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One World with Zain Asher

White House Official: Kushner And Witkoff Heading To Moscow; Sources: Trump To Hold Oval Office Meeting On Venezuela; U.S. Congress To Investigate On Alleged Drug Boats; manhunt After Birthday party Shooter Kills Three Children And Adult; Officials: Some Renovation Materials Failed Safety Standards; Two Candidates In Virtual Tie; White House Unveils 2025 Holiday Decorations; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 01, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:45]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Talks on the conflict in Ukraine continue and the next couple of days could be pivotal.

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think Russia would like to see it end and I think Ukraine. I know Ukraine would like to see it end.

So, where do the talks go from here? The source says this weekend's negotiations were a step forward.

ASHER: Plus, President Trump says he wants to eradicate a drug trafficker. So, why is he pardoning a man serving a prison sentence for exactly that?

Also ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call whoever you know, call the pastors, call your friend, turn yourself in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: A manhunt is underway and a community is demanding answers. Everything we know about the birthday party that descended into terror.

ASHER: And later, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The White House unveils its holiday decor.

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

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

We begin with fast-moving diplomatic efforts spearheaded by the U.S. to get a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

ASHER: Right. A source says weekend talks between delegations from Washington and Kyiv were tough, but constructive.

GOLODRYGA: Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and America's top diplomat were among those taking part in the meeting in South Florida.

Witkoff heads to Moscow today where he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow.

The White House officials says that President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will accompany Witkoff.

ASHER: Yes. Marco Rubio, meantime, underscored Russia would have a central role to play in any deal. He described the talks as fragile with a lot of

moving parts, but an ultimate goal of keeping Ukraine safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Very productive session, building off Geneva, building off the events of this week. As I told you earlier this

morning, our goal here is to end the war, but it's more than just to end the war. We don't just want to end the war. We also want to help Ukraine be

safe forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Ukraine's president received a warm welcome in Paris from French President Emmanuel Macron today as he tries to shore up European support.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that he hopes to hold talks with the U.S. president after Witkoff's Moscow visit. He also says Ukraine's priorities

are to maintain its sovereignty and ensure strong security guarantees.

E.U. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas echoed some concerns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAJA KALLAS, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: In this war, there is one aggressor and one victim. Our job is to do all we can to support the victim and not

reward the aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow and joins us now with the latest.

So, Matthew, what can we expect of these talks coming tomorrow between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin? And was it surprised to find out that

Jared Kushner would be accompanying him?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm not sure it was a surprise. I mean, Jared Kushner has been at the -- the talks that

we saw in -- in Geneva, the talks that we saw in Florida as well just yesterday.

And so he -- he's obviously become an integral part of that U.S. negotiating team. So it's no surprise, I suppose, to see him included in

the delegation that's he's going to be coming to Moscow this evening local time with a meeting scheduled at the Kremlin in the second half of

tomorrow, that's Tuesday, with -- with Vladimir Putin.

They've got a pretty tough job on their hands, I think, to convince Vladimir Putin, who is -- who has been, you know, kind of unwilling to

compromise on any of his core demands to bring to an end the Ukraine war, to try and, you know, get him to sort of step back a little bit.

I mean, they've -- they've come fresh from these negotiations in Florida, where, you know, sources inside or close to the negotiations told me that,

you know, lots of progress was made, that the talks were constructive, that -- that the most difficult issues were discussed in detail, particularly

things like Ukraine's desire to join the NATO military alliance in the future, things like, you know, what -- what would -- what could be a

solution to the demand by Russia for Ukraine to surrender territory that -- that has been annexed by Russia but has not yet been conquered by Moscow.

[12:05:25]

So these are the -- the big obstacles in, you know, the -- the drive to bring a quick end to the -- to the Ukraine war.

And, you know, even though, from what my source was telling me, there are sort of discussions about workarounds about how, you know, they can sort of

tiptoe around some of Kyiv's red lines. It's not clear at the moment whether the Kremlin is prepared to sort of back away a little bit -- a bit

-- a bit and make some concessions either.

And so it -- it's really a chance for -- for Steve Witkoff, for Jared Kushner as well, to try and get a sense of whether Vladimir Putin is

prepared to -- to just go a little bit forward to -- to kind of bring an end to the war or whether he's going to stay entrenched in his very hard

line position. So, it's going to be a very interesting sort of 24 hours to keep an eye on.

GOLODRYGA: Interesting and pivotal because we know President Zelenskyy said that he hopes to either speak or maybe even potentially meet with President

Trump in the near future following these meetings in Moscow.

