Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

IRS Nearing Agreement To Use Its Data To Help ICE Locate Undocumented Migrants; Pope Francis Out Of Hospital, Makes First Public Appearance In Weeks; Waltz: We're Going To Discuss Maritime Ceasefire, Then Permanent Peace. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 23, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In the hearings of 1991, in the election of Bill Clinton, in all of it, there is this underlying acceptance that women are subordinate, can be treated differently, are there for the pleasure of men, that's really what this is.

ANITA HILL, LAWYER: I honestly think that all of those women are to be believed. The public believes them. The question is, do they really care?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: These hearings and Anita Hill's testimony sparked a conversation that started in 1991 and it is still going on today about the role that gender dynamics play in systems of power and the public opinion.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, Jake tapper, thank you so much.

That all new episode of "United States of Scandal" with Jake Tapper, that airs tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

[15:00:57]

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

All right, new today, the IRS and ICE officials are closing in on an agreement that would support President Trump's plans for mass deportations. According to a person familiar with the matter, the IRS would use tax information to confirm names and addresses of people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House for us. So, Kevin, what more are you learning in this reporting?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, this would amount to a major shift for the IRS because taxpayer data is among the most closely guarded within the federal government. There are criminal penalties for the unauthorized disclosure of this kind of information, but what the IRS is doing now, it is finalizing an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security that would allow officers from ICE to submit names to the IRS, and the IRS would essentially confirm certain undocumented immigrants' names and addresses as the administration works to ramp up its deportation efforts, and this would be a significant move.

Now, we should say that this agreement is still being finalized. The negotiations are ongoing. In fact, negotiations to use taxpayer data towards these deportation ends have been ongoing for several weeks, and this agreement does appear to be more narrow than certain other requests from the DHS for the IRS to essentially provide this information. Under this draft agreement, the IRS would only confirm these names and addresses.

But the goal here is clearly to try and speed up these deportations, and certainly, we know behind the scenes that President Trump has been frustrated at the pace of this effort. He wants it to go much quicker, but when you talk to immigration advocates, they do say that this could amount to a breach of trust with the IRS.

You know, undocumented immigrants have been told to file their taxes by the tax agency for years. In fact, millions of undocumented immigrants file their taxes, many in the hopes that a record of paying their taxes will help them eventually achieve legal status. Like so much of the administration's immigration efforts, this does appear destined to end up in the courts, just another aspect of the president's deportation agenda is back in the court tomorrow. This is the question of the Alien Enemies Act.

Of course, President Trump has been firing at that federal judge who has appeared so skeptical towards his use of that centuries' old law. The President continued those efforts earlier today. He said that Judge Boasberg was a constitutional disaster.

Administration lawyers will be back in that court tomorrow arguing their case before that judge -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Okay, Kevin Liptak at the White House, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about all of this and the road ahead on this effort. Joining me now is immigration attorney, David Leopold and CNN legal analyst, Michael Moore. Great to see you both, gentlemen.

All right, David, you first.

So as someone who works with immigrants, what do you think of this move? Does ICE have the authority to work with the IRS like this?

DAVID LEOPOLD, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: Well. Fredricka, I could make three quick points.

Number one, the screaming headline today is that immigrants pay their taxes, undocumented immigrants pay their taxes. That's why they're going to look at the tax records.

Number two, I have real privacy concerns here. I mean, we are going to have Big Government bureaucrats going through our tax rolls, and what's to say, you know, you have a name, let's say, it is John Doe. John Doe A, John Doe B, John Doe C -- repetitive name we are inevitably going to see mistakes. We are inevitably going to be encroaching on the taxes and the privacy of American citizens and lawful permanent residents, as well as others.

[15:05:03]

And finally, the third point I want to make is if we are going to take the trouble to go through tax data and privacy data and create all of these issues, why not just legalize them? They're paying their taxes.

