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Manhunt Intensifies After Five Killed, Including Eight-Year- Old; Convoy Of U.S. Evacuees Reached Port Of Sudan; Major Banks Bidding To Buy First Republic. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 30, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, right now, the manhunt for the suspected shooter who left five people dead in Texas is intensifying. Police say 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza disappeared after Friday night's attack in Cleveland, Texas.

Investigators say it started after his neighbors asked him to stop shooting a rifle in his yard to allow their baby to sleep. One of the victims was just eight-years-old.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is there in Cleveland, Texas.

Ed, where are authorities concentrating their efforts?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka.

Well, the search continues. They have been very focused on this area around Cleveland, Texas. But yesterday, law enforcement officials started saying that they had lost track. There had been dogs that were following the scent of this suspect, 32-year-old Francisco Oropeza, but the last we heard from law enforcement on Saturday evening, is that they had lost that trail, that the trail had gone cold. And the sheriff now saying he could be anywhere.

Now, this suspect is described as a Mexican national. He lived in this home here just on the outskirts of Cleveland, Texas. This is the area where the neighbors were saying that Oropeza was in his yard on Friday night, late, firing off various firearms.

The victims that were -- the five people that were killed were in this home, literally right next door separated by this long chain-link fence.

This is a residential neighborhood, but the lot sizes are rather large, about an acre. So, there is a lot of space around these homes. But as you can see they live relatively close together.

Investigators say inside, there were 10 people at the time of the shooting. As I mentioned, five of those victims were killed. We are told that they are Honduran nationals that live next door here. They ranged in age from 31 years old, to an eight-year-old boy; three women, an adult male, and then the young boy that was killed here.

Three other survivors were taken to a hospital, they weren't injured, but they were covered in blood. And so they needed to be checked out.

What is not clear, Fredricka here, as we've seen here, and investigators say they are continuing to search, they are urging people to call in if they see this man anywhere, and they are urging people to remember that he is armed and considered very dangerous.

This is FBI official speaking yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES SMITH, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, HOUSTON FIELD OFFICE: We consider him armed and dangerous and we are not going to stop until we actually arrest him and bring him into custody.

But he is out there and he's a threat to the community. So, I don't want anyone to think that that is something different than that. He is a threat to the community, and we need the community's help to hopefully locate him soon and take him off the streets tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Fredricka, you know the disturbing part of all of this is that the family that was in this home, various family members have told law enforcement that they had actually just come across and told -- asked the neighbor to stop shooting his firearms late Friday night because one of the children in the house was trying to go to sleep.

Now, what is not clear, as you know, you see this property separated by a long chain-link fence, it is not clear if the suspect jumped over or if he came out this way. This is the gate that takes you inside the property if he came out here, and then walked this way back over to the house. We don't know those details here yet.

But clearly the circumstances surrounding this shooting, and now the manhunt for this suspect makes this an incredibly tragic and horrifying situation -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Ed, have any of the neighbors ever reflected on what their interaction has been like with Oropeza, if this is, you know, just such a shock to them because of the demeanor that they were usually accustomed to or in step with these allegations?

LAVANDERA: Well, we've talked to a couple of neighbors who say, you know, they didn't really have any issues with him. In fact, if you look down there in the distance of the property, you can see two horses.

We spoke with one neighbor who said, you know, the extent of their interaction with him is that they would often see this suspect to come out and essentially ride those horses here in this neighborhood, outside of Cleveland, Texas. He lived here.

They told us he is with a wife that they believed he had a young child. We spoke with one woman whose son had played with their child a couple of times. We haven't seen any evidence or signs of those people still here at the crime scene location this afternoon, but you know, no real alarm bells in terms of him personally.

What we have heard repeatedly from several neighbors and people who live in this area is that the sounds of just gunfire are very routine on Friday and Saturday nights weekend evenings, and that they often called those reports in, but nothing really seems to come of that.

