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Man Shot & Killed After Opening Fire Near White House; Trump: Agreement With Iran Has Been "Largely Negotiated"; Crews Race To Prevent Chemical Tank Explosion In California. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 24, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:25]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN NEWSROOM with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me.

Coming up on the show, the Secret Service shot and killed a man who opened fire on a White House security checkpoint. It wasn't their first encounter with him.

President Trump says a deal with Iran has been largely negotiated. We'll ask an expert what that even means.

And authorities in California are keeping close tabs on an explosive situation as they try desperately to cool a leaking tank of hazardous materials.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome.

Authorities in Washington, D.C., are investigating after Secret Service officers shot and killed a man near the White House just a few hours ago. The agency says the man approached a checkpoint and opened fire on them.

ABC News correspondent Selina Wang was filming a social media video when she heard a volley of gunshots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SELINA WANG, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: For the two sides to remain far apart --

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Sources tell CNN the deceased suspect is 21-year-old Nasire Best. Court records indicate he had previous encounters with the Secret Service, as well as mental health concerns.

In a social media post early on Sunday, President Donald Trump thanked law enforcement for their prompt response.

CNN's Julia Benbrook was there when the shots rang out and filed this report for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, scary evening here covering the White House Saturday. Members of the White House press corps, we heard what appeared to be gunshots, dozens of gunshots. It sounded like, and we're rushed into the White House briefing room. That's where we were on lockdown for roughly 40 minutes.

Now, as Secret Service told everyone to get inside, to get safe, we have some of those moments of panic. These were captured by photojournalist Joe Wagner as he went to safety as well. We now know that a shooting occurred at 17th and Pennsylvania, not too far from the White House, grounds, that the suspect pulled out a weapon and fired at officers. They then returned fire. He was shot, taken to the hospital and is now dead.

Now a bystander was also shot. It is unclear if that person was wounded by the suspect or by the returned fire. President Donald Trump was here at the White House when all of this took place. He was not impacted. We do know that he has been briefed on the situation.

Julia Benbrook, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Let's bring in Steve Moore. He's a CNN law enforcement contributor and a retired FBI supervisory special agent.

Thank you for being with me, sir. I appreciate it.

This is someone who was already known to the Secret Service and had other encounters around the White House. At what point does somebody move from being viewed as a troubled individual to being viewed as a genuine security concern?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, when they when they do something violent is, is one thing. But prior to that, you have to cross a bunch of different trip lines. Is this person capable of attacking? Do they have the means to attack? Are they armed? There's a -- there's an entire matrix of things that you go through to determine the threat level of any individual. And I think possibly because this person appeared to be delusional, he might not have been registered or at least thought of as such an imminent threat.

HUNTE: As investigators do go through social media activity and prior contacts with the police, what do you think theyre going to be looking for now?

MOORE: They're going to be looking back to where he got his gun, and theyre going to be obviously looking at all of his social media, everything on his cell phone, anything he said to people and the things he said are going to be a little bit out there. I mean, at one point, he claimed to be Osama bin Laden. And another point, he claimed to be God.

And so, its going to be difficult to pin this down. The behavioral sciences unit at the FBI will almost certainly be trying to determine what kind of things they can learn from this so that in the future, you would not take somebody like this, as unseriously as he was.

[02:05:16]

HUNTE: Can you just talk us through the first few seconds of this incident when somebody approaches a security checkpoint and suddenly opens fire? What training and protocol immediately kick in for agents?

MOORE: The training at that point is, is to get cover and return fire as quickly as possible to stop them from shooting. From what I heard, and this is just an opinion, but it sounded like there were four or six shots in a cadence that was similar to a revolver, a revolver pistol being fired. There's a long trigger pull, and it was just bang, bang, bang, bang on the same cadence.

About the time the six bullet was heard, there was a -- there was just a -- a ration of gunfire coming out. You couldn't tell individual reports from the guns. So it sounds to me like it took them, almost the entire time he was shooting to get their weapons and return fire, which is not surprising. Theyre sitting there doing their normal jobs, and all of a sudden, bullets are coming at them.

HUNTE: We also know that a bystander was injured. Investigators are still working through exactly how that happened. Are you surprised that more people weren't hurt in this incident?

