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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Judge Dismisses Cases Against James Comey, Letitia James; Peace Talks Proceed As Russia & Ukraine Launch Strikes; FAA: Thanksgiving Travel Period To Be Busiest In 15 Years; Pentagon Threatens Sen. Kelly Over "Illegal Orders" Video; U.S. Designates Maduro As Member Of Foreign Terrorist Organization. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 25, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:23]

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all round the world. I'm Brian Abel. Thank you so much for being with us.

It's Tuesday, November 25th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, D.C.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: A federal judge dismissing the Justice Department's cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

JIM COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: I know that Donald Trump will probably come after me again.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: We're just getting started for what's going to be a huge week for the Thanksgiving travel rush.

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: This is going to be the busiest Thanksgiving that we have on record.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: I'm standing on the most expensive retail strip in the world, New Bond Street in London has overtaken Milan and New York as the priciest place to be selling stuff to the ultra wealthy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ABEL: We begin right here in Washington, where the Justice Department plans to appeal a judge's decision to dismiss the indictments against two of President Donald Trump's political foes, former FBI Director James Comey was accused of lying to and obstructing congress, and New York Attorney General Letitia James was charged with one count each of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. The judge said Trump's appointment of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey

Halligan, who was leading the prosecution, was invalid. But she left open the possibility that Comey and James could be charged again.

Here's Attorney General Pam Bondi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We'll be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal to hold Letitia James and James Comey accountable for their unlawful conduct. I'm going to keep going on this. I'm not -- you know, I'm not -- I'm not worried about someone who has been charged with a very serious crime. His alleged actions were a betrayal of public trust. So --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: James Comey responded to the judge's decision in a video post on Instagram.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMEY: The president of the United States cannot use the Department of Justice to target his political enemies. I don't care what your politics are, you have to see that as fundamentally un-American and a threat to the rule of law that keeps all of us free.

I know that Donald Trump will probably come after me again, and my attitude is going to be the same. I'm innocent. I am not afraid. And I believe in an independent federal judiciary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Letitia James issued a statement saying, "I am heartened by today's victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country. I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.

More on the response by President Trump now from CNN's senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House says they still have full confidence in interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, although it is very unclear right now what her role is going to be after this judge found that her appointment was not valid. But I did ask Karoline Leavitt the press secretary, what happens next and what was President Trump's reaction when he learned that the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James have been dropped?

What was President Trump's reaction to those indictments against Comey and James being thrown out? KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: His reaction was,

we've seen this before. Weve seen partisan judges take unprecedented steps to try to intervene in an accountability before, but were not going to give up. And I know that the Department of Justice intends to appeal these rulings very soon, if they haven't already.

HOLMES: Now, it is important to remember that the White House and President Trump himself have been involved in really every step of this prosecution against James Comey and Letitia James.

For example, it was President Trump who essentially drove this political pressure campaign against Erik Siebert, the former U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Virginia, which, of course, is where he was replaced by Lindsey Halligan. That ultimately left to his or led to his removal. That's when they put Lindsey Halligan.

And it was President Trump who then suggested publicly before that happened to the attorney general, Pam Bondi, that Lindsey Halligan should take that place because she is willing to prosecute his political enemies, in particular James Comey and Letitia James.

And so, she and he have been really in lockstep for all of this. And it was very clear that President Trump was following all of this incredibly closely. But there are still questions as to what the Department of Justice is going to do next. You heard Karoline Leavitt there talking about this appeal.

Well, there are two options here. The Department of Justice can appeal this ruling, saying that they still believe that she is valid and that these indictments were valid as well.

[05:05:08]

Or they can scrap that and they can start over, essentially putting someone into that role who will then get confirmed by the Senate and then re bringing the charges.

But of course, that is going to take a lot longer for the Justice Department. We know President Trump is eager to see his political enemies be brought to court.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: And Ty Cobb served as White House lawyer in the first Trump administration. He says it's no surprise that the cases against Comey and James were dismissed. And he explains the legal reasoning behind the judge's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: Well, I think anybody who was an experienced federal prosecutor and spent some time in supervisory positions understands this law very well. You know, Sam Alito now, Trump's favorite Supreme Court judge in 1986, shortly after this statute was revised and to the form it is today, made it very clear that, you know, the attorney general and the president have 120 days to have an appointment pursuant to subsection a of the statute, and that gives them the opportunity to have whoever they want for 120 days.

After 120 days, whoever is going to be the interim U.S. attorney is a decision of the federal court. And that's -- that's all that this judge did today. This, you know, calling her a rogue judge when Sam Alito is the person who interpreted the case first, at the Justice Department when he was deputy assistant attorney general, you know, that's pretty -- that's pretty far out there. And it's typical of the, you know, the rhetoric and the, you know, fraudulent rhetoric that is of, you know, what this administration says in these circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Now to the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine launching deadly strikes overnight as peace talks mediated by the U.S. gained momentum. Ukraine's president says Russia deliberately targeted residential areas and critical energy infrastructure and caused extensive damage. At least six people have been killed, while Russia says it intercepted a Ukrainian drone attack which killed three people.

