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Syrian Rebels Take Control Of Most Of Aleppo In Surprise Attack; Paralyzing Lake Effect Snow Hits Great Lakes Region; Trump Meets Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau At Mar-A-Lago; Colorado State Opts To Play Conference Final Against San Jose State Amid Transgender Claims; KY Man Almost Had His Organs Harvested While He Was Alive; CA Gov. Gavin Newsom Prepares To Take On Trump. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 30, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:11]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

We begin with increasing concern about stability in the Middle East. Tonight, Russian and Syrian forces fighting back after rebels took control of most of the city of Aleppo. Activists and journalists in the city telling CNN Russian war planes have now carried out at least 10 strikes on rebel positions in the past several days, as forces have advanced.

Overnight, Syrian rebels entering the city for the first time since the government forces regained control in 2016. The rebels say they are also in control of the airport. It's a claim, though, that CNN has been unable to verify.

Dozens of government soldiers were killed in the surprise attack in what is being seen as a major challenge to President Bashar al-Assad and his regime.

Joining us now is former US ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, who was also the US Special Representative for Ukraine negotiations during the Trump administration. Thanks so much for being here with us.

KURT VOLKER, FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Thank you. It's a pleasure.

DEAN: I first want to begin with this unfolding situation in Syria, this advance, of course, appearing to take the Syrian Army by surprise. I just first want to get your reaction to what we've seen develop over the last couple days.

VOLKER: Well, it's a combination of many things. First off, I think everyone in the world is trying to take advantage of our presidential transition as we see the end of the Biden administration and President Trump coming in. President Trump very likely to take a stronger approach toward Iran and to Islamist groups in the Middle East, so they are now striking out in order to establish the best position that they can at the end of the Biden administration.

This happens at the same time that Russia is struggling in its war in Ukraine, it doesn't have enough forces or ammunition. It has withdrawn some forces from Syria, and this is something that the Islamists have decided to take advantage of.

DEAN: Yes, and as you know, Putin has been a long-time ally of Syria's president and you note again, that the resources, Russian resources, stretched very thin with this war in Ukraine, and so it sounds like you agree with the fact that that does play a role in all of this as well.

VOLKER: It certainly does. Putin has overextended his capabilities right now. As we saw earlier this year, they're not able to attack in Ukraine and defend Russian territory at the same time. That's why they lost part of the Kursk region. That's why they brought in North Korean soldiers to fight on their behalf, because they can't move their forces from Eastern Ukraine, and they have drawn down Russian forces that have been in other parts of the world, including in Syria, because they needed them in Ukraine.

Now we're seeing that others are taking advantage of those Russian decisions. And at the same time, we are seeing an urgency on the part of many players, whether it is Iran trying to shut down Hezbollah a little bit, whether it is these Islamists trying to take over more ground in Syria, whether it's Hamas releasing this video of a hostage trying to get a deal with Israel, or whether it's Russia, despite their weaknesses, stepping up attacks in Ukraine and threatening nuclear use, all in order to try to position before Trump takes office.

DEAN: And so you know that they are all trying to get the upper hand, or make the most of this in between time before President-elect Trump takes office. I'm curious how you see this playing out once he gets into office.

VOLKER: Well, I think in the Middle East, I think it's going to be much easier to discern. You're going to see a return to a policy of maximum pressure on Iran and holding Iran accountable for the actions of Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah and an intolerance of Islamist terrorist groups, such as what we're seeing happen in Syria right now.

So I think that part is clear, and they are all positioning, assuming that Trump will be tough on them.

In the case of Russia, it's a little bit less clear, Russia is assuming that there is going to be pressure for some kind of deal, so it wants to demonstrate as much strength as possible in this short period of time to try to position itself for the best deal that it can get.

That may not actually work. They may be misreading Trump on this. I think the Trump team, and what we've seen from Keith Kellogg's writings is that they understand that the cause of this war is Russia's ambitions, and that it is going to take a show of strength in order to convince Putin to actually end the war.