So these are the people we want here. They're paying their taxes. Let's give them a pathway to citizenship, pay their taxes if 'to pay a fine, so be it. But these are the people we want here because they're paying their taxes, and those taxes support Social Security, support the amount of taxes that's paid and Social Security tax is roughly $27 billion a year.

So we are going to cut that out of the system at a time like this? It just makes more sense to legalize these folks rather than to chase their tax returns.

WHITFIELD: And David, as an attorney, have you sometimes helped convey to immigrants that paying their taxes is incentive or you incentivize, you know, many of the immigrants to pay their taxes because perhaps that might increase their chances on their road toward citizenship.

LEOPOLD: You know, you don't have to. People, hardworking folks, and most of these essential workers, these are the people that are supporting our agriculture. Everybody knows how many immigrants, undocumented immigrants, immigrants are in the food industry and other places. They know to pay their taxes. And they know, and they hope that one day Congress will get its act together and pass the reasonable immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.

And, you know, I would kind of challenge the current government to think very seriously about this road legalization as opposed to, you know, going through massive amounts of tax data.

WHITFIELD: So, Michael, you know, even before the arrangement is finalized, two immigrant rights groups in Chicago sued the Treasury Department and the IRS, asking a judge to block the sharing of taxpayer information with immigrant officials.

Do you see that this is a case, potentially successful one, that this block the latest White House efforts?

MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, well I am glad to be with both of you this afternoon. You know, it strikes me that the immigrant rights groups could Probably take some of the language out of the Trump lawsuits when he was trying to block release of his tax information, and there was this huge claim that there would be, in fact, that this was some privacy information that should be let out under federal law. And so that's really the issue here.

You know, these agencies have safeguards and firewalls in them and these have been set up so that there is not sort of just this broad information sharing about everything that's ever happened, especially when it deals with this private taxpayer information. There is a process for this, and typically the courts, if there is an investigation, the courts would get involved if this information needs to be shared, but that's the check.

And the problem that I've seen, sort of whether its DOGE going after and wanting to look for fraudsters or whether or not we want to use the IRS somehow to get information about immigration, but we are really just, seeing the Executive Branch turn into its own police force and that's not how this was set up.

There are checks and safeguards that need to be followed. Look, you know, you can make arguments about, you know, whether or not somebody should be able to hide behind the taxpayer protection if they're not here legally, that's something you can say.

But there is a process in place for a court to look at that and decide whether or not that information should be released, and again, the concern is not just with this action. The concern is that this administration has been essentially dodging and weaving to get away from the courts and from anybody reviewing, whether its Congress or the courts or anybody else, anybody looking at the acts they are taking and the efforts that they're doing.

I just don't like to see sort of this presidential police force going out doing investigations with no way to check it, whether it is through the courts or congressional inquiry, and that's ultimately, I think, the concern.

WHITFIELD: And, Michael, you also, you know, pair this with the Trump administration invoking the Alien Enemies Act, you know, allowing ICE agents to go into suspected illegal immigrants' homes without a warrant. You know, where is the due process in any of this right now?

MOORE: I mean, I think that's the thing, they've tried very hard to get creative and to just bulldoze forward in the hopes that they can create enough smoke that nobody can see what is going on around them and that is an issue, whether they're talking about saying, well, you know, this person really doesn't support Donald Trump, so I think I am going to take them and throw them out of the country under some power of the Secretary of State has to remove people. That's silly.

[15:10:06]

You know, that law was never created so that you could remove simply a political detractor, and that's what makes America what it is, right? We have the right to dissent, and so when they are doing things without any check on and have this unbridled authority going forward, and I think, you know, I really think and I've thought this for a long time, all these things, this is like watching maybe a whole football season, a lot of little games going on, but ultimately we've got to get to the Super Bowl to see who is going to prevail, and the Super Bowl game is going to be played at the Supreme Court, and they're going to have to decide, are they going to cede what power they have in that big marble building to a sort of a tyrannical type theory of leadership. And I just don't believe they will at the end of the day. WHITFIELD: So, David, you're shaking your head in agreement for a lot of what Michael said, you know, and this is happening on the heels of the Trump administration revoking the legal status of more than 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans. I mean, it is something that DHS has been, you know, talking about doing since January.

