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22 Killed, Dozens Injured by Tornadoes and Storms Across U.S. Funerals Held for Teacher, Pastor's Daughter; Pope Attends Palm Sunday Services After Leaving Hospital; Marin's Premiership at Risk in Today's Elections; Ukraine lashes out as Russia Assumes UNSC Presidency; How Fentanyl Gets from China to the Streets of U.S. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired April 02, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:31]

LAILA HARRAK, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world, I'm Laila Harrak.

Coming up on CNN Newsroom, another round of deadly tornadoes moves through the U.S. as residents start to clear out the rubble. The latest on the severe weather just ahead.

Plus, after being indicted, Donald Trump started making a lot of claims about Manhattan, and its district attorney. Will fact check to see if any of them are true.

And we're live in Rome as Pope Francis presides over Palm Sunday Mass, just one day after leaving the hospital.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Laila Harrak.

HARRAK: While we begin with those powerful, deadly storms that battered parts of the U.S. over the past two days, leaving dozens injured after tornadoes and storms moved through. And the death toll continues to climb. The latest fatality was Saturday evening in Sussex County, Delaware. County officials say it happened after a structure collapsed.

The storm system left behind a trail of destruction across multiple states beginning on Friday. Listen to this resident from Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERESA BLANKENSHIP, TORNADO DAMAGED HER PROPERTY: It's just surreal, you know, you just -- everything you've worked -- we've lived in this house 44 years, and, you know, everything we worked for and paid for it, it's gone. It's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRAK: And here is what we know right now at least 22 people were killed in multiple states. The governors of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa have each issued disaster declarations for their states, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's administrator will visit Arkansas in a few hours.

In Tennessee, seven people were killed in McNairy County, but the sheriff says the death toll could have been much higher if residents had not listened to early warnings about the storm. The same goes for those in Kentucky. Here's what the mayor of Hopkinsville said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF JAMES R. KNIGHT, JR. HOPKINSVILLE, KENTUCKY MAYOR: We have our clock tower. It damaged it. And after it damaged it, we have other things that have got a lot of trees down.

HAL MCCOY, BUSINESS DESTROYED BY TORNADO: We were getting ready to go to bed, and I heard this big kaboom. Once the wind got in there, you know, with a high velocity wind, it just explodes and it blew the roof off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Well, luckily, there were no fatalities in Kentucky, though there were a number of reports of wind damage.

In Illinois, one person was killed and at least 28 injured when the roof collapsed during a concert at a theater in Belvidere Friday night. While CNN's Adrienne Broaddus filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least 260 people were inside the Apollo Theater when the roof collapsed. We want to show you the view from above. Take a look. You can see some of the damage and devastation. We are told at least 28 people were transported to the hospital. Five of them were described to have serious injuries. At least one person was killed. People who gathered here last night were here for a concert.

Meanwhile, throughout the day on Saturday, crews started the cleanup process. A fence was put up as well as barricades to keep people away. But that did not stop people from the neighborhood and the community stopping by to take pictures.

One person told me she was devastated when she learned what had happened here. She says the Apollo Theater is a place where she has so many memories, but for now, her thoughts are with the people who were injured. Adrienne Broaddus, CNN, Belvidere, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Well, at least a dozen tornadoes were reported across the State of Arkansas. Five people were killed and dozens more were hospitalized. The mayor of Wynn, Arkansas, told CNN her city was basically cut in half by the damage, and there were similar scenes of destruction in the state capital, Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke to reporters on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, (R) ARKANSAS: I've had the opportunity over the last couple of hours to speak with both the Homeland Security secretary as well as President Biden, who have offered a tremendous amount of support. Anything that Arkansas need from a city, a county, a state, and a federal perspective, I would say that everyone is working in total lockstep, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure the people of our state are back on their feet again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:05:13]

HARRAK: While that deadly storm system may have moved out, but there's more severe weather on the way. The Storm Prediction Center says severe weather is possible today from Texas to Missouri, to Alabama, affecting many of the area's hard hits in over the past few days.

While the greatest threat is centered on North Texas impacting nearly 13 million people, damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes are possible.