So it may be that what we heard from President Zelenskyy this week about saying that they're ready for peace. They will accept that they can't take all the territory back militarily now, but hold, you know, hold out for diplomatic solutions later, and in the meantime, gain credible security guarantees now through NATO membership, that is actually shifting in a direction that really may be to Trump's favor, it may turn out in a way very different from what Putin is actually hoping for.

[18:05:22]

DEAN: And you, as you mentioned, Trump, his name, General Keith Kellogg, as special envoy to Ukraine. We know he has previously suggested freezing the war's frontlines and creating a demilitarized zone. Do you think that -- do you anticipate that we're going to see something like that? And do you think that might be a fair starting place for negotiations?

VOLKER: Yes, I do actually. If you look at the situation that Putin is in, his economy is coming apart right now. They have inflation over 25 percent and they're printing rubles so that inflation is going to increase. Interest rates are already over 21 percent. They're having difficulty getting components. The ruble is crashing. So he knows he's in trouble economically and also militarily, because he doesn't have the troops that he needs. He relies on North Korea for artillery shells, relies on Iran for drones. So Putin is actually ready to pause this war. I think Zelensky is also ready to do that.

So I think there will be a short term end of fighting. The trick is to turn that into a permanent peace and that is where I think Zelenskyy's ideas of bringing in NATO membership, and perhaps even European NATO members to have troops inside Ukraine as a deterrent to further Russian aggression, this may be what is necessary, and I think it could actually play out, and indeed play out fairly quickly in the new year.

DEAN: Because it would seem to me that you've got -- that there has to be a way to deter Russia from turning around and invading again, right?

VOLKER: Absolutely. Yes, that is the thing to watch out for. If we just stop the war in place and do nothing else, then that's exactly what Putin will do. He will regroup. He will try to undermine Ukraine from hybrid attacks inside, and rebuild his military forces for further attacks later. This is why you need something like NATO membership and the presence of some European NATO forces in Ukraine as a deterrent, so that Russia is deterred from attacking the rest of Ukraine, just as he is currently deterred from attacking NATO members.

DEAN: Yes, and to that end, President Zelenskyy has said that an offer of NATO membership would put it into what he has called this hot stage of the war, and he's pushing for an invite that includes keeping all Ukrainian land. So you think that could be potentially realistic?

VOLKER: I do. I think it is. You know, as long as we maintain the idea there is a dispute over parts of Ukraine that Russia occupies, just as we had West Germany join NATO and East Germany occupied or controlled by the Soviet Union, or the Baltic states occupied by the Soviet Union for 40 years, we could see a situation where we disagree with Russia's occupation of parts of Ukraine, but we can move on, and the rest of Ukraine is stable and secure. This is the kind of thing that I think actually could happen.

DEAN: And we know that Russia has been escalating these attacks. You're talking about making the most of this moment, trying to show that strength. They've also said that it's in response to the use of these US made weapons in a Russian strike this week, more than a million homes were left without power.

Do you think this ability for Ukraine to now use these long range weapons, is that the right call? Is it worth these consequences?

VOLKER: It is absolutely the right call, and it should have been done a long time ago. The Biden administration invented these restrictions on range. There was no reason to have done that.

International law only requires that a country has a right to defend itself, so Ukraine fits that category, and that they only hit military targets rather than civilian. No one is talking about range, and by allowing Russia to attack Ukraine from a great distance and restricting Ukraine from hitting back, that was a nonsensical decision that should have long ago been reversed.

Russia is, of course, trying to capitalize on that reversal by claiming that it is some new affront. But we shouldn't pay too much attention to what Russia propaganda is. Russia is throwing everything they've got at Ukraine in this war right now, and they need to be stopped, and I think they are prepared to be stopped.

DEAN: I also want to ask you about the protests that we're seeing in Georgia. We're now on the third night of these protests in response to the government's decision to halt the former Soviet Union country's bid to join the European Union. What do you make of these protests? And what do you make of this -- just the situation, you know, writ large.

VOLKER: Well, this is very important that you ask about this, because Russia is fighting a hot war in Ukraine, but it is trying to flip the Georgian government to get it -- to break away from the EU and be part of Russia's orbit again, all part of Putin's strategy of rebuilding the Russian Empire.

