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Laura Coates Live
Gaza Truce Shatters as Israel Resumes Strikes Against Hamas; Judge Scolds Trump Admin Over Deportation Orders; NASA Begins Process of Returning Astronauts Home; Democrats in Crisis as Popularity Hits New Low; Investigation Still Underway for Missing Student. Aired 11p- 12a ET
Aired March 17, 2025 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates. Breaking tonight, the ceasefire in Gaza appears to be over. Israel is now carrying out -- quote -- "extensive strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing Hamas of repeatedly refusing to release hostages and says the strikes will continue as long as necessary. Video obtained by CNN from the ground in Gaza shows at least one of the strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(AIR STRIKES)
COATES: The Palestinian Red Crescent says at least 86 people have been killed and dozens injured. More -- new video shows a man running through the street holding a baby as ambulances rush to the hospital around him. The White House confirming the Trump administration was consulted on these strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight. And as President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel but also the United States of America will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, what's going on?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, nearly two months after the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect, it is, for all intents and purposes, very much over as Israel carries out a massive aerial bombardment across the Gaza Strip from north to south.
And what we are seeing so far is a death toll that is rapidly rising and certainly includes a number of civilians. At least 86 people have been killed so far, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. More than 134 people have been injured, but you can expect (INAUDIBLE) continue to rise. And indeed, among the dead and the injured, we are seeing a number of children emerging from the rubble, being taken to hospitals.
The Israeli government says that it decided to carry out these strikes following Hamas's refusal to agree to new conditions in order to release more hostages and extend the ceasefire in Gaza.
We know that Hamas has said that it is willing to engage in negotiations to end the war in Gaza and reach phase two of the ceasefire agreement that both Israel and Hamas reached. But instead, the Israeli government has made clear, in conjunction with the Trump administration in recent weeks, that it was only interested in getting more hostages out without agreeing to an end of the war or the withdrawal of all Israeli troops, at least, for the time being.
And so, Israel now carrying out this heavy aerial bombardment of Gaza and making very clear that it is likely going to escalate the situation further. An Israeli official telling me that the Israeli military will continue its attacks -- quote -- "as long as necessary and will expand beyond air strikes." Presumably, that could mean ground troops, Israeli ground forces going back into major population centers inside the Gaza Strip, something that we have not seen, of course, for two months now.
So, we will watch as this situation continues. Hamas, for its part, saying that Israel has decided to unilaterally end this ceasefire, calling for an emergency session of the United Nations to address this breakdown of the ceasefire. And in the meantime, that death toll, as I said, Laura, continuing to rise.
COATES: Jeremy Diamond, please keep us apprised of all that is happening. Thank you so much.
I want to bring in former State Department Middle East negotiator, Aaron David Miller. Aaron, the White House said that Israel gave them the heads up, and it seems like President Trump didn't object. Does any of this surprise you?
AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: No. Actually, not, Laura. Thanks for having me. Look, I think this was not only a consultation, I think this was part of a broader alignment of -- between Trump and Netanyahu. I think the notion of a negotiated second phase where all the hostages, living and dead, would be released in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the end of the war, I think that was, frankly, a bridge way too far for either side to accept.
[23:05:00]
I think the Trump administration, the president himself has essentially exceeded to the prime minister to make his own choice with respect to the tactics in Gaza. And I think the prime minister -- the most charitable interpretation of this is that maybe the Israelis believe that additional pressure on Hamas now will release more hostages.
But I think in many respects, the -- the Israelis are making a virtue out of necessity because I think Prime Minister Netanyahu had no intention, neither did Hamas, I might add, of negotiating the second phase of this agreement. And now, we're not just sliding, we're rapidly moving back to what will be a full-scale resumption of Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
COATES: Aaron, I mean, obviously, it has been negotiated in part as these phases when Biden was still in office. Are you suggesting that there was never going to be going into a second phase at all, or did something happen such that this would fail at this point?
MILLER: Well, I think -- look, I think this was -- this was a week by week proposition. That's why they negotiated. Three-phase deal was literally done in weekly increments with the release of hostages. I think no one negotiated that. No Biden administration official, I think, really believed or hopes that the second phase of this negotiation will be completed and in effect is really to withdraw, Hamas would release all the hostages.
The interesting wrinkle here though also, Laura, is that the president has now basically said to the Houthis that if, in fact, they resume their strikes against commercial shipping or American naval targets, which they have, that he's going to hold Iran responsible. So, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Houthis are going to open up again. I think they were preparing to do that, which is why the administration preemptively stopped them.
