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Official: U.S. And Ukrainian Officials To Meet As Deadline Looms To Accept Trump Plan To End War; Trump Speaks To Reporters Before Departing White House; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Announces She Will Resign In January; More Than 180 Firefighters Battled Cargo Ship Fire At The Port Of L.A.; Trump Heaps Praise On Mamdani After Oval Office Meeting. Official: U.S. & Russian Delegations To Discuss Peace Plan Soon; Charlotte Officials: Border Patrol Operation Ends After 370 Plus Arrests; Heidi Carman's Therapy Dogs Providing Comfort For First Responders. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired November 22, 2025 - 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: And that's all we have time for. Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in New York, thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We're going to start with breaking news. Top officials from the United States and Ukraine are headed to Geneva for critical talks on a U.S.- backed plan to end the war in Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will be part of tomorrow's meeting. Russian officials are not expected to be there.

President Trump is giving Ukraine until Thursday to accept his peace proposal. The plan would require Ukraine to surrender territory, restrict the size of its military and forces, the country to give up its goal of joining NATO.

I want to bring in CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak who joins us now. So, what more are we learning about this meeting, Kevin?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and I'll just say that we heard from President Trump just within the last few minutes who described some of his thinking when it comes to Ukraine and we'll play that tape when it comes in. But certainly the urgency is coming -- shall we listen to the tape here?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- Andrews Air Force Base that you should work, especially for our great air force. We're doing some picks up of the base, which we need. We're going to try and re-institute the golf course.

We've got a meeting with the great Jack Nicklaus and his person. And he's involved in trying to bring their recreational facility back. It's a great place that has been destroyed over the years due to lack of maintenance. So we'll fix that up. Jack will be the architect. He will design it.

Two existing courses that are in very good shape. So we can put very little money to set up for the Air Force Base. And we're looking at other things over at Andrews. So we're going to be stopping. Won't be too long. We'll be stopping over there.

I think some of you will be there. And the economy, as you saw, some incredible numbers came in. Investment in our country is bigger than ever before by a factor of two or three. And that means a lot of things are being built. And a lot of plans will be opening very soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, (INAUDIBLE) on Taylor Greene? I know that before you had a fight with Elon Musk and you guys were able to work it out --

TRUMP: No, I get along with everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we see the same thing happening between you and some of the other people --

TRUMP: Sure, why not? I mean, I get along with everybody.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) your final offer with Ukraine?

TRUMP: No, not by far.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --

TRUMP: No, we'd like to get the peace. It should have been -- it should happened a long time ago. The Ukraine war with Russia should have never happened. If I were President, it never would have happened. We're trying to get it ended. One way or the other, we have to get it ended, so --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you willing to (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible question).

TRUMP: Then he can continue to fight his little heart out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, (INAUDIBLE) Bolsonaro's arrest?

TRUMP: Say it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any comment on Bolsonaro's, a former Brazilian president.

TRUMP: So I spoke last night to the gentleman you just referred to and we're going to be meeting, I believe, in the very near future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, are you worried about the President being arrested today?

TRUMP: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comment about the former Brazilian President being arrested today?

TRUMP: No, I don't know anything about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, are you willing --

TRUMP: I don't know anything about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, are you willing --

TRUMP: I didn't hear -- is that what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there's a fight --

TRUMP: That's too bad. That's too bad. No, I just think it's too bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still plan to deploy the National Guard to New York City?

TRUMP: If they need it. Right now, other places need it more. But if they -- we had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that. But if they need it, I would do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, are you willing to forgive Congresswoman Taylor Greene?

TRUMP: Forgive for what? No, we just -- I just disagreed with her philosophy. She started backing. Perhaps the worst Republican congressman in our history. This is -- you know, stupid person named Massie. And I said, go your own way.

And once I left her, she resigned because she would have -- she would never have survived a primary. But I think she's a nice person.

OK, thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LIPTAK: So you hear the President there discussing two of the main topics. Ukraine, clearly, the President very eager to get this 28- point plan that he has proposed to end the war there across the finish line.

