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One World with Zain Asher

Kremlin: European Counter Proposal To U.S. Plan "Unconstructive"; Russia Exploiting Manpower Advantage Across Front Lines; U.S. Labels Maduro, Allies Members Of Foreign Terrorist Group; Meeting In South Africa Comes To An End Without U.S. Present; "Slender Man" Attacker Found A Day After Leaving Group Home; Italian Court Removes Three Children From Off- Grid Forest Home; U.S. First Lady Welcomes White House Christmas Tree; Old Navy Aims To Entice Inflation-Weary Customers; Students Share Positive Things In Their Lives In School Hallway; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired November 24, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:35]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Is peace in Ukraine on the horizon? Donald Trump says something good could be on the way.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "One World" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a peace plan. It's a surrender plan. It basically gives Russia more than Russia would have asked for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: But the Kremlin is calling a new European counter-proposal to the U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine, unconstructive.

ASHER: And America was a no-show about South Africa's president, says the summit was a success. We wrap up Africa's first ever G20 summit plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone told me that my hair looked really pretty today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a new girl at school today and I think I made a new friend, so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I finally got a girlfriend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Tell me something good. See what happens when they mix -- when you mix a microphone, a camera and a hallway full of high school students.

I love that story.

ASHER: Love that. And later, we are decking the holes at the People's House. The White House's Christmas tree just arrived.

All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.

GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching the second hour of "One World."

The key of delegation taking part in talks in Geneva with the U.S. over the weekend isn't even home yet. But already, Russia is rejecting the European

counter-proposal to Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.

ASHER: Yes. Top E.U. leaders meantime are voicing optimism blended with caution about the newly revised proposal after the first draft was seen as

highly favorable to Russia.

GOLODRYGA: E.U. leaders meeting in Angola on the sidelines of a summit with the African Union say they are committed to providing Ukraine with

diplomatic, military and economic support.

Earlier, CNN spoke to the European Union's Foreign Policy Chief, Kaja Kallas, who made reference to the White House plan that among other things

called for Ukraine to see territory under its control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAJA KALLAS, EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: If Russia could conquer Ukraine, they would have already done so. So to offer them something that

they even haven't conquered militarily is, you know, offering something on top of what they already have or -- or what they have achieved on the -- on

the battlefield.

We shouldn't fall into these traps to discuss all what Ukraine should give away, but -- but, you know, bring the discussion back to the territory what

Russia should concede because they have started this war and they are doing the killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The U.S. president hinted at big progress in the Geneva talks on a post on social media, saying that something good may just be happening in

Geneva.

GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, the war continues. Russia attacked energy facilities across Ukraine overnight, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

Russia has been regularly striking Ukraine's energy grid, leaving the country without heat and power during the cold months.

ASHER: Let's bring in CNN's state department reporter Jennifer Hansler. Jennifer, how much optimism is there that this peace plan, obviously, it's

being revised started off as this 28-point peace plan that's highly favorable to Russia, even with revisions? How much optimism is there that

this potentially could lead to an end in hostilities, even a temporary one?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, we're hearing a remarkable amount of optimism coming out of Secretary of State Marco Rubio,

who led that U.S. delegation in Geneva yesterday.

He came out and spoke to the press twice during the course of those meetings in Switzerland. The first time he said that it had been the best

meeting in his opinion since the start of the discussions at the beginning of this administration with Ukraine on this matter. After those meetings

wrapped up, he said there had been a tremendous amount of progress.

However, he did stress that there is still work to be done. He would not go into details about what gaps remain, but he said that they would continue

these intensive discussions. Listen to how he described this ongoing evolving peace plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There were items that we were discussing as part of the original 28 or it evolved. This is a work -- and

this is a living breathing document. Every day with input, it changes.

I can tell you that the items that remain open are not insurmountable. We just need more time than what we have today. I -- I honestly believe we'll

get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANSLER: Now, there are indications though that there have been changes from that controversial 28-point plan. We saw a joint statement put out

last night between Russia or, excuse me, Ukraine and the U.S. following those discussions. They said that there had been an updated and refined

peace framework.

