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Thousands Of "No Kings" Protests Held Across All 50 States; Trump Warns U.S. "Not Finished" Yet In Iran; Iran-Backed Houthis Enter War; Nationwide No Kings Protests Against Trump Underway; Migrants Deported To El Salvador Suing Trump Admin; Tiger Woods Released From Florida Jail After DUI Arrest Cras. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 28, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

SHERRILL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was arrested in 2017 for a DUI and was cited for careless driving in 2009.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I feel so badly he's got some difficulty. There was an accident and that's all I know. Very close friend of mine. He's an amazing person, amazing man. But some difficulty.

HUBBARD: This incident comes less than a month before what could be his 27th Masters, where the now 50-year-old was speculated to be on par for a comeback.

I'm Sherrill Hubbard reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JIMENEZ: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. If you've been here welcome back. If you're just getting here, welcome in. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York. Jessica Dean has the night off.

We're going to start this hour with more from the nationwide rallies happening today and tonight. Several massive demonstrations against President Donald Trump's policies underway across the country. You see what some of the images have looked like over the course of today. This is the third No Kings rally day since President Trump returned to the White House.

More than 3,000 rallies taking place, set to at least, in major cities, suburbs and small towns as well, with protesters taking to the streets to speak out against policies like the war with Iran and the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdowns.

Here's what some of the protesters had to say earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democracy is under a threat. It's that simple. It's absolutely tragic what's happening in this country and around the world. And I just want my voice to be heard with other people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something really great about being with millions of other people who feel the way you do and don't want to lay down for what's happening in this country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though this is about solidarity and it's about protesting what we're frustrated about, it's also feels like a celebration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And we've been covering this story from all angles with reporters on the ground in several cities. I want to bring in one of those reporters. The turnout for these protests is expected to reach into the millions.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is in L.A. for us.

So, Julia, still early there, but what are you seeing right now?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it started to move. We started to see this crowd move, Omar. And it's a little unwieldy. There are some more dense and some less dense spots here in this crowd. But it is a quite significant amount of people. You know, we were here last year in the same march. It does feel like this is very big. And again it's what we've seen in these other cities, these other reporters that we've been checking in with.

It's young and old, and there's little kids and there's babies and strollers. There's dogs, there's dogs in strollers as well. It is a very family friendly atmosphere. And this is something that organizers had made a priority. And that is why it leans a little bit into the silliness.

Now, we spoke to one of these protesters who showed up in a costume.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Seattle when ICE came, there were like 10 guys that bought this frog costume and faced off with police. The frog, the inflatable frog has become like a symbol of the resistance. But also I'm like completely anonymous in here. Like I feel invincible. It's my first time wearing it, so.

JONES: It's your first time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Wearing this costume.

JONES: Yes, but it's not your first time at these protests.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

JONES: You were here in the march in --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes. I've been here all times. I've been --

JONES: What is the reaction when you, you know, meet people? When you run into people, what's their reaction when they see you in this costume?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh, we just got here and I've already had like 10 people ask if they could take a selfie with me. And I'm more than happy to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And that kind of silliness, Omar, they said that they're leaning into that silliness to disarm people, to make this less of a serious endeavor. It is voicing their opinion and their disagreement with so many of the policies of the administration. But at the same time, these are folks who don't want to be combative in expressing those views and expressing those points. They are trying to bring people in via a little bit of humor, a little bit of that lightness, and trying to have a welcoming environment for everyone.

JIMENEZ: And as you've been talking, I mean, people of all ages have been walking behind you there on what seems like some nice weather out in Los Angeles.

Julia Vargas Jones, stay safe out there. Thank you for the reporting as always.

I want to bring in Ezra Levin. He's co-founder of the Indivisible Project, the group behind today's No Kings rallies.

And Ezra, I just want to start by getting your reaction to what we've seen today in all of these cities. How do today's protests compare to the previous two No Kings rallies?

EZRA LEVIN, CO-FOUNDER, INDIVISIBLE PROJECT: Well, Omar, first of all, I've got to say I am not the sole organizer of this, even Indivisible which I'm very proud of is not.

JIMENEZ: Sure. Yes.

