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More Than 50M People In U.S. Under Winter Weather Alerts; WH: Ukrainian Delegation To Meet With Steve Witkoff And Jared Kushner; Zelenskyy: Hundreds Of Russian Drones Strike Across Ukraine; Trump Declares Venezuelan Airspace "Closed"; WV Hometown Mourns Loss Of Fallen Guard Member Sarah Beckstrom; Trump To "Permanently Pause Migration" From "Third World Countries". Airlines Scramble to Fix Airbus Planes; ICE Arrests Outside Courtrooms; Investigation Into Deadly Hong Kong Fire. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired November 29, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: If you just got here, hey, let's do this. I'm Omar Jimenez sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield.

Right now, we are tracking a major winter storm system that's creating chaos for travelers this Thanksgiving weekend. This is traffic cam video from St. Louis earlier today showing stuck semi-trucks, snarling interstate traffic, not great conditions there. But across the U.S. right now, more than 50 million people are under winter weather alerts.

And I want to bring in some of those folks that might see some issues, including Illinois Transportation Secretary, Gia Biagi, who joins us from Chicago. So I just want to start with what sort of issues or concerns are you keeping your eyes on right now?

GIA BIAGI, SECRETARY OF ILLINOIS DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION: Thank you for having us. Totally concerned about folks taking their time when they're driving. We really need you to be aware, take your time on these roads and make sure that you're giving space not only to other cars around you, but also especially to the heavy trucks that are moving through.

Those are the kinds of conflicts that we're really concerned about. But we are out there in full force. Our entire truck convoy is out there making sure our roads are clear.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, obviously we're in a weekend where a lot of people are likely driving back from families over the Thanksgiving holiday or at the very least considering getting back out on the roads. I just wonder, what are you expecting as evening approaches and as it looks like you got some real winter weather in your area already, but also even more so coming? BIAGI: Yes, definitely. And across our entire state, we think we'll see somewhere between 8 to 12 inches before it's done on average around the state and it's going to go through Sunday. So really we're entering the thick of it right now and that is of our most concern.

So if you don't have to travel, please don't and stay home or stay with friends if you can. But if you do have to travel, we want you to take it easy. And certainly we've done a lot of work to pre-salt the roads. So, you know, we start preparing for snow back in springtime. And so we have plenty of salt, plenty of trucks out there.

We've done the pre-treatment work. And now it's up to everyone to, if you can, stay off the roads. If you can't, take your time. And if you do see our trucks out there, we need you to give them a little room to get the job done.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, we've been keeping an eye on the airports there in Chicago, which I know isn't exactly under your purview, how the airports are managed, but just for perspective, we're seeing a lot of delays, a lot of cancellations tied to this weather most likely, but also, I mean, again, as I mentioned, people trying to figure out how they're going to get home.

Just what is your advice to many of those passengers who again are likely considering, well, hey, my flight's not getting out, maybe I should drive or maybe I should stay a few extra nights? Just what is your advice to some of those travelers caught up right now?

BIAGI: Yes, if you can have the opportunity to stay put, maybe have a couple of leftovers with your family, stick around, stay where you are, that's good for everybody. Because the more cars that we have on the road, the more difficult it actually is to clean the roads. So we'd appreciate it if you'd stay put.

But, again, if you are going to get out there, make sure you've got your car fitted out with everything you need, and that makes sure you have a blanket, that you've got food, that you've got all the materials that you need in case you do get stuck and you need help. And if you do, and you can get on the side of the road, please stay in your vehicle. Do not try to do trips along the roadway, especially our expressways, they're slick.

It's inclement, and again, we have a lot of trucks out there. So again, stay warm, stay safe, stay where you are if you can. And if you can't, be careful, move slowly, and know that it's going to take us a day or two to even clean up from this storm.

JIMENEZ: And just because, I don't know if you remember, you and I overlapped when I worked in Chicago back when you were working for the city of Chicago. And you guys, you're used to handling this type of weather, not just in the city of Chicago, but obviously statewide across Illinois, and your neighboring states are also dealing with a lot of these winter conditions as well.

This storm, maybe aside, can you just give us a sense for how you all, as a state, prepare for the winter months in general, but also for systems like this so that you're not caught off guard, which I know you all typically are not?

