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CNN This Morning

More Than 20 Million People Are Under Winter Weather Alerts; National Guard Member Dies After Shooting In Washington D.C.; U.S. Halts All Asylum Decisions After National Guard Shooting; U.S. Military Carried Out Second Strike Killing Survivors On A Suspected Drug Boat; Russia Launches Wave Of New Strikes On Ukraine Overnight. President Trump Cancels Biden Orders Signed By Autopen; National Guard Shooting Suspect Faces Upgraded First-Degree Murder Charge; Charlotte's Local Shops Hope for Profits After ICE Raids. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired November 29, 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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[06:00:32]

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is Saturday, November 29th. I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving. Welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Isabel Rosales in for Victor Blackwell.

Here's what's new this morning. If you're on the move today after Thanksgiving, so is Mother Nature. Millions in the Northern Plains and the Midwest are dealing with a major winter storm. We're tracking where the worst weather is right now, who's going to be dealing with it next and how it could impact your travel.

Plus, President Trump is escalating his crackdown on immigration after the attack on members of the National Guard in DC. We're breaking down a move he just announced impacting millions of immigrants, waiting for decisions on their asylum applications.

And breaking news overnight, Ukraine is reeling from the aftermath of the largest drone and missile attack launched by Russia in a month. Why this couldn't have come at a worse time for the leadership there in Ukraine.

This morning, more than 20 million people face winter storm warnings threatening to cause a travel nightmare for people heading back home after Thanksgiving. Parts of the Midwest are expected to get hit with up to 10 inches of snow.

In fact, here's a life look right now in St. Louis as one of the busiest travel periods of the year is underway. Strong winds could make for dangerous driving conditions. Here with me now is CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar from Boy, what a mess.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is. And it's a very early season storm. In fact, take for example, Indiana. This was the earliest winter storm warning they've had in November since 2008. Again, normally we get these in January, February, things like that. But this is very early and it's going to be a very, a lot of people that are impacted by this particular system as it continues to slide off to the east.

All of these areas you see here highlighted in the pink and the purple color, those are where we have all of those winter weather alerts going through for the next 24 to 36 hours. Now here's a look at the live radar. Again, all of this purple color here indicates where the snow is, the darker the purple color, the heavier the snow is.

If you see some of that pink, it's a little bit of a wintry mix. You've got some ice, you've got some snow, you've got a little bit of rain all kind of mixed together.

Heaviest right now across portions of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and even into portions of Nebraska down to the south. It's much warmer here, maybe not much warmer to be able to get some rain. But we also have the potential for some strong to severe thunderstorms across these areas today, especially for Texas and into Louisiana.

Here's a look at that system as it continues to slide off to the east. So by later on this evening, the target points for a lot of the heavy snow going to be Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Milwaukee, those areas. And through the overnight it's going to slide off into the north and east.

Now right there along I-95. The biggest concern tomorrow is going to be rain. So New York, Boston, D.C. all of these areas stretching down through basically Raleigh are looking at the rain. And again, keep in mind it may not be snow, but some of this rain is expected to be very heavy at times. So you could have some street flooding that goes along with it, which is not what you want to hear if you're traveling by the roadway.

Here's also a look again, you've got more rain in the way for portions of the Southeast. This is going to cause some flooding as well for some of those Gulf coast states as we head even into Monday and Tuesday.

ROSALES: Yes, this is a large area impacted and the timing that's terrible with the holiday.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

ROSALES: Yes. Allison Chinchar, thank you. Well, this morning family and friends are mourning the loss of one National Guard member while praying that another survives. This week's shooting in Washington D.C. killed 20-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. 24-year-old U.S. Air Force staff sergeant Andrew Wolfe, he is in very serious condition. That's according to West Virginia's governor.

Wolfe's father tells CNN that his son is a fighter and just a great person. Beckstrom and Wolfe were two of thousands of soldiers from multiple states who went to the Capitol in August as part of President Donald Trump's surge of federal law enforcement there. CNN's Brian Todd explains what we've learned about the suspect. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isabel, we have some new information about Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting here in Washington, the shooting of the two National Guards members.

[06:05:05]

According to Amazon, we were looking into his work history. According to Amazon, they confirmed that a person with the same name worked as an independent contractor with the company for about a month over the summer. He worked for Amazon Flex, the delivery service.

