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U.S. On High Alert For Possible Attack By Iran In The Middle East; CIA Director Heads To Egypt For Hostage Release-Ceasefire Talks; Overnight Shooting In Miami-Dade County Kills A Security Guard; Diddy And Son Named In Sexual Assault Lawsuit; Foreigners Flock For Total Solar Eclipse; Iowa To Face South Carolina In Women's NCAA Championship Sunday; Thieves Travel To U.S. To Steal From High-End Homes. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 06, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS KALDERON, MOTHER: And then a young man like 19 years old was -- just jumped on the window and make like a gym, you know, like sport. One of the --

BRIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Was doing pull-ups.

KALDERON: Yes. Something like that. And then we saw them just behind the bush, you know. And them this young boy called the Hamas terrorist. My Sahar, she couldn't run away because her legs fell asleep. She couldn't move. Erez, he was very clever. He tried to get up to the roof, but then they saw him. They show the gun and they said go out or we shoot.

GOLODRYGA: Sahar, Erez and their 53-year-old father, Ofer Kalderon, were caught.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Hadas continues to speak out because while her children had been released, their father, Ofer, remains among the 134 Israeli hostages that remain in Gaza. Israel believes at least 30 of them are dead. On Sunday you'll hear from Hadas and other families I spoke with who are so desperate for a deal to be reached so that they can see their loved ones finally come home -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Bianna's full report airs in "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we're following new developments in the crisis in the Middle East. CNN learned a short time ago that House Republicans plan to hold a vote next week on a pro-Israel resolution that would oppose calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the very thing the Biden administration has been working toward. The symbolic vote will put Republicans at odds with not just the White House, but much of the world.

And it will come one week after an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza, including a dual U.S. citizen and at a time when the U.S. is on high alert. A senior Biden administration official tells CNN the U.S. is actively preparing for significant attack by Iran on U.S. and Israeli targets in the Middle East as soon as next week. Meantime, Iran blames Israel for an airstrike in Syria this week that killed at least seven Iranian officials, including two top military commanders.

Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House for us and Nic Robertson is at the Israel-Gaza border.

Priscilla, you first. U.S. officials believe an attack is inevitable. What is the administration preparing for?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And to be clear, this could be targeting Israeli and U.S. assets in the region, but all the same, U.S. and Israeli governments in close touch over what they see as an inevitable attack, retaliation by Iran after an Israeli airstrike that killed several Iranian commanders.

Now at the time, Iran vowed revenge and in an exchange, the U.S. made clear they did not know about the airstrike ahead of time nor were they involved. In fact, they warned Iran not to use this airstrike as a pretext to attack U.S. personnel and facilities. But this is expected perhaps as soon as next week, though it's still unclear when it would happen or what it might look like, but it was a key topic of discussion between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their phone call earlier this week.

And we should also note that one of the concerns here in the worst- case scenarios would be a direct strike by Iran on Israel because that could spark a broader regional conflict. That is something that the White House has wanted to avoid and warned against. And so that is what they are watching very closely as they prepare for this potential attack by Iran in the region.

Again, the big concern here is that if it is to happen in the way it could happen could spark that broader regional conflict that up until this point, the United States has been trying to avoid -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla, thanks so much.

Nic, to you. Hamas says a delegation will join talks in Cairo tomorrow on a ceasefire and hostage release. The CIA director will also be there. What can you tell us about that?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: These are of an indirect talks so far that have been brokered by the Egyptians and by the Qataris. The head of Egyptian intelligence, the Qatari prime minister will be there in Cairo.

And so far these talks haven't brokered a deal so far. What we understand from Hamas is that their representative will go back to Cairo but it's going to stick to the position that they've maintained since the middle of March, they say, and that is a position that leaves big gaps between what Israel is willing to settle for.

Those gaps seem to be around the fact that Hamas insists that there is a complete ceasefire and that the Israeli troops, the IDF pulls out of Gaza completely.

[15:05:07]

In fact, there seems to be a hardening of what was understood about a month ago to be on the table, which was a phased approach, which was that these things could be reached, these points could be reached through a series of face steps.

