire. They managed to get him out, poured some water on him, rushed him to an ambulance, and he survived. He made it.

The police talking him through all of it, telling him, you're doing great, you're fantastic. And just one moment of humanity in this kind of really dramatic scene, and so much loss, so much damage. A lot of people have lost power in the last two days as these attacks have gone on, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, amazing rescue in the wake of such horrors, as you say.

Larry Madowo, thank you so much.

A weather system that moved through the Rockies on Friday has morphed into a full-blown cross-country storm, placing around 49 million people in the north under winter weather alerts.

Now, have a look at this. This is what an interstate in Indiana looked like earlier. We'll show the video here. Authorities say a 45-vehicle pileup shut down the highway for five hours. Meanwhile, a highway in Iowa saw multiple trapped cars and jackknife semi-trucks that got 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 it's necessary.

CNN Meteorologist Chris Warren has more on this potent storm and what's to come.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Here's a look at how Sunday is going to play out. One big snowmaker is moving out, still dropping some snow for the northeast. Chance for some severe thunderstorms can't be ruled out.

We'll watch some of these storms here across parts of the south. It's going to be cold behind this system that brought us all of the snow on Saturday throughout parts of the Great Lakes. And then another system to watch here for the first part of the week, but still huge travel day, of course.

And this is where there could be some issues, whether it's some of the storms throughout parts of the southern plains, the southern portion of the Great Basin, or some of the wind associated with this departing system could lead to some air travel delays at some of the major airports around the Great Lakes.

So, here's a look at the departing system. This is the forecast radar, gives us a general idea of what the radar could look like through time. So, basically where the rain and the storms or the snow will be through time.

This is in the evening at seven o'clock and the rain stretching from the 95 corridor all the way down to the southeast, down to I-10 in Louisiana, and then offshore here in Texas, while there will be lingering snow around the Great Lakes. That moves out and then we turn our attention back here with another developing system that's going to work across and through the middle part of the U.S. into the northeast.

Let's see how this plays out. Monday, three o'clock, starting to see some snow showing up here out in the plains with rain here around the Gulf Coast. We'll see how this kind of all comes together. That pink in here is something that we're going to have to watch as well. This could be where there's either sleet or possibly some freezing rain, which could lead to power outages. Still a little early to say exactly how that's going to play out, but something we're going to keep an eye on.

Here's where some of that heavier rain will be pushing off. This is four o'clock on Tuesday and yes, snow right along. It looks like it ends right at that 95 corridor. So, we'll see how this does play out, but just know that early in the week we could have another impactful storm for the U.S.

A storm is threatening to upend post-Thanksgiving travel for millions of Americans, crippling plans for car and plane passengers alike. Authorities are warning drivers to take it easy when on the roads and try to steer clear of slick and icy road conditions, which can be difficult to spot. Meanwhile, thousands of flights have been delayed worldwide with hundreds canceled. Many of the disruptions are in Chicago's O'Hare. More than 800 flights have been delayed there. The airport has seen about five inches of snow and flights into the airport are experiencing delays of up to five hours.

For more, we're joined by CNN Transportation Analyst Mary Schiavo. She's the former Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Good to see you again. Thanks for being here. So, many flights canceled or delayed. Chicago's O'Hare is basically a mess. And this winter storm now heading towards the East Coast. I mean, bad timing for one of the busiest travel days of the year. How are things looking?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, you summed it up pretty well. Across the country right now, it's O'Hare in Chicago, the big airport in Chicago that is seeing the most delays and cancellations. And of course, their day has barely started.

[05:10:12]

But that is not unusual for O'Hare. O'Hare is one of the airports in the United States. I know I've slept there many times, missing cancellations -- or missing connections in storms, et cetera, and high traffic. They actually have cots. And then I imagine some people will be on those cots overnight, some passengers.

So, that's the worst. There's a little bit of delay at Lake Tahoe. There's some at a few hubs down south. But that is about the worst. And that they're saying is weather related, not related to the other problems that the aviation system has seen in the past two months.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, let's talk about some of those problems, because, I mean, even without the strain from the weather, the system was already stretched. Now, the shutdown, of course, ended a couple of weeks ago. We had all those missing air traffic controllers. Now, the FAA says staffing is back to normal. But given the longstanding controller shortage, I mean, how concerning is that right now and going forward?