[18:10:14]

The Georgian people have come out in the streets massively to protest the government's announcement that it is suspending its efforts to get into the European Union at least until 2028. The government is now cracking down with all forms of protest control, you know, water cannons and beating up protesters and so forth.

So this is now right on edge, and it is critical that even though we are in a presidential transition, we need to be making some very clear statements about our interests in this, which is that there be respect for Constitutional and democratic practices, full support for the president of Georgia, who as the commander-in-chief and as the president of country has refused to recognize these elections and the ceding of this Georgian government, sanctions on individuals in Georgia who are leading this crackdown against the Georgian people, now is the time for swift action, because I think the fate of Georgia is going to be decided in the next several days or weeks.

DEAN: And look, President-elect Trump and many in the Republican Party, not all, but many have kind of gone more isolationist, more -- you know, we want to make America first. We want to pull back from all of these different areas -- you know, engaging in all of these different conflicts around the globe. But I'm curious, if you think that the president-elect and his team understand just the circumstances, and how confident are you in Georgia that they will be able -- that they can see this the way you see it?

VOLKER: Well, in all fairness, what you're saying about isolationism or America first, that was eight years ago. After two terms of President Bush and two terms of President Obama, Trump rode in on this wave of America First promising to pull us back.

Right now, what he's campaigned on is peace through strength. He charges the Biden administration with having been weak, with having created conditions that allow that -- that caused Russia to decide they could get away with invading Georgia. That caused Iran to decide they could unleash their proxies in the Middle East.

So I think they know now we need to re-establish a position of strength. Now, what we're talking about here is Georgia, and Russia is not only trying to flip the government there, also in Romania, also in Bulgaria, also putting pressure on Montenegro. Russia has a strategy for that wider region.

Here, I think we've been focused only on the big issues, the Middle East and Russia's war on Ukraine and China, but we have to have a comprehensive and a global strategy, because our adversaries are out there doing this every day.

DEAN: All right, Ambassador Kurt Volker, thank you so much for your context around all of this. We really appreciate it.

VOLKER: Thank you so much.

DEAN: Treacherous weather now impacting a huge portion of the US this Thanksgiving weekend. Brutal lake effect snow hitting the Great Lakes region with the worst still to come. Pennsylvania's Governor Josh Shapiro issuing a disaster declaration for Erie County and mobilizing the Pennsylvania National Guard after heavy snowfall shut down several highways in that area.

We know nearly two million people are now under lake effect snow warnings through Monday.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is joining us now.

Polo, what are you seeing?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what am I feeling, Jessica? That's a cold weather that certainly is affecting a lot of many, many more people, at least three-quarters of the country, feeling temperatures at or below 32 degrees. My lucky family in Texas, they're dealing with the temperatures in mid-60s. Here mid-30s, but it feels more like mid-20s.

But one of the biggest issues that we've been seeing, especially since Thanksgiving, if you look at some of those pictures that have been coming out from an area about 400 miles northwest of here is mainly Erie, Pennsylvania. They have been just clobbered by snowfall, record breaking snowfall since Thanksgiving night, and it's continued on and off since then, so much so that it has even prompted the closure of several major roads and highways, including Interstate 79, 90, and 86 at one point, some of those even closed as those plows cleared the roadway.

So if you're going to be hitting the road tomorrow for this post- Thanksgiving travel, important to check out those routes before folks hit the road. But again, those temperatures, that's what's really extending far beyond just the Great Lakes, and that's what so many people, even as far as Florida, are feeling with some of these warnings, in effect, some of these freeze warnings and advisories as well, in place.

Obviously, a lot of people making the best of it, especially if you're in that Winter Wonderland, specifically around the Great Lakes region. But there are others who are a little bit more worried that these chillier than normal temperatures and this record snowfall could perhaps, Jessica be a sign of what may be on the horizon later this winter.

[18:15:04]

DEAN: Could be. Could be quite a winter.

All right, Polo Sandoval for us, thank you so much for that.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

DEAN: After President-elect Trump threatens Canada with tariffs, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau headed to Mar-a-Lago for a face-to-face dinner.

