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Rescuers Scour Bangkok Tower Collapse Rubble For Quake Survivors; Protesters At Tesla Dealerships Across The U.S.; Close Call between Delta Plane And Air Force Jet At Reagan National Airport; VP Vance Visits Greenland As Trump Insists U.S. Must Take It; Ecuador Is Planning For U.S. Forces To Arrive As Its President Calls For Help Battling Gangs; Trump Targets Smithsonian For Funding "Improper Ideology"; Community Comes Together To Make Sure Altadena Doesn't Lose Its Character After Fires. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 29, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

WHITFIELD: Be sure to tune in to a new episode of "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" tonight 9:00 Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The NEWSROOM continues with Jessica Dean right now.

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

And we do have breaking news out of Myanmar, where more than 1600 people have been killed in a catastrophic earthquake. And we probably don't even know yet the true, true toll in human lives. Rescue teams are in a race to save thousands more who may be trapped under rubble.

Just horrifying scenes. The devastating 7.7 magnitude quake striking on Friday with shockwaves felt hundreds of miles away from the epicenter.

Nurses in neighboring China shielding newborns as the earthquake rattled hospitals there. And in Bangkok, Thailand, people ran for their lives as a high rise building came tumbling down in a cloud of steel and cement.

CNN's Will Ripley is live near rescue operations there in Bangkok. Let's go to Will now.

Will, what are you seeing? We see that incredible destruction behind you right now.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it's 3:00 a.m., Jessica, and I'm just going to ask Isaac to kind of zoom in on what we're observing here, because we've actually seen an uptick in activity here at this I guess you could say it's an excavation site at this point. This was a 30-story skyscraper that came down in a matter of seconds. They believe there are around 100 people trapped inside. And so far on Saturday, they recovered just one body. And just about two hours ago, they recovered another body. What we're noticing differently now is that they're actually using

some of that heavy equipment closer to that main pile. For a long time, we've actually seen workers out here, Jessica, that have been holding handsaws and handheld drills or even just picking up pieces of the building by hand because they didn't want to disturb areas where they thought people might be alive inside.

They also had drones flying overhead with infrared detectors to try to see if they could see if there were any people. They said yesterday that they detected signs of life, around 15 people. But none of those people have been recovered as of yet. They've only found those two bodies. So it's got to be discouraging for these crews, hundreds of people who are out here. And yet, as heartbreaking as this is, particularly for family members that are gathering here for any word about their loved ones, you have an untold number of collapsed buildings closer to the epicenter of this earthquake in Myanmar, which is 600 miles from here.

This is bad in Myanmar. The pictures that we're seeing are painting a picture of a situation almost too grim to completely wrap your head around. People who are digging through rubble by hand. A man who was holding onto the hand of his dead mother, crying out for her, praying for her, and unable to release her body from the debris with no support from emergency crews in Myanmar because they don't have the infrastructure or the resources. It's an impoverished country that's been fighting a civil war for the last four years.

There are some glimmers of news, I wouldn't say good news coming out of Myanmar, but we know now that China and Russia and India --

DEAN: And unfortunately I think we've lost Will Ripley there in Bangkok. We'll try to get him back, but, Will, thank you for that reporting. Just absolute catastrophe within that region. We will check back in with you a little later.

Meantime, hundreds of Tesla takedown protests are happening. This is one in Brooklyn earlier today.

We're seeing scenes like this here in the United States and around the world in a day of action, that's what they're calling it, aimed at sending a message to Elon Musk and the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY BIRDSALL, PROTESTER: I'm an economist. And this is not about efficiency. This is about reducing efficiency. You know, it's taking a hammer to issues, getting rid of senior people especially does not bode well for improving any efficiency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Maribel Gonzalez is joining us now live outside a Tesla dealership in Pasadena, California.

[16:05:04]

Maribel, we see the protesters. What do they hope this accomplishes?

MARIBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, these protests are ramping up here in Pasadena, California. Basically, these protesters want is they want to see Musk gone from his federal involvement, his government involvement in the federal government, and specifically, they are criticizing his recent downsizing of federal agencies and their employees.

