Return to Transcripts main page

Isa Soares Tonight

Israel Launches New Military Operation in West Bank; Aid Agencies Warn of Hardships in Gaza; Russia Ready for "Serious Discussion" on Ukraine; Miss Universe Controversy; CNN Finds Evidence Tanzanian Police Killed Protesters; Thanksgiving Day Parades Across America. Fire Devastates Families in Hong Kong As At Least 83 People are Confirmed Dead; Two National Guard Members Remain in Critical Condition After a Shooting in Washington D.C.; International Bodies Condemn Settler Violence in the West Bank. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired November 27, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Max Foster in for Isa Soares. Tonight, fire devastates

families in Hong Kong as at least 83 people are confirmed dead. It's a race against the clock for rescue crews to find survivors in those towers. Plus,

the two National Guard members remain in critical condition after a shooting in Washington D.C., just blocks from the White House.

More details on what authorities are calling an ambush-style attack. And international condemnation of settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

I'll speak with Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian parliament. That and much more just ahead. Beginning, though, with the breaking news

from Hong Kong, where at least 83 people have now been confirmed killed by one of the deadliest fires in decades.

You can see the heavy smoke still smoldering well into Thursday. Firefighters say they expect the blaze to be fully extinguished, though, by

the end of the night, authorities still haven't said how many people are still missing. A survivor was pulled from one of the buildings late on

Thursday, as hundreds of others took shelter in emergency shelters.

Three construction workers have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. The complex was covered in bamboo scaffolding, which has been used for

centuries in Hong Kong. There's now fierce debate over its safety. Hong Kong's Fire Department explained the challenges that they've been facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK ARMSTRONG CHAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FIRE SERVICES OPERATIONS, HONG KONG: Debris and scaffolding were falling from upper floors, making our

access to the -- to the affected buildings very difficult. And there are also other reasons like high temperature, darkness and -- also there are --

there is -- another reason is that emergency vehicle access was blocked by the fallen scaffolding and debris.

So, making our access to the affected building very difficult, particularly, our turntable ladder and hydraulic platform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Hanako Montgomery now who is in Hong Kong, has the very latest for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A public housing complex in Hong Kong charred with pockets of fire still burning more than 24 hours

after a catastrophic blaze left dozens dead and hundreds more missing in what is the city's worst fire disaster in decades. Emergency officials laid

out the herculean task that is facing them as they desperately try to find survivors.

WONG KA WING, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FIRE SERVICES, HONG KONG: Temperature is very high in the -- in the fire brand and the inside layout is very complex

because the scaffolding is collapsed.

MONTGOMERY: That bamboo scaffolding and safety-netting were encasing the eight residential towers which were under renovation. Those structures were

already on fire by the time firefighters arrived on the scene on Wednesday afternoon. And while the exact cause of this deadly inferno that leapt from

building to building has yet to be determined, the city's Chief Secretary for Administration was quick to acknowledge the questions swirling around

the bamboo scaffolding.

Saying that the government is working on fully switching to metal scaffolding. A criminal investigation has been launched, and a police

spokesperson said that three men who worked for a construction company have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to the fire. Many of

those who were able to escape looked on in disbelief as the place they used to call home went up in flames.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As for my feelings, honestly, I don't even know how I feel right now. Just taking things one step at a

time. Now, I'm just thinking about where I'm going to sleep tonight, because I probably won't be able to go back home.

MONTGOMERY: They're now having to take refuge in temporary accommodation and start over.

(on camera): We're at one of the nine shelters that have now popped up across Hong Kong, and according to the local authorities, at least, 500

people are using the shelters because, again, they don't have any homes to return to.

[14:05:00]

These volunteers are collecting a lot of food and also water and heat protections to give out to these individuals who lost their homes.

(voice-over): And as shock turns to grief, the search for answers goes on. Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Chinese leader Xi Jinping has designated the equivalent of more than $280,000 to Red Cross rescue efforts in Hong Kong. Simone McCarthy

joins us live from Beijing. Obviously, very useful resources right now, but the overall cost of this project is going to be huge, isn't it?

SIMONE MCCARTHY, CNN SENIOR CHINA REPORTER: Absolutely. I mean, this is a tremendous loss both for the city of Hong Kong in general. But of course,

those residents who have lost their homes -- Hong Kong, as you know, Max, is a city where affordable housing is at a premium. This was a housing

block that had some 4,000 residents and 2,000 units.

