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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
National Guardsman Dies, Suspect Identified as Afghan National; Death Tolls Jumps to 94 in Hong Kong Fire; Pope Leo Warns Global Conflicts are Endangering Humanity; Putin Sticks to His Guns Ahead of Talks with U.S. on Ukraine; London's New Bond Street Named Most Expensive for Retailers; National Retail Federation: 187M People to Shop this Weekend; Nonprofit Provides Moms in Need with Basic Supplies. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 28, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BOB GELDOF, FOUNDER, LIVE AID: -- to do something weird and mad and wild. And if that's what we leave behind, then that's what I'd love to be a part of.
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That's the end of our show. You've been a fantastic audience. Thank you and good night. Over to you, Philadelphia.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): THE STORY IS in Washington, D.C., where one of the National Guard members shot near the White House has died. We'll bring you the latest on the investigation.
THE STORY IS in Hong Kong, where the deadliest fire in decades has led to arrests and calls for change. We'll go live to the scene.
And THE STORY IS in Turkey, where Pope Leo is meeting with Catholics on his first overseas trip.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, in today for Elex Michaelson.
President Donald Trump says U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guard members shot near the White House, has died. He says he's spoken to Beckstrom's family and is open to attending her funeral.
The president made the announcement a short time ago while on a Thanksgiving call with service members.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the Guardsmen that we're talking about, highly respected young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023. Outstanding in every way. She's just passed away.
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BRUNHUBER: Law enforcement held a dignified transfer of Beckstrom earlier. A source says Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was in attendance.
Now we're learning new details about the suspect, who was also wounded and taken to hospital. A U.S. official tells CNN Rahmanullah Lakanwal was vetted by intel agencies and determined to be, quote, "clean on all checks."
He's an Afghan national who began working with the CIA around 2011.
President Trump says his administration is now looking into whether to deport his family. At his direction, the U.S. will also reexamine all green cards issued to people from 19 countries of concern, according to a top immigration official.
The president says he will, quote, "permanently pause migration from all third-world countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover." And he says he'll remove anyone who isn't a net asset to the United States.
Meanwhile, the federal prosecutor leading the shooting investigation says it's still too soon to reveal a motive.
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JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR DISTRICT OF COLOMBIA: A lone gunman opened fire without provocation, ambush-style, armed with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver.
One Guardsman is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the Guardsman again. Another Guardsman is struck several times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: President Trump says Sarah Beckstrom was savagely attacked Wednesday along with Andrew Wolfe, who's still fighting for his life.
CNN spoke to some of Wolfe's neighbors, who say he's a great guy. Listen to this.
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MICHAEL LANGONE, ANDREW WOLFE'S NEIGHBOR: He'd give the shirt off his back to somebody. Just really good guy. We always looked out for each other. Best neighbor you could ask for. Really? It really caught us off guard. Really close to home.
TINA GESFORD, ANDREW WOLFE'S NEIGHBOR: A very sweet kid. Hard worker. Like I said, sending best wishes to him and his family. Hopefully, you know, things work out good for him. He's a hard worker. Good kid. Like I said, he goes to work every day.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Brian Todd reports from the scene in Washington.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're getting some crucial new information on how the shooting unfolded, mainly because we're finally getting access to the shooting scene for the first time. Going to take you through it right now.
This is the area around the Farragut West Metro Station where the shooting occurred. Officials say the shooter came around a corner, presumably this corner, and started opening fire on the National Guardsmen.
This is a planter. Part of the evidence we're talking about here. That's an exit from a bullet that went in here and exited here in this planter.
And coming over here, I can show you. Officials have said that the -- one of the Guardsmen tried to take cover behind a bus stop shelter. And this is that bus stop shelter, because you can see this panel of glass here. But this panel has been taken out. You can see shards of broken glass there and here where it's been fastened. Unclear if it was shot out or whether officials might have just removed it to process the evidence.
In this planter, you can see a section of it has been removed. Going to show you a little bit more about that in just a second.
As we walk over here. Another planter here has a makeshift memorial to the victims. Flowers and an American flag planted.
