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"Paralyzing" Lake-Effect Snow Hits Great Lakes Region; Trump Hosts Canadian PM Trudeau At Mar-a-Lago Amid Tariff Tensions; Texas Preps For Trump's Mass Deportation Agenda; San Jose State To Play Colorado State In Final Amid Transgender Claims; Syrian Rebels Take Control Of Most Of Aleppo In Surprise Attack. Syrian Rebels Take Control Of Most Of Aleppo In Surprise Attack; Whistleblower Speaks Out After Organ Donor Woke Up; U.S. Food Banks Getting Busier Amid High Cost Of Living. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired November 30, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: -- this Thanksgiving. And don't forget, you can find all our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio, and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching, and see you again next week.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin with breaking news on the treacherous weather impacting a huge portion of the U.S. this Thanksgiving weekend. Brutal lake effect snow in record-breaking numbers and accumulations trapping residents and travelers in parts of the Great Lakes region, and more than 6 million people are under winter weather alert.

These are live pictures right now of snow blanketing I-90 heading into New York. Some areas in the Great Lakes region could see up to 6 feet of snow. The Buffalo Bills are now asking fans over 18 years old to help them shovel snow from the stadium ahead of tomorrow's game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Plus, a bone-chilling blast of Arctic air is bringing below-freezing temperatures from North Dakota to the Gulf Coast. It is cold everywhere you look.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here with the latest forecast. Where is the biggest threat? Because it looks like it's everywhere, but let's zero in on the biggest.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It depends on the weather type. You know, obviously, the cold air is going to impact a lot more people in a more widespread area, but certainly in the short term, the biggest threat is going to be the amount of snow. We've already had more than 3 feet of snow already fall in some locations. Look behind me, this is a live look at Blue Mountain Lake, New York. Now, we looked at this same photo yesterday. What you can't see right now is, there is actually a lake in the background. You could see it yesterday. You can't now.

The snow bands are very thick. There's also some fog mixed in, making it very difficult to see, but that also translates to what the conditions are like on many of these roadways, too, especially Interstate 90, from Cleveland up through Buffalo, is now stopped.

In several locations, you cannot travel on it. Interstate 81, south of Watertown, New York, also dealing with some pretty treacherous conditions. And again, roadways in Michigan, Ohio, several states looking at some pretty rough spots because of how fast the snow is coming down. It's coming down in some places as much as 2 to 4 inches an hour.

So even if you have plows, that's fast, too fast in some cases for them to keep up with it. The heaviest snow is really focused across portions of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. And it's not just snowing now, it's going to continue through the day and also continue into Sunday as well.

Take a look at how much has already fallen. Again, 42 inches of snow in the town of Northeast Pennsylvania. Ashtabula, Ohio, picking up 39 inches. It's Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, all picking up well over 2 feet of snow and more is expected.

I think that's the key thing here is that this is not over. You've got at least 24 hours more of snow to come down. That's why you've got a lot of these alerts in place. We also have a separate system entirely independent of the lake effect. And that system is impacting these areas right through here.

That stretch of I-70 along St. Louis, also stretching down into Southern Indiana, portions of Kentucky and West Virginia. Now the snow totals here are slightly smaller. We're talking about 2 to 5 inches. But if you still have to travel on those roadways there, it could still cause some problems in those areas.

The higher amounts obviously going to be up around the lakes. Again, in total, we're talking 4 to 6 feet, but in some spots, as we mentioned already, three of that has come down. The biggest concern right here along that Eastern flank of Lake Erie, as well as portions of Lake Ontario.

Now, the reason you're getting that lake effect, you've got the slightly warmer lakes, that very cold air rushing over it. But the cold air isn't limited just to the lakes. It's spread out over much of the country. 70 percent of the U.S. population is going to see those temperatures at or below freezing the next few days.

And Fred, that stretches all the way down to the Gulf Coast.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness, that is really serious. 70 percent of the country.

All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right, and now to the trade tensions that are heating up after President-elect Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on the U.S.'s biggest trading partners, including Canada, last night, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The two had dinner alongside some of Trump's senior allies and Cabinet picks. The meeting comes just days after Trump spoke over the phone with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Trump announced this week that he would inflict a 25 percent tariff across the board on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China once he takes office.

