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Severe Weather Affecting Parts of U.S. Midwest; President Trump Promises Immigration Crackdown after Shooting of Two National Guard Members in Washington D.C. by Afghan Immigrant Granted Asylum in U.S.; Manhunt Underway for Missing High School Football Coach Wanted on Child Pornography Charges in Virginia; U.S. Consumers Set Shopping Record on Black Friday; Small Businesses Open in Altadena, California, after Devastating Wildfire Early This Year; Pope Leo Celebrates Catholic Mass in Istanbul, Turkey; World Health Organization Warns of Surge in Measles Cases around Globe; Resident of Altadena, California, Discusses Efforts to Relight Star of Palawoo as Symbol of Hope for Community. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired November 29, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: -- record busy holiday weekend. Meteorologist Chris Warren is tracking this severe weather. So Chris, what are you seeing right now?

CHRIS WARREN, METEOROLOGIST: I'll tell you what, Omar, the boys of summer definitely hibernating here. As we look at the field of dreams, Iowa 27 degrees and a blanket of white snow still falling right now. Winter storm warnings stretching across a big portion of the Midwest around the Great Lakes. And already in the plains we are approaching a foot of snow. Preliminary snowfall totals here in Stratford, Iowa, 11 inches. Again, many of these locations billings eight inches here, and in Missouri, North Dakota, Iowa still seeing the snow falling. Snow is falling and causing delays as well.

And in Chicago at O'Hare, seeing about 15 to 30-minute delays for takeoffs. However, if you have a plane ticket and you're somewhere else in the country, you are -- a plane ticket to Chicago, you're delayed possibly several hours, maybe up around four or five hours, depending on where you are going into it with that ground delay. A ground stop also at Midway.

The winter storm warnings in pink. That's where expecting higher impact snowfall. Either the rates, how fast the snow is coming down, reducing visibility, making it tough on the road, or just too much for the plows to keep up with, making it very slippery as well. So we're seeing that high impact snow happening right now. The purple and the darker purple is where the heavier snow is falling. The rain snow line, maybe a little wintry mix, sleet mixed in there, and then turning into rain. But it's this snow, round after round of heavy snow causing some problems there on the roadways across parts of the great lakes.

Here's the rain. Eventually going to see more thunderstorms as we time it out, 5:00 this evening. Wind is also going to be a factor with this. So blowing snow where it's colder and the snow is a little bit drier, more susceptible to being blown around will be a concern as well.

Also, seeing these storms firing up here. This is now overnight tonight. It's moving into the northeast with the wind still howling around, some lake enhanced or even effect snow throughout parts of the Great Lakes into early tomorrow morning.

As far as this evening and tonight goes, there is a severe weather threat. It includes Dallas down to Houston, much of east Texas, and into western Louisiana. Damaging winds, large hail, and even an isolated tornado a possibility. The amount of snow, Omar, still on top of what has already come down approaching eight to even a foot of snow -- eight inches to a foot of snow still possible.

JIMENEZ: Some serious conditions there. Chris Warren, really appreciate it.

I want to bring in the emergency management coordinator for Missouri's Department of Transportation, Joe Moore. So I just want to start with how are conditions across your state right now? How are you assessing things?

JOE MOORE, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR, MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, Omar, really conditions are improving greatly here in Missouri. That snow rain line, as you guys just speaking about, has really started to come through well across our I-70 corridor. And a lot of those roads are now wet. You know, we're still receiving some rain, but they're wet. And, you know, they're pretty good to travel on.

JIMENEZ: That's great to hear, especially as people start considering traveling back from the Thanksgiving holiday. You know, earlier, the St. Louis police had been urging drivers to stay off the road until later in the day because of the snow, which again, sounds like it's gotten, you know, just a little bit more wet outside now. But DOT traffic camera videos are showing those semitrucks stuck on the highway. Do you have -- what is your top concern, I guess, as we sort of close out this weekend travel period, even if, as you mentioned, conditions might be improving slightly today?

