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Mark Carney to Succeed Justin Trudeau as Canadian P.M.; Israel Shuts Down Electricity Across Gaza; Lawmakers Scramble to Avert Government Shutdown; University of Pittsburgh Student Vanished During a Spring Break Holiday. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 10, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN 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, President Donald Trump says he's feeling positive about critical negotiations as top Ukrainian and U.S. officials prepare to discuss a path to peace.

Canada's next Prime Minister is vowing to play hardball with the U.S. until they receive respect.

And the clock is ticking on Capitol Hill as lawmakers work to hash out a plan to keep the U.S. government funded and avoid a shutdown.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

We begin with Russia's war in Ukraine and President Donald Trump predicting that very big things will come from this week's talks between the U.S. and Kyiv. Mr. Trump spoke with reporters Sunday on Air Force One, repeating his claims that Ukraine does not want peace, but the war must stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Let's see what happens with the whole Russia-Ukraine thing. I think you're going to have eventually, and maybe not in the distant future, you're going to have some pretty good results coming out of Saudi Arabia this week.

REPORTER: Are you going to resume aid to Ukraine if they sign the minerals deal?

TRUMP: Well, I think they will sign the minerals deal, but we want them to, I want them to want peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Keep in mind that Ukraine is fighting off a Russian invasion that began in 2022. Right now, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on his way to Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he hopes to see results from this week's meetings. Mr. Zelenskyy is scheduled to be in Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but according to reports, he will not stay there for the U.S.-Ukraine talks.

Well meanwhile, as the U.S. withholds military support from Ukraine, Russia appears to be regaining territory in Kursk. This video shows a soldier raising a Russian flag atop a building there. Russia claims that it recaptured this settlement in recent days.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Clare. So what are we expecting out of these talks in Saudi Arabia?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, this is clearly going to be a critical week, one where we may get a clearer picture of whether the U.S. and Ukraine can agree on what a path forward looks like for this war and frankly, whether they can move beyond the spat in the Oval Office, which of course led to the suspending of U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine.

So there's a big hill to climb here, but there seems to be will on both sides. President Zelenskyy expected in Saudi Arabia today. He postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia, don't forget, from the week where the U.S. and Russian delegations met there.

He was supposed to be there the next day after that, but he postponed that to avoid, quote, "coincidences at the time." So this is the sort of the second take of that visit. We don't expect, as you say, that he will stay for the Tuesday talks, which are the really critical talks of this week between a top Ukrainian delegation and their U.S. counterparts.

I think the key questions there are, number one, will that mineral deal get signed? President Zelenskyy has indicated that he'd be willing to do that. And certainly you heard from President Trump that he wants that to happen.

And secondly, can they coalesce around some kind of initial ceasefire vision? We know that President Zelenskyy has sort of endorsed the plan that was initially put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron to start with ceasing fire in the air, ceasing maritime operations and stopping long range strikes on energy infrastructure.

But take a listen to what President Zelenskyy had to say ahead of these talks.

[03:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Diplomacy will only be strong with strong frontline positions, and we are doing everything to ensure that Ukraine's frontline needs are met.

We will continue working to bring peace closer.

The meeting of our teams, Ukraine and the United States and Saudi Arabia, has been further prepared. We hope for results, both in bringing peace closer and in continuing support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: I mean, he talks about strong frontline positions. I think it's clear that Ukraine is going into these initial talks, by the way, not peace talks, but sort of initial talks about peace talks with a much weaker position than it would have done even a few weeks ago.

It lost the U.S.' political cover, as well as, of course, air cover, intelligence that can help with things like converting missile and drone attacks on its territory. And, you know, the U.S. president over the weekend said that he thought Ukraine may not survive. So it continues to battle against this.

And meanwhile, Russia and we know from a U.S. source familiar with the matter that Russia and U.S. officials may also be holding talks in Saudi Arabia this week, is keen to keep a seat at the table and to take full advantage of this weak position that Ukraine finds itself in.

CHURCH: And Clare, Russia seems to be ramping up pressure on Ukraine, especially in the Kursk region. What more can you tell us about that?

