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Pope Gives Blessing In Highest-Profile Appearance Since Hospital Release; Trump Administration Urges Supreme Court To Dissolve Pause On Deportations; Possible Tornado Tears Through Jacksboro, Texas; Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 20, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so excited.

EVA LONGORIA, CNN HOST, "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN": To see how the land and its people have created one of the world's most exciting cuisines.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have an important question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you hungry?

LONGORIA: I am hungry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perfect.

LONGORIA: Wow. You can taste the land, grass, what they eat.

Look at that guy. Ooh. Oh, yes. Food makes me so happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LONGORIA: Is it supposed to be eaten in one bite?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LONGORIA: She's a pincho expert. I get to visit long lost family.

Hola, familia.

Maybe you can preserve your food and your recipes. Then you can teach the rest of the world who you are. This is so beautiful. Salud to that. Oh.

This is cuisine at a different level.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the best place to be a chef.

LONGORIA: Oh my God. We have found Spain.

[15:01:02]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Happy Easter.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this Easter Sunday with a highly anticipated public appearance by Pope Francis.

(POPE FRANCIS speaking in foreign language.)

WHITFIELD: Today, he delivered the traditional Easter blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in front of delighted crowds there. And the excitement continued when he greeted the faithful from his Popemobile. Here are just some of the moments.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

WHITFIELD: His Easter appearance followed a private meeting with Vice President J.D. Vance.

CNN's Christopher Lamb has more on the day's events from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was Pope Francis' most high profile appearance since leaving the hospital. Francis appeared on the balcony at St. Peter's behind me, after he had met with Vice President J.D. Vance. They had a brief meeting in the Pope's Residence, the Santa Marta, of course, Vice President Vance is a Catholic. He was received into the Catholic Church in 2019, but he has not been on the same page as Pope Francis when it comes to questions such as migration.

The Pope, before his hospitalization, released a stinging rebuke to the Trump administration for their immigration policy. However, the Pope, taking the time to meet with Vice President Vance before coming out to St. Peter's. He offered the Easter Sunday blessing, the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, which only the Pope can give. He did not read, though his Easter Sunday address.

The Pope, since recovering from double pneumonia, really finds it very difficult to speak for long periods of time, but he was able to wish people in the Square a Happy Easter, and after his appearance from the balcony, the Pope got onto the Popemobile and greeted people in the Square, delighting the crowd that had gathered. It is the first time the Pope has been in the Popemobile meeting people since his hospitalization.

He circled the Square and children were brought up to him, and he seemed to be in good spirits. Of course, this is a Pope who really enjoys being amongst people.

However, of course, Francis is still recovering from that double pneumonia that almost took his life on two occasions. He is clearly still having to recover from that. He is finding it difficult, as I said, to speak for long periods, but today was the most high profile appearance from the Pope since that hospitalization, and clearly did really delight the people who had gathered in saint peters on Easter Sunday to see him.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Christopher.

All right, the Trump administration is now making a new push to deport a group of Venezuelan migrants detained in Texas. In a response to a Supreme Court ruling, the administration is now asking the justices to dissolve its current pause on removing those migrants. Its top appellate attorney arguing the removal can be done without using the 18th Century Alien Enemies Act.

Just after midnight Saturday morning, the Supreme Court blocked the deportations under the Alien Enemies Act freezing the fast moving case to allow more time for legal proceedings. At the same time, outrage is growing in the case of the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

[15:05:03]

The Trump administration asserts that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a violent MS-13 gang member and will never be allowed to return to the U.S., but a federal judge said earlier this month that the government has not presented evidence that connects Abrego Garcia to any criminal organization.

Last week, Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, and he spoke with CNN this morning about why this case is so important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): He was sad and traumatized that he was being in prison because he has committed no crimes, and that goes to the heart of this issue, because he is being denied his due process rights and Donald Trump is trying to change the subject.

