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ISIS Claims Responsibility For Attack Near Moscow; Trump Has Two Days Left To Secure $464 Million Bond; Princess Of Wales Reveals Cancer Diagnosis; Source: Steady Progress In Hostage Talks, But Gap Remain; Police: YouTuber's Child Abuse Rooted In Religious Extremism; 20 Million-Plus Face Winter Weather Threat From Montana To Maine. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 23, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:15]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, everyone. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.

Tonight, new details into a horrific attack on a concert venue in Moscow.

Hear just the amount of shots there as concert goers running for their lives, and attackers go on a shooting rampage inside the popular musical hall and shopping center Friday night. Officials say more than 130 people are dead and dozens others injured. ISIS is claiming responsibility for the massacre. But President Putin is trying to blame Ukraine after Russian investigators claimed four of the alleged suspects were taken into custody near its border.

Ukraine has denied any connection to the attack. And tonight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, quote, "Miserable Putin is trying to blame someone else for his own problems."

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has been following the story closely and brings us the latest.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Omar. Well, the Russians certainly seemed to be conducting a pretty fast-moving investigation. They say they already have 11 people in custody. Among them, the four gunmen who stormed the Crocus City Hall events and shopping center.

Now the rescue crews and the firefighters there were working overtime after the attackers also set the events center ablaze.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The burnt-out shell of the Crocus City Hall just outside Moscow, even half a day after the attacks, parts of the rubble still smoldering. The local governor surveying the places where gunmen killed so many.

Two here and three there, Governor Andrey Vorobyov asks. Three here, they say. Hundreds of firefighters still on the scene of what Russian President

Vladimir Putin called, quote, "a bloody and barbaric attack." His security services on high alert.

PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): In all regions of the country, additional antiterrorists and antisabotage measures have been introduced. The main thing now is to prevent those who are behind this bloodbath from committing a new crime.

PLEITGEN: It was Friday evening when the attackers went on their rampage, firing at people point blank, eyewitnesses say, killing men, women, and children, then setting the concert hall ablaze. Friends and family standing by hoping for news of their loved ones. Authorities searching for the many still missing.

I don't know what to do, this man says, desperate for news of his wife. I feel completely hopeless.

Moscow's hospitals flooded with dozens of injured. Russian authorities say the death toll will likely continue to rise.

JOHN KIRBY, NSC STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR: Thank you in advance for your patience.

PLEITGEN: The U.S. said it had warned Moscow about the threat of a terror attack and ISIS has claimed responsibility. But Russian authorities seem intent on blaming someone else. After several arrests overnight, the Kremlin pointing the finger at Kyiv.

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

PLEITGEN: Ukraine denies the allegations. Kyiv saying they had nothing to do with the attack. Near the scene of the attack, many are laying flowers in memory of the victims. Vladimir Putin has declared Sunday a day of mourning, promising a Russia united in grief, and retribution and oblivion for those behind the attack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (on-camera): So obviously some pretty traumatizing events there for the people in Russia. At the same time, the Russians are saying that of course interrogations of the suspects are continuing. The Russian saying that none of the people that they've apprehended are Russian citizens -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much.

Joining me now is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force colonel Cedric Leighton.

Great to see you. Thanks for taking the time. I want to start with, are you surprised by the scale of this attack on Moscow? COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Omar, the scale is not as

surprising as the fact that it happened in Moscow, and did that I think is one of the most twisted features of this that they went not quite to the center of Moscow, but to a major area, to the northwest of the city. And that really shows how vulnerable Russia is in almost any place. And it's a message to the Russians that their security is not as good as they would like it to be, at least as Putin would like it to be.

[19:05:04]

And it also shows that ISIS is, you know, quite intent on targeting not only rushing activities, but a lot of other activities around the world. So it's, you know, they're proving to be a very dangerous organization. And that is something that not only the Russians, but the rest of the world has to take into account.

