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What We Know with Max Foster
Zelenskyy's Top Adviser Resigns After Anti-Corruption Raid; Trump To Cancel Biden Executive Orders Signed With Autopen; Trump Ramps Up Immigration Crackdown After D.C. Shooting; At Least 128 Killed And Hundreds Of Others Still Missing; Israeli Forces Kill Two Men After They Appeared To Surrender During Operation In West Bank; Trump: U.S. Land Action In Venezuela Will Start "Very Soon"; Airbus Carrying Out Urgent Software Update On A320 Fleet; Pope Meets Catholic Bishops In Istanbul. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired November 28, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:28]
NICK WATT, CNN HOST: Ukraine is plunged into political turmoil.
I'm Nick Watt, in for Max Foster. This is WHAT WE KNOW.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's powerful chief of staff Andriy Yermak just resigned after the country's anti-corruption agencies raided
his home. Yermak had been seen as Ukraine's second most powerful man, a longtime adviser and confidant to Zelenskyy. He led the Ukrainian
delegation during recent peace talks with the Trump administration in Geneva. The government has not yet said the exact reason for the raid.
But those raids came after two agencies announced an investigation into a kickback scheme involving energy infrastructure projects in the country.
Here's what President Zelenskyy had to say earlier about the resignation of his right hand man
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I want no one to have any questions about Ukraine today. Therefore, today we have the following
internal decisions. First, there will be a reboot of the office of the president of Ukraine. The head of the office, Andriy Yermak, has written a
letter of resignation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has some more.
(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, Andriy
Yermak, has submitted his resignation, has 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 under this distraction. He thanked Yermak
for his work as top negotiator, said that the ongoing 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 is 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)
WATT: What we don't know is will this corruption crisis derail Ukraine's peace talks?
Joining me now is Ambassador Bill Taylor, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Ambassador, what do you think? How big of an impact is this going to have on the peace talks process?
AMB. WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, Nick, I think this actually could work to Zelenskyy's benefit. Andriy Yermak was
competent, was smart, was energetic, but very controversial. Controversial internationally, but also domestically. This gives the -- this gives
Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy, the opportunity to, as he said, reset and probably restructure. I mean, Andriy Yermak had all kinds of
responsibilities. Maybe too many, maybe we're seeing it was too many. And President Zelensky could divide these up.
And you just asked about the negotiations. There are several people that could step up to take on these negotiations. And there are several people
that could step up and take on the office of the president. Those two different portfolios that Yermak handled.
WATT: I mean, you are the first person I've heard say that this could benefit Zelenskyy. I mean, let me play slight counter here. I mean, surely
this also degrades him in the eyes of the U.S., and it gives a propaganda gift to Putin, right, who can just smear Zelenskyy's entire administration
as corrupt and reaffirm his desire -- well, his statement that he won't enter into a peace deal until Zelenskyy is out.
[15:05:12]
WILLIAMS: Of course, that's what Putin will say. Nick, we know that, that's not -- not -- that's no surprise.
But I think you may be -- you're not -- may not be right about the view of the United States, the view of the Europeans, the view of Ukrainians. It
may be, again, that this strengthens Zelenskyy, that that this will allow him to get different people in there to do -- to do that are more
supportive of the kinds of things that were going for.
So, I -- I'm sure Putin will try to smear it. But the other thing that this says is that the anti-corruption institutions Nabu and Sapo, are the two
institutions in Ukraine that pursued anti-corruption. They work and they go all the way, all the way up, wherever it leads them. They're independent
and they've gotten this.
So, I think this actually could be a good thing.
WATT: Well, Ambassador Taylor, thank you so much for your time and your insights. Appreciate it
TAYLOR: Thank you.
WATT: This just in, Donald Trump says he is canceling all executive orders. Nearly all executive orders signed by Joe Biden. All of those orders that
Biden allegedly signed with an autopen.
Trump accuses the former president of using that autopen to sign most documents, and Trump is also threatening to charge Biden with perjury. An
important note there is nothing evidently wrong or unlawful about using an autopen. We'll have more on that in a moment.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is rapidly escalating his immigration crackdown in the wake of Wednesday's shooting of two National Guard members in
Washington, D.C. The alleged gunman, an Afghan national, granted asylum in the U.S. The U.S. will now reexamine all green cards issued to people from
19 countries, including Afghanistan, Libya, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela.