SEBASTIAN: So I think, Yes, Russia is ramping up pressure in several ways, case in point, and we saw, by the way, we saw a similar pattern when U.S. aid was delayed by Congress at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, that these overnight barrages really increased in intensity. We saw 67 missiles fired at Ukraine in one night on Friday night last week. The U.N. says that Friday was one of the deadliest days for civilians this year so far.

Look, we see a lot of overnight drone attacks. Russia tends to rely on drones to do the heavy lifting with these overnight attacks way beyond the front lines. But to see 67 missiles in one night, I think it was striking.

Russia is not going to do that unless it believes that many of them will get through or at least that, in this case, I think that they are willing to do that to exhaust Ukraine's diminishing supply of things like Patriot interceptors. So that's one thing. The toll on civilians continued into the weekend.

We saw what's known as a double tap strike on a town in Donetsk region where, you know, the initial attack happens, the rescue workers move in and then another strike happens, 11 people were killed in the town of Dobropillia in the eastern region of Donetsk. It's a very deadly weekend for civilians. And then in terms of Kursk,

look, this is really critical for Ukraine. They entered Russia's Kursk region in August partly so that they could have a piece of Russian territory to use as a bargaining chip in talks. It seems Russia is now really pushing hard to get them out, to reduce that leverage.

There are talks among both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers that Ukraine is at serious risk of encirclement in the town of Sudzha, which is a critical point that they initially entered the territory into that town. Supply routes could be cut off.

So Russia, of course, alongside North Korean troops, really pushing hard to reduce that leverage for Ukraine.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian bringing us that live report from London.

Kira Rudik is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. She joins us now from Kyiv. Appreciate you talking with us.

KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER, AND HEAD OF GOLOS PARTY: Hello, Rosemary, and thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: Good to see you. So in the lead up to this critical week of peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia, we've seen Russia escalate attacks on Ukraine after the U.S. cut off military aid and intel to Ukraine.

But President Trump now says that pause will be lifted soon. What are you expecting to come out of the separate U.S. peace talks with Ukraine and with Russia?

RUDIK: Well, the first and foremost goal for us is to get back the U.S. support. I think everybody has witnessed that Russia using this window of opportunity for their own sake, killing so many Ukrainians and attacking us every single night.

And for the other goal, which is obviously peace, we are very confused. I'm confused because it's obviously that Ukraine is not the problem. We are not the problem. And though the discussions are right now with Ukraine, are we really into peace or not?

I have no understanding of how is Donald Trump and his team going to pressure Russia for peace and because they kept attacking us every single night and they will keep doing this.

So what is the goal here? And how that would work?

We are talking about the security guarantees. But I think honestly, we need even to pull back one step and say, like, are we sure that Russia even can keep their potential ceasefire?

[03:10:05]

Because from our experience in Ukraine, they are not, we have been in this ceasefire agreement with them since 2014. And honestly, it never worked. So how right now would be different. CHURCH: And after that recent public clash between Presidents Trump

and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, Trump is saying that Ukraine must show that it's serious about peace talks. How committed to these talks is Ukraine?

RUDIK: Well, the delegation in Saudi Arabia will show that we are committed to peace talks and we are committed to peace. Honestly, Rosemary, I think the world knows that there is no other country that wants peace more than Ukraine, because it's us being killed every single day and night.

We want to survive, obviously. But would these peace talks lead actually to peace? That's a big open question. We haven't seen any confirmation of that and any way of how that would actually work.

CHURCH: And President Trump also says that he is optimistic about the rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine. Will that go ahead and what is in it for Ukraine if that gets signed?

RUDIK: From what we know right now, there are no security guarantees in this deal, obviously. And we have not heard any concrete confirmation of how the security guarantees may look like.

So the rare minerals deal is a step of Ukraine's administration towards President Trump's administration, showing that we have common interests.

However, I need to make it very clear that President Zelenskyy can sign the deal in terms of the memorandum and then it will have to get into the parliament's hands. So it will be ratified and actually then potentially be executed.

