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Second Round Of U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks Happened In Rome Today; Kyiv Skeptical As Putin Declares Brief Easter Ceasefire In Ukraine; Supreme Court Pauses Deportations After Emergency Appeal Filed Friday; FSU Shooting Victims Identified As Robert Morales, Tiru Chabba; Dem. Senator Van Hollen Meets With Abrego Garcia In El Salvador; Trump Admin Fighting Several Deportation Battles In Court; Report: Trump's Border Czar Looks To Congress For More Money; "50501" Crowds Protest Trump Administration's Policies; Pope Francis Limits Appearances As He Continues To Recover; Vice President Vance Meets With Vatican Officials. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 19, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: 9:00 Eastern.

All right. Thank you so much for watching me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM with Jessica Dean starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And we begin in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Take a look. You see a large crowd of protesters there at the state capitol. This is one of many protests taking part across the country today. These protesters are calling out everything from the Trump agenda to Elon Musk in particular. We're going to have more on their actions all across the country coming up within the hour.

There are also new developments on the high level diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran. Iran tonight saying there has been, quote, "movement forward" after a second round of talks on the future of Tehran's nuclear program. Now, these negotiations in Rome come a week after the initial round of indirect talks was held in Oman last week. Oman acting as mediator with its foreign minister going between the U.S. and Iranian delegations seated in separate rooms.

The U.S. wants Iran to stop its production of highly enriched uranium, which Washington believes is intended to build an atomic bomb.

Betsy Klein is joining us now from the White House.

High stakes here, Betsy. What are we hearing this afternoon?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Certainly high stakes. And we are hearing some cautious optimism from both the U.S. and Iranian side following these four-hour talks that took place in Rome and were moderated by Oman as you mentioned. The Trump administration here is really hoping to get a diplomatic resolution. And to that end, we are learning from a senior administration

official, quote, "Today in Rome, over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions. We agreed to meet next week and are grateful to our Omani partners for facilitating these talks and to our Italian partners for hosting us today."

This after Iran's foreign minister said that there was movement forward. He also said there was agreement on some principles. So a very positive readout from both sides. These talks come after some mixed messaging this week from the Trump administration over the level of uranium enrichment they would or would not allow Iran to continue. Steve Witkoff ultimately clarifying in a statement that Iran must stop and eliminate, key word there, eliminate, its nuclear enrichment and weaponization programs.

Now, it also comes after "New York Times" reporting indicated that President Trump asked Israel to pause on military strikes on its nuclear facilities to allow these negotiations some more time to progress.

But President Trump continues to say, Jessica, if a deal isn't reached, there will be consequences for Iran. We are also learning that there is going to be a third round of talks next Saturday in Oman. We're also learning that technical experts will begin meeting from both sides in Oman starting on Wednesday.

DEAN: And Betsy, just underscoring here, these are obviously indirect talks with mediators working in between the U.S. and Iran. There haven't been direct talks between the U.S. and Iran since the Obama presidency. But do you get the sense from the White House that that's what they're trying to get to?

KLEIN: Certainly. I think that would be very significant if it were to take place. Of course, that statement from the senior administration official said that there were direct and indirect talks. We do know that last week, Witkoff and the Iranian foreign minister spoke informally in a hallway following the conclusion of the talks. Of course, Oman's foreign minister has been kind of shuttling back and forth, delivering messages between the two.

But Witkoff has really talked about the importance of meeting face to face. And I think any future direct talks would be a very significant development.

DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein, for us at the White House this afternoon. Thank you so much for that reporting.

And joining us to talk more about this, Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East negotiator and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Aaron, it's good to see you. I know you and I have talked a lot about the speed at which these talks can go. You would say slow and slower, I believe, is your terminology. But how would you categorize how these talks are going so far? AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR:

First of all, thanks for having me, Jessica. You know, the joke about the guy who jumps off the 10-story building as he's passing the fifth floor, somebody yells out, how you doing, and he responds so far, so good. I think you got from round one to round two. You're now going to have technical talks in Oman in the next several days, and another meeting between Witkoff and Araghchi, the Iranian negotiator and foreign minister.

