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President Trump Sets Thursday Thanksgiving Deadline for Ukraine to Accept a U.S.-Backed Peace Proposal; U.S. Lawmakers React to Marjorie Taylor Greene's Resignation from Congress; Thanksgiving Week Weather Shows a Noticeable Cool-Down Weather for Travelers. Aired 5- 5:30a ET

Aired November 24, 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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BRIAN ABEL, ANCHOR, EARLY START: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world, I'm Brian Abel, thank you so much for being with us. It is Monday, November 24th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington D.C., and straight ahead on EARLY START.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cautious optimism after President Donald Trump had set a Thursday Thanksgiving deadline for Ukraine to accept a U.S.- backed peace proposal.

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: We have made substantial progress. We've really moved forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her resignation, lawmakers across the aisle have really weighed in on this.

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): You've got to be kidding me. You're on the other side of the President for one week, and you can't take the heat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big travel week on the way and a noticeable cool- down on the way for the eastern half of the U.S.

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ABEL: Ukraine's President says ongoing peace talks to end Russia's war in his country are at a critical moment. This is what Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Swedish parliament, speaking remotely just a short time ago.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE: Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen to break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty, and that's the main problem.

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ABEL: This comes as the U.S. says it's making progress with Kyiv on the Trump administration's peace proposal. Delegations from the U.S. and Ukraine met in Geneva on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the negotiations were, in his words, probably the most productive and meaningful yet.

He says the terms of the 28-point plan are evolving. And the German Foreign Minister tells "Deutschlandfunk Radio" that the talks produced decisive success for Europeans. Rubio is also making it clear that, quote, "Russians get a vote too". And he addressed the chances a deal will be made this week.

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RUBIO: The deadline is, we want to get this done as soon as possible. Obviously, you know, we would love it to be Thursday. We'd love it to be -- ultimately, the important point today is that we have made substantial progress. We've really moved forward. So, I feel very optimistic that we're going to get there in a very reasonable period of time very soon. Our goal is to end this war as soon as possible, but we need a little more time.

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ABEL: CNN's Clare Sebastian joins me now from London. And there was a deadline for Ukraine to decide on a deal. Where does that deadline stand now, Clare?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems to be not as hard a deadline as the statements coming out last week has suggested. Marco Rubio, saying, you know, he hopes it will be soon. He hopes it will be Thursday, but certainly not enforcing that in any kind of hard-line way, and making it clear that they need more time.

So, I think that moment of danger where Ukraine essentially was presented last week with this peace plan and told that it would have to accept it or keep fighting, in the words of Donald Trump. That sort of has lifted for the moment, and obviously, everyone is coming out of those talks on Sunday, touting real progress.

Look, I think we don't know yet what has changed in this document. The joint statement coming out of those talks said that they had an updated and refined piece framework, and certainly Zelenskyy struck a relatively positive tone, saying that diplomacy had been activated.

They had signals the U.S. was listening. But he made an address this morning, a virtual address to the Swedish parliament, and we were trying to glean from that what we could about what exactly has changed in this document. Take a listen to what he tried to clarify there.

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ZELENSKYY: The steps we have coordinated with its side of the U.S., we managed to keep extremely sensitive points on the table, including the full release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war under the all-for- all formula and civilians, and the complete return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. These are important steps. But to achieve real peace, more is needed.

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SEBASTIAN: More is needed, I think is the key point here. He didn't mention in terms of the steps that were discussed or anything that was kept on the table with the U.S. any of the key points around territorial concessions, around future access to NATO for Ukraine, which the proposal that leaked out last week from the U.S. took off the table.

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Look, diplomacy is definitely stepping up. The EU leaders are likely to hold an informal meeting today, the Coalition of the Willing is set to hold a phone conversation tomorrow. That's the group of 30 countries that are willing to contribute to post-war security guarantees for Ukraine. There's various bilateral conversations happening as well behind the scenes.