MOORE: Well, it was raining, I think. And so that may have kept a lot of the bystanders away. Had this happened on a -- on a beautiful sunny day, I think you would have had a lot of -- a lot of tourists there, a lot of people just wanting to see the White House area that, as you know, is a very, very crowded area on a beautiful day. And this was not. And so fortunately, that weather may have saved lives.

HUNTE: I just wonder if you could tell us about any gaps that may be existing within the U.S. health care system that would allow someone with mental health issues, this level of access to guns and to carry out an incident like this.

MOORE: Well, Ben, I mean, obviously, I think wed all agree on the fact that somebody like that should not be able to have a firearm. And we have to wonder what's going on in the -- in the medical community or in the political community where it deals with psychiatric issues.

You remember, you know, you probably don't remember, but you studied the fact that in the '70s in America, there was a great uproar that people were being locked away and kept -- kept away from population, one flew over the cuckoos nest, things like that. And it caused a backlash, where America didn't want any more to institutionalize people who were delusional and made threats. There's -- there may be a need to go back to that and just fix the problems we had.

HUNTE: Uh-huh. It is obviously a very difficult topic, but we do appreciate your insights.

CNN law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore, thank you so much for now.

MOORE: Thank you.

HUNTE: We are now getting new details about a potential peace deal that Iran and the U.S. may be close to signing, citing a U.S. official, "Axios" is reporting that it would include a 60 day ceasefire extension. During that time, the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened and Iran would be allowed to sell oil freely. Negotiations on curbing Iran's nuclear program would also continue.

This all comes after president Trump said a peace deal had been, quote, "largely negotiated". He made the announcement on truth social, saying the details still need to be finalized.

CNN producer Sebastian Shukla joins me live now from Berlin.

Sebastian, there is so much going on and many details are very unclear at the moment, but what more can you tell us?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yeah. Good morning, Ben.

What I think that we have here is essentially the framework, the beginnings of what is going to be likely a negotiated settlement. At least that seems to be the prevailing wind right now. We've seen the president announcing on Truth Social that the negotiation has been largely negotiated, and that there are several elements to that that seem to form the crux of this, which is, first of all, that the Strait of Hormuz, that choke point that has been effectively a bargaining chip by both sides since the beginning of this war would be reopened, and that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports by American naval forces would also end.

[02:10:06]

There is a little bit of disagreement, it seems, about whether that is the correct characterization. The Iranian state media is disputing that claim and the way that its being characterized by the U.S. president.

The other parts of this negotiation seem to suggest that there is now a ticking clock that would start on agreement of 30 days for further discussions to take place about the release of Iranian nuclear stockpile that enriched uranium. That is so needs to be able to build a nuclear weapon, but which Iran claims would only ever be used for civilian purposes. And the last part of this is that there would be a 30-day -- excuse me. There would be a release of Iranian assets that are under sanctions, likely held in other banks and assets across the world in different locations outside of Iran.

So what we've had here is, Ben, the last 24 to 48 hours, a serious amount of diplomatic back and forth. We've seen Pakistani, Qatari mediators arriving in Tehran for discussions with the regime. We've had Donald Trump canceling large parts of his weekend, one of

them including going to his sons wedding in the Bahamas. And that meeting that he held in the White House with the chiefs of the general staff, Dan Caine, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and the secretary of state -- all of those now seem to be pointing towards that. We are heading towards some form of negotiated settlement, whether both sides are totally happy with it or we just don't know that yet, Ben.

HUNTE: Okay, Sebastian, I appreciate that insight. I'm sure I'll be speaking to you again within the next hour. So thank you again for now. Speak to you then.

Let's dive deeper into this with Sina Azodi, director of the Middle East studies program at George Washington University. He's also the author of "Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran and the Nuclear Question". And there's the book there.

Thank you so much for being with me, sir.

President Trump says a deal has been largely negotiated based on what you're hearing and what you're seeing from the Iranian side, how close do you actually think the two sides are to an agreement now?