CNN's Alayna Treene is in West Palm Beach near Mar-a-Lago. All right, so Alayna, you know, what more are you learning about this high- profile meeting between Trump and Trudeau?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fred, I think that it's fascinating that the Canadian Prime Minister flew down to Florida to meet with Donald Trump directly following that tariff threat that Donald Trump had announced earlier this week.

[12:05:07]

I also found it interesting that just hours before he made the trip to Florida, Justin Trudeau had an unrelated press conference where he did address some of what Donald Trump had threatened, including saying that he would want to impose a 25 percent tariffs on goods coming from both Mexico and Canada.

Trudeau said that when Donald Trump says things like this, you need to take it seriously. Listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: One of the things that is really important to understand is that, you know, Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There's no question about it.

Our responsibility is to point out that in this way, he would be actually not just harming Canadians who work so well with the United States, he'd actually be raising prices for American citizens as well and hurting American industry and businesses.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

TREENE: Now, Fred, as you can see there, Justin Trudeau was trying to say, look, this would only impact Canada and we are a good partner to the United States, but it would also hurt Americans and American businesses.

Now, one thing as well to keep in mind is that Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump earlier this week after they had -- after Donald Trump had issued that threat, spoke on the phone, we were told that it was a cordial conversation.

We also heard from Trudeau this morning when he was leaving his hotel, he had stayed overnight in West Palm Beach, he told reporters that they had an excellent conversation but did not go on beyond that or into any details of what was discussed.

Now, one thing as well to keep in mind is that both Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau know each other. They worked together during Trump's first term, particularly around trade negotiations then.

Back then, Donald Trump had imposed tariffs on Canada while they were working or reworking the North America Free Trade Agreement. Now they have the USMCA in place, something that Donald Trump himself negotiated.

A key question that I keep posing in my conversations with Trump officials is how would imposing these new tariffs on both Canada and Mexico impact that trade agreement that Donald Trump had initially negotiated? It's very unclear how that would move forward.

But I think the fact that Justin Trudeau took it upon himself to fly down to Florida, meet with Trump face-to-face and discuss this over dinner definitely shows how much he is taking that threat seriously from the former president. And just to add there as well, I think it was also interesting to see who was at the table.

You mentioned that he was surrounded, Donald Trump, by some of his Cabinet picks, including Howard Lutnick, Doug Burgum, Mike Waltz. We also some of Trudeau -- saw some of Trudeau's Cabinet around him as well. And so we're still waiting to hear on more details of what specifics they got into. But I can assure you, trade was definitely at the top of that list. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

All right, we're also now getting a clearer view of how President- elect Trump could carry out another key campaign pledge, securing the southern border and deporting millions of illegal immigrants. Texas says it's offering up land for the U.S. government to use for detention centers and has introduced a new unit of troopers to patrol the borders on horseback.

CNN's Rafael Romo is joining me now with more on this. So what more can you tell us about what Texas' plan is, how it's trying to assist?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you may remember that there's been a feud between the federal government and states like Texas when it comes to enforcing immigration law, and we're getting that first glimpse of what's going to happen.

Let me give you an example. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham is calling it an effort that will be, in her words, the largest deportation of violent criminals in the history of the United States. Texas is offering a 1,400-acre property at the border to the incoming Trump administration to use for the processing, detention, and coordination efforts to expedite the deportations. Commissioner Buckingham made the announcement in Rio Grande City, Texas, with heavy machinery and construction workers in the background at a site where Texas is building a new section of border wall.

Texas launched Operation Lone Star in 2021, which included, among other things, as you may remember, transporting migrants on buses to Democratic-led cities, blocking portions of the border to federal agents, setting up a buoys in the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing the river, and signing a bill that would give state law enforcement authority to detain migrants.

With the new offer for border land, Texas is quickly becoming the blueprint for how incoming Trump officials, including Border Czar Tom Homan, might want to work with cooperative states on border security. The Texas Land Commissioner says this is also about helping local law enforcement.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DR. DAWN BUCKINGHAM, TEXAS LAND COMMISSIONER: A facility here will be the final stop for processing before these violent criminals are deported. This will reduce the burden on our local jails and keep our Texas children safer. President Trump and Mr. Homan, I meant it when I said that I will do everything in my power to help this administration.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[12:10:07]

ROMO: In Mexico City, President Claudia Sheinbaum is denying her country is willing to close her country's border with the United States, as President-elect Trump recently claimed. This is what she said during her daily morning briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Everyone has their own way of communicating. But I can assure you, I give you the certainty that we never and we would also be incapable, propose that we were also going to close the border in the North or in the South of the United States. It has never been our approach and of course we do not agree with that.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROMO: And as you may remember, Fred, President-elect Trump had earlier said on Truth Social that Sheinbaum had agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern border, which she denied multiple times.

