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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
50 Nigerian Students Escape Captors, 250+ Still Being Held; Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Stresses Vaccine Safety Despite Updated CDC Website; Italian Court Removes Three Children From Off-Grid Forest Home. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired November 24, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The school in Kaduna State told parents the school was closing because of unspecified security threats.
GLORIA SAMUEL, MATRON, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GIRLS COLLEGE ZARIA: They have to let children go for their safety. Their life is important, and their education as far as now is concerned, so I think it's the best.
MADOWO (voiceover): Meanwhile, a mass abduction from a Catholic school in the neighboring Nigerian state of Niger is terrifying parents. More than 300 children and 12 teachers were kidnapped on Friday though dozens have since escaped, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria. All schools in the state of Niger have been closed.
And people across the country are demanding that the government provide more security at schools and churches.
IFEOMA ANEKE, BUSINESSWOMAN: I don't think anybody feels safe -- what is happening in Nigeria presently -- because the kidnapping, the bandits everywhere, the killing. Everybody is so scared. They want to sleep. If you are sleeping, I don't think -- I don't think people are sleeping with their eyes closed.
MADOWO (voiceover): So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the abductions and authorities say tactical squads and local hunters are looking for the children.
MOHAMMED UMARA BAGO, NIGER STATE GOVERNOR: It's not a time for blame game. Our mission today is how we can rescue these children and all of those that have been kidnapped in that incident.
MADOWO (voiceover): But there is a growing fear and anger across Nigeria about security concerns, especially after several brazen attacks in the past week. In western Nigeria's Kwara State gunmen raided a church service, killing at least two people. Dozens of worshippers were kidnapped but have since been freed. And 25 female students were taken after armed men stormed a government boarding school in the northwestern Kebbi State. The violence once again putting Nigeria in the international
spotlight. Just over a decade ago there was a global outcry after 276 girls from a school in Chibok were kidnapped by terror group Boko Haram. Many of those girls never returned home.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed outrage over the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria and has even threatened military action to protect Christians from Islamist insurgents. The radical groups in the area attacked both Christians and Muslims.
POPE LEO XIV: (Speaking foreign language).
MADOWO (voiceover): Pope Leo also weighing in on Sunday saying he is saddened by the incidents and appealed for the immediate release of the captives.
Larry Madowo, CNN.
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BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come, China and Japan in a diplomatic clash. How controversial comments from Japan's prime minister could impact tourism in her country.
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ABEL: Welcome back to EARLY START. This is your business breakout.
We are keeping an eye on U.S. stock futures ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street. At this hour, here is where things stand. The Dow starting the day down, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slightly in the green.
Let's check some of today's business headlines.
The U.S. Treasury secretary says he does not believe the U.S. is at risk of a recession next year. Instead, Scott Bessent says he's very confident about 2026 amid tax deals and trade deals. But recent data shows inflation is up, as are average grocery prices.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has canceled the release of the October Consumer Price Index; inflation data the Federal Reserve would use to weigh a decision on interest rates for next month. Bessent said he considers the housing market to be in a recession.
The FBI is investigating a hacking incident that may affect some of the biggest banks on Wall Street. The hackers accessed a trove of data from a company that Wall Street banks use for real estate loans and mortgages. The firm notified banks that their data may have been stolen, including JPMorgan Chase and Citibank.
The TSA says 90 percent of its workforce has received backpay from the government shutdown. Some federal workers didn't get paid for more than a month. The agency says it's focused on paying everyone as fast as possible and all employees are expected to have their backpay by Monday.
A war of words between China and Japan could soon impact tourism in the region, with the Chinese government now advising its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan.
CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more on what's behind this growing rift.
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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chinese tourists have canceled flights to Japan and Japanese hotels have rereported last-minute changes. Why is this happening? Because China is warning its citizens against traveling here after Japan's prime minister made comments that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response.
The travel warning is a big deal because far more Chinese tourists come to Japan every year than visitors from any other country.
