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Laura Coates Live

Lawyers Move To Stop "Imminent" Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act; Members Of Political Group Shooting Suspect Joined Speak Out; FL Releases U.S.-Born American Citizen Who Was Arrested On ICE Orders; White House Warns Of Abandoning Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire Talks. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired April 18, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You can catch me any time on your favorite social media X, Instagram, and TikTok. "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, immigration lawyers scrambled to stop a new wave of deportations while a separate deportation battle plays out in the court of public opinion. Plus, classmates of the suspect in the Florida State University shooting describe what they say were his extreme political views. Tonight on "Laura Coates Live."

All right, welcome, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez, in for Laura. The key question this Friday night, is the Trump administration about to deport a new wave of migrants under a controversial 18th century wartime law?

Lawyers for dozens of migrants in Texas say yes, and they're scrambling to stop what they say are imminent deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, the same law used to deport migrants to El Salvador last month.

And a key judge in the center of that deportation legal battle, James Boasberg, called an emergency hearing this evening. But even he admits his hands are now tied. He says he just doesn't have the power to intervene because of a recent Supreme Court ruling that limits his jurisdiction in Texas.

Now, the Justice Department says it reserves the right to remove people Saturday while the migrants' lawyers have also asked the Supreme Court to stop their removal.

And this is all happening amid what has become in many ways a public perception battle over the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. He is the immigrant the Trump administration admits it mistakenly deported in that first wave of people removed under the Alien Enemies Act. And tonight, the Democratic senator who went to see him in El Salvador, Chris Van Hollen, says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): This case is not just about one man. It's about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States of America.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

VAN HOLLEN: If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: But as you might imagine, President Trump is spinning things a little bit differently. He's calling Senator Van Hollen a fool and a grandstander.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, look, he's a fake. I know him. I know them all. They're all fake, and they have no interest in that prisoner. That prisoner's record is unbelievably bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: He also posted this image tonight. He says it shows Abrego Garcia's hand and claims the tattoos indicate he's a member of MS-13. Now, to be clear, if you're looking at the image, the MS-13 at the top of his fingers appeared to be doctored or added into the photo, but they're what Trump alleges the tattoos below portray. Abrego Garcia's lawyer says the president is just trying to warp what this case is really about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RINA GANDHI, ATTORNEY FOR KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA: This is just a continuation of the distraction. This case is about the simple fact that he was removed without due process. And if it can happen to him and the government pushes back at every turn despite three different courts ordering them to return him, then who's next?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And while we're on the subject of controversial images, Senator Van Hollen is addressing those photos released by El Salvador's president that show him and Abrego Garcia with margaritas. He says it was all staged by El Salvador's government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN HOLLEN: One of the government people came over and deposited two other glasses on the table with ice. And I don't know if it was salt or sugar around the top, but they look like margaritas. And if you look at the one they put in front of Kilmar, it actually had a little less liquid than the one in me, in front of me, to try to make it look, I assume, like he drank out of it.

They actually wanted to have the meeting by the side of the pool in the hotel. They want to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar which, of course, is a big, fat lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And Senator Van Hollen revealed another key detail. He says Abrego Garcia was transferred out of CECOT nine days ago and moved to a lower level prison. Now, for context, this is away from the mega- prison where terrorists and gang members are held.

Joining me now, CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers, and CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. We've got a lot to talk about here.

Elie, I want to start with you. Judge Boasberg saying he doesn't have the power to stop more deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. So, does this mean we could see more deportations resume in this context as early as tomorrow?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's definitely possible, Omar. So, the decision tonight by Judge Boasberg is really procedural more than anything else. So, Judge Boasberg correctly recognizes that last week, the Supreme Court said, there cannot be a blanket pause put in place by a district court judge like Judge Boasberg on all Alien Enemies Act deportations.

[23:05:06]

What the Supreme Court also said that's really important is the only legal remedy, and this is a win for the deportees, they do have a right to pursue due process, but they have to do it through a specific legal mechanism called habeas, which essentially means show us the body, show us the evidence, and habeas cases can only be filed in the federal geographic district where the actual prisoner is being held.