In her own statement after a phone call with Trump, Sheinbaum said that Mexico has a comprehensive strategy to address the migration phenomenon while respecting human rights. It was very interesting to hear her say everybody has their own way of communicating.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that was one way of underscoring, I didn't say that.

ROMO: Right.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, tell us more when you learn more.

ROMO: Of course.

WHITFIELD: Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

All right, still ahead, a controversy in college volleyball. Why the San Jose State women's team is at the center of the transgender athlete debate. Plus, we're following breaking news out of the Middle East where Syrian rebels have taken hold of most of the country's second largest city, reigniting a years-long civil war.

And a horrifying medical mistake. This man on that stretcher was declared brain dead and wheeled into surgery for doctors to harvest his organs. But guess what? He woke up. How did that happen? His family speaks to CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:16:49]

WHITFIELD: The San Jose State University women's volleyball team will play for the Mountain West Conference title today after a months-long controversy over the issue of transgender athletes. The Spartans cruised to the finals after multiple college teams forfeited against them over unconfirmed claims that one of the players on the San Jose team is transgender.

CNN's Camila Bernal is joining us now. So what's happening today?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, the San Jose State team will play that final game against Colorado State. And this is despite this controversy, despite the back and forth, despite a lawsuit. That game is happening at 5:00 p.m. today.

And Colorado State, who will play them, has said, yes, we will go on with this match. And this is despite the fact that San Jose State did not play the semi-final match. And they didn't play that match because Boise State decided to boycott and withdraw from the championship. And they did so without specifically naming the player in question here.

They did not give that as the reasoning for not playing. But Boise had not played San Jose State in two other occasions during the regular season. And, in fact, San Jose State has six victories because of teams that refused to play against them.

But I do want to point out that this went from sports to politics back in the spring of this year. And that's when an online publication essentially put out this information and identified the player in question saying that she was transgender and essentially just putting all of her information out there.

After this online article was published, that's when some of the teams refused to play against San Jose. And at least one of her teammates, her co-captain also saying she did not want this to be essentially what was going to happen in the playoffs and in general did not want this player in question to be participating in these competitions.

And they went as far as to take legal action against the player in question, not wanting her to play in this championship, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So then Camila, what about these legal challenges involving this case and player and team and conference?

BERNAL: Yes. So the co-captain of the San Jose team, Brooke Slusser, she said in this lawsuit that it was not fair for this player to be on her team and said that it put the team in physical risk. And so, again, this was a lawsuit that was put forth after the online publication.

And after this player in question had been part of the team since 2022, she'd been playing in college sports for three different seasons. And it was after this publication put out her information that then this became an issue for everyone involved.

This went to a federal judge in Denver who said this player can compete. And then an appeals court upheld that decision. And I also want to point out that the conference commissioner put out a statement saying this, "The student athlete meets the eligibility standard". And she went on to say, "It breaks my heart because they're human beings, young people, student athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention".

[12:20:00]

And despite the negative attention, despite the lawsuit, despite the back and forth, this game will go on tonight at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. So of course, everybody watching to see what happens here. But it is also important to point out that the player and San Jose University, they have not commented publicly on the gender of this player in question. So, of course, we're not naming that player either, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Got you. All right, Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

BERNAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, we're also following breaking news out of Syria where rebels have claimed control of most of the country's second largest city, reigniting civil war. What this means for the region, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, we have breaking news out of the Middle East. Syrian rebels have taken control of most of the country's second largest city of Aleppo in a surprise attack. Video shows rebel fighters celebrating in the city streets. Government forces now appear to be retaliating, carrying out an airstrike today. The rebel assault is reigniting a conflict that has largely been dormant for years.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is following the developments. Ben, do we know what may have triggered this?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Specifically what, it's hard to say. There are reasons sort of external and internal behind this. But this impression that the civil war in Syria, which broke out in 2011, was dormant, has certainly proven to be an illusion.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The facade of government power in Aleppo was poster thin. Friday evening, rebels stomp on pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Just a few days ago, they were far away from Syria's second city. Now they control some of Aleppo's most iconic landmarks, like the vast central Saadallah al-Jabiri Square and the city's ancient citadel.