Plus a Kentucky man is wheeled into surgery to have his organs harvested, but he woke up before the surgery. More on this. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:06]

DEAN: It has been a busy holiday week at Mar-a-Lago. The president- elect having dinner last night with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau flying down as Trump threatens to make good for goods from Canada a lot more expensive by hitting them with a 25 percent tariff.

CNN's Alayna Treene bringing us more details from West Palm Beach, Florida -- Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Jessica, we've since heard from both Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau, both describing the dinner as a productive meeting, as an excellent meeting that was in the words of the Canadian prime minister.

But I want to read you some of what Donald Trump posted earlier today. He described the meeting as "Having discussed many important topics that will require both countries to work together to address like the fentanyl and drug crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of illegal immigration, fair trade deals that do not jeopardize American workers and the massive trade deficit the United States has with Canada." He went on to say that they also talked about energy and the Arctic partnership.

But the reason I wanted to highlight his mention of the drug crisis is that that was really the motivation that Donald Trump cited when he issued that threat, both against Mexico and Canada, saying that if they do not do enough to crack down on the flow of drugs, migrants and crime over both of the borders, that he would issue that 25 percent tariff on all products coming from those countries.

Now, as for Trudeau's part, we did hear him this morning, our own CNN's Kit Maher caught up with him when he was leaving his hotel in West Palm Beach. He described it as an excellent meeting, and then later posted on social media as well. He posted a photo of them together and said that he looked forward to working with Donald Trump moving forward.

But one thing that's very interesting, I think you know, to take a step back from this all, the fact that -- the significance really of Justin Trudeau flying down to Florida to meet with Donald Trump in person, I think, really highlights how much he recognizes that Donald Trump means what he says and he said as much, Justin Trudeau yesterday in an unrelated press conference, hours before making that trip. He described what Donald Trump was doing as not an empty threat. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: One of the things that is really important to understand is that 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 would actually be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: I also think it's important to point out here, Jessica, that both Trudeau and Donald Trump have worked together before. If you look back to his first administration when they were -- when Donald Trump was trying to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement, he had actually imposed steep tariffs on Canada then, as well as sort of a negotiating tactic, so something I'm told that did come up in the conversation over dinner last night, but not one that has yet to be worked out -- Jess.

DEAN: Alayna Treene, thank you very much.

It has been a challenging season for the women's volleyball team at San Jose State, opponents forfeiting games and lawsuits filed over claims of a transgender player on that team.

We'll talk about it next, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:27:47]

DEAN: This hour, a university volleyball team at the center of a months' long controversy over the issue of transgender athletes is playing for the Mountain West Conference title.

The San Jose State University women's volleyball team is facing off against Colorado State right now, and it comes as San Jose State cruised the finals after multiple college teams fenced them over unconfirmed claims one of the players on the team is transgender.

CNN's Camila Bernal is following this story, and Camila, the team is playing right now. Walk us through what's been going on here.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and if you see me looking down, it's because I'm watching the game just keeping track of it. Right now, it's two sets to none. Colorado State is leading, but it's interesting, because what we're talking about is San Jose State, who did not even play a semifinal, but they're right now playing that final, and that's because Boise State decided to withdraw from playing that semifinal against them and they're not the only team refusing to play against San Jose State.

And this in part, is because of something that happened in April. What happened in April was that a conservative news site published the name and the gender identity of one of the players in the San Jose team. This is a player that had been on the team for two years. She started playing for San Jose in 2022, had been on for three years of volleyball at the college level and two with San Jose, another with another team, but nothing had essentially come up until this news article came out and revealed her name and her identity.

Now San Jose State is not commenting on her gender, as well as the player not commenting publicly about this. And so what happened here is that after this news article, at least one of her teammates and other players filed a lawsuit asking a judge to not allow this player in question to compete in this championship.

The judge, a Denver judge, a Denver federal judge said that she would be allowed to play and allowed her to continue. Then an appeals court upheld that decision, which is why, right now, this game is ongoing and the conference, the commissioner of the conference, she put out a statement also saying this: The student athlete in question meets the eligibility standard." She added, "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."