And, you know, when people start asking about -- asking that question, in my view, they're falling into the President's trap, because what the President wants to do is talk about that as if we can't all fight gang violence, which I've been doing for much longer than Donald Trump. Right? His argument is you can't fight that and at the same time uphold peoples' constitutional rights. That's a very dangerous view, and if we deny the constitutional rights of this one man, it threatens the constitutional rights of everybody in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Kevin Liptak has more live from the White House. Kevin, a lot of movement on the legal front for one of President Trump's top policies, immigration. What more is the White House saying about all of this?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it is clear these deportations are now fully enmeshed in the federal legal system. And just to take these two cases one by one, that case of Abrego Garcia, the man who is being held in El Salvador, the message you continue to hear from White House officials is one that he is a gang member, and they have tried to present evidence, including his tattoos, that suggests that he should have been deported.

And two, that he will never be returned to the United States. You've heard that on the record from the administration, and you've heard it from the President of El Salvador, President Bukele, who visited Trump in the Oval Office this week and said that he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.

Both of those answers sort of skirting the original question in this case, which was whether he was erroneously deported. Remember the administration's own lawyers say that he should not have been removed from the United States, and even some of the administration's allies today are saying that it was a mistake. You heard from John Kennedy, the Republican senator from Louisiana, who said that this was a screw up. But until now, and going forward, you haven't heard the administration acknowledge that this was a mistake.

Now, on this second case, this question of this group of Venezuelan men who were about to be deported in Texas on Friday evening, the Supreme Court stepping in with that striking middle of the night ruling, saying that these men should not be deported and that the administration should not take steps to remove them from the United States, really going to show this deep skepticism from a majority of the justices on the High Court that the administration is following their earlier ruling that deportations under the Alien Enemies Act must provide at least advance notice within a reasonable time and allow those who are being deported to challenge their cases and to challenge their removals from the United States.

What we've heard today from a top administration official, Tom Homan. He is the administration's border czar is essentially that due process, at least in the normal understanding of it doesn't apply in the Alien Enemies Act. Listen to more of what Tom Homan said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS HOMAN, U.S. BORDER CZAR: The length of due process is not the same under the Alien Enemies Act, that's why the Alien Enemies Act was created.

President Trump invoked the authority he had of the Aliens Enemies Act, an act written and passed by Congress and signed by a President. We are using the laws on the books, the statutes on the books to secure the border and remove significant public safety threats and National Security threats to this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So that's the administrations argument there is that due process as it is normally understood, just doesn't apply to this law that they are trying to use to remove these Venezuelans from the United States. But certainly, you've already seen plenty of activists and plenty of federal judges question whether that's the case, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Okay, and then Kevin, you've got the Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who is chiming in on the ruling following the High Court's ruling overnight Saturday, blocking the removal of migrants in Texas temporarily. So what did he have to say?

LIPTAK: Yes, and this was a scathing dissent. He was one of two justices to dissent from that majority opinion. The other is Clarence Thomas. He is writing for both of them in what is quite a remarkable five-page document. He says that: "Literally in the middle of the night, the court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule without hearing from the opposing party within eight hours of receiving the application, with dubious factual support for its order, and without providing any explanation for its order."

[15:10:16]

So you hear Alito there questioning essentially how the Supreme Court, how the majority of the justices came up with this order blocking the deportation of these migrants from Venezuela, and I think it just goes to show how these questions are being debated. The Supreme Court certainly acted with speed that you don't ordinarily see the Supreme Court using in this particular case.

What Alito and Thomas are arguing here is that the court needed to move slower, that it needs to debate these positions more thoroughly before coming up with a clear argument going forward.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much, from the White House.

All right, joining me right now to talk more about these developments, Alex Thompson. He is the national political correspondent for AXIOS and a CNN political analyst. Great to see you, Alex.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Great to be here.

WHITFIELD: And Happy Easter.

