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What We Know with Max Foster

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Quick Release Of Epstein Documents; Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Requested For A U.S. Interview; Trump Calls For Arrest & Trial Of Democratic Lawmakers; Family, Former Presidents Honor Dick Cheney At His Funeral; EU: Ukraine, Europe Must Be On Board With Any Peace Plan; Escalation Of Violence In Gaza. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 20, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:29]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Calls for a quick release of the Epstein files grows louder, but many are skeptical.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding a speedy release of those files. The Department of Justice is now 30 days to publish the

documents. It's not known how the files will be released or if current investigations will hold up any of the information. One Republican senator

says he hopes files lead to arrests of others who may have been involved in Epstein's crimes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): I regret the fact that there haven't been more prosecutions. I mean, obviously DOJ prosecuted him. They prosecuted

Ghislaine Maxwell. I think that's kind of it, though, that just I have to say, it really surprises me as a former prosecutor, given the sheer number

of people involved in this. I'm really surprised they cannot prosecute more people. And I would just urge them to take a close -- DOJ, take a close

look at this. They ought to be prosecuting whoever. These are serious crimes. These weren't just like, oh, not a nice thing to do. These were

really serious crimes. So, I hope there will be more prosecutions yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, today is also the deadline for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to respond to a U.S. Democrat Oversight Committee request for an interview.

The former prince was accused by the late Virginia Giuffre of being a coconspirator of Jeffrey Epstein. He's repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

One of Jeffrey Epstein's victims tells CNN while she's glad the bill has been signed, she still has reservations about Trump's actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY ROBSON, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Of course, there's a part of me that wants to be full on happy, but I am -- I do have reservations because

you know, he's very -- he's become very unpredictable, especially with the Epstein files. So, I want to celebrate, but I want to kind of wait and see

what unfolds in the next couple of days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Kevin Liptak joins us now from Washington.

We know the president signed the bill, so it's now a law over to the Justice Department. What are they telling you about a release?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they say that they will follow the law and that they will adhere to the letter of what the

president signed. But I think it should be noted that the law itself contains a number of exemptions that could potentially prevent all of these

documents from being released. And that's what a lot of people in Washington are thinking about now as they consider this now 30-day deadline

that the Justice Department has to put these records out. And some of the exemptions include potential classified information.

You know, it's hard to believe that Jeffrey Epstein himself was a conversing with classified information. But at this point, we don't really

know what these files consist of. Theres also a provision in there about keeping victims' names redacted, and that would be a whole process that

Justice Department would have to undertake. And as well as images of child sexual abuse, which they, of course, would want to remove. And so, there is

now an effort underway at the Justice department to get this all done.

I think the big loophole that a lot of people are wondering about is whether the Justice Department will use this ongoing investigation that the

president ordered up last week as a pretext to not release all of this information. And you'll remember, the president essentially ordered Pam

Bondi, the attorney general, to investigate some of the Democrats who were included in that tranche of emails that the House Oversight Committee

released.

So, Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, others that the Justice Department is now investigating. And the question that people have is whether they will say,

look, we have an open investigation here. We cannot release all of these files. I think at least on the part of the president, he seems very eager

to just move on from all of this. And you saw that last night in his social media, social media message saying that this is all becoming a distraction,

that he wants Republicans more focused on his agenda. But it's clear that this is going to be something that people are talking about for quite a

long time.

FOSTER: But that surely would imply that he would want to out sooner rather than later. Also, the idea of using these investigations as a reason

not to release the files wouldn't necessarily work for the administration, would it? Because it would mean they'd be releasing, you know, holding back

the Democrat allegations and potentially releasing any Republican ones?

LIPTAK: Yeah. I mean, you're implying that the president has an actual cogent strategy in how he's going about all of this, which I'm not sure

that he does. But certainly, it would appear as if it would be in the presidents favor to get all of these documents out. But he seems to have

only realized that within the last week, he had been fighting tooth and nail for, you know, several months to prevent all of these records from

coming out.

[15:05:03]

And it was only when it became clear that an overwhelming number of Republicans in the House were going to vote for this, that the president

eventually flipped and said, look, you can put all these out and I will be happy to sign it.

