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Judge Orders DOJ to Detail Efforts to Return Mistakenly Deported Man; Protesters Tased, Arrested at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) Town Hall; Curry, Butler Lead Warriors to Victory Over Grizzlies. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 16, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Show your work or else. That is basically the warning now from a federal judge to the Justice Department over the man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. That's after that judge had declared nothing has been done, quote, nothing. Now, a U.S. lawmaker headed to El Salvador to try to do something.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Town halls gone wild. Overnight, scrums and stun guns, insults, and invectives, which politicians heard the worst of it and the surprising subjects voters wanted to talk about.

And this morning, a new CDC study shows rates of autism on the rise, but maybe because doctors are getting better at looking for it.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: Happening today, a new deadline in the escalating battle over mistakenly a deported man. The federal judge in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia giving his attorneys until today to prepare questions for the Trump administration about exactly what steps it's taken to get him back from El Salvador, the judge telling Trump officials to be ready to answer those questions.

She also told the Justice Department attorneys to cancel vacations and cancel other appointments. She means business now, ordering a fast track two-week discovery window to determine what has and has not been done to comply with her order to facilitate his return, an order that was backed up by the United States Supreme Court.

So, to date, the judge says that, quote, what the record shows is nothing has been done, nothing. In the meantime, that's at least two more weeks that Abrego Garcia will be in this notorious prison in El Salvador. The administration has repeatedly called him a member of a violent gang, MS-13, also now calling him a terrorist. They have not provided evidence to this court, the federal court, despite ample opportunity to back up those claims.

At the courthouse just outside Washington yesterday, protesters were there. It was quite the scene demanding Abrego Garcia's return. His wife also speaking out, pleading with the administration to, quote, stop playing political games with his life. Last night, Abrego Garcia's attorney just coming out of that court hearing spoke with me and said, there is no gray area in the court's order.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RINA GANDHI, KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA: The Supreme Court was clear they must facilitate his release, not just his return physically into the United States, but his release. So what have they done to do that? I hope that's what we'll find through discovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And that discovery starts now.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz has the very latest for us from Washington. This is quite the two-week period, but what exactly did you take from that hearing and where we stand -- where it all stands at this moment?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the judge's orders again, she says are pretty clear. This is a judge in Maryland, Paula Xinis, and her order yesterday to the Justice Department, to the Trump administration is they were going to need to open their books a little bit and provide information on exactly what they were doing to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia. The answers they've given so far to this judge are not up to snuff.

Here is one of the quotes from the hearing from the judge. I do need evidence in this regard because to date what the record shows is nothing has been done to facilitate his return. And, Kate, to take a step back to think about why this is important, this is a Salvador and man deported to El Salvador, to that prison, but the administration says that was a mistake. He shouldn't have been sent there because an immigration court had previously determined that he could be deported to anywhere but El Salvador. It was too risky for him to go back to his own country.

And so the judge is saying he shouldn't be in that prison. You've got to find a way to get him out of El Salvador and back to facilitate his return. The judge says that that isn't just taking steps domestically in the U.S.

[07:05:00]

That's what the administration was trying to argue. They're also trying to argue that the court can't tell them to take care of their own foreign affairs. But in this situation, the judge says, two weeks, get the answers to the court on what you are doing exactly. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. It's great to see you, Katelyn, a lot to happen now. I appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. New overnight, President Trump says, he quote, would love to deport what he calls homegrown criminals to El Salvador, that means Americans, people born in the United States. This is what he told Fox's Spanish language channel. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could we use it for violent criminals, our own violent criminals.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I call them homegrown criminals. I mean, the homegrown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The homegrowns, could be --

TRUMP: The ones that grew up and something went wrong and they hit people over the head with a baseball bat. We have -- and push people into subways just before the train gets there, like you see happening sometimes we are looking into it and we want to do it. I would love to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House. The president seemed eager to talk about that after floating that a couple days ago.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. I mean, what's been clear is the president has now brought this up repeatedly. It's also something he actually had mentioned earlier this year, a few months ago, but it wasn't taken as seriously then. A lot of people thought it was just, you know, some comment that would never actually come to fruition.