So, Judge Boasberg, I think, correctly recognized if there are going to be these habeas proceedings, they need to be brought in Texas because that's where everybody is.

Now, the second issue, though, is the Supreme Court also said these deportees need to be given reasonable advance notice so they can pursue their rights. The question now, though, is, how much notice is sufficient notice, is 24-hour notice, is written notice? The Supreme Court left that up to the details. So, there could be a bit of a race this weekend playing out.

JIMENEZ: I'm telling you, I'm learning a lot about the intricate proceedings of law this week. Look, as this is happening, we also heard from Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen today, who accused the Trump administration of lying about Abrego Garcia's case. Just take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VAN HOLLEN: The Trump administration wants to flat out lie about what this case is about. They want to change the subject. They want to make it about something else. And they are clouding the orders from the federal district court, the Fourth Circuit Court, and the Supreme Court to facilitate his return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So, Scott, I know you have thoughts of him -- on him being there in the first place. But at this point, why -- why not just bring Abrego Garcia back, present the evidence they say they have to a court, and we can -- we can move on from this?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yeah, listening to Van Hollen explain all this like if you're explaining how you came to be sipping margaritas with an MS-13 gangbanger, who has lived illegally in the United States for 14 years before he was finally deported, you're losing. Okay? You're losing. You're losing optically. You're losing politically.

And I assume the people of Maryland are wondering, why doesn't this guy ever work as hard for us as he does for this guy who's down in El Salvador which, by the way, is where he's from in the first place?

Look, I -- you know, the Trump administration has a legal point of view. They're going to keep working this, you know, through these different court cases.

I think, you know, macro view for me, the American people elected Donald Trump to deport illegal aliens. They especially elected him to deport people who are affiliated with very violent transnational gangs that we now characterize as terrorist organizations. I think he's doing his job. I think the American people are behind him.

I think the Democrats like Van Hollen look ridiculous standing up for him more than they stand up for the people of the United States of America who are actually citizens of this country.

JIMENEZ: And Elie, I want to get your take on a few things here because -- look, the Trump administration, I think it's fair to say, has not been shy about saying this guy is a terrorist, this guy is a gangbanger. You know, we have not seen any convictions or even charges related to those things up to this point.

But if -- if this person is characterized in that way, does that change anything legally for whether he's subject to the Alien Enemies Act or any form of different recourse under the justice system if he's brought back or if he's stopped from coming back?

HONIG: Well, I think the fundamental problem here is we've got everything backwards or the Trump administration has everything backwards. Let's remember, he was removed in error. That is not me speaking. That is the Trump administration speaking a few days ago. They admitted that he was removed to El Salvador, the one country where he was not allowed to be removed, in error. And what we're seeing now is sort of an after the fact, oh, boy, how do we justify this? I don't doubt, Scott, that this may be a winning political issue for the Republicans, but the way they're trying to litigate this is not the way any of this would go in an actual court.

If they wanted -- if anyone is charged with a crime -- and by the way, just being a gang member, not necessarily a crime. I mean, it usually is half step away from a crime and you can get yourself caught up in a racketeering case. But if they wanted to bring a criminal case, we know how to do that.

And if they wanted to deport him for being a gang member or go back and reopen that order that said he can't be deported to El Salvador on the basis that he's a gang member, they could have done that in the immigration courts.

But again, they did it backwards. They deported him by mistake first, and now they're trying to litigate through the media, through photographs, through press releases. Well, even though it was an error, it's kind of who cares?

JIMENEZ: And you know, one of the things we heard -- I mean, we heard it laid out from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, that whether this person is a gang member or not, the central issue here seems to be due process.

But politically, Bakari, I want to ask you this because, you know, Scott touched on this as well, and I heard one Democratic strategist earlier today warn essentially against making Abrego Garcia a martyr, so to speak.

