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Iran-Backed Houthis Claim Retaliatory Attack On U.S. Carrier; President Trump And President Putin Expected To Speak In The Coming Days; Record Low Numbers For The Democratic Party. Stuck Astronauts Give A Warm Welcome As New Crew Arrives; Storm Threat Intensifies As Deadly System Moves East; Vatican Shows First Image Of Pope Francis Since Hospitalization; Hundreds Deported Despite Court Order. Aired 5- 6p ET

Aired March 16, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: 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 Fredericka Whitfield. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York. And tonight, Houthi rebels are claiming they launched 18 missiles and drones at the American aircraft carrier, the USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea in retaliation for a U.S. attack. Two U.S. Officials say there were no injuries or damage on the Truman. The Iran-backed Houthis who have targeted Israel and shipping in the Red Sea say their strikes came after American strikes in Yemen on Saturday ordered by President Trump.

The Houthis say at least 31 people were killed, more than a hundred injured. CNN news correspondent Paula Hancocks is joining us now with more on all of this. Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, we had heard from the Houthis vowing that they would retaliate for those U.S. attacks and they claim that they have carried out that response. Now we have been told that there's no injuries, there's no damage. And it's not clear if the U.S. military actually had to intercept any launches. But it's not the first time that Houthis have claimed to have carried out this kind of attack.

It's also not the first time that the U.S. military has tried to prevent this militia group from launching these attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, which they started back in late 2023. The Biden administration beforehand carried out multiple attacks. They weren't able to stop them. But what we're hearing, the message from the Trump administration, is that they are going to carry out a more sustained effort. The U.S. president himself saying, we will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.

We're also hearing that in the coming days and weeks there are expected to be more of these attacks against bases, against leaders, and also against missile defenses. Now we heard from the National Security Adviser, Michael Waltz speaking to ABC saying that multiple Houthi leaders have been killed in these attacks. The Houthi-led health officials have said that there were more than 30 killed, more than a hundred injured. They claimed that there were women and children involved in that, as well. That is something we cannot independently confirm.

And now we have heard as well this Sunday from the U.S. Secretary Of State, Marco Rubio, speaking to CBS, saying that this is a mission that is a favor to the world, saying that it has to be prevented, the Houthi rebels, from affecting shipping in this area of the world. It has caused havoc in the shipping industry. It has caused great economic damage as well.

The Houthi rebels said that they wouldn't stop targeting ships and Israel until there was a ceasefire. But even since there has been a ceasefire, they claim that they are going to continue to carry out these attacks because Israel has stopped humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza over the past two weeks. Probably why the U.S. military decided that this was the time that they wanted to act.

But we have also heard from a military official, a senior military official that the intelligence has been gathered already to be able to carry out broader operations, wider operations against the Houthis in the coming days and weeks.

DEAN: All right, Paula Hancocks with the latest for us. Thank you very much for that. President Trump will likely talk with Russian president Vladimir Putin this week about a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, recently met Putin in Moscow. One massive issue, will Russia be forced to give back Ukrainian land it took control of? American officials saying Ukraine will likely need to cede territory for the war to end and Putin making it a condition of entering a ceasefire.

CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak is joining us now. Kevin, we look ahead to what comes next. What are you hearing?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. American officials are putting a positive spin on these talks, including this call that will occur next week between presidents Putin and Trump. What we heard Witkoff say earlier today was that because these two men have a preexisting relationship dating back to President Trump's first term in office, that he predicted that this would be a good and positive conversation.

And they will have a lot to discuss as the president tries to push forward with the ceasefire that Ukraine has already agreed to, but which Putin has said that there must be conditions on before he can sign off on it.

[17:05:02]

Now, Witkoff is down here in Florida debriefing the president on that late night conversation he had last week with Putin. He came away from it with a positive sense of how things were going, including, he said, because of the Russian's body language, but he acknowledged that there are still gaps between these two sides. Listen to more of what he said this morning on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: We're going to have teams, United States negotiators meeting with Ukrainians this week and discussions with them this week. Same thing will happen with the Russians. And I think as the president said, he really expects there to be some sort of -- some sort of deal in the coming weeks. I think the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So you hear Witkoff there putting an extraordinarily condensed timeline on these ceasefire talks. He says that president Trump expects one to be struck within weeks, but there are still some outstanding issues for the two sides to discuss. Most critically, I think this issue of the Russian occupied territories in Ukraine. What happens to them as part of this ceasefire?