And so now the president is sort of calculating all of this, I think, is somewhat confusing to people who are watching from a political point of

view. The president seems, you know, so intent on trying to move on. And I think any sort of question about whether the Justice Department is actually

going to fulfill the letter of this law would only serve to prolong some of the controversy.

And the president has said publicly that he wants all of this to come out. But certainly, Pam Bondi and those who are looking at these documents are

aware that if there's something in here that could potentially be damaging for President Trump, that they will have a question in front of them

whether to release it or whether to withhold it, citing some of these exemptions and loopholes.

And all of that, I think, will be determined over the next 30 days.

FOSTER: We wait to hear. Kevin, thank you so much.

Later in the hour, we'll be speaking to one of the Democratic congressmen in the House Oversight Committee who has requested Andrew Mountbatten-

Windsor give evidence on Jeffrey Epstein as that deadline looms for him to respond.

Now, angry social media posts filled with threatening words are not out of the ordinary for Donald Trump. But even by that standard, the U.S.

president's latest words are causing a lot of alarm. Trump repeatedly posted calls for the arrest and trial of six Democratic lawmakers on

Thursday. He said the Democrats have committed sedition, which he noted is punishable by death.

The six Democrats had made a video in which they urged members of the U.S. military and intelligence community to refuse to carry out orders if they

think those orders are illegal. The top Democrat in the Senate says Trump's threats are extremely dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: When Donald Trump uses the language of execution and treason. Some of his supporters may very well

listen. He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Let's bring in CNN senior political reporter Stephen Collinson for some reaction to this.

Stephen, you've been speaking to lots of people there. I'm sure. Are these Democrats genuinely concerned about their safety at this point?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think anyone would have to be concerned about their safety, given what we've seen unfolding in

American politics over the last year. You had the two assassination attempts against President Trump. You had the killing of the conservative

activist Charlie Kirk in horrific terms.

So I think on the face of it, this is a president inciting potentially violence against members of Congress. If you take it in that kind of way,

it is something that is very distressing and dangerous at the same time, as you pointed out, Trump makes threats like these, not all the time, but it's

quite frequent. He does seem to have a belief that anybody who makes a threat or anyone who criticizes him or you know, is guilty of some kind of

treason. He called Marjorie Taylor Greene a MAGA conservative who rebelled against him on Jeffrey Epstein, a traitor, very recently.

So, there is also, I think, an part of this where the president is clearly, as he often does, trying to distract you were just talking about with Kevin

how he wants to move from the on from the Epstein saga. Well, he's set off an explosive argument today in Washington that's going to get a lot of news

coverage. And I think that may be -- well, part of this as well.

FOSTER: If I could just briefly go back to the Epstein, file story. Its pretty clear that the MAGA base, you know, regular voters wanted this to

happen, which was where the pressure came from, wasn't it? How are they going to react when they're -- if they're left waiting 30 days to see the

files?

COLLINSON: Well, there's a bit of precedent for this because Pam Bondi earlier this year, gathered conservative bloggers and she gave them a bunch

of files supposedly on the Epstein issue. There was nothing much in there. And that caused a great deal of anger among MAGA base activists that they

were being fobbed off if you like. She and the president really started all this by saying they were going to release all the files and then turning

around and saying, well, actually, there's nothing to see here. There's no need for release or investigation.

So, there are certainly is precedent for if the administration doesn't live up to what it says its going to do. There's also now the very vocal and

visible campaign of Epstein victims that were very instrumental in getting this law passed over the last few days. So, the combination of those two

things, I think is a potent political force.

The question is going to be whether those big conservative majorities we saw in passing this bill are going to be there. If the Justice Department

does stall, are Republican lawmakers going to be willing to stand up and use the power of Congress in a way they haven't yet to constrain and create

oversight over this administration? That is something we're going to see.

I think the midterm elections will play into this as well next year, if you have vulnerable Republican members who are getting a lot of pressure on

this out in their districts, that's going to create some political leverage, too.

FOSTER: Stephen, as ever, thank you.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

FOSTER: A highly unlikely visitor will make his way to the White House on Friday.

Donald Trump says New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will meet with him in the Oval Office. Trump also took a swipe at the self-described

Democratic socialist, calling Mamdani a communist. Trump campaigned hard against Mamdani, urging voters to pick anyone else in the mayor's race.