Now, Trump's announcement came just hours after one of those guard soldiers, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, died from her injuries. Her fellow
guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, remains in a critical condition after surgery.
The U.S. president is vowing to remove anyone who might pose a threat
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This heinous atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we
have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country. For the most part, we don't want them. When it comes to asylum, when they're
flown in, it's very hard to get them out. No matter how you want to do it, it's very hard to get them out. But we're going to be getting them all out
now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: In a tirade posted on his Truth Social, Donald Trump ordered a widespread immigration crackdown, including a permanent pause of migration
from what he calls third world countries, terminating all, quote, illegal admissions under Joe Biden, removing anyone, quote, not capable of loving
our country, ending all federal benefits for non-citizens, and deporting any foreign national non-compatible with western civilization.
Betsy Klein joins me now.
Betsy, can you give us a little bit more context to this?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. Well, any time there is a horrific tragedy, there is a national conversation about how to
prevent it from happening again. And the Trump administration tactic this time is to double down on its aggressive immigration policies. We know that
the suspect in this case is an Afghan national who arrived in this country in 2021. In 2024, he applied for asylum and in 2025, that was granted. That
happened under the Trump administration.
We've also learned that this suspect worked with U.S. forces, including the CIA, in Afghanistan as early as 2011. Now, a U.S. official tells us that he
was vetted by intelligence agencies and clean on all checks of question now, of his pathway to violence is going to be a major target for
investigators. But the Trump administration is announcing key new steps to crack down on immigration. All of this was central to the president's 2024
reelection campaign promises.
And on Wednesday, the president, just hours after this attack, calling for the reexamination of every single person who came to the U.S. from
Afghanistan during the Biden administration. Those efforts we had reported earlier this week were actually already underway. The president also
expressed openness to deporting the suspect's wife and children.
[15:10:00]
He also called on his director of U.S. citizenship and immigration services, who announced that he has ordered the reexamination of all green
cards issued to people from countries of concern. Asked what those countries were, the white house provided a list of about 19 countries, and
that includes Afghanistan as well as Iran and Venezuela, among many others. You see on your screen right there. The president also last night calling
for what he described as a reverse migration.
In a lengthy post to social media, President Trump saying that there would be a permanent pause on migration from what he said were third world
countries. The White House and State Department did not respond to our request for comment on which countries that would impact.
We also heard just moments ago from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said that undocumented immigrants will be blocked from receiving federal
tax benefits. So, all of this, taken together, marks a really robust new chapter in their immigration efforts, something that the president has
already been pushing towards, but clearly emboldened by what he views as a galvanizing moment, Nick.
WATT: And, Betsy, any reaction yet from the president's political opponents or for migration advocates?
KLEIN: Yeah, we've heard a range of responses here. Notably, I would say "The Wall Street Journal's" editorial board, largely very conservative,
penning an op-ed, warning that these policies are going to, by the actions of just one man, are going to impact the Afghan communities. We heard
Stephen Miller respond back to that and say that this is exactly why they are doing this -- Nick.
WATT: Betsy Klein in D.C., thanks very much.
In Hong Kong, eight more arrests in connection with that deadly apartment complex fire. The death toll stands right now at 128, with around 200 more
people still listed as missing. Those numbers are expected to climb. The investigation centers on construction materials, maintenance issues and the
fire warning system. Officials said alarms in all eight buildings of the complex were, quote, not functional.
Hanako Montgomery reports on how investigators say the fire started on the ground level and quickly climbed up scaffolding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hong Kong's worst fire disaster in decades, left seven high rise residential towers standing only
as burned-out shells. Well over 100 people are dead.
MONTGOMERY: The Hong Kong authorities said that by Friday morning local time, the fire was completely extinguished at the housing complex behind
me, but they say that around 200 people still remain missing, and they fear the death toll could go up in the coming hours, if not days.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Over 48 hours after the disaster, some new detail as to how the fire at the Wang Fuk Court complex spread so quickly and so
severely. With an investigation set to take up to a month, early questions have focused on construction cladding that had covered the buildings for up
to a year.