[23:10:01]

Do you worry focusing too much on the person rather than the legal civil liberties aspect of this will end up becoming a liability for Democrats? I mean, what -- where is the line here? Do you see?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not at all. In fact, I think that this is an issue that Democrats don't need to be too wary of. This is an issue that matters because people don't want to be picked up off the street and not have their due process. And people also want to know that if the Supreme Court or any other court in this country makes a ruling, then the administration is going to abide by it.

For me, this isn't about whether or not he's a gang member, this isn't about whether or not he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat. All of those things can be true. In fact, you know, there can be a process by which he's deported. But the fact is they deported him based upon, as Elie just said, their wrong fundamental analysis. And it was flawed. And the fact is the Supreme Court said and other courts have said that this should not happen.

But the thumbing of the nose at judicial order is what I have a fundamental problem with. Now, are we going to deport gang members who committed crimes? Of course. Did this gentleman commit a crime? There's no evidence he did.

But even more importantly, you cannot just operate as if this is some type of backwoods cowboy country because it's not. There still has to be a rule of law. And I just don't like the fact that they're thumbing their nose at the United States Supreme Court and other jurisdictions in this country.

JIMENEZ: Gentlemen, got to leave it there. Thanks for staying up on a Friday night. Appreciate it as always.

Now, the Trump administration says they have no authority to bring back Abrego Garcia, but there is precedent that shows otherwise. For example, Iraqi immigrant Muneer Subaihani went missing in August 2018 after living in the U.S. for nearly 25 years. His lawyers learned Subaihani had actually been swept up in an ICE raid. But the government then soon realized it made a mistake, which triggered a months-long ordeal to find and return him to the United States.

With me now is one of his former lawyers, Margo Schlanger. Margot, really appreciate you being here. I mean, I think it goes without saying a very similar situation playing out now with the Abrego Garcia. The government here also admitted it was an administrative error. But from your perspective, how do you compare this to what happened with Subaihani when -- which you went through in the first Trump administration?

MARGO SCHLANGER, DIRECTOR OF CIVIL RIGHTS LITIGATION CLEARINGHOUSE, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL: Well, as you say, they're very similar in that the administration did a deportation that was against the rules. There was a court order that said that they couldn't deport my client, and they did it anyway.

And that's where the similarity ends. In 2018, what happened is that once we were able to locate Muneer, the administration actually did what was necessary to get him back.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, part of the trouble in your case, it sounds like as well, was just trying to track down where Subaihani was. I mean, here they do know where Abrego Garcia is, even paying for him to be detained, as we heard from Senator Van Hollen today. But are the processes that helped you get Subaihani back applicable here? I mean, what happened there that maybe you see could possibly be used here?

SCHLANGER: Well, what happened there was that Subaihani needed -- he needed identity papers and he needed -- he needed permission to come back and to go through several countries in between, you know, to transit through some other countries to get back to the United States.

This is actually easier because as far as I know, Abrego Garcia doesn't -- he has papers and getting him back is a fairly uncomplicated matter of, you know, getting him on a plane. So -- and as you said, Subaihani was hard to locate, whereas Mr. Abrego Garcia is -- you know, everybody knows where he is.

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

SCHLANGER: So -- so this feels like an easier case, not a harder one.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, obviously in the backdrop of all this, there a lot of court cases back and forth over who can and can't be deported and what class of people can and can't be, et cetera, including with Judge Boasberg saying he can't stop the government from using the Alien Enemies Act, for example, to swiftly deport people, which means many more could be deported under this act.

Do you have any concerns that maybe are different with your 2025 eyes, different than your 2018 ones as you sort of see this similar situation sort of play out?

SCHLANGER: I think what the administration is doing is they are somewhere in between, you know, making this into a game where they pretend that people aren't following the rules, you know, but you didn't say, mother, may I before you -- you know, the -- the excuse that they made about how an order was oral and not written, those kinds of things.

[23:15:02]

Like, that's -- that's just the administration looking for excuses and then they're flirting with out and out -- just -- just flouting of court authority as well. So, the Supreme Court told them that they had to give the Venezuelans, who they're seeking to deport, to El Salvador, that they had to give those people a notice and an opportunity to be heard.