American officials, including as recently as this morning have acknowledged that Ukraine will have to cede some of those territories to Russia, and Putin has made that a condition of entering these ceasefire talks. But that has been a nonstarter for the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and many Europeans are worried that it would act as a reward to Putin after his invasion of Ukraine. So this is an issue that the two sides will need to keep talking about.

There are other issues as well, including port access, including the issue of the Kursk region that has been the site of so much intense fighting over the last several months. This could be part of what the president has discussed on their phone call this week. It will be their second known phone call since President Trump returned to office in January. Jessica?

DEAN: Kevin Liptak in West Palm Beach, thank you for that reporting. Joining us now is CNN national security analyst and former deputy director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner. Beth, it's good to see you. Thanks for being here this afternoon. I do want to start with these negotiations with Putin. He has made a series of demands that include wanting to keep that territory in Ukraine, limiting Ukraine's military, and halting military aid to Ukraine. Do you think he's willing to negotiate on any of these?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, he definitely thinks of these as core demands. They're consistent demands or demands that he's been making addition to other ones for, you know, at least since 2022 and even some of these before he invaded. So, you know, these are not really negotiable points in many ways. The question is where do they come into the negotiations. Right?

And what's clear to me is this one very, very important point. Russia has rejected an unconditional ceasefire that U.S. put on the table in Riyadh. The Ukrainians accepted it. Russia had said no and now Putin is trying to negotiate a conditional ceasefire. And I think he's going to try to see what he can get, as much as he can get for the ceasefire rather than allowing this to be part of the next phase. In my view, you know, we've already penalized the Ukrainians. So where is the penalty on Russia here? We're only talking about what they get, not what they don't get.

DEAN: Right. And I think there is that question looming out there. What does Russia have to give here?

SANNER: Yes.

DEAN: Right?

SANNER: Yeah. Apparently, nothing because the real effort here is to get a ceasefire as quickly as possible, and I understand that. Honestly, I really do. Every Ukrainian understands that. You know, we want the guns to be silenced, but we have to be careful about giving away what is going to be, as Marco Rubio said, a much, much more difficult actual negotiation on the terms. And so you don't want to give away too much upfront because those are going to be tough negotiations.

DEAN: And the U.K. will next week host the military chiefs of Ukraine's allies looking ahead to this operational phase of a potential ceasefire. Again, coming from like Putin's perspective, how does he read this? What does that mean to him?

SANNER: Well, it means a problem because one of the other things he has said repeatedly and Lavrov has said is that no European troops can be inside Ukraine as part of this deal. Well, you know, if you demand that Ukraine has no army to defend itself and you insist that there are no foreign troops there to defend Ukraine, how could they possibly believe that this would be a deal worth signing? It's only, you know, a two-year delay until they get invaded again or whatever the timeline is.

[17:10:00]

And so what the U.K. is trying to do is put some meat on the bones here of what would actually happen, but Putin will reject that as much as we can. I think what's interesting is that this creates a dilemma for Trump because President Trump has said this is the Europeans' problem, they should be providing security guarantees. So it's going to be hard for President Trump to say no to this and the Europeans need to make this real. That's what this is one of the first meetings about.

DEAN: Yeah. I also want to talk about these strikes on the Houthis. Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, is warning Iran will be held accountable for backing the Houthis. He also didn't rule out possible military action to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. I just want to listen to a quick clip from him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALTZ: What the president has completely -- has repeatedly said is that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. All options are on the table to ensure it does not have one, and that's all aspects of Iran's program. That's the missiles, the weaponization, the enrichment. They can either hand it over and give it up in a way that is verifiable, or they can face a whole series of other consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So, Beth, do you think there is a risk of an escalation between The US and Iran and could it include these -- could it include direct strikes?

