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White House: Abrego Garcia "Never Coming Back" To U.S.; Trump On Ukraine Deal: Needs To Get Done "Quickly"; Police: FSU Suspect To Face First-Degree Murder Charges; Sheriff: Shooting Suspect Is The Son Of A Deputy; U.S. To Charge Fees For Chinese Ships Docking At U.S. Ports. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 18, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:43]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: The president of El Salvador says he has no intention of sending a Maryland man back to the U.S. despite his mistaken deportation, this following a high-profile visit with a U.S. senator. The White House though isn't backing down, insisting Abrego Garcia is, quote, "never coming back."

A warning from the U.S. when it comes to talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, it's time to make some progress or U.S. officials will walk away. The latest on those talks and what could come next.

Plus, a measles outbreak pushing public health officials to the breaking point. The latest numbers from Texas and more as officials struggle to stop the spread of this disease. We're following these major developing stories and many more coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Any moment now the Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is expected to arrive back in the United States where he'll give an update on his visit with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The man you see whose hand he is shaking in that photo, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador's notorious mega prison known as CECOT.

Not long ago, President Trump attempted to defend that deportation of Abrego Garcia leveling a series of accusations against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This man is a, according to certified statements that we get, is a very violent person and they want this man to be brought back into our country where he can be free and to stay as a happily Maryland - you know, happily, they call him the Maryland man. He's a Maryland father. No, this is a violent person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Those statements also come just hours after the White House posted this edited screenshot taking a New York Times piece as you can see there and then rewriting the headline about Senator Van Hollen's meeting with Abrego Garcia, striking out the word wrongly ahead of deported, changing Maryland father to MS-13 illegal alien.

I do want to just do a quick fact check and a reset for you here. It's important to note that the DOJ wrote in a court filing on March 31st, quote, "Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of administrative error." It's also important to note Abrego Garcia has no criminal record.

A federal judge has written the following, quote, noting that "no evidence before the Court connects Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any other criminal organization." All of this of course is playing out as a federal appeals court is now backing a U.S. District Judge who is at the center of Abrego Garcia's case. CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero joins me now.

Carrie, there's a lot o- there's actually, it feels like, there are a lot of plates in the air because there are so many elements to this case. But let's start here because there's been so much back and forth. Is the U.S., government number one, the Supreme Court has said you have to facilitate his return. That was addressed by the - by Judge Wilkinson in this ruling from the from the Fourth Circuit that came out yesterday saying facilitate is an active verb, essentially. You have to make this happen.

The President, the Attorney General have said he's not coming back. Is the United States required to bring him back?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So the Supreme Court left a small amount of room regarding what it meant by facilitate, but it was clear that the district court judge that's directed the administration to facilitate bringing him back is upheld. And so, if - so that is the direction of a district court. That is the direction of the Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit, the Court of Appeals that you referenced, said also you have to follow - the administration has to follow what the district court did.

So, the administration should be according to all of these collective court orders taking steps to bring that - him back. That does not mean that after a process would be gone through that he necessarily gets to stay in the United States lawfully. All these courts are saying, so they're not saying that necessarily he would end up getting to live in the United States, but what the courts are saying is that there - the law has to be followed and that process has to take place. And so far it seems like the administration is just saying, well, we're just not going to do it.

[15:05:07]

HILL: Right. And so, in terms of what had to be followed, a lot of this goes back to that 2019 order which meant he was - that he may have entered the country perhaps not legally but was here lawfully because there was this 2019 order that he could stay for the time being as this was being worked out with one caveat and that was that he could not be sent back to El Salvador, which is exactly what would happen and it has happened. CORDERO: Right. So, an immigration judge back in 2019 ordered that he not be deported and so the administration's error, their self-admitted error by taking him out of this country is against that court's order. And so, for the judiciary just across the board what this case is about, it's not about what he might have done, what criminal behavior he might have engaged in, whether or not he's allowed - be here legally, it's about the court orders being followed, and the legal process and the rule of law taking place.

HILL: So there are also some questions about, you know, why this has become such a battle, whether this could be sort of a pretext or a test I guess for something else and that actually came up which struck me in this ruling from the Fourth Circuit yesterday. And I want to get your reaction to some of this, it's a fairly stark language.

Quote, "The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be not only shocking to the judges but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear." There is a concern, right, that if this can happen to people like Abrego Garcia to these other people who were forcibly removed who's to say it can't happen to U.S. citizens.

CORDERO: Right. I mean that's the issue for the court. And the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals didn't have to issue this sort of lengthy opinion where it explained this constitutional context. It could have just said no go back and this just stays with the district court. But instead, Judge Wilkinson and the other judges on this circuit court which is a conservative court. Judge Wilkinson is a conservative judge. They felt the need to articulate this.

And that is the central point is that we cannot live in a country where the government can simply take an individual and not just deport them. I mean to my mind a critical fact here is that he was removed from the United States and put into a prison.

