♪ border influx. authorities say they've reached an influx as they overflow with asylum seekers. >> can a comedian with zero experience become canadian's next president? >> and a woman who feels no pain. how she may help scientists with future painkillers. live from cnn, we want to welcome our viewers here in the

united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. the cnn news room starts right now. >> 4:00 p.m. on the u.s. east coast. the u.s. president is renewing his threat to close the southern border with mexico. he says there is a crisis and that mexico has to do more to stop undocumented immigrants from crossing into the united states. this isn't the first time president trump has sounded this alarm but now he's taking it a step further. aid will be cut off to three central american countries, el salvador, honduras and guatemala. in the meantime, u.s. authorities say they have been struggling to handle a huge surge of migrants. processing centers in texas are overflowing with people. entire families are being

coraled by a chain link fence under a bridge. u.s. customs and border protection reports nearly every sector on the border has passed its capacity. border stations were built to process hundreds of single adults from mexico. the problems becoming so bad officials in brownsville, texas, say they're dealing with the release of hundreds of migrants every day. we've been near brownsville texas and in mcallen. more on the region and how it's dealing with so many migrants and the threat to close the border. >> reporter: the city manager and nonprofits in brownsville tell us they've observed a lot of migrants being cropped off by customs and border protection for the last week or so. they say it's ramped up to

average about 300 myogrants per day. in some cases these people are showing up with no paperwork at all. they had to call cdp to come back and meet with some of theeds people to be processed. while they is happening they are anticipating more migrants being dropped off in coming days throughout the area and president trump is threatening to close the border to mexico if mexico does not stop all immigration from the south side. not only is that to be a major impact to both countries but it will be a major impact to cities on the border. here's one person we met who says he was crossing to mexico for a dentist appointment because he could not afford it in the united states. >> there's a lot of old citizens of the united states that go over there because of their medication being cheaper over there than over here.

insulin, whatever. whatever it is. i just saw some old people getting their dentures over there at the dentist a couple of days ago. so a lot of people will be toothless. >> we also met people who live on one side but work on the other and say that a closure of the border would be a major impact to their lives. one person is a trump supporter. he says he would be very frustrated if that closure were to happen. >> thank you. and now in brownsville, texas, cnn's martin savage spoke with the mayor of that city on how it is preparing for so many myogrants. >> so far we have been able to handle anything that's coming our way. right now they're bringing them here, we're feeding them, clothing them, whatever they need at the time.

any health issues that they shouldn't have when they get here, but we have asked some of our local doctors and friends in the medical profession to come give us assistance and that's what we're doing. >> u.s. customs says the system is broken. it said this. dhs is committed to addressing this need but the current situation is unsustainable for border patrol operations. the legal frame work must be addressed. the only remedy to the crisis is congressional action. the president is also again making this whole issue political. he tweeted, it would be so easy to fix our weak and very stupid democrat inspired imgralmigrati laws. the dems don't care about crime, they don't want any victory for trump and the republicans even if good for usa.

let's talk with the professor of international politics at the university of london. good morning. >> good morning. >> the u.s. president has threatened to close the southern border with mexico. also planning to cut aide to three countries. they say cutting foreign said to central america is the last thing the administration should do. it also counters efforts to address the root causes behind migration. aid cuts would be devastating to the region and would only foster the same instability that is making people flee in the first place. what impact might these moves have closing the border and also cutting off aid? >> well, closing the border clearly is an illegal act because the people who are claiming asylum there have the

lowell right to do so and to cross the border at any particular point and the key thing is in president trump's whole rhetoric about invasions and an invading army of immigrants, there are root causes to these people leaving their homes and their countries. and making the conditions far worse for them would only bring further violence on them and vike likely increase the number of people heading north. it's a way a self-fulfilling prof fi. he declared a national emergency for that purpose and now deployed thousands of american soldiers and he's busy there effectively creating that emergency which he claimed existed at the time. >> one thing we do know, facilities are at over capacity and this month the number of

people crossing the border, the numbers are up not seen nisince 2008. do you see this suicide a crisis or as you kind of stated here, you see this as sort of a manufactured crisis. >> we would look at the intelligence reports and other reports of american agencies themselves. prior to the declaration of a national emergency they rejected that idea. they argued there was no such idea and argued that the move would be unconstitutional which it remains. so in a way, president trump has now clearing the ground for his two big themes as i understand it. one is hostility to immigration and calling everybody an illegal immigrant even when they're applying for asylum and it's a kind of red scare. he's arguing that democrats and those who oppose him are against america and they're for

socialism against their country and their freedom. and this is an age old message. this is not only directed against illegal immigrants or undocumented migrants, it's also -- there's a secret database that has been linked which any lawyer or reporter who speaks up for imgrant rights is being cited by legal authorities. and it's affecting the rights of americans much more broadly. >> you kind of touch on this but let's play it forward a bit more. this was the bread and butter that president trump used to open his campaign for president. these issues resonated very

strongly with his base. are the problems playing out on the border right now playing right into his campaign for 2020 and if so, does it box democratic contenders into playing on that very turf? >> absolutely correct. i think 2020 is in the gun sights of the trump administration and those two themes of anti immigration and socialism are going to be sort of the top themes that he's going to try to pin on to the democrats in particular. democrats have been following president trump in his wake. border wall, well, they want to build border fencing. military spending increases, they've done that and so on. so i think very suggestive that there is a crisis at the border, maybe not the same as president trump has done but i think really this is -- it means the democrats don't have a fundamentally different policy. they have a different idea about

american identity and immigration and so on and that is the turf that they want to fight on, but when we see how deep is this message and the -- kind of the economic dimension of that message that president trump is putting forward it appeals to a lot of people who say that americans are suffering, our american dream is broken, we're not achieving anything like we expected to in our lives and president trump is our savior. the democrats don't really have a policy which is a focus for redistribution and they're not backing those people who are going on protests and so on at the street level of politics, trying to keep it within the palace politics of washington, d.c. and that means they're going to follow president trump further to the right and that means that the united states is in for even more turbulent political time than it might otherwise have been. >> thank you.

