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Hong Kong High-Rise Fire Claims at Least 55 Lives; Security Boosted at Thanksgiving Parades; Alyse Adamson is Interviewed about National Guard in D.C.; Movie Studios Look for Strong 2025 Finish; Black Friday Deals Offer No Real Savings. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 27, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:31:57]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, right now, rescue crews are searching for hundreds of people still missing after the deadly inferno that ripped through multiple high rise apartment towers in Hong Kong. And that fire is still smoldering. We're talking 24 hours later.

This morning, we know at least 55 people have been killed. Nearly 300 others are still unaccounted for.

And while the exact cause of the fire is unclear, three people have already been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

The high temperatures from the fire and falling debris making it hard for crews to find and rescue survivors. Overnight, firefighters did pull an elderly man from the 31st floor of one of those buildings. Hundreds of people have been evacuated to temporary shelters

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): All of our belongings were in this apartment, and now it has all burned like this. What's left? There's nothing left. What are we supposed to do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, CNN's Hanako Montgomery is live for us from Hong Kong this morning with the latest.

And, Hanako, first, but before we get to the investigation, can you talk about the survivors, which there are survivors. What are you hearing from them?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Audie, I mean, of course, many of these survivors are distressed. Some of them have lost their homes that they've been living in for years and years, and others still don't even know whether their family members are dead or alive. They've been trying to contact them since Wednesday night local time and they still haven't been able to reach them. Now, as you said, local authorities fear that nearly 300 people are

still missing. And again, we don't know if they're safe or not, where they are, whether they're in the apartment complex or whether they have since been evacuated.

And, Audie, I do want to just point out here that I'm at one of at least seven evacuation shelters that have popped up across Hong Kong. And here around 500 residents from those apartment blocks and also evacuees are sheltering. Now, you can see there are dozens of volunteers behind me holding cardboard boxes, and they're handing out emergency food, water, diapers and also some blankets for those who no longer have a home to return to.

Now, Audie, as you mentioned, we still don't know the exact cause of this fire, but we did hear from Hong Kong's John Lee. He's the chief executive in Hong Kong. And he did say that there is some suspicion and some fear that perhaps the bamboo scaffolding might have played a role in these fires.

Now, bamboo was long preferred in Hong Kong as a form of scaffolding instead of the metal that we often see in the United States because it's far more sustainable, it's cheaper, it's easier to put up and take down. But, of course, bamboo is a plant and it's highly flammable. And again, John Lee does fear that perhaps this did contribute to the fire.

And, of course, there are still questions, Audie, about how quickly this fire spread from one building to the remaining seven in that area.

Audie.

CORNISH: OK. That's Hanako Montgomery. She's going to be following the continuing fire in Hong Kong. Appreciate it.

And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the extra measures being taken to protect you and your family at today's Thanksgiving parades across the nation.

[06:35:09]

Plus, Black Friday deals. Are they still a deal? Just a gimmick? How far are you going to go to shop this year?

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[06:40:08]

CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. Happy Thanksgiving. I'm Audie Cornish. And I want to thank you for joining me on CNN today.

It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.

Two National Guardsmen remain in critical condition this morning after being shot yesterday near the White House. Officials said this was a targeted shooting. The suspect, who is in custody, is from Afghanistan. He came to the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome. He was granted asylum by the Trump administration in April of this year. And the administration has now indefinitely stopped all immigration requests for Afghan nationals because of the shooting.

And Pope Leo arriving in Turkey this morning as he begins the first international trip of his papacy. Over the next six days, he will also stop in Lebanon, which has the largest group of Catholics in the Middle East. While on the flight this morning, the American-born pope was given a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie to celebrate Thanksgiving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO: To the Americans here, Happy Thanksgiving! It's a wonderful day to celebrate. And I want to begin by saying thank you to each and every one of you for the service that you offer to the Vatican, to the holy see, to my person, but to the whole world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Today he is expected to meet with Turkey's president. Pope Leo says this trip is focused on unity and peace.

