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Interview With Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA); New Info Emerges on FSU Shooting Suspect; Trump Set to Abandon Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 18, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And that would mean applying more pressure. And we have not yet seen a willingness by the Trump administration to do that.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: OK, everybody, thank you so much. Thanks for sticking around with that breaking news.

I hope that you will join me on "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday. My guests include Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, and the Republican majority whip, Tom Emmer. They're both from Minnesota.

I hope to see you Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS today.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Thanks joining us this hour. I'm Erica Hill. Boris and Brianna are off today.

Any moment now, we are expecting an update from the medical staff who are caring for patients who survived that deadly mass shooting at Florida State University on Thursday. Five people were shot. Two men who were not students were killed yesterday. Investigators say the suspected shooter is a 20-year-old FSU student and the son of a local sheriff's deputy.

Officers found the deputy's former service weapon on the alleged shooter when they took him into custody.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins me now on the phone from Tallahassee Memorial.

And, Nick, what more are you learning now?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're standing by for this press conference, which is expected to get under way here any moment. And we will be given an update on the conditions of those who survived yesterday's mass shooting.

Tallahassee Memorial has a host of doctors listed that will be part of this press conference. We have very limited details as to who the victims were, if they were tied or potentially students at the university. We do know from the press conference yesterday, according to police, that those two that were killed were not students at the school.

But there's a lot that remains unknown, how many times these victims were shot, how critical their injuries were, the caliber of weapon, where they were shot. All those details, we're hoping to get to the bottom of.

The -- all credit must go out to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare for playing a major role in keeping the victims of the shooting alive. We know at least one of those victims arrived at the hospital in critical condition. As of this morning, they were all listed in stable condition.

And according to the health care vice president here at Tallahassee Memorial, most of the victims from that shooting that happened yesterday are improving. Again, that press conference is expected to get under way just any moment now. We're standing by. A host of journalists from all across the state and country are in here and poised to hear the details here.

This is a story, just yet another mass shooting in America, but, even still, as common as it is in America, and as familiar as they were here at FSU, it is still very much so a tragedy that has shaken the core of this community.

What I have heard from witnesses that they told me and something that's been repeated is that they feel that their safety and security has been shattered. The place where they are meant to be safe, the school campus, where they feel that it's a light of their life for some students, they feel so horrified about what happened yesterday.

And, Erica, I'm going to go back to you, because it looks like we're -- just now the doctors are coming to the microphone and they're about to get this press conference under way.

HILL: All right, Nick, appreciate it. And I know you will be back with us when you have more of those updates. Thank you.

Also joining us now, the chief of Tallahassee police, Lawrence Revell.

Chief, it's good to have you with us at this hour.

I'm wondering, can you give us any updates at this point on those hospitalized survivors, how they're doing?

LAWRENCE REVELL, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA POLICE CHIEF: We don't have any update on their condition, other than what the hospital put out yesterday.

I know they're about to do a press conference as we speak, but we don't have any updated information on their status.

HILL: And do you have any more information on the two victims who were killed?

REVELL: None that we can release at this time. I'm sorry. We do know that the suspect's -- he received significant injuries and will remain in the hospital for a significant amount of time.

And then, after that time, we will transport him to a local detention facility.

HILL: OK.

And in terms of the suspect, is this someone who was on the radar of law enforcement in any way beyond just his ties to the department through his mother?

REVELL: He was not, not at all.

HILL: A classmate of the suspect told CNN that he was at one point asked to leave an extracurricular political club at FSU because of unsettling behavior and claimed that the suspect's -- and I'm quoting here -- that the suspect talked about the ravages of multiculturalism and communism and how it's ruining America.

I'm curious. So far in your investigation, have -- are there any other incidents similar to this or concerning incidents that have come to light?

REVELL: We have not received any of those.

But like we know in almost every one of these type situations, there is almost always pre-indicators or indicators that, if someone would come forward with that information prior to the incident happening, that maybe intervention could occur.

