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Trump Digs in on Border Wall, Dems Propose Offer with No Wall Money; Women's Marches Underway Across the Country; Dignified Transfer Today for Four Americans Killed in Syria; Fight against ISIS Rages On; Federal Contract Worker Sets up GoFundMe to Pay Rent; Gillibrand Embarrassed by Past Immigration Stance. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 19, 2019 - 11:00   ET

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


[10:59:51] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: There's a lot ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

We turn it over now to Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much. Good to see you guys.

BLACKWELL: Likewise.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: You, too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Take care.

It's 11:00 on the East Coast. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

NEWSROOM starts right now.

All right. We are now entering week five of the longest government shutdown in history. 800,000 federal workers still working without a paycheck as Democrats and Republicans battle it out over President Trump's demand for a border wall.

So today, the President will once again take his argument to the American people, promising a quote, "major announcement concerning the southern border". An official telling CNN the President will make an offer to end the shutdown but one thing is very clear, he is not backing down on his demand for border wall funding.

This was the President this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope that Speaker Pelosi can come along and realize what everybody knows. No matter who it is, they know that walls work. And we need walls.

Whether it is personal or not, it is not personal for me. She's being controlled by the radical left which is a problem. And you know, she's under total control of the radical left. I think that's a very bad thing for her. I think it is a very bad thing for the Democrats. Everybody knows that walls work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, House Democrats will put an offer on the table. They are adding $1 billion to border-related spending, but no money for the wall. So are we really any closer to ending the shutdown?

Joining me right now from the White House, CNN's White House reporter Jeremy Diamond. So what more can we expect from the President's announcement today?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well Fred -- we're just getting some new details on what the President is expected to deliver today in his 3:00 p.m. address.

I've confirmed now from a source familiar with the President's speech this afternoon that he is expected to offer a broader immigration deal in this speech. He will demand the $5.7 billion for border wall that he has been talking about throughout this shutdown.

But he will also now say in exchange for that $5.7 billion, let's pass The Bridge Act, which would extend protection for some of those undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children -- the dreamers as they're known, those individuals protected by the DACA program that the President rescinded in March; and protections for individuals with temporary protected status. Those are individuals who came from various countries often because of natural disasters or some other crisis and came to the United States with the promise of immigration protections. The President has also recently rescinded several of those protections.

So now this is the offer that the President is expected, again we know in this White House, things can change very quickly. But as of now, the President at 3:00 p.m. is expected to announce this new proposal, $5.7 billion for a border wall in exchange for extending these legal protections for dreamers and other immigrants in the United States -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then Jeremy, the scheduled 3:00 p.m. announcement from the President from the diplomatic room, correct, in the White House. Will there be, besides the audience of the American people, do we know that there will be anyone else in attendance?

DIAMOND: No, no. We don't know that right now. But again, it is a significant moment in terms of the President offering something broader here. The question is will Democrats bite on this?

We have heard from the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeatedly saying that she will not give any money for a border wall that the President has been demanding, especially as long as this government shutdown continues. And they have also so far rejected the idea of a broader immigration or border security deal, as long as the shutdown continues. They want the government to be reopened and then allow for negotiations on the back end.

But today, the President will actually be putting a pretty significant offer on the table, something that the President's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on now for several days. And so we'll see what the reaction is once the President announces that as we expect he will at 3:00 p.m.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond -- thank you so much.

So the President's speech comes as a source tells CNN Democrats are also preparing to propose a deal of their own to try to end this shutdown.

Let's check in with CNN's Ryan Nobles for a closer look at what's inside the Democrats' proposal. What's being offered?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred -- the Democrats' plan is to essentially just pass a whole batch of bills out of the House and send them to the Senate that would effectively reopen the government and within those bills there's talk about adding another billion dollars or so to border security.

Here's what "New York Times" is reporting where that money would go. $524 million in additional infrastructure points of entry and $563 million for funding for 75 immigration judges. You'll note that on neither of those points do you see the word "wall".

And to Jeremy's point, this continues to be the sticking point between Democrats and the President. They can talk about money all they want, but much of it has to do with the symbolism of the building of the wall on the southern border.

[11:05:05] And interestingly, I was in a gaggle with reporters yesterday with the Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. And he talked about how the Democrats are going to frame this funding proposal to the President. That it is not just about securing funding for money on the southern border but it's about all points of entry and that when you talk about border security, you need to do it in broader terms.