JIMENEZ: And look, at this point, you know, there is the tragedy of what happened to the now more than 100 people killed and even more so wounded at this point. But obviously, the investigative aspect to this and the information stream is one that's come under scrutiny at this point, because the Kremlin have pointed the blame towards Ukraine or at the very least implicated Ukraine as part of this.

And we're getting new -- we just heard from Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview snippet saying that from U.S. standpoint, there is no evidence that Ukraine is behind the Moscow terror attack that has left more than 100 people dead.

What do you make of her assessment there?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's very clear indication that the U.S. is in essence revealing what it has in the intelligence arena regarding this terrorist attack. And they are basically telling the Russians and everyone else that any attempt to blame Ukraine for this attack is basically false and the Russians seemed to be intent on making this almost a false flag operation. In other words, taking advantage of a crisis and then using that crisis to turn the tables for objectives of their own.

But to the U.S. is trying very hard to make that very difficult, if not impossible task for the Russians right now. So the U.S., you know, the form of what Vice President Harris just said, you know, is making pretty clear that they not only stand by their initial intelligence, which indicates that ISIS was behind this, but also that they stand with their assessment that Ukraine had nothing to do with this.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And ISIS has come out and taken responsibility, but of course, at this point, we noticed from reporting the United States issued a bulletin that they had intelligence that there is -- there were at least threats of an attack that could target large crowds like what we saw at this concert. And the Russian state media says that the Kremlin has thwarted at least four other attacks planned by ISIS earlier this month.

And I guess just explain to our viewers a little bit about what this ISIS is in Russia and why they are attacking inside Russia? Why are we seeing this dynamic?

LEIGHTON: So a lot of what we know about ISIS is really based on their interactions with armed forces in places like Syria, Afghanistan, and other parts of Central Asia. So the key thing I think as far as the Russian aspect of this is concerned, is the Russian involvement in Syria, where they are protecting the Assad regime. And of course that means that they're fighting ISIS in Syria at this point. And that means that ISIS has an excuse to go after Russia.

They have other excuses as well. They believe that the Russians are very much anti-Islamic and of course against their organization so from that standpoint ISIS sees Russia as a very viable target from a military and terrorist standpoint. So that is why ISIS is attacking Russia. They also see it basically as a vulnerable place, and that vulnerability was something that they exploited in this attack.

JIMENEZ: And look, all of this is not happening in a vacuum, comes days after the election that happened there, but also, of course, amid the Russian-Ukrainian war that's ongoing. Could this change the amount of Russian resources going into Ukraine as that war rages on?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think what will happen is that regardless of what we say in the West President Putin of Russia is going to try to turn this as a basically -- cause for further conflict in Ukraine. So he may double down on his efforts to occupy more parts of Ukraine potentially, create the climate for a major offensive in Ukraine, and he will use this as part of an excuse to do that. So we have to be prepared for the Russians to try to advance to Ukraine and use this basically as an excuse to do so.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. We will see what happens from this very horrific attack that we saw unfold over recent days now.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you for taking the time.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Omar. Anytime.

JIMENEZ: Still ahead, he literally wrote the book on making money and in two days Donald Trump has to come up with a lot of it. How the former president and his team are scrambling before Monday's deadline to pay bond in his civil fraud case.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[19:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Now we are looking at a critical deadline for former president Donald Trump. He is just two days away from having to secure nearly half a billion-dollar bond in his New York civil fraud case. This week, Trump claimed he has the money to cover the sum, but his lawyer later clarified that he doesn't actually have that much cash on hand.

That's just one of the political headlines we want to discuss with CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein. He's also senior editor at "The Atlantic."

[19:15:05]

So, Ron, Trump's Truth Social platform got the go ahead to go public, but even if that happens, it would still be months before he could see any money for it. Definitely not days. And it has also been suggested, but we've seen no evidence this actually happened that he might seek funding from a foreign source like China or Russia. What do you think of those concerns?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, well, we honestly don't know where he's looking for the money or if in fact he is soliciting foreign governments, but there are, you know, there are a lot of indications already of entanglements of his finances with foreign countries and foreign interests.