SCHIAVO: Well, for right now, I mean, the shutdown couldn't have ended, you know, too soon for -- for all of us travelers, of course. But right now, federal workers, about 95 percent of them have received all of their back pay. They're reporting no problems with people showing up, no sick outs, no call-ins, et cetera.

And so far, the FAA delays, delays related to FAA performance air traffic controllers, simply are not being -- either they're not occurring or not being reported. I think they're not occurring. There's just no report that they are not performing.

Now, they still have a shortage, and they're still working on that. There's a lot of people in the hiring pipeline, in the training pipeline, and that will continue for some time. Before the shutdown, there was a 3,000-person shortage.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And then, I mean, if that wasn't enough, then we had this Airbus A320 recall drop on Friday. That was that software glitch linked to solar radiation that caused a JetBlue flight to nosedive last month. And suddenly, more than 6,000 jets worldwide needed a fix. So, on one hand, you could say, you know, it's good news that the problem was identified and fixed relatively quickly. On the other hand, I mean, should we be worried that it was so serious in the first place?

SCHIAVO: Well, whether we should be worried or not, people are worried. And people are worried because everyone remembers the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crisis, where one plane went down, first in Indonesia. At first, they blamed pilots. Then a second went down in Ethiopia, and it was computer software glitches and problems with the plane. The plane itself put the plane in a dive, uncommanded by the pilot. So, when that happened on an Airbus, not a Boeing off the coast of Florida in October, people were greatly concerned.

And for them to have the investigation completed and the recommended fix in place and an order with the word immediate in it, which means you can't fly the plane until you fix it, in place within 30 days, is kind of a record in the aviation industry. The largest operator of this kind of plane in the U.S. was American. And American has reported that other than a handful of their planes, I think they had 340 affected approximately. They've made the fix already.

So, for most major carriers, they've been able to do the software patch and move forward. There are some carriers, particularly some international carriers from South America, who are reporting some difficulties because they have so many of these planes. These planes are ubiquitous. But that seems to be the good news coming out of the bad news. The planes have been fixed, according to the operators.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, you know, with all this going on, I mean, we've talked about so many different troubles here. As people, you know, looking today, it's such a busy travel day, Monday, folks heading back home after the holidays. I mean, if our viewers there are about to head to the airport, I mean, what's the one thing they should know to kind of get them through this -- this troublesome weekend as smoothly as possible?

SCHIAVO: Well, they should check the website. They should stay in touch, you know, electronically. You won't be able to get through on the phone, of course. Electronically stay in touch with your airline because they have been posting at many airports. The airports themselves have a website where they post the TSA delays. That's very useful because most airlines are saying get to the airport two hours in advance.

You check the TSA at that airport and it may only be just a few minutes. So, just electronically stay in touch with all those sources that can give you information. And I think they'll get through it. And then, of course, if you're going through O'Hare in the upper Midwest, be prepared to hang at the airport for a while. Maybe take that neck pillow and blanket with you.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, find one of those cots that you were talking about. Mary Schiavo, thank you so much for speaking with us. Really appreciate it.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom." Tensions escalating between the U.S. and Venezuela after Donald Trump warns that their airspace should be considered closed. We'll look at the impacts next.

[05:15:06]

And voters head to the polls in Honduras for a highly contested election. When we come back, fears that the electoral process could already be undermined by allegations of fraud. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Tensions keep escalating between the U.S. and Venezuela after President 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. As you can see, flight radar over Venezuela shows the skies to be all but empty.

Venezuela's foreign minister denounced Trump's directive, calling it an illegal and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has more.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Across Saturday, the Venezuelan government presented several statements, all rejecting the -- what they are saying is an imposition from the White House, as Donald Trump early on Saturday morning sent a post on his social network calling for the international airspace on top of Venezuela to be "considered closed," and I quote.

[05:20:13]

One of the statements came from the Venezuelan defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who, for example, told us that no foreign power has any faculty to interfere, to block, or to condition sovereign decisions of Venezuela.

Clearly, the government signaling that has been rattled by these tweets from the White House, from President Trump, as several airlines have decided not to fly to Venezuela in the last few hours. One notable exception is, of course, that of Copa Airlines, the Panamanian airline that is still flying as regular here in Venezuela. It's remarkable, however, that we are yet to see any direct reaction from Nicolas Maduro himself.