So at this point, you know, you just mentioned, you know, where are the checks here? And if it is going to be all litigated at some point, is the court system getting inundated where it can't address all of these things in a timely fashion?

LEOPOLD: No, we have federal judges that are masterful. I am a strong believer in the federal court system and the Judiciary, an independent Judiciary, and we are seeing right now in Washington, D.C. with Judge Boasberg how this works. He is holding both sides to account, and he is asking the President -- he is asking the administration to provide information about what happened, about the removal of the Venezuelans out of the United States.

And, you know, to Michael's point, Fredricka, we have laws. Nobody, nobody wants gang members and dangerous gang members and terrorists, Hamas supporters in the United States. We have laws. The immigration laws on the books are very strict. And if the government alleges somebody does one of those things -- gang member, Hamas supporter, terrorist supporter -- we have a terrorist statute which can be used to deport somebody. We don't need to go to a vague foreign policy statute which just creates a slippery slope. The who is next approach.

You know, is the next person that's going to be targeted, is it going to be somebody who is a climate activist or a gender rights, or is it going to be simply somebody who doesn't agree with the administration?

So we need to stick with the statutes that are on the books.

WHITFIELD: All right, all great points of both of you. David Leopold, Michael Moore, great to see you both. Thanks so much.

LEOPOLD: It is good to be with.

MOORE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, more on our breaking story out of the Vatican today, where Pope Francis is now recovering after spending five weeks in the hospital. The 88-year-old pontiff was released from the hospital this morning after doctors said his condition had stabilized.

The doctors say that during his stay, the Pope experienced two very critical episodes where his life was in danger. Earlier today, CNN's Ben Wedeman was reporting live from outside the hospital when the Pope greeted the crowd.

He was standing in the window, and this happened just before his release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, on the second floor, I don't know if you can see it, there is an open window there where we are expecting Pope Francis to appear, and there he is. You can see him in white.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WEDEMAN: So there, Victor, the crowd is applauding. He is waving. He has been rolled out on his wheelchair there. And yes, this is the first time we are seeing him, first time we are seeing him in more than 38 days. Thirty-eight days, he has been here in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, suffering from double pneumonia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Very exciting moments there.

For more perspective now, I am joined by CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb.

Christopher, break it down for us. What happened and what happens next, potentially?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we could see from the Pope's appearance from the Gemelli Hospital, the balcony there that he is still physically quite fragile. He had difficulty speaking. He had some difficulty breathing, too, we could see, and also lifting his arm to offer the blessing to the crowd.

But at the same time, he seemed happy to be out of hospital and in the crowd, he spotted a lady who had been coming up to the hospital each day and had flowers with her. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(POPE FRANCIS speaking in foreign language.)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAMB: She had been, as many others, praying for the Pope's recovery. The prayers have been said not just in Rome, but around the world. So, of course, to see the Pope coming out today really is a heartening moment for those Catholics praying for the Pope's recovery.

Of course, there is now uncertainty about what comes next for Francis. He has been told by doctors to spend two months recovering at his home in Santa Marta. So he has been told he can't have meetings with big crowds. He is going to have to slow down what has been a very frenetic pace of work for the Pope pre-hospitalization.

Of course, we are in the middle of a Jubilee Year in Rome, with lots of pilgrims coming to Rome to see Pope Francis. Those audiences with pilgrims are going to be suspended, and of course we have Easter coming up as well, so not clear what the Pope will be doing for that. But he is clearly determined to keep going -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes, he is showing us that, indeed.

All right, Christopher Lamb, thanks so much.

All right, right now, U.S. and Ukrainian officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia and the Trump administration is preparing for talks with Russian officials tomorrow. This as the fighting continues.

