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Trump: Shooting of Two National Guard Members "An Act of Terror; Two National Guard Remain in Critical Condition; Trump Calls for a "Re-Examination" of Afghan Nationals; Security Boosted at Thanksgiving Parades. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired November 27, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Those bells you're hearing 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. Last year, Strasbourg saw a record 3.4 million people visiting its Christmas market.
Thank you for joining us here on "Early Start" this morning. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. "CNN This Morning" with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Ambush just blocks from the White House. Two National Guardsmen shot the suspect an Afghan national. "CNN This Morning" starts right now.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.
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CORNISH: Overnight, the president striking a grim tone, already using this as an excuse to ramp up his immigration crackdown.
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PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C. safe and beautiful.
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CORNISH: Doubling down on National Guard deployment, President Trump orders more troops to D.C.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More drones that will be deployed, slightly more officers than last year.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: And after the shooting in Washington, organizers are boosting security at Thanksgiving parades across the country today. In Hong Kong this morning, rescues still underway after a massive fire rips through high rises. Dozens are dead, hundreds more missing. Why residents say this was preventable.
And back here in the U.S., the holiday chill, the cold and heavy snow that could crash the Thanksgiving party for many Americans.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we're going to see very big sales this year.
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CORNISH: It's the biggest shopping day of the year, but is Black Friday just a gimmick to get you to buy more?
It is 6:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at the White House. Good morning, everybody. It is Thursday, November 27th. Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for checking in with us this morning. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we begin.
The breaking news out of Washington, D.C., where two National Guardsmen remain in critical condition after what's being described by law enforcement as a targeted attack. So, two guard members from West Virginia were on patrol near the White House. This was Wednesday afternoon. The suspect approached and from just a few feet away opened fire.
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RYANN AQID, D.C. SHOOTING WITNESS (through translator): I heard two shots, then I heard four shots consecutively. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. I was a little scared. The people around me didn't seem -- you know, they weren't really ducking, but it just seemed like they were trying to find a building to hide behind.
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CORNISH: So, witness video captured the victims receiving first aid at the scene. And please take a moment here because some aspects of this video could be disturbing.
OK. So, the suspect in the attack was quickly taken into custody after an exchange of gunfire. He's now been identified as a 29-year-old man who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan about four years ago. In a late- night address, President Trump condemned the attack and ordered more troops to D.C.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: This heinous assault was an act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity. I have directed the Department of War to mobilize an additional 500 troops to help protect our capital city. We will make America totally safe again, and we will bring the perpetrator of this barbaric attack to swift and certain justice.
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CORNISH: So, we've got CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein here. And, Betsy, I want to talk to you about this because the president obviously condemning this specifically as an act of terror and then using it to escalate his call around the immigration crackdown because of the origin, sort of, of the suspect. Can you tell us more?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Audie, a really horrific day here in the nation's capital. And the Department of Homeland Security has identified Rahmanullah Lakanwal as the suspect in the shooting of these two National Guardsmen. Lakanwal is an Afghan national who came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, that's that Biden era program to resettle Afghan nationals in the wake of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He applied for asylum in 2024, and it was granted by the Trump administration in April of 2025.
He is in custody at an area hospital after being shot. And one source tells CNN that the suspect is not cooperating with investigators.
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We still do not know motive or how the suspect got that handgun that he used. We also do not know the full extent of the suspect's injuries at this time, but we do expect to hear more on where this investigation stands from D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and FBI director Kash Patel a little later this morning.
President Trump addressing the nation from Mar-a-Lago last night cast blame on the Biden administration for letting the suspect into the country. He called for the reexamination of every person who entered the U.S. from Afghanistan during the last administration, though CNN had actually reported earlier this week that this process was already underway. Listen to the president.
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TRUMP: The suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hell hole on Earth. He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021. This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.
The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world from places that you don't want to even know about.
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KLEIN: Now, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announcing moments later that all Afghan immigrant cases are stopping indefinitely pending further review. But I also want to remind you why these West Virginia guardsmen were here. They have been deployed since August as part of the president's crime crackdown, which is expected to continue until at least February. President Trump also announcing he would be deploying 500 more National Guardsmen to Washington, D.C. in response to the shooting, Audie.