All of this comes as the Trump administration continues to push its peace plan. A U.S. official tells CNN that U.S. and Russian officials are holding meetings in Abu Dhabi. They are discussing a proposed plan to end the war, with those talks expected to resume today.

Meantime, Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to speak with European allies about the peace proposal. The Ukrainian president says he will discuss the plan with President Trump as well.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now from London.

And, Clare, walk us through the evolution of this peace plan up to this moment and how Kyiv and Moscow are receiving the latest iteration.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Brian.

Look, it's clear that the 28 points that were presented to Ukraine at the end of last week have evolved as a result of the talks over the weekend in Switzerland. It's now much shorter, according to Zelensky, and we understand that, you know, some of the points in that document that were particularly unfavorable to Ukraine, including territorial concessions those are being revised, or at least the most sensitive issues, he said, will be left for talks with Trump himself.

But that process is ongoing. That is what will be discussed certainly today in the meeting. In a few hours, a virtual call with Ukraine's key allies, the so-called coalition of the willing and also in Abu Dhabi, where a U.S. official tells CNN that the secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, is meeting with a Russian delegation. We don't know who is in that Russian delegation as of yet.

Those talks started on Monday, so this burst of diplomatic activity that were in, that is continuing. And look, perhaps there is hope for Ukraine, which is obviously going through a very dark time at the moment, that the level of engagement is stepping up. The U.S. is now some way away from a threat to walk away from the whole process, to abandon all of its diplomatic efforts.

But I think on the Russian side, they're doing a number of things that do not raise hopes. Number one, they seem to be sort of trying to shut out Europe and Ukraine. We're hearing from the Russian side this morning, the Kremlin, that Trump's plan, they said, is the only substantive one. We heard yesterday from a kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, calling the European counterproposal completely unconstructive.

So, it seems that they are trying to revert back to those 28 points that were so much in their favor and also lowballing talking about the information frenzy around all of this, saying there's a lot more work to be done. And of course, as we see overnight, stepping up attacks -- Brian.

ABEL: Yeah, and we see that Moscow has historically not shown any indication that they are willing to compromise, if at all.

Clare, I do want to talk about those attacks, because on the backdrop of these talks in Abu Dhabi is the very real war that's still raging with these strikes in both directions overnight. What more can you tell us about the attacks?

SEBASTIAN: Yeah, look, we heard from President Zelensky in his evening address on Monday. He warned the Ukrainian people that they should expect Russia to step up the pressure militarily. And we did see that a massive combined attack, 22 missiles, 460 or so attack drones we're fired at Ukraine. We're hearing of extensive damage, in the words of Zelenskyy, six deaths have been confirmed and power outages affecting 100,000 households across five regions.

So, you know, it's not out of the normal pattern of things that we see from Russia. But I think the timing of this is interesting. But Ukraine, look, in the words of the U.S. president, isn't out of cards at this point.

There was also a massive scale drone attack from Ukraine on Russia, Russia claiming to have shot down almost 250 Ukrainian drones. That makes it one of the largest scale attacks that we've seen from the Ukrainian side, three dead reported in the Rostov region in Russia.

So, both sides exchanging fire here, even as that diplomacy continues, Brian.

ABEL: All right. Clare Sebastian for us in London, appreciate the update, Clare. Thank you.

A severe weather system is pummeling large areas of the southern U.S. right now. Central Mississippi is currently under an active tornado watch, with rain reaching as far as northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. Supercell thunderstorms also triggered overnight tornado watches in eastern Texas and neighboring Louisiana. The Houston area reported several potential tornado sightings on Monday meteorologists warned the ensuing cold front could also bring large hail and more heavy winds to the region.

People in Harris County say tree trunks snapped like toothpicks as one twister ripped through residential neighborhoods, damaging more than 100 homes.

Thanksgiving travel this week is expected to be the busiest in 15 years, according to the FAA. U.S. airports will be put to the test as they continue to recover from the government shutdown.

CNN's Pete Muntean has more on what to expect if you are flying out for the holiday

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: We're just getting started for what's going to be a huge week for the Thanksgiving travel rush. Not totally without snags already. And Monday, the FAA briefly imposed a ground stop for some flights going in and out of both main airports in Dallas. That was due to an air traffic control radio frequency outage.

Tuesday is expected to be the busiest in terms of the number of flights in the air, 52,000 flights expected to be handled by air traffic controllers in the U.S., and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration says this is the Super Bowl for air travel. On the heels of a government shutdown that caused widespread air travel issues, air traffic controllers are getting paid again, and staffing shortages have gone down.

But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says now it is on passengers to hold up their end of the deal. He's been pushing what the Trump administration calls a new golden age for air travel. A big part of that is what Duffy calls a civility campaign. Duffy says it's important to say please and thank you to flight attendants. Always a good idea, but also dress well, like people did boarding flights back in the 1950s.