CHRIS TANG, HONG KONG SECURITY CHIEF: It ignited the mesh nets and quickly spread to the polystyrene boards around the windows, resulting in the fire
in other floors and buildings.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Authorities have also said they are investigating whether the fire alarms were functioning properly on the day of the blaze.
Several residents who spoke to CNN, said that the alarms in their buildings never rang. And some only discovered there was a fire when they looked
outside.
Authorities believe the blaze began close to ground level on building six, around 02:30 on Wednesday afternoon. Images have surfaced on social media
of the early embers of what would become a raging inferno, creeping up the clotting then spreading to the other buildings.
MONTGOMERY: Have you seen a disaster like this in your careers?
WALLACE, AUXILIARY MEDICAL SERVICE VOLUNTEER: I have served in the auxiliary medical service for about 10 years. I joined a team at 16, and
now I'm 26. I have never seen such a shocking scene appear in front of me.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Survivors have described their panic, many unsure of how to escape the burning buildings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my home. Look over there, the 10th floor. That's where my home was, by the hills. That's where it used to be. I
really want to go back, but my home is probably gone now. They won't let us go back. My heart feels so heavy.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): This domestic worker watched for her employer's high-rise apartment as the fire took hold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was so panicked. It was so scary because the fire burned so big at first, yeah, so scared and panicked.
MONTGOMERY: And now, how are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, when I think about it, I'm grateful because I'm still alive.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Hong Kongers will band together to help the victims of a disaster which is not yet over.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:15:02]
WATT: The Palestinian Authority is condemning what it calls the extrajudicial killing of two Palestinians by Israeli forces in the occupied
West Bank, saying it's a, quote, fully fledged war crime. The incident was captured on camera, but we aren't showing the moment of death. Israeli
forces say they were conducting an operation to arrest two militants in Jenin as part of a broad counterterrorism sweep.
The footage shows two men emerging from a building with their hands raised in apparent surrender. They are surrounded by troops and later you see them
on the ground. Then came multiple rounds of gunfire. The IDF says an investigation is underway.
Our Nic Robertson is following developments tonight from Jerusalem -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, the border police and it was border police officers who you could 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 -- 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 they, the forces had gone to
apprehend did appear to be submitting. They were down on the floor, on their knees. Then the -- 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 -- what is catching a lot of people's attention here? Is that the national security minister, 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. It's been called out these --
the shooting has been called outrageous by some of those 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, that 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 -- Nick.
WATT: No, for sure. Nic, have we had any reaction from the Israeli public on this yet?
ROBERTSON: It's mixed. There are those that are expressing consternation and concern that this could have happened. Obviously, there is a lot of
concern about how these sorts of operations are carried out. There's not often video of incidences like this. People are sort of harking back to a
similar on camera killing by security forces back in 2016, and the sort of way that played out politically.
But I think the narrative that's emerging here is that the that many people feel that the country has moved in such a way that almost there's not an
expectation of killings like this, but it almost the people somehow feels more normal than when a similar scenario happened almost a decade ago. And,
of course, for many people here, particularly in the center of politics, particularly on the left, that's a very troubling deviation and a deviation
towards the hard right, which is heavily influenced by people like the boss of the border police, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister.
WATT: Yeah, this story is far from over. Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thank you so much for your time.
Coming up, U.S. President Trump appears to have made a decision on his next plan of action against Venezuela. We'll have the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:23:09]
WATT: We have new information about the U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. Sources tell CNN that on September the 2nd, U.S. military
carried out not one but two strikes on a suspected drug boat after the first strike did not kill everyone on board, the source adds. The second
strike brought the death toll to 11 and sunk the ship. The Trump administration has never publicly acknowledged killing survivors. This, as
Donald Trump says, a new phase of military operations against Venezuela will begin, quote, very soon.
The comments suggest the president has made up his mind on a course of action, after several high-level briefings on the matter. The U.S. has
amassed more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops in the region.