Now, we have seen a tremendous outpouring of donations, both from the Hong Kong community and here in Mainland China, not only the central government,

but also a number of tech firms have stepped forward to donate millions of U.S. dollars. So, certainly, there has been a tremendous amount of focus,

and this is a tragedy which is felt in all corners of China where this has been watched extremely closely throughout the more than one day that this

fire has been ablaze.

But absolutely, there's -- even after those rescue efforts come to a close as we're expecting at 9:00 a.m. local this morning. There's very much work

that remains to be done here.

FOSTER: OK, Simone, thank you very much indeed for the update from there. Let's get more on this, and how a fire of this magnitude was able to spread

so quickly. Jack Murphy served as Chairman of the Fire and Life Safety Director's Association of Greater New York, and he is a retired fire

marshal. And thank you so much for joining us, Jack.

I mean, we are still seeing the fire burning. We also heard there from the challenges that the fire services are facing. They did pull someone out

alive tonight. How many more do you think could possibly have survived this?

JACK MURPHY, FORMER CHAIRMAN, FIRE & LIFE SAFETY DIRECTOR'S ASSOCIATION OF GREATER NEW YORK & ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, JOHN JAY COLLEGE/FIRE SERVICE

INSTITUTE: There could be a possibility of that. It just depends upon what they did to shelter in place. And it depends upon, you know, if the fire

didn't get into the apartment. The other thing, too, is smoke mitigation throughout. That's a bigger problem than the fire itself.

FOSTER: I think they're still struggling to get inside, which is extraordinary after this time. And it doesn't appear to be on fire, the

buildings, but within, there are dangers, right? Just describe what the firefighters would experience going into those buildings to try to get

survivors.

MURPHY: Oh, yes, particularly the building of origin which took the brunt of the fire itself throughout. And again, they're still putting fires out

in there, too. A lot of these doors from the heat and everything could be twisted, locked into place and the door box, that means they have to

physically open the door up with tools, searching every floor.

You know, it's very arduous, and a fire may be normal fire, one or two floors above, we do a search, but you're doing an entire building from the

ground floor up, 31 stories-times eight, so that gets to become a problem. In setting this up, you know what I call unified command? A unified command

officer would assign a chief officer to every building.

So, they had a little bit more control. And the thing about, you know, moving people in the building, the elevators may be out. You have one stair

or two stairs and try to take people down the stairs is very hard.

FOSTER: And the building would have been, you know, compromised. Of course, I know it's concrete and it's probably reinforced concrete, but a very

dangerous space for the firefighters to operate in and for people to try to get out of.

MURPHY: Oh, sure, you can have what we call spalling. That's the deterioration of the concrete. And you see rebar exposed on floors. So,

again, this could be a big collapse area too. So, they have to be very careful on every floor that they go to. The thing about this too, is that

when these buildings are going, what I call alteration projects, there should be something there to tell the Fire Department, you know, at its

occupy, what floors are occupied.

This is -- happens to be an entire building, very unusual to have that done. But with the buildings they're on alteration projects. What fire

alarm systems are in service? What's out of service? What stairs in service? What's out of service? What elevators are running too? So, all

these things should be known ahead of time, what we call pre-incident planning.

FOSTER: About a third of the residents were elderly over the age of 65. What are your thoughts about that?

MURPHY: Well, with that too, you know, mobility number one. Number two, what medications they are on, are they on any support systems like oxygen,

things of that nature that have to go with them. So, again, knowing ahead of time where these people are and everything helps you to bring more

resources to the -- to the scene.

[14:10:00]

FOSTER: We've had lots of -- well, we've seen lots of complaints that the fire hoses couldn't get high enough. You can understand why?

MURPHY: Yes --

FOSTER: Because these buildings were enormous, but that should be part of the preparation, shouldn't it?

MURPHY: It is, you know, to a degree. You know, anything above a 12-story high rise fire is not ground based. All the things change. Let's just say,

this is an interior fire. My only standpipe is in the stairwell. So, I have to attack out of that individual stairwell to attack the fire. Already,

we're behind the eight ball.

It's not like one or two family house. I can pick AD corner and take a look at it and see where I want to go. So, the more you're up in the air, the

worse it gets. And these buildings are getting taller and taller, like in Hong Kong. They're probably -- some of them are at 1,400 feet, three times

the size of this building.

