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Trump And Putin Likely To Speak This Week; Democratic Party's Favorability Rating Falls To Record Low; More Details In The Disappearance Of College Student; Tesla Boycott Targets Elon Musk's Wealth After Mass Layoffs; Protests Ramp Up Outside Tesla Showrooms Nationwide; Voice Of America Staff On Leave After Trump Cuts Funding; Deadly Storms Slam Alabama Leaving Widespread Damage; First Photo Of Pope Francis As He Recovers In The Hospital; Dylan Mulvaney On Gender Transition Journey, Bud Light Backlash; SpaceX Crew 10 Arrives At ISS, Paving Way For Crew 9's Return Home. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 16, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:01:18]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again, and thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, this is shaping up to be a potentially pivotal week in the efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Today, we are learning that President Trump will likely speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week as discussions intensify on brokering a ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, made that announcement today on CNN, saying he also expects a ceasefire deal to be reached within weeks.

The anticipated conversation between the two leaders comes after Witkoff recently held a late night meeting in Moscow with the Kremlin leader. The issue of land concessions remains one of the major sticking points in peace talks.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is joining us right now.

Kevin, bring us up to speed.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. American officials are putting a positive spin on these ceasefire talks today. And Witkoff says that he expects this conversation between Trump and Putin to be good and positive, in part because they already have a relationship preexisting from President Trump's first term. But Witkoff has been down here in Florida updating the president on those late-night conversations he held with Putin earlier this week.

He said that he walked away from those with a positive feeling, in part because of the body language that the Russians demonstrated during those talks. And he said that the bridge between the two sides seems to be narrowing. Listen to more of Witkoff this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: The two sides have -- we've narrowed the differences between them, and now we're sitting at the table. I was with the president all day yesterday. I'll be with him today. We're sitting with him discussing how to narrow it even further. As the president said, he really expects there to be some sort of -- some sort of deal in the coming weeks, maybe. And I believe that that's the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So Witkoff there previewing quite a condensed timeline on these ceasefire talks. But in these interviews this morning, he also laid out some of the sticking points that still exist. Critically, the status of those Russian occupied territories in Ukraine. American officials have said, including as recently as this morning, that Ukraine may have to give up some of those territories as part of these peace talks.

Putin has said that that is a condition for the ceasefire to go into effect, but that has been a nonstarter for the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And the Europeans say that this could essentially act as a reward to Putin for starting this invasion. So that will be an issue that these two sides will have to come to some kind of agreement on before this ceasefire goes into effect. It could potentially be a point of discussion between Trump and Putin when they speak later this week -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kevin Liptak, thanks so much in Florida.

All right. New CNN polling out today shows the Democratic Party's favorability rating among Americans has dropped to a record low of 29 percent, more than half of Americans held an unfavorable view of the party, and a majority of frustrated Democrats say their party leaders should do more to stand up to President Trump and stop the Republican agenda.

I'm joined now by Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst.

Ron, great to see you. So what kind of wake-up call is this polling for Democrats?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean, you know, I've said before, I think the Democratic image is in the weakest position. It has been probably since before Bill Clinton, during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush era in the 1980s.

Chuck Schumer was right in one sense. If you go back through the history government shutdowns have really never worked to force the other side to do what you want. I mean, Newt Gingrich didn't get Bill Clinton to sign his budget in '95 by shutting down the government.

[16:05:04]

Ted Cruz didn't get Barack Obama to unwind Obamacare by shutting down the government. But Schumer, I think, clearly misread the moment when Trump is moving on so many fronts against priorities that really threaten virtually every interest in the Democratic coalition, and a lot of things that independent voters prize to kind of concede in this way, really, I think kind of, you know, fail to read the room among Democratic voters.

You see the states, the attorneys general going into court, that being the one kind of effective means of resistance to what Trump is doing, but not a lot out of Democrats in Congress.

WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. And, you know, as for reading, I mean, so much is being read into House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries not answering questions about whether Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, you know, made a mistake or whether new leadership overall is even needed. Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said Jeffries and Schumer are fellow New Yorkers, and the attention really should be on much bigger worries. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): I'm not going to throw any of them under the bus for the choice that they made. When you understand how dangerous a shutdown is, it's even more, sort of understandable why they would feel that way.