The fact that the White House didn't issue a formal statement, background, and Betsy reported, I guess, that they thought the talks were productive.

[16:05:01]

I think clocks here are really important. I think the Iranian clock is moving pretty slowly. There are things they want, and they're determined to get them at the negotiating table. The American clock is moving a bit faster. The Gaza ceasefire has now cratered. The Ukraine- Russia cease fire seems to have never come into -- never come to pass. Got an Easter truce by Putin today. I think Mr. Trump is in a hurry.

And I think the key issue here, Jessica, is how long will Donald Trump give these talks a chance to actually get very technical and to become conclusive. And that's something we really don't know. But we're not going to do this in a week. We're not going to do this in a month. We're talking months here. And the real question again is how patient or impatient or impulsive or not impulsive is the president prepared to be?

DEAN: Yes. And so to that point, he said Thursday, in his words, that he's not in a rush to launch these military -- any military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. He has said, though, that that's not off the table. We have that "New York Times" reporting that Trump waved off Netanyahu and the Israeli government from striking Iran in May.

And so it is interesting to your point to see how he's going to balance this, because we're also seeing that split within his own administration between a group of his advisers and Cabinet secretaries who are more hawkish, who want to go ahead and strike Iran while they see them as weak, and then this other group that say, no, no, no, let's try to get a diplomatic solution here for a number of reasons.

And it is -- I think you're right. Like that is the question is how long will he wait out and can it -- will Iran take advantage of that, right, of the ideas of these talks?

MILLER: Yes. I mean, the Iranians will move slowly. They probably would like to move beyond October when the snapback provision of the original Iran nuclear agreement would essentially expire, leaving the signatories without any effort to reimpose sanctions. But again, I think the president's advisers probably do break down to a couple groups. You've got the vice president, Walton and Rubio -- excuse me, you've got Walton and Rubio wanting very quickly, very suspicious, convinced perhaps you can't get a negotiated agreement. You have the vice president reportedly with Witkoff and the president

looking to at least test the possibility. But I think what's unmistakable here for the Iranians and the reason they're even at the table is because they are taking quite seriously not just the prospect of an Israeli strike, but the reality that any Israeli strike would be supported and backstop by the United States, or perhaps the United States would be in the lead.

So you have the threat of a military response, but a very complicated set of questions. If, in fact, the administration tires of these negotiations and wants to use the military option. There's a lot of unanswered day-after questions. And I think the president frankly understands that. He wants to end wars with the exception of trade wars, not start them.

DEAN: If you're the Israeli government right now, what are you thinking about all this?

MILLER: Well, I think for Prime Minister Netanyahu, I think you're pretty nervous. The irony is, in part, it's the weakening of Iran at the hands of the Israelis, the hollowing out of Hezbollah, the fact that the Israelis destroyed Iran's air defenses and much of its ballistic missile production facilities. The irony here is that Mr. Netanyahu played a direct role in getting the Iranians to the table.

The problem is, he has a view of these negotiations that do not coincide with Witkoff's and the president. He wants the entire Iranian nuclear infrastructure dismantled. And if they can't get that, then he's persuaded that a military option is the only answer.

I'd only point out, Jessica, that this is the second time, I mean, the president of the United States announces direct talks last week with the prime minister of Israel standing by his side. This is the second time that the administration has reached out to an Israeli enemy, Hamas which the administration did as you know last month. So Mr. Netanyahu, I think, is very uneasy about where the administration is going with this Iran enterprise.

DEAN: All right. More to come on this. But Aaron David Miller, always great to have you to talk through some of this stuff. Thank you so much.

MILLER: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin is declaring a temporary halt to the fighting in Ukraine for Easter weekend. But Kyiv is skeptical, with Ukrainian officials saying Russian strikes have continued despite Moscow's claims of a truce. The declaration coming just a day after President Trump said he wanted to get a peace deal done quickly.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow -- Matthew.