Now, Israel is saying that what Hamas is asking for is essentially, you know, is not achievable. What Hamas also seems to want is that there should be a return of displaced Gazans from the south of Gaza back to the north and it's the terms of that return of displaced people that also seems to be in dispute. Hamas appears to want a significant number of people to be able to go back to the north immediately, whereas Israel is saying only a certain number could go back each day to the north. And this appears still to be a point of dispute.

We're expecting the CIA chief Bill Burns and expecting the Mossad chief David Barnea to go back to Cairo, but it's not quite clear just yet if and when they'll go back. But it is getting to a point now where the expectation is if there isn't progress that's being made and then progress that is being made so far is very slow and very difficult, we understand, then there could be a real possibility that Israel would choose to go ahead with its operation to go into Rafah, where there are about 1.5 million Gazans living to go after the remaining four battalions of Hamas there.

So these are very important talks but the likelihood to close the gap just doesn't seem to be there at the moment.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, we'll leave it there for now. And Priscilla Alvarez, thanks to both of you.

All right. David Sanger is now joining me now. He's a CNN political and national security analyst.

Good to see you, David. And you're also a White House national security correspondent for "The New York Times." And author -- and there's more. And author of the upcoming book "New Cold Wars."

OK. Now I do want to ask you about this expected House vote on Israel. Do you see this as a vote to try to embarrass President Biden or is there something more behind it?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, there's going to be a vote at some point that presumably will deal with the Israel issues and maybe if combined together the aid to Ukraine as well. And the president is in a funny bind here right now. He's been pressing for a bill that would obviously free up $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion or $15 billion for Israel. But at the same time, he just delivered to Bibi Netanyahu on just

about the six-month anniversary of the attack the harshest message I think I have seen an American president give an Israeli prime minister, which is basically Israel's conduct of the war has to change or the United States will reconsider its policy. And by that it means conditioning that arms aid. So you've got a lot of moving parts. You have Biden-Netanyahu and then you have Congress where, you know, the president is under pressure from the left of his own party as well.

WHITFIELD: And this also coming after, I mean, that deadly Israeli strike killing seven humanitarian workers with the World, you know, Kitchen. So Biden did speak with the Prime Minister Netanyahu this week following that tragedy. And Israel also announced that it would reopen the Erez Crossing and that apparently is supposed to be happening today.

Does this or might it make an impact with the humanitarian crisis that only seems to be growing right now?

SANGER: It could make a difference on the edges, but not the primary one. That crossing is in the north. Most of the trucks which have been coming in from Egypt and so forth are closer to the south. They're not near that (INAUDIBLE). And what the prime minister did was a step in the right direction, but nowhere near what the administration has demanded. The administration has said there can't be another strike like the one that killed the seven aid workers.

That means essentially that Israel is going to have to either be communicating with each of these aid convoys or escorting those aid convoys, and we haven't heard anything yet from the Israelis about what their plan is to prevent another strike like that. The rules of engagement for those who launched that strike seemed to be beyond anything we could understand.

[15:10:02]

They apparently said that they believe there was an armed militant in the group, but that would mean that they were willing to kill seven aid workers to get one armed militants. So there's a lot of space right now still between the president and the prime minister.

WHITFIELD: Biden committed to new military aid for Israel despite, you know, all of this criticism, too, that has resulted in the humanitarian aid workers dying.

Is it too late for the Biden administration to attach some conditions?

SANGER: No, it's not. Much of the aid that they approved including fighter jets and so forth won't be delivered for some time. They're on a long-term schedule. So there could certainly be conditions applied on these. It's the short-term aid where the conditions made the most likely to go into early effect that 1,000 pound and 2,000-pound bombs that the Israelis have dropped in crowded urban areas. My suspicion is that would be the first and biggest condition.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Sanger, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

SANGER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Back in this country, we're also following breaking news. An overnight shooting in Miami-Dade County has left a security guard dead and seven more people injured. Police say a gunman opened fire at a bar in Doral, Florida, after the security guard tried to break up a fight between patrons there.

CNN's Ryan Young back with us.

Any new developments on this investigation?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No new developments so far, but it's still very troubling what happened. You're talking about City Center, a place where a lot of people like to go out. It's a bar area. This is last night around after 2:30.