All right, so given a precedence of defying court orders, is there any reason to believe that Trump will honor the U.S. Supreme Court ruling?

THOMPSON: Yes. I mean, I think what the Trump administration has been doing is really flirting with what is going to be a showdown with the Supreme Court, and it is just going to be one showdown. There are going to be multiple showdowns. There is in some ways, they've a multi-front war with the Judiciary going on between the Trump Executive Branch and the court systems, and this is going to escalate and it is just going to be this case, it is not just going to be the migrants, it is also not just going to be about immigration.

There is going to be several showdowns with this conservative Supreme Court and this White House.

WHITFIELD: So this administration, you know, calls it a victory of a court ruling in its favor, but when it refused to turn around two deportation flights with Abrego Garcia on board as the court had ordered, the district court judge, James Boasberg led an effort to see if the Trump administration engaged in criminal contempt. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily paused that inquiry and imposed a deadline this week for the government to file a reply.

So if not the court system, who or what will hold the administration to account?

THOMPSON: Well, the only people left then are Congress, and that is the other check in the system. Now, of course, we have not seen any sort of willingness by Republicans in Congress to hold back Trump at all. You can just watch the Sunday shows this morning of which they refuse to criticize anything the Trump administration is doing.

So you know, in that case, what would it come to is there is an election a year-and-a-half and Congress could switch hands. I mean, if the Trump administration actively defies Judiciary and says no, instead they are doing this flirtatious thing right now where they are saying, oh, we didn't defy it, but they sort of ignored it, you know? But if they openly defy it, the only remedy in the system is Congress and it would require Congress to change hands or Republicans to really change their minds in a dramatic way.

WHITFIELD: This weekend we saw another round of protests against the Trump administration in cities across the country. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries believes the opposition to Trump is energizing the Democratic Party. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): I think the energy of the Democratic Party right now is across the board, and everyone has made that observation that this is not a right left moment, it is a moment of right versus wrong and we've got to be able to stand up to this assault that is underway led by Donald Trump and his compliant Republicans in the House and the Senate, an assault on the economy, on Social Security, on Medicaid, and an assault on the Democratic Way of life as we know it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, some voters, you know, have criticized Democrats for not doing enough to stand up to the administration. We've been seeing that at a lot of town halls of some Democratic leaders. So do you get a sense that the Democrats have a plan on how to turn this Trump resistance into, you know, a return of power in Congress?

THOMPSON: I wouldn't say it is a plan quite yet, but I guess more of a hope. I mean, the fact is that the Democratic Party, both the voters and the lawmakers were a little bit in a daze in the months after the November election. You really saw a lot of the energy change in a significant way beyond some small things. You saw it change in a significant way after Liberation Day, the tariffs and sort of the backlash.

And I think -- a lot of Democratic leaders saw an opening to attack Donald Trump on the economy and to really make a really cohesive, decisive argument against him. Now, whether or not the Democratic leaders can actually, you know, use this energy, I mean, the fact of the matter is, most of the energy right now is on the left wing of the party. You saw big crowds with Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Ocasio-Cortez. It is unclear if the middle of the party can generate that sort of enthusiasm yet.

[15:15:08]

WHITFIELD: All right, Alex Thompson of AXIOS, thanks so much. Good to see you.

THOMPSON: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, searching for senators. How Democratic leadership is looking at the map to find their possible path to retaking the majority in 2026. We have new CNN reporting.

And up next, we are tracking the threat of flooding, rains and even tornadoes facing millions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Millions of Americans in the South and Midwest are facing severe weather threats this Easter weekend.

Early this morning in Oklahoma, a family of three was caught in dangerous floodwaters when their vehicle became wedged against a drainage pipe. A woman and a 12-year-old boy died after they were swept away, and a third person managed to escape and was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

And in Texas, a possible tornado was captured on video in Jacksboro, west of Fort Worth. You see it right there. Brayden Pewitt filmed it while standing in his driveway with his family. A National Weather Service alert indicated several cities, including Jacksboro, were under a tornado watch last night.

CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar has more on today's storm threats.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The threat is a twofold today. We have not only the potential for severe thunderstorms, but we also have the potential for flooding and you'll notice on the map that both of those threats kind of encompass some of the same states.

The overall threat area includes Southern Plains all the way up into portions of the Midwest. Now, the severe threats themselves, we are talking damaging winds up around 60 to 70 miles per hour; hail that could be golf ball size or even larger. And yes, the potential for a few tornadoes. This includes Memphis, Kansas City, St. Louis, all the way down towards Shreveport, Louisiana.

Now, here is a look at the system as it continues to slide. The bulk of it really for the last 24 to 36 hours, really hasn't moved all that much, but by the time we go through the afternoon and evening hours tonight, we finally start to see it exit states like Texas and Oklahoma and really begin to push eastward.

This is good news for the flooding threat, because it is finally going to relieve some of these areas from additional moisture. By tomorrow morning, we are finally starting to see it spread into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. This means for the Monday morning commute, places like Cincinnati, Nashville, and even Detroit could be looking at a very soggy start to the day.

By late into the day, Monday, now we start to see it spread into portions of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and also into the Southeast, places like Knoxville and Huntsville, Alabama.

Here is the overall threat for the excessive rainfall. This is where you're going to have the best potential for that flooding and that does include Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis. Notice those are some of the same cities that also had the potential for some of those severe thunderstorms.

A lot of these places are looking at an additional one to three inches of rainfall, but keep in mind, that's on top of what they've already had for the last 24 to 36 hours.

WHITFIELD: All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much for that.

Russia and Ukraine both accusing each other of violating an Easter truce. What the Kremlin is saying about the chances it could be extended.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:14]

WHITFIELD: New today, Israel's military says professional failures, quoting them "professional failures" led to the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics and emergency responders last month in Gaza. That's according to an Israeli investigation released today.

The group was driving ambulances and civil defense vehicles when the IDF opened fire. News of the incident sparked condemnation around the world. CNN Jerusalem correspondent, Jeremy Diamond is with us now.

Jeremy, this admission by Israel is an about face from their initial account of what happened.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Without a doubt, Fredricka. The Israeli military had initially claimed that these ambulances were moving suspiciously without their emergency lights on. They claimed that nine out of the 15 paramedics and emergency responders in these vehicles were actually Hamas operatives, but the Israeli military has now walked all of those assertions back. It initially walked back that assertion about the headlights after that video emerged over a week ago now, two weeks ago, I believe showing these vehicles very clearly with their emergency lights flashing in the night sky.

The Israeli military has now concluded its internal investigation into this matter, and it says that, "professional failures" and a "operational misunderstanding" led to the killing of these 15 paramedics and first responders. They dismissed the Deputy Commander of the Golani Reconnaissance Brigade, which is an elite unit, the field commander in this case is the one who they dismissed. He is the one who gave the order to open fire.

They also issued a letter of reprimand to the commanding officer of the 14th Brigade, which was also involved in this incident. They said they regret the harm caused to uninvolved civilians, but it is important to note that the Israeli military stopped short of criticizing the decision making of the soldiers involved in this incident. At no point in a 90-minute briefing that I had today with the man who oversaw this investigation, did I hear the words, this should never have happened? These troops should not have opened fire on these ambulances.

Instead, they said that the troops opened fire because they felt a, "immediate and tangible threat" and they even praised the officer who they dismissed in this incident as a "highly respected officer."

Now, Major General Yoav Har-Even who oversaw this investigation, he told me that he believes the commander who ordered troops to open fire "acted reasonably" based on his perception of a threat at the time. His belief that these vehicles, ambulances in this case presented a threat to his troops. He also said that there was "no evidence of any unethical or immoral conduct" by the forces and repeatedly talked about this incident as a series of mistakes.

