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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump: Strikes Inside Venezuela Are Going To Start "Very Soon"; KFILE: Hegseth Once Said Troops Won't Follow "Unlawful Orders"; Trump Team Fails To Reach Compromise After Five Hours Of Putin Talks. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 02, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:25]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news strikes are on. Trump says he'll strike Venezuela as Pete Hegseth changes his story. A top Republican senator says Hegseth is either lying or incompetent.
Plus, breaking news. KFILE uncovering comments from Pete Hegseth saying the military won't follow unlawful orders. The very same thing he's been attacking six Democrats, including Senator Mark Kelly, for promoting. Senator Kelly will be our guest.
And denied. Trump's special envoy leaving Russia and Putin without a deal to end the war in Ukraine, after Putin left them waiting for more than an hour. Garry Kasparov is OUTFRONT later.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, land strikes. President Trump says strikes are on, announcing the United States will hit Venezuela and threatening he may not stop there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to start doing those strikes on land, too. You know, the land is much easier. It's much easier. And we know the routes they take.
If we think they're building a mills for whether it's fentanyl or cocaine, anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack.
REPORTER: Not necessarily just Venezuela.
TRUMP: No, not just Venezuela. I hear Colombia, the country of Colombia, is making cocaine
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Trump talking about striking multiple countries in the Americas. His unconsummated announcement about Venezuela, though, may be a distraction from growing questions about who ordered that second deadly strike against a boat in the Caribbean, and whether that strike was a war crime.
Tonight, the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, shifting his story when it came to that second strike on a suspected drug boat, the strike that killed survivors of the initial attack.
Tonight, Hegseth says he didn't watch the whole attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: As you can imagine, the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So, I didn't stick around for the hour and two hours or whatever where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He says he didn't stick around. That is a strikingly different tone than Hegseth used when describing the strike on Fox News right after it happened in September.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: I watched it live. We knew exactly who was in that boat. We knew exactly what they were doing, and we knew exactly who they represented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The confidence that I watched it live is so different from what we've got a lot going on. I didn't stick around, and tonight, Hegseth is putting all of the responsibility, the blame on the commander, even as "The Washington Post" reports that if the video of the blast that killed the two survivors on September 2nd were made public, people would be horrified, said one person who watched the live feed.
That person, obviously not Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. At least he says, right? He didn't stick around to watch the whole thing. So, what happened here is really important, and the public does deserve to know the truth.
Just listen to Republican Senator Rand Paul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Secretary Hegseth has said he had no knowledge of this, and it did not happen. It was fake news. It didn't happen. And then the next day, from the podium of the White House are saying it did happen. So, either he was lying to us on Sunday or he's incompetent and didn't know what had happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Lying or incompetent? Pretty from a Republican senator.
And yet today, Trump spent 2-1/2 hours not trying to get to the bottom of what happened. Instead, he called up his cabinet. They had a meeting, and so we heard a now familiar refrain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for giving us a good story that we can tell for the American people.
PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you for fighting for our country.
LORI DEREMER-CHAVEZ, LABOR SECRETARY: Thank you for allowing me to be at this table.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So thank you for allowing me to be part of this team. For people here who are focused on winning.
KRISTI NOEM, DHS SECRETARY: Thank you for letting us get up every day and have a purpose.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The economy is coming back thanks to your leadership.
LEE ZELDIN, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you, Mr. President, for being willing to take a bullet for this country.
DOUG BURGUM, INTERIOR SECRETARY: You've given an incredible Christmas gift to Americans by setting us up for an incredible 250th anniversary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Interestingly, he was the only one who didn't actually use the words "thank you". The accolades dragged on for so long that the person that they were directed at dozed off, appeared to doze off, at one point, at least his eyes were closed, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke.
Then he abruptly shifted and sat up. And we don't want to forget, then, that there was one more secretary who spent a lot of time seeing Trump's praises, a secretary with a lot on the line tonight, and he laid it on thick.
[19:05:11]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: The spirit in our ranks since the election under President Trump is unprecedented. I've never seen anything like it, as a soldier myself in uniform. America has the most powerful, most capable, most lethal military in the world, which you have rebuilt once and we're rebuilding again. What happened in Ukraine, a war that never would have started under
President Trump. I will just end by saying, as President Trump always has our back, we always have the back of our commanders. They've done the right things. We'll keep doing that, and we have their backs, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Good job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Alayna Treene is OUTFRONT live outside the White House.