The Venezuelan leader normally spends several hours on the TV every day, and instead, on Saturday night, he only released an audio message to talk about subsidized prices for food and other groceries ahead of the Christmas season, but did not make an appearance on the screen, leading to widespread speculation about his whereabouts. At the same time, as of Saturday night, the situation in Caracas is still of calm and expectation, perhaps a little bit of resignation over the fact that the millions of Venezuelans here do not have the needs and the means to provide any preparation for an eventual strike from the mightiest military power in the world, but also the expectation that something might really happen in the upcoming hours and days.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Hondurans head to the polls today in a tightly fought presidential election that's been overshadowed by allegations of fraud. Both the ruling and opposition parties have spread doubt about the electoral system. Adding to the tension is pressure from the U.S. after President Trump backed the right-wing candidate and promised to pardon a former president who's now serving time in a U.S. prison for drug trafficking.

Of the three front-running candidates, there's no clear favorite to win. Given the closeness of the race, some analysts say they're concerned that more than one candidate could claim victory.

For more, we're joined from London by Christopher Sabatini. He's a Senior Fellow for Latin America at Chatham House. Thanks so much for being here with us again.

So, before we get to the -- to the U.S. angle on this, as I mentioned, all three candidates are neck-and-neck in the polls, both sides already accusing each other of planning to rig the vote. How worried are you that the loser could just flat-out refuse to accept the results?

CHRISTOPHER SABATINI, SENIOR FELLOW FOR LATIN AMERICA, CHATHAM HOUSE: I'm quite worried. We saw in 2017 when the indicted and now convicted ex-president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, was reelected. There were riots after the elections.

A number of international election observers that were on the ground at the time said the election was not free and fair. And so, now we're heading into a new election where these charges are already being made before the voting gets started. And you have three candidates running neck-and-neck, as you said, and two of whom, by the way, Moncada, who's from the LIBRE Party, and Nasralla, Donald Trump, is called communist. And then you have the third candidate, Asfura, who Donald Trump has endorsed.

And Asfura, of the three, is actually running a little bit behind the other candidates. So, a Trump-endorsed candidate who claims electoral fraud and tries to stage protest is not unheard of in this case.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah.

SABATINI: So, I think there's a real risk of violence.

BRUNHUBER: OK, so let's talk about that endorsement, then. What do you make of a sitting American president openly picking sides in another country's election like this?

SABATINI: This is unprecedented, at least in modern U.S. diplomacy towards the region. For the past three decades, even, when it came to elections, the U.S. position, unless there were elections against a known autocratic government, say, in Venezuela or Nicaragua against the Ortega regime, but in most cases, the United States basically refrained from picking a candidate. The idea was, it's all about the process and maintaining the process as free and fair, and not trying to intervene in politics.

It's unclear to me why Donald Trump is doing this. I suspect he's receiving some pressure from allies. In particular, Marco Rubio is probably receiving some pressure from conservative allies in South Florida, who have ties to the National Party, which is the party that Asfura is from, represents.

But I also think what's at work here is that Donald Trump has demonstrated very clearly his plan in Latin America is not just to intervene, not just the gunboat diplomacy that we're seeing in Venezuela, but to create a more partisan alliance within the hemisphere. We saw this happen in Brazil, when he imposed 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian exports to the United States over the trial of his friend, Jair Bolsonaro. We saw this with the $20 billion credit line swap that the Trump administration offered to Javier Milei and saying, quite pointedly, that Argentina would only get that line of credit if Javier Milei's party won the midterm elections.

And now we see in Honduras, he's out now just picking a candidate saying, this is my man. This is a level of intervention we have not seen in a while.

[05:25:06]

BRUNHUBER: And then one of the other stories that's tied to this, I mean, the Trump administration is -- is threatening military action against Venezuela over drugs and has even, you know, blown-up boats that it are carrying narcotics. So, how do you square that with Trump pardoning a former president convicted of helping move tons of cocaine into this country?

SABATINI: Personally, Kim, I can't square that. But I think, ironically, first of all, I think if indeed he follows through on pardoning Juan Orlando Hernandez, I think what we will see is this will hurt Asfura, the national party candidate who Donald Trump has -- has endorsed, because that's of the same party. And the truth is Hernandez was left office very unpopular.

So, first of all, he's probably undermining his own political goals within Honduras. But why he did it, it's really unclear. I think, again, like he did with Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, I think he sees shades of himself.