[12:05:12]

He was asked whether this was a final offer, and he said no. And I think that's important because you're hearing all kinds of concern from Europeans, from the Ukrainians, that this deal appears heavily weighted to the Russian point of view.

You know, it would force Ukraine to surrender the entire eastern Donbas region, including parts of that region that are currently held by Ukraine. So essentially giving up Ukrainian territory to Russia. It would also force Ukraine to limit the size of its military.

But President Trump has given this extraordinarily tight deadline to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to come to an agreement. And I asked the President what would happen if Zelenskyy doesn't agree by that Thursday, that Thanksgiving deadline, whether the President would halt military assistance, whether he would end intelligence sharing.

And the President said that means he can continue to fight his little heart out. So not particularly clear about what the American consequences for that would be, but pretty much suggesting that this would be the moment for him to sort of shrug this war off and allow the two sides to essentially just fight it out, Omar.

JIMENEZ: And we also heard the familiar thing we've heard from him for a while, that he believes the war would not have happened if he were president. No real evidence of that, but still continues to repeat that.

Kevin Liptak, appreciate the reporting, as always, from the White House.

I want to shift to the growing fallout, a new reaction from the stunning resignation announcement from Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. You actually just heard the President talk about their relationship a few moments ago, but Marjorie Taylor Greene says she will leave office in January.

And as the President is responding to his former top ally calling it quits at a post saying on Truth Social, the President called her Marjorie Traitor Brown, saying she was leaving due to plummeting poll numbers and fears of facing a primary challenger who would be endorsed by Trump.

Now, Greene's surprising late Friday announcement caps what's been a turbulent five years in office, which saw her go from one of Trump's closest allies to one of his top antagonists. Her resignation follows a months long feud with the President in which Trump called Greene a traitor for supporting the release of the Epstein files in the way that she has and criticizing his focus on foreign policy. The congresswoman says those attacks led to direct threats against her life. And in a farewell video posted on X, she lashed out at Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), GEORGIA: Loyalty should be a two way street, and we should be able to vote our conscience and represent our district's interests because our job title is literally representative. Standing up for American women who were raped at 14 years old, trafficked and used by rich, powerful men should not result in me being called a traitor and threatened by the President of the United States, whom I fought for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Camila DeChalus joins us now. I mean, we heard the President even just a few moments ago talk about how he didn't like that she was aligning herself with Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, for example, who's been at the forefront of releasing more of these Epstein files. But can you just tell us a little bit more about this surprising resignation and kind of what has led to this -- I mean, really surprising moment.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Omar. You kind of summed it up perfectly. This started as a very close relationship that she had with the President. She often aligned a lot to his vision of putting America first, a lot of the time supporting a lot of his legislative goals that he had in office.

And she was really seen as a staunch figure that was going to kind of drive him achieving a lot of his legislative agenda. And you started seeing that over time, especially during the government shutdown, that she was became a very outspoken critic of the President, even the Republican Party, saying a lot of the times that they needed to focus on finding a health care solution to address the crisis going on in this country, especially around health care issues.

And even when she was pushing the Epstein files and having them be released, and especially when it came to the President and his agenda, especially when it came to foreign policy. And this is when we started seeing a lot of the cracks within their relationship, because she started becoming a little bit more vocal of her criticism of the President and really saying that he should direct his efforts more to helping the American people rather than really focusing on his foreign policy agenda.

And then when it really came to these Epstein files, he really saw this as a turning point. Now, a lot of what she cited for the reason why she's putting in her resignation, and that's going to be effective in January, is saying a lot of because of the love of her family, especially the death threats that her son was receiving.

And so this is something that we're hearing time and time again of more lawmakers coming under attack, especially when this focus is towards the President, and really the ramifications of this. And so this is something that we're going to be closely monitoring, especially when, in these just recent weeks, she was making a lot of bipartisan efforts, trying to work across the aisle.

[12:10:02]

JIMENEZ: Camila DeChalus, appreciate the reporting. Thanks for being here.

All right, meanwhile, new today, a shelter-in-place order is now lifted for residents in South Los Angeles following a major fire on board a ship docked in the country's busiest port. Late last night, a blaze erupted on board a cargo vessel carrying hazardous materials. I mean, look at these images here.