And in addition, a neighbor of his in Bellingham, Washington, told CNN that he lived in an apartment complex with his wife and his five children and two nephews. He described him as, quote, a simple and nice guy who attended a mosque regularly but who had not been attending the mosque in recent days. This neighbor did not want to be identified by name to preserve his own privacy.

In addition, we have some new information regarding possible charges that the suspect could face. According to Jeanine Pirro, she is the assistant, excuse me, she is the Attorney General for Washington, D.C., she said that he now is going to face a first degree murder charge.

Now, he had previously faced three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and one count of possession of a firearm with intent to commit violence. That some of those charges could still hold up. But according to Jeanine Pirro, he will face a first degree murder charge in addition to that.

And Pam Bondi, the attorney general, had previously said that they would seek the death penalty for Lakanwal if indeed one of the Guard members passed away, which of course, we know has occurred.

In the meantime, you know, here at the shooting scene. It's a very interest and moving scene here. Take a look at this makeshift memorial. You know, not too long ago, there were only a couple of bunches of flowers here. But in the last several hours, a lot of people have come and placed flowers, notes, flags, wreaths here.

And I want to point out one particular memorial. Just above it on the ledge there, you see that vase of roses. And right below it, you see a patch, an American flag patch, and two what they call challenge coins. Those were placed here by a young Marine who came by and stood and just kind of -- he placed them, he fastened them in place and just kind of took a moment to reflect. And when he was done reflecting, we came up and spoke to him briefly. He didn't want to give his name, but he said, you know, he just wanted to remember the victims.

And in his words, he called it, quote, disgusting, the fact that both sides of the political aisle have tried to place blame for this incident on the other. He said, really, it's time for us all to recognize that a young service member has lost her life. In addition, we've spoken to several business managers in this area

who are still really shaken by the events here. They described locking down their doors, you know, shielding customers from the chaos, helping customers take shelter from the chaos. They have mixed feelings about the National Guard presence here. Many of them told us they felt much safer when the National Guard was here. Just their mere presence felt them more, meant that they felt more safe.

But at least a couple of them said they're a little ambiguous, at least about the idea and the plan to send more national guardsmen into D.C. in the wake of the shooting. Many of them said they're afraid that maybe those guardsmen might be targeted as well. Isabel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: Brian Todd, thank you. Well, the arrest of that suspect has triggered an even harsher immigration crackdown from the Trump administration.

Friday night, officials announced that they would halt all decisions on asylum applications. The Trump administration also says that they'll reexamine green cards issued to people from certain countries that the president calls Third World. The action's now matching his rhetoric from Thanksgiving Day. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: This heinous atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country. For the most part, we don't want them. They come in illegally, have a lot of problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier joins me now. Thank you so much for being here with us and good to see you in person. Finally. Always on the other side of the screen, usually.

President Trump is using the actions of one person to justify really a sweeping immigration crackdown. Now, in a Truth Social post that included a Happy Thanksgiving to Americans, Trump is calling for what he described as reverse migration. He said this, I will permanently pause migration from all third world countries, remove anyone who is not a net assets to the United States. And now he has paused all the asylum applications. He's halted visas for anyone, including from Afghanistan. Those people, those very same people who helped the US in fighting the Taliban.

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes.

ROSALES: What do you make of all this?

DOZIER: This is a nightmare for anyone seeking asylum right now. People in conflict zones, especially those who work with the United States, who therefore face greater threat wherever they are. In Afghanistan, I'm still in touch with Afghans who worked with media, who worked with the U.S. government or other Western officials or Western aid agencies who all are living in fear because the Taliban has been hunting them.

[06:10:10]

They've been playing this game of trying to either go to Iran until they got kicked out of Iran, go to Pakistan until they got kicked out of Pakistan. Now they're back in Afghanistan with the Taliban hunting them, hoping that they don't figure out where they are, because they have a list of the people who used to work with the U.S. government. We don't know what motivated this shooter, but his actions have impacted thousands of people who worked with this country for two decades.

ROSALES: Yes, about 190,000 Afghans that were resettled here since 2021. We have that data from the State Department. And 2.2 million immigrants that are awaiting asylum decisions right now. That's according to Syracuse University.

