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Interview With Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX); Putin Express Condolences After "Barbaric" Act; Biden Signs $1.2T Government Funding Bill Into Law; Trump Racing To Secure $464M Bond Before Monday Deadline; Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Reveals Cancer Diagnosis; Director Of Haitian Peacebuilding Group Speaks Amid Escalating Crisis; March Madness Brackets Busted After Burst Of Upsets In First Round; MLB & IRS Investigating Allegations Around Baseball Superstar Shohei Ohtani & His Interpreter. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 23, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[16:59:48]

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): And then even if you were able to listen to other testimony that was given by Bobulinski, he was talking about reading the transcripts of other witnesses. That is not being a fact witness, but I can tell you that (INAUDIBLE) is what we would call a fact witness and you notice that the Democrats brought him.

Another point that I tried to make is that, hey, (INAUDIBLE) worked for Rudy Giuliani. We have tried to subpoena Rudy Giuliani, who should have pertinent information and the Republican majority has shut that down every step of the way, telling you that they don't want the truth out there. All they want is a spectacle and a show.

And I think my colleague Congressman Moscowitz, made that very clear where he basically dared Chairman Comer or to go ahead and call for the impeachment vote and Chairman Comer would not.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Yes. It never even got out of the water quoted to Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Thank you so much for being with us.

CROCKETT: Absolutely.

JIMENEZ: Hi everybody. More news, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.

Tonight, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending his condolences and calling a deadly attack on a popular concert hall in Moscow, a barbaric act of terrorism.

You see that video. Concert goers running for their lives as attackers go on a shooting rampage inside the popular music hall and shopping center Friday night. Now officials say more than 130 people are dead and dozens others injured. ISIS is claiming responsibility for the massacre.

CNN's Matthew Chance is live in St. Petersburg before heading to Moscow with the latest. Now Matthew, what more are you learning? And what more are you seeing on the ground there?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, in terms of what I'm seeing on the ground, I haven't got to the place. I have only just entered Russia, but I'm coming back to a country after being away for a few days, that is absolutely shocked and horrified at the appalling scenes that we've all been seeing unfolding at that shopping center and concert venue just outside the Russian capital where, you know, so many people have, have lost their lives.

All day, people have been laying flowers at that -- at a memorial that's sprung up outside the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of the Russian capital. And you know, there's a sense that, you know, people have been dealing with the Ukraine war and the casualties from that.

But, you know, the problem of terrorism, which has been a longstanding on in Russia has sort of drifted to the back burner. People haven't seen an attack like this in the Russian capital or elsewhere in the country fought for years and years. And they thought it had disappeared and now it has come back with a vengeance.

In terms of, you know, the latest on the investigation, well you know, the Russian authorities say they've captured 11 people, detained 11 people in connection with this attack, including the four suspected gunmen who carried out those killings with automatic weapons, dressed in military fatigues as horrific video that was shocked by bystanders as they, as they did that.

Some of the video on Russian state television is quite grisly. It's shown those suspects being manhandled by Russian investigators. At one of them is shown to be confessing to carrying out the attacks for money is why he said he was motivated to do it.

But as you mentioned, it's ISIS, the sort of global jihadi group that says that it organized this and carried it out. It has said that this is part of its sort of normal war as it calls it, against countries who are against Islam.

Russia has, of course been, you know, involved in the fight against ISIS in several locations, but particularly in Syria, where it backs the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has been on television nationally here, vowing revenge, but also linking the attacks -- and this is interesting -- linking it not just to ISIS, but to Ukraine as well, saying the attackers, the suspects, were arrested as they made their way towards Ukraine, where he said they believed they were trying to escape.

And so, you know, that's something that's very interesting. Throughout something, of course, Ukrainian officials have categorically denied. One senior official telling me tonight that the linkage with Ukraine is trying to be made by the Kremlin potentially to justify more attacks against Ukrainian towns and cities in the future, Omar.

[17:04:46] JIMENEZ: Yes. Matthew Chance in St. Petersburg, Russia. Thank you so much.

All right. I want to bring in our panel of experts on this. Joining me now is CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller, and CNN national security analyst and former deputy director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanders.