And what it looks like is that right now, they're just flouting that on purpose and hoping that they can move quickly enough, you know, move fast and break things, that they'll get people out of the country before any court has time to stop them.

JIMENEZ: And that's part of why Judge Boasberg has threatened holding Justice Department lawyers in contempt and potentially others as well. But obviously, we're continuing to watch how those proceedings play out.

Margo Schlanger, really appreciate you being here. Thanks for the time.

SCHLANGER: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: And coming up, former classmates of the suspected Florida State gunman tell CNN they were concerned about his extremist views. We're going to talk to them, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Welcome back. Tonight, I want you to know two names: Robert Morales and Tiru Chabba. They were killed in the mass shooting at Florida State University yesterday that also injured at least five other people. Both men were beloved in their communities.

For Morales, FSU was his community. He was an FSU alum and served as a dining coordinator at the university for almost a decade. He was known as a compassionate force at the college.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE CLARK, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FSU: Robert made time for others, always leading with patience, humor, warmth. He often surprised us with homemade Cuban meals and pastries, reminding us that food is a love language and food unites us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Tiru Chabba leaves behind a wife and two children. The family mourning the 45-year-old husband and father, saying in a statement through their attorney -- quote -- "Instead of hiding Easter eggs and visiting with friends and family, they're living a nightmare where this loving father and devoted husband was stolen from them in an act of senseless and preventable violence."

I want to bring in CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller, who joins me now. Look, John, obviously, you can't imagine what a family is going through right now having to mourn the loss of their loved one. As that goes on, there is still a process that goes on, on the law enforcement side of things, trying to figure out, okay, what exactly happened here. And police are saying the suspect had an AR-15 rifle registered to his father in his car and was on campus for nearly an hour before the shooting. What do you see in those details?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, it tells us something frightening, Omar, which is we know from witnesses we spoke to yesterday, he got out of the vehicle with the shotgun, he may have fired that, he transitioned to the handgun, which was the 45, which would have a capacity of several rounds.

But in that vehicle, the precedent -- the presence of this AR-15, this is an assault weapon, this is the weapon that we use as a country when we go to war with the Army, it takes a 30-round clip, it's very suggestive of the idea that he may have planned for this to go on longer, for him to do more shooting, and potentially shoot and/or kill many more people.

So, that is something that they are -- they are looking at as they continue to search for it. Is there a document? Is there a piece on social media? Is there something he said that lays out this plan? Because this much we know from the prior cases. We always think of these people as someone who suddenly snapped. The case studies show us in almost each one of these things that they don't snap. They've been seething, they've been boiling, but they've been planning often for days, sometimes weeks or months.

JIMENEZ: John, stay close. I want to bring you back into the conversation in a little bit. But before Phoenix Ikner attended FSU, he was a student at Tallahassee State College and joined a group called "Political Discourse." You can see Ikner's name added to the group chat that was a part of that. It's a nonpartisan group. We have the image. But he was added to that group chat. It's a nonpartisan group meant to foster political conversations among students.

But some members say Ikner's views were so extreme, they were concerned to be around him. We should note, police are still looking for a motive and it's not clear if anything Ikner said in this group explains why the attack happened. So far, police say there's no connection between the suspect and any of the victims.

But I want to bring in two members of the "Political Discourse" club, Riley Pusins, the president, and Andrea Miranda, the vice president. Appreciate you both being here. Riley, this is a club where you debate political views. I mean, what was Ikner like during club meetings? Just give me your impression of him.

RILEY PUSINS, PRESIDENT OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE CLUB, TALLAHASSEE STATE COLLEGE: Thank you. Yeah, it's a -- it's a political discourse club where we just exchange ideas and we talk about daily current events. I would say, to put his views as extreme would to be putting it very light.

JIMENEZ: And what exactly do you mean by that?

[23:24:52]

PUSINS: He often displayed views that were white nativists and in -- and misogynistic and -- and a lot of those types of rhetoric. He -- he, at one point, told me in person that he was pro-fascism and that he endorsed, like, the AFD and parties like that. Often, he'd bring up situations that were just very radical. There was a point at which he called L.A. and =George Floyd protesters dirty rats. And he called for the glassing of the Middle East.

