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Biden To Meet Top Lawmakers As U.S. Heads Towards Default; Jury Deliberations To Begin Tuesday In Carroll V. Trump; Migrant Details Grueling, Days-Long Journey To Reach U.S. Border; Israeli Forces Launch Strikes On Gaza; Social Media Posts Suggest Gunman Embraced White Supremacy; Surge Of Migrants Waiting To Cross Border From Mexico. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 09, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:29]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. A search for answers in Allen, Texas as investigators try to piece together a motive for Saturday's mass shooting. We're learning new details about how the rampage unfolded.

Explosions light up the skyline over Gaza as Israeli forces launch a wave of targeted airstrikes. We'll have a live report from Israel just ahead.

Plus, war reigns on Putin's Victory Day parade as Russia prepares to mock one of its most important holidays. Signs of an actual victory on the battlefield are few and far between.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemarie Church.

CHURCH: And thanks for being with us. Here in the United States. A pair of tragedies has put a spotlight on two of the country's most divisive issues, guns and immigration. In Allen, Texas, a mass shooting that killed eight people has devastated an entire community and it has reignited the fierce debate about gun reform in America. To the south, the border town of Brownsville is also coping with tragedy after several migrants were fatally struck by a car.

That collision has raised more questions about the security of the border and the people who cross it. Tributes continue to pour in for the victims of the Allen mass shooting. Residents have set up more memorials to honor those eight people killed when a gunman opened fire at an Outlet Mall.

Authorities are still trying to determine his motive. A law enforcement source says social media posts suggest he may have embraced white supremacy. And now investigators want to know if those extremist ideologies incited him to carry out the rampage. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on how the shooting unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Around 3:30 Saturday afternoon, dashcam video captures a silver Dodge Charger moving through the Allen Outlet Mall parking lot. A gunman emerges from the car, the rapid pop of gunfire stuns unsuspecting shoppers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard like a bunch of shots but we thought it was firecrackers at first.

LAVANDERA: At 3:36, an Allen police officer at the mall on an unrelated call hears those shots and response.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you getting more ambulances on this event?

LAVANDERA: The shooter strikes the first victims next to the H&M clothing store. Based on witness interviews and videos from the scene, CNN has tracked the approximate path the gunman followed as he made his way through the Outlet Mall. Moving north along storefronts before turning left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's this guy dressed in all black, wearing a vest, has an assault rifle and he's just shooting at people.

LAVANDERA: Just a few stores away and in the gunman's path, shoppers rushed to get away.

KINGSLEY EZEH, WITNESS: I saw two ladies rushing to us. And then one was like, someone's shooting, someone's shooting. And then right behind on the other side, right in front of DKNY, there's another guy, he just had -- he held his neck like this and there was like blood just dripping down.

LAVANDERA: The gunman continues moving north along the building. At the corner Bill McLean (ph) is inside a cosmetic store and hears the distinct sounds of gunfire getting closer and closer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we basically turn to watch and as we were watching the shooter goes right across, he's not running but he's kind of in a deliberate assault type mood. And a few moments later we saw a police officer and came across in front of us like he was in pursuit of the individual.

LAVANDERA: Witnesses described the gunman dressed in a ballistic jacket and a vest carrying extra ammunition. A senior law enforcement source tells CNN in that clothing they found the insignia RWDs which authorities believe stands for Right-Wing Death Squad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have multiple upon multiple patients.

LAVANDERA: The gunman now turns the corner making his way west continuing to fire at shoppers, scrambling to make sense of the chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got reports of multiple victims. One victim that we have recorded is going to be in Francesca's with a gunshot wound to the chest.

EZEH: He literally was just shooting his gun in any direction.

LAVANDERA: At this point the shooter has moved several 100 yards through the parking lot. The Allen police officer has closed in. Shooting and killing the suspect in front of Fatburger restaurant. Inside, Tiffany Gibson can't believe the ordeal is over.

[02:05:03]

Witnesses tell CNN this picture was taken at 3:40 p.m. roughly 10 minutes after the gunman started the deadly rampage.