Listen to what Steny Hoyer had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: We continue to want to find ways to open up the government; and yes, to address secure borders for our country, borders all over our country, not just the southern border but obviously the Atlantic and Pacific borders and the northern border.

The fact is we are hopeful that next week we'll be offering six of the bills that have already been passed by the Senate committees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: So of course, this came before we knew what the President planned to propose later this afternoon -- Fred. We'll have to see how Democrats on Capitol Hill respond to this.

This is obviously two things that they have pushed for, for a long time. Tut they've also said they will not budge on anything having to do with the wall. We have to see if this changes the conversation -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right, especially the DACA portion that so many Democrats have been pushing for, for a long time. Now this Bridge Act, you know, which would be a bipartisan solution, you know, for this what -- 750,000 young undocumented, you know, immigrants and looking for an extension of protections for them.

I mean that's the incentive that the President, you know, reportedly will be offering, which is pretty sizable.

NOBLES: And that's true, Fred. Yes, they have talked about this in the past though. There had been an attempt to try and hatch some sort of a deal that would include DACA protection and provide protection for temporary protected status folks in the United States. But those negotiations have fallen apart in the past.

We'll have to see if now because we have the looming threat of the ongoing government shutdown if that changes the conversation.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ryan Nobles -- we'll check back with you. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right. With me now -- let's talk further on this.

Karoun Demirjian, a congressional reporter for the "Washington Post"; Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief for the "Daily Beast"; and Juliette Kayyem, the former assistant secretary at Homeland Security under President Obama. Good to see you all of you.

All right. So Karoun -- you first. You know, the President expecting to extend DACA protections now as part of his offer to Democrats to end this shutdown. Is this a negotiation? Is this kind of a dangling of the carrot so that Democrats might be closer to saying yes to a deal?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It is certainly trying to restart that chapter of negotiations that's basically been nonexistent for over a week at this point, by offering Democrats something that is in the neighborhood of what they were looking for. Of course, as we've seen, the forthcoming Democrats' counter offer does not seem like it's going to exactly match that.

It's interesting to see what stages of this back and forth the word "wall" has become so important. The idea of the wall has been important and then the President backed off from that.

What the President is going to be putting out there could probably bring some Democratic support on board. I'm also just struck by the fact that that proposal that we're reporting on now that he is going to be laying out at 3:00 p.m. is exactly what Lindsey Graham was talking about over a week ago.

And not being sure if there would be enough support on both sides of the aisle although you could probably build some sort of coalition in the middle between Democrats and Republicans to support it.

So that's been kicked around in Congress and seems to have -- there's some interest in it. The question is have things gotten so politically entrenched at this point that they can't take the deal that they might have been able to take a while ago.

WHITFIELD: So Jackie -- in your view how much of this potentially changed the game? I mean we also learned, you know, CNN is reporting that Democrats are prepared to propose their own $1 billion, you know, for border-related spending. Is this the restart of deal making?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It sounds like it. You had Jared Kushner and Mike Pence go over to Mitch McConnell's office about midweek last week. We don't know what they talked about but everyone kind of assumed it had -- it was shutdown related.

You know, for me, the real question is will the President's base accept this DACA/TPS portion of -- if in fact he does outline that piece today. Because I feel like I've seen this movie before where a lot of these things have been on the table and the President has pulled back in light of the backlash that he's gotten on issues that his base doesn't like.

The hard liners don't want to see a path for DACA. They don't want to see TPS extended. Is this going to be palatable? Will he be able to withstand criticism that he no doubt will get from that side? That also remains to be seen, Democrats and Republicans in Congress, notwithstanding.

WHITFIELD: And we heard from Nancy Pelosi on the day of swearing in -- she said, you know, no money for the wall.

[11:09:57] And you know, CNN learning this $1 billion, still no money for the wall. Yet it was the President today, leaving the White House on his way to Dover, he said this, reiterating that, you know, the wall is still on the table in his view. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have a lot of people in caravans coming up. If we had a wall, we wouldn't have a problem. But we don't -- we have too many open areas.

