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Twenty-One-Year-Old Airman Charged With Leaking Pentagon Secrets; Supreme Court Temporarily Extends Access To Mifepristone; Montana Lawmakers Vote To Become First States To Ban TikTok; California Atmospheric Rivers Bring Dead Lake Back To Life; Prosecutors Won't Pursue Charges In Shanquella Robinson Case; CNN Team Crosses Deadly Trail Alongside Desperate Migrants. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired April 15, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:00]

EVA LONGORIA, AMERICAN ACTRESS: A lot of people may think that go as a gaming taste but it doesn't. It's very smooth and subtle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Because they've started eating grass then the flavor profile changes. That's why their only food should be milk.

LONGORIA: Also, that the spices you put on, the cabrito, they don't overpower anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): We don't add many ingredients because the produce speaks for itself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (text): I think this dish is excellent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. Catch the new episode of Eva Longoria Searching for Mexico tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we begin this hour with new details in the case against a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman. He's accused of leaking top secret Pentagon information. Jack Teixeira appeared in court yesterday and was charged under the Espionage Act. His arrest follows an intense week-long search for the source of the online leak of secret documents.

Teixeira held a top-secret security clearance and is accused of posting documents that exposed sensitive intelligence the U.S. has on both close allies and adversaries. CNN Senior National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt is joining us live from Washington right now. Alex, what more are you learning about Teixeira and, you know, learning about him and then how he was able to print off these documents?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Well, the question of printing is a very good one, whether he himself printed these top-secret documents or he was able to obtain top secret documents. What we do know now is that he posted them online. In fact, he started posting classified information back in December, that was just text. And then that evolved into these photos of these classified documents, both secret and top secret.

And we understand that there were hundreds of them that were posted on online months before these really came to light in the public. That was back on April 6 when the Secretary of Defense got his first briefing. And then, just a week later, Airman First Class Jack Teixeira was arrested at his -- at his family home just south of Boston. Now he is of a fairly low rank, he has been in the military since 2019.

And he's had this top-secret security clearance for the past two years. And the reason, Fredricka that he has this clearance is that he works at what is called the 102nd Intelligence Operations Wing. That is a military outfit that prepares intelligence products for senior military commanders around the world. And Teixeira is a -- an I.T. specialist. His technical title is a cyber defense operations journeyman.

But he's a specialized I.T. person who works on these highly classified networks. That is simply why he had access to these documents. So now investigators are certainly going to be asking him what at -- what documents he accessed and put online. They can certainly go through his computer. We know that they have started doing that. They are going to be looking at printer logs to figure out whether he did in fact print off some of these documents.

But this raises much bigger questions as well about this concept of need to know which really governs the intelligence community and who can access these kinds of documents, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then CNN has viewed some 50 of the documents so far. What is the most striking?

MARQUARDT: They really aren't quite extraordinary, especially for someone like me, who covers national security to get inside a peek behind the curtain at what U.S. intelligence thinks. And the subjects in these documents really span the globe. All areas of the world. A lot of them do focus on the war in Ukraine, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there's a lot about Ukrainian positions, the weapons that they are receiving from the west.

There's a lot about the penetration of Russia's military. Its Ministry of Defense and its intelligence services, by U.S. intelligence. That is quite remarkable. And then there are lots of references to what's called signals intelligence. That's essentially eavesdropping and that was done and is constantly being done on allies. And it's really remarkable to see that on black and white spying on Israel, spying on South Korea, spying on the United Nations.

So, it really is just a small peek behind the curtain. And there's certainly a lot more to come from these documents. WHITFIELD: And then according to The Washington Post, the documents also included an assessment about if Taiwan and China were to be, you know, sized up in terms of their air defenses.

MARQUARDT: Yes. This is a terrific example of what is contained in these documents and what the consequences could be. This is a -- an assessment by the Pentagon that was revealed by The Washington Post that says that if China were to invade Taiwan, that they would be able to establish very quick air superiority, which is very important in an invasion. The assessments go on to say that Taiwan doubts that their air defenses can accurately detect missile launchers that barely have more than half of Taiwan's aircraft are fully mission capable.

[13:05:02]

And that moving their jets to shelters would take at least a week. So Fredricka, this really does reveal U.S. thinking on Taiwan. It reveals the intelligence assessments that have -- they certainly do not want China to see. And it does expose some U.S. vulnerabilities. These assessments go on to say that U.S. intelligence is having a harder and harder time gathering intelligence on China because in this situation, China apparently is using civilian boats to hide some of their military activities.