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And yes, talking about that planter that had the section removed. Going to show you why. You have bullet holes here and here of that planter that was removed. So, some traces, some fragments and evidence of the shooting remain here the day after the shooting occurred.
We have information on the shooter, the alleged shooter himself. He's identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national, which -- who Jeanine Pirro, the attorney general for Washington, D.C., said lived in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife, and they believe five children. That he drove across the country with the intent of coming here to D.C.
Sarah Beckstrom had been in the National Guard for about two years, a little bit more than two years, according to officials. Andrew Wolfe had been in the National Guard for close to six years.
They had both been deployed in Washington, D.C., since August. And that was, of course, when President Trump ordered the law enforcement surge here in Washington, D.C., where they started to send in National Guard troops from all over the country. More than 2,000 of them ended up being here.
But those two individuals were part of the West Virginia National Guard and here since August for that deployment.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Multiple agencies are working the sprawling investigation into the shooting. FBI director Kash Patel says they're looking into any known associates the alleged shooter has in the U.S. or overseas. Let's listen.
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KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: There is confirmation now that the subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces. We are fully investigating that aspect of his background, as well, to include any known associates that are either overseas or here in the United States of America. That is what a broad-based international terrorism investigation looks like.
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BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore. He's a retired supervisory special agent with the FBI.
Thanks for being here with us on -- on what is just a tragic day here.
What goes through your mind as a former agent when you hear that a service member has died in what appears to be a targeted ambush on American soil?
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's crushing. I mean, this is -- this is kind of your worst nightmare.
What's -- what's striking to me is that this individual drove from Bellingham, Washington, according to what I'm hearing, drove from Bellingham, Washington, all the way to Washington, D.C. to attack these two soldiers.
And so, this is obviously premeditated. It is planned. And so, as an agent, I want to -- I want to be in that room, finding out who he was communicating with; whether he was communicating with somebody overseas; whether he was communicating closely with people nearby. Everything that he was doing; his entire electronic footprint.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And but before I get more into the investigation itself, just still talking about the victims here and especially Sarah Beckstrom. I mean, she was only 20 years old, had been in the National Guard for
-- for just over two years. I mean, does the loss of someone so young in this kind of attack hit kind of differently for you?
MOORE: Well, yes, it hits differently, because I don't think they had any inkling that they would be targeted in this.
Sarah was with a military police company, an M.P. company. I think was the 863rd or something like that. And so, she was a trained military police officer. And they handle -- on bases, they handle standard law enforcement, just like uniformed police in the United States -- outside of bases.
And, it's just when somebody that young is ambushed and murdered it kind of makes you wonder about the depravity of human beings.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. So, you started talking about the investigation there and looking for answers here. I mean, from an investigative standpoint, does the fact that one victim has now died change how law enforcement and investigators will kind of approach this case?
MOORE: No, no, all it does is, is change the numbers on the -- on the penalty phase.
This -- this was, from the beginning, a full-court press on a counterterrorism investigation on -- on this Afghan, who did the shooting? This from minute one. I'm fairly certain the FBI believed that this was targeted and therefore political, likely, and therefore terrorism.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, likely terrorism. And President Trump called the shooting an act of terror.
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I mean, it is officially, at least, too early to know the motive. Does the president announcing that sort of complicate things at all for investigators?
MOORE: Any time any politician says something about an ongoing military case or an investigative case, whether it's FBI or any other organization, it's -- it's not going to be helpful.
Anybody talking about the case is not going to be helpful, if they're talking about it from an authoritative or an acclaimed authoritative point of view, the FBI can have their -- their hunches, their beliefs, and statistical probabilities. But that doesn't mean it is.
I mean, a good example is -- is yesterday when the governor of West Virginia said that both of the servicemen had died. This is not helpful.
BRUNHUBER: The president has -- has questioned the -- the vetting process, because the accused worked with the CIA. He would have been vetted then in terms of when he was allowed into the country. A senior U.S. official told CNN he was clean on all checks. I mean, what questions does that raise to you about the -- the process
when it comes to vetting individuals who worked with U.S. forces overseas?