He's not a free person in the country that they sent him to. He is in a prison and it's a fundamental premise of American law obviously sort of fifth grade, you know, social studies level that an individual before they're put in a prison has to be charged with a crime. There has to be probable cause. They're charged with a crime and they're convicted.

Then an individual who if they're here in the United States, if they're here illegally they're convicted of a crime they can be removed after that process.

HILL: But someone can't just be sent to a prison without any legal process. Does this end up - real quick before I let you go - is this returning to the Supreme Court at some point?

CORDERO: I think it will be because I think the one thing the administration has made clear because they are choosing not to facilitate bringing him back to put him through immigration process is these cases will go back into the Supreme Court because the administration seems committed to pushing appeals in every case as far as they can.

HILL: All right, and we'll see what the Supreme Court says if in fact it ends up there.

Carrie, great to see you.

CORDERO: Thanks.

HILL: Appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's get you caught up now where things stand when it comes to Ukraine. Those peace talks, well, just hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States would move on from negotiations if progress wasn't made soon. President Trump had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Yes, very shortly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson.

Nic, good to talk to you. We see these conflicting statements. We also heard the Vice President say that he was optimistic earlier today. The President said a short time ago in comments in the Oval Office that he was also looking for enthusiasm from both sides to end the war. He thinks he's seeing some of that. Based on conversations that you've had with some of your sources, does there seem to be enthusiasm on both sides?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, there's enthusiasm from President Putin to engage with the United States and improve diplomatic relations. There's enthusiasm from President Putin to get some sanctions lifted. There's enthusiasm from President Putin to essentially get President Zelenskyy out of leadership in Ukraine. These things we know because they've been put in the public domain as part of U.S. conversations with the Russian leadership.

[15:10:06]

Whether or not President Trump correlates or equates that in his mind to enthusiasm for the deal, that's harder to see. President Zelenskyy has been a bit less than enthusiastic about wanting to sign up to the unconditional ceasefire that he did and that Russia hasn't over a period of a month's pressure, at least from the United States. So maybe not much enthusiasm there.

Zelenskyy's had a lot of enthusiasm for pointing out how much President Putin is dragging his feet. So, you know, if you have to measure it on enthusiasm, the only one that seems to have shown any enthusiasm for doing what President Trump wants so far is President Zelenskyy. But the White House is being very opaque about really which direction it's trying to put its pressure in here - who it's really trying to make these key decisions at the moment.

HILL: If - you know, when you have those comments from Secretary Rubio basically that we're looking at a matter of days here, right, and then we're going to have to move on, it raises the question about Europe's role moving forward and just how much Europe could do in this moment. What is that level of optimism and concern among European leaders?

ROBERTSON: Marco Rubio was asked that question today. What the Europeans have been saying that they wanted from the moment of that disastrous meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Trump in the White House, they said that they wanted to provide security guarantees for Ukraine in the case of a ceasefire - could be boots on the ground, planes in the sky.

And very quickly that went quiet, that public discourse about it. But it went on behind closed doors, and the sense was that this was the - this was giving the United States the opportunity to have conversations with the Russians, with President Putin, without getting distracting comments coming in from the European side.

And absolutely there's an expectation from the White House that Europe needs to step up and do more. If the United States decides to move on, then I think we are going to hear more from the Europeans about what they can and will do. They've been preparing for it for over a month.

And I think the fact that talks are moving very quickly - we're told early next week to London - the Ukrainians, the French, the Germans, the British, with U.S. representatives, indicates that the quickest answers that the White House is looking for are from the Ukrainians and the Europeans, because we're not aware of any conversations at a senior level with Russian officials. Therefore, that's where the quick answers are going to come from. So that's where the pressure is, maybe.

But the Europeans are - from what we can see behind-the-scenes diplomacy, are ready to come forward with something when the United States says this is the moment or steps out of the way.

HILL: We'll be watching - a lot to follow in the coming days, that is for sure. Nic, always appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead this hour: investigators scrambling to find a motive after a 20-year-old suspected shooter allegedly opens fire on the campus of Florida State University.

Plus, amid a trade war between the United States and China, the Trump administration unveils a plan to charge new fees that could lead to even higher prices.

And the U.S. Air Force says it is now actively restoring websites with articles about the achievements of a retired U.S. Air Force colonel after they were deleted - reportedly because of President Trump's executive order on DEI. That and much more ahead, right here.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:18:06]

HILL: This just coming in to us here at CNN: the chief of police in Tallahassee announcing that the shooter in yesterday's mass shooting - the alleged shooter, rather - on the campus of Florida State University will face first-degree murder charges. The suspect is a 20- year-old junior at the school, a political science major. Officials say the gun used is the suspected shooter's mother's former service revolver. She is a local sheriff's deputy.

CHIEF LAWRENCE REVELL, TALLAHASSEE POLICE: We'll absolutely be the lead agency, the Sheriff's Department, and 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, you know, that's just to make sure that the - that none of those lines are crossed or blurred.

