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Putin Expresses Deep Condolences Over "Barbaric Terrorist Act"; Biden Signs Funding Bill To Avert Government Shutdown; Russia: At Least 133 Killed, 100+ Injured In Concert Hall Attack; Trump Has 2 Days Left To Secure $464 Million Bond As NY AG Takes First Steps To Seize Assets; Mega Millions Jackpot Climbs To More Than $1B; $1.2 Trillion Budget Includes Additional Funding For Border. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired March 23, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "Breaking News".

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[13:00:44]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield in Atlanta. And we're watching several breaking news stories this hour.

In Russia, fast moving developments on the shooting at a Moscow area concert venue that has left more than 130 people dead.

And in the U.K. and around the world, shock and sadness over news that Catherine, the Princess of Wales has cancer.

CNN anchor and royal correspondent Max Foster is standing by outside Buckingham Palace. We'll take you there in a moment. But first, let's focus on what's happening in Russia, where moments ago, Russian state media published a reported confession from one of the suspected attackers on that concert hall.

CNN cannot independently verify the veracity of the report or the statements made by the alleged attacker, which may have been made under duress.

President Vladimir Putin is vowing all of those responsible will suffer an -- inevitable punishment after armed gunman opened fire on the crowd.

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WHITFIELD: The death toll has now risen to more than 130, with more than 100 others injured trying to escape the carnage. Explosives set the building on fire. And authority say part of that blaze is still burning at this hour. ISIS is claiming responsibility for the attack.

But in his first video message since the massacre, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested the attackers may have ties to Ukraine.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, or those who shot and killed people were found and detained. They tried to hide and move towards Ukraine, where according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. A total of 11 people were detained.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Here with us now, former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, CNN Global Affairs analyst Kim Dozier and CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller. Great to see all of you.

Jill, you first, you heard, you know, some of the words there from President Putin statement there. We've heard other Russian officials imply without evidence that some sort of connection is made there between the terrorists and Ukraine.

Why do you believe Putin either believes it or says it?

JILL DOUGHERTY, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, whether he believes it is another question. He is saying it because their primary mission right now is to convince the Russian people that Putin is absolved of responsibility for either preventing this attack, or for the really, you have to say, botched response. So, that's their primary objective.

And you can see, they are having difficulty kind of putting the pieces of this narrative together. But essentially, it all goes back to Ukraine in their view. And President Putin coming out with that kind of indirect statement or crossing the border and a window prepared for them.

So, it's not really clear, but they want to put the finger on Ukraine, and try to go with that narrative. But I think the domestic considerations right now are really, really important.

You know, Russians have been through many terror attacks. And once again, they are the victims. And it looks like the government and Putin did not protect them.

WHITFIELD: And Kim, the Kremlin says 11 suspects have been arrested so far, including four directly responsible for the attack. Russia is interior ministry was quick to point out that all of the detained suspects are foreign citizens. And it is likely that they are also being interrogated about their alleged responsibility. What kind of messaging does it send to the Russian people?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, as Jill was saying that this is not something that Moscow could have foreseen. They are setting up this narrative that outside help was given to carry out this attack. So, that even if they do eventually, that this was an ISIS-Khorasan offshoot attack that somehow the nemesis Ukraine was implicated or at least helped out.

[13:05:10]

Now, Russia has a long-standing battle against ISIS. In Syria, it battled against ISIS on behalf of the Assad regime, which it is continued to support and prop up. And in Afghanistan, you know, Russia is an ally of the Taliban. And ISIS-K, of course, has been carrying out attacks against the Taliban and anyone allied with the Taliban.

Also, the FSB, the Russian state security services have talked about stopping various ISIS plots inside the country. So, there is a definite smoking gun here. They just don't want to talk about that. Because then, the question is, did Putin let his eye off the ball because he was conducting a war of conquest against Ukraine.