So, it shows American intelligence vulnerabilities that again, the U.S. certainly does want -- does not want China to know about. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Alex Marquardt, thank you so much. All right. The U.S. Supreme Court has now hit pause on the battle over a key medication abortion drug. The High Court on Friday temporarily extending access to Mifepristone without any restrictions for now. The move gives the court more time to consider the issue. Earlier today, President Biden reacted to the recent ruling from a federal judge in Texas that would have suspended the FDA approval of the drug.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's outrageous what the court have done relative to concluding that they're going to overrule the FDA whether the drug is safe or not. I think it's out of their domain and -- but we'll see what happens. We'll see.

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WHITFIELD: CNN Supreme Court Reporter Ariane de Vogue has been closely following the developments. Ariane, what can we expect while the justice has reviewed the case?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Fredricka, as things stand restrictions to accessing that abortion drugs are on hold. Justice Samuel Alito stepping in and freezing a lower court opinion for now to give the justices more time to consider this issue. He has said that the court will ultimately rule Wednesday by midnight. And this does not at all forecast how they will cast their final votes. It's just meant to put things on freeze to give them more time to get ready and the Biden administration and the manufacturers of this drug argued that the lower court got it wrong in restricting access. They say if the lower court opinion is allowed to stand labeling on the drug jug will change. For instance, women will only be able to access it up to seven weeks of pregnancy instead of 10 weeks.

Women would have to come in and have it administrated in person instead of being able to get it by mail. This will make abortion access more difficult. The Justice Department says, unless the Supreme Court steps in. They want the justices to either freeze the lower court opinion for now permanently while the appeals process plays out below. Or alternatively, they want the justices themselves to bypass the lower courts. Take up this issue themselves and render a decision by the end of June.

Abortion medication continues to be used by a majority of women seeking abortions today. The Supreme Court is going to consider a couple of things that look at whether the doctors have the legal right to be in court. They'll look at the scope of the FDA's authority in this area. It all comes of course, as it's been less than a year since the High Court reversed Roe v. Wade. And now the justices are poised to consider whether to make abortion more difficult to obtain even in the states that allow it. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Ariane de Vogue, thanks so much. All right. Montana is set to become the first U.S. state to completely ban TikTok in the state including from all personal devices. State lawmakers passed legislation Friday to prohibit the app from operating within state lines. This comes after some members of Congress called for a nationwide ban on the app citing national security concerns.

Joining me right now is CNN Business Correspondent Clare Duffy. So Clare, this is the furthest step yet by a state government to restrict TikTok. Explain how it's going to happen.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. So, this would ban TikTok from all personal devices within Montana. And this House will -- yesterday pushed Montana one step closer. The bill now heads to the governor's desk and he is likely to sign it. The governor of Montana has already banned TikTok from state devices. So, what this bill would do is it would put in place a fine for either TikTok or app store operators who made it possible for users in the state to access the app.

It would be $10,000 fine a day. And it doesn't really sort of sets a precedent that other states could follow as well as nationwide. There have been a number of conversations recently. Bill proposals that could ban TikTok nationwide.

WHITFIELD: So, Clare, this could also set a precedent, right? For other states to pass similar legislation or even for a nationwide ban?

DUFFY: Exactly, yes. This is sort of setting up this fight. And I think we're getting a sense from what's happening in Montana of what the nationwide fight could look like. The ways that TikTok will push back as well as users.

[13:10:01]

TikTok for its part has said that the bill's champion -- sorry. TikTok as the bill's champions have already admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices, and that the bills constitutionality will be decided by the courts. So, you see TikTok already sort of setting up the fact that there's going to be a court battle over this bill, if the governor signs it.

And what's interesting to me, too, you know, we -- in the last couple of weeks, we've seen users in Montana posting TikTok videos saying, call your representatives. We don't want to lose access to the to this app. And so, I think that's something that we could also see if we get closer to a nationwide ban. This is pushback from users who won't be happy about this.

WHITFIELD: How is this going to be enforced?

DUFFY: It is a good question. You know, both app stores, TikTok is sort of said how are we going -- how are we supposed to restrict users in one certain state. App store operators have said this will be difficult for us to do. But -- so, I think it's sort of an open question, too. And I think that's also something that we'll see come up in court potentially.

