WSJ What’s News - Two National Guard Members Shot in Washington, D.C.

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

P.M. Edition for Nov. 26. Two members of the West Virginia National Guard deployed in Washington, D.C. have been shot near the White House. Plus, a judge in Georgia has dropped a case against President Trump that alleged he and his inner circle operated a criminal enterprise aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. And Atlanta opened its first publicly-funded grocery store this summer. WSJ reporter Will Parker discusses why the city is betting this one will turn a profit, and what this government grocery experiment might mean for other cities with similar plans. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two members of the National Guard have been shot in Washington, D.C. Plus, a Georgia judge dropped the election interference case against President Trump. And why Atlanta thinks its first government-backed grocery store can turn a profit. They think in partnering with someone whose expertise is in running grocery stores, that they can be more successful than perhaps some other experiments with publicly backed or funded grocery stores in the past. It's Wednesday, November. November 26th. I'm Alex Oscella for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

Two members of the West Virginia National Guard have been shot in Washington, D.C., near the White House. That's according to West Virginia's governor. U.S. officials say a suspect was also shot and is in custody. The National Guard has been deployed to Washington, to support law enforcement in the city. In remarks to reporters, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth condemn the shooting. We will secure our capital. We will secure our cities. In fact, this happened just steps away from the White House.

We will not stand. And that's why President Trump has asked me, and I will ask the Secretary of the Army to the National Guard, to add 500 additional troops, National Guardsmen, to Washington, D.C. The president is in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday and wasn't at the White House at the time of the shooting. For more on this developing story, visit WSJ.com.

And in Georgia, a judge has dismissed the election interference case against Trump and his inner circle, after a request from the prosecutor, ending a long-running and contentious legal battle. Prosecutors had alleged that Trump and 18 other defendants operated a criminal enterprise aimed at overturning former President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory. The defendants all pleaded not guilty, though four co-defendants later reached plea deals. Georgia prosecutor Peter Scandalakis, who took over the case after Atlanta District Attorney Fawney Willis was removed last year, said today that he didn't find enough evidence to support racketeering charges. He said it was unrealistic that a sitting president would be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial. This is the latest in a series of high-profile cases against Trump to be dropped, and Trump's lawyer today applauded the move. In Hong Kong, at least 36 people were killed. More were injured, and over 270 people were

were unaccounted for after a fire ripped through several high-rise buildings in a housing complex today. One fireman has died after collapsing on the scene. The blaze started shortly before 3 p.m. local time in the complex of about 2,000 apartment units built in the 1980s. Officials are investigating the cause of the fire, which was still burning early Thursday morning in Hong Kong. On this morning show, we told you about a Campbell's executive who was put on leave after he was allegedly caught on tape, saying the company made, quote, highly processed food for, quote, poor people. Well, today, Campbell said that it fired that executive, Vice President of Information Technology Martin Bally,

after the company determined that the voice on the recording was his. Bally didn't immediately return a request for comment. This summer, the Azalea Fresh Market grocery store opened in downtown Atlanta. In many ways, it's a typical grocery store. It's got fresh produce, baked goods, two-for-one deals, a sandwich and sushi counter, and wine and beer. But it's the first supermarket to operate in Atlanta's downtown in two decades, and it cost the city $8 million to launch it, and a second store that's in the works. Will Parker, who covers the housing and residential rental market for the Wall Street Journal, interviewed Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens earlier this month about why the community needed this grocery store. They have to eat.

They live somewhere, but they eat every day. so you're okay with them spending more time trying to get to food than other people. And that just burned you up, man. It totally burned me up. And I was like, screw it. We're going to do it ourselves. Will joins me now to discuss the latest experiment

in government grocery stores. Will, this is not the first attempt at a grocery store funded by a city, and they haven't always succeeded. What has gone wrong in the past and what is this store in Atlanta trying to do differently? Oftentimes, when cities get interested in doing this, it's because they have so-called food deserts, which are areas where there isn't a supermarket or fresh food. And sometimes that's because of social problems, such as concentrated poverty, that make the prospect of a supermarket unattractive to a private company.

They don't see the possibility for acceptable profits due to the low-income residents. And so even if you have government funding to get a store started, they may still struggle with some of the same issues. And what is this store trying to do differently? So they think in partnering with someone whose expertise is in running grocery stores that they can be more successful than perhaps some other experiments with publicly backed or funded grocery stores in the past. The private operator is a grocery store company called Savi Provisions. What Savvy says is that for any store to get to a comfortable level of profitability takes a certain amount of time. And they think within three years is achievable. What has the response been from other grocery chains in the city?