Here's what the president told active service members on a call on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In recent weeks, you've been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of
course, there aren't too many coming in by sea anymore. People aren't wanting to be delivering by sea, and we'll be starting to stop them by land
also. The land is easier, but that's going to start very soon. We --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Let's go now to Stefano Pozzebon, who is in Caracas.
Stefano, what's the reaction been so far from where you are?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think the reaction we haven't seen a reaction directly from Nicolas Maduro himself, Nick. However, I do believe
that these type of rhetoric, but also the development that were seeing out of the Pentagon today with our colleagues up in Washington confirming that
there has been a second strike on September the 2nd, killing survivors of a first strike and once again opening the door to the accusation of
extrajudicial killings, in the case of this campaign, down from the -- down from the White House.
[15:25:06]
I think that this is just a type of news and developments that Maduro would use to fuel his anti-U.S. rhetoric and portraying himself as somebody who
is standing up for the -- for the people of the world against what he says is an imperialistic government up in Washington, D.C. And I also think that
yesterday, Nicolas Maduro himself was also speaking just as much as Trump was.
And yesterday he did share some sense of fatigue, as now we're entering the fourth month since these, offensive in the southern Caribbean has begun.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): For the last 17 weeks, foreign imperialist forces have been continuously threatening to
alter the peace in the Caribbean, in South America and in Venezuela under false pretenses and extravagant arguments that no one believes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON: The message out of Caracas, the message out of the Miraflores presidential palace, from Maduro himself, even to us directly, has been,
Nick, that he denies any involvement with narco trafficking. Accusing Donald Trump was waging a pressure campaign to pressure him into resigning
and leave office to Venezuela -- and leave power to the Venezuelan opposition, but also that he is standing firm.
We're now four months into this campaign. The operation began in early in August. We're now approaching the Christmas season and well still have to
see whether Donald Trump does indeed authorize a next step and next advanced step. That would probably mean direct attacks on Venezuelan soil.
But of course, so far the line, at least on the record and out in the public from Miraflores, from Nicolas Maduro has not changed -- Nick.
WATT: Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much for your time.
Still to come, a U.S. attorney is detailing charges against the National Guard shooting suspect. Our security correspondent is up next with more on
that evolving investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:38]
WATT: U.S. President Donald Trump says he is pausing immigration from a number of countries after a National Guard member died, and another is
still in critical condition, having been shot in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump has also ordered the U.S. immigration service director to
reexamine green card holders in the U.S. from 19 different countries, including the alleged shooters home country, Afghanistan.
Trump says, quote, "I will permanently pause migration from all third world countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the
millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by sleepy Joe Biden's auto pen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United
States."
Meanwhile, were learning more about the suspect in Wednesday's shooting. The alleged gunman arrived in the U.S. in 2021 after working with the CIA
in Afghanistan, and he was granted asylum in April of this year. The U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., now says the suspect will be charged with
first degree murder. And Attorney General Pam Bondi, says prosecutors could seek the death penalty against the suspect.
This week's ambush style attack in Washington has also added further fuel to Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. The president is calling for even
more troops to be sent to the capital, even as a federal judge considers the legality of Trump's National Guard deployment.
Our security correspondent, Josh Campbell, joins us now.
Josh, what is the latest on the condition of the surviving National Guard soldier and also the investigation into how and why this happened
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Nick, great to be with you.
We know that one of those guard members sadly succumbed to her injuries. There was another National Guard member who was shot who remains in
critical condition at this hour. We are still awaiting an update from the hospital, from officials about how that individual is progressing. But as
that continues, the investigation is also underway right now trying to get to a motive why this person actually went to Washington, D.C., essentially
driving across the country in order to conduct what authorities called a targeted attack on members of the National Guard.
Now, because of his past, he had worked previously with the CIA and then was brought to the United States as an asylum seeker. There are questions
underway about what type of vetting may have been done, you know, with him. And I can tell you, you know, the way this typically works is that the U.S.
government will run the names of someone through various databases that they have of known or suspected terrorists. And if there isn't any type of
match, oftentimes that then moves that person forward in the asylum process.