[19:05:05]

LEVIN: This is a big project. Lots of national organizations, including labor, civil rights, folks like 50501 and MoveOn and others, and most importantly, this is led by people on the ground. There are 3,300 protests in the world today, Omar. others, and most importantly, this is led by people on the ground. There are 3300 protests in the world today, Omar. That's on every single continent. They are folks protesting against monarchical rule.

And I think if you go out to those protests, what you see are two things. You see courage and you see joy. Courage and joy. Both of those things at the same time because it takes courage to stand up and exercise your rights at a time of constitutional crisis, at a time when those rights are under threat by a would-be authoritarian. And you don't build a mass movement without joy. That is key. So I think the things that we were just seeing on the ground there are real and they're replicated in communities all over the country.

That is intentional. This is intended to be a place for everybody to come and exercise their rights as Americans in a patriotic and safe way.

JIMENEZ: You know, and what's interesting is that even over the course of the previous two No Kings rallies, obviously the events of whatever is happening around then have sort of shaped the messages that people have showed up to protest. Obviously, one that has evolved has been the increased immigration enforcement, the war with Iran since the previous one.

You know, you were recently talking to Tim Miller of "The Bulwark," and you said you're looking to engage 3.5 percent or so of the population. Can you just tell me about that number and what it means in the United States, especially compared to the turnout last October?

LEVIN: Sure. So the 3.5 percent figure comes from anti-authoritarian researchers, experts, Erica Chenoweth, Maria Stephan and others. And what they found looking around the world is they asked how many people during a time of authoritarian breakthrough, how many people in that country need to engage in anti-authoritarian organizing on the ground? And the number they came up with is not 50 percent of the entire country's population.

Actually, it's only about 3.5 percent. Now, that's not just 3.5 percent showing up on one day. It is 3.5 percent showing up in an organized, consistent manner. In the U.S. context, that's 11 million to 12 million people. And what that actually looks like on the ground is more or less what we saw in the Twin Cities as Donald Trump was trying to use his secret police force to put his boot down on that entire city.

And in many of the communities in the Twin Cities, we saw 4 percent or 5 percent of entire neighborhoods on a single WhatsApp chain communicating, coordinating in order to help their neighbors who are under threat by this force. I think we're going to need to see that level of organizing at the breadth that we're seeing for No Kings protests right now.

Like I said, 3300 protests on one day. The last one, which at the time was the largest protest in American history, had 2700 protesters. We're growing. We're getting stronger. We're exhibiting a lot of joy, and we're demonstrating a lot of power.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, one of the things, you know, I was talking about earlier, since the last No Kings protest things have sort of shifted in terms of the types of specific policies that people are protesting against, even if the wider message has sort of stayed the same. But, you know, one of the interesting things is we've also seen some of these protests in the small towns, as opposed to some of the major cities like a hot spot, like the Twin Cities in Minnesota, for example. What do you see as the significance of people organizing in smaller

and rural communities?

LEVIN: Oh, gosh, it's so near and dear to my heart. I grew up in rural Texas, outside of Buda City limits, and there was a protest right down the street in Kyle, Texas. I think it great -- Twin Cities and have Bruce Springsteen out there rearing up the crowd, have double the number of folks out in the Twin Cities than we did for the last No Kings protest. That's great. But it's not enough just to organize in blue cities. It's not enough just to organize in blue states. These aren't protests that are built for Kamala Harris voters or for Democrats. These are patriotic protests. And if you believe, if the folks who are organizing right now believe that this is indeed not politics as usual, this is an authoritarian threat, we can't just organize the same people.

We can't just organize in the same places. We need to be in the rural communities. We need to be in the red communities. And if you don't organize there, you're not going to find a way to pull people in. So it is very intentional. We recommended heading into these protests. If you go to the No Kings map and there's not a No Kings protest within 30 minutes, an hour or an hour of where you live, we recommended people start your own, pull in your community because the day of protest, that's important.

Today, incredible. It was powerful. It was joyful. But today is one day and you don't save democracy on one day. The real measure of success of no kings three is going to be in how many people get plugged into their local community. And the way that happens is by neighbors meeting neighbors, figuring out how to have some impact, and then moving forward together. So that is crucial to what (INAUDIBLE).

[19:10:04]

JIMENEZ: Yes. Didn't mean to cut you off there, but I was just going to say that, you know, there are some that might be looking at these protests, you know, it's the third one now. And between the second one and this one, despite the anger against President Trump and the administration, they still went through with hardline policies around immigration enforcement, the war in Iran as well, to be particular there.