SINA AZODI, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST STUDIES PROGRAM, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Well, the Iranian the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry already put on his Twitter or X account that Iran has achieved a victory. And he made it, you know, historical comparison to the old Persian Empire that, you know, the Iranians are always coming out victorious. So I my sense is that, yes, the details are still being negotiated. We are not exactly sure about the details, but it seems that Iranians are -- since Iranians are declaring victory, the President Trump also said, that the deal has largely been reached. I think I am cautiously optimistic that we have a political solution, and the hostilities.

HUNTE: Well, saying that we are hearing very different messages when it comes specifically to the Strait of Hormuz. What have you heard from your sources? And what's Iranian media saying? What do you actually think is happening behind the scenes here?

AZODI: The Iranian media, and I'm looking at the Fars News Agency, which is really close to the IRGC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They're denying the foreign reports. And this statement that I just mentioned came out before the access report. They denied that.

But ultimately, I think the issue of Iran charging a toll on ships, I think from the beginning, it was a posturing, really position by Iranians or negotiating position. And I think that they knew that ultimately, theyre not going to be able to charge every ship some money.

So my understanding is that the "Axios" report that you also mentioned in your report is quite accurate. We are looking at -- for now, we're looking at a political settlement of the hostilities. And then once the 60 days are over, then we will be looking at a technical negotiations to resolve the nuclear issue, which was really President Trump's justification to start the war again.

HUNTE: I guess my big question with this is how there can be this level of difference between the narratives from the U.S. and from Iran. So what does that tell you? Is this a genuine disagreement over content?

[02:15:02]

AZODI: Yes. And Iranians are very careful about their public messaging. They don't want to look weak. They don't want to appear that as theyre caving to U.S. demands. But I think, again, as I said, I think that ultimately the political solution, and a peace is within reach.

HUNTE: Okay. Sina Azodi, thank you so much for now. Appreciate it.

AZODI: Good to be with you. Thank you.

HUNTE: Overnight, strikes in southern Lebanon forced residents in the city of Tyre to evacuate their homes. After the sun rose, people surveyed the damage and sifted through the rubble. Israel says it targeted and destroyed Hezbollah infrastructure. Both Israel and Hezbollah accused each other of violating a cease fire agreement that was announced on April 16th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a residential area, densely populated. People returned during the ceasefire, a ceasefire that's unfortunately fragile. They returned thinking they were safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Also, entire funerals were held on Saturday for two medics killed in Israeli strikes. They were among six medical personnel killed in a pair of strikes that took place in southern Lebanon on Thursday and Friday.

A state of emergency has been declared in southern California over an overheating chemical tank at an aerospace facility. After the break, the potentially catastrophic impact that it could have on the surrounding communities. See you in a moment

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

Emergency crews in southern California are racing to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion after a tank holding thousands of gallons of a toxic and highly flammable chemical began overheating at an aerospace facility in Orange County. The team is bringing you some live pictures of it just there. It's very dark. You can kind of see some water being poured on it.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Saturday as crews continue their efforts to cool and stabilize the tank.

CNN's Veronica Miracle reports for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a race against time, according to officials who say there are two potentially very bad outcomes that could happen here, the first being that thousands of gallons of toxic chemical could leak out and spill into the area, the second being a catastrophic explosion. Of course, officials are trying to make sure that neither of those things happen.

Fire crews have been working to spray water on the tanks to try and cool them down. But we heard from officials that apparently that hasn't been working. They say that the chemical has been increasing in temperature about a degree an hour. So at Friday morning it was about 77 degrees. And by Saturday morning, it was about 90 degrees. Officials did talk about what could potentially happen if there was the worst case scenario explosion to happen. Take a listen to what they had to say.

NICK FREEMAN, CHIEF, ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY: So if this tank fails and we have an explosion, these represent our blast zone. The innermost circle represents areas where we can expect severe structural damage and significant harm. Beyond that, you'll see an orange oblong that represents areas that are immediately dangerous to life and health, where it would cause injury. If anybody inhales or is impacted by the product in question, and then the yellow is our non- hazardous zone, which is our odor threshold. This product has a very low odor threshold and can be smelled very easily. So that's why that representation is very large. But again, it is non-hazardous at that level.

MIRACLE: And MMA, the chemical in question, is a chemical used to manufacture plastics. And officials say smelling it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be bad for your health. However, residents in the area have apparently been reporting have been reporting some issues like dizziness and other respiratory issues. It could potentially be hazardous to your health. About 15 percent of people in the evacuation zone actually have not left the area. They're refusing to leave.