And, Alayna, what more are you learning about discussions inside the Trump administration for these land strikes that Trump is announcing, as if they are, at this point, a sure thing and not even a matter of discussion anymore in Venezuela.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. Look, he;s now repeatedly said, Erin, that he expects land strikes very soon. What he said today in that cabinet meeting was that its actually easier for the military to conduct strikes on land inside Venezuela than it is on the boats which they've been carrying out, of course, for the last several months.
Now, look, I know from my conversations with people in the White House and throughout the broader Trump administration that they have been the military and other top advisers have been proposing to the president detailed draft plans of how to move forward on this. Some of those plans that we've reported on include trying to target drug facilities or things that the president himself refers to as cocaine facilities inside Venezuela. They've also talked about targeting drug routes.
One of the differences, though, from what we've heard from the president today at that cabinet meeting, was he was saying it might not just be Venezuela. We would be happy to turn our sights and target other countries that are also engaging in trafficking drugs to the United States.
Now, a key thing as well, that no one in my conversations that I've had thus far have been able to answer is what would be enough for them to decide? Maybe land strikes aren't necessary, you know, because the goal here, they say its stopping the flow of drugs going into United States. But there's also, of course, the other question of whether or not they really want to see regime change. And Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, ousted, that is, of course, a private goal. Weve been reporting on that as well.
And the president himself confirmed that he had spoken to Maduro just a couple of days ago. But to go to your point as well, Erin, just briefly on that second, that double tap strike on that boat on September 2nd, the key thing there that I pay attention to is that Admiral Bradley, the one that everyone in the White House has been pointing fingers to for actually directing this strike, he's going to be on Capitol Hill this week briefing members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee. And this is where I think all those comments from Hegseth and the
president today are going to be very heavily scrutinized.
BURNETT: All right. Alayna, thank you very much.
And I want to go OUTFRONT now to retired Major General William Enyart, and Adam Kinzinger, U.S. Air Force veteran, both served in Congress together.
And I appreciate you both.
General Enyart, you're with me. Let me start with you.
President Trump saying any country that moves drugs into the United States is subject to attack. So he's announcing Venezuela as if it's a sure thing. It's done. How significant of an escalation would this be?
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM ENYART (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, it's an act of war. Quite simply, it's an act of war. And, you know, frankly, the president probably should be talking to Congress about this because the War Powers Act, I think that, you know, he's violating the sovereignty of an independent nation. And that is not something that should be taken lightly, particularly when he's threatening not just one nation, but several nations.
BURNETT: So, Congressman Kinzinger, what do you make of how casually President Trump is talking about this as, as a general saying, you know, threatening several nations, but, you know, he says, oh, yeah, I'm not just talking about Venezuela. I've heard there's cocaine in Colombia, too.
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, it's really odd. I mean, I guess it's not odd because it's Trump and that's how he is.
But if you think about, for instance, Colombia, we actually have a really good relationship with Colombia.
BURNETT: Yeah.
KINZINGER: And we actually had very good success in the counter-drug fight in Colombia. We didn't do it by just bombing stuff. We actually did it by sending special forces to train and equip indigenous. The local forces there. And they were able to push back against that. So that's why Colombia was such a success story. But that took 10 or 20 years to do it. That's the way that you actually fight drugs is by building partnerships.
Donald Trump is talking about just kind of like bombing stuff. And the thing is, let's keep in mind, at the beginning of his administration here, we were bombing in Yemen. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Donald Trump just declared it was the end of the Yemen fight, even though we achieved nothing and left. And all he did was deplete our arms and spend a bunch of money and not defeat them.
So there needs to be an end state here and a goal. And nobody's articulating that.
BURNETT: No. Well, no one -- there's been no attempt at that at all, certainly not publicly.
[19:10:00]
General Enyart, you know, but you heard Secretary Hegseth changing his tune right when he first went out after that strike on Fox News, it was, I watched it live. I mean, there was -- you could see it in his posture, right? He was proud. He was confident. I watched the whole thing. Everything -- they knew exactly what they were doing.
Now he's saying, well, I watched the first strike, but I got a lot going on as the -- at the Department of War, as they call it. So I didn't stick around. So I didn't see the second one.
How does that up to you to hear that from the secretary of defense?
ENYART: You know, that is quite simply someone who's given an order and can't stand up for that order. You know, whatever happened to Harry S. Truman? And the buck stops here, you know, he gave an order, and now he doesn't want to back it up. And he is, frankly, throwing the admiral, Admiral Bradley, under the bus on this.