SANNER: Yeah. I do think that there's a risk there, and the risk in a way is really being pushed by Israel right now. There is a lot of chatter in Israel and interest by some people in the Israeli government of taking a strike against Iran now. They might do that on their own, but they would much, much more prefer that The United States does it with them while this window is open of Iran really being kind of, you know, not having air defenses and being rather, you know, relatively defenseless in many ways.

And so, you know, yes, they're very, very worried about this. But the strike on the Houthis and the warning, that's not really translatable to Iran. And in fact, I think that this pressure tactic may make it actually harder for Iran to come to the table, which is what President Trump actually wants. He will do this. He will strike, if necessary, but I think he would prefer a negotiated solution. And that has to be done behind closed doors, not these kinds of public threats.

DEAN: And but you're saying that you think these strikes on the Houthis could make that harder, could make it more difficult for or less likely that the Iranians come to the table?

SANNER: Yeah. What I meant was the kind of public threats.

DEAN: Right.

SANNER: Saying that, you know, we're striking the Houthis and you could be next unless you come to the table. That's the sort of thing that doesn't translate well in Iran because it just makes them look weak if they now say, oh, okay, we're going to the negotiating table. The Houthi issue, the Iranians, these are a proxy group, but they're not as strong as, like, Hezbollah was. So, you know, Iran is not fine with the Houthis being struck, but at the same time, it's not like it's a real problem for them. I don't think it has a direct effect on Iran's calculus about what it's doing in terms of its nuclear program or anything else.

DEAN: Yeah.

SANNER: This is a Houthi problem.

DEAN: Right. And where are -- where is Iran in its nuclear program right now, would you say? SANNER: It is increasing its advancement of its fissile material,

right, the amount of nuclear material that's needed to put inside of a bomb. They still don't have as far as anybody knows, they don't have the capability to produce a weapon and to mount that on a missile. But in terms of them having enough nuclear material to produce -- fissile material to produce a bomb, right now the international organization that looks at this, IAEA, says that they have enough fissile material to produce probably six weapons, and they could do that within weeks.

But that doesn't mean they could actually make a weapon, although it could be a dirty bomb. But they couldn't make a very sophisticated weapon in less than probably, you know, maybe a year. But, you know, this program, they continue to push ahead on this, Jessica. And they are very, very close to being able to move forward if they wish to.

DEAN: Yeah. And then that again, like, the key takeaway there. Beth Sanner, thank you so much. Good to see you.

SANNER: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, CNN's brand new reporting on efforts by Russia and China to weaponize outer space.

[17:15:01]

But first, some startling new numbers for the Democratic Party notching its lowest approval rating in 30 years.

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DEAN: New CNN polling out today shows Americans' views of Democrats at an all-time low with only 29 percent having a favorable view of the party; 54 percent don't like what they're seeing.

[17:19:57]

That polling was conducted before Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and a handful of Senate Democrats helped Republicans pass a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. It's a move that has deeply fractured the party. CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us now with more on all of this. Julia, walk us through some of this new polling.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, following the November election when Republicans had control of the White House, the Senate, and the House, Democrats were really asking what's next? What how do they find a unified and compelling message against Trump? And this new CNN polling shows us that they are still looking to find that unified message. As you mentioned, this polling is showing the view of the Democratic Party at an all-time low with 29 percent saying that they view it favorably and 54 percent saying that it's unfavorable right now.

Now looking at the direction that they are taking the party, they asked if Democratic leadership is taking the country in the right direction. And to that, 48 percent said yes compared to 52 percent who said that back in 2017. And perhaps even more telling data point there is that while 52 percent said that the party leadership was taking things in the wrong direction, just 36 percent said that in 2017. When asked what Democrats should try to do, 57 percent said that they should focus on stopping the GOP agenda, while 47 percent said that they should work with the GOP.

And then as you mentioned, this polling took place before that budget battle on Capitol Hill when the Democratic Senate Leader, Chuck Schumer, and several other Democratic members in that chamber joined Republicans to vote for the House GOP bill. Schumer said that he did not like what was in the bill, but he thought that this was a better outcome than a government shutdown, but has received a lot of criticism from members of his own party for that decision.