But the sounds of exploding gunfire whether it be just people celebrating or blowing off steam or just casually firing off their firearms on these larger properties is definitely something that has, from what we've been told so far here today has always been kind of a concern, and a recurring theme of weekends here in this neighborhood.

[15:05:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. We will come back to you there in Cleveland, Texas as more information becomes available, thank you.

All right, now to Sudan where one of two groups battling for power says it will extend a humanitarian truce for another 72 hours. Sporadic clashes could still be heard in parts of the capital of Khartoum despite the ceasefire that began last week.

For more than two weeks now, two opposing generals have been fighting for control of the country. Hundreds have been killed and thousands more injured.

Just yesterday, the US organized its first convoy to get hundreds of its citizens out of the capital to Port Sudan and then to Saudi Arabia. And earlier today, the first Red Cross aid flight landed in Sudan bringing humanitarian supplies.

With me now is Patrick Youssef, he is the regional director for the International Committee of the Red Cross Africa.

So good to see you. So tell me how difficult has it been to get supplies in, to assist people in Sudan?

PATRICK YOUSSEF, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS AFRICA: It was extremely difficult since two weeks indeed, to get beyond or around the security situation, the heavy bombardment, and the shelling in densely populated areas.

It was extremely difficult also to get medical assistance in the country, and try and support the hospitals that are most in need.

We're very glad today that with the help of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, we managed to deliver more wounded kits, but also dressing kits enough to treat over 1,500 who had been wounded. And that is, I hope, the beginning of a series of deliveries in accordance and agreement with both parties to the conflict.

WHITFIELD: So with this humanitarian ceasefire now for the next 72 hours, how much equipment, assistance, whether it be medical, food, water -- how much do you believe you might be able to get in, in that small window?

YOUSSEF: Well, first, we need to see that the ceasefire is respected, that the areas of need for access for the Sudanese Red Crescent teams and the ICRC teams are indeed secured. Indeed, we truly wish that the ceasefire would allow us to deliver these wounded kits and the whole consignment to the hospitals in need.

Again, the delivery is more important than anything today. Hence, calling on both parties to facilitate that access would mean allowing thousands to start receiving medical assistance, surgical assistance, and hopefully in the coming days, more consignments will arrive again, hopeful to get the greenlight that our teams can start deploying indeed on the ground, and helping as much as they can with the dire humanitarian situation.

WHITFIELD: So with your team members that are there on the ground, what have they shared about what they've seen, what the conditions are for people there, the people that they're trying to assist?

YOUSSEF: Well, you know, there's a feeling of chaos, of loss, of despair. Someone called our office just to indeed highlight that his father was deeply wounded and the worst feeling of a member of the Red Cross or the Red Crescent family is to be unable to assist, is to be unable to even advise which hospital or which primary health care center one would send their patients.

So indeed, what we see on the ground is extremely difficult. It is very complex and these are coming -- these accounts come from delegates and volunteers who have seen atrocities and difficulties to access to people.

So I truly hope that a rain of humanity and indeed is really put at the center to be able to alleviate some of the suffering; again, not all the suffering, but some of the suffering of the Sudanese who truly deserve better than this.

WHITFIELD: Patrick Youssef, thank you so much for being able to connect with us. All the best as you try to connect and provide assistance to the many people in need in Sudan. Thank you.

YOUSSEF: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, Russia's news agency said that dozens of Russian citizens have left Sudan, but there has been no official Russian evacuation. Russia has deep ties to Sudan, and evidence has emerged that Russian-backed mercenaries from the Wagner Group have been arming the paramilitary group involved in the fighting.

Frida Ghitis is a global affairs columnist for "The Washington Post" and contributor to cnn.com. She has written an op-ed about Vladimir Putin's interest in Sudan.

So good to see you. I mean, before we get into the role that Russia is playing there, are you at all optimistic about this 72-hour humanitarian truce or you know ceasefire?