Now, Trump has also said that he's going to reexamine all these green cards issued to people from 19 countries of concern. They include Afghanistan, Cuba, the Republic of Congo, Venezuela. What would a move like this signal to America's allies, to these relationships, and what does that do to the reputation of America on a worldwide scale?

DOZIER: I can tell you that the actions already from friends, from diplomats I speak to in recent trips overseas have told me that, you know, you guys, you're no longer the shining city on the hill. We used to want to come to the United States or send our children for school here. Even if we didn't like what the government was doing, we wanted them to be immersed in American culture.

Now your culture, it's sending out this message of you are not welcome here. I have one friend whose son is finishing up studies here, and she's looking at Canada and China for his advanced studies. Absolutely. And that is a pattern that I'm hearing repeated again and again from people who used to feel welcome here.

Also, there's this real fear from people who have green cards that their numbers soon going to be up and the life they built here isn't worth this paper that they worked so hard to get.

ROSALES: And these are permanent, lawful residents who are authorized to live and work here.

DOZIER: Exactly. And you know, one of the things that intelligence agencies do overseas, especially the CIA, is they recruit people who want to help the United States in hopes of maybe moving to the U.S. someday. I understand it's gotten a lot harder to recruit folks because the U.S. is seen as a fair weather ally.

ROSALES: Yes. So a challenge there in getting spice.

DOZIER: Yes. ROSALES: Let me also talk about this very quickly. Trump has

maintained that the suspect was insufficiently vetted by his predecessor, although he received approval, was granted asylum back in April by his administration. Now we spoke, CNN spoke to a senior U.S. official that told us that the suspect was clean on all checks, including multiple rounds of intelligence screening, a fresh asylum review by the Trump administration this year.

How do you reconcile a case like this? Was this failed betting?

DOZIER: I mean, you have to think about the fact that, you know, we don't know his motive. But there are a lot of Afghans in the U.S. right now who are angry at the threats the Trump administration has made to kick some of them out and also still angry over the fact that they've left countless numbers of family and in this case, you know, fellow Afghan national army traffic troops who are back in Afghanistan on an enemy's list fearing for their lives or already assassinated. And that can be a driver of that can be a motivation of a lot of anger and violence.

ROSALES: Kim Dozier, thank you so much for your time.

DOZIER: Thanks.

ROSALES: And actually, you'll stay with us. We've got a lot more to talk to you in just a little bit ahead. We're also following these headlines this morning. Northwestern University has agreed to pay $75 million to the Trump administration in order to restore its federal funding.

The deal ends a months long civil rights investigation into claims of unlawful discrimination, including what the administration calls race based admissions and a hostile environment for Jewish students. The agreement requires Northwestern to follow federal anti-discrimination laws, tighten demonstration policies and also implement antisemitism training.

And in downtown St. Louis, a massive warehouse. Look at this. Wow. This warehouse fire still burning slowly this morning. Four vacant buildings caught fire yesterday. One of them has collapsed. Flames also spread to nearby power lines and even train tracks. So dangerous situation there.

Firefighters moved several homeless people out of the area for safety. The fire chief says crews have it under control, but with all the old timber and debris inside, it could keep burning through tomorrow.

[06:15:05]

So far, thankfully, no injuries, but the cause is still unknown.

UPS, meanwhile, says a fleet of its planes likely will not be back in the air in time for the peak holiday delivery rush. The company grounded all of its MD-11 planes after. You might remember this, that deadly crash in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this month. UPS originally estimated that they'd be back in service in just weeks, but an internal memo reveals it will actually be months. Because inspections and possible repairs are far more extensive than they first thought.

UPS says it will rely on backup plans to meet that holiday demand.

Coming up, a stunning new report. Sources tell CNN the U.S. carried out a second attack on a suspected drug boat after the first attack in the Caribbean apparently did not kill everyone on board.

Plus, President Trump's attacks on former President Joe Biden continue as he vows to cancel every order that he signed with an auto pen. Does Trump have the power to do that? We'll explain.

And details have been released overnight about the number of people missing in that deadly apartment fire in Hong Kong. We will take you live to that region.

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[06:20:55]

ROSALES: Welcome back. New this morning, CNN has learned that the U.S. military carried out a second strike on a suspected drug vessel operating in the Caribbean back in early September after an initial attack did not kill everyone on board.