I mean, his family, Jared Kushner, a multi-billion-dollar investment from the Saudis, Trump benefiting from the Saudi investment in the creation of a competitor to the PGA. The report that showed foreign government spending about $8 million in Trump properties, particularly his hotels and particularly the government of China while he was president.

You know, Omar, any of our colleagues who are the national security alum who come on these shows would tell you that when counterintelligence experts are looking for weak links, they are always looking at people in the national security apparatus who are financially strained. And here we are looking at something we haven't seen before. A president, a potential president who is facing this kind of financial crush, even if it might be relieved down the road by this Truth Social public offering.

JIMENEZ: Yes. I mean, look, the question is we're talking about a matter of days right now and what actually will happen once that deadline passes and how quickly anything happens.

I want to shift to another big number in that President Biden signed a $1.2 trillion funding bill into law this afternoon. Again averting a shutdown, but still no aid for Israel and Ukraine. How critical is that not just for the Biden campaign moving forward, but also for the Biden administration?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, and for those countries.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: I mean, like earlier deals, this was only able to pass the House with support from Democrats. A majority of Republicans again voted no, just underscoring how difficult it has been for them to maintain any kind of governing majority with this, you know, very slim advantage they now have in the House.

What we're watching I think is historic, particularly with regards to Ukraine. If people talk about the 1952 Republican race where Dwight Eisenhower beat Robert Taft as cementing the triumph of the internationalist forces in the GOP against the isolationist forces, and in fact, over the next 60 years, every Republican president essentially embraced America's role as the leader, a robust role for American leading international alliances.

But we are I think watching the book end of that moment where a majority of House -- if Senate Republicans voted against Ukraine aid and the House won't even bring it up in part because of pressure from Donald Trump. So this is extraordinarily significant obviously for the people fighting for their independence in Ukraine, but also in terms of the long-term reconfiguration of the parties, it is a reminder again to that kind of more white-collar, center right Republican base that they are now the minority voice in this part, they're subordinate to a MAGA populist isolationists faction.

JIMENEZ: And we've seen that dynamic play out. I mean, even when the bipartisan border security bill was passed or at least brought to the table, we saw the influence from former president Donald Trump on the votes, or at least positions from some House Republicans. And that dynamic has been especially interesting to watch, even going back to when Kevin McCarthy was briefly speaker.

And now Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher abruptly announces he's going to step down in April, shrinking that GOP majority to just one vote. Marjorie Taylor Greene moving forward to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, at least bringing forward a motion, something another Republican called idiotic. What is going on here?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, Gallagher's decision to step aside, a young talented committee chair, really is indicative of what we were just talking about. It is just another measure of the fact that this is clearly, this is a party now dominated by Trump and his supporters, and those who are not fully in line with that recognize and have to recognize that they are now the subordinate faction in the party.

The Nikki Haley voters, you know, they were a substantial minority, but they are a minority of the party, and Gallagher is kind of embodying the choice that all of them face in November. Do they stick around in a party that is increasingly moving away from what at least in the Reagan era was defined as conservatism, which Mike Pence cited in refusing to endorse his old boss, Donald Trump, or do they simply walk away?

[19:20:01]

And, you know, Gallagher has chosen to walk away, it will be enormously consequential what Republican-leaning voters in his basic mold choose to do in November. He is I think just kind of an encapsulation of the larger question which is borne at the very sharp relief by the Nikki Haley campaign against Trump.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. And look, we go on with this all day. We are out of time, but for everyone watching, Ron Brownstein does have a new article in "The Atlantic" with a pretty dire headline, "Trump Would Break the Budget." Go read it, really interesting stuff, and really interesting insight as always.

Ron Brownstein, thank you so much. BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

JIMENEZ: For sure.

Still ahead and new tonight, Kensington Palace says the prince and princess of Wales are enormously touched by kind messages after Kate revealed she's undergoing treatment for cancer. What this means for the royal family moving forward?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:20]

JIMENEZ: Tonight, touched. That's part of a new statement from the prince and princess of Wales, thanking people in the U.K. and around the world for what they call kind messages in a truly testing time. This after a diagnosis sent shockwaves across the globe, Princess Catherine revealing she is undergoing treatment for cancer that was discovered after an abdominal surgery in January, and really squashing conspiracy theories that have been circling for months as she stepped away from public duties.