So, we're waiting to see if there was any type of derogatory information at that point that may have prevented him from coming. So, all that's underway
and the final point ill note here, nick, is. And you know better than most, having covered this region and terrorism for so long is oftentimes, you
know, if someone is inspired or directed by a terror group, you often see them going for a larger pool of victims, so to speak. I mean, in this case,
he shot two National Guard members.
But groups like ISIS don't want two. They want 200. And then the use of the weapon in this case is also interesting. He used a revolver pistol, which
is slow to reload, sometimes slow to fire, versus some of the other more rapid-fire types of weapons that are available in the United States.
So, the big question right now. Was he a lone wolf? Was this someone who was acting upon his own grievances, or is there some type of connection to
terror? That's what authorities are trying to figure out, Nick.
WATT: Josh, thanks a lot for your time.
Trade ended early on Wall Street today, and stocks end the week higher. The Dow Jones was up just over half a percent today and edging back towards
record highs after some down weeks.
This is our business breakout.
Global futures markets were thrown into chaos overnight when the world's largest exchange operator suffered an hours-long outage. CME Group, based
in Chicago, said a cooling issue at a data center caused the outage. It was mostly resolved by the open of morning trade in the U.S.
Non-European visitors will soon have to pay much more to visit the Louvre Museum in Paris. The museum has announced plans to hike the price of
tickets by 45 percent. That means from January next year, the cost of a ticket will be $37.
Airplane maker Airbus is carrying out urgent software updates on a significant number of its A320 jets after a recent incident revealed that
intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls. The A320 is used for short to medium haul flights and is
the most delivered airliner type in history, notching up nearly 20,000 orders.
Airbus says carrying out the required updates will lead to disruptions for passengers. This comes ahead of one of the busiest travel weekends of the
year in the United States.
CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo joins me.
Mary, do we have any idea how bad this disruption might be?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, information is coming out very rapidly, kind of minute by minute. But of the planes affected, there
are about 11,000, 11,300 overall of this model. The affected ones are 6,400. But just recently out only, a little over a thousand will actually
have to have something more than a software update.
So that means of the roughly 6,000 planes, 5,000 will do a software update. Now that can be, you know, efficient. It can be done you know, without
taking the plane out of service for very long, depending upon if you have the technicians and the mechanics to do this.
So, it will be different airline by airline. And then of the roughly one third or one fourth that don't have just a software update, there may be
some hardware involved and that will require taking the plane out of service. So, the delays could be very short, literally a software patch. Or
it could be, you know, depending on your mechanical abilities and who you have on your staff, it could take the plane out of service for a service
period of time, you know, days probably wouldn't be weeks, but it could take some time.
But this is actually, I think, very good news, because people might recall there was a very serious but very strange incident off the southeastern
coast of the United States in October, where a JetBlue aircraft took an un- commanded dive. Fifteen people went to the hospital. It was a bit of a mystery, but for them to solve this problem and that's what caused it, was
this software patch and solar radiation.
The software patch was needed to stop the solar radiation problem and for them to solve that and have the fixed rate to go in less than a month. You
know, we can only say kudos. And hopefully that will avoid any problems or disasters in the future. So that's the good news and the bad news.
WATT: Mary, can you go into any more detail about what exactly this problem is and how they discovered the problem?
SCHIAVO: Yes. Well, they discovered the problem after this mysterious dive that this JetBlue plane took and, you know, because everybody is, is pretty
much on high alert when a plane doesn't command to dive because everyone remembers the 737 MAX 8, the first one occurred in Indonesia.
At first it was, they said, pilot error. It wasn't. And then a few months later, a second deadly crash. So, for everyone to respond rapidly to this
first incident of an un-commanded dive, which means the planes software interpreted something that wasn't there and caused the plane to dive. The
pilots did not command that, and so that's how they knew they had a problem and they figured it out.
Now, you know, caused by solar radiation is certainly an unusual situation. But again, that's how they figured out what it was. And for them to get the
software patch ready to go in literally under 30 days, that happened on October 30th, I think. So that was good. And that's what should happen all
the time.