An ex-president who was being, was dogged by the justice system, in this case, indicted, convicted, sentenced to 45 years in prison. So, he has a certain amount of, if you will, even empathy for Hernandez. But there's also a tie here because Hernandez was funding a lobbying group to help advocate for his release.

And that lobbying group has close ties to Marco Rubio. The lobbying group, for example, it's BRG is the name of the group. That lobbying group was a large donor to Marco Rubio's senatorial campaign. So, there's a close tie in here with, if you will, inside Washington politics, and an attempt to try to clear Hernandez's name.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Speaking of Venezuela, I want to ask you about the tie-ins here. I mean, what has been the response from the different candidates in Honduras' election over what the U.S. is doing in the Caribbean? SABATINI: Well, first of all, the National Party candidate, Asfura, has supported this. The LIBRE candidate, Moncada, and this is the -- this is the governing party she's running. The Constitution prohibits re-election. So, she's a candidate, but is not occupying office right now. She's against this.

And in fact, the LIBRE party has been very closely tied to the Chavez and the Maduro government, including in 2009, when then the Liberal Party president who founded -- went on to fund the LIBRE Party was actually a close ally of then-president Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

So, this Venezuela debate is playing out very much in Honduran elections. And I think, again, I think Donald Trump sees in Asfura an ally who will support his Venezuela policy, and also policy elsewhere in the region.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. We'll be seeing what happens in this election and all the possible repercussions that you've talked about. Christopher Sabatini, thanks so much.

SABATINI: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: The revamped youth wing of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party has elected a new leader. During his victory speech on Saturday, Jean-Pascal Hohm insisted neither of the party's co- leaders were a, quote, "servant of Russia."

But the election was met with widespread counter-protests that blocked road access to the party's venue. Local reports state 6,000 police were deployed near Giessen in anticipation of some 50,000 anti-AfD demonstrators.

All right, still to come, one man is suspected of carrying out a stunning act of violence in Washington, D.C., but the White House's outrage extends to huge groups of immigrants and asylum seekers. We will show you how.

And deadly storms in Asia unleash serious flooding and landslides. More than 600 people have died, and hundreds more are missing. Just ahead, several nations are dealing with the aftermath of extreme weather. Stay with us.

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[05:32:06]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check some of today's top stories.

Four people were killed and at least ten were injured in Stockton, California, after a mass shooting at a family gathering. Sheriff's deputies responded to reports of gunshots at a banquet hall around 6:00 in the evening local time. Those shots include children and adults. The suspect remains at large.

U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators will meet in Miami on Sunday to try to advance a U.S. peace proposal. That's happening as Ukraine is trying to recover from Russia's largest strikes in more than a month. Officials say Russia launched more than 600 drones and missiles Friday night into Saturday, killing at least three people. Fifteen others were injured.

President Donald Trump has warned that Venezuela's airspace should be considered closed. According to Flightradar, on Saturday, the airspace over Venezuela is all but empty. This comes as tensions keep escalating between the two countries, and after Trump said land strikes on Venezuela could come very soon.

Protesters are trying to keep federal agents from carrying out immigration raids in New York City. On Saturday, a crowd of people blocked the exits of this parking garage as masked, armed ICE agents were attempting to leave. New York police say they arrested multiple protesters after the crowd didn't disperse. The New York City police commissioner and a city council member slammed the federal agents for creating a, quote, "dangerous situation" for New Yorkers and police officers alike.

Friends and family are honoring the life of U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. On Friday, on Saturday, mourners gathered in her former West Virginia high school to remember her kindness, quiet courage, and contagious smile. A 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, and Wolfe remains in critical condition.

The suspect in the shooting is an Afghan national who worked with the U.S. military and 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.

[05:35:07] 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're 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: Authorities investigating the Hong Kong apartment fire say the death toll has climbed to 146 people. They have now revised the number of missing down to 40. The victim's identification unit has searched four of the compound's units. Fourteen arrests have been made in connection with the incident. And a three-day mourning period is now underway throughout Hong Kong.

More than 150 people are confirmed dead in Sri Lanka after landslides and flooding caused by a cyclone. Officials say nearly 200 more are missing in floods that have buried homes and cut power. More than half a million residents have been affected across the nation by the worst flooding in a decade. Now, Sri Lanka isn't the only country hit by storms. Flooding across Southeast Asia has left hundreds dead in the region. CNN's Ben Hunte has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Sri Lanka is deploying thousands of police, Navy personnel and army troops to help with rescue and relief efforts after floods and landslides killed more than 150 people, according to the country's disaster management center.