Matthew Chance, you'll be following it closely for us. Thank you so much.

ASHER: All Right. In the next few hours, Donald Trump plans to go over his next steps in dealing with Venezuela. That's according to CNN sources who

tell us key members of his cabinet and national security team will gather in the Oval Office.

GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, in Venezuela, the National Assembly has formed a special commission to investigate U.S. strikes on what the Pentagon claims

are drug smuggling boats, specifically a September strike where the U.S. military hit one of those vessels, then hit it again, killing everyone who

survived the initial strike.

The president says neither he nor the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth know all the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: No one -- I don't know that that happened. And Pete said he did not want them -- he didn't even know what people were talking about. So we'll

look in -- we'll look into it.

But, no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not on a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine, and if there were two people around,

but Pete said that didn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: As concerned in the U.S. Congress, that double strike actually does amount to a war crime. Now, lawmakers in both parties want answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): The law is clear. If the facts are -- as -- have been alleged that there was a second strike specifically to kill the

survivors in the war, in the water, that's a stone cold war crime. It's also murder.

So, the real question is, who gave which orders, when were they given, and that's what we're going to get -- get to the bottom of in the Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Zachary Cohen joins us live now from Washington. So, Zachary, just walk us through what we know for sure at this point in time. What we've

been told is that there was an apparent strike on September, a second -- a drug boat attack in international waters, and that the first attack left

two survivors who essentially no longer posed a threat to the United States at all.

And those two survivors were then killed because the servicemen who were apparently trying to carry out these orders were following Pete Hegseth's

orders, which were apparently, and I'm using allegedly and apparently a lot here because we really do not know exactly what took place. But apparently,

Pete Hegseth's orders were to kill everybody on board.

What do we know for sure how much transparency is there? And what about accountability as it pertains to war crimes?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes. So at the moment, not a lot of transparency to the point where when the Trump

administration announced this September 2nd strike on an alleged drug boat. They did not disclose the information that we're learning now, which is of

course that sources saying that the U.S. military appeared to deliberately kill survivors of this first strike that later would be the first of many

that we've seen from the U.S. military for the last two months.

This took place in the form of what's called a double tap strike, and it was, as you mentioned, the first strike did disable the boat, our sources

say and killed some of the crew that were on board, but the U.S. military subsequently assessed that there were still some survivors and ordered a

second strike again, according to our sources, that then killed the remaining crew members in total.

Eleven people were killed in this strike. And this is now becoming a really concerning question. We're seeing lawmakers on both sides of the aisle

demanding answers from the Department of Defense, both the Republican-led House and Senate Armed Services Committee, saying that they will

investigate this thoroughly to ensure that a potential war crime was not carried out.

[12:10:00]

Now, this is something that was interesting. You played Donald Trump's response to questions about this instance. One that we're told to, that

Pete Hegseth did give an order to kill everyone on board before the strike was carried out, but it's unclear if he knew there were survivors on board.

Donald Trump's response, though, leaving a little bit of room distancing himself from the potential that this was carried out in a way that does not

comport with the law.

Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth, vehemently defending not only this strike, but also the entire operation in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, saying that

the entire operation abides by international law and the law of armed conflict, but also not really issuing a denial of the facts as they've been

reported by our colleagues, as well as "The Washington Post," that a second strike was ordered with the intent to deliberately kill any survivors on

board.

And just also adding a layer of complexity to this too. We know subsequently there was another instance where a strike did not kill

everybody that was on board in alleged drug boat. Those survivors were picked up by a U.S. Navy vessel, briefly detained and then repatriated back

to their home country.

So, a lot of questions in the wake of this reporting from CNN and others, and one that there's bipartisan consensus that needs to be investigated.

ASHER: All right. Zachary Cohen live for us. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: All right. For more on this, we're joined by Michael Becker, a former associate legal officer with the International Court of Justice.

Now, assistant professor at the School of Law at Trinity College Dublin. Michael, thank you so much for the time.

Again, there's much that we have yet to learn about the events on September 2nd. But if we were to just go by what has been reported by "The Washington

Post," what is your assessment of the legality of the second strike, if there's any legal grounds for that second strike, given the description and

the detail that was in "The Washington Post?"

MICHAEL BECKER, FORMER ASSOCIATE LEGAL OFFICER, INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: Well, I think as a starting point, we have to keep in mind that

all of these strikes are unlawful under international law. So, unless you accept the premise that the administration has put forward, there's no need

to actually analyze the initial strike and the second strike differently.