The walls that fix and the walls that we built hold beautifully. Everybody knows that walls work. The border patrol has done an incredible job but we need the help and the backup of a wall.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So Juliette -- the President's mantra has been, you know, this wall is all about addressing the humanitarian crisis, the national security crisis. So what do you want to hear from the President on those issues and how humanitarian crisis, national security crisis will be addressed?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So I think it is important for people to recognize this is not a crisis. The White House has sort of ignored the numbers of what's happening at the border to create this hysteria because they could not get a deal.

And so, you know, you look at the numbers, immigration is lower, border crossings is lower than it had been. And I think conceptually it's very difficult for the White House to view the Customs and Border Protection agents, the Coast Guard, TSA, ICE -- all of these agents, they are in fact the wall. That is assets (ph) and we should be paying them. They are, in fact --

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: And they're not getting paid. What do they want to hear?

KAYYEM: -- helping support and they're not getting paid.

WHITFIELD: They want to hear when government is back up and running.

KAYYEM: They want this open. So there's no other way to view today as anything than that the President has essentially realized he got himself into a corner and needs to get out. This deal is exactly what we had several months ago when he ran, when the Republicans ran the house. He is now back to a table that he was unwilling to sign anything for.

And so last night, I was cracking up when they said a deal was made between Kushner, the Senate Majority Leader and Vice President Pence. I said where is Nancy Pelosi?

Actually the deal was clearly to get Trump to recognize that the polling was bad for him but also that this is bad for agents and people not getting paid. Whether the Democrats want to take this deal now that they're in charge is really up to them at this stage.

But let's just not forget, he had this deal four months ago and he was unwilling to take it. This is a fold for the President.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, you know, Jackie -- you're nodding to that in agreement. This is almost like -- this is a moment of realization perhaps for the President?

KUCINICH: Realization? You know, he's going to -- I imagine what the White House is going to spin it as -- as a win. But, you know, Juliette said it so well. I don't know that I have anything to add on that front because she's right.

This was on the table. This was -- and when Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress and the President stepped back, this is why, one of many reasons why, there's not a lot of trust in negotiating with the President.

(CROSSTALKING)

KUCINICH: -- he's been known to pull back.

WHITFIELD: To your point then, how does this appear to be a win? How does the White House say this is a win when essentially it ends up looking more like a waste of time, waste of resources?

DEMIRJIAN: That's going to be --

KUCINICH: Go ahead, go ahead.

DEMIRJIAN: I was going to say that's going to be up to --

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: Karoun -- you first. Go ahead.

DEMIRJIAN: Look, the President is a marketer. And it's going to be up to him to actually sell it as a win to his people.

KUCINICH: Exactly.

DEMIRJIAN: There's all kinds of people in the GOP that have been saying look, you can turn the opinions of your base if you just sell it properly. And I'm sure that's going to be his challenge coming up.

And that's frankly what he's good at. And I think that if he had waited much longer, the stories of all these furloughed workers who are in food lines right now -- I mean the situation is getting potentially dire.

And also, you know, the State of the Union is now on the table. The President likes a pulpit from which to speak and he's about to lose one if this continues going forward.

So it behooves him right now to make the deal before this gets to a point where he can't spin his way out of it.

WHITFIELD: So Juliette -- how does this ultimately not look like a waste of time, a waste of resources? Is the President in a roundabout way acknowledging that?

KAYYEM: I think it is, I mean. And the experts or the rest of the panel on the politics of this, but looking at it from a security perspective, of immigration perspective, I don't know what the White House was thinking waiting for the Democrats to take over in the House.

They had a deal, they ran government. He could have gotten money for the wall. So all that's happened is the misery that we have seen for these employees. I forgot to mention the Secret Service and the Coast Guard as well -- people who are actually defending our borders, maritime, or land and air borders.

So there's no win. Let me just be clear here. People have suffered. And so all we need to do is can the President get himself out of this and it seems like Jared and the Vice President have convinced him that there's only one pathway out, or there's actually two.

[11:14:54] There's whether the Democrats accept what he is going to offer today or then a week from now, he calls this emergency national security declaration. But he is in a corner and he did not take the deal several months ago.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll see.

Today -- 3:00 is the scheduled announcement from the diplomatic room in the White House from the President. And then, of course, more deal making has to ensue after that.

Jackie Kucinich, Karoun Demirjian, Juliette Kayyem -- thanks to all of you. Thank you.