Eight years ago, opponents of the Damascus regime left Aleppo in defeat, bust out to nearby rebel-held Idlib province. Now they're back after a lightning offensive.

Ali Jumaa fled his native Aleppo eight years ago. It's an indescribable feeling, he says, to return to your land, your city, the place where you were raised.

Syrian government ground forces haven't put up much of a fight. Residents report seeing them leave several areas. The defense ministry in Damascus issued a statement saying troops had conducted a, quote, "strategic redeployment aimed at reinforcing defensive lines". In other words, they retreated.

Russian forces are hitting back, conducting airstrikes on both Aleppo and nearby Idlib province, a stronghold for the anti-regime coalition. A major component of that coalition, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, but has distanced itself in recent years.

Russia came to the rescue of the Syrian government in 2015, but diverted some of its resources to the war in Ukraine. Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon fought alongside the regime during the civil war's darkest days.

Most returned home to join the war against Israel, opening the way for the rebel offensive. We participated in the operation to liberate Aleppo, to kick out the militias of Iran and Hezbollah, to lift the oppression from our brothers in Aleppo, says rebel fighter Muhammad Hammadi, and we're going to clear all of Syria, God willing.

A brutal war, stalemated in recent years, rages again.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WEDEMAN (on-camera): And the Syrian government says it is preparing to launch a counteroffensive against this rebel coalition. Now, the rebels this afternoon claimed that they now control Aleppo's international airport, and we are seeing reports that the rebels are now moving south toward the city of Hama.

Certainly, it appears that the Syrian government, even though it's talking about a counteroffensive seems to be moving in one direction, and that is backwards.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.

WEDEMAN (on-camera): Fred?

WHITFIELD: Yes, not at all encouraging. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

All right, let's talk more about today's attack. With us now is Retired U.S. Army Major General Mark MacCarley. General, great to see you again. Do you see today's --

MAJ. GEN. MARK MACCARLEY, U.S. ARMY (RET.): My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. Do you see today's, you know, attack possibly reigniting civil war in Syria?

MACCARLEY: I think the immediate answer is absolutely yes. I recall several years ago when I was on the border between Israel and Syria, and the fight was going on between the Free Syrians, those are the same fighters that you now see in the central square of Aleppo, and the Syrian forces.

They were eager then. They have not lost that desire to secure a state in which they can be free. So this could very easily open up a civil war. The interesting tangent to that, which I think you're going to bring me into in the next question or so, is how does that affect Russia's ability to prosecute the war in Ukraine?

And so the simplistic answer is, yes, Russia has some resources that have been resident in Syria for a long, long period of time. It has not yet demonstrated a massive response. But I can say that we will see Russia playing as well in this particular conflict with someone who has for the longest period of time been one of his closest allies, Putin's closest allies.

WHITFIELD: So then no longer concerns of it being mostly a regional war?

MACCARLEY: I think you are. What a spectacular question for speculation. Now that we have Ukraine, we have Hamas, we have Israel, we now have Syria, we have the Syrian Free Forces, the whole place is on fire. How we resolve that is going to be a big challenge for the incoming administration.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, as it pertains to Syria and what happened today, is -- is there a way in which to help people understand, you know, the connection between why the rebels are attacking Syria now and Israel's conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah fighters, is there a correlation to all of it?

MACCARLEY: That's interesting. You see, I think the immediate response is Hezbollah for -- has been degraded in Lebanon by Israeli forces. Hezbollah is the antagonist toward the Free Syrians. It's not very complex arithmetic to see that with a degraded Hezbollah, which quite frankly was the instrument of -- of Syria in retaining the tyranny of the Syrian leader, it was just perfect timing, a collapse of Hezbollah and the immediate entry of the Free Syrians.

WHITFIELD: So when you just touched on the incoming, the -- the challenges for the incoming president, you've got, you know, a couple of very serious hotspots here and how the U.S. proceeds with Ukraine, you touched on it with, you know, Russia's involvement, it's more than dicey, isn't it?