More than 180 firefighters battled an electrical fire on the lower deck. You could see the smoke really billowing out of several cargo containers. Twenty-three crew members were evacuated after an explosion rocked the ship.

I want to get right to CNN's Julia Vargas Jones, who's in Los Angeles. What do we know about this?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Omar, we just got a statement moments ago from the Port of Los Angeles saying that, as of now, the fire on board has been substantially contained. We didn't know how that was going until just now. The fire crews and ship crew members are continuing those fire suppression efforts.

Now, the way that this started was around 6:30 p.m. last night, it was an electrical fire on the lower part of the ship. But then, about two hours later, there was a large explosion on a different part of the ship. That's when those 23 crew members were then evacuated. None of them were injured, thankfully.

The concern, of course, is about those hazardous materials. We don't know exactly what they are, but the Los Angeles Fire Department issued a statement last night telling people to get inside immediately, close windows and doors, bring pets and any persons inside their homes, turn off air conditioning and heating. Of course, that was then lifted earlier this morning.

The concern is those particulates, right, the particulate in the air that could have been coming from those hazardous materials inside the ship. Now, the structure of the ship is what was on fire. We don't know if those materials actually caught on fire in the ship.

The ship was now moved to just outside the port. It's past the port's limits. And there is now a moderate air quality warning in that area still. But the ship now that has Panamanian flags and was coming from Tokyo, by the way, being farther out is part of why some experts are saying that this air quality concern is now a little bit lower.

Operations are now back to normal in the port. Routes that lead to the port are now also operating as normal. We can expect those cruise ships coming in this morning as well to be coming in as normal.

JIMENEZ: Some stunning images. I mean, great work by the first responders to get -- to try and get that under control. But Julia Vargas Jones, appreciate the reporting.

Still ahead, in unexpected, that's what we'll call it, love fest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think this mayor can do some things that are going to be really great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: That is President Trump praising New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after months of trashing him. We're going to tell you what their surprisingly friendly Oval Office meeting was about.

Plus, immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina, shaking the community. I'm going to speak to a teacher about how her school is pulling together to support immigrant families. All that and more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:17:46]

JIMENEZ: A vow to work together from two New Yorkers on opposite sides of the political spectrum. I'm talking about President Trump meeting with New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday. And this is after months of lobbying insults.

And what became kind of a surprising turn, they actually seemed like they were hitting it off in their first face-to-face meeting. President Trump saying he's rooting for Mamdani to succeed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you feel comfortable living in New York City under a Mamdani administration?

TRUMP: Yes, I would. I really would. Especially after the meeting. Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What makes you comfortable?

TRUMP: We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. I think he's -- I want him to do a great job and we'll help him do a great job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Gloria Pazmino joins us now. Gloria, look, you covered Mamdani's campaign leading up to him getting elected. Can you just tell us more about this extraordinary meeting? And what is President Trump talking about when he might say that we have more in common than you might think?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, you know, I can tell you that Zohran Mamdani and his close senior advisers went into this meeting knowing that they sort of needed to be able to speak Trump's language. And if you watch that entire sort of public part of the meeting very closely, you can see a lot of diplomatic, flattering language from both men.

And that is part of how Mamdani's team believed they could get to Trump, right? If they flattered him, if they spoke to him in positive ways, but really without getting away from the facts. So when you heard Zohran Mamdani say to Trump, hey, many of your voters also voted for me, you know, Trump heard that as a compliment while Zohran Mamdani was talking about a very real issue here in New York.

The fact that back in 2024, many Democrats who voted for President Joe Biden actually flipped and voted for Trump in ways like we had never seen in New York City before. And then now in 2025, many of those voters went back and supported Zohran Mamdani. And the reason why, according to Mamdani and his campaign, was because of that key issue of affordability.

[12:20:02]

Now, some of the back and forth we saw in the Oval Office yesterday was just really surprising given how both of these men have talked about each other in recent months. And I've talked to New Yorkers here today about what it made them think seeing the back and forth inside the White House yesterday.