Mamdani says he requested the meeting to talk with Trump about affordability and the struggles of average New Yorkers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK: My team reached out to the White House to set up this meeting because I will work with anyone to make life

more affordable for the more than 8-1/2 million people who call this city home. I have many disagreements with the president, and I believe that we

should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that could make our city affordable for every single New Yorker. I intend to make it

clear to President Trump that I will work with him on any agenda that benefits New Yorkers. If an agenda hurts New Yorkers, I will also be the

first to say so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: A bipartisan who's who of Washington officials were in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday for the funeral of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

He died earlier this month at the age of 84. Mourners alongside Cheney's family included former Presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden and four

former vice presidents. Not there, President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, a source says they weren't invited.

Cheney was given full military honors at Washington National Cathedral, where his former commander-in-chief paid tribute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This was a vice president totally devoted to protecting the United States and its interests. There was never

any agenda or angle beyond that. You did not know Dick Cheney unless you understood his greatest concerns and ambitions were for his country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Cheney was deeply unpopular when he left office in 2009 for his role in the Iraq war, but he also spoke out against Trump after the January

6th insurrection.

Ukraine confirms it's received a U.S. drafted peace proposal, a plan that's receiving pushback from a number of world leaders. Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the U.S. Army secretary today in Kyiv to discuss details of the proposal. It would call for Ukraine to reduce its

military and concede land, something that Kyiv has said is a nonstarter. European officials say the deal is one sided, clearly favoring Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAJA KALLAS, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: Of course, for any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board. So, this is very clear. Also,

we have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim. So, we haven't heard of any concessions on the Russian side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, there may be some diplomatic work going on behind the scenes. Nothing's really changed the reality on the ground. Ukrainians are

mourning the loss of 26 people killed in the latest Russian missile and drone attacks by setting up a makeshift memorial. Three of the victims were

children. Dozens more were injured.

More now from CNN's Clare Sebastian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Russia's provocations against the West are becoming bolder. A deadly drone and missile attack on western Ukraine,

causing NATO to deploy jets. A Russian spy ship in British waters, a polish rail track funneling aid to Ukraine, attacked.

RADOSLAW SIKORSKI, POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER: The intention was clearly to kill Polish citizens.

SEBASTIAN: Russia is escalating far beyond the front lines, cruise missiles hitting residential buildings Wednesday, killing more than two

dozen people and causing Poland and Romania to scramble jets. This Russian intelligence ship sailed to the edge of British waters this week, the U.K.

says, and directed lasers at air force pilots sent to track it.

JOHN HEALEY, BRITISH DEFENSE SECRETARY: So my message to Russia and to Putin is this, we see you, we know what you're doing.

SEBASTIAN: The Kremlin refused to comment and says it had nothing to do with the Polish train line attack. But why now? Why hasn't recent U.S.

pressure, the shelving of a planned leaders summit in Budapest?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not going to be wasting my time.

SEBASTIAN: Sanctions on Russia's oil giant Ukraine openly using U.S.-made ATACMS missiles on Russia this week. Why hasn't all that deterred Moscow?

Well, perhaps Russia wants to show what its capable of before international pressure steps up again.

[15:15:02]

But U.S. and Russian sources told CNN this week that high level talks have continued behind the scenes, keeping Russian hopes of improved bilateral

relations alive and perhaps giving Moscow the confidence it can still persuade the U.S. the war will end quickest on Russia's terms.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, Israel says it hit Hamas targets, but Palestinians say 12 children are amongst the dead. But the latest on an escalation of

violence in Gaza after the ceasefire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Today is the deadline for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to respond to a U.S. Democrat Oversight Committee request. They want to speak to him

about the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Specifically, the committee wants to ask the former prince about the crimes of Epstein's

coconspirators. Andrew was a friend of Epstein's.

One of Epstein's accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, says Andrew had sex with her multiple times while she was a minor. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

has always denied any wrongdoing.

Giuffre's brother spoke to CNN after Donald Trump signed a bill authorizing the release of Epstein files.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SKY ROBERTS, BROTHER OF VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: We are asking for full transparency. You know, we don\t need to be playing any political B.S.

games right now. We need to be playing, you know, through the bill. It clearly states we want all the files released with the redactions of the

names of the victims, but no redactions to anybody that may be implicated in some way, shape or form.

