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More U.S. Troops Arrive In Middle East Amid War With Iran; Pakistan Says It is Prepared To Host Potential U.S.-Iran Talks; Trump Orders TSA Workers Be Paid Regardless Of Shutdown; NASA Prepares For A Return To The Moon; Skies Turn Blood Red In Western Australia Ahead Of Tropical Cyclone; Israeli Military Suspends Battalion Involved In Detaining CNN Crew In The West Bank; Man Arrested By ICE Agents One Day After 40-Year Murder Conviction Is Overturned. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 29, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:59]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York. Jessica Dean has the night off.

We're following the latest developments out of the Middle East on day 30 of the war with Iran. Tonight, the Israeli military says it's carrying out strikes on targets in Tehran, as officials from four other countries in the region meet to try and find ways to de-escalate the war. And Pakistan says it's prepared to host and facilitate potential talks between the United States and Iran in coming days.

Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker accused the United States of secretly planning a ground invasion, and his comments come as more U.S. troops arrive in the Middle East.

I want to bring in CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook.

So, Julia, what more are we learning about this? What are we hearing from the White House here?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Donald Trump is on his way back to Washington now, but he spent his weekend here in Florida, and he spent at least part of every weekend at one of his properties here since those first joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, the beginning of Operation Epic Fury. And now, one month in, there are still a lot of questions about how and when this could come to an end.

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff did say that he is hopeful that there could be talks with the Iranians this week, and that he believes that the president wants to make a peace deal. That was echoed in a statement by White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, who said that the president's first instinct is diplomacy. But she also left open the option for this to go on much longer.

I want to pull up part of that statement for you now. In it, she said in part, "Now that the regime's ballistic missile capacity and navy is getting annihilated by the United States, they are begging to make a deal. The president is willing to listen. But if they fail to accept the reality of the current moment, they will be hit harder than ever before."

Now, Trump has repeatedly said that he thinks that this conflict is going to end very soon. He said something the other day along the lines of it's pretty much over, it's not over, but it's pretty much over. So again, each of these comments just really highlighting some of the uncertainty. In recent days he's really tried not to be pinned down to a specific time frame when it comes to bringing it to an end.

And then the big topic right now is the potential of ground troops. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he said that he believes the administration can accomplish its objectives without putting American troops on the ground. But when it comes to all those service members heading to the Middle East, he acknowledged that and said that the president needs to be prepared for all contingencies -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Julia Benbrook, appreciate the reporting.

I want to get out to the region now with CNN chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance, who has more on this story, including Pakistan offering to host talks between the United States and Iran.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This comes after four countries met in Pakistan earlier today, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, along with Pakistan. And, you know, Pakistan, latest foreign minister saying, look, you know, we've agreed to host talks between the United States and Iran in the days ahead, although it's not clear, we haven't heard from either the U.S. or Tehran about whether delegates from those countries are going to be attending any kind of talks like that.

I can tell you there's a great deal of skepticism here in the Gulf region about the possibility of negotiations right now because the negotiating positions of the two sides are so far apart. The United States has put out a 15-point plan calling for basically Iran to stop all nuclear activity, to limit its missile technology, that kind of things.

And Iran has put out a much more, you know, completely contradictory five-point plan to bring the war to an end, basically calling for reparations from the United States, and, you know, saying that it wants all American bases in the region, for instance, dismantled.

[19:05:04]

And so they're sort of equally unlikely to find any common ground. There's also this sort of new fear in the region that because U.S. troops have started to arrive in the Gulf region over the past day, it's an opportunity for ground operations by the United States to begin. And so there's a real fear that something like that, that kind of escalation could happen in the hours or the days ahead -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Matthew Chance, appreciate the reporting.

Joining me now is global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw. Michael is the founder of World Briefing on Substack and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Michael, I just want to start with these potential talks that Pakistan

says it's ready to facilitate. Even if both sides agree to talks, do you see either side willing to compromise anytime soon? And if so, where?

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good to be with you again, Omar. I don't see the Iranians giving in at all. This is an existential fight for them as it is very much for the Ukrainians in their war against Russia. And these are folks who, again, like Russia, are willing to sacrifice their own people, sacrifice a heck of a lot, even tight alliances with allies in the region to survive.