But officials say if you are outside of the evacuation red zone, then that there are no concerns to your health and that you don't even need to be wearing a mask. So that is the good news.

Now, what officials are hoping will happen is that they will be able to cool the chemical enough that it will harden from the outside in, and they will be able to neutralize this issue. But there is no guarantee that that's going to happen. Of course, officials monitoring this every step of the way and communicating every step of the way back to you

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: For more, I want to bring in Dr. Elaine Bernal, a lecturer in chemistry and biochemistry at California State University in Long Beach.

Thank you so much for being with me.

Can you just bring us up to speed on where things stand --

ELAINE BERNAL, LECTURER, CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY, CAL STATE LONG BEACH: Thank you for having me.

HUNTE: You're so welcome. Based on what authorities are saying and the latest developments that we're seeing, I mean, what's happening inside that tank and why officials are so concerned.

BERNAL: So, basically, what's happening is that officials are cooling the tank from the outside. So that's to control the temperature of the tank. So currently there is what's called a thermal runaway, which has officials have said. So what happens is that typically in a storage tank like this liquid methyl methacrylate is typically a monomer.

And what happens is under certain conditions, those monomers will link together. So think about chains linking together. And then that becomes a reaction and then the reaction. And then the polymer becomes solidify. And that creates heat. So that was the biggest concern of the officials as they were reporting today. So what's happening is as the methyl methacrylate cools from the outside in, so ideally it solidifies and the volume that the methyl methacrylate, the MMA takes within the tank shrinks, therefore alleviating pressure and then buying time. As far as monitoring the temperature to see if there's any spikes or any other changes within the tank.

HUNTE: Okay. Thank you so much for that. Appreciate it.

Authorities do continue to focus on cooling and stabilization efforts. What exactly are they trying to achieve and what signs would tell responders that those efforts are actually working?

BERNAL: So right now, authorities are looking at the trends. Again, they're looking at the spikes. They're looking if there's any leaks.

Today, it was reported that there are 24 air monitors that are surrounding the area. And currently, there haven't been any reports as far as leaks, MMA leaks, contamination, pollution in the air. So those are the things to keep an eye out on.

HUNTE: We have heard officials and experts use the term thermal runaway. Can you explain what that means for everyone watching and why it becomes increasingly difficult to stop once that process actually starts?

BERNAL: So the way thermal runaway works, so the polymerization process of MMA is what's called exothermic reaction. So what it means and what that means is that as the reaction happens, heat is created. So that was why the biggest concern of the officials was monitoring the temperature. So that's why its important to have the remote sensing. It's important to have um to, to be responsive to that and to monitor that as it happens, because that is one main way to see how the reaction is proceeding is through temperature. HUNTE: We also seeing responders rely heavily on drones and remote

sensing equipment, too. What kinds of information are they trying to gather, and why is that technology so important?

BERNAL: That technology is so important because its a way to keep track of any spikes, any, any trends, any changes in trends, in order to keep the first responders safe, is it safe to keep them in there? So that's why the remote sensing is very important at this point. So that responders can -- can react accordingly.

HUNTE: We also hearing concerns around pressure building inside the tank. Can you help us to understand why that's creating such a challenge for responders?

BERNAL: I think it's creating such a challenge for respondents because, again, the remote sensing is important to see if the temperature spiking or not. What happens is as the MMA cools from the outside in, there isn't really a way to see what's going on inside other than looking at the internal temperature. It's been a challenge to, perhaps open the tank because that's been floated. However, doing something invasive, doing something to physically open the tank, perhaps drilling into it can actually create sparks that can create further side reactions that are unintended and can be dangerous.

HUNTE: People may wonder why evacuation orders remain in place, even when officials say there isn't an active plume right now. Can you help us to explain why authorities are still taking such a cautious approach here?

BERNAL: I think authorities are taking such a cautious approach here because even though there is no active plume, there is some uncertainty around the tank that is actively reacting right now. And also, the temperature, again, it's important to monitor that throughout this evening. And then throughout the next few days to see if it's stable, to see what the trends are. So that's why it's important for folks to evacuate and stay -- and stay evacuated until the authorities clear that safe to come back.