All right. Still ahead, women across the country marching for the rights of women everywhere. But a cloud of controversy could undermine the message. Why some of the organization's leaders are accused of being anti-Semitic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Happening right now -- women gathering in cities across the country for the third annual Women's March. You're looking at live pictures right now of the nation's capital where the march is getting under way.

The first marches in 2017 took place the day after President Trump's inauguration to protest comments that he made about women during the campaign and to support women's rights.

[11:20:05] This year's marches are expected to be a bit smaller as controversy and division has cast a shadow over the movement. But organizers are still expecting thousands to turn out in cities all across America. You see the map right there.

Let's begin in Washington and check in right now with Jessica Dean with the turnout. How is it looking?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you.

We've got a pretty big turnout here in Washington. As they march, you can see the group here behind me, they are in motion as we speak.

And I have spoken to a lot of the women throughout the day and they say they are unified here, that they're feeling very hopeful, that it is important for them to be here two years after President Trump became president. Remember, as you mentioned, it was right after his inauguration, we saw those record crowds.

I spoke with one woman and her daughter who flew from Houston to be here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We actually bought our plane tickets after (INAUDIBLE) day after the Kavanaugh hearing, yes.

DEAN: So tell me more about that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just -- we just had enough. We've absolutely

had enough. The wall, Kavanaugh -- we just finally decided it's time. It's time to come here and march.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So they will continue to march here in Washington.

And interestingly, you mentioned the controversy. There have been charges of anti-Semitism at the top of the organization. But we just saw a group within this march, Fred, who were saying that they were Jewish and they here for this march, unified with this march. That's what we're seeing here in Washington.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jessica Dean -- we'll check back with you. Thank you so much.

So this year's women's marches are expected to be a bit more subdued than the massive star-studded marches that we've seen in the past. Allegations of bigotry and anti-Semitism against leaders of Women's March Incorporated -- the national arm of the movement -- have forced some groups to distance themselves from the Washington event and form new alliances.

CNN national correspondent Erica Hill joins me now from the march in Boston. So Erica -- you know, this year's marches, stark contrast of what we have seen in the past. Explain why.

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred -- there are a couple of reasons for that. Number one -- local organizers I have spoken with around the country, keep in mind, there are hundreds of marches around the country -- all organized locally.

They tell me, yes there are concerns about who these marchers are aligned with. Is there anti-Semitism in the ranks? In fact, the executive director of the organization behind this Boston march telling me that it has actually been distracting. That they've had to address so many of the questions because this march has always been about unity. And they said they stand together against all forms of hatred, including anti-Semitism.

The other issue is whether there's a drop in enthusiasm now, a couple of years on. But it is Fredricka -- the overarching questions about controversy that is really raising the most doubts this year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: A movement that energized and unified so many just two years ago is today overshadowed by controversy, including accusations of anti-Semitism within Women's March Inc., the group that organizes the D.C. event.

BOB BLAND, CO-PRESIDENT AND BOARD MEMBER, WOMEN'S MARCH INC: The women's march unequivocally condemns anti-Semitism, bigotry and --

(CROSSTALKING) MEGHAN MCCAIN, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Do you condemn Farrakhan's remarks about Jewish people?

BLAND: Yes, and we have repeatedly.

HILL: Louis Farrakhan, a man known for hate speech aimed at Jews and the LGBTQ community. Co-President Tamika Mallory attended an event last year where Farrakhan called Jews his enemy and posted this photo in 2017 calling him "the greatest of all time". She has denounced anti-Semitism but not his comments.

TAMIKA MALLORY, CO-PRESIDENT, WOMEN'S MARCH INC.: As I said, I don't agree with many of Minister Farrakhan's statements.

MCCAIN: Do you condemn them?

MALLORY: I don't agree with these statements. At the end of the day --

MCCAIN: Well, condemn it.

MALLORY: No, no, no -- to be very clear, it is not my language, it is not the way that I speak, it is not how I organize. And I think it is very clear over the 20 years of my own personal activism, my own personal track record who I am.

HILL: Shortly after that exchange on "The View" Women's March Inc. cancelled our scheduled interview. We sent them a list of questions, they have yet to respond.

VANESSA WRUBLE, CO-FOUNDER, MARCH ON: The problem starting with the Farrakhan issue in the beginning is they did not come out forcefully enough.