And some astronauts taking avoiding their family this Thanksgiving to a whole new level. One NASA astronaut and two cosmonauts headed to the International Space Station. They blasted off from Kazakhstan just a few hours ago. And they are set to stay in space for eight months.

And, of course, new this morning, the shooting of those two National Guardsmen in D.C. prompting extra security at Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. The parade kicks off in just under two hours. The NYPD said there are no credible threats to the big event.

CNN's Leigh Waldman has a look at how the NYPD is actually preparing to keep the parade crowd safe.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving, Audie.

We have seen NYPD all morning long up and down this parade route. They were here yesterday with K-9s in place, making sure that the thousands of people who are here in the city watching the 99th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade are safe and secure as they take in those festivities.

Now, we know that there's a lot about security on people's mind, given what happened in Washington, D.C., yesterday, but the NYPD police commissioner says that there's no known connection between what happened there and the city here.

Meanwhile, people here have been lining up since about 4:00 a.m. trying to secure their spots. And you can see some of those crowds here ready to take in the magic and wonder of the parade. We've got several birthdays, people celebrating here who are front row, hoping to see some of their tried and true favorite balloons and floats, along with some of the new faces that have been unveiled, like Buzz Lightyear, Mario, and also Pac-Man. If you're a Labubu fan, that craze that has taken over this past year, we're going to see giant Labubus making their way down the streets of New York. It's going to be absolutely incredible.

Months and months of work goes into making sure that all of these balloons are in prime condition, ready to delight the people here, but also everyone who is watching at home, Audie.

CORNISH: OK, Leigh, thanks so much.

I want to turn to this. The shooting here in D.C. comes in the middle of a legal showdown over President Trump's troop deployments to the city. A federal judge just last week had ordered an end to that deployment, calling it unlawful. After Wednesday's shooting, the administration filed an emergency motion to halt that ruling. Now, the president says he is sending in more troops.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America will never bend and never yield in the face of terror. And at the same time, we will not be deterred from the mission these service members were so nobly fulfilling. That is why tonight I can announce that I have directed the Department of War to mobilize an additional 500 troops to help protect our capital city.

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CORNISH: Joining me now, Alyse Adamson, a former federal prosecutor.

Alyse, good morning. Thank you for being with us.

ALYSE ADAMSON, HOST, "AT-LYSE YOU HEARD IT HERE" PODCAST: Good morning, Audie.

CORNISH: So, I wanted to make sense of this because, as we just said, there is a legal challenge underway over the presence of these National Guard troops. So, what do we know about the state of play on that and then what this new request from the president could mean.

ADAMSON: That's right, Audie. So, a federal judge, earlier in November, ruled that the National Guard troop deployment here was unlawful on two grounds, because D.C. didn't ask for them and because the National Guard is engaging in law enforcement activities, which violates federal law.

[06:45:12]

But in making that ruling, the judge actually paused the ruling for 21 days, meaning it didn't go into effect. The National Guard could remain and do what they were doing. And they gave them that time so the government could appeal. And that's what we saw yesterday, Audie. That's what that emergency appeal was. It was challenging the lower court's ruling and saying, no, this indeed was lawful.

So, the state of play has remained the same. The National Guard is allowed to be on the ground serving in the functions they've been serving since August. And so, this new troop deployment of 500 additional troops is allowed under the -- under the current state of play to echo your words.

Now, whether or not they are going to be allowed to remain, that's yet to be seen. And that is what is going to be playing out in the appellate court in the coming days and weeks.

CORNISH: It also will be interesting because it reframes the conversation about the threat and the concerns about the National Guard deployment. I know during this legal challenge there were all kinds of documents that came out from the National Guard itself about things that they were worried about. Can you talk about how -- the way this incident, somebody who is being accused of terror, is an -- a person from another country, how that plays into the arguments that people have been having about this

ADAMSON: Yes, Audie. So, an August 12th memo that came to light during this court battle from a National Guard commander himself kind of outlined the inherent risk of putting National Guardsmen so visibly on the streets of D.C. Now, in the court proceedings, the government, the DOJ, argued that that concern was really speculative. And in fact, the presence of the National Guard had made D.C. safer.

