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Trump Says He Didn't Sign Proclamation Invoking Alien Enemies Act; Israel Says It Struck Hezbollah Targets in Southern Lebanon; Interview with Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren; Several Democratic Lawmakers Facing Voters; Today: Several Democratic Lawmakers Facing Voters; Columbia Univ Makes Policy Changes, Including Protest Restrictions In Dispute Over Federal Funding; Boxing Heavyweight Legend George Foreman Dead At 76; CNN Speaks To Man Declared Dead Amid Musk Social Security Cuts. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 22, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:23]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington.

And it is shaping up to be one of the biggest legal battles of President Trump's second term so far. A week ago tonight, as we reported on this show, the Trump administration deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members, putting them on flights to El Salvador, even as a judge ordered those planes to be turned around. And the results of all of that, a dramatic showdown this week between the White House and the courts.

The judge, James Boasberg, is vowing to, quote, "get to the bottom" of what happened and determine who made the call to let those flights continue to go under the Alien Enemies Act despite Boasberg very specific order.

As the judge searches for answers, President Trump appears to be distancing himself from that 1798 wartime statute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't sound like this judge, who the DOJ is arguing with today about the deportation flights. He wants to know why the proclamation was signed in the dark, "his words", and why people were rushed on to planes.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because we want to get criminals out of our country, number one. And I don't know when it was signed because I didn't sign it. Other people handled it.

But Marco Rubio has done a great job and he wanted them out. And we go along with that. We want to get criminals out of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: However, the proclamation that does invoke the Alien Enemies Act appears in the federal register. And that's the document right there. At the bottom of it, you do see the president's signature.

CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now with more on this. And, Alayna, there are a few things to unpack about all of this.

First, did he sign it or not, what he's kind of talking about there. And then also where the legal battle goes.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. He's answering there, Jessica, was a bit puzzling and really triggered a potential legal headache for his administration, as he is distancing himself, as you called it, one of the hardest fought legal battles that we've seen this administration fight during his first few months in office, which is saying a lot given we've seen this administration face a series of court battles since he took office in January.

But look, I think the reporter's question there is so key here because he was really trying to get at what Judge James Boasberg was asking in court yesterday, was for more clarity on why this was signed in the dark of night, and also how it was done.

And particularly, you know, including questions over whether they violated his order to turn the planes that were already in air back around.

Now, the president, as you heard in that clip, was saying he couldn't answer that question because he wasn't the one who signed it. However, when you look at the presidential proclamation, it's on the White House's Web site.

It states very clearly that it was a proclamation done by the president of the United States. But then even further, you alluded to this, Jessica, if you look at the proclamation on the national registry, it has a version of it. You can see the president's very recognizable signature at the bottom of the page.

Now, a couple of hours after that exchange, the White House issued a statement trying to clarify what he meant. This is what they said, quote, "President Trump was obviously referring to the original Alien Enemies Act that was signed back in 1798. The recent executive order was personally signed by President Trump, invoking the Alien Enemies Act that designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization in order to apprehend and deport these heinous criminals.

So really what they're saying is that he was obviously referring to the original signing of this that was done during the 18th century. But that was not the reporter's question.

And I think just taking a step back from all of this, you mentioned it as well. We are now a week into this legal battle. It is very clear that the judge continues to have a lot of skepticism over why and how this law was invoked.

Not many answers right now from the administration on this and what you heard the president do there was almost pass it off to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He brought up his name unprompted and said, he's the one kind of making some of these decisions.

So I think this is obviously not going to be the end of this. There's still so many questions we know the judge is trying to get to the bottom of, and of course, still is whether or not this administration has the authority to use this 1798-time law -- this wartime law, to deport migrants from the United States, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Alayna Treene with the latest reporting there from New Jersey. Thank you so much.

And CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig is joining us now. Elie, always good to see you. We need you here in this moment because there's so many questions legally around this specific topic.

[17:04:51]

DEAN: So let's start first with if it matters legally, if Trump actually signed this proclamation or not, his signature is there.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, it matters a lot. It's the whole ball game, Jess, because if you look at the actual Alien Enemies Act back in 1798, that law says there has to be a presidential proclamation issued by the president in order for these deportations even to go forward.

So if Donald Trump, in fact, did not sign that proclamation, did not authorize it then everything that followed -- the flights out, the deportations were illegal, were null and void.