MOORE: Well, you know, we're hearing that the weather, especially the temperature is going to get colder tonight and into Sunday, into Monday morning. And so there's always that chance of refreeze. And that's really going to be our biggest concern is that refreeze. We are treating the roads, and we will have crews out until the roads are dry. So through this evening, overnight hours into Sunday and probably into Monday morning, we'll still have crews out checking those roadways, making sure they're safe for those travelers to get home to their families.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, just a little bit earlier, I was speaking to some transportation folks in Illinois, your neighbors there, and then over in Iowa, also, your neighbors, kind of hidden, this whole region there. You guys are not strangers to snow and these conditions and sort of making sure the roads are as safe as possible. But both of them have sort of talked about at points how you all

coordinate between states to sort of make sure you're covered across the region. Has it gotten to that point here? And if not, how do you approach sort of these winter holidays where you know a lot more people than usual are going to be out on these roads?

MOORE: You know, with this storm coming in, we really started discussing this on Monday. You know, that's quite a few days out from when it actually occurred. And that's kind of when we started our planning with our partners, with the state emergency management agency here in Missouri, Missouri state highway patrol and the National Weather Service. You know, that's really when we started this. So we would know we'd have our crews ready, our equipment ready, and just really ready to respond in the event that it did come in a little bit earlier.

[14:05:01]

But, you know, I think our response time was right on. We were out there early Friday evening. We had several EOCs open across the state updating the weather conditions and road conditions. So I feel we had a really good response to this storm.

JIMENEZ: Glad to hear it. Joe Moore, appreciate the perspective, as always. Thanks for being here

MOORE: No problem. Have a great day.

JIMENEZ: All right, you, too.

Meanwhile, West Virginia continuing to mourn the loss of one of its National Guard members as a second fights for his life. This week, 20- year-old U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed in an ambush style shooting in Washington, D.C., while 24-year-old U.S. Air Force staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was also shot, remains in critical condition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RILEY MOORE, (R-WV): Andy is hanging on, and he's a fighter. And his family has told me that time and time again. He is a fighter. But above all, what they want here is for everybody to continue to pray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now last night in Beckstrom's hometown of Webster Springs, West Virginia, the community held a vigil to honor her and offer prayers for her family.

Now, in the wake of that shooting attack on those National Guard members in D.C., President Trump is ramping up his immigration crackdown as an Afghan national had been has been arrested for the shooting. Friday night, administration officials announced they are putting the vetting process for Afghan nationals under pretty intense scrutiny and halting all asylum applications. The Trump administration also says they'll reexamine green cards issued to people from certain countries the president calls third world, but wouldn't elaborate on what those countries specifically were.

Let's discuss more now with "Axios" senior contributor Margaret Talev. So, Margaret, thanks for being here. Look, the shooting of these two National Guard members, allegedly by an Afghan national, has triggered all of these actions taken by the administration. Can you just help us understand, why is President Trump going after really all kinds of migrants, it seems now, not just those that may have come from Afghanistan?

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "AXIOS": Well, Omar, thanks. Look, you're seeing here a confluence of a real security crisis, real questions about whether even the either the Biden administration or the Trump administration missed something, whether there were flaws in the vetting, whether the CIA missed something, or whether this is a tragedy that could not have been predicted through vetting. So that's the security question.

And then, of course, there's a political element to all of this. You're hearing President Trump blaming the previous president, even as the facts are still emerging. And the confluence of this with an administration that already, of course, has been cracking down on immigration, it was one of the rallying cries of President Trump's election in 2024. It's one of the areas where he's still strongest with his base, even though they've become disillusioned with the state of the U.S. economy, still happy with him for being tough on immigration.

So politically, it's very important to him that he not lose that thread of the narrative, that he still be seen as being tough on immigration. And so, of course, we already had seen it more difficult to receive asylum in the United States, to be issued a visa to the United States long before this tragedy if you were from countries other than Afghanistan.

But here's where the rubber meets the road. Of course, after two decades of U.S. war and military presence in Afghanistan, you have nearly 200,000, Afghan nationals who have now resettled in the United States around the U.S. withdrawal over the last few years. And so for those whose visas or green cards or status may be halted or reversed, there's real fear that if any of these people or their spouses or families were to be returned to Afghanistan because of the actions of this gentleman, of this man, that the results could be catastrophic for them if they were received by the Taliban.