And it's always not a good habit to second-guess things, but it's also important that we remind our community and everybody out there, when you hear these things, when you hear things that concern or comments like the one you just mentioned, it's critically important that you notify law enforcement, so that we can follow up on those and we can document those things and verify the veracity of those comments.

[13:05:22]

HILL: In terms of that, if you see something, say something, if you hear something, I mean, I can tell you, I live in New York City, and we see it all the time on the subway, right? It's always in our face.

On a campus like this, how much of that is part of what students are told on a regular basis?

REVELL: Well, it's part of our message constantly here at the Tallahassee Police Department.

And we have a great relationship with the -- both universities, both Florida State University and Florida A&M University. And so that message does get out here in our community. And almost every radio show I'm on, any interview we do, we talk about that, how see something, say something is so important. And for our community to truly remain safe, it takes all of us coming together and cooperating, because someone always knows something, someone always sees something.

And it's just about those people coming forward and sharing that information.

HILL: As we know, the suspect is the son of a deputy who works in Tallahassee County, Leon.

How does that impact the investigation at this point? Will you still be the lead agency here?

REVELL: Yes, we will absolutely be the lead agency. The sheriff's department, we have a great working relationship with them.

But, in this particular case, they will have nothing to do with this investigation, nothing to do with his detention as well when he gets out of the local hospital. And that's just to make sure that there -- that none of those lines are crossed or blurred, just to make sure that it's as clear and clean as it can possibly be.

HILL: And just one last quick question for you. The suspect had his mother's former service weapon him when he was taken into custody. Was that weapon used in the incident?

REVELL: It was.

HILL: Chief of Tallahassee Police Lawrence Revell, I know you are a busy man today. We appreciate you taking the time. Thank you.

REVELL: Thank you for having me on.

HILL: Well, today, the future of Ukraine peace talks really running up against the clock.

Just moments ago, we heard from President Trump, who was asked about remarks from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when he said the U.S. would need to decide -- quote -- "within days" whether an end to the war is, in fact, possible, adding that, if not, the U.S. would -- quote -- "move on."

As I noted, the president was just asked about this. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, very shortly.

QUESTION: How many days is that?

TRUMP: No specific number of days, but, quickly, we want to get it done.

If for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say, you're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people, and we're going to just take a pass. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now is CNN military analyst retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, always good to have you with us.

We also heard the president say when he was asked in some questioning there asked about Rubio's comments. He said, in terms of the timeline you heard in there, he said he's looking for enthusiasm from both sides to end this war. It seems there's certainly a fair amount of enthusiasm on Ukraine's part.

What do you think he means when he says he's looking for enthusiasm on the part of Russia? Russia does appear to be dragging their feet a bit.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, they certainly do, Erica.

And it's one of those areas where to look for enthusiasm is kind of an odd term to use in a situation like this. I think what he means is perhaps commitment. And if he wants commitment from the Russians to get to a peace proposal, to get to some kind of a peace plan and an eventual peace accord with the Ukrainians, then you have got a whole different dynamic that you need to work toward.

And I think the administration is making actually a fairly big mistake by not putting military pressure on the Russians. That could come in the form of various things, such as increased weapons supplies to Ukraine, deployments of troops, the potential even of a no-fly zone in Ukraine.

That is something that nobody's been talking about since really the beginning of this war. And that is something -- that's the kind of pressure that the Russians understand. All this other stuff, all these long meetings that Mr. Witkoff has had with Putin, all of those kinds of things, have really not resulted in any benefit to the Ukrainians at least.

And I don't think they have even benefited the Russians at this point.

HILL: It's also striking to me sort of the two different messages and almost a role reversal in some ways, right? So we're hearing from Secretary Rubio, we have got a matter of days and then basically we have to move on.

And then you hear from Vice President Vance just earlier today, who said he was optimistic that they could bring this war to a close. Does that read as messaging to you? And, if so, is that messaging to one country over another, in your view?