[16:10:07]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, thanks. Well, you're right. I mean, look, this peace deal, this ceasefire, rather, has been declared because it's Easter. So it's a sort of humanitarian gesture so the Kremlin says. But, I mean, you have to consider the timing of it coming as it does as President Trump and his administration expressed their growing frustration with their own peacemaking efforts in the Ukraine war, with President Trump essentially threatening to walk away if the two sides don't agree a deal.

Much of the blame has been laid at the feet of the Russians for dragging their feet. And there is a sense in which perhaps this is an attempt by the Kremlin to offset some of that criticism and to make a gesture of goodwill that they are sort of willing to go along with President Trump's peace initiative.

There are a couple of unanswered questions at the moment. First and foremost amongst them, will this deal, this ceasefire actually be implemented? It's only for 36 hours. So well short of the 30 days that President Trump had demanded, and which, of course, Ukraine has already accepted, but will it be implemented? I mean, in the past, even recent agreements, for instance, to stop targeting each other's energy infrastructure facilities.

Both sides have accused the other, the Russians and Ukrainians, that is, of violating that agreement. And so it's unclear whether this agreement will hold also.

DEAN: Yes. And after this truce period, Matthew, then what happens?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, look, if the fighting resumes, then obviously the killing begins again. Obviously there will be diplomatic efforts underway and they have been underway even before this ceasefire is announced to try and sort of get instituted a longer period of cessation of hostilities. I guess the big hope is that this is a positive step by the Kremlin, and that this ceasefire for 36 hours can be extended, you know, to even longer, perhaps indefinitely.

I mean, the big hope is that this could be the beginning of the end of the Ukraine war. But, you know, the record in the past suggests that we're still a very, very long way from that -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, indeed. Matthew Chance in Moscow for us, thank you so much for that reporting. We appreciate it.

And back here at home, the Supreme Court making an unusual early morning order, temporarily blocking the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport a group of Venezuelan migrants currently residing in Texas. That order coming in just before 1:00 a.m.

CNN's Julia Benbrook joining us now live from Washington with more details on this.

Julia, walk people through what happened here.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in that order issued overnight, the Supreme Court paused the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport a group of immigrants in Texas who said that the Trump administration was looking to remove them. Attorneys for those Venezuelan migrants said they filed that emergency appeal at the Supreme Court Friday evening, and said that this group was facing an immediate risk of deportation and had not been given sufficient time to then challenge those deportations.

We did reach out to the White House for a response to this order, and did hear back with a statement from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said in part, "We are confident in the lawfulness of the administration's actions and in ultimately prevailing against an onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists who care more about the rights of terrorist aliens than those of the American people."

We're now going to pull up part of that Supreme Court order for you. The court ordered the Trump administration to respond to the emergency appeal after a federal appeals court in Louisiana, which covers cases from Texas, takes action on the case. Now, in the meantime, the court said, quote, "The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of the court."

Now, the order drew dissents from conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. We did not get a statement immediately from them. As you mentioned, this ruling, this order came overnight. But it did say that we should expect a statement from Justice Alito at some point.

And, Jessica, at the center of all of this, the Alien Enemies Act, it's that 18th century law that the administration used last month when they deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. And this is not the first time that Trump's use of this authority has come before the Supreme Court. In fact, just last week, the court said that he could use it, but that any migrants that are being deported and are subject to that act should be notified and then they should have time to challenge this in court -- Jessica.

[16:15:07]

DEAN: Julia Benbrook with the latest. Thank you very much for that.

Still ahead, new details about the deadly shooting at Florida State. What we're learning about how the victims are recovering tonight. Plus, demonstrators across the country rallying against the Trump administration today. And Pope Francis still recovering from an infection that nearly ended his life. Will the world see him at the Vatican this Easter?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:07]

DEAN: Tonight. Tributes are pouring in for the victims of the Florida State University shooting. On Thursday a gunman killed two people and injured six. The two men killed have now been identified as Robert Morales and Tiru Chabba. Morales was a university dining coordinator who had worked for FSU for a decade. Tiru was working for a food service vendor. He was married with two children.