So John, what are your -- if you're investigating this, here what are you looking for? And could it mean tighter security in other countries, particularly around large events like these?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, it could and maybe it should. I mean we had the warning that went out from the U.S. embassy on March 7. Two people in Moscow and its outskirts saying there is an imminent attack, avoid places -- and this was a message to Americans -- but it was a public message.

Avoid places, large crowds, concert venues and not much seemed to happen in terms of security. So first thing is heed the intelligence.

Second thing is what they're doing, which is they have a number of suspects, those allegedly, directly involved who were on the ground as the shooters, but also people who are supposed to have been part of a support network. They are dumping their phones, looking for computers, any communications with others.

Putin has vowed to track them down around the world as long as it takes to make them pay. But there's also as Matthew told us, you know, some spin going on here to associate this not with ISIS where the tactics, techniques, and procedures fit perfectly, but with Ukraine because that's going to be important in the propaganda piece.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Now, Beth look the international community, including the U.S., is condemning this act of terrorism and as John mentioned, the U.S. says it did warn Russia of a potential attack, but obviously there's a dynamic even within that messaging system.

And I'm curious from your perspective, do you think Russia may have ignored the warnings because of the tense relationship between the two countries? Or at the very least, do you think they were skeptical of the information?

BETH SANDERS, CNN NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I think, you know, I kind of look at how Putin reacted to this. So just three days before this attack, he came out publicly at a board meeting of the FSB, which is their internal intelligence service. And he totally dismissed our warnings and said it was designed to destabilize the Russian public.

Whenever you hear Putin say things like that, it's because that's what he would do. And so he's kind of mirror imaging with us, right. He's kind of saying like, well you know, the United States can't be serious about this because why would they help us, right.

And it's -- you know, because he can't possibly see the world in any way other than the way he sees it which is really pathetic because here you have lots of Russian, innocent Russians and we have to feel that about these innocent Russians no matter how we feel about Russian in the world war, I think that these kind of condolences really should be heartfelt.

JIMENEZ: Yes and of course, no doubt here. And look, there is what happened to innocent Russians. And there's the spin that comes out of the information that we're learning from these investigations.

And for one, Russian state media says that Kremlin thwarted at least four other attacks planned by ISIS earlier for this month. And John, I think when some people see ISIS, you know, they may think of the days back in 2014 when they were among their most prominent as opposed to being able to carry out something of this scale as we understand right now in 2024.

So just explain for our viewers what is ISIS-K and why is ISIS in Russia?

MILLER: So ISIS-k is part of the larger ISIS machinery, but it is a group that was actually cobbled together by taking members who had left Tariqi (ph) Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, frustrated with different terrorist groups. ISIS traveled from Syria and Iraq gathered them all up and said, lets form ISIS here. ISIS Khorasan or ISIS-K. So essentially, they got hardened, trained terrorists, planners, soldiers and the current leader, Shahab al-Muhajir. This is his, his sweet spot.

His record with ISIS-K before he became the leader, wants to be an attack planner for urban attacks in Kabul. He is believed to be the attack designer behind the attack on the maternity ward, particularly brutal, doesn't need any more explaining. The attack on Karzai airport when refugees were trying to flee during the American withdrawal, that killed soldiers and sailors and marines. And the suicide bombing attack and this is key against the Russian embassy in Kabul.

[17:09:46]

MILLER: So the idea that we are seeing an attempt to kind of throw shade on, well, Ukraine might have played -- planned this or carried this out in Russian propaganda. The tactics which is small arms and the use of fire and arson and incendiaries fits the history of al- Qaeda offshoot groups like ISIS whether it was the Nairobi mall, the moon attack in India or a number of others.

So if it looks like ISIS, if ISIS is claiming it and it sounds like ISIS, I think the real look is to say who did the suspects turn out to be. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, you know, some of the prime recruiting places that ISIS-K has been focusing on will come up here.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. And look on the response itself, Beth, it took Putin 19 hours to respond to the attack.

Does that say anything to you about the nature of the response here? And maybe what the Kremlin may or may not have been considering during that time period. SANDERS: Yes, it kind of reminds us of how long it took for Putin to

respond to the Prigozhin mutiny. And I think that because, you know, it's pretty hard to deny that these folks were Islamist and connected to ISIS K because of these Tajik (ph) passports.

