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Winter Storm to Snarl Thanksgiving Travel Across the Midwest, Great Lakes; Gearing Up For Iconic Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; TikTok Influencer Sued For Breaking Up Friend's Marriage; Several Shot Near WH, Including At Least One National Guardsman. Aired 2:30-3 pm ET

Aired November 26, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

KYLEANNE HUNTER, CEO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: -- they feel about the current leadership.

[14:30:01]

I do know from some of the lawmakers that were in that film who I've had relationships with in and out of uniform, just from my -- my own time, that they have the absolute utmost respect for those that are still serving in uniform, and it's many of their peers that are in these senior decision-making positions as well.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Yeah, and you know some of the questions around the video, too, was, well, what orders are you talking about? And, I mean, for example, Senator Elissa Slotkin, when she was asked whether she was aware of any illegal orders issued by the president, she said no, but she believes the administration is using legal gymnastics on strikes against ships in the Caribbean.

And I just wonder, how do you see that situation, one, but do you believe the president has issued illegal orders to this point, or at the very least something that would rise to that level of concern?

HUNTER: Right. There have been several legal challenges that have been made, whether it's from the National Guard or even some of the questions right now around the strikes, but it is not my position to say this was legal, this was -- this was not legal, as someone who's -- who's not an attorney. But I think it is always an important part of the conversation to bring up what -- what is the obligation of people in uniform.

And it is, you know, I have the utmost faith of our women and men who are wearing uniforms that they know the right things to -- to do, they know how to make the hard decisions, that's why they are there, and I think the American people should continue to put their faith in those that are wearing the cloth of the nation to continue to make the right decisions.

JIMENEZ: Kyleanne Hunter, appreciate the time and perspective, thanks for being here.

HUNTER: Thank you so much.

JIMENEZ: Of course. All right, coming up, chaos and danger on the roads. Snowy weather already having an impact on drivers ahead of the holiday weekend. We'll take a look at the forecast next.

And Sara Sidner, not a frosty person, in fact, a very warm person. You can warm up some of these roads. You got a good assignment this week, Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR & SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I do. We are taking you behind the scenes of what has become an annual tradition as well as a Thanksgiving Day parade, when they inflate the balloons and it is an incredible look. I can't wait to show it to you. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:56]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're keeping an eye on holiday travel here in the United States. And anyone on the road today, you've probably got to brace yourself. There's disruptive weather out there and it's coming and it's going. And it could affect when you get to your Thanksgiving destination.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, we're talking cross-country winter storm. Rain, snow, wind, all of it, too much on the menu this Thanksgiving.

I want to bring in CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar with the forecast. Allison, what are you tracking right now?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, so take a look at this video. This is from yesterday across portions of Minnesota. Heavy snow coming down. The wind taking that snow and blowing it all over the roads. Bringing visibility down to practically zero in some of these places. Obviously leading to huge traffic pileups there.

Now, we are still expecting additional snow on top of what we've already had. Most of these areas still expected to get several more inches. But you can see these areas just on the eastern flanks of the Great Lakes. You could be looking at an additional foot of snow coming down. Before this is all said and done. Wind is still going to be another factor. You're looking at through the remainder of the evening tonight. Wind gusts around 40-50 mph across the Midwest. But once we transition into Thanksgiving Day. You'll start to see the winds increase across the northeast portion of the country as well.

Here's a look at that system. The purple color you see here, this is the snow. Especially that dark purple, that's going to be the heavy snow bands that are expected to come down. The green and yellow, this is all the rain. But most of the rain is expected to wrap up by later this evening. It's just going to be the snow that lingers into the day on Thursday. Especially, again, focusing in on those Great Lakes.

Here's a look at the live radar. Again, you can see some pretty heavy snow coming down across portions of eastern Wisconsin. As well as Michigan. You've got the rain showers sliding through portions of the northeast.

You still have all of these winter weather alerts. Some of them will last only a couple more hours. The rest of them go through Friday morning.

Here's a look at the forecast for Thanksgiving Day today. Southern tier, not too bad. It's going to be the northern tier where we have those chances of rain and snow.

JIMENEZ: All right, not -- not that much fun stuff. But Allison Chinchar, we like you all the same. Appreciate it.

Weather will be a factor for tomorrow's iconic Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. As we saw a little bit of it there with all the big balloons and floats. It's a must-see, obviously, for Americans nationwide.

SANCHEZ: It starts tomorrow --

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: -- at 8:30 a.m. Preparations well underway right now in New York City. That's where we find CNN's Sara Sidner, the co-host of CNN's "Thanksgiving in America" special. Sara, we've got to talk about the weather. How big of a concern is it going to be?