HILL: Two men were killed in the attack. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare officials say everyone who was wounded in that shooting should make a full recovery. They did not confirm whether the shooter is among the patients being treated at that facility.

Joining me now is retired FBI Special Agent Rob D'Amico.

Rob, good to talk to you.

Of course, if anyone was with us yesterday, you were with us on the air as we were watching all of this unfold. As we look at where things stand today and what we have learned - you just heard there from the chief of the Tallahassee Police Department talking about the involvement of Leon County Sheriff's Department - because we learned that the alleged shooter is the son of a Leon County Sheriff's deputy. That does add another layer, even if that department is in no way going to be involved in the investigation.

What are your questions in terms of that relationship?

ROB D'AMICO, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Yes, I think that was the most surprising thing. And also, he was a member of the youth council, which advises the high school students that advise the sheriff of current youth situations.

[15:20:05]

It's not like an explorer program, but it is part of the sheriff's office, and he had a lot of workings with them. So I think it was a surprise. And then again, the bigger surprise was it was his mom's prior service revolver or service gun.

So there's some questions in that, and I think it's good that they're separating the two, because you don't want to have any potential conflict of interest.

This is going to be a first-degree murder charge. They can even seek the death penalty. So you really don't want to gum it up at all when it goes to court with something.

HILL: You know, one of the things I talked about with the police chief earlier this afternoon was reporting that CNN has from a classmate of the suspect. So that classmate telling CNN that he'd been asked to leave an extracurricular political club at Florida State due to unsettling behavior and claims that the suspect, quote, "talked about the ravages of multiculturalism and communism and how it's ruining America."

It's important to note, CNN hasn't independently verified those claims about the suspect's beliefs. Authorities haven't disclosed any potential motive behind the shooting. But when I asked the chief about that earlier, he told me he hadn't heard that anecdote. But then he stressed these are exactly the kinds of things that people should be reporting in case someone needs to be on their radar.

In your experience, how often is that happening, especially in, say, a college setting?

D'AMICO: I don't think it happens a lot because so many people, when this happens, they said, oh, we would have never guessed. We would have never thought. And that's not the first thing you think of when you know somebody - that they're going to go on a mass shooting.

So I think it's coming to that potential when people start to see things that maybe raise that. You have to really weigh it: First Amendment, you know, freedom of speech. Two, is it really dangerous speech. But if you don't know, having some type of place to go and report that may help because, as we talked about yesterday, you know, yellow flags can really lead up to something and prevent a red flag event like this.

So it's tough. And you really just never picture someone that you know doing something like this.

HILL: There was another student who says that they saw the suspect during the shooting incident, noting that it didn't seem that there was any sort of specific target. Does that stand out to you?

D'AMICO: It does, to a point, because I think they even said that there's - they can't find any connection to any of the victims at this point. So is it that - they're going to have to look for some type of triggering event, what caused this and then for him to just go randomly do it. Not that it's ever excused, but a lot of times you can see where there was a problem with the school or something or someone in the school - that action was taken. So now it's just going to be how do we connect these dots when there really is no connection. Because who he shot doesn't matter; it's that he shot somebody, in his mind. So those are the things that are going to have to come out in investigation.

I don't think you're going to find something specifically targeting it because, again, there was a whole bunch of people there, and from everything I've heard, it was just random people shot at.

HILL: And there is, you know, to your point, there is always, understandably, this desire, this push for a motive - to understand the why. And oftentimes, in events like this that we cover, the alleged shooter is not alive to talk about it, right? That is different in this case. That being said, there isn't, to your point, there isn't always necessarily a motive, if you will, or why.

But there is something that would push someone to a situation like this. Is that part of the conversation that we are missing, perhaps as a society - is talking about why people get to the point where they may feel like the only way to deal with an issue is to get a gun and shoot someone?

D'AMICO: I think since he is alive - and I think it would be profound - that if the state of Florida, if they do go after the death penalty, if they can get him to plead, part of that plea deal is that he talk to a mental health person to maybe explain that. Because so many of the school shooters are deceased after, and you can't have that ability to have any type of involvement with them to see what was that triggering moment? What was the thing that pushed him over the edge? How long had they been fantasizing about it? How long had they been planning? Was there something that happened that maybe someone could have found out?

So the fact that he is alive, and that he's worked with police before, that he has a police in his family, that maybe they can work out a plea deal where they really look at this as a way to maybe understand more about active shooters, especially ones on campus and other schools.

[15:25:02]

HILL: Rob, really appreciate it as always. Thank you.

D'AMICO: Thank you.

HILL: Just ahead here, as many businesses brace for the impact of President Trump's tariffs, others aren't worrying about it quite so much. Just ahead, we'll speak with a business owner whose company only sells 100 percent American-made products - how he is looking at this moment. Stay with us.

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[15:30:00]

HILL: The U.S. is ramping up pressure on China, adding new port fees to Chinese ships that dock at American ports.