LAVANDERA (on camera): So, you -- the man that was shooting was there on the ground?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. The police shot him. They shot him. The picture that I showed him. It's multiple -- he has -- I think they shot him in the head and the chest and stuff. So -- and he was laying on his back.

LAVANDERA: Did you see this person? Were they walking around the parking lot?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just saw the after -- aftermath.

LAVANDERA: What goes through your mind when you hear that shooting all of a sudden?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never witnessed anything like this. It's very traumatic for me.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): At 422 Allen police warn residents to stay away from the Outlet Mall in a tweet saying there's a "active investigation."

It's now around 5:14 p.m. Shoppers who've been hiding in stores are escorted out of the Outlet Mall by authorities with their hands in the air. It's not until 6:53 p.m. that Allen police tweet, there is no longer an active threat.

LAVANDERA (on camera): There are still six victims hospitalized and we are told that three of those survivors are in critical condition. Meantime, the makeshift memorial here outside the outlet mall continues to grow where people come to reflect on this senseless tragedy.

Ed Lavandera CNN, Allen, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN has obtained exclusive video showing bystanders attempting to restrain a man suspected of crashing his car into a group of people near a migrant shelter in Texas. The man who shot the video says after the crash the driver appeared impaired and tried to flee the scene. He's been identified as 34-year-old George Alvarez and police say he has prior charges of assault and driving while intoxicated.

He has since been charged with eight counts of manslaughter. Police say he's also been charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Eight people died from injuries in that crash.

There are deaths come as border towns like Brownsville are bracing for a surge of migrants as a key immigration policy is about to change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN LAMANTIA, TEXAS STATE SENATE DEMOCRAT: They're one of the lucky few that actually made it to our borders, and at a point where they should be able to breathe easy and be safe. We failed them as a state. We failed them and weren't able to protect them. And they were mowed down their lives are taken. Their family's hopes were taken. And this is something which had afforded to ending with the influx of more migrants coming across and more individuals coming to our state.

We need to make sure we protect them at every step of the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Title 42 as she mentioned is set to expire on Thursday. U.S. border agents have used it for more than three years to expel hundreds of thousands of people claiming their entry could cause further spread of COVID-19. Under Title 42, migrants were unable to apply for asylum, no matter how grim situation they faced in their home country. And some Republicans don't want the restrictions to end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And this week, they're taking up a bill that would once again demonstrate that House Republicans are more interested in campaigning on immigration that's actually solving it. The bill H.R.2 would be a disaster for border security and a Christmas morning gift for human smugglers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Israel says it has stopped its airstrikes on Gaza for now after targeting what it calls kingpin terrorists in a series of early morning attacks. The Israeli government says the strikes were retaliation against Islamic Jihad for what it calls the group's incessant aggression. The Ministry of Health in Gaza says at least 12 people were killed. Islamic Jihad claims the attacks killed three of its top leaders and their families.

Israel acknowledges some collateral in the strikes but says its only target was Islamic Jihad, which it accuses of firing more than 100 rockets towards southern Israel last week. And joining us now from southern Israel is CNN's Jerusalem Correspondent Hadas Gold. Hadas, what more can you tell us about this?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, I'm in southern Israel at an Israel Defense Forces Iron Dome battery. This machine that you see behind me is what will be used when those expected rockets will likely be fired from Gaza in the coming hours. This is -- there are multiple of these types of batteries spread out around Israel, specifically around southern Israel that they using computer and radar go off and try to intercept rockets as they come from Gaza into Israel.

This surprise Israeli military operation took place around 2:00 a.m. last night. Israeli military saying was targeting Islamic Jihad commanders as well as at least 10 other Islamic Jihad sites. Things like weapons manufacturing sites.

[02:10:07]

Islamic Jihad and Hamas confirming that three senior commanders were killed in the strikes. One of them was also the commander-in-chief of the al-Quds military brigade for Islamic Jihad. This is somebody Islamic Jihad said, had been wanted for more than two decades and had five previous assassination attempts. He was killed last night. But along the -- along with those commanders killed also were some of their families.

We are learning of now at least according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 13 dead, among them, four children. Now, the Israeli National Security Council saying that they were just targeting Islamic Jihad and they're looking into reports of as you noted collateral damage, they had no intention of any sort of collateral damage. There is -- the Israel -- the Israeli military saying this is in response to more than 100 rockets fired last week.