So, this is -- you're looking at exactly as you say something where the long-term policies of the Trump administration are now being sort of accelerated by what has happened here with a broader impact than just on Afghans. But there's 200,000 Afghan people in this country, and most are not this one man.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And, you know, even before this attack the Trump administration had been moving to re-interview certain refugees who were admitted to the United States under former president Joe Biden. So some of these efforts, at the very least, the nature of them were already underway again before this recent tragedy here. Now, President Trump has said he wants to denaturalize people who,

quote, undermine domestic tranquility, and kind of what you were talking about here.

[14:10:00]

We've got more than 50 million legal migrants living in the United States, many of them Latino, by the way, who those margins did help sweep Trump and Republicans into power last year. And I wonder, in the context of that, that broader immigration sort of policy push that the Trump administration has sort of made its large signature so far, how do you believe these actions affect, might affect the party's standing among those voters who, again, to this point, do trust or have trusted the president to handle immigration effectively?

TALEV: Yes, I mean, it's a really interesting question. Of course, in the case of Afghan nationals, we're looking at people who, if you're not a citizen, you can't vote. And so you may feel that the rug has ripped out from under you. You may feel imperiled, but you're not a voter. The consequence of this would not be political in any way.

For millions of Latino Americans who may be first generation, second generation, third generation, the questions about how this impacts your views politically about President Trump or the Republican Party really depends on where you're coming from ideologically. There are many Latino voters who want stronger border controls and voted for the president because they want the border to be tighter. So it's a very complicated question.

I think one of the big questions is, how will Congress react to this? This is all happened over a holiday break, but these special immigrant visas which have protected Afghans trying to resettle in the United States, these special immigrant visas were bipartisan in terms of congressional support, demanded by Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress who feel that it is important for the U.S. to uphold its promise to Afghans who assisted the U.S. military during the war, and to make good on that promise. And in fact, when Joe Biden was the president, were pressuring the Biden administration to do more faster to take care of these people who had put their lives and their families lives at risk for the United States.

So I think, again, the president sort of immediate actions in the wake of this tragedy are meant both to send political signals and to address security concerns. But those security concerns are on his watch, as well as on the Biden administration's watch because you know, of course, he has been president for the past year, including when, this man's asylum status was determined. So a lot of questions, huge broad strokes, implications not just for Afghan nationals but for immigrants who are waiting for their green cards, for their citizenship, for their visas to be extended from all over the world who are living in the United States right now.

JIMENEZ: Yes. We've heard from some of the groups that work with, especially those Afghan nationals pretty closely, the head of Afghan Evac told us that many of them are living in fear for what might come next and being blamed for the for the actions of, again, this one suspect, as we understand right now. But it's a situation we'll continue to monitor. Margaret Tale, appreciate you being here.

TALEV: Thanks, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, coming up, as his team takes the field for the playoffs, police search for a high school football coach wanted for child pornography charges. What his family says he took with him before disappearing that has police on alert. We'll explain.

And later, a holiday season tradition that is transformed into a symbol of the human spirit's resilience. Inside the burn scars of southern California almost a year later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:18:21]

JIMENEZ: Right now, a manhunt is underway for a missing high school football coach wanted on child porn charges in Virginia. Now an attorney for Travis Turner's family tells CNN he disappeared into the woods more than a week ago. He faces charges for possessing child sexual abuse material and using a computer to solicit a minor. CNN's Rafael Romo joins us now. So, Rafael, what's the latest here?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, Omar, let me tell you, his team took the field just a few moments ago. The coach was not there, of course. And since high school coach Travis Turner went missing, Virginia state police said they have used search and rescue teams, drones, and police dogs to help locate him. But so far, they have not been successful. As to its search, state police announced on Tuesday that the 46-year-old is wanted on five counts of possession of what its laws call child pornography, and an additional five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. Police also said they had obtained 10 warrants relating to charges on Monday but did not release additional details about the allegations.

In a new development, the coach's family issued a statement Friday that in part says the last known contact the family had with Travis occurred on or about Thursday, November 20th, after he left his residence to walk in the woods. He is believed to have entered a heavily wooded and mountainous area, at which point no warrants had been issued for his arrest. An earlier statement from the family said he had a firearm with him, but the latest statement dropped that reference. We've reached out to the attorney to ask why.

Searching the area where the coach went missing is not easy. It's nestled in a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains where the rugged topography features rivers and forests, as well as elevations that vary from low valleys to high peaks.