BIAGI: Yes, thanks for asking. We prepare all year round for snow and other kinds of events, floods, any kind of natural disaster or challenge for the state. And we do work across state lines to do that. We have a ton of collaboration with our neighboring states to make sure that we're pooling our resources and working with cities and towns across our state to make sure that, for example, I connected with our head of Chicago Streets and Sanitation this morning to make sure that they have what they need from us and that we're collaborating.

And we also, I should say, do tabletop exercises. So when there isn't snow and when it is a sunny day, we're actually getting into rooms and gaming out scenarios to make sure that, for example, we have enough salt where we need it that we can deploy from where we need to across the state. And that we've already rehearsed how we're going to collaborate together in these kinds of events.

So everybody knows the script and marches on the same road in the same direction. That's how we get it done in the Midwest and especially here in Illinois.

[13:05:06]

JIMENEZ: Yes, and serious conditions ahead for a lot of people, so take her advice seriously.

Secretary Gia Biagi, thank you for taking the time. Good to see you.

BIAGI: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right, I want to bring in Meteorologist Chris Warren, who's keeping tabs on the system overall. Chris, can you just give us a sense for what you're seeing right now, especially over that region and what are travelers up against here?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right now, Omar, seeing a lot of heavy snow and it's also widespread. The snow is in the blue purplish kind of color here. And the darker the color, the heavier the snow.

And just looking at, you know, more than about a dozen states here with a winter storm warning throughout parts of the Midwest and in some of the Eastern time zone here, but you get bouts of heavy snow and then a little bit of a break and then more heavy snow, hours and hours to go with more snow.

Seeing some delays there in Chicago at O'Hare, this is the live look right now. It is 27 degrees, feeling like 17 and those winds is what makes it feel like it's in the teens instead of the 20s coming in at out of the Southeast at 10 miles an hour. But definitely, a wintry scene here in Chicago in a big way.

Here's a look at the winter weather alerts. Now the winter storm warnings here in pink, this is where we're seeing the -- and expecting to see more of the high impact kind of snowfall. Whereas, we were just hearing it can be dangerous to be on the roads and real tough too in terms of accidents and just general delays.

Another look here at that widespread snow with that rain snow line here throughout parts of Northern Missouri, most of Illinois and Indiana in the snow right now, but there is a rain and even a thunderstorm threat that'll be developing throughout parts of the South. So this is a big system, cross-country system, essentially going from border to border here when you factor in the winds as well.

Here's the timing for this. This is -- this afternoon, Eastern Time, 4:00, still snowing in Chicago. It's 6.30 Eastern here. And then overnight, that's when it'll finally start wrapping up, but still expecting to see some of that blowing snow and some of the wind as well. But the Southern end of things, Omar, damaging winds, large hail, even an isolated tornado is possible and some areas picking up about a foot of snow.

JIMENEZ: All conditions for people to keep an eye out for as they consider their travel home from the holiday.

Chris Warren, appreciate it.

We also have some breaking news that we're following. A delegation from Ukraine will meet with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami to discuss the U.S. peace proposal this weekend, that's according to a White House official. Now, the trip comes a day after the surprise resignation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's second-in-command on Friday.

CNN's Larry Madowo has more on these fast-moving developments.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Zelenskyy moving on swiftly after the resignation of his chief of staff, one of his closest allies, Andriy Yermak, was seen almost as a shadow prime minister because of this corruption scandal shaking his administration. Zelenskyy has now appointed Rustem Umerov to lead the negotiations to end the war. That he and his team already on their way to the United States to continue these talks.

He is the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, former defense minister, and has been involved in these talks already. And that announcement coming just hours after Russia launched the largest barrage of attacks, drones and missile attacks against Ukraine. 36 missile attacks, nearly 600 drones that targeted critical energy infrastructure and civilian facilities, terrorizing the population, less than two victims.

ILYA MARTYNENKO, KYIV RESIDENT (through translation): This is intimidation by Russia. The attacks are targeting the civilian population in order for Kyiv and the government to make a decision faster, to sign the agreement faster.

IRYNA BORUCHEVSKA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translation): Peace, I don't believe there will be peace anytime soon with such neighbors. I doubt there will be peace anytime soon. It's getting worse and worse. It's getting worse every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: The overnight Russian attacks left over 600,000 people without power mostly in Kyiv and the surrounding region. President Zelenskyy once again appealing for international support to shore up Ukrainian air defense systems.

At the same time, a source in the Ukrainian security service is telling CNN that Ukraine was responsible for attacking two Russian so- called shadow fleet in the black sea. These are tankers that transport Russian fuel selling them against sanctions and they usually flagged under different countries for convenience.