LEIGHTON: And it seems very confusing to me, Erica, because an administration of whatever party should be talking with one voice when it comes to these kinds of things.

[13:10:06]

And when you have the secretary of state saying, OK, we're going to move on, whatever that might mean, and then, on the other hand, you have the vice president saying, I'm optimistic about getting things done, that implies that they're not going to be moving on.

So, obviously, foreign policy is the province of the secretary of state, at least under normal administrations. And so, if that is the case that they're going to potentially move on, that could mean a case of perhaps benign neglect when it comes to the Ukrainians. That could be bad for them. But it could also be bad for Russia.

And that could mean that now this gives the Europeans a chance to move in from a diplomatic standpoint and take over where the United States has left off.

HILL: So, to that point, you read my mind. So thank you on that.

In terms of Europe moving in, do you believe European leaders could come in and actually work out some sort of a deal here, where the U.S. cannot?

LEIGHTON: Well, diplomatically, I think they might be able to.

One of the key things, though, to think about is, the Russians actually trust Trump more than they do the Europeans.

HILL: Yes.

LEIGHTON: So, although most Americans even and certainly most Europeans support the idea of Ukraine and support Ukraine's diplomatic position in this -- in this war, because we see Russia as the aggressor, the Russians are far more comfortable with the Trump position.

And if they let that slip by, they're going to actually lose a potential advantage that they have. The Russian side will lose that advantage on the diplomatic front. And that could be critical for them to basically consolidate the gains that they have had and potentially even gain more.

And so, for them, this would potentially be a dangerous situation. And it could result in those gains being reversed, either militarily eventually or diplomatically.

HILL: It is remarkable to be at this point, right...

LEIGHTON: It is.

HILL: ... and to now be looking at, is this -- is this -- sort of the next 48 hours, is this what we have to work with?

LEIGHTON: Yes, for sure.

HILL: We will be watching.

Always appreciate your insight, your expertise. And nice to see you in person. Thank you.

LEIGHTON: Thank you so much, Erica. Great to be with you.

HILL: Coming up here: A Maryland lawmaker heads back to the U.S. after his meeting with the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

The latest reaction from the White House -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:32]

HILL: This afternoon, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is expected to arrive back in the U.S. and give an update on his visit with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

He is the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador's notorious mega-prison, CECOT. Last night, Van Hollen shared a photo of the two seated together at a table with the caption: "I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight, I had that chance. I called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return."

Well, after their meeting, El Salvador's president also took to social media, of course, to say that Abrego Garcia would stay in his country's custody, and in a swipe to those critical of his incarceration, added -- quote -- "Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the death camps and torture, now sipping being margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador."

Today, President Trump lashed out at the senator, calling him a grandstander, saying he looked like a fool. The official White House X account posted an edited screenshot of "The New York Times" article about Van Hollen's meeting, striking out the original headline so that it read instead: "Senator meets with reported MS-13 illegal alien in El Salvador, who is never coming back."

It is important to note, Abrego Garcia's lawyers maintain he does not have ties to MS-13, and at least one federal judge has also voiced skepticism on the Trump administration's claim, all of this happening as a federal appeals court is now backing a U.S. district judge at the center of Abrego Garcia's case, while calling the administration's claims that it can't return Abrego Garcia -- quote -- "shocking."

CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz joins me now.

So, Katelyn, in terms of this ruling from the appeals court, walk us through what else it tells us.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes.

Well, Erica, there is the White House saying that Abrego Garcia is not coming back. And the appeals court, they're saying they're not stepping in as a trial-level judge continues to manage what is happening with this one man who was mistakenly sent to that prison in El Salvador.

But, Erica, that appeals court ruling that we received yesterday was written by a long time conservative very well-respected Reagan appointee named J. Harvie Wilkinson. Judge Wilkinson writes about why this case is much bigger than just something about this one man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

He writes that this is about due process. It's a situation where the administration says they made a mistake, they are not correcting that mistake, they are doing nothing, and that they appear to be attacking the courts and tearing down the separation of powers, hurting both themselves and the courts.