What we're told is some people got into an argument and a security guard stepped in as they normally do at an establishment like this. Someone produced a handgun, shooting and killing that security guard. Officers, two of them moved in very quickly to try to figure out exactly what happened. And while this de-escalation was taking place, that's when a gunfight started between that person who fired the shot and officers.

One officer was hit. He actually had to apply a torniquet to his leg. Six other people were shot. We're told two women and four other men were hit. Two still remain in critical condition.

Listen to the police chief talk about this troubling situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF EDWIN LOPEZ, DORAL POLICE DEPARTMENT: Right now it's an active investigation. We haven't identified any of the folks involved yet. Our detectives are investigating. like I said it's a multi-agency investigation. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the police-involved shooting. Miami-Dade Police Department is investigating the homicide. And then the Doral Police Department is assisting in both parts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes. Fred, you know we've done too many of these at this point. Early on in an investigation was something that happened this early in the morning, but what we do know is that officer will survive. We know some people are still in critical condition. But in terms of the motive, what happened, how the argument was sparked, why a gun was pulled, you got to think about that security guard's family just stepping in to stop whatever argument was happening in that bar. And then the next thing you know, people are shot.

So, so many questions to be answered at this point. But the idea that the officer was able to apply a tourniquet to his own leg to save his life is pretty remarkable. But at this point so many more questions than answers.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Amazing training, amazing instincts. All of that.

YOUNG: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ryan Young, thanks so much.

YOUNG: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead this hour, Sean Diddy Combs and his son both named in a sexual assault lawsuit. What we know about the allegations. Plus, as Americans gear up for the total solar eclipse, we're going to talk to a man who has traveled hours just to see a it. And it's being dubbed burglary tourism. A look at the vacationers coming to the U.S. to rob Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:27]

WHITFIELD: All right. New audio has surfaced as part of a lawsuit that accuses Christian Combs, Sean Diddy Combs' son, of sexual assault. The music mogul is not accused of sexual assault in the lawsuit but is included over allegations of liability and aiding and abetting. The lawsuit cites audio from a makeshift recording studio on the yacht where the alleged assault happened.

This is the latest in a series of lawsuits filed against the rap mogul and businessman. Both men, father and son, denied the allegations against them.

CNN national correspondent Camila Bernal joining me live with details on this.

Camila, what more are you learning?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. So in this audio that CNN has listened to, you can specifically here the accuser, who alleges that she was being forced to take this tequila shot that she believed was laced with drugs. And in the audio you can hear her asking Christian Combs if she was being drugged and he answers take the shot.

Now, just to put things into perspective, the accuser was a crew member on the yacht. She was a bartender and she says that shortly after this incident with the shot she says she was cornered in a room. She says things became aggressive and physical and then says that Christian Combs forced himself on her and then says that it wasn't until another employee on the yacht came into this room that the abuse that she is alleging in this 31-page lawsuit stopped. And she says it only stopped because that person came into the room.

[15:20:01]

Now I want to read part of what the accuser's attorney is saying right now. What he's saying is defendant Sean Combs turned what was sold as a wholesome family excursion into a hedonistic environment. It resulted in an unexpected increase in workload for her and for her colleagues as well as unwanted exposure to unlawful drug use, sex work and general chaos.

Now, why are they naming Diddy in all of this? And it is partially because he was leasing that yacht. Now he is not accused of sexual assault, but he is accused in this lawsuit of liability and aiding and abetting because he was the one renting the yacht. Now his attorney or actually the attorney for both men also speaking out and denying these allegations saying this. "This complaint is filled with manufactured lies and irrelevant facts. We will be filing a motion to dismiss this outrageous claim."

Again, they have continued to say that this is something that they will fight, that they are innocent in all of this. So we'll have to wait and see how this plays out in court if it gets to court or if it gets settled at some point which has been the case with a previous lawsuit. But, again, we'll have to wait and see what happens as Diddy and his son continued to say they're innocent and the victims here continued to say that they were sexually assaulted -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so while music mogul Combs isn't accused of sexual assault in the lawsuit he has been accused of a range of sexual misconduct in other separate lawsuits. How might that play into this?

BERNAL: Yes. As I mentioned, one of the lawsuits was settled, but there are others that are currently pending, right. And so there's a lot of the details that we've learned and attorneys say that there's audio and video of these alleged crimes or at least some of the alleged crimes. You're seeing some of those cases there. The one way with "Cassie" was the one that was settled, but there are other ones that we'll still have to wait and see how they play out.