[15:10:10]

FRIDA GHITIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What is happening in Sudan is really a horrible tragedy for so many reasons, and it is not just a tragedy for the people of Sudan, it's a very dangerous situation for a very vulnerable, fragile. Even if the ceasefire holds, which is doubtful, because the ceasefires until now have been spotty at best, even if it holds, and even in a positive scenario where the fighting actually stops, the prospects for the situation in Sudan to really improve are very, very bad right now, because the efforts to bring democracy which had made some progress have now really collapsed. So that's really a terribly tragic condition right now for the country.

WHITFIELD: And when you talk about 72 hours, you think for a minute that sounds very hopeful, but it may take 16 hours to traverse, you know, from the coast into areas of need. So that doesn't give you a whole lot of time for those who are part of the humanitarian assistance, in order to actually get to people in time and then get back out to safety.

GHITIS: Exactly, then you have even after all the aid has arrived, assuming that a significant amount of aid arrives, you still have this whole problem of distribution, which is a massive, massive challenge, while fighting is raging.

So the conditions for the people who stay -- we've been talking a lot about the people who are evacuating, but for the millions and millions who are staying trapped in the crossfire of these two power-hungry militias, the situation is really, really dismal.

WHITFIELD: Right. So now talk to us now about Russia's influence here, and how there is assistance to the mercenary group or members of the mercenary group who are working within Sudan, assisting in one of the military groups, what's happening there?

GHITIS: Okay, so we are talking about the Wagner Group and we talk about them as a mercenary group, but you know, they are not an independent private company. They further the interests of the Kremlin. They work very closely with the Kremlin.

So, in 2014 when Russia invaded the first time, when they captured the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, and faced all of these international sanctions, at that time, Russia went into Sudan and started making deals with these generals.

WHITFIELD: And why?

GHITIS: Because --

WHITFIELD: They are rich in resources, but why strategically is Sudan so important for Russia?

GHITIS: Well, for a number of reasons. One of the urgent needs of Russia at the time was a way to bypass all the economic sanctions that had been triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine's Crimea. So they made a deal with these military men to take some of their gold

-- Sudan has a lot of gold, so they started taking gold from Sudan, and this is something where the Wagner Group has a lot of experience extracting natural resources from other countries in Africa.

In exchange for that, they gave them weapons, they gave them political support. So, that was already in place.

These two generals that are fighting right now, they both received support from Russia, because for a time they were allies, even though there was --

WHITFIELD: How would I say, for a moment, they were allies --

GHITIS: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: And then now, adversaries.

GHITIS: Right, they were allies, but there was a very strong rivalry between them, and this is something, you know, when this fighting started, the people who have been watching Sudan were not surprised.

This is something that was in the cards.

WHITFIELD: They were in the wing.

GHITIS: So Russia started playing favorites, very carefully, and using the Wagner Group because the Wagner Group gives the Kremlin deniability. They can be equally supportive of both, they can be as a country supportive of a country, but the Wagner Group started giving additional support, a preference to the Rapid Support Forces, the RSF.

And it is that group that is challenging the central -- the Sudanese National Army. That RSF which is now receiving more help from the Wagner Group, according to a CNN investigation.

WHITFIELD: So now you've helped paint the picture of the landscape as to why it is going to be so difficult for any other country, neighboring or otherwise to try to intervene and assist.

GHITIS: Well, we have -- you know, the truth is that Sudan is of interest to many, many countries in the region. Sudan is at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East, and if you look at a map, Sudan is on the Red Sea coast. They have a very important port, Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Russia had been negotiating with the Sudanese generals to establish a naval base at Port Sudan and having a base at that spot on the Red Sea, that's a choke point for international trade, for navigation, for oil coming from the Persian Gulf and up towards the Suez Canal.

It is a very important place and Russia really wants to have access to that spot. One year ago, one day before the war in Ukraine started the head of the RSF, General Dagalo was in Moscow.