We are in a fight for our democracy right now, and if we're having a fight in our dugout, we're not out on the field and the other team is scoring runs. So everybody needs to have their say. Everybody needs to, you know, respond to their own passions and emotions. But as soon as we can, we've got to get back on the field and fight Trump and Musk and MAGA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Ron, you can hear the urgency in Senator Whitehouse's voice. You know, how urgently do Democrats have to come up with a strategy or some kind of cohesion on fighting the Trump agenda if that's the mission?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, I think it's really important in one sense, maybe not as important electorally as people might think. As I said, I think that the part of the Democratic Party that is most effectively pushing back against all the things that Trump is doing are the state attorneys general who are in court and have won a lot of decisions in the lower court, obviously still have to go to the Supreme Court.

And look, when Democratic voters are this angry at their leadership, there are obviously spin out costs from that. Less enthusiasm, maybe less giving. But in terms of -- and I think it is a 2028 problem if voters remain this negative on Democrats.

But, Fred, if you look really over the last 30 years, by far the critical variable in midterm elections is not the view of the out party. It's the approval rating of the president. I mean, in 2018, over 90 percent of people who disapproved of Trump voted Democratic for Congress. If Trump's disapproval rating is as high as it was in the CNN poll this week, 53 percent, whatever voters think about Democrats, the odds are very high they will win back at least the House.

So all of this is a real issue for them, particularly for '28. As I say, things like volunteers and fundraising. But the big variable, the one, if you're thinking about the next election to keep an eye on, is where is Trump's approval? And that is already declining significantly from where he was when he took office in January.

WHITFIELD: And as it pertains to this administration right now. You know, this past week, you actually wrote, you know, about how Trump's handling of the economy, which was his greatest strength in his first term, maybe his second term weakness. And it comes out as, you know, polling today shows a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy. Just 44 percent approve, while 54 percent disapprove of his handling of the economy.

So what has happened that what was supposed to be his strength is now his weakness?

BROWNSTEIN: Virtually identical results in that NBC poll to the CNN poll this week, which had 56 percent disapproving of his handling of the economy. CNN, and I believe NBC as well, never had majority disapproval of his handling of the economy in his first term. Every time CNN, Gallup and CNBC polled in his first term, his economic approval rating was higher than his overall approval rating.

Now we are seeing consistently in polls, including CNN, Gallup, this NBC poll, Quinnipiac, his economic approval rating is lower. Not really hard to figure out why. I mean, the tailwind that helped push Trump back into the White House was frustration over the cost of living. People don't see it getting better. And what's more, most Americans do not see him as primarily focused on that issue.

I mean, you're consistently getting readings of about 60 percent saying they do not believe he is focused on the biggest problems facing the country. That's the first step of danger for Trump. The bigger danger, I think, is down the road. If voters think that he's not only ignoring the problem of inflation, but compounding it, and there is that risk as the tariffs go into effect, and particularly as that tax budget fight comes to a head later this year, and Republicans are looking to cut federal spending on health care, Medicaid and ACA subsidies to help pay for tax cuts, primarily for the rich.

[16:10:05]

So, you know, it -- you know, we've seen the impact of inflation in the 2024 election. We've seen that even a good jobs climate doesn't really, you know, dissipate that concern. Trump is now making an argument to me very similar to Biden. Look at all the jobs I'm going to bring back in manufacturing. Joe Biden brought back a lot of jobs in manufacturing with all the investment under the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS bill and the infrastructure bill, 1.6 million manufacturing and construction jobs in his presidency.

It didn't matter to most voters if their cost of living was too high. Jobs is not an antidote to prices, and I think Joe Biden learned that. We saw it very clearly demonstrated in 2024 with Kamala Harris. And I think Donald Trump is facing the same equation, even though they are reluctant to kind of view it in that way.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ron Brownstein, always great to see you. Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're learning the man who is the last known person to be seen with a missing American college student in the Dominican Republic, has spoken to that country's attorney general and sheriff's detectives from Virginia. The very latest on this disappearance, next.