[15:30:10]

He also told me that he is not recommending any changes to the Israeli military's protocols or rules of engagement in this matter. I was also able to see Israeli military aerial surveillance video of this incident, in which you can see the moment when the troops opened fire on these vehicles about 30 meters away and then you see these troops actually advancing towards these ambulances and continuing to fire for several minutes.

We also see an incident in which a few minutes after this convoy was attacked, a U.N. vehicle comes by advancing quite slowly to try and move around the scene of this attack. Several soldiers then opened fire on that vehicle from behind as the vehicle is moving away from the forces. The Israeli military did call that a part of the incident, a breach of its rules of engagement, but again, not clear that any disciplinary action has been taken against those specific soldiers.

The findings of this Israeli military investigation have indeed been sent to the military's Advocate General, who will make the decision about whether or not to file any charges. Not clear at this point whether or not that will happen -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thank you.

Also new today, Ukraine and Russia are blaming each other for breaking an Easter truce declared by Vladimir Putin.

CNN's Matthew Chance looks at what led up to the Kremlin's ceasefire declaration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are reported violations on both sides, in part the consequence of the unplanned, sudden announcement of the ceasefire by the kremlin, which was made, remember, after a frustrated President Trump threatened to walk away from his attempts to forge a peace deal in the Ukraine War.

The Kremlin timing perhaps not just intended to mark Easter, but also to ease criticism of its foot dragging and to keep the Trump administration engaged. However, the truce is also very short in duration. It is due to end at midnight Monday morning in Moscow time. That's far off the 30 days that President Trump had demanded, and of course, that Ukraine has already agreed to.

The big question now, though, is whether this short ceasefire, which, as I say, expires tonight, will be extended and become something more substantial that could genuinely help move the region closer to a lasting peace.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Matthew.

All right, Russian state media said a short time ago that there is no indication the Kremlin plans to extend this weekend's truce.

Let's get some more analysis now on these developments. Jill Dougherty is a former CNN Moscow Bureau chief and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, and now an author. She has a brand new book out called "My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin."

Congratulations on that. Jill, I want to ask you about that in a moment. But first, you know, what do you make of this truce declaration this weekend?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN RUSSIAN AFFAIRS CONTRIBUTOR: You know, there have been a number of truces. President Putin, you know, announced one at Christmas and it is not holding. But I think that was predictable because it came out of nowhere, there was no preparation in terms of the other side, you know, informing the Ukrainians, and so it fell apart or it appears to have fallen apart.

And as Matthew said, I mean, the clock is ticking and just, you know, an hour or so it will be over. And I think you have to look at the timing. Again, it came -- Putin's announcement came right after President Trump said, you know, we need to get both sides together; if they're not serious, we are out of here.

And so I think it is another sweetener by Vladimir Putin, keep the ball rolling, keep the United States engaged. Because, you know, even beyond solving Ukraine, let's say ending the war or even getting a longer ceasefire, Putin wants a relationship with President Trump. He wants to be in negotiations and talking and restoring the relationship with the United States. That's really kind of paramount for him.

So this is another way, I think, of, you know, again, as I said, a sweetener and especially something that sounds humanitarian and religious. It would look pretty good.

WHITFIELD: It is all about image sometimes, right?

So President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in different ways last week that the White House was running out of patience with the lack of progress in peace negotiations. So how do you think Vladimir Putin views those comments? Because you said, you know, he likes the way it looks that he is in the midst of the negotiations, but then you've got Trump, you know, saying he is losing patience. It is not going the way he wants it to.

[15:35:07]

DOUGHERTY: Yes. I think Putin knows that president trump is a bit unpredictable. So I think he watches what President Trump does and then responds, and so as Trump said, you know, I am tired of this, if they are playing around, no one is going to play around with us et cetera.

So Putin had to look as if he was doing something and that is what I think he is doing with this temporary ceasefire. But longer term, it is important to Russia to get back in the game, get sanctions ultimately removed, if that's possible. As I said, restore the relationship.