DUFFY: I call this just maybe dressing with some respect. You know, whether it's a pair of jeans and a and a in a decent shirt, I would encourage people to maybe dress a little better, which encourage us -- encourages us to maybe behave a little better. Let's try not to wear slippers and in pajamas as we come to the airport. I think that's positive.

MUNTEAN: Begs mentioning that the number of unruly passengers has gone way down from their high in 2021, when fights and ugliness on planes occurred in regularity, due in part to mask mandates. But this year has not been without its issues. There have been 1,400 incidents of unruly passengers reported by flight crews since the start of 2025, but that's more than four times lower than four years ago.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Pete Muntean, thank you. Senator Mark Kelly is pushing back on the Pentagon's threats of a

potential court martial. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calls his conduct reckless and despicable.

Plus, two former NBA players and more than two dozen other suspects were in court answering to charges of an alleged rigged poker scheme.

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ABEL: The Pentagon is threatening Senator Mark Kelly with a possible court martial. The retired navy captain and five other Democratic lawmakers released a video last week reminding service members of their duty to disobey illegal orders and that provoked an angry response from President Trump.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Democratic Senator Mark Kelly now saying he won't be intimidated by the Pentagon's announcement that it's investigating him over a video he appeared in last week urging troops to disobey unlawful orders. Writing on X that he's, quote, given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.

The Pentagon has said on Monday that Kelly, who is a retired Navy captain, could be recalled to active duty to face a court martial over the comments he made in the video. The Pentagon's announcement followed days of President Trump accusing Kelly and other Democratic lawmakers in the video of treason and sedition and pushing for them to be punished.

Now, in the video posted last week on X, the lawmaker said that, quote, threats to our Constitution are coming, quote, from right here at home. They repeatedly urged the military and intelligence community to quote, refuse illegal orders.

In his own statement, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called the lawmakers comments, quote, seditious. But he said that Kelly is the only one who falls under the Pentagon's jurisdiction currently, since he is retired, and he remains subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

[05:20:05]

Now, for their part, the lawmakers in the video have repeatedly said that they were simply restating the law, reiterating something that all troops should be aware of, which is that they are not required to follow illegal orders. Their video didn't explicitly say what orders service members might be receiving that could be illegal, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns repeatedly about the legality of U.S. military strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. And the U.S. military's deployment to cities across the U.S. over the protests of governors. Natasha Bertrand, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: The head coach of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, Chauncey Billups, has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an alleged gambling scheme. He is accused of helping to lure unsuspecting gamblers to a mob run poker game they didn't know was fixed. Thirty other people charged in the case also entered pleas Monday in a federal court in Brooklyn. Billups is on leave from the trailblazers and posted a $5 million bond to stay out of jail.

Ahead, the U.S. brands Venezuela's president a member of a terror group as President Trump weighs a possible meeting with him.

And later, if you are planning to hit the road for Thanksgiving, you might need an umbrella. We'll have the latest forecast for your holiday travel.

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[05:26:00]

ABEL: Sources tell CNN that officials are discussing the possibility of direct talks between the U.S. and Venezuelan presidents, and what that communication might look like, even though the U.S. has now formally labeled Nicolas Maduro a member of a foreign terrorist organization, that designation it kicked in on Monday. It gives the Trump administration more power to go after President Maduro, his allies assets and infrastructure.

Legal experts say the designation does not explicitly allow the use of lethal force, but Trump administration officials claim they now have more options for launching strikes inside Venezuela.

However, a defiant president Maduro says his people are indestructible.

Stefano Pozzebon picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, did not personally react to the designation of several members of the Maduro government, including the president himself. Maduro himself, as members of a supposed foreign terrorist organization called the Cartel de los Soles, which is a collective name that members of the press and diplomats here in Venezuela used to refer to the fact that many government officials in this country are accused of being involved in narco trafficking.

In his weekly TV show late on Monday, maduro was more keen to speak about other issues concerning Venezuela when it came to geopolitics. He makes the reference to talks that he had with Xi Jinping, rather than addressing these new designation. Earlier on Monday, his government wrote in a statement that those accusations are laughable lies.

But it's important to point out that Maduro, especially in his -- in his shows and his appearances as he appears on TV here almost on a daily basis, is really portraying the message that nothing of that pressure coming down from Washington is breaking through, that nothing of this pressure is changing anything for Venezuelans who are going on, frankly, with their daily lives, even after 16 weeks of a standoff between Washington and Caracas.

And all of this is happening as our team in Washington was able to confirm that the white house has been given an option to hold a direct phone calls between Nicolas Maduro himself and the president, Donald Trump, a direct phone call that would lead, of course, to more formal negotiations, even though, as we just said, Maduro has just been designated a member of a foreign terrorist organization.

At this moment, late on Monday night, we understand that President Donald Trump has not made a final decision on whether to take that call, although he did say that he was open to speaking in person with Maduro in the past.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: The holiday decorations are on display as shoppers browse the most expensive street in the world for retailers. We'll take you for a stroll there, just ahead on EARLY START.

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