That happened by Islamic Jihad after the death of a former Islamic Jihad spokesperson Khader Adnan who died in Israeli prison after a prolonged hunger strike. And while the Israeli military did undertake some airstrikes after those rockets, they didn't make so many big damage or kill any militants. And there was actually some criticism from the right wing of this current coalition government who said that there should have been a stronger security response.

And in fact, actually, some members of the government, some of the more right-wing members boycotted votes in response to what they said was a weak security response. The big question now, Rosemary, is whether Hamas will get involve. Hamas, of course, runs the Gaza strip and the Israeli military often says that nothing happens there without Hamas' approval. Now Hamas has said in a statement that the Israeli occupation will pay the price for its crimes.

The Israeli military is taking pains to say that they are only focusing on Islamic Jihad and not on Hamas. Remember that last August, there was a short sort of two to three-day confrontation between Islamic Jihad and the Israeli military. Hamas did not get involved then. So now the question, will they choose to get involved? Now the Israeli military is preparing for a response. They have told residents in this area that they are under sort of emergency operations.

People even closer to Gaza need to stay close to their bomb shelters. And the Israeli military reservists have been called up. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Hadas Gold reporting from southern Israel. Many thanks.

Still to come. Thousands are set to mark Russia's annual Victory Day parade in Moscow but this year we'll see scaled down celebrations across the country. More details and a live report just ahead. Do stay with us.

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[02:16:15]

CHURCH: In the next hour, Russia is set to kick off celebrations for Victory Day. A national holiday marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. But as the war rages in Ukraine, several regions in Russia have scaled back events amid security concerns and a lack of military equipment to display. We're still expecting remarks from President Vladimir Putin and a parade in Moscow where the Kremlin will show off its military might.

But Russia's preparations have not stopped its attacks on Ukraine. The mayor of Kyiv says Russia launched a massive attack early Monday. But Ukraine was able to shoot down dozens of drones over the Capitol. And in just the past few hours, the Ukrainian Air Force says it intercepted 23 out of 25 cruise missiles with an official in Kyiv saying 15 were destroyed over the city.

And CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments for us live from London. She joins us now. Good to see you, Clare. So, what can we expect at this year's scale down Victory Day celebrations in Russia and how will they compare to previous years?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary. I think it's clear that Russia is making every effort to make this look like a Victory Day as we've seen them over the past years and decades, and I've witnessed many of them in my time. It looks on the surface pretty similar the same uniforms, the same parades, the same military equipment. We've already seen multiple cities across Russia's 11 time zones carry out their own festivities.

Russian state T.V. is enrolling coverage of this event. But of course, as you say it has been scaled back. Russia is not staring victory in the face in Ukraine. And that is impacting the celebrations. We've seen in several regions closer to Ukraine. Cancel parades or scale them back. We know that there's going to be slightly fewer pieces of military equipment parading through Red Square today, slightly fewer troops on parade.

They've canceled an event called the immortal regiment where Russia has traditionally parade holding placards of their relatives who were killed in World War II. The speculation they don't want to draw attention, perhaps to losses in the war in Ukraine, although the Kremlin also citing security concerns around this decision. And those security concerns are real, of course, not only the drone attack on the Kremlin that we saw last week, but there's been fuel depots that have been on fire and Russia, trains derailing, all of that.

And meanwhile, in Ukraine, we're seeing President Zelenskyy who has -- who is trying to move Victory Day Ukraine to May 8th. He is meeting with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to mark what he says is now Europe Day in Ukraine. So, quite the split screen there, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Indeed. And Clare, what will President Putin likely say about the war in Ukraine next hour when he addresses the nation?

SEBASTIAN: You know, I think despite the fact that this is a scaled down Victory Day, Rosemary, is of an outsize importance perhaps to Putin. He needs to use this opportunity to read justify his war in Ukraine. Amid those feelings of insecurity, I think the Russian people are now feeling because of the various attacks that they've seen. The various incidents including, of course, that during attack on the Kremlin.