They are trying to entice American business back to Russia. I don't think a lot of companies would actually do that at this point, but Putin wants a restored relationship. And so that is why he keeps this going.

And then also, you know, there is another game, I would say on the other side, which is if you keep it going, then there is a potential of sowing distrust between the United States and its European allies, weakening Ukraine et cetera, continuing the attacks which have been taking place regularly over the past couple of weeks really.

So I think, you know, that's where we are. It is part of the strategy that Putin has.

WHITFIELD: Well, it is also confusing, too, right, because Putin, while he may want, you know, business opportunities to open up, no one is going to do that as long as the war is going on and I know you've said and others have said that Putin really isn't interested in an end to the war, so what is the goal here? And who, if anyone, could really change Putin's mind about the benefits of ending a war?

DOUGHERTY: I think the only person who can change Putin's mind is Putin. You know, one aspect that we don't talk about is why would Putin want his country to be militarized for this war? Well, you know, if you look at the old Soviet days, there were a lot of factories producing weapons, et cetera, and then the Soviet Union falls apart more than 30 years ago. Factories die. Well, those factories are open again, and people have jobs and they are making money, and so, there is also that, you know, that even though it seems kind of perverse, but people are making money again because their country is at war and that translates into support for President Putin. So that's another issue.

There are many, I mean, I could name several, but that I think is a factor we don't talk about that much.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, let's talk about your great new book. Congratulations again, "My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin." You were able to write this book because you have had a lot of experience with Moscow and the Kremlin. You were once the Moscow Bureau chief for CNN and you've been with CNN now for more than three decades, Bureau chief for eight of those years there in Moscow.

We are looking at this great video right now, taking us back memory lane, there you are reporting inside Russia. Youve seen a lot, you know, as it pertains to Putin as well. I mean, his role has changed remarkably over the years.

You've been an eyewitness to his rise of power. What are we seeing in the President Putin today versus the Leader Putin, that you were able to report on very early on in his political career in the 90s?

DOUGHERTY: Yes, that's a great question, because, you know, there are some people who look at Russia and look at Putin and say there was Putin one and there is Putin Two, and who knows, maybe there is Putin Three right now. But if you go back to Putin One, compared to Boris Yeltsin, who unfortunately was, you know, drinking and a little chaotic, Putin looked good -- young, vigorous, you know, said the right things, many of the right things in the beginning about free press, human rights, et cetera. And there was some cooperation with the United States and with the West.

But then Putin Two, I think, was the Putin who was former KGB, who was a citizen of the Soviet Union, who kind of never got out of that mindset. And so I think of it as a chip on the shoulder type of approach to the world, you know, resentful of the West.

And this unfortunately has strengthened in his mind. He is obsessed with Ukraine, there is no question. He has been obsessed with it for years. And so he wants to take over Ukraine. He wrote a long article about that himself.

So this is -- you know, I look with sadness, I guess, about what's happening, because look who is paying the price. Ukrainians obviously dying in this war, but Russians are dying, too and Russia's economy is being hit and prospects for young people, and I pay a lot of attention to young people because I teach a course at Georgetown exactly on that, on the young Russian generation and I wonder, you know, what kind of a country will they inherit? What will happen to it under Putin?

WHITFIELD: Jill Dougherty, journalist, professor, and author. Thank you so much for being with us.

DOUGHERTY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, is there desperation inside the Democratic Party? A new in-depth look at the search for candidates who are capable of winning in 2026. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:41]

WHITFIELD: All right, Democrats may face their toughest Senate races in decades next year. The party is rushing to recruit candidates for three seats currently held by democrats who are retiring, and then Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff will have to defend his seat in a battleground state that President Trump flipped in 2024.

CNN's senior reporter, Isaac Dovere has new reporting on the uphill battle Democrats could face.

ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Hi, Fred.