These two were flagged under the Gambian flag and there were some damage to them using underwater drones. This is just the latest front as Ukraine tries to assert itself as this war grinds on.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

JIMENEZ: All right, Larry Madowo, thank you for that reporting.

Let's continue the conversation now. With us now is Joel Rubin, he is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and author of "The Briefing Book" on Substack. Now, with Ukraine already appearing to be on board with a version of this proposal earlier in the week, I mean, what do you expect Witkoff and Kushner will actually, one, either focus on during this meeting, but accomplish with this meeting?

[13:10:19]

JOEL RUBIN, FMR. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, Omar, it's great to be with you. And diplomacy for the United States is all about getting a deal done that both sides respect, and that's sustainable, and that our European allies are supportive of as well. And so my hope is that in these talks, we're going to see Ukraine believe, and Zelenskyy believe that he has achieved goals, and his goals and gains at the negotiating table that he can live with.

My fear is that he's going to get strong arms that what we've seen over the past week or so has been a Russia-first diplomacy and a diplomatic initiative to push the argument that Russia wants, which is to take territory from the east and to have that, and pushing that into Ukraine as a piece that they must accept. And so I hope that that isn't what happens, and I hope that Ukraine does get at the table where they believe they can live with.

JIMENEZ: Well, you know, amid all of these, we've been talking about Zelenskyy's top adviser resigning as this corruption investigation --

RUBIN: Yes.

JIMENEZ: -- deepens in the country. And I just wonder, do you think that works against President Zelenskyy, or is he able to spin this into, I guess, a victory by saying, hey, this shows the system inside Ukraine is working and won't tolerate corruption?

RUBIN: Yes, I mean, it's clearly bad news when your top lieutenant is essentially corrupt and needs to be tossed to the side. That is not a good sign. So there's really no good way to spin it except to say what you just described. But I do think there's enough of a bench in Ukraine to replace him.

President Zelenskyy is the President. He is the decider, ultimately. And there is a cleanup that clearly the Ukrainian people benefit from. But certainly this is not a good look for the President. But Ukraine, we have to be very clear, is a democracy and it does not suffer from the kind of autocratic corruption that Vladimir Putin has over his country and Russia.

JIMENEZ: You know, you were just talking about this fear that the Witkoff-Kushner meeting doesn't turn into, you know, sort of strong- arming Zelenskyy. And, you know, we heard this --

RUBIN: Yes.

JIMENEZ: -- leaked audio recording this week of White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff advising his Russian counterpart on how to deal with President Trump. You know, look, President Trump has defended that, saying, hey, look, this is just diplomacy at work. This is just how you get to a negotiation.

But we also heard Trump frame this peace proposal as a potential breakthrough. I just wonder what you make of that whole dynamic.

RUBIN: Yes, you know, Omar, it makes sense to try to sell a diplomatic offer. The problem is that the target for sale is the wrong target. Steve Witkoff should not be advising Russia on how to convince Donald Trump to support their deal. He should be trying to convince Russia to support our deal and our arrangement.

And so that's where the diplomacy, clearly, the President's right in all these negotiations back and forth, it's just -- it's inverse. And that's what makes people nervous is that it's a Russian-driven diplomatic process and written negotiation. That's where we get concerned.

And that's why I think you saw the heavy pushback from Europe, from Capitol Hill, from the Ukrainians as well. Hopefully they're straightening it out right now. But, again, that gives one a lot of concern from a diplomatic perspective.

JIMENEZ: Before we go, I just want to get your take on Venezuela for a minute, because President Trump declaring Venezuelan airspace closed, biggest warship still sitting off the Venezuelan coast in the Caribbean. I mean, is this Trump just ratcheting up the pressure or do you see this as actually indicative of a likely imminent attack?

RUBIN: Well, you know, Omar, I served in the State Department early in my career in 2002 when we deployed our forces into Kuwait and sat them there for months before launching an invasion into Iraq. This is all the hallmarks of a slow-moving regime change policy.

I think the President and his team, they need to come clean to the American people and to the Congress and seek military authorization for what they're doing, because right now it's still a mystery and that is not how we should be conducting our foreign policy.

JIMENEZ: All right, and yes, we're still awaiting any further developments, but it's been a drip, drip, drip to this point as far as --

RUBIN: That's right.