[12:05:12]

Of course, that 28-point plan that came out in the public last week was widely criticized by European allies, by members of Congress because of the

concessions that it was calling for Ukraine to make among those were significant territorial concessions, a limitation on Ukraine's military

size, a de facto U.S. recognition of parts of Ukraine that had been seized by Russia, which, of course, would be a complete 180 from longstanding not

to recognize territory that was seized militarily.

So that came under a lot of criticism and a lot of concern among Kyiv and the European capitals about what that would mean moving forward. We have

seen now some steps back to try to ease that up, but, of course, these conversations are ongoing and there is the Russia factor of it. They also

have to agree to this. This is something that Rubio also acknowledged.

This is going to come down to the leaders of the U.S., of Ukraine, and of Russia. Of course, Moscow is indicating they are not going to also give up

any concessions, especially when the 28-point plan was so favorable to them to begin with. So, we're going to see what happens here.

I should note, guys, also President Trump last week had indicated he was giving Ukraine until Thursday to accept any sort of plan. Rubio yesterday

suggested that timeline could shift here. Guys.

ASHER: All right. Jennifer Hansler, live for us there. Thank you so much.

All right. Russia forces are taking advantage of gaps in Kyiv's defenses to edge forward in a number of key arenas, including Zaporizhzhia and the

Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Russia has concentrated more than 150,000 troops in the eastern city of Pokrovsk alone in an

attempt to finally take control of it after fighting for months.

GOLODRYGA: CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton joins us now.

So, Cedric, it has been a bit of political whiplash, I would say, and geopolitical whiplash on the global stage over the last few days.

The president, just over the weekend, chastising Ukraine once again for what he says is not being grateful and thankful enough to the United

States, giving them an ultimatum until Thursday. And now you have Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio coming in and saying,

no, there's going to be a revised plan and the talks have been productive. And they're moving on from that original 28-point plan that was highly

favorable to Russia.

How is Russia viewing all of this right now? Because there are clearly no concessions yet that have been made public that Russia would have to make

in order to bring a ceasefire about. And as we heard from Jennifer, this is going to require Russian sign off as well.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, for sure, Bianna. And I think what Russia is looking at is, you know, they're going to watch and

see how not only the U.S. handles this, but how Ukraine responds and how the Europeans respond.

They've already rejected, it seems at least, the European proposal. They may not have a full understanding of it yet, but it seems like they're

rejecting it already.

So what you're seeing, I think, is Russia just saying, let's see what they're going to do here and we will just draw things out because Russia

thinks that it can actually win this militarily.

That may not actually be true, but they're looking at this from the standpoint of the successes that they've achieved around Pokrovsk. The fact

that there are Russian incursions in Zaporizhzhia, you know, as Zain mentioned.

And so these are the kinds of things that will give them a -- a bit of confidence. They think they can weather the storm. They think that they

can, in essence, split the U.S. from Ukraine and actually split the Europeans off as well.

So that's -- that's really what they're doing here. They're -- they're, in essence, trying to adopt a strategy of divide and conquer on the diplomatic

field along with what they're doing on the -- on the military campaign aspect of this.

ASHER: And -- and just talk to us about some of the advantages that the Russians have just militarily. I mean, one is obviously manpower, I mean,

just the sheer size of their military. And manpower actually continues to be a problem for Ukraine, this idea of mobilizing enough soldiers, all of

this happening on the backdrop of this potential ceasefire.

Just explain to us how that contrasts with what is actually happening on -- on the battlefield and also the advantages that the Russians have that you

talk about.

LEIGHTON: Yes, Zain. So the -- the manpower situation is really dire one for Ukraine. And it has been difficult for the Ukrainians really from the

start of this particular phase of the conflict. So from February of 2022 on, they've had manpower challenges. Part of it is a population issue. You

know, Ukraine is about one-fourth the size of Russia in terms of population. That's also about the difference in their military sizes. At

least their -- their standard peacetime end strength, as we would call it in the military.

[12:10:16]

The other part of this though is that what the Russians can do is that they can mobilize their forces into specific areas, and they can do so fairly

efficiently and can achieve superiority ratios of eight to one, like they have right now in the Pokrovsk region.

So, what this means for Ukraine is this demographic challenge that the Ukrainians have is actually worse than the demographic challenges that the

Russians face.