Sally Bedell Smith joins us now. She's a royal biographer and CNN royal commentator.

Thank you for taking the time. Now, Sally, obviously, this clearly was a very trying time behind the scenes for the royal family. There's a completely different dynamic happening in a lot of the public space. How do you think the palace handled this entire episode particularly when we're dealing with a sensitive topic like this?

SALLY BEDELL SMITH, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think they thought they were doing the right thing at the beginning. The king and William and Kate handled it differently. But in the case of William and Kate they thought that if they just said, I mean, they were trying to manage expectations, but I think a little too optimistically. They said she had had major surgery. Major is a very important word there.

And they outlined exactly what the timetable is going to be. Two weeks in the hospital and then three months. And we wouldn't see her until after Easter. And that may have seemed reasonable at the time but we now know in retrospect that it was just -- they just misjudged what the reaction would be, and I think you could make an argument that if they had at the very beginning or at least as soon as they knew the cancer diagnosis, which seem to have happened sort of toward, you know, a few weeks after the initial surgery.

We're not sure exactly when, but they got the diagnosis, and I think the reason probably, I mean, we're getting a lot of indications that the reason that they didn't go public with the cancer diagnosis is they wanted to wait for their children to break for their Easter holiday, which happened yesterday. And that will give them three weeks to be together as a family. And that was really the essence of the princess' statement yesterday, that they need the time and space to process this or to get on with her chemotherapy.

She was very specific in saying that she is getting chemotherapy. The king really wasn't that specific. But he has been able -- I mean, you know, his part has been different. There was more ambiguity about what exactly he has. He has a form of cancer. What form, we don't know. What treatment, we don't even know if it's chemo. They're radiotherapy. But he has along the way been very careful to issue photographs of himself having an audience with the prime minister.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

SMITH: Taking (INAUDIBLE) from, you know, from diplomats, even the other day meeting Korean War veterans. So he knows that he has to be seen, although he can't be seen in person by the public. You know, for obvious medical reasons. But I was thinking about it, and you know, we've sort of become accustomed to that through all the lockdowns. It isn't unusual for us to see a video message as he did at the commonwealth service.

So, yes, I think, you know, should they have done things differently at the outset? Could they have predicted that in the vacuum that they inadvertently created that would be this tsunami of outlandish and often malicious rumors and conspiracies?

JIMENEZ: Yes.

SMITH: But they really couldn't. I mean, they've tried with that photograph and I think, you know, in the fullness of time they'll look back at that and say, you know, what we're rethinking, why was everybody jumping all over them for that? I mean, it seems, you know, we know now what they were dealing with. It seems pretty minor.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And, you know, just going up against the forces of the internet. As you mentioned, in a vacuum of information, even if it was inadvertent, can often be a very formidable opponent, as we saw.

Sally Bedell Smith, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate it.

SMITH: You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

[19:30:10]

JIMENEZ: Still ahead, new developments in Hamas' hostage talks. We are going to tell you what we are learning as those talks inch forward and as top US leaders push for a ceasefire.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:03]

JIMENEZ: Now to an update in those Israel-Hamas hostage negotiations in Qatar.

We now know the US CIA Director Bill Burns was there trying to help secure a deal. CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Doha with the latest.

So Paula, what are you learning here?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, what we have heard from a source familiar with these talks is that Bill Burns, the CIA director was heading out of Doha, so leaving Saturday night -- we are now early hours of Sunday morning, so presumably he has left. But that source did say that steady progress was made, but there are still differences that need to be worked out.

Also, a diplomatic source familiar with these talks said that both the Israeli security chiefs also were leaving Doha Saturday night. Also pointing out that some of the key issues that still needed to be hammered out were, for example, the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza with the UN warning of imminent famine. That is one of the key things that needs to be ironed out quickly.