DEAN: And, Julia, Democrats have been struggling to consolidate behind one person or even a couple of people. There just has not been clear leadership, I think, that everyone's been coalescing around. Who are voters looking to as a person to do that?

BENBROOK: Well, the poll did this as an open ended question, asking people to kind of write in who best reflects the core values of the Democratic Party right now. And the results of this show us that there's still confusion. There's not one big standout. I believe we have a graphic to pull up to you to show the top contenders, that being representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, and then the former vice president and former Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, and then Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, followed by House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, and former president, Barack Obama.

More than 30 percent of the people that were surveyed did not write anyone in, maybe even further showing that lack of just one clear leader. And one person actually wrote in no one. That's the problem.

DEAN: Interesting. All right. Julia Benbrook, thank you so much for that. And joining us to discuss this, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, Paul Begala. Paul, great to see you. You've seen a lot in your years and I know that you've been with the Democrats when they've been in the wilderness before. But this seems a little different. Were you surprised by this record low view of the Democratic Party?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITCAL COMMENTATOR: I am. I'm surprised that it was as high as 29. I'd like to meet that 29. I mean, really? I'm a lifelong Democrat, as you said, Jessica, and people -- who looks at the at what's happening now? Democrats in Washington are defeated. They're divided. They're powerless. They're directionless. And yet still got 29, which just tells you that's like the rock bottom base.

It is as bad as I've ever seen it. The anger -- the anger, and this is before, as you pointed out, before Senator Schumer led a handful of Democrats to pass the Republican continuing resolution, which there's an incandescent anger in the Democrat base, Democratic base about this. And, you know, I don't really blame them. I would say though, this is what's interesting. It's a tale of two parties. Because in Washington there's this terrific anger, terrible anger. In America, there's this terrific energy on the democratic side. It's amazing. They're winning almost all the special elections.

They're flooding Republican town hall meetings. It's the Republican members of Congress who are getting angry people because people turns out they like things, like special ed and cancer research and the things that Mr. Musk and President Trump are cutting. They want a special -- Democrats want a special election. The 35th Congressional or House -- 35th state Senate District in Iowa. It's in Eastern Iowa.

Donald Trump won that district by 21 points. And they had a special election there a couple of weeks ago, and the Democrat, Mike Zimmer, won by three and a half points. They won some special elections in Minnesota, which I'm sure Governor Waltz, the Democrats vice presidential candidate, is happy about.

[17:25:04]

They won a mayor's race in Norman, Oklahoma. Cleveland County went for Trump by 15 points, that county. In fact, every single county in Oklahoma went for Donald Trump, and yet Democrats won there. They're winning in swing districts in Loudoun County. They're winning in Westchester County, which is pretty Democratic area, suburban New York, but Donald Trump campaigned there on his Truth Social platform.

So it's really odd. It's a tale of two parties. And it's kind of like the Democrats at the grassroots, they're not waiting for orders from headquarters. They're just going. And I love that as a Democrat, but as somebody who was once in a leadership position in this party, the leadership right now is really, really failing the grassroots.

DEAN: Well, as you said, they're not waiting for direction from headquarters, and it kind of begs the question, like, is there even a headquarters in that sense, in this metaphor, to be taking notes from and to be taking direction from? It is interesting as you're laying all this out.

BEGALA: Yeah.

DEAN: I'm curious what your thought is on this. As you're laying all of this out, there is kind of this moment, maybe that we haven't seen in a long time, for anyone to come into the Democratic party and lead. I mean --

BEGALA: Absolutely.

DEAN: Do you know what I mean?

BEGALA: Absolutely.

DEAN: Yeah.

BEGALA: And we've seen this in the past. We have seen this in the past. I mean, I remember, you know, we lost five out of six presidential elections before Bill Clinton from your home state of Arkansas, showed up on the scene. We were down and out when President Bush whipped us twice, George W. Bush, and then Barack Obama showed up and led Democrats out of the wilderness. But what's interesting and I think wonderful for Democrats in this

time is they're not sitting waiting for Superman. Right? They're strapping on their own capes. Or to change my metaphor, one of the most amazing battles of the civil war was the Battle of Missionary Ridge in the Chattanooga Campaign in Tennessee.