Nick Valencia is in Tallahassee at FSU.

Nick, it is just so sad to hear these details from these victims' lives. They were just there doing their job. What more have you seen there on campus today?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, it's still such a heavy atmosphere here as we start the Easter weekend. We've seen so many students come here with their parents just to reflect on what happened here on Thursday. Many of them with tears in their eyes. We also saw students here form a prayer group in the last hour.

One of those students who came back here was Reid Seybold. He actually knew the gunman. We had him on CNN earlier this week, and this was the first time for him back on campus. And for him, it was an emotional return. He was still very much so processing what he had seen and what he had been through as a shooting survivor.

And I asked him, as the FSU president is encouraging students to go back to school on Monday, what that's going to be like and what it was like for him to return here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID SEYBOLD, FSU SENIOR: We have to work to make sure that this doesn't happen again. You know, this wasn't a gun control issue, but there is a culture. There's a cultural issue. And we need to work towards rectifying that. You know, make sure that people have access to mental health counseling, but also in some way making sure that people can protect themselves somehow.

I felt helpless being in that room. I did not know what to do. 911 wasn't going through, and at some point I picked up my ham radio and called the state emergency operations frequency. I was doing anything I could to be alive.

VALENCIA: How has this changed you?

SEYBOLD: Honestly, I don't know yet. I'm galvanized to speak for my peers and my community. I don't know yet how it's changed me. I think that's going to take time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: And new information released today from the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, which received the surviving shooting victims. One of them was released yesterday. So some good news here is that victim was well enough to be on their way home.

The gunman we believe, the alleged gunman is still in the hospital. We don't know when he'll face his first court appearance, but we do know that he'll be facing first-degree murder charges when he does. There's still no motive for what happened here on Thursday. A law

enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation tells us one of the things that they're looking into is a 2:45 rally by the Democratic Society for Students here in Tallahassee. It's a group that the alleged gunman had previously been critical of. But, you know, this investigation is still very much so in its early stages with a lot of questions remaining unanswered -- Jessica.

DEAN: Well, our hearts certainly go out to those people who are who are kind of absorbing all of this. A really moving interview there, Nick. Thank you so much for that.

And details are also emerging about the suspected shooter, as police do search for some motives here. Phoenix Ikner, an FSU student, has been taken into custody after being shot by university police. His childhood and upbringing coming into focus now. He's the son of a local sheriff's deputy and had spent time training with law enforcement before this attack.

I am joined now by CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey, who also served as Washington, D.C. police chief and Philadelphia police commissioner.

Thank you for being here with us. First, just this idea of what we're learning about this shooter, just that he had trained with law enforcement, that that was his -- the role of his -- what his mother does as well. It's just like a really dark irony here, almost.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it is, but more and more information will come out as time goes on. I mean, it's not uncommon for police departments to have explorer programs or cadet programs where you try to encourage young people to get interested in the field of law enforcement. And since his mother was a law enforcement officer, a deputy sheriff, then it's not unusual that a child would be enrolled in something like that.

But this individual apparently had a lot of problems and a lot of issues. And the more they research and go into social media and interview friends and family, I think they're going to find a disturbed young man.

DEAN: And so to that point that we see this very often in these situations where the people around them say we knew something wasn't right, we were nervous about what they were saying, what they were doing, what they were reading, what they were consuming. And yet, you know, a lot of times local law enforcement have their hands tied until something happens unfortunately, or they don't, they can't get this person to the resources they need.

What can we do? What can be done about that?

[16:25:00]

RAMSEY: Well, you know, that's what red flag laws are designed to try to do is intervene if you have an individual who's exhibiting certain behaviors that could become a danger to themselves or to others to keep them from getting their hands on a gun and having some intervention services. But what winds up happening, oftentimes you can find out afterwards, you know, people knew something wasn't quite right, but they didn't think that they would go quite that far.