So this is just the first step of the rare minerals deal. And there would be steps to follow.

CHURCH: And President Trump did say over the weekend that he's looking at applying sanctions on Russia. How critical is that for Ukraine and what sort of sanctions do you think he's talking about?

RUDIK: Of course, Russia was able to overpass certain sanctions that were applied since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. As of right now, we have only seen President Trump applying pressure to Ukraine and not to Russia. And so we hope that he has a good idea what would work with Russia.

I think even if all the previous sanctions would be made, that they would actually work, including the limitations on the banks, financial systems and most of all, Russia's shadow fleet that is still trading with the whole world, that would be a step in the right direction because it will limit Russia's ability to continue manufacturing drones and supplies that they do at scale.

CHURCH: Kira Rudik, joining us live from Kyiv. Many thanks for talking with us. I appreciate it.

RUDIK: Thank you. And glory to Ukraine. CHURCH: Turning now to Canada, where the man set to become the

country's next prime minister is striking a defiant tone in the face of threats from the U.S. president. Former central banker Mark Carney was elected on Sunday as the Liberal Party's leader and successor to Justin Trudeau.

Among the biggest issues he'll face growing tensions between Canada and its southern neighbor. On Sunday, he slammed the Trump administration's tariff plans and vowed to keep retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. until, quote, "the Americans show us respect."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, LIBERAL PARTY LEADER AND CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER- DESIGNATE: America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form.

We didn't ask for this fight. We didn't ask for this fight. The Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.

So the Americans, they should make no mistake in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: His comments coming as the U.S. president ramps up his trade war and calls for Canada to become the 51st state. In an interview that aired Sunday, Mr. Trump said tariffs on some goods from Canada planned for April 2nd, quote, "could go up."

CNN's Paula Newton is following developments from Ottawa.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mark Carney's win was overwhelming.

SACHIT MERA, LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA PRESIDENT: In first place, the next prime minister of Canada, Mark Carney.

NEWTON (voice-over): But all eyes are now on the contest to come. As Canada's prime minister-designate, Carney will be sworn in within days and will likely call for a national election within weeks.

Carney is calling for national unity to better face the challenge of the Trump administration and its threat to the Canadian economy.

CARNEY: Right now, all Canadians are being asked to serve in their own ways. We're all being called to stand up for each other and for the Canadian way of life. So let me ask you, who's ready?

NEWTON (voice-over): Carney is a political novice, a former central bank governor in both Canada and England, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs, an economist with a hockey goalie pedigree from his days at Harvard.

But in the election, he will face conservative leader Pierre Pollievre, a career politician backed by a trending social media presence and the praise of MAGA allies after cutting attacks like this.

PIERRE POLLIEVRE, CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER: Working for Trudeau, Carney made Canada weaker and poorer. Working for himself, Carney made the United States richer and stronger.

NEWTON (voice-over): President Donald Trump's tariff and annexation threats have reframed the Canadian election in just a matter of weeks, with a rising nationalism and rising popularity for the Liberal Party.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to announce his resignation in January as he grew ever more unpopular. But his Liberal Party has since been reborn with new purpose.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is a nation defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given.

NEWTON (voice-over): Those are some of Trudeau's final words as prime minister. His successor promises to take on that fight.

CARNEY: Donald Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer. Pierre Pollievre's plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered. Because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.

NEWTON (voice-over): But for weeks already, the Conservatives have been portraying Carney as weak in the face of the American threat.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Trump wants our jobs.

TRUMP: We're going to take other countries' jobs.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): And Mark Carney is just the man to help him.

NEWTON: Canadians will now take the measure of Carney's vast economic experience, both in Canada and abroad, and will weigh which leader and party is best able to stand up to the American threat.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: As his tariff war escalates, President Trump is now expressing uncertainty over the chance of a recession in the U.S. He simply admits, who knows.

Global trade tensions are stoking fears of that possibility. But President Trump boasted earlier the U.S. will make so much money off his tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Well, I think the tariffs are going to be the greatest thing we've ever done as a country. It's going to make our country rich again. We have many companies, as you know, auto companies are opening up plants now. We've had four or five announced already, but many more are coming.