Now they're hoping to send a message by asking people to boycott Musk companies, including Tesla, and they say that they won't rest until they see Musk step down. Now, these organizers say these protests have been, by and large, peaceful. The same protests, local organizers happening in at least 28 states that we know of. And also now abroad in Germany and what they're calling a global Tesla takedown.

But we know that there have been incidents of violent attacks and also vandalism on Tesla vehicles nationwide, on Tesla dealerships and other Tesla facilities, including one man that we know of today that has -- is facing federal and state charges for allegedly setting several Tesla vehicles on fire using a Molotov cocktail.

However, I spoke to some of the protesters here. They strongly denounced these acts of violence. They say this is not the way to send a message. Instead, they're asking people to do what they're doing, chanting on the streets outside of Tesla facilities and boycotting Musk's companies until they see some sort of change.

DEAN: Maribel Gonzalez there in Pasadena, thank you for that reporting.

We are also learning new details tonight about another close call at Reagan National Airport. This latest incident involving a Delta passenger plane and an Air Force jet that came within about 500 feet of each other yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On that departure we had a momentary TCAS RA. Was there an actual aircraft about 500 feet below us as we came off of DCA?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delta 2983, affirmative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The military aircraft was one of four preparing for a flyover at Arlington National Cemetery when it triggered a warning inside the cockpit of that Delta plane as it was taking off, bound for Minneapolis. The close call happened near that place where an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Blackhawk helicopter collided killing 67 people earlier this year.

And joining us now is CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo. Mary, thank you so much for being here with us. It is kind of

astounding, I think, to a lot of people to know that there was yet another really close call just two months after this kind of unthinkable collision that killed so many people at DCA. What is your understanding of what happened here?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, my understanding of what happened is the commercial airliner was, of course, under positive air traffic control, meaning air traffic controllers were controlling it, as by law, it has to be. It was doing a, you know, regular operation, and all of a sudden its collision avoidance system, TCAS, went off, and there are several levers on TCAS warnings.

The lower one is just an advisory. But the level that went off in this aircraft was a resolution advisory, which means if you don't react, pilot, you could have a collision. That means they were just about 25 seconds from a collision when you get a resolution advisory. And the system will tell the pilot, you know, climb, descend. There are a lot of different instructions the system can give the pilot. It's really quite a life-saving, wonderful system. It's been around since '81. The newer versions came in 1992.

And so the pilot was very busy responding to this. And with the resolution advisory, the pilot must respond. It actually in most newer systems, you can talk back to TCAS and say, you know, pilot responding, et cetera. What's shocking, of course, also in addition to that is that air traffic control did not seem to be surprised and had not given any traffic alerts. So that is what we know at this point. And the four aircraft were just -- they were flying at 800 feet. And so they weren't too far away from this aircraft. But the TCAS said you got 20, 25 seconds basically to avoid a collision.

DEAN: It's really scary. Are you surprised? Are we naive to be surprised that this is happening?

SCHIAVO: Well, we're not naive to be surprised. What we should be is outraged because there have been so many warnings. The NTSB took the unprecedented action of issuing emergency recommendations before their investigation was over to do something about this. 15,000, over 15,000 near-misses at Reagan Airport in just three years is just astonishing. And still, the FAA, literally until this week, knew that the military was still operating without all this life-saving equipment. It's called ADS-B and other equipment.

[16:10:03]

And they knew that they were operating with it turned off and they hadn't changed the regulations to make it mandatory. So the flying public should be outraged because this equipment is required by law on commercial passenger jets. And yet the military just flies around. And, you know, one could say they seem to be ignoring air traffic control and the risk they pose to the flying public.

DEAN: Yes. It's incredible. You mentioned this, but we had that hearing on Thursday and there were some pointed questions about exactly what you were just laying out about this use of the ADS-B. I want to play a little clip of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): In your one pager, you said 75 percent of the flights are mission rehearsal readiness flights. Are those operated with ADS-B out?

BRIG. GEN. MATTHEW BRAMAN, U.S. ARMY: They are. They are, Senator. Yes.

CRUZ: So right now, today, the Army is flying helicopters in and around DCA airport with ADS-B out turned off. Is that correct?

BRAMAN: When conducting their NORTHCOM directed mission that is correct.