You know, New Yorkers are very opinionated. Many of them here today told me they're cautiously optimistic and they're hopeful that maybe this will lead to a good relationship. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LANKAN, NYC RESIDENT: Well, it's clear that Mamdani is, you know, going to be strong for New York. And Trump kind of just laid down to him --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LANKAN: -- like he didn't even care. I've never seen him smile. I really don't like the guy, but I'm glad that he was able to go in there and do a good job with the President. And maybe we'll get some funding.

We won't shut down congestion pricing. Maybe we'll get some stuff for the subway. Second Avenue can move along. We'll see what it does for the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, Omar, the obvious question leading up to all of this is, of course, how long will this last? I think also just to put all of this in a national context, it's important to point out that when you know, when you hear Donald Trump saying, yes, I would live in New York City under a Mamdani administration, he's really cutting down a Republican talking point that we have been hearing since Mamdani's election. The fact that, you know, people in New York City would flee the city as a result of his election. And there you had the leader of the Republican Party saying he would have no problem living here if Mamdani was mayor. So that is going to complicate the political argument that many of these Republicans are trying to make going into the midterms and going into all these next elections that we're going to see in the next year.

So the politics of this also extremely fascinating between these two. Omar?

JIMENEZ: And there is obviously this working relationship that the mayor of New York City would need to have with the President of the United States. But as you just talked about, a fascinating political dynamic between two people seemingly on the opposite sides of the political spectrum. Look at New York bringing people together.

Gloria Pazmino, appreciate the reporting.

I want to keep this conversation going now with Kadia Goba. She's a politics reporter covering Congress for The Washington Post. Kadia, thanks for taking the time to be here.

You know, after months of attacks, Trump was all smiles in this meeting with Mamdani. Let's listen to a little bit more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We had a meeting today that actually surprised me. He wants to see no crime. He wants to see housing being built. He wants to see rents coming down. All things that I agree with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, MAYOR-ELECT OF NEW YORK CITY: I've spoken about --

TRUMP: That's OK. You can just say yes.

MAMDANI: OK.

TRUMP: It's easier. It's easier than explaining it.

This is a man that right now I think is focused on New York City. I really think he has a chance to do a great job. We're going to help him. I think you really have a chance to make it great.

MAMDANI: I appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: You know, I think it's just kind of fascinating to watch their relationship like that play out on camera. But how long does something like this last, especially when the political dynamics between them are a lot more complicated, especially when you look at members of the President's base?

KADIA GOBA, POLITICS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yes, Omar, I think that's the big question that none of us know. Zohran Mamdani doesn't take his role as the mayor of New York City until January. So when policies have to be implemented and Mamdani has to rely on the, you know, help of the federal government, then we'll kind of see how this role is sort of playing out.

But to your point, I think this camaraderie that was expressed yesterday certainly took a lot of members of Congress by surprise. These are people who have been all throughout the shutdown. We're talking about Mamdani being the leader of the Democratic Party.

And, you know, him as a Democratic socialist or in their eyes, a socialist and sometimes, quote unquote, "communist (ph) Mamdani," was just, you know, going to be the antithesis of what they would be looking for or messaging on in 2026. So that kind of their relationship or whatever was expressed yesterday kind of flattened that messaging.

And it'll be interesting to see how they come back from that. More importantly, I think this will impact Representative Elise Stefanik, who essentially her campaign is based on combating Mamdani for governor of New York.

JIMENEZ: I mean, to that point, I mean, many Republicans at this point, whether it's for a particular governor's race or even just for the midterms, have sort of forecasted their strategy is to tie Mamdani to Democrats overall. And you even heard the President a little bit earlier saying that he would live in New York and is not worried about New York, at least to this point, under Mayor Mamdani.

[12:25:09]

Does even just hearing that sort of posturing from the President undercut that plan? I mean, what are we hearing from Republicans on that front?

GOBA: Well, it certainly undercut that plan. And I spoke to many Republicans after the meeting and they privately expressed some concern about the President tanking their messaging strategy. And I'll even go even further.