HUNTE: Okay. We'll leave it there for now.

But, Dr. Elaine Bernal, thank you so much for giving us an incredible science lesson so late in the night. Thank you for staying up for us. We appreciate it.

BERNAL: Thank you.

HUNTE: A nine-story building under construction in the Philippines collapsed early on Sunday. Rescue operations are underway as crews search for survivors. Philippine officials say 24 people have been rescued from the site in Angeles City, but local media reports say 30 to 40 people are still missing. And there's no word yet on what caused that collapse.

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing in northern China after a gas explosion at a coal mine killed at least 82 people. Emergency teams are looking for potential survivors nearly two days after China's worst mining disaster in more than a decade. They are entering the mine with water pumps and kayaks due to water filling parts of the mine after the explosion. Rescue efforts have been complicated by an inaccurate map of the tunnels that was provided by the mining company. State run Beijing news says not all underground workers may have been wearing their required GPS trackers.

Okay. Coming up, Russia's deadly air assault on Ukraine overnight was meant to send a message to Kyiv and also to Europe as a whole. Our military analyst explains ahead.

See you in a moment.

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[02:33:32]

HUNTE: Ukrainian emergency crews are assessing the damage from a huge Russian air attack on Kyiv. Explosions rang out into the early hours of the morning with Russian missiles and drones striking residential buildings and other structures all across the capital overnight. Kyiv's mayor says at least 20 people have been wounded, and at least one person has died.

Residents describe a terrifying night sheltering in the city's metro as they waited for the bombardment to end. Earlier, Ukraine and the U.S. had warned about Russian retaliation for a deadly Ukrainian strike on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of firing drones on a college dorm in the occupied Luhansk region, in a, quote, terrorist act. Ukraine denies those claims, saying they only target military infrastructure. Russian state media says 18 people were killed.

Well, late on Saturday night, Ukraine's air force warned that Russia was launching an Oreshnik missile, a powerful medium range ballistic missile.

CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton explains what message that weapon is meant to send.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That missile, you know, goes at least five times the speed of sound. And in some cases has been known to go about nine times the speed of sound. And that particular missile attack, that type of missile, has been used at least three times now, if it's proven that this missile was used in this latest attack on Kyiv.

[02:35:03]

So the Russians are basically using missiles that are part of their more extensive inventory, their more sophisticated inventory. And in a way, it's designed to send a message not only to the Ukrainian government, but also to the European governments, as well as even the United States that Russia has these missiles in its arsenal, and it's willing to use them. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The absence of approved medical treatments for the strain of Ebola that's spreading in Central Africa has now sparked a global race to find a way to limit that outbreak. Scientists at Oxford University are reportedly developing a new Ebola vaccine that could enter clinical trials within the coming months.

A professor with the Oxford Vaccine Group explained the urgency behind their efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERESA LAMBE, PROFESSOR, OXFORD VACCINE GROUP: So, normally, a vaccine will take some time to get made and get tested. So, typically, it will take five to 10 years. We don't have that luxury here. So what were trying to do is do many of the steps that are routinely done, do it in parallel. So we are working as hard and as fast as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The Ebola outbreak in Central Africa is now the second largest ever on record. Health officials say there are now 91 confirmed cases, alongside more than 860 suspected cases. Three Red Cross volunteers are believed to be among the earliest fatalities after reportedly contracting the virus on a regional humanitarian mission in March. This all comes amid growing public backlash in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a second Ebola treatment center was set ablaze on Saturday, 18 suspected Ebola patients are now unaccounted for after running away during the attack.

Here is a closer look at the situation on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE (voice-over): Under armed guard, an ambulance transfers an Ebola victim to a cemetery in the DRC to be buried. Family members grieve at a distance as health workers in full protective gear lower the casket into the ground.

The Red Cross says it's carrying out what it calls safe and dignified burials, but these aren't the goodbyes that many families want. And at times, they've turned volatile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Arriving at the health care structure, we experienced a lot of difficulties, including resistance from young people and the community. So, we were forced to alert the authorities that they could come to our aid just for safety.