MELODY XIONG, CHINESE TOURIST: I think Japan is safe. It's not about is it safe or not; it's about that you've been very unkind to China -- the government of China. Of course, we want to warn our people that they're not kind to us. Maybe you should think about if you have planned to go to Japan, they might not be kind to you.
NAOKO NAKAYAMA, JAPAN RESIDENT (through translator): Japan doesn't need to beg people to visit. We have always welcome anyone who comes.
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MONTGOMERY: In the first nine months of the year nearly 7.5 million travelers from China made the trip to Japan. In that time Chinese tourist spent about 1.6 trillion yen or $10.3 billion. So if Chinese visitors do decide to go elsewhere, Japan's tourism industry could find itself severely short of change.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.
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ABEL: The CDC's vaccine safety webpage is sending mixed messages after an update ordered by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Why health experts say the new language is dangerously misleading, next.
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ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel. Here are some stories we are watching today.
Ukraine's president says his country is at a critical moment in peace negotiations. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian negotiators were able to convince Washington to keep "extremely sensitive points" on the table during talks with U.S. diplomats in Geneva. Zelenskyy added that he is working closely with the U.S. toward a plan that will ensure a stable peace with real security for his country. The Kremlin says it has not received any official information regarding the outcome of Sunday's talks.
The Israeli military says it has skilled 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.
President Trump is planning to unveil a new plan to address health care costs, sources tell CNN, and that could happen as early as today. The White House is trying to avoid a spike in premiums due to the expiring subsidies of the Affordable Care Act. A disagreement on how to do so was a key sticking point that led to the recent government shutdown.
Republican senator and physician Bill Cassidy is stressing the importance of vaccinations after the CDC added a new update to their website. The update adds language claiming that the CDC's longtime statement that vaccines do not cause autism isn't backed by evidence. The change was made after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the CDC to revise the page.
CNN's Julia Benbrook has more.
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JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Medical professionals are voicing concerns as scientific information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website has been replaced with anti-vaccine talking points.
So let's take a closer look at the changes.
Bullet points on the site now claim that the statement "Vaccines do not cause autism" is not an evidence-based claim," adding, "Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities."
So that's what you see first on the webpage. And then you scroll down to the main header. It still states, "Vaccines do not cause autism," but with an asterisk that directs readers to a footnote. And there it states that the wording was not removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Now that refers to a promise made by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy who is also a physician and had a key vote in Kennedy's confirmation process. He did decide to support him.
Now, after the website changes came out, Cassidy commented in a statement. He said in part, "I'm a doctor who has seen people die from vaccine-preventable diseases. What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B, and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism. Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker."
Cassidy spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper over the weekend and reiterated that stance. Take a listen.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Anything that undermines the understanding -- the correct understanding, the absolutely scientifically-based understanding that vaccines are safe and that if you don't take them you're putting your child or yourself in greater danger -- anything that underlines that message is a problem.
BENBROOK: And while there are many credible studies showing no relationship between vaccines and autism, an HHS spokesperson, in a statement, defended the website changes saying that they reflected gold standard evidence-based science.
Julia Benbrook, CNN, Washington.
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ABEL: The head of the Kennedy Center is responding to an accusation of financial misconduct at the prestigious arts theater. Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says President Trump is using the center as a "slush fund and private club and that it is being looted to the tune of millions of dollars in foregone revenue."
Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell told Fox News he has nothing to hide.
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RICHARD GRENELL, PRESIDENT, KENNEDY CENTER: I am happy to open up our books and show. Our CFO is amazing, and she has made sure that what we're trying to do is completely open and transparent. We don't want any phantom revenue. We don't want to show the board one thing and then have the reality another. I say let the chips fall where they may. They can see exactly what we're doing.
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ABEL: The woman convicted in the brutal "Slender Man" stabbing is now back in custody. Morgan Geyser was 12 years old when she and a classmate lured another 12-year-old classmate to a park where they stabbed her 19 times, all to impress a murderous fictional internet character, Slender Man. The girl miraculously survived the attack. Geyser would later strike a plea deal with prosecutors, which placed her in a mental institution instead of serving jail time.