WHITFIELD: All right. Clare Duffy, let us know. Thank you.

All right. Coming up. Sons of the notorious drug lord El Chapo are facing charges from the DOJ in its crackdown on the deadly influx of fentanyl into the U.S. What we know about the sprawling Justice Department indictments.

Plus, conditions not fit for a diseased animal eaten alive by bedbugs. That's what one family says led to the death of a Georgia inmate. Details next.

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WHITFIELD: The Department of Justice announcing charges against more than two dozen leaders of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa Cartel. Among them sons of notorious drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. The charges range from fentanyl trafficking to money and weapons laundering and spanned three countries where members of the cartel allegedly operate. Polo Sandoval Joining me now from New York with more on this. Polo, what are we hearing about the case?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the pages and indictments filed in Washington, D.C., Illinois and here in New York until very dark and violent story about what the FBI, the DEA, the Department of Justice, all described as one of the most prolific and violent fentanyl trafficking organizations in the world. And at the center, the Chapitos, we may not have heard too much of them before but they're called The Little Chapos which are the children, the sons of Joaquin Guzman who we know as El Chapo. Ivan, Alfredo, Ovidio and Joaquin.

One of them in custody. Three of them, according to federal investigators have been identified as the tip of the spear in terms of this global fentanyl trafficking organization that starts in China. According to the Department of Justice, cartel brokers will purchase those precursor chemicals which are basically the ingredients that are needed to manufacture fentanyl. And then will transport them in a graph that you're about to see that's been provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Will then transport them to Mexico to secret labs where they typically are then cut down into powder, pills. From those labs, the cartels move that fentanyl into the United States where it's sold wholesale. Some criminal organizations according to the Feds even makes this fentanyl into drugs like cocaine or heroin or in some cases even will sell fentanyl pills as counterfeit prescription pain medication.

All the profits, then going into Mexico fueling this vicious cycle. I want you to hear directly from the Attorney General of the United States as he points out why this case that was unveiled yesterday is so significant.

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MERRICK GARLAND, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: The thing that makes this case particularly important is that we're going after the entire network, from precursors to importation into Mexico, to the manufacturer, to the weapons, to the money launderers, to the distribution in the United States. But we -- this is just one of the most important cases we brought.

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SANDOVAL: Most important but also extremely disturbing, Fred. Some very graphic descriptions coming from federal authorities yesterday as they were breaking down this case, saying that in some cases, members of the Chapitos Organization basically tie down individuals and then test the potency of their fentanyl on them. And one particular case even injecting a woman with that drug until she overdosed and died.

This really is just a very disturbing description that what we've heard. That's meant to really punctuate just the violent nature of this organization and also of the drug that continues to kill some 200 Americans a day in the streets of the United States.

WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now to Georgia where an outbreak of bedbugs and vermin has prompted the transfer of more than 600 Fulton County jail inmates to other facilities. This is all happening against the backdrop of calls for an investigation into the jail. The family of an incarcerated man who died after allegedly living in this cell last year is now demanding a criminal probe into his death and for the facility to be closed.

CNN's Isabel Rosales joining me right now with more on this. So, Isabel, tell us more about the family of the deceased inmate. What kind of demands are making?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And what they are claiming that LaShawn Thompson went through in that jail is disturbing. We heard a little bit more about this from the family attorney Michael Harper, and from the family who spoke at a press conference this past week. And they said that despite this death happening in September of last year, it took them this long to get documents and piece together what happened.

Now they said that Thompson was in jail in custody for a misdemeanor assault charge, and that he was in the psychiatric wing due to some mental health issues. And he had only been there for three months. They are blaming unsanitary conditions, and then complications from insect bites for his death. So, they're making three big demands here. First, they want a criminal investigation into Thompson's death.

They want The Fulton County jail to close and they want a new one to be built in its place.

[13:20:04]

Listen now to Thompson's own brother what he had to say.

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BRAD MCCRAE, BROTHER OF LASHAWN THOMPSON: It was heartbreaking because nobody should be seen like that. Nobody should see that. But the first thing that entered my mind was Emmett Till. I thought about Emmett too. Comparing those photos. It was heartbreaking.