But I think those big sticking points on territorial concessions, the Europeans, according to a counter-proposal that came out, still want a ceasefire before any discussion of that. Those are still up in the air and we have no sense as yet from the Kremlin that they are willing to walk back any of their hardline positions, which is, of course, where this process, this effort by the U.S. to forge a diplomatic path forward, has fallen down multiple times. Brian?

ABEL: All right, Clare Sebastian for us in London, Clare, thank you. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump had a nearly hour-long meeting at the White House last week. But despite the cordial atmosphere, Mamdani is now doubling down on his belief that President Trump is a fascist. Here's what he told "NBC".

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to be very clear, do you think that President Trump is a fascist?

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, MAYOR-ELECT OF NEW YORK CITY: And after President Trump said that, I said yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you do?

MAMDANI: And that's something that I've said in the past, I say today, and I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the President was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement about the politics that has brought us to this moment.

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ABEL: CNN's Gloria Pazmino spoke with Mamdani about his meeting with the President and his plans for when he takes office in the new year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Zohran Mamdani

returned to New York City on Sunday and spoke at a congregation in the Bronx during their church services, where he talked to the crowd about how he understood that the need to deliver on his agenda would require him working with people that he doesn't necessarily agree with.

A reference to President Donald Trump after that meeting that the two of them had on Friday, which went apparently extremely well, considering how opposed these two politicians have been for the past few months. We talked to Zohran Mamdani on Sunday about how he had prepared for this meeting, and learned a little bit more about what the two discussed behind closed doors. Take a listen. Talk to me about how you deciphered his language?

MAMDANI: You know, I approached this meeting thinking about what I'd heard from New Yorkers who voted for the President. And when I asked them why they did so last November, they told me, cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. Often times in the conversation between two politicians, the conversation rarely extends beyond either of them.

Our conversation focused on New York City, and I think that is a point of shared focus, a point of shared admiration for the city that we both call home, and a city that is in danger of becoming a museum of where working people once were.

PAZMINO: Now, Mamdani told us that he and the President discussed everything from the complicated building code in New York City, which makes it very difficult to build housing here in New York, something that we know the President is familiar with because he has a background in construction and real estate, and it's something that he knows and likes to talk about.

They talked about whether or not they would be able to ask Con Edison; the utility company here in the United States, to lower rates for New Yorkers. They talked about immigration and federal enforcement. And that last part is key, because that's one of the big questions heading into January 1st, which is when Zohran Mamdani will take office here in New York City.

Whether or not the Trump administration will deploy federal forces into the city, Mamdani told us that he did not exactly get a commitment from the President to not send those forces, but he told me that the two did have a conversation about immigration enforcement, and he believes that now that they have this early, you know, and young relationship between the two, he is hoping that he can talk to him and work together to accomplish major parts of the agenda that he ran on, affordability, making life more affordable for people here in New York City.

And we'll see. This is, you know, a relationship that we're going to be closely watching for the next several months, particularly as Mamdani prepares to take office in the new year. I'm Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ABEL: Outgoing Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene is shutting

down speculation that she has plans to run for the highest office in the land. The Georgia lawmaker posted this on social media, quote, "running for President requires traveling all over the country, begging for donations all day, every day to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, arguing political talking points every day to the point of exhaustion. Destroying your health and having no personal life in order to attempt to get enough votes to become President.

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All to go to work into a system that refuses to fix any of America's problems. The fact that I'd have to go through all that, but would be totally blocked from truly fixing anything, is exactly why I would never do it." CNN's Camila DeChalus looks at how members of Congress are reacting to that surprise resignation.

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CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Well, since Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her resignation, lawmakers across the aisle have really weighed in on this. Some Democrats say that they're not really quite sure what to make of her decision, but note that they were kind of counting on her vote and any upcoming deal to extend and enhance Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Because, mind you, she was a very big advocate in saying that the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, had to do something about addressing these subsidies. And these subsidies are really at the heart of the big issue around the 40-day plus government shutdown. Now, it's also worth noting that some Democrats have recently praised Greene for helping push the bipartisan effort to fully release all the Jeffrey Epstein files in Congress.