What Judge Wilkinson writes is: "If, today, the executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies?"

That's the big question from Judge Wilkinson. This is a fight that continues to go on between the administration and the courts at loggerheads. Are they following court orders or not? Here's Donald Trump just a few minutes ago in the Oval Office commenting on this very situation as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: One of the biggest reasons, I think the biggest single reason, actually, I'd like to say it's because of this, because I think they're going to come up with things that are incredible, but probably the biggest reason was because of the border and because of illegal immigration.

[13:20:05]

We're getting them out, and that's why I was elected. A judge wasn't elected to do that. I was elected to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: Courts v. Trump, that's where we are. But Judge Wilkinson has words for that as well.

In that order,he wrote: "It is a losing proposition all around when you have the executive attacking the courts. They may be succeeding right now in court, "but Judge Wilkinson said, "over time, history will script the tragic gap between what we was and all that might have been for this country" -- Erica.

HILL: It was quite a ruling, certainly still getting a lot of attention the day after.

Katelyn, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Joining me now to discuss, Congressman Robert Garcia of California. He is one of the House Democrats leading efforts to send an official delegation to El Salvador's CECOT prison.

It's good to have you with us this afternoon.

You just heard from what we heard from the president, President Trump saying that Senator Van Hollen looked like a fool, in his words, yesterday. What is your take away from this meeting the senator had with Abrego Garcia?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I mean, what an incredible moment.

I just commend the senator for his courage, his actions in El Salvador. The relief that has brought, of course, to Kilmar's family to know that he is alive is incredibly important. And, at the same time, people have to recognize what is happening right now. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is defying a unanimous Supreme Court order and the order of lower courts to bring back Abrego Garcia back to the United States immediately.

This facilitation that's supposed to happen is not right now being considered by the White House. In fact, Stephen Miller in the Oval Office lied about the Supreme Court decision, is somehow twisting it to say that they support their position.

He is defying the Supreme Court. This is a new line that Donald Trump has crossed. And all Americans should be incredibly concerned that this is at the beginning of a constitutional crisis, as far as I'm concerned, where you have the president defying the court. He should bring back someone that was sent there wrongly by the Trump administration back home to go through due process.

HILL: So, to that point, you say this is the beginning of a constitutional crisis. You say that the president is ignoring the Supreme Court.

What more do you believe can be done then to compel him to follow those orders?

GARCIA: Well, first, there's no question that I think public pressure, the senator going down to El Salvador, the fight that people are pushing back on in Congress and on this action are actually working. Public opinion is on the side of this release, and because this is an issue that's broader than just immigration.

This is about a president defying the courts. And I think that is a fire alarm, red alarm moment in this country. We have worked really hard as Democrats in the House. We are trying to get an official delegation to El Salvador to continue and support the senator's work.

What the senator did was the right approach. We have got to go down and continue to build public sentiment. And, look, it's not just about Kilmar. There are other people that are in that prison in El Salvador that have not had due process.

There's a young gentleman named Andry who is a makeup artist, a hairstylist who was sent down there. He was in the process of claiming asylum, actually went through the asylum process, has been sent to this prison. He's openly gay. And no one in his circles have any idea why he is down there. He's done nothing illegal. There have been -- no judge has actually accused him of doing anything.

And he's trapped in that prison in El Salvador. They are going to come for U.S. citizens next if we don't stop this now.

HILL: So let me dig in on two points here.

First of all, when it comes to going to El Salvador, as you noted, you are pushing to be part of a delegation to go. Realistically, what are you going to get, though, when you get there? Because, as we know, we know how hard it was for Senator Van Hollen to eventually meet with Abrego Garcia.

You have to have President Bukele basically give you the OK to get into that prison. And even when you do, you're only going to see what they want you to see. How is that accomplishing your goal of getting the president to follow the orders of the Supreme Court by heading to El Salvador?