JIMENEZ: -- any Venezuela policy.

Joel Rubin, I got to leave the conversation there. Thanks for being here.

RUBIN: Thanks, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, coming up, intensifying the immigration crackdown, the Trump administration taking new action in the wake of that National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C., the latest move impacting millions of immigrants seeking asylum.

And a dangerous escape caught on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, what you're seeing is police say a rideshare driver helps actually save a woman for her -- from her allegedly abusive husband as he tries to run their car off the road. We'll bring you the details coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:19:45]

JIMENEZ: West Virginia is mourning the loss of one of its National Guard members as a second fights for his life. This week, 20-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed in an ambush-style shooting in Washington, D.C. 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was also shot and remains in critical condition.

[13:20:04]

Now, last night in Beckstrom's hometown of Webster Springs, West Virginia, the community held a vigil to honor her and offer prayers for her family.

I want to bring in CNN's Camila DeChalus, who joins us now. So, Camila, can you just tell me, what are you learning about Beckstrom and the latest on the medical status of that wounded soldier, Andrew Wolfe?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: That's right. After it was the developments came out about these shootings, there has been a ton of outreach of support, prayers, and condolences for these families. As you mentioned, Sarah Beckstrom, it was announced that she has died, passed away. And as for the other National Guard member, Andrew Wolfe, it is said that he's in critical condition.

Now, we were told that a Republican congressman spoke to his family. And take just a quick listen of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RILEY MOORE (R), WEST VIRGINIA: Andy is hanging on and he's a fighter and his family has told me that time and time again, he is a fighter. But above all, what they want here is for everybody to continue to pray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now, Omar, what we know of Andrew Wolfe at this time, just doing some research on him, is that he's been a part of the West Virginia National Guard since February 2019. And he's really, at this point, he's 24 years old, and there's just -- we're still being told that he's in critical condition.

And this is really coming after President Trump said that, you know, that this is just a very terrible incident that has occurred. And the President has announced since the shooting that he is going to now take more measures to really crack down on immigration policies. And also, even on this incident and just the charges that are being charged.

Now, we know at this point that the shooter, he's going to be charged with murder charges in connection with the shooting. And the U.S. Attorney General really says that the prosecutors could even seek out the death penalty. And now, President Trump, on his end, he says that he's now looking to deport the suspect's wife and children.

Now, what we know of the suspect and his background is that we're being told that his residence is from Washington, that he worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, and he came to the U.S. in 2021 under the Biden-era program, but he was granted asylum just this past April this year. And so, these are just some of the recent developments that have come out.

But it's just really notable of this timing when President Trump has already made it his mission just seeking the Oval Office the second time around, that he was going to crack down a little bit more thoroughly on immigration practices. And now, just given the recent events that have happened, it's just really furthered just his intent and these pressures that now these policies, especially around immigration and asylum practices in the U.S., are drastically going to change.

And this is just another example of why the administration now says that they're going to just keep pushing forward with these immigration practices and cracking down on asylum cases.

JIMENEZ: Camila DeChalus, appreciate the reporting. We're going to talk more about that right now because in the aftermath of that shooting attack on those National Guard members in D.C., President Trump is escalating his immigration crackdown. An Afghan national has been arrested for the shooting. Friday night, administration officials announced they're putting the vetting process for Afghan nationals under intense scrutiny and halting all asylum applications.

Now, the Trump administration also says they'll reexamine green cards issued to people from certain countries the President calls third world but would not specify what those countries are.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is near Mar-a-Lago where the President is spending the holiday weekend. So, Kristen, can you just walk us through the latest developments here?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Omar. I mean, look, President Trump and his administration have been trying to beef up their immigration crackdown for months now, and they faced a lot of legal hurdles. But now there is a belief among a lot of these administration officials and aides to President Trump that they have a particular incident to point to as to why they are doing this, why they are escalating this crackdown on immigration.

So let's talk about just some of what the administration is doing because this is not just coming from the White House. This is a whole of administration response. One of the things we know is that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is pausing all their asylum decisions. I think you mentioned that one.

The State Department stopped all of its visa issuances for travelers with Afghan passports. The Treasury Department is now moving to block undocumented immigrants from receiving federal tax-based benefits. They are working to permanently pause migration from all third-world countries, which I'll get to in one second.

U.S. -- and then the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reexamining green cards issued to people from 19 countries of concern. You might be wondering what those 19 countries are. I think we have a map for you here.