BURNETT: So, Congressman Kinzinger, how do you see this? They have, of course, Secretary Hegseth and President Trump now you know, going out of their way to praise the admiral that was in charge, Frank Bradley.
But they're praising him as they're saying, well, I mean, he made the call. We got his back. But did you hear me? He made the call.
Listen to this
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I hear the gentleman that was in charge of that is extraordinary.
HEGSETH: I wish everybody could be in the room watching our professionals, our professionals like Mitch Bradley, Admiral Mitch Bradley. Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat.
He sunk the boat, sunk the boat, and eliminated the threat. And it was the right call. We have his back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, there's no ambiguity about the fact that they are saying that this was Bradley's call. Do you think, Congressman, that he will ultimately get the blame and that Hegseth could emerge unscathed?
KINZINGER: I don't think Hegseth will emerge unscathed. I do think the admiral will ultimately get the blame. So, we'll figure out what the truth is. Was Hegseth present for the second strike or not, we'll get that information. But ultimately, it is the admiral that made the decision.
Now, let's keep in mind Hegseth giving an order like no survivors is something like a 12-year-old playing war would give, not like a real, actual defense secretary, but he gives that order. The expectation of the military is that they would follow the law of armed conflict. And obviously this admiral did.
And so, I think it will be very damaging to Pete Hegseth. But I think the admiral does bear a lot of responsibility for making the decision. I think he knows it.
BURNETT: General -- and of course, Congressman, when you served in Congressman Matt Gaetz also did. He was at the Pentagon today. He posted a photo of himself in the room. He wrote very informative briefing today.
And just to remind everybody, he was not just in Congress. He was Trump's original pick for attorney general months ago. He's now host on the MAGA outlet, OANN.
Now, CNN and other major outlets were not there, and they're not there because they wouldn't sign Hegseth new media pledge, which said, you can't report on anything you find out at the Pentagon, unless it's the official line. So you can't -- you know, you can't do anything unless they approve it.
What was your reaction to seeing Matt Gaetz there in this role?
ENYART: Is he taking lessons from Pete Hegseth? I suppose he's as qualified to be an anchor or a news reporter as Pete Hegseth is to be secretary of defense. So it's simply more performative art by Trump and some of his MAGA backers.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you both very much. Appreciate your time, general. Congressman, thank you.
And breaking news, KFILE is reporting. This is really something that defense secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. military won't follow unlawful orders. Well, that is very similar to what Democrats, including Senator Mark Kelly said in the video that Trump was calling punishable by death. Senator Kelly responds live next.
Plus, Trump's special envoy fails to secure a deal with Putin after five hours of negotiations. Was it their sixth or seventh meeting this year? Well, this time Putin kept them waiting for an hour after showing up in his military fatigues the night before. And he's leveling a new threat tonight.
And a Boston college student suddenly deported as she was flying to Texas for Thanksgiving, sent to Honduras. Her attorney is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:50]
BURNETT: Breaking news, an OUTFRONT exclusive. CNN's KFILE unearthing comments from Pete Hegseth, saying that the military won't follow a orders, which, of course, is part of what he's been attacking Democrats for, saying in a video. Well, also the same thing Hegseth is investigating Senator Mark Kelly for threatening to court martial him over it.
Here's what KFILE found from Hegseth in 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: I do think there have to be consequences for abject war crimes. If you're doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that. That's why the military said it won't follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief. There's a standard, there's an ethos. There's a belief that we are above what so many things that our enemies or others would do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He's talking about not following unlawful orders. Does that sound familiar?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.
SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): You can refuse illegal orders.
REP. CHRIS DELUZIO (D-PA): You must refuse illegal orders.
SLOTKIN: No one has to carry out orders that violate the law.
REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN (D-PA): Or our Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:20:00]
BURNETT: That is, of course, the video. Six Democrats released two weeks ago saying that the military can refuse unlawful orders, which Trump said was seditious behavior punishable by death when it came out.
Senator Mark Kelly will join me in just a moment to respond.
But first, KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski is OUTFRONT.
So, Andrew, I mean, incredible reporting that you've done here. A stunning video you uncovered. This is Hegseth talking about unlawful orders as the Democrats that he's now accusing, accusing of being seditious. What have you found here?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yeah. Well, Erin, this video of Pete Hegseth is from 2016, when he was a Fox News contributor. And it's important because it shows him saying the military would refuse unlawful orders from a president. And this is the very idea he is now attacking Democrats for repeating.