But if we accept that there is some legal basis to be striking these vessels in the first place, there are serious problems here because both

international law and U.S. federal law make it a crime to intentionally kill a person who has been placed out of combat.

So the fact intensive question here is whether those surviving individuals were indeed out of combat, meaning, they were no longer in a position to

pose any threat to take any further hostile action where they trying to even surrender.

In that case, striking those individuals is very clearly a -- a war crime. But we're only in the world of war crimes if we accept that this is an

armed conflict in the first place and that international humanitarian applies and many people, and that includes me, would dispute that this even

constitutes an armed conflict in the first place.

GOLODRYGA: So either a war crime, if this is viewed and is accepted as an act of war or just a killing that would also be illegal. But if I could

just follow up because per "The Washington Post," the commander who ultimately gave the order for the second strike appeared to give the

rationale that these two survivors could have posed a risk to the U.S. military by calling for backup or for additional aid.

How admissible would that type of argument be in a military court?

BECKER: Well, that's -- that is the big factual question here. So if there is some truth to that, that potentially creates, I suppose, a defense for

the U.S. here in terms of suggesting this was still a part of the operation to take out the vessel.

But I think, you know, if -- if these individuals were clinging to the remnants of a ship that had been destroyed, it's very hard to give much

credence to that -- to that argument. But those are the facts that I think at this point, we still -- we still don't know.

ASHER: And, Michael, I'm glad that you point out that, you know, aside from the double, the alleged trouble strike, these attacks in and of themselves

are likely highly unlawful.

What does accountability look like here if these are -- these do amount to a war crime?

BECKER: Well, here we're in a -- a very difficult terrain of unlawful orders or manifestly unlawful orders. It's very hard to see in the current

climate how there could be any kind of legal accountability here.

I can't see the Trump administration pursuing that approach or allowing a prosecution here. It may be more a form of political accountability.

So, if the way these operations are -- are going forward, no longer has enough support from Congress, maybe this is something that puts significant

pressure on the Secretary of War and whether he can continue in that position.

[12:15:14]

I would say that it's pretty important to take into account. I know that war crime is being thrown around here and there's a lot of focus on the

order or the alleged order to kill everybody.

But the timing does matter here. And as your reporter suggested, if that order was given before the initial strike and it is the subordinate

commander who then decided to go ahead with the second strike, that doesn't necessarily mean that the war crime here falls on Pete Hegseth's shoulders.

There is a war crime but maybe isn't -- maybe isn't his. That the timing of these orders and -- and what he knew matters. But it raises really serious

questions, if the subordinate thought that that is what kill everybody entailed here.

Normally, we would presume that a military order is going to be interpreted consistent with the law. And it should be very clear to all those involved

here that somebody who has been placed out of combat is no longer a legitimate military target.

GOLODRYGA: It is interesting that President Trump seems to be distancing himself from this particular act, even though the White House did release

the unclassified video of this strike, not the follow-up strike, but the initial strike.

And now the president is saying that neither he nor Pete Hegseth seem to know much about the follow-up. More investigation, I would imagine, is --

is going to be underway in the next few weeks.

Michael Becker, thank you so much for joining us.

ASHER: Thank you.

All right. Still to come, a manhunt is underway in California for the person who opened fire at a children's birthday party, killing at least

four people. The latest on that investigation just ahead.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): When he says things like third world countries, what does he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want

brown people in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: That's U.S. Senator Mark Kelly responding to President Trump's immigration crackdown. A closer look at what both sides are saying, ahead.

ASHER: And trapped in a blazing inferno with nowhere to run, what would your message be to your loved one? One of the few survivors of Hong Kong's

deadliest fires in decades tells us history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right. Protesters gathered outside a New York courtroom earlier today ahead of a critical pre-trial hearing for Luigi Mangione that is

underway this hour.

[12:20:02]

Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel just last year.

GOLODRYGA: His attorneys are trying to get key evidence tasked from Mangione's state murder case. They argue items such as his diary entries,

which prosecutors refer to as a manifesto, where it illegally obtained from his backpack without a warrant during his arrest.

Prosecutors have denied those claims and have said that they could call as many as two dozen witnesses to prove everything was done by the book. The

hearing over the disputed evidence is expected to last several days.

ASHER: Yes. We are learning new details as well about the mass shooting in California during a child's birthday party.