But what is clear this week is how seriously the president is considering it, not only because he is directing his team to look into the legality of it, but he brought that up on Monday in the Oval Office while meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele. He would be the one, Bukele, who would be accepting these, you know, quote/unquote, homegrown criminals, as the president likes to refer to.

But, again, a key question here, is this even legal? We know that many legal experts argue this is entirely on unconstitutional, that United States citizens, whether they commit crimes or not, must remain in the U.S. So, this is something that is very puzzling to a lot of people.

But we did hear the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, address some of this yesterday, particularly the fact that the president is going to be looking into whether or not this is legally possible. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's a legal question that the president is looking into.

He would only consider this if legal for Americans who are the most violent, egregious, repeat offenders of crime, who nobody in this room wants living in their communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, part of the reason I think this is so concerning to some legal experts and opponents of this idea is in part because of what we are seeing play out, of course, which Katelyn was just laying out with this man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the one who was sent to El Salvador and the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate its return. Really, we are seeing this be the closest thing that the Trump administration is really defying from the Supreme Court.

That's part of why I think this is such a big part of the conversation right now and questions of whether or not the administration is willing to move forward with this because, again, they are fighting a lot of these legal battles, particularly as it relates to immigration.

BERMAN: All right, Alayna Treene at the White House for us this morning, thank you so much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, China reporting surprisingly strong economic growth in the first three months of this year. How that unexpected boost could now impact the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Beijing.

And states now joining the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F.Kennedy Jr.'s push to ban the use of food stamps to buy soda and candy.

Wild and violent scenes as Republicans host town halls back in their home districts. We'll show you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: Overnight, town halls gone wild, complete with scrums and stun guns.

That was the scene in an event for Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in suburban Atlanta. Police arrested three people. They did use stun guns on two of them.

Now, Greene did not take questions face to face. Instead, questions had to be submitted in writing and she mocked anything that was critical.

Protesters romped at her several times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Ladies and gentlemen, they're all inside the interior of the United States, All inside the interior of the United States. They can out -- the protest is outside. Thank you very much. Protest is outside. Bye. Have fun out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Let's get ready to CNN's Eva McKend, who's been covering these town halls across the country. Eva?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: John, it was true to form for the far right ally of President Trump as she sparred with her own constituents. She pushed back on tough questions, accused Georgians of being brainwashed.

Now it was clear Greene relished this. Republican leadership has advised against holding these types of town halls to avoid these episodes, but what we saw last night was Greene very much looking for a fight. Listen to how she responded to a constituent concern about cuts to the federal government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: DOGE gutting our government with a chainsaw approach in the utter destruction and ignoring of our Constitution and rule of law.

[07:15:08]

He is not well physically or mentally.

Poor Christina (ph). Poor, poor Christina. Well, I'm sure, Christina, you think that you're pretty smart, but the reality is you are being completely brainwashed by whatever source of news you listen to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So, you could see the congresswoman reading there because she decided to do it that way and not actually answer questions in real time.

Now, in at least two instances, our crew on the ground witnessed officers using stun guns after scrums with male attendees as they tried to remove them from the building.

Meanwhile, a town hall with Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley also got testy yesterday. His constituents thanked him for being there and not hiding from them, but they raised concerns about immigrants being rounded up and railroaded in this moment, and potential cuts to vital services for veterans. John?

BERMAN: And what are members hearing about tariffs around the country, Eva, because that is also a subject that's coming up?

MCKEND: There is a lot of concern, especially for the vitality of some of these small businesses. You heard a lot of farmers question Grassley last night. And he basically said to trust the process here but that he wasn't going to hide from them. He understood their concerns.

BERMAN: All right. Democracy at work here at these town halls, good for members to take questions face-to-face.

Eva McKend, thank you very much for that.

This morning, a warning from a dozen House Republicans to their own party leadership, cuts to Medicaid and they'll lose their votes.

And then late night hoops, while you were sleeping, two teams moved on, all the best plays from all the best players.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: The Golden State Warriors headed to Houston for the NBA playoffs after a big win over Memphis.