[14:20:06]

A local woman who told CNN affiliate WCYB she has been acquainted with Turner since high school, said the Union High School head football coach needs to come forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAULA BAKER, ACQUAINTANCE OF TRAVIS TURNER: I couldn't see him doing it, but if the charges they just put on him are true, then he needs to be brought to justice. If he did do it, he needs to turn himself in for the sake of the victims and for his family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Omar, the Union High School team Turner coaches won a regional semifinal game last weekend without their head coach and will be on the field again today for a game that was scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. We saw them take the field just a few moments ago, and according to "The Bristol Herald Courier," a local newspaper, Turner was a quarterback at Appalachia high school before it consolidated with another school to form Union High in 2011. That school's team is the one he now coaches and the one that is playing a game right now. Now back to you.

JIMENEZ: Rafael Romo, appreciate the reporting.

All right, just ahead for us, if you haven't heard already, the holiday shopping season is officially underway. But how could the concerns over inflation and higher tariffs turn into a smaller set of gifts under the Christmas tree? We'll talk about it.

But first, a live look at Des Moines as millions of people face a major winter storm threat as they travel this holiday weekend. Heads up, check your weather.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:00]

JIMENEZ: Let's take a live look at Chicago's Midway Airport, where you can't see much, and there is currently a ground stop due to low visibility. The massive winter storm crossing the country right now is impacting millions of families who are trying to get back home after the Thanksgiving holiday, including those trying to fly out of Midway.

And another thing people are thinking about as we head into this holiday season economic anxiety in some cases across the U.S., as new figures show, shoppers turned out big numbers, though, for Black Friday deals. According to data from Adobe Analytics, shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion yesterday. That's actually up more than nine percent from last year.

I want to bring in consumer expert Claudia Lombana. Now, Claudia, thank you for being here, one. But with numbers like these, do you expect consumers and retailers will actually have a really successful holiday shopping season?

CLAUDIA LOMBANA, CONSUMER EXPERT: I mean, the projections from experts that we're seeing is that we are going to see a $1 trillion number for the first time ever when it comes to holiday spending. Consumers are spending. They're just being more cautious. The ones that have higher income are spending at will. But those who are less affluent are budgeting. They're being mindful of where they're getting those deals. As you mentioned, record online spending, that is a huge number for retailers. And it shows that consumers are turning to online.

But let's not forget that Omnichannel is also still very popular. We've got half of people, even if they're going in store, they're still checking their mobile devices to see -- make sure that they're getting the best deals. And maybe that happens online, so you can even be in store and making your purchase online if you see a better deal.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, coming into this time of year, we've been hearing about tariffs, obviously, coupled with inflation, that that might be down in terms of the past few years, but still exists, as we know well, but that those two factors might have dampened the mood for millions of Americans, or at the very least made them consider more carefully how they are making their purchases. What are you hearing from businesses and shoppers you speak with? Are these actually affecting their mindsets here?

LOMBANA: Absolutely. I mean, we've talked to shoppers. We've also talked to small business owners in different cities across America. Consumers are definitely being more cautious. But during the holidays, they also want to engage in the holiday spirit. So it's really up to retailers to find ways to suck them in, to give them the best deals, to make sure that they are getting a good price or good value for the money that they are planning to spend.

Now, even though we're going to see increased spending, what's happening is that the number of items purchased is actually down, but prices are higher, average selling prices are higher. So we are seeing the increase in spending due to that inflation that you mentioned.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Looking towards Cyber Monday here, is Cyber Monday still a great time to get some deals if you missed out on Black Friday? I know it seems like the dynamics change almost every year. How are you looking at Cyber Monday here?

LOMBANA: You're right, the dynamics do change every year, Omar. Really, we saw a half the people in America already shopping by Halloween this year for the holiday period. Of course, this five-day period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday is significant for retailers both online and in-store. We are expecting to see Cyber Monday deliver strong, but Black Friday is really the biggest day of this five-day period. And so far, I think retailers should be pretty happy, certainly with what we're seeing online.

JIMENEZ: Well, for those who got their shopping done in October, send me some of your organizational skills, because that will likely never be me. Claudia Lombana, thank you for being here. Really appreciate the time.