And then, John, what is the distinction if there is one between ISIS which is being you know, blamed for earlier attempted attacks versus this incident, which is being pinned on an ISIS-K.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, ISIS has been degraded to the point of struggling to still exist, but ISIS-K or ISIS-Khorasan has been the external operations planning for terrorist attacks, operation within ISIS for a number of years, and even as ISIS has been degraded to the point of nearly disappearing, ISIS- Khorasan operating in the shadowy regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with affiliates elsewhere in South Asia, has continued to launch attacks in the name of ISIS.

2022, a suicide bombing against the Russian embassy in Afghanistan. Of course, during the U.S. withdrawal, ISIS-K was tagged with responsibility for the devastating suicide bomb attacks that killed so many who were trying to flee as well as U.S. Marines and soldiers.

And as Jill points out, as Kim points out, ISIS-K, the propaganda, the history has been against Russia, against Afghanistan, against their growing allegiance. So, it's a narrative that makes sense. At the same time, Putin has to rewrite that narrative carefully. One that accepts the rest of the intelligence communities of the world may attribute this to ISIS and ISIS-K. But he needs to, to make this more than just a security failure, but try to recast it as Russia's October 7th. At least cast that there are some Ukraine fingerprints on it, and we're seeing those wheels spin today.

WHITFIELD: And then, Jill, this attack comes just a week after the Russian presidential election. So, how will Vladimir Putin, I guess, try to distance this attack from his new leadership as he's now in his fifth term?

DOUGHERTY: I think there is an interesting pivot he has to do. He has to say, I'm not responsible, but this is a war.

So, and you saw that in his comments, right after -- well, actually, this morning, I believe, when he was urging Russians, you know, we are all united, this will never happen again. It's interesting to note, I think, Fred, that you have his spokesperson, now using the word war, to describe the war in Ukraine. Before it was a special military operation. But now it is war.

And then, you also have the defense minister talking about creating three more armies. And that means you need more men. And that could mean a full mobilization of the -- of the fighting force. That's something that Kremlin really wanted it needed to do. But didn't want to do because of the possible response by the Russian public. It could be that they are now moving toward that.

WHITFIELD: And then, Kim, do you see that President Putin is going to use this attack as further impetus to change the strategy in Ukraine?

DOZIER: Well, he certainly seems to be laying the groundwork for blaming Kyiv in some manner, shape, or form. And that will feed into his long-standing plan that he keeps moving forward with. He's put Russia on a war footing, he secured military supplies to get to his troops, and now, he just needs to shore up the Russian public's drive and desire to continue this war. Whatever happened actually at the theatre, he's going to make this part of that.

WHITFIELD: And then, John, now that we've seen this attack in Russia, you know, what kind of notice says this put other nations on, even after Western nations including the U.S. issued warnings to Putin that something like this would happen.

[13:10:05]

But now that this has actually happened, do you see the U.S. and other and nations putting themselves on high alert?

MILLER: Well, it certainly underscores that ISIS-Khorasan still has external operations that go beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the ability to reach into and recruit in other countries, if in fact, the attribution to them holds. And it's still, as my colleagues pointed out today, out of crisis comes opportunity.

And we can certainly see that Vladimir Putin is trying to figure out how to best use this, whether it's going to be in his countermeasures in Russia, or his war efforts in Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there. Thank you so much to all of you. John Miller, Kim Dozier, Jill Dougherty.

And just moments ago, President Biden signed that government funding bill that the U.S. Senate passed in the wee hours of this morning avoiding a potentially catastrophic U.S. government shutdown. The $1.2 trillion package funds nearly three quarters of a government for the next six months.

CNN's Annie Grayer, joining us now with the latest on the last-minute details on the bill.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Fred, there is a sigh of relief on Capitol Hill because lawmakers finally have averted a government shutdown.

The Senate was working late into the night to pass this bill. And they finally did it at 2:00 a.m. It now heads to the president's desk where he's expected to sign it. So, we're not expecting to see any lapse in federal funding.

This bill funded the remaining government agencies. So, that includes the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Services, among others.

So, now, that the government is funded through this fiscal year, we can just take a step back and realize how chaotic and tumultuous this was. We always knew it was going to be challenging to fund the government in a divided Congress. But this really was next level.