Now, Erin, if that was a core military value in 2016, the question is why is promoting it suddenly being portrayed as seditious by Hegseth in 2025? Military law obviously has not changed. What has changed here is the politics around it. There's a different commander in chief.
Then, it was Barack Obama. And back then in that same event, Hegseth was actually very, very critical of Obama, with Hegseth arguing that Americans deserved a commander in chief, talking about Obama, that was befitting of the military's loyalty.
Listen to him here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: But I've heard veterans say, hey, I don't want my kids to join this military today. I can understand under Barack Obama in some ways, with the with the rules of engagement and the culture. But I still want to believe and hope that there are plenty of Americans who understand what this country represents and are willing to put their lives on the line, and families that understand the importance of that to encourage their son or daughter. I just hope we get a commander in chief befitting of that loyalty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Andrew, I know you reached out to the White House. You reached out to the Defense Department, or as they now call themselves, the Department of War about this video. What did they tell you
KACZYNSKI: Yeah, Erin, we did reach out to both the White House and the Pentagon about this newly surfaced video that we found. Now, Kingsley Wilson, that's a Pentagon spokesperson, told us that Hegseth has been clear and made clear there are already procedures for unlawful orders, telling CNN, quote, "The orders being given to our military under President Trump are lawful. And the despicable video of the seditious six urging our troops to defy their chain of command was a politically motivated influence operation by elected officials aimed at sowing distrust and chaos in our armed forces."
We also reached out to the White House, Erin, and in a lengthy statement to CNN, Anna Kelly, that's a White House spokesperson, said that Hegseth has been entirely consistent in his position then and added that Democrats are trying to deliberately manufacture doubt where none exists. They told us, quote, these lawmakers sow doubt in a clear chain of command which is reckless, dangerous and deeply irresponsible for an elected official. It's asinine that CNN cares more about the secretary's uncontroversial remarks than those of elected officials who are putting military service members in harm's way by telling them to disobey their commander in chief -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Andrew Kaczynski, thank you very much. And of course, I should say the video said you don't have to obey unlawful orders. It did not tell them to disobey the commander in chief. I guess, unless there was an unlawful order issued from that commander in chief. OUTFRONT now, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, as promised.
And, Senator Kelly, I want to play again for you. What Andrew Kaczynski found and unearthed here. Exactly what Pete Hegseth said. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: I do think there have to be consequences for abject war crimes. If you're doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that. That's why the military said it won't follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief. There's a standard, there's an ethos. Theres a belief that we are above what so many things that our enemies or others would do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Senator, what do you think of that?
KELLY: Well, Erin, I think he's correct. And it's exactly what we said. But when we said it, Pete Hegseth now said eight years later or 10 years -- nine years later, he says, what we said was false and reckless. And I think it begs the question, what has changed?
And it's pretty obvious what has changed is we have an unqualified secretary of defense who only cares about sucking up to this president and loyalty to this president. That's the difference. It's who's commander in chief. What we said was uncontroversial.
The White House sort of confirmed that. They said his uncontroversial remarks. They were the same as ours. I mean, this is so ridiculous.
And what the president wants to do now is intimidate us and stop us from talking, which is not consistent with our Constitution. And beyond that, Erin, he said we should be hanged for what we said, executed for what we said.
[19:25:06]
And what we said was exactly the same thing that Pete Hegseth said in 2016.
BURNETT: Of course, sedition, right, can be punishable by death. I just want to note the Pentagon spokesperson today in the response to Andrew Kaczynski, said, you know, referred to you as the despicable video of the seditious six urging troops to defy their chain of command. That's how it was described today.
And Secretary Hegseth is investigating you over it now. He's -- I think it's the secretary of navy has until early next week, right, to finish an investigation into you. I mean, have they -- has anybody reached out to you? If they tried to talk to you or interview you for this investigation?
KELLY: They have not. The only notification I've received about this was Pete Hegseth's tweet, which says everything you need to know about this guy is not serious. He cares more about views on his Twitter account than the law about process. He is an unserious and unqualified individual who should never have been allowed 1,000 yards from the White House or from the Pentagon, and now, he's a secretary of defense.
And you see, the consequence of that, were seeing that in how this operation is being handled in Venezuela. There are serious consequences when you put unqualified people in very important positions.