CORNISH: OK. Thank you so much, Betsy. I want to talk more about the investigation because the FBI is going to be spearheading it, and it's being called an attack on federal law enforcement. CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem is here with more. And Juliette, help us understand how this is going to work because it's an attack in the nation's capital, but it's on National Guard. Who's investigating and what are they looking for?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DHS AND HARVARD PROFESSOR: Well, the FBI will take lead because it was an attack on federal, essentially a federal entity. People will debate whether they're a federal law enforcement entity, but the FBI will do this investigation.
But we already know so much. This is not going to be a heavy lift. The suspect is in custody. We know his identity. We know when he came into the United States. We know when the Trump administration gave him lawful status within the United States. We -- there will be investigations where he was living, access to the gun. And then the focus will be on motive.
It may seem obvious to us. You know, he's an Afghan but -- and came here, and maybe he hates the United States. But from all reporting right now, he was supporting U.S. troops in their efforts. That's why he came -- was allowed to come to the United States under the Operation Allies Welcome. He was allowed to come to the United States. So, what happened while he was here that led him to target specifically the National Guard troops in D.C.?
CORNISH: And just a reminder for folks here, we heard the president give a pretty large number of people here. But under this program, Enduring Welcome, I think about 190,000 Afghans have resettled in the U.S. under these programs. So, that's the current number.
We do know that investigators may be looking into his background leading up to this attack. If you come in under these programs, you're vetted, correct?
KAYYEM: Right, absolutely. This is probably one of the most stringent vetting processes, both on the original entry into the United States, because people will remember the sort of horror of leaving so many Afghans behind. People were quite critical of the Biden administration for its quick pull out from Afghanistan when the Taliban took over. And then once that happened, then there was a longer, more formalized process that then gave immigration status, lawful status to those who came here. Our reporting is that that happened in the Trump administration this year.
So, that's -- so, here's what I'm looking at, is if that vetting had occurred, there would have been, you know, a questioning of him, an understanding of where he was and what he was doing. Why, in just a matter of months, does he go from someone who is given lawful status with the vetting process to someone who is attacking our own National Guard troops in D.C.? We can't answer that yet. People will try to fill it in with their political narrative. No, we cannot, as objective analyzers, fill that in yet. That's a very short time.
CORNISH: Yes. But raising it, because we know the Trump administration wants to essentially kind of re-vet, right? They're talking about this issue of looking at, again, the backgrounds of the people who are here. The other thread that they're pushing now is ordering another 500 National Guardsmen to the city.
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And one thing I want to bring up with you is because the issue of the National Guard being in Washington D.C. has been the subject of legal challenge, all kinds of documents have come up and one of them pertains to this moment, which is that you had the D.C. attorney general basically say, look, this mission is an opportunity for criminals and extremists and issue-motivated group loan actors to advance their interests, meaning that these National Guardsmen themselves could be seen as a target. I wanted to bring this up because you seem to be alluding to these questions as well.
KAYYEM: Yes. This is a question of mission readiness, right? If you deploy troops, you have to ensure that they can protect themselves. And that goes to what is the nature of the mission? I think the quote we just had from the D.C. attorney general cuts to the core of it, right? This is not a deployment into war abroad where their rules of engagement are obviously clear. This is not a deployment for a disaster where you're just supporting civilian emergency management authorities. This is different.
The president has done something that has not been done before, that you're deploying National Guard troops for essentially sort of civil and civic beautification processes. I mean, we all know that the D.C. -- those deployed to D.C. have been have been really doing beautification processes, high visibility deployments without a mission. So, my point is --
CORNISH: Meaning, there are high visibility, but soft targets?
KAYYEM: Exactly. I mean, and everyone knew it. The National Guard knew it. The D.C. knew it. The D.C. police chief in the past had said, look, I have no idea these people are coming into the city. I have no idea what their rules of engagement are. What are your metrics for success? You would never do a military deployment without knowing what the metrics of success are.
So, a secondary question, not putting aside the importance of understanding what happened yesterday and the poor victims from West Virginia, the National Guard members who are holding on for life. The question we have to answer in honor of what they are suffering and their families are suffering today is, right, what is the mission that is -- that they are deployed for? And then then we can talk about mission readiness.
CORNISH: Yes.
KAYYEM: But no one understands that right now, let alone the National Guard members, because we've the data.