LOMBANA: You bet. Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right, today is also small business Saturday, and the shops and restaurants in fire ravaged communities in California are among those who need help the most. You can see the damage left behind in Altadena, for example. [14:30:00]

And that's where we find CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. And Julia, some of the businesses there are just now starting to reopen, and we're almost a year later at this point.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. This is the first weekend that a lot of these businesses are open. Before I walk down and show you some of them. This is a great example, Omar, of what we've seen and what you see in some of these images. This is the kind of devastation that we were seeing here. Today, it's the opposite. It's really this community coming together to support their local small businesses.

You know, this is a really important day because across the country, small businesses are expected to make about up to 20 percent of their yearly revenue. Last year, that was around $22 billion nationwide.

And just to give you a little bit of an idea of the damage to these businesses and businesses being closed, the loss in property, people just not working, that's also, you know, a lot of time here, more than 10 months -- $5 billion to $10 billion is the estimate in losses from the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Development.

But I spoke with one of those business owners who is opening for the first weekend today. And this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIANA MELINA, OWNER OF SIDECCA: It's awesome to see people walking in the door, just seeing cars on the street. And I intentionally wanted to reopen for this season to give people a reason to come up here. I think everyone needs to see and see the rebuild and/or just be patient with all the businesses here who are trying to make it. Small businesses, supporting small businesses is like, you know, it's our true passion to be a little, small mom and pop shop. So we love it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And I have to say, Omar, on my way here today, I saw so many of these small businesses reopening businesses that we saw burn down during the fire. It truly warmed my heart. And it's so great to see people already coming out to support these small businesses, which are really the lifeline of this community that's just now getting back on their feet.

JIMENEZ: Yes, pretty incredible to see these businesses reopening after the amount of devastation we saw many of these communities to start this year. Julia Vargas Jones, appreciate the reporting there on the ground for us.

And as the community of Altadena works to rebuild, a curious landmark has emerged as a symbol of hope. We'll explain coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:37:03]

JIMENEZ: Pope Leo celebrated mass with some 3,000 Catholics in Istanbul today. The pontiff choosing Turkey for his first foreign trip since becoming the head of the Catholic Church. Don't think it has anything to do with Thanksgiving, by the way. But Leo focusing his message on building bridges across religious lines in a country primarily Muslim and with about 33,000 Catholics out of some 85 million people. Now, while celebrating mass, the Pope also referenced a landmark waterway in Istanbul as he called for interfaith dialog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV: There triple span across the strait reminds us of the importance of our common efforts to build bridges of unity on three levels -- within the community, in ecumenical relations with members of other Christian denominations, and in our encounters with brothers and sisters belonging to other religions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, during his trip, Leo also made his first visit to a mosque since becoming Pope. CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the first time that Pope Leo has visited a mosque since his election. It's very significant that he's come to the Blue Mosque, which is a 17th century place of worship, very important in Turkey. It is known as the Blue Mosque because of the beautiful interior made up of thousands of turquoise tiles.

Leo arrived at the mosque, greeted by Muslim leaders. He went into the mosque, took off his shoes as, of course, everyone is required to do. And this visit really sending a signal that Leo wants to build on the work that the Catholic Church has done over the last few decades on interfaith dialog. It's something that Pope Francis was very concerned about. Pope Francis visited this mosque in 2014, as did Pope Benedict. Leo showing he wants to continue in that mold. He sees the importance of interfaith harmony as having a direct, concrete impact. He said in Turkey on Friday that religions can never be used to justify war, fanaticism, or ideology.

His visit to this mosque sending the signal that believers have to work together. This visit comes on the third day of his trip to Turkey, and, of course, this visit, the first since his election that has taken place. He's gone abroad, and he will be going to Lebanon after his visit to Turkey ends on Sunday.

Christopher lamb, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right, Chris Lamb, thank you. Also on the world stage, the World Health Organization is sounding the

alarm about a surge in measles cases around the globe. The new report says vaccine coverage is now well below the level needed to stop transmission. And there's a growing number of outbreaks happening in countries previously declared measles free, including right here in the United States. CNN's Meg Tirrell has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

[14:40:07]

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, some good news from this World Health Organization report. Over the last about 25 years, we've seen an 88 percent decline in global deaths from measles. So that's a really marked change.