So it's good actually. I think that the Pakistanis and other intermediaries that the Iranians have a little bit of trust in are in the middle rather than the United States. I think more will get done. And I think the Gulf allies are well-attuned to what Iran wants, what it wants to listen to. But I think at the end of the day, Omar, it's going to be President Trump who decides. He has no ideology. I think he understands very little about that dynamic.

So hopefully there will be enough pressure by allies that he respects to make some sort of deal with Iran because, as your previous guests have outlined, the world economy is on thin ICE right now, especially those oil prices.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And, you know, look, there are more U.S. troops having arrived in the region now. And there are a lot of different possibilities, obviously, about what that could signal. But I just wonder for you, what does that tell you about where this conflict could be headed here?

BOCIURKIW: Yes. Well, if you, look, I'm in Asia right now. And when you start taking that missile systems and other kit from allies like South Korea, leaving South Korea, Taiwan, more exposed to the region, to me that only signals one thing, that the United States is going to go in in one shape or form, and it looks like to that area, Iran's area bordering the Straits of Hormuz, because we're also looking now with the addition of the Houthi rebels threatening additional shipping lanes.

The U.S. has to take some kind of action. But I think if it does, it will be very bloody. It will mean, sadly, deaths of troops on the ground, a lot of damage to U.S. infrastructure. And let's not forget as well, Omar, that Iran has some very powerful allies helping them. Russia for example. Verified information, Russia giving targeting information, satellite imagery to Iran to strike U.S. facilities in the region, while at the same time the Trump administration is lifting sanctions on Russia.

This kind of geopolitical minefield that we are in is very difficult to figure out, but all signs are not pointing to a very good outcome at the moment.

JIMENEZ: Well, and I wanted to ask about that because, for example, this week you had Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sort of essentially marketing their anti-drone capabilities that they've learned really the hard way through the war with Russia. Russia has traditionally backed Iran in conflicts prior to this, also in intelligence sharing, as you just shared there as well, while Russia also fights sort of this proxy war with Ukraine, but also really with NATO and the West as well.

And so I just wonder, what do you see as sort of the most significant interconnected web between these two wars at the moment?

BOCIURKIW: Sure. Well, a couple of things here. One is, yes, I mean, it's extraordinary, is it not, Omar, that about a year or so ago, Mr. Zelenskyy was sitting with Mr. Trump in the White House and being told that he doesn't have any cards to play with? Well, right now he has a pretty full deck to play with, especially going to the Gulf region. And this is at a time of war in his own country, going there and offering cooperation, defense agreements, knowledge sharing and even co-production of drones.

And let's not forget, the whole origin of this problem here is that the Iranians have been given the time, the latitude, the bandwidth to manufacture these very, very high-tech drones that are not only now being shipped to Russia to pummel Ukraine, but also pummeling Gulf States and pummeling U.S. infrastructure. So anything Ukraine can do to share its knowledge and tech over more than four years of war is fantastic.

At the same time, I think that Mr. Zelenskyy should not be naive, that he should put pressure on the Gulf States to at least temporarily pull out the rug from the Russians in places like Dubai, where they're the top buyers of real estate, their Russian yachts parked there.

[19:10:16]

A lot of Russian tourists say enough is enough. Until you stop the war in Ukraine, you're not welcome anymore. And you know, in a way, the Gulf States are paying a price because they've been turning a blind eye to that big pipeline of drones coming from Iran to Russia. They knew it was happening, but they did nothing about it.

JIMENEZ: It's fascinating, you know, in this context, sort of the interconnectedness of the economies. We didn't even get to talk about, you know, Russian oil exports and kind of how that factors into the global market as well. But I got to leave it there.

Michael Bociurkiw, really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for being here.

BOCIURKIW: You bet. My pleasure. Thank you.

JIMENEZ: We're keeping track of wait times at airports across the country as the partial government shutdown drags on. We'll have a look inside Ronald Reagan airport in Washington as TSA workers hope to get their first paycheck in weeks. Plus, with so many TSA workers calling out or quitting altogether, ICE is now helping at those security checkpoints. We'll have a former acting ICE director join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:15:55]

JIMENEZ: With the partial government shutdown now in its 44th day, there is still no DHS funding deal in sight. Airport wait times have shown some signs of easing on this busy weekend travel day, but the Trump administration says that TSA workers could get paychecks as early as tomorrow under the president's executive order to fund the employees.