FOSTER: After the Grenfell Tower fire in the U.K., there was a huge amount of concern amongst people living in these high rises. What would you say to

people who live in a high rise and fear for their own safety in future?

MURPHY: I think is, have a fire safety plan in place and practice with this. You know, we give this stuff out, no one really practices it in the

building. Take a look at an example of having a fire on the floor. What do you do? Are the alarms going off in the building? What is the alarm telling

you? Is it ringing on one or two floors? Maybe throughout the building?

All these things should be known ahead of time. So, the Fire Department with what we call community risk reduction should be inside these buildings

teaching people ahead of time what to do.

FOSTER: OK --

MURPHY: A shelter in place is a --

FOSTER: Yes --

MURPHY: Good thing. Yes, shelter in place is a good thing. But just with these type of fires like this in Grenfell, its' a phenom. It overran the

whole building.

FOSTER: OK, Jack Murphy, it is very rare, we should reiterate that. So, thank you for joining us. New details emerging a day after two West

Virginia National Guard members were critically wounded in what's being called an ambush-style shooting in Washington D.C. Officials say both of

these service members remain hospitalized and are in critical condition.

On the left, you see 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, on the right, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom. According to the guard, they had been deployed to the city

since August. Police have identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the D.C. U.S. Attorney says he drove across country from Washington state

to the nation's capital recently in the aftermath of Wednesday's shooting. President Trump has been calling for even more troops to be sent to the

district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America will never bend and never yield in the face of terror, and at the same time, we will not be

deterred from the mission. These service members were so nobly fulfilling. That is why tonight I can announce that I have directed the Department of

War to mobilize an additional 500 troops to help protect our capital city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Zachary Cohen has the latest for us live from Washington. We'll talk about the suspect in a moment, Zachary. But first of all, the two

members of the National Guard, we've got some more details about them. And, you know, the story just gets more tragic.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, it really does. And it appears that they're both still in critical condition. You know, the

family of one of the National Guardsmen telling the "New York Times" that they don't expect their child to make it through this. So, again, this is

just a continuingly sad and you know, unfortunate event that took place here, and one that police investigators are really trying to understand as

far as the motive goes.

I think that, that is really still the outstanding question as part of this investigation, and one that will take some time to figure out. But at the

end of the day, you know, violence like this is difficult to make sense of regardless of what the motivation was. So, I think there's some conflicting

and also difficult questions that still need to be answered here.

FOSTER: Yes, and, you know, inevitably on social media, it's ended up becoming quite political, hasn't it, because of the origin of the suspect.

COHEN: It has. The suspect has been identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national who came to the United States in 2021 under a program that was

implemented by the Biden administration really to protect, you know, Afghan nationals who had been working and putting themselves at risk through their

work with U.S. military and Intelligence agencies prior to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

And it appears that, that was how the suspect ended up coming to the United States, specifically for his work with the CIA. We're told that he was part

of an elite counterterrorism unit that worked under the CIA. In fact, members of this unit even came into direct combat situations with the

Taliban, fighting alongside U.S. forces during the war and during the withdrawal.

[14:15:00]

That is when many of these thousands of these individuals were granted temporary immigration status here in the United States because they had

become a target. And there were concerns that they and their families would be targeted by the Taliban during its rise and continued rise to power in

Afghanistan as well.

So, you know, there was multiple -- there's been a lot of questions about the vetting process here. And I think that it's important to note that due

to his work with the CIA, he would have not only been vetted by the agency before being allowed to conduct that work, but also gone through multiple

layers of vetting through various U.S. agencies prior to his travel to the United States and then prior to being granted permanent asylum by the Trump

administration.

But I'm told by one senior U.S. official that as far as vetting goes, he came up clear, meaning there was no obvious signs or direct signs that the

U.S. Intelligence community could see as far as a relationship or a link to terrorism. So, again, that's all going to factor into these questions about

motive. But as you pointed out, Max, that's not stopping this story from becoming overly and glaringly political without all the information at

hand.

FOSTER: OK, Zachary, appreciate it, thank you. Still ahead, the world is watching as Pope Leo embarks on his first foreign trip since becoming

leader of the Roman Catholic Church. We'll have a live report for you. And later, Israeli forces backed by air power are conducting wide scale new

operations in the occupied West Bank. We'll speak with a veteran Palestinian lawmaker about the raids just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: On his first foreign trip as leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo has made an impassioned speech, warning the future of humanity is at

stake due to ongoing global conflicts. Delivering his address from Turkey's capital, Ankara. The pontiff is embarking on a six-day trip that will also

take him to Lebanon.