Plus, protesters have a new place to fight Elon Musk's DOGE, and the massive cuts going on right now, Tesla showrooms.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:05]

WHITFIELD: New details in the investigation of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki who vanished in the Dominican Republic 10 days ago while on spring break. Newly released pictures show the flip-flops and sarong style coverup found in a lounge chair in Punta Cana. Yesterday the last person to be seen with her, Joshua Riibe, was interviewed for at least the fourth time, this time by the country's attorney general.

Riibe's parents said in a statement that their son was first questioned without official translators or legal counsel. CNN has reached out to prosecutors regarding the family's allegations.

I'd like to bring in now Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff Mike Chapman. That's where Konanki is from and where her parents still live there in the Loudoun County, Virginia, area.

Sheriff, good to see you. So two of your detectives actually just returned from the Dominican Republic. What have they learned?

SHERIFF MICHAEL CHAPMAN, LOUDON COUNTY, VIRGINIA: We did. We sent two detectives down there. They wanted to interview Joshua as well. And to clear up any inconsistencies that he may have had with that -- were kind of presented at least through the channels that we got it and also in the press and I think we pretty much did that. I think some of the inconsistencies had to do probably with the language barrier, Spanish to English, English to Spanish, during the initial interviews.

But I think the interview that was conducted, he seemed to be very forthright with our detectives. Seemed to be doing, you know, pretty honest and forthright here. And so I think our detectives were pretty satisfied with the way the interview was conducted.

WHITFIELD: And so will your notes, your interview be used, you know, in concert with Dominican authorities there? How do you see that what you've learned will complement or help in their investigation?

CHAPMAN: Well, the Dominicans obviously have the lead. It's their country. We're working with the FBI as well down there to try to coordinate all of our interviews and investigations. So whatever we're doing is a complement to what they're already doing. I know they've done an exhaustive search and, you know, run the beach, the water, and even on land. So they're doing everything that they possibly can.

We're still working very closely with them. And certainly working with the family here. I mean, it's just so -- such a tragic situation for the family. Last night we had our victim assistance unit go out and meet with the family as well to make sure that they're getting all the resources and the counseling that they need that, you know, that they could use to try to help get through this. Very, very difficult and we really feel for them. And we want to make sure that, you know, no stone is left unturned, that we don't leave anything on the cutting room floor, that we're doing everything in our power to make sure that we get to the bottom of this and working very closely with our counterparts.

WHITFIELD: So based on the information that your, you know, team was able to grasp from the interviews, from, you know, your probing there, is it looking like a drowning? Are you able to say? Does it seem like something else? I mean, what are you leaning towards?

CHAPMAN: Well, I really don't want to, you know, I don't want to speculate. I mean, right now it remains a missing person. And it'd be improper for me to speculate on what I think it is because she still has not been found. And that's the key is we want to make sure that, you know, that we find her and that was the importance of interviewing Joshua again because he was the last person that we know that was with her.

And so it's important that we get to the bottom of everything that he knows and then continue to do a search and look at every possibility. It's still, I mean, it's, you know, it's still premature to make any kind of a judgment call on this. And until we know more, we're not ready to do that.

WHITFIELD: Are there any inconsistencies from, based on your interview with him and any kind of physical evidence?

[16:20:01]

We did show the picture of, you know, some of her belongings. You see the surveillance video right now of their interaction. What, if any, inconsistencies are there?

CHAPMAN: I don't -- I don't see any inconsistencies with certainly what he said. I mean, there's a lot to pull together. I mean, you have, you know, several people, you know, that had gone on the beach that were, you know, there on the beach with him. A couple left and there was four remaining and two remaining. So we've kind of worked through all that. As far as the items that were left, that's, you know, pretty consistent with what you would think, you know, folks visiting the beach might leave behind.