MOORE: Well, obviously, we have an obligation to people who have put their lives on the line to help American soldiers overseas, not to leave them there to be at the hands of the Taliban at that point.
But when you bring them over, you can't just say on the date he left Afghanistan, left the life, the culture, and all the people he knew and moved to Bellingham, Washington, which has the opposite climate in a country he'd never lived in before. On that day, he seemed normal.
Well, you're going to change drastically when you go through a situation like that. And I heard earlier that they were doing annual vetting of these people.
The problem with that is a good, strong vetting takes almost a year. So, I don't believe -- I can't understand how that could have been adequate. And in this case, certainly it wasn't.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Listen, really appreciate your expertise on this. Steve Moore, thanks so much.
MOORE: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: The death toll from the high-rise apartment fire in Hong Kong has risen to 94, with more than 200 people still unaccounted for.
Now, investigators don't yet know what caused the fire, but they're looking at whether bamboo scaffolding and flammable construction materials may have helped the fire spread so quickly.
Hundreds of people are now homeless or staying in shelters. Hong Kong's chief executive says each household affected by the fire will receive about 1,200 U.S. dollars and get a social worker to help with recovery.
CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins me now live from Hong Kong.
Hanako, I understand there are still some flames there. Take us through the latest. What's happening there?
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kim, I'm actually just outside the apartment complex, and I just want to show you what I can see behind me.
Right now, there aren't any water hoses coming from fire trucks, and it looks as though the fire has largely been contained. According to authorities, they do say that the fires have been under control, though sometimes fires do pop up again in small pockets.
Now, of course, just around me in this area, there are dozens of fire trucks to really respond to. Again, any pockets of fire that might pop up in the coming hours or so.
But again, it seems the situation has largely improved from what we saw yesterday and of course, Wednesday, when the fire first broke out.
Now, Kim, I think you mentioned that there are survivors and those who have evacuated at emergency shelters. And let me just tell you, I mean, we were at some of those emergency shelters yesterday, and the community spirit there is absolutely astounding.
I mean, we saw boxes and boxes of babies, clothing. Ladies' clothing, emergency food, water, pet food, really anything that these evacuees and these survivors need. The community was really there to provide that for them.
I mean, the spirit behind this group and this community is absolutely astounding.
Now, Kim, as you mentioned, the authorities are still trying to investigate what exactly caused this fire and what also caused it to be so deadly. There are questions about, potentially, the construction material being used to renovate these buildings, and also some of the bamboo scaffolding that were encasing the buildings.
And again, as you know, at least three people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. But authorities haven't really updated since providing that information.
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Now, we can also say that firefighters and search-and-rescue missions were currently undergoing, Friday morning local time. They were going from unit to unit to try to find any remaining survivors.
According to the authorities, on Friday morning, they did say they were able to locate some survivors, but they haven't really provided any details beyond that.
So, there is still fear that at least 200 people still remain missing. And we don't know if those individuals are safe, if they're in a secure location or not, or if authorities are still tending to those injuries -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that update. Hanako Montgomery in Hong Kong, thanks so much.
President Trump says the United States will strike inside Venezuela, quote, "very soon." Now, he made the statement while speaking to members of the U.S. military on a Thanksgiving phone call. Listen to this.
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TRUMP: And 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. Have you probably noticed that?
We'll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that's going to start very soon. We warned them: stop sending poison to our country.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. has killed more than 80 people in strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean. The administration has offered no proof that the vessels were carrying drugs.
Pope Leo XIV is warning that conflicts on the global level are endangering humanity. The pontiff made the remarks during an impassioned address to civic and political leaders in Turkey during the first overseas trip of his papacy.
CNN's Christopher Lamb has more from Ankara, Turkey.
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CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A ceremonial welcome for Pope Leo XIV in Turkey.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the pontiff on his first foreign trip. Pope Leo is honoring a promise by his predecessor to visit Turkey and Lebanon, two Muslim-majority countries with ancient Christian communities, carrying a message of peace and unity between different branches of Christianity, as well as the Muslim faith.