And also, the Israeli military repositioning in Gaza. Now, we know that Hamas has wanted the Israeli military to leave Gaza when there is this temporary ceasefire, something the Israeli military has said that they would not do.

At this point, the technical teams have taken over. Usually, that happens when there are either trying to fill in the details of a counter proposal or they are waiting for a Hamas response to something they have suggested. It is not clear which it is in this case.

Now, also on Sunday, we do know that the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant is heading to DC. He is heading to meet Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary and also on Monday, he will be meeting with the National Security adviser, Jake Sullivan, probably Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well.

This will be talking about how get more humanitarian aid into the country. Also, how to make sure that they can get the hostages back.

Separately, of course, early next week, we are expecting an Israeli delegation to go to the United States so that the Biden administration can set out alternative options for this massive ground offensive in Rafah that Israel seems so keen on at this point -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes, I mean, look, also tonight, Hamas is accusing Israel of opening fire on dozens of Palestinian civilians killing 19 people who were waiting for humanitarian aid, and that is the complicating factor in a lot of these negotiations that there are still every day activities that might inflame one side or the other.

What else are you learning about what we are seeing here?

HANCOCKS: Well, we are hearing as we often do in these cases, two very different narratives as to what exactly happened here. This was at the Kuwait roundabout near Gaza City.

It is unfortunately an area where we have seen a number of these killings and deaths happen. It is where many people wait for aid convoys. It is where aid convoys come through to Northern Gaza and it just shows how desperate people are.

There are hundreds and thousands in some cases of people waiting there. Now the ministry officials in Gaza say that the Israeli military opened fire on people who were waiting for aid as they were waiting for these convoys to come in and 19 killed, 23 injured.

The Israeli military says that wasn't the case. They were helping this convoy and they did not fire. So once again, two very different narratives, which it is impossible for us to confirm -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes and again, a familiar dynamic as we've seen with many of the events throughout this war.

Paula Hancocks, thank you so much.

Joining me now is former State Department Middle East negotiator and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Aaron David Miller.

Aaron, thank you for taking the time.

Now, look, Israel is denying that it attacked and is reviewing what happened as Paula Hancocks just noted, it does seem when something like this happens, we do get to emerging narratives and it becomes difficult to actually piece through what really happened.

But what is your reaction to this, especially in the backdrop of ongoing hostage negotiations?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Look, as long as the Israelis are operating militarily in Gaza -- in Northern Gaza, Central Gaza, and the South. As long as Hamas appears to be regrouping in Northern Gaza, Israeli IDF forces operating in a highly congested area where Hamas' assets are located in and around and below civilian structures and populations, these kinds of incidents are tragic, but all too frequent, which raises the key question that the only way to change the battlefield dynamic here, surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza, free some of the hostages is to get an Israeli-Hamas deal. And unfortunately, this is not a normal negotiation.

You have the principal Hamas decision-maker, Yahya Sinwar hiding in a tunnel either below Khan Younis or Rafah, how they're communicating with him, probably by courier obviously is going to slow down the pace of these negotiations.

Plus Omar, you've got two parties, Israel and Hamas, seeking literally to destroy one another. So it is not the most auspicious environment for a quick progress.

[19:40:23]

JIMENEZ: Yes, it does create a difficult environment when you have everyday activities, everyday conflict that might inflame again either side of what is already a very delicate set of negotiations that we are seeing here. Now, as we are understanding from reporting now, CIA Director Bill Burns left Doha a short time ago where a lot of these negotiations have been happening. He was trying to jumpstart those hostage negotiation as we understand.

Israel has recently sounded pretty firm about their plan for a Rafah offensive. Do you see any form of daylight here? What is your read on where things stand as to where we might see a shift or some progress?

