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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump Halts "Third World" Immigration; Hong Kong Fire Death Toll Rises; Pope Leo XIV Calls For Unity. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 28, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

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 is Friday, November 28th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, D.C.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump vowing to crack down even more when it comes to immigration and crime in the wake of the shooting of two national guardsmen.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She was savagely attacked. She's dead.

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Officials in Hong Kong have just given an update on that deadly fire.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll is at least 120 people dead, and that could rise in the coming hours.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Pope Leo XIV is warning that conflicts on the global level are endangering humanity.

POPE LEO XIV, CATHOLIC CHURCH: We are now experiencing a phase marked by heightened level of conflict on the global level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

ABEL: President Donald Trump is planning some harsh measures in the wake of the National Guard shooting here in Washington. He says he will permanently pause migration from all third world countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover. He also says he will remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.

The suspect in the shooting is an Afghan national who was granted asylum earlier this year. The president's post comes after he announced the death of U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of two national guard members shot near the White House Wednesday. President Trump says he has spoken to Beckstrom's family and is open to attending her funeral.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Incredible person, outstanding in every single way, in every department. That's horrible. As you know, the other young man is fighting for his life. He's in very bad shape. He's fighting for his life and hopefully we'll get better news with respect to him and the monster that did this is also in serious condition. But we won't even talk about him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Several local and federal law enforcement agencies lined the streets in Washington for procession in Beckstrom's honor, saluting during the dignified transfer of Beckstrom to the medical examiner. A source says Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was in attendance.

Marybel Gonzalez brings us the latest on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, the National Guard members who were shot Wednesday near the White House, were tasked with protecting the nation's capital. On Thursday, President Trump announced that Beckstrom died from her injuries.

TRUMP: She was savagely attacked. She's dead. She's not with us.

BRIG. GEN. LELAND BLANCHARD II, U.S. NATIONAL GUARD: We know that their lives, their family, their family's lives are all changed forever because one person decided to do this horrific and evil thing.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): Wolfe is still hospitalized in critical condition. His neighbors spoke about his character.

MICHAEL LANGONE, ANDREW WOLFE'S NEIGHBOR: You get the short office back to somebody. Just really good guy. We always looked out for each other.

TINA GESFORD, ANDREW WOLFE'S NEIGHBOR: Hopefully, you know, things work out good for him. He's a hard worker. Good kid.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): Authorities identified the suspected shooter as Ramanullah Lakanwal.

JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: He resided in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and, we believe, five children.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): The 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, came to the country in 2021 as part of then-President Biden's Operation Allies Welcome, a program aimed to protect vulnerable Afghans in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. He applied for asylum in 2024, and then the Trump administration granted it in April.

PIRRO: He drove his vehicle across country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to our nation's capital.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): The Trump administration says it will re- examine green cards issued to people from 19 countries of concern, including Afghanistan.

I'm Marybel Gonzalez reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Multiple agencies are working the sprawling investigation into the shooting. FBI Director Kash Patel says they are looking into any known associates that the alleged shooter has in the U.S. or overseas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: There is confirmation now that the subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces. We are fully investigating that aspect of his background as well, to include any known associates that are either overseas or here in the United States of America. That is what a broad-based international terrorism investigation looks like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:05:02]

ABEL: Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says the United States will strike inside Venezuela, quote, very soon. He made the statement while speaking to members of the U.S. military on a Thanksgiving phone call.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: All of you are the backbone of America, and you really are the backbone of Americas air power. And in recent weeks, you've been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren't too many coming in by sea anymore. Have you probably noticed that from sending their poisons into the United States, where they kill hundreds of thousands of people a year? But we're going to take care of that situation. We're already doing a lot. We're we've almost stopped. It's about 85 percent stopped by sea. You probably noticed that people aren't wanting to be delivering by sea. And we'll be starting to stop them by land also.

The land is easier, but that's going to start very soon. We warn them, stop sending poison to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: The U.S. has killed more than 80 people in strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean. The administration has offered no proof publicly that the vessels were carrying drugs.

The recent U.S. buildup and strikes in the region have prompted a strong reaction from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: For the last 17 weeks, foreign imperialist forces have been continuously threatening to alter the peace in the Caribbean, in South America and in Venezuela under false pretenses and extravagant arguments that no one believes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Authorities in Hong Kong say that fire at the high-rise apartment block is now completely extinguished, but the death toll has increased to at least 128 lives lost, around 200 other people are still unaccounted for. That total includes a number of bodies that have yet to be identified, and the fire chief says fire alarms in the apartment buildings did not function properly.