But I think that that argument now is going to be reexamined because some of the underlying concern is, if you have untrained, because the National Guard is not trained in law enforcement activities, individuals, and there's 2,000 of them, flooding the streets in very visible places, it could incite violence, both from regular civilians, or as we saw in this tragic example, Audie, more targeted attacks. And in this case it was a foreign national.

So, the DOJ had dismissed these concerns as speculative. But now, unfortunately, this violence is very real.

I think we also have to examine that aside, the fact that crime was actually going down in the district when they were deployed in the first place. So, the question is, are they doing more harm than good? And does D.C. actually need them? And I think we can expect to see that being raised on appeal as well.

CORNISH: That's Alyse Adamson. Thanks so much for that detail.

If you missed any of that conversation, if you want to share it with people today, please know we're a podcast too. Take a moment and scan the QR code now and then you can find CNN THIS MORNING, available anywhere you get your podcasts.

All right, up ahead, tariffs, economic uncertainty. Will that stop shoppers this Black Friday?

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Can holiday movies save the box office after a subpar year? We're going to talk about that next.

And this Thanksgiving, more than two million veterans will face food insecurity. The mission to help our nation's heroes.

And good morning to Philly. Final preparations underway for the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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[06:53:12]

CORNISH: OK, so as we head into the holiday season, movie studios are banking on a slate of releases to help salvage what's been a pretty rough year at the box office. Movies, for instance, like that Bruce Springsteen pic, "Deliver Me from Nowhere," it made about $23 million domestically, but that's half of its reported budget of $55 million. The latest Julia Roberts led film, "After the Hunt," that made less than $10 million at the box office. The budget for that had been between $70 million and $80 million. Those are just a few examples from this fall.

So, is this a sign that the business is still struggling in a post- Covid world, or just a kind of blip on the radar? The person I'm bringing in to help, CNN entertainment reporter Lisa France.

Good morning, Lisa. Happy Thanksgiving.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good morning, Audie. Happy Thanksgiving to you.

CORNISH: So, I wanted to talk to you because lots of people go to the movies this weekend traditionally, right? That's one of the options on Friday. And the studios had been releasing all of these like comedies and dramas. But it doesn't look like the numbers show that that is working so to speak. I just want to show you this. Domestic revenues, just three percent ahead of last year, except that in 2024 they were 23 percent behind pre-pandemic times. So, help me make sense of the math.

FRANCE: Yes, I think part of what we're seeing is there's never been a full rebound from Covid and the pandemic. And also now you have people really tightening their budgets. And so, when you go to a movie theater, you're not just going for the movie, right? You're going for the popcorn and the soda and all that cost. So, when people are looking to cut their expenses, unfortunately that goes first because people think, why go to a movie theater when I can sit at home and stream something and make my own popcorn and drink what I want and it's much cheaper, Audie.

CORNISH: So, what movies are people turning to, to stream for the holidays?

[06:55:02]

FRANCE: Well, I think for the holidays people are looking at traditional films that they watch, like "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "Soul Food" is a personal favorite of mine. So, people are really leaning into nostalgia right now. And so those types of films are really big around the holiday season. And also because there are things that you can really gather around as a family and watch together.

CORNISH: And then things that are worth leaving your house for. I mean looking at the numbers, it feels like people are willing to shell out for spectacle.

FRANCE: They are, which is why the new "Wicked" movie is doing so well. But unfortunately for every like "Wicked" you have, you also have "Kiss of the Spider Woman" with Jennifer Lopez, which is like the same formula, right, a Broadway show turned into a film with a big star, which not -- did not do as well.