Police in Madison, Wisconsin say Geyser left a group home where she had been living on Saturday after cutting off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet. Officials now confirm she was found sleeping at a truck stop 20 miles south of Chicago.
A former University of Virginia student has been given five life sentences for a deadly shooting on the campus in 2022. Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. fatally shot three football players and wounded two other students. He was given the maximum sentence after pleading guilty last year. The shooting happened on a charter bus after students returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. The campus was locked down for hours until Jones was captured.
A family living off the grid in an Italian forest loses custody of their three children. Why it's led to a public outcry, next.
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ABEL: New Delhi's 34 million residents are facing very poor air quality again this winter. The cold months usually see thick smog and a rise in pollution levels in the Indian capital. Last month you might remember the government launched an unsuccessful cloud seeding experiment meant to wash away the toxic air. Some of the city's residents say they are experiencing serious physical symptoms from the pollution.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I am facing many problems -- immunity and eyesight issues, stomachache, and even water-related problems. Pollution is impacting normal lives of people, and it has caused a health emergency.
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ABEL: A custody dispute in Italy is raising questions about parental rights and alternative lifestyles. Authorities removing three children from parents who have chosen to live off the grid.
CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has more.
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BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: An Italian court has removed three young children from their Anglo Australian parents who have been living off-grid in a forest in the Abruzzo region of Central Italy with horses, chickens, and a donkey, and without running water or indoor plumbing. They have 6-year-old twins and an 8-year-old, none of whom go to traditional school.
The family captured authorities' attention when all five were hospitalized with food poisoning from eating wild mushrooms in September 2024. Since then they've been under scrutiny for their lifestyle, which includes heating the house with fireplaces, relying on solar panels for power, using an outdoor compost toilet, and avoiding medical care.
The parents are fighting to get their kids back, saying that they have the right to choose how they want to live. Many agree with them. Tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition against the court order. And even Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has chimed in, calling the separation alarming.
The family's lawyers say they will be appealing the removal this week.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Award-winning actor and musician Donald Glover is making public a health scare that forced him to cancel his 2024 Childish Gambino tour. At the time, he announced that it was because of an ailment. Well, this past weekend he told an audience in Los Angeles that ailment was actually a stroke. Glover also says doctors found a hole in his heart and he had to have two surgeries to repair it.
But he appeared to be positive, telling fans "You've got one life. The life I've lived with you guys has been such a blessing."
The second "Wicked" movie is outpacing the first film with a worldwide box office gain of $226 million.
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Clip from Universal Pictures "Wicked: For Good."
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ABEL: "Wicked: For Good" wraps up the original story of the Wicked Witch of the West. The film's plot is based on the Broadway musical version of the popular novel, which was in turn inspired by "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." More than half the film's earnings are from the U.S. box office, a good sign for Hollywood after a historically slow October.
Week 12 in the NFL featured a number of games with possible playoff implications, including one of the hottest teams in the league. The Rams taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Los Angeles in Sunday, and L.A. dominated this one.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford finding Davante Adams for one of two touchdowns on the night. Tampa would see quarterback Baker Mayfield go down with a shoulder injury late in the first half. And the Rams clobbered the Bucs 34-7, improving to 9-2 on the season.
Another big one in the NFC. The Philadelphia Eagles visiting the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas got off to another sluggish start, down 21-7 going into the second half, but that is when the boys came storming back. They held Philly scoreless after halftime, tying the game. Then saw Brandon Aubrey kick the game-winning field goal as time expired right there. The Cowboys take it 24-21 keeping their playoff hopes alive.
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Over in the AFC the Chiefs were fighting for their playoff lives facing the red-hot Indianapolis Colts in Kansas City. The reigning conference champs were playing from behind throughout the game. Kansas City was down 11 points heading into the fourth quarter but their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes leading a remarkable comeback, throwing for a season-high 352 yards. The game went to overtime when Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker hit the game-winning field goal -- this fifth on the day. Kansas City 23-20. They win to stay in the playoff hunt. Thank you for joining us for EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in
Washington, D.C. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.