We just want to make sure that we're not missing anything along the way. And also working with the authorities to make sure that we're also kind of keeping an eye on this. We want to make sure that there's transparency in this investigation. We don't want it to slip through the cracks. We want to make sure that everything that could possibly be done is being done. WHITFIELD: OK. Look, it's still spring break season for a lot of high

schoolers and college students throughout March and April. What, if anything, are you recommending to people, families, the conversations they should have about safety as their kids, you know, go to unusual places or perhaps even familiar places?

CHAPMAN: Well, certainly when you travel overseas, I mean, the State Department puts out advisories and I would take those seriously. When they say, hey, these are the things that you have to look out for within the country, take it seriously. And don't just blow it off. I mean, these are things that we really kind of have to keep in the back of our minds as we go. And you also have to remember when you travel to these foreign countries, they are foreign countries.

And it may seem very Americanized when you get to a resort. But the fact of the matter is, is that we don't have any, you know, control over what goes on in those countries. They're foreign countries. And so all we can do is work the best that we can with them. But it's not like in the U.S. where we have more leverage and more control. We really don't have a whole lot. So all we can do is do the best we can to work with them.

So it's just good to keep that in mind that we have some limitations to what we can do when we're doing an investigation that they should take any kind of advisories that they hear about or whatever quite seriously.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff Michael Chapman, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

CHAPMAN: Thank you. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right. It's called the Voice of America. But this weekend, those voices went silent. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:51]

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now, protesters are voicing their discontent outside Tesla showrooms across the country. And they say they're in it for the long haul. The nationwide boycott began last month in response to Elon Musk and DOGE slashing thousands of federal jobs. The Tesla takedown Web site shows dozens of demonstrations scheduled through the end of April.

Senator Mark Kelly on Friday posted a video on Musk's social media platform X to explain why he was getting rid of his ride.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Every time I get in this car in the last 60 days or so, it reminds me of just how much damage Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country. It's one bad thing after the next. He's firing veterans. I'm a veteran. So I have a really hard time driving around in this thing. So I think it's time for an upgrade today. So this is going to be my last, last trip in this car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now from a Tesla dealership in California, CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones.

Julia, set the scene for us. We can hear them. What's going on?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're hearing one thing very often here. Don't support a Nazi. They're calling Elon Musk a fascist, a Nazi, because of that gesture that Musk made in one of the events in the inauguration earlier this year, about also his association with Alternative for Germany, the German far-right party.

They're telling people, trade in your Tesla, sell your Teslas, drop your stock. We need to boycott Elon Musk. And this is one way of fighting his policies as well in the Department of Government Efficiency.

Fred, we caught up with some of these protesters and another protest here in the Los Angeles area yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): At Tesla dealerships from coast to coast, growing signs of discontent.

PROTESTERS: Elon Musk has got to go.

VARGAS JONES: The target, the world's richest man and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO: This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.

VARGAS JONES: Outraged by Musk's dismantling of the federal government, protesters are taking it out on his business.

PROTESTERS: Hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go.

VARGAS JONES: What's your sign saying?

MARK NAY, PROTESTING TESLA: It says two things. It says honk if you hate fascists and boycott Tesla Swasticars.

VARGAS JONES: Why should people boycott Tesla?

NAY: Because Elon Musk is destroying our government. Nobody elected him.

TAMMY SILVER, PROTEST CO-ORGANIZER: Elon Musk's wealth is based on the value of Tesla stock. Well, the value of Tesla stock is based on air and dreams.

SHARON DELUGACH, PROTESTING TESLA: So we're sort of hitting him in the wallet, getting him where it hurts even though, you know, he's richer than God. So it's hurting his reputation. I really believe it's hurting his reputation worldwide.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): Anti-Elon bumper stickers popping up, including these sold on Amazon marketed specifically to Tesla owners. And since December, Tesla stock has lost nearly half its value.

[16:30:06]

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have one, which is $35,000, which is pretty low. President Trump using the White House as a Tesla showroom in an attempt to reverse that trend. And on Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi issuing a clear warning on Fox Business.

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERA: If you're going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything. You better watch out because we're coming after you.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): In recent weeks, Teslas were engulfed by a fire in Seattle, a charging station torched in Massachusetts, and a Molotov cocktail was thrown to a dealership in Oregon after shots were fired at cars there.