But we do have "Avatar Three" coming up, "Fire and Ash," the new "Avatar" film. And I feel like James Cameron can always be counted on for a blockbuster. So, people are very excited about that. You've got the "Zootopia" film, which is also a sequel. Sequels have a tendency to do really well, Audie, because they already have a built-in audience.

Now, me, myself, I'm waiting on "Fackham Hall," which is going to be a spoof of period films. So, like a "Downton Abbey."

So, you know, people have a wide range of films, as you pointed out, to pick from. It's just a matter of you have to really want to see it these days to actually, you know, get up and go into a movie theater is what it feels like. And Hollywood's paying attention to that.

CORNISH: OK, Lisa France, thanks so much.

FRANCE: Thank you.

CORNISH: And with Thanksgiving here, that means Black Friday is just a day away. It may no longer be the savings bonanza of years past. Over a third of Black Friday items this year will offer no real discounts compared to their prices before Black Friday. That's according to the researchers at WalletHub. And because of the president's tariffs, many retailers actually started their Black Friday sales earlier this year.

So, joining us now to help navigate all this, Tamara Kraus from CNN Underscored. She's a senior lifestyle editor there.

Tamara, good morning.

TAMARA KRAUS, SENIOR LIFESTYLE EDITOR FOR CNN UNDERSCORED: Good morning, Audie.

CORNISH: So, we went and looked this up. Macy's started their Black Friday on November 6th, which is not Black Friday. So, can you talk about the strategies that retailers were using to convince people to shop in a time when consumer confidence is declining?

KRAUS: Yes, that is definitely what we have been seeing at Underscored as well. Our deals team and entire Underscored editor team has been covering all of the Black Friday deals since the beginning of November, like you said. Even maybe a little bit earlier.

So, yes, we've been doing a ton of lead-up coverage to Black Friday with those early deals to entice buyers to, you know, start their shopping early. What we've seen is a lot of items do sell out early. So, we've really been encouraging people to get a jump start on your shopping to alleviate that stress at the last minute because colors might sell out that you want or your size that you need might sell out. So, we're definitely seeing, you know, more of that early coverage this year.

CORNISH: So, there was a Deloitte survey that said consumers are expected to spend about, on average, $622 during Black Friday. And we got to mention Cyber Monday period. And that's actually down a little bit from last year. So, are retailers trying to do anything to engage those people who are kind of tightening their budgets?

KRAUS: Yes, I mean, we, from what we've seen at Underscored, retailers are still having a really high inventory of items to anticipate the really large wave of consumer buying over this Black Friday, Cyber Monday holiday season. And I think, you know, having people, you know, being able to buy these discounts all month long is definitely, you know, been a push for, for retailers. Maybe even offering some exclusive codes is something that we've seen. At Underscored we also offer exclusive codes with some of our favorite retailers as well to help move the needle during these times where prices might be a little bit higher.

CORNISH: OK, any tips for the hunt? I know I'm on the hunt for a small appliance. I'm looking for a blender, and I have not wanted to pay full blender price the last year. So, are there really any deals out there? What do you suggest people do?

KRAUS: Yes, for sure. From, you know, what we've seen at Underscored, Black Friday and Cyber Monday is definitely the best time to get deals. It's not a scam. So, I would say you will definitely be able to find your blender. I don't know if you want a Vitamix, but I'm pretty sure one will be on sale --

CORNISH: Why are you naming the most expensive one, Tamara? OK. That's not the plan here.

KRAUS: It's really good. We tested all of them. But, yes, at Underscored, we do historical price checks and -- to make sure that you are getting the best deal and we'll provide context of whether this is the best deal of the year, or this is the best deal of all time, to make sure that we're giving the reader all the information they need before making that purchase.

[07:00:05]

CORNISH: All right, Tamara Kraus of CNN Underscored. Thanks so much. KRAUS: Thanks, Audie.

CORNISH: I want to thank you for waking up with me as well. There's a special second hour of CNN THIS MORNING, and that starts in just a moment.