SIDNER: Look, it is not snow. It is not rain. It is always the wind that they are concerned about. And it will be windy. But not windy enough to stop this thing from going off without a hitch. That's what we're hearing at this point.

And so far, I'm taking you behind the scenes here where they are blowing up, or they don't like me saying that. They like it, say, inflating the enormous balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. This is called the balloon inflation celebration. And that is exactly what you're seeing.

[14:40:02]

All right, so one of the brand-new balloons happening here, you're seeing is the Pac-Man balloon, which I know for Gen Xers will warm their heart. That's the first time they've had that balloon.

And of course there's Snoopy, beloved by everyone. I want to give you some -- some quick, really interesting facts about this, these are hand painted. They don't just find these and then blow them up by ordering them. They make every single one of these.

You can see the brush strokes there on the balloons. It takes a long time, about five months for them to actually create these wonderful characters here. That, by the way, Smokey the Bear. But you're also seeing Dora the Explorer, huge there. "Soy, Dora!" I know you've heard that many times in your life.

But it is an incredible view because this has also become a tradition for folks in New York. And you can see the families that -- that are lining up watching the inflation of these massive balloons happen here. And it really is an incredible time for people to get really close to the balloons without the huge crowds that show up for the actual parade itself.

And there are about 50 people that work full time on these balloons and the floats. And you know, this is very much a New York City tradition. But all of these balloons are made and created in New Jersey. They've got to bring them through the tunnel to get them here. They're deflated at first. And we're just now seeing, I want to take you down to the big old Spider-Man. They're just now seeing this finally come to life. All of the other balloons, including SpongeBob and Super Mario, those have been blown up. But they are doing it right now.

And you're getting a real look at just how many people it takes just to inflate these massive balloons that will be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Yep, that's a lot of helium, folks, going in that balloon section by section. But these will be out here, even though it's going to be a little bit windy during the Macy's Day Parade. And so will I, as well as John Berman and Erica Hill.

Back to you guys.

JIMENEZ: Finally, we get to talk about some good inflation.

SANCHEZ: There.

JIMENEZ: Right there, right there. Some inflation right there we can all love.

SANCHEZ: We are pumped to see it. We're pumped to see it, and especially as it gets to the BBL portion of Spider-Man's inflation.

JIMENEZ: I know, I know.

SANCHEZ: That was a unique angle. Sara Sidner, thanks so much.

JIMENEZ: We won't make you do that Dora the Explorer impression.

JIMENEZ: Oh, yes, we will.

SANCHEZ: Sara --

SIDNER: Soy, Dora.

SANCHEZ: There it is. Sara Sidner, we're excited to see you, John Berman and Erica Hill tomorrow. Thank you so much from New York City.

You can catch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage tomorrow at 8 a.m. right here on CNN. Thanksgiving in America has a special look at parades going on across the country, not just in New York City. Don't forget, 8 a.m. tomorrow on CNN and also streaming on the CNN app. Don't miss it.

Still plenty more news to come this afternoon, including some drama.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. SANCHEZ: A TikTok influencer accused of seducing a married man in order to pay nearly two million dollars to his now ex-wife, who you see there celebrating how an alleged affair turned viral and led to a dramatic day in court.

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[14:47:53]

SANCHEZ: The dissolution of a marriage is typically a private affair between the husband, the wife, and a judge and probably their lawyers. But the details of one couple's courtroom breakup went viral because of the salacious details of this affair involving a particular TikTok influencer.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, that influencer now has to pay the scorned wife a pretty big penalty for her indiscretion. $1.75 million. CNN Entertainment Reporter Lisa Respers France is here with the details.

So, Lisa, there are a lot of twists and turns to this story. Bring us along. What happened here?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: OK, so try to follow the bouncing ball, you guys.

JIMENEZ: OK.

FRANCE: It's Brenay Kennard. She has almost 3 million followers on TikTok alone. And she was married to a man named Devon Mayo. Devon Mayo has a cousin named Tim Montague, who Brenay dated back in high school. Timothy Montague is married to a woman named Akira Montague.

And these two couples used to do TikTok videos together. Akira and Brenay were -- appeared to be very close friends. Well, Akira sued Brenay, alleging that Brenay broke up her marriage. She sued her for alienation of affection and also criminal communication, which is basically having an affair and breaking up a marriage. And as you mentioned, Omar, she is expected to see a very big payday if she actually sees the money because there's some question about that.

SANCHEZ: So, take us through what made this case specifically go viral on TikTok?

FRANCE: One of the reasons why it went viral, Boris, is because it all played out on TikTok. So, Brenay was documenting everything, including her relationship with Tim. And I ended up interviewing a lot of the influencers who actually covered the trial.