You can see there, there are some countries in South America, but most of them are in Africa and in the Middle East. We see Iran, Afghanistan. Chad is on there. Sudan is on there as well as Venezuela, which, of course, we've seen the escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. But this is just some of what they are planning right now. And we see, really, hour by hour, more steps that the administration is taking.

[13:25:02]

I will tell you one thing. I have heard from both Republicans and Democrats that there is a bipartisan concern and a bipartisan hope that they're going to look at, whether it's Congress or the White House, this Afghan visa program, the Afghan asylum program, just because there are a number of concerns across the aisle of how this person was able to not only get to the United States, but also go through potentially multiple rounds of vetting, be granted asylum earlier this year, and then commit this heinous crime.

So there are a lot, again, a lot of questions and a lot that people are trying to uncover here as we learn more details about the crime and the suspect in general.

JIMENEZ: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much.

Coming up next, airlines around the world rushing to fix their fleets after a major new warning about an issue that could cause pilots to lose control of their planes. We'll explain, coming up.

[13:30:00]

On this busy travel weekend, airlines around the world are scrambling to complete urgent updates to airplanes impacted by a potentially dangerous software problem. Let me explain. The European plane manufacturer, Airbus, directing airlines to serve its A320 line of planes before they are airborne again.

Now, the fix is a preventative effort to address a problem that forced an emergency landing and left several passengers injured on a JetBlue flight last month. The company says the series of planes could be impacted by intense solar radiation, which could cause pilots to lose control of the aircraft.

I want to bring in CNN Aviation Analyst Peter Goelz, who joins us now to discuss. Airbus released a statement saying, analysis of a recent event involving an A320 family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls. So, my question is, how could intense solar radiation actually impact a pilot's ability to control an aircraft?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST AND FORMER NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR AND SENIOR VP, O'NEILL AND ASSOCIATES: Well, it's a pretty extraordinary event, Omar. I mean, what happens is the sun goes through periods of intense activity in which it emits these what they call solar flares, and it shoots out high energy, high intensity blasts of charged particles that can affect satellite transmissions. It can affect radio transmissions. And we've now found out it can affect certain aircraft functions.

The A320, about 6,000 of them, about half the fleet, have a software program that apparently was corrupted by this very severe blast on October 30th. And it caused the plane to pitch down while it was on autopilot. The EASA, the European equivalent of the FAA, has ordered that certain planes be grounded, that they be reprogrammed. There are some flight disruptions today, not severe. It takes about two hours to reprogram and download the affected piece of equipment. But it is certainly a troubling event.

JIMENEZ: Yes. You know, the Airbus says this is just a precautionary step following that incident last month when that JetBlue flight was forced to make an emergency landing. But the company believes this is the only incident at this point, even though some 15 people were taken to the hospital. How concerning is this glitch? What do you say to passengers who hear this and might say, whoa, should I be scared right now?

GOELZ: Well, I wouldn't be scared. But I mean, it has only affected a certain type of Airbus A320. Boeing, which has a different sense of logic and a different, you know, analytics base that it flies on, has not been affected. But I think longer-term, as the solar events get more serious, we need to look at it carefully. It's going to be a problem.

JIMENEZ: You know, Airbus has told CNN that the disruptions do appear to be relatively limited, despite the busy Thanksgiving travel period, but obviously a big magnifying glass, and not just this period, but especially as we head into the further winter holidays here. What logistical challenges does an issue like this present for airlines, whether it's this specific one or otherwise?

GOELZ: Well, you know, for instance, American Airlines has just over 200 affected planes. They were able to get most of them serviced overnight, but not all of them. So, there are some groundings. United had very few. We haven't got reports from JetBlue or Frontier, which fly all Airbus fleets. But what it means is they had to get technicians out into the field to perform this two-hour download, which essentially removed the program and had it revert to an older one, which was not affected. My guess is this will be under control by tonight, and planes will, you know, flights will be back to normal on Sunday.

JIMENEZ: All right. Important perspective. Peter Goelz, appreciate you being here.

GOELZ: Thank you, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Still to come, heartbreaking stories resulting from the Trump immigration crackdown. We're going to show you how some migrants apparently following the immigration process end up still getting dragged away by ICE.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA CARMEN REY CALDAS, FORMER IMMIGRATION JUDGE: It shouldn't feel like a war zone when you're going into a courtroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:00]

JIMENEZ: Across the United States, migrants showing up for hearings are being detained by Customs and Border Protection officers, either before they enter a courtroom or when they come out. Last spring, the Department of Homeland Security actually rescinded guidance that had previously limited immigration enforcement near courthouses. I spoke to some of the people whose lives are being changed by this crackdown.