BURNETT: So, you know, the talk of sedition and, you know, obviously, Congressman Crow had, you know, played some of the horrible threats that he has received as a result of this, you know what -- I know that you and your wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, have seen a real surge in threats because of the response from the Trump administration to this video. What -- what kind of threats are you getting? What if things are you hearing?
KELLY: Well, we get more threats now in a single day than we would get in months. And there are graphic. They're violent. They're not only against me, but they're against Gabby. And we're no strangers to political violence. She was shot in the head, meeting with her constituents.
And Donald Trump was nearly assassinated. He should know. And he called out political violent rhetoric and said it should stop. And he didn't even make it to Thanksgiving before he's calling for us to be hanged. Have we ever heard a president of the United States calling for the execution of members of Congress?
And, Erin, we can't normalize this. That's one of the problems here, is that Donald Trump is so singularly unqualified for this job as president of the United States. And the things he says is so ridiculous, people are starting to get comfortable with it.
And he does it for a reason. He wants to shut people up, but he's not going to shut me up. I'm not going to be intimidated by him or Pete Hegseth and his threats to court martial me. I mean, the only way this ends is for them to, you know, turn around and try to focus on the things that matter for the American people.
The president should be focused on things like, you know, costs and the cost of health care and groceries, the things that are affecting everyday Americans, that they need some help with.
BURNETT: And what he did today, of course, as you point out, though, was talk about these strikes that he announced he's doing in Venezuela -- hasn't done them yet, but he announced that he is doing them as a de facto reality. Also said maybe in Colombia.
And we've heard the changing story on the strike in the boat in the Caribbean and what Pete Hegseth knew from September 2nd when he went on fox news and said that he watched the strike and he was so confident, and now he's saying, actually, there's a lot of other things to do. And he didn't have time to watch the whole strike.
What are you hearing about headsets standing within the military right now?
KELLY: Well, I can't imagine it's good. And it's -- his stock is certainly going way down with Republicans in the United States Senate. You know, he said he watched the whole video he made, like he was in charge of the whole strike. And until things started going sideways. And then he decides his best way out is to throw the admiral under the bus.
That isn't leadership. But I'm not surprised. I mean, this guy is not a leader.
He is by far the least qualified secretary of defense we've ever had. He runs around the stage talking about lethality and warrior ethos and hunting and killing people. That is not the words of a responsible secretary of defense. He should be focused on equipping people and training them, making sure people follow the rule of law.
And he is in every way the opposite of the person we want in such a position of responsibility. I mean, this guy is in the command authority for the release of nuclear weapons.
[19:30:02]
And, you know, he's -- he spends half the day tweeting memes
BURNETT: Yeah. Of course, you know, referring to the turtle meme that he sent out about the boat strike.
Senator Kelly, I appreciate your time. And thank you so much.
KELLY: Thank you for having me on.
BURNETT: All right. And next, we have breaking news. Polls are about to close. There are polls today. It's a Tuesday, and it is a race, an important one.
Republicans sweating. The outcome is crucial here. And so, John King will be OUTFRONT at the magic wall.
Plus, no deal. After all that, Trump's special envoy, his son in law go to Russia, leave there meeting with Putin without a deal. Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion who is a longtime Putin critic now living in exile, is our guest OUTFRONT. Does he believe Putin played Trump again?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, fail? A dramatic round of high stakes diplomacy in Moscow has collapsed without a deal.
[19:35:02]
After nearly five hours of closed-door talks, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to reach a breakthrough on Ukraine. Russian state media releasing these images from inside the Kremlin. You can see the U.S. delegation flanked by two interpreters and Yuri Ushakov, Putin's top foreign policy aide, who was in those leaked transcripts. They are all in an ornate conference room, as you can see, that white table.
Shortly after the meeting ended, top Russian official Kirill Dmitriev posting a single word on X, productive, punctuated by a dove and olive oil branch emoji. Of course, we're talking about a war. Tensions were high before the talks began because Putin kept Witkoff and Kushner waiting for more than an hour. He was busy giving a speech nearby, accusing European leaders of trying to block a U.S. proposed peace deal before issuing this stark warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are not planning to go to war with Europe. I have already spoken about this a hundred times, but if Europe suddenly wants to go to war with us and starts, we are ready right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Before the sit down with Putin, Witkoff and Kushner spent the afternoon touring central Moscow. They had a lavish dinner. We understand the menu included caviar, quail stuffed with buckwheat, venison, deep fried crab pastries and wheat flatbread with cheese.