Not the scene at this Southern California protest, part of dozens nationwide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a joyous, festive protest and non-violent and I urge people, like-minded people, to do this at every Tesla dealership in the country.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VARGAS JONES (on-camera): And Fred, that organizer said herself owns a Tesla and had some pretty bad buyer's remorse. We just saw another man coming here saying he's trading in his Tesla because he's just too embarrassed to drive it. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. All right, Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much.

All right. Right now, protesters are demonstrating across the country and some say they're going to continue to do so.

All right, the Voice of America has been silenced at least for now. That is how one veteran correspondent describes the impact of Trump's latest executive order gutting its parent agency. The news outlet's director said on Facebook Saturday that he was placed on leave along with virtually the entire staff of 1,300.

The VOA is one of many networks that broadcast independent news coverage in parts of the world where freedom of the press is threatened or non-existent. Trump's order falls in line with Elon Musk's comments that government-funded international broadcasters should be shut down.

For more perspective, CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter is joining me now. Brian, great to see you. I mean, put this in perspective for us because, you know, the significance of --

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, this is --

WHITFIELD: -- losing the networks like Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, all of it is all-encompassing.

STELTER: Right. As President Trump tries to shrink the federal bureaucracy, this is a very real-world example of what is disappearing. There are about 1,300 staffers of Voice of America, hundreds of others at international networks like Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.

Most Americans don't see these channels on a regular basis because these channels broadcast in lots of different languages into lots of different countries. They cover the news for different countries and also promote democratic values.

The idea going back 80 years was to export American identity, export American values by covering the news freely and fairly in places where there wasn't a lot of independent news coverage. For example, think about the Soviet Union. Think about Germany, you know, before the 1980s.

There were all these different parts of the world where American media outlets funded by the U.S. government were trying to get real news, real information to people. Now, these networks still exist. They still exist. And Trump allies say they are outdated, biased and bloated.

That is why Trump and his allies have been unwinding these agencies this weekend by putting the staffers on administrative leave and by canceling the grants to these other networks in Europe and Asia. But the outcry has been really striking, Fred, including from some Republicans.

For example, Representative Don Bacon saying on X over the weekend that these networks like Voice of America play important roles in getting America's story to the rest of the world. We've also heard from a number of advocates, both Republicans and Democrats, who say that this is ceding American ground to China and other world powers, because, after all, there are lots of other countries, especially China, that work really hard to get their point of view expressed in the information space, that work really hard to have international broadcasting.

And America, it seems, is walking away from that for the time being. Now, what we don't know is whether Trump's allies are going to reconstitute these networks in some form. There's been concern, for example, of Voice of America that VOA will become Voice of Trump, that it will be turned into more of an explicitly partisan propaganda machine.

We don't know if that's going to happen. But that is the concern of some of the staffers who have now been told to stop working, stop producing the news, and stay home for now. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Wow. Pretty stunning for so many.

Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

All right, today, more than 50 million people from Pennsylvania to Florida are under the threat of severe weather, this after two straight days of deadly storms.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:39:32]

WHITFIELD: Continuing to monitor breaking news, the severe storm threat ramping up once again for the third straight day. Tornado watches are now in effect in areas of Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. Part of a monster storm that has left a trail of destruction already across the country.

That same system slicing through the deep south overnight, bringing a deadly mix of tornadoes, rain and hail. The death toll now up to at least 35 people across seven states with damage widespread from Mississippi to Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh no, oh no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, is that --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[16:40:15]

WHITFIELD: Intense, violent winds ripping through neighborhood after neighborhood, tearing apart businesses and homes.

CNN's Rafael Romo is live for us in Alpine, Alabama, which saw significant damage there overnight. What's going on?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. We've seen dozens of volunteers here clearing the debris left after a tornado ripped through this community. Utility workers with heavy machinery have replaced multiple power poles in the last few hours and should be close to restoring electricity to this neighborhood.