Until the indictment of Donald Trump is unsealed, we won't know the exact crimes he's being charged with. But that hasn't stopped Trump and his allies from claiming it's just a political witch hunt. Even some of Mr. Trump's Republican rivals have picked up on the theme.

On Saturday, Jeb Bush tweeted that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case, "is very political, not a matter of justice." And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to challenge Mr. Trump for the 2024 nomination, delivered this broadside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Now he turns around purely for political purposes and indicts a former president on misdemeanor offenses that they're straining to try to convert into felonies. That is when you know that the law has been weaponized for political purposes. That is when you know that the left is using that to target their political opponents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: While Trump and his allies are also trying to discredit the Manhattan prosecutor by portraying him as soft on crime. Mr. Trump says Bragg is pursuing charges against him while allegedly ignoring record crime in Manhattan. But as CNN's Daniel Dale explains, New York City crime statistics don't support Mr. Trump's claim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: The former president keeps attacking District Attorney Alvin Bragg by claiming that Manhattan is experiencing a, "record high in violent crime." Now, leaving aside the question of how responsible a DA actually is for crime in his jurisdiction, Trump's claim that Manhattan violent crime is at record highs is not even close to true.

New York City crime stats are public. So let's take a look at these public numbers. The northern part of Manhattan had 43 murders last year. It's on just about the same pace early this year. That same northern region had 379 murders in 1990, almost 10 times as many.

Now the south part of Manhattan had 35 murders last year. It's on an even better pace this year, versus 124 murders in 1990. And it's not just murder. Every kind of violent crime in Manhattan is way down from that peak.

Now, there was an uptick in many kinds of crime in Manhattan in 2022 compared to 2021. But many of them, like shooting incidents, for example, have come back down significantly in the first part of 2023.

Now, some Trump allies are making even broader claims that New York City as a whole is having record crime. We saw a New York GOP congressman, Anthony D'Esposito, tweet such a claim this week that is also not even close to true. The city as a whole had 438 murders last year, compared to 2262 murders in 1990. Again, that's a huge drop from the bad old days.

Now, Trump and others have also repeatedly tried to tie the indictment to liberal billionaire George Soros. Trump said in his statement on the indictment, his first statement that Bragg was, "handpicked and funded by George Soros."

Now, this one is more of a nuanced fact check. There is certainly no sign whatsoever that Soros somehow got Bragg, pressured Bragg to do this indictment of Trump. A spokesman for Soros told me that Soros has never even communicated with Bragg in any way whatsoever. And we also know that Soros did not make any donations to Bragg's 2021 election campaign. What Soros did do is make donations to a PAC, a political action committee that in turn supported Brag.

Now, Soros is a longtime supporter of criminal justice reform and progressive DA candidates around the country. His spokesman told me that Soros and an affiliated PAC gave $4 million between 2016 and 2022, including 1 million in May 2021, to a pro-reform PAC called Color of Change, which also backs these pro-reform candidates.

Now, Color of Change told me it ended up spending just over $500,000 in support of that Bragg 2021 campaign. How much did that money matter? We don't know for sure. Of course, Bragg was still outspent by millions of dollars in the competitive Democratic primary. He won even if you count that 500K.

And Color of Change President Rashad Robinson told me it's a huge reach to suggest that his pack was, like, the one factor that elected Alvin Bragg. Robinson told me, quote, up until last week, we couldn't get people to write about our pack. Now, all of sudden, we single handedly elected the Manhattan DA. But when he was elected, I didn't get that credit.

[05:10:10]

Now, Robinson also called these Soros related attacks anti-Semitic, and I think this is important context. Soros has for years been subjected to a very old antisemitic trope about sinister rich Jewish puppet masters somehow orchestrating big global events. The Trump campaign is itself using that puppet master language in fundraising emails. Oren Segal, an Executive at the Anti-Defamation League, which fights antisemitism, told me that Trump campaign's emails have, "increasingly promoted potentially problematic language often used as antisemitic dog whistles, including calling Soros a, "puppeteer" or "puppet master."