HUNTE (voice-over): Anger is growing in some communities. An Ebola treatment center was set on fire by angry residents on Saturday, just days after another Ebola facility was burned down after family members were not allowed to retrieve the body of a loved one. Health care officials say the virus can still be transmitted even after death, and funerals can be super spreader events.

Ituri province, where most of the cases in the DRC are centered, has banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people.

But with no vaccine for this strain, and the virus likely circulating for weeks before the outbreak was declared, Africa's CDC is warning of more misery to come. It says without urgent action, there could be anywhere from about 2,000 to 9,000 cases by day 100 of the outbreak. It also says funding can help to stop the spread.

DR. JEAN KASEYA, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CDC (through translator): We need $319 million to support the countries that are here and the at-risk countries in order to stop this epidemic. And we said that more than 75 percent of this money is for the DRC and Uganda.

HUNTE (voice-over): The U.N. Population Fund says women make up a large percentage of the cases, not only because of their work as nurses and midwives, but because of their role in the home.

LYDIA ZIGOMO, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA, UNFPA: Women actually are representing more than 60 percent of the infections in this outbreak. And mainly that's because they're frontline responders at the home level. They're the ones nursing sick people. And they also are participating in traditional high-risk washing and burial practices.

HUNTE (voice-over): Africa's CDC says this Ebola outbreak is the second largest on record, which likely means many more burials, where safety and containment takes precedence over tradition and grief.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: The family of NASCAR driver Kyle Busch has announced that he died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis. On Wednesday, Busch was transported to a hospital in North Carolina. Almost 24 hours later, Busch's family announced his sudden and very tragic passing. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was just 41 years old, and in the middle of his 22nd season in NASCAR's top division, and was scheduled to race this weekend.

[02:40:03]

Busch's team has suspended the use of his number eight and says they will save it until his son is ready to begin racing.

All right, the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigration. Details on a new rule targeting green card hopefuls, and how the changes could lead to thousands leaving the country. See you in a moment.

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HUNTE: There is a tough choice ahead for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are trying to get green cards while they live in the U.S. The Trump administration now says if they want one of the residency visas, they have to leave America and return to their home countries to make their applications. Green cards, nicknamed for their color, provide a path to citizenship. Attorneys, lawmakers and immigration advocates have criticized the new rule, which will likely face legal challenges.

Joining us now is attorney and CNN opinion writer Raul Reyes.

Thank you so much for joining me, sir. I appreciate it.

Let's just start with the basics. What exactly has changed here and what are your thoughts on these changes?

RAUL REYES, CNN OPINION WRITER: Well, a lot has changed here. Now we are talking about a radical shift in immigration policy. We're now, just to be clear, when we start just to start off our discussion, we're talking about legal immigrants, lawful immigration. This is not about illegal immigration.

What the government is now telling people who are here in this country who want to apply for the green card, it now is telling them basically they need to self-deport. They need to go at their own expense, back to their country of origin, where they will have to wait months, maybe even years or indefinitely with no guarantee of returning back to the U.S. just to get their green card.

And up until this weekend, this was a process people could do while they're in the United States.

So we are looking at potentially massive disruption of people's lives, their jobs and their communities.

HUNTE: So the big question is, can people in America right now still get a green card without leaving the country for one?

REYES: Well, I will be honest with you. Every immigration attorney in the United States has had their email and phone calls just blowing up because there's so much confusion and anxiety about this new policy. This was just rolled out by the administration in very vague terms.

So we don't know if people who are already in the green card process will be forced to leave the country and, and continue it there. We don't know the exact date that this will take effect. There's so much confusion surrounding this policy, which seems to create so many problems while not solving any.

And this is taking place at a time when all clear majorities of Americans say that lawful immigration is good for the country.

HUNTE: The administration says this restores the original intent of immigration law. What's their argument for why they say this change is necessary, though?

REYES: The administration says that this new policy is true to the original intent of the law -- of the law governing in-country adjustment of status. And they say that it prevents the government is saying that it prevents abuse, that it prevents. They say visa overstays, and it prevents people potentially coming into the country illegally. But we know that congress created this law in 1952, allowing for exactly what the administration is now telling people they cannot do, which is to process their green card while still in the United States.