MILLER: Again, the only way, the mechanism for hope for any sort of progress is not in New York, at the United Nations; it is not in Washington. It is whether or not Bill Burns' efforts and the Mossad director, David Barnea, with whom he has a very close relationship, the Qataris, the Egyptians, and senior Hamas leaders are prepared to sign an agreement that would, by six weeks of calm without that, you're not going to be able to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza. You can't free hostages, and I suspect that without a deal, a ground operation of a sizable character into Rafah by the Israeli Defense Force, probably not for weeks.

But without an agreement, you're going to end up with a very combustible situation in the south, and sadly, more civilian deaths for a population that has suffered grievously over the past six months.

JIMENEZ: Yes, and look, before we go, I know you said the progress isn't going to happen in New York, at the UN or in Washington, but we do know that Israel's defense minister is going to head to Washington to meet with Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

What are the implications of a visit like that at this stage?

MILLER: Well, the administration and the president has invited an Israeli delegation, whether Gallant is the tip of the spear in that delegation, other Israeli officials, Ron Dermer, who is close to the prime minister, Tzachi Hanegbi who is the national security adviser, what strikes me as so strange, however, is that those two individuals don't have defense security background.

So if the Israelis are bringing a detailed plan about how they are going to do Rafah, the administration is going to have to press for some very, very tough answers on whether or not there are any alternatives.

JIMENEZ: Yes, Aaron David Miller, I really appreciate your insight. Also very important things to look for and watch for as this week gets going here, really appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Still ahead, police now say a YouTube's child abuse was rooted in religious extremism. What we are now learning about the investigation into the horrible allegations.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:56]

JIMENEZ: Utah Police now say religious extremism motivated a popular YouTuber and her business partner to inflict horrible abuse on children.

Last month, Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were each convicted of multiple child abuse charges and sentenced to four consecutive sentences of one to 15 years in prison.

They were arrested last August after Franke's 12-year-old son ran away and asked a neighbor to call police. Now, she had vlogged the abuse of her children on her now-deleted YouTube channel, "Eight Passengers."

Camila Bernal is following the story for us. Now, Camila, what are we learning? As I understand, new details and new video?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Omar, authorities saying that these two women fully believed that that abuse was necessary to teach the children how to repent from imagined sins and to cast out these evil spirits from their bodies.

You know, the graphic new evidence includes the videos, the photos, and even Ruby Franke's hand-written journal entries detailing all of this horrific abuse.

You know, one of the newly released videos, were able to see Franke's 12-year-old son when he is asking for help, you mentioned that time. You know, he had climbed out of a window. He went to a neighbor's house asking for food, for water, and asking to be taken to the nearest police station.

The evidence release shows the duct tape around the child's ankles and his wrist. We, of course know that that neighbor called police and described all of this to authorities, but we also getting another video that shows when police went to Jodi Hildebrandt's house and found Franke's nine-year-old daughter.

Authorities are describing the child as petrified and hiding in that closet. You see it there? And they are describing her as malnourished in the video. First responders are trying to talk to her. You can see it there.

There is also another video where they are just trying to give her pizza and sadly, the journal entries also detailed months of abuse and it includes like making the children stand and sleep outside, making them do wall-sits, shaving the girl's head, and at times even with holding water, food, oxygen.

Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. She was initially charged with six counts, but pleaded not guilty to two counts as part of this plea deal to testify against her business partner, Hildebrandt, and she also pled guilty for four counts of aggravated child abuse. [19:50:21]

We did reach out to their attorneys about this new evidence and we are waiting for the Board of Paroles to tell us exactly how long their sentence is going to be -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Camila Bernal with the latest, horrific details out of the Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt case. Really appreciate it.

BERNAL: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Still ahead, it is one of the largest lottery jackpots in US history. The next Mega Millions top prize climbs to an estimated $1.1 billion, but the odds to win it, not really in your favor, but maybe better than having a perfect bracket.

Plus, what season is it right now, please? Parts of Midwest seeing more snow and spring's first week than all of winter. We are going to track it next here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:55:42]

JIMENEZ: Almost 20 million Americans are under winter weather alerts tonight. Yes, you heard that right, winter weather alerts as storms blanket the Midwest and New England with heavy snow.

And on the East Coast, more than 35 million people are facing flood watches.