[15:15:11] Two months ago, the Foreign Minister of Russia, Lavrov was in Sudan,

finalizing a deal to give this access to this port to establish a Russian naval base on the Red Sea, on Sudanese territory. So this is really important to Russia, and they're not letting it play out without participating.

WHITFIELD: Already a very well-established advantage.

All right, thank you so much, Frida Ghitis, good to see you.

GHITIS: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

All right, still ahead, federal regulators are holding an auction today for First Republic Bank. We will tell you what is next for the ailing bank and its clients after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A bank on the brink. First Republic could be under new ownership as early as today

A source tells CNN that the FDIC is currently taking bids for potential buyers with final offers due at the top of the hour.

[15:20:08]

JPMorgan Chase and PNC Financial are among the leading bidders according to early reports from "The Wall Street Journal."

CNN's Matt Egan back with us now.

So Matt, the FDIC was expected to take the reins, but what will happen next in the bidding?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, the next few hours are going to be critical, both for First Republic and for this broader banking crisis that is really casting a shadow over the American economy.

Now the FDIC is running an auction as we speak, trying to find a bidder for First Republic. That's according to a source familiar with the matter. Now, final bids are expected -- are due at 4:00 PM Eastern Time, that's just 40 minutes away. And it does seem likely that US officials would want to announce something here this evening.

I mean, in past crises, we've seen that US officials have tried to announce a solution, certainly before US markets open Monday morning, but often even as before Asian markets open, and the clock is ticking because trading starts in Asia at around 8:00 PM Eastern Time tonight.

Now, why does all of this matter? Well, first of all, you know, First Republic is not some tiny bank that ran into trouble. It's a very large regional bank. It had $233 billion in assets as of the end of March, and so if the FDIC does in fact step into seize control of First Republic, this would be the second biggest bank failure in American history even bigger than the failure last month of Silicon Valley Bank.

Now, in a lot of ways, this First Republic situation is kind of an aftershock from the earthquake set off by Silicon Valley Bank, because that failure made a lot of uninsured depositors very nervous. That's a problem for First Republic because it caters to these richer customers.

First Republic disclosed last week that 41 percent of its deposits left the bank in the first quarter alone, that equated to a staggering $72 billion -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. That's pretty significant. So what does this mean for people who still have money in First Republic who were hoping that you know, it had longevity still?

EGAN: Yes, that's a great question.

Listen, I think first, we have to remind everyone that the FDIC insures $250,000.00 per bank, per borrower. So no matter what happens here, the FDIC is going to insure up to the $250,000.00. The question is whether or not US officials take extraordinary action here and do what they did with Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which is rescue all depositors, even uninsured depositors, even above that $250,000.00 limit, and we just don't know the answer to that yet. I think that's going to be critical in the next few hours.

One other point here, though, Fredricka is, we have to remember that this matters really to everyone because we're in the middle of a banking crisis, and the concern is that the more nervous bankers are, the less willing they are to lend to everyone for mortgages and car loans and small business loans.

So the goal here by US officials, is to get this situation under control before it causes a full blown credit crunch that really slows the economy or even causes a recession.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Okay, lots to think of, lots to consider. Pretty unsettling for a lot of folks with their money in the bank.

Matt Egan, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, a Mississippi teenager now under arrest after he allegedly opened fire at a house party. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:14]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

A house party in Mississippi ended in bloodshed overnight. Police say two teenagers were killed, four others wounded in a town just northeast of New Orleans.

CNN's Ryan Young is joining me with more on this. So, what more are police saying about what in the world happened here? RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, you know, we seem like we're

shaking our head constantly about gun violence in this country.

Just yesterday, we were covering another story of where five people were shot. This time you have 16 shot at a party. You would think they were having a good time, getting close to the end of the schoolyear, but obviously we're still trying to learn details about this, Fred.

Right now, very small in terms of information in terms of the few things they put out so far. But what we know, 16 shot overnight at this house party. Four of them still in the hospital, two unfortunately have died.