Both countries face these challenges, but these -- these challenges are particularly difficult because of the way in which Ukraine employs its

military forces, in whom they draft, basically in Ukraine, 25 and up, each 25 and up are part of the draft age population. In Russia, it's 18 and up.

So, there's a -- a part of the manpower pool that the Ukrainians aren't using. There are obviously volunteers that are between the ages of 18 and

25, but that is not really sufficient to fill those gaps.

So, Ukraine has tried to fill those gaps using innovations, using drone technology, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare capabilities and

intelligence capabilities.

The Russians are beginning to catch up in these areas as well, especially the electronic warfare and intelligence parts of this. And so, this is

actually a very difficult period for the Ukrainians because their technological advantage is seemingly evaporating a bit over time.

It's not that they can't re-establish that advantage, but the Russians are clearly moving in that direction, and they've achieved some successes,

especially around places like Pokrovsk that they otherwise wouldn't have if they didn't pursue those advantages on the intelligence and electronic

warfare size.

GOLODRYGA: All right. And we know that President Zelenskyy has been very reluctant to lower the conscription age because of concerns that it would

have on demographics already strained in the country as well as the economy overall, which leads to one of the demands in this 28-point plan in the

original document that Ukraine would cut its military force to about 600,000.

Many Ukrainians view this as not only a non-starter, but also an example of Russia not being serious about a ceasefire because why on earth would they

demand that the Ukraine's military be cut so drastically if there weren't plans sometime in the future to once again re-invade?

LEIGHTON: Yes. It's clear that the Russians want to re-invade, and they haven't abandoned that particular plan. It's part of their -- what amounts

to their national strategy and President Putin's goals. He's very clear about these things.

And on this -- this particular aspect, we should believe him. It is, you know, one of those areas where it kind of harkens back to what happened to

Germany after World War I when you had the Versailles Treaty, except the big difference is that Germany was an aggressor nation in World War I.

Ukraine here is not the aggressor nation, in fact, it is the victim of aggression. And to have the victim give up a large portion of its forces, a

large portion of the manpower of its forces, you know, really puts them on the back foot. At least the attempt would be to put them on the back foot.

And that, it would really mean that what they -- what they want to do is make Ukraine a far less powerful country even though it really has the

capability to, in essence, be at the very least a stumbling block for any Russian moves into Europe. And that's -- that's exactly what the West

should be looking at here.

They should have a strategic partnership with the Ukrainians that strengthens them, that actually helps them increase their military presence

and their military capabilities, not necessarily with manpower, but certainly with equipment and with weaponry that allows them to maintain the

kinds of things that they need to maintain in order to achieve, not only their -- and keep their sovereignty, but also to achieve their particular

goals, which would include keeping a free and -- and democratic nation.

GOLODRYGA: All right. One could argue that Ukraine is the most well- prepared and trained army now in all of Europe given --

LEIGHTON: Exactly.

GOLODRYGA: -- the three and a half plus years of war with Russia.

Colonel Leighton, thank you so much. Good to see you.

ASHER: Thank you, Colonel.

LEIGHTON: Good to see you too.

ASHER: All right. Taking effect today, the U.S. designation of Nicolas Maduro as a member of a foreign terrorist organization. It also covers the

Venezuelan president's allies in his government as well.

The Trump White House accuses Maduro of running a drug trafficking cartel which, of course, he denies. It's worth noting America's top military

officer, General Dan Caine, is visiting the Caribbean region.

GOLODRYGA: This comes as the official terror designation means that U.S. President Trump can impose fresh sanctions on Venezuela. The U.S. military

has killed dozens of people in boat strikes as part of an anti-drug trafficking campaign.

[12:15:04]

ASHER: A lot of Americans do not like it, though. A CBS News/YouGov poll says 70 percent oppose the U.S. taking military action in Venezuela,

including this Republican senator who is critical of the Trump White House policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): They want to have it both ways. They want to say, oh, we can just say, oh, we can just say, these people are terrorists,

they're narco terrorists, so we can blow them up.