This was just an individual that would, in meetings, get up to just about the line of what we could tolerate and what we could allow in meetings, and then he will back down. But after meetings, we'd -- we'd hear those comments and it's --

JIMENEZ: And Andrea -- sorry, I don't mean to cut you off, Riley, but Andrea, you also had a fair amount of interaction with Ikner. Does what Riley is talking about sound like what you experienced? What do you remember about your interactions with him?

ANDREA MIRANDA, VICE PRESIDENT OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE CLUB, TALLAHASSEE STATE COLLEGE: Yeah, everything that Riley said was extremely true. We had a lot of different kinds of interactions with him. I also had a class with him that semester, fall semester of 2024, and he displayed the same behavior in class as he did in the club. He made multiple comments throughout the semester talking about very serious conservative viewpoints that bordered on very radical, very extreme, and very hateful.

So, everything that Riley said was -- I could only echo that my own experiences with him are a bit different as a woman and as a woman of power in the club. So, my experiences were probably a bit different from Riley's but they are pretty much the same. JIMENEZ: And, you know, I just should mention for viewers, CNN hasn't independently verified claims like these about the suspect's belief, but that's part of why we're talking to students like you, people who knew him prior to this shooting at this point, and we don't have an indication that any of what we've been talking about is part of the motive that law enforcement is investigating.

Look, another Tallahassee State College student who knew Ikner from a political group told another news outlet he's not sure Ikner is really a radical and called him normal and nice. I mean, is there any part of that that you think could be true, and do you think Ikner was being genuine in your discussions as opposed to maybe putting on a show or something? To Riley.

PUSINS: If I may -- okay. Sorry.

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

PUSINS: If I may, I can understand that perspective when it comes to outside of political issues and maybe because he didn't see the type of language that he used towards women, especially women of color. Maybe that's why he was not able to see that. I know for sure that I have a blind spot to that because a lot of people treat me very kindly, and then I see them treat Andrea in completely different way.

And there's definitely something to be said, that there's a difference between normal passing conversation and when we're talking in political groups and people just really put their cards on the table, you know?

JIMENEZ: And Andrea, I know you've sort of hinted at it before and Riley mentioned it there that you felt you were being treated in a different way because you were a woman. Can you just tell me about that?

MIRANDA: Yes. During club meetings or during class, whenever any woman or myself would go to speak on a topic or an issue or to answer a question or anything like that, he would immediately cut us off, immediately butt in.

I remember multiple times at the club, he would cut me off. And then when I would, you know, sort of try to insert myself and say, I'm going to finish speaking, can I do that, and afterwards, you can start speaking, he would giggle off to the side with his other friends and make comments under his breath.

And that was definitely a very poor feeling to have. It's already difficult enough for women in politics to sort of voice their concerns. So, when you enter kind of more of a low-level space, like a college club, and you're immediately being cut off and laughed at, it's a very -- just demeaning feeling.

JIMENEZ: Andrea, Riley, I really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for your time and perspective tonight.

PUSINS: Of course. Thank you so much. JIMENEZ: Of course.

[23:30:00]

I want to bring back in John Miller, who was also listening to Riley and Andrea's stories about the alleged gunman, Phoenix Ikner. John, as you listen to that, what stands out to you?

MILLER: That we hear a story, a tale of two students. One who was a regular college Joe. People didn't find anything unusual about him, seemed like a nice guy. And then a subset of people who dealt with him in different ways where he had extraordinarily ultra conservative, strong, strident opinions, where he didn't tolerate other views or disagreements.

And if you take that against the backdrop of a campus where you had the students for a democratic society leading anti-Trump demonstrations, where you had a demonstration that was to take place on the day of the shooting in support of foreign students and migrants who might have had their visas revoked or been deported, you see atmospherics there that could have, if any of this has anything to do with the stressors, that might have been pushing him towards violence, could have been stimulus.