So some might say, hey, look, we protested, but these things still happened. So how do you take a movement like No Kings and actually shift that momentum to the ballot box, where of course the American citizens have the greatest ability to affect change?

LEVIN: Look, one of the things we see when we would look at authoritarians all over the world is what they do very effectively is they make you feel bad on a daily basis. They do damage that you cannot prevent. That's because they have accumulated a lot of power. But the real test of whether an anti-authoritarian pro-democracy movement is successful is whether that regime is less popular than it was before. The pro-democracy movement is stronger than it was before. And we're innovating tactically as we move forward. What I would say about where Donald Trump is now versus when the No

Kings protests start, his approval ratings are in the toilet. His congressional majority is fracturing, and he's headed towards a midterm election wipeout. And he knows it. And he's doing what any authoritarian would do, as the walls are closing in, he lashes out. So that's why we see him menacing Venezuela and Cuba and Greenland. Thats why he's starting an illegal and unconstitutional war with Iran, and that's why he's using his secret police force to try to menace Americans exercising their First Amendment rights.

I wish I could tell you, Omar, that we've got this solved. It's all going to get better from here. I can't guarantee that. In fact, I think as the walls close in, it's going to get worse. But that's why we need more people organizing, exercising their first amendment rights and building community together.

JIMENEZ: Well, we've been seeing these protests, and certainly on a day like today, people were out on the streets in full force.

Ezra Levin, appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for being here.

LEVIN: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Still to come mixed messaging coming from the White House as the war with Iran stretches into a fifth week. Were live from West Palm Beach as the president declares the war is not over despite already claiming victory multiple times.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:02]

JIMENEZ: Now let's get you to the Middle East, where the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen announced they had launched missiles toward sensitive military sites in Israel, marking really the group's entry into the war. At least -- meanwhile, I should say, at least 10 U.S. service members have been reported injured after an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia. Also today, U.S. Central Command announced that 3500 sailors and Marines have arrived in the Middle East.

I want to bring in CNN's Julia Benbrook, who's in West Palm Beach, Florida, for us following President Trump this weekend.

So, Julia, what are you learning about these latest developments here?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been four weeks now, Omar, since those first joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, the beginning of Operation Epic Fury. And President Donald Trump, he monitored those first strikes at his Mar-a-Lago estate here in Florida. He's back here again for the weekend. But there are still a lot of questions as this conflict drags on. How will it end? When will it end? And we've heard a number of different predictions from the president.

He has repeatedly said that it will come to an end very soon. He's also said four to six weeks at different points. We're into that now. And then most recently, he's really avoided being tied to a specific date for the end of this.

Before he traveled here, he did have a stop in Miami. This was for a Saudi-based investment conference. I did have the chance to attend that and hear his remarks in person. And during that time, he touted the work that his administration has done so far. But he also did emphasize that this isn't over yet. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have another 3,554 targets left, and that will be done pretty quickly. It's not finished yet. I'm not saying -- it's sort of finished, but it's not finished. It's got to be finished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So he said it's not finished. It's sort of finished, but it's not finished. Trump also said that the Iranians are begging to make a deal right now. Some of the other featured speakers at that conference included Trumps' son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well as Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who of course played a crucial role here. They led multiple rounds of talks prior to those first strikes, and Witkoff did say that he's hopeful that there will be some conversations this week.

Now, another big topic that came up, the Strait of Hormuz, that critical waterway. Trump did refer to it jokingly as the Strait of Trump. This is where 20 percent of the world's oil typically passes through. That has been at a near complete halt. But he has demanded that that waterway fully reopen, or that the United States would obliterate Iran's power plants. He had set a date. He then pushed that for another 10 days. It sets at April 6th right now.

JIMENEZ: And you know, Julia, there's new polling out this week that shows a majority of Americans, at least those polled, oppose sending ground troops to Iran. Has the White House responded to that in any way?

[19:20:07]

BENBROOK: Well, this is one key area to pay attention to because so far most Republican lawmakers specifically have at least publicly supported Trump's efforts here. But many of them are urging him to bring this fight to an end soon and to avoid at all costs, troops on the ground. So I want to pull up that polling to look at the details of it for you.