But it's extraordinary that when some of them survive, they pluck them out of the water, they don't prosecute them for drugs, they don't collect

drugs, they don't tell us if they were armed or not, they just send them back to their country, most of the time not being Venezuela. They've sent

one back to Columbia, one back to Ecuador, but nobody's making any pretense of even interviewing them to find out who's selling you the drugs. Maybe we

can find out who the kingpins are if they're involved with the drug trade, not a word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: And so a lot of dancing lately, as Venezuela's president bursting into an energetic dance, once again at a rally and calling for

peace. This as the U.S. ramp up the pressure, and Maduro and his supporters spent the weekend celebrating his 63rd birthday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Our people trust fully in the mandate of our president, Nicolas Maduro, and do not feel the disturbance

or that threat that something might happen.

But if something were to happen, the people have taken up arms and we have trained. We have prepared ourselves and enlisted to go to the front when it

is our turn to defend the homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right. Stefan Pozzebon joins us live now in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

So, Stefano, I mean, it's an interesting juxtaposition there. You see the Venezuelan president dancing there, but at the same time, something very

serious is happening, and that is the U.S. is, of course, designating Maduro part of a foreign terrorist organization. That means the U.S. can

slap more sanctions, not to mention, of course, the military buildup that we've been talking about, and also this sort of extrajudicial killing of

those that the U.S. believes are members of drug cartels in these boats.

So just walk us through what the reaction to all of this has been on the ground in Caracas.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: As well, Zain, we heard directly from the government earlier this Monday morning, they sent out a statement. I'm

going to paraphrase the cap of paragraphs to you. They call, of course, all of these accusations infamous and vile lies, and said that these new

designation as the top of the Venezuelan government as a foreign terrorist organization under the label of the Cartel de Los Soles, which is the name

that the U.S. administration uses to accuse top members of both the civilian and military hierarchy here in Venezuela of being involved with

the drug trade. They say that all of these is just a lie.

And I want to point out that in this statement that we received about five hours ago here in Caracas, they also point out that most of the American

citizens do not believe that these actions in the Caribbean have anything to do with actually fighting the drug trade.

They actually want to topple the government of Nicolas Maduro. So I think that Maduro is very cautious and wary of the debate inside the holes of

powers in Washington, but also in the American and U.S.-based public opinion that they believe that most people in America believe that the --

if any foreign intervention in Venezuela will not be a successful one.

I don't expect, Zain, that we'll hear anything further on this from Maduro himself. Today is Monday, so he will be holding his weekly TV show on

Monday evening.

But I think that the government in the last few days, and especially weeks, has been here in Caracas trying to present an image that nothing is

actually happening here on the ground, that these aggression is a similar saber-rattling that Caracas has been pushed against from Washington, but

that actually it doesn't hold any consequence for Maduro himself. And so I don't think that they will address this designation in the upcoming hours.

Of course, the last week, we also, or across the weekend, actually, we have also had several airlines canceling their flights in and out of Caracas

International Airport. So no matter what the government says, the feeling here is, of course, that the tides are rising against these Venezuelan

government. Zain.

ASHER: All right. Stefano Pozzebon in Caracas for us. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, the first G20 summit to be hosted on the African continent came to an end Sunday in Johannesburg without any involvement from next

year's host, the United States.

ASHER: Yes. The White House boycotted the summit of a discredited allegations by the Trump administration that South Africa is persecuting

its white minority population.

Despite the U.S. boycott, South African summit adopted a declaration. Our Larry Madowo has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The final act of this G20 summit, the first in African soil, was world leaders joking and laughing at the absence

of President Donald Trump. Many of them came up to congratulate President Ramaphosa on a great event. And that voice can be heard saying, where is

the United States?

[12:20:10]

And he says, they're not here. And they all laugh about it, as if it's an inside joke. Many of them in their statements had supported multilateralism

and criticized indirectly the transactional way in which President Trump does things.

South Africa has refused to hand over that gavel that represents the rotating presidency to the (INAUDIBLE) of the United States, essentially,

the deputy ambassador here in the South Africa, they say, consider it insulting.

And so I asked the foreign minister, what happens to the hand over?

RONALD LAMOLA, SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION: It's ceremonial, the hand over, but there could be, for

example, the handover of the -- of the -- of the G20 official website. There is a need for engagement between us and the U.S. how we then deal

with that and other details that needs to be -- to be ironed out.

But as South Africa, as we've said, we want the transition to be as smoothness as possible and we're prepared to cooperate and assist the U.S.

with that process.