And even in her resignation statement, she even acknowledged herself that this effort really contributed to the ongoing tensions between herself and President Trump. Now, one Democratic lawmaker Jasmine Crockett, did not hold back on some of her criticism of Greene and what she felt about her resignation. Take a listen.

CROCKETT: Honestly, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. You're on the other side of the President for one week, and you can't take the heat. Imagine what it is to sit in my shoes, to not only be on the opposite side of him, but to have people like her who are constantly fanning the flames of hate.

DECHALUS: Now, it's worth noting that last week, Marjorie Taylor Greene apologized and said she would no longer use toxic rhetoric, especially after President Trump called her a "traitor". And now, with her leaving office, it really does have a lot of lawmakers wondering what will happen next, because some Democratic lawmakers saw her as potentially being an ally of addressing key issues that Congress and lawmakers still need to address. Camila DeChalus, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ABEL: After surviving the dysfunction of the government shutdown,

airlines and airports are ramping up for their next big challenge holiday travel. The FAA predicts this will be the busiest Thanksgiving travel season in 15 years, with an estimated 17.8 million travelers expected to be screened. That includes 3 million on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Travel has been steadily increasing throughout the year, with 2025 having eight of the busiest days in TSA history. Meanwhile, the majority of holiday travelers will be using the roads this week. CNN's Chris Warren tells you what you can expect from the weather.

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CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Big travel week on the way, and Monday, we are going to be watching more rain, more storms for parts of Texas into the Ark-La-Tex, severe weather, a possibility here. Meanwhile, pretty quiet for much of the eastern portion of the United States. Another system working across the north.

In fact, this and this kind of meeting up here to create potentially some travel concerns. But before that, the concerns are going to be the potential for flooding during the early morning hours here for parts of Texas, and then again throughout the day, increasing chance for showers and thunderstorms, possibly the stronger type of thunderstorms.

Here's how things are going to be playing out. We're going to see showers and possibly some storms going right overnight Monday into Tuesday. This is now Tuesday morning, seeing some snow start to take shape here in the Dakotas. This is also as the system winds up, it's going to have wind associated with it, relatively mild to start the week ahead of this system.

And as this system works across the Great Lakes in the northern tier, this is where on Wednesday, there could be some travel delays. Closer to that low is going to be the bumpier weather with more wind, more rain, more snow. And then once that kicks out, moves through, colder air will be following behind. So, instead of the lower 80s in Orlando that we've been enjoying over the weekend, it's going to be into the lower 70s.

So, mild compared to what we're going to see in Minneapolis, in the twin cities, but definitely a noticeable cool-down on the way for the eastern half of the U.S.

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ABEL: Chris, thank you. Just ahead, Israel says it's killed Hezbollah's second most senior figure. Details of the deadly airstrike in a live report. Plus, the United States is designating members of Venezuela's government, including its president, as part of a terrorist organization. What this means for a possible U.S. military strikes inside Venezuela.

And later, police tracked down the woman convicted of the 2014 Slender Man stabbing after she fled a group home in Wisconsin.

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ABEL: The Israeli military says it has killed Hezbollah's chief of staff in the first strike on southern Beirut in months. Lebanon's Health Ministry says five people were killed and more than two dozen injured in Sunday's attack. The IDF says the strike was meant to prevent Hezbollah from further strengthening its capabilities.

CNN's Nic Robertson is following developments and joins us live from Jerusalem with details on what Israel is saying about the impact of this strike. Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Haytham Ali Tabatabai was in an apartment building, a tall apartment building in the southern suburbs of Beirut Sunday afternoon. That's when the Israeli missiles hit the building on the fourth or fifth floor, causing those five deaths, 28 casualties as well as his death.