Republicans have such a small majority in the House and Democrats control the Senate. And what made this really challenging was Republicans tried to put a number of partisan policies into these appropriations bills, which set up a stalemate and long painstaking negotiations with the Senate.

So, we saw lawmakers passing this short-term extension, usually, right up until the 11th hour, until we got to this point.

I mean, think about it. Kevin McCarthy essentially lost his job for his handling of this back in October, when Republicans ousted him as Speaker.

House Speaker Mike Johnson now is facing a threat from Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene over his handling of the appropriations process. We'll have to see how that plays out.

But now that lawmakers have funded the government through the end of this fiscal year, they have time to reflect before they have to do it all again soon, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Annie Grayer. Thank you so much. Again, the president has now assigned of that measure.

Let's bring in CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak, in Washington. Kevin, what are you hearing from the White House?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, the president signature really kind of punctuating what was a tortured saga over the last several months to try and get the government funded.

President Biden in his statement just now saying that this measure keeps the government open. He says it invests in the American people. And he says that it strengthens the economy, and the American national security. And you really do see in this measure both sides pointing to things that they say that they got out of it and the president saying in that statement, saying that it represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything that it wanted.

And you see Republicans pointing to some of the measures on border security, including 2,000 new border patrol agents, and 8,000 more detention beds for migrants as examples of ways that this funding bill strengthens the southern border that's obviously a key priority for them.

And you also see Democrats talking about what they got out of this bill, including a billion dollars for federal childcare and education like Head Start; things like $120 million for cancer research. There is also money in there for Alzheimer's research.

And what this bill also does is cut aid to the U.N. agency that provides funding to the Palestinians. And, of course, the Biden administration had cut that aid, after allegations that some members of that agency were aiding Hamas.

And so, the president really glad that this very tortured process is over. But in this statement, he's also pointing to the next funding battle on Capitol Hill, which is this battle for more aid to Ukraine.

And then, of course, the Congress has stalled on passing the $60 billion that President Biden has requested. You hear ever more urgent calls from the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who says -- said over the last several weeks that Ukraine could lose this war if American funding doesn't continue.

[13:15:01]

New here, President Biden, in the statement, saying he wants to be clear Congress's work is unfinished. He says it's time to get this done. But Fredricka, the House is now out for two more weeks for their Easter recess. And it's still very unclear how that Ukraine funding will be pass. But certainly, a top priority for President Biden after this funding deal is secured.

WHITFIELD: Right. Stil, lots in the air. All right. Kevin Liptak, thanks so much.

All right. Still to come, we'll take you live to Buckingham Palace, with more on the Princess of Wales announcement that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is in the early stages of treatment. Stay with us.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Messages of encouragement and support are coming in for the Prince of Wales after she shared the shocking news of her cancer diagnosis.

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KATE MIDDLETON, PRINCESS OF WALES: In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London. And at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, test after the operation, found cancer had been present. My medical team, therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy. And I'm now in the early stages of that treatment.

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WHITFIELD: And headlines on the royal family now shifting from bizarre conspiracy theories over Kate's absence to messages of reassurance and support.

She was expected to return to official duties after Easter, but will now wait until she has been cleared by her medical team.

CNN anchor and royal correspondent Max Foster, joining me now from outside Buckingham Palace. Max, can you tell us you know how bold of a move this was on Kate's part, to go in front of the camera about her deeply personal issue.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: I think it was a huge move. Obviously, it's deeply personal, it would be difficult for anyone, wouldn't it going out to the world, knowing this video is going to be played out live.

Well, you know, it was recorded, but it was released at one point then it went out across the whole world. So, I think that will be difficult for anyone. But, you know, having worked with her for some time, I know how nervous she gets in front of a camera. And just getting in front of crowds of engagements was a very long process for her.

And speak in front of a camera extremely difficult, indeed. So, it was very bold. I think what's interesting, you know, it hasn't been 24 hours since that was released. But the change in tone here in the U.K. and across the media has been quite extraordinary. If we look at some of the front pages of the newspapers, they are all fully united behind the princess, and indeed the monarchy, saying now is the time to start respecting her privacy.