The Confederates were at the top. General Bragg, was at the top of the mountain, and Grant's forces were attacking up the mountain. And about halfway up, they stopped because they were getting fired on from above. They were getting slaughtered. And while they were resting, the soldiers themselves decided to continue the assault. Grant didn't think they could win, and yet they did. General Taylor was the battlefield commander. He did not give the order to attack. The troops just did it, and that's what's happening here.

The troops are just going at this themselves. I think that's a good thing. Right? I think that Democrats have got to regenerate themselves from the grassroots up, but it is simply impossible to sugarcoat how terrible the views are of the party leadership right now.

DEAN: And so to that end, we go back to D.C. to that party leadership. House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, says he plans on speaking with Chuck Schumer today. What's that conversation going to be like, you think?

BEGALA: It's going to be, you know, like the guy who was out on a limb and somebody else sawed it off, you know. Congressman Jeffries, Leader Jeffries, leads a very diverse coalition as does Senator Schumer, his fellow New Yorker in the Senate. But a whole lot of people, not just AOC who's spoken out, and that's great, but she's got a very solidly Democratic district.

A lot of people in swing districts, a couple of people in Trump districts, all voted against this continuing resolution. They're going to have to fight it out. I would counsel them though to remember that this is still this continuing resolution, while important, it's spring training. I'll tell you what the World Series is. The World Series is when the Trump budget comes.

This is just a continuing resolution. When the budget comes and President Trump wants to cut taxes for the billionaire class and cut Medicaid for the middle class, that's where Democrats better find their spines and stand up as one. I think they will, but that will be the defining issue. If they do that, I'm serious, Jessica. Sounds odd to say when the party is at 29 percent, they could win a landslide in the midterms. I'm serious. People really are looking for change. They're just not getting it from the elites in my party right now.

DEAN: It's going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out. It's always great to talk to you, Paul. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

BEGALA: Thank you, Jessica. Good to see you again.

DEAN: You too. So ahead, the new technologies Russia and China are both aggressively testing in space that could potentially be used to target U.S. satellites.

(COMMERCIAL: BREAK)

[17:29:59]

DEAN: Earlier today, a crew of four astronauts docked at the International Space Station. As they come through the hatch, take a look. They're welcomed with hugs and cheers. I think Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are very happy to see them. You'll remember, those two NASA astronauts have now been in orbit for nine months after their original eight-day trip was hit by delay after delay because of spacecraft problems.

Now, if all goes as planned, Williams and Wilmore could head back down to Earth as soon as Wednesday. And just to show that they're all keeping their sense of humor up there, take a look. One of the ISS crew members playing a joke there, greeting the crew wearing an alien mask. So, it's all fun and games. That's good to see. Very good to see. And hopefully, they're back here on Earth very soon.

Meanwhile, the military space race though may be heating up. U.S. Defense Officials telling CNN there are warning signs that both Russia and China are seeking to prepare for military conflict in outer space, including attack and defend maneuvers with satellites.

Our Zachary Cohen has been following that story. And so, we go from a more lighthearted space story, Zachary, to something that's quite serious, that China and Russia could be preparing for armed conflict in outer space.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, Jessica. It is very serious and it's something that U.S. Officials have been warning about, with increasing frequency over the last several years. But now, they're coming out and saying there's a very real concern that both Russia and China view outer space as a critical part of any future military conflict.

[17:35:00]

And they're pointing to recent signs that both countries are increasing their development and training of new offensive capabilities. These are capabilities that would effectively allow them to undermine and undercut and potentially in the future surpass the U.S. leadership in outer space, the U.S. dominance of outer space. That's something that the U.S. has maintained for a while.

But as recently as last week, defense officials pointing out that they watched a series of Russian satellites practicing what they called attack and defend tactics. And this is when multiple satellites would work together to surround another satellite in low Earth orbit, and it would effectively use that to show how they would target an enemy satellite potentially in the future.