And we would ask for a full investigation of every single one of those people, because the survivors deserve that. My sister couldn't name those

names simply because, like, it would put her life at risk. It would put her family's life at risk. These people could sue you into homelessness. That's

-- there's so powerful.

And so were asking our government to protect us, to protect the survivors, to release the names and then hold them to an account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: What we don't know is what happens if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor does not respond to the committee's interview request.

[15:20:02]

Joining me now is Suhas Subramanyam. He's the U.S. representative from Virginia and a Democratic member of the House Oversight Committee.

Thank you so much for joining us. You also signed this letter, didn't you, to Prince Andrew. I just wondered if you had any indication that he's going

to get back to you.

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA): He has not gotten back to me yet. We're waiting for him to formally respond. I'll say that, you know, if he does

not respond, we're still going to continue our investigation. And we're not just investigating him to be clear, we're investigating anyone and everyone

who covered up or aided and abetted these crimes, as well as those who committed them, but certainly every single time we get a document

production, Andrew Mmountbatten-Windsor seems to come up over and over again.

And so, we're going to continue to get those documents. And if he continues to show up, the documents are going to tell a story. And this is his time

right now to tell his side.

FOSTER: You can't compel him as a British citizen who hasn't actually been convicted of a crime, to appear before your committee, as I understand it.

But is there anything you can do to push harder?

SUBRAMANYAM: Well, certainly if authorities in the U.K. want to assist us in helping with that, they have the option to do that. If parliament wants

to open its own investigation, they have the authority to do that. But, you know, certainly we can't compel him to testify. But what we can do is

continue to invite him to come and share what he knows. And again, this is an opportunity for him to clear his name and tell his side of the story to

us.

But in any case, whether or not he comes to us, we're going to continue to find documents. And if he continues to show up, a different story will be

told.

FOSTER: If he doesn't reply, he's got until the end of the day, hasn't he? What do you think that says to the survivors here?

SUBRAMANYAM: Well, the survivors that either he was complicit or he doesn't care. One of the two, if I know if I did nothing wrong and my name

was invoked repeatedly, that I would want to come forward and tell my side of the story. I would want to clear the record, and I would want to make

sure that I do whatever I can for the survivors of heinous crimes.

And so, perhaps there might be embarrassing emails or stories or things he was involved in. But, you know, certainly if he didn't commit anything

wrong or commit any crimes, he should come forward and tell us what he knows. And even if he wants to dictate the conditions, he can do that as

well.

FOSTER: So one of the conditions might be that I don't want to talk about any accusations made against me. Is that something you would accept as a

way of at least getting some information from someone who was in Epstein's circle and could give you some vital evidence, potentially?

SUBRAMANYAM: I think that's definitely on the table. I will say this -- I want him under oath. I want him talking to us under penalty of perjury,

because from my understanding, he has said things that were contradicted by evidence later on. For instance, he said he never talked to Jeffrey Epstein

after a certain time frame. And we have emails that contradict that, including the latest batch of emails we received.

So, as long as we have some assurances that what he's telling us is the truth, I think we're flexible.

FOSTER: I wanted to ask you something that Sky Roberts, Virginia Giuffre's brother, said to me, and it was about the idea that when we talk about the

Epstein files, obviously it's not, you know, in one place they could potentially be around the world, particularly the U.K., when you consider

that the two main accused here and convicted are, you know, well, you know, he got obviously Prince Andrew, you've also got Peter Mandelson involved

and you've got the woman behind bars in the U.S. who's American. And she could have her files here in the U.K.

Have you thought about speaking to the U.K., about getting hold of that part of the Epstein files? And do you think they should be investigating

that more?

SUBRAMANYAM: Yeah. Well, certainly, there's some truth to that. I mean, the reality is that Epstein files that we talk about are really just all

the evidence that was gathered from investigations of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and their criminal enterprise, as well as from

witnesses, bank records, other documents that were seized from his home. And so, it's voluminous and it certainly could span the globe.

You know, so certainly if authorities in other countries want to work with us and cooperate with us, we are very open to that. I'll say that again,

our investigation is not focused on anyone in particular. It's certainly not just Andrew or U.K. citizens. That's a small part of what we consider a

very large and unfortunate criminal enterprise that we're investigating.