You know, there have been so many conspiracy theories, so much gossip around this, so much rumor, and you know, genuine concern about how she was whilst we didn't see her, but she's fully explained why she was out of the public eye? What happened?

And people are really sympathetic to that. They've been laying flowers in Windsor. We don't know if they're in Windsor at the moment. They were yesterday. We're not being told at this point where their family is at all. But this is the view of some of the people that we met in Windsor.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. I think there's a lot of conspiracies and rumors and whatnot, which is horrible. I think now it's come out sort of being forced to say it, which maybe she shouldn't have had to be. But yes, it really sad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had this experience with my own father. So, I know how it feels. I wish her best of luck and hope she recovers well soon. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, they are going to do something so private and hard, and they -- you know, the public eye on it, It was really tough, to be honest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, she's got young kids, right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she's a human being. So, I thought it was quite upsetting. Hopefully, now they can sort of get a bit of privacy she feels.

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FOSTER: So, after the shock of the announcement, Fredricka, I think that, that is now that you know, the abiding views certainly what I've been hearing at Buckingham Palace in London as well.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I mean, I think people of all corners have expressed their surprise. But then, you know, they really admire her candor, you know, and her composure and how she is exhibiting in a new way, you know the inspiration that she is.

All right. Max Foster, thank you so much outside Buckingham Palace. All right, when we come right back. More on our top story, the death toll rising from that attack at a popular concert venue near Moscow. We have the very latest.

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WHITFIELD: All right. We'll continue to follow breaking news out of Moscow where a deadly attack at a concert venue has killed at least 133 people. ISIS is claiming responsibility. World leaders, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken are condemning the attack. CNN Senior International correspondent Fred Pleitgen is monitoring developments from Berlin. Fred, we've learned Russia has detained 11 suspects for ties to the attack, including four that Russia says are directly responsible. What more do we know?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Fredricka.

One of the things that the Russians are not saying so far is what the U.S. has been saying, and that is the U.S. believes that they are part of ISIS. Of course, there is a claim from ISIS, a claim of responsibility that the U.S. has and has no reason to doubt.

But the Russians at this point are not saying that these attackers were from ISIS. But you're absolutely correct. The Russians are saying that they have detained 11 individuals among them four whom they say were the actual shooters who went inside the Crocus City Hall, outside of Moscow, and a place called Krasnogorsk, and then, started shooting people at point blank. They said the seven other people were possibly people who helped the attackers. Now, key is something that we've heard from the Russians just in the past couple of minutes is they say none of the people that they have detained are actually Russian citizens.

In fact, Russian state media just had on and aired what it purports to be some sort of confession from one of the possible attackers where he used to get claims that he did all of this for money and that he didn't know who the contact people actually were, who told him to go inside that mall and shoot the place up.

[13:30:02]

It's impossible to independently verify all that and whether or not this was all made under duress by this person. But that's who the Russians say they have in custody right now.

And what's also key about all this is that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has come out and seems to be trying to establish some sort of link to Ukraine.

He said the attackers, after conducting the attack, tried to make their way to Ukraine in a getaway car and were stopped in the Bryansk Region.

He also spoke about a window allegedly being open to Ukraine, which obviously indicates that the Russians believe that Ukrainian state authorities might be involved all in all this.

The Ukrainians, for their part, absolutely deny it and say they have no involvement whatsoever -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much.

Coming up, the attorney general in New York taking steps to possibly seize Donald Trump's assets if he can't find the money to post bond in his civil fraud case in New York.

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WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Former President Donald Trump is now just two days away from the deadline to post nearly a half a billion-dollar bond in his New York civil fraud trial -- well, case rather.

This week, Trump claimed that he has nearly $500 million in cash to cover the sum, but his lawyer has since clarified that, saying he doesn't actually have that much money on hand.

