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New Military Drills Near Venezuela in Mounting U.S. Show of Force; Trump Pulls His Years-Long Support for Representative Greene; Trump Orders New Epstein Investigation, Excludes Himself; Eager Visitors Welcomed Back to National Zoo; National Museums, Parks & Zoo Reopen After Shutdown; Native American Civil War Officer Admitted to NY State Bar 176 Years After His Denial; Disney Returns to YouTube TV Under New Deal; Federal Agents Smash Car Window, Detain Man on First Day of Immigration Crackdown in Charlotte; Trump to Meet with Saudi Crown Prince on Tuesday; Trump Says He Hopes Saudi Arabia Will Join Abraham Accords Soon. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 15, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:38]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I am Jessica Dean in New York, and tonight, Venezuela on edge as sources tell CNN, President Donald Trump is weighing a potential military campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro. Trump telling reporters this on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Have you made up your mind on what you would like to do as far as action?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I sort of have made up my mind. Yes. I mean, I can't tell you what it would be, but I sort of made up my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now inside, Venezuela, people there are bracing for the worst, wondering what this escalation might look like. CNN contributor, Stefano Pozzebon is joining us now. Walk us through what the United States is doing in the region that might be signaling something that could come next.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, Jessica. That is the question that, frankly, everyone in Venezuela, including me, is asking ourselves, actually what will happen in the next few hours and days here in Caracas, if indeed the United States decided to take direct action against allegedly narcotrafficking, objective narcotrafficking structures inside Venezuela, I say hours because we know that on Sunday and throughout next week, the U.S. Department of Defense has announced that military forces from the U.S. will join the forces of Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago is a small island archipelago of a nation that is just a few miles from the coast of Venezuela. We are talking literally about seven to eight miles at some point to. And these forces will conduct military exercises in front of the coast of Venezuela, Jessica.

And so many here are bracing with the feeling that that could actually signal something else might happen. We know that The White House has been briefed with options to conduct strikes inside Venezuela. And we know, of course, that the president, Donald Trump, had previously authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations here in Venezuela.

So really, there is a feeling of a tide rising and rising up, Jessica, from Caracas. Today, for example, the Venezuelan strongman, Nicolas Maduro announced that more than four million Venezuelans took an oath to defend the country in case of an attack from the United States.

Now, we always need to take Maduro at his own words, so we can't independently verify those figures, the four million figures in particular. However, I think, Jessica, that it shows that the government and maduro himself personally, on whom there is a bounty of more than $50 million on his head, I think that they are really taking these prospects, this possibility of U.S. strikes inside Venezuela, very, very seriously.

Now, how they would look like, we don't really know. We are trying -- we are asking our sources, both inside Venezuela and up there in Washington, in the East Coast, where you are, to ask what these strikes could actually look like. It doesn't -- we are not receiving any information at this point, but we are clearly preparing for something to happen maybe in the next few hours, maybe in the next few days, maybe in the next few weeks -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Stefano Pozzebon with the very latest there from Caracas. Thank you so much for that reporting. We really appreciate it.

We are joined now by CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, I think a lot of Americans might be tuning in or watching this and say, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. What is going on in Venezuela? What might be happening there? Walk people through the scene right now. What we know and kind of what has gotten us to this moment.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, so this is a very interesting development, a series of developments, Jessica.

So one of the things that you know, is in play here is the whole idea of going after narcotraffickers. So the Trump administration has basically said we are going after narcotraffickers. They are coming out of Venezuela. We need to stop them from doing that because of the high death rate from illicit drugs, especially fentanyl, in the United States.

So there are a few problems with this. It makes for good T.V., you know, like we are seeing here where things blow up and you know, we've stopped these particular vessels from reaching their destination. The problem is, is that we haven't positively identified these people to say that they're actually narcotraffickers.

The other aspect that is problematic here is that fentanyl doesn't really come from Venezuela. It comes from, well, precursors come from China. It makes its way to the U.S. through Mexico. So we are basically going after the wrong enemy here, if this is in fact you know, the reason we are going after Venezuela.