So I think the administration's argument is going to be very hard to make in a court of law. It's certainly a break from precedent. And what we've seen historically across Republican and Democratic administrations. But in the meantime, we're going to have potentially hundreds of thousands of people in a kind of legal limbo, unsure of what their future is going to be and if they can indeed go through the process to obtain legal, permanent residence in the United States.

HUNTE: So, overall, is this good news or bad news for people trying to move to America?

REYES: I think most people are taking this as bad news because there's so much confusion and uncertainty about legal immigration. And this -- this sense at a broader level, this sends a message to people that obviously, the United States is not as welcoming to legal immigrants. It sends a message to employers in the U.S. that maybe they should not be offering jobs to foreign nationals.

And I think at the personal level, it just injects a lot of fear into a process that works best when the law is clearly and consistently applied. That's not what we're seeing here with this huge shift being just sprung on the public, the legal community, just in a matter of days.

HUNTE: Well, Raul, we appreciate your insight. Thank you for that. And anyone watching this who's going through the process, obviously, thoughts with you. I've been through this and it is very, very rough. It is very difficult, but hopefully you will get through it.

Thank you again, Raul Reyes.

REYES: Thank you.

HUNTE: The pope may sometime describe himself as a simple Catholic priest, but what priest has a personal dresser? Just ahead, we'll meet the man whose clothing designs project the influence of the pontiff's calling. See you in a moment.

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[02:52:54]

HUNTE: Pope Leo has spoken out against companies harming the environment in pursuit of what he calls dizzying profits. The pope was speaking during a visit to Acerra, about 100 miles south of Rome. It's an area known as a hot spot for the illegal dumping of toxic waste.

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POPE LEO XIV, CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Now we all know that we must watch over the health of the creation, just as we watch over our front door, we must resist the temptations of power and enrichment linked to practices that pollute the earth, water, air and our coexistence.

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HUNTE: The clothing of pope wears is an important part of who the individual is, as well as the tradition and symbolism of the Catholic Church.

One man has been behind the design and production of the vestments for three pontiffs now.

CNN's Antonia Mortensen visited the pope's tailor.

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ANTONIA MORTENSEN, CNN FIELD PRODUCER (voice-over): Meet the man who has dressed three popes, Filippo Sorcinelli.

FILIPPO SORCINELLI, POPE'S TAILOR (through translator): This is the chasuble of Pope Benedict XVI that he wore for Saints Peter and Paul.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): Many of his pieces have been worn on the global stage, including garments created for Pope Benedict XVI and the inauguration mass of Pope Francis in 2013 and now Pope Leo.

SORCINELLI (through translation): Being able to create sacred vestments to be worn by a pontiff is, I believe, the highest aspiration for a person who does this job, and there is undoubtedly a great emotional component in seeing it ultimately worn by a pope.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): A trained artist and musician, he founded LAVS, L'atelier vesti sacre, 25 years ago when he found his way into liturgical design through a fascination with ritual, identity and the power of clothing.

MORTENSEN: This workshop is tucked away in central Italy in Santarcangelo di Romagna. And it feels less like a religious atelier and more like a high end fashion studio.

SORCINELLI (through translator): And the Pope, but also all priests, the whole church, through this act of putting on this most beautiful garment, sends a message of hope.

[02:55:08]

Sacred art lives on this, a message of hope for the whole human race.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): Each papacy brings its own visual identity, from Pope Benedict's more traditional, ornate aesthetic to Pope Francis simpler, more restrained look. And now Pope Leo with his contemporary interpretation rooted in tradition. Everything here is done by hand, from sourcing the materials to the final stitch using traditional artisanal techniques.

SARA BREGATIN, SEAMSTRESS, LAVS (through translator): The emotion is as if it were always the first time. It's a sense of amazement seeing the Pope wearing something we created, a source of joy and pride for us.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): For Sorcinelli, it's not just about the vestments, it's about the symbolism and the tradition they carry.

MORTENSEN: Everything in this atelier feels extremely personal because for the man who dresses the popes, every vestment starts in the same way, quietly, carefully, producing something completely unique that then ends up on the world stage.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): Antonia Mortensen, CNN, Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy.

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HUNT: Well, that's all I've got for you for now. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta, but we're not done yet. I'll be right back with more CNN NEWSROOM after this quick break.

See you in a moment.