MACCARLEY: Yes. My gosh. You know, if you said focus on Ukraine and what's the end state and we've had significant movement, we have President Zelenskyy two days ago for the first time basically saying, yes, I will consider something akin to a negotiated settlement with NATO, quasi NATO -- NATO oversight. Then you have incoming President Trump with General Kellogg, who has outlined what he perceives as a way to settle this conflict.

And I -- I think, once again, I'm entering into this great realm of speculation is that the administration, the incoming administration, is looking to solve one problem, then the next problem, using this simple arithmetic of developing a deal. Now, what that deal would between Assad and the Free Syrians, that's wide open question.

WHITFIELD: And then as it pertains to Ukraine, then, and we've heard, you know, Trump say out loud that he believes he can end it, you know, quickly. And we've already heard this --

MACCARLEY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- you know, reported conversations about, you know, Russia wanting territory and Ukraine just essentially acquiescing. Why would Ukraine --

MACCARLEY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- acquiesce at this juncture and be satisfied with this being a deal to end the war, to essentially give the green light, Russia, OK, come on in here. You know, fight for this land and we fought, you know, lost a whole lot of people, but then now we're going to go ahead and give it to you and end the war.

MACCARLEY: And, you know, you have absolutely hit the most critical aspect of these anticipated negotiations is right now, it appears to me to be quite bilateral, meaning U.S. and Russia. Zelenskyy, the Ukrainians are on the sidelines. The thought process is we, U.S., have the ability because we're the principal weapons suppliers. And the basic statement going to Zelenskyy and his generals, that statement is going to be, nope, you stop or no more weapon systems.

So that's the sort of harsh reality. Now, if you look at I can't -- once again, I haven't spoken to Zelenskyy about this, but in his cabinet, I would presume that there are conversations about if the U.S. makes that statement in the next, what is it, 45, 48 days until the inauguration, will Ukraine be able to fight alone?

Will it be able to solicit sufficient contributions from Germany and the French and the British? We just don't know that.

WHITFIELD: Except you and others have already said no, really. I mean, it -- it couldn't carry on without the bulk of the U.S. support militarily.

MACCARLEY: I thank you for that, I guess, yes, you don't want to lose the optimism.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MACCARLEY: Because what I saw in Ukraine just a couple of days ago when I was in Kyiv, I just got out yesterday, is that for the longest period of time, every time I've been there over the course of the two and a half year war, there was still sort of an internal optimism not only in Kyiv, but even moving for -- for the Kyrgyzstan and Kharkiv, that people were resilient, they wanted to stay in the fight.

[12:35:00]

This last week was somewhat, I was staying hotel and for the first time the hotel management, to use a strong term, ordered us to evacuate our hotel rooms and immediately report to the basement. And this was in consonance with the attack by the IRBM that hit Dnipro. But folks, when I interview them, and of course when I interview, it's anecdotal, I'll talk to five or six people and five or six people in -- in some other locale. But it's again a concern. When is this going to end? Do we have the wherewithal to fight this to some degree of success? So the final word I should say is big concern.

WHITFIELD: Big. All right, General Mark McCarley, a pleasure talking to you. Have a great rest of the holiday weekend. Thank you.

MACCARLEY: Thank you. Bye-bye now.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, a Kentucky man declared brain dead was wheeled into surgery so that the hospital could harvest his organs. Weeks later, he left the hospital alive. His story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:27]

WHITFIELD: A family in Kentucky made the difficult decision to take 33-year-old, T.J. Hoover, off life support following an overdose. They said their goodbyes and decided to donate his organs. But then T.J. woke up just before the procedure. His family calling that a miracle until they learned what happened inside the operating room. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tell me about that day. DONNA RHORER, SISTER OF T.J. HOOVER: We were there saying our goodbyes. That was it. We felt like we were doing the right thing as a family and they were trying to kill him. We had made the decision to remove him from the life support because we were told, you know, he was brain dead.

GUPTA: What you are watching is the honor walk. It's one of the most revered traditions in a hospital. It's when family, friends, and staff all pay their respects as someone is wheeled off to give the ultimate gift, donation of their organs.

Except this man, T.J. Hoover, was still very much alive.

NYCKI MARTIN, FORMER KODA EMPLOYEE: I think organ donation is a beautiful, life-saving gift when it's done ethically. I was just scrolling through TikTok about different kind of donation stories and there was a little search bar across the bottom that said he woke up during his honor walk. So I watched it and the people looked familiar, the hospital looked familiar and I said, that's -- this is our donor.