And it'll be interesting to see that if, in fact, they do resume in an aggressive way, whether the president makes good on his threat to hold Iran responsible by directly attacking Iranian assets in the Gulf or Iran directly.
COATES: Well, at the very least, I mean, his previously -- President Trump was speaking about he has previously warned Hamas to release the hostages. I think the phrase was "or else, it's over for them." What now for Trump, given that this has happened?
MILLER: You know, it's interesting because you got two ceasefires now. Right? One that the president has claimed responsibility for brokering even though the Biden administration did most of the heavy lifting over the last year. That is the Israeli-Gaza ceasefire is now cratering, something that Donald Trump, like, claimed credit for.
And then you have the other ceasefire, the -- the more important one, I think, in the president's mind between Russia and Ukraine. And that one, I think, frankly, he's playing Putin's game. I think Putin will ultimately -- were down to Putin's credit. That one is -- is still a very long way away from -- from coming to fruition. So, it will be a couple of very interesting, intriguing weeks for the new administration as we go forward.
COATES: A lot to unpack and unfold. We'll keep everyone posted. Aaron David Miller, thank you so much.
President Trump, though, is facing another crisis tonight, this one on the legal front. And, you know, things have taken a serious turn when you've got a federal judge accusing the DOJ, do whatever it wants.
Trump administration is now in the middle of a fight that could have major implications for the scope of the president's executive power and, of course, what role federal courts would have in restraining him.
The administration is now going toe to toe with this judge, James Boasberg. He is the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. And tonight, he is demanding DOJ lawyers explain what happened when those deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members over the weekend took off. He wants to figure out whether the administration deliberately defied his order to turn those planes around.
It all came to a head on Saturday night during Trump's attempt to use a wartime law called the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. And in a tense court hearing this evening, he scolded the DOJ for not giving him more specifics. Now, the judge wants -- wants the times the planes took off, the times they landed, all by noon tomorrow.
But CNN has been able to piece it together through court records and flight tracking data. Now, the first deportation flight left Southern Texas at 5:26 p.m. A second flight left from the same location in Texas at 5:45 p.m. Around 6:45, the judge verbally told the DOJ lawyers that they needed to turn around any planes carrying people being deported under the Alien Enemies Act. About 40 later, at 7:26, the judge's written order was posted to the online federal docket system, and it did not include specific language about turning flights around.
[23:10:02]
Ten minutes later, the first flight arrived in Honduras on its way to El Salvador. A minute after that, at 7:37, a third flight left Southern Texas. The second flight landed in Honduras en route to El Salvador at 8:08. And the third flight touched down at 9:52.
El Salvador's president had camera crews waiting once the deportees arrived in his country. Now, none of the flights they were on got turned around. And just to illustrate the point, here's where the planes were at the time of the judge's verbal order. The third plane was actually sitting in Texas. It had not even departed yet.
And if you're wondering about where they were during the written order, take a look. The third plane was still in Texas, about 11 minutes away from taking off. Trump administration is claiming otherwise, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: All of the planes, subject to the written order of this judge, departed U.S. soil, U.S. territory before the judge's written order.
TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: By the time the other order came, the plane was already over international waters with a plane full of terrorists and significant public safety threats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Now, that sounds like some kind of legal justification even if the timeline is wrong. But the border czar, Tom Homan, also said today the judge's order is irrelevant, anyway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOMAN: We're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the left thinks. We're coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Other officials in the administration are going even further. Cue, Stephen Miller.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: The district court has no ability to, in any way, restrain the president's authorities under the Alien Enemies Act or its ability to conduct the foreign affairs of the United States. This judge violated the law. He violated the Constitution. He defied the system of government that we have in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Hmm. Now, if you read the tea leaves, that's the Trump administration saying it doesn't want district judges to be able to, perhaps, issue nationwide injunctions that were (INAUDIBLE) the president. It happened in Donald Trump first term 64 times, according to Harvard Law Review. And it's happening again now. And President Trump seems to be signaling that he's willing to take the issue all the way to the Supreme Court to stop it.
Joining me now, attorney for Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial, David Schoen, and former deputy assistant attorney general, Harry Litman. Glad to have both of you, guys, here.
