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National Guard Member Dies; Other Fighting for His Life; Trump Ramps up Immigration Crackdown After D.C. Shooting; Black Friday Kicks Off What's Expected to be Record Spending Period. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 28, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

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[15:33:21]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Family and friends are mourning Sarah Beckstrom, the National Guard member who was fatally shot in the nation's capital. The 20-year-old army specialist began her military service in 2023. Attorney General Pam Bondi says Beckstrom volunteered to work over Thanksgiving so that other service members could visit their loved ones.

CNN's Gabe Cohen is in West Virginia talking to people who knew her best. Gabe, just how is the community grappling with this loss? What are you hearing?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, look, as you can imagine, this has been an extremely painful couple days here in Webster Springs, West Virginia.

Look, this is a small, rural community here in this part of the state. There are only a few businesses here along the main drag, but this restaurant, the Custard Stand, well, this is actually where Sarah Beckstrom worked while she was in high school.

One of the owners telling me earlier that she's going to remember Sarah as a hero. And we were in here during the lunch rush, and every person we spoke to either knew her or there was one degree of separation describing her as someone who was motivated, someone who was caring, and someone who was truly kind, someone who cared so deeply about her community. And that is a sentiment that was really shared by her former boyfriend, who we interviewed earlier.

They dated for nearly six years, had just split up one month ago, but he said he cared so deeply for her and he wanted to honor her memory. Here's a little bit of what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM CARR, FORMER BOYFRIEND OF SARAH BECKSTROM: She was ecstatic, outgoing, a little more of a homebody though. She didn't really like messing with people, so she was happy just being with family and the friends that she chose to have. It's a little hard to grasp the whole concept that there ain't no more of her around. Of course, she'll always be around, as you know, but hard to grasp she won't be back in town, won't see her around anymore, can't just get a hold of her. It's really hard to grasp that.

[15:35:20]

COHEN: So, the last couple days, how has this impacted the community here?

CARR: You can feel like the intensity in the air. You can feel it's definitely a lot of heartbreak. Everybody has been contacting me that I haven't talked to in forever and they're pouring their hearts out there about the whole situation and very sad and sorry that it happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Look, Omar, this community held a vigil last night. There's going to be one again tonight and we're about a four-hour drive from where Andrew Wolfe, the other National Guard member who was shot, is from. That's Martinsburg, West Virginia. It is quite a distance, but talking to people in both locations, because that's where we were yesterday, Omar, there is a sense of community across West Virginia in the wake of this tragedy. So, many people saying, look, people across the state are feeling like family right now, especially given it's the Thanksgiving weekend.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, Gabe Cohen, appreciate you making the trip out there and doing this reporting. Thank you.

All right, here to talk about the impact of the Trump administration's heightened crackdown on immigration after the shooting is Ahmad Shah Mohibi. He's the founder of Rise to Peace and a former U.S. military advisor who assisted with the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Thank you for being here. Really appreciate it.

Look, as I understand, you know, the scope of what you did, you helped ensure the safety of Americans and Afghans facing danger from the Taliban. You also helped relocate thousands of Afghan evacuees to the United States. Can you just give me a sense for what the reality of the process actually is, including what vetting process is you would have to go through to get someone successfully relocated?

AHMAD SHAH MOHIBI, FOUNDER, RISE TO PEACE: Yeah, so I mean, when the whole collapse happened, to be honest with you, I was so shocked and we had no clue what's going on. Within the matters of hours, we started hearing that the CIA is in Afghanistan. They are trying -- they are making a deal with Taliban that Americans could get into the airport and give them safe passage, then they get out.

But fast forward, the next day, you know, everything was just under the Taliban control. So, I got engaged with so many other veteran friends. And I also had my family there to trying to get them out of the country. So, the reality was that there was a CIA gate that controlled and this guy, this shooter, many of these NDS forces controlled inside the whole airport. There was controlled by them. There was the main entrance by the Taliban, and then there was a State Department.

So, it's two different operations there. There was one commanding general. And so, at the beginning, the U.S. government, they didn't know what to do. And one point they opened the gates, everybody poured into the airport. And that was the moment where people started taking pictures that I got to the U.S., I got to America, I got into the airport. That created and triggered thousands of people gathered from across Afghanistan, says, you know what, free ticket to America. That's how everything started.