Putin has tried to shift the blame. And if you look at the FSB, you know, this internal intelligence service that is supposed to be focused on terrorism, there are more terrorism cases in Russia today than there ever were. But almost none of them are about Islamists.

They're all about Ukraine and that is because priorities flow down from the top. And Putin, you know, when he spoke in front of that FSB board the other day and he said, this is a joke about Islamist threats. It's all about Ukraine.

And so the FSB has dropped the ball here and they're focused on Ukraine and internal dissent.

The United States, you know, we still pay attention to ISIS-K.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes, look, a lot of dynamics here at play to keep an eye on amid this horrific attack that has already killed over 100 people.

John Miller, Beth Sanders -- thank you so much for taking the time.

MILLER: Thanks, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Shifting gears here to the us Congress has done it again. Managed to agree on a funding bill to avoid another government shutdown. President Biden just signed the $1.2 trillion funding bill into law this afternoon, calling it, quote, good news for the American people.

CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us live with more details. All right. So Kevin, this ends are pretty long drawn-up process on Capitol Hill. There were fears of a shutdown. They said it might not last long. That's pretty much what we saw happen here. What happens next?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, this does take the threat of a shutdown off the table until September, and it does punctuate what had been a tortured saga over the last several months to try and get some government funding passed.

And what you hear the president saying today is that yes, this was a compromise measure, not everyone got everything that they wanted.

And you do see both sides starting to tick through what they say were their most big accomplishments. For the Republicans, it was 2,000 new border patrol agents; 8,000 more detention beds for migrants. Of course, they are very eager to show themselves. It's tough on the border and trying to secure the southern border in the United States.

The Democrats saying they got $1 billion for federal childcare and education, including HeadStart. $120 million for cancer research.

But what you do see the president saying in a statement today is that the work isn't done and he is setting up the next big funding fight on Capitol Hill, which will be over more funding for Ukraine.

And you'll remember Omara, President Biden has asked for $60 billion in a supplemental request. Congress has stalled on that. They have just gone out for a two-week break for Easter, so we don't expect it to happen before then.

But you are hearing more and more urgent calls from the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who says there is a real risk of Ukraine losing this war if the American support dries up. President Biden saying in a statement that its time to get this done, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And we will see how this plays out when the next inevitable if funding fight comes, hopefully months from now. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.

Still ahead, for us. There are just two days left for former President Donald Trump to pay the half-a-billion bond in his civil fraud case in New York and the state's top prosecutor is already taking steps to seize his assets if that's the only way to cover it.

It comes as new CNN polling shows a close race in two critical band underground states. We're going to break down the new warning signs for the Biden campaign with our political experts.

And an outpouring of support for the Princess of Wales following her announcement that she's battling cancer, how Kate is now reclaiming her story after weeks of rumor and speculation.

You're on the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:14:54]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Former president Donald Trump has two days until he has to post a bond of nearly half a billion dollars, with a B, to cover the massive judgment against him in the New York civil fraud case.

[17:19:47]

JIMENEZ: This week Trump claimed he has the money to cover the sum, but his lawyer later clarified that he doesn't have that kind of cash on hand.

And that's where we begin with CNN senior political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro; along with Democratic strategist Michael LaRosa.

Now look, Trump was posting into the wee hours last night, we'll call it that, on Truth social about this bond. He's asking for donors to help him cover it but Ana, take it a step further, it's been suggested Trump might try to borrow from a foreign source. We've seen no evidence that the ask has actually happened. But if he did, what would the political implications of that choice be?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that with his base there wouldn't be that many political implications. Its inexplicable to me, but Trump has been asking for his supporters to donate to his legal fees for months and months now, and I think none of it makes any difference to his base.

They can see -- they can probably see Putin giving him the money in his hand and it still make a difference. Trump's base is with him no matter what.

But I do think that with Independent voters and with some voters are more iffy it would it would have an impact and it would also, it could also very well run afoul of campaign laws.