Just hours before that, I was on the Hill interviewing people about what they thought about, you know, this meeting with Mamdani -- between Mamdani and Trump. Some of them, you know, talked about this measure that they put on the floor the same day to denounce socialism.

And some of them said, yes, this is -- he's the news of the day. It's important that we push back and tell our voters that we don't support a person like Mamdani or socialism. And then to have this happen, it was sort of astounding to your point.

JIMENEZ: Yes, it truly is. Kadia, I got to leave the conversation there. Appreciate you being here. Thank you.

All right, coming up, Brazil's former President behind bars. We're going to tell you why Jair Bolsonaro was just arrested, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:44]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: New today, former Brazilian president, excuse me, Jair Bolsonaro, has been arrested at his home in the country's capital. A move authorities say was needed to prevent a possible attempted escape days before the start of his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt. Now, Brazil's Supreme Court authorized the arrest warrant, citing information it received about a violation of Bolsonaro's electronic ankle monitor early this morning and a vigil his supporters were planning outside his home.

And the court says there was evidence the former leader intended to use the vigil as a distraction to escape -- to escape. Now, his lawyers denied that and in a statement said the former president was arrested at his home with an electronic ankle monitor and under police surveillance. Furthermore, Jair Bolsonaro's health is delicate and his imprisonment may put his life at risk. And his attorneys are vowing to appeal the arrest. Bolsonaro has been under house arrest since his sentencing earlier this year.

All right, I want to get us back to our breaking news. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are headed to Geneva for critical talks on a U.S.-backed plan to end the war in Ukraine. Now, Russian officials are not expected to be there and President Trump is giving Ukraine until Thursday to accept his peace proposal. Here's what he said as he left the White House moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would like to get the peace. It should have been -- it should have happened a long time ago. The Ukraine war with Russia should have never happened. If I were president, it never would have happened. We're trying to get it ended. One way or the other, we have to get it ended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So, among what's in the plan, it would require Ukraine to surrender territory, restrict the size of its military and forces the country to give up its goal of joining NATO. I want to bring in CNN contributor Jill Dougherty. She's also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of the book "My Russia" about her time in Moscow and some of that as CNN's bureau chief.

So, representatives from other European countries are also expected to join these talks. And we've seen that dynamic sort of creep in, whether it was around security guarantees over a minerals deal or whatever it might be. But will they try to persuade the U.S. to modify this proposal? What do you see as Europe's role in this process here?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I -- I think they want to put on the brakes. I think they want details. And I do think they want to try to influence the Trump administration to change some of the details of these 28 points in order to ensure what they think would be the security not only of Ukraine, but of -- of Europe in general. I mean, I think the focus obviously has to be on Ukraine, but the implications and actually some of the details in this would have very severe repercussions or influences on Europe itself and security.

So, I think that's their mission to work as quickly as possible and then to try to slow things down and convince the Americans that a lot of what is contained in these points is not good for Europe. And ultimately, I think the Europeans would also say not good for the United States or security in general.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, on paper, I mean, actually just leading into this war, some of the Russian justification has been about NATO encroachment on the country. And when you look at sort of what's in this proposal, it would deny Ukraine that opportunity to -- to join NATO, which, of course, has been at the crux of a lot of tension here. So, I mean, just on paper, it seems Vladimir Putin would get all that he wants and more. I mean, is this just not a win for Putin to say, look, we got what we came here for, this is great?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I think, you know, Putin has certain objectives. The immediate ones, obviously, are to control Ukraine, to take over as much of Ukraine as he can, either physically or politically, and that's really important to watch. And then also, I think he wants to, or perhaps he's trying to lure the United States back to some type of an agreement to restore relations between the United States and Russia as they were before, I mean, before the full-scale invasion in 2022.

[12:35:09]

And you might even say he's looking back before Russia illegally annexed Crimea to say, you know, we can go back to relations, we can have trade. Look at some of the details, Omar, in this agreement. I mean, they're talking about, really, in a way, it feels more like a business agreement in some places than a peace agreement or proposal for a peace agreement.