We were also told by sources that in interviews with family members, they said he had been on meds to handle dis-regulation and emotional highs and lows, which he had stopped taking.

So, authorities have a lot of homework to do, but what we're starting to see emerge is very familiar traits in the world of other active shooters in terms of the tells and the things, the clues that came before the incident.

Just to close out, Omar. These clues are very important. The FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit has a page. It's easy to find. It's fbi.gov/prevent. And what they want people to do is look at these signs so that people can report these individuals who maybe in need of help, who may be in crisis before something like this happens.

This is something that, after every shooting, they try to remind people, all of these clues are there for people around them who may just not know what they're looking at.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. And all clues that law enforcement will be looking into trying hone in on a potential motive here. John Miller, really appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks so much.

JIMENEZ: Coming up, held by ICE despite being a U.S. citizen. A Georgia man spends more than 24 hours in a Florida jail under a new controversial immigration law. We're going to tell you what led to his arrest and why he wasn't immediately released. That's next.

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[23:35:00]

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JIMENEZ: Welcome back. A routine traffic stop turned into a 24-hour stint in jail when a Georgia man was arrested in Florida after mistakenly being charged with being an undocumented immigrant. His name is Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez. He's 20 years old. He's also a U.S. citizen.

Now, the video you're looking at here shows the emotional moment when he reunited with his mom. Lopez Gomez was detained in a Tallahassee jail under a new Florida immigration law. He was a passenger in a car that was pulled over because the driver was speeding. And officers say Lopez Gomez told them he was not legally authorized to be in the United States.

But his lawyers say it was a misunderstanding because of a language barrier. They tell CNN this was an act of racial profiling. A Florida judge found no probable cause for the arrest and verified the authenticity of Lopez Gomez's birth certificate.

Joining me now to discuss is Tomas Kennedy. He's a policy analyst for the Florida Immigrant Coalition and has been helping the Lopez Gomez family throughout this process. Really appreciate you being here. Look, Juan Carlos was not immediately released from jail despite a judge confirming the authenticity of his birth certificate and finding no probable cause for his arrest. Why not?

THOMAS KENNEDY, POLICY ANALYST, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION: Yeah, so what the judge, the county judge argued was that -- that she basically had no jurisdiction to remove the ICE hold despite acknowledging, as you noted, that he was a U.S. citizen and despite being charged under a state law that is currently blocked by a federal court.

We were part of the lawsuit that blocked the state law from being enforced. And In our opinion, this is a faulty judgment by the judge because it violates Juan Carlos's Fourth Amendment rights and gives ICE jurisdiction over a U.S. citizen, which they're not supposed to have. So, he was severely wronged by the Florida Highway Patrol that arrested him and the Leon County judge that upheld that ICE detainer on him.

JIMENEZ: And ICE detainers, just for our audience, typically are used on migrants, typically around 48 hours to give ICE the opportunity to potentially pick them up from someone who might be picked up in a local jurisdiction.

But you mentioned that Florida immigration law. Juan Carlos was arrested under that new Florida immigration law that was temporary blocked by a judge. You talked about being a plaintiff on the lawsuit. But the law creates criminal penalties for those in the country illegally who enter or attempt to enter the state of Florida.

Have you been told why -- what was supposed to be a suspended law was being enforced on -- I mean, what ended up being an American citizen?

KENNEDY: Yeah, I'm not trying to be flippant when I say this, but it's called contempt of court.

[23:39:57]

In fact, today, we went for another hearing on this injunction where the judge actually extended the blocking of enforcement of this law until April 29th. And she was shocked that 15 arrests have been made while this law is judicially blocked from being enforced. And they've arrested 15 people, including Juan Carlos, a U.S. citizen.

So, it, quite frankly, is just contempt of court and lawlessness on behalf of the Florida authorities that have chosen to, quite frankly, ignore the orders of a federal judge.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, the Florida Highway Safety, who oversees Highway Safety Patrol, essentially told us that it was because in a sense that Juan Carlos made the statement that he was not legally authorized to be in the United States and the federal detainer issued for him. That was sort of what began all this.