[18:05:10]

The other part of it, though, is that given the broader geopolitical sense, Venezuela, for a long time, for several decades now has basically been a stepping stone for not only Cuban influence in America, in the Americas, but also Russian, Iranian and Chinese influence.

So you've got all of these factors in play here, so if the real reason for doing this, for getting things ready, for setting up this exercise that Stefano mentioned with Trinidad and Tobago, the real reason is to get ready for some kind of regime change in Venezuela that could have broader geopolitical implications for the United States and frankly, for the rest of the world.

So we are kind of in this very confusing mix where we have you know, certain things that are talked about, such as drug interdiction. We are using basically heavy handed tactics to go after those targets, but the real reason we are doing this might be something quite different and might, in fact, be to limit the influence of, say, the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, in a place like Venezuela, which is, of course, on the South American Mainland.

DEAN: And the U.S. also holding these new military drills right next door near Trinidad and Tobago starting tomorrow. What do you read into the timing and the announcement of these drills? The purpose of these drills?

LEIGHTON: Yes, they are clearly a warning, so sometimes drills are used as a precursor to further military action, and it could be military action in a real sense where you actually go after another target, another country in this case. I am not saying that is going to happen in this case, but it is a possible on ramp for a type of activity where perhaps we go after drug facilities in Venezuela and there are some, but there are not to the extent like we have in places like Colombia or In Mexico, so it is a different -- you know a different set of environments that we are dealing with here.

But these exercises could serve as a precursor for that, and if they do, that could then set the stage for a much larger military operation than just an exercise with a small country like Trinidad and Tobago.

DEAN: Right, and there have been comparisons to the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. Venezuela's population and land size is ten times that of Panama. There is dense jungles, slums ruled over by gang members. If this becomes about toppling Maduro's regime, is that a realistic goal? LEIGHTON: Well, it really depends on how things are executed and how really lightning fast any strike would be against Maduro and you know, whether other elements of Maduro's forces could be contained. And you're right, Panama is about one-tenth the size, both in population and in area.

The one big advantage we had in Panama was the fact that we had the bases in Panama, we had access to the Panama Canal, even though it had been turned over to the Panamanians beforehand. So we had jumping off points within the country that we could use for that invasion and from a logistical standpoint and an intelligence standpoint, that was, definitely a benefit to us in making just cause as that operation was known a success.

Venezuela is a much different story. It is much larger, as you mentioned, jungles, mountains and basically slums that are controlled by people that are, either related to gangs or that are part of maduro's elements, and so it is a very different thing and it could very well mire us in a longer conflict and that would be absolutely problematic not only for the U.S., but for the entire region.

DEAN: You mentioned this, but again, reminding everyone, the Maduro regime propped up by China, Russia, Cuba, not friends of the U.S. How might they aid Venezuela in the face of any sort of U.S. military action?

LEIGHTON: Well, the Russians have already tried to bring some aid into Venezuela. They have done some things like potentially bringing in things like air defense weapons, things like that.

So the Venezuelans have some missiles, some types of them are numbered in the thousands and they could be used in an anti-aircraft sense. They could certainly be used against, you know, armor like tanks and armored personnel carriers and things like that. So there are elements that they have provided the Venezuelan government throughout the years, and they've tried to augment that supply recently.

The other thing that they could help with, whether it be the Cubans, the Russians, and to some extent the Chinese would be Intelligence, any type of Intelligence that they have on the movement of U.S. forces that they pass on to the Venezuelans could be of significant use to them and could help them in you know, making their ability to defend themselves much more credible than it currently is or than it seems to be, at least.

So that's one element that they have there, and, you know, quite frankly, the Venezuelan tactics are going to be based on a melting back into the countryside or into the slums.

[18:10:15]

So what they're going to try to do is achieve some kind of a situation where they can mount guerrilla operations against any invading force. How effective those guerrilla operations will be, of course, remains to be seen, but that's the plan that they have, and they are definitely working toward that. That's why when Stefano mentioned the four million Venezuelans that have sworn an oath to defend the country, that's one of the things that they would be doing. They would, in essence, be getting ready to demonstrate their abilities, in a kind of citizen army capacity to go after any invader, and that would be, again, a difficult thing to deal with.