As of this point, hundreds of TSA agents have already quit, and on Saturday, more than 2800 TSA officers, that's a little more than 10 percent of workers nationwide, called out, according to DHS.

CNN's Camila DeChalus has the details from Reagan Washington National Airport.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, here at this airport, we're not seeing that many disruptions. The lines are going relatively quickly. Not that many disruptions like we've seen at airports across the country. But I've spoken to some TSA workers here about the news that the Trump administration is going to pay them in the upcoming days, and there's been a bit of a mixed reaction.

Some have said that they're really relieved to hear this news just given the fact that this partial government shutdown has spanned weeks and they've gone without pay despite showing up every day at their jobs at these airports, while others say that they're really frustrated that this partial government shutdown has continued this long. We're on day 44 of this partial government shutdown.

And even though some are relieved that they're now finally going to start getting their backpay, they have this big question that is, what about the other federal employees working at other agencies under DHS that are still going to go without pay, especially given everything that's going on on Capitol Hill?

As you know, there's a bit of a stalemate where you have the House, they passed their bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security for eight weeks. It included money for immigration enforcement and Border Patrol, whereas the Senate passed their bipartisan bill that included money for funding the DHS but excluded money for immigration enforcement and Border Patrol.

And that's really the stark difference here. And what I'm hearing from a lot of TSA workers is, when is this realistically going to end? They know better than anyone just how much this partial government shutdown impacts people, both emotionally and also financially. And the fact that this is going to continue and leave thousands of other federal employees under DHS still in that precarious situation where they don't know when they're finally going to receive pay is really to them they're saying that this is disappointing, that lawmakers on Capitol Hill just really don't feel the gravity and the full extent of what this partial government shutdown is doing to so many people's lives.

And as we reported at this point in time, more than 500 TSA workers have quit because of this partial government shutdown. And it really begs this question of how many other federal employees from other agencies are going to follow similar suit and do the same thing because this partial government shutdown is continuing.

JIMENEZ: All right, Camila DeChalus, appreciate the reporting.

I want to talk more about this with former ICE acting director John Sandweg, who joins us now. He's also the former acting general counsel for DHS.

So, John, ICE agents, they've been at major airports for a week now. Do you think it's helped?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, ICE: You know, Omar, I think it's probably had a little bit of an impact. But as we've seen, it hasn't done much to really reduce these lines. The bottom line is what the TSA officers do behind those identification checkpoints is too skilled, requires too much training for you to flood a bunch of ICE agents in. So I think, look, I think the deployment has had an impact, but unfortunately not nearly significant enough to reduce those lines.

JIMENEZ: You know, I think some found it interesting when it was ICE agents in particular that would be the ones to be deployed. I mean, obviously towards the beginning of the Trump administration and even to start this year, ICE agents were more associated with some of the increased immigration enforcement crackdowns that we're seeing in places like Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and other places as well.

What do you say to the people that are questioning or potentially feel unsafe if ICE is even in these airports to begin with?

SANDWEG: You know, I think that's really an unfortunate byproduct of how I think ICE was misused, was kind of turned into a political football with the deployments, especially under Secretary Noem and the deployments in Minneapolis.

[19:20:02]

Look, I think there's an operational basis to say, OK, ICE, let's put ICE there. These are law enforcement officers. ICE does maintain a presence in the airport. But of course, it's really hard to look at this deployment when you recognize that operationally, and as we've seen, ICE is just not going to be able to do much of that screening that's going to reduce the lines that are going to be terribly impactful.

So it's hard to look at this as, you know, as anything other than an effort to put a little bit of pressure on Congress. And I think the president, you know, to be fair, has been pretty upfront about that, right? Saying that part of the reason he wanted ICE to be at the airports was to put a little bit of pressure on Congress to try to make a deal.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, when you see the presence of these agents here, we're showing some of them on screen walking through Hartsfield- Jackson International in Atlanta, does their presence at airports take agents away from other critical duties they would be doing instead in any significant way? I mean, how do you assess sort of the amount of workforce that is needed to pull this off?