MICHAEL HARPER, ATTORNEY FOR LASHAWN THOMPSON'S FAMILY: It's an inexcusable death. It is an outrage. And we're calling on (INAUDIBLE) the Fulton County to demand better and to demand a new jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: So, we did hear back from the Fulton County Sheriff's Office who say that they are prohibited by law from revealing too much about Thompson's health issues or they say what decisions he made regarding his right to accept or to refuse medical care. Now we have the statement from them where they say that the Sheriff Patrick Labat also wants a new jail.

And they say this in the statement. "Without making any explicit statements about Mr. Thompson's health, it is fair to say that this is one of many cases that illustrate the desperate need for expanded and better mental health services. This is precisely why Sheriff Labat continues to call build -- for building a new Fulton County Jail and criminal justice complex." It is also very important to note that we, CNN, we reviewed documents from the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office where they listed the cause and the manner of death for Thompson as undetermined. So, they don't have that information. WHITFIELD: Now, what about any corroboration coming from the Fulton County authorities as to whether the photographs that we see of that cell, is that representative of the condition of the cells?

ROSALES: So, we did pose that question to the sheriff's office. We asked specifically about those photographs of the family handed to us, their attorney. And they say that they cannot corroborate that those or verify that those photos are from inside of the jail or specifically show Thompson's old cell.

WHITFIELD: All right, Isabel Rosalas. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right. Still ahead. Federal prosecutors tell the family of the woman who died while on vacation in Mexico, that they won't pursue charges in her death. Shanquella Robinson's mother and their the family attorney joining me live next.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Right now, water is receding on the southeast Florida coast following a historic and catastrophic flooding event that wreaks havoc on the region. Closing transportation hubs, schools and government offices and completely submerging streets and access points. Over two feet or a month's worth of rain fell in about an hour on Wednesday closing down the airport, in fact in Fort Lauderdale for multiple hours stretching over a couple of days and then trapping frustrated travelers inside in fact.

It has since reopened and cleanup is underway. And there's a clear picture emerging of how the climate crisis is not just a matter of getting warmer or colder. The reality is we now live in a series of extremes. CNN's Bill Weir shows us how one critical spot in California went from nearly bone dry to drowning.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In California Central Valley farmers have spent much of the last 20 years praying for rain. But then came this winter of relentless rivers in the sky, enough to bring a long dead lake back to life and drought over 150 square miles of farmland and counting. So now, they pray for the water to stop.

WEIR (on camera): It is mind blowing to realize that if you'd stood here for the last couple of generations, you'd be watching the sunset over dusty fields of cotton or alfalfa or pistachio of trees. And now it is waterfront property. I had no idea Tulare Lake was once the biggest freshwater body west of the Mississippi but it was dammed and dived and drained to build a $2-billion-dollar agriculture industry.

And now it's back. It's proof that water never forgets. And this may just be the beginning because behind those clouds over there, the Sierra Nevadas are so packed with snow. 260 percent above normal and sooner or later that's going to melt which is only going to make this flooding worse and last longer.

WEIR (voice over): The last time it flooded this dramatically here was 1983. And it took two years to dry out.

WEIR (on camera): You were telling me about the effects in '83.

SIDONIO PALMERIN, COUNCIL MEMBER, CORCORAN, CALIFORNIA: Yes.

WEIR: The town hollowed out pretty much.

PALMERIN: Yes. I was on the school board at that time, in 1983, and we lost half our school population, about one-third of our city population. And a lot of the people that were field workers lost their homes, their cars.

WEIR (voice over): And this time, in addition to the dripping time bomb in the mountains, Corcoran is many feet lower in elevation after years of over pumping groundwater to grow thirstier crops made this one of the fastest sinking areas in the nation.

DANIEL L. SWAIN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UCLA: So, the ground has literally sunk in some places by 10 or 15 feet over the past decade. That has literally changed the topography of the historical lakebed. Some places are lower even than they were the last time there was a big flood event. So, there's quite a few unknowns.

WEIR: That is UCLA scientist Daniel Swain. And summer he published a paper that found whether whiplash will become only more extreme on an overheating planet. And worse case, Tulare Lake could grow into a vast inland sea.

SWAIN: That as disruptive and as damaging as this year's flooding has been, it's still nowhere near close to what we foresee as the plausible worst-case scenario.