Plus, new details on a mother of five killed in Georgia. Her accused killer, reportedly identified as an undocumented immigrant.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:18]

WHITFIELD: A delegation of U.S. officials is in Saudi Arabia at this hour meeting with Ukrainian representatives in an effort to end the war with Russia. The U.S. delegation is expected to meet with kremlin officials tomorrow.

These peace talks come just days after President Trump held a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That call resulted in the Kremlin agreeing to temporarily halt attacks on energy infrastructure targets, but Putin stopped short of agreeing to a broader cease fire that the U.S. wanted.

Today, Trump's National Security adviser gave some insight into the focus of this round of talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WALTZ, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are now going to talk about a Black Sea maritime ceasefire so that both sides can move grain, fuel, and start conducting trade again in the Black Sea, and then we will talk the line of control, which is the actual frontlines, and that gets into the details of verification mechanisms, peacekeeping, you know, freezing the lines where they are, and then, of course, the broader and permanent peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me now to talk more about this is CNN global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier.

Kim, great to see you.

So do you think this focus on a maritime ceasefire to open up shipping and trade in the Black Sea is something Ukraine and Russia can actually find agreement on?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Fred, from the Ukrainian perspective, they have actually been doing very well with their military operations in the Black Sea so much so that they have destroyed much of the Russian naval fleet there and that fleet has had to withdraw, and they've managed to continue shipments in and out.

So for some in Kyiv, this ask by Russia is more for Russia than for Kyiv. They are interested in getting other things, other fighting stopped. And the Black Sea isn't so much of a problem.

The energy infrastructure, which is supposed to be the second part of this 30-day ceasefire, which from my understanding is being discussed, it hasnt started yet. That would also be good for Russia because though Russia is hitting a number of Ukrainian power stations, infrastructure, et cetera, Ukraine has also very effectively used its drones to hit Russia's oil supplies.

So again, from the Ukrainian perspective, they're like, well, when do we get what we need out of this?

WHITFIELD: Right. Because it wasn't that long ago, maybe last week. I mean, so much has happened in so little time where Ukraine said they would agree to a ceasefire. But Russia, you know, didn't and wouldn't instead saying just as you just underscored, there will be a ceasefire on just the energy infrastructure.

So ultimately Ukraine would love it if Russia would agree to a ceasefire. Do we see that that could potentially happen?

DOZIER: So the problem going into these negotiations is, again from the Ukrainian and the European and the British perspective, They feel very one sided. Keith Kellogg, the retired general, had been the Russia and Ukraine envoy, and he had a lot of trust in Kyiv. He had a lot of experience and they felt like he had Russia's number.

Russia objected to him and instead got Steve Witkoff to replace him, the Middle East envoy. So Kellogg remains the envoy just to Kyiv. Witkoff is the one talking to Putin and one of the main interlocutors in Saudi Arabia, and Witkoff just gave an interview that is being played and replayed in European capitals and especially in Ukraine, where he repeats a number of Russian talking points and says things like the four partially occupied areas of Ukraine that Russia has troops in, they speak Russian. They had, surveys there, and people want to be part of Russia and Russia has considered this territory part of it since World War II.

[15:25:30]

Yes, Russia lost these territories when the Soviet Union fell apart and lots of parts of Ukraine speak Russian. It doesn't mean they support Moscow. Zelenskyy used to be a leading star in Russian comedies.

And those surveys have been widely discredited as not held -- things happened like reporters saw Russians who were taking these surveys, getting rid of votes from areas that they didn't want counted.

So the fact that Witkoff is going into these negotiations with Trump's ear and repeating so many Russian talking points has a lot of Ukrainians worried from the get go.

WHITFIELD: Okay. And you actually kind of teed up, he did go on with Tucker Carlson and this is what he said, Witkoff, I am talking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: The elephant in the room is there are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory, the Russians are de facto in control of these territories.

TUCKER CARLSON, PODCAST HOST: Yes.