CRUZ: I have to say I find that shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Mary, what do you think?

SCHIAVO: I find it shocking and I find it irresponsible. That's even more important because the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control has the job to do something about it. And at that hearing, the FAA admitted they could. They said, well, we could require, we could take all these steps. We could not allow the military traffic to come close to civilian air traffic. And they said at the hearing, I was kind of surprising, well, it's not surprising, they waited until the hearing to decide to do something about it.

They said they would take action but many senators were just shocked and outraged. But again, it is the responsibility of air traffic control to act. And so I find it irresponsible not to act. And hopefully they will. Several senators said they demanded some follow up to make sure that this equipment is turned on and what it does, in just layman's terms, is it lets that aircraft, lets the Army aircraft, Air Force, you name it, be seen by the collision avoidance systems and be seen by the aircraft and helps the aircraft take maneuvers to get away from a collision.

There are several levels. And at the worst point, aircraft, really advanced ones, can actually maneuver to save themselves. So with this turned off, all of that life-saving equipment is for naught.

DEAN: It is. It does seem just incredible. All right, Mary Schiavo, thank you for walking us through that. We really appreciate it.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

DEAN: Well, President Trump is not letting up on his tough talk on Greenland. It's only getting stronger. Fresh off a visit by Vice President Vance as Trump remains fixated on Greenland. And the Trump administration's group chat scandal now spilling outside of Washington as frustrated voters join lawmakers demanding answers and accountability. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:44]

DEAN: The Trump administration is doubling down on its plans to take over Greenland. On Friday, Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, visited the Danish territory even as the island's leaders and its residents continue to grow more outraged over President Trump's relentless threats to annex the island. None of them were there to welcome the vice president and his wife. Instead, he spent the day meeting U.S. service members at a military base in subzero temperatures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's cold as shit here. Nobody told me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Despite those freezing temperatures, the vice president did turn up the heat on that aggressive rhetoric, echoing President Trump's threats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: We can't just ignore the president's desires. When the president says, we've got to have Greenland, he's saying this island is not safe. A lot of people are interested in it. A lot of people are making a play. We know that America cares about the security of this island for the people, for the sake of the people of Greenland, but also for the sake of the national security interests of the United States of America.

Our message to Denmark is very simple. You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now White House correspondent for Semafor, Shelby Talcott, and CNN political analyst and national political correspondent for Axios, Alex Thompson.

It is good to see both of you on this Saturday afternoon.

Shelby, I want to start first with you. It's very clear that Danish leaders, that residents there in Greenland are not happy about this. What are you hearing is the thinking about continuing to push this aggressively on this issue at the White House?

SHELBY TALCOTT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, SEMAFOR: Well, the thinking is what they've said publicly. They genuinely believe that it is in the United States national security interest to acquire it. They argue that Denmark has failed to protect Greenland from Russia and China, to growing threats to the U.S. But what I thought was really interesting when JD Vance came over is he doubled down on the president's rhetoric, but he also sort of took a step back in a way.

He said, we do not think that military forces ever going to be necessary. That's a little bit different than what we heard the president say to Congress earlier this month, where he said the U.S. will acquire it one way or the other. And so there's clearly, you know, some discussions going on about that.

[16:20:02]

But internally, this Greenland pitch is very serious. A lot of people say, is the president being serious? Is this just something that he talks about? They're serious about this.

DEAN: Yes. And I think that's important for everyone, for all of us to remember. I think sometimes people, Alex, with President Trump, you know, they'd say, you know, listen to him but don't maybe take him literally what he's saying. This seems to be quite serious when it started out as something that I think initially people were like, is this really going to happen? How is this kind of reverberating around the globe and having an impact on our relationships with allies as well?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, I think relationships with Denmark of all countries are probably at a multi-decade low. And you saw in the relationships with Greenland, they're also a little bit tough. You saw that the White House announced that Usha Vance, JD Vance's wife, was originally slated to attend the opening of the -- this famous sort of dog, you know, dog race in Greenland, that those plans were shelved. And there was some contentiousness.