[13:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move out of the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back. Get back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will never forget the visuals of seeing masked, armed men walking past my courtroom as I'm watching the people in front of me shake in fear from what is coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The woman was forcibly slammed to the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ICE took the rare step of relieving an officer of his duties.

JIMENEZ: Every weekday in New York City, foreigners come here to 26th Federal Plaza to meet with the judges overseeing their immigration cases.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): But since this past spring, they're not just seeing judges, ICE agents are there too, detaining some men and women without explanation as they leave routine court hearings, even when their case is still ongoing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look this way.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): These are civil courts, and according to an analysis of federal data, over 70 percent of people in ICE detention have no criminal convictions.

Ben Remy comes here almost every day to deliver free legal advice to whoever needs it, wherever they need it.

BEN REMY: This was a first for me giving legal advice in a bathroom, but I actually encountered them in the bathroom with a CPP agent that was asking them questions.

REMY (through translator): You don't have to talk to the officers if you don't want to. That's your right.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): An hour later, that same man is immediately detained outside the courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You have rights. You have rights. You can give me your card if you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): That's my address, and phone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm going to walk with you so you are not alone.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): In New York City, ICE made nearly half of all of its arrests outside courtrooms through July this year. The detainees are then transferred to ICE detention facilities across the country, like Sonia's husband, who was sent to a detention center in New Jersey. Sonia and her family came from Ecuador in 2023 and filed an asylum claim.

Here in the United States, her husband worked as a truck driver. Earlier this year, he was arrested for petty theft, but the charges were set to be dismissed and sealed. In response to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security referenced Sonia's husband's petty theft charges without mentioning those charges were set to be dismissed, saying, quote, "Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S." Sonia says her children are struggling.

SONIA ANDRANGO-OROZCO, ASYLUM SEEKER (through translator): They boy was fine. But the day before yesterday when we were sleeping he couldn't sleep. And he told me, mommy, I miss my dad. It's been many days since he hasn't come back. The girls, she always cries. She's older. She kind of understands what's going to happen.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): These detentions are leaving immigrants with an impossible choice. If they skip a hearing, that's grounds for removal. But since President Donald Trump has come into office, they can still be detained, even while trying to go through the legal process.

ANDRANGO-OROZCO (through translator): I have friends from the neighborhood who have never shown up for court, and nothing has ever happened to them. They haven't showed up to court since getting here. But I've always shown up. We were doing things the right way.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Judge Carmen Rey Caldas worked on the 12th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, ruling on asylum cases, just like Sonia's and her family.

MARIA CARMEN REY CALDAS, FORMER IMMIGRATION JUDGE: The hallway space at 26 Federal Plaza is public. And so, the court really doesn't have a lot that it can do to prevent ICE from being in the hallways.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): At the beginning of 2025, there were approximately 700 immigration judges across the U.S. About 150 of them have either been fired or taken an early out offer since Trump took office. In August, Judge Rey Caldas was one of them.

CALDAS: Honestly, the courthouse just doesn't feel the same. I've seen attorneys, both defense and ICE, shake from the screams coming in out of the hallways. It shouldn't feel like a war zone when you're going into a courtroom.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): DHS told us arrests outside courtrooms are common sense and safer because people have gone through security and been screened to not have any weapons. Sonia's husband was supposed to appear in court from detention this morning.

ANDRANGO-OROZCO (through translator): I am worried, about not having enough to take care for them.

JIMENEZ (through translator): What are you thinking about?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): That I love him very much. That I miss him a lot. And that hopefully we will get him out of there soon, and we will be together again. They shouldn't separate families like that, because it's ugly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ (on camera): And we're still waiting to see what happens with her dad. He had already been moved from New Jersey to Mississippi and is now in Arizona with the next hearing expected in December.

[13:45:00]

And that's another dynamic here, these quick transfers. One Venezuelan man we spoke to, separate from what you saw, says he was transferred across four states and detention facilities in 11 days.

And when we asked about him, DHS said he came in the country through the Biden-era CBP-1 app, which even DHS didn't describe as illegal, but rather, quote, "disastrous, and that he's been put in removal proceedings. We're showing you this because you might hear or see, oh, someone was taking my eyes here or there. This is the reality of what comes next.