Let's bring in CNN's Coy Wire to lay it all out for us. Let us start with just the obvious, which is how awesome is Steph Curry? I can say that without even watching the game.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Curry can cook. He is absolutely awesome, and now he has a wingman. We'll get to that in a second, Kate.

The regular season's over, playoffs haven't quite begun, so it's sort of this postseason purgatory where the teams who are almost good enough to make the top six in their conference have to battle for the last two playoff spots.

The Warriors hosting the Grizzlies in Ja Morant. The Warriors are 0-3 in play-in chances. But this time Steph Curry have Jimmy Butler, AKA Playoff Jimmy, AKA, Play-in Jimmy, 38 points on the night. And, yes, Kate Curry handled business too, cooking, 37 points, including some clutch three-pointers down the stretch. Warriors Win 121-116.

Grizzlies get one last shot at making the playoffs. They'll face the winner of today's Mavs-Kings play-in game, while the Warriors clinch the seventh seed in the west. They'll face the Rockets. In round one. They have the fifth best odds to win it all now.

Here's Jimmy Butler, AKA Robin, on his superhero teammate, Steph Curry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY BUTLER, WARRIORS FORWARD: That's a Batman, if I've ever seen a Batman, always coming to save the day. You're never out of any game. And more than anything, he's just so poised, he's so calm and he was a huge part of us getting the victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now, we had the Hawks and Magic as well in Orlando, and the Magic rejected Atlanta like they were an ex trying to friend them on Facebook. Nine blocks in this game for the defense that ranked first this season in blocks and points allowed.

And watch the frustration boil over here for Hawk Star Trae Young, he nutmegged the defender, scored. He didn't chuck the ball at a ref, got it a technical. Then he started playing keep away with another ref, not giving them the ball, Kate. He gets ejected for making a mockery of the game, according to the NBA.

The Hawks will face the winner of today's Bulls' in a play-in game for one more chance at a playoff spot. But Orlando, they clinched that seventh seed in the East in a 120-95 win facing the defending champs Boston in round one.

Speaking of Boston, Red Sox Gold Glove winner from last year Alex Bregman gave his teammates a nice parting gift before he goes on paternity leave. He went five for five for the first time in his career in a 7-4 win over the Rays in Tampa. He hit two home runs, so now he'll run home.

Bregman's wife, Reagan, will give birth to their second child today back in Boston and he won't miss it. He will miss their deciding game with this three game series, though, but well worth it for the two- time all-star there. Nice move by Bregman.

BOLDUAN: I just realized, I think my mic was open when I was shouting for Berman. Sorry, Coy. You --

WIRE: Hey, you can't spell Bregman without Berman, and that's his team. So, yes, it's hurts if you put Berman's name in there.

BOLDUAN: I don't even wear red socks ever because I don't get it, unless I get it approved by John Berman.

Your AKAs are on fire today. Thank you so much, my dear.

WIRE: Oh, thank you. Good morning. Yes, we got a juice blowing this morning.

BOLDUAN: Something like that. Whatever you have, I want some. That's what I always say. Thank you, Coy.

All right, still ahead for us, a top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put on leave over an alleged unauthorized disclosure of information.

And in a major decision coming from the U.K. Supreme Court, unanimous decision on the legal definition of a woman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, the federal judge overseeing the case of a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador seems to be losing patience. The judge now allowing a two-week fact-finding window to help her determine whether the Trump administration is or is not complying with her order to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return to the United States, and this is after the judge said during a tense hearing yesterday, quote, to date, what the record shows is that nothing has been done, nothing.

I spoke to Abrego Garcia's attorney last night right after that hearing. She called the hearing a win, but also says their fight is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GANDHI: We'll never be satisfied until Kumar's back. So, no, the fight's not over. But I do consider this day to be a win. We did get our expedited discovery granted and we have a plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That on Erin Burnett Outfront last night.

Joining us right now to talk more about where things go now, CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig is here with me. Good to see you, Elie. Thank you.

One thing the judge seems to be trying to clarify here is how far the government needs to go and what -- how much the government needs to do to bring Abrego Garcia back.

[07:30:00]

Is that becoming clear to you?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, yes, Kate, that's going to be exactly the point of conflict here.