But it's going to take a little longer to remove that bus behind me. As you can see, got lifted up the tornado -- by the tornado and dropped on top of that school gymnasium. Dozens of volunteers from a church in Talladega came down earlier today to help this community remove the debris.

This is how a couple of those volunteers described what they saw. Let's take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disaster. Disaster. I've seen nothing like this since I was a kid. I've seen a few tornadoes in my lifetime, a couple of hurricanes. Other than that, this is pretty bad.

ROMO: What do you think of the destruction that you've seen so far?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's massive. I'm talking about buses upside down, poles split in half, trees scattered. It's rough.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROMO: Unfortunately, Fred, two people have been confirmed dead as a result of the severe weather overnight here in Alabama. One of those two people who died was a gentleman who lived in a mobile home in Winterboro, not too far from here where we are.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said earlier in a statement that damage has been reported in 52 of the state's 67 counties, noting officials are still assessing the damage. Now back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rafael Romo, thanks so much.

All right, for the first time in more than a month, we're getting a look at Pope Francis. The Vatican released this photo of him sitting in a chair inside a Roman hospital. It was taken this morning while he was celebrating mass.

I'd like to bring in now CNN's Christopher Lamb. Christopher, what more are you learning?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I've just spoken to a Vatican official walking -- past me at St. Peter's Square a few moments ago, and the feeling in the Vatican is of encouragement by seeing this photo, which was released after the pope spent 31 days in hospital battling pneumonia in both of his lungs.

Now, of course, this has been a really serious health crisis for Francis. But in recent days, we have had more encouraging news from the Vatican's medical update, saying the Pope is improving gradually, that he's responding well to treatment.

But, of course, we don't know how much longer he's going to be in hospital or what the long-term prognosis looks like. However, this photo tonight does give people calls for encouragement. There's been a lot of anxiety and uncertainty here.

The Vatican people have been gathering in St. Peter's behind me to pray for the Pope. But, yes, the signs are more positive for Francis. And this photo certainly is giving people calls for hope that Francis can, before too long, come out of the hospital, where he has been since the 14th of February. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Christopher Lamb, thank you. A simple partnership between a beer company and a trans influencer flipped things upside down. So how did Dylan Mulvaney heal herself? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:48:37]

WHITFIELD: At a time when transgender rights are being rolled back at lightning speed, CNN is speaking to the influencer who exposed 365 days of her transition. Her story brought huge controversy, led to a massive boycott by Conservatives, and protests that led her to fear for her life.

Now Dylan Mulvaney is back on the public stage, hoping to bring more understanding about a personal issue that has Americans so divided. She spoke to CNN's Sara Sidner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DYLAN MULVANEY, TRANS INFLUENCER: I love beer.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR & SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, snap open a beer.

SIDNER (voice-over): You've probably heard her name, or seen her face, because of one of the worst possible times in her life -- Beergate.

MULVANEY: And I thought we were all just having a hectic month.

SIDNER: Tell me about Beergate, as you call it.

MULVANEY: Yes.

SIDNER: And what that moment was like. Seeing Kid Rock using a gun and --

MULVANEY: Like crazy, right?

SIDNER: At beer cans, because your face was on one of them.

MULVANEY: And they say that I'm theatrical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me say something to all of you and be as clear and concise as possible.

(GUN SHOTS)

SIDNER (voice-over): All hell broke loose after Bud Light paid Dylan Mulvaney to do a social media post for them, even making a beer can with her face on it. Conservative media pounced.

[16:50:06]

TOMI LAHREN, OUTKICK HOST: So until they come out and they actually acknowledge it head on, Conservatives are still going to be upset and we will not be drinking Bud Light.

SIDNER (voice-over): There was a Bud Light boycott. Even a bomb threat was called into a factory. All because Dylan Mulvaney is openly and unabashedly transgender.

SIDNER: Were you ever afraid?

MULVANEY: So much. I didn't know what it meant to feel safe anymore. I didn't know how to speak on it, if I was allowed to speak on certain things. And I didn't want to make anything worse for the rest of the trans community because I really saw the trickle down of what was happening based on me having this large platform and speaking on things.