When you've got a problem, when you have an uncommanded dive in an aircraft, that's a big deal. And so, this is a very good thing thats
happening. But for about 1,000 planes, they might be pulled out of service for a short while.
WATT: Yeah. I mean do we have any indication I mean, obviously in the transportation system, if there is even just a few little problems, they
can snowball domino effect. I mean, do we have any better insight into what disruption this actually might cause for passengers?
SCHIAVO: No. And we there was one word that was particularly telling now in the United States, when the federal aviation administration uses the word
immediately, that is not just, you know, a soft term or a -- it's a technical term.
[15:40:01]
It means you have to do that repair before you can fly that plane again. So, what is undoubtedly happening now is literally around the world. I
mean, this plane is a workhorse. Almost all major airline fleets have them, but around the world they're preparing to do the software patch. And one
news release from Airbus said that in most cases, they could do it right. You know, at the gate at the facility, at a nearby repair facility or
whatever. But they could do it rapidly with, I hate to use the, you know, the layman's term, a software patch, but that is what it would take.
For others, they did say precautionary that that about a third or to a fourth of the planes affected. Remember, it's about 6,000 planes overall.
So roughly a thousand of them might need some hardware. And Airbus did say the extent of that could be two to three weeks.
So, you're looking at 1000 planes there, spread out of the fleets all over the globe. So hopefully any one airline will not be too severely, severely
impacted other than airlines like JetBlue who fly Airbus.
WATT: Gotcha. Mary Schiavo, thank you so much. Fascinating stuff.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
WATT: Still to come, the pope condemns violence in the name of religion at an event in Turkey. We'll update his first overseas trip as pontiff. That's
just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATT: Pope Leo has met Catholic bishops and churchgoers in Turkey, part of his first official overseas trip. The six-day tour is focused on unity and
peace especially between people of different faiths. On Sunday, the pope will arrive in Lebanon, another country that has a majority Muslim
population, yet is also home to ancient Christian communities.
Ben Wedeman is in Beirut, where people are eagerly anticipating the pope's arrival.
[15:45:08]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's evening mass in the monastery of Saint Maroun, high in the mountains of
Lebanon.
For centuries, the mountains have provided a refuge for the Christians here in times of trouble, protecting and preserving a community almost as old as
Christianity itself.
Pope Leo is scheduled to visit this monastery during his three-day visit to Lebanon. Hopes are high that visit will change the fortunes of this
battered country.
"He brings his blessings, he strengthens our faith," says Souad Khoury. "And we're praying to our Lord that peace prevails in Lebanon and
throughout the whole region."
Lebanon is pulling out all the stops to ensure the success of this papal visit, the third of its kind in almost 30 years. The high point will be a
huge mass led by Pope Leo Tuesday on the Beirut waterfront.
Lebanon has 12 officially recognized Christian sects, Catholic and Orthodox. At this Greek Orthodox Church in Beirut, we found two nuns
praying in Arabic.
WEDEMAN: Pope Leo comes to Lebanon after a period when the Lebanese Christians, as well as Muslims, have suffered from a series of seismic
shocks. First, a failed revolution back in 2019, followed by an economic collapse, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the catastrophic
Beirut port blast and most recently hit by yet another war with Israel.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): A war that ended, it might appear, with a U.S. brokered ceasefire in November 2024. But just days ago, an Israeli
airstrike killed a senior Hezbollah military commander in Beirut.
Israeli drones and warplanes have been hitting alleged Hezbollah targets almost daily over the last year. Israel claims Hezbollah is rearming and
regrouping. Hezbollah has until now held its fire.
War has driven many from Lebanon, but increasingly the young are fleeing abroad because of a lack of jobs in a country run by an elite seen as
corrupt and incompetent. Father Nehmi Saliba believes religious leaders, with the help of the likes of Pope Leo, could change that.