WITKOFF: The question is, will they be -- will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Will it end up -- can Zelenskyy survive politically if he acknowledges this? There is -- this is the central issue in the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So that essentially exemplified a lot of what you just said.

DOZIER: Yes and the fact of the matter is Russia doesn't completely control all the areas. It is Luhansk and Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea. Russia took Crimea in 2014. Ukrainians will privately tell me they privately don't -- they don't think they are going to get Crimea back.

But Luhansk and Donetsk and especially Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are very much still in play, and you generally don't go into a negotiation with the mediator, who is supposed to be neutral, saying, hey, basically they want these areas and you guys should just admit and, you know, find some way around your Constitution and give it to them. It is one of the reasons these kind of public statements are one of the reasons that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who wasn't very popular last fall, has shot up to 70 and 80 percent popularity because of the comments from President Trump and his envoy, Witkoff.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kim Dozier, we will leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

DOZIER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Up next, a family is mourning the loss of a beloved grandmother. Police say her killer was in the country illegally. Her brother says she was recently worried about a mysterious man following her around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:40]

WHITFIELD: The suspect accused of killing a 52-year-old mother of five in the suburbs of Atlanta about two weeks ago, was reportedly in the U.S. illegally.

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told our affiliate, WSB, that the 21-year-old suspect was initially arrested for crossing the U.S. border four years ago, but then he was released.

CNN national correspondent, Rafael Romo is here with us now with more on this story.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Such a horrific crime, Fred, and not surprisingly, bond has been denied for the suspect in this shocking murder, according to court records.

Cobb County Police have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Hector Sagastume Rivas. He faces at least one charge of felony murder, but more charges could be added once the investigation is completed.

He is accused of killing 52-year-old Camillia Williams, a mother of five and grandmother who was originally from Louisiana.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by CNN affiliate, WSB, Sagastume Rivas killed his victim late on March 11th or early the following day by first placing her in a chokehold, then kneeling on her neck with his full body weight. The woman's body was found in a wooded area hidden under a bush on March 13th. The suspect was arrested several days later.

We have also learned that the suspect was not supposed to be in the country in the first place. CNN affiliate, WSB confirmed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Sagastume Rivas crossed the U.S. border illegally just over four years ago. U.S. Border Patrol arrested him, but apparently later released him.

An order for him to be removed from the country was issued more than two years later, in July 2023. The brother of the victim told WSB he had told his sister he wanted her to return home to Louisiana. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY WILLIAMS, VICTIM'S BROTHER: The kids are going to miss her. Her grandkids are going to miss her.

I chatted with her last week, trying to get her to move back down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Very hard to hear.

The crime has been strongly condemned by several Republican leaders here in Georgia, including Governor Brian Kemp. In a statement published Saturday, Kemp said the following: "Those who commit acts of violence against our people will face the full weight of our justice system and if they are here illegally, we will not hesitate to work with our federal partners to ensure their removal from our state and country."

[15:35:02]

Some people are drawing parallels between the murder of Camillia Williams and that of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old college student who was murdered early last year at the University of Georgia campus by an undocumented migrant from Venezuela.

On his second week in office, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, which mandates the federal detention of illegal immigrants who are accused of serious crimes.

Again, the investigation is only beginning. There may be more charges added to that felony murder charge.

WHITFIELD: All right, let us know when you learn. Thank you so much, Rafael Romo.

All right still to come, how Donald Trump's tariff war could influence voters now facing a snap election in Canada.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:21]

WHITFIELD: In Gaza today, a grim new milestone. Palestinian Health officials there say more than 50,000 people have now been killed since the war between Hamas and Israel began, including at least 41 who died this weekend. Hamas says one of its senior political leaders was among those killed.

Renewed airstrikes and a ground offensive last week by Israel ended a two-month ceasefire. We are also learning that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today. CNN's Sebastian Shukla is joining us now with more on that call -- Sebastian.