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Hezbollah has reacted, calling Israel strike a treacherous act. It is the first time that Israel has struck so deep into Beirut or into Beirut at all since June this year. And it's almost a year to the date since that ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into place. And that's a ceasefire where the pressure has been on the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army, as well as Hezbollah, Hezbollah, to pull out of the border region along the northern border, along Israel's northern border, to move out of that area and not have any arms and weapons in that area.

The Lebanese army, along with the U.N., is supposed to oversee that the Lebanese army is supposed to take the lead role. It's something they've been struggling to do. They felt very pressured by that, by these arrangements that have been made with Israel for their role in disarming Hezbollah.

But into all of that, the Israeli assessment is growing that Hezbollah is trying to reconstitute itself in some way that may be moving back into that border area, and therefore threatening the north over Israel. So, it appears -- and this is what the Prime Minister has said, a clear intent to stop Hezbollah regaining the strength, regaining the military foothold that it had close to the border.

The number two here in Hezbollah is the de facto military commander of Hezbollah as well. He had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, a terrorist designation since 2016. The IDF, the Prime Minister as well, saying that he had not only Israeli blood on his hands, but American blood on his hands, and it's formerly been a special forces commander training, forces in Syria and in Yemen.

So, it is a very strong signal from the Israeli government, but also a concern that it weakens the ceasefire agreement that's in place, one that has looked increasingly shaky, with a number of Israeli strikes just across into the border region, particularly seeming to uptick over the recent week or so.

ABEL: A strong signal indeed, and also a major target. Nic Robertson for us in Jerusalem. Nic, thank you. Effective today, the United States is designating Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and allies in his government as members of a terrorist organization. The Trump administration accuses Maduro of running a vast drug trafficking cartel, which Maduro denies, and his government argues doesn't even exist.

The terror designation will authorize President Trump to impose new sanctions. And the White House says it will allow expanded options for military strikes inside Venezuela. But legal experts say it will not explicitly authorize the use of lethal force. There are critics of the administration's actions among Republicans and Democrats. Republican Senator Rand Paul spoke out Sunday against the U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

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SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): They want to have it both ways. They want to say, oh, we can just say these people are terrorists or narco terrorists, so we can blow them up. But it's extraordinary that when some of them survive, they pluck them out of the water, they don't prosecute them for drugs, they don't collect drugs.

They don't tell us if they were armed or not. They just send them back to their country, most of the time, not being Venezuela. They've sent one back to Colombia and one back to Ecuador. But nobody is making any pretense of even interviewing them to find out who is selling you the drugs. Maybe we could find out who the kingpins are if they're involved in the drug trade. Not a word.

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ABEL: A "CBS News" poll shows that 70 percent of Americans would oppose military action in Venezuela. It also found that 76 percent of Americans say the Trump administration has not clearly explained its position on military action in the country. And 56 percent say U.S. military action in Venezuela would not change the amount of drugs entering the U.S.

Still to come, the G20 ends as South Africa declares it a success and world leaders are able to laugh about the U.S. refusing to take part. Plus, fear spreads across Nigeria after hundreds were kidnapped from a private Catholic school. And now the pope is weighing in on the abductions.

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ABEL: The first G20 Summit to be hosted on the African continent officially came to a close Sunday in Johannesburg. Most notable was the absence of next year's host, the United States. The U.S. boycotted the summit over discredited allegations by the Trump administration that South Africa is persecuting its white minority population. For months, the White House has also been critical of South Africa's

agenda, which focused on climate change and global inequality. The U.S. called the summit's joint declaration, shameful. Fifty students who were abducted from their Catholic school in Nigeria are now home with their families, but 250 others are still being held by their captors.

The students along with a dozen teachers were taken by armed bandits on Friday. CNN's Larry Madowo has the latest.

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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anxious parents scrambled to pick up their children from a boarding school in Nigeria. The nightmare scenario of armed gangs kidnapping students has once again set the country on edge. The school in Kaduna state told parents the school was closing because of unspecified security threats.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have to let children go for their safety.