And of course, we all saw just last month as Diddy's homes in both Miami and Los Angeles were the target of a federal investigation and we saw that all play out on video last month. But again, it's important to point out that Diddy continues to say that he is innocent. They said this was a gross overuse of military-level force, and they say that he is innocent and will continue to fight to defend his name -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

BERNAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, it's not just Americans excited about the total solar eclipse, foreigners are flocking for a chance to see the celestial event. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:14]

WHITFIELD: Hard to believe, but we're now just two days away from a rare celestial spectacle. A total eclipse of the sun. And lots of people are flocking to areas in the path of totality, including Niagara Falls. Officials on the Ontario side of the falls have already declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the large crowds.

Let me bring in CNN's Harry Enten, who is in Niagara Falls on the New York side.

Hello. Quite the fashion statement those spectacles you've got there. So what's happening?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: What's going on here, you know, when we spoke two hours ago, I was wearing one pair of spectacles, but the governor's office came by and gave me these "I love New York" spectacles.

WHITFIELD: OK.

ENTEN: And I love New York so I'm wearing those.

WHITFIELD: Certainly different. I like that.

ENTEN: They do look different. The PR office is out in force. You know, we can see the sun up there. That is about where it's going to be come eclipse time on Monday. The totality is going to be about five minutes before this hit. So we are right about the time. We're just about 48 hours out. You know, I've been out here over the last two days. It's been quite the thing. You know, you mentioned the state of emergency on the Canadian side.

No state of emergency here. But of course we do have just in case things go awry National Guard, Coast Guard, law enforcement, generally speaking, is on standby, and perhaps most importantly, with all these visitors that are coming by into the region upwards of a million we have extra porta-potties as well just in case the bathroom lines get backed up.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.

ENTEN: And, you know, there have been a ton -- oh, yes. Oh, boy, you know. Look, nature calls sometimes.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I know and I did --

ENTEN: Natures calls no matter what the --

WHITFIELD: I really didn't want to visualize that, but I did but go ahead.

(LAUGHTER)

ENTEN: I bring you all the news, good, bad, ugly, et cetera. But they're -- you know, they're expecting upwards of a million people in the area. And in fact, I spoke with an English couple who are doing something for the second time. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENTEN: I guess the 2017 one was so impressive you decided I got to get -- I got to double dip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But I want to see this eclipse as well because I've got -- one in 2026 is going over Spain. So I've already got that lined up.

ENTEN: Oh, come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then the 2027, also it's in Spain. In 2028, there's one in Australia.

ENTEN: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I've got then lined up.

ENTEN: So I've heard of tornado chasers before. I've heard of hurricane chasers before. Apparently we've discovered a new breed and that is eclipse chasers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, he is making plans.

ENTEN: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: So what do people do in between? I mean, they're waiting now. We've got two days ago and clearly you got a lot of friends out there. What are people doing to pass the time?

[15:30:03]

ENTEN: Yes. I wish I was Miguel Marquez out in Cleveland, you go visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame out there.

WHITFIELD: True.

ENTEN: Here though we have the Maid of the Mist, which I went on yesterday, and let me just tell you, it's quite the experience. You really do need to, though, have your hefty jacket if you want to go down there. It's at least 10 degrees cooler. The winds blow crazily. It's quite the experience. There's also Niagara Falls state park buses out there so you can take a nice little tour.

WHITFIELD: OK.

ENTEN: So a lot of interesting things going out there.

WHITFIELD: That's fun. OK.

ENTEN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Well, it looks like you're made for a great weekend there in Niagara Falls. We'll be watching you all weekend long until the big moment on Monday where you pull out those glasses one more time.

Harry Enten, thank you so much.

ENTEN: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: There, looking good. All right.

All right. Some skywatchers are going to great lengths. In fact, I mean, not just the folks that Harry talked to you, but others, too, to get a glimpse of this rare celestial show.

Joining us right now is amateur astronomer John Rammel.

John, good to see you. You traveled all the way from Wisconsin to upstate New York for Monday's big event. Why?