And I think we can expect to see him use that justification that he's used multiple times, that he believes this is, of course, not based, in fact, that Ukraine has been run by Nazis, conflating that with the victory over Nazis in World War II. Look out for that, in his speech, look out for any mention of terrorism in the context of these security incidents that we've seen in Russia. And the symbolism will also be important.

Take a look at this image. We've seen in central Moscow the Z symbol, this Latin Z that has been so symbolic of support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

[02:20:04]

That during rehearsals for Victory Day in the colors of the St. George Ribbon, a symbol of Victory Day saw a sign of the two things being conflated. The victory of Nazi Germany and Russia's fight in Ukraine.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London.

And joining me now from Berlin is Polina Ivanova. She is a foreign correspondent with the Financial Times covering Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia. Thank you so much for being with us.

POLINA IVANOVA, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, FINANCIAL TIMES: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, all reports suggest a tense and nervous atmosphere ahead of these scaled down Victory Day celebrations in Russia. Some reports even suggest paranoia pervades the capital, due to recent drone attacks on the Kremlin and strikes on Russian soil with fears Ukraine may even target these celebrations. So, how much is all this playing into the mood of this deeply symbolic day?

Reportedly, the most important event of the year for President Putin and coming at a time when victory appears elusive?

IVANOVA: There's definitely a sense of heightened anxiety. It's not, you know, this is a commemorative event. But it's always often in Moscow a celebration, across Russia a celebration of the past of people's relatives. I think, this year, it's -- it takes place in a -- in a mood of heightened anxiety. It's not just the attacks on -- the drone attacks on the Kremlin that we saw, attacks on different facilities across Russia, including, you know, drones shut down as far away as Novosibirsk in Siberia, reconnaissance drones.

So, there's a heightened sense of anxiety or really across the country, not just Western Russia, but this will -- yes, this will definitely affect the atmosphere on the day. And people are also paying attention to the recent assassination attempts against a very pro-war Russian nationalist author which -- he's a popular figure. He's a well-known figure and the fact that that was taking place within Russia in -- and usually an off-grid area in Central Russia.

That definitely creates a sense of a different kind of mood for this day.

CHURCH: Yes. No doubt a sense of vulnerability. I mean, in addition to the recent strikes on Russian soil and the drone attacks on the Kremlin, President Putin is also dealing with the Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group who threatened mutiny over the lack of military support that he's been receiving from top Russian defense chiefs. So, how long will Putin put up with Prigozhin's threats and behavior given it does actually diminish Putin's own leadership, doesn't it?

IVANOVA: There's been this conflict ongoing probably since about September last year between Yevgeny Prigozhin and his paramilitary unit. His unit of militia fighters and the actual kind of established Russian military, the ministry of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. This conflict has been ongoing for a while. Prigozhin sees himself as carrying the weight of the assaults in Bakhmut and in eastern Ukraine, specifically kind of long running World War I-style trench battle which has seen, you know, which has caused very heavy losses on both sides, especially for Russia.

And Prigozhin has been known to make very public statements throw around accusations and threats in order to get what he wants. He's not, you know, he's willing to make a fuss in the in the public space to get what he wants. In his last video was incredibly dramatic. He filmed himself standing over, you know, rows and rows of corpses of Russian soldiers, you know, bloodied bodies and him there at night sort of shining a torch on these bodies and then screaming into the camera saying the Ministry of Defense, this is your fault for not providing enough weapons.

With quite dramatic pictures which were not received very welcomed in Russia. How long that's going to go on for well, Prigozhin was able to receive what he wants. He then recorded a statement about two days ago, I think, saying that the Ministry of Defense had complied and he was going to get the weapons that he wanted to receive. And that a -- General Surovikin, someone he admires in the military establishment who'd actually recently been sort of demoted within the -- within the staff of the established armed forces would now be the point of contact between Prigozhin and the military, per se.

So, it seems that he is still getting what he wants. CHURCH: Yes. For now, at least. And of course, on this Victory Day, the reality is Russia hasn't made much military progress in Ukraine in a while now. And there is this perception, its troops have weakened, its weapons inadequate. How will today's scale down Victory Day celebrations change that perception or will it only highlight the weaknesses?