Now according to sources, the first strike appeared to disable the boat and cause deaths, but the military assessed that there were survivors. The second attack killed the remaining crew on board, breaking the total death toll to 11 and also sinking that ship. CNN's Betsy Klein has the details.

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BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, we are learning that the U.S. military carried out a second follow up strike on a suspected drug vessel operating in the Caribbean on September 2 after the first strike did not kill everyone on board. Sources familiar with the matter telling our colleague Natasha Bertrand that when the initial strike appeared to disable that boat and caused deaths, the military assessed that there were survivors. The second attack killed the remaining crew. Eleven people died and the ship sunk.

Now one of the sources says that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered the military before this operation to ensure the strike killed everyone aboard the boat. It is not clear at this time if he knew there were survivors before that second strike. But President Trump announced the strike and the death toll on the day of the attacks again September 2nd.

But the Trump administration has never publicly acknowledged killing survivors. This was the first strike on an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean. There have since been about 20 known strikes in the Caribbean and one in the Eastern Pacific. We should note these details were first reported by the Intercept and the Washington Post. All of this comes as the president continues to weigh his options in

Venezuela, suggesting yesterday that action on land could start very soon after weeks of threats. And there has been a major show of force in the region as the U.S. has amassed significant resources. That includes the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, roughly 15,000 military personnel, more than a dozen warships and 10 F-35 fighter jets.

Trump has been briefed by his team on a really wide range of options, including airstrikes on military or government facilities and drug trafficking routes or a more direct attempt to oust the country's president, Nicolas Maduro. Betsy Klein, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: And overnight, Russia launched a wave of new missiles and drones across Ukraine, killing at least three people. Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv was under air raid alert for more than 10 hours. That's according to CNN reporters on scene there.

Ukraine's foreign minister said the strikes hit civilian homes as well as the country's energy grid. And Poland said they had to scramble military jets and air defense systems in response to the attack as a, quote, preventative nature.

Back with me now is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier. Thank you for staying with us. These strikes are coming after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to shore up the Hungary's energy supplies and also to discuss the efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

What do you make of this timing?

DOZIER: Well, what we have is basically Putin shoring up his allies. There's also a move by Belarus to buy up some of the sanctioned properties so that it takes some of the sanctions pressure off of Moscow. And you have the White House signaling that it's no longer pushing Putin for an immediate ceasefire. Instead, it's pushing Ukraine to accept parts of a peace deal that are rather unacceptable, that even include things like not prosecuting Russian troops for war crimes.

Now, it remains unknown if the Ukrainians will cop to this, will accept this. But Europeans are feeling powerless and it seems like Putin is feeling empowered.

ROSALES: Right. Some of that pressure has definitely eased off of Putin.

DOZIER: Yes.

ROSALES: Now focus on Ukraine and Putin expects a U.S. delegation in Moscow next week.

[06:25:03]

He says he's ready for, quote, serious peace talks. But then he also said this, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: So he's talking about Ukrainian territory, the Donetsk region. And isn't that a nonstarter for Ukraine, for Zelenskyy?

DOZIER: I mean, it is, though, if you look at Ukrainian opinion polls, Ukrainians are tired and they're willing to give up some land in order to have the fighting stop. But Zelenskyy and European officials say if you don't do it in a way that guarantees Ukraine's future security, that's an invitation to Russia to invade again. And it's also a green light to Russia to invade possibly other European territories that Putin has made comments about.

Putin also undermined his own commitment to the peace process by saying in other comments in recent days that he doesn't really see how he can sign a deal with this illegitimate government, as he describes it, in Ukraine, because Ukraine can't hold presidential elections right now.

ROSALES: They're under martial law.

DOZIER: They're under martial law that they passed during the full Russian invasion in 2022.

The other thing is Zelenskyy is at a really weak point right now, very fragile politically. He's had this corruption case that just took down his chief of staff that was --

ROSALES: Top negotiator.

DOZIER: That was top negotiator for the peace deal and also the bad cop to Zelenskyy's good cop in ruling the country. So, he's having to redo his whole presidential office under this scandal. So it's -- it seems like the White House has decided once again that he's in the losing proposition. Putin is ascendant, and they're pushing a deal that would favor Russia.