Trump's lawyers argue it's nearly impossible to get the amount needed for bond. And New Yorks Attorney General Letitia James is now taking steps to possibly seize Trump's assets and properties if he can't pay up.

The cash crunch uncertainty is now raising questions about the future of his business empire and how it might impact his campaign for president.

Joining us right now to discuss this is David Swerdlick. He is a senior staff editor for "The New York Times Opinion."

Great to see you.

So this is interesting, David, because the president, especially on the campaign trail, likes to declare that he's a victim.

If the attorney general is successful in seizing property, whether it be his bank asset or his properties in real estate, will be able to kind of turn this around in his favor to say, see, here I am a victim again.

DAVID SWERDLICK, SENIOR STAFF EDITOR, "THE NEW YORK TIMES OPINION": Great to see you too, Fred.

Look, President Trump is a wealthy man, but he's not an Elon Musk or a Jeff Bezos or a Robert Smith. he's working in millions, not billions.

So over the course of the last few days, he's tried to do something that's very difficult, which is to cry rich and cry poor at the same time.

He and his attorneys haven't been able to secure a bond for this almost half billion-dollar judgment. And at the same time, he wants to portray himself as someone who has the money.

So he went on Truth Social yesterday saying he had almost $500 million and that this is a political witch hunt. So that basically the judgment is all about draining his coffers so that he can't run for president. It's a real pile up of contradictions.

So what the president is doing here is trying to beat the clock, find a way to get a bond or get to this appeal on this case. Because like his criminal trials, Fred, he's trying to race to Election Day.

Because if he gets to Election Day, you can make all of this -- and win, key point, all of this go away. If he loses, he probably can't make any of it.

WHITFIELD: It's all a big mind game though, right? I mean, because if Trump doesn't get the money, the half-billion dollars by Monday and these seizures do start taking place, it's also a -- a real stab at his reputation, his reputation that he is so uber wealthy that he can afford it.

I mean, he said on his truth central -- Truth Social, rather, that he's got $500 million in cash only for his attorneys to try and clarify that.

So the bottom line is, he's being made out to be a liar. So how does that hurt his brand? How does that hurt him on the campaign trail?

SWERDLICK: Well, this definitely hurts his brand, right? He came out in 2016 when he won portraying himself as this guy who's sitting on piles of money like Scrooge McDuck, right? And it turns out, yes, he's rich, but he's not that rich.

And so it's a blow to his ego. it's a below to his political persona as a guy who can just spin gold out of nothing.

On the other hand, Fred, I don't think we're going to see seizures next week if he can't come up with a bond. I think that the New York attorney general's office has played this pretty well so far, and they're going to continue to be patient and see this out.

The other thing that's going on in the background is that Trump media, which owns Truth Social, is about to merge with Digital World Acquisition, which is a fund that's going to merge with Trump media and then go public.

Trump stands to make potentially, at least on paper, billions of dollars. The question is, will this money accrue to him before he winds up having to start losing assets as a result of seizures from the civil fraud case.

WHITFIELD: Right. I mean, that is all astounding.

[13:39:59]

However, I read that it might be six months before he would actually have his hands, potentially --

SWERDLICK: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- on any of that liquid that would come from that kind of acquisition.

Meantime, when, reportedly, Trump is in panic mode, what do you envision that to be? I mean, is he on the phone reaching out to all the wealthy people that he can think of asking them to give some money?

I mean, is he looking at his fundraising, trying to figure out, how can he divert some of the fundraising money that has gone toward paying for his lawyers to perhaps now pay for this kind of penalty?

What do you envision is happening this weekend?

SWERDLICK: Yes, for the former president, this is a financials scramble, right? he's got this hard bond issue to deal with, this judgment against him. He needs to put up a bond or get a bond before he can appeal.

He doesn't want to lose his real estate assets. He doesn't want to write a check. And so this is a problem.

But you've got to understand, right, that there are a lot of people who have this money, who've loaned him money before in the past. And now they're looking at it and they're saying, well, do we really want to get involved with real estate assets in New York?

We can't just move Trump Park or Trump Tower like you can move a three-bedroom house in the suburbs, right? So that's number one.