The vetting process is different for intelligence. That's the no better. But from the State Department point, they gave the list to the Taliban and the Taliban allowed them inside. So, what happened was a lot of NGOs got involved. A lot of, you know, documents got flipped around. A lot of foreigners made a lot of money, says, you know what, I want to charge you $15,000. I want to get you inside the airport. So, many of those things happen.

But the actual people, those who deserve, they got a sack outside. Money who made it inside, that was different. So, my job was to get the American citizen inside, then the green card holders.

You know, at one point I was offered $1 million if I could fly one airplane from Kabul airport to Doha, and then they will call emergency landing. And that guy was sanctioned by DOJ and got arrested a few months later. So, you know, a lot of those things happen.

But the vetting process was really complicated. Later on, State Department contacted me. President Biden had this National Security Council person work on Afghanistan affairs.

So, they wanted to know what to do, especially when Abu Dhabi, 12,000 African refugees. They brought it there. They put it there. They didn't know what to do. So, my job --

JIMENEZ: That seemed like the beginning of a process?

MOHIBI: Yeah. So, from August 15th to like the -- you know, August 31st, it was Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Allies Welcome.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, yeah.

MOHIBI: So with the UAW, anyone could get into the airport, they get their fingerprints. They did not have the database. Right now, the U.S. government has the database of every single Afghan because the Taliban gave it to them. That's why U.S. immigration services started having pending immigration. So, if this guy, many others have any case in Afghanistan, the U.S. government has that database right now.

JIMENEZ: Has that tie there.

MOHIBI: Yes. JIMENEZ: Well, and again -- you know, the conversation sort of comes up in response to, look, the president has taken some steps now, suspending, well, one, reexamining green card holders from 19 countries, including Afghanistan.

[15:40:07]

But also this vetting process, some say, well, how did this particular shooting suspect make it into this country? And I actually want to put that to the side because, you know, yes, there were many processes that happened. We have heard that this person came up clean. But as you know, vetting sometimes is just a snapshot. You know, it shows what you've done previously, not so much what you're going to do.

And I guess my question for you is, once someone is here and you've gone through all that of what you described, what is the most difficult part about adjusting to life here? I mean, is it, is it difficult?

MOHIBI: To your question, that was an excellent question because, you know, I blame America for this whole shooting. I blame America for the loss of 13 Marines. My condolences to Sarah and I pray for Andrew.

You know, I blame because this was a bipartisan issue. You bring 76,000, over 100,000 people, you bring it and put it in the United States across the whole country. With what? He says overnight they can adjust.

You know, when I work, we deal with the terrorism, you add de- radicalization and rehabilitation programs. You know, for these people that comes to the U.S., you put them here, you know, this guy, he was 16 years old. You -- you train him to kill. You bring him to the U.S. and you put him here, jobless, nothing. I'm sure he was desperate, depressed, whatever going on with him.

But the adjustment is hard because these people had something there. They had a gun. They had something, they had jobs. When they come -- when they move to the U.S., they have this source of like how they can adjust to the society, the American culture, American value, like the work, making money. So, it's so hard.

So, the mental health aspect of all of these things is the hardest thing. So, I blame that system because I remember under President Biden's administration, they had a lot of emphasis on giving them housing, giving them vouchers, money, but they neglected the healthcare system on that part.

Many organizations, they made millions of dollars, but no one touched about this mental health part of it. Let's help them adjust the community. This is America. So, that's what I see more, but I still, they're doing investigation. So, that could be a possibility because a lot of these people like him, they're suffering this adjustment.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. And we're still, as you mentioned, the investigation is still ongoing to see the specific motive here. But I know this is also a process that you went through before Operation Allies Welcome. I mean, was it the same case for you trying to adjust here?

MOHIBI: I mean, look, I was a 16-year-old. I walked into U.S. military base. Still, I want to serve. That was me. So, I got integrated into America from a little base in Afghanistan, Camp Phoenix, Bagram, and later on. So, for me, it was different because, you know, I grew up with soldiers. I fought. You know, this guy was 16. I was 16.

