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Kyiv's Top Negotiator Resigns After Anti-Corruption Raid; Afghan Refugees Fears For Safety As U.S. Halts Visas; Pope Visits Istanbul's Blue Mosque on Day 3 of Overseas Trip; Israeli Forces Kill Two Men Who Appear to Surrender. Aired 3-3:30 am ET

Aired November 29, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

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[03:00:39]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are in the world. You are now in the "CNN Newsroom" with me, Ben Hunte, in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you coming up on the show.

An anti-corruption investigation leads to the resignation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's closest aide. This, as talks to end the war with Russia are set to heat up.

The U.S. pauses all asylum decisions in the wake of the shooting of two D.C. National Guard members.

And Pope Leo makes his first visit to a Muslim place of worship since assuming the papacy. We'll have a live report from his trip.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome. We are learning that Poland has scrambled military jets in response to Russia's latest attack on Ukraine. In a statement posted a short while ago, Poland said it also activated air defense systems in what it described as preventative steps.

It happened after Russia pummeled Ukraine's capital overnight, killing at least two people and leaving 15 others injured. Ukraine says Moscow launched more than 500 drones and missiles. CNN crews at the scene said they could see some of them coming in and hear explosions after they struck.

That's happening as Ukraine is looking for a new top negotiator ahead of key peace talks with the U.S. in the coming days. Andrii Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, stepped down on Friday. He submitted his resignation hours after anti-corruption investigators raided his home.

Mr. Zelenskyy warned that Russia will try to capitalize on his departure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (voice-over): Russia really wants Ukraine to make mistakes, but there will be no mistakes on our part. Our work continues. Our struggle continues. We have no right not to see this through until the end. We have no right to retreat or to quarrel. If we lose unity, we risk losing everything: ourselves, Ukraine, our future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The resignation came as a major corruption scandal is already rattling Ukraine's government. And as Nick Paton Walsh reports, Mr. Zelenskyy is taking political damage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is an extraordinarily damaging moment, I think, for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His chief of staff and top negotiator for the ongoing peace talks forwarded by the Trump administration, Andrii Yermak, has submitted his resignation. It's been accepted by the President hours after his home was raided by anti-corruption investigators.

The same investigators who are looking into an extensive energy- kickback-related scandal that until this recent bout of diplomacy trying to revive a peace deal was the main headline in Ukraine, increasingly encroaching on Zelenskyy's inner circle. We don't know if this morning's raids were directly related to that scandal. Let's face it, they probably were.

And regardless of that, Zelenskyy has framed this resignation as, frankly, a bid to remove doubt in Ukraine, to try and draw a line, ultimately, under this distraction. He thanked Yermak for his work as top negotiator, said that the oncoming talks with the United States would continue, and named the individuals who'd be part of that. But the question, ultimately, for Zelenskyy is here.

Look, he's at the most politically vulnerable domestically he's been because of this corruption scandal. The fact that his number two, the man who he was a TV producer with before government, who was essentially his right-hand man throughout the war, who led the key talks with the Russians and the United States over the past months, the fact this man has now had to step down because of these questions, does that increase the heat on Zelenskyy or reduce it? We'll find out in the months ahead, but it simply adds to the false Russian talking point about the Ukrainian government's legitimacy, and I'm sure it's something that President Trump will be paying attention to as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: The U.S. is pausing all asylum decisions after an Afghan national was identified as a suspect in a D.C. National Guard shooting. He was granted asylum earlier this year. The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says, the pause will stay in place until, quote, "we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible." [03:05:03]

And according to Syracuse University, more than 2.2 million immigrants were waiting for asylum decisions or hearings at the end of August 2025.

Jeanine Pirro, the prosecutor leading the shooting investigation, says the suspect will face a murder charge. CNN's Brian Todd reports from Washington.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have some new information about Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting here in Washington, the shooting of the two National Guards members. According to Amazon, we were looking into his work history. According to Amazon, they confirmed that a person with the same name worked as an independent contractor with the company for about a month over the summer.

He worked for Amazon Flex, the delivery service. And in addition, a neighbor of his in Bellingham, Washington, told CNN that he lived in an apartment complex with his wife, his five children and two nephews. He described him as, quote, "a simple and nice guy who attended a mosque regularly, but who had not been attending the mosque in recent days." This neighbor did not want to be identified by name to preserve his own privacy.