I don't know if it makes me more sad or pissed off. I don't know. It's a very emotional thing for me because nobody should have to go through that. And I just feel like there were so many opportunities for someone to step in and say, we're not doing the right thing.

GUPTA (voice-over): Nycki Martin worked for Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, or KODA. It's known as an organ procurement organization, responsible for recovering organs from deceased donors. Nycki was so disturbed by what happened to T.J. that she penned a letter to Congress, trying to bring more attention to cases like his.

MARTIN: I believe in organ donation and I'm devoted much of my life to it. However, in too many parts of the country, like Kentucky, it's unsafe and I'm pleading with the government to change that.

GUPTA: Do you remember when you were driving to the hospital that day? What did you hear that sort of triggered the alarm bells?

MARTIN: The tracking with his eyes and moving around, trying to pull his tube out, trying to move his hands away, just all of the reflexes that he had. Normally our DCD donors don't have those kinds of reflexes and they're not awake and they're not, you know, conscious of what's going on. So it was kind of really shocking for all of us to know that KODA's admin was pushing to continue.

GUPTA: Is this money? I mean, is that the incentive fundamentally?

MARTIN: I think for -- for KODA it is. Or for any OPO, you know, they're -- they're paid for the organs.

GUPTA: You think of organs as being a gift of life. But what you're describing is a big money-making operation.

MARTIN: Mm-hmm.

GUPTA: And that's really, you think, what sort of incentivized that push.

MARTIN: Yes.

GUPTA (on camera): In a statement to CNN, Network of Hope said that KODA does not, quote, receive financial incentives based on the number of organs recovered and that its focus is on compassion, not on pressure. Baptist Health Hospital wrote to CNN that they work closely with our patients and their families to ensure patients' wishes for organ donation are followed.

And KODA said it reviewed the case and remains confident that accepted DCD practices and approved protocols were followed. When asked about the specific accusations by Nycki, KODA said she was not present in the hospital and added, this case has been inaccurately represented by individuals never involved in the case.

So we did track down someone who was in the operating room that day and did see what happened firsthand. Her name is Natasha Miller. She's a transplant perfusionist, and I'm driving to see her now.

From what I understand, he was mouthing the word no and pushing hands away and things like that.

NATASHA MILLER, FORMER KODA EMPLOYEE: Yes, he was very aware. The pronouncing physician comes in. And when she comes in, she walks back out and she says, I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this case. I don't feel comfortable. The organ coordinator that was there, she steps out to call the supervisor at the time to tell him that the pronouncing physician was refusing to do the case. She said that he was yelling at her, telling her she needed to find another physician to come. And she's like, there is no one. There's no one else to come do this case.

[12:45:27]

GUPTA: Is there any part of this that makes sense to you? Is any part of this defensible?

MILLER: No, because it seemed like at first they were saying, well, family, family consented, family consented, family consented. And I get that. But again, it seems like family wasn't made fully aware of his actual state. None of it makes sense. We should have never went to OR.

RHORER: About an hour, hour and 15 minutes later, the doctor come out, got us and told us to pull up the chair. She said, he's not ready. He woke up.

GUPTA (voice-over): That's right. That's T.J., who is now home.

GUPTA: I just want to check your strength here. Can you pull your hand towards your face? Try and touch your nose. That's pretty strong. How about with this -- this hand? Can you do it here?

I know you told me that this first thing that he really remembers is being in the operating room and having all these people around him. But have you been able to explain to him everything that happened the same way you explained it to me?

RHORER: I have.

GUPTA: How does he react?

RHORER: Why did they want to kill me? Of course, he remembers he was an organ donor and he has survivor's guilt. He's like, all of these people thought they were going to get to live.

I was a registered organ donor and I'm not anymore.

GUPTA: Really? Because you don't trust the system?

RHORER: I don't trust the system.

GUPTA: What is T.J.'s life like now?

RHORER: He wasn't supposed to make it a year if he made it.

Hold your head up, bud.

GUPTA (voice-over): For T.J., it's not just about being alive, but living and getting to be a part of these moments. Like walking his sister down the aisle and meeting Nycki for the very first time.

MARTIN: Hi, T.J. Do you know how special you are? You don't. You're pretty special, bud. So many reasons.