POPE LEO XIV, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH: The particular occasion of my visit, the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, speaks to us of encounter and dialogue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): God is good. All the time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): God is good. All the time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): God is good. All the time.
LAMB (voice-over): Peace and compassion are the common values Erdogan says are shared with the pontiff. The two also discussed specifics, focusing on immigration, poverty, and the conflicts gripping the world, with nods to the late Pope Francis and his outspoken political views.
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): We have always deeply appreciated the steadfast stance of our esteemed guest and his predecessors, particularly on the Palestinian issue, as the large family of humanity. Our greatest debt to the Palestinian people is justice.
LAMB: Leo's visit to Turkey and Lebanon, a chance for him to exercise the papacy's soft power: to meet with world leaders and to address the leaders of Turkey directly to emphasize his concern about growing conflicts around the world, the need for countries to talk to each other, to dialogue in the cause for peace.
LAMB (voice-over): A chance to articulate his own brand of papal diplomacy. POPE LEO: In the aftermath of the tragedies of two world wars, which
saw the building of large international organizations, we are now experiencing a phase marked by heightened level of conflict on the global level, fueled by prevailing strategies of economic and military power.
This is enabling what Pope Francis called a third world war, fought piecemeal. We must in no way give in to this. The future of humanity is at stake.
LAMB (voice-over): Before heading to Istanbul, the pope met civic and religious leaders in Ankara, with Turkish culture on display. Paying tribute to the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
With the trip coinciding with Thanksgiving, the American-born pope brought the spirit of the holidays to the plain.
POPE LEO: To the Americans here, happy Thanksgiving! It's a wonderful day to celebrate. It's so important today that the message be transmitted in a way that really reveals the truth and the harmony that the world needs.
LAMB (voice-over): And received holiday-themed gifts: home-baked pumpkin pies from American journalists, and a baseball bat from his favorite team.
On this trip, the first American pope acting as a bridge between different cultures.
Christopher Lamb, CNN, Istanbul.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is about to kick off two-track negotiations over its peace plan for Ukraine, but Russia's president is already indicating he's not willing to make any concessions. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus, the fires in California earlier this year had a devastating impact. We'll look at how a nonprofit is providing mothers and children with the essentials they need.
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Those stories and more coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Efforts to advance the latest U.S. peace proposal for Ukraine will shift into overdrive in the coming days.
The U.S. Army secretary is expected in Kyiv at the end of the week for talks with Ukrainian officials. Dan Driscoll already met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
Now, the exact wording of the latest peace proposal is yet to be revealed. It was modified last weekend in Geneva. Ukraine and the Europeans pushed back against the original plan that reads very much like Moscow's wish list.
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President Zelenskyy says Kyiv is hoping for progress. Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Already this week, at the end of the week, our team, together with American representatives, will continue to translate the points we secured in Geneva into a form that puts us on the path to peace and security guarantees.
Next week, there will be important negotiations, not only for our delegation, but also for me personally. And we are laying solid groundwork for those talks.
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BRUNHUBER: But the Russian president is suggesting Ukraine should accept its losses and warning they could get worse. Vladimir Putin is expected to meet U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow next week. Clare Sebastian reports.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, after a week of frenzied diplomatic activity, mainly by the U.S. and Ukraine, this was a detailed rundown of exactly where Russian President Putin stands.
And the bottom line: nothing has changed.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Yes, he made positive noises, saying the U.S. peace proposal, as it stands, can form the basis for future agreements.
SEBASTIAN: He even said he's prepared to put in writing that Russia has no aggressive intentions towards Europe. But on the most difficult issue of all, territorial concessions, he had this to say.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Once Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territories they occupy, then the fighting will end. If they don't withdraw, we will achieve this through military means.
SEBASTIAN: To clarify, Ukraine cannot occupy, as Putin puts it, its own sovereign territory.
But this suggests, although it's not 100 percent clear, that Russia still wants the whole of the Donbas, including the part it doesn't occupy.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And there's another big obstacle here. While Putin is ready and willing to receive Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, in Moscow next week --
SEBASTIAN: -- he still says he won't do a deal with Ukraine's leadership because, as he's argued before, it postponed elections, which it can't, of course, hold under martial law. And is therefore illegitimate.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): So, we have two tracks, still. Ukraine says it expects to continue work with a U.S. delegation this week.