You know, I came to the U.S. through the same process. But, you know, here's the thing. A U.S. commanding general recommended me. I had 45 letters of recommendation. I went through a clearance process, even though everybody knew me, but I had to wait three years to get my visa.

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

MOHIBI: While we have an open border, we have guys like them put them on a plane, bring them to the U.S. What do you expect? You know, this has to be and it has been always a bipartisan problem. It's not a Democratic problem, Republican problem.

Look, Bush started the war. You know, President Obama, he surged it. President Trump made a deal with the Taliban. President Biden, he just exited in a most shameful, chaotic, disastrous way. And right now, you know, this whole thing is being politicized, you know, because of one individual act, an entire Afghan community is being living in desperate. And, you know, crime is personal, not national.

So, this is being politicized. I strongly support immigration reform. I strongly support, you know, reexamination, all of that. But this is, again, like 9/11, you know, happened and entire Muslim community got impacted. Now, Afghans are going to pay the price. 9/11 happened because Arabs did it, not Afghans.

So, for 20 years, the U.S. go to war on terror, train Afghan kids, like this guy is 29 years old. He was nine years old back then. These people, their mindset is get guns, kill, train.

So, you bring them here. What do you expect? So, I think the plan as of right now is to focus on the act of criminal investigations of people and bad people, not the entire community --

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

MOHIBI: -- because this is so bad.

JIMENEZ: You heard that --

MOHIBI: To be honest, I'm getting -- I'm getting calls left and right. These people are so desperate.

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

MOHIBI: And I'm not here to defend anyone. I'm here to tell the truth that this has been a bipartisan problem.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. MOHIBI: The U.S. didn't know what to do in Afghanistan. They left in a most, what they call chaotic, shameful way. And now they have to pay the price. And my last point in here is that right now, millions of dollars are being wired to Taliban.

JIMENEZ: Well, I was just going to say --

MOHIBI: That needs to be stopped.

JIMENEZ: Well, I was just going to say on -- for this particular case, you know, what you just said about many Afghans who now are worried about what comes next. We heard that from one of our previous guests who also sort of works in this same space.

Whether someone like in this case, this suspect, who, as we understand, was vetted. But again, once you're vetted, it's just that snapshot. And then we can't control what happens next.

I got to leave the conversation there. We're out of time. Appreciate you coming in.

[15:45:01]

MOHIBI: Thank you so much.

JIMENEZ: All right. Of course, Ahmad Shah Mohibi. Appreciate it.

When we come back, it is Black Friday. But will shoppers be shelling out at the stores? We'll break it down coming up.

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JIMENEZ: Let the markdown mayhem begin. If you haven't noticed already, Black Friday shoppers out in full force right now. The National Retail Federation said this weekend we'll see a record number of shoppers with the largest number, 130 million, picking today to buy.

[15:50:06]

And the Federation says this holiday season we'll see a record amount of sales exceeding a trillion dollars for the first time. The top gifts forecasted for this holiday, clothing, gift cards, toys.

With me now, the CEO of Storch Advisors, Jerry Storch. He was chairman and CEO of Toys R Us and was also Vice Chairman at Target. Thank you for taking the time.

Jerry, I mean, in this era of Cyber Monday deals, year-round Amazon quick delivery, is Black Friday still the big deal it once was?

GERALD STORCH, FORMER CEO, TOYS R US & FORMER VICE CHAIRMAN, TARGET: Look, it's absolutely the biggest shopping day of the year. It's the biggest day, number one, in stores. And it's the second biggest day online right after Cyber Monday. So, put it together, you've got by far the biggest day. So, it's still very, very important. Obviously, retailers have worked hard to spread it out. You know, they

start the sales a little earlier in the week and they go a little later. The door busters aren't what they used to be. You don't have people, I think fortunately, you know, kind of knocking each other to get it over, to get into the store. But the day is still huge. The malls are mobbed right now. I promise you, if you go to any major mall in the country, you're going to have trouble finding a parking space.