In addition, we have some new information regarding possible charges that the suspect could face. According to Jeanine Pirro, he now is going to face a first-degree murder charge. Now, he had previously faced three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and one count of possession of a firearm with intent to commit violence. Some of those charges could still hold up, but according to Jeanine Pirro, he will face a first-degree murder charge in addition to that.

And Pam Bondi, the attorney general, had previously said that they would seek the death penalty for Lakanwal if, indeed, one of the guard members passed away, which, of course, we know has occurred.

In the meantime, you know, here at the shooting scene, it's a very interesting and moving scene here. Take a look at this makeshift memorial. You know, not too long ago, there were only a couple of bunches of flowers here, but in the last several hours, a lot of people have come and placed flowers, notes, flags, wreaths here.

And I want to point out one particular memorial just above it on the ledge there. You see that vase of roses. And right below it, you see a patch, an American flag patch, and two what they call challenge coins.

Those were placed here by a young Marine who came by and stood and just kind of he placed them, he fastened them in place and just kind of took a moment to reflect. And when he was done reflecting, we came up and spoke to him briefly. He didn't want to give his name, but he said, you know, he just wanted to remember the victims.

And in his words, he called it, quote, "disgusting," the fact that both sides of the political aisle have tried to place blame for this incident on the other. He said, really, it's time for us all to recognize that a young service member has lost her life. In addition, we've spoken to several business managers in this area who are still really shaken by the events here. They described locking down their doors, you know, shielding customers from the chaos, helping customers take shelter from the chaos. They have mixed feelings about the National Guard presence here. Many of them told us they felt much safer when the National Guard was here.

Just their mere presence felt the more it meant that they felt more safe. But at least a couple of them said they're a little ambiguous, at least about the idea and the plan to send more National Guardsmen into D.C. in the wake of the shooting. Many of them said they're afraid that maybe those guardsmen might be targeted as well.

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HUNTE: The vetting process for Afghans is now under scrutiny by the Trump administration. The State Department announced it has stopped issuing visas for travelers with Afghan passports. The suspect was among more than 190,000 Afghans admitted into the U.S. following its withdrawal from Afghanistan. Sources tell CNN he underwent numerous rounds of vetting.

Many Afghan -- the Taliban are sheltering in Pakistan and have waited years for a U.S. resettlement decision. But now their last safe route may have just closed. Some fear for their safety if they are forced to return to Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMAD SAMIM NAIMI, AFGHAN REFUGEE (through translator): Sometimes I think to myself, what if I return to Afghanistan? Well, I have no home there and no hope. What am I supposed to do? And regarding the issue of arrests, without any doubt, let me tell you something. Yesterday, I learned that four journalists who were deported from Pakistan have disappeared, and no one knows where they are. This is heartbreaking news. Dozens of journalists who were deported from here end up without any future, and some of them are arrested. I hope the U.S. government pays serious attention to this issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: New developments in the U.S. operation to stop drug trafficking in the Caribbean. Sources tell CNN the U.S. carried out a second strike on an alleged drug boat after the first one didn't kill everyone on board. When the military first struck the boat on September 2nd, it initially disabled it.

But sources say officials noticed survivors, so they carried out the next strike, killing everyone left on board. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had ordered the military prior to the operation to ensure the strike killed everyone. But it's not clear if he knew there were survivors prior to the second strike, one of the sources said.

[03:10:13] People briefed on this say it could violate the laws of armed conflict, which prohibit the execution of enemy combatants who are injured or have surrendered. This comes as military activity at Puerto Rico Naval Base has intensified in recent days. The Trump administration has been stepping up deployments to the Caribbean and escalating tensions with Venezuela. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has more from Venezuela.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, is yet to react to the latest iteration of threats coming down from the White House as of Friday night. Late on Thursday, the U.S. President Donald Trump said that the U.S. would soon start stopping drug traffickers on land. This is widely seen as a hint that the U.S. might soon start conducting operations within Venezuelan territory.

It's something that Trump had said that he intended to do in the past as part of the campaign against drug traffickers in the western hemisphere. The U.S. considers the Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, as a drug trafficker himself. It's something that Maduro has denied in the past.