And to show you this picture, because police did make an arrest on this. The 19-year-old suspect is facing homicide charges and aggravated assault.

You see his picture right there. He was arrested in his home. That's Cameron Everett Brand. He is 19.

All of this happening in Bay St. Louis, which is near the coast, a town of maybe less than 10,000 people. But as we've been trying to talk to police and detectives in the area, no motive so far. So, really we are trying to figure out exactly what happened.

We do know there was only one shooter involved in this case, opened fire at that party. Some of the kids were actually driven to the hospital by their friends. Others were airlifted. That's all we have right now.

And you don't have to be baffled by why one teen would take a gun to a party and open fire.

Another senseless weekend of gun violence.

WHITFIELD: There can be no good explanation, bottom line. It is so sad.

All right, thanks so much. Ryan Young, appreciate it.

All right still to come, with only weeks to avert a financial crisis, House Republicans are defending their debt ceiling bill. The White House says it will only accept a clean proposal to raise the nation's borrowing limit. What's next on the debt ceiling showdown? Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:34:08]

WHITFIELD: All right, with only weeks to avert a potential global financial crisis, the battle lines over the debt ceiling are once again being drawn on Capitol Hill.

Just a few days ago, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy narrowly pushed a bill through the House to raise the debt ceiling and impose $4.8 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade, but with President Biden refusing to negotiate over paying the nation's bills, Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked on the high stakes issue going into another pivotal week on Capitol Hill.

CNN's Alayna Treene joining us right now with more on this. So Alayna, set the stage for what happens next in the standoff.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, good afternoon, Fred.

Kevin McCarthy accomplished a major feat this week in pushing that bill through the House, but he has a much bigger challenge ahead in navigating how to avoid a default and it doesn't look like that bill has done much to change the dynamics here in Washington.

The White House and Democrats are continuing to slam this bill as an unserious proposal, that is dead on arrival in the Senate.

[15:35:10]

They're also arguing that they will not negotiate any spending cuts that are tied to the debt limit. And so, that really leaves Congress in a dangerous stalemate over how to move forwards. And the key question now is, what's next?

Republicans are arguing, it is time for President Biden to come to the negotiating table and begin hashing out a deal. House majority whip, Tom Emmer was on CNN this morning reiterating that position. Let's take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM EMMER (R-WI): The White House, since this Congress began, has had no ideas whatsoever, except jacking up taxes and spending even more money for a country that is in trouble financially.

We've got to get this right, Dana.

And the Senate -- the Schumer Senate -- they have no ideas, either. It's just a repeated rhetoric.

So to say that it is dead on arrival in the Senate when you've got even Joe Manchin suggesting support for this type of approach, I think that's not exactly accurate.

Our recommendation is we passed it through the House, take it up in the Senate and pass it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Well, Fred, despite Emmer's confidence, the votes just aren't there for this bill in the Senate, and increasingly, I mean, Democrats are even saying that they are refusing to use this bill as a jumping off point for negotiations.

But I will point out that we are starting to see some cracks in that proposal. Emmer mentioned Senator Joe Manchin, he is one of an increasingly growing group of Democrats who are saying it is time for Biden to begin negotiations.

And really the bottom line here, Fred, is that Congress is running out of time. The deadline for when they must reach a deal is estimated to be around July, and so, there is only a few weeks left to figure this out.

And meanwhile, Congress is out this week. They are on recess or the House, at least, is on recess, and so it is unlikely that they're even going to find a way to move the ball forward in the next week ahead and at this point, with the deadline right around the corner, every week counts -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it really is right around the corner. That time moves fast. All right, Alayna Treene, thanks so much.

TREENE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, with a pandemic era border rule, Title 42, coming to an end in May, communities along the border are bracing for an increase of migrants.

The mayor of El Paso, Texas put it this way today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR OSCAR LEESER (D), EL PASO, TEXAS: We're getting prepared now for what we call the unknown, and the unknown is what will happen after May 11th.