However, if you look down at the numbers, we are seeing signs that at least in terms of cases, that's starting to reverse itself. If you look at 2024, we still saw 95,000 deaths that year from measles. The World Health Organization points out that any death from a disease that's preventable with a highly effective and low cost vaccine the way measles is, they call it unacceptable. So you're seeing almost 100,000 people around the world each year still dying from measles.

But those deaths are coming down. If you look back at 2000, that's down from 777,000 global deaths from measles, 38 million cases that year. In 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, cases came down to 10.2 million globally and just more than 100,000.

However, with the COVID pandemic, there were disruptions to measles vaccination programs around the world, and we have started to see cases start to climb back up, now to an estimated 11,000,000 in 2024. And though deaths have continued to fall, the WHO report suggests that some of this sort of split in the directions of cases and deaths may be explained by the fact that we're seeing more cases in middle income countries. So these are places that have lower case fatality rates for measles because of better health care systems and nutrition.

But there are still concerns that we're seeing more cases from measles, because measles, even if it's not deadly, can also have longer term health consequences, and, of course, as the WHO points out, is preventable with a safe and effective vaccine that's been around for decades.

One of the countries, of course, that is seeing more measles cases is the United States. And we are at risk of losing elimination status, something that was hard won in the year 2000 after 40 years of having the measles vaccine and trying to apply vaccination programs broadly. This year, we're approaching 1,800 cases. That's a record number of measles cases in the U.S., the most since well before we declared the disease eliminated, a lot of that having to do with declining vaccination rates, both nationally but also in pockets of communities where we see quite low measles vaccination rates. A lot of concern that the measles outbreaks that were seeing are going to continue.

(END VIDEO TAPE) JIMENEZ: All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you for that reporting.

Still to come for us, above the ashes of a devastating wildfire, a town is rebuilding under this shining beacon of hope during the holidays. This story of resilience, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:18]

JIMENEZ: This weekend is your last chance to choose the 2025 CNN Hero of the Year. And while you cast your vote, we're actually checking in with past CNN Heroes whose impact continues to grow. Among them is 2022 CNN Hero, who has dedicated his life to making positive change in his south Philadelphia neighborhood. Anderson Cooper shares how he and his Young Chances Foundation are moving onward and upward.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: For more than a decade, Tyrique Glasgow has been a positive force in his south Philly neighborhood, providing hot meals, youth programs, and vital resources to hundreds of residents.

TYRIQUE GLASGOW, CNN HERO: How many people need school supplies?

COOPER: He was honored as a CNN Hero in 2022 for his work making lives better and his neighborhood safer through his Young Chances Foundation. And for the last five years, he's also been at the forefront of another, more symbolic effort.

He learned in 2020 that a local street honored Roger Taney, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision. This now infamous opinion said black Americans were inferior and had no constitutional rights.

GLASGOW: He basically said that we're not as equal to everyone else in the country.

COOPER: He joined the Rename Taney Coalition.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ball really started rolling when he got involved, thank God.

GLASGOW: I decided to make that one of our staples in our organization. For us, it was about how do we change tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We went door to door and got petitions. We did a parade. Anything that we could do to educate people.

COOPER: Residents also decided who the street should honor.

GLASGOW: They chose Caroline LeCount, who was basically our Philadelphia Rosa Parks.

COOPER: A teacher and activist, LeCount fought to integrate the city's streetcars in the 1860s. The name change was finally approved last year.

GLASGOW: To see it come down and to put someone up there that respected our life makes me feel proud. She is the first black woman to have a street named in the city of Philadelphia. It really made me see that it takes time, but it's the legacy that you leave behind that's important.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

JIMENEZ: You can go to CNN.com/Heroes right now to vote for the CNN hero of the year, or any of your favorite top five heroes. You get 10 votes per day every day through this Sunday, November 30th, to help the heroes who inspire you the most.

There's more to come here on CNN Newsroom, including an incredible story of resilience. But also take a look at live pictures from the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana. A whole lot of snow as we continue to track this weekend's massive winter storm impacting millions of travelers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:54:36]

JIMENEZ: High atop the fire ravaged community of Altadena, California, sits a symbol of hope and a mission to have it shine bright once again. This is the Star of Palawoo, a nearly century old, 35 foot tall metal star -- you can't miss it in this photo here -- covered in white lights and visible from miles away. It's typically only lit during the holidays, but also twinkled through the darkness of the COVID pandemic.