Let's bring in CNN's Hanako Montgomery now live in Hong Kong, and that information provided by the fire chief about the alarms. Absolutely heartbreaking. When you think about the lives that maybe could have potentially been saved.

Hanako, what are people there now doing to help those who survived?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Brian, as you mentioned, there are lots of questions still about the fire alarms in the buildings, whether they were on or not. During the actual fire on Wednesday. And you mentioned, you know, what people are doing now to survive. And I just want to show you this community square that I'm in currently.

I mean, there are hundreds of people here, and the square has been jam packed with volunteers, with survivors of the fire since Wednesday night. The time of the fire. And people here are handing out bottles of water, home cooked meals, freeze dried food as well. Also bedding, sanitary napkins, tissues. I mean, anything that you can think of. These charity people, they are here providing those materials to survivors and its just amazing to see the work that's gone behind this kind of grassroots movement, this community rallying behind the survivors during such a heartbreaking and tough time.

I mean, I think you can see there are tents literally popping up as we speak, as more and more volunteers come into the square, come in to provide that really, really essential support right now to those survivors.

And, Brian, as you mentioned, we still don't really yet know the direct cause of this fire. What caused that initial fire. But we are hearing a little bit more details about what made the fire spread so quickly from one building to another.

I apologize, it's a bit noisy right now, so I'm just going to move a little bit further away from one of these volunteers. Speaking on a loudspeaker here, but, Brian, as I was saying authorities are saying that potentially the mesh net and the polystyrene foam boards, as well as the bamboo scaffolding that was encasing these buildings at the time of the fire, might have contributed to the spread, this fire spreading so quickly from one building to another.

They're saying that the polystyrene foams, which again, is a highly flammable material, might have caught fire. And then the windows broke, and then that fire went into the buildings and it spread from one floor to the other, from one building to the next.

Now, firefighters have said that the fire has been completely extinguished and they are still continuing operations to try to identify any remaining survivors, try to get to any individuals who might still need rescuing -- Brian.

ABEL: All right. Hanako Montgomery for us live in a very busy town square in Hong Kong -- Hanako, thank you.

The U.S. is about to kick off two track negotiations over its peace plan for Ukraine.

[05:10:00]

But Russia's president is already indicating his concessions will be hard to get.

The Palestinian Authority sharply criticizing the killing of two men in the West Bank. The latest from the region as Israel deploys military aircraft there to assist in counter-terror operations.

Plus, the pope's new warning about what he says is a danger to the future of humanity.

Stay with us

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABEL: Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, heads to Moscow today for talks that will include peace efforts in Ukraine. That's happening as the U.S. ramps up efforts to advance its latest proposal.

[05:15:04]

The U.S. army secretary is expected in Kyiv at the end of the week for talks with Ukrainian officials. Dan Driscoll already met President Volodymyr Zelensky last week. The exact wording of the latest peace proposal, however, is yet to be revealed. It was modified last weekend in Geneva.

Ukraine, and the Europeans pushed back against the original plan. That reads very much like Moscow's wish list. President Zelensky says Kyiv is hoping for progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Already this week, at the end of the week, our team, together with American representatives, will continue to translate the points we secured in Geneva into a form that puts us on the path to peace and security guarantees. Next week, there will be important negotiations, not only for our delegation, but also for me personally. And we are laying solid groundwork for those talks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: But Russia's president is suggesting Ukraine should accept its losses and warning they could get worse. Vladimir Putin is expected to meet U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow next week, but indicated in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday that he's not ready to compromise much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Once Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territories they occupy, then the fighting will end. If they don't withdraw, we will achieve this through military means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Russia currently controls about 20 percent of Ukraine. The original U.S. peace proposal would have given Moscow more territory in the east. President Putin described the plan as a good starting point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN: In general, we agree that the U.S.-backed peace plan can be used as a basis for future agreements, but it will be impolite on my part to speak about any final versions because there are none.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: CNN's Paula Hancocks is covering this live from Abu Dhabi for us.

And, Paula, it feels we've gone through so many iterations of hope for peace in Ukraine. But the fighting continues. Are we getting any sense of momentum now that's different than anything before?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brian, we're certainly hearing that from the Trump administration. We're hearing from the U.S. president that tremendous progress is being made, but it's not necessarily what we are hearing elsewhere. I mean, as you mentioned, the President Putin has effectively given his strongest indication so far that that he has no intention of moving his demands, these maximalist demands that he has been making consistently do not appear to have any flexibility within them, at least not at this point.