[05:25:04]

But, you know, we want transparency. And the more people that help us, the better.

FOSTER: Suhas Subramanyam, we really appreciate you joining us today. And thank you for joining us.

SUBRAMANYAM: Thank you.

FOSTER: Still to come, tech giant Nvidia beat expectations, earning expectations in its latest report. How this could impact the entire A.I.

industry just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Qatar, a key mediator of the Gaza ceasefire is condemning what it calls brutal Israeli airstrikes, saying they are threatening the fragile

truce. The Palestinian health ministry says the latest strikes have killed at least 32 people in Gaza, including 12 children and eight women. The IDF

says it struck Hamas targets after its soldiers came under fire.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Jerusalem.

It's becoming a bit of a daily event this, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It certainly an event that could easily be replicated in the coming days. I mean, one of the

things that we've heard today, getting more detail from the Israeli government, from the government spokesperson saying that there were two

events here involving people they describe as terrorists, saying the terrorists crossed over the yellow line. That's the yellow line in Gaza.

That's not a line drawn in the ground. It's yellow cinder blocks every few hundred yards or so that terrorists came across that line and posed an

imminent and put the troops there, IDF troops in imminent danger. And they neutralize those terrorists.

And there was another incident, according to government spokesperson, where near Khan Younis. Several terrorists came into an area where the IDF was

operating. That is how it was described. And that put those IDF troops in danger. And that was when the IDF took the decision to go ahead with these

strikes.

And interestingly, what we've heard from the Israeli government spokesperson and this kind of speaks to perceptions that there may now be

some kind of ceasefire oversight body in place. The government spokesperson said the IDF took the decisions on what to strike and just go ahead and

strike. Without calling any other country. And, and as we've heard from Palestinian health officials, 32 people killed, 88 injured, and the of the

people killed, 12 of them were children and eight of them were women.

So, this situation whereby there's a line, that can be very easily crossed where there's a -- where Hamas still has weapons, is still active inside of

Gaza. The IDF is just across the other side of that line where these disagreements are misunderstandings that Hamas are calling a dangerous

escalation. You know, there's nothing to stop them happening again tomorrow or the next day, or maybe just next week, Max, the implementation of that

ceasefire agreement is far from begun in reality.

FOSTER: Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thank you.

This just in to us. A judge has halted the deployment of National Guard troops on the streets of Washington, D.C. The judge ruled that President

Trump and the Defense Department, in his words, exceeded the bounds of their authority. Judge Jacob did, however, delay an order that would

require the National Guard to leave the district so that the Trump administration can file an appeal. Judge Cobb also ruled that the

administration did not have the authority to bring in national guard troops from other states.

Now, it's the final moments of trade on Wall Street. Stocks are falling mostly over fears of an A.I. bubble, and the mixed report on the economy.

This is our business breakout.

The delayed U.S. jobs report offered a mixed picture today. The economy added 119,000 jobs in September, but unemployment rose to a nearly four

year high. Some analysts say the odds of a December interest rate cut remain low in light of that data.

Verizon, the U.S. wireless and internet company, is cutting 13,000 jobs. It's said to be the largest single layoff in the company's history, and

part of its new CEO's transformation plan to reset, restructure and realign priorities.

Walmart reports its U.S. sales increased by 4-1/2 percent last quarter. The big box store says it's gaining market share from rivals. The figures come

as Americans grapple with the cost of living crisis and turn to places like Walmart for groceries and clothes.

Artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia's new earnings report had investors breathing a sigh of relief amid anxiety over a potential A.I.

bubble. Sales grew to $57 billion in the October quarter, surpassing Wall Street's expectations. Shares of the tech giant started out strong this

morning. They've since taken a bit of a slip.

Joining us with more is CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy.

I mean, it's almost worrying in itself, isn't it? They have these great results. Everyone's waiting for the bubble to burst. They fear it could get

worse when it eventually does. There's lots of fear in the market right now.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yeah, Max, I think that is the real point here, is that there is so much fear and uncertainty about where exactly

this market stands, and Nvidia's message to investors last night was basically everyone relaxed. Chill out. The A.I. bubble is not bursting

anytime soon. And in fact, demand is increasing.