They're pointing also to several recent training missions and launches observed by the Chinese. Over the last year, the Chinese have launched over 60 new satellites in outer space, and they've conducted similar maneuvers as what we just described with the Russians, really demonstrating that they are focused on developing this offensive capability.

But ultimately, at the end of the day, President Donald Trump touted during his first administration the creation of the U.S. Space Force. That's, of course, the military's space focused department. But now, these defense officials and members of Space Force are saying more needs to be done to invest, to make sure that Russia and China don't surpass the U.S. incapability because they, too, view it as a critical part of any potential future conflict.

DEAN: Yeah. That is fascinating. All right, Zachary Cohen, thank you for that report. We appreciate it.

Tonight, tens of millions of people are under the threat of severe weather as that massive storm system that killed dozens of people in the southern and midwestern United States now takes aim at the East Coast. We'll have an update for you.

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[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: It's not over yet. Powerful and violent storms now moving eastward after carving a path of destruction across the Deep South this weekend, killing at least 35 people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Oh (bleep).

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I'm glad we didn't get it.

DEAN: That system tore through seven states, bringing extreme wind, rain, and hail, devastating communities, homes, and businesses from Mississippi to Georgia. Just east of Birmingham and Alpine, Alabama, the community joined hands today to help clean up this cemetery. We find CNN's Rafael Romo there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Rafael, we see all of that destruction behind you. These tornadoes can just cause so much devastation in such a quick amount of time.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jessica. You're seeing the path of destruction of the tornado that hit this area. Look at that field of debris behind me, although crews have already been able to replace some of the power poles that were toppled by the very strong tornado.

And I wanted to show you something, Jessica. We are at Westborough High School. Take a look behind me. That's a bus right there that the tornado lifted up and dropped it on top of the roof. As you can see, there's a couple of trucks, heavy trucks with cranes that are here right now. They're trying to determine the best way to bring it down. That gives you an idea about how powerful this tornado was and the destructive power that it have.

And as it often happens in this type of case, this side of the street completely destroyed, but the other side was spared. I earlier had an opportunity to talk to a pastor at a church across the street who said that it's a miracle that his building is still standing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES KELLY, PASTOR, WINTERBORO COMMUNITY CHURCH: It's -- it's really amazing that what we're looking at right here across the road and what we're looking at behind us is so drastically different. It's -- it's amazing.

So, this -- as far as this community goes, what we're going to see is we're going to see people rallying around each other. You're going to see people at their best in the days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Jessica, that's Winterboro Community Church just across the street from where the bus is. Incredible, very minimal damage, and they're very grateful that this happened.

Now, we were hearing earlier from the governor here in Alabama who said that, just to put it in perspective, out of 67 counties here, 52 have reported some type of damage, Jessica. So, the situation was really bad overnight.

DEAN: Yeah. We're wishing them all the best. Rafael Romo, thank you so much for that.

Tonight, we're also getting a look at Pope Francis for the first time since he was hospitalized a month ago. How his doctors say he's doing tonight.

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[17:45:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

DEAN: Dozens of dancers gathered this morning to perform the tango outside Rome's Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is being treated for double pneumonia. The pope is a well-known tango lover. One dancer described the performance as prayer in motion. And it comes as we're getting our first glimpse of Francis since he entered the hospital a month ago.

CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lam is joining us now. Christopher, what do we know about the pope's condition tonight? CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: I can't hear.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Can you hear?

DEAN: Christopher? I don't know that we could -- that Christopher could hear us. We'll try to get back to him in just a moment.

But before we do that, let's talk a little bit about Cuba where power is slowly starting to come back after the island's power grid collapsed, plunging more than 10,000,000 people into darkness. This is the latest in a series of power failures on the island, which struggles with crumbling infrastructure and economic instability.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is joining us now from Havana. And Patrick, we see behind you, it looks pretty sunny right now but we are, of course, a couple hours from nightfall there in Cuba. What is the latest there?

[17:50:00]

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what you can hear behind me really tells the whole story, and that's our generator cranking away so we can have lights on out here, so our signal stays relatively steady, you know, fingers crossed. And even though power has slowly begun turning, it doesn't always stay on.