A state of emergency has been declared, and the country is asking for international help after a powerful cyclone caused widespread damage and left some areas underwater and cut off. Emergency teams are airlifting people to safety in some areas, even saving one man who was stranded on top of a tree.

Torrential rains from a different cyclone are causing similar chaos in Southeast Asia. Floods have inundated parts of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia in recent days, killing hundreds of people across the region. The Indonesian government says it has sent aid to the affected areas, but terrain and weather is slowing down the help.

In one isolated village, some people say they've lost everything in the floods, and residents have set up a public kitchen to share their sparse resources.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We did receive some aid, but until today, we've only received two bags of rice.

HUNTE: Thailand says the floods affected more than 3.5 million people, mainly in the south of the country. Many residents say they're still living without electricity, and in one aid distribution site lined up in the dark for critical supplies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It was plain water because we needed it for using the bathroom, drinking and bathing.

HUNTE: Extreme weather forcing people into extreme circumstances, as parts of South and Southeast Asia try to recover from separate but deadly storms.

Ben Hunte, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 70,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Emergency workers are still recovering bodies stuck under rubble. More than 600 have been found since the ceasefire started six weeks ago, and that number is expected to rise significantly. Gaza's civil defense estimates up to 10,000 remain buried. The health ministry says more than 10,000 women and 20,000 children have been killed during two years of war.

Hope 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. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:42:38]

BRUNHUBER: Pope Leo is wrapping up his final day in Istanbul before heading to Lebanon in the next hour. He's spent the last three days in Turkey, meeting with political and religious leaders during his first trip abroad as pontiff. Earlier, he visited Istanbul's Patriarchal Church of St. George. There, he joined the leadership of the Eastern Orthodox Church to deliver a blessing focused on unity between Christians of differing denominations and traditions.

Now, for more, let's bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, reporting live from Istanbul.

You've been watching his trip so far in Turkey and looking ahead to Lebanon. Take us through it.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: And that message that you -- that you just mentioned of interfaith dialogue and also of dialogue within Christianity, ecumenical blessings, speaking within the denominations, that's extremely important. That resonates here in Turkey where the Christian population is extremely tiny, maybe only around one percent of the population, and most of those Christians are Orthodox rather than Catholic. When you're talking about the Catholic population in Turkey, it is absolutely miniscule.

So, Pope Leo is taking this as an opportunity to speak to Christianity at large. He was at an Armenian church earlier today speaking about just that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO: By God's grace, the dialogue of charity between our churches has flourished. On this 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council, my visit offers an opportunity to celebrate the Nicene Creed. We must draw from this shared apostolic faith in order to recover the unity that existed in the early centuries between the Church of Rome and the ancient Oriental churches.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: And that very much has been a theme for Pope Leo throughout this trip, the idea of bridges, of resolving conflict through dialogue, through cooperation, through listening. It's been a trip here in Turkey that's been full of historical significance, deep meaning, symbolic gestures. But it's also been an opportunity, of course, for Pope Leo, who is on his first overseas trip, to step out onto the world stage and show people who he is.

And we're seeing that his personality, his style, his papacy is already distinguishing itself from his predecessors. Take, for example, yesterday when he visited the Blue Mosque. He, of course, walked in, took off his shoes, as is required, as is custom, but chose not to pray at the mosque, as some of his predecessors have done in the past.

[05:45:16]

We're also hearing from those who are around him that he has a much more reserved, a much more quiet style compared to his predecessor, Pope Francis. But we've also seen moments where he showed his openness, you know, high-fiving the faithful as he left a church here in Istanbul a couple of days ago, or on the Papal Plain, where he showed his American side by taking gifts of pumpkin pie and pecan pie and wishing Happy Thanksgiving to the reporters on board the Papal Plain.

And we're going to see a lot more of that personality on display when he moves on to Lebanon. In a few hours' time, he is expected to depart. But so much also of his Papal message has been about peace, about diplomacy, about conflict resolution, and that will, of course, be front and center in Lebanon, a country very much at the heart of a conflict right now that only a few days ago was hit by Israeli airstrikes, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, I appreciate it. CNN Salma Abdelaziz, thanks so much.

Holiday shopping in the United States is off and running. After Black Friday comes Small Business Saturday. Just ahead, why one California communities hoping residents shop local. Stay with us.