The company posted both sales and profits up more than 60 percent year on year. Its guidance for the fourth quarter sales are stronger than Wall

Street had expected, and it took the unusual step of ticking through other companies results on its earnings call. Its customers, like Meta, OpenAI,

Anthropic, Palantir, talking about the benefit and the value that they are getting from A.I. as it tries to brush off these concerns.

However, Wall Street doesn't appear to have chilled for very long here, as we are seeing Nvidia shares trading lower today.

And I think what's at the heart of that is these fundamental concerns around whether some of Nvidia's customers, especially customers like

OpenAI, that are not yet profitable, whether they can uphold their commitments and their plans to build out this massive A.I. infrastructure.

And if they pull back on that spending at some point, although it didn't happen in this most recent quarter, if they do, that could hit Nvidia's

bottom line.

And so I think that's the -- that's the story here is investors just continue to be uncertain about whether this industry can keep up the

massive growth that we've seen over the past few quarters, Max.

FOSTER: Clare Duffy, thank you so much.

Still to come, when USAID closed, ISIS saw an opening. We'll take you to Mozambique, where the terror group is gaining a foothold with little to

nothing standing in the way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:37:49]

FOSTER: The sudden closure of the U.S. agency for international development, or USAID, has left countries reeling. Many relied on that

funding, and one of those countries was Mozambique. It's now seeing a resurgence of ISIS.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has this exclusive report. We want to warn you that some of the footage is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It looks like a place where nothing should go wrong. But ISIS are seeing a resurgence across Africa, home to two thirds of their global

violence this year, rising fast here in northern Mozambique.

We land in the flashpoint of Mocimboa da Praia, seven weeks after ISIS started their worst offensive since they occupied the town in 2021. The

government's grip is so shaky they've let Rwandan forces in to be the real muscle on streets where ISIS seemed to rule the night.

WALSH: So, USAID contribution to Mozambique amounted to about 3 percent of its GDP, and that U.S. aid money helped the economy here, development

schools, really enabled the government to try and promote its hold on the place. And so now, that money suddenly vanished -- well, they're reeling

here. And ISIS are back.

WALSH (voice-over): The little video we have of ISIS recent onslaught is terrifying. Outgunning Mozambican forces, slaughtering captives.

But in October, they tried something new, less savage and confident. They walked unopposed, armed in stolen uniforms, straight into this mosque in

Mocimboa coastal fishing community to deliver a manifesto. The crowd didn't flee, but instead filmed when ISIS arrived, asked for the keys and walked

in wearing their boots. The imam had presumed they were soldiers.

WALSH: What did you think on that night when these guys came in?

SUMALI ISSA, IMAM: They ordered the old man, asking for the microphone to broadcast their voices.

[15:40:00]

When they displayed their banner like this, I was surprised that they are Al-Shabab (ISIS).

WALSH: It is extraordinary. After all these years of ISIS has spread across the Middle East to stand in startling, to stand in a place where

they had freedom of movement, just a couple of days ago.

WALSH (voice-over): Ninety-three thousand people around this area fled in just six weeks after ISIS attacks began on September the 7th. Rafael takes

us directly to the home of his brother-in-law, now abandoned. They were not rich and also took USAID.

RAFAEL NDINENGO, SON KILLED BY ISIS: He was tied up, they took a stick and beat him. They cut off his head and put it on his bottom. This place you

see here is where we laid my son's spilled blood. You are going to make me cry because of my son. My son -- I lost him. My feelings for my son --

you're going to make me cry. I didn't want to come here. He was calling me "papa", "papa".

WALSH: Eight men killed by ISIS, seven of them beheaded, some in front of their families and you just for looking around -- I mean, there's nobody

here. It's startling. This used to be a vibrant area, Christian area.

WALSH (voice-over): The money USAID spent here urgently tried to curb the spread of ISIS, they gave $50,000 here to help motorcycle taxi drivers

vulnerable to recruitment by ISIS, improve their working conditions with paperwork, vests and helmets. Their anger about that help suddenly

disappearing and then asked asking questions clear.

WALSH: Emotions incredibly high here. I mean, it's all about peoples livelihoods, really. And a lot of anger.

WALSH (voice-over): The man who ran the project describes how it is the only way to stop ISIS

KHAMISSA FABIAO, PROJECT COORDINATOR: If they have an opportunity to earn money, I don't think they will go into the jungle because nobody wants to

die. When we started this project, I personally recruited many young people to keep them integrated into society. President Trump should have a heart.