David, let me begin with you here because the DOJ's lawyer is saying the judge had no authority over flights outside of U.S. airspace. Stephen Miller went further, insisting the district court judge had no authority to even restrain the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act. Period. What's your response?
DAVID SCHOEN, DONALD TRUMP'S DEFENSE LAWYER IN SECOND IMPEACHMENT TRIAL: Let's go to Stephen Miller's argument because it's the more extreme of the two. One might suggest that the reason the Trump administration used the Alien Enemies Act is because they're -- they would argue that there's some authority that -- it raises a political question, a non-justiciable political question. And there's some authority for that. There's a second circuit case called Padavan versus United States 1996.
The opposite scenario, New York senators challenged the federal government, the influx of immigrants into New York, and not paying their fair share. And, the court there said that Invasion Clause claims are nonjusticiable, Invasion Clause Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution.
My view, by the way, is that the more direct way for deportation occurred in this case, would have been another statute, 8 USC 1227, which makes deportable people who originally would have been inadmissible. The Trump administration called these folks a terrorist organization, TDA, Tren de Aragua, and therefore, they would have been deportable under 8 USC 1227. But there is judicial review under that.
So, a cynic might say that the Alien Enemies Act was used to avoid judicial review, and that's the position that Stephen Miller, I think, was reflecting there. That's their view in the case.
The Fifth Circuit has taken a similar position. At least five dissenting judges have taken a position that, number one, there's a legitimate claim of an invasion here or a predatory incursion, and they cite to a resolution by the U.S. House and some former senior FBI agents --
COATES: Right.
SCHOEN: -- and -- and other authority. Anyway, that's --
COATES: Well, let me -- I -- I -- I hear your argument on this. I want to just break it down for audience. It comes down to an issue, as David is describing, of due process. In one way, if it's the Alien Enemies Act, there is no real due process here, Harry. It's deportable. On the other hand, if it's through the other mechanisms, the person would be able to go before a judge or to make their case.
This, though, comes down to the use of the Alien Enemies Act.
[23:14:57]
And what they're trying to suggest is that the judge didn't have a viable order that they had to follow, that they didn't have to follow it because it wasn't either written in time or they believe they have so much weight as the executive branch over matters of foreign policy and people there. Does the Trump administration have a valid claim that their power and control over who comes in and out of the country would override due process?
HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: No. The short answer is if that's what you believe, Laura, you take that claim to the district court, you bring it up to the Court of Appeals, you bring it up to the Supreme Court.
What the Alien Enemies Act says is this must be not just an insurgent invasion, but one by a foreign country. That's obviously dubious at best and it's for a judge to determine. But he's not --
COATES: But Harry, one point --
LITMAN: -- even --
COATES: Harry, one point. Just for the audience. Trump has said that there has been an invasion into this country by gang members or people who are undocumented. But you're saying the actual text requires it to be a foreign nation, not necessarily the way he's describing it.
LITMAN: It's certainly that's exactly what the text says but even simpler, Laura. The constitutional rule of law requires you to serve that up to a court and then take your appeal if you like. As Mr. Schoen says, there's maybe a division of authority, see what the Supreme Court will say.
But what they did here and -- and notice that really what Boasberg wants to do today is just find out, did you violate my order on Saturday? The issue you're talking about, he will take up again next Friday at a hearing. He's has already issued a TRO. But he wants to know if they broke his order, if they simply flouted it. And what they said at the hearing today is, we didn't, but we can't and won't tell you why. And that's really nonsense. Imagine saying that in front of a district court. And what he said pretty calmly was, yes, you can and please do by tomorrow at noon. If you think it's classified, I hear classified information all the time. But if they are going to take some claim that an individual district court can't do it, now we're in for constitutional crisis because that is the way it works --
COATES: Well, normally --
LITMAN: -- in every case in the country.
COATES: Right. Normally, David, I mean, a judge would dress you down for trying to suggest that they can't be privy to all information. There are different ways, called in camera behind closed doors. I think this is a judge who is a part of a -- FISA court judge at that. So, he's certainly accustomed to this --
LITMAN: That's right.
COATES: -- information. But, David, on this point, though, we undoubtedly are going and we've heard from Stephen Miller and others that this judge or any one judge ought not to be able to have a nationwide injunction. This is actually not totally settled. And Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas have both almost invited this conversation to Supreme Court. Is this likely to go before the Supreme Court and have that question of whether what one judge can do impact the president?