[18:30:11]

And again, despite the negative attention, this game is going on, the lawsuit here that we're talking about, the co-captain of the team, Brooke Slusser, who I was just watching as she was serving in this game said that it wasn't fair for the girls on the team and also said, that they were at physical risk here.

But again, a judge said that that was not the case and is allowing them to play. If San Jose State pulls through and wins, well, the thing here is that then they would advance and they would essentially get a spot to the NCAA 64 team tournament. That would give this whole controversy more light and even a bigger stage. So we'll see what happens after the game today, but if they win, it could continue this controversy, Jess.

DEAN: Just all right, Camila Bernal walking us through all of that. Thank you so much for your reporting.

BERNAL: Thank you.

DEAN: And joining us now, CNN sports analyst, Christine Brennan.

Christine, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Thank you. You as well.

DEAN: Yes. And as Camila just kind of laid it all out there for us, this team and the game now at the center of a national debate over transgender athletes in sports. I just want to get your thoughts first on why, and how, and what you think about San Jose State being at the center of all of this.

BRENNAN: Yes, so as Camila, obviously - report and there is a political tone to all of this. I mean, this story, a sports story at its heart, Jessica, has been set against the backdrop of the presidential election and Donald Trump's ads of $200 million, I believe is the reported amount, that they spent on anti-transgender ads.

And if, as Camila again said, if this conservative website in April had not outed this player who we are not naming, if - because, of course, this player herself has not said that she is a transgender woman, but if that website had not outed her, we would never have known about this, because again, the key point to me is she had played two years already at San Jose State and a year before that. And there'd been no incidents, there'd been no injuries, there had been no concerns at all.

So it is a story I think that is going to be with us for a long time. I hate to say it. It's an issue at the Olympic (INAUDIBLE) issue around the world. This is not just a controversy in the U S about women, transgender women playing women's sports and in some sports in the Olympics have said, no, if you've gone through male puberty, you cannot compete in women's sports.

Obviously the NCAA listening to USA Volleyball, the governing body for the sport in the United States, the NCAA of course did allow this player to continue to compete. And then the court, the federal court ruled in her favor earlier this week.

DEAN: And I also want to get your reaction to another story that we've been following over the last couple of hours. The - tonight we saw Ohio State and Michigan football players, and that a photographer may have been hit by pepper spray by police after this altercation between players of a very big game. Obviously, Ohio State of Michigan, huge rivals. This is a very important high stakes game for both teams. This was an upset victory.

But Christine, the issue here is the potential of law enforcement using pepper spray on college athletes.

BRENNAN: Exactly. And this is going to be a big story for several days for sure. I grew up going to Michigan-Ohio State games, as a Michigan fan, as a girl growing up in the suburbs of Toledo, Ohio. I know this rivalry very, very well.

And yes, emotions can run high, but in this case, what happened is very similar to earlier this season at Michigan where the Texas, after they beat Michigan, they had their flag and they wanted to put it in the middle of the field. Michigan was doing that today with their flag. That is relatively normal these days in college football. And the Ohio State players stuck around as opposed to the Michigan players that day at Michigan, a couple of months ago, they left the field.

Ohio State lost, but they stuck around. And I think that's in many ways, we will find out that that just led to the energy, and the antagonism and the fighting that was going on. And the police, the security role, absolutely. If they were actually pepper spraying athletes to try to get them to stop versus, for example, the Ohio State coach, Ryan Day, was standing on the sidelines, apparently watching it happen. Why wasn't he trying to get his players away from the Michigan players who were celebrating?

Many, many questions here for the game, the rivalry of all rivalries in college football, lots of questions and a very bad look all around and - especially at Ohio State, why did those players stick around and want to fight with the Michigan players who were celebrating, understandably, after their huge upset win.

[18:35:00]

DEAN: Yes, there's a lot of questions to your point and hopefully we'll get some more answers as the days go by. Christine Brennan, great to see you. Thanks so much.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: A 33-year-old man wakes up after an overdose in the nick of time. Next, hear how he very narrowly avoided becoming an organ donor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:39:57]

DEAN: Seventeen people die every day waiting for an organ. And while the need is great, the family of a man named T.J. Hoover says the organ donor system needs immediate reforms. He nearly had his organs harvested despite still being alive. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigated what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (off camera): 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (voice over): 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you dearly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (voice over): Except this man, T.J. Hoover, was still very much alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, out of respect for the (INAUDIBLE) and for the patients (INAUDIBLE) ...