MADOWO: In that CNN interview, the foreign minister here in South Africa also pushing back on the White House characterization of the leaders

declaration as shameful, saying that they did what they could because the leaders showed up here and they had business to attend to.

And they're very proud. They considered this a triumph, a success, that South Africa was able to center the global south's demands and African

leaders, African countries' requirements to the rest of the world in this.

And so they don't consider it a failure that President Donald Trump didn't show up here. And they're ready and willing to discuss handing over kind of

practical things like the website of the G20.

But overall, from here South Africa, they say they considered this to have been a 10 out of 10, no notes.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: All right. And still to come on "One World," she was convicted of a brutal crime that stunned America. Now, police tracked down the woman

convicted of the Slender Man stabbing more than a decade ago after she fled a group home.

ASHER: Plus, a family living off the grid in Italy has their three children taken away from them. Why it's led to a public outcry, that's just head.

And later this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZAC POSEN, AMERICAN FASHION DESIGNER: And at the end of the day, people want to look good, they want to feel good, and that line continues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: That's Zac Posen, one of America's best known couture fashion designers. More later this hour on how he's reshaping an iconic retail

store this holiday season.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:05]

GOLODRYGA: The woman convicted in the brutal Slender Man stabbing is now back in custody.

ASHER: Yes. Morgan Geyser was 12 years old when she and a friend lured their sixth grade classmate to a park and stabbed her 19 times, all to

impress this murderous fictional character and internet boogeyman dubbed, Slender Man. The young victim miraculously survived the attack.

GOLODRYGA: Police in Wisconsin say guys are left a group home where she had been living on Saturday after cutting off her monitoring bracelet.

Officials now confirmed that she was found sleeping at a truck stop outside of Chicago.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following the -- the latest from the story for us. And, Jean, as noted, this had been a story that had really captivated the

country at the time when it happened. What more are we learning about this escape?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've -- we've learned a lot, actually, in the last few minutes because she was found at this truck stop

along with a 42-year-old man. Now, we don't know how he enters into all of this when she escaped. And remember, she was in custody in that group home.

And when she escaped Saturday night, she was seen with an adult. And now she was with a 42-year-old man.

But we -- she was recaptured about 24 hours later. But it was 150 miles away in a completely different state. Wisconsin was where she was sentenced

and she was found in Illinois.

And so she originally when the police went up to her and asked her her name, she gave a false name at the truck stop, then she wouldn't give her

name. And then she said, no, I'm not going to tell you because what I've done is very bad. And she said, just Google me and you'll find out. And so

obviously they got her name. They took her into custody.

But the way this started was in 2014 when she was 12 years old, she and another classmate plotted together to -- to have another classmate who was

the victim, 12 years old at the time, to come for a sleepover. And it was a birthday. So they had the sleep over. The next day, they lured the victim

to a park.

And at the park, Morgan Geyser stabbed her 19 times. And this 12-year-old victim actually crawled out of the park, found a bicyclist pleaded for her

life. And so she survived miraculously, as you said, Bianna.

Now at -- once she got before a judge, she admitted her guilt. She pleaded guilty. She was convicted, but the judge sends her to a mental hospital for

40 years. But a judge in January said, no, we're going to downgrade you to a group home with an ankle monitor. And authorities say she cut it off,

walked out, escaped. And now she's back in custody.

GOLODRYGA: Wow. A lot of developments there. And as always told best by you, Jean Casarez. Thank you so much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

ASHER: All right. Custody dispute in Italy is raising questions about parental rights and alternative lifestyles. Authorities remove three

children from parents who have chosen to live off the grids.

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 a six-year-old twins and an eight-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 that they will be appealing the removal this week.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right. Still to come, the White House is officially ready for the festive season, but remember, there is renovation going on. We have

much more on how the President and the First Lady are launching this year's holiday cheer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:11]

ASHER: All right. The White House is on its way to becoming a winter wonderland. First Lady Melania Trump receiving the Christmas tree as part

of a long running annual tradition this year. A concolor fir will be the centerpiece of the Blue Room.

GOLODRYGA: That is a massive tree grown in Sidney, Michigan. The tree will have made a 650 mile journey to be inspected by the First Lady. She seems

to like what she sees. This comes as tours of the White House resumed for the first time in months following a pause while the East Wing was

demolished.