SCHOEN: Well, there are several cases now with that -- that issue brewing, I think. And I would suppose that the Trump administration is looking for it to go to the Supreme Court. And it may well. But look, this is the kind of question that could also -- could also go there. That is the underlying question, of whether there's a nonjusticiable political question here. But it is accurate to say, as Mr. Litman did -- I mean, look, I -- I quoted from cases for you.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
SCHOEN: It is accurate to say that, generally, it is a court that decides whether a question is nonjusticiable political. By the way, I've been on the opposite side of this. I have argued in Zivotosky, an amicus brief that I filed, that these kinds of things aren't political -- exclusively political questions. But I lost that -- that battle.
Look, there are very interesting issues in this case. Again, I say in this case, the Khalil -- Khalil case and so on, the statute that I mentioned would have been the more direct way to go. They're clearly, in my view, deportable under those statutes. But it would require -- would permit judicial review without any question.
COATES: Yeah.
SCHOEN: You know, I think the country gets unsettled when we hear this kind of talk like no judge can hear this or I'm going to do whatever I want to do despite what a judge says. It's unsettling language. But there are real issues here. And as you said, President Trump said that this is a de facto government, TDA. And therefore, I have the inherent authority and so on. You might win that battle, but it'll be in a court.
COATES: He could --
LITMAN: Unrevealed --
COATES: It should -- it would be in the court --
LITMAN: -- is what he is saying.
COATES: Yeah. Well --
LITMAN: Anytime he waves a wand and says, national security, he can do whatever he wants. That -- that's the argument. At least the court needs to decide that. Don't you think?
COATES: Well, that's the tooth fairy argument. We'll see if there's any coercion to that pillow. Thank you, David Schoen, Harry Litman. Appreciate you both.
LITMAN: Thanks, David.
COATES: So, this story is also playing out in the court of public opinion where the law isn't necessarily applied. Here with me now, Chuck Rocha, Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders. Also here, Bryan Lanza, former Trump campaign senior adviser.
[23:20:02]
They're both smiling. They must have wonderful things to tell us today. I'll start with you, Chuck. Vice President J.D. Vance had a very simple political message around this that, well, ignores the law part of it. He says, Democrats fought to keep violent criminals here. Trump deported them. Is this the political hill narrative that Democrats might die on?
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR BERNIE SANDERS'S 2016 AND 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS: They could. There are two messages going on at the same time. Nothing in politics is simple.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
ROCHA: And if you're just talking about bad people that got deported, you're going to lose that argument every time in the general public because the general public wants to be safe. Democrats sometimes miss that.
COATES: They don't -- they don't want to hear the nuance --
ROCHA: Right.
COATES: Just want to hear either, or.
ROCHA: Absolutely. But when you win this argument, is you stack up all the evidence of him ignoring the courts, prove that he ignored the courts. And then he will do this again. He has done it before. And you lean on that part. Because there's part of America out there -- if you've got a Bryan Lanza poster at your house, you love this all day long. If you got a Chuck Rocha poster, you're like, oh, my God, the sky has fallen.
What you got to look at here is those folks in the middle who see this over time, who voted for Donald Trump for one reason, lower prices, whatever, but they were really a little bit uncomfortable with him. They're the ones who really going to have the political retribution here.
COATES: Those posters are available if you follow @thelauracoates.
(LAUGHTER)
I've got to figure out Mr. February, Mr. March. I don't know. I'll figure it all out. But Bryan, let me ask you, I want you to first listen to what Steve Bannon said about all -- all of this today.
BRYAN LANZA, FORMER DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR TRUMP-VANCE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Here we go.
COATES: Here we go. Listen.
(LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: They try to do their best. I think they got everybody who was a bad guy. But guess what? If there's some innocent gardeners in there, hey, tough break for a swell guy. That's where we stand. We're getting these criminals out of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Is that the right message?
LANZA: No. He's 100% wrong. I mean, Steve is a friend, and -- and I understand what they're doing, what they want to send. They want to do the tough image about the border that, you know, illegals aren't welcome here. They want to portray that image as broad as possible. But he's wrong. But you know what? Listen --
COATES: Why is he wrong?
LANZA: Well, he's -- he's wrong because, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we are a system of laws. And if somebody came here legally and -- and is -- is a taxpayer legally and has gone through the process, you know, they're safe. That's -- that's the rule. It's like you've crossed the finish line.