OUTFRONT now, Garry Kasparov, of course, world chess champion, longtime Putin critic now living in exile. He is the chairman of the Human Rights Foundation.
So, Garry, you have the big fancy meal as we just laid out, caviar. Then they go into the meeting. Last night, Putin wore his military fatigues, and they come out with no deal.
Not a surprise to you?
GARRY KASPAROV, RUSSIAN DISSIDENT, CHESS GRANDMASTER: Actually, I wouldn't say it's no surprise, because what we saw in Moscow was not a negotiation. If you had negotiations with Russia and America, you would have Marco Rubio sitting there.
It was an attempt to cash in on a big deal to sell the largest piece of real estate. I think. Witkoff never dreamt about selling a piece of real estate size of New Jersey and getting cash from Russian dictator. They forced Ukrainians to accept many very drastic conditions that might be devastating for Ukrainian defense. But the threat to cut Ukraine from intelligence and American weapons was a serious one.
But it was not enough for Putin. And now, Putin made a demand that went even beyond what Witkoff and Kushner expected because they were there just for cash. You had to look at Witkoff eyes. You could see the dollar signs of this. So there's billions of dollars.
BURNETT: Cash and deals.
KASPAROV: The deal is a war that Trump always wants money and glory. This time, you know, he thought he could get glory because the war would end. And then there will be no rain of cash because it's not just, you know, direct cash to his inner circle, but it's the tens of billions of Russian frozen funds that will be handled by Americans.
And look at Putin's face. He was beaming because Putin used to corrupt Western officials, but this time he actually had this act of blatant daylight corruption. Just -- it's in front of the whole world. And that's why he issued this warning to Europe, what Putin wanted is impossible. He wanted Europe to recognize his illegal gains, territorial gains.
BURNETT: Well, it is amazing. And I think just one thing you said there just I want to repeat, the secretary of state of the United States is Marco Rubio. If you're in a negotiating --
KASPAROV: Also national security adviser.
BURNETT: And national security advisor.
KASPAROV: First time since Henry Kissinger combining --
BURNETT: Combining the two. Right? And to imagine Henry Kissinger not doing that to imagine sitting there with Vladimir Putin and instead Jared Kushner, the president's son in law, who doesn't have a technical role, doesn't have a technical role in the government, is there sitting with Witkoff, who, of course, was not a negotiator or in any kind of foreign policy role before this one.
Putin then shows up more than an hour late after last night, appearing in his military fatigues. Right? There's nothing -- there's nothing subtle here.
KASPAROV: But look, again, it's the nature of the deal was basically to make Ukraine accept conditions that would, would be very favorable for Putin. And to, according to Trump and to Rubio, and to others who were involved from the American side, it's the only way to stop the bloodshed. But it's not the end of the war because Putin said it today, again, it's when he says, I would not go to war with Europe, but if so -- dictators always lie about what they've done. But very often they tell you exactly what they're going to do.
One million plus army in Ukraine would not go back to Russia. If we have a temporary ceasefire there, they would go elsewhere. Look at the map. What's next?
[19:40:00]
BURNETT: So, some Trump allies, including Steve Bannon, are calling actually for an open alliance between the United States and Russia, right? So, it's not even just a appeasement. It's an open alliance.
And he's actually framing it in the context of religion and shared, devout Christianity as he sees it. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP AIDE: You have a devoutly Christian nation in Russia who was our ally. Let me remind people, they were our true ally in World War II.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KASPAROV: What he's smoking? It's so anti-historical. I mean, Stalin was not a true ally. He was ally because he had no other choice. Russia was always throughout the 20th century, after the World War II and American opponent and, you know, it's if he -- if he's Steve Bannon or elsewhere, you know, or someone else in Trump's entourage would like to, to make an alliance with Russia. Fine.
I would love to see the vote on the floor of the Senate. I would like to see how these Republicans who are so they tease, you know, criticizing Trump's foreign policy without, of course, mentioning Trump, how they would vote for that. Russia is the -- is the -- is the main problem not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe and for the United States and for the whole world.
And as long as Putin stays in power, the war would continue. Putin kept telling you that, yeah.
BURNETT: All right. Garry Kasparov, thank you very much. Good to see you.
KASPAROV: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, we have breaking news. Polls are about to close in a special election. Both parties on edge. And this one is important. That's why John King will be next at the magic wall.