Title 42 will be lifted after May 11th, and there is a lot of, as you've seen, we're starting to pick up some momentum as asylum seekers are around the streets of downtown El Paso and other areas of our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Mayor Oscar Leeser also says he'll declare a State of Emergency tomorrow.

Priscilla Alvarez is joining us now from the White House with more on the White House point of view.

So would it be fair to say that these are the kinds of measures that we're going to keep seeing along the border communities in the coming weeks.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: This is, Fred, every time that we see an influx of migrants or we anticipate one, border cities will often declare a State of Emergency. What that does essentially in this case with El Paso, primarily help with public shelter and public housing.

Now, White House officials are keenly aware of the strain that an influx of migrants has on border cities and it has the potential to stoke political tensions. We have seen that already last week with New York City Mayor Eric

Adams who criticized the administration for not doing enough with the migrants arriving in his city.

Now, as you mentioned, the administration is bracing for the end of Title 42, and the reason is because authorities as of May 11th, will no longer be able to quickly expel certain migrants. That means going back to decades' old protocols, that in a moment of unprecedented mass movement in the western hemisphere.

So the administration is setting a lot of preparations in motion, and that includes adding capacity along the border, as well as setting up legal pathways for migrants for those who are traversing through Latin America, for those who haven't moved yet and allowing them to apply from where they are to legally migrate to the United States.

And all of these efforts are ones that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was underscoring this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Within the constraints of a broken immigration system, we are doing so much.

Our approach is to build lawful pathways, cut out the ruthless smugglers, deliver lawful pathway so people can access humanitarian relief without having to take the dangerous journey from their home countries, and at the same time, if they arrive at our southern border in between ports of entry, we will deliver consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, a Homeland Security official told me that there were more than 20,000 migrants in CBP custody yesterday morning. That's a number that fluctuates, but what it indicates is that the number of migrants crossing is already starting to climb.

[15:40:03]

Mayorkas told lawmakers and reporters that this is going to be a challenge. All of this, a situation that the White House and the administration is following very closely -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Priscilla Alvarez at the White House. Thanks so much for that.

All right, the who's who of Washington, DC gathered in the nation's capital last night for nerd prom or the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The gathering is part of an annual tradition highlighting the importance of a free press, and it also provides an opportunity to have a little fun at the expense of the nation's politicians and the media and all those who are covering Washington.

Here are a few of the punch lines and laughs from comedian and "Daily Show" correspondent, Roy Wood, Jr. He hosted the event last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD, JR., COMEDIAN: I love him, as a matter of fact, let me just say right, now my favorite voting machine is Dominion Voting Machines.

When I go to the polls, I make sure it is a Dominion machine that I'd use. If your election needs the truth, put Dominion in your booth.

Yes.

The Trump arrest is like a pot brownie you ate four hours ago. Yes, hmm, do I feel justice? This doesn't feel like justice. Let me try one of them Georgia arraignment brownies, maybe that will hit.

Keeping up with Trump's scandals is like watching "Star Wars" movies. You've got to watch the third one to understand the first one. Then you've got to -- you can't miss the second one because it's got Easter eggs for the fifth one.

Donald Trump is the only politician whose scandals got spin offs on Disney+.

Many of you, I don't even think you should be working that hard. We should be inspired by the events in France. They rioted when the retirement age went up two years to 64. They rioted because they didn't want to work until 64.

Meanwhile, in America, we have an 80-year-old man begging us for four more years of work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So you see the president there laughing. Well, he got a chance to also poke a little fun, a little self-deprecating humor as well, and he also took a moment on a serious note to pay tribute to the many journalists and Americans, Westerners who are being held, detained illegally across the globe and among those in the audience, was the Phoenix WNBA player, Mercury, Brittney Griner. She was in the audience, just four months after being detained against her will for 10 months in Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Brittney Griner is her with her wife, Cherelle. Brittney, where are you, kid? Stand up. Come on. I love this woman. I love you, Brittney.