DEAN: Yes, all right, good information to just have, and a good place to get some context around all of this that seems to be quite quick moving.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Jessica.

DEAN: And tonight, a fight between Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and President Trump spills into public view. We are going to look at why the President is now calling for someone to challenge her in a primary next year.

And President Trump demanding a new investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats. We will ask a former federal prosecutor about how that could play out. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:59]

DEAN: President Donald Trump publicly denouncing his longtime ally, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Republicans are not happy with Greene, who has gone out of her way to criticize her own party. She also signed her name to the petition, backed by Democrats, to release all of the Justice Department's documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

Greene now says she is facing threats that are, in her words, being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world. CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us now.

Betsy, to see these two at odds is really remarkable. They were really in lockstep for years.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER AND WRITER: Yes, Jessica, I mean, thinking about this kind of a major political breakup would have been unfathomable, even just a couple of months ago. But as Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped up, her criticism of President Trump and his strategy in recent weeks, some officials were left wondering if it was just a matter of time before something like this happened and her attacks on The White House have been twofold.

She has taken that message to outlets like CNN and to ABC's "The View." First on the economy and domestic issues. Number one, she believes, in her view, that president trump is spending too much time on solving conflicts abroad and building relationships with other world leaders, and not enough time focused on domestic affordability issues.

Separately, on Jeffrey Epstein, Greene is one of just four House Republicans who is calling for the Justice Department to release the full tranche of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, and there is going to be a major political test in the coming days, as soon as next week, as the House of Representatives is expected to take a vote on just that, and Greene has laid out some of the advice she has been giving to The White House, sharing a screenshot of a text that she sent to a top Trump aide where she told them to stop attacking the women.

President Trump has been asked repeatedly about Greene's recent comments, most recently as he made his way here to Florida on Air Force One. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Marjorie Taylor Greene said, oh gee, I am spending too much time overseas. So let's say I don't meet with China. You know what's happened right now? To Georgia and to every other state? They are not working because your magnets and your rare earths would have kicked in, and there wouldn't be a factory in the world that was working if I didn't have a relationship overseas with China.

I think that her constituents aren't going to be happy. Already, I have people calling me, they want to challenge her to a race in her district in Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: But this escalated significantly in the moments after Trump landed here, announcing in a post to social media that he was formally rescinding his endorsement and support for Greene and increasingly lobbying personal attacks against her. Greene, for her part, warning that those attacks have consequences.

She said in a post to social media today, "A hotbed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world, the man I supported and helped get elected. Aggressive rhetoric attacking me has historically led to death threats and multiple convictions of men who were radicalized by the same type of rhetoric being directed at me right now, this time by the President of the United States."

Now, Greene has been a major ally for Trump and the MAGA political movement that he created and all of this now prompting major questions about the future of that movement in the absence of Trump -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Betsy Klein with the very latest reporting from West Palm Beach. Thank you for that.

Meantime, President Trump is publicly ordering his Justice Department to investigate high-profile democrats, companies and institutions he claims had dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.

In response, Attorney General Pam Bondi has appointed the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan to handle that probe and it comes after the President's name turned up and repeatedly in those just released e- mails from the Epstein estate.

Trump has always denied any wrongdoing and has never been charged with a crime in relation to Epstein.

Joining us now, former federal prosecutor, Shan Wu, now a defense attorney. Shan, always good to see you.

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Good to see you.

[18:20:10]

DEAN: The timing of all of this comes as the House is prepared to vote or poised to vote on whether to release these files, which would put pressure on, of course, the DOJ. How might those two things impact one another?

WU: Well, the call for an investigation and DOJ apparently opening up an investigation, it is kind of embarrassing for them, we can talk about that.