There are cases where it may technically compete, may draw shoppers away from other stores that are a mile or more away. But I don't think there's been any outcry from industry. Leaders in other cities are talking about wanting to do something similar. New York City Mayor elect Zoran Mamdani campaigned on starting government-backed grocery stores, and Madison, Wisconsin is cited to soon begin construction on a publicly owned supermarket there. What can these other city officials learn from this example in Atlanta? Well, we'll have to see. We'll have to see how well Atlanta does this.

Atlanta's main ambition is to just provide grocery stores where there aren't any. They want the stores to be no more expensive than other stores. I think Momdani's ambition is broader than that. that. And Bamdani has spoken about competing directly in price and offering much cheaper groceries than competing stores. I think he's been more provocative with this idea about beating out private operators who, in his view, are overcharging residents of the city. The ethos of that is quite different, I think, from Atlanta's. That was WSJ reporter, Will Parker. Thank you, Will. Thank you.

Coming up, why leaders of the Maasai ethnic group in East Africa are suing the world's largest hotel chain. That's after the break. U.S. indexes were up for a fourth straight session, extending a recovery from last week's sell-off. Rising expectations for an interest rate cut next month and lessening fears of an AI bubble have helped live. stocks. The NASDAQ led the gains, adding 0.8%. Meanwhile, retail brokerage Robin Hood gained about 11% today after it announced that its launching a futures and derivatives exchange with market makers Susquehanna that's meant to grow its business of prediction contracts or bets on events like sports and elections. And the Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected

an application from Startup Dream Exchange to run a stock exchange. The move comes two months after the Wall Street Journal reported on Dream Exchange's undisclosed financial ties to the Church of Scientology. The SEC says its decision was based on non-public information from an investigation into whether securities laws were broken, as well as, quote, press reports raising questions about the potential misuse of funds. Dream Exchange has previously denied that it misappropriated investor funds, and a lawyer for the company didn't respond today to a request for comment. Every year in Tanzania and Kenya, there's an event like no other. Some 2 million wildebeest, zebra, and other species migrate in search of fresh pasture and water

in one of the largest mass movements of mammals in the world. Here's what that migration sounds like. But as tourists flocked to see it by the hundreds of thousands, they risk disrupting the spectacle they're there to see. Now, leaders of the Maasai ethnic group say a Ritz-Carlton luxury safari camp that opened in August blocks a key route of the migration, and they're suing Marriott, the hotel chain behind Ritz Carlton. The court is expected to hear the case next month. WSJ Africa correspondent Caroline Kimayu visited the camp in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and joins me now from Nairobi. Caroline, what is this camp like? It's very high end. The whole camp is essentially suspended.

on wooden platforms and has bridges and some animals can pass underneath. There's a group of Maasaies who welcome you at the entrance with singing a traditional Maasai blessing, you know, mint drinks and wet towels, the whole nine yards. And it has absolutely fantastic views. So yeah, it's a pretty cool Safari Camp, I'd say that. Let's get into the suit here.

Menime Ola Dapash, the Maasai elder who filed the suit, says the camp sits on the path of migratory wildebeest and zebra. What is he asking the court to do? They're asking for the camp to be brought down and also for the indigenous trees that used to be in the area to have the Ritz-Carlton and the operating company restore those back to the way they used to be. And so just some context is that this Ritz-Carlton camp sits on a bend in the sand river. It's a key crossing point for very dramatic crossings, you know, with the Wildebeest trying to make it across the rivers

without getting eaten by crocodiles. But essentially, they are saying that the Ritz Carlton is blocking this dramatic event. What has the government said about this camp? The camp won an exemption to a directive that had been issued essentially blocking new developments in the Maasai Mara because there have been concerns that there's a lot of construction happening on wildlife corridors,

I think this is sort of the straw that broke the camels back. The lawsuit is against Marriott, which owns the Ritz-Carlton, and Lazizi Mara, the Kenyan company that owns and operates the camp. What have they said about this suit? Marriott declined to comment. And then the Narek County, which is the local county governing the Maasai Mara or managing it, they dismissed DePashe's allegations that the camp in danger's wildlife saying that it was unfounded, And then, you know, also going on to say that the Ritz Carlton would be bringing in much needed employment and revenue to the area.

As things stand, the camp is there and quite fully built. Right now, they're expecting to be welcoming in clients, but say they're at less than half of the occupancy that they expected because of the situation that's going on with the lawsuit. But on the other hand, we've seen a lot of public discontent from the Kenyan public, that is, around the development. And it's very difficult to say what next. What's clear is that this is a highly watched case. That was WSJ reporter, Caroline Kimayu. Thanks, Caroline. Thanks, Alex.

And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Heads up that we'll be off for Thanksgiving tomorrow and through the weekend. We'll return with our morning show on Monday. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex O'Sullough for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with the new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. Thank you.