SEBASTIAN: And the U.S. and Russia will talk next week, but still no clear path to bringing the two together.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back with more. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's take a look at our top stories.
One of the two National Guard members targeted in a shooting Wednesday has died. President Donald Trump says U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was, quote, "outstanding in every way."
U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe is still in critical condition following surgery. They were both attacked while on patrol just blocks from the White House.
The death toll has jumped to 94 in that Hong Kong apartment block fire. More than 200 people are still unaccounted for. One official says firefighting and rescue efforts have taken longer than expected, because the inferno was much worse than first thought.
Bamboo scaffolding and flammable construction materials may have helped the fire spread so quickly.
And the death toll from severe flooding and landslides in Indonesia is now at least 61. Heavy rain from a tropical cyclone triggered landslides, which wiped out roads and left many residents stranded.
Emergency crews are using boats and helicopters to reach them, as well as deliver aid.
Diplomacy is shifting into overdrive this week as talks for a peace plan in Ukraine continue. For more on this, we go to Brisbane, Australia, where we're joined by Mick Ryan. He's a retired Australian army major general and the author of "The War in Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire."
Thanks so much for being with us here again. So, Putin said Thursday this framework could be the basis for a deal.
But he also warned that fighting will only stop when Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territory they hold. And if they don't, Russia will take it by force, in his words.
So, before we get to whether they can or not, I mean, what do you make of -- of that response? The tenor of it?
MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, I think that what Putin is doing is continuing to manipulate the Trump administration by holding out the prospect of a peace deal. He -- he does not want to be seen as arbitrarily dismissing it. So, more sanctions and more weapons aren't sent to Ukraine.
But I don't think there's anything very optimistic in his words. Putin thinks he's winning on the battlefield, and I think he would prefer to continue the war rather than negotiate.
BRUNHUBER: OK, so let's talk about the battlefield, then. The most contentious issue from the original plan was requiring Ukraine to hand over parts of Donetsk that it still controls.
What does the current battlefield reality in Donetsk tell us about whether Ukraine could actually defend what it still holds there?
RYAN: Well, the reality is that, even with all of its many tactical, technological, and strategic advantages and manpower advantages, Russia really hasn't been able to leverage this into any decisive gains this year.
It hasn't gained a lot of territory. It's still fighting Pokrovsk, after nearly a year. And the other fortress cities in Donetsk still are occupied by the Ukrainians and are likely to be held by them for some time to come.
[00:35:03]
BRUNHUBER: So, Ukraine pushed back on that original deal, which -- which, as I mentioned earlier, seemed very, you know, made in Moscow. But more broadly, Ukraine has agreed to a revised framework. Now, we don't know all the details.
But based on what you know about the military situation right now, is Ukraine negotiating from a position of strength or weakness?
RYAN: Well, I think President Zelenskyy is in a pretty tough spot right now. He's got that very significant corruption scandal. He has large shortfalls in his front-line forces. He has a population that's facing a very grim winter with the greatest power outages of the war so far, due to Russian attacks.
So, this doesn't come as a great time for Zelenskyy. But at the same time, he has been very careful not to seem to be arbitrarily dismissing it. And I think he and his government are working productively with the secretary of state to produce something that isn't an unjust agreement, but at least, ensures that Ukraine has defensible ground, if there is some kind of ceasefire.
BRUNHUBER: Now, Ukraine has been pushing back. One of the most contentious parts was the -- the limiting of the number of military members. And it was originally supposed to be capped at 600,000.
Ukraine and Europe are pushing to have that raised to 800,000 troops in this revised plan.
So, from a military planning perspective, I mean, is that enough to deter another Russian invasion, possibly, down the road?
RYAN: It potentially is. It depends. What kind of other weapons Ukraine has, its long-range strike weapons, whether it has got the munitions and vehicles and air force to be able to support that 800,000-person military force.