And a Boston college student suddenly deported as she was flying home to Texas for Thanksgiving, sent to Honduras, a country she hasn't been to since she was a young child. Her attorney is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:59]
BURNETT: Breaking news, polls are about to close in the state of Tennessee. Top Democrats are all in on this race. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez rallying voters in a district that Trump won by more than 20 points. So, you wouldn't think Democrats would be going there, but they are. Even the former vice president, Al Gore, making a very rare return to the campaign trail.
They are stumping for Democrat Aftyn Behn in the state's seventh congressional special election. Democrats are hoping to pull off a strong showing against Republican Matt Van Epps weeks after winning nearly every major election across the country.
John King is OUTFRONT now.
John, it is pretty incredible, though, to be living in a moment where things are so confusing and chaotic that in an area, a district that Trump won by 20 points, you got AOC there. You know, it's not even like you put a moderate Democrat there, right? You're putting AOC to get support.
What's happening there?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we live in interesting times. And you mentioned the elections last month. Democrats are so energized by last month, they think, is there a perfect storm out there? Can we keep winning in places we're not supposed to win?
Big margins in New Jersey, big margins in Virginia. They won the court races in Pennsylvania. They won statewide in Georgia. They picked up a legislative seats in Mississippi.
So here we are in another red area. This is Tennessee's seventh district. The population center biggest one is here in Nashville. That tends to be Democratic.
But look where this goes, Erin. Out into rural Tennessee, this is Kentucky. This is Alabama. This is not blue Democratic country.
And yet Democrats hope After Behn can at least have a strong showing. I talked to a lot of Democrats in Tennessee this week. I don't have any saying she is going to win. They actually don't think she will, but they're hoping she can get it close. Maybe within inside five or six. They say that will send a warning shot to Washington, to the White House and to House Republicans.
Look at the district here. Now go back. Just a year ago. Mark Green won reelection. He decided to retire in in July. Excuse me. That's why we're having this special election.
He won by 22 points in this district. Nashville, blue, everything else red, as you go out. Look at the presidential race one year ago, Donald Trump wins by 22 points.
So this -- there's been some polling here showing this within single digits, 22 points a year ago, right? So, think about the margins as we come back now to the map. Now if you think about the margins in Virginia and the margins in the Pennsylvania court races and all the other Democratic victories, they think, you know what?
Our voters are energized. Theirs might be despondent. So, let's give it a shot here. We'll count votes in a little bit.
BURNETT: I mean, it's going to be fascinating. I mean, are there lessons that apply to this district? And you're talking about the specifics of it, which are very different from the specifics in statewide races in New Jersey and Virginia and obviously in places like New York City. But are there lessons that apply tonight?
KING: Let me switch the map a little bit just to give you. Come up here to the house battle for control. This is where we are right now. Remember, Republicans have the tiniest majority in the House. So, 219 to 214. That includes a Texas special still to be had. But there are two Democratic candidates. So, we know a Democrat is going to win.
Imagine if this one went to the Democrats tonight. Then it's 219 215. Even if it stays Republican, it gets to 220. Look how narrow that is. If the margin is small tonight, right? The Democrats will be able to plausibly claim we ran much stronger than Trump just a year after Trump in this district. What would that do?
I want to emphasize "would". We're going to count votes next, but Democrats think if Behn can come into single digits, they want her to win, of course. But if she wins or if she comes within five or six points, that maybe there are five, six, eight, 10 or 12 more Republicans who say, whoa, Donald Trump carried my district by 15 points. Maybe I'm vulnerable.
And so do you change the battlefield in 2026 midterms? And do you change what they think when they have to vote on Obamacare subsidies, and they have to vote to keep the government open again when they have to vote, whether to defend Pete Hegseth or not? You were talking about earlier in the program. Democrats are hoping that this district tonight, no matter the results, if it's close enough that that sends a little panic into Republicans and affects not only next year's midterms, but a lot of decisions between now and then.
BURNETT: Yeah.
All right, John King, thank you very much. We'll be at the wall tonight.
And next, a college freshman deported while flying home for Thanksgiving sent to Honduras. Her attorney now fighting to get her back.
[19:50:00]
He's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: All right. A college student in Boston was suddenly deported just before boarding a flight to see her family for Thanksgiving. It was a shocking event. This is Any Lucia Lopez Belloza. She's 19 years old, a freshman at Babson College, and her attorney says she was planning to fly home to Texas to surprise her mother. Her father, her younger siblings, who are all in Texas for Thanksgiving.