The way it could. Impact the congressional call for the release of the documents, the files is now, Trump's DOJ could try to hide behind this fact that there is "active investigation" and maybe they say, oh, we can't release files now, or they have to be more heavily redacted because it might interfere with our ongoing investigation.

And, you know, perhaps politically, that's exactly what The White House wants to do, but that's how it could interact there by announcing this so-called investigation now.

DEAN: And you mentioned, this is embarrassing, in your view, for the DOJ. Why is that?

WU: Because two things, Jessica. First, they've already been on record, Pam Bondi saying there is no there, there. I mean, they've looked at this. There is no criminal culpability. She had the files on her desk at one point, and now suddenly they have to, like, reopen, I am not sure what they are looking at, but they are reopening it very specifically only as to Democrats, which is just ludicrous.

I mean, it taints your investigation from the moment you get started to say you're only looking at people of particular political affiliation. If they're serious about this, and it would be great if they actually hold people accountable besides just Epstein, who is dead, and Ghislaine Maxwell, they need to appoint a Special Counsel because the President of the United States, while not implicated criminally, is all over the files. He is certainly going to be a witness in it, so you can't have his own Justice Department investigating something where he might be a witness, so they need a special counsel.

The Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney is probably conflicted out, one of these alleged wrongdoers, maybe it is Reid Hoffman, who used to be his client, this is obviously a situation where they need somebody independent of DOJ to do it, and that's the further embarrassment because DOJ is unlikely to appoint a Special Counsel, and it just continues to look like that more and more are just doing the bidding of Donald Trump, no matter how inconsistent it causes them to act. DEAN: It is such an interesting point about a Special Counsel, because when you put it that way, it does seem like in previous cases, if we were talking about any other issue, naturally, a Special Counsel would be appointed for all the reasons you just listed, but in your opinion, it sounds like you think that's a very unlikely outcome here.

WU: It seems very unlikely because the reason we have the Special Counsel regulations really assumes a perspective on the part of the Justice Department that they want to be independent and they want to be independent, so if a high level Cabinet person or the President is being investigated, they need somebody with a little bit of arm's length from DOJ.

This DOJ has no interest in being independent, and that's why I think it is highly unlikely they would appoint a special counsel.

DEAN: Yes, so okay, as we look ahead to this next week, this potential vote on releasing these files. Legally, then what happens? Obviously, we talked a little bit about how DOJ could kind of hide behind this new investigation, but what would you anticipate happens next should that pass?

WU: Well, if they do release, whatever they do release and I think they will release something, it is going to give a lot of ammunition for both congressional oversight to look further into it, which is really important. There is bipartisan interest in that, and of course, for law enforcement investigators to say either they already knew this and if it looks bad, they have to explain why they did nothing with it or if they say, we didn't know this before, they need to follow up on it.

One immediate thing that really should happen is even based on what we have seen so far, Todd Blanche's interview, softball interview with Ghislaine Maxwell really needs to be redone. I mean, there seems to be great contradictions just in what we've seen versus what she said, so there is a lot of steps that law enforcement needs to take once this gets released depending on what gets released.

DEAN: Yes, and the question of trustworthiness for Ghislaine Maxwell as well.

Shan Wu, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

WU: Good to see you.

DEAN: And just a programing note for you, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene will join Dana Bash tomorrow on CNN's "State of the Union." That happens at 9:00 A.M. Again, it is tomorrow Sunday right here on CNN.

Breaking News: Homeland Security says it is launching a new operation in Charlotte, North Carolina, and an arrest in that city is already drawing some criticism from residents. We will show you what happened. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:28:57]

DEAN: National Parks and Museums are back open now that the government shutdown is over. The National Zoo also welcoming visitors again, meaning animal lovers can once again see the adorable giant pandas in person and also online, and the zoo is where we find CNN correspondent, Julia Benbrook with more on this -- Julia.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Smithsonian Institute is the world's largest museum complex. It includes 11 museums along the National Mall and others in the area like the fan favorite, the National Zoo.