[14:55:00]

The luminary has already withstood the test of time. Winds, wildfires, weather, even decades of being forgotten. But earlier this year, the star faced its toughest challenge yet, the deadly Eaton fire. Flames driven by those ferocious Santa Ana winds would claim the lives of 19 people and destroy 6,000 homes. And above the ruins, perched in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the star survived.

I want to bring in Bill Westphal, an Altadena resident and caretaker of sorts for the Star of Palawoo. He and his wife also lost their home in the Eaton fire. And Bill, just thank you for taking the time to be here. First, I just want to ask, how are you and your family doing? I mean, we're almost a year after the wildfires at this point.

BILL WESTPHAL, LOST HOME IN EATON FIRE: We're doing OK. Weve submitted our plans for rebuilding and hope to get that started soon and get back to Altadena.

JIMENEZ: Yes, I mean, we were just showing the, you know, the businesses, a lot of them just now getting the chance to reopen all this time later. I mean, we saw, of course, how devastating it was during that time. You know, the star is still standing today, but as I understand,

without permanent power. Can you just tell us what you what you're doing to make this this so-called beautiful little beacon shine again, and some of the challenges you're up against?

WESTPHAL: Well, I'm working with the owner of the property, Dr. Phil Elkins. And his sons and some volunteers hooked up some battery power to it initially after the fire. But that's not holding. So what we hope to do is get a temporary power pole installed on the property and actually wire the regular power cord up to the star and get it lit again as soon as we can, hopefully before the end of the year.

JIMENEZ: And you know, for perspective here, the star typically lit up only around the holidays, but can you just take us back? Why was this star built? Why is it so important to this community here?

WESTPHAL: Well, it was originally built in 1929 by a gentleman by the name of Francis Nightingale. He was sometimes considered the father of outdoor lighting. And he lit it during the holidays back then. And it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. He passed away, and in 1989, Dr. Phil Elkins bought the property. And in 2006, I believe, he discovered the cable going up to the star, and he lit it beginning in 2006 with regular, like, Christmas lights.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

WESTPHAL: That's when I first saw it. 2018, I noticed part of it was not lit, and I went up and fixed that. And that's when we got the idea to rebuild the star with a group of volunteers in 2019. And that's when we started lighting it with the new light bulbs in 2019 during the holidays, special gatherings. COVID, it became -- it took the nickname of the star of hope during COVID. And so that's why we want to get it lit back up, to give hope to the community.

JIMENEZ: And yes, tell me about that. I don't know if you can see, but as you were talking, we're showing just really how the lights of that star pierce the darkness really across that hillside and mountainside there. You know, I don't have to say that you all in many parts of southern California experienced so much loss earlier this year. You just described it as a star of hope. Just tell me about that. What does it mean to have this star glow again?

WESTPHAL: Well, Altadena lost so much. So much was destroyed. A lot of it will never return. We're hoping that the star will give hope to the residents who are still there that the Altadena they knew will return someday. And for the residents who were displaced, the star being lit will give them hope that they might get back to their home in Altadena someday.

JIMENEZ: Yes. You know, we're almost a year to this point. I just wonder how you're processing not just everything that happened, but what it will take to sort of get the community you knew back to once what it once was.

WESTPHAL: It's going to take a lot, Omar. There's a lot of movement, a lot of organizations. We've received a lot of help. It's really heartwarming. There's a lot of movements. The local residents, local businesses are starting back up, and slowly, I think it will get back. I don't think it'll ever be the same, in my personal opinion. But it'll get back to close to what it once was. There's a lot of community support in Altadena.

JIMENEZ: Yes, well, I mean, it's incredible to see, at the very least. We've seen so much resilience over this year as well. And hopefully this star ends up being that that beacon of hope as, as it once was as well over COVID. Bill Westphal, really appreciate you taking the time to bring us into this story.

WESTPHAL: Thank you, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

And you can read much more of the story from CNN's Cheri Mossburg on CNN.com.

All right, before we go, a waitress working the Thanksgiving shift at an IHOP in Des Moines --