JOHN RAMMEL, AMATEUR ASTRONOMER: Well, a solar eclipse is a big thing. Amateur astronomers all over the world wait for these and anticipate these. I had my plans made years ago for Texas and until about five days ago, I was slated to be in South Central Texas and the weather forecast made me change directions and instead I drove to the northeast, and I am waiting in New York and watching the skies anxiously.

WHITFIELD: All right, so you too are an eclipse chaser. So this will be your second total eclipse, right, that you've seen in person?

RAMMEL: Yes, I've seen a lot of partial eclipses over the years. But I've only seen one total eclipse, the one in 2017. This is my second and I do hope to be in Spain or Australia as your previous as guest alluded to.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my god, that's next year, right? That's going to be very exciting.

RAMMEL: 2026 and 2028.

WHITFIELD: OK. '26, sorry. OK. Very good and very exciting. All right. So now that you're a pro at this, you've seen it once and now you're going to see it the second time, what did you learn from the first viewing that perhaps you're going to tweak or adjust for this one to really maximize the experience?

RAMMEL: Well, seven years ago in 2017, I purposefully did not focus on photography. I had a camera setup that I needed to pay minimal attention to, to do some like landscape stuff with the eclipsed sun in the sky. I wanted to take in the whole of it. I just wanted to spend that two minutes soaking it in and I'm so glad that I did that.

This time I am a little more focused on photography. I've got more gear with me and I'm going to try to capture some decent pictures of totality.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's cool. You know, I spoke with someone earlier who, you know, has worked with NASA and who wrote a book, and he's been involved with movies as well, and his best recommendation is when taking in this total eclipse you need to really be in the moment. Once you've got positioned and have, you know, all your friends around you, et cetera, when it happens, you just have to be silent, quiet, and take it all in. Is that something you'll do, too?

RAMMEL: I heard that interview last hour. I do think that people react differently. And my experience in 2017 was that people are not generally quiet. People cheer, they exclaim, they cry out emotionally. It's a very visceral moment. It's a moment that I think most people are not prepared for. They have no idea that they're going to react that way.

In 2017, in my case, and my daughter's case, even some tears. It was that moving and that emotional of an experience.

WHITFIELD: OK. So everyone has got to be in their own moment, right? That's what I'm hearing from you, John.

RAMMEL: For sure.

WHITFIELD: And then of course --

RAMMEL: Yes, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

RAMMEL: I do recommend that people don't focus too much on photography because you don't want to be fiddling with a camera while this spectacle is going on in the sky above you.

WHITFIELD: Right. Because it's only going to be somewhere between three and four minutes so, you know, you got all these preparations underway, looking forward to it, and then you're filling around doing something else and it just passed by. You missed the whole thing.

RAMMEL: Right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, John Rammel, thank you so much. I'm looking forward to whatever, you know, whatever happens in the moment then, whether it's being quiet, whether it's, you know, crying or whatever it is. Now we have permission from you to feel whatever you're going to feel.

RAMMEL: Yes. Quick shoutout to my friends in the Madison Astronomical Society. Good luck on Monday.

[15:35:01]

WHITFIELD: All right, very good. They got the shoutout. Thanks so much.

RAMMEL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And make sure, everybody at home, you're watching CNN. You know, being in the moment, still being in the moment, but we've got eclipse coverage. "ECLIPSE ACROSS AMERICA" coverage is starting Monday, April 8th at 1:00 Eastern or stream it on Max.

All right. Coming up next, it may be remembered as the year women took over March Madness. The final is less than 24 hours away and in a movie-like ending Iowa's Caitlin Clark will be on the court. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:20]

WHITFIELD: All right. Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes are heading back to the NCAA Women's National championship game for a second straight season. The Hawkeyes will face off against the number one seed South Carolina. The Gamecocks are aiming to become the first undefeated national champion since 2016.

Joining me right now is CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan.

Good to see you, Christine. Boy, do I wish I were in the stands or what? I mean this has been incredible, what a nail-biter last night. I mean, how did -- how does that set the stage for tomorrow's final, Iowa and South Carolina?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Fred, this is one of the greatest weekends in women's sports history. It truly is/ We are in uncharted territory here and all because of Caitlin Clark and those logo threes and her ability to will her team to victory after victory.