DAVE ROBINSON, KINGS COUNTY SHERIFF: The levy that we're standing on is called the Corcoran Levy. It's a 14.5-mile levee that protects the city of Corcoran, the two state prisons, the residents here. There's about 22,000 residents and about 8,000 inmates. And so, the work behind us that you'll see over here, with the tractor work in the distance, they're actually building the levee up another four to five feet. And God-willing, that will protect the city of Corcoran.

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WEIR (on camera): There's a race against the melt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's exactly right.

WEIR: Right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we've been fortunate with a very slow, mild spring so far, but we know the heat's coming.

MARTINA SEALY, CORCORAN RESIDENT: All of the crops are completely flooded and ruined. So that it takes a lot of jobs from people. That's a lot of food that we provide for (inaudible) California and all around the nation. It's pretty scary.

WEIR: And unfortunately, this is just the beginning, right?

SEALY: Very beginning.

WEIR: Because the melt hasn't even really begun.

SEALY: Yes, this is just from the rain, the snow melts, there's nowhere for it to go besides, here.

WEIR: So, Tulare Lake is back for a while.

SEALY: Yes, it's back and it may take over and play this out.

WEIR: While I met some young families like that one who were thinking about leaving altogether, there are other folks, lifelong senior residents of Corcoran, now frantically trying to figure out how to buy flood insurance in a town that would -- that would have been laughable for the last 20 years. It's been so dry here. But you get just a little taste of why this disaster will cost at least $2 billion to the agriculture industry here in the Central Valley.

These were mostly cattle and dairy operations around here. As a result, a lot of this water is contaminated. And now the state has to try to figure out can they get some of this into the aqueduct system? Can they store it? Is any of this recharging aquifers, that have shrunk as all of this land has been tapped over the years? So many questions. And this is just the beginning of what the National Weather Service in Reno calls an ultra-marathon of snow melt. Bill Weir, CNN Corcoran, California.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, federal prosecutors tell the family of the woman who died while on vacation in Mexico that they won't pursue charges in her death. We'll discuss the case next.

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[13:35:00]

WHITFIELD: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and his team recently joined 1000s of migrants crossing the Darien Gap, a trail that spans from South America to Central America. And the route is used by 1000s of migrants seeking a path to the U.S. There are no roads in this path. People must make it on foot, carrying all their possessions as they hike through the dense jungle, rushing waters, steep mountain sides.

But despite the danger, the number of migrants on this trail only continues to grow. The team did this walk over five days. And the stories they found are extraordinary.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At dawn, the first thing that strikes you is how few of them seem to grasp what's coming. Gently packing crackers and tying sneakers by waving a Kleenex at a stone. The second thing that strikes you is how organized the cartel wanted to seem.

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PATON WALSH: They only walk when they're told to. The stories here are many. But there is only one goal, America. And the dream is just that, a reverie of hope, of conviction that they will be the ones to make it over danger, disease, dehydration, deportation, about this number every day, every year, almost doubling.

The Darien Gap is the only land corridor from South America where entry is easier to its north where it's not. There are no roads, only 66 miles of treacherous jungle, from Colombia to Panama and onwards North, 3000 miles to the U.S. border. We walked the entire route of the Darien Gap over five days in February to document the suffering endured by people, milked for cash by cartels, unwanted by any country.

What's startling is the sheer number of children on this track as it begins on a route, sometimes adults don't even survive.

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WHITFIELD: Wow, it's an extraordinary and arduous path. Nick Paton Walsh joining us right now. Nick, your report is part of the first episode of the highly anticipated show 'The Whole Truth' with Anderson Cooper on Sunday night. Tell us more about what you saw. It took you five days as you're reported, but on average, is that what it takes any or all of the migrants in order to get through this 66-mile path?

PATON WALSH: Yes, about four or five days on average, I think it's fair to say. We were slightly delayed by the fact we had to stop and film things along the way. But the most I think compelling part of this is the volume of people doing it. It is not a small enterprise. In fact, we left in that camp you saw there, with 800 people there alone, hundreds of them joined on other different parts of the route as well.

And so that means that if people are taking about five days each, there's about 6000 people in the jungle at any one time on this route, moving through it. Last year was a record of a quarter of a million people making this trek. As you saw there, it's the way to get from South America, up towards the U.S. Mexico border through other countries on the way as well. And so many of these people are children.