His visit will come days after Beirut was bombed by Israeli forces. The pope's trip is focused on making an appeal for peace and pushing a theme of

unity. CNN's Christopher Lamb is in Istanbul and has been following the start of the pope's tour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A ceremonial welcome for Pope Leo XIV in Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received

the pontiff on his first foreign trip. Pope Leo is honoring a promise by his predecessor to visit Turkey and Lebanon, two Muslim majority countries

with ancient Christian communities carrying a message of peace and unity between different branches of Christianity, as well as the Muslim faith.

ROBERT PREVOST, POPE, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: The particular occasion of my own visit, the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, speaks to us of

encounter and dialogue.

[14:20:00]

(CHOIR SINGING)

CHOIR: God is good, all the time, He put a song of praise --

LAMB: Peace and compassion are the common values Erdogan says are shared with the pontiff. The two also discussed specifics, focusing on

immigration, poverty and the conflict gripping the world. With nods to the late Pope Francis and his outspoken political views.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT, TURKEY (through translator): We have always deeply appreciated the steadfast stance of our esteemed guest and

his predecessors, particularly on the Palestinian issue. As the large family of humanity, a greatest debt to the Palestinian people is justice.

LAMB (on camera): Leo's visit to Turkey and Lebanon, a chance for him to exercise the papacy's soft power to meet with world leaders and to address

the leaders of Turkey directly, to emphasize his concern about growing conflicts around the world, the need for countries to talk to each other,

to dialogue in the cause for peace.

(voice-over): A chance to articulate his own brand of papal diplomacy.

PREVOST: In the aftermath of the tragedies of two world wars, which saw the building of large international organizations, we are now experiencing a

phase marked by heightened level of conflict on the global level, fueled by prevailing strategies of economic and military power. This is enabling what

Pope Francis called a third world war fought piecemeal. We must in no way give in to this. The future of humanity is at stake.

LAMB: Before heading to Istanbul, the pope met civic and religious leaders in Ankara with Turkish culture on display, paying tribute to the founder of

modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. With the trip coinciding with Thanksgiving, the American-born pope brought the spirit of the holidays to

the plane.

PREVOST: To the Americans here, Happy Thanksgiving! It's a wonderful day to celebrate. It's so important today that the message be transmitted in a way

that really reveals the truth and the harmony that the world needs.

LAMB: And received holiday-themed gifts, home-baked pumpkin pies from American journalists, and a baseball bat from his favorite team. On this

trip, the first American pope acting as a bridge between different cultures. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: For more on the pope's Middle East trip, let's bring in Claire Giangrave; Vatican reporter for "Religion News.com". Thank you so much for

joining us. I mean, it's always a big test, isn't it? For a new leader to go on the first foreign visit, particularly when you know, he's addressing

such sensitive issues. He could get, you know, unstuck if he gets involved in any politics, right?

CLAIRE GIANGRAVE, VATICAN REPORTER, RELIGION NEWS SERVICE: Yes. So, situation for Christians in Turkey is really not ideal, only three

religions are officially recognized and the others don't really have legal personality. That means that Catholics can't own property. They can't

really do much in the country.

They mostly act informally. So, the pope is, you know, there to speak on behalf of the message of the Vatican and what it wants to say to the world,

especially in light of these conflicts, but also wants to ensure that the Christian minority is protected and uplifted by this --

FOSTER: It appears he -- you know, one of the solutions there is to work with other religions, other faiths, to try to show that Christianity can be

part of a bigger conversation, and that's particularly relevant, as you say in Turkey.

GIANGRAVE: A 100 percent. I mean, this visit is happening on the 1700th anniversary of the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea. This was a gathering

of bishops, really long time ago as I said, that really laid the groundwork for what Christians sort of all agree on. And since then, it's been sort of

a slow divorce between all these Christian denominations. But it's an opportunity for the pope to bring them all together in the complex context

of Turkey.

FOSTER: How do they regard the pope's role? Those Christians from these ancient orders, as you say?

GIANGRAVE: I mean, I think that when I spoke to a few priests who said that there's something about being the weakest one, right? They sort of all come

together because that's what you do when you don't have a lot to defend yourself and protect yourself. For the Christian communities, they are

really sort of united, and they have opportunities to work together.