You know, Iowa was good but no one thought -- well, people thought they might lose before the final four. They certainly didn't think they were going to make it to the championship game. And here they are again against South Carolina, the super team, the undefeated team, the favorite certainly.

But Caitlin Clark's ability to just pull off the most miraculous shots, and even when it's not going great, like yesterday, still scoring 21 points.

WHITFIELD: Yes, like the first half.

BRENNAN: Right, yes, like the first half. Second half so much better. Several three's and also of course just fighting through all that defense. And of course the passes as well. And, you know, it was a nail-biter, but that's what great athletes do. That's what iconic athletes do. It finds a way to win and she's captured the hearts of most of the country in the process.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And I love that people know the names of these women NCAA players. I mean, Angel Reese, Kamilla, you know, Cardoso, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Hannah Stuelke. I mean, when did this game get so physical? And how did it get so elevated in this way?

BRENNAN: I think we can give credit to Title Nine, the law side of 1972 that was ignored for many years in this country, Fred, and finally coming of age. You know, Caitlin Clark was born in 2002. Most of these, all these women were born in this century. And so they -- we've watched them grow up there. They're the girl next door. And there's more funding. There's more interests. Parents care more. There's better coaching. There's better training.

The college scholarship, the opportunity to play. And then of course, stay in college get that training. All of that, it's truly an American success story. And when you watch Caitlin Clark, when you watch South Carolina, of course LSU and the others as you've mentioned, Connecticut, UConn, this is an American story that every -- that people have been watching in every neighborhood in our country.

We just didn't know it. And you're right, the totality, it's the size, the interest, but it all comes back to an interest by our nation to make sure our girls have the same opportunities that our boys did.

WHITFIELD: Oh, I love that. Coming of age. I mean, Kamilla Cardoso, I mean, her teammates call her the biggie, which affectionally which I think is so cute. I mean, what, she's 6'7"? I mean, she's the top draft for the WNBA, you know, and look, when I bought tickets, you know, for me and the family to see Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury play Atlanta Dream, you know, I saw and experienced the electricity in the WNBA, unlike what I recall before.

But what is it about this NCAA tournament and what it might potentially be doing for women's basketball and for the WNBA overall, and hopefully for salaries?

BRENNAN: Well, for sure. And Caitlin Clark will be the first draft pick, Indiana fever. We're already seeing signs of this, for example, Las Vegas just announced they're moving the game against Indiana from their 12,000-seat arena to their 20,000 seat arena in Las Vegas. That's in July. And Caitlin Clark hasn't even been drafted yet. That is the (INAUDIBLE). And we're going to see more of that.

And you're right, Caitlin Clark, but a rising tide lifts all boats and so just as Caitlin Clark, we're seeing her on all the commercials, Angel Reese has opportunities. Paige Bueckers, of course, is going to stay in college. So the WNBA, this is their greatest opportunity they've ever had to really shine and to capture the attention of the nation. And let's hope that they are able to do that.

We've also got the Olympics coming up and Caitlin Clark should definitely be on the U.S. Olympic team because she is the face of basketball right now.

WHITFIELD: True.

BRENNAN: So we'll see how that plays out. But there's so much more yet to come and it's wonderful to see how the nation is embracing and falling in love with what it has created.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it's credible. It's been so much fun to watch. And like you said, there's more to come.

[15:45:02]

Christine Brennan, great to see you. Thank you so much.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. And while everybody is waiting for the women's final tomorrow, catch the men's final four tonight on TBS, TNT the TruTV, or you can stream it on Max.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:01]

WHITFIELD: The U.S. Geological Survey says it has recorded 28 aftershocks following that rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake that struck New Jersey Friday morning. The largest aftershock clocking in at 3.8 magnitude. Friday's quake was felt from Washington, D.C. to Maine. It was the third largest earthquake recorded in the area in the last five decades. Officials reported very limited damage.

The USGS says the aftershocks could happen for weeks, possibly even months, and will become less frequent as time goes on.

Authorities say they're now fighting a trend in what they're calling burglary tourism. It's where thieves enter the U.S. on visa waivers and head home with millions in criminal proceeds.

Here's CNN's Josh Campbell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Home burglaries.