IVANOVA: I think it's inevitably going to highlight trouble across Russia in a sense of -- as we were saying, a sense of anxiety. I think, what's really important for people as this immortal regiment process -- parade that happens together with the official military parade.

[02:25:05]

This is a sort of slightly spontaneous originally action by people to carry portraits of the relatives who were killed in the Second World War, who fought in the Second World War. It's very emotional parade for Russians. They, you know, it's an important historic moment. And it's something -- it's a way for them to express how they feel about the past. And it's -- usually, people walk through different cities across Russia with their children.

They dress their children with military uniforms, they carry pictures of their relatives. And this is a way for them to participate in this day. And the fact that that has been canceled in this particular moment related to a new war is definitely really going to bring the conflict home to Russians and bring home the fact that this is the second victory day that has taken place since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

So, it's the second time that Russia has been celebrating victory in Second World War during a period when it seems to be losing quite substantially or on the backfoot in Ukraine.

CHURCH: Polina Ivanova, we appreciate your analysis. Many thanks.

[02:30:00]

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CHURCH: In the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden is set to meet with the top four Congressional leaders to try to resolve the debt ceiling standoff. But the White House reiterates the President Biden's stance has not changed and that Congress must raise the debt limit without conditions attached to avoid a catastrophic default. And a top official tells CNN that there is no plan B if Congress fails to act. CNN's Manu Raju has more on the high stakes meeting.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Biden and Congressional leaders set to meet at the White House on Tuesday in what is a high stakes meeting ahead of a potential debt default. Potentially, the first ever U.S. debt default as soon as the first of June. And there is no way out of this standoff right now, between Republicans on Capitol Hill and the White House. The White House has said for months, and they didn't want to even negotiate any sort of deal to raise the debt limit.

They said a debt limit just needs to be raised and ensure that the U.S. does not default on all of its obligations. But the Republicans have said the opposite, there need to be significant negotiations and sniff significant spending cuts to try to begin to rein in the more than $31 trillion in debt that the U.S. has accumulated. And they have already passed a bill in the House just in the last couple of weeks that would impose a slew of spending cuts and tried to rein in some of Biden administration policy. Something that is a nonstarter in the Democratic led Senate.

So, what will happen after this meeting on Tuesday? Well, the President agreed that there needs to be some level of negotiations and then he and Kevin McCarthy should sit down. That is uncertain. The White House is indicating that he will reiterate his same position to raise the National debt limit. McCarthy has said all along also that he will simply not just raise the National debt limit, saying the clean debt ceiling increase simply will not pass his house. It passed the house that is controlled by his party.

Now, on the Senate Republican side, Mitch McConnell has also signaled that he is not going to deviate from McCarthy's position. He said he's not going to cut a deal with Joe Biden something he said simply will not pass the Republican led house. So, he says that the real way forward is for Biden to negotiate and deal with McCarthy. But even if they were to begin to negotiate, there is just not much time in order to get a deal together, get it through the House in the Senate before the potential debt default could occur in just a matter of a few weeks. So, just a lot of questions and uncertainty, about what could be a calamitous economic event if no deal is reached of the borrowing limit is not increased? And if the U.S. begins to default on its debt. Manu Raju, CNN Capitol Hill.

CHURCH: Just ahead we will go inside a village just meters from Ukraine's frontlines to see how the few who remain a (INAUDIBLE) Back with that just a moment.

[02:35:00]

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CHURCH: The full fury of Russia's war on Ukraine is being felt minute by minute in villages just meters from the frontlines. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh takes us into one that's now almost a ghost town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Occupied Ukraine has a flame and evacuating its civilians. Russia's wholesale departure can't come soon enough for frontline town or a heave. Ravaged by Moscow where four missiles hit on Thursday alone. Rescue was left guessing what the constant bangs mean and have done.

WALSH: You see people just down the road here carrying on life as per normal despite dust in sky around us. Now he's gotten in may not be in fact. He's saying it doesn't particularly the time of day when these sorts of things start could be any time at all frankly.