I don't know how that would not be seen as a campaign contribution at this point when he is the presumptive Republican nominee. And foreign government, or foreigners contributing to a us campaign is illegal.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Well, now of course, you bring up the key dynamic here is that look, we saw Donald Trump's sweep through the primaries as he was largely expected to do and a lot of that came down to hardcore Republican voters. A lot of his base who largely were not swayed by all the legal trouble we've seen.

But Michael, we are now in a general election cycle right now. And the Biden campaign is way ahead when it comes to fundraising. Is that going to make a difference here? And how much do you think that is going to light a fire or potentially get under Trump skin?

MICHAEL LAROSA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, Ana's right. It's not going to make much of a difference in terms of -- look, the money is going to be there for Donald Trump in the end. You know, when it comes to politics and campaigns, it's team red versus team blue and politics as a team sport.

So I'm sure Ana knows that all of the team red jerseys are coming down to Palm Beach in early April. 30 of them -- 30 of the Republicans' wealthiest donors will be there and, you know, he's going -- he has the team back together and the money will be there.

But as we saw with Hillary Clinton, money did not translate to votes or enthusiasm. And so while it's important that the Biden campaign has more money and can outspend and outraise and outspend Donald Trump they have to because they're trailing. And because Donald Trump gets a disproportionate amount of free media every day.

Every time were talking about the Trump legal drama and chaos, we're not talking about Joe Biden's accomplishments. So they need that money.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And look, it's been almost a direct part of Donald Trump's campaign strategy at this point, knowing that these are the things that are going to be -- as his legal proceedings play out it's going to be talking talked about more and more.

I want to shift to the GOP on Capitol Hill. Ana GOP Congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin just announced he is resigning it, making the slim majority in the house even slimmer at this point. You add Marjorie Taylor Greene's surprise motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson.

What is the reality of the GOP party right now and they're dynamic with their speaker.

NAVARRO: I think you'll see it play out practically every day. There is great division amongst the Republican Party right now. And I think there's a lot of discontent in Congress amongst the congress people.

Having people resign halfway through their term, just say, yes, I'm going to be around for another week. I might be around for another two weeks. It's not a very common thing, and we've now in the last month, in the last few weeks seen it happened twice with Republican congressmen Ken Buck and now Mike Gallagher.

It's going to leave them with a very slim majority. Actually, neither the two parties once both Ken Buck and Mike Gallagher leave is going to have the 218, magic number. Republicans are going to be one short.

And so if I were Seaker Mike Johnson, if I were a chair of a Republican chair of a committee right now, I wouldn't be sleeping too soundly. Because anybody having a health crisis, anybody having a legal crisis, anybody having a family crisis could very well mean that they lose the majority.

JIMENEZ: And look, some of those dynamics within the party we saw it play out with the speaker, Kevin McCarthy. And so far that dynamic has been tamped down with Speaker Johnson.

[17:24:49]

JIMENEZ: But of course, this seems to be at least the first little crack that were noticing. We will see.

I want to shift to President Biden on the campaign trail because look, he's also campaigning in key battleground states this week as new CNN polling in Pennsylvania shows a pretty big gender divide between the candidates.

Based on those polled Biden leads by eight points among women. Trump leads by ten points among men.

Michael, if you're looking at numbers like these, what do these numbers tell you, if anything, in regards to strategy in these months leading up to the election

LAROSA: Women are usually a bigger share of the vote than men. So I would have to think strategically that they are the -- that the Biden campaign is going to be running a lot of television ads and doing a lot of messaging around the Dobbs decision which we saw motivated not just women, but Independent voters during the midterm election.

And you know, that midterm election is exactly why the Republicans going back to the previous conversation are is exactly why the Republicans are in the position they're in. They should never have had this slim majority in the first place running in a year against a company with a four-year record high in plate, 40-year-record high inflation, but they have one problem and it's a disease and it's Donald Trump if they can move away from beyond Donald Trump, they can start winning elections and start using power but they're pretty much ungovernable.

But going back to the election of 2024, I think you're going to see a lot of messaging around women's issues, including IVF and women's reproductive rights and the Dobbs decision.

JIMENEZ: And we've seen glimpses of the politics already including around the IVF ruling, of course, just the initial responses from both parties sort of gave a preview of what were likely to see more of over the course of this election year

I got to leave it there -- Ana Navarro, Michael LaRosa. Thank you both so much.