CAROL STARR, BURGLARY VICTIM: They hit the jackpot.

CAMPBELL: From coast to coast.

JEFF STAFF, BURGLARY VICTIM: I can see that the entire place had been trashed.

CAMPBELL: But these aren't your typical thieves.

J. STARR: We've heard now they used drones.

CAMPBELL: And their alleged crimes even have nations pointing fingers.

J. STARR: I got a letter of apology from the Chilean ambassador.

CAMPBELL: But it all starts much closer to home with lives changed forever.

C. STARR: You don't feel safe in your own home.

CAMPBELL: Carol and Jeff Starr thought their jewelry was secure, locked up in a safe in their Orange County, California, home.

C. STARR: My mother wanted to leave a legacy through jewelry and she bought some beautiful antique jewelry, museum-quality jewelry.

CAMPBELL: But thieves are believed to have stalked the neighborhood, waited for the family to leave and got away with $8 million in heirloom jewelry and other items. J. STARR: They broke through a window in the upper bedroom and came

through that window and then immediately started working. Once they found the safe, start working on the safe.

CAMPBELL: Police say the break-in is part of a sophisticated ring of thieves who arrived from South America, often from Chile prosecutors say where it's easy to get a tourist visa waiver to the U.S. Then joined with others in a coordinated effort to scout and break into homes.

TODD SPITZER (R), ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They lie in wait in these ghillie suits, so they remain camouflaged while they're watching the behaviors of the homeowners when they come and go. They have wi-fi jammers to stop the alarm company from being notified.

CAMPBELL: Hundreds of wealthy homes targeted authority say from Scottsdale, Arizona, to Raleigh, North Carolina, and Nassau County, New York. Recent arrests have highlighted a nationwide issue.

CHIEF JEFF WALTHER, SCOTTSDALE POLICE: So we have to be willing to start asking some hard questions of our federal government.

CAMPBELL: The so-called burglary tourists have law enforcement demanding change to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization or ESTA, which allows up to 90-day visits to the U.S. from certain countries, including Chile, which Spitzer says is not providing the required background checks on its citizens.

SPITZER: Well, we don't know the criminal background of these individuals, and we can't tell the judge anything or represent anything about the background, which means the person is released on no bail and they never come back again to answer for the charges.

CAMPBELL: Spitzer claims another Chilean suspect was out on bail when he broke into this Dana Point, California, home in July.

BALAKRISHNA SUNDAR, BURGLARY VICTIM: This is the window the burglar came through.

CAMPBELL: The Sundar family built their dream home. Now rebuilding their peace of mind.

RAMA SUNDAR, BURGLARY VICTIM: We want to move away from here. I'm not going to feel secure at all.

CAMPBELL: They say for a problem so well-known to public officials, it's time to put an end to these crimes.

R. SUNDAR: I want to know what these politicians are doing up there. They're supposed to help us.

B. SUNDAR: Because I want a politician to go through this experience and he may feel exactly as I feel.

CAMPBELL: Now Chilean officials didn't respond to CNN's request for comment, but the Department of Homeland Security said it was working with that government to urgently address the issue. In a statement DHS says Chilean officials have responded by improving operational cooperation with DHS offices in efforts to detect, deter, and prevent travel to the United States by known criminal actors."

DHS says that once those changes are fully implemented, the U.S. will have access to travelers' background information. But of course for a type of criminal scheme that has been around for so many years, the victims we spoke with are asking what took so long.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Next, one man's mission to make sure no child in his state owes money for lunch and the moving way he came up with the idea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:59:11]

WHITFIELD: The CNN podcast "Five Things" now has a Saturday edition called "Five Good Things, where you can take a breather from the headlines and hear all the uplifting stories across the world. And one of those stories feature today is about an Oklahoma man who was honoring his late wife by paying off student lunch debts across the state.

Sean Cummings lost his wife Kathy to cancer in February and in lieu of flowers, he asked for donations, and so far Sean has raised more than $80,000 and has paid off student lunch debts at dozens of schools. Sean says he came up with the plan with his wife in her final days, and he thinks of her every time he writes a check to a school in her honor.

And you can listen to this story and more like it wherever you get your podcasts.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "NEWSROOM" with Jessica Dean starts right now.