CORNISH: And we understand there's going to be a lot of questions today. In fact, we think there might be a press conference later this morning. So, Julia, we'll be checking in with you today. Thank you.
Coming up on CNN this morning, more on that increased security. How are parades and Thanksgiving events across the country stepping up security as a result of all this? And liftoff. A new crew heads to space for a month's long mission. And President Trump vows to reexamine all Afghan nationals admitted to the U.S. in the wake of the shooting here in Washington. And the Group Chat is going to talk about that. We've got them here next.
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TRUMP: We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden. If they can't love our country, we don't want them.
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CORNISH: Back now with our breaking news this morning. President Trump moving swiftly to escalate his crackdowns on both crime and immigration in the wake of that shooting ambush on the National Guard here in Washington, D.C. So, he's now surging 500 more troops to the city. After the suspect was identified as an Afghan national, the president says the U.S. must also, quote, "reexamine" all Afghan nationals who came to the U.S. under the Biden administration.
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TRUMP: The suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on earth. He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021. This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.
The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world from places that you don't want to even know about.
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CORNISH: Joining me today in the group chat, Stephen Collinson, our CNN politics senior reporter, Brian Lanza, senior adviser to the 2024 Trump campaign, and Mehgan Hays, the former White House director of message planning under President Biden. Stephen, I want to talk to you because you were writing about this overnight. Obviously, what any president says after a moment of certainly an attack, an attack on soldiers is significant. And out of it are these two threads. One, more troops where people are already legally challenging the fact that troops are there. And two, cracking down on Afghan nationals specifically. What do you see and how he handled it?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, I think -- firstly, I think Washington is still in shock about this terrible attack. And --
CORNISH: Because this happened, people need to know, near the White House, in a tourist area. This is kind of like an area where food trucks are usually.
COLLINSON: And you know --
CORNISH: So, in the middle of the day.
COLLINSON: Yes. It's especially a tragedy for the National Guard because despite a lot of the controversy about why they're here, you know, they've pretty much had a very positive response from a lot of people who live in Washington, just their demeanor and the way they've conducted themselves.
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I think, politically, what the president signaled last night was that he will follow up this attack by re-examining the immigration status of all the Afghans that came to the United States in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many of those were people who were helping the U.S. during America's longest war.
And Stephen Miller on Fox News, the president's senior adviser, he argued that this has to be much wider, that everybody that's come into the country over the last four years during the Biden administration, whether they're asylum seekers or refugees, they are also going to come under extra scrutiny. So, I think the president made quite clear in his remarks about where he's going to go after this attack.
CORNISH: One thing you were talking about is also about do we have full clarity on what happened before all the political moves come out, and do you feel that way this morning?
COLLINSON: I think there are still questions to be answered about, first of all, the vetting during the Biden administration, that is something that's going to have a greater scrutiny, whether follow-up asylum proceedings for this individual, the alleged shooter, during the Trump administration. And more broadly, you know, this individual isn't necessarily representative of the entire Afghan community that came here. So, I think that's going to be a point of great controversy that is going to worry some people.
In terms of the crackdown, I think there are also questions of just how vulnerable are the National Guard soldiers in Washington. They're very, very visible. That's the point for them being here from the president's point of view. At the same time, that does bring some kind of security risk, because they're in no way in a combat manifestation, you know?
CORNISH: Scenario. Yes. So, I want to talk to you guys about the different threads here. Brian, what are you seeing in the president's response? Do you think it's just going to be about Afghans, or is it really going to turn into, oh, this is a reason for every single immigrant ever in the last couple of years to go through an entire new re-vetting?
BRYAN LANZA, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Listen, I think the case is going to be made that anything that Biden touched during immigration has to go through a new re-vetting. You know, Biden had an open-door policy. There are examples that refugees were coming in unvetted. I remember, you know, J.D. Vance was a senator back then saying, hey, some of these Afghans are coming in unvetted. And we received criticism. It turned out to be right.
Demanding people get vetted is a good thing. It protects American citizens. And you just have to assume that Biden failed on the Afghan side. He's probably -- his team's administration probably failed on other sides as well. And we need to be cautious. We need to be safe.
MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yes. I mean, I think we're just painting a broad brush here. This person came here in '21, and there was extensive vetting. Whether or not it was useful or not useful, that's, like, to be determined. I don't think anybody knows. But these folks went to another country before they came to the United States to be vetted, and then they came here. And these folks also helped the United States. So, I don't want to get away from that and to paint a broad brush of one person.
It's also been a significant amount of time. We don't know what has happened in that amount of time. There's been reports that he's received asylum from the Trump administration, that he's been vetted again. So, it's --
CORNISH: Like, his path through the system is not clear.
HAYS: Yes, and it's also not just one administration. So, I just -- it's hard to place political blame. We do not know why this person did this. I'm going to venture to guess he had some mental illness here, and that's probably what we should decide. I'm not saying we shouldn't look at vetting. That's obviously something that we should do. I just -- I think it's really hard to paint a broad brush.
And the president yesterday, when he gave his remarks, also started talking about Somalia. So, it's sort of like, what are you talking about and who are you going after? And it just leads you to believe he's going after every single person that is not white that was not born here.
CORNISH: OK. You guys, I want you to stay with us. We're going to be in the wake of this shooting talking about what else could happen, which is more law enforcement at other gatherings around Thanksgiving, at parades. That includes New York City for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here's what the city police commissioner said just last night about their security plan.
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JESSICA TISCH, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Unfortunately, what happened in the last few hours is one attack in a growing number of attacks against law enforcement across the country. So, the type of thing that we saw in Washington, D.C., tragic. That type of planning has been built into our plans for deployment tomorrow already.
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CORNISH: OK. I'm going to turn now to CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. He's actually in Atlanta where that city's Thanksgiving half marathon kicks off in the next hour. Derek, what's it like where you are?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the only reason I'm down here at this time of the morning is because I'm running the race this morning, hoping people will tune in. You've got to dress accordingly because it is bone-chilling cold in Atlanta, all across the eastern seaboard as well. We've been watching a lot of commotion down here at the start line of the Atlanta half marathon here on Thanksgiving morning. They're actually laying down the timing chips. Any runners understand what that's all about.
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But we've also noticed the American flags kind of whipping about, and that is because the wind is going to make it feel below freezing this morning. So, bundle up, dress accordingly. I've got my hat, my gloves, and everything to keep me warm on this race.
25, that's what it will feel like in Atlanta. In New York, 27, along the eastern seaboard in the 20s as well. So, looking at the graphics, you can just see how cold. That's the big story for Thanksgiving morning. Temperatures, actual air temperatures, are running 10 to 15 degrees below where they should be, and that's going to continue for the next several days. It's all thanks to a cold front that's passing through.
The good news is it's cleared out the skies. Most locations today, with the exception of South Florida, the Pacific Northwest, and maybe some of those lake-effect snow areas, will have impactful weather, but mostly dry.
Now, this is the forecast for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in New York City. Remember, if we have gusts over 34 miles per hour, they can't fly some of those balloons. We think we'll be just below that threshold, but it will be cold.
Big changes are afoot. Check out the storm system that's coming just after Thanksgiving. A coast-to-coast storm will bring snow as well as rain for many of our travelers returning home from grandma and grandpa's house. And, yes, quite significant amounts of snow as well, eight to 12 inches of snow across parts of the Midwest and into the Great Lakes. So, you want to plan ahead as you head home from Thanksgiving festivities today.
All right. Audie, I'm going to end with this because I've got to keep it cheery and joyful. It is Thanksgiving. What do you call a running turkey, Audie?
CORNISH: OK. I don't know, Derek Van Dam.
VAN DAM: You don't know? OK. OK. All right. It's fast-food is what it is.
CORNISH: Hey.
VAN DAM: All right?
CORNISH: I think I hear they're calling you to the starting line.
VAN DAM: Come back all morning long. I'll be here all morning.
CORNISH: Derek, I think they're like, you've got to go, maybe do some stretching. So, thanks so much, Derek Van Dam. Good luck today with the half marathon.
VAN DAM: All right.
CORNISH: After the break on "CNN This Morning," we're going to continue this breaking news coverage out of D.C. As the Trump administration is now filing an emergency appeal to keep National Guard troops in D.C.
Plus, the death toll rises and rescues continue this morning as crews try to put out the devastating fire that is still smoldering 24 hours later at several high-rise towers in Hong Kong.
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