NAVARRO: Thank you

JIMENEZ: Still ahead the Princess of Wales is now being treated for cancer after being out of the public eye for weeks. Why Kate's video announcing the news is changing the narrative.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:29]

JIMENEZ: Tonight, new details on a decision to reclaim her story from wild Internet rumors. Princess Catherine revealing her cancer diagnosis, trying to also hush conspiracy theories about her condition.

Joining me now, CNN royal commentator, Emily Nash. She's also the royal editor of "Hello" magazine.

Hello to you. Thank you for being here.

Now, Emily, the princess made this decision after weeks and weeks of speculation. Do we know here if there was a moment that pushed her to make this very public and very personal, potentially, very painful disclosure?

EMILY NASH, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, actually, Omar, I think we need to veer away from the whole media frenzy that led up to this statement. I'm told that that absolutely wasn't what triggered the timing of this decision.

There we're a couple of things at play here. One is the fact that people were expecting to see her Easter or in the weeks following Easter. And I think that she and her team felt it was time to make people aware that she wasn't going to be coming back as expected.

But secondly, and most importantly, I think she and William really wanted to be in a position to take their children away from school for the Easter holidays while this news is being processed by the wider world.

We know George, Charlotte and Louis are already aware of that mother's condition. They're being given some time to understand it.

And I think it was really telling that they chose to wait until they were away from the playground, away from other children, other parents, other families, before releasing this to the wider world.

We all know that kids can sometimes get things wrong and can be cruel without meaning to. I think this gives them the peace and the space they need as a family to process things.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes. And look, as you've mentioned, there's -- this does not appear to be as a direct response to any single conspiracy or any sort of frenzy that had come out prior to this.

But, you know, there is no secret that there were many conspiracies that we're ricocheting around the Internet since she underwent surgery in January.

Do you have a-- do you have a sense that this announcement quiets those conspiracies? And if there has been any response from the palace on those?

NASH: Look, I think a sane person will see and understand now why there has been an absence of information for reasons I've just given you.

But I think that they've been aware -- William and Kate have been aware throughout this process that the headlines, the social media speculation. You can imagine how incredibly tough that has been for them knowing what they knew and going through what they've been going through.

And their instincts must have been to correct the narrative, absolutely. But once again, they've put their well-being and mental health and their children above everything else. And I think that's entirely commendable.

And let's not forget that Kate has also needed some time to process this news herself and understand her treatment pathway and how things we're going to develop.

But you're absolutely right, you know, the speculation has been absolutely horrendous and very cruel. And I hope and I sense that some of the people who we're making fun at her expense are showing some remorse right now.

JIMENEZ: That is the hope. But as we know with folks on the Internet, sometimes hope is a lost cause.

[17:34:59]

That all aside, the -- the logistics of how this unfolded is also of a little bit of interest because the princess has contacted, or I understand someone from your team or herself contacted BBC studios to record this announcement, rather than a written statement or tape this using internal palace personnel. She's alone, talking right to camera.

How important was that presentation in the manner in which that presentation played out?

NASH: Look, I think it was incredibly powerful. You know, this was about her taking control of her own story and showing that this is a woman who has agency. She is a strong woman. she's naturally shy and an introverted character.

But that's leads people to underestimate her, I believe. And I think the fact that she appeared in such an intimate and personal way, looking fairly emotional, really has cut through and really connected with people.

And you know, the royal family have always said they need to be seen to be believed, so this was a perfect way to silence all the rumors, mis-speculation, and the complaints about doctoring images and all of that kind of stuff.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. When that announcement came out, it sure reverberated throughout the world very quickly.

And I do think a quieted a lot of those conspiracies, but likely not all, despite the very clear and concise nature of this announcement.

Emily Nash, thank you so much for your perspective. I really appreciate it.

NASH: Thanks.

JIMENEZ: All right. Everyone, still ahead, the race to rescue stranded Americans in Haiti as the -- as the country descends into violent chaos. We're going to tell you how many people have been evacuated so far.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM

And before we go to break, the CNN podcast, "FIVE THINGS," now has a Saturday edition called "FIVE GOOD THINGS." Start the weekend with five uplifting news stories on this week's episode.