ROSALES: I want to turn and get your take on that reporting. We first heard from Betsy Klein about these boat strikes in the Caribbean, where sources told CNN that the military was aware that there were survivors in the water. And then following that first strike, we saw the secondary strike that carried out and killed all the remaining crew.

First, what is your reaction to hearing that piece of reporting? And then what do you see as the end game here for the Trump administration? DOZIER: I mean, just striking the boats has been decried as an

international war crime across the world, though it's hard to see who has legal standing to sue the U.S. government over this. The same way no one really had a way to stop the previous drone strikes against terrorism suspects in places like Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan under the Obama administration.

The act itself, though, is telegraphing to Maduro that the U.S. is willing to use military force to get its way. It is part of a saber rattling campaign to signal to Maduro that his days are numbered. Now, would the U.S. put boots on the ground in Venezuela? Probably not. But the FAA in recent days has issued a warning that because of military activity, the airspace over Venezuela is unsafe and many international airlines have stopped flying there.

And Maduro just announced actions against six of those airlines because he wanted the airlines to defy the FAA warning and keep bringing passengers there.

ROSALES: Yes. And of course, we're hearing from the president that U.S. land action against drug trafficking networks in Venezuela will start very soon. We're going to have to keep an eye on that.

DOZIER: Yes.

ROSALES: That even means. Kim Dozier, thank you so much.

DOZIER: Thanks.

ROSALES: Next on CNN This Morning, what we're learning about the upgraded charges for the man accused of shooting two national guardsmen in D.C., that's next.

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[06:30:00]

ROSALES: Welcome back. President Trump says he is canceling all executive orders that were signed by autopen during Joe Biden's presidency. Trump claims the autopen process was used illegally, and that 92 percent of documents auto-signed by his predecessor are now terminated. CNN's Kristen Holmes has the latest.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump ramps up his attacks on President Joe Biden, particularly over the use of the autopen on Friday, saying that he was going to overturn any executive order that Biden had signed using the autopen. So, I'm going to pull up this post for you. But before we do, I do want to note one thing, Isabel(ph), there are still a lot of questions about this, what the legality is of this.

Also, where President Trump got some of these numbers and what he might be referring to explicitly. We still don't have those answers. Is there something that he wants to overturn, or is this some kind of blanket statement? So, here's what he says in this post. It says "any documents signed by sleepy Joe Biden with the autopen, which was approximately 92 percent of them, is hereby terminated.

And of no further force or effect, the autopen is not followed or not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States."

Then I'm just going to read one other part to you here. It says "Joe Biden was not involved in the autopen process, and if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury."

[06:35:00]

OK, so, a couple of things to note here. One, we don't know where he got this 92 percent number. What he is referring to. Again, if this is even legal, but one thing is clear here. He has been fixated on the autopen for quite some time. He has said privately and publicly, he believes this is one of the greatest scandals in the country.

And he even replaced Biden's picture on the presidential wall of fame with a picture of an autopen. So, clearly something he's been focused on for quite some time. But here, he is saying he's going to overturn everything that he signed using the autopen. And President Biden has already pushed back, saying that there was no misuse, meaning that if he continues to push back, President Trump is alleging that he's going to be charged with perjury.

So, again, a lot of questions that we're trying to get to the bottom of what exactly he meant in this post. Isabel?

ROSALES: Kristen Holmes, thank you for that. Also this morning, new charges in the shooting of two National Guardsmen near the White House. The suspect, a 29-year-old Afghan national, now faces first degree murder charge, a charge there, after the death of one of the victims. Joining me now is CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

Thank you so much for being with us. Good morning to you. Let's talk about that upgraded charge now with the guardsmen dying. Prosecutors have gone from assault with intent to kill to first degree murder. This is a federal case. Legally, what does that change?

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, so, Isabel. Good to be with you. It changes quite a bit quite frankly, with the other charges were with regard to assault, with intent to kill. The critical analysis in that would be what your intentions were, and that was to commit murder. But of course, the arms member was not yet dead.

Now that there's this elevation to this murder charge, it's quite different. In order to establish that there's a murder, you simply establish that there was a premeditated act. There was an intent to cause a murder, and the person as a result of your actions is now dead. So, as a result of that, it elevates it in every regard. Number one, in terms of the punishment.