And that's why you saw this sort of ridiculous walk-back by the White House saying, well, what he really meant is he didn't sign the original law in 1798. I mean, that's not what he's asked.

But that's why this matters. This matters a whole lot, legally as well as politically.

DEAN: Yes. And Judge Boasberg accused the government of not cooperating. He said this at the hearing yesterday, quote, "I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order, who ordered this and what the consequences will be."

Elie, what are the judges options here as he looks through all of this?

HONIG: Well, so this is why this is such an unusual conflict, Jess, because it's been a full week since this all went down. As you said, last weekend the judge said, stop those flights or turn them around. That was not done.

And the judge has been spending most of this week trying to get full answers. Now, ordinarily, a judge just says to DOJ, I want this information and that's it.

But what's been happening this week is DOJ has been giving the judge some of the information he's asked for, but not nearly all of it. And the fact that here we are a week later and the judge has to consider his options is remarkable.

Now, what can he do? The only real tool left in the judges tool bag is to either refer some of the lawyers to the bar licensing committee, say they've defied me, or potentially the judge can issue contempt, which could be fines and theoretically, imprisonment. That's not going to happen here.

But that's why were at such an unknown point here because the judge -- the thing that judges usually do to get information, which is tell the lawyers I need it, has not worked so far. Judge Boasberg has promised to get to the bottom of this, and I'm very interested to see exactly how he plans to do that, given that he's not succeeded just yet.

DEAN: Right. And Trump has accused Judge Boasberg of being, in his words, radical left. But a former DOJ prosecutor tells CNN that the judge was always fair and balanced. What do you know of his record?

HONIG: Yes, let's look at some of his prior decisions. A few years ago, you may remember Democrats in the House were trying to get Donald Trump's personal tax returns. That case landed before Judge Boasberg, and he sided with Trump. He said no, his tax returns do not have to come out.

And if you go back a few years before that, there was controversy, everyone remembers, over Hillary Clinton's email server. Judge Boasberg actually required Hillary Clinton to turn over thousands of her emails.

So he is not in the bag one way or the other. I think his record shows that he's fair. And if we even look at this case, the judge has not actually ruled on any substantive issue. All he's done to this point is say to both parties, hey, we're in an emergency posture here. Let's freeze the world as much as we can, that's what judges try to do, so that we can figure this out in an orderly fashion.

So these accusations against him being radical or liberal or leftist are completely unfounded.

DEAN: And obviously this has gotten a lot of attention. This case has drawn some criticism from within legal circles.

I want to listen to how one former federal judge put it this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN E. JONES II, FORMER CHIEF JUDGE, U.S. MIDDLE COURT DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA: Donald Trump knows judges and he understands what judges do. and to intentionally misstate, as Mr. Miller and others in the White House have done, what judges have the jurisdiction and the power to do and to trivialize federal judges the way the administration is doing, they're playing a dangerous game here with Judge Boasberg.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: And Elie, just so everyone knows, Boasberg was appointed by President George W. Bush back in 2002. We have seen this playbook from Trump before where he goes after judges. Is it different this time?

HONIG: Well, we've seen this playbook before indeed. And what Judge Jones is referring there in that clip with Anderson Cooper is one of these refrains that we've heard over and over from Stephen Miller, from others in the administration, is this judge has no right to rule in this case. This judge has no right to get involved with how we carry out immigration enforcement.

Now, it is possible that the courts decide this is actually their right, that this is not an issue for us to get involved in. Its only up to the executive branch.

But the thing is, that's not up to Stephen Miller to decide. That's not up to the Trump administration to decide. That's up to the courts to decide.

So this talking point that you'll hear over and over again, a single unelected judge has no right to get involved. Maybe, but again, that's up to the judiciary to decide that.

[17:09:40]

DEAN: Yes.

And I do want to ask you, before we let you go, about this order from Trump that rescinded and targeted a top law firm's security clearance after it was announced it would donate pro bono hours to, quote, "support the administration's initiatives and not adopt DEI policies".

So this law firm is agreeing to do this. What kind of precedent does this set?

HONIG: Oh, it's a dreadful precedent for lawyers, for lawyering and for the right to counsel.

So what has happened here is Donald Trump has singled out to this point three major law firms -- I should mention, I worked at one of them, Covington and Burling, not this firm that were talking about here.