Now, these museums receive federal funding, so when the government shutdown started, they were able to keep the gates open for a little while, using funds from previous years, but have been closed for weeks now. And as I spoke with visitors today as the zoo finally reopened, some just said they got lucky. They didn't realize it had been closed that long, others had been counting down the days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY TEPLESKY, NATIONAL ZOO VISITOR: We've been just patiently waiting, right, for the right time.

ISAAC TEPLESKY, NATIONAL ZOO VISITOR: I wouldn't say patiently, but yes, we have been waiting.

We planned to go everywhere in the zoo except for the birdies, because we don't like the birds. But everywhere and see everything. Stay at the pandas for three hours and yes --

L. TEPLESKY: Maybe get some hot chocolate. Hot chocolate and what else? More shopping.

I. TEPLESKY: Merch.

L. TEPLESKY: Yes. And merch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:30:13]

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you can tell by that merch, the hat he selected there, that the panda exhibit is no doubt a highlight. The panda cam is also back up and running at this time. Now, on Friday, the National Air and Space Museum opened up and CNN spoke with the director, Christopher Browne, who said that they were eager to get people back. They welcomed over a thousand visitors in the first 30 minutes. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER BROWNE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM: We found out pretty much when the American public found out when the continuing resolution was passed. And that was our signal that we could reopen. And here we are today. We've greeted over a thousand people already. And we're only 30 minutes to our -- into our reopening.

This is why we're here. It's to serve the American public and our visitors and showcase the collection, their collection, the largest aerospace collection in the world. And so, when we're closed, we're not doing our job. So, it means everything to be reopened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So, here's what opened on Friday, the National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. On Saturday, the National Zoo, the National Museum of African American History & Culture, the Museum of African Arts, the Museum of Asian Art and the Museum of Natural History.

Not everything is open yet to visitors and they're opening things on a rolling basis until Monday. So, you're still going to want to check the website to make sure the facility you're looking for is open.

At the National Zoo, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

DEAN: All right. Julia, thanks so much for that.

And here are some of the other top stories we're following this evening. Someone in Georgia is very lucky after winning nearly a billion-dollar jackpot last night. That ticket sold at a public supermarket in Newnan, about 40 miles outside of Atlanta. The lottery says it's the eighth largest prize in its history. The $980 million prize translate into a $452 million lump sum payment for taxes.

A decorated Civil War officer and Native American pioneer is finally recognized on the national stage. Ely Samuel Parker, a Civil War officer who served in President Ulysses S. Grant's cabinet, has been posthumously admitted to the New York State Bar. It comes 176 years after he was denied admission because Native Americans were not considered U.S. citizens.

At the ceremony, his great, great, great grandniece, Melissa Parker Leonard, said, quote, "Today we corrected an injustice."

Disney content is finally returning to YouTube TV. Disney Sports entertainment and news programming, including all of the ESPN and ABC channels, have been unavailable to YouTube TV subscribers for the past two weeks. But the two companies struck a multi-year deal last night, both releasing statements saying they were pleased with that agreement.

We do have some breaking news as we're following an arrest in Charlotte, North Carolina, by federal agents, one that has sparked criticism locally on this first day of an immigration crackdown in that city. We're going to speak with Charlotte's Mayor Pro Tem about the arrest and how their community is feeling about this surge by agents. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:37:56] DEAN: We do have breaking news as federal immigration enforcement operations have begun in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the latest democratically-led city to be targeted by the White House as President Trump continues with his crackdown on illegal immigration. For months now, federal agents have swarmed high-profile cities like Chicago, sparking protest and scrutiny over their use of force. And joining us now, CNN correspondent Gloria Pazmino.

Gloria, this is just breaking now. There is new video that is leading to criticism by residents about this arrest. Tell us what you've learned.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jessica.

Similar actions to what we have seen in many of these other cities where federal officers have been deployed to. And officials in Charlotte over the last few days had been preparing for the possibility that they were going to see enforcement in the city of Charlotte beginning likely this weekend. And that is exactly what happened today. We got several reports from across different areas of the community that federal officials were spotted detaining people.