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 (on camera): Do you remember when you were driving to the hospital that day?

MARTIN: Mm-hmm.

GUPTA: 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 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 KODA it is. Or for any OPO, you know, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (voice over): 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (on camera): 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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.

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.

[18:45:02]

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (on camera): I just want to check your strength here. Can you pull your hand towards your face?

T.J. HOOVER: (INAUDIBLE) ...

GUPTA: Try and touch your nose. That's pretty strong. Good. How about with 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN: Hi, T.J.

HOOVER: Hi.

MARTIN: Do you know how special you are?

HOOVER: Nope.

MARTIN: You don't? You're pretty special, bud.

HOOVER: Why?

MARTIN: So many reasons.

RHORER: You survived, bud.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (voice over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Richmond, Kentucky.

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DEAN: And our thanks to Dr. Sanjay Gupta for that.

As President-elect Trump gets ready to return to Washington, the governor who might be a key foil to his administration is getting ready as well. Newsom versus Trump, next, right here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[18:52:13]

DEAN: California governor, Gavin Newsom is preparing to take on President-elect Donald Trump and his agenda. Newsom wants to defend policies on issues including immigration, climate and reproductive rights. He's asking California's legislature to hold a special session to Trump-proof some of the state laws. CNN's Brian Todd reports.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D) CALIFORNIA: Get prepared.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): California's 57-year-old Democratic governor prepares himself and his state to do political battle with Donald Trump. Gavin Newsom is already pushing back against the President- elect, this week proposing to offer the state's own tax credit for car buyers who purchase electric vehicles, if Trump ends the federal tax credit for those cars, as he wants to do.

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TIA MITCHELL, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: I think this is the first example, and there will be more to come, of Gov. Newsom kind of showing tangibly how he would push back on the Trump administration.

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TODD (voice over): Almost immediately after Trump won the election, Newsom called for a special session of the California legislature to try to bolster California's progressive agenda against Trump's plans.

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NEWSOM: We had the experience with Donald Trump. Don't be - don't fall - sort of pray to somehow this is some new day. Listen to what these guys are saying and telling you. Look at what they're prepared to do day one. We're not going to be caught flatfooted.

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TODD (voice over): In addition to electric vehicles and environmental issues overall, Newsom is preparing to battle the new Trump administration over reproductive rights, disaster response and look for a very public fight from Newsom over immigration and Trump's promise to conduct mass deportations of undocumented migrants, even if Newsom's actual power to prevent those deportations is limited.

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SHIRA STEIN, REPORTER, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: If the president calls up the National Guard and the state guards, there's only so much that the governor and that the state government can do to try and prevent that. I think the area that the governor is really going to be focused on is it's going to be a lot of messaging and it's going to be a lot of lawsuits.

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TODD (voice over): Newsom has already called for more state money to file lawsuits against Trump. During Trump's first term, the state of California sued his administration more than 120 times. Trump, for his part, has repeatedly slammed Newsom over California's problems with crime and homelessness, often calling the governor, Newscum.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: What a horrible governor Newscum has been. He's been horrible, so many people leaving.

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TODD (voice over): Analysts say it's becoming more clear that Gavin Newsom is positioning himself and his state as possibly the country's biggest antagonist to Trump with possible ambitions for 2028 in mind.

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STEIN: The governor wants to run for president as much as he says time and time again that he doesn't want to do that.

MITCHELL: He's kind of got two years to raise his profile and see if kind of the way the country is going aligns with the type of campaign he could run.

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[18:55:04]

TODD (on camera): Is Gavin Newsom too liberal to win a national election? The analyst we spoke too said, that might make him more of a long shot. But one of them said in four years, many voters might want to swing back to a more left leaning candidate.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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DEAN: Brian, thank you. A surprising development in Syria as rebel forces take control of big

chunks of Aleppo. New details ahead right here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

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