The reason he singled out these three firms is because they had the gall to represent people or interests that Donald Trump does not like. But as a result of Donald Trump singling out these firms, they stand to lose a lot of clients, a lot of business.

This one firm that we're talking about now, they've essentially bent the knee to Donald Trump. They agreed to donate $40 million worth of pro bono services, not necessarily to the hungry and the poor, but to whatever cause Donald Trump likes.

And so I know I've talked to a lot of people in this community, in the law firm community, who are furious that this law firm has given in to this. In fairness, they are being shaken down to an extent, but they've also agreed to pay the price. I think it's a really problematic precedent.

And again, not only does it threaten these firms, but it undermines the right of all of us to hire the lawyer of our choosing.

DEAN: There does seem to just be across the board, a chilling effect that's happening in all of these different sectors when it comes to this administration. But to see it in the legal world with private law firms, it does really catch your attention.

HONIG: Well, and Donald Trump knows how to do this. He knows to focus on the bottom line. And I think for all the times Donald Trump will pick a fight with someone, will send mean tweets about someone, you can brush those off. But look to maybe put myself in the position of one of these firms, if you're on this list, it does pose a major threat to the future of those law firms.

And so I think that's why he gets results, because he knows how to hit hard. He knows how to go right for the bottom line, for the -- for the pocketbook. And that's why this one firm, you know, it's easy for me, I guess, to sit here and second guess them deciding to pay him off, essentially because they're the ones who are going to potentially lose clients, maybe fold if they didn't.

But Trump knows how to do it. When he wants to pick a fight, he goes -- he goes right for the jugular.

DEAN: Yes. And I do also want to ask you, we were reporting on this in the last hour about these attacks on Tesla dealerships and vehicles. Trump has called these vandals terrorists.

He's threatened, you know, all kinds of retribution and punishment, let's say, for anyone that's found guilty of doing this, including threatening to send vandals to El Salvadorian prisons. How do you see this playing out in court?

HONIG: Well, I'm not on board with the sending to El Salvadorian prison part, but absolutely, these people should be fully prosecuted under the federal and state laws.

I will say you've heard a lot of talk from the attorney general about how this is domestic terrorism. I think it could fit the federal definition of domestic terrorism, which is committing acts of violence to try to intimidate or coerce a broad population.

The thing is, though, be careful when you hear that because there's no actual crime of domestic terrorism. It's a strange thing in the law. There's a definition of no crime. What we've seen these people being, I think, rightly prosecuted for, is for using explosive devices, as we see here, which is a federal crime, which is for arson which is a federal crime. And in other state level jurisdictions for vandalism, for assault, for destruction of property.

So this is very serious. I think people who are apologizing for or cheerleading this are way out of line. And I think the Justice Department is absolutely right to go after these people to the full extent of the law. DEAN: All right. Elie Honig always good to see you. Thanks so much.

HONIG: Thanks, Jess. All right.

Still ahead, Israel's military says it's carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. New details in the biggest flare up of tensions since their ceasefire.

Plus, sweeping policy changes at Columbia University after the Trump administration threatened to revoke nearly $400 million in federal funding.

And one man still alive and kicking after being declared dead by the Social Security Administration. We have his fight to be legally resurrected.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:13:55]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Israel is striking suspected Hezbollah targets in Lebanon with a series of airstrikes. Lebanese officials say it has killed at least five people and wounded more than 20 others. Israel says the strikes are a response to Hezbollah firing rockets across the border.

Now, this is the most significant outbreak of violence between Israel and Hezbollah since a ceasefire took effect last November.

Joining us now from Tel Aviv is Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Ambassador, great to have you over -- have you here with us. We really appreciate it.

How would you assess the current situation?

MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: Very complex, Jessica. It's always good to be with you too.

This morning early, six rockets were fired from Lebanon at the northern Israeli town of Metula as previously, about 60 percent of the houses in that town have been destroyed by Hezbollah rocket fire.

It's the first major, major violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah. There have been many smaller ones. And Israel returned the fire and returned the fire with airstrikes and with artillery fire.

This is in addition to the Houthi rocket attacks from Yemen, which occurred last night about 10:00 here in Tel Aviv and the day before rocket attacks from Hamas in Gaza. So Israel is being shot at pretty much from every border as of tonight.