Now, it's dicey because D.C., it's being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office. They have dual jurisdiction, both local and federal. And so, right now, while it's being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office as a local crime, it could, in fact, elevate to the status of a federal crime, depending upon the digging that is going on right now, Isabel, in terms of the motivations of the killer, was it terrorism? Was it not?

Was the U.S. Guard's person acting in a federal capacity, having been deployed there by the President? And that's significant in our conversation this morning, Isabel, because in the event that it is federalized, now you're eligible for the death -- D.C. is a local crime murder one, murder --

ROSALES: Right, it has no death penalty --

JACKSON: In the first degree is life without parole -- exactly. So, with that elevation, if it's federal, that makes it eligible for the death penalty. And so --

ROSALES: Yes --

JACKSON: It's a game-changer. Indeed, sad, of course, that it had to be upgraded and just tragic that this even occurred. But in any case, the facts have to match the outcome and have to match the law, and that's exactly what's happening here.

ROSALES: And how would that work? This pursuit of the death penalty? What does the federal government have to prove to get that? And also, they mentioned terrorism charges. Do they need to have a motive worked out for that?

JACKSON: Yes, so, you know, Isabel, in general circumstances, when you're moving forward in a murder case, you never have to show the motivation, right? Inquiring minds always want to know, a jury wants to know why? But it doesn't have to be established. In the event that terrorism charges are added, which we don't know yet, whether they'll be appropriate or not.

Let's be clear that there's a lot of digging being done by the FBI. To have federal bureau investigations is really executing search warrants in Washington State. They're executing search warrants in San Diego because of his ties there. They're looking overseas. They're looking at every aspect. They're looking at e-mails. They're looking at text messages, electronic devices.

Why do I say that? That's significant to determine whether there was a terroristic motive. Not every killing that's by any official that happens not to be -- excuse me, Individual civilian who happens to be not a United States citizen, doesn't make it terrorism. Now you're looking at motivation. If you're going forward on a terrorism charge, what are you trying to coerce the population, intimidate people, influence policy.

Those are all critical issues with regard to whether it's terroristic. If it's terrorism, absolutely. It would be eligible for the death penalty if it's pre-meditated, substantially-planned causes, or could cause death to other people, that also could make it eligible for the death penalty as well.

ROSALES: Joey Jackson, I know that you will stay on top of this one like you do everyone. Thank you.

JACKSON: Appreciate you.

ROSALES: Most small business Saturday is going to look a little bit different today in Charlotte after the immigration crackdown forced many businesses to close. We'll find out to what extent this has impacted the local economy there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

ROSALES: If you didn't get all of your shopping done on Black Friday, small businesses across the country are counting on today, small business Saturday to boost their bottom line. Now, one of those communities, Charlotte, North Carolina, is hoping for a big turnout, especially after the Trump administration targeted immigration raids which disrupted operations at some small immigrant-owned businesses.

[06:45:00]

Joining us now to discuss is Greg Asciutto, he's the Executive Director of CharlotteEAST; a nonprofit focused on helping local communities thrive. Greg, thank you so much for joining us here at CNN. Following this border patrol operation, we saw dozens of immigrant-owned businesses reopen, but cautiously, some locked their doors, some had bare bones staff members.

We saw owners even washing the dishes and some didn't reopen. What's the mood on the ground there right now? What are business owners telling you?

GREG ASCIUTTO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHARLOTTEEAST: Absolutely, well, good morning and thank you for having me. Over the past two weeks, roughly 400 small, independently-owned businesses are in our geography of EAST Charlotte. Seventy percent give or take, are owned and operated by a first or second generation immigrants.

We estimate that more than half of those businesses face some type of closure. Many for three-plus days with the average daily loss of revenue being roughly $2,500. Last week, things slowly came back online. You had many of the businesses that closed for the full previous week come back on with skeleton crews, with owners taking the bulk of the labor on.

But the problem that we're still going to have for the foreseeable future is large percentage of the customer base is still reluctant to come out and resume the same type of shopping and consumer habits as they were previously.

ROSALES: And what are you hearing from these business owners who they have concerns that they might have to shutter, that the money is going to be tight if things continue this way?

ASCIUTTO: So, we -- sure. So, we have not heard of any of those direct cases yet. We are waiting on that other shoe to drop. You know, we know that the previous operation that's happened over the past two weeks is not going to be the last time that this happens. So, what we are trying to do over the next quarter very rapidly is set up some of our businesses to be prepared for the next time we have an emergency event like this.