HILL: Vanessa Ruble helped plan the first D.C. march but left the group shortly after for what she described to CNN as a bundle of reasons, including anti-Semitism. Current leaders telling the "New York Times" Wruble's departure had nothing to do with her being Jewish, citing growing pains and an evolving movement.

WRUBLE: It is impossible to grow up in America without coming to this work with biases that are both unconscious and conscious. I think that it is important for those biases to surface so that we can actually address them, move on, and become a stronger movement.

[11:25:04] HILL: Wruble later co-founded March On with the goal of getting more women elected in 2018. They're also offering support to marches around the country this weekend.

National headlines are weighing on local events. In Los Angeles, New York City, and Florida -- stark statements, publicly distancing those marches from Washington and the D.C. leadership. New York City dealing with the added confusion of multiple events this year. A march organized for the third year by the Women's March Alliance, and now a rally organized by an offshoot of the D.C. group and New York Immigration Coalition. Has the confusion impacted your support at all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It absolutely has.

FREEDOM SHANNON, BOARD MEMBER, MARCH ON: I think it has, there's no question. I mean the reality is people don't know the difference. Women's March Inc., Women's March Alliance -- people only hear women's march. Are you guys anti-Semitic -- that is going to be a question that gets brought up. We are 100 percent not in any way, shape or form.

HILL: A group in Eureka, California postponed its own event over concerns it was quote, "overwhelmingly white" while Omaha's march was renamed and moved to March 10th to coincide with International Women's Day.

With all of the changes and confusion, who are these marches for?

KATHERINE SIEMIONKO, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, MARCH ON: We have conservatives, pro-life and pro-choice on our board at Women's March Alliance because at the end of the day, women's rights are for every woman.

BLAND: The Women's March is open for all.

HILL: Pledges of inclusion have an open invitation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: So in terms of who you will be hearing from, as you mentioned Fredricka -- not as much star power being announced ahead of the marches across the country. We can tell you here in Boston just about an hour from now we'll be hearing from Representative Ayanna Pressley. She of course, is the first black woman elected to represent the state of Massachusetts in Congress. She's an honorary chair here. She will be speaking at 12:30.

Kirsten Gillibrand also set to speak at the Women's March in Iowa later today. Ahead of that though earlier this week, Fred, she did put out a statement making it very clear she did not feel there is a place for anti-Semitism in any movement, including a women's movement -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Ok. And Erica -- one of the women in your piece that you mentioned you all extended an invitation and then it was cancelled, Linda Sarsour, one of the board members in D.C. march organizers. She did talk to CNN earlier today live. We're going to pull some of her interview so that people can hear what it is that she has had to say to defend the on-going march and also separation between some of the organizers and the actual march today.

Erica Hill -- thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Still ahead -- after four Americans were killed this week in a suicide attack in Syria, U.S.-backed forces say they will increase their military operations against ISIS. Just ahead -- how that firefight is playing out on the frontlines.

[11:27:58] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The dignified transfer of four Americans killed in a suicide bomb attack in Syria this week is set to happen at any moment now at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. President Trump is paying respects to the families there and says it is a very sad occasion and the toughest thing that he's had to do in office. Officials say the service members had special skills to gather highly sensitive intelligence in Syria. And we now know the identity of all four who were killed.

Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent was a 35-year-old Navy chief cryptologic technician from upstate New York. She was a cancer survivor, a wife and mother of two young boys, according to "Stars and Stripes". A rock star with infectious determination and tenacity, according to her commanding officers.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan Farmer was a 37-year-old married father of four who did six overseas combat tours since he joined the army in 2005. He was from Boynton Beach, Florida.

42-year-old Scott Wirtz was a Navy Seal before joining the defense intelligence agency as an operations support specialist. The St. Louis native was a patriot, according to his supervisors.

The fourth person killed was an interpreter from East Point, Georgia, Ghadir Taher. Taher's brother said she worked through a company called Valiant and was a naturalized U.S. citizen and immigrated from Syria in 2001.

The U.S. military has not said why the Americans traveled to the busy commercial city of Manbij. This is the largest loss of American life in Syria since the counter-ISIS campaign started in 2014.

Three other Americans were also hurt. Our deepest condolences to their families and friends.