But I want to ask you about something that Juan Carlos's lawyers -- lawyer said because he says -- quote -- "If it happened to Mr. Lopez Gomez, a U.S.-born citizen, it can happen to anyone: Haitian Americans Jamaican Americans, Venezuelan Americans." I mean, really any American, anyone born in America who has an accent could be at risk, is what he said. Do you agree with that?

KENNEDY: Yeah, I agree completely. And I also want to note that the Florida Highway Patrol checked the box on -- on the arrest paperwork that they had run the biometrics, a background check on Juan Carlos's before the arrest, which should have, you know, highlighted the fact that he's a U.S. citizen. So, they either ran the biometrics and arrested him anyways, or they checked the box without running the biometrics, which is highly troublesome.

But look, we are right now in a situation where we are seeing student visa holders being detained and ordered deported. We are seeing legal permanent residents being detained and ordered deported. We are seeing the administration trying to denaturalize naturalized citizens like myself. And then we are seeing U.S.-born citizens placed under arrest without criminal charges because the criminal charge was lifted.

And there's no legal recourse for him to get out because, you know, there's a ping pong between the county judge, ICE, about who has the jurisdiction, who can remove the ICE hold. So, you know, these immigration enforcement frameworks tend to broaden to the larger population, the broader public.

JIMENEZ: And I know you'll stay in touch with us. I know you're a policy analyst for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. I am sure you have your eyes peeled for whatever may happen. Thomas Kennedy, really appreciate you being here.

KENNEDY: Thank you for the invitation. Have a good night.

JIMENEZ: Of course. You, too. All right, after campaigning on the promise to end Russia's war in Ukraine in just 24 hours, today, 88 days after his inauguration, the Trump administration warning the U.S. will decide in days whether ending that war is that at all -- quote -- "doable."

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[23:45:00]

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JIMENEZ: President Trump gave this update on Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks today.

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TRUMP: If, for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say, you're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people, and we're going to just take a pass. But hopefully, we won't have to do that.

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JIMENEZ: Now, his comments come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested if a ceasefire isn't reached soon, the United States needs to move on from its peace efforts.

A source telling CNN tonight as well, the U.S. is prepared to recognize Russian control of Crimea, the formerly Ukrainian territory that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, as part of a peace deal if one can be reached.

It's important to note, though, that through all of this, the war goes on. Specifically, Russia's bombardment of Ukraine is ongoing with strikes in Kharkiv last night that killed one person and injured dozens more.

Now, in previous U.S.-Ukraine bilateral peace talks, one of the things discussed then was the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children. Nearly 20,000 children have -- from Ukraine have been deported to Russia since the war began over three years ago, according to the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, with many Ukrainian families still looking for their children.

The Trump administration temporarily terminated financial support for this research, citing assessments the administration has been making on what was in America's interests. And while the funding was restored temporarily allowing for this evidence track to be sent to European law enforcement, the future of these efforts is still unclear.

Now, one of our next guests says he was threatened with deportation to Russia while recovering in a hospital in Donetsk after his town was attacked and his mother was killed. His grandmother was able to make the long journey to rescue him. Take a listen to what he told us happen.

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ILLIA MATVIIENKO, 11-YEAR-OLD UKRAINIAN BOY ALMOST SENT TO RUSSIA (through translator): A shell hit the neighboring building, and several shrapnels hit my leg and my mother's forehead was injured. The next day, my mother died. That day, Russian soldiers came to that house. I was in the Donetsk hospital for a month. And in the Donetsk hospital, as it turned out, they wanted to adopt me into a Russian family.

JIMENEZ: (voice-over): Were you scared when you were in the hospital and Russian forces told you they wanted to bring you to Russia?

MATVIIENKO (through translator): Yes, I was very worried when I was told that I could be deported to Moscow.

JIMENEZ: (voice-over): How did you find out Illia had been taken and what did you do to try and find him?