For most people, March is for basketball. But for one library, it's all about cats for a good cause.

And a D.J. and a cancer survivor team up to cheer patients up at a children's hospital.

Listen wherever you get podcasts. And if you want to smile a little bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:55]

JIMENEZ: I want to take you now to the race to rescue stranded Americans in Haiti as the country descends into chaos. Now the State Department says it's gotten more than 200 U.S. citizens to safety, flying people home to the U.S., or airlifting them to the Dominican Republic.

Violence has been exploding in Haiti as armed gangs tried to overthrow the government in the country's capital.

So joining me now is Louis-Henri Mars. He's the executive director of Lakou Lape, a peacekeeping and peace-building organization in Haiti.

Now, great to see you.

Our CNN team on the ground has been reporting carnage on the streets, bodies in the middle of the street, and that police seem to be overwhelmed and overrun. Is that your sense of the situation in Port- au-Prince right now?

LOUIS-HENRI MARS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LAKOU LAPE: Well, it's extremely difficult, indeed. The gangs have attacked police stations and now police units in their headquarters this week.

But also there's this reaction by the population, who's trying to defend itself with the help of those units. And they've been very courageous in resisting those attacks.

In parallel, there's other youth that are helping out. We have facilitators that we've trained that are trying to support groups that they've organized for dialogue and peace-building.

And they're looking -- they need monitoring assistance, they need assistance to keep going with those who want to see a different Haiti come back. So there's hope.

(CROSSTALK)

JIMENEZ: And with that hope, I mean, how do you -- I mean, just based on the images that we've been seeing, the dynamic and the violence over particularly the past month, I mean, what is life like -- like there right now?

And how do you build towards a better future when the situation is as grim as it is right now?

MARS: It is a question of being in solidarity with the people that are suffering. We're not -- we're a peace-building organization. We've been here since 2012.

And we're not going anywhere. We're going to make this work. And what we've done is that we've built relationships all across the human spectrum, all across Haitian society, from top to bottom.

Because if you only work in one sector, you're not actually achieving a lot. Everybody has to get into a situation where they speak to each other. They get to humanize each other and build trust again.

And so whether it's with the oncoming council or with the guys that are doing the shooting, we are trying to talk to everybody and be ready, too, for when there's a stalemate somewhere to try and mediate the situation.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

MARS: And we believe that, at a certain point, it's going to be necessary for us to do that.

[17:45:03]

JIMENEZ: And look, there -- there are a lot of factors at play, including some of them economic in their nature. And you have worked in disadvantaged communities there for more than a decade.

And more importantly, you've seen how gangs target young people. And you have said children as young as 8- or 9-years-old are hanging out with -- with gang members.

And I'm curious, from your perspective, how can that cycle be broken? And what is it like for children growing up in some of these shanty towns or in Port-au-Prince?

MARS: The first situation that we need to realize is that there is a form of structural violence in the society that needs to be addressed. And it can only be addressed by the Haitians themselves.

What we're noticing here now, what we're experiencing is a human-made earthquake. It's a human-made disaster. And it's also an opportunity for Haitians to come together.

Whether here -- and thus far, we've asked here, we have an opportunity to build something new and not stay in the old patterns. The worst disaster that can happen to us is that we start again on the old patterns. This is an opportunity to break free from those patterns.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes.

MARS: The issue is fundamentally an issue of job creation, transforming the economics of the country, and that's forming the relationships that we have with one another as Haitians.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes. All, of course, crucial building blocks to again build towards that hope that you've talked about.

Louis-Henri Mars, thank you so much for taking the time. Really appreciate you being here. And please be safe.

MARS: Thank you for receiving me here.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

All right, everyone, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:37]

JIMENEZ: If you haven't noticed, March Madness is in full swing. How can anybody have a perfect bracket right now with all the upsets so far?

I just want to point out, I'm still in the 98th percentile in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Plus, there have been some close games, like my alma mater. You see them on the screen right there. Northwestern pulling up a narrow win against Florida Atlantic last night in overtime.