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Fred. In recent minutes, we've just got a readout from Prime Minister Netanyahu's office referencing that call with Secretary of State Marco. Rubio, where the two discussed regional developments, including the release of hostages and the renewal of fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The discussion around the fighting in the Gaza Strip is a pertinent one today, Fred, as those Israeli operations have continued quickly and with devastating effect.

What we've seen overnight is the IDF managed to kill a Hamas political bureau operative known as Salah al-Bardawil. And also, they've continued and restarted offensive operations in the southern region around a region of Rafah.

And all of this, Fred, comes at that time where you mention that horrific milestone of 50,000 Palestinians now being killed since Israel launched these attacks in the wave after October 7th, but the issue surrounds the veracity of those numbers. The Palestinian Health Ministry is run by Hamas, and the IDF disputes some of those numbers in there.

And I will quote to you what they said in a statement to CNN earlier, they said: "It is replete with inconsistencies and false determinations." The issues around the veracity of those numbers come because of the way that Hamas records them and the way the IDF say that Hamas uses civilians as human shields.

And so what we will start to see now, Fred, is perhaps a renewed conversation from across the world and from Israel's allies and partners to go back to the negotiating table. Hamas, for their part, say at the moment they are deliberating on a proposal delivered by Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff.

So we will see in the coming days whether those shaky truces have been shattered well and truly for the foreseeable future -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sebastian Shukla, thank you so much.

All right, and this breaking news, Canadians are going to head to the polls in what could prove to be one of the most important elections in that country's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: I am asking Canadians for a strong positive mandate to deal with President Trump and to build a new Canadian economy that works for everyone, because I know we need change. Big change, positive change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Prime Minister Mark Carney making the call just 10 days after taking the job from Justin Trudeau, the next Prime Minister now will be thrust into a burgeoning trade war with the U.S. and calls from President Trump to annex Canada.

CNN's Paula Newton is in the capital of Ottawa.

So, I mean, there is no mystery there. He said "to deal with President Trump." Wow.

So tell us more about why he has made this decision.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. There is going to be a lot of wow that you haven't heard from Canadian elections before, and the issue here is you may think that Donald Trump is on the ballot here. We forgive you for that because believe me, Donald Trump and his threats, not just on the tariff war, but to annex Canada, are front and center.

In fact, Carney went further, saying that Donald Trump would like to break us so America can own us, and that is front and center no matter which party you're talking about here right now.

I mean, look, Mark Carney is having a snap election very quick. Lightning speed, five weeks and the reason is he is way up in the polls, something that no one could have imagined from the Liberal Party.

I mean, think about it, Fred. His chief competition here would be conservative leader Pierre Poilievre who just late last year was up in the polls by nearly 30 percent. .I want you to listen to him now and how he started his campaign. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERRE POILIEVRE, CANADIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I will insist that the President recognized the independence and sovereignty of Canada. I will insist that he stop tariffing our nation.

[15:45:01]

And at the same time, I will strengthen our country so that we can be capable of standing on our own two feet and standing up to the Americans where and when necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: I know, Fred, that you note the similar language there, and this will be front and center in this campaign, especially as Canada awaits those reciprocal tariffs as promised by Donald Trump on April 2nd.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Pretty amazing stuff.

All right, Paula Newton in Ottawa, thank you so much.

All right, up next a look inside Donald Trump's desire to protect America underneath a so-called golden dome similar to Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. Will it be worth the multibillion dollar price tag in the U.S.?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:33]

WHITFIELD: CNN has learned that President Trump is pushing the U.S. military to develop a so-called Golden Dome Defense System to protect the country from long range missiles.

The project is the President's attempt to rebrand vague plans for developing a missile defense system, similar to Israel's Iron Dome.

Sources say the plan would likely cost billions of dollars to build and maintain, and comes as The Pentagon is looking to cut the budget.