And it's not surprising, because the people who worked it out are, obviously, Steve Witkoff, who is -- was a real estate businessman in New York, and then Kirill Dmitriev, who we should keep our eye on also. He is a businessman and now the head of the Russia Direct Investment Fund, and very close. He's obviously, you know, a diplomat -- he's a representative who's working for Putin.

So not surprising they would come up with some type of business deal. I mean, Russia backing the G7? That's a big question mark.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

DOUGHERTY: The ending sanctions, if everything works well. I think you get the point that these are things that are very advantageous for Russia. And you could almost say, why exactly are they in there? Because it goes way beyond just Ukraine.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, on the other side of things, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy noted that this was really a historic turning point for Ukraine. I mean, he's not in a great position here. How does he view this agreement? Does he sign this agreement or continue the fight and potentially lose the United States as an ally, or at least as forceful as we have been to this point?

DOUGHERTY: Yes, that's exactly how he formulated it. He said, you know, dignity for Ukraine or potentially losing a key ally. And that's precisely his problem. And it is exacerbated by the fact that there is a major corruption investigation and scandal ongoing in Ukraine right now. President Zelenskyy has not been accused, but a lot of people who are very close to him have.

And so that has weakened his position. And I think you'd have to say that that plays into the timing of this. The timing is extraordinary. I mean, Thanksgiving is next week, next Thursday. So they -- you know, just the idea that he has -- he has his back to the wall. And if he agrees to this domestically, it could be very bad for him because a lot of Ukrainians could say, what did we fight for? Are you giving this up? And if he doesn't, he could, as he said, lose the key ally of the United States and all of the military and intelligence aid that the United States is providing.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Jill Dougherty, appreciate the analysis, as always. Thank you for being here.

DOUGHERTY: Sure.

[12:38:06]

JIMENEZ: All right, coming up, absences from school surge past 30,000 in Charlotte, North Carolina, during an immigration crackdown in the area. We'll tell you how schools are navigating this dynamic in the community, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Officials in Charlotte, North Carolina are saying the Customs and Border Patrol week-long immigration crackdown in the city is over, though some federal officials have disputed that. But it was dubbed Operation Charlotte's Web. And as agents pack up and go, they're leaving -- they're leaving a city shocked by days of fear and violence.

Immigration officers arrested more than 370 people, prompting many minority-owned businesses to shut down and many residents to stay home. More than 30,000 students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district were marked absent from class on Monday. That is 21 percent of the district's total enrollment.

I want to bring in Rebecca Costas. She's a teacher at East Mecklenburg High School and joins me now. Rebecca, thank you for taking the time. So, can you just tell me, what has this been like in your school and in your town over this past week? REBECCA COSTAS, TEACHER, EAST MECKLENBURG HIGH SCHOOL: It has been a complete disruption of our education in our district. You know, we've had, like you said, over 30,000 absences in the district, and the majority of those are due to students being afraid to come to school. I've seen a lot of posts and reports going around that those are students protesting, but I just want everyone to be clear that, you know, while our students have shown amazing solidarity and there have been walkouts and protests at school, the majority of those absences are due to fear.

Our students don't want to leave their houses. Their parents don't want to send them to school. They're afraid of the transit to and from school, that they could be stopped. They're afraid because it's not outside the realm of possibility now that actions could take place on a school campus. They don't -- they just aren't sure that it's a safe place. And a lot of my high school students have told me that while they're less concerned about themselves being taken, they're concerned that they'll come to school and then their parents won't be there when they get home.

[12:44:59]

So, it's a lot of weight that our students are carrying, and you know, it has been a complete disruption to their education and to the students who are attending school, who are their peers. Yes.

JIMENEZ: You know, as I understand, you know, you teach students who either are the children of immigrants or immigrated here themselves with their families. What -- what can you tell us about -- about what their reaction has been throughout all of this? And I mean, just from you as someone who's taught that population, what has the climate been like over the past week?

COSTAS: It's been terror. I mean, my -- my colleagues and I have been able to go do home visits to see our families and to take supplies. Our parents and our teachers, our community has been amazing. We've had food drives. We've had parents staging out at bus stops. So, we've been able to take groceries and supplies to these families, and they don't want to even answer the door.