[19:55:02]
Instead, her attorney says ICE agents suddenly surrounded her, chained her ankles, handcuffed her wrists and dragged her out of the airport. And then, within hours of her arrest, court documents show a federal judge ordered immigration officials to stand down. But they didn't.
ICE deported Any to Honduras, a country she has not been in since she was seven years old.
OUTFRONT now is Annie's attorney, Todd Pomerleau. I appreciate your time, Todd.
So, you know, the judge said, stand down. And they went ahead and sent her to Honduras anyway. I mean, first, do you know exactly where she is right now? What circumstances she's dealing with?
TODD POMERLEAU, ATTORNEY FOR STUDENT DEPORTED WHILE FLYING HOME FOR THANKSGIVING: Yes. Thank you, Erin, for having us on and giving us an opportunity to be heard here. This is really about Any's dream. And what happened here is just beyond the pale.
She is doing better. She's in Honduras with her grandparents, who she hasn't seen in roughly 12 years. But this wasn't really a family reunion. She was surreptitiously deported from this country. This is an act of terror-icing. That's what we call it these days.
This is an immigration and customs enforcement. They are just terrorizing our communities.
They took a child under the immigration laws and decided to put her on a plane. Despite a court order issued eight minutes after we sued them to not have her be removed from the country to give her day in court. And they just deported her anyway.
This is absolute lawlessness. We're seeing it day in and day out, time and time again throughout the country. We have so many cases like this. Her case just really strikes a chord with so many people.
We've had Republicans, Democrats, independents, people from all over the country, all over the world reaching out to us, wondering what the heck happened here. And we're not going to stop until we get an answer, until Any is brought back home because this is her home. She's a DREAMer. This is her dream.
BURNETT: She is a DREAMer. And obviously, to state the obvious, you know, when Trump talked about deporting criminals and others, obviously, he's a college student.
So, the Department of Homeland Security, Todd, did -- they're trying to justify what they did. They sent an email statement to us. I wanted to read it to you. They say this illegal alien, referring to Any, entered the country in 2014, and an immigration judge ordered her removed from the country in 2015 over ten years ago. She has illegally stayed in the country since.
What do you say to that?
POMERLEAU: It's just heartless and cruel. They're saying that a child who came here around eight years old is an illegal alien. It's just -- that's all you hear these days. Everyone is referred to as an illegal alien.
She was following a lawful process called asylum. She was seeking asylum with her mother, and she had no idea that she had any problems with her case. She was led to believe nothing was wrong. Her case ended sometime in 2017. She's been traveling all over the country to visit colleges.
BURNETT: Right. So, you're saying she wasn't even aware of this -- of this order?
POMERLEAU: No. She wasn't aware of it at all. What is disturbing is you can be from Honduras and be a ex-president. Be get 45-year prison sentence and you're treated with more courtesy by this government than a 19 year -- 19-year-old studying business on scholarship, who was flying home to surprise her family for the holidays.
This is just so ridiculous that we're dealing with these things on a daily basis. We sued in court. We demanded to know why she was illegally detained, why she was taken to a military base, why she was deprived access to her lawyers.
We tried calling ICE. They didn't answer the phone. We sent emails. They don't respond to them. And then we find out on Monday, when we called her for the first time, she had no idea she had a lawyer.
She didn't know we sued. She had no idea a federal judge was trying to prevent this atrocity from happening. And here she is sitting in Honduras and we're going to fight for her till the end. This is -- this --
BURNETT: So, what's your next course of action?
POMERLEAU: We're going to ask a federal judge to hold the government accountable here. We actually mobilized. We started a nonprofit called massdeportationdefense.org. We're trying to raise funds to have this effort for her and many others like her that have had these horrific things happen to them.
This is just abuses of government power. It's going on way too much, and Any needs to be heard. Her voice needs to be heard, and she's just a remarkable young woman. I hope you guys get to hear from her soon, because her story just really makes you want to cry about how the government could do this to a child, a harmless child.
She's a child under the immigration laws. She is 19 years old, and she was living her dream, and now she's just stuck in a dystopian nightmare.
BURNETT: Todd, I appreciate your time and thank you very much.
Todd Pomerleau, of course, as I said, representing Any, which Any just found out because of the circumstances by which ICE removed her from the country. On Friday, Todd, Any will be here. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza will be with us here OUTFRONT to tell her full story, and you won't want to miss that. She'll be here Friday.
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And "AC360" starts now.