RHORER: You survived, bud.

MARTIN: You're my hero, T.J.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Richmond, Kentucky.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[12:52:15]

WHITFIELD: As millions of Americans gather with family and friends this week for Thanksgiving, a growing number of people are reaching out to charities for their next meal. Here's Natasha Chen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a happy Thanksgiving.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is not video from the pandemic. This is a line this week of people waiting to receive food at a church in time for Thanksgiving.

CHRIS MERREL, FOOD PANTRY CLIENT: I have to do it. And that's the way it goes.

CHEN (voice-over): Chris Merrel has been coming to this Pasadena, California, church every week for several years.

MERREL: Well, my wife won't even come because she'd be embarrassed.

CHEN (voice-over): He's a retired mechanic living on less than $700 Social Security per month. He never thought he'd need help from a food bank. And he's not alone.

MERREL: I never seen the line that long before. This time it was all the way up and down the street.

ANA DURAN, FOOD INSECURE: Lines are getting crazier.

CHEN (voice-over): We first met Ana Duran two years ago when her home in Riverside, California, saw inflation at almost 10 percent. Even though inflation has cooled now to about 2 percent.

DURAN: Where I have to get up at least, you know, like I said before, 6:00 to be there by 6:00.

CHEN (voice-over): Duran still goes to weekly food distributions. Two years ago, she told us she was turning in recycling and selling jewelry for extra cash while working as a part-time caregiver. She's continued to do that, selling what little jewelry she has left.

DURAN: I only have like two or three more pieces that I have for -- as a backup resource.

CHEN: The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank says they're tracking about 10 percent ahead in the amount of food distributed compared to last year. They're serving 900,000 people a month right now, near pandemic levels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't turn nobody away.

CHEN (voice-over): In New York City.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some days you don't know where your next meal is coming from.

CHEN (voice-over): City Harvest says visits to city food pantries and soup kitchens are at the highest level on record. Even higher than the pandemic's peak. In Chicago, Common Pantry says they're serving 26 percent more households per month than last year. Across the country, 85 percent of food banks in a Feeding America Survey reported similar or higher demand for food assistance comparing this August with last August.

CHEN: Why do you think that is when inflation has actually cooled quite a bit?

MICHAEL FLOOD, CEO, LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: I think what we're seeing here in Los Angeles is the cumulative impact of inflation. Food prices are about 25 percent higher than they were pre-pandemic. Now the unemployment rate has come down. We would expect the demand for food assistance to decrease. But that's not what has happened. CHEN (voice over): This comes as donations to food banks are also dropping. Ana Duran says something has got to change, which is why she cast a ballot for Trump, the first Republican she's ever voted for in her life.

DURAN: When it came down to, you know, voting, I changed who I was, and I changed -- I'm hoping for the better.

CHEN (voice-over): But Trump is exactly what Merrel is worried about.

MERREL: I am definitely worried it's going to get worse with the tariffs that Trump is putting on.

[12:55:03]

Say hi to everybody.

CHEN: Hi buddy.

CHEN (voice-over): He thinks prices will jump and more people will find themselves going to food banks. But the fact that the food banks even exist makes him feel grateful.

MERREL: This is a beautiful country that we live in. It's a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

CHEN: Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[13:00:03]

WHITFIELD: All right. We're introducing you to one of this year's top five CNN Heroes. Every year, nearly 1 million shelter animals in the U.S. are euthanized. Many are pets whose owners couldn't find temporary care when they needed it. Stephen Kite or Knight, that is, is now drawing on his personal experience to change that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN KNIGHT, CNN HERO: When somebody makes that decision to go into treatment, it's one of the bravest decisions they'll make soon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll see you soon, OK?

KNIGHT: When people do need to go to rehab and they don't have a place to put their dog, what we're finding out is how big of a need it is. We provide free temporary fostering services for people that are ready to change their life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dice, she hasn't seen me in so long. Hi.

KNIGHT: And it becomes their motivator to stay healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that face.

KNIGHT: When we find a foster, we will do a temporary foster contract. You're saving that dog's life and the owner's life. And we're able to prevent a dog going to the shelter. We cannot have the solution be euthanized dogs. We can't. I want to be the voice of the dog and to help them because they don't have that voice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And you can go to CNNHeroes.com right now to vote for CNN's Hero of the year.