WALSH (voiceover): As dusk falls, the sky is lit in a duel. All they can do here to stay alive is read the horizon. Some of it perhaps further south into occupied areas than a week earlier. But so much of it also, very close. Dawn is often jarring. We heard a jet overhead, that slowly building grating sound of damage moving towards it. A missile a half million-dollar Kh-31 Ukrainian officials later say, land just 700 yards away. Another blast follows, either jet and trails or anti-aircraft fire settle to shape a Z in the air. The symbol of Russia's invasion, it is soon gone. The damage it leaves though isn't. This is where it hit or missed.

WALSH: Down here, you can got a feeling of just how massively brutal Russian firepower can be. And also, how indiscriminate, I can still smell the explosive down here and your kind of left wondering where the obvious military target is.

[02:40:06]

WALSH (voiceover): At the end of this road is Polohy, one of the towns Russia has said it is evacuating. We are just one mile from Russian frontline positions here. A world torn apart as Moscow tries to hold Ukraine back.

WALSH: Well, no more than 10 miles in that direction are the first towns that Russian occupying forces say they're going to be evacuating because of the Ukrainian counter offensive. We're looking here at the last town really held by Ukraine. Absolutely battered and so few people left here as little need to evacuate.

WALSH (voiceover): Where they once 3,000, there are 200 people trying to stay says Raysa. Caught in these wide-open spaces, where a distant bank can suddenly alter life in an instant. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Mala Tokmachka, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church, for our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. And for those in North America. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.

[02:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, in the hours ahead, the Jury in the civil rape trial against Donald Trump is expected to begin deliberations. Trump is accused of civil battery and defamation by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. During closing arguments on Monday, her attorney told jurors no one is above the law. While Trump's lawyer urged them not to hold any negative feelings about the former President against him. CNN's Kara Scannell picks up the story.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The lawyer squared off in closing arguments in Donald Trump's battery and defamation trial over two hours. Attorneys for Carroll called out Trump for not appearing for his own civil rights trial, telling the jury that he never looked them in the eye and denied raping her. Her lawyers played for the Jury parts of Trump's video deposition saying Trump was in fact a witness against himself.

They showed the Jury the moment Trump mistook Carroll in a black and white photo taken years before the alleged assault for his second wife Marla Maples, proving Carroll's lawyers argued that Carroll was Trump's type. They also played again for the jury the Access Hollywood tape with Trump boasting, I just start kissing them, I don't even wait, for lawyers, are you -- this is how he treats women. That video is a confession. Trump's attorney said Carroll's story was unbelievable.

They want you to hate him enough to ignore the facts his lawyer argued, he focused on Carroll's inability to provide an exact date of the alleged rape. Without a date Trump's lawyers and find witnesses is or go through Trump's calendar for an alibi. Instead, he suggested Carroll colluded with the two friends she confided in at the time of the alleged assault because they were politically motivated and wanted Trump out of office. The Jury will return Tuesday morning, that's when the judge will give them an instruction on the law and then deliberations will begin. Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: Trump and some of his allies could be facing criminal charges in Georgia over attempts to overturn the 2020 election. That includes David Shafer, the Chairman of Georgia's Republican Party. He was part of a group of fake electors attempting to undermine the Electoral College, but his lawyers say he was only following the advice of Trump's legal counsel. Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis has indicated in the past, Shafer may be charged with crimes, but that news won't come until later this year.

Shafer's attorneys claim he should be absolved of any criminal liabilities since he was only following legal advice. On meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader says, he's not sure if Republicans will be able to retake the majority next year. During an exclusive interview with CNN, Mitch McConnell made it clear that he knows how quickly things can go south and said he's been working behind the scenes for months to find strong Republican candidates in key races. McConnell added quote, "We do have the possibility of screwing this up, and that gets back to candidate recruitment. I think that we lost Georgia, Arizona and New Hampshire, because we didn't have competitive candidates last cycle."