SANDWEG: Yes, that's the rub here, right? I mean, so you have two different operations within ICE, right? Homeland Security investigations, which are criminal special agents investigating a wide array of crimes that impact national security and public safety. And then you have, you know, enforcement and removal operations, ERO, the guys who do the immigration enforcement. But absolutely, when you have ERO officers in the airport, when you have HSI agents kind of doing those patrolling or providing that visible presence, walking around, you know, checking out the lines or just being seen as a security measure, they're not out there making those investigations, right?

They're not out there catching that individual who wants to export microchips to Iran that could be used in guided missiles. They're not out there getting a criminal alien off the street. And so I think the people need to understand there is a cost to this, and the cost is just that. They're not advancing their priorities that really do impact our national security and public safety.

JIMENEZ: You know, the shutdown doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon, especially we're in a two-week recess for Congress at this point. And even though TSA agents are expected to get a paycheck tomorrow, though the long-term prognosis is still unclear at this point, how long do you think ICE agents realistically will be able to be deployed to airports? How long do you think they'll be there?

SANDWEG: Well, I think, look, I imagine they can do two more weeks, right? Until Congress gets together for it to pass a deal. Of course, long term then you start seeing, as I mentioned, these guys are working on sensitive criminal investigations that are ongoing. When you have to spend a good chunk of your week, let's say, you know, working in that airport, not advancing that investigation, there was a point pretty quickly where that starts to have an impact on the investigation.

On the enforcement and removal side, it comes a point where you start having -- you start having staffing crises over at ICE, where you can't get an agent over to say to the local prison to pick up someone who's undocumented, who's about to be released following a felony conviction. So I think two weeks, we can probably manage that. But as it relates to the impact on ICE, you get longer than that.

It's going to be, you know, start hurting the operations. Of course, look, you go another two weeks without paying a lot of people at DHS who are hardworking, who are coming to work every day doing their job protecting this country. Obviously, that impact is even more significant than the one on ICE.

JIMENEZ: Yes. You know, we've spoken to many TSA officers who are trying to figure out, doing all sorts of things to make ends meet, but also some of those civilian employees in the Coast Guard as well. So plenty of work for Congress to be done as ICE continues to make these appearances.

For now, I appreciate your appearance, John Sandweg, on this program. Thanks for being here.

SANDWEG: Yes, thanks.

JIMENEZ: All right. Let's get you a live look at the launching pad as NASA prepares to return toward the moon for the first time since Apollo 17.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:04]

JIMENEZ: Wednesday night, NASA could take its first steps to return to the moon. This is launch pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Artemis II is preparing for the first crewed mission to the moon or toward the moon, I should say, in nearly 54 years. As I mentioned, the crew will orbit the moon, potentially going farther away from earth than any other humans in history.

Artemis II's mission, to test life support systems and check everything out before astronauts actually return to the surface of the moon, which is expected sometime in early 2028.

Earlier tonight, I talked to Leroy Chiao. He's the former International Space Station commander, and I asked him what part of the mission excites him the most. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION COMMANDER: I'm very excited about the four of them getting to go, number one. But as you pointed out, the first time in nearly 54 years that humans have traveled into the vicinity of the moon, pretty cool. They're going to set a record for the humans that have traveled farthest from the earth, and they're going to be in a free return trajectory, which means the moon's gravity is going to pull them back around once they swing past it and direct them back to earth.

As you pointed out, also, the main purpose of the mission is to check out the Orion spacecraft and, you know, put some mileage on the SLS rocket as well as validate the heat shield. After three years ago, after Artemis I, there was some significant damage to the heat shield. NASA engineers and contractors believe they have their arms around it. So we're looking forward to a good flight test.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, I think a lot of people are looking at the preparations being made for this test flight and for what it's really previewing, which is eventually going back to the moon itself. Why has it taken more than 50 years to go back to the moon?

CHIAO: We basically won the space race with the Soviet Union by landing humans on the moon. The Soviets never even got there. They managed to get a rover there and send back a sample, which was significant, but for different reasons they never did get humans on the moon. And so now China has just a few years ago publicly, very publicly announced their intention to land their own astronauts on the moon by 2030, and hence kind of the impetus to try to get back there first, even though we've done that before, you know, 55 to 56 years ago, you know, thereabouts. But you know, it's important that we kind of establish a foothold on the moon, establish a moon base, and set us up to go to Mars, send humans to Mars, which is the next big goal.

[19:30:32]

JIMENEZ: Artemis II's mission is going to last ten days and the capsule will travel 600,000 miles around the moon and back home.