CNN's Zachary Cohen is one of the CNN reporters who broke this story. Zach, I mean, what is The Pentagon saying about the realities here?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Fred, that is really the big question for Pentagon officials who have until next week to present their plan for how to implement and develop this Golden Dome System that Donald Trump has insisted the U.S. needs to protect it from long range missile threats, but I am told that right now, the reality is the Golden Dome remains just an idea, and that discussions about it are purely conceptual.

But even in this early stage of the planning process, one consensus has emerged, and it is that any U.S. system like what Donald Trump is talking about will look nothing like Israel's Iron Dome System, what Trump has compared the Golden Dome that he is proposing to and that is in part because of just the stark difference in size between the two countries. Israel is about the size of New Jersey, and obviously the United States is much larger, which means it is much more difficult to protect the entire country from these kind of ballistic missiles, these hypersonic missiles that Donald Trump envisions, the Golden Dome protecting the U.S. from.

But look, still, officials are actively engaged in discussions about how to turn that dream -- Donald Trump's dream of a Golden Dome System, into a reality. This system would require really a space based missile system. It is something that would require thousands of satellites. It would require interceptors, space based interceptors. And even then, though current and former officials I talk to say that its up in the air as to whether or not that kind of system would even work, despite the fact that it would likely cost billions of dollars a year.

So really, this is something officials are wrestling with ahead of the deadline to present the plan to Donald Trump next week.

WHITFIELD: Oh, and then what are officials saying about how our adversaries might view this?

COHEN: So that is the other major consideration here for Pentagon officials that are working on this issue. How will U.S. adversaries respond? And one idea is that they will likely ramp up their own production of ballistic missiles, offensive ballistic missiles, to try to keep the advantage over the United States as it pours money into the Golden Dome Defensive System.

This is something that could create a money problem. That's what former officials tell us, that offensive ballistic missiles are much cheaper to produce than the interceptors required in this idea of a Golden Dome System. They are also worried that potentially the Golden Dome and the idea of a Golden Dome could make Russia and China less, you know, less confident in the current stability that exists in the nuclear deterrence, basically mutually assured destruction with the U.S. It is what protects the U.S. from being targeted with a nuclear weapon.

So a lot of questions on that side as well.

WHITFIELD: All right, Zach Cohen, thanks so much.

All right, in a moment, a man survives being trapped in his crashed truck for 24 hours. Find out how his dog helped in the rescue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:57:34]

WHITFIELD: All right, tonight, a new CNN original series takes us inside the meteoric rise of Twitter and how it suddenly became a vital tool even for the U.S. government. Here is a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I woke up the morning of, and there was an e-mail from somebody saying, guys, today is the day. It is going to be so exciting. Jack is moderating the tweets with President Obama at the town hall on behalf of Twitter. And I was like, what?

I immediately replied to the whole company, you came to me and you asked me, am I cool with it? And I said, as long as this doesn't happen, and now we are doing exactly the thing.

JACK DORSEY, CO-FOUNDER, TWITTER: Good afternoon and welcome to the White House. I am Jack Dorsey from Twitter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You lied to me. You told me to my face that no one from Twitter was going to be representing, and I am m really upset about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: An all new episode of "Twitter: Breaking the Bird" airs tonight at 10:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

All right, and then there is this incredible story of survival after a California man was trapped for nearly 24 hours in his upside down truck.

Daniel Higginbotham lost control of his truck while driving home on March 4th. He crashed off the road and then rolled 30ft down an embankment where he blacked out.

Once he regained consciousness, he was hanging sideways with blood rushing to his head. After nearly a full day, someone finally spotted the crash. Doctors had to amputate his right leg due to frostbite, but Higginbotham says he is happy to be alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL HIGGINBOTHAM, TRAPPED FOR 24 HOURS IN TOTALED TRUCK: I am dealing with it very well because I am still alive. You always have to have hope. I shouldn't be alive. It is a miracle. I believe that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And then Higginbotham's dog, Junior. Well, he was also in that truck and he managed to get out through a window and he attended to get through the window and then he barked at rescuers when they arrived, calling attention to Higginbotham.

[16:00:38]