This recent poll found that just 12 percent said that they favor the possibility. 26 percent said they oppose it, and 26 percent said that they had no opinion on the matter. Now, on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he said that he believes the Trump administration can achieve its objectives here without boots on the ground. As for the service members headed to the Middle East, he said the president needs to prepare for all contingencies.

JIMENEZ: Julia Benbrook, appreciate the reporting as always.

Let's talk more about this with CNN military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz, who joins us now. He's the former U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

So I just want to start with how has the Iran-backed Houthis joining the fight changed the dynamics of the war, if at all, in your view?

LT. GEN. MARK SCHWARTZ (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good afternoon, Omar. Well, I think it's certainly increased the complexity of what, you know, the conflict is played out thus far. As you recall, the Houthis were very effective early on in denying maritime commerce through the Bab El-Mandeb up into the Red Sea. And now that they've entered into this conflict with the launches of missiles against Israel, its highly probable, and I'm sure CENTCOM is planning for this, that they may also try to contest maritime shipping once again in the Bab El-Mandeb and going into the Red Sea.

So now we'll have two potential maritime chokepoints that U.S. Central Command and ideally, you know, additional partners and allies like we saw with Operation Prosperity Guardian to reopen and resecure the Bab El-Mandeb, you know, a couple of years ago when that initiative started.

JIMENEZ: You know, many of Iran's proxy groups were heavily diminished before this war began. And, you know, Hezbollah, one of them, of course, over in Lebanon. But here with the Houthis out of out of Yemen, how much of a threat realistically are the Houthis here?

SCHWARTZ: Well, I don't have a, you know, an accurate estimate in terms of how many more anti-ship ballistic missiles that the Houthis still have. They certainly have a stockpile of those. And if you recall, back in March of 2025, I believe, U.S. CENTCOM conducted a significant air campaign against the Houthis and that resulted in them suspending their attacks against Israel primarily, and also out into the Bab El-Mandeb.

But I, you know, I would assess there's still a significant capability there. And the fact that, you know, they're willing to reengage and take that risk tells me that, you know, they probably have a lot more opportunities or not opportunities, but capability in their stockpile to threaten both Israel as well as threaten, you know, out there into the Gulf.

JIMENEZ: Yes. You know, separate from the Houthis, at least 10 U.S. service members were wounded in an Iranian attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Every place really housing Americans is a target at this point.

How much protection do the Gulf State allies or allies in the region? How much are they actually able to provide for Americans that might be operating at those bases? Or who at the very least we've seen to be targets?

SCHWARTZ: Well, they've been fairly effective since the outset, you know, of the war. And the numbers that CENTCOM continues to brief is in excess of 90 percent of ballistic missile and drone strikes have been reduced as a result, primarily, you know, the targeting that's taken place on Iran proper, but also the effectiveness based on the introduction of interceptor drones by Ukraine as well as the national capabilities of the Gulf States and those that the United States has brought in to, you know, to protect its own assets, like the aircraft that you mentioned.

But, you know, the fact that Iran is still able to get their ballistic missiles through, some of their drones through as well, particularly concerning are the ballistic missiles that we've seen fired into Israel that have the cluster bomb munitions because that adds a level of complexity for those to be shot down, given that they disperse. And, you know, there's a multitude of them coming off one warhead.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, just before we go, I just want to ask, because Kuwait and Bahrain are warning of incoming missiles, as we understand at this point.

[19:25:03]

But at what point in your mind, if any, do you think the Gulf States should respond along with what we've seen from the United States and Israel?

SCHWARTZ: Well, we've seen -- we've already seen the United Arab Emirates respond with the employment of their attack aviation going, you know, basically going after fast boats and other craft inside of the Persian Gulf. But I think what I've seen over the course of this conflict, you know, four weeks into it now, the resolve is very strong. And the fact that new defense agreements have been signed with Ukraine for their, you know, their counter-drone technology that they've employed in support of providing them potentially Patriot missiles that some of the Gulf States already have and are using to defend themselves.

I'm not seeing any indication that there's any wavering by any of the Gulf States right now. And potentially we could see -- I think if you see civilian infrastructure inside of one of the Gulf States significantly hit or energy infrastructure, you could see more offensive actions, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes. We will see monitoring day by day, hour by hour.