[14:25:00]

I mean, the situation is different across the country. So -- and let's not forget that the pope is going to have three meetings with the head of

Eastern Orthodoxy. This is Bartholomew I. He is the ecumenical patriarch. And he's not only going to meet him in Nicaea in this very ceremonial and

symbolic meeting where they will pray together and light candles before the ancient Basilica semi-submerged by a lake where it's thought that the

ancient fathers gathered in Nicaea.

But he will also come to -- and sign a joint declaration, which is in the footsteps of Pope Francis. But yet another step towards that unity that is

such a big part of Pope Leo's message.

FOSTER: Do you think he's trying as part of his papacy, to create a bigger, broader church that has more weight to it and isn't just confined

to Catholics?

GIANGRAVE: That's a good question. I think if we look at the history of the church, recent history, it's really been since the 1960s, an effort of the

church to kind of get over its past and really build relationships with other Christian denominations. Now, the tensions are still there, let's not

downplay them. But at the same time, this pope is walking in the footsteps of Pope Francis and the one before him and the one before him.

And all of them have all been saying, let's focus on what we have in common, and the main things we want to work on together, instead of what's

really tearing us apart. So, yes, to increase the stability(ph) of the Catholic Church, working with other Christian denominations is essential.

But let's not forget that, for example, with the Orthodox church in Turkey, they are also in a weakened position.

Some people would also maybe describe the patriarch Bartholomew as a bit of a prisoner in Turkey. He has to be approved by the President and by the

whole sort of state officials, when he's outside the country, he doesn't have a lot of freedom.

So, there's also a lot to be gained by these other Christian denominations to team up with the Catholic Church and talk about the issues that they

care about. And the pope said them, the environment, artificial intelligence, poverty, health, education, these are the things we should be

focusing on.

FOSTER: Claire Giangrave, really appreciate you teeing up that trip, that's going to be going on for a few days. Still to come tonight, searching

homes, setting up roadblocks, making dozens of arrests. We'll tell you about Israel's new wide scale military operations in the northern West Bank

and then Gaza's dire humanitarian crisis weeks after the ceasefire, we'll be joined by a World Food Program Country Director.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:00]

FOSTER: France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. are condemning the surge of settler violence in the occupied West Bank, saying the attacks sow terror

amongst civilians. They're urging Israel to abide by international law and protect the Palestinian population.

Israeli forces have launched a wide-scale new military operation in the West Bank, but it's against what they call Palestinian terrorism.

Palestinian authorities say troops are imposing a siege on the northern city of Toubous, storming homes, making arrests and severely restricting

movement. The governor of Toubous says troops backed by a helicopter opened fire. The IDF confirms its forces have been using military aircraft as it

conducts what it calls counterterrorism operations in Palestinian villages. The Palestine Red Crescent says it's treating two children with gunshot

wounds.

Our next guest says the military operations are a dangerous aggression against the Palestinian people, aided by the silence of most Western

governments in the face of Israeli crimes. Mustafa Barghouti is president of the Palestinian National Initiative and a Palestinian parliament member.

Thank you as ever for joining us.

The Israelis say, you know, they are carrying out counterterror operations. Who can you tell us about the targets here?

MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN NATIONAL INITIATIVE: I think the Israeli government is lying and the Israeli army is lying too. There are no

military targets here, no military troops. There is no army in the West Bank. The whole of the West Bank is under Israeli military occupation since

1967. And what the Israelis are doing is they are conducting a war on civilian population. There are no targets mentioned at all.

In my opinion, this whole operation is about encouraging the settler attacks on Palestinians, which are terrorist settler attacks. It's about

encouraging Israeli annexation of Palestinian land and the squeezing of Palestinians in the West Bank, like was done in Gaza, under a terrible

amount of collective punishment, destroying the economy, destroying health services, destroying everything.

And the worst thing that happened today was that the world recorded on cameras an act of assassination, an act of field execution of two

Palestinian civilians who surrendered to the Israeli army, who had no arms. And while they were arrested by the Israeli army, the soldiers shot them to

death. Field execution in front of the cameras.

The Palestinian people now in the West Bank are without protection, under the mercy of an Israeli army that behaves frequently in a fascist manner.

FOSTER: OK. We've got a statement actually, the IDF and the Israeli police have issued a joint statement about that incident that you pointed out.

