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Temporary Lebanon-Israel Cease-Fire Reached?; Migrant Children's Shelter Facing Abuse Allegations. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 16, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: We have new exclusive reporting this morning.

Sources tell CNN a facility in New York that housed migrant children is facing allegations of physical abuse, including placing some of these minors in isolation. The shelter has housed hundreds of teens age 12 and up over the years.

But, according to an internal Health and Human Services Department document reviewed by CNN, it stopped receiving unaccompanied minors in late January. Those who were there have been moved elsewhere over -- quote -- "significant child welfare concerns."

[11:35:09]

Two sources say the allegations have prompted a federal internal review.

So I want to bring in the reporter who broke this story, CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez, with us now.

Tell us more about what you're learning here.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are allegations that primarily stem from the treatment of migrant teenagers in this facility, particularly teenage boys, against what they called a specials unit.

It's akin to a security team. And they would come in if there was a fight, an altercation, or a potential behavioral issue. Now, I have spoken to multiple sources and reviewed internal federal agency documents that show some of what these allegations are.

And that includes, for example, beatings. One teen described being thrown to the floor and hit, according to an account that was reviewed by CNN. Restrained. Some kids were restrained, at times for longer periods of time than is protocol to ensure the safety of children.

And they were also placed in isolation involuntarily in what they called a red room. It got that name because the floor and the walls were red. It was a small space and they would be there for hours.

Now, again, to remind viewers, this is a facility that houses unaccompanied migrant children. What does that mean? Those are children who arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border alone or were swept up in an ICE operation. So they are there until they can be released to a parent or guardian in the United States.

The Department of Health and Human Services funds these shelters and is charged with their care. Now, in this facility, this is one where issues appear to predate the Trump administration. This is something that happened over the course of years, I'm told, multiple teens had said and levied these allegations against this particular team at the shelter.

Now, the concerns were also raised with New York authorities, I'm told. And all of this led to these ad hoc monitoring visits that happened in January of this year by federal officials. And that is where they found the -- quote -- "significant welfare concerns" that led to them transferring the kids that were there, the migrant kids that were there to other facilities.

To give you some numbers here, there were around 50 migrant children there over the last year. They can accommodate up to 187.

But now I do want to read a statement from a spokesperson for Children's Village. That is the facility ad issue here, one of their locations in particular.

They said -- quote -- "zero tolerance" -- they have zero tolerance for any form of punishment, and went on to say that "Allegations of employee misconduct are deeply distressing and, if received, we make an immediate report to the authorities. We will take all necessary steps to ensure that any staff member found to have engaged in misconduct is addressed appropriately and without hesitation."

I also do want to read a statement from the Health and Human Services Department spokesperson, who said that "ORR," referencing a federal agency within the department, "takes all allegations of misconduct involving children in its care extremely seriously," going on to say that "Upon receiving an allegation related to this facility, ORR acted immediately to transfer all unaccompanied children to other locations and referred the matter to the appropriate federal investigative authorities."

Pamela and Wolf, I have spoken to former HHS officials who found these accounts disturbing and concerning and said that there is never beatings allowed in these shelters under any circumstances.

BROWN: Such important reporting, Priscilla. Thank you.

BLITZER: And a quick and very important note of congratulations to Priscilla on this huge honor she's about to receive from the Washington Women in Journalism Awards, giving her what's called the Star to Watch Award.

We, of course, here in THE SITUATION ROOM certainly agree. BROWN: Congrats.

BLITZER: Isn't that right?

ALVAREZ: Thank you.

BLITZER: She's a star a watch.

BROWN: Absolutely.

ALVAREZ: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: We totally agree.

BROWN: She knows her stuff, as you always say, Wolf.

BLITZER: She certainly does.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Coming up: A new report is calling out Meta, accusing the company of a lack of moderation when it comes to antisemitic content on Instagram. The major changes that the Anti-Defamation League now wants to see from the platform.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROWN: We have that breaking news.

President Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day cease- fire.

Let's go live to CNN's Kevin Liptak from the White House with the latest.

He put this on TRUTH Social, right, Kevin?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, he did.

And this is quite significant. This had been something of a sticking point as the president works to broker a deal with Iran. This had been something that had been holding that back in some ways. Now the president's saying that it is at least partially resolved for now.

He says that this cease-fire came about after two separate conversations that he held with the president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, and the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The president writing -- quote -- "These two leaders have agreed that, in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a 10-day cease-fire at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time." The president goes on to say: "On Tuesday, the two countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our great Secretary of State Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan 'Razin' Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a lasting peace."