General Mark Schwartz, really appreciate the time and insight. Thanks for being here.

SCHWARTZ: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Still ahead, Americans taking to the streets all across the United States. We're live with a look at the demonstrations in Los Angeles, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:51]

JIMENEZ: Thousands of No Kings protests are happening across the country and here's a live look at demonstrators.

In the streets in Los Angeles. We're seeing a similar scene in West Palm Beach, Florida, as well, where President Trump has been spending the weekend. You see some of the demonstrators here where they were out earlier today. They were seen holding signs saying, "no more war".

And they joined millions of others protesting against President Trump's policies. Let's head back to Los Angeles, where tens of thousands are expected to attend No Kings rallies before the day is done.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has been in the middle of all of it. What have you been seeing today?

JONES: Look, Omar, it's now feeling very much like a party. They have been marching for a little while now, at least half an hour or 45 minutes or so. And I can see already just about 100 to 200 yards from here the building of Los Angeles City Hall.

So, we are getting close to the end of this march already. The focus of this, aside from the whole royal idea of No Kings, we have seen a lot of no kings, yes queens talking about drag queens around here. We've seen a lot of silliness. We've seen a lot of costumes.

We're seeing a lot of people coming out in this leading into the silliness and the funny bone of it all, trying to bring a little bit of lightness to what are very serious issues.

We are continuing to see issues of concerns over the spending on the war in Iran, concerns over in Los Angeles, particularly on immigration and immigration actions here, as well as just the general idea of being opposed to Donald Trump. Epstein files have come up.

So, we are seeing all of this kind of like sewn together in this one big party that has remained quite peaceful, that has remained very upbeat now getting close to an end here in Los Angeles, on this is a very hot day, as you pointed out earlier -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes, I can see that, Julia Vargas Jones in L.A. for us as she's been all day, appreciate it.

All right, we've got more news coming up. Many of those protesters say they're unhappy with the war in Iran and its impact on their wallets.

We'll dive into how the President's latest poll numbers are not looking good for Republicans ahead of the Midterms.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:53] JIMENEZ: We've been covering the No Kings rallies taking place across the country. You see some of the images we've been seeing on your screen there as well. Huge marches winding their way through major cities.

But this comes as CNN's Poll of Polls puts President Trump's approval rating at just 38 percent. I want to bring in CNN's senior political analyst and "Bloomberg" opinion columnist, Ron Brownstein, who's with us now.

So, Ron, I just wonder, what's your reaction to the No Kings rallies today? Obviously, the third of its kind that we've seen since President Trump took office, again. Do you believe they actually make a difference?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN'S SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I do, and I think you can make the same point about the approval rating that you noted and the No Kings rallies.

You know, Omar, the last time the President's approval rating was this low, really the only time in his first term was right after the Charlottesville riot. That was August of 2017. That was about, what, 15 to 16 months away from the election. This time he is hitting this low point, only about seven months away from the election.

You can say the same thing about No Kings. I mean, it started in June of 2025. We were still 17, 18 months away from election day. But here we are seven months away and the rallies are only getting bigger, which is a measure of the intensity of the opposition that he is facing.

And, you know, one thing that is very striking in that poll, in all the polls that you're citing there is that virtually all voters who disapprove of Trump disapprove of him strongly and historically, somewhere around 95 percent of voters who strongly disapprove of a President vote for the other party's candidates in House and Senate election.

And that, I think, is the threat for Republicans. I think this is another indication that there is a very mobilized opposition, not only against Trump in general, but against many of the specific things that he is doing from the Medicaid and ACA cuts to the war in Iran, to obviously, ICE, which was in many ways why the these No Kings rallies, I think, were so turbocharged this time to begin with.

JIMENEZ: You know, we've been watching the 2026 conservative political action conference, CPAC taking place this weekend. I want to play you a moment from Friday with the CPAC chairman.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

[19:40:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW SCHLAPP, CPAC CHAIRMAN: How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?

AUDIENCE: (Cheering.)

SCHLAPP: No, that was the wrong answer. I am sorry about that.

How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?

No! Can someone bring some coffee out?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So, look, obviously it could just be some tough crowd work there, some misunderstanding, but do you see any -- does this further signal any sort of confusion and discourse within the Republican Party to you?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, Trump is still the dominant figure in the Republican Party. He still has overwhelming support among rank-and-file Republican voters. But it is not as overwhelming as it was when he returned to office.