I want to emphasize one can fairly talk about George Soros's role in DA racist and in U.S. politics more broadly. He is an important political player in this country. He's fair game. But there's no sign Alvin Bragg is taking orders from him. And this puppet master kind of language has serious issues, to say the least. Daniel Dale, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: In the heartbroken city of Nashville, Tennessee, a private funeral later today for nine-year-old Will Kinney, one of the six victims of Monday's school shooting. Funerals were held Saturday for two others.

The community expressed its grief with flowers and toys piled high outside the school as families mourned, a popular substitute teacher, and the nine-year-old daughter of the school's church pastor. CNN's Dianne Gallagher was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A very somber Saturday here in Nashville, Tennessee, is the two community says goodbye to two of the six victims in that school shooting on Monday. At Covenant Presbyterian Church, which is the same site as the Covenant School where the shooting happened, mourners gathered to say goodbye to nine- year-old Hallie Scruggs. Hallie Scruggs' father is the pastor of the church, and look her aunt described her as incredibly smart, feisty enough to keep up with her three brothers and her four boy cousins, a love for life that kept her smiling and running and jumping and playing and always on the go like a nine-year-old should be.

Just before Hallie's funeral, the community said goodbye to 61-year- old Cynthia Peak. She was called Cindy by her friends, according to the governor of Tennessee, who said that Cindy was one of his wife's best friends, and she was actually due to have dinner with the governor and the first lady of Tennessee on Monday night, the same day, of course, that she was killed.

Our state representative from Louisiana said that he grew up with Cindy Peak and called her a great friend. She was kind and said that her entire hometown of Leesville, Louisiana, is in mourning right now. And the mourning here in Nashville will continue on Sunday as nine- year-old Will Kinney will be laid to rest. Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Nashville, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: And police in Canada have recovered eight bodies, including a baby and a three-year-old child, both with Canadian passports, after a search along the St. Lawrence river on the U.S.-Canadian border. But police say the six adults and the children were trying to cross into the U.S. from Mohawk's Nation territory, which straddles two Canadian provinces and New York State.

The dead are believed to have been from a Romanian family and a family from India. The cause of death is still unclear. Canadian authorities say there have been 48 incidents this year of people trying to cross the border illegally into the United States.

Israeli protesters hold more rallies despite the government's attempt to quell their anger. Just ahead, why many say they'll continue to take action against a planned judicial reform.

Plus, Pope Francis attends Palm Sunday services at the Vatican after a health issue. Just ahead, his role in the coming days as we head towards Easter Sunday next week.

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[05:18:01]

HARRAK: Huge crowds at the Vatican right now as pope Francis presides over Palm Sunday services, a cardinal has been celebrating the mass, well this comes just a day after the pontiff was released from hospital where he was treated for bronchitis.

The holy day recalls Jesus's entry into Jerusalem and it marks the start of holy week celebrations in the Christian calendar leading up to Easter next week.

Let's take you now to Rome to CNN's Delia Gallagher who's joining us now live. Delia, the Pope presiding over mass in St. Peter's Square. Again just a day after leaving the hospital. Remarkable.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAL CORRESPONDENT Yes, it is remarkable. In fact, you know, we just heard him speak Laila, the Vatican tells us there's about 30,000 people there in St. Peter's Square with him. We had a chance to hear the Pope give his homily, spoke about abandonment, about people whom society ignores, the elderly, the sick, those in prison. He will be going to a prison on Thursday, a juvenile prison for the traditional washing of the feet.

Migrants, some of the themes that we know are important to Pope Francis. He just spoke about we heard his voice, which is, as you might expect, slightly softer, slightly lower, but nonetheless in good spirits. I think he's looking good and sounding good. This Palm Sunday mass kicks off a very busy Holy Week for Pope Francis. You'll see him seated during this mass, but that was already something that the pope had been doing because of a knee problem that's not related to the bronchitis.

There is a cardinal who celebrates the mass. The pope presides at the mass. They say the this is something that he's been doing for some time now. And so he will have a number of events coming up throughout this week, including Friday evening at the Coliseum, in the evening outdoors, and Saturday evening Easter vigil and Sunday Easter Mass.

[05:20:02]

So this is the busiest time of the year for the pope. And certainly given that on Wednesday he was in hospital and he had been complaining about breathing problems, it's quite something to see that he's made it here.