They, you know, we'll have a bilingual counselor knock on the door and say, you know, if you just look out the window, you'll see that your teacher is out there, and I'll go stand with them, and we wave when they see us, they'll finally open their door. And, you know, the expressions on some of these mothers' faces, especially when we hand them food and hand them toilet paper even, you know, it's just this immediate relief in the sense of, oh, well, somebody knows, you know.

And you know, I'll have my students say, Ms. Costas, I'm -- I'm still doing your work, you know, I'm still working online, because they want to be at school, and we miss them, we want them there, and so it, for them, has just been pure terror. They -- they feel like they're in hiding.

JIMENEZ: You know, as you were talking, we were just showing some of the images of what I believe were signs that were made by -- by either students or people in the community. I mean, for those students that have actually been showing up, and obviously for the community at large, too, I mean, what has the reaction been for, again, the folks that -- that are -- that are at school right now, and the wider community?

COSTAS: It has been beautiful. I mean, I'm so -- I've been saying, I'm so proud of my city and my community, the way people have shown up and shown support, you know, from students walking out, protesting, teachers organizing, letter-writing campaigns, parents and neighbors being at bus stops, patrolling neighborhoods, our community organizers, the, you know, the Migrant Network, the -- the -- these groups that have pulled together and done trainings, I mean, it's just been an outpouring of love.

And I've been collecting all of these stories, every picture I can, every story I can, so that I can show my students when they come back, just how many people support them and love them because, you know, I just -- I can't imagine what this is doing to their own sense of self- worth and identity right now. So I just -- I want them to be able to see how much love is being poured out from our community right now.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Rebecca Costas, I appreciate you taking the time, and, you know, keep us posted as this dynamic moves forward. Obviously we've heard from local officials that some of this presence will move on, but federal officials seem to be disputing that, but just keep us posted on -- on how things are going at your school. Appreciate the time.

COSTAS: Thank you. Thank you so much.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

[12:48:36]

All right, coming up, we're following a lot of other news, including the Supreme Court jumping into the Texas redistricting battle. We'll tell you about the ruling that Justice Alito just blocked, and what it could mean for next year's midterm elections. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: We want to introduce you to one of the finalists to be CNN's Hero of the Year. She provides therapy dogs to comfort and ease the stress of firefighters, police officers and other first responders across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI CARMAN, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FIRST RESPONDER THERAPY DOGS: To fight the fires of California is like a war zone. It's grueling work. It's smoky. It's hot. It's dangerous. They go for a minimum of two weeks 24 hours on, 24 hours off. That stress to have it lightened with the therapy dog visit is priceless.

Puppy, puppy, puppy. We got Karith in 2018, and we were training her to become a working guide dog. She was just too friendly to every single person. So I started doing therapy dog work with her. During the 2020 fire season, going around to fire base camps, she was so good at just making the firefighters feel better.

I started posting pictures on her Instagram. Then I was getting messages. Can you come to my husband's police department? I'm like, yes, sure. Now we have hundreds of therapy dog teams across the entire country. We go to fire base camps, fire stations, police departments, 911 dispatch centers. All first responders would benefit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The average adult male lives around 18 years longer than the average adult police officer. And that is often because of chronic stress. And oftentimes, as a defense mechanism, we close up.

[12:55:09]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she just for first responders?

18 years longer than the average adult police officer. And that is often because of chronic stress. And oftentimes, as a defense mechanism, we close up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she just for first responders?

CARMAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's so soft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we are around emotional support animals, you just see that all sort of melt away.

CARMAN: Cortisol levels go down. The endorphin levels go up. I can feel that goodness just coming up the leash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to have a dog come by and she can't talk, can't ask questions, it can kind of break the ice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I missed you, too.

The first time I met Karith, I had undiagnosed PTSD. She just picked up on it right away. She just went nose to nose with me, and we just had a moment. And it broke me down. This was my wake-up call that I needed to go to therapy. The man's best friend for a reason.

We have helped so many people. I'm grateful to Karith for showing me the way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: You can go to CNN.com/heroes to learn more. We'll be right back.

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