And it's very difficult, especially for a family member, to recognize that kind of behavior in someone that they know and that they love. You know, you tend to overlook it, but you can't do that because you're not helping them when you overlook it. You know, the young man that was just interviewed, it said it's not a gun control problem, but, you know, I disagree. It is, but it's also a responsible gun ownership problem.

Properly securing a weapon in the household, making sure that the wrong person can't get their hands on it. You know, I mean, there are things that we can do as a society to at least begin trying to put a dent into this, but it's not going to stop. It is not going to stop because we're not doing anything as a nation to try to make it stop.

DEAN: And to that end April 26th is going to be the anniversary of, I'm sorry, April 20th is going to be the anniversary of the Columbia shooting or the Columbine shooting, rather, which is just, it's kind of remarkable. It's been 26 years. So much seems to have changed since then. And I just remember how shocking that was at the time.

But how has the response from authorities evolved since then?

RAMSEY: Well, the response from police is really just -- it was evident with Florida State. It was absolutely incredible how fast they got there. The university police officers within two minutes, arrived on the scene and were able to neutralize the individual to keep him from causing even more harm.

Back in the days with Columbine, you know, the training was basically contain area and wait for the SWAT team to arrive. But it takes time for SWAT to assemble and to arrive. Most of these things are over within three to five minutes, so you don't have time. So the training is different now. Active shooter training. First on the scene. Get in there. Neutralize. Go to the sound of the gunfire. Neutralize the individual to avoid more people being seriously injured or killed.

So the training has really evolved, and it's all because of Columbine. But one thing, and I wish somebody would at least look this up. How many young people have lost their lives since Columbine as a result of school shootings?

DEAN: Way too many. Yes.

RAMSEY: I mean, put it in some kind of context, you know, I mean, Columbine was a long time ago, you said 26 years ago, but how many have died and how many more are going to die as a result of inaction and our inability to really come to grips with gun violence in America?

DEAN: Yes. And how many are going to be terrorized, even if they are able to live through it.

Charles Ramsey, thank you so much. We really do appreciate your analysis on this.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, the Supreme Court temporarily pauses deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. We talk about the rare late-night ruling.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:39]

DEAN: In the early hours of this morning, the Supreme Court moved to temporarily block the Trump administration from deporting another wave of Venezuelan immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act.

But that's not the only deportation battle President Trump and his administration are fighting right now. There is also the case of the man the government has admitted was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

This week, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled there to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): I told him that millions of Americans understand that what is happening to him is a threat to their own constitutional rights.

I told him about the decisions of the federal courts, the district court, the Fourth Circuit court, the Supreme Court. And I think that in addition to knowing that his family was fighting for him, all of that gave him strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now is Washington bureau chief at the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," Tia Mitchell, and political reporter for Axios, Stef Kight.

Good to have both of you here.

Trump has criticized Senator Van Hollen for making this trip, Tia, but the Senator says that he's not going to be the last member of Congress to go.

Is there anything that Democrats in Congress can actually effectively do besides bring attention to this?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": Well, I mean, the Senate, there are some things that Senators can do to take a stand. We saw what Cory Booker did, halting action on the Senate floor for over 24 hours.

There are a lot of procedural things the minority party, which are Senate Democrats, can do to call attention to issues and slow down progress on other things as they force at least discussion on the things they want to talk about.

But that still is limited in a lot of ways. House Democrats are even more so limited.

But I think they do what Senator Van Hollen showed, is you can still draw attention to things. You can still go places and ask for things and use the power of your office to seek information.

And I think that's what we're going to continue seeing from Democrats in Congress.

DEAN: And, Stef, to like the actual politics of this issue in this particular case, Democrats have certainly been highlighting this. They've really been clinging to this issue, trying to publicize it.

[16:35:09]

Do -- do you get the sense from them that this is something they think can really connect with voters, who have been -- and especially Democrats, who have seen them as almost apathetic at this point, not doing enough?