And for Steve Bannon to come back and say, oops, that -- that -- you know, as a Latino, that doesn't work for me. It just doesn't. It doesn't work for my community. I'm sure it doesn't work for a lot of other ethnic communities. But that said, you know, Steve Bannon is right in the sense that something needs to be done, you know, with these violent gang -- with these violent gang criminals who've invaded our country.
You know, the president has called them -- he has categorized them a terrorist organization. And the president has also said during the campaign he's going to do whatever means are possible to extract them and remove them so they stop killing Americans and terrorizing Americans.
I think that's a good thing. They clearly want to do it as fast as possible because what we learned over the day, the faster it goes, the cheaper it becomes. And, you know, we'll -- we'll -- they're -- they're -- they're going to -- the court is going to review it. I mean, that's what normal. Most presidents struggle with courts, especially a D.C. court. They think it always, you know, interferes with their agenda, and it gets settled on the Supreme Court.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
LANZA: This will get settled on the Supreme Court. We'll see.
COATES: Well, courts are supposed to, in a way, interfere if it means checks and balances being put on. That's, like, your larger point about the law and order aspect of things. But the collateral damage that Bannon seems to be describing, I'm putting word into his mouth to recognize, the collateral damage aspect is, so what if a couple of innocent people get thrown in? What did Democrats do with that?
ROCHA: I think you tell those stories.
LANZA: Yeah.
ROCHA: I think you tell those stories in front of a camera. The Republicans are really good at telling a story. When you saw those bad people get off the airplane, there was a camera in their face. They were shaving people's heads today. When we -- on our side, we would never do anything like that even for the good things that we do.
COATES: Why?
ROCHA: Because we are so scared of our own shadow as Democrats too many times. We're afraid that somebody will take something the wrong way, somebody will get offended. I think every congressman should go around and hand deliver every Social Security check that they'd give to every old person to go, this is your money, I'm making sure you're getting this money back, and I'm here to deliver it to you myself. We need to do more of that to remind people what Democrats stand for.
COATES: We'll have to see what happens. This is -- this is one where the idea of nuance and the black and white issues, Democrats, Republicans, well --
ROCHA: Get the impulsion before they sell out.
LANZA: Listen, it's going to be a powerful story if you have, you know, this type of collateral damage that Bannon speaks of. I mean, those are Americans. And so, it's going to be a powerful story, and that ultimately will hurt the Republicans in the midterms and it'll hurt President Trump's legacy. You know, the whole point is, you know, an executive can do things better. That's the expectation. This -- this doesn't feel better.
COATES: Well, I wonder if anyone has met those expectations. Bryan, Chuck, thanks both.
Still ahead, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, Democrats hit a new rock bottom with the party facing numbers they haven't seen in decades and with Senator Chuck Schumer facing some political uncertainty. So, what's the way out? Former DNC chair, Howard Dean, has some ideas. He's with us straight ahead.
And happening right now, we're keeping close eyes on the International Space Station as Butch and Suni are strapped in and getting ready to head home. Live coverage next.
[23:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: Butch and Suni are finally coming home. Those are the two NASA astronauts who were supposed to be in space for about eight days, but have now been there for 286 days. It's also known as nine months, by the way. You're looking at pictures of them in their first step in the journey.
Just moments ago, Butch and Suni hugging their fellow astronauts as they await the hatch to close on the SpaceX capsule carrying them back to Earth. The SpaceX Dragon appropriately named "Freedom." And in a little bit, the undocking from the International Space Station begins, and the astronauts will start their journey home. They are expected to splash down off the coast of Florida in about 18 hours.
Joining me now is Garrett Reisman. He's a former NASA astronaut who spent 95 days aboard the International Space Station. He's also the former director of space operations for SpaceX. Garrett, thank you for joining.
[23:30:00]
Walk us through the process. They're in the capsule, but the undocking hasn't actually started yet. So, what's going on right now?
GARRETT REISMAN, FORMER ASTRONAUT, NASA: That's right, Laura. So, they are in the capsule, and they have to get their suits on, and then they're going to do leak checks to make sure that their suits have good pressure integrity, that their -- the suits are not leaking. And once they verify that, then they could start going about closing the hatch and preparing for undocking.
Now, I think undocking is supposed to happen about 1:00 Eastern Time. So, we're still a while away before it actually physically separates from the ISS. But there's -- there's still a lot of work to be done between now and then. So, that's -- that's why we're seeing them in this state right now.