WALSH (voice-over): Fishermen, the main workforce here, but also a source of ISIS recruits. We visit a USAID project aimed at giving them a better

livelihood now shut.

Ten thousand new arrivals in this camp alone were met with a steep drop in food aid.

SAVIANA NDIWICA, VILLAGER: They come and immediately start shooting. There is war. Beheaded. You flee with nothing. They come and cut your throat.

When you see someone else being killed, you flee alone to a safe place. Since we arrived here, we sleep on the floor.

WALSH (voice-over): But Mozambique could be rich. Around the town of Palma, shielded by these fortifications. It's clear that while the Trump

administration is stripping away aid here, its also investing fast and hard. A $4.7 billion loan in March in vast liquid natural gas facilities, a

contradiction where wealth is held up by a wave of ISIS savagery, which surged after the USAID meant to calm it, vanished.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. had continued to provide assistance this year in Mozambique, a majority of which was life saving

food and nutrition assistance. They added that worldwide aid was constantly under review to ensure it meets the needs of the receiving country and the

priorities of the United States. The State Department did not respond to our questions about the resurgence of ISIS following the withdrawal of

USAID, their statement added. The United States continues to be the most generous nation in the world. This administration is significantly

enhancing the efficiency and strategic impact of foreign assistance programs around the world. We call on other nations to increase in burden

sharing globally.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:46:49]

FOSTER: Teenagers in Australia soon won't be able to access social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Owner Meta says they will start

to block Australian users under the age of 16 from accessing their platforms from December the 4th. That's to comply with the country's new

social media ban for teenagers. So, what we want to know is will Australia's teenager social media ban actually work?

Joining me now, Alex Stamos, chief security officer at tech security developer Corridor. He was also the chief security officer at Facebook.

Appreciate you joining us.

I mean, kids are very good at finding their way around these things, aren't they?

ALEX STAMOS, CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER, CORRIDOR.DEV: They are. It's unclear right now, how this is going to work that no country has really tried this.

This is going to be a huge experiment to see whether Meta will be successful. And whether or not the controls are putting in will be seen as

living up to the standards that the Australian government has set.

FOSTER: Yeah. I mean, what have they said about the technology here? Is it purely based on the age that people put into the app?

STAMOS: No. So they're rolling out a number of controls. So, they have a number of A.I. systems that look at the photos that people upload. So,

they're trying to look at the faces of the users from their profiles, from the photos that they upload their selfies to try to, to gauge their age on

that from how they interact. So, they're trying to guess at the age of the users based about how they use the app, who their friends are. From their,

their photos and such.

And if they think you are too young, then you can prove that you're older by proving your life, by doing a selfie. And you're not going to be able to

upload a photo. It sounds like you're going to have to kind of, you know, prove that its a live video and such. And according to the Australian law,

you can't get parental approval. So, you have to be over 16. So, unless you get you know, somebody, you know, one of the easy ways, it sounds like you

might be able to bypass this is to get somebody who's over 16 to do that for you.

But, you know, they are trying to be smarter than just, the traditional way, which is to lie about your age. Theres a, you know, one of the old

jokes is there's a unfortunate number of people who, you know, say they're 107. For example, on Instagram and other social media sites. But that

should not work in this case.

That being said, it is going to be imperfect. So, there will be people who are over 16 that get caught, and there will be people who are younger than

16 who are going to be able to get away with it.

FOSTER: It's a nightmare for the courts, isn't it? Because the burden of responsibility here, I mean, it can fall in so many different directions. I

mean, what's the idea? Do they prosecute Meta or do they prosecute the child or whoever help the child get around this?

STAMOS: Right. So, my understanding of the law is that the responsibility is on the social media companies. It's not just Meta, right? So it's a

number of companies. It's also includes YouTube.

Now the thing about YouTube is you can use YouTube, not signed in.

[15:50:04]

So young people will be able to still see videos, by just going into incognito mode, for example, and watching videos, but they won't be able to

have an account to upload content. So, it seems a little silly to me, since it seems like the harm that they want to stop is the viewing of videos

which will still be available.