I mean, even the Fox News poll just a couple of days ago, aquarter of Republicans said they opposed the military action in Iran, and 30 percent said they disapproved of his handling of the war that's higher than in other polls.

But you're now consistently seeing somewhere between one-sixth to one- quarter of Republicans, depending on the questions, and one-sixth to one-quarter of Trump 2024 voters disapproving of various aspects of this second term, including his overall job performance.

So, you know, it's not necessarily that a lot of those voters are going to come out in November and vote for Democrats, it's that the contrast between that kind of splintering and the intensity you are seeing reflected in these No Kings rallies could mean a differential turnout problem for Republicans, because some of those Republican voters who are negative on the war in Iran are negative on the tariffs.

They may be less likely to show up and I think if you saw probably north of seven million people show up today for these rallies, they're probably going to be there in November.

JIMENEZ: You know, also at the conference, there was a straw poll of the attendees who put Vice President J.D. Vance at the top of picks for the 2028 nominee. But one thing that was interesting about that is, yes, his support went down a little from the 61 percent last year to 53 percent this year. But it really is that Marco Rubio, who really did not have much of a registering in that poll, surging to second place with 35 percent this time around. What do you think this says about the party and how its shifted over this past year?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, that's really the headline number here, right? Not shocking that the sitting Vice President of a Republican President who still has 80 percent roughly approval in the party, would lead in a straw poll about who should succeed him. But for Marco Rubio to get up to 35 percent, you know, given that he was what, I think, they said three, a year ago and that his 2016 presidential run wasn't exactly bathed in laurels. That is striking.

Look, in the end, I think if Donald Trump endorses someone in 2028 to succeed him, assuming he follows the constitution and leaves office, that person is going to be very, very hard to beat in a Republican Party primary.

But, you know, there is kind of an extended audition going on. I mean, you know, Trump enjoys that and for Rubio to be able to show this kind of strength in this straw poll, I think, you know, it's just a data point that Trump has to consider as he decides when and or if he is going to put his hand on someone's shoulder for the 2028 Primary.

JIMENEZ: And the Secretary of State at the center of a lot of what we've seen from this administration, from Venezuela to Iran to Cuba and beyond.

Ron Brownstein, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Omar.

JIMENEZ: And quick programming note tonight, journalist, Kara Swisher and comedian Nish Kumar help the "Have I Got News for You" crew unpack this week's headlines airs tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern, only on CNN and then streaming the next day on the CNN app. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:48:27]

JIMENEZ: More than a year into the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, we're starting to get a sense of how much it spent on removing migrants from the United States. And it wasn't just deportation flights to their home countries. Many of them were instead sent to countries hundreds of miles, oceans apart from their home countries, places like Palau and Eswatini and Africa, for example.

A recent report from the Democratic Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee estimates the Trump administration spent more than $30 million to send migrants to countries other than their own, and in a few instances, paying more than a million dollars a person.

One of those destinations happened to be a notorious mega prison in El Salvador, which took in the most migrants around 250 deportees for a grant payment of more than $4.7 million.

The Trump administration claims those migrants had ties to a criminal organization in South America called Tren de Aragua, but their family members and lawyers disagree. And now a group of those migrants has filed a petition against El Salvador alleging deeply troubling conditions at the prison while they were held there, including abuse and torture.

Joining us now is the lawyer who's representing those migrants, Ian Kysel. He's also an Associate Clinical Professor Of Law at Cornell University. So, can you just tell us the stories you've heard from these migrants? And what can this petition actually do?

IAN KYSEL, ASSOCIATE CLINICAL PROFESSOR OF LAW, CORNELL LAW SCHOOL: Thanks so much, Omar. Happy to help spread the story of this case and underscore the really tragic harms, the shocking stories that we've heard from our clients.

So, as soon as these migrants arrived at CECOT the beatings began, they were labeled terrorists, held incommunicado. The prison director told some of our clients that the only way out was in a black bag. But the torture and ill treatment included, you know, kicks, cuffs to the head, the use of rubber bullets, prolonged stress positions. And for those who objected, they were taken to a part of the prison, called the island and subjected to worst harms there.