And my colleagues and I have been trying to track down people who were stopped, collecting video from some of those interactions. My colleague Taylor Galgano actually was able to get in touch with a person who was apprehended. But first, I do want to mention that the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed to us that they are indeed carrying out operations in Charlotte. We have a statement from the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security saying, in part, quote, we are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.

Now, I do want you to take a look at video that we were able to get earlier today. This is video from the inside of a vehicle taken by Willy Wender Aceituno Medina. He is sitting inside his vehicle, and he's been approached by the officers that you see on screen there. They're asking him to open the door. And as you can see, very quickly, they move in and open -- break his window, open the car, and then proceed to apprehend him.

[18:40:00]

Now, we spoke to Mr. Medina after this interaction, and he told us that not only had he been previously approached by a different set of officers shortly before that interaction you're seeing there on the video, but he had already told them that he was a U.S. citizen and that previous group of officers had allowed him to identify himself. He actually described the interaction as being, you know, normal. He said that the officers were kind and let him go on his way.

And then, when he got to his car, a different group of officers approached him, asked him to get out of the car. He told them he wasn't getting out of the car, said, I've already identified myself. And that's when they proceeded to break in the window. They pushed him out of the car. They took him into custody and drove him away, along with several other men that had been detained, is what he told us. Now, as he was sitting in this vehicle, he was trying to plead with

the officers, telling them that he was a U.S. citizen and that his papers were in his back pocket. Finally, an officer decided to go into his wallet, pull out his documents. And once he confirmed that he was indeed a -- a U.S. citizen, they took his handcuffs off and let him out of the vehicle. This is all according to Mr. Medina, who, as I said, we spoke to earlier today.

Now, this interaction that we're seeing in the video is very similar. And this is exactly the type of interaction that has led to so much criticism as enforcement has been deployed in other cities. We've also heard from businesses in the Charlotte area who are shutting down into this weekend. We heard from a group of restaurant and nightclub operators who said that they were closing down their facilities going into the evening just as a precautionary measure in order to not put their community at risk. Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. Again, this man had a real I.D. That means he is here legally. He says he's a U.S. citizen that did not stop those officers from breaking his window, as you saw in that video.

Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much.

Let's continue the conversation with Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem and Representative Dante Anderson.

Thank you so much for being here with us.

We just went through this latest arrest that I know has been causing quite a lot of criticism there in your -- your town. What are you -- what do you know about this and what are you hearing?

REP. DANTE ANDERSON, (D) CHARLOTTE, NC Mayor Pro Tem): Well, thank you for having me, Jessica.

And yes, there have been a variety of activities throughout the city today in certain corridors where there is a high concentration of Latino residents. And it is unfortunate that a situation like that -- what happened with Mr. Medina even occurred. He is a U.S. citizen. He has his I.D. And yet his property was damaged. And -- and I'm sure he's wondering what's the restitution for that.

But that's -- there's fear and anxiety rampant throughout our residents. And the city of Charlotte is working with other governments locally and with our governor to ensure that residents have all the resources that they need and they know how to act and navigate if something occurs.

DEAN: Yes. And are you confident you can protect your citizens? Again, just the intimidation of -- of -- of knocking someone's window out while they're sitting in it. Again, this person has a real ID here legally, says they're a United States citizen. Are you confident that -- that you all are in a position where you can protect your residents?

ANDERSON: So, here's the thing about Charlotte. Charlotte is a lawful city. Our crime is low and has decreased year over year. Our Charlotte Police Department just recently released their Q3 numbers. And we can see that crime across the board is down. We know that violent crime year over year is down. And so, we don't need any assistance as it relates to crime or public safety. We have doubled down on public safety here in the Queen City. We recently stood up a task force that is, yes, involves a lot of law enforcement, but also businesses, faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations. And we're working in tandem to ensure that public safety is paramount and that our residents not only feel safe, but indeed are safe.

And so, for our residents locally, our charge is if you feel like your rights are being violated or if you are a victim of a crime, please do not hesitate to call 911 as CMPD's charge is to protect and serve our residents for public safety.