We should note here there's no kind of reciprocity for the Russians here. All these kind of conditions about the size of the Ukrainian military and who it can work with are not imposed on the Russian side, which gives us some insights into where this was drafted.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Exactly right.
So, President Trump is sending his envoy back to Moscow next week while saying only a few sticking points remain. So, based on -- on sort of how this war has evolved, I mean, what do you think the real military sticking points are that could still derail this whole thing?
RYAN: Well, I think the ground that Ukraine is trying to hold in Eastern Ukraine is defensible. It can hold Russia off for some time to come.
If it's forced to give up all of Donetsk, it forces it into flatter terrain that's harder to hold and would need more military people. So, that's a fairly significant sticking point.
But just the prospect of handing over territory the Russians -- that the Russians haven't had to fight for will be -- will be a very tough thing for the Ukrainians to swallow. So, we'll see how that goes in future negotiations.
BRUNHUBER: Wow. I really appreciate getting your analysis on this. Mick Ryan, thank you so much.
RYAN: Thanks, Kim. It's good to be with you.
BRUNHUBER: All right.
Well, for a change of pace, just ahead, the holiday shopping season is upon us. And this year, A.I. shopping tools are really taking off. So, we'll look at how technology is changing the way people find deals. That's coming up. Stay with us.
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[00:43:04] BRUNHUBER: The holiday shopping season kicks off this week in Europe and here in the U.S. And it's not just shoppers who could be seeing higher prices. It's the shops, as well.
CNN's Anna Cooban explains.
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ANNA COOBAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm standing on the most expensive retail strip in the world. New Bond Street in London has overtaken Milan and New York as the priciest place to be selling stuff to the ultra-wealthy.
COOBAN (voice-over): According to a new report from commercial real estate company Cushman and Wakefield, rents over the last year on New Bond Street increased by 22 percent to over $2,200 per square foot per year. Rents in New York on Upper Fifth Avenue stayed at around $2,000 per square foot.
And losing the top spot is Milan's fashion district Via Montenapoleone. Again, there have been no rent increases this year.
So, why are these luxury brands scrambling for a spot on this sidewalk?
COOBAN: Burberry. It's an iconic British fashion brand, and the company recently posted its first quarter of growth in two years.
Now, as CEO Joshua Shulman has talked recently about the importance of going back to basics, displaying the iconic scarves and trench coats in the shop windows.
And the report by Cushman and Wakefield has made it clear how important it is for brands to really lean into their flagship stores. Being in person; smelling, touching, feeling the clothes, that is really good for business.
It's not just coats and scarves that are really pushing up the rents here. I'm here between Burlington Gardens and Clifford Street. Now, this is the most hotly contested slice of retail real estate in the world right now.
And it's where you get your diamonds.
COOBAN (voice-over): It's so easy to get swept up in the glitz and glamor before you remember the price tag. I guess I'll just settle for a spot of window shopping.
COOBAN: Most people will do their shopping a stone's throw from here, either Oxford Street or Regent Street. But even there, there have been double-digit rent increases.
[00:45:04]
So, it's going to be an expensive Christmas, not just for shoppers, but for the shops. Anna Cooban, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is Josh Constine, a venture partner at SignalFire, a VC firm in San Francisco.
Good to see you again. Happy Thanksgiving. So, you know, every year tech usually makes up a huge part of the Black Friday spend. Same story this year?
JOSH CONSTINE, VENTURE PARTNER, SIGNALFIRE: Well, this year, with tariffs hitting technology harder than any other sector, we may see less of those discounts than most people expect.
One of SignalFire's portfolio companies, Stampley, reviewed $104 billion of business spend across invoices and found that technology was the sector with the most business spending volatility.
They are just grappling with, you know, huge tariffs on components. Lots of exceptions going away and coming back. And so, that kind of tumultuousness is meaning you're not going to get those huge 50, 75 percent off on that -- on gadgets the way you might have in a previous year.
BRUNHUBER: Really? OK, so I was expecting tariffs to play some role. I didn't know tech would be hit so hard.
Is that sort of -- you talked about gadgets. I mean, are we talking tech across the board here? Or are there sort of certain things that people should be looking for?