It really goes to show the fragility of the electrical system here. If the power comes back, that it -- that it cuts out, and you really don't have a sense for how long it's going to stay on, and that's what makes it so difficult to track all this, is because people do get power back for a little while, and then officials would come and say that there was simply too much demand.

And when you have a situation like this where the power was not cut on purpose, it was -- it was brought down simply by one power station essentially having a kind of failure, and that led to these rolling blackouts that eventually took out power for an entire nation and an entire nation where they're still struggling to get the lights back on, and that leads to people, you know, their food spoiling, having to sleep outside, very uncomfortable situations.

If it goes on more than a few days, it really can become a situation of life and death for people who, you know, their food goes bad, they don't have water, and it really just makes already a punishing economic situation here so much worse. So, it is a good sign the power is coming back on.

But a lot of concern as we get in these warmer months. More and more people will want to turn their fans, turn their ACs, and it's likely we'll see more outages like this. And, you know, fourth time in six months, the entire nation of Cuba has lost its power.

DEAN: And -- and Patrick, to that end, I know you say they're exhausted. This is becoming a regular occurrence as you just noted or at least semiregular. Is there anger at a gov -- at the government or at anyone in charge, or is this just kind of an accepted fact of life at this point? OPPMANN: You know, people do get angry. This is when you see people come out with protest -- protesting with pots and pans, beating on them, something the government here doesn't always tolerate.

And while the government blames U.S. economic sanctions to target the energy sector, they say, you know, very clearly, there's just not been enough investment in the government-run power plants over the years. They are collapsing. They're falling apart. Some of them use, you know, ancient Soviet-era technology, and that is giving way as you would expect after so many years after so much jerry rigging.

And many people say that the officials themselves, you know, they're not able to get through replacement parts because they don't exist anymore or that simply the people who know how to keep these things running have left the country or no longer working.

And so, when the power goes out, even the experts are not always able to get it back on in any kind of quick fashion. That -- that's what you've seen where the power comes back, and then immediately goes off again. Very frustrating.

DEAN: Indeed. All right, Patrick Oppmann there in Cuba for us, thank you so much for that. I do want to go back to Saint Peter's Square now where we have CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb, who's standing by. And Christopher, we were just hoping to get an update on the pope's condition tonight.

LAMB: Well, Jessica, the Vatican is saying that the pope is gradually improving. Of course, we saw this image of the pope for the first time since his hospitalization on February, more than 30 days ago.

The image showing the pope in the chapel at the Gemelli Hospital where he has been treated. He has a special suite room up there, a chapel. We saw the image of the pope after he had concelebrated mass, according to the Vatican, which is basically celebrating the mass with other priests. It's an encouraging sign that he's able to do that.

And of course, in the Vatican, there has been a lot of anxiety about the pope's condition because he has been in hospital for the longest time of his papacy. There's obviously anxiety and uncertainty around all of that.

The pope today saying in a message, a written message that was released, that this has been a time of trial for him. And, you know, over these last few days, it has been really a roller coaster of different updates, some good days, some bad days. But the recent updates from the Vatican is that the pope is slowly and gradually getting better.

Obviously, he's 88 years old. He has had pneumonia in both of his lungs. Any recovery is going to take time and the improvements that we're being told of are gradual ones rather than dramatic ones.

So, it's not clear how much longer he is going to be in the hospital. We don't know what his recovery might look like or what the long-term prognosis is. But the recent updates in the most recent days have shown that the pope is slightly improving, and this photo is giving people in the Vatican encouragement about the pope's condition, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Christopher Lamb with the latest, thank you very much for that.

[17:55:00]

The Trump administration deporting hundreds of migrants to El Salvador even as a judge ordered the planes to turn around midflight. We're going to have more on this when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: You're in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. And tonight, there are questions about the Trump administration deporting hundreds of migrants despite a judge's ruling temporarily blocking the president from using a centuries-old law to speed up deportations.

[18:00:05]

Planes carrying hundreds of Venezuelan gang members took off from Texas yesterday.