And we're basically going to take back the money, a lot of the money that we've given away over many decades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Betsy Klein breaks down President Trump's back and forth around tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: I want to step back and talk about how we got here.

The president talked about tariffs a lot on the campaign trail. And just weeks after the election said he would impose tariffs on both Mexico and Canada, signing an executive order on February 1st and then delaying that another month. That got us to the uncertainty this week.

Starting on Tuesday, he imposed 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada. On Wednesday, he issued tariffs or lifted tariffs on the auto industry.

By Thursday, he had lifted all tariffs for a month. And on Friday, he announced new tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber products. But just this morning, his commerce secretary, in fact, announced that those dairy tariffs would not go in place until April 2nd.

But asked whether the tariffs going into place April 2nd are the final iteration or if there will be more, the president declined to say. He said it depends and they could go up.

But look, the president's team views these tariffs as a move aimed at cracking down on fentanyl. Kevin Hassett, the president's top economic advisor, said that this is a drug war, not a trade war, and that the whiplash we have seen over the past few days is a sign of progress.

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KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: What happened was that we launched a drug war, not a trade war, and it was part of a negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders.

JONATHAN KARL, "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: I mean, one percent of fentanyl is being smuggled across the border, one percent. I mean, Canada is not a major source at all of fentanyl in the United States. Aren't they?

HASSETT: Well, yes, they are a major source. And I can tell you that in the Situation Room, I've seen photographs of fentanyl labs in Canada that the law enforcement folks were leaving alone. Canada's got a big drug problem, even in their own cities.

KLEIN: I want to emphasize what John Karl said just there. Canada is responsible for just 0.2 percent of illegal fentanyl imports into the U.S. But all of this taken together, rocking markets, so much uncertainty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: When we return, the Trump administration is signaling that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas could happen soon. We'll have latest details just ahead.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Israel says it has cut off all electricity to Gaza to put pressure on Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal.

[03:25:05]

The move will mainly affect a wastewater treatment facility, the last place in the enclave that was still receiving power from Israel. Hamas slammed the decision but said it would have little impact. Palestinians in Gaza have relied largely on generators and solar power since the war broke out.

There are reports that Hamas does not oppose releasing Edan Alexander, the only living American hostage believed remaining in Gaza. According to Hamas-affiliated T.V. reports, it's part of the negotiations to end the war with Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for hostages says a ceasefire deal could come together within weeks.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula. So what's the latest on negotiations for a ceasefire deal?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we have been hearing some cautious optimism from the envoy for hostages, Adam Boehler. He's part of the Trump administration. He has been talking directly to Hamas, which is obviously a break with longstanding policy in the United States, where they don't speak directly to groups that they deem to be terrorist organizations.

But we heard from Boehler on Sunday speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper. He pointed out it is important to speak to the bad guys as well as the good guys. And he did sound optimistic that there could be something to announce or some kind of deal within weeks.

Let's listen to more of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM BOEHLER, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGES: With respect to the Hamas situation, I do think there's hope. I think that Israel has done a wonderful, masterful job eliminating Hamas, Hezbollah, a number of other enemies in the state that makes things possible that weren't possible before.

And I think you could see something like a long-term truce where we forgive prisoners, where Hamas lays down their arms, where they agree they're not part of the political party going forward. I think that's a reality that's real close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, we know that Israel wants to extend that temporary ceasefire in order to be able to secure the release of more hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners and detainees. They want this because it would mean that they wouldn't have to commit to a permanent ceasefire, which was part of the phase two of this deal, which had been agreed on before and was supposed to be in place by now. It also meant that they had to pull their military out of Gaza, something Israel is not willing to do at this point.

Now, Hamas is pushing back, saying that it believes that they have to go ahead with the deal that was already agreed to by both sides. We have heard from one Israeli source, though, that Israel is, quote, "giving negotiations a chance before it returns to fighting in Gaza."

Now, we have seen Israel putting more pressure on Hamas to accept its version of this ceasefire. We have seen all aid for the past week. Humanitarian aid has been stopped from going into Gaza.