[17:19:47]

DEAN: And so put the pieces together for us as Israel returns to action in Gaza as it's being attacked by Hamas, by the Houthis as you note, by Hezbollah. Where does Iran sit in all of this?

OREN: In all of it. All of it is about Iran. Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis -- they're all proxy organizations from Iran. And I can't put a finer point on it. And that's to say that nothing is going to stop in this region until Iran is cowered, bowed and deterred.

DEAN: And so where do you see this ultimately headed toward? Is it, as some think, headed toward some sort of strike against Iran by Israel, potentially with U.S. assistance?

Obviously, President Trump has asked the Iranians and, you know, reached out to them and said he wants to negotiate over a potential -- a potential nuclear deal. Where do you see this going?

OREN: Well, President Trump has written to the supreme leader of Iran, offering to him to enter into negotiations. That point was reiterated by the special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff this week, saying that the offer remains on the table.

The Iranians have so far rejected it and rejected it rather flagrantly. And if they continue to support all these proxies that are firing not just at Israel, one of the Houthi missiles fell in Saudi Arabia today. Other Houthi missiles have been targeting international shipping in the vital Mandab naval area. The sea -- the sea lane where a huge percentage of the world's sea traffic travels.

The United States has said that there is a credible military threat on the table. Israel certainly will use all of its means possible to defend itself against Iran and its proxies.

DEAN: And meantime, amidst all of this, there are still these 59 hostages that are still being held in Gaza. And of that number, fewer than half are believed to still be alive.

How likely is it, do you think, we will see all 59 returned back home and does this return to fighting, Israel has often said that that's the military pressure they need to inflict in order to get them home. Do you think that's true?

OREN: Well, according to the government, and I'm not a spokesman for the government, but also, according to the White House, the United States and Israel made an offer to Hamas to extend the ceasefire for as much as 50 days in return for getting only five hostages back, five living hostages. And Hamas turned it down.

So Israel had no real choice but to go on and renew the military pressure on Hamas, with the assumption that in the past, increased military pressure on Hamas has forced it to relinquish hostages.

In some cases, unfortunately, Hamas has not relinquished hostages. It has shot the hostages. So there's no guaranteed formula here.

Jessica, we've got to put it in terms of hope. We hope that by ramping up the pressure on Hamas, Hamas will come back to the negotiating table, negotiate for an extended ceasefire in return for getting a number of these living hostages back to their families and homes in Israel.

DEAN: And as we talk about this tonight, we saw people again on the streets in Tel Aviv calling for the hostage release, hostages release, protesting as well.

What is the general feeling there in Israel about the best path forward? Because obviously we hear from the government officials. What are people in Israel saying?

OREN: Well, according to all the polls, the majority of Israelis feel that Israel should agree to any terms that Hamas gives us, including ending the war, withdrawing all of our troops from Gaza, extending the ceasefire pretty much indefinitely in order to get the hostages back.

And then once the hostages are back, our army can be rested, our army can rearm itself and wait for Hamas to violate the ceasefire because Hamas always violates the ceasefire. And then our army will go in there and complete the job of destroying Hamas.

That is the opinion of the overwhelming majority of Israelis tonight. The government does not agree.

DEAN: Right. And we will see that tension that you just laid out, how that plays out and what exactly happens in the coming weeks and days. Michael Oren, always a pleasure. Thank you so much for being here.

OREN: Thank you, Jessica. Good night.

DEAN: Good night.

Developing tonight, the government of Turkey has detained more than 300 people as protests rage across several cities there. Demonstrators are outraged.

The mayor of Istanbul and 100 people close to him were detained as part of corruption and terrorism investigations. The mayor is the main political rival of the longtime Turkish President Erdogan.

The demonstrations were largely peaceful on Thursday, but video from Turkish media shows police in several cities using tear gas and water cannons to battle back against the protesters.

Still ahead tonight, Americans are erupting in anger at town halls for lawmakers from both parties. Democrats wondering who will stand up to President Trump as some look to the progressive wing of the party.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We recently received notification of Ned's passing. We offer our sincerest condolences.

[17:24:51]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it was a little weird because he was sitting next to me drinking coffee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Roughly 9,000 people are mistakenly declared dead by the Social Security Administration each year. And that includes this man, Ned Johnson.