COATES: What's, by the way, that emotion that they must be feeling when that happened? They've been there for so long. They're trying to figure out if their suits are going to leak or not. This got to be an anxiety-producing moment for them, even for astronauts. Right?
REISMAN: It is. But it's also, for Butch and Suni, they're on either side there, they're not the pilot or the commander, so they're not really heavily involved in the operation of the vehicle. So, in the way, I think they're kind of relaxing and breathing a sigh of relief that they're finally at this point.
I remember when I was the long-term, long duration astronaut on the space station, and I was coming home on the space shuttle, we were departing and pulling away from the space station, I was so exhausted, I'd started falling asleep. One of my crewmates got me, like, oh, you don't want to miss this. I'm, like, I think I can miss this. I really want to get a nap.
(LAUGHTER)
COATES: That's me.
REISMAN: It's a -- it's kind of a -- it's kind of a -- you know, there's a lot of hurry up to get to this point, and then -- and then they could just kind of come down and enjoy it.
COATES: Well, they're going to have an 18-hour nap. Right? They're going to splash down somewhere off the coast of Florida. Not like soon, but tomorrow evening. So, why does this all take so long, by the way? And what -- what are the -- what will they experience on the way?
REISMAN: Well, you only got one shot at landing. Right? There's no going back down or going back up rather. So, you got to get it right. You have to be on the right course and the right heading. And so, the space station is going around the Earth and is doing what it's going to do. And then once you undock, then you could start moving the Dragon slowly into a different orbit that's going to line you up to come down in Florida. And so, you want to do that. First, you want to very carefully move away from the space station so there's no risk of, like, knocking into it on your way out. So, you're going to fly around it. And then, once you're at a safe distance, then you burn the engines and put yourself into a lower orbit that has -- that goes around the Earth faster and allows you to sequence and get to Florida, is what they're trying to do. It's a very complicated ballet. That's all driven by orbital mechanics. But it eventually will get them where they want to be, which is off the coast of Florida.
COATES: But then, once they're there, can you just tell me what -- what it does to the body, to have been in space for any period of time, let alone for what? Two hundred plus days in space. How long until the body readjust and you get your -- I guess, kind of -- I mean, non-sea legs?
REISMAN: Well, everybody is different. So, some people bounce back fast. I -- I actually bounce back really quickly. And I could tell you that anecdotally, short and kind of stocky people seem to do better. And I don't know why. It was the first time that -- yeah, there we go.
COATES: I could be an astronaut. I love it!
(LAUGHTER)
COATES: It's no tall people.
(LAUGHTER)
REISMAN: That's right. You -- it's the first time it really came in handy since, like, you know, limbo contest when I was 13. But --
(LAUGHTER)
-- but it was really -- but within, like, about three days, I was able to drive my car again. And sometimes, it takes up to about 30 days because your sense of balance is really messed with, in zero gravity. You go through a whole lot of physiological changes on the way up, and then you have to reverse it all on the way down. And, it can -- it can really get to you.
COATES: Wow! I mean, look, you can almost sign me up except for the thing about the orbital thing and all the checking of leaks. It's too much for me. But I'm so glad that you broke it all down. We're eager to get them home. I'm sure their families want them home. I'm sure they would like to be home. But man, it must be exciting to have been an astronaut for as long as they are in these moments. And we're also seeing some checks that are happening right now.
Garrett Reisman, thank you so much. Please be sure to tune in to CNN's live coverage of the return of the NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, starting at 1 a.m. East. A lot happening. Thank you so much.
Up next, Democrats are facing, well, gut punch after gut punch. And now, they're at a record-low in popularity. Where does the party go next? Howard Dean is my guest, and that's next.
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[23:35:00]
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HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Why are Democrats full of despair? All I have to say, Democrats, call your office. You know, we're at March Madness time. Terrible, terrible, terrible.
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COATES: CNN's data guru Harry Enten pulling no punches. Democrats are now more unpopular than ever. The party's favorability cratering to a record low in two new polls, numbers, frankly, not seen since the early 1990s. All on the heels of the party losing the shutdown fight. House Democrats are still enraged over Senator Chuck Schumer's retreat.
[23:40:01]
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REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): The idea that Chuck Schumer is the only one that's got a brain in the room and the only one that can think through all of the pros and cons is absolutely ridiculous. I think Senate Democrats have to sit down and take a look and decide whether or not Chuck Schumer is the one to lead in this moment.