CONSTINE: Yes, we've seen some exemptions in the tariffs for smartphones and computers. So, some of the biggest purchases may still be available.
But some of those smaller accessories, the kind of things that make really nice gifts, especially for the kids, those might not be seeing the big discounts that we would have expected.
And so, I think instead, I think the big trend this year is going to be people looking to ChatGPT and the A.I. engines to help them do the comparison shopping, find the best possible deals while still hopefully avoiding those crazy hallucinations that might make you think that something was 99 percent off.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Let me -- let me jump in here because, you know, I -- I'm old-school. Things have changed a lot in my lifetime.
I mean, I remember a time when people used to go into brick and mortar. Then we sort of switched to online shopping. Now, you're saying we're getting computers to shop for us? I mean, A.I. Shopping tools.
Can you -- can you walk us through exactly how something like, like ChatGPT is actually sort of changing the way that people find deals and choose what to buy?
CONSTINE: I mean, it used to be this incredibly stressful process where you were never sure if you'd seen all the information, if you were comparison shopping across the entire breadth of the Internet.
And so, you were juggling 100 tabs, trying to compare sort of apples to oranges, specs and things, as well as, you know, dealing with reviews that are not always true these days. You know, a lot of the stuff we see on Reddit these days is AstroTurfed or a.k.a., is just sort of fake engagement created by the companies to make their products look good.
But what I think ChatGPT is incredible for is being able to say, hey, across these three products, what is best at this function? Or here's what I'm actually going to be using this product for. Is this the best one? Not just is this generically the best product for the use case, but for my personal use case.
I think that that's actually really exciting.
That said, you know, we still do need to patronize those local stores, especially for things that you might need last minute. You know, if your local hardware store or costume store goes out of -- out of business, you know, Amazon is not going to save you when you need that last-minute light bulb or costume right before that party.
So, I think we still need to make sure we're looking out for those local businesses.
BRUNHUBER: Right. Absolutely. But certainly, people will be shopping a lot online. And some -- you know, some of the things they'll be looking for, I expect, are some of the things that are becoming trendy.
People opening up their wallets for -- for longevity and wellness tech. We're talking everything from sort of sleep trackers to health monitoring devices. Why do you think that category is having such a moment right now?
CONSTINE: I think we've seen this natural evolution. It was like exercise in the '80s, diet in the '90s, yoga in the 2000s, meditation in the 2010s. And now I think sort of holistic longevity tech, blood testing, figuring out what sort of peptide stack you should be on is becoming the new rage, especially in San Francisco. It's a conversation at every dinner.
So, now I think people are trying to look at, you know, instead of buying my family something that's just going to be sort of frivolous, or maybe it looks nice or they play with it for a little while, can I actually get more time with my family, long-term, by getting them an Oura ring or a WHOOP band, or an Eight Sleep mattress, or Loop quiet earplugs?
And so, I think that's becoming a feel-good type of present this year.
Though, one crazy trend is that we expect there to be a 10 percent increase in the use of buy now, pay later options. Things like Klarna, where you can actually pay in installments, even for small items.
But with the macroeconomic, you know, status that we're in right now, a lot of Americans kind of running budget -- on budget and running paycheck to paycheck. Might be less buy now, pay later. It might be just buy now, pay never.
BRUNHUBER: Oh, really? Well, listen, I have to say on that list of gadgets that you mentioned just now or wellness trends, I mean, I have to confess, I hadn't heard of most of them.
[00:50:03]
Now, you talk about people being perhaps budget conscious and the way people are paying and so on. Maybe people, especially for tech, back in the day, they might have waited -- sort of waited out Black Friday and waited for Cyber Monday, because they used to be sort of very different shopping events.
I mean, is there any meaningful difference between those two days when it comes to tech deals, or has that distinction kind of disappeared?
CONSTINE: I think it's all blended together. And instead, what you see is people are advertising big discounts from early, from maybe, you know, even a week before Thanksgiving. And if you wait till Black Friday or Cyber Monday, they may just be totally sold out.