Along with our lawsuit, we've submitted clinical evaluations that were arranged by independent physicians with the group, Physicians for Human Rights, and they documented that the harms that our clients described are consistent with the symptoms that they show now.

Many of them have symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression disorder, and some have lingering physical and mental harms like scarring and the like.

[19:50:55]

JIMENEZ: And I should say, we haven't --

KYSEL: Oh, sorry.

JIMENEZ: Yes, I was just going to say, I should say, we haven't seen a response from El Salvador's government to some of the specific allegations you've put out to this point. But one of the things they've defended more broadly, their use of CECOT as a way to sort of further public safety, and just what I was going to ask was, so with this particular petition, what means do you sort of have to push back on the government to try and hold that particular government accountable here?

KYSEL: Yeah, so, we filed this petition in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the human rights body, and the organization for American States that El Salvador and other countries in the region have established to review their human rights record. And ultimately, if they find, consistent with our allegations, they can refer them to the Inter-American Court.

Both of the bodies can make recommendations of monetary damages and other actions that the government has to take. And we've asked for a range of things like orders making clear that the men were illegally detained, that this kind of an agreement can't be enforced without basic rights protections guaranteed and those kinds of things.

And the process will take a long time. Ultimately, El Salvador will be forced to respond to the allegations. But in the end, we're trying to support our clients, survivors of this, these terrible abuses to seek justice for what happened to them and to establish that this was a situation where the U.S. was acting as principal, El Salvador was acting as agent, but that El Salvador is accountable for the acts that it took in the context of this bilateral agreement.

JIMENEZ: And why El Salvador, as opposed to the United States in terms of filing a petition against them?

KYSEL: Well, certainly, you know, there's still a possibility that we could bring a petition at the Inter-American Commission against the United States. The rules of procedure only allow one state at a time. But in this instance, you know, the survivor's testimony is so shocking that we first wanted to bring allegations against the government that, you know, that had them in their prison, because the commission can refer them to the Inter-American Court.

JIMENEZ: Yes, you know, I also want to ask you about this because you're also representing a group of migrants who were deported to Africa, and they were deported to some pretty small countries, Eswatini, for example. What happened to those migrants? And where does their legal case currently stand here?

KYSEL: In many ways, it's a very similar story. You know, it fits into this broader mass deportation campaign and the use of, you know, payment and coercion to get different governments around the world to hold migrants. Our clients were sent in July of 2025 to Eswatini. That's the case that were currently litigating and were immediately taken to a maximum-security prison there, Mustafa Correctional Center, many of them are still there eight months on and even earlier this month, the government was in their Supreme Court arguing that the men have absolutely no right to meet with an Eswatini lawyer to learn about their rights or take action in Eswatini courts.

So, we're asking a similar body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, created by states in that region to review human rights records and their compliance with basic human rights guarantees and bringing, you know, a range of, of fundamental rights allegations, including that, you know, the fact that there's been no process, no access to courts and no basic protections is just inconsistent with fundamental rights and due process.

JIMENEZ: Ian Kysel, appreciate you being here and laying out the allegations in your case. Thank you for taking the time.

KYSEL: Thank you Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, and then tomorrow night you can tune in for my special report on the Trump administration's immigration crackdown on "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, airs tomorrow night at 8:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN. We'll be right back.

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[19:59:28]

JIMENEZ: All right, here are some other top stories we are following. Golf great Tiger Woods out of jail and facing a DUI charge after crashing and rolling his car in Martin County, Florida yesterday. He was able to climb out after it flipped onto its side. Woods wasn't injured in the crash, but authorities say Woods was cooperative when tested for a DUI.

Also though, said he was trying not to incriminate himself. He is now charged with suspicion of driving under the influence, property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.

And experts warn the unprecedented heat wave that has been torching the West could set the stage for a potentially perilous wildfire season. The heat has already shattered monthly high temperature records and caused snow to virtually vanish from the mountains. Even high-altitude forests are expected to dry out earlier, creating extreme fire conditions during the warm season.

All right, everybody, thanks for joining me this evening. We've been taking you around the country showing you some of these real protests. I'm Omar Jimenez, "Real Time with Bill Maher" is up next. See you again tomorrow night at 5:00 P.M. Eastern.

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