For more on this, let's bring in Betsy Klein, CNN senior White House reporter. And, Betsy, I don't recall ever there being a time when there was

so much scrutiny and attention on not only the furnishings of the White House, but construction around the White House as well.

Just talk to us about what we can expect from the holiday decorations, but what other plans the First Lady and the President may have in store?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's absolutely right. The First Lady has really officially kicked off the start to the holiday season

as she welcomed the official White House Christmas tree.

And there was pomp and circumstance and clydesdale horses along with three men in top hats. You can see right there as the carriage pulled up to the

front of the White House for the First Lady's inspection.

This tree was selected by White House Ground Superintendent Dale Haney. It hails from Sidney, Michigan, about 650 miles away from the White House and

it is a concolor fir, as you mentioned.

Then on Tuesday, President Trump is set to participate in another White House holiday tradition as he is expected to grant clemency to a pair of

turkeys, Gobble and Waddle. He's going to serve justice for foul reasons and dish out a pair of pardons.

And then while the First Family spends their Thanksgiving holiday in Palm Beach, Florida, volunteers are going to descend upon the White House to get

it ready for the holidays. They will be decking the halls and transforming the White House into a winter wonderland, installing that tree in the Blue

Room just in time for these tours to reopen.

[12:35:12]

And as you mentioned, White House tours have been paused to the public since early September as the President's Ballroom construction gets

underway. And we saw the complete demolition of the East Wing.

Previously, when you take a White House tour, visitors enter through the East Wing. They walk through the East Colonnade and tour a number of rooms

on the ground floor of the White House before going upstairs to tour the state floor. That includes the East -- East way -- East Room, excuse me,

and the Blue Room among a few others.

But the East Colonnade, the entrance point, has all been demolished. It no longer exists. And many of those rooms on the first ground floor, including

the Vermeil Room, the China Room, are being used as office space for the First Lady's team who has been displaced during this construction.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

ASHER: All right. Uncertainty over the economy has many American shoppers on the edge this holiday season. And that uncertainty is pushing retailers

to find new and creative ways to attract customers, as Americans are spending more carefully.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich met with a top executive at Old Navy designer Zac Posen to see how he's using his creative energy and fashion influence to

win over shoppers at the American Clothing retailer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Zac and Old Navy, did you see it coming?

POSEN: Never.

YURKEVICH: OK. So what -- what turned the tide for you?

POSEN: This was the opportunity of a lifetime. This is the brand that dresses America.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Zac Posen, one of America's most well-known couture fashion designers, is now Old Navy's chief creative officer overseeing

design, merchandise, and marketing at the low-cost retailer.

YURKEVICH: Where's the Zac Posen touch?

POSEN: A few places. I'll show you. I mean, I'm throughout here. I can see different moments here, a beautiful color story on top there. I can't talk

about holiday without talking about our jammies.

YURKEVICH: Yes.

POSEN: And our jingle jammies.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Old Navy's holiday pajamas are one of its most reliable money makers. It sells millions of them each year during the all-

important holiday season.

But this year, the brand is betting on new to win over shoppers, new occasion wear, beauty, and a designer collaboration.

Anna Sui, that collection is the first designer collection with Old Navy. Was that you?

POSEN: It was.

YURKEVICH: Yes. And why --

POSEN: I was really proud. I was really excited.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): This season, retailers are taking bigger swings to stand out in a sea of cautious consumers. Americans are spending more

carefully.

Tariffs, sticky inflation, and rising unemployment are creating an unpredictable holiday season.

HORACIO BARBEITO, PRESIDENT AND CEO, OLD NAVY: If there's going to be uncertainty, we will not participate.

YURKEVICH: How do you not participate? It's inevitable.

BARBEITO: Because we're hosting customers. And, you know, we're -- we're seeing them, you know, coming here and -- and really being happy and

engaging with merchandise and - and, you know, prepare for family moments.

YURKEVICH: But I don't get it. How can you not -- how can you not participate? Because you have to respond to that, the uncertainty.