But yes, for, for example, for Meta, the law is enforced on Meta. Now there's a reasonableness standard, but the government has not defined what

is reasonable. So, the law is being enforced before the guidelines have been created, which is one of the complaints that the social media

companies is that the Australian government is saying, you go figure it out, Silicon Valley, and we'll tell you later whether it is good enough or

not.

So, it is unclear how this process is going to work. I think the companies are going to give it a shot, see what happens. And there will be a process

of complaints and litigation and we'll also see how teenagers react in their parents to this. I expect you're going to have a massive backlash.

Young people love their social media. And if the companies are actually effective in kicking kids off, you're going to have a humongous backlash of

them being kicked off. You're also going to see them move to platforms. A huge number of platforms are not being affected here. A large number of

peer to peer platforms, gaming platforms video platforms.

And so, if all these kids move to that, you will both have abusers moving to that child. You know, pedophiles and other kinds of bad actors moving to

those platforms. And there's going to be a number of downstream effects. And so, we're going to have to see whether the lawmakers who made these

laws, are happy with the outcomes.

FOSTER: It's going to be an interesting text. Test, isn't it?

Alex, really appreciate your time. Alex Stamos, thank you for joining us.

Now, when Ahtisa Manalo tripped and fell at the Miss Philippines pageant, she thought her dreams of winning the national title were over. Little did

the 28-year-old beauty queen know that this moment would actually be one to propel her to stardom and secure her place at this year's Miss Universe

competition.

For a country so obsessed with pageants, the title of Miss Philippines comes with a lot of recognition and pressure.

CNN's Angelica Pursley met with Manalo as she prepared for the international competition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANGELICA PURSLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stumbling on stage is a beauty queen's nightmare.

AHTISA MANALO, MISS UNIVERSE PHILIPPINES 2025: When it happened, it went really quiet.

PURSLEY (voice-over): But for Ahtisa Manalo, it was the way she got up that made her country fall in love with her.

MANALO: I felt the vibration of everyone's -- yes.

PURSLEY (voice-over): What could have been a disaster turned into a defining moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations, Queen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You keep coming back.

MANALO: I still have the bruise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More confident, more empowered, more beautiful.

MANALO: Whenever I fall in life, I always make sure I come back stronger.

PURSLEY (voice-over): The 28-year-old has been competing in beauty pageants since she was 10, but it wasn't until this year her last attempt

that she clinched the national title of Miss Universe Philippines.

Now, with the nation watching her every move, Manalo is at the Super Bowl of pageants to try to take home the Miss Universe crown.

Manalo has been training for months with her team, which includes Jonas Gaffud, nicknamed the queen maker.

JONAS GAFFUD, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MISS UNIVERSE PHILIPPINES: The walk is not just runway. It's not just Passarella. It's about your confidence. It's

about how you shine on stage.

MANANO: Pageants are a marathon, like you're on stage for how many hours and you got to maintain the same posture.

You got to make sure that your chest is out, your core is squeezed, your perineum. I don't even know where that is, but it has to be squeezed.

GAFFUD: What I want is for them to have muscle memory, that it's not something that they're thinking, but it's natural on them on stage. I'm

looking for that confidence, that spark, that aura of a winner.

MANALO: My first ever pageant, I was 10 years old. I was told if I win the pageant, I get one year free tuition fee. And I come from a poor background

and at a young age, I understood that this is something that I needed, that my family needed.

My grandmother, she's an amazing woman. She was there supporting me all throughout me growing up. After losing my grandmother, I realized that if I

don't push for that dream of being Miss Universe, I would be doing her a disservice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Finals tonight, if you want to grab it.

Now, finally tonight, a museum in Paris has unveiled a wax figure of the late Diana, princess of Wales, decades after she died in the city. The life

size statue showcases Diana in an iconic black cocktail dress. She wore it to a 1994 event in London. That event, happening the same evening when

then-Prince Charles acknowledged his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YVES DELHOMMEAU, DIRECTOR GENERAL, GREVIN WAX MUSEUM: Why now? I had the chance to go with the team to see her statue at Madame Tussauds London, and

we thought that she was a bit lonely under a cherry blossom tree in front of the royal family, and we felt the desire to reproduce her in a way that

London could not. In her revenge dress in which she was born again for a second time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. That's what we know.

Stay with CNN. More after the break.

END

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