On the political side, Fred, I don't think this is that big of a problem for former President Trump. He's up in the polls in a lot of swing states, President Biden is down in approval ratings, somewhere above or below the 40 percent mark.

And this is basically a pick them in terms of who's going to win in November. I think President Trump likes where he is politically. The question is, can he weather this storm in this New York case.

WHITFIELD: Right. And you heard the A.G., who says not paying his bills is what got into this predicament in the first place. And now not paying this penalty is not going to help him at all.

All right, David Swerdlick, thanks so much.

SWERDLICK: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up next, the new funding bill that averts a U.S. government shutdown, includes more than $400 million for additional Border Patrol agents, but does not add funding for the border wall. To the border state of Arizona, next.

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WHITFIELD: All right. The Mega Millions jackpot has climbed to more than $1 billion after there was no grand prize winner in last night's drawing. The last time it hit a billion, that was back in August, topping $1.6 billion. It was the largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won.

Joining me right now is CNN correspondent, Polo Sandoval.

I mean, yea, it keeps happening. But, wow, why does this keep happening?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's going to keep getting -- getting higher and higher, especially if there are no winners here, Fred.

And look, these jackpots exceeding $1, they used to be rare, but not anymore. In fact, a financial Web site, NerdWallet, took a hard look at the numbers and their analysis finding that eight of the 10 largest jackpots in the last 10 years, those have actually been hit in just the last three years alone.

In fact, in 2024, about a half of those, some four jackpots, were hit. So that really is quite telling in terms of the numbers here.

But then to answer that earlier question, Fred, of why. There are multiple factors in all of this. And we've taken all the numbers of what we've seen in the last 10 years there.

One of them is both major lotteries, Mega Millions and Powerball, they basically tweaked the rules last in the last decade, making it even harder to win. So every time that there's no winner, that amount rolls over, gets even larger. And because of that, those jackpots continue to rise.

Also rising interest rates may have something to do with it. They actually affect the advertised jackpot, which are actually based on annuities.

So a reminder that any winners, they have -- they have the option of either taking the lump sum, in this case, which is $1.1 billion right now, you get about half of that, or the payments over several years.

And then, finally, more people are playing. NerdWallet finding that when a jackpot exceeds $1 billion, people who usually don't like to play the lotto will basically throw their hat in the ring and will buy themselves at least one ticket.

So more people playing, more money going into this jackpot. And that is one of your answers here.

But ultimately, Fred, let's -- let's be real. Regardless of who's playing, the chances are extraordinarily slim that you would actually come out the winner, one and over 300 million --

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

SANDOVAL: -- to win that jackpot on Tuesday.

For me, though, the chances of winning at least two bucks --

WHITFIELD: I know.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: It's fun to dream. It's a $2 investment. I mean, don't go crazy and buy too many because, I mean, like I said, the chances.

But hey, for $2, it's kind of fun.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Fun to dream a bit.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right, I'm with you. I think I have to go get a ticket today.

SANDOVAL: Let's do it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. She was a top-secret CIA operative until the U.S. government blew her cover. But why? Valerie Plane tells Jake Tapper her theory on "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL" on Sunday night, 9:00, right here on CNN.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Were you concerned at all that the revealing of your name could put lives at risk? Is that possible?

VALERIE PLANE, FORMER SECRET CIA OPERATIVE: Yes, it is possible.

TAPPER: Really?

PLANE: Absolutely. There's a reason that ops officers work undercover, which is so that you can move around the world, you can recruit, you can handle the assets without endangering them or their families.

[13:50:09]

The fact that a journalist knew my true CIA affiliation or somehow was put onto it, whether it was confirmed or not, was deeply unsettling to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL" airs tomorrow at 9:00, right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

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[13:55:11]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. President Biden just signed the $1.2 trillion government funding bill into law, giving $19 billion of funding for border protection. Included in that is $495 million for additional Border Patrol agents.

Let's talk more about the situation at the border. Joining us now is Diego Pina Lopez. He is the executive director of Casa Alitas, a migrant respite center in Tucson, Arizona.