So, get systems set up for individual business owners to be able to receive revenue now in the form of gift cards. Many of our businesses don't have --

ROSALES: Yes --

ASCIUTTO: That system set up where they can take revenue directly without making any expenses.

ROSALES: Yes --

ASCIUTTO: We're trying to get our --

ROSALES: You're talking about forcer delista(ph), right? You're talking about that campaign, forcer delista(ph)?

ASCIUTTO: That -- so, yes, so we are also running concurrently, it's going to be in honor today of launching small business Saturday. Exactly. Matching gift cards for individuals that shop at any of our 400 locally-owned businesses throughout the month of December, will be doubling the amount of gift cards that patrons receive in return.

And throughout in December, setting up a lot of our businesses that don't have that operational side in place for gift cards, getting them set up to prepare for that. Absolutely.

ROSALES: And if I could dig in a little deeper to what you were mentioning, this survey that your organization conducted of nearly 100 local businesses, those numbers you mentioned, a few of them, they're really striking. I want to dig into this a little bit more. Average daily losses of about 2,500, at least, one business losing as much as $12,000 in a day, 47 percent.

So, nearly half of businesses closed for at least three days. How would you describe that level of economic ramification, and what does recovery look like? How long does that take?

ASCIUTTO: Sure, and I will say that the term that I'm using, for our specific insulated ecosystem on the east side, it is extremely reminiscent of the first week of COVID where a lot of business owners shut down, didn't know exactly how long they were going to be shutting down for. Had some emergency precautions in place and procedures, but not quite the total gamut.

But in terms of how long we're anticipating this disruption, I mean, it's easily going to be at least, a quarter of --

ROSALES: Wow --

ASCIUTTO: Economic activity until we --

ROSALES: One full corridor(ph) --

ASCIUTTO: Believe that we return to some level of normalcy.

ROSALES: Greg Asciutto, thank you so much, and I hope lots of folks go out there and support local businesses today and past today.

ASCIUTTO: Thank you very much.

ROSALES: Thank you. Well, next, the search for the missing after that massive apartment fire in Hong Kong. The community there is coming together to help the victims' families. We'll take you live to that region. That's next.

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[06:50:00]

ROSALES: This morning, Hong Kong is in mourning after a deadly apartment fire that killed at least 128 people. It is the city's worst fire in decades. Firefighters finally put out the flames after two days, but at least, 150 people are still missing. Police have arrested eight people connected to construction at that site.

Investigators are also checking whether the fire alarm system worked properly. CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins us live now from Hong Kong. What's right behind you, Hanako, what can you tell us?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Isabel, I'm just at the base of the apartment complex where that deadly fire tore through seven buildings. And just behind me is a vigil where a constant stream of people have been coming down to lay down flowers, lay down handwritten notes and letters to mourn the over 120 people lost in this deadly blaze.

And, Isabel, I don't know if you can see this behind me here, but there is a huge line just in this adjacent park, and all these people here are here to mourn those victims. It's just absolutely astounding to see this huge turnout of this community rallying behind those victims.

[06:55:00]

And Isabel, the atmosphere here is extremely somber. I mean, understandably so. People here are visibly crying, and clearly, extremely distressed about the events that have unfolded in Hong Kong. Now, many here fear the worst, that those still missing will go to be among the dead. In fact, according to the local authorities with their latest update, the number of those missing has gone down from 200 to 150.

But that is because many have been confirmed to be among those dead. Families have identified their remains. Now, the police investigation still continues. The investigation is expected to take up to a month, and there are lots of still questions unanswered about what caused this fire, what made it so deadly? But clearly, Hong Kong is in mourning as they're trying to recover from the worst fire in decades. Isabel.

ROSALES: Yes, an incredible sight, Hanako, to see all those people. I can see them snaked around there, that long line. And right before your head, I saw an entire family going up, children handing over those flowers and sharing in this grief. Just incredibly heartbreaking. Hanako Montgomery in Hong Kong, thank you so much.

Well, there's much more ahead in this next hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND, including Pope Leo in Turkey this morning. He made his first visit to a mosque since his election. We'll take you live to that region here in the next half hour.

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