We'll talk to him about his mission to prove he's still alive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Today, several lawmakers from both the House and the Senate are meeting face to face with very frustrated voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Let me see, it's so many.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:29:49]

DEAN: Democrats are now feeling the pressure as they face Americans at town halls across the nation.

And CNN's Eva McKend is with us now. Eva, I know you traveled to some of these events this week.

[17:30:00]

You've seen the anger up close. What more can you tell about -- tell us about what voters are saying out there?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is hunger from voters for Democrats to be the opposition party rather than just the minority party in this moment.

As much as President Trump is operating as if he has a mandate, 75 million people did not sign up for this. So that's what we are seeing on the ground.

Democrats across the country are looking for a fight, anything to confront what they view as the rapid erosion of our institutions and the potential elimination of vital services.

And some on the left are homing in on a class focused economic message that doesn't fall so neatly along party lines.

Take a listen to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Today in America, we got more income and wealth inequality than we've ever had in the history of America. (CHEERING)

SANDERS: Today, you got three people on top, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, owning more wealth than the bottom half of America, 170 million Americans.

(CHEERING)

SANDERS: Does that make sense to anybody?

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And, Jess, I was with Senator Sanders earlier this week at a stop in Las Vegas on that fighting oligarchy tour. His events are drawing big crowds. And so this seems to be the energy center of the left right now.

But time will tell if they can recapture the working-class voters Democrats lost in the last election. And if they can expand their coalition, not just preach to the converted -- Jess?

DEAN: All right. Eva McKend, thank you very much.

Let's go to New York City now. Columbia University appears to be bowing to President Trump's demands after he cut millions of dollars in funding from the school over last year's pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia University became the epicenter of nationwide protest sparked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East. And since taking office, President Trump has been threatening to cut federal money to colleges accused of tolerating anti-Semitism on their campuses.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is joining us now.

Gloria, first, walk us through what these changes are that the university will be making.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, a lot of different changes and, overall, a sort of remarkable concession by the university.

Here you have one of the most elite educational institutions in the country, and perhaps even in the world, sort of conforming to many of the Trump administration demands by changing several of its policies.

Specifically creating policies that are going to police how students are allowed to protest.

Now, all of this is part of the long fallout we have been seeing in the past year, since the beginning of these protests, which, as you said, the Columbia University campus became the epicenter of them. Student led protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Many of the students demanding a ceasefire last year. It led to some disruptions, significant disruptions, the cancellation of graduation classes had to go virtual.

And all of it ended in a pretty chaotic standoff between students, protesters, university staff and law enforcement, which had to move in during one of the protests when students barricaded themselves inside of a Columbia University building, Hamilton Hall, as part of their protest.

So now, in response to this threat by the -- by the Trump administration, the university is saying it's making several policy changes, including hiring additional campus police officers who are now going to have the power to arrest protesters.

They're going to require university I.D. at demonstrations. There will be no face coverings allowed at protests. And protests will not be allowed in or around academic buildings. There's also a new anti- discrimination policy and disciplinary powers for the provost.

One of the most controversial changes, Jessica, is that they're also appointing a senior vice provost to oversee the Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department. This is a pretty stunning concession to the administration.

The question now is whether or not it's going to be enough. And if the Trump administration will back down from that threat to cut the federal funding?

DEAN: And, Gloria, what about support for these changes? What are you hearing about that?

PAZMINO: So the school is in the middle of its spring break. We are expecting students to come back next week. And one of the big questions here is how the student body is going to react and how the rest of the faculty is going to react.

But for now, we're getting some indication. The Board of Trustees issued a public letter this weekend. The letter was sent to the academic community.

And in its letter, the Board of Trustees essentially endorsed the presidents change in policy. They said, in part, quote, "We have and continue to support Interim President Armstrong's approach."

[17:35:00]

They also said, "We are grateful for her principled and courageous leadership during this unprecedented time and for the steps she has taken and is taken to strengthen our institution."

Now, Jessica, the Board of Trustees is the university's governing body, right? They're in charge of picking the president. They oversee the budget, the endowment. They also oversee university property.

So this is the board essentially saying we are united behind these changes. At least, that's the message that is being sent in this letter.

So we'll see how the rest of the student body and the other faculty react when they return to campus next week.

DEAN: Gloria Pazmino, thank you for that.