GOLODRYGA: An urgent manhunt is now underway for the suspect who opened fire at a banquet hall on Saturday, killing four people, including three

children. At least 11 others were wounded.

Police will not say if the shooting was gang related, but they do say they are confident it was not a random act.

Following the story for us from Los Angeles is CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. Always tragic when we have these types of shootings, especially when there

are children among the victims. Julia, what more are we learning?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well or about 36 hours since the shooting and the suspected shooter is still at large. It all happened just

before 6:00 P.M. on Saturday in the banquet hall in the northern part of the city, where investigators were told there was a family gathering of 100

to 150 people taking place to celebrate this child's birthday.

Officials are urging the public for help with information as detectives are trying to piece together a possible motive here. They're saying they're

exploring all possibilities at this point, including that this wasn't someone acting alone, but they stress they don't believe there's any

further danger to the community. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF PATRICK WITHROW, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: We're confident that this was not a random act. They walked in to this area and was

probably looking for somebody in particular. Why they did that? What they're part of? Who they are? We don't know, but this was not somebody who

was unacquainted with them. We don't believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Bianna and Zain, the sheriff, added that he would not say whether this incident was gang related until they have all of the facts.

Now, local and state law enforcement agencies are working with the ATF as well as the FBI on this investigation.

Now, of course, the most tragic part of this incident, as you mentioned, is the age of these victims. You know, those four killed were so young, two

young children, just eight and nine years old, a 14-year-old, and then a 21-year-old.

It's unclear if they all belong to the same family, but at least one of them was a student with Stockton Unified District, whose parent is a

teacher there, according to our affiliate there at KCRA.

Of the 11-injured, at least one person is in critical condition, according to the sheriff, but we don't have any further details on the conditions or

identities of those other victims that are still recovering.

Now, yesterday, we're seeing images there of faith leaders and community members holding a candlelight vigil to honor those who lost their lives and

to pray for those injured and just stand together in community. Ladies.

GOLODRYGA: It's a heartbreaking and tragic story. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you.

ASHER: All right. It is a typically bustling metropolis that's home to about 15 million people, but Tehran is also facing a major water crisis.

And after weeks without rain, fears are growing, that the tops may soon run dry.

Iran's president has suggested people may need to evacuate, though it's unclear whether that's a feasible option.

GOLODRYGA: And it's not just the capital that is struggling. Around 20 Iranian provinces haven't seen a single drop of rain since the start of the

rainy season at the end of September.

You can read more about the drought in Iran, which is described as the worst in 40 years on our website, including how the country got to this

point and where they go from here.

ASHER: Authorities says -- authorities in Hong Kong rather say tests have shown that some mesh netting used at the Wang Fuk residential complex

failed to meet fire retardant standards as investigations continue into the blaze that killed at least 151 people.

GOLODRYGA: Police say they've arrested 14 people in connection with the fire. Most of them linked to the renovation work on the buildings. At least

30 people are still missing.

William Li was one of the tragically few residents who made it out alive after being trapped in the burning building for two hours. Hanako

Montgomery spoke to him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Before William Li could see or smell this fire, his wife called him and sent this video. Flames

were engulfing their apartment building, she said, and he needed to leave now. But when he opened his front door, he was met with this suffocating

darkness.

WILLIAM LI, HONG KONG FIRE SURVIVOR (through translator): I called my wife again. I said, I can't leave. The door is full of thick smoke. That's when

my wife started becoming emotional.

[12:25:00]

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): William is a rare survivor in Hong Kong's worst fire in decades, an inferno that claimed dozens of his neighbor's lives.

The videos he filmed while trapped in his apartment for two hours and the messages he exchanged with his wife shows just how narrowly he escaped.

GRAPHIC: Please call me as soon as you get out. Please call me.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): William lived on the second floor of this apartment complex, and the fire was moving fast.

In another attempt to escape, he covered his face with a wet towel. But in the hallway, he heard an elderly couple screaming for help. Their home was

already engulfed in flames. After the fire shattered the windows.

LI (through translator): When I saw my window in this situation, I felt that this is fine. I might actually die or I won't make it past today. I

told my friends that I might not be able to leave. And if anything happens to me, take care of my children.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): But then, help arrived. Two hours after his wife's first call, firefighters pulled William and his neighbors to safety.

LI (through translator): My daughter ran towards me and hugged me and said, dad, he didn't die. Dad doesn't need to die. My son was sitting to the side

and was crying a lot.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): William's survival is a rare miracle in a disaster of staggering loss. But the fire took everything from him.