JIMENEZ: You know, when you sort of talk about that year-round effort that has continued, I mean, across all brands and companies, Macy's, for example, is revamping its in-store experience. Walmart promising a 30-minute turnaround from online order to the delivery truck. I mean, do you expect these moves will help them better compete with someone like Amazon this holiday season? I wonder just where is the ground that people can actually make here, you believe?

STORCH: Well, absolutely. You know, the bricks-and-mortar stores have never been out of it. You know, even though the Internet has grown more rapidly than bricks-and-mortar shopping, the vast majority of retail sales still happen in physical stores. But they have an advantage, really, because you have a store and online. Like, for example, Walmart has done execution of brilliantly. You can do both.

You can buy online and go to the store and pick it up, for example. It's one of the biggest areas of all of Walmart's sales is people don't even go into the store. They just have to drive up there, and they put it in the trunk, or they can deliver from the store to the home, et cetera.

So, this all-channel model is inherently superior even to Amazon's, and if executed right, can win in the long term.

JIMENEZ: Wow. You know, shortly after President Trump proclaimed his, quote, "Liberation Day," the sweeping tariffs that we saw, the president and CEO of the Toy Association warned that tariffs on China and other countries were putting Christmas, quote, "at risk" eight or so months later at the time. But how did tariffs impact toys and other holiday items? Is there anything that sticks out to you?

STORCH: Well, I know Greg very well. He worked for me as my head of marketing at Toys R Us, by the way, the head of the Toy Association. So, you know, he was doing his job. They had to talk about how bad it was because, seriously, it was chaos. There's no doubt about it. People didn't know what to do, when to bring in product, when not to bring in product. There were shortages. They'd bring things in with a huge tariff on it and have to charge more for it.

So, what happened in the end, though, it wasn't Armageddon. It's not good. Chaos is never good. But it wasn't Armageddon. Some of the prices, you know, got passed along to consumers. Some got absorbed by manufacturers. Some got absorbed at the source country. Some products got shifted. Some products got remade in a way that were different. And there are substitute products that consumers may buy instead.

So, in the end, it kind of got all, you know, mushed out over multiple factors and still, you know, not an ideal way to do business. The biggest thing that any business wants is predictability. And we haven't had that all year, that's for sure.

JIMENEZ: All right. Jerry Storch, appreciate the time and perspective on this monumental shopping day. Thank you for being here.

STORCH: My pleasure.

JIMENEZ: All right. Coming up, a culinary mystery in France. Who stole $100,000 worth of snails? Very French story, next.

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[15:58:04]

JIMENEZ: I want to get you to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. The World Health Organization says global measles elimination is now just a distant goal amid the surge in cases this year. A quarter of the surges happening in places that were once declared measle-free, like the United States.

Deaths from measles dropped 88 percent from 2000 to 2024. But vaccine coverage is now well below the level needed to stop transmission. The CDC reports that there have been 1,798 cases of measles in the United States so far this year. The most cases since 2000.

Meanwhile, Iran is set to boycott next week's FIFA World Cup draw ceremony in Washington, D.C. after several members of its delegation were denied visas to attend. The Iranian Soccer Federation says they were rejected for issues that go beyond sports considerations, and they've reached out to FIFA for help.

In June, President Trump announced a travel ban on citizens from Iran and 11 other countries, including Haiti, which has also qualified for next year's tournament. Exemptions will be made for athletes and personnel with the Secretary of State's approval.

And a 6.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the Anchorage, Alaska area on Thanksgiving morning. I mean, look at this. Shaking things off of the shelves here. The quake struck just after 8 a.m. local time and was powerful enough to knock things off the shelves, forcing some people to scramble for cover. Home surveillance video captures the moment objects inside a home flew off of shelves, scaring some dogs. The epicenter was located about 60 miles from Anchorage. There those dogs go.

And a snail farmer in France scrambling to replenish his stock after $100,000 worth of escargot was stolen. Thieves entered the farm after cutting through a fence. Once inside, they cleared the shelves of nearly 1,000 pounds of snails. This is the most French story I've read in a long time. Some of the farmers' competitors have reportedly stepped in to help by selling him some of their products at a discount.

[16:00:05]

All right. Different from the Louvre heist, but escargot heists. Let's find those snails. "The Arena with Kasie Hunt" starts right now.