But to Shelby's point, you know, Donald Trump, they really believe this. And this was originally floated back in Trump's first term around 2019. And, you know, they didn't -- they talked about it but didn't really take any real concrete steps. You know, he mentioned in his inaugural address. And you know, this is not -- I bet this is not going to be the first visit by the Trump administration to Greenland, and that relationships between, you know, the United States and Denmark and Greenland, they're going to get more interesting, more contentious, more fractious before they get better.

DEAN: Mm. And we have obviously Vice President JD Vance in that conversation. He also continues to be in the conversation about, I guess we can call it Signalgate at this point, but this continuing fallout from the Signal chat that was -- with all of this very sensitive information. We're even getting new headlines from "The New York Times" just coming out about how Trump is privately defending Mike Waltz but behind closed doors is asking questions to his allies around should he keep him, should he not.

Alex, what are you hearing in terms of how this is continuing to evolve?

THOMPSON: Yes, I mean, there are two sort of like mini-scandals within this process. One is with the fact that I think Trump is very frustrated that Mike Waltz included a journalist and not just a journalist, a journalist that Trump hates on the Signal chat. And then there's this other issue of like, well, once he was added, should Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have included all that detailed information, and clearly what some of the early reporting is that Trump is more upset about the first than the second.

DEAN: Mm. And Shelby, it's interesting because in terms of things like this breaking through, this one is easy for people to understand, easy for a casual news consumer to get. They understand what it's like to get dropped in on a group text that you didn't, you know, intentionally get invited on to. And we're starting to hear about it at town halls. There was one in Indiana. I want to just play a quick clip from that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you demand the immediate resignation of Pete Hegseth, Michael Waltz, and the rest of the group chat?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): I -- so let me just address. No, I will not demand their resignations.

(BOOS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So that's Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz there in Indiana. They were demanding the resignation of Hegseth and other officials.

Shelby, she says that she's not going to be doing that. What kind of impact is this having, though, on these Republican members of Congress?

TALCOTT: Well, this is really the first. I've talked to White House officials who've described this as the first real sort of crisis in the second Trump administration. And, of course, there's been other issues, like with DOGE and with tariffs. But this is, as you said, the one that's really breaking through. And so part of the reason that Republicans have urged other lawmakers not to hold these town halls is because of this very thing.

You have a bunch of crowds who are very interested in this topic, who are pushing back on it. And so this is raising some concerns. But at the same time, by and large, lawmakers are standing behind the president's decision to so far not fire anyone. But there are concerns over these security issues. And there have been some Republican lawmakers who have said, listen, these raised real security issues for us, and there needs to be some answers.

DEAN: Yes, it will be interesting to see how that kind of continues to evolve and if it continues to break through.

Before I let you go, Alex, I do want to look ahead to this next week. The Wisconsin attorney general is suing Elon Musk for once again offering these cash prizes to boost voter turnout. This is in this pivotal Supreme Court race that's taking place there Tuesday.

[16:25:08]

What did we learn from this tactic, him using this tactic previously? Where do you see this going?

THOMPSON: Well, Elon clearly learned that they won in November. And he's going to continue to push the envelope in what is legal and illegal in terms of cash prizes. Everything else like Elon is clearly trying to figure out every single possible way to push the envelope in terms of trying to win elections. You are having the world's richest man really throw his weight in American elections the way we really have not seen maybe ever.

DEAN: Yes. And, Shelby, how much of this is a referendum or has anything to do with Elon? Or does it?

TALCOTT: Well, I think that's how people are viewing it. This is really the first big thing since DOGE started, since the president took office. And so we're seeing the president endorsing in this race. We're seeing he hosted a telephone town hall on Thursday night. And something that I thought was notable was during that telephone town hall, the president said, I know you feel it's local, but it's not. It's much more than that. The whole country is watching.

So that's how the White House is viewing it. It is sort of a referendum on what the president and Elon Musk have been doing.

DEAN: Yes, will be interesting to see what the results are.

Shelby and Alex, thanks so much. We appreciate you.

THOMPSON: Thanks.

TALCOTT: Thanks.

DEAN: Still ahead, could American troops be headed to Ecuador? CNN's David Culver went there to see how the country is already preparing to host U.S. forces, as its president asks for help fighting drug cartels.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:07]

DEAN: Breaking news tonight, as flames and black smoke after a small plane crashed into a House in a Minnesota neighborhood. This is Brooklyn Park. It's outside Minneapolis.