Meanwhile, people in Western Australia are in for a massive cleanup after Tropical Cyclone Narelle swept through the area.

Ahead of the storm, the weather system stirred up dust storms that painted the skies this ominous, bright red. This is not a filter that we are showing. This is exactly what it looked like. And some say you could taste the dust in your mouth, describing the scene as apocalyptic.

And here the United States, a pattern change is coming. A low-pressure system will bring rain to the northern tier of the country tonight before pushing eastward Monday and Tuesday.

That means by Wednesday, states in the Midwest and Southeast could see several inches of rainfall, and some states in the west could also get some much-needed snow.

All right, still to come, for us, a violent encounter between Israeli soldiers, a group of Palestinians, and our own CNN team covering an incursion in the occupied West Bank. We'll take a closer look at what happened and how the IDF is now responding, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: what are you doing?

We're journalists. What are you doing?

DIAMOND (voice over): A soldier has just put photojournalist, Cyril Theophilus in a chokehold, forcing him into the ground.

Don't touch him like that. Don't touch him like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:36:27]

JIMENEZ: New tonight, the Israeli military is suspending a reserve battalion that detained a CNN crew in the West Bank just 48 hours after our report of the incident first aired.

Now, our CNN team has been covering a new wave of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the story, and we want to warn you. His report includes images you may find disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (voice over): Seventy-five-year-old Abdullah Daraghmeh moans in pain. His breathing is labored, his face bloodied, bruised and swollen, bones broken. His family and multiple eyewitnesses say Israeli settlers stormed into his home in the middle of the night and beat him to a pulp.

In his West Bank village of Tayasir, those same settlers have now established an outpost considered illegal even under Israeli law. Soldiers standing idly by until something else draws their attention.

Producer Abeer Salman identifies us as journalists before translating the soldier's commands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down.

DIAMOND (on camera): So, the soldiers just immediately came up and started pointing their weapons directly at us, telling everyone to sit down immediately. Obviously, we're not posing any threat here.

DIAMOND (voice over): The commander comes straight for our camera and within seconds. A soldier has just put photojournalist Cyril Theophilus in a chokehold, forcing him to the ground.

Don't touch him like that, don't touch him like that. Give me my phone.

DIAMOND (voice over): The soldier who assaulted Theophilus continues to demand he turn off his camera before another smacks my phone.

DIAMOND (on camera): So, as you can see, what we have seen happen in the last 24 hours is that settlers came to this area. They settled that hilltop, and now you have a lot of soldiers coming to this area with the Palestinians in this area.

They're on top of the home of Emad, the man that we were just speaking to. And we're seeing the soldiers treat the Palestinians in the area as a threat when really what started this problem was obviously the settlers who came in the middle of the night and took over land that's not theirs.

DIAMOND (voice over): The Palestinians here are detained and questioned. Soldiers detain us too, and walk us back to our vehicle. They say they're trying to establish order between settlers and Palestinians. But as the cameras keep rolling, it becomes clear these soldiers are here in service of the settler movement.

(IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: We are here because this is our place.

DIAMOND: Is this your village?

(IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.) TRANSLATION: The land is ours.

DIAMOND: So, all the West Bank is yours?

(IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Of course, and not just for the soldiers, for the Jews.

DIAMOND: They also say it's personal. These soldiers tell me they were friends with the 18-year-old settler, who authorities say was killed last week by a Palestinian driver. Palestinians dispute that account.

(IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: If you have a brother and they kill him, what would you have done?

DIAMOND: So that's revenge?

(IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Revenge.

DIAMOND: You're talking about revenge. But you're a soldier, is this normal to carry out revenge? As a soldier?

(IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Listen, at the end of the day, if the state doesn't address what they did those who murdered the youth, the matter last week, remember? What do you expect us to do?

DIAMOND (on camera): So we are currently detained by the Israeli military. They told us to sit in our cars and wait. As you can see, one of them is right here and you know, what's really quite striking is the fact that so many of these soldiers are clearly manifesting the same kind of settler ideology.

This soldier, Mehr, makes that crystal clear.

DIAMOND: They don't have permission to be here even under Israel. Even under Israel law this isn't a legal settlement.

(MEHR, IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: That's right. But it will be a legal settlement.

DIAMOND: Ah, it will be. How to you know this?