[18:45:10]

They in no way are involved in any of these activities. They have no indication of what's going on where, but they're here to protect our citizens. So, do not hesitate to call 911.

DEAN: What's kind of remarkable about what you're saying is it sets up the potential for a situation where a resident calls 911, the city's police force to protect them against federal government employees and agents.

ANDERSON: Yes. And that's the line that CMPD has to walk, right? Because they cannot interfere with the federal agents' actions. However, if there is a crime and -- and residents have rights, right? If there is a -- an agent that comes to your house, they cannot enter without you allowing them in. If they present a warrant, they have to have a warrant that is signed by a judge.

There are certain rights that residents have. And, of course, CMPD is trained and they fully understand when not to intervene because it is a federal action versus if there is a potential crime or if there's harm occurring. But the other aspect of it is we don't want our residents to fall victim to provocation because we know the provocation is one aspect of this gang plan here. And propagation only increases uncertainty and invites outsiders to come in.

And so, it is really tough for residents to be calm and to ensure that they reside the right way. Mr. Medina did it well and he had his -- his ID on him. But that's the -- that's the line that all residents in the Queen City have to walk right now.

DEAN: All right. Mayor Pro Tem Dante Anderson, we thank you for your time.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

DEAN: Thank you. The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is set to visit the White House for the first time in more than seven years. The one goal President Trump has for his meeting with Mohammad bin Salman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:51:57]

DEAN: President Trump is set to meet the Saudi Crown Prince at the White House this Tuesday. Trump saying that you will discuss the U.S.- brokered Middle East peace agreement known as the -- I'm sorry, agreement known as the Abraham Accords, which were signed back in 2020. That agreement normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and multiple Arab countries. Here's what Trump says he hopes to achieve in these talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords fairly shortly. We've had tremendous interest in the Abraham Accords since we put Iran out of business.

CNN's Nic Robertson has more on the upcoming meeting.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I really don't think that now is the moment that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, MbS, as is known, is going to sign up to the Abraham Accords. And there's a number of reasons for that.

Look, he does want things from the United States. He wants a new security treaty or pact, something that's stronger than the agreements he has with the U.S. already. He wants U.S. F-35 fighter jets. He wants U.S. civilian nuclear power plants. And all of those have been discussed in the past. But the sticking points here for him on the Abraham Accords are a lack of trust in the Israeli government, in the -- in the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu many of the members of -- of his right-wing coalition government.

That's a stumbling block for the Saudis. And we can see that in the statements that have been made by MbS over the last two years during the war in Gaza. He's become even stronger in his language about there needing to be a pathway to a Palestinian state. In fact, we heard it just a couple of weeks ago from a minister within the Saudi foreign affairs speaking at a big conference in the Middle East saying that the -- that a Palestinian state is a prerequisite for regional integration.

So, when you have that aspiration for a Palestinian state put side by side with an Israeli leadership that has indicated it doesn't want to recognize a Palestinian state, the pathway forward for -- for MbS right now to -- to -- to want to sign up to the Abraham Accords just doesn't want to -- doesn't seem to be there. And I think there's another issue, and of course this will get a -- a good conversation between MbS and President Trump this week, and that is the Security Council resolution that's going to -- that's going to be voted on this week at the U.N. That will be about President Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan, a better envisaging of -- of that, some more meat on the bones details about how that's expected to work. But I think all the indications we've had so far from the Saudis is

they've been diplomatic publicly, but they don't really give the impression that they believe this 20-point plan, the ceasefire and everything that goes with it, the international stabilization force, the police force, the disarming of Hamas, they're not really confident that the detail is there to actually make that plan work and therefore see further instability possibly in Gaza.

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Again, making that stretch to a Palestinian state, to their decision and willingness to get on board with the Abraham Accords, just even more unlikely.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.

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DEAN: All right. Nic, thank you very much for that.

President Trump taking a swing at affordability, rolling back tariffs on products like coffee, beef and fruit. How long will it take for people to see lower prices at grocery stores? We'll talk about that next. Stay with us.

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