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[05:50:13]

BRUNHUBER: The story just in. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the country's president Isaac Herzog for a pardon. The president's office reported a short time ago that it had received and was giving consideration to the request. The prime minister has been facing a long corruption trial. He denies the charges.

Experts say the jury is still out on how well U.S. retailers did on the big Black Friday shopping day. Retail sales climbed by more than four percent from last year according to MasterCard's spending pulse but that doesn't account for inflation. So, experts say the real increase may not be that high.

Online shopping reached almost $12 billion which is more than nine percent increase from last year while the National Retail Federation predicts that overall spending will reach a record $1 trillion this holiday season.

And tomorrow is Cyber Monday when shoppers are encouraged to buy online. There was another shopping day yesterday, Small Business Saturday. As Julia Vargas Jones reports, shoppers were asked to buy local.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a very important day for Altadena not only because it's Small Business Saturday but it's the first weekend that a lot of these businesses are opening for the first time since the fires.

I want to show you just behind me. This is one of the buildings that has not yet recovered from that fire but along this strip, so many small businesses coming together getting their community out to support them and help them get back on their feet.

So, far we've heard from some of these business owners saying they're overwhelmed with the amount of people that have come out. Some of them saying they've actually sold out of items and we spoke to one of them specifically. Take a listen to what she said.

ADRIANA MOLINA, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: It's awesome to see people walking in the door and just seeing cars on the street. I intentionally wanted to reopen for this season to give people a reason to come up here. I think everyone needs to see and see the rebuild and or just be patient with all the businesses here who are trying to make it. Small businesses -- supporting small businesses is like, you know, it's our true passion to be a little small mom-and-pop shop, so we love it. JONES: Now, I have to say it is striking to see such warmth and positivity in this very intersection. Eleven months ago this intersection was being ravaged by fire. We were here reporting on that fire and now to see it full of people, families, literally a holiday choir singing behind us, it is truly heartwarming and some of these vendors are saying that this can really make a difference for their business until the end of the year.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Altadena, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now, previously unseen painting by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens goes up for auction in Versailles, France in a few hours. The somber crucifixion scene titled Christ on the Cross dates to the early 1600s. It was discovered by the auctioneer himself during a routine visit to a mansion in Paris last year. The auction house says it could fetch more than $2 million.

A baby seal is making history in Uruguay and gaining attention on social media. She's the first elephant seal pup born in the country and has become its latest viral sensation. CNN's Dario Klein reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARIO KLEIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Her name is Francisca and she's from Uruguay. She's the first elephant seal known to have been born in the mainland of this South American country and very far from where these mammals usually live. A little over a month ago, her mother arrived pregnant on the sands of Piriapolis looking for a quiet spot to give birth.

Of course, she didn't quite find what she was looking for, but rather a public beach close to the lights and noise of this resort town very far from Antarctica and its nearby islands where these species typically breed in isolation and colder conditions. So, the national authorities are trying to protect her together with volunteers, set up a perimeter and try to give her some level of calm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we are 24 hours taking care --

KLEIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- with volunteers and the local authorities. Yes, with winds, with rain, all the time.

KLEIN (voice-over): And that's how the baby was born. The locals first named it Francisco thinking it was a male and later Francisca or Pancha in honor of the founder of this city, Francisco Piria. Her mother was able to nurse her for about 25 days.

The images of mother and daughter spread like wildfire and thousands of people followed Francisca's development almost in real time. She was seen being born, then growing, playing with her mother, learning to swim until nature decided it was time. Her mother left her on the sand and returned to the ocean. [05:55:21]

(On camera): Here she's resting in this stream. Sometimes she goes out to discover, to explore and they have to bring her back.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She discovers everything, investigates everything. She doesn't need to eat yet.

KLEIN (on camera): But the story didn't end up there. Now, just a few meters away from Francisca there is another elephant seal, but this one arrived on its own. But beyond the story itself, Francisca and Marina, that's the name that the locals put her, raises several questions.

Why do you think these mammals are here, on the coast where they should be?

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KLEIN: And now, Francisca, or Pancha, however they call her, she rests, she gains strength, she explores, she discovers and she prepares to face the wild world out there at the sea.

Dario Klein, CNN, Piriapolis, Uruguay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, well that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber.

For our viewers in North America, "CNN This Morning" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "Walk of Art."

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