We saw him yesterday going out from the hospital, and he seemed even surprised when he was asked would he be participating in Holy Week events, says, of course. And he has a trip to Hungary scheduled towards the end of this month. And he said that's on too. So hard to keep him down. I'm sure his doctors would appreciate it. He would take a bit of a rest. But this is not the week to do it. This is really a very important, solemn week for Christians around the world. Laila?

HARRAK: Very important week indeed. Delia what can we expect in the coming days?

D. GALLAGHER: So today we have the Palm Sunday Mass. Then the Pope hopefully will have two or three days. But remember, he's still got all of his Vatican meetings. His audience on Wednesday has a lot of public events. But don't forget also the private events. The Pope constantly throughout the day, has a whole series of people that he meets, from politicians to other religious figures.

So he's going to -- we'll see if he keeps up that schedule. And then he has his public event on Thursday. There's a mass in the morning. There's the evening mass at the juvenile jail, as I mentioned, and then the Friday evening stations of the Cross, Saturday evening mass, Sunday mass. So he's 86 years old. I mean, a Pope schedule is tough at any time, but certainly when you're recovering from bronchitis and you have an important mobility problem with your knee, that really makes it a challenge. But the Pope seems to be up to it. Laila?

HARRAK: He definitely seems to be up to it. Delia Gallagher reporting from Rome, thank you so very much, greatly appreciate it.

Now, to Israel, where the temporary suspension of controversial judicial reforms is doing little to end protests against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tens of thousands of people showed up to demonstrate in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Many marched through the streets waving flags, blowing horns, and chanting prodemocracy slogans. Some also urged the government to completely scrap the reform plan instead of just putting it off by a month. CNN's Hadas Gold has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: So this is the 13th week in a row now that tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in protest of this judicial overhaul that would give, in essence, the Israeli parliament, the politicians in power, a lot of say over the Israeli judiciary.

Now, these protesters are still out here on the street on a Saturday night, despite the fact that last week the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced that they were going to be pausing the legislation, at least for one month, to allow time for negotiations.

But for many of these protesters, essentially, they don't believe it. They don't believe Benjamin Netanyahu, and they say that they're going to continue coming out to the streets to protest until this legislation is completely off the table.

Many of the protesters that I've talked to say they're willing to give the compromise reform that's being discussed right now a chance. But they still feel as though that their idea of Israeli democracy and the attendance of the judiciary is still very much at risk. And that's why they're continuing to come out to the streets in massive numbers as a way they feel, of protecting the Israeli democracy. Hadas Gold, CNN Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces on Saturday in two separate cases.

In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers fatally shot a 23-year-old Palestinian man after he allegedly hit three people with a car. And in Jerusalem, Israeli police say they killed a 26-year-old Palestinian man after he allegedly grabbed an officer's gun.

At first, authorities said there was no footage to prove their claims, which have been disputed. But after CNN confirmed that security cameras were at the scene, authorities changed their story and said they collected all footage of the surrounding area for investigation.

In Iran, a brazen attack on a woman and her friend for not wearing hijab has reportedly resulted in the women's arrest. Surveillance video shows an agitated man confronting the women in a shop and pelting them with yogurt.

The man was pushed out of the store and charged with disturbance of order, but the women were reportedly arrested, too for hijab violations. Well, it comes despite months of protests across Iran that erupted when a young woman died in custody after being detained for not wearing the headscarf.

Crucial parliamentary elections are underway in Finland that could shift that country significantly to the right. The ruling liberal coalition of Prime Minister Sanna Marin is locked in a three-way tie with two right wing parties. The election comes just as Finland is about to join NATO, which is hugely consequential given Finland's long border with Russia.

[05:25:20]

But domestically, there's been growing discontent among some Finns toward the current government's liberal policies, and that's created an opportunity for candidates on the right. Preliminary election results are expected later today. And polls are open in Montenegro as the small Balkan country votes for president and it promises to be a closely watched election.

The incumbent, Milo Dukanovic, has presided over the country's politics since the early 1990s, but he's being challenged by a relatively young pro-European economist in a country where many voters are tired of political gridlock and suspected corruption.