And after this week's deadly attack, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say it will increase its military operations against ISIS.

CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward takes us to the frontlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The battle against ISIS is still raging as the U.S. allied Syrian Democratic Forces known as the SDF push in on the last sliver of territory under the militants' control.

Here the fighters prepare to move into the village of Shafa (ph). Flares turned the dark night into day. Coalition aircraft circle overhead, riding (ph) crushing air power. By daylight they push further in.

[11:35:02] "This is where ISIS ends," SDF commander Simko Shikaki (ph) tells his men.

Moments later, panic breaks out. ISIS launched a counter attack. The SDF fire back and Shafa is quickly liberated.

We traveled down to the frontline as they approach the next village. Our escorts insist on taking an armored vehicle. Even liberated territory is far from secure.

(on camera): These roads are still dangerous, especially early in the morning because there are ISIS sleeper cells in the area that come out overnight and they plant roadside bombs.

(voice over): We stop at a house that the SDF took from ISIS just days earlier. Mortars are fired up at militant positions. Commander Shikaki takes us up on to the roof to show us the front line.

(on camera): So the next village over, Sousa, is where the front line is now. And they're hoping that they'll be able to liberate that by tomorrow.

(voice over): American forces provide assistance from just a few hundred yards away. The commander warns the battle is not over.

"The pressure we had militarily is ending", he says. "But the fundamental war is eradicating the ideology of ISIS."

That will be a much tougher fight to win as support for ISIS still lingers here. On the way back we passed through another recently liberated area.

(on camera): This is what is left now of the town of Hajin (ph). You can see it's basically been completely obliterated. And to many of the people who were living in areas like this and others, this is what liberation looks like -- miles and miles of rubble.

(voice over): Many here fear that buried in the destruction, the seeds are being sowed for another war.

Clarissa Ward, CNN -- Shafa, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still ahead -- five weeks into the U.S. Government shutdown, 100,000 federal workers are suffering without pay. Next, I'll speak to a single mother who started a GoFundMe account to offset the personal costs of this shutdown.

[11:37:32] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Day 29 of the partial U.S. Government shutdown and in just a few hours, President Trump will make an announcement from the White House. A source tells CNN he is expected to propose extending protections for DACA recipients and individuals with Temporary Protective Status in exchange for a border all funding.

Meanwhile, a Democratic source says House Democrats are planning to vote next week on border-related spending measures that include an addition $1 billion but no money for the border wall.

For 800,000 federal employees still not receiving pay, the situation is growing much more dire by the day. In Atlanta, a local church collected food and other items to distribute to 1,200 TSA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff, and other government employees affected by the shutdown.

But many others are taking matters into their own hands. Government contract worker Julie Barr -- Burr, rather, is an administrative assistant at the Department of Transportation in Kansas City, Missouri. She started a GoFundMe account to offset the costs of this shutdown. The single mother more than doubling her goal of $5,000.

Julie Burr is with me right now. Julie, good to see you. Glad you're able to share your story with me.

So how are things going for you, even though you have been quite successful with your GoFundMe account? But tell me overall, how are you feeling with this government shutdown? You not being able to go to work?

JULIE BURR, GOVERNMENT CONTRACT WORKER: Well, I'm feeling a little frustrated, I guess, you could say is the main word. You know, every day I wake up and I think today might be the day that it ends. And I watch the news, I keep it on pretty much all day now and nothing is being resolved. And it's quite frustrating.

WHITFIELD: So the President is expected to speak today from the White House and offer potentially, you know, a deal. What are you hoping to hear from him?

BURR: The only thing I want to hear from him is that the government will reopen on Tuesday after the holiday.

WHITFIELD: And if you don't hear that from him, instead you hear from him a new offer that he wants to make to lawmakers and then it will be, you know, a continuation of the back and forth between the executive branch and the legislative branch, how will that make you feel?

BURR: Still frustrated. You know, he is the leader of our country and I expect him to lead. And I think many other Americans feel the same way.

WHITFIELD: So you are a contract worker which means, you know, you are not going to get paid as long as the government is shutdown. There's no telling when government will be up and running again. Long term, what are your thoughts or concerns about contract work for the government?