CNN meteorologist, Elisa Raffa is tracking the developments for us.

All right, so this is pretty much a huge flip-flop from the warmer temperatures that we saw last week at this point to right now. What's going on?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, a lot of winter really has been winter-less. All of a sudden, we are in the first few official days of spring and we got back-to-back winter storms.

You could see the snow propping up into interior New England. All of that heavy rain has been riding I-95 all day. There you could see all of the flood watches. That have been pretty significant across parts of New York and New Jersey, and then even going into Philly.

Philly got more than three inches of rain today, which not only breaks, their daily records, but it makes it the wettest march day the city has ever had, shattering the record of 2.7 inches that was set back in 1912.

So a deluge of rain up and down the East Coast today.

There is the winter storm warning that remains for Maine through the night tonight and then there is storm number two, where we have the winter storm warnings and even a little bit of a blizzard warning really starting to pop for this storm that's going to start to crank going into Monday.

Now, as you mentioned, we are looking at the warmest winter on record is what we've just wrapped up in a lot of these states that are getting snow right now from Iowa up into New York.

And you could see the footprint of the snow, there it is, up in New England, but there really hasn't been all that much in the Upper Midwest, like literally at all.

Minneapolis through the event, through tomorrow and into Tuesday, could be looking at eight to 14 inches of snow just with this one event.

The entire season of winter from December, January, and February, they got 11 inches of snow. So we've really had a deficit and its coming pretty late in the season.

Here is storm is it starts to pump going into Sunday. Winds will really be popping. We are looking at some blizzard conditions possible up here, plus severe weather on the warm side, looking at a threat of damaging winds, large hail, and maybe a few tornadoes in the Central Plains and the Gulf Coast -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Elisa Raffa, thank you so much.

Now, if your March Madness brackets or as cold as these winter weather alerts, there is always the Mega Millions. The Mega Milly is now up to a Billy. No winner in last night's drawing means the grand prize jackpot just got bigger and is expected to hit $1.1 billion.

Polo Sandoval has more on the numbers game and whether your odds just got better or worse.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Omar. Good evening.

Jackpot is exceeding $1 billion. They used to be rare in the lotto system, but not anymore, especially if you look at these numbers here.

Financial comparison website, NerdWallet conducting a recent analysis and they found that eight of the ten and largest lotto jackpots in history, they've been reached in just the last three years. In fact, half of those eight, we've reached those in 2023 alone. So, that's certainly telling.

But then that lingering question of why. NerdWallet trying to answer that question, they've basically concluded that both major lotteries, Mega Millions and Powerball, they've tweaked there rules in the last decade making it harder to win and remember, every time there is no winner, the jackpot grows larger.

Adding to that, both lotto also raised the price of buying a ticket and a portion of those sales usually go to the jackpot, and then also rising interest rates, believe it or not, may have something to do with it. They affect the advertised jackpot amounts which are actually based on annuities. And then finally, there are more people playing. NerdWallet finding that every time that jackpot amount reaches or exceeds $1 billion, people who don't usually play lottery might actually give it a try, will buy a ticket.

So essentially the more people are buying, then the more money is getting put into the lotto system, which is essentially feeding that jackpot amount.

But all in all, though the odds are so poor that it doesn't really matter how many people are playing. Mega Millions estimated chances of winning Tuesday's $1.1 billion drawing, one in a little over 302 million.

The odds of getting your $2.00 back though, Omar, one in 24. So maybe a little better.

JIMENEZ: Thanks, Polo.

Now, she was a covert CIA officer until her cover was blown and former spy, Valerie Plane told Jake Tapper about the potential danger that could have caused on "United States of Scandal."

You can catch a new episode of "United States of Scandal" tomorrow night at nine Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

Thank you for joining me today.

If you've been with me this whole time, it's been quite a ride. It's been a fun four hours, informative at times, I hope.

I am Omar Jimenez. I'll see you again tomorrow night starting at five eastern.

An encore presentation of HBO's "Real-Time Bill Maher" is up next.

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