Forces were looking to arrest wanted individuals, they say, who had carried out terror activities. That statement in part also reads, the wanted

individuals belong to the terrorist organization in Jenin. The incident is currently under investigation by field commanders and will be transferred

to the full review by the relevant authorities. They weren't making it clear that there was a clear surrender by these individuals.

BARGHOUTI: Well, the footage is very clear. You can look at it. You can show it. These two guys had no guns. They are civilians. They raised their

hands in front of the Israeli soldiers. They were arrested by the Israeli soldiers. And then, suddenly, the soldiers started shooting them. It's very

clear. And now, the Israeli army is lying again to cover up their crime. This is a terrible crime of field execution of civilians who had nothing to

protect themselves with.

But that's only an example of the behavior of the Israeli army, which is now kicking people out of their homes in Toubous and in other cities in the

north of the West Bank, occupying their homes, destroying their homes, arresting no less than 75 people for no reason. And it goes on.

[14:35:00]

FOSTER: We have got that video. We're just clarifying the details of it. We'll be showing it, I'm sure, later on. And the public will be able to

make up their own minds about what happened there. But I think the Israelis are making a point that there was a long process that led up to that

incident as well. But we'll give all that context when it happens.

When you talk about the silence of Western countries in the face of these Israeli crimes, in your words, we are also getting statements, as I say,

from France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., all condemning the surge of settler violence.

BARGHOUTI: That's fine and it's welcomed, but it's not enough. The settler violence will continue as long as the sanctions are not imposed on them.

And I don't understand why countries like Germany or other European countries decided to give back their military supplies to Israel while

Israelis conducting these operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

FOSTER: In terms of the place of this Middle East crisis on the global agenda, it's still very much there, isn't it? But there are many other

issues as well being discussed, not least Ukraine and various political issues. Are you concerned that it's not getting the coverage it requires at

this particular turning point, if I can call it that?

BARGHOUTI: Absolutely. We are very concerned that there is distraction from what's happening in both West Bank and Gaza. The world is very busy with

the issue of Ukraine. But in the West Bank, you see these military operations going on. And what we see is, on average, eight terrorist

settler attacks on Palestinian communities, burning houses, burning cars, uprooting trees.

During the last two years, the Israeli settlers uprooted no less than 48,000 Palestinian trees, mostly olive trees. And in addition to that, you

have a horrible humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And the Israeli army is still occupying 53 percent of Gaza Strip and conducting military operations.

The war is not over in Gaza. They speak about ceasefire, but in reality, the Israeli army continues. And since October 10th, when the ceasefire was

declared, Israel killed no less than 300 people and injured more than 700, including many, many children. That is the reality in Gaza, and that is the

reality in the West Bank. And unfortunately, the world is not paying attention.

And in my opinion, all the political statements about Israeli behavior will not make any difference unless Israel is threatened with real sanctions, in

a similar way to what was done before in the case of Russia and Ukraine.

FOSTER: OK.

BARGHOUTI: What we see here is a terrible double standard that should be corrected.

FOSTER: Mustafa Barghouti, thank you for sparing your time to speak just tonight. We appreciate it.

Aid agencies are urging the world not to forget about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the winter chill sets in. We're joined now by the World

Food Programme's Palestine representative and country director Antoine Renard. He's in Gaza -- well, he was in Gaza just last month, weren't you?

I mean, what are your fears going into this period of weather?

ANTOINE RENARD, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME AND WFP PALESTINE REPRESENTATIVE AND COUNTRY DIRECTOR: I mean, the current challenge that we have, we are now

six weeks into the ceasefire in Gaza, and we manage actually to bring more food over the last six weeks. We can see that now people have on an

average, let's say, access to two meals per day.

We are and we've reinstated most of our different distribution systems with food parcels, we've brought bread up and running more hot meals. But the

challenge that you have is that the rest of the humanitarian, let's say, different goods that needs to come in, especially in this winter period,

are not sufficiently getting into Gaza.

So, the fear that you have is that you have many families that are still living in rubbles, not having enough access to tents. And we're very

pleased by the fact that there's more access to food, but it needs to be an overall package that needs to get to the population in Gaza.

FOSTER: What's the main obstacle for you to make that happen?

RENARD: I mean, from the World Food Programme and the fact that we manage now to have, I would say, practically all our distribution system up and

running is that indeed people are, and we are, we've reached more than one million people with food parcels. You've got the fresh bread and we've got

18 bakeries up and running.