As you mentioned, they have also now stopped all electricity going into Gaza. And certainly they are trying to put pressure on Hamas to agree to what they want to happen.

We have heard from Hamas that they are potentially willing to release the one American hostage who is believed to be still alive in Gaza, Edan Alexander. There are also four Americans that the Israelis believe have been killed, either on October 7th or since that time.

So the negotiations are ongoing. An Israeli delegation will be in Doha today on the invitation of U.S. mediators. We know that a Hamas delegation was in Cairo on Friday.

And Donald Trump, the U.S. President's Middle East envoy is expected to be back in the region to try and coordinate this shortly as well. So negotiations are ongoing. We are hearing some optimism from the Trump side but Hamas has been rejecting the fact that they say there was a deal that had been agreed to and it is now being changed. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks, joining us live from Abu Dhabi with that report. Many thanks.

A U.K.-based human rights group says more than 600 people have now been killed in Syria amid days of fighting between pro-government forces and supporters of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad. The country's interim president is vowing to hold those involved in the violent clashes accountable.

[03:30:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED AL-SHARAA, SYRIA'S INTERIM PRESIDENT (through translator): We find ourselves facing a new danger, represented by the attempts of the remnants of the former regime and the external parties behind them, to create a new sedition and drag our country into a civil war, aiming to divide it and destroy its unity and stability.

We confirm that we will hold accountable, with all firmness and without leniency, anyone who was involved in the bloodshed of civilians or harmed our people, or who exceeded the powers of the state or exploited power to achieve his own goals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Syria is facing the worst outbreak of violence since Assad was forced out in December. Eyewitnesses are accusing government supporters of carrying out execution-style killings.

Syrian authorities say they are trying to stop a rebel uprising of those still loyal to Assad. The country's interim government plans to form an independent committee to investigate the issue.

Still to come, President Trump warns there could be a government shutdown. The funding battle brewing on Capitol Hill when we come back.

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Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Let's check today's top stories for you.

[03:35:00]

The United States and Ukraine are expected to hold talks this week in Saudi Arabia. It will be the first face-to-face talk since the disastrous shouting match in the Oval Office last month. President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that very big things will come from the discussions.

Canada's Liberal Party has chosen former central banker Mark Carney as its new leader and the country's next Prime Minister. Tensions between Canada and the U.S. will be among the biggest issues he'll face when he takes over from Justin Trudeau. Carney is vowing to keep retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. until, quote, "the Americans show us respect."

And President Trump appears uncertain over a possible U.S. recession this year as his global trade war escalates. He says he's sure the U.S. will become, quote, "so rich from the tariffs he's imposing on trade partners."

Well retaliatory tariffs imposed by China on a wide variety of U.S. agricultural products are now in effect, as Beijing looks to prove it won't back down from President Trump's escalating trade war. CNN's Marc Stewart has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As China fights back against the United States with tariffs of its own, it's also responding with some strong statements.

On Friday, we heard from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. During a news conference with reporters from around the world, he questioned the United States about the effectiveness of tariffs and said, quote, "If you choose to cooperate, you will achieve mutual benefit and win- win results. If you blindly exert pressure, China will resolutely counterattack."

Starting today, China is imposing additional tariffs on American agricultural products being imported from the U.S., including important commodities such as soybeans. As far as Chinese citizens are concerned, they're worried about how this will impact consumers and the prices they pay, whether they live here in Beijing or in the U.S.

UNKNOWN (through translator): It may not have much impact on my life because I am at the grassroots level, ordinary people. So the impact on us may not be particularly large, but it will definitely have a great impact on the country.

UNKNOWN (through translator): Anyway, this is a trade war. And in the end, the U.S. may not gain. In the short term, China's exports might be somewhat affected. But ultimately, it's the consumers of both countries who will be hurt.

STEWART: As far as what's next in this back-and-forth between these two massive economies, we're still waiting for a much-anticipated phone call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Trump.

Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: With Friday's deadline fast approaching, U.S. President Donald Trump is warning a government shutdown could happen. But he says the Democrats would be to blame. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more on this impending showdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lawmakers are preparing for a funding fight on Capitol Hill with a potential government shutdown looming on Friday. House Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled a plan that would keep the government funded until the end of September.

It's a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution, and it's still unclear if he has the support needed to pass it. In the House, he would need almost every Republican member to vote for it if he has no Democratic support.

And House Democratic leadership is making it clear they have concerns. In a statement writing quote, "The partisan House Republican funding bill recklessly cuts health care, nutritional assistance and $23 billion in veterans' benefits. Equally troublesome, the legislation does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while exposing the American people to further pain throughout the fiscal year. We are voting No."

And while Democratic votes are potentially needed in the House, they are definitely needed in the Senate. And members in that chamber will be feeling pressure to pass the same plan if the House passes it so close to that government funding deadline.

While speaking with Jake Tapper on Sunday, Democratic Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey said that he would prefer to vote for a shorter extension, like 30 days, while bipartisan conversations continue about a longer negotiated funding bill. But when he was pressed about if he would vote against the House GOP bill, this is what he had to say.

SEN. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): It's not simple yet because we don't know what the House is going to do. So again, I'm going to see what happens with the House going first, and then we'll see what comes over to the Senate, if anything. But I still do think that there's an opportunity here to try to push.

BENBROOK: Republicans have control of the White House, the Senate and the House. So this budget battle is a key test and will give us a glimpse at what the next few months will look like as they work to enact Trump's agenda. He has called on all Republicans to support Johnson's plan.

In Washington, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:40:09]

CHURCH: Earlier, I spoke with our senior political analyst Ron Brownstein about the likely outcome of this looming shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST AND SR. EDITOR, "THE ATLANTIC": This is kind of different where, you know, it is Democrats who really have to provide the votes in the Senate to keep the government open. Traditionally, that's been the Democratic posture in the House. There have been conservative fiscal hawk Republicans who have never voted for these kinds of continuing resolutions, now under a lot of pressure to do so from Trump.

I think there are Democrats who worry that giving votes to this basically will allow Musk to continue rampaging through the government. They want assurances from the Republicans that Trump will spend and will ensure the kind of funding that they authorize in the bill. They're probably not going to get those assurances.

And I'm sitting here on Sunday. I don't think we know what Democrats are going to do over the course of the week. If I had to bet, I'd say it's more likely than not the government

stays open. But it's hardly inconceivable that it doesn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And that was CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.

A prominent Palestinian activist has been arrested by U.S. immigration officials. Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead Columbia University student encampment protest against the war in Gaza, was taken into custody at his university-owned apartment late Saturday.

According to his attorney, one of the agents said they were executing a State Department order to revoke Khalil's student visa. When the attorney told them he had graduated in December and was in the U.S. as a permanent resident with a green card, they said they were revoking that too.

This comes as President Trump has vowed to deport foreign students and imprison so-called agitators involved in quote "illegal protests." The Trump administration has also cut $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia University, saying the school has failed to crack down on anti-Semitism on campus.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, now has a new acting director. On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Todd Lyons would be taking on the role. It comes as Trump administration officials have expressed frustration over the pace of deportations of undocumented migrants.

A CNN analysis and data from Donald Trump's first month in office shows the number of deportation flights so far is similar to those carried out by the Biden administration.

Meanwhile, Kristi Noem says her department will continue to use polygraph tests on Homeland Security employees she believes are speaking to the media without authorization. On Friday, she posted on social media that the department had identified criminal leakers and would refer them to the Justice Department for federal prosecution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARETTE BRENNAN, HOST, "FACE THE NATION": You're going to continue these polygraphing employees?

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Absolutely. The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive and I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we're following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe, and that we're making sure we're following through on what President Trump has promised, that he's going to make America safe again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: South Korea says North Korea test-fired multiple ballistic missiles on Monday. This comes as South Korea and the United States kick off their annual joint military drills.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff say the missiles were close-range ballistic missiles, which have a range of about 320 kilometers or less than 200 miles. They were fired toward the Yellow Sea between North Korea and China. These are the first North Korean ballistic missile tests since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in his second term.