They went down and acted as citizen journalists. They were mostly black women. And they felt as though Brenay was actually bullying Akira because she was flaunting, they felt, her relationship with Tim on social media in the face of Akira's very real pain of the breakup of her marriage. And they have two children together.

[14:50:01] So, it went viral on TikTok because, number one, there are very few states where you can sue someone for this. And number two, the whole world got to see it play out on TikTok. And so they were very interested. And again, much kudos to the influencers who felt like they had to be a voice for Akira Montague because Akira Montague's attorney, Atty. Robonetta Jones, had basically told her, you know, you can't really speak while this case is happening. So, they felt like they had to be a voice for the voiceless. And so they were very pivotal in this going viral as well.

JIMENEZ: All right. Lisa Respers France, no one can break it down like you. Appreciate you.

FRANCE: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Appreciate you laying that out for us.

FRANCE: Sure. It's wild.

JIMENEZ: Of course. And everyone else, we'll be right back.

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[14:55:24]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news just in to CNN. Several people have been shot, including a National Guardsman just a few blocks from the White House.

D.C. Metro Police said that they are on the scene. They're asking folks in the area to avoid going there. We're joined now by former Washington D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey. Chief Ramsey, what do you make of this news that multiple people have been shot in what is typically a very secure area near the White House?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it is a very secure area. And right now, we don't have a lot of information. It's pretty sketchy as to what may have taken place, whether or not a National Guardsman was in fact shot or targeted. The other two people, supposedly three people, were injured. I don't know if it's gunshot wounds. Were they injured, you know, as they tried to flee the scene?

We just don't have a lot of information. But one person was medevaced from the scene, which is not a good sign in terms of the condition of the individual. But we'll just have to wait until we get a little more information from either D.C. Police, FBI, or Secret Service. This is something that you'll have a lot of federal agencies coming together very quickly. Secret Service, FBI, certainly ATF, as well as the D.C. Police.

JIMENEZ: And --

RAMSEY: So, this is brand new. JIMENEZ: And Chief, I just didn't mean to interrupt you there. But

obviously, the location where this happened, it's -- it's near the White House. Again, as we understand, includes a National Guardsman that may have been shot, even though we don't quite know if --if they've been targeted, just a block from the White House here. How -- how is a response like this then coordinated? Who responds? How is that handled? And what should we be looking for moving forward here?

RAMSEY: You know, D.C. is a very interesting place. These agencies work together so often that there's no confusion. It just depends. Right now, because it happened on a street, I would imagine it's D.C. Police that would be in charge.

But because it involves a National Guardsman, certainly the Military District of Washington is going to have a representative there. Someone from the D.C. Guard will also be on the scene. And they will form a joint command center as a result of that. But right now, I would imagine it's D.C. Police until more information becomes available. And then one of the federal agencies may take the lead.

SANCHEZ: We're looking at a live view of that area, a block from the White House on 17th and I Northwest. You see from the other angle we showed a moment ago where police were unfolding yellow tape, you could see the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is right next to the White House. And Chief, this is typically an area that is very busy, not only with folks who work there, but also with tourists.

Given that it is a holiday week, you imagine that there are a lot of folks that are visiting D.C. Can you talk specifically about that area near the White House grounds and what it is like from a security perspective?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, it's quiet as far as crime goes. I mean, it is crowded. You have a lot of people that come down to this part of D.C. Obviously, that looks like 17th Street, that one shot that we were looking at there. But yeah, it's just a very busy area. But as far as crime goes, you might have a shoplift or a theft or something like that. And even that doesn't occur with any kind of regularity.

So, it's -- because you have so many police departments in the city and because you're so close to the White House, the patrol footprint is going to overlap with a lot of different agencies in that particular area, Secret Service, D.C. police, even Metro Transit. With -- there's not a -- if my memory serves me correct, there's a Metro stop not too far from there as well. So, there'll be a lot of agencies that are in that area, just on a regular basis, not for any particular reason, just on a regular basis.

JIMENEZ: And as you've been speaking, we just got in a statement from the White House saying the White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation and the president has been briefed. We should note the president is not at the White House right now, currently at his West Palm Beach golf club where he's spending the holiday. But as Boris was talking about, there are so many people in town,

typically as we see in Washington, D.C., but especially so leading into the Thanksgiving holiday here. I mean, just talk -- talk a little bit about how tourists generally should approach the security situation in a place like D.C. Whereas you mentioned, there are many different security apparatuses here. There are very -- there are lots of moving parts in terms of agencies that might respond to a situation like this. What should tourists be thinking about as they come here to Washington?

[15:00:18]

RAMSEY: Well, you know, it's -- for the normal tourists, I mean --