This time last year, we were praying for you, Brittney, hoping you knew how hard all of us were fighting for your release. It's great to have you home.

And boy, I can hardly wait to see you back on the court, kid. Remember your promise, I get to bring my granddaughter, my all-state girl to see you, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Yes, everyone looks forward to her playing in this season.

And of course, this also comes after earlier in the week, Brittney Griner for the first time having a press conference addressing all things and making it very clear that she is forever committed to try to make sure that anyone who is detained illegally gets a voice and finds freedom.

All right, tonight on "Searching for Mexico," Eva Longoria explores the coastal city of Veracruz and walks in the footsteps of her ancestors who arrived there 400 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, CNN HOST, "SEARCHING FOR MEXICO": It is like the Mexican flag.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: That's a good one. I didn't think of that.

Now, let's add some roasted plantain puree.

Capers, parsley, avocado dust for show.

LONGORIA: That's so beautiful. I need my phone.

Thank you.

But it is not just the food at this restaurant, even the drinks are smoking.

Oh this is so beautiful, a smoked apres. Stanley Tucci has to see this. Salud. Gracias.

Let's see.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Enjoy. Life is for eating.

LONGORIA: This is amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:45:01]

WHITFIELD: I'm always hungry about this time and watching this makes me even hungrier.

So watch a new episode of "Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico" tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:49:47] WHITFIELD: A five-year-old girl from California with essentially no

immune system will finally receive life-saving treatment, thanks to the relentless efforts of her parents and a doctor.

[15:50:02]

Seersha Sulack has a rare disease dubbed "bubble boy disease." The life-saving treatment she needed was never accessible to her because the pharmaceutical company that owns the drug never pursued FDA approval.

CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen has more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to be this year for Halloween?

SEERSHA SULACK, BUBBLE BOY DISEASE PATIENT: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't know.

SULACK: I'm going to be a cheerleader.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Five- year-old Seersha Sulack loves costumes, but she doesn't go trick or treating like other children do. Any germ, even a common cold could kill her because she was born with severe combined immunodeficiency or bubble boy disease.

(VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE.")

Made famous by the 1976 John Travolta movie, "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble."

Seersha was born in Hawaii, where her father was stationed as an Army helicopter pilot. When she was six days old, she was airlifted to UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, where she spent nearly two months.

SHAYLA SULACK, SEERSHA'S MOTHER: For the first year of her life, she never left her bedroom.

COHEN (voice over): Her first Christmas gifts wiped clean and brought to her room. Later, medications helped.

SHAYLA SULACK: She's getting six to seven shots a month or needles in her legs.

COHEN (voice over): And she could go outside, but still not near anyone except her immediate family.

Then Dr. Donald Kohn, who runs this lab at UCLA had some good news for the family. He said it looked like in the not too distant future, Seersha would be able to get a treatment called gene therapy. He's worked on it for nearly 40 years.

DR. DONALD KOHN, UCLA GENE THERAPY RESEARCHER: We can really fix the gene or replace the gene that's missing. It's really exciting.

COHEN (voice over): A 2021 Study showed the therapy had stunning near perfect results.

KOHN: All the children we have treated in the past are doing well. We barely hear from them anymore.

COHEN (voice over): But then the company that owned the gene therapy decided not to pursue FDA approval. Instead, they invested money in treatments for more common diseases. That left Seersha and more than two dozen other families waiting to get the treatment.

SHAYLA SULACK: The longer that we waited, the higher chance of infection or her medication not working or something happening outside of our control to make her severely sick.

COHEN (voice over): Promising gene therapies for rare diseases have sometimes had trouble getting to market because the potential profits might be small.

KOHN: It's been very frustrating.

COHEN (voice over): Thursday, the FDA is holding a meeting on gene therapy, one of a series of public meetings intended to help the development of these innovative treatments.