Now, the president really touting this as a major accomplishment. Of course, we know that Israel has been striking inside of Lebanon, going after Hezbollah in that country for the last several weeks. Iran, as the U.S. works to get this deal across the finish line there, had initially said that that cease-fire in place that's in Iran had applied to Lebanon.

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The U.S. says that it did not apply. They say that these were working in different tracks. Despite that disagreement, I think both sides agreed that, in order to achieve this deal with Iran that the president is very eagerly looking to accomplish, that something would need to be resolved between Israel and Lebanon in order to get that across the finish line.

Now the president is saying that he has been able to accomplish that. He had said earlier today that he wanted to get some breathing room in place between those two countries in order to bring the tensions down and allow the negotiations with Iran to continue, so now the president saying that that has been accomplished, at least for the next 10 days, Pamela.

BLITZER: And it's very significant, Kevin, because the Israelis, Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, have been saying that Hezbollah, the Lebanese proxy, the Iranian proxy in Lebanon, has been firing rockets and missiles at Northern Israel.

And until they stop doing that, Israel was going to respond and hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Is it clear now that the Lebanese government can disarm Hezbollah and Hezbollah will stop firing rockets and missiles against targets in Northern Israel? Is that going to happen?

LIPTAK: I'm not sure that's clear at this point yet, Wolf. And that had always been one of the downsides to these negotiations, these direct negotiations, mediated by the U.S. between Israel and Lebanon, is that Israel is in fact going after Hezbollah in that country, not necessarily the Lebanese government or positions controlled by the Lebanese government.

And, of course, Hezbollah was not at the table in those discussions that occurred at the State Department earlier this week. There's no sign that the president has gotten any sign-off from Hezbollah that they will cease their attacks on Israel.

And so this will be a fragile cease-fire, to be sure. And I think Israel will probably retain the right after this ends, if a broader peace isn't negotiated, to resume some of those bombardments. That has been a major priority for Netanyahu, to try and go after those proxy groups in the region at a moment he views them as badly weakened.

And so this is certainly an accomplishment by President Trump to get this over the finish line. I think it's notable here that he says that the Joint Chiefs chairman, Dan Caine, will be involved in ensuring that this lasts, which leads you to believe that there will be some intense monitoring on the part of the United States to ensure that both sides adhere to their agreement here.

But I think, for the U.S., this does provide some breathing room as they work to get that broader deal with Iran across the finish line. We have heard all kinds of optimism coming from the White House, a suggestion that peace talks might resume again in Islamabad very, very shortly.

Getting this agreement between Israel and Lebanon finalized, I think, makes that much more likely.

BROWN: Certainly.

And let's go to Islamabad right now. That's where we find our Nic Robertson, CNN international diplomatic editor.

What is your reaction to this, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I have been talking to both Lebanese sources as this has been ticking down to on- off again agreement for this cease-fire.

And I think there's a sense there as well, as Kevin mentioned, that this can potentially be shaky, but it's been done. And it's come under the pressure from President Trump, very clear. I think everyone sees that by the phone calls that he's made.

But I think the very important bigger-picture thing to look at here is the fact that you still have in Tehran the Pakistani negotiators, the field marshal, their top leader in the country, the top person who's been the interlocutor between Iran and the United States.

And he has been in Tehran for almost -- well, well over 24 hours now, spent the night there meeting with the top-level politicians on the Iranian side. He also met with military officials.

So, delivering this deal on Lebanon, the cease-fire in Lebanon, for the Iranians -- and we were hearing this from the Pakistani officials today -- is a critical part for the Iranians of trying to get the bigger deal of making this a more permanent cease-fire between the United States and Iran, and a very key step to getting whatever Iranian compromises there may be.

And I'm saying may be, because we don't know what they are, but viewed as a package of interlocking needs from both sides that come together. The Lebanon issue was important for the Iranians. So what are they prepared to do and concede? And that right now is what the Pakistani delegation will be figuring out there in Tehran.

And I think there's a sense here, I get it from talking to my sources, of a sense of momentum, of a sense of possibility, of a sense of optimism. And I use my words carefully here in reference to what I hear and learn from sources, a sense of optimism that we can get to a second round, potentially face-to-face talks here in Islamabad.

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So I think there's -- what's happened in Lebanon breathes more life into the U.S.-Iran potential here to get a deal.

BLITZER: And let me go back to Kevin Liptak at the White House, while I have you, Kevin.