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OLENA MATVIIENKO, ILLIA'S GRANDMOTHER WHO TRAVELLED TO RESCUE HIM (through translator): They make videos about orphans like Elusha (ph). Elusha (ph) has a godfather in the Pitsk (ph). And this godfather sent my eldest son to Vienna (ph) this video. And my son from Vienna (ph) sent the video to me. That's how I found out that Elusha (ph) was in hospital in Donetsk.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): When you got to the hospital, did you have any difficulty in getting Illia? Were there Russian soldiers there?

O. MATVIIENKO (through translator): They didn't know what to do. So, it took us a week to get there. There were children from Mariupol on the third floor in Donetsk. There were a lot of kids like Elusha (ph), orphans. His friend, Vitalik (ph), was taken to Moscow. They also came up to him and told him that they would take him to Moscow. He said, I'm not going anywhere, I'm waiting for my grandmother.

JIMENEZ: Just to finish up here, what do you want to do after the war is over?

O. MATVIIENKO (through translator): Oh, God. And our whole country will cry. That's for sure. There will be no joy. My granddaughter, my daughter-in-law, my daughter, my neighbors, so many people were killed.

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JIMENEZ: And I want to keep this conversation going with Gary Wasserson, tech entrepreneur and humanitarian with the nonprofit ukrainianchildren.org, which among other things has helped with humanitarian aid and worked extensively to support the country's children, and Marta Fedoriw, chair of the Ukrainian National Women League of America's Return Ukraine's Children Initiative. Thank you both for being here. I really appreciate it.

Marta, I want to start with you because, look, we heard some of that interview, but there was also a bipartisan group of lawmakers here in the United States who wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Treasury secretary as well, last month, sort of describing this data that's tracking some of these children as absolutely crucial to Ukraine's efforts to return their children home. The United States must prioritize their return. How do you see it?

MARTA FEDORIW, CHAIR, UNWLA'S RETURN UKRAINE'S CHILDREN INITIATIVE: That's very, very, very important point. We first learned about the abducted children through the work of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, and we hope that it will be continued because they have a great tracking system.

Until now, Ukraine has been able to identify that 9,546 children have been abducted. The numbers are probably much greater because Putin himself has bragged that he has taken out about 700,000 Ukrainian children.

That is genocide because they take the children from Ukraine, from their parents, from orphanages, from hospitals. They try to -- they place them in Russian families, put them up for adoption. The older boys, take to military-style camps. They train them to become Russian soldiers. To some, they fight against Ukraine, against America, if need be. This is genocide.

When you take away a nation's children, you are taking away their future, the nation's future. And we have to fight that these children be returned before any final peace agreements are made because children cannot be used as a bargaining chip. Children -- it's international law that children cannot be bargained in peace negotiations.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, in 2023, the International Criminal Court did issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's commissioner for human rights on foreign alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. Now, they've described the ICC's actions as outrageous and unacceptable.

But Gary, you know, some of our audience may be learning about this for the first time. Yale calls it coerced adoption. You're heavily involved in work, specifically with Ukrainian children in the country. How prevalent is this?

GARY WASSERSON, CO-FOUNDER, UKRAINIANCHILDREN.ORG: It's prevalent and it's -- it's just amazingly horrible to see how these children are stripped away from their parents.

I want to speak to America for a second and explain as a parent. Imagine a soldier that has come into your country, that comes into your house, and strips a child from your arms to take back to their country knowing that you will never see them again.

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It is devastating not only to the families, but to every Ukrainian. This is terrorism. They are terrorizing the Ukrainian population in an attempt to destroy whatever is left of any morale in a country that has been under war, the siege of war, for the last three years.

JIMENEZ: Gary Wasserson, Marta Fedoriw, really appreciate you both being here. Thank you for taking the time.

FEDORIW: Thank you very much, Omar.

WASSERSON: Thank you.

FEDORIW: And we are so grateful to all Americans who support Ukraine. Thank you.

JIMENEZ: That was a good conversation. Thanks for having me this week. I enjoyed it. Hope you did, too. "Anderson Cooper 360" up next.

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