However, just by looking at the latest appearances from Maduro, especially on Venezuelan television throughout Wednesday and Thursday of the last week, well, we could see that the time for negotiation is perhaps in the past. Maduro has been widely seen surrounded by men in uniform, and he has been wearing a military uniform himself, again as a hint that we might soon see some form of military confrontation between Caracas and Washington.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Caracas.

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HUNTE: U.S. President Donald Trump says he will pardon the former president of Honduras who is currently serving a sentence for drug trafficking. Juan Orlando Hernandez was accused of conspiring with drug cartels as they moved more than 400 tons of cocaine toward the U.S. Prosecutors say in exchange he received millions of dollars in bribes. Trump's announcement comes as tensions escalate with Venezuela over President Nicolas Maduro's alleged ties to cartels.

Pope Leo XIV is on day three of his trip to the Middle East. The pope toured Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque in Turkey on his first visit as pontiff to a Muslim place of worship. He also held a private meeting with leaders of local churches and Christian communities.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has been covering the pope's trip and she joins us live now from Istanbul, Turkey. Thanks for being with me, Salma. This is the first Muslim place of worship that Pope Leo has visited. Why is this stop at the Blue Mosque so significant and what message is the Vatican hoping to send with it?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: It's extremely important because much of the message for Pope Leo's first overseas trip is about inner faith dialogue. It's about reaching out. It's about bridging differences through dialogue, through community.

And so, that's exactly what he was in the Blue Mosque to do. And these were very beautiful images. I know we have some of them to show you from this morning, his visit. And just here's what the Vatican said because I want to read you directly what they wrote about the pope's visit to the Blue Mosque this morning.

The Vatican wrote, "The pope visited the mosque in silence in a spirit of reflection and listening with profound respect for the place and the faith of those gathered there in prayer."

Now, the other thing that we are seeing Pope Leo do here, Ben, is set his own path, forge his own way. I bring that up because Pope Francis, when he visited the Blue Mosque in 2014, he did pray in the Blue Mosque, but Pope Leo chose not to pray. The adjutant of the mosque actually spoke to our correspondent, Christopher Lamb, who said that the pope had planned to pray or had maybe indicated that he would potentially pray, but he chose not to. And you again hear from that Vatican statement that he chose to take that time in a silent moment of reflection.

So, yet again we're seeing a bit of his personality, a bit of the way he thinks in this visit as he carries out this first overseas trip to two Muslim-majority nations in an attempt to push what is his papal message, which is peace through dialogue.

HUNTE: All right. And what else can you tell us about Pope Leo's message during this trip?

ABDELAZIZ: Well, a lot of -- we've been hearing from him over the last few days, Ben, and yesterday the main event was over the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

Now, this is a very important event in Catholicism. This was the 1,700th anniversary, and this took place in this archaeological site on the outskirts of Istanbul, just about 70 miles away from Istanbul, in a partially submerged basilica. And he stood over a platform. And I want you to hear some of the words he delivered.

[03:15:14]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO: We must strongly reject the use of religion for justifying war, violence, or any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism. Instead, the paths to follow are those of fraternal encounter, dialogue, and cooperation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, the pope's busy schedule continues. He's left the Blue Mosque. He is meeting with Christian leaders at the Syriac Orthodox Church. He's going to be involved in a sung prayer service. And then later on today, he's going to hold a huge mass at Volkswagen Arena here in Istanbul. 4,000 people are expected to attend that mass. He's going to be in a papal-style golf cart moving around that arena. So, it's going to be a very key moment, really, where he takes the stage in this huge arena to lead this mass and yet again show us who he is six months into his papacy.

Ben.

HUNTE: Exciting stuff. Thank you for your reporting, Salma Abdelaziz in Istanbul. Appreciate it.

OK, still ahead to Hong Kong, where there are new arrests in that massive, devastating apartment fire. See you in a minute.

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HUNTE: Welcome back. Hong Kong is in mourning after the deadly residential fire that killed at least 128 people. Police officers from the Victim Identification Unit have arrived on the scene. And with 200 people still missing, the death toll looks likely to rise. Police have made 11 arrests in connection with the fire. They're investigating possible corruption and the use of unsafe building materials for renovations in connection with this devastating loss of life.