All right. Ahead for us, a search for more victims inside a charred housing complex in Hong Kong, and an investigation into what caused the catastrophic blaze that has now killed more than 120 people. Details ahead.

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[13:50:00]

JIMENEZ: New details coming out today following that deadly fire that ripped through several high-rise residential towers in Hong Kong. The death toll has now risen to 128. But crews on the ground warn it could get much higher, because as of today, 150 people are still missing. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has the latest.

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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the shadow of seven charred high-rises, the Hong Kong Police Victim Identification Unit prepares its grim task. 4,000 people lived at the Wong Fuk Court complex before the towers were gutted by Wednesday's fire. Days later, many are still unaccounted for. Authorities say the death toll, already well over 100, will rise.

MONTGOMERY: We're at the base of the apartment complex where that deadly fire took place, and there's a constant stream of people laying down flowers at this vigil, and the atmosphere here is really heavy with grief.

RAINBOW SIT, SCHOOL STUDENT (through translator): Actually, this housing estate has a lot of elderly people. It's considered quite an old housing estate. It's such a pity because it happened in the afternoon, so all the elderly were at home and couldn't escape. That makes it even sadder.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): In the aftermath, many in Hong Kong have rushed to help however they can, offering places to stay and delivering everyday essentials.

BRIAN, VOLUNTEER: It's grief at first. It's a lot of sadness. It's profound amounts of sadness. We also see a lot of the spirit of Hong Kong and the amount of help that people are here. I mean, so many people here helping out.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Twenty-three-year-old freelance journalist Maggie was working when the fire broke out. And when she finished reporting on the disaster, she came back to help.

MAGGIE, VOLUNTEER: I was working news last night, and I felt very heartbroken. I just want to help because we're Hong Kongers. We have to group together. We have team spirit.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): No one knows when or if they will get their homes back. Ambulance driver Wallace and his commander Leo are both volunteers. Leo knew some of those killed in the flames.

LEO, HONG KONG AUXILIARY MEDICAL SERVICE (through translator): This community feels like our home. When you see your own home go up in flames, it is truly overwhelming.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The men abandoned their day jobs, arriving just over an hour after the first alarm was raised.

WALLACE, HONG KONG AUXILIARY MEDICAL SERVICE (through translator): Hong Kong is a diverse city, and after such a tragedy happens, I'm truly grateful for how everyone comes together. When one side is in trouble, support comes from all directions.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The tragedy has brought out a spirit reminiscent of the city's struggle through the pandemic. Much more goodwill will be needed.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right. Thank you for that reporting. Up next, a driver and a passenger under attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, what the? Oh, my God.

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JIMENEZ: We'll tell you who police say was intentionally crashing into this ride share and why the driver is now being called a hero. Coming up.

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[13:55:00]

JIMENEZ: I want to show you some really dramatic video out of Vancouver, Washington. Now, these are really the terrifying moments caught on camera. A rideshare driver essentially played a key role in helping a woman escape what police described as a domestic abuse situation.

Now, according -- you hear those screams there. According to Vancouver police in the State of Washington, the driver picked up a woman from work earlier this month when another vehicle, allegedly driven by the passenger's husband, began chasing and deliberately ramming their vehicle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help. Help, please, help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: I mean, you hear just how frantic these moments are. The rideshare driver managed to get away with the woman still in the car, eventually getting to a police station safely. But officials say the driver was injured, had to be transported to the local hospital. Damage to the vehicle, too, was significant. I mean, you saw the impact there with the rammings, crushing the rear and shattering the back window. Police are investigating the incident and trying to locate the suspect.

All right. Everyone, thank you for joining me for another hour. I'm Omar Jimenez, sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We're going to start with a powerful winter storm slamming much of the Midwest and creating travel chaos, really, as it moves toward the East Coast. I want to show you some of the latest video in from the St. Louis area, a whole lot of snow, wet, heavy snow accumulating there. And then this is the traffic cam video from earlier in the day, showing semi-trucks snarling interstate traffic across the United States. Right now, more than 50 million people are under winter weather alerts. The storm is already disrupting travel on the roads and in the skies on what is set to be a record busy holiday weekend.

Meteorologist Chris Warren is tracking the severe weather. So, Chris, what are you seeing right now?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I'll tell you what, Omar. The boys this summer are definitely hibernating here as we look at the field --

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