If you believe there is that much support, aren't there things that you could be doing here on the ground in the United States that could perhaps be more effective?

GARCIA: I think -- I think all -- I think we have to do all of the above.

Number one, Republicans have been in El Salvador touring the prison over the last couple of weeks, yet the Republican majority has not allowed any Democrats to actually go down there as part of official CODELs in the House. That's unacceptable. This has always been bipartisan.

Number two, it's really important that we apply pressure, just like Senator Van Hollen is doing. And you do that by also being in the country of the president who is keeping these folks in this prison, who is now, by the way, refusing to let Kilmar go home.

And so we have got to be fighting here, and we have also put ourselves in the spaces and places where the action is actually happening. And so we have got to do the pressure. We have got to be meeting with the embassy. We have got to be meeting with human rights groups on the ground. And we have got to be organizing here in the United States.

This ability for the senator to meet with Kilmar only happened because of public pressure and his willingness to go down there and do the right thing. So, we have got to continue doing that work.

[13:25:06]

But Republicans have zero interest in allowing us there, because they don't want us to see probably the horrors that are happening in that prison.

HILL: You talk about the importance of public opinion and support. I found really interesting some reporting from Axios noting that Democrats are really struggling, even clashing in this moment about how to fight President Trump's deportations.

And there's recent polling which shows the majority of Americans actually approve of the way President Trump is handling immigration, specifically when you talk about what's happening at the southern border, also when it comes to deporting illegal immigrants.

Is there something that Democrats are missing?

GARCIA: Well, and there's also polling that just came out today that shows that a majority of Americans do not support sending immigrants to foreign prisons.

And so I think this is -- this issue is not just about immigration. This is an issue about the president defying the Supreme Court. And that has to alarm every single American. Look, we are a country that was built on immigrants, on immigrant labor. I'm an immigrant myself. I was at -- one time went through this process, was undocumented, with being a temporary resident.

We have to treat people humanely in this country. And this is an issue about due process. If you're here in the United States you deserve to have due process, not being sent to a foreign prison that we know nothing about, where we have only -- only Republicans who are essentially tied in with the president are able to actually visit.

These are huge concerns, which is why it's important that Democrats not only show up here, but also in El Salvador.

HILL: I want to -- this ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, I'm guessing you read it, but I do want to talk a little bit about, which my colleague Katelyn just touched on, there's this warning about the balance of powers from Judge Wilkinson, where he writes that this moment, while it may feel like a crisis, in his words, it may also -- quote -- "present an opportunity as well."

Going on to say: "We yet cling to the hope that it is not naive to believe our good brethren in the executive branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time."

You talk about a constitutional crisis. Is this moment simply a crisis or is there an opportunity here? And if so -- we touched on this, but, if so, what else can Democrats do, or are the courts the sole backstop?

GARCIA: I think two things.

I mean, look, the president can do the right thing here. We know the president, our president has a strong relationship with the president of El Salvador. He could get Kilmar back to the United States with one conversation. We all know that's the case. And so he should do the right thing, listen to the Supreme Court, of which he himself appointed many judges on, of which is a majority conservative court.

He can get him home and actually follow the law, and not enter us into this crisis where he begins to defy the courts in a way that's open and concerning.

And, yes, the courts are an important way for us to get this resolved and other issues. It also has to be about the public being engaged. The amount of public pressure and support that this issue and others are getting is also moving the administration and moving public opinion and then moving the Congress.

And whether it's this issue, issue on what's happening with Elon Musk and DOGE, issues of what's happening about the destruction of the federal work force, people need to stay engaged. And the president, Donald Trump, our president, needs to do the right thing in this case and bring Kilmar home.

HILL: Congressman Robert Garcia, we appreciate you joining us this afternoon. Thank you.

Just ahead here: President Trump taking his trade war to the seas, the administration announcing new fees on Chinese ships coming to U.S. ports -- just ahead, the impact on your wallet.

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