Because what they want to do is catch your eye with a massive percentage off, get you to the website. Oh, sorry, we actually only had, like, five of those in stock. Why don't you go buy something else at full price?
And so, I think if you're really trying to do deal hunting, you need to be looping through these websites every few days in the run-up to the holidays, rather than expecting there be this one perfect golden moment. And at least you're not going to have to sort of punch it out with anybody at the local Kmart this time.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, let's -- let's hope not, certainly. It'll be interesting to see how tariffs affect people's shopping this year and, as well, how people are using those A.I. tools that you mentioned to make the best of those deals.
Josh Constine, thank you so much for speaking with us. Really appreciate it.
CONSTINE: My pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.
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BRUNHUBER: Those bells you hear, Those are marking the holiday season in Strasbourg. The Eastern French city lit up the Christmas tree in its famed Christmas market on Wednesday. With more than 300 vendor stalls, the market is one of the most visited in Europe.
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GERARDO HERRERA, MEXICAN TOURIST: Being from Mexico, I think Strasbourg is a famous place you can go to see the best Christmas market in the world. I've seen it categorized as that. And now that I have come, I think it is very accurate to say that it is the best Christmas market in the world.
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BRUNHUBER: And last year, a record 3.4 million people visited Strasbourg's Christmas market.
All right. Coming up in our next hour, a Thanksgiving day earthquake shakes Alaska and spooks some pets.
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BRUNHUBER: For families who lost everything in January's devastating fires in California, this has likely been a bittersweet Thanksgiving. Many are just grateful to have their lives.
One group is helping moms with basic essentials they need for their children.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has their story.
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JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the Palisades Fire ravaged through her neighborhood, Jen says she and her three daughters had just minutes to escape the devastating flames.
JEN, LOST HOME IN PALISADES FIRE: We left, and then the next day, we found out that our home was gone.
JONES (voice-over): In the harrowing days that followed, Jen turned to Baby2Baby, a nonprofit that provides essentials to children, often in times of need.
JEN: They offered help without me having to ask, and retain my dignity.
JONES (voice-over): Baby2Baby has responded to more than 100 disasters, providing relief to children and moms nationwide.
KELLY SAWYER PATRICOF, CO-CEO, BABY2BABY: We've distributed half a billion basic essentials to children in need across the country.
JONES (voice-over): When families are left with nothing, Baby two Baby's fire relief and disaster relief bundles help them get back on their feet. Packed by volunteers with essentials like clothes, toys, and even a handwritten note.
MICHELLE MONAGHAN, ACTRESS AND BABY2BABY 'ANGEL': There's schools that come here. There's businesses. There's church groups.
JONES (voice-over): They are supported by a variety of people, including "White Lotus" star Michelle Monaghan.
JONES: When you became a new mom --
MONAGHAN: Yes.
JONES: -- what were some things that you were surprised that were so important that you didn't know before?
MONAGHAN: It's a universal theme for all new moms. It's overwhelming becoming a new mom physically, mentally, emotionally.
What I, in particular, love about these newborn kits, these maternal health kits now that Baby2Baby is providing, is that it is giving support of the very things that we need. Just the very basic essentials.
PATRICOF: It's postpartum care, educational resources, breastfeeding supplies, diapers and hygiene items for the baby.
NORAH WEINSTEIN, CO-CEO, BABY2BABY: So, we always are trying to remember that while there's such a link between the baby and the mom, we need to take care of the mom and her mental health in order to support the baby.
JONES (voice-over): But for families like Jen's, what matters most is the human connection that comes with every box.
JEN: I have so much gratitude. It's such a humbling experience to go from being the ones to help others, and then to have to show up and ask for help for not only yourself, but your whole family. I am forever grateful to Baby2Baby.
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BRUNHUBER: What a great cause, especially in holidays like these.
Thanks so much for watching. Stay with us. The next hour of THE STORY IS begins right now.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): THE STORY IS mourning on Thanksgiving. President Donald Trump announces the death of a National Guard after the shocking shooting in D.C. Ahead, what we know about Sarah Beckstrom.
Plus, Larry Sabato breaks down how the suspect's nationality is now playing into Trump's immigration agenda.
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