A U.S. college student disappears in the Caribbean. Coming up, the latest on the investigation surrounding the young woman missing after a night out during a spring break holiday.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Authorities in the Dominican Republic are sharing new details from surveillance footage of a University of Pittsburgh student who is now missing. They say Indian national Sudiksha Konanki went to the beach around 4 a.m. local time Thursday at the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana.

Video showed her with seven other people. Most of them left almost two hours later, but Konanki stayed behind with a young man.

Police say they have interviewed him and are trying to determine what happened when they were alone. They say he was seen on surveillance video leaving the beach around 10 a.m. that morning.

CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the search.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you can imagine, the entire family is deeply worried, especially because it's already been several days since she went missing. I had a chance to speak on the phone with her father, who has traveled to the Dominican Republic.

Subarayudu Konanki described her as a very nice girl and very ambitious young woman who wanted to pursue a career in medicine. Sudiksha Konanki is 20 years old. She's a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, where she is a junior.

Previously, her father said she attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a magnet school in Alexandria, Virginia. According to her father, Sudiksha Konanki traveled to the beach resort of Punta Cana on March 3 for a spring break with several friends.

On Wednesday, Konanki told me she told her friends she was going to a party in the Rio Republic Hotel in Punta Cana, the resort where she was staying.

He also said she went to the beach at four in the morning on March 6 with her friends and some other people they met at the resort. When her friends realized she was not in her room, they alerted authorities. Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana has issued a statement about the case.

It says in part the following. "Since the moment she was reported missing at approximately 4 p.m. that same day, we have been working closely with local authorities, including the police and navy, to conduct a thorough search. We would like to express our sincere empathy towards the family and friends at this difficult time."

We have also heard from Dominican officials who say they have deployed drone teams to widen the search for the young woman. The Dominican National Emergency Service issued a statement that says in part the following.

"In coordination with the tourism police, the civil defense, the Dominican Navy, the national police and other rescue organizations, four teams of drones equipped with advanced technology have been deployed to conduct a search in the coastal area of Bavaro," the statement says.

[03:50:08]

As for the search, Konanki also expressed concern that Dominican officials have not yet expanded their investigation and are seemingly not considering possibilities other than having had an accident in the immediate vicinity of where she was seen last. He told me that they're only looking in the water, but he wants them to also investigate other possibilities, including whether this is a kidnapping or human trafficking.

Raphael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

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CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

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CHURCH: The Vatican shared the latest update on Pope Francis' health just moments ago. So let's turn to Ben Wedeman who joins us live from Rome. So Ben, what more are you learning about the Pope's health?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good day Rosemary. Basically it's the same thing we've been hearing for the last few days, is that the Pope spent a peaceful night and is now resting.

So what we're seeing is that the Vatican officials are saying that he's showing signs of slight improvement on a daily basis.

[03:55:02]

Saturday for the first time, however, a Vatican source did tell the media that he is responding well to treatment. That's the first time we heard that. So basically they say his situation is stable, but the overall picture is complex. This is now day 25 of his stay in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, and at this

point, Rosemary, there is no indication whatsoever when the 88-year- old pontiff, who is now suffering from double pneumonia, is actually going to return to the Vatican and resume his normal duties.

He did deliver the text of his Angelus Prayer, normally delivered from the apostolic apartments overlooking St. Peter's Square. In it, he expressed concern over the situation in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Israel, in Myanmar, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the Ukraine, and he also stressed his hope that the recent outbreak of sectarian violence in post-Assad Syria would come to a definitive end.

So even though he is unwell, the Pope clearly is looking outward from his room on the 10th floor here at Rome's Gemelli Hospital. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Ben Wedeman, many thanks for that live report. I appreciate it.

And thank you for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

For our international viewers, "The Amanpour Hour" is next. And for those of you in North America, "State of the Union" starts after a short break.

Then stay tuned for the launch of "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon, starting at 5 a.m. in New York, 9 a.m. in London.

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