And Bulgarians are voting in General Election Sunday, their fifth in two years. The country is a NATO and E.U. member, but its population is torn over loyalties in Russia's war on Ukraine, while the country's political parties also struggled to maintain coalitions in the past several years, even as voters fret over soaring prices, widespread poverty, and poor health care. And many complain the same people are running in election after election.

The Security Council takes political fire from Ukraine. Russia assumes the leadership of the influential U.N. body, and now President Zelenskyy is telling the council it's time for reforms. We'll explain.

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[05:30:15]

HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak, and you're watching CNN Newsroom.

Ukraine is expressing outrage as Russia takes over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council. Moscow began its month-long rotating leadership on Saturday, but not without a major pushback from Kyiv. While on the front lines, Russia's Wagner mercenaries appear to be making some progress in Bakhmut. The black flag you see on the bottom of your screen is Wagner's. The group posted this video that seems to show the flag on a building near the city's center.

We're covering these developments for you from all angles. David McKenzie is standing by in Kyiv while Clare Sebastian joins us now live from London.

First to you, David. Wagner fighters appear to have raised the group's flag near the center of embattled Bakhmut. Does this mean that it's now in Russian hands?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, not necessarily, but it might mean that at least temporarily, they were able to access that rooftop and place that distinctive black flag in the center of Bakhmut. I think what it is, is of course, a propaganda victory for the mercenary group that has been battling along with regular Russian forces for many months now to take over Bakhmut, that city in the east.

There isn't any indication that at least the majority of city has been taken by Wagner or Russian troops. Certainly that's not the news we are getting over the last few days, but it is a moment where it reminds one of the intense fighting of that largely destroyed city and the important symbolic moment that they have released for their own purposes. Laila.

HARRAK: Now, scathing criticism from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came out strongly against Russia taking over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council. What more can you tell us?

MCKENZIE: Well, Russia is of course, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, along with four other nations, including the U.S. And you can't help but think this is an ironic moment that they take on this largely symbolic role to lead the Council over the next month.

The Foreign Minister called it a terrible April fool's joke. And President Zelenskyy was, in fact, as you say, scathing about this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia is chairing the U.N. Security Council. It's hard to imagine anything that proves more the total bankruptcy of such institutions. There is no form of terror that Russia has not already committed. And there will be no reason that will stop the reform of global institutions, in particular the U.N. Security Council, the reform that is obviously overdue to prevent a terrorist state and any other state that wants to be a terrorist from destroying the peace.

MCKENZIE: Well, here's the thing, though. Of course Ukrainians will complain about this. The U.S. head of the mission there has also but there's very little that can be done about this. The U.N. is set up in the system that has a rotating presidency of the Council every month, a new permanent or non-permanent member takes up that slot. But you can be sure that the Russian representative will use this time in even more spotlight to push their agenda at the U.N. It is again, with some level of irony, the U.N. charter itself. The very first article is stating that the U.N. was set up to avoid aggression and avoid wars, just like Russia has done here in Ukraine. Laila?

HARRAK: David McKenzie reporting from Kyiv. Thank you so much. For now, we want to take you now to London, to Clare Sebastian, she's standing by. Clare, Russia running the U.N. Security Council, as David has just been reporting, Ukraine is calling it the worst April Fool's Day joke. What has the response been from Moscow?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We haven't had an official response later to those comments by President Zelenskyy or the ones by his foreign minister calling it, as you say, the worst April Fool's joke. But we do know, certainly from my colleague Richard Roth on the ground at the United Nations, that those who back Russia there have been pretty quick to point out sort of historical hypocrisy, saying that the U.S., as a permanent member of the Security Council, launched an invasion of Ukraine -- sorry, of Iraq in 2003 without the Security Council's knowledge or prior permission.

So there's a bit of sort of what about ism going on there. I will say, though, it's worth pointing out that Russia, despite railing against NATO and the U.S. and Ukraine's Western allies is very much prizes its position as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

[05:35:03]

It's just released a new foreign policy doctrine in which it literally says that its international position, its position in the world is defined by, among other things, its status as a permanent member of the Security Council. So this is very important to Russia. And I think, as David pointed out, you can expect them to use this month to certainly push their agenda and their message over Ukraine.