An ongoing measles outbreak is getting worse. Health officials now confirming cases have surpassed 350, saying that the number is actually likely higher than that.

Texas health officials have reported 309 cases. Officials in New Mexico have confirmed 42 cases. The majority of these cases are in unvaccinated individuals.

CNN's tally shows the U.S. has reported 404 cases this year. That's the most since 2019.

Coming up next, remembering boxing legend, George Foreman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:01]

DEAN: After spending more than a month in a Rome hospital, doctors say Pope Francis will be able to go home tomorrow. You're looking live at Vatican City.

The 88-year-old pope will spend the next two months resting at Casa Santa Marta, his residence there at the Vatican. Doctors will also keep the pontiff on drug therapy.

He'll make his first public appearance on the hospital balcony tomorrow before he heads home. Of course, Pope Francis has been dealing with several acute respiratory issues, including pneumonia in both lungs.

Boxing legend and grill master, George Foreman, has died. He passed away yesterday at the age of 76.

And CNN's Stephanie Elam has more on the man once called the most -- one of the most powerful punchers in sports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you hear the name George Foreman, electric grilling may pop into mind.

GEORGE FOREMAN, FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION & GRILL MASTER: We're ready to cook some burgers on the George Foreman Family-Size Grill.

ELAM: But the affable pitchman was once one of the most feared heavyweight fighters in the world.

ANNOUNCER: George Foreman, 257 pounds.

MIKE TYSON, FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION: Watching him box when he was younger, he was a big mean little lute and stuff. And that's how I got -- he was like the Mike Tyson before Mike Tyson. FOREMAN: One punch of mine was equal to 20 of any other heavyweight champions.

ELAM: Foreman's awesome punching power won him 76 matches in his career, 20 more than perhaps his fiercest competitor, Muhammad Ali.

A rebellious teenage Foreman was introduced to boxing by legendary trainer Doc Broadus in 1966.

Broadus encouraged the Houston native to use the sport as a way to avoid gang life in the streets. It worked. And by 1968, he won a gold medal for the U.S. Olympic team. The next year, he turned pro.

Foreman won his first 37 professional fights, earning a shot at the heavy weight title against Smoking Joe Frazier in 1973. Although considered the underdog, Foreman won by technical knockout in less than two rounds.

Then, there was October 30, 1974. The rumble in the jungle. The fight in Central Africa capitalized on the assumed feat between Foreman and Muhammad Ali, which Foreman says was far from the truth.

FOREMAN: We never had a face-to-face confrontation. It was -- when I met him in the ring that was as close as we had gotten. I heard that on the news. He called me the Frankenstein Monster but he was only saying that because it was true.

ELAM: It was one of the most watched live TV events of all time and the world had a front-row seat to the only knockout defeat of George Foreman.

FOREMAN: I felt like he threw maybe 150. Still feel those punches. I just underestimated one of the greatest fighters of all time.

ELAM: Foreman made several attempts to regain the title and came up empty.

With his back on the ropes, he would later say he had a spiritual awakening and ultimately became an ordained minister.

But the man of the cloth didn't completely throw in the boxing towel. In 1994, a then-45-year-old Foreman, defeated a 26-year-old to reclaim the heavyweight champion belt.

He held onto it for three years, hanging up his gloves after losing his title to Shannon Briggs.

In retirement, the man with the iron fist re-emerged as the man with the electric grill, the Foreman Grill.

(APPLAUSE)

FOREMAN: We sold, first, 5,000, 10,000, 500,000. And one day, we looked up to this day over 100 million.

ELAM: His Lean Mean Grilling Machine reportedly netted him hundreds of millions of dollars.

Along the way, the man affectionately known as Big George wrote a few books, starred in several movies and television series, and showed the world with the right combination, you can win anything.

[17:45:02]

FOREMAN: I talk to young kids all the time, they want to be famous in sports. Love what you're doing but understand that athletics is just a small part of your life. Do other things, too.

You can be heavyweight champion of the world, but there's more to it than that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Some wise words.

Stephanie Elam, thanks for that.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:09]

DEAN: Stunning new video tonight. Lava fountains have been spouting from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano for more than 24 hours straight. The U.S. Geological Survey says the lava shot as high as 700 feet in the air this week.