BARBEITO: Well, we -- we know that they're looking for value. They're looking for -- you know, they're also looking for style.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Old Navy, owned by Gap Inc., has been a key driver for its parent company. It just reported better than expected third quarter

earnings, with Old Navy's revenue rising by five percent year over year. But tariffs remain a significant headwind.

BARBEITO: Tariff is something that is, you know, across -- across -- across the industry. Agility is super important. RFID, for example, that, you

know, we're rolling out in our entire fleet, is giving us the -- you know, that accuracy of inventory position to better flow, better buy, better

replenish.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Here's how that RFID technology works. A shopper comes to the store looking for an extra small green flannel pajama pant,

but it's not where it's supposed to be. Using antennas in the ceiling and radio frequency to scan merchandise tags on the floor, the associate can

locate those pants anywhere in the store.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): RFID sounds very efficient, but how does it help the bottom line?

BARBEITO: You don't lose sales or you minimize the sales' loss. You don't waste customer trips, you know, which is so important. And especially now

that, you know, a lot of customers are coming back to stores.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): But lower income Americans, part of Old Navy's core customer base, are particularly under pressure. So the speed at which the

company needs to both provide affordability and broaden their customer base is even more critical.

POSEN: We were always about the consumer.

YURKEVICH: Right. But in -- but I guess in a way that this year, maybe just a little bit different.

POSEN: Of course, every year has its challenges. Sometimes it's the economy, sometimes it's the weather, sometimes, you know, it's a change of

an administration.

And at the end of the day, people want to look good, they want to feel good, and that line continues. And I think when things can be more

challenging, we rise to the occasion.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:40:03]

ASHER: All right. Now to a small town in Ohio where a microphone and a camera have transformed a school hallway into a scene of joy. And I love

this story. Gratitude.

GOLODRYGA: One of our favorites of the day.

And administrators set up the recording devices inside the bustling school along with a sign that read, tell us something good that happened today. We

need to do that here.

And guess what? The results were incredible. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone told me that my hair looked really pretty today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a new girl at school today and I think I made a new friend, so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I finally got a girlfriend.

ADAM MARCUM, COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR, MONROE LOCAL SCHOOLS: We set up a tripod and a camera with a microphone. And on the microphone, there was a

sign with a prompt and all it said was, tell us something good that happened to you today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adam Marcum is a communications coordinator for Monroe Local Schools in Ohio. He's on Instagram posts showing college kids sharing

their joyful moments and had an idea.

MARCUM: When we set out to initially do this, we just wanted to capture positive moments.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's my birthday and people have been really nice.

MARCUM: It started off actually really slow. The whole time I'm thinking to myself, you know, this is a -- this is a bad. It's not going to work out.

As time went on, a few students started. And once they saw their friends, there were times that we had a line of -- of people waiting to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best part of my day today was seeing all my teachers like come to school and be happy to see us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Marcum posted the video on Facebook and Instagram and the video quickly went viral, racking up over 1.5 million views

combined.

MARCUM: I knew it would do really well in our community. What I did not anticipate was that it would get this kind of attention on the national

level.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The real surprise, hearing what the older kids had to say.

MARCUM: I was truly expecting kids to come up and say, I had a good breakfast. And it was so much deeper than that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me and my sister are actually kind of getting along now and like we're not arguing as much as we used to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The good thing that happened to me today was Ms. Gates (ph), she complimented my artwork.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been having a great relationship with my mom. Like if we're in an argument, we talk about it instead of just shutting

each other out.

MARCUM: I think it's so easy to forget the impact that you have as a human being and it's really cool to see the students share that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the little things can brighten one's day, what impact can we make when all the little things like that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: OK. Something good that happened to me today was that we were finally reunited after so many days apart.

ASHER: Something good happened to me today too.

GOLODRYGA: See.

ASHER: And another good thing is that I was in Nigeria last week, which is my home country. And it always feels so life affirming to be back there,

back in the motherland.

GOLODRYGA: So amazing pictures.

ASHER: Yes. I showed you those pictures.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, yes.

ASHER: During the commercial break, I was telling her all about my time in Nigeria was amazing.

GOLODRYGA: You should have some insight into our commercial conversations one of these days. We'll do that.

ASHER: You really don't want to do it this week.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Well that does it for this hour of "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. "African Voices Changemakers" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS)

END

END