They are very young. They are toddlers, one separated briefly from his parents, a very vibrant kid called Wilson from Haiti, age five. He was great fun to talk to, fortunately reunited with his parents. Another 12-year-old girl from Venezuela whose mother simply couldn't get the medication to deal with her epileptic convulsions. She was disabled as well. The mother had been sold a rosy picture of how easy the walk would be. They simply couldn't make it and had to rely upon the help of strangers.

[13:40:00]

The numbers are staggering. And so, at times, we found ourselves in traffic jams in the jungle, choke points where people had to climb over a tree root one by one and behind you, you'd look and just see the queue stretching down the hill, winding through the jungle. But Fredericka, the beautiful thing about some of this is that this is a process born of desperation, certainly of people fleeing Haiti, Venezuela, the increased collapse of Ecuador and China, of course, where COVID suppression has really taken a toll on people's desire to be there.

And they are essentially exploited by the cartel, that runs this process, charges the money, makes it look organized until you get into Panama from Colombia, and essentially, you're on your own. It's all depressing, as is the route with its risks, exhaustion, lack of food, snakes that could potentially kill you, criminals preying upon the migrants.

But there is a kernel of beauty in all of this. And that's how people respond and help each other, respond to and help each other. We kept seeing time and time again, strangers who would put their own concerns about exhaustion to one side to help that 12-year-old girl get through to the end, one man carried her on his back for a number of days.

They make a stretcher to carry a 20-year-old Venezuelan kid who hurt his ankle until the very end. That was something extraordinary to behold and it shines, I think the light on how beautiful the human spirit can be in these difficult conditions, but also too, the ultimate takeaway is how desperate these people must be, the horrors they must be leaving, frankly, there the economic conditions of mismanaged Venezuela under sanctions or the sheer hell of gang controled parts of Haiti.

It's very human, the desire to leave to find a better life. And also too, during that struggle, there's very human signs of how people simply reach out to each other in times of need. Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Yes, this clearly magnifies so much. Nick Paton Walsh look forward to seeing all of it. Everyone watch as Nick and his team embark on this treacherous journey through the Darien Gap, a lawless jungle riddled with danger alongside migrants hoping for a better life, on the other side. The first installment of this highly anticipated series 'The Whole Truth' with Anderson Cooper premieres tomorrow night 8pm, right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

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[13:45:00]

WHITFIELD: We have an update about a North Carolina woman who died in Mexico last fall. Federal prosecutors have told the family of Shanquella Robinson, they don't have enough evidence to file charges in the case. The 25-year-old died in October while staying at a luxury rental property in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. video posted online appeared to show a physical altercation inside a room between Robinson and another person.

But it's not clear when that video was taken or if the video depicts the moment that she suffered a fatal injury. The death certificate classified her death as accidental or violent. Joining me right now is Sallamondra Robinson. She is the mother of Shanquella Robinson. And Quilla Long, Shanquella's sister. And also with us, Sue Ann Robinson. She is the attorney for the family.

Thanks to all of you for joining me but my deepest condolences on the loss of your daughter, your sister. I mean, this is heartbreaking. And this was last October. I'm -- I am almost confident that this feels still so very fresh. So, I wonder if you could give me an idea on Sallamondra, what -- what did investigators tell you when they said there wasn't enough evidence to bring charges? Did they say what was missing in order for them to proceed further on investigating her death?

SALLAMONDRA ROBINSON, DAUGHTER FOUND DEAD WHILE VACATIONING IN MEXICO WITH COLLEGE FRIENDS: No, pretty much they just said it wasn't enough evidence but I don't know why it wasn't because there was a video saying that she was being brutally beaten and attacked. She was not fighting back. So, if she had a neck broke, either if she had trauma to the brain, it's still due to the beating. She took a beating. And you know and if you can't see that, then I don't know what's wrong.

WHITFIELD: So yes, Quilla, I mean this video that allegedly shows you know your sister being beaten, I mean, do you recognize the -- if it was one other person or any other people in that video, do you recognize that your sister is in that video?

QUILLA LONG, SISTER FOUND DEAD WHILE VACATIONING IN MEXICO WITH COLLEGE FRIENDS: I recognize my sister and that video and I recognize the friend who she called a good friend of hers, Kalia Cook in the video as well. He's standing off to the side, watching and he is one of the ones that from initially came back and said it was alcohol poisoning. He was one of the ones that said that at some point, it had gotten out that something that there was over there fighting her.

At that time, he said it wasn't any fight. He didn't see any fight. Nobody wasn't fighting. And here a video gets leaked and he's standing in a room watching the entire thing.