It's the 14th eruption in the past few months. Now, there's no danger to people who live nearby. That eruption, confined to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

A federal judge ruled that Elon Musk and his DOGE team are blocked from accessing sensitive Social Security data and orders Musk's team to delete any personally identifiable information they've acquired.

Writing, quote, "The DOGE team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA in search of a fraud epidemic based on little more than suspicion."

Now, this comes as CNN speaks to a man who, amid all the cuts at Social Security, was declared dead by the agency and his money was being taken out of his bank account.

His name is Ned Johnson. He's 82 years old. He lives in Seattle. And he's alive and well.

Nick Watt has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm glad you're alive.

NED JOHNSON, DECLARED DEAD BY SOCIAL SECURITY: Yes. So am I.

WATT (voice-over): He's living, he's breathing, but 82-year-old Ned Johnson was declared dead.

(on camera): The first you heard was this letter February 19th from the bank saying, we recently received notification of Ned's passing. We offer our sincerest condolences.

PAM JOHNSON, WIFE OF NED JOHNSON: Well, it was a little weird because he was sitting next to me drinking coffee.

WATT (voice-over): Is there a connection to the cost-cutter-in-chief?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is one person on Social Security who's 316 years old.

WATT: And his dogged DOGE lieutenant --

(SHOUTING)

WATT: -- claiming tens of millions of dead people over 100 years old are receiving Social Security checks. They're not. No matter.

TRUMP: We're going to find out where that money's going and it's not going to be pretty.

WATT: February 13th, the DOGE employee began working within the Social Security Administration, analyzing improper payments and the death master file.

February 18th, Ned's dead.

WATT (on camera): You were declared dead just a few days after DOGE started working in the death data at Social Security?

N. JOHNSON: That is a curious coincidence.

P. JOHNSON: It is. So there's a lot of unanswered questions, but I think that maybe we'll never know.

WATT (voice-over): Ned was among the 73 million Americans receiving monthly Social Security checks.

He says not only did his checks stop, but they also clawed back all his payments since his alleged last day on Earth, November 23rd last year.

WATT (on camera): Social Security told the bank the dollar amount they wanted back.

N. JOHNSON: Take just the amount out of it, out of this account. And they said, OK.

P. JOHNSON: They just take it without permission, but apparently, they can do that because they have gotten this form from whatever hospital or -- WATT: Right. The form that no one can say where it came from or

actually what it is.

P. JOHNSON: Yes. Yes.

WATT (voice-over): This is not a new phenomenon. Roughly 9,000 people are mistakenly declared dead by the SSA each year. And --

(on camera): It's down to you to prove you're not dead?

N. JOHNSON: Right. Somebody's disabled, they can't get out of a wheelchair or whatever, and they live 100 miles from the nearest Social Security office, what are they going to do?

WATT (voice-over): Ned says he waited eight hours at this federal building in Seattle to prove he's alive. Now this building appears to be earmarked for closure.

(on camera): I presume you've asked Social Security how -- why this happened?

P. JOHNSON: No answer. And we have really no way of communicating with them again.

WATT: An apology?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, Nick Watts thank you so much.

Tomorrow night, a new episode of the CNN original series, "TWITTER: BREAKING THE BIRD," focuses on Twitter's presence at the forefront of political and social movements in the 2010s. At the same time, company leaders were navigating serious technical glitches as the platforms popularity exploded.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a technically incompetent company. And when Twitter goes down and that's a big problem for a lot of people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I spent six months, right, we're not going to do anything new.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it was a monumental task, like re-doing the underlying architecture so that we can add more users and add more tweets per second and fan them out to all the millions of users we have as quickly as possible without taking the system down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They thought it was impossible. They thought, this is this isn't going to work. And Dick was just like, it has to be possible. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five months later, we killed the Fail Whale and

never it never came back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's crazy to think about, but it was like a momentous occasion in the company.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Well, be sure to tune in to "TWITTER. BREAKING THE BIRD." A new episode airs tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

[17:54:47]

Still ahead, President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. President Trump taking aim at them and more political rivals. More on that, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington.

And we begin this hour with President Trump pushing back on reports that Elon Musk was set to be briefed on U.S. military plans for any potential war with China. Here he was in the Oval Office Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:59:59]

TRUMP: We don't want to have a potential war with China, but I can tell you if we did, we're very well equipped to handle it. But I don't want to show that to anybody.

But certainly, you wouldn't show it to a businessman who is helping us so much.