LI (through translator): The place that my children grew up in, memories that I created with my wife, memories of making us home, they're all gone.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The community in Tai Po is left reeling from a tragedy that will haunt them for years to come.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher.

President Donald Trump is defending his controversial move to pause all decisions on U.S. asylum applications. He told a reporter Sunday that his

administration's pause has, quote, no time limit, but it could be a long time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't think they're all third world, but in many cases they are third world. They're not good countries. They're very crime-ridden

countries. Their countries that don't do a good job. Their countries that don't register from the standpoint of success. And we frankly don't need

their people coming into our country telling us what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Democratic Senator Mark Kelly who recently became a target of the president's outrage called the Trump administration's immigration

crackdown disturbing. Here's what he said in his interview over the weekend with Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: This is kind of more of the same from this president when he says things like third world countries What does he really saying? I think what

he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that is disturbing and it's un-American.

This president has an immigration policy right now that is not helping our country that is tearing communities apart. We need comprehensive

immigration reform. He's kicking out people, you know, that came here legally that posed no threat to -- to anybody. But go after the criminals,

the drug dealers, the gang member.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: The Trump administration halted U.S. asylum decisions last week calling it a necessary move to protect Americans following the shooting

attack on two National Guard members.

ASHER: The two conservative candidates in Honduras presidential election are in a virtual tie.

Tito Asfura has 40 percent of the vote. He's on the right of your screen right there. While Salvador Nasralla is slightly behind with 39.78.

Election officials say about 55 percent of polling places have been counted.

ASHER: Yes. The tight vote is, despite help from President Donald Trump, he endorsed Asfura from the National Party saying, he was the only candidate

that would fight what he calls narco communists.

GOLODRYGA: Ironically, Trump also announced the pardon a former Honduran president Juan Hernandez, a convicted drug trafficker serving 45 years in a

U.S. prison.

ASHER: For more on this, let's bring CNN's Patrick Oppmann who is joining us from Havana, Cuba.

So you've got essentially the sports caster and Donald Trump's pick, Asfura, neck and neck. What more can you tell us about the race and when we

can actually expect results?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, votes are still, of course, being counted. It's very, very close.

But every way this goes, you're going to have a more conservative party, a different party than the one that is currently in power in Honduras. And

certainly Donald Trump's very strong endorsement of the -- the most conservative candidate in this race seems to have helped him. He's, as you

said, slightly ahead Asfura.

And President Trump, you know, not only said that he's his candidate, but that he's the only candidate that he would work with, essentially saying if

the other candidates were elected that the hundreds would sort of be a shut off from his administration. That's a big deal Honduras.

Their number one trading partner is, of course, of the United States. And so the current government in power left this government. It says that this

is for interference that Donald Trump is meddling with their internal politics and he's trying to essentially pick the presence of their country

His preferred candidate, obviously, this is something Donald Trump doesn't seem to care too much about because he's making it very clear which

candidate he wants in power. And again as you said, he says it's necessary to have a ally in power to help what he calls fight narco-communist and to

combat drug trafficking and migration from Honduras to the United States.

GOLODRYGA: And as we mentioned before President Trump says that he is pledging to partner -- pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando

Hernandez who U.S. prosecutors had convicted of turning Honduras into a narco state, at the very least, how do you not call this hypocritical given

that one of the primary goals the president may have, if in fact, we do see more aggressive action perhaps even the ousting of Nicolas Maduro and

Venezuela is precisely for that label, the president has called him a narco terrorist?

OPPMANN: Absolutely. And -- and when you look at those indictments side by side, Nicolas Maduro's indictment and Juan Orlando Hernandez's indictment,

I covered the -- follow the trial very closely. Hernandez was convicted, not just accused but convicted, of smuggling 400 tons of cocaine to the

United States much more than Nicholas Maduro is -- is accused of smuggling.

[12:35:20]

He is one of the major drug trafficking figures of the last several years in Latin America. He was convicted of partnering with the Mexican cartels,

specifically El Chapo Guzman, sort of the modern-day, Pablo Escobar.

There was a mountain of evidence against him. There were witnesses against him. There was -- he was convicted. He was expected to spend the rest of

his life 45 years in federal prison.

Of course, he is a conservative candidate. He is from Asfura's same party that this leading candidate, the Trump's pick, is in Honduras. That doesn't

explain this, though. It is really quite mind-blowing because it was such a strong case against him. That's why he was convicted.