HARRAK: Clare, let's NATO. Finland joining the military alliance imminently without Sweden. Moments ago, I asked Finland's former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb about that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDER STUBB, FORMER FINNISH PRIME MINISTER: I would have preferred Finland to join together with Sweden, but there wasn't that much Finland could do about it because it was Turkey and Hungary that decided to ratify at a different pace. But I'm very confident that Sweden will be there. And I think the big picture should be kept in mind, and that is that both countries security situation is actually very good at the moment. We have de facto security guarantees as it stands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: So Clare he's confident Sweden will join the alliance eventually. Is that sentiment shared?

SEBASTIAN: Certainly by the NATO secretary general, who said on Saturday that he was hopeful that he thinks all allies agree that a rapid conclusion of the ratification process for Sweden is in everyone's interest. He said also in recent weeks that he thinks it doesn't matter if they join at different times as long as they both join. So there's that, look obviously Turkey and Hungary are still holding out on Sweden. Turkey because it believes that Sweden is not doing enough to crack down on groups that it sees as terrorist organizations. Hungary has a list of grievances, including I believes Sweden is undermining relations between the two countries and bashing it diplomatically.

Arguably, the Finland joining NATO, if you look at that map, is more of a problem for Russia because of that 830 miles border, more than doubling the existing border between NATO and Europe. But I think it's also something that the alliance will be looking at, because if Sweden joins at the same time, then you get that block of countries from the Russian border across the Baltic to the North Sea. And of course, it denies Russia an opportunity to emphasize any signs of Western disunity.

HARRAK: Clare Sebastian reporting, thank you so much, Clare.

Now, illicit versions of fentanyl are causing tens of thousands of deaths. Ahead how chemicals used to make the drug are moved across borders before the final product lands in the United States.

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[05:40:43]

HARRAK: The FBI says it conducted a bust at a home in southern California which housed one of the biggest drug labs they've ever seen. Agencies more than EUR4000 of meth counterfeit, Xanax and and so-called bath salts. They were in dozens of barrels, boxes, and bags loaded with pills and raw ingredients. So far, no word on arrests.

While the U.S. centers for disease control and prevention says more than a million people have died of overdoses in two decades. Many deaths are blamed on illicit versions of the opioid fentanyl. But recently, the food and drug administration approved an over-the- counter version of the antidote Narcan. CNN's David Culver looks at how fentanyl gets from China through Mexico and into the streets of the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT : The U.S.' largest port of entry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are we all going?

CULVER: Also, it's busiest. Each day, more than 100,000 people enter the U.S. through the San Ysidro crossing. About 800 customs and border protection officers tasked with keeping the bad from seeping through this part of the border.

MARIZA MARIN, SAN YSIDRO PORT DIRECTOR, U.S. CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION: Very difficult and complex job for them to in a matter of moments and sometimes seconds identify whether someone presents a threat coming into this nation or not.

CULVER: Among the deadliest threats, illicit fentanyl.

MARIN: So we want to feel the door to make sure it doesn't feel heavy and there's nothing in there.

CULVER: The CBP tells us that more than half of all the fentanyl found at the US. Borders comes from ports here in San Diego. Officials say this is ground zero for illicit fentanyl smuggling.

MARIN: We will probably double what we saw last year within the next month or two.

CULVER: That's double the amount of fentanyl seized in all of 2022 in just the first four months of this year. (On camera): But before the fentanyl even reaches the U.S. border, you

need to know where it's coming from. And for that, we start not over there in Mexico, but in China.

(Voice-over): Specifically Shijiazhuang, China, a city some 200 miles south of Beijing known for manufacturing pharmaceutical drugs and once a major hub for fentanyl production.

In May 2019 facing mounting U.S. pressure, China took a major step and banned the production and sale of all known forms of fentanyl, including any variants of the drug.

MATT DONAHUE, FORMER CHIEF OF FOREIGN OPERATORS, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN: That was a big step that stopped fentanyl -- fentanyl, the powder coming in from China, direct in the United States.