Israeli authorities say they're reviewing an incident in which soldiers shot and killed two men who appeared to be surrendering. The shooting took place during a wide-scale counter-terrorism operation in the occupied West Bank. Video of the incident shared on social media showed two men coming out of a building with their hands raised in apparent surrender. They were later seen on the floor before multiple rounds of gunfire are heard.

Israeli defense forces say the men were wanted for alleged terror activities. The Palestinian Authority have called the shootings a flagrant violation of all international laws.

Here's what family members had to say.

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MAHMOUD ASSASA, BROTHER OF YOUSEF ASSASA (through translator): It's a brutal and hideous incident. Any person, any free person who sees the videos will be affected by the incident that was shot. The act was so hideous, a person who puts his hands up and surrenders can be arrested. But eliminating them in this brutal way is very wrong.

RULA ABDALLAH, WIFE OF MUNTASER ABDALLAH (through translator): It's a crime because he surrendered. Why did they kill him? They told them to leave the storage and then asked them to go in again. Why did they kill them? There was no shooting and no fire exchange. The people said that I was sure that my husband and his friend didn't have any weapons with them. So, you can't say that there was a fire exchange.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson has more on this developing story.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The border police, it was border police officers who you can see in those images there. And the IDF issued a joint statement last night. Soon after that video got out on social media, people started looking at it. Then the investigation began. That's what the joint statement said. And pretty quickly, that did lead to the detention of three Israeli officers involved.

But we've just heard from their lawyer who says they've now been questioned, that they have been released on bail, that the officers involved said that they feared for their lives, that they fired to neutralize the terrorists as they called them. And here in Israel, neutralize in these kind of scenarios is often used as a euphemism for killing, although these officers say it was just to neutralize these two men, not to kill them.

But when you look at the video, as so many people have done now, it does seem to be very clear that the two men who the forces had gone to apprehend did appear to be submitting. They were down on the floor on their knees. Then the officers told them to get up and move back in towards the building. Then they point their weapons at them, and then they shoot them. And then the men fall to the floor.

What is catching a lot of people's attention here is that the National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the nationalist hard right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, who is the boss of these border police officers, has said that he believes that they shouldn't be having this investigation, that these men, these officers, acted as the public would expect, that terrorists should be killed. This is, of course, causing a lot of consternation on the sort of opposition side of politics here in Israel has been called out this -- the shooting has been called outrageous by some of these politicians, but also striking.

We haven't heard from the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and neither have we heard from some of the leading members of the opposition here. And that, in Israeli terms, is really seen as the possibility of a political backlash if they do speak out, which hints at the tone of the conversation around this.

For Palestinians, of course, as the Palestinian Authority has said, this breaks international law, and Hamas has called it, frankly, a cold-blooded execution. And it's getting a lot of international scrutiny. I don't think this issue is over yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Friday was a busy day for consumers throughout Venezuela, despite the ongoing economic crisis. Local retailers adopted the U.S.- inspired Black Friday shopping day more than four years ago. Customers packed malls and lined up at stores to take advantage of discounts up to 50 percent off. The shopping comes against a backdrop of high inflation and rising military tensions with the U.S.

[03:25:12] SpaceX has successfully launched its latest rideshare mission after more than a week's delay. The Transporter 15 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Friday. About 140 commercial and Earth observation satellites were on board. SpaceX's rideshare program offers smaller companies and research groups a lower-cost ride into orbit.

A legendary Easter gift of Russian royalty is hitting the ocean block and could set a new record. Christie's in London will sell a Faberge Imperial egg next Tuesday. The 1913 winter egg is made from clear quartz, engraved with snowflakes, with rose-cut diamonds and platinum.

Russian Tsar Nicholas II, who was assassinated, commissioned it as a gift for his Dowager Empress mother. It has been privately owned for decades after the old Soviet regime sold it for cash. Experts believe it could fetch more than $26 million.

The new Miss England says it feels incredibly empowering to become the pageant's first openly lesbian winner. 20-year-old Grace Richardson was crowned last week in central England. She says she decided to mention her sexuality during interviews with the judges. She says it's empowering to use her platform to make a difference. And she hopes she can inspire women to use their voice to create a positive impact and live without fear.

All right, that's all I've got for you. Thanks so much for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I will definitely see you again tomorrow.

"Walk of Art" is next, then "CNN Newsroom" will continue just after that. Thank you so much. See you later.

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