I can't think of anybody, any politician in recent memory that -- that was so in the pocket of the drug cartels. And we are expecting him to receive a

U.S. presidential pardon that he will walk out of jail, a free man, you know, a year after being convicted of these very, very serious crimes.

President Trump, for his part, says that Hernandez was set up by the Biden administration, that he was treated, quote, very unfairly. But, of course,

he faced a jury trial in the United States where he was convicted. And there was so much evidence against him.

ASHER: Patrick Oppmann live for us there. Thank you so much.

I want to take you now to Joint Base Andrews. The U.S. First Lady Melania Trump is there with Second Lady Usha Vance. The two are expected to host

U.S. military spouses and will be making care packages for deployed service members.

GOLODRYGA: Last month, Trump and Vance made a joint visit to meet military families in North Carolina.

Well, the White House Christmas decorations were unveiled a few hours ago, and the theme is "Home Is Where The Heart Is." Volunteers at the White

House have been racing to build a winter wonderland. There are 51 trees decorated for the holidays.

Last year, there were 83 trees. For the first time in months, White House tours will resume this week.

ASHER: The tours were halted in September, while home may be where the heart is, it's also where the construction is as well. You'll recall that

the east wing of the White House was actually demolished to make way for President Trump's new ballroom.

GOLODRYGA: Our Betsy Klein has the latest from the White House. So, will visitors have to wear construction hats as they're going through and

looking at the decorations?

I mean, all seriousness, Betsy, this is going to be a first in a while now. Talk about why and what they can expect to see.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, one of the interesting things I noticed when I was on a media tour earlier this morning was that

you could hear this constant hum of construction in the background at the same time that you heard the military band playing those holiday tunes.

But you might remember that controversy back in 2018 when First Lady Melania Trump had those blood red trees. This year playing it very safe

with that, "Home Is Where The Heart" is theme.

And White House tours are set to reopen to the public tomorrow for the first time after a three-month hiatus due to that construction on the east

wing, which you can actually probably hear right behind me.

The new tour is going to be abbreviated and reimagined to accommodate that construction. It's about half the size of the previous tour because tours

previously entered through the east wing and walked through the east colonnade, both of which have been demolished.

So let's go room by room. This tour walks straight through the front door of the White House and starts in the east room, which has an America 250

theme, red, white and blue ornaments honoring the country's 250th birthday, America 250 themed tree bases there.

Then in the green room, there are two 6,000 piece Lego puzzles of President George Washington and President Donald Trump in the window along with a

tree made of car -- or a tree made of dominoes and a castle made of cards. I'm told it is not a house of cards.

In the blue room, the star is the official White House Christmas tree. That is that 18-foot concolor fir from Michigan. They had to remove the ceiling

light fixture to make room for the height of that tree. It is decorated with ornaments that feature each state and territory's official bird and

flower.

Then to the red room featuring the first lady's the best platform, there are 10,000 blue butterflies honoring children in foster care. And then the

state dining room where the real star of that room is a 120-pound gingerbread house replica of the White House constructed meticulously by

the White House pastry team. And it includes a sneak peek inside the official White House residents on the top floor. They're all made of

gingerbread and fondant and other edibles there.

[12:40:14]

And I just want to take you through the numbers here, 75 wreaths, 51 trees, 2,000 strands of light, 25,000 feet of ribbons, 2,800 gold stars and 10,000

butterflies. All of this is the product of about 150 volunteers working around the clock over the Thanksgiving holiday to make this all come

together.

And I spoke with Amber Welch, who came here to the White House from Oklahoma to be one of those volunteers. She spent her days affixing bows in

the blue room and making sure that every ornament had a wire backing.

She told me so many historical things have happened here in this space and this is her part to play. Zain and Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Most matching the numbers for Zain's holiday decorations. You're busy at work over the weekend.

ASHER: My (INAUDIBLE) is just like that. It scaled back, actually, of that the previous year.

GOLODRYGA: No doubt. I have to say I think the white is beautiful. It's always my favorite Christmas every year.

ASHER: And that ginger -- you were talking about gingerbread. I got like my stomachs got a terrible --

GOLODRYGA: Lunch time.

ASHER: It literally is in 15 minutes.

All right. Betsy Klein live for us. Thank you so much.

GOLODRYGA: All right. We'll get some gingerbread cookies now. Because that is it for "One World" for today. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. Bianna's going to be back in about 15 minutes, right? With "Amanpour." In the meantime, "African

Voices Changemakers" is up next. You're watching CNN.

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