NEHMI SALIBA, INTERFAITH FACILITATOR, ADYAN FOUNDATION: There is a voice for the church and for religious leaders. There is a big voice in Lebanon
for the religious institutions to say that we need a clean Lebanon, not just from garbage on the street, but from the garbage in our head and our
hearts.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The calls for change here across the religious spectrum have rung loud and clear. Perhaps Pope Leo will lend his voice and
those in power will finally hear.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Still to come, one last trip into the upside down, the final season of "Stranger Things" is finally here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:51:10]
WATT: If Thanksgiving dinner and black Friday shopping has taken it out of you, it might be time for some TV this weekend, and Netflix hopes you'll
take a trip to Hawkins. The fifth and final season of "Stranger Things" debuted on Wednesday night. Netflix users reported a spike in outages as
the new season dropped. The latest episodes have a 93 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
So, what we want to know is, can the new season of "Stranger Things" match the hype?
Joining me now is the entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu. Now, my son and his buddies had a "Stranger Things" marathon last night. I texted him
and said, how is it? We're doing it on the show. He just replied, "It's very good".
He is not a professional reviewer. That was useless to me. Is it very good?
SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Well, what we want to know is it's okay. It depends on how deep your `80s nostalgia runs. And let's be
honest, the last iteration of stranger things was three years ago in 2022. So now the first thing that jumped out to me is how old these children
look. I mean, look, black don't crack. And I could have been one of the characters. I'm not going to -- I mean that sincerely. They look my age.
And do you still follow the story line? Does the upside down, does Vecna, does all -- Eggo waffles? Does do they still captivate our imagination? And
that's really going to depend on the viewer.
But what's really interesting is there's nothing to challenge it at the box office. Outside of "Zootopia 2" and "Wicked: For Good", which is really
just "Wicked". For me, it's okay. "Stranger Things" is going to keep you on your couch watching it, just like your son and his friends did. Binging it,
hoping that it's better than what's being offered at the box office.
WATT: And the way that its being released, right? So it's not -- it didn't all drop at once. It's kind of staggered.
Why are they doing that? What does that tell us? Is that a sign of things to come? Should we care?
ODUOLOWU: Well, we should care in that. This is an incredible money grab by Netflix. By stretching it out like this, they're doing it like Thanksgiving
day leftovers, which after the second week, you should throw out. But you're getting four episodes right now on that dropped on Thanksgiving,
then more episodes at Christmas, and then a -- on New Year's.
So, by stretching it out there, they're hoping to keep the imagination. But realistically, there's not much that they're offering. As the year winds
down again, looking at the streaming, looking at the box office, "Avatar: Fire and Ash" is the only thing really that would get people off their
couches in the month of December to go to the cinema.
So, "Stranger Things", Netflix, they can do this. They can stretch this out as long as they want, and they've done it with stranger things before in
2022. As I mentioned when it debuted in May, the second half of stranger things four came out in July. So, they've moved the -- they've moved the
drop dates around before. And this is just a way to keep you interested, keep you subscribing, hopefully keeping you watching Netflix because again,
there's not much else on.
WATT: You know, I'll be honest, I managed episode one season one because frankly, anything that involves with missing kid, I just can't handle. But
you mentioned the `80s nostalgia. That certainly appealed to me.
I mean, seeing Winona Ryder, who is a very good actor in this and all these little cameos, I mean, for people of my age, that's kind of fun, right? I
loved it, that part.
ODUOLOWU: No, it is fun.
[15:55:00]
The care bear bedsheets, the lunch boxes, the cassette, the people actually listening to the radio, friends talking to each other as opposed to texting
or Facebook or Snapchat or any of the other things.
It was a great callback to things that we grew up with, but when you spread them, when you spread a series out this long and you see the changes in the
child stars, its difficult to capture the imagination. Once again, we're -- they're hoping that, like you said, it'll still appeal to people of your
age and my age, though I'm hoping I'm years younger than you. But we won't go into all of that.
But hopefully, it'll keep the imagination of young and old, because that's -- that's all -- that's all Netflix has right now. That's really what
they've been building for.
There's been drama off the screen with the actors and actresses getting into a little tiff here, or I'm mad at this person here. So, the drama off
the screen hopefully will bring people to watch the drama on the screen.
WATT: Thank you so much for your insights. That was fun. Appreciate your time.
I'm Nick Watt. That is WHAT WE KNOW.
Stay with CNN. We have much after the break
END
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