McConnell and Republican leaders are also carefully deciding where to invest resources in the primaries. Republicans should be at an advantage, 23 of the 34 seats in contention are currently held by Democrats, just 11 are held by Republicans. Democrats currently maintain a two seat 51 to 49 majority. And more on one of our top stories a controversial title 42 immigration policy expiring on Thursday. Migrants will once again be allowed to request asylum at the U.S. border, but they still risk being returned home if they don't qualify for protection. And as our David Culver found out, that would be the worst possible outcome for many.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): At the U.S. Southern border, the struggle is constant. Illegal crossings like this one, really tough to watch. Having already clumped through the barbed wire, you can see this young woman frustrated, exhausted trying to help the other trapped in a web of sharp metal at the Texas border. From above, you might think they're the only two crossing this day, but the clothes dangling along the miles and miles of fencing, say otherwise. For many migrants fleeing countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and others, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is the final stop before trying to claim asylum in the U.S.

[02:50:12]

CULVER: And they wait in places like this. You can see this sidewalk full of an encampment, different tents.

CULVER (voiceover): We've seen thousands flooding the streets and shelters of this Mexican border town. 22-year-old Jenice Cammas (ph), her husband and their four-year-old little girl have camped out here for three months already.

CULVER: She says they're going to cross but she doesn't want to do it illegally. She wants to do it the right way. You don't know when?

CULVER (voiceover): In recent weeks, the U.S. government is rolled out and updated at CBP One app, allowing migrants north of Mexico City to register digitally for a limited number of interview spots with asylum officers. No one we've talked to has been able to secure an appointment yet. Jenice, not sure she'll ever get one. She lost her phone in a fire a few weeks back, but she and others tell me they've come too far to turn around. Her young daughter carries the marks to prove it.

CULVER: She said has some burns still on her face from the sun, from being on top of the train.

CULVER (voiceover): The journey to Juarez from southern Mexico is hundreds of miles. So, many ride the rails north on top of freight trains. We caught up with one just as it was arriving in Juarez.

CULVER: Migrants right on top here. Many of them have made the journey on this train alone for more than eight hours. He said they were 12 hours on the train. He said it was so cold. Everything felt like ice. He's whole family here and he says now they're going to stay a night get cleaned up and prepare to cross into the U.S.

CULVER(voiceover): But Leonardo's (ph) mom is terrified to climb down. Her loved ones at first encouraging, then telling her let's go. Part of the train journey north for some is on what's called La Bestia, The Beast or The Train of Death. A ride dangerous and deadly and often controlled by cartels. Hours making this treacherous trek scarring but imagine days on board.

CULVER: She said they were four days on this trench says horrible really cold. She has four kids his wife, four and a half days on the train. Mike (ph) says, it's for the American dream and they're going to try to cross today.

CULVER (voiceover) Another 25 miles under the hot sun to the border from here. Precious cargo carried on shoulders, and in hand. Most end up where we started at the barbed wire, the added barrier rolled out in recent months by the Texas National Guard. It does not stop the crossings, it does slow them a bit. The young woman uses her jacket to create a gap while the other tosses through it bottles of water and a backpack. Their only belongings a quick hug and they hurry along likely to turn themselves in to U.S. officials, more will follow.

CULVER: Those two women ultimately making it into the U.S. Technically, they ended up where the group you see behind me, the hundreds of migrants are gathered on the other side of the barbed wire on U.S. territory. But before crossing that border wall you see, so, they're waiting to be processed by U.S. officials. It's interesting that we're talking to many of the migrants who have made their way to this point what is the final stage before trying to cross into the U.S.?

And if you ask if they plan their travels around title 42 lifting, many of them say no. At this point, it has been too unpredictable to follow U.S. policy. We saw this back in November and in December when we were nearing the deadline and then it was extended both times up until this date. So, at this point, many of the folks that we are speaking with tell us, they're just planning based on their own scheduling and their own hopes, desires, and really determination to make it into the U.S. David Culver, CNN, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

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CHURCH: The Biden administration wants to make it easier for airline passengers to deal with flight delays and cancellations. It's proposing airlines be required to compensate stranded travelers, that compensation could include meals and lodging. In some countries, these rules are already in place and President Biden acknowledges the U.S. is lagging behind.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Airline passengers in Canada, for example, the European Union and other places already get these compensations, and guess what it works. One study found that the European Union required airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays, the number of flight delays went down. I appreciate Secretary Buttigieg his leadership on this issue, and I hope and expect the Department of Transportation to move as quickly as it can to put this new rule in place.

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CHURCH: And that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church, do stay with us though. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.

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