Well, Democrats panic over what they stand for and whether they can credibly compete beyond the blue states is already erupting in the rush to recruit Senate candidates across the country for next year. It is a desperate effort to dig out from years of losses that have them far from power at a moment when they need it most.

Will Democrats indeed compete everywhere in 2026? Will leaders allocate money even in tough races, or consolidate conservatively around their best bets? How will they handle what could be candidates ranging from being aligned with Bernie Sanders to occasionally voting with Donald Trump?

In new reporting up on cnn.com, I got into all of these questions on how they are playing out against the toughest set of Senate races Democrats have faced in decades.

On its face, the Senate map does not look great, but if this is a wave election, Democrats can compete in places they normally cant, said Jaime Harrison, who before his recently completed term as Democratic National Committee Chair, ran for Senate in South Carolina in 2020. He told me this week: "The goal has to be recruit a Democrat for every damn seat."

But as Democrats need to defend seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire, netting the four seats they need to get to the majority would mean competing hard in states that haven't been great for the party in years. Places like Alaska, South Carolina, even Mississippi and Kentucky. Will they be able to?

The elections aren't until next November, but already in April 2025, that's what Democratic leaders are in a rush to start figuring out.

Back to you -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Isaac Dovere thank you so much.

All right, straight ahead: Phones, laptops, security cameras, most of our technology is made from elements called rare earths and I am sure you can figure out what country has cornered that market. CNN takes you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:25]

WHITFIELD: Smartphones, LED lights, electric vehicles -- they are just some of the technologies playing a growing part of our daily lives, but without rare earth minerals, they'd be impossible to make. That's why there is growing concern in the U.S. government, because China dominates the world's mining and refining of these critical components, and Beijing is using that advantage to throw a wrench into President Trump's trade war.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more from Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a computer mall in Hong Kong. It sells everything from security cameras to desktop computers and phones. And almost all of this technology is made with critically important elements called rare earths.

THOMAS KRUEMMER, EDITOR, RARE EARTH OBSERVER: Everything I can switch on and off would not really work without rare earth.

WATSON (voice over): Take a smartphone, for example.

WATSON: Rare earths are part of essential components in a standard iPhone. They're in the microphone, which is this tiny piece here. They're also in the motor that vibrates the phone when you get a phone call.

WATSON (voice over): And guess which country has cornered the market on rare earths -- China. According to the International Energy Agency, China refines more than 90 percent of the world's rare earths.

On April 4th, after the Trump administration began piling tariffs on Chinese goods, Beijing announced export controls on seven of 17 rare earth materials, saying the measures are needed "to safeguard National Security and interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation".

GRACELIN BASKARAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: China's export controls on April 4th were retaliation at one of America's greatest vulnerabilities.

WATSON (voice over): Rare earths aren't just used in consumer technology. The Pentagon says around 900 pounds of the stuff are used in the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. In 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office warned Chinese rare earths were being used in Abrams tanks and U.S. Navy ships. BASKARAN: So we are entirely beholden to China. I mean, they're weaponizing it in a trade war is what is happening, right? So we are using tariffs, they are using minerals.

WATSON (voice over): In this executive order this week, President Trump wrote, U.S. dependence on China for rare earths and other critical materials "raises the potential for risks to National Security, defense readiness, price stability and economic prosperity and resilience."

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The U.S. has only one rare earth mine operating in California. Since 2020, the Pentagon invested more than $400 million trying to establish domestic rare earth supply chains. But experts say it will take years and huge investment for the U.S. to catch up with China's rare earth monopoly.

In the meantime --

JIM KENNEDY, PRESIDENT, THREE CONSULTING: If China literally cuts you off, you've got six months of inventory and you just turn the lights out and go home.

WATSON (voice over): Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, Pope Francis made a crowd pleasing appearance before Easter worshipers today at the Vatican. We will have a closer look at what it could mean for his recovery.

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