CULVER: Matt Donahue worked for the DEA for more than three decades, retiring last year as its Chief of Foreign Operations. While he says finished fentanyl is no longer flowing out of China precursor chemicals the ingredients to make fentanyl are.

DONAHUE: If you can get to the precursor chemicals, you're going to have less fentanyl, you have less fentanyl, you have less overdose deaths.

CULVER: Using that same approach, in recent years, the U.S. levied new sanctions against a handful of Chinese chemical manufacturers to combat the global illicit drug trade. We looked into one of them, Hebei Atun Trading Company accused of being involved in fentanyl precursor chemical sales. Public records show the company was dissolved in 2021, but our investigation found the same email address once listed for Hebei Atun now linked to this Chinese company, Shanxi Naipu, registered just days after Hebei Atun began to shut down.

And look at Hebei Atun's Facebook page. Still active. It links to Shanxi Naipu not to mention the WhatsApp contacts advertised for both companies the same. So I texted a number listed on one of Shanxi Naipu's four websites without even mentioning the word fentanyl the seller, Linda Wang, asked if we wanted this substance, which can be used to make fentanyl. Wang then sent me this full menu of chemical products. A closer look reveals these are mostly precursors legal to buy, but ones that chemists tell us can be used to manufacture illicit drugs from fentanyl to cocaine. The company offers fast delivery and safety shipping.

LOGAN PAULEY, INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Door to door to USA.

CULVER: Logan Pauley is an intelligence analyst who's been investigating the flow of fentanyl precursors out of China for years. We showed him our conversation with Wang.

PAULEY: They have a warehouse in Mexico City.

[05:45:00]

CULVER: Wow. (Voice-over): We wondered if Wang would reveal any ties to the

sanctioned company.

(On camera): My colleagues tell me you are the same company as Hebei Atun. You're now called Shanxi Naipu import and Export. Haha, yes, smiley face. Sorry. I don't want to cheat you.

PAULEY: I think it's wild that they confirmed that they're the same company.

CULVER: In an email responding to our request for comment, Shanxi Naipu told us, we are not related at all to Hebei Atun, adding that they bought the sanctioned company's Facebook account, email, and cell phone number in order to, attract Internet traffic. They also deny selling the fentanyl precursor that they offered to us in multiple exchanges, and the company denies having any warehouses in the U.S. or Mexico, stressing that everything they sell is legal. We found hundreds of other Chinese chemical companies selling the same fentanyl precursors legally.

(On camera): I mean, does this show, do you think, that U.S. sanctions aren't working or aren't effective?

PAULEY: The way in which the system is being exploited by these Chinese companies makes it hard to enforce everything.

CULVER: Another problem when one precursor is banned, a substitute chemical quickly takes its place.

ALEXANDRA EVANS, CHEMIST, DC DEPARTMENT OF FORENSIC SCIENCES: So what they're doing now is they're buying compounds that are structurally very, very similar.

CULVER: Chemists point out the ease of creating a substitute ingredient called a mast precursor. Simply put, make one small chemical change, and it's no longer a banned precursor, but a legal substitute, one that's readily available to purchase by essentially anyone with Internet access. DEA officials tell us the majority of precursors ship directly to Mexico, where cartels cook up fentanyl in secret labs.

We wanted to see for ourselves. Traveling into the state of Sinaloa, cartel country, as some see it, we got exclusive access with the Mexican army as they hunt for drug labs. They took us to their latest fentanyl lab bust, this unassuming home.

(On camera): That white building right there, that's the fentanyl lab. The army says they seized 270,000 pills here, all containing fentanyl. Soldiers keep watch 24/7 preserving the scenes for prosecutors and preventing cartel members from restarting production here.

Despite what we saw and scenes like these Mexico's president claims, here in Mexico we do not produce fentanyl, he said, instead turning it on the U.S. essentially asking why the U.S. can't fix its own social decay comments that immediately made headlines across the country. China's foreign ministry points the finger in the same direction, they

told us, "Using China as a scapegoat will not solve the drug crisis in the United States." With U.S. drug overdoses at record levels and a relentless demand for opioids blame shifts from one country to another, international cooperation appears increasingly unlikely.