The challenge that we still have is with the three crossings that are open is the fact that you need to have a larger scale that is getting into Gaza.

We do all we can as the World Food Programme with our logistical support and the trucking capacity that we can provide to other actors, but the

requirements, you know, with two years of the war and the level of destruction that you have in terms of where people are living, it is not

enough.

[14:40:00]

A simple example as well, we like to make sure that we are not just providing, you know, food parcels that people can restart their

livelihoods. We would like that, you know, seeds could actually come in and with the winter also making sure that they can, you know, get a better

livelihood. That is still a struggle.

FOSTER: But are the Israelis giving you the access you need or you're not getting enough aid?

RENARD: I think that currently what we have is that we are and we managed to have more food access into Gaza. But when you look at the current

situation, food is not the sole requirement. You need to make sure that there's more access to medicals, that there's more access to proper tents

and not just people living in rubbles. You need to make sure that there's more winter, let's say, different type of clothing that is coming into the

strip.

Most of the population cannot afford because they don't have a proper income. Again, if you want to survive currently in Gaza, you are actually

having access to some of the basics related to food. But an egg still costs $1.5. If you want to actually have access to meat like chicken breast, just

a kg is still $33, just for chicken breast. So, you have a number of nutritious, let's say, food that needs to get into Gaza and are not coming

enough.

The commercial is getting there, the humanitarian are gearing up, but people have no income, they have no capacity and no affordability related

to access some of the goods that are entering.

FOSTER: Antoine Renard, thank you for sparing your time for us tonight. It's a huge operation you've got going there. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin says Russia is ready for serious discussion on the conflict in Ukraine and the Kremlin expects a U.S. delegation in Moscow next week.

Speaking on a visit to Kyrgyzstan, the Russian president said Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan could, quote, "form the basis for future

agreements," but cautioned that it's too early to speak of anything final.

Now, controversy surrounding the Miss Universe pageant. Still to come tonight, the swirling accusations and claims Miss Mexico isn't the rightful

winner.

Plus, right now, many Americans are giving thanks by feasting on Turkey, of course, after watching balloons and floats on Thanksgiving Day parades.

Coming up, a look at some of the highlights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:00]

FOSTER: Accusations of favoritism, a false winner, an illegal drug running are surrounding the Miss Universe pageant. Raul Rocha Cantu is a co-owner

and the current president of Miss Universe. The attorney general's office in Mexico says it's investigating him for an alleged link to a drug-related

organized crime network. And there are allegations of rigged results for this year's contest.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum was asked if she or someone in her government bought off the organization to crown Miss Mexico the winner.

Joining me now from Mexico City is CNN's Valeria Leon. This is extraordinary. Just explain it in more basic terms for us, Valeria.

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, this Miss Universe win for Mexico has suddenly turned into a much bigger story. What should have been a huge

celebration has quickly become a much more complicated situation.

Raul Rocha went from leading Miss Universe as a co-director of the contest to be investigated. Mexican prosecutors say they're looking into whether

he's linked to a criminal network. Authorities have said that the network they're investigating operated across several states, moving fuel illegally

from Guatemala into Mexico and using front companies to do so.

And in a statement, Mexico's attorney general's office said they are still in the evidence-gathering stage of the investigation and haven't issued a

warrant for Rocha's arrest yet. This investigation actually started last year, but the timing of the allegations added doubt to an already turbulent

Miss Universe.

Just days after Mexico's candidate Fatima Bosch won the contest, accusations of corruption spread, fueled in part by pageant judge Omar

Harfouch's claims the competition was rigged by Rocha, who allegedly kept close ties with Bosch's father. Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum has

stepped in to defend Fatima Bosch, saying the investigation into Rocha was nothing to do with her win and shouldn't take away from her merit. Here's

what Mexico's president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It's different, isn't it? Because then they want to take away her merit. Whether we agree

with pageants or not, credit goes to the person who won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEON: Once Fatima Bosch won the crown, she faced a wave of backlash, including death threats and aggressive online harassment. In Mexico, she's

received a lot of support, but many of the hateful messages she shared publicly are actually coming from outside the country and in multiple

languages.

So, instead of celebrating a historic victory, the Miss Universe world is now dealing with a criminal probe of one side and a pageant turmoil on the

other. A lot of unanswered questions now, Max.

FOSTER: It's a private organization, though, isn't it? So, what authority does the government or investigators have over it if there is any

corruption?