Last week, the agency's leader testified to a Senate committee.

DR. ROBERT CALIFF, FDA COMMISSIONER: We agree that this is an area we've got to move along more quickly.

COHEN (voice over): As for Seersha --

SEERSHA SULACK: Sam had got it for me.

SHAYLA SULACK: Sam had got it for you.

COHEN (voice over): Next month, she'll bring her unicorn suitcase to the hospital to get the gene therapy. She had a preparatory visit earlier this month. Her family, looking forward to the day that she's like other five-year-olds.

SHAYLA SULACK: She is excited to go to school and she wants to go to a Dodger game and she's inviting everybody to Disneyworld for her.

COHEN (voice over): After years of waiting, Seersha and her family are thrilled for the day she can finally get out into the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, lots of great hope there.

All right still to come, the highly anticipated 2023 NFL draft has come to a close. So who became this year so-called Mr. Irrelevant? Our Coy Wire is here with details.

But first, here's today's Innovate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDER REBEN, ARTIST AND ROBOTICIST: I've always been interested in how humans and machines work together. I'm Alexander Reben and I'm an artist and roboticist.

I started my research looking into social robotics, that's robots that like talk to people or interface with them in different ways.

ROBOT: I need help.

REBEN: When I work with an AI, there's many different types of processes like one could be curating a dataset, another could be me curating output, and then expanding from there.

So this is an interactive installation that allows visitors to my show to make their own artwork just by speaking their imagination to unicorn in the space with a cupcake.

My style is a bit eclectic, and I think now some of my style is driven by the feedback I get from AI.

A lot of people have seen AI art, just in a digital sense, but I've been liking to bring it into the physical realm, working with like 3D modelers, and casters, and sculptors involving a lot of humans and that chain to me is quite interesting.

I've worked with galleries before, various museums, and different types of events.

I think anything can be art, depending on how people perceive art. I'd like to see AI art enable more people to kind of express themselves and their ideas, and I think AI is going to be powerful as a tool to spark imagination.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:59:08]

WHITFIELD: Another exciting NFL draft has come to a close and it was filled with emotional moments as teams made their picks.

Here is CNN's Coy Wire.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, Fred.

There were hundreds of thousands of fans there at the NFL draft in Kansas City, 11 point 4 million viewers for round one to see some really big moments and the year of the quarterback, three out of the first four picks, quarterbacks.

Bryce Young went number one overall to the Carolina Panthers just five foot 10, a hundred and ninety-five pounds, he is proof that hard work, discipline, and a positive attitude pay off.

CJ Stroud went number two to Houston. Anthony Richardson number four to Indie, and just look at the emotion This is what the NFL draft is all about, Fred, see in the moment, people become the thing they had always dreamed of becoming as a kid.

Like running back, Bijan Robinson, his first team he ever played for named the Falcons. He wore number eight.

Well, Fred, Bijan, as fate would have it for him, he was drafted number eight by the Falcons right here to Atlanta Hill Go, rise up, and bottom left of your screen is Cowboys scout, Chris Vaughn in tears after the team drafted his son, Deuce Vaughn in the sixth round yesterday. The team let dad make the call and be the one to tell Deuce that he'd made it to the NFL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS VAUGHN, COWBOYS SCOUT: Hey, buddy. It's going good.

DEUCE VAUGHN, CHRIS VAUGHN'S SON: How is it going?

CHRIS VAUGHN: It is all good. This dad. My phone wouldn't work and lookie here, man. You want to come to work with me next week?

DEUCE VAUGHN: I wouldn't mind at all.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Deuce Vaughn is just five foot five, the shortest player ever measured at the NFL Combine. Dad said that he didn't know that his team was going to draft him or if his son would be drafted at all, Fred.

He said it was the best phone call he's ever made in his life.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. That made me so verklempt.

All right. Coy Wire, thank you so much for bringing that. Loved it.

[16:01:04]