Diego, good to see you.

DIEGO PINA LOPEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CASA ALITAS: Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. So when you hear that this bill has been signed and of which some $495 million for additional Border Patrol agents, there's that allocation, what does that mean for you and your organization?

PINA LOPEZ: As any bill that goes through Congress and through, I feel like, Schoolhouse Rock with its bill, right, we're looking at essentially that funding going to Border Patrol, as well as shelters like ours, who are supporting asylum seekers who are released in our communities. So to me, it means an opportunity to prevent street releases in communities like Tucson who has never seen releases of children and families in our city streets, as well other communities like Nogales and Douglas and other border areas.

WHITFIELD: So -- so what kind of federal assistance does your organization receive?

PINA LOPEZ: The federal assistance that we've been receiving since 2019 under the Trump administration has been going to make sure that were able to shelter the asylum seekers as they're released, providing the medical services at intake, travel planning, and help them to be able to move forward to their family members across the United States.

Usually, people stay about six hours to 72 hours, but some folks, like all of us, needing additional support, might stay a little longer.

WHITFIELD: Are you able to keep up with the demand?

PINA LOPEZ: Tucson, we've been really fortunate since I've been here or since Casa Alitas since 2014 to not have street releases. And we've seen ebbs and flows.

For the last seven to eight months, we've been the busiest area on the border. And we've been able to adapt to be able to shelter anywhere from 600 people a day to upwards to 1,800 people a day.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

PINA LOPEZ: But it's always in relation to -- yes.

Meanwhile --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: I mean, those numbers are pretty significant. How are you able to meet everyone's needs, whether it be, as you just expressed, shelter, food, medical care?

PINA LOPEZ: That has been a lot of adapting with our -- fortunately, our county, city and state partners to be able to facilitate the support for the families and not having our communities deal with the ramifications of people needing those services released in our Tucson streets, our community streets.

But with the funding that we've gotten in the past, we've been able to adjust, to adapt. But right now, we're facing a short haul as we're looking at running out like funding on April 1st.

WHITFIELD: And what will happen if you don't receive any more funding?

PINA LOPEZ: That will essentially go to our donations purely from our community partners and national NGOs and INGOs.

So right now, I'm looking at and I'm standing in our welcome center, which will be the only space we will operate out of, where our capacity is about 140 people.

So were looking at children under the age of three and their parents being street released in Tucson, not being able to provide the medical care for folks, not being able to connect people to their sponsors, and having them facing the opportunity or the situation that people might be trafficked or extortion occurring.

WHITFIELD: Are you preparing yourself for not receiving any more federal funding after April 1st?

PINA LOPEZ: Yes. I actually spent the last two hours with our amazing volunteer team who has been with me when we were all purely on a volunteer base since 2020.

And it's walking through the space, making sure we can meet the capacity and see how we can improve the plan. You know, plan for the worst, hope for the best.

Though we are very much limited on servicing those 140, which is just tearing my heart apart thinking about kids under the age of three being released on the streets and being taken advantage of, them and their parents.

WHITFIELD: And then help people understand. Why would you not be receiving additional funding after April 1st? Is it all predicated on this stopgap measure?

PINA LOPEZ: Its definitely predicated on the stopgap. But as we received the funding, the last tranche of funding last year, we projected to have about $8 million and we were seeing on average 750 people per day, was our plan.

But as I said, we became one of the busiest areas of the border as others have decreased so we went through the funding much faster than that.

And we started seeing also street releases in rural communities like Nogales, an hour south of us next to the border, and Douglas, an hour- and-a-half east of us. So having those releases, that adds additional cost of transportation.

[13:59:51]

So I'm hoping that there's a little bit more fluidity on the funding that we get in this next tranche so we're able to further adapt, as we've done, an amazing job as a community to support families.

WHITFIELD: All right. Diego Pina Lopez, executive director of Casa Alitas -- they are in Tucson, Arizona -- thanks so much.

LOPEZ: Thank you.