People were taking it and using it against them in violent ways as well. Over one Instagram video.

SIDNER (voice-over): The trans influencer spiraled. She explained in her new book "Paper Doll" just how bad it got.

SIDNER: How did you pull yourself out of the fear and the depression and the -- just the attack that came down on you?

MULVANEY: Have you heard of ayahuasca?

SIDNER (voice-over): I know you wrote about that in the book.

MULVANEY: So that is part of, I'm a quick fixer. You know, I looked at that situation. I said, honey, I got places to be, people to see what's going to get me together. And I was some -- actually Chelsea Handler, who I first watched her do a Netflix special where she went to Peru.

And so I sent her a Marco Polo video and I'm like, girl, where did you go? But so I ended up going down there by myself. I didn't want to throw up in front of, you know, strangers. But I really found parts of myself and reconnected with myself in ways that were really special.

Would you ever do ayahuasca?

SIDNER: I can't say this on TV. My mother will kill me.

MULVANEY: Well, my mom's going to kill me for that book. So, but --

SIDNER: I don't know.

MULVANEY: Yes.

SIDNER: It terrifies me a little.

MULVANEY: You'll know if you're -- and I think that's the other, like, there's no part of me that was trying to influence people to go do that. But it is -- I think it's something that like finds you when you're supposed to find it.

SIDNER (voice-over): She found her place in the world again and decided to take readers on an in-depth journey through 365 days of becoming a girl, as she puts it. A girl that began her journey in a conservative Catholic household.

SIDNER: You said that you came out at four. What did you say to your mom?

MULVANEY: I came to her and I said, I think God made a mistake. He put a girl into a boy's body and she said, God doesn't make mistakes. And in many ways, I still believe that to be true. I don't think I'm a mistake. And I'm still finding a version of a higher power for, you know, my life now.

I think a lot of the times queer and trans people feel alienated because they're -- we're having religion and faith used against us.

SIDNER: There is a whole government that actually has been very much focused on transgender people in the most negative ways. They are changing passports to people's assigned gender at birth. They are saying there's only two genders. There is only one bathroom that you're allowed to go into. What do you do with all this?

MULVANEY: Well, I just have to remember that no matter what my passport says or, you know, what government official is misgendering me, that doesn't change who I am and who I see every day, and who my fellow trans folks are that like, I think, you know, not to bring it back to wicked, but they talk about finding a common enemy to kind of distract from what else is going on in the world.

We're less than 1 percent and we're really not harming anyone. We're not monsters. So I hope that when we look back on this period of time, we'll be quite ashamed of what this looked like.

SIDNER (voice-over): Dylan is betting on better days going back to her theater and comedian roots. She's debuting a podcast and soon a one woman show in the city that never sleeps. It aims to generate joy and understanding like the icons she has on her walls at home.

MULVANEY: I've got Dolly Parton, Miss Piggy, the cast of "Sex and The City". Oh my gosh. Frida Kahlo, Marsha P. Johnson. Like, I think it's right -- Joni Mitchell, "Both Sides Now". I've looked at live from both sides now.

SIDNER: I was going to ask you to sing. I don't have to now. Thank you.

MULVANEY: There we go. And we got Joni, but I -- that kind of feels like my life in a way, but I feel like I've looked at it from both sides and this is -- this side that I'm supposed to be on.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Sara Sidner, thank you so much for bringing us that report.

All right, coming up, the international space station just got a little bit more crowded.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:59:36]

WHITFIELD: Two astronauts stranded in Space for more than nine months happily welcomed their newly arrived replacements. You can see NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore embracing the four crew members at the International Space Station overnight.

The new team will spend a few days in a handover period with Williams, Wilmore and their crew mates. And if everything goes according to plan, Williams and Wilmore will begin their journey back to Earth this Wednesday.

All right, streaming now on Max, the brand new episode of the CNN original series, "Have I Got News For You?" This week, sports journalist Bomani Jones and comedian Nimesh Patel join host Roy Wood Jr. and Team captains Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN Newsroom continues with Jessica Dean right now.