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COATES: Joining me now, former Democratic governor of Vermont and former DNC chairman, Howard Dean. Governor, thank you for joining. You have been one of the people who has said that Leader Schumer made a mistake in supporting the GOP's funding bill. Why do you think that? And is Crockett right that it's time, perhaps, for him to pass the baton?
HOWARD DEAN, FORMER VERMONT GOVERNOR, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: Well, I'm not so sure about that. You know, Chuck is an extremely talented leader. The problem is he is exceptionally good at tactics. But his scope is the Senate and the House, it's not the country.
And where the Democrats have failed over the last couple of decades is we don't play in the states that we don't think we can win. And we don't even play very well in the states that we can win. We've got to be out knocking on every door. And I don't mean with four weeks to go before the campaign. I mean, to elect state representatives and city councilors and school board members. We're not doing that.
And the Republicans are doing that. Their obnoxious -- their message is obnoxious. They're the party that looks backward, but they're very good at conjuring up anger and hate.
And we're the party of the future, but you wouldn't know it because nobody knows who we are. We -- we lay -- leave that up to the Republicans.
COATES: Well, in terms of creating the narrative to define who you are, obviously, the political mistake to have anyone define you as a party. And yet the idea of the door knocking, in particular, it sounds like a kind of a listening tour for people to hear and air their grievances. Is that what you think the American voters want or is it tangible results?
DEAN: It's tangible results. And we've actually provided results. All those jobs that are being created in the red states were -- were created by Joe Biden. And that's just a fact. And his reputation has been tarnished by Trump's ridiculousness. But it -- it has worked.
I'm not talking about we're spreading the message. That's not why I want to knock on doors. I want to knock on doors so people can win elections. There's a group called "Run for Something" that does this right. I'm sure there are many others. And they recruit young people to run for office. And they knock on doors and introduce themselves.
When the brand of the Democratic Party is defined by Donald Trump's noxious and untrue ads, we're in trouble. When the brands of the Democratic Party is the message by the person that you taught in school or the son of your next door neighbor now running for the legislature, that changes brands.
COATES: So, why have Democrats left it up to, say, Trump or the Republicans to define them? Is it because they're being reactive as opposed to proactively getting their identity across and how?
DEAN: It's long, complicated answer. I'll be brief. Being inside the Beltway is like going to middle school. Smart, hardworking, and it's all about them all the time. And we've trained the donors so that it's all about inside the Beltway all the time.
I told the president, well, when I saw senator so and so, that's not -- I know that's the glamour and that's where the big donation goes. And the Democrats can raise plenty of money.
The problem is where the real action is, and where we're failing is city council, is state board of education, is local board of education. We're not competing. And we have to -- as a party, we have to compete. We don't have to synthesize our measures.
Look, there are other things about the message. We should be talking to working class people about what they are worried about. I don't think we need to throw minorities underneath the bus and -- or sexual minorities underneath the bus. But I do think we need to focus on kitchen table issues.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
DEAN: We're going to have our chance. Trump is making a mess of the economy. I'm not terrified. But the Democrats have got to change their game, and we haven't changed it in 20 years.
And we also pay much -- too much attention to the damn consultants in Washington. They've made it -- made their living for 30 years, giving us the same advice. It's ridiculous. They make their money on television. We shouldn't be on television. We ought to be all over the web, and we ought to hire 20-year-olds and 25-year-olds to get us there.
COATES: Well, one of the youngest members of Congress, especially when she first came in, was Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She was heralded as somebody who was synonymous with the future of the Democratic Party. A new poll shows that she narrowly leads a group of Democrats on which political leader best reflects the core values of the party. So, is she the future of the Democratic Party or someone like her?
DEAN: I think -- I think someone like her. I think her age group is. And I think she's actually my idea of a really great potential leader. You know, I, of course, remember when she came to Congress. She was a bomb thrower and so forth and so on. [23:45:00]
Now, she has really matured. And she -- her political views haven't changed that much, but she articulates them really well. She does listen to people as well as talk at them, which is really important, and sometimes lacking on the left end of the party. I think she's great. I think she's a real potential big-time future leader of the party.
COATES: Howard Dean, thank you for joining.
DEAN: Thank you.
COATES: Still ahead, new video emerges of Sudiksha Konanki, taken before she vanished in the Dominican Republic as police confirm they have confiscated the passport of the one man who says he last saw her. So, how much longer will they keep questioning him? CNN's John Miller is standing by with some new reporting next.