BURR: Well, I'm actually going to have to start looking for another position. You know, I can't keep going on and on without a job. I don't want to keep going on and on without a job. So probably contract work is not something I'm going to be looking for in the future. I feel very bad for these contract workers because we won't be getting back pay. Federal workers will get back pay from what I know, and we're kind of out there on our own, trying to figure out how to lose a month's pay and deal with it.

[11:44:57] WHITFIELD: So perhaps it was a shot in the dark for you. You were hoping maybe you would get $5,000 for a GoFundMe account but come to find out you've kind of tripled that, right. So how helpful has that been, you know, how much will you be leaning on that, you know, and for how long?

BURR: Right. I've leaned on it heavily. I've already paid my rent for February so that I can get ahead, just in case this keeps going on and I'm not able to find another position right away.

I am very thankful to those who have donated. I'm very, very grateful for that. And I'm watching other GoFundMe accounts with contract workers and they are also getting many, many donations. And I know they're grateful. I have been in touch with several of them.

So that really helps, you know. And we did -- I myself did get some bad messages from people that did not agree with what I was doing but, you know, my family comes first and I'm going to do anything I can to keep them afloat.

WHITFIELD: So what have your kids been asking you? What have they been expressing during this, you know, 29 days?

BURR: Well, they're concerned. You know, when am I going back to work? My 14-year-old son asks, you know, daily -- did anything happen today, you know. When he gets home from school, might ask me, you know, what happened today? What happened on the news? And I'll keep him up to date.

He is pretty bright. He keeps up to date on a lot of things himself so he knows what's going on. My daughter is actually here visiting, trying to help me out here from St. Louis, and I'm very appreciative of her help. And, you know, she's kind of keeping the household running so that I can take some extra shifts at my second job.

WHITFIELD: Julie Burr -- we wish you all the best.

BURR: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Still ahead, one of the latest Democrats to announce a presidential bid is already being scrutinized for her past position on immigration. Is it coming back to haunt her? We'll discuss next.

[11:46:54] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who just threw her hat into the ring for the Democratic presidential nomination is campaigning in Iowa this weekend. The New York Senator formed her exploratory committee earlier in the week.

But a brand-new investigation from CNN's case file uncovered some big discrepancies on her stance on immigration. When she was in the House, she encouraged deportations and voted to increase funding to ICE. But just a few years later, a different take. Now she want so abolish ICE. So why the change of heart?

Our Athena Jones is in Iowa. So Athena -- you know, how does the senator explain all of this?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi -- Fred.

Well, Senator Gillibrand says look, she came from a 98 percent white district, a largely rural district, a more conservative district, and that is what she points to when explaining her changing views on issues not just like immigration but also on guns.

You'll recall in this 2007 interview, Gillibrand was talking about the need to close the borders. She was for denying driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. She believed in making English the official language. And she voted repeatedly for more funds for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Although now, as you mentioned, she is for abolishing ICE and sort of changing -- dividing up the roles that they play. She says she changed her views after meeting with families who were concerned about deportation, who feared deportation, and her communications director says that it takes courage to admit when you're wrong. And that Gillibrand regrets the position she took years ago.

And after hearing from families across the state, she is now for comprehensive immigration reform and for other immigrants' rights. So certainly a shift in instances but they would -- she explains that to say that she was representing a relatively conservative district, two to one Republican district. And later on when she joined the senate, she was representing the entire state and was able to be exposed to views that changed her mind -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then Athena, it's 29 days of the government shutdown. The senator was asked about her views -- if you can hear me, Athena?

All right, it looks like we may have lost audio with Athena. All right, we'll check back.

All right. Still ahead, President Trump is expect to announce a new deal to reopen the government and he plans to announce that will come right from the White House in a matter of hours. Could the impasse over the southern border be coming to an end? Our live team coverage continues in a moment.

[11:53:49] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Hello, again everyone. Thank you so much for being with me this Saturday.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We are now entering week five of the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. 800,000 federal workers still working without a paycheck as Democrats and Republicans battle it out over President Trump's demand for a border wall.

So today, the President will once again take his argument to the American people. Promising a, quote, "major announcement concerning the southern border.

[11:59:52] At 4:00, at least scheduled for 4:00 today, a source tells CNN the President is expected to propose extending protections for DACA recipients in exchange for the wall, something the President is not willing to back down on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I hope that Speaker Pelosi can come along and realize.