STEF KIGHT, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: There's a little bit of a division on this question, in fact, because some Democrats do view this as a concrete example that they can easily rally around that.

It's a clear example of -- of Trump moving too fast and going too far in his aggressive approach to deportations and removing people who came to the U.S. illegally.

So there are some Democrats, like Senator Van Hollen, who see this as a great opportunity for Democrats to stand up, to speak out, and to push back.

But on the other hand, there are other Democrats who look over the past few years and recognize that they have been out of touch with what the American people want to see on immigration.

We saw just last year, during the -- during the election season, many Democrats were actually embracing a tougher stance on immigration, embracing the idea of -- of, you know, picking (TECHNICAL PROBLEM) at the border.

And so you have that side of the party as well that is still trying to -- to figure out what their stance really is when it comes to immigration.

So this specific example, I think we will see Democrats rally around. But there are a lot of big questions Democrats and party leaders are still having about what the right approach to immigration, especially illegal immigration to the U.S., actually is for the Democratic Party.

DEAN: Yes. And, Tia, look, for the Republicans, for President Trump in

particular, they may be squaring off with the courts here, but politically and effectually, he's doing what he said he would do.

Is that a winning message for this administration in this president?

MITCHELL: So I think it's, to an extent, if you recall, when Trump talked about the crackdown on -- on illegal immigration, he still framed it as part of his economic message.

You know, his message was these immigrants are taking away resources. They're costing taxpayers money. They're getting things that legal U.S. citizens should be getting.

And that, ultimately, there -- and also they're taking jobs from black and brown men who are in America legally.

So I think that the risk for President Trump is that if his crackdown on immigration does not coincide with the economic improvements that he promised, then it won't be as popular, ultimately.

I think that people are still, at the end of the day, the economy, the price of goods, inflation, concerns about a recession are still top of their mind. Immigration was a byproduct of that, and he sold it very effectively.

But again, it's part of his economic message. Where he could -- where these policies could become unpopular is if they are starting to be perceived not only as the crackdown isn't improving the economy.

But especially if it is perceived that this crackdown is starting to contribute to problems with pricing, is taking more federal resources that could go to other things.

DEAN: Right.

And to that end, Stef, Trump's borders czar, Tom Homan, tells "The Atlantic." ICE needs more money, and that if they get more money, they won't fail.

They report this is something that Republicans are looking at doing through their budget process that they're going through right now.

What is your sense of where Republicans are on -- on giving more money to that effort when they're also looking for at least $1.5 trillion in cuts?

KIGHT: I mean, the border money won't be an issue. Republicans are pretty united in in agreement that that's something that they want to make sure they get done, that they get Tom Homan the money he's been asking for.

ICE has been chronically underfunded for -- for years now. It's no surprise that they would need more resources just to maintain the level of -- of work that ICE does day to day, much less expanding it as Trump wants to do. But it's a long road ahead before Congress is going to be able to pass

this sweeping bill that includes not only border funds, but also military funds. It will include extended tax cuts, extended 2017 tax cuts, additional tax priorities that Trump wants to have done. It raises the debt ceiling.

And as you pointed out, it's going to be a vehicle where Republicans are going to be pushing really hard to get significant tax cuts or -- excuse me, spending cuts included.

And it could get to a situation where there are cuts for Medicaid, which could be a huge problem for other Republicans.

So there are going to be many battles ahead when it comes to getting this piece of legislation through the House and the Senate. We're likely to see differences between the House and the Senate. They need to reach agreement there.

[16:40:02]

And there's also a built-in deadline for getting this done sometime by August or September, when we're expected to reach the exit date for the debt ceiling. And that debt ceiling will need to be raised, which, again, is a part of this package.

So the border funds are just one piece of this. And there's a long way to go.

DEAN: Yes. That is going to be an ever evolving story over the next several months.

Tia and Stef, our thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

MITCHELL: Thanks.

DEAN: Still ahead, a nationwide day of action. We're going to go to Atlanta, where demonstrators are protesting against the Trump administration's policies.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:17]

DEAN: Some anti-Trump protests happening across the country today. The 50501 protests are the latest in a series of nationwide days of action started in February.