DONAHUE: If we had Mexico actually working with us, you could actually work against the precursors coming in and actually targeted Chinese companies from Mexico.

CULVER: Instead the burden falls here on the U.S. southern border, where drugs continue to pour in.

(On camera): Right there, narcotics?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Narcotics, we don't know what.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know what it is yet.

CULVER: They found, obviously, a significant amount of drugs in the back trunk. So we'll continue over this way and get out of their way because they're going to continue to investigate that finding.

Do you see yourself as the last line of defense.

MARIN: We're the last line of defense holding the border, but we're the first line of defense in the expansion and whole of government outreach approach. It's not just an enforcement mission. It's a humanitarian mission.

CULVER: And it really is a humanitarian mission, as the Port Director put it, especially here in the U.S. where drug overdose deaths continue to hover near records. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently referred to fentanyl as the single greatest challenge we face as a country. So it raises the question, what can be done? Well, experts tell us one thing that could be incredibly helpful is to go after the individual business owners rather than just the companies. Shanxi Naipu, the company that we engaged with through this reporting, well, they say they're taking steps to stop the negative influence, as they put it, that the U.S. sanctioned company Hebei Atun has had on their company.

And we're just noticing that several of these Shanxi Naipu websites are now offline. The seller, Linda, who we were speaking with, according to the company, she no longer works with them. David Culver, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Still ahead, a legendary shots at March Madness, the buzzer beater that will be talked about for years to come, and the two teams that will play for the championship Monday.

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[05:53:44] HARRAK: After weeks of incredible basketball, March Madness is almost over. CNN's Coy Wire has highlights from the Final Four in Houston.

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COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher used to walk around campus and hand out free tickets to San Diego State games. And now his team has just drilled a buzzer beater to send the Aztecs to its first ever national title game on Monday.

Florida Atlantic, they led admirably. Most of the game they were up just one, though, and missed the shot with 9 seconds to go. And instead of calling time out, coach Dutcher decided to let his players play. Lamont Butler with the ball. Looked like time was going to run out. He rises, fires and money. San Diego State going to the title game on a legendary March Madness buzzer beater, Aztecs rushed the floor.

Some of the students told us that they drove about 1500 miles, drove 20 hours to be here in Houston. Their hearts erupt with elation, while at the same time hearts and dreams are shattered for Florida Atlantic. They fought so hard. They had never had a single tournament win before this March Madness. But they made it all the way to within a second of the title game.

San Diego State winning 72/71 will now face UConn for a chance at one shining moment.

[05:55:04]

LAMONT BUTLER, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY GUARD: The plan was just to get downhill. They cut me off a little bit. I looked up, it was 2 seconds left. So I got to a shot that I'm comfortable with and I hit it.

DUSTY MAY, FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY COACH: I didn't have my best game, a couple guys didn't have their best game and we're not going to dwell on it. We're going to hug each other for this season and then we'll start thinking about how we can improve individually and collectively.

WIRE: Now in the late game Coach Dan Hurley's Uccon Huskies in control the entire way. They take down Miami 72/59 advancing to their first title game since 2014. Star Center Adama Sanogo scoring a game high 21 points, 10 rebounds. He grew up in Bamako Mali five older sisters, one younger brother playing soccer until he was twelve before finding his love for basketball. He speaks four languages and he speaks life into Huskies nation as they are now just one win away from a fifth national title.

ADAMA SANOGO, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT FORWARD: There's a lot of teams that want to like play Monday so it means a lot to us, it means everything work for us in the season, like pay off right now you just got to keep going and stay liking and be ready to go Monday night.

JIM LARRANAGA, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI COACH: We were really never able to just relax and play our game. We were pretty much out of character the whole night but these guys are great, great guys, great players. We've had a sensational season and they'll have memories that will last a lifetime and so alive.

WIRE: Monday night right here on this court. One team is going to rise to the occasion and cut down the nets as national champions. Who won it? It was said that this was going to be the most unpredictable final four ever and it's certainly living up to the hype.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Thanks so much for spending this part of your day with us. I'm Laila Harrak. For viewers in North America, CNN This Morning is up next. For the rest of the world it's Connecting Africa.

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