The FAA saying that plane went down just after noon. It was flying from Des Moines to Minneapolis. The FAA and NTSB are now investigating. No word on a cause or if anyone was injured.

Tonight, the Taliban has released an American woman from custody in Afghanistan. Faye Hall was detained by the Taliban in February for using a drone without authorization.

Qatar did help mediate her release. She was received at the Qatari embassy in Kabul and is expected to be home soon. It comes after Trump officials traveled to Kabul to release another American held by the Taliban earlier this week.

The U.S. removed millions of dollars of bounties on three Taliban officials, though the group is still designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.

Also new tonight, President Trump is meeting with Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, in Florida at Mar-a-Lago. Now, this comes as CNN has learned Ecuador is preparing for U.S. forces to arrive as its president calls for help battling gangs.

According to plans obtained by CNN, it even is building a new naval facility, including barracks.

And a warning. This story does include some disturbing images.

Here's CNN's David Culver.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The element of surprise is essential. They've got to move fast.

(SHOUTING)

CULVER: But with Ecuador's army hitting into a gang stronghold, an advance team records as they move in first. Their target? A man linked to one of Ecuador's most feared criminal groups.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CULVER: They detained one guy, suspected to have ties to Fito, the infamous gang leader who escaped prison last year.

Soldiers rip through the place, spotting an altar. Look closely. That's Santa Muerte, a saint of death, adopted by Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and now revered by gangs across Ecuador. We see the image everywhere.

(on camera): A lot of the gang leaders live in this area. And you can see some of the markings of Choneros, which is one of the big gangs here in Ecuador, if not the biggest.

(GUNFIRE)

(voice-over): And this is the problem. Ecuador has become the murder capital of Latin America, and they're now turning to the United States, desperate for help.

Renderings shared with us by a high-level Ecuadorian official appear to show plans for a potential deployment of U.S. troops into Ecuador, including a floating dock that jets out some 500 feet into the Pacific, said to accommodate up to seven Coast Guard vessels.

And here, details of a workspace and possible military housing, the structure complete with offices, beds, a kitchen, mess halls and plenty of parking, allowing for a foreign force to carry out sustained security operations here, according to the source.

GIAN CARLO LOFFREDO, ECUADOR'S DEFENSE MINISTER: When troops from another country come, they come with resources, and those are what we need the most.

CULVER (on camera): And there were troops, U.S. troops here back in -- up until 2009, roughly, right?

LOFFREDO: Yes, they were.

CULVER: And does that help when there's a U.S. troop presence?

LOFFREDO: Of course, it helped a lot.

CULVER (voice-over): U.S. defense officials and the White House have not confirmed any such deployment, but Ecuador's officials are hopeful.

For a decade, a U.S. military base in the port city of Manta was used as a key surveillance hub to monitor cartels operating in the region.

But Ecuador chose not to renew the contract in 2008, forcing U.S. troops to pack up and leave the following year.

(GUNFIRE)

CULVER: In the time since, officials say cocaine has flooded into Ecuador, fueling deadly violence spearheaded by the cartels.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

(APPLAUSE)

[16:34:59]

CULVER: Applauding President Trump's Inauguration Day pledge to combat organized crime, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa and his wife front and center as Trump took the oath of office in January.

Back home in Ecuador, Noboa finds himself in the midst of a tight run- off election, where security is the number-one issue.

But for many, it's too late. Grief is sweeping across Latin America's so-called island of peace. Gang violence constantly claiming lives.

It's become so common here, and yet locals, as though in disbelief, tell us over and over, Ecuador was never like this before.

(on camera): So if the U.S. decides to deploy troops into Ecuador, and at this point, it is still an if, what might that look like? Well, we know President Noboa has asked for Special Forces. He's

hoping for those specialized operation units to go into certain gang strongholds and to communities and neighborhoods.

But if the U.S. stops short of delivering on Special Forces, one thing he certainly could be receptive towards is having added surveillance and intel.

So as to go after some of the drug runners and even incorporating some Navy or Coast Guard vessels so as to participate in interdictions off the coast of Ecuador and stop some of those drug vessels from leaving the shore.