(MEHR, IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Slowly, slowly.

DIAMOND: Thanks for your help, right?

(MEHR, IDF SOLDIER speaking in foreign language.) TRANSLATION: Of course, I help my people.

[19:40:38]

DIAMOND (voice over): Mehr, is describing the settler playbook, the role Israeli soldiers often play in propping it up. The Israeli military did not respond to CNN's questions about soldiers conduct in the West Bank, including our detention.

Amid the war with Iran, those efforts are intensifying, with at least four outposts established this week alone, land often taken with the blood of Palestinians.

(SAMI DARAGHMEH speaking in foreign language.)

DIAMOND: "I didn't expect this." Del Asan (ph) says, "This is not normal".

DIAMOND (on camera): So, just as we're visiting one patient in the hospital from a settler attack, we've just learned that there have been multiple other settler attacks in the area and one of the patients is at the same hospital.

DIAMOND (voice over): Twenty-nine-year-old Saqer Salman says a scuffle broke out after settlers came onto his land, and one of them clubbed him in the back of the head.

When soldiers arrived, he says, they arrested him and beat him with the butt of their guns.

SAKER SALMA speaking in foreign language.)

DIAMOND (voice over): "The soldiers are a protection for the settlers. I would tell the soldiers that they stole my sheep and they would say that I'm lying and that I'm the one who attacked them. And every time I try to say something, the soldiers would beat me."

"The settlers," he says, "always go free".

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tayasir, West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that reporting.

Now, after this report first aired, the Israeli military told CNN the actions and behaviors of the soldiers in the incident are incompatible with what is expected of IDF soldiers operating in the Judea and Samaria area. The military said the incident will be thoroughly reviewed but did not respond to CNN's questions about the settler outpost featured in this report or the increase of settler violence in the West Bank.

All right, still ahead for us, a man's 40-year conviction for murder is overturned. He was going to be a free man but tonight he's in federal custody, fighting a decades' old deportation order. We'll talk to his lawyer next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:15]

JIMENEZ: After spending 40 years in prison for murder, Subramanyam Vedam's conviction was overturned in a Pennsylvania court last October. But instead of walking out of prison, a free man, Vedam, who came to America as an infant was detained by ICE agents on a decades' old deportation order just one day after his charges were dropped. So, now he sits in federal custody.

Tuesday, a judge could decide whether or not he can be released.

I want to bring in his attorney, Ava Benach, who joins us now. So, Ava, let's just start with what do you expect in next week's hearing? Could his deportation order be thrown out?

AVA BENACH, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY, BENACH PITNEY REILLY LLP: Yes, he could be granted relief from deportation. The hearing is about whether, given all the circumstances, given the fact that he was exonerated of a murder he didn't commit, the fact that he spent 40 years in prison for that murder, the fact that he came here as an infant, that he has a whole family network, that he achieved remarkable things in prison outweigh the fact that in the early 80's he also got convictions for some petty drug offenses.

JIMENEZ: Yes, and so while the murder charge was dropped here, he still does have a related drug charge that has not been overturned. And DHS argues that is why he should still be deported. What is your response to that?

BENACH: Well, certainly it is a deportable offense, but Congress provided relief for people where people get an opportunity to go in front of an immigration judge and have the judge weigh those factors against everything else. The judge gets to decide whether the person has, should be deported because those offenses are bad and those outweigh the good, or whether a person should be entitled to remain in the United States because all the other factors in the individual's life outweigh those bad equities.

JIMENEZ: You know, your client has been in prison for decades over the murder conviction that has been overturned and the charges dropped. But before being released, as we said, he was transferred to ICE custody.

As I understand, a few days ago, you were sitting with Subu, as he's known. As he awaits sort of this hearing. How is he responding to sort of this latest legal battle and this latest potential hearing that that could end in him being released?

BENACH: Well, Subu is nothing if not extraordinarily patient, extraordinarily patient, and sort of understanding that processes take time. And, they don't always feel very fair.

He's someone who, understands patience more than anything. And I believe he, feels good about this. He feels strong because he has dedicated his life to being a positive to force for good since he went in 1982. And since then, he has helped hundreds of people, inmates receive GED's. He has taught trainers to teach GED classes. He has received a master's degree while in there, he actually organized a runathon for Boys and Girls Clubs of the of the United States.