WHITFIELD: And have you or any other family members spoken to the people in this video and you know, particularly the friend you said you know who was traveling with your sister.

LONG: Since that video, no one. They went ghost.

WHITFIELD: Meaning no one can find them? Prosecutors or investigators haven't been able to find.

[13:50:00]

LONG: I can't say they can find him. We know that they're not -- they -- we know they tried to come back a day early. We know that they changed certain ones changed their phone numbers. We know some of them deleted their social media account. Whether or not this stuff that's back up and going now, I don't know. But at that point that was going on.

WHITFIELD: OK. And of course, CNN cannot verify the names that you're sharing, we have not been privy to the names of the people involved, or the identities and the video, but we appreciate, you know, your point of view here. So, I wonder, you know, Sue Ann, you are not happy with how this is going?

I mean, that investigators say they can't go any further. And you're hearing from Quilla here, who talks about, you know, being able to identify the people in the video with her sister. Why isn't there enough in your view?

SUE-ANN ROBINSON, ATTORNEY FOR SHANQUELLA ROBINSON'S FAMILY: Well, there isn't enough because the investigation was delayed. The FBI unfortunately dropped the ball and did not take the case serious from its initiation from when the family first reached out and started saying we're having a problem.

So, they started investigating and becoming involved and preparing a secondary autopsy, which is what they said in the meeting that we were all in, after the body had already been embalmed and transported back to the United States. So, if they would have taken the case seriously, from the beginning, obviously they could have intercepted, they could have done their own secondary autopsy in Mexico, or ordered the bodies to be transported a different way so that the autopsy would not be compromised for the purposes of their criminal investigation.

But they didn't open a criminal investigation or speak to any of the witnesses until after their second autopsy results came in. So, by that time, witnesses' memories fade, actual physical evidence will be gone. Obviously, the body was compromised for the autopsy because it was in a different condition. But the parties, the witnesses were in the United States at large, able to talk to each other, they had access to their own cell phones.

All of the things that we all know that the most critical point in any criminal investigation, especially in a transnational criminal investigation, the first 48 hours are the are the time to jump on it, to keep all the evidence safe. And that just wasn't done in this case. It wasn't prioritized. And they didn't take it serious from the beginning.

WHITFIELD: But at the same time, it was only October. And you know, what investigative agencies Sue-Ann, are you saying should be involved here and to what extent should they be pressed or held to continuing the investigation? I mean, it was only October. Yes, 48 hours critical, as you just mentioned, but there's still time in which to get the pieces together on what took place, right?

ROBINSON: I think there's time. The issue is that every day that passes, which is why we had a press conference, which is why we've been saying from the beginning, there's so much urgency on the case, and we're asking for a high level of diplomatic intervention is because as with any case, if there's multiple parties involved, and they're all at large in the United States, and able to communicate with each other, they can talk to each other, they can delete evidence, they can, you know, hide evidence, they can do anything, because they're just at large sleeping in their beds at night. So that's kind of the problem. And these are seasoned investigators, obviously. This is -- this is the Charlotte branch of the FBI. So, they know those things. So, to say that they're going to conduct a secondary autopsy after the body has already been embalmed and then transported to the United States, they know it's going to be compromised.

It's our -- it's already going to have -- they already have the body in a different condition. And then when you're going to talk to witnesses and people that were in the villa, people that were in the room at the time, people who leaked the video that we all saw, all of those things, time has passed since October. And so that delay is going to cause discrepancies in the evidence.

That's the only reason why I bring up the 48 hours because these are seasoned investigators that know these.

WHITFIELD: Well, I know you all are not giving up I know you as a family will be planning to hold a rally outside of the U.S. State Department next month, which will be on the 200th day anniversary of her death of Shanquella Robinson's death. Again, my heart goes out to all of you. Please keep us posted. I know you're not giving up on this investigation.

It really is still in its infancy, given last October, she died. Sallamondra Robinson, Quilla Long, Sue-Ann Robinson, thanks to all of you ladies really appreciate it. We'll be right back.

ROBINSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This week on 'Searching for Mexico,' Eva Longoria visits the northeastern state of Nuevo Leone which borders her home state of Texas and much of the food there reminds her of home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: Oh my God, y'all I grew up with this. I grew up with ranch style frijoles, every day of my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are going to spend maybe three hours boiling the frijoles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)