All of these things, they say, are necessary at this point to stop what is a worsening war -- Jessica?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, David, thank you.

President Trump taking more action to exert his influence over the arts and culture as he looks to change the way national museums and parks portray American history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:17]

DEAN: In another executive order, President Trump is targeting the Smithsonian. He claims the institution has come under the influence of, quote, "the influence of divisive, race-centered ideology."

The new order puts Vice President J.D. Vance in charge of cutting the funding of so-called divisive exhibits from the institution, including the Smithsonian museums, research centers and the National Zoo.

CNN's Brian Todd has the latest from outside one of the museums that could be targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, it's been a very poignant and appropriate day to talk about this issue as we're down here on the National Mall, on the day that the cherry blossoms are in bloom, and other events surrounding the cherry blossoms are taking place.

And just swarms of tourists down here on the National Mall to talk about what's become a divisive cultural issue. And that is that President Trump has now taken aim at the Smithsonian Institution in his assertiveness regarding Americas cultural institutions.

The Smithsonian comprises 21 museums and the National Zoo. And what the president said in his executive order in recent days is that the Smithsonian Institution has, quote, "Come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology." And among other museums, he specifically points to this one behind me.

This is the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. The president believes that some of the exhibits here are racially divisive.

And what his order, signed, says that this museum here has, quote, "proclaimed that hard work, individualism and the nuclear family are aspects of white culture," end quote.

Now that appears to refer to a resource for discussing race that was here a few years ago, in which those aspects were mentioned. But we have to say that that resource was removed from here, and the museum did apologize for that.

But it's that kind of exhibit or resource at some of these museums that the president is against. And he wants to stop funding for those exhibits.

We talked to several tourists, who were coming down here to the Mall today about this issue that's been pretty divisive, including one gentleman who is against what the president is doing, and a lady who is in favor of what he is doing.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD SHAW, TOURIST: I would disagree with the administration's view that there's ideological division promoted by knowing the full truth of our history. And the African-American museum and it's heritage is the heritage and the problems of we, the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In reality, it doesn't include all of everybody. All lives matter, in my opinion. So that's a way of just dividing into -- into little pockets against each other.

And no, I don't think we should pay for any of those exhibits. As a taxpayer, I don't agree with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So opinions very divided on that issue of race.

But it's not just race that the president is weighing in on with that executive order. He also wants to make sure that the American Women's History Museum, which is not even built yet, it's several years away from completion.

But that museum, he wants to make sure it does not recognize men as women in any respect, and they don't want a discussion of transgender athletes as part of that museums, I guess, resources and exhibits. And that museum, again, has not even been built yet.

In addition, the president and his team, in that executive order, they want to study the issue of the removal of some memorials after the George Floyd protests, during that same year, the George Floyd protests.

Whether some of the removal of some of those memorials were appropriate and we're given the proper context and history when they we're removed.

And of course, we're talking about memorials to Confederate soldiers, to conquistadors and colonialists that we're removed in that year of the George Floyd protests and afterward -- Jessica?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right. Brian Todd, thank you very much for that.

Still ahead, rebuilding after disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:44:59]

CHARLES BRYANT, ALTADENA RESIDENT: I don't want to see large developers coming in and buying up multiple properties and stamping out houses like cookie cutters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: It's been two months now since those fires simply gutted parts of Los Angeles. And up next, we're going to take you back to Altadena, where people are leaning on one another to make sure the historically black community does not get erased in the cleanup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:01]

DEAN: FEMA is changing some of its policies in Los Angeles two months after fires tore through that area. It is expanding the scope of its fire debris removal program there and giving people whose homes were destroyed more time to register for cleanup.

But physically moving all of that burned-out debris could be easier said than done for people who might not know what resources are actually available to them.

CNN's Stephanie Elam returned to the historically black area of Altadena, where people are stepping up in big ways to help one another rebuild.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

C. BRYANT: This is our neighborhood. It looks like 95 percent of the houses are gone.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What Charles Bryant lost in the Eaton Fire wasn't just a house. It was his sanctuary.

LYNELL BRIANT, ALTADENA RESIDENT: She's gone. C. BYRANT: It's gone.