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[23:50:00]
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COATES: There are new developments in the disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who went missing on spring break in the Dominican Republic.
Authorities have now confiscated the passport of 22-year-old Joshua Riibe, a senior on vacation from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Riibe was questioned by -- for hours by the attorney general on Sunday. He is believed to be the last person to see Sudiksha alive. But Riibe is not a suspect in her disappearance at this time. He is, however, being surveilled at his hotel and was further questioned again today.
And now, surveillance is giving us a clearer visual of the events of that night. First, at the resort's bar where you can see Konanki on the left in white with friends just hours before she was reported missing. The second spot shadow is Reebi who at one point is seen bent over and stumbling. Then there is this surveillance video of the two later walking to the beach together. Konanki's belongings were later found on a lounge chair at the same beach.
Joining me now is CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller. John, this is such a difficult moment for this family. And can you parse for us why Riibe's passport is being held if he is not a suspect?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, Laura, this was something that they did early on, which is, you know, when they started questioning people and they knew he was the last one to be with her, for identification purpose, they looked at his passport and they said, you know, we're going to keep this. That has given them the advantage to say, well, he is not in custody, he's not a suspect, he's not a person of interest, but they've had the insurance that he's also not able to leave as long as they hold his passport.
And they've had a couple of detectives on him all the time, which means if he goes somewhere, they go with him. If he's asleep at night, they're outside because he is a, right at this point, a critical witness in the case.
And because they have his passport and they're keeping an eye on him, they're not going to lose track of him.
COATES: And, of course, everyone has to remember this is the United States. The same constitutional directives and plans are not available. And so, how long they can keep him and withhold his passport from him is a question for everyone.
Riibe also has been questioned by the Dominican National Police. It has happened more than once. Also, by the Dominican attorney general himself and also by investigators from Loudoun County where Sudiksha is from. NBC News actually spotted him with investigators at the beach. Why would they want to question him there, do you think?
MILLER: So, that's not the first time they have brought him down there. I've been in touch with investigators on this case over the last week and a half, and this is what we would call a walk through in a case like this --
COATES: Uh-hmm.
MILLER: -- where you bring him back to the beach, and you want to get this very clear. So, you take him down there and you say, all right, so, listen, where do you think you guys went into the water? Can you walk us there? Can you point that out? How are you fixing that location in your mind based on what's here?
Where was the chair that you say you went to sleep in. Where was the chair where you initially took off your clothes, emptied your pockets, and left your belongings there?
When you saw her walking at an angle and the surf up to her knees in the waves, again, after you told us that you were able to pull her out where she seemed to be almost drowning, which direction was she going? What spot was that?
You know, they're trying to figure out, are we looking in the right places because we still have not recovered a body.
COATES: And, of course, consistency. If they do have any suspicions, they want to investigate further. We don't know. He's not named a suspect in this case. But if he is allowed to leave the Dominican Republic, could they force him back at some point? And, of course, he and Riibe are both Americans. If he goes back to United States, does law enforcement here pick up the investigation? MILLER: No. The Dominican National Police are going to be the lead in this investigation. The FBI has opened a case under the criteria that they are providing an assistance to a foreign law enforcement organization to the extent that the Dominican government asked for that assistance.
But you said consistency, which is an important point. The reason Mike Chapman, the Loudoun County sheriff, sent two of his investigators from Virginia down to the Dominican Republic where they have no jurisdiction was for exactly that point, which is, you know, they talked about the number of times he has been interviewed with his lawyer, two lawyers.
[23:55:02]
Loudoun County interviewed him with his lawyer in the Dominican Republic and his father, but there was no translator involved. They asked him questions in English, he answered in English. So, they said he was very forthcoming, that they didn't find any significant inconsistencies, and that they found him to be a credible witness.
Now, the other thing is there were questions he wouldn't answer in the first interview. Simple questions like, how did all this make you feel? What was the statement you made about the girl when you got back to your hotel room? And, you know, that was on the advice of his lawyer. So, they still aren't sure where they are in this case.
COATES: John Miller, this must be excruciating for the family of Sudiksha.
MILLER: No doubt.
COATES: They just want to know what happened with their daughter and where she might be. John Miller, thank you so much.
MILLER: Thanks, Laura.
COATES: Thank you all for watching. Be sure to check out CNN's live coverage of the return of the NASA astronauts on the ISS one hour from now. "Anderson Cooper 360" is next.
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