I don't know if you have been checking with your sources, but any chance that President Trump will try to do now what then-President Jimmy Carter did back in the '70s, when he negotiated the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, invited Menachem Begin, the prime minister of Israel, and Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, to Camp David?

They worked out the Camp David Accords and Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty at the White House, which still exists to that day. It was followed by a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. What are the chances that Trump will try to achieve a peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon?

LIPTAK: I think the president would view the prospect of doing that very positively if he thought that it was possible and if he thought that both sides were willing to come to a lasting agreement to end the enmity between those two countries.

Obviously, the president has openly campaigned for a Nobel Peace Prize. He talks, including in this TRUTH Social earlier today, about the number of conflicts that he's been able to resolve. I think the immediate focus, however, is this deal with Iran, the president very intent on bringing the war that began more than six weeks ago to an end.

Obviously, this cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon is a step in that direction. I'm not sure his thoughts are necessarily at a point of brokering some grand peace accord between Israel and Lebanon, but I think, if you were to ask him, he would be open to the idea of doing it if he thought that both sides were ready to come along and agree to it.

Last week, the president had quite tense phone calls with Benjamin Netanyahu on three consecutive days about this very issue when it seemed as if Israel's bombardments of Lebanon were going to undermine his attempts to get negotiations going with Iran.

It took a few more days, but this deal did come together. The president had suggested earlier today that maybe Netanyahu and the Lebanese president would get on the phone directly. It doesn't appear as if that has happened, but it is moving in a direction where things are easing, tensions are easing.

And so we will have to see where it develops from here, but, clearly, the president's focus right now immediate -- in the immediate term is getting this agreement signed with Iran.

BLITZER: And I just want to go back to Nic Robertson, who's in Islamabad, Pakistan, watching all of this unfold.

So, is there a sense where you are right now that the vice president, J.D. Vance, will come back to Islamabad and try to meet with senior top Iranian officials and work out some sort of long-term at least cease-fire and then some sort of peace agreement?

ROBERTSON: The sense I have here, Wolf, is that there is optimism that that's what could happen. I think they would say look to the White House for the White House to decide who would come, but J.D. Vance is familiar here now. He sat around the table with the Iranians, is familiar with the Iranians.

And it is those same Iranians that the Pakistani interlocutors are sitting with right now. And I think the mood is very likely to be one that is optimistic. And I think people here have been looking for something that could perhaps happen over the weekend, early days next week, before the cease-fire is due to run out in about -- it's about five days' time now, Tuesday into Wednesday local time here.

So, yes, J.D. Vance potentially coming back to this city, that very long flight, and last time the very long marathon session of negotiations, but both sides, if it happens, will know each other better, will know where the red lines are, will know where positions have shifted, because J.D. Vance, when he left, said, our best and final offer is on the table.

So the Iranians are going to have to come back and be able to put something back on the table that is attractive to the United States. And I get that sense that, obviously, the vice president would be making the journey if the Iranians are willing to make that commitment up front.

BROWN: Quickly to you, Kevin, what do you make of J.D. Vance's role in these continuing talks?

LIPTAK: You know, it is fascinating because it's been no secret that J.D. Vance was a skeptic of launching this war in the first place. President Trump has essentially acknowledged that in public.

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So the fact that he is now responsible in a lot of ways for trying to bring the conflict to an end, I think, puts him in an interesting position. He has not been someone who has had a major foreign policy assignment of this type previously in the Trump administration.

And, certainly, this is the kind of thing that could elevate his stature. But I think, for President Trump, he's watching him very closely. He had joked, I think he was joking, that if Vance fails to reach a deal, that he would blame him for it.

And so it is a tightrope walk that I think he's navigating here. But, for now, it is clear that the president has a lot of confidence in him. By all accounts, according to White House officials, it will be J.D. Vance who is leading this next round of negotiations if discussions come together.

It does seem as if he's on something of a short leash.

BROWN: Yes.

LIPTAK: He said in Pakistan last weekend that he got on the phone with the president as much as a dozen times over the course of those negotiations.

But it's a significant role for him, perhaps the highest-profile role, at least in the foreign policy front, that he has had in this term so far.

BROWN: And we're just learning from the president just posting this, that, in addition to the statement just issued, he's going to be inviting the prime minister of Israel and the president of Lebanon to the White House for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, certainly significant developments here.

BLITZER: Very significant meeting, potentially.

BROWN: Yes, all right. Potentially.

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: We will see how it plays out.

Kevin Liptak, Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

BLITZER: And, to all of our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts after a short break.