ELAM: Bryant's home of 20 years, where he and his wife, Lynell, raised their children, was destroyed.

C. BRYANT: Ashes, ashes. This is what's left of our house.

ELAM: For about 40 years, Bryant lived in Altadena, a historically black enclave about 15 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

C. BRYANT: You can look around, you can see people that look like you.

ELAM (on camera): Do you worry about people selling their lots?

C. BRYANT: I do. I'd like to keep Altadena, Altadena. I'd like to keep the diversity as it is. I don't want to see large developers coming in and buying up multiple properties and stamping out Houses like cookie cutters.

ELAM (voice-over): Bryant jumped into action to begin rebuilding, but building homes is his wheelhouse. He quickly realized his neighbors needed help.

(on camera): If you weren't an architect, would it be easy to do?

C. BRYANT: I don't think it would be easy.

ELAM (voice-over): Bryant is a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects. A few others in his chapter also lost their homes. Together, they realized this is how they could help the community rebuild.

ELETRICE HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT, SOCAL NOMA: We are really open to helping anyone that comes, but our main focus is the preservation of the African-American community that developed here early on in the 1920s, when blacks we're fleeing the Jim Crow laws of the south.

Black families we're able to buy property in Altadena. And a lot of those families still own properties.

ELAM: Through their Altadena Rebuild Coalition, residents are getting free help from architects, builders, as well as insurance and legal advocates.

HARRIS: We pulled out every single thing that they needed to do, and we broke it up into small steps.

ELAM: The first step is granting the government rights to remove the toxic debris from private property.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this is the most critical step in the rebuilding process. And it's really important that we move safely and quickly. And we don't want them to be -- to be gone too long that they decide to give up hope of rebuilding.

ELAM: The deadline was March 31st, but FEMA just pushed it to April 15th. So the pressure is still on to get as many homeowners to fill out the paperwork as possible.

HARRIET DICKENS, ALTADENA RESIDENT: We didn't know anything. We didn't know what to do.

ELAM: And helped people like Michael and Harriet Dickens, who escaped in the middle of the night with barely more than the clothes on their backs.

MICHAEL DICKENS, ALTADENA RESIDENT: It gives us ideas on how to rebuild, where to start from.

ELAM: The Dickens now have their rebuild plan and opted in for debris removal ahead of the deadline, a few steps closer to rebuilding their home.

H. DICKENS: It really is my castle. I love everything about my house.

ELAM: In the community, they love.

H. DICKENS: Yes, our neighbors are more like family.

M. DICKENS: Yes. I love Altadena. I believe there's no better place in the world to live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Thank you to Stephanie for that piece.

Tomorrow night, a new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER."

For the last two years, Kate Bolduan has been documenting the front lines of Americas evolving fentanyl crisis through the eyes of paramedics, dealers, active users, and a doctor inside a NICU treating the youngest victims, newborn babies suffering from withdrawal.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CRYING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is having some tremors.

The fentanyl crisis has been very real. I mean, opiate use in general. Since the time I started practicing in pediatrics and neonatology, there's been an increase in over 300 percent of patients.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: My, gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.

What we found is that there's so many of these moms that are using that we're not comfortable with sharing that information.

(CRYING) BOLDUAN: If a pregnant woman comes in and she holds this information back, how does that impact the care?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they wouldn't have shared it with their provider, they wouldn't know that it's actually more dangerous to stop using if you're already pregnant.

So they would try to get themselves off of it and sometimes, cold turkey, stop using.

BOLDUAN: People are going to hear that, what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The baby can die inside. So the baby will then also go through withdrawal, much like the mom will if she stops using. And it can cause the baby to actually die in utero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," "FENTANYL IN AMERICA: A WAY OUT" airs tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

[16:55:59]

A federal judge is blocking the Trump administration's efforts to deport an international student who was taken by federal agents this week off the street, as ICE appears to target pro-Palestinian student protesters. We're going to talk to a member of Congress who wants some answers about this particular case.

Also breaking news. We are watching protests unfold at Tesla dealerships across the U.S., parts of Canada and Europe. It's a campaign pushing back on Elon Musk's role in DOGE. We'll have a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)