[19:50:46]

He was a part of the Education Department. He earned a, a journeyman certificate in offset lithography, which is basically printing. He's done remarkable things, while in prison things that, might not be expected of somebody condemned to life in prison for a crime they didn't commit.

JIMENEZ: Yes, you know, his family comes from India, but they, but they've lived in the United States for a long time. His parents are now deceased, but does he have any connection to India currently?

BENACH: No, very extended distant relatives. What he has in the United States is a sister who has always supported his claim that he did not commit this murder. He has four nieces through her and is very close to them, has they have grown up with him, they know him. He has an extended network of cousins, uncles, aunts, he has friends, he has met people through his charitable activities in the prison. He has former prisoners who say, Subu helped me, Subu helped me get my degree. Subu helped me reconcile what I had to do.

So, he doesn't have anybody in India, and he has a world of support in the United States.

JIMENEZ: We will see what happens with this major hearing coming up this week. In his case. Ava Benach, I really appreciate you taking the time, thanks for being here.

BENACH: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course. Now, when asked about this case, the Department 0f Homeland security has previously said, quote, "having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE's enforcement of the federal immigration law, quoting them saying, "if you break the law, you will face the consequences".

We'll see what happens again with this hearing coming up this week.

Meanwhile, this comes as Republican Markwayne Mullin is taking over as the new Secretary of Homeland Security. He's promised a new direction, but tough enforcement of immigration laws is still a priority for President Trump.

That enforcement began last summer in Los Angeles with those so-called roving patrols. And American citizen Cory Lopez Alvarado got caught up in of them with her boyfriend. I got a chance to hear some of her stories as part of my special report on the administration's immigration crackdown airing tonight on "The Whole Story." Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORY LOPEZ ALVARADO, AMERICAN CITIZEN: I turned, I looked at him and he looked at me, and we both knew it wasn't going to end well. That's when I started tearing up.

ICE OFFICER: Move your hand away.

LOPEZ ALVARADO: No.

ICE OFFICER: Move, move. Listen --

LOPEZ ALVARADO: Sir.

ICE OFFICER: Ma'am stop, stop resisting.

LOPEZ ALVARADO: At that moment, I felt everything had stopped and it was just me and him.

JIMENEZ: Did you realize that that was going to be the last time you saw him in person?

LOPEZ ALVARADO: Yes.

JIMENEZ (voice over): Before Los Angeles, typical immigration roundups were done by. Targeting and pre-planning the arrests.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you!

JIMENEZ (voice over): These roving patrol style operations seemed more random. Stopping people waiting for work at Home Depot parking lots, for example.

In Lopez Alvarado's case, she was pulled off the vehicle and detained. Her boyfriend was detained too, but separately. A DHS spokesperson says Lopez Alvarado was taken into custody because she was obstructing.

LOPEZ ALVARADO: It was from almost 3:30 to 11:00, almost 12:00 in the morning. The whole time, like hugging my stomach, checking if my baby was kicking. She was nine months pregnant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And her boyfriend was later deported. You're not going to want to miss this. My special report on "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper. "Immigration Crackdown: A Year of Enforcement" airs next. Just a few minutes, 8:00 P.M. Eastern. But for now, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:59:22]

JIMENEZ: From 68 teams, we are down to the Final Four in the men's college basketball tournament. The Michigan Men played. Tennessee turned a close game into really a blowout. The Wolverines used a 21- nothing run in the first half to take control and win. They really looked unbelievable throughout this tournament.

They'll face Arizona, another team that's looked unbelievable and Indianapolis, and then UConn had a dramatic late comeback moments ago to beat Duke. It was happening while the show was going on. I was trying not to pay attention, but I saw it. The video is unbelievable. I'm sure you saw it coming over here, but this is going to be your Final Four, not Duke against Illinois. It will be UConn against Illinois.

And then on the women's side, UConn, again, UConn's having a great year on both sides, making the Final Four, staying undefeated, beating Notre Dame today. While UCLA beat Duke. Tough day for Duke on that side of things. The last two spots on the women's side will be determined tomorrow.

And thank you all for joining me tonight. I'm Omar Jimenez. Jessica Dean will be back here he's again next weekend. But my special report on "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper "Immigration Crackdown: A Year of Enforcement" is next, good night.

[20:00:21]