The name stands for 50 states, 50 protests and, they say, one movement. People are gathering to stand against Trump administration policies.

And national correspondent, Rafael Romo, has more on this -- Rafael?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People are chanting things like "regulate guns, not women, no mass deportations, America has no kings, defend our Constitution, save the CDC, and resist fascism and white supremacy."

We're standing at the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue here in Atlanta. This is a protest that started around noon. It's still going on.

These people earlier today started marching north here in the midtown neighborhood towards Piedmont Park, the historic Piedmont Park. They went as far north as 14th Street, where the Peace Monument is located.

They say they want to put an end to some of the things that they're seeing from the Trump administration. They were very specific that they do not agree with the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. And they say that he should be brought back to this country.

A lot of the protesters here are expressing feelings of friendship, feelings of camaraderie, as you have seen. And so far, they have not blocked any streets. They have not blocked any of the sidewalks.

We, earlier, saw Atlanta police come to this location, but only to keep an eye on things, because it has been peaceful.

One thing I have to say, though, is that this protest is considerably smaller than what we saw here a couple of weeks ago, when thousands upon thousands of people marched from this area here near Piedmont Park, several miles to the Georgia state capitol.

But they say this is only the beginning. They're talking about resisting the current government. And they say they are here to stay.

Again, something that has been mirrored in other cities. There was a protest today, also in Washington, D.C., and other places around the country.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Still ahead, Pope Francis preparing for Easter in the face of some serious health challenges. A report from Rome. That's ahead. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:52:25]

DEAN: Vice President J.D. Vance met with Vatican officials today. He has traveled there with his family over Easter weekend. The Vatican saying Vance and senior Vatican officials had what they called an "exchange of opinions" about migrants, refugees and prisoners.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis' Easter is going to look a little different this year. He's still recovering from double pneumonia, which was nearly deadly earlier this year and is unable to lead the Easter services as he has done in previous years.

CNN's Vatican correspondent, Christopher Lamb, has more on this -- Christopher?

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CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, this has been a different type of Easter for Pope Francis as he continues to recover from double pneumonia.

He hasn't been leading the major services of Holy Week and Easter. He still finds it difficult to speak for long periods. He's going through physiotherapy to help him recover his voice.

He's delegated the major services to other cardinals, but he has been making appearances before the Easter vigil that took place on Saturday night in Saint Peter's Basilica, the high point of the church's year.

The pope went to Saint Peter's to pray just before that service took place. He said hello to some pilgrims from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who we're in the Basilica at the same time.

And of course, on the Thursday before Easter, Francis went to a prison in Rome, where he met some of the inmates. It was a surprise visit.

Now, on Easter Sunday, the pope is hoping to be present in the square to give the customary Easter Sunday blessing, which is the blessing to the city of Rome and to the world. The Vatican says he plans to be there, provided his health allows it.

Now that blessing on Easter Sunday is only something the pope can give. So Francis will clearly be keen to be there in Saint Peter's to give that blessing.

Now, over the Easter weekend, Vice President J.D. Vance has been in Rome. And on Saturday, he met with Vatican officials. Now, of course, the meeting between those officials and Vice President Vance comes amid tensions between the Vatican and the Trump administration over key areas such as migration.

Pope Francis, before his hospitalization, issued a stinging criticism and stinging rebuke to the Trump administration over their immigration policy.

Now, there is some speculation that Vice President Vance could greet Francis on Easter Sunday. That's not been confirmed.

But as has been the case, throughout Easter, we are on high alert to see what Francis might do at the last minute with surprise appearances and possibly some surprise meetings -- Jessica?

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[16:55:06]

DEAN: Christopher Lamb, thank you so much for that update. And still ahead, a draft of President Trump's budget proposal includes

eliminating funding for Head Start. We're going to speak with one congressman from Tennessee about what that could mean for children and their families in his home state.

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[17:00:01]

DEAN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.