So, while we do see this, this burst of diplomatic activity, this flurry of meetings with Witkoff going to Moscow, with Driscoll meeting as well, and potentially we have heard the Ukrainians wanting to go to the United States as well. We heard that a few days ago, despite all of this diplomatic activity, it's not clear what has changed from any previous iterations of this peace plan. Now, we did hear from President Putin saying that that he believes the

Ukrainians should give back territory effectively, that they are occupying. But what we're focusing on as well is the fact that some 20 percent of Ukraine is currently being occupied by Russia.

Now, we understand that that Putin wants to have territory that he has also annexed and not completely occupied at this point, to be handed over to him as well, within this deal. This is almost all of the Luhansk region, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia. This is clearly a red line for Ukraine. It's a red line for the European allies as well.

And there are other issues. The fact that Putin still wants there to be no possibility of ascension to NATO for Ukraine, and for a cap on its military. So, as we see the U.S. and the European allies and many involved in this process trying to make this deal more palatable to one side, it becomes even less palatable to the other. Really, the state of negotiations in any kind of peace deal.

Now, when it comes to the Ukrainian President Zelensky, he has said that there will be key meetings coming up at the end of this week, saying that he will be involved in them personally. And he's only he's also adding pressure domestically as well as internationally. We have heard that his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has currently had his house raided by Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies.

[05:20:02]

Now, Yermak has said that he is cooperating with authorities. This -- it was just two weeks ago when the anti-corruption agency said that they were launching an investigation into a kickback scheme concerning Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure. It is an investigation that has already claimed two of Zelenskyy's ministers having to step down. Also, a former business associate.

So, Zelenskyy, in a very difficult position domestically at the moment, at the same time as he is trying to push for the best possible deal internationally to end the war in his country -- Brian.

ABEL: And we will see what happens moving forward.

Paula Hancocks, for us in Abu Dhabi -- Paula, thank you.

Israel says it's reviewing an incident where its soldiers shot and killed two people following a surrender procedure. In the video you're about to see here, you can see two men come out of a building with their hands above their heads. They're surrounded by what appeared to be Israeli soldiers. Later, the two are seen on the ground as multiple rounds of gunfire are heard. CNN is not showing that moment.

Israeli officials say the two were wanted for alleged terror activities in the Palestinian authority has condemned the killing, calling it, quote, a fully-fledged war crime. Israel says it used military aircraft as part of its counterterrorism operation in the occupied West Bank. The IDF launched a wide scale military operation on Wednesday. They're searching over 220 sites and arresting, quote, several wanted individuals. Pope Leo says he's focused on unity and peace during his trip to the Middle East. We'll have a live report from Turkey just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:26:18]

ABEL: This is the second day of Pope Leo's visit to Turkey. It's his first overseas trip since becoming pope. Earlier, he met with Catholic bishops and churchgoers at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul. On Thursday, the pontiff gave an impassioned address to civic and political leaders in Ankara.

He warned that, quote, conflicts on the global level are endangering humanity. He said his trip is focused on unity and peace, as well as finding ways for people with different beliefs to coexist.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from Turkey with a look at the pope's visit so far, and what comes next, Salma.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we really got a sense of his personality, didn't we, this morning as he was leaving that cathedral, he was high-fiving the faithful outside, just showcasing who he is, because that is fundamentally what his first overseas trip is about. It is about spreading his wings six months into his papacy.

Now in a short time, he's due exactly where I'm standing here right now, Lake Iznik. This is also the ancient site of Nicaea, and it's very important in Catholicism because it is where the first council, the first ecumenical council, was held to resolve theological disputes 1,700 years ago.

And Pope Leo today will be carrying that spirit, that spirit of resolution through dialogue. He's going to be here with the ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew. So, he is the head of the eastern Orthodox community here, based in Turkey. And they will be leading a prayer service at this site just behind me here.

Now, we have a drone shot of this to show you where you can see that the ancient site is mostly submerged under water, and it does hold so much importance. The Nicene Creed to Catholicism, because it carries with it so many of the messages that Pope Leo wants to send today. And those are messages of peace, of harmony, of unity, of resolving differences peacefully. He's going to lead that prayer service again, right at this archeological site. He's going to be standing on the edge of that platform.

You can expect that there will be people around listening in. It's going to be an opportunity for Pope Leo, yet again to acknowledge the ancient Christian community, but to also carry those lessons through to today and to demonstrate what type of pope he wants to be.

ABEL: All right. Salma Abdelaziz for us in Turkey -- Salma, hope you are appreciate the assignment there. Thank you.

The holiday shopping season is upon us. A record number of people are expected to shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Where you will find the best discounts, that's ahead.

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