So I want to bring in Rachel Nichols to talk more about this, host of Showtime's "Headliners with Rachel Nichols," and also fellow at Northwestern alumni --

RACHEL NICHOLS, SHOWTIME HOST, "HEADLINERS WITH RACHEL NICHOLS": -- you keep running those Northwestern highlights through there --

JIMENEZ: I know. Just keep them going the whole time. Just throw them in the background. Yes, there we go. There we go.

Look, all these games have been so crazy. Close games, upsets. A lot of them from mid majors and small -- smaller schools. Not -- not Northwestern. They're coming from the Big 10 --

NICHOLS: Yes.

JIMENEZ: -- which is a major conference.

But why do you think we're seeing so many of these mid-majors make so much of an impact this early in the tournament?

NICHOLS: Well, look, the landscape of college basketball, men's basketball has changed so much with the "one and done" and all the changes we've seen in recent years. So you do have more opportunity for these unusual upsets to take place.

It is kind of fascinating. It happens to be happening this year, though, because the commissioner of the SEC, one of the larger conferences, where we have eight teams entering this tournament, made this big fuss before the tournament saying that a lot of these smaller schools didn't deserve to be here.

They're here, the smaller schools, in large part, because of automatic bids. When they win their own smaller conference, they get into the tournament, even if they're not a national powerhouse.

So he said the tournament was wasting these spots on these smaller schools. Well, guess what? Five of the eight schools in his conference didn't even make it past the first round.

So this is really a statement from some of the smaller schools -- as you pointed out, Northwestern, not a smaller school. And we're from the Big 10. But they, too, were an underdog.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

NICHOLS: And it's been great to see some of these programs. I mean, the Yale team that won the other night, wow -- JIMENEZ: Yes.

NICHOLS: -- that is a team that really, you know --

JIMENEZ: Against an SEC team.

NICHOLS: Exactly. Did not have an advantage going in.

One of their best players is better known for being the boyfriend of one of Caitlin Clark's teammates at Iowa than he is for playing basketball himself. it's been a party for a lot of these smaller schools.

JIMENEZ: It's been a party. And look, even for us, Northwestern, we both went there. Florida Atlantic though, last year, they we're one of those mid major teams. They made it to the final four.

And so that's part of why we came in as underdogs along with some injuries that we are dealing with.

And quickly, before we shift topics, what do you think the key is here to winning a single elimination tournament like this, where every moment could determine the end of your season?

NICHOLS: Well, a lot of it is luck. Look, right, these highlights we're seeing right now, Northwestern almost lost this game at the end of the fourth quarter.

You know, there were some long official review calls. There were some fouls that maybe shouldn't have been called. Some fouls they took, they shouldn't have taken for themselves. A player throwing the ball away.

So I think a lot of it is chance and luck. But also that belief that anything can happen. I mean, that's what's so magic for all of us viewers watching right now.

And the players, they grew up on this tournament, too. They've seen it, too. So the belief is there that these little Davids can take out the Goliaths. And that's what we're saying this year.

JIMENEZ: It's been awesome to see.

I want to shift to baseball, real quick, because the IRS is investigating and Major League Baseball says it will investigate this story about the Dodger's firing the interpreter for Japanese superstar, Shohei Ohtani.

And Ohtani's team is accusing the interpreter of massive theft over gambling debt. So what is going on here?

[17:55:02]

NICHOLS: There's some confusion. Because in an initial report where Ohtani gave a quote to a reporter, he said that he was helping the interpreter pay off the interpreter's gambling debts. Now the story has shifted. A little bit of damage control it looks

like with him saying that he actually didn't know about those payments, that the interpreter embezzled those payments.

I don't know where the truth is going to end up. There are several bodies investigating this. But I do know that this is a lot more complicated than it seems on the surface.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

NICHOLS: We all know about the Pete Rose scandal and gambling. In this case, Ohtani is not being accused of gambling on baseball. With the -- the accusation is that his interpreter gambled on some other things.

And the rules are really murky in Major League Baseball right now and some other sports. And I think this is going to take a lot longer to untangle than we think just on the surface.

JIMENEZ: Yes, conflicting stories, millions of dollars at play, at the very least, worthy of investigation.

Rachel Nichols, thank you so much. And go Cats. Great to see you.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right, everybody, we'll be right back.

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