LEON: Well, actually, they are accusing him of mainly having this fuel illegally into the country from Guatemala. But there's also another

investigation about armed and drug trafficking into the country. And we don't know exactly when this started. I mean, this movement. But the

investigation dates on 2023 when he was actually working for Pemex, which is the main Mexico's oil company. And that was the moment when he allegedly

knew the Fatima Bosch father. And that's what the signaling, you know, this judge is signaling that this led to a corrupted crown that Fatima won just

a few days ago, Max.

FOSTER: OK. Valeria, thank you so much for that. Now, Hondurans will head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president. And U.S. President Trump

has already signaled who he wants to win. Mr. Trump took to social media to back conservative candidate Nasry Tito Asfura of the National Party, who he

claims is standing up for democracy.

Asfura is locked in a tight race with left-leaning former defense minister Rixi Moncada, who Trump accuses of being a communist, though she doesn't

identify as one.

The president's comments are adding tension to an already volatile political climate. Honduras remains mired in a deep crisis with corruption

scandals, alleging links between top politicians and drug trafficking networks.

[14:50:00]

The E.U. Parliament has backed a resolution objecting to substantial E.U. funding for Tanzania, it follows a debate on Wednesday when members

condemned Tanzanian authorities for a brutal crackdown on protesters, including killings and disappearances. Thousands of people took to the

streets in October demonstrating against the official results of a widely criticized presidential election. CNN has conducted its own exclusive

investigation and found evidence of Tanzanian police opening fire at protesters, killing some of them. The probe involved a forensic examination

of video and satellite imagery.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced on social media South Africa will be excluded from next year's G20 summit set to take place in Miami. He

wrote that South Africa is not worthy of membership and that Washington will halt all payments and subsidies to Pretoria. This follows the U.S.

boycott of this year's G20 meeting in Johannesburg, which the U.S. justifies with unfounded claims that South Africa is committing genocide

against white South Africans. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: All across America, people are celebrating Thanksgiving Day at the dinner table with their family and friends, but in many cities, it all

started with a traditional Turkey Day parade. The one best known, of course, worldwide happened in New York as Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

made its way down the streets of Manhattan. Giant, iconic character balloons, elaborate floats, marching bands, singers, dancers, entertaining

more than 3 million spectators.

Onlookers in Philadelphia watched and cheered as the longest-running Thanksgiving Day Parade there in the country paraded down the streets. And

in Chicago, hundreds of thousands turned out, despite the chilly day, for the live entertainment and celebratory -- or celebrity, rather,

appearances.

A mistaken text sent 10 years ago was the start of one of America's favorite Thanksgiving traditions. It started when Wanda Dench accidentally

invited Jamal Hinton to Thanksgiving over text. After realizing the mistake, Hinton asked her if he could still join her. The pair reflected on

the decade together with CNN's Samantha Lindell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMANTHA LINDELL, CNN DIGITAL CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Ten years of Thanksgiving meals shared by two strangers who met on accident. You might

be familiar with the story. Wanda Dench texted Jamal Hinton in 2016, inviting him over to her Thanksgiving dinner.

[14:55:00]

Dench meant to text her grandson, but doubled down on the invitation to Hinton. He showed up to her house for a plate of turkey.

WANDA DENCH: It's just amazing to have a friendship where, you know, age makes no difference whatsoever. So, I feel so blessed that he's in my life.

I know there's no accidents, and it was serendipity, and I'm really joyful.

LINDELL (voice-over): The two have gotten closer while celebrating Thanksgiving over the years, offering support to one another in times of

need, like when Dench was diagnosed with breast cancer or when her husband died in 2020 from complications from COVID-19.

JAMAL HINTON: It's about each other's support and being there for one another. I mean, Wanda's been through a lot. I've been through a lot. And

to stick together and talk about these things and kind of get through them together has just been a blessing of all sorts. So, I appreciate you,

Wanda.

DENCH: Me too.

LINDELL (voice-over): And this year marks a decade of friendship, but the pair say they're more like family.

HINTON: It was just so unlikely that two polar opposites, it felt like, could come together and become such good friends and family members now.

I'm most excited for Wanda to really meet my family. It's been some years.

DENCH: And I know from just the way Jamal is, I wanted to thank his parents for their wonderful upbringing of Jamal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Wonderful story. Thanks for watching tonight. I'll have more "What We Know" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:00]

END