>> thank you very much. in the meantime in the state of texas beto o'rourke made his first campaign appearance in el paso, speaking to supporters there just blocks from the u.s./mexico border and the front lines of president trump's border battle. >> reporter: beto o'rourke has now official ramped up his campaign launch in texas saying it was important for him to come back to el paso. this is where the u.s. meets mexico, the southern border within half a mile from where he gave his speech today to a crowd he's very familiar with. not only friends and family but constituents of his when he served as congressman. this is a man who got a bit of an energized following when he ran against senator ted cruz. already his campaign for the presidential bid tells us that he has raised $6.1 million in

his first day. so the big question, he's going to -- he's talking about a lot of the issues. he's already mentioned health care, climate change, immigration, but will that be able to generate the type of support that he generated in texas for the midterm elections despite the fact that he lost against ted cruz. that's certainly what he's hoping for and that's what he believes he can do. kicked off in el paso. from here he goes to houston and then austin. >> a man mistaken for an uber driver has been charged with kidnapping and killing an american college student. she put in to the ride request on sunday after being out with her friends. >> she had in fact summoned an

uber ride and was waiting for that ride to come. we believe -- we don't have a statement or any evidence that suggests this other than our observations of the video. we believe she simply mistakenly got into this car thinking it was an uber ride. >> hunters found her body in a field 90 miles away. nathan david roland was arrested after blood in his car matched josephson's. her classmates were stunned by this news. >> she was just a very bubbly person. she was very happy and she was very excited because she was going to law school in the fall. very sad and it's very scary because it can happen to anyone and you definitely need to make sure you stay with your friends.

>> and then a hart breaking facebook post her father said that he will love and his miss daughter for the rest of his life. it's extremely hard to write this and post this but i love her with all my heart, he says. on the other side of the world the polls are open in ukraine's presidential election. right now a comedian with no political experience is the favorite, but will he be able to stand up to russia? that story ahead for you, plus more lives are lost as palestinians mark one year of protests at the gaza border with israel. cnn correspondents are there.

ukranians are voting for the next president. it is a tight, packed race. the top three contenders are running on a promise of closer ties with the west all under the shadows of year's long military conflict with russia. he's also facing the elections

front runner. he's a comedian who has never been a politician before but he does play a politician on tv. does that count? fred, look, okay, all jokes aside, this comedian is nothing to laugh off here. his inexperience seems to be his edge. >> i think you're right and i think a lot of ukranians are fed up with the political landscape they've had for a long time and he doesn't really seem to have many strong political positions on a wide range of issue, but one of the things that he's running on is a very strong anti corruption platform saying politics as we've seen it are not there for the people so he wants to do something for the people and that appeals to a lot of voters. he is in the lead against the

really top two other candidates. the former prime minister of the country and then the current president who has you said, said himself that he's running against vladimir putin but one of the things he needs to do to make it to office is actually make it past this round because if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote there will be a runoff on april 21st and all eyes are on him. and one of the things that he has going for him is his inexperience in many ways but that's one of the things could be going against him as well as that country is very much in that conflict with those pro russian forces. of course also saying that russia is very much involved in that conflict as well. can or could he, if he becomes president actually stand up to vladimir putin. that's the big thing. he has one more thing that is very important. he's leading in the polls right

now but one thing they're looking at is the fact that he's very popular among young people. those are the people least likely to vote. so a very interesting day at the polls there. >> this is the first round. it narrows down to two after this. he did strengthen the economy, also helped his footing against -- held footing in the conflict against russia. what is it about him that has people less than entuesdayed? >> it's the one thing that people keep talking about and it's corruption. it's been something that he's not been tackling enough and people question whether or not his government might be involved in some of the things that might be going on. defense procurement contracts have been a big issue over the past couple of years and if you look at the regions in ukraine there are a lot of people that corruption has not been tackled to the extent that it should

have. he does have a new agreement with the european union. the economy is certainly not where a lot of people would have liked to see it going. the things that he's strong at, he says the army, the ukranian language which is a huge thing in ukraine and faith of the economy really not at the top of the things that he himself puts out there for the things that he has had large achievements for. >> thank you. now to venezuela where the country continues to recover from a set of blackouts that have affected that country. thousands of people took to the streets once again voicing their frustration over new rounds of protests. >> details from caracas.

>> so many of opposition followers are going to the streets, went to the streets today following guiado. he's asking the people to go to the streets every time. they have a failure in the public services because they make maduro's government responsible for this situation. on the other hand we had the government of maduro participating in the streets calling for followers to go to the avenues and the streets in caracas because they consider they have expressed the eager against the united states, the country that they are making responsible for their situation that this country is in, the crisis not only public services

but also in other services like health care, water supply, they insist that this is because of the united states. this is also happening amid an important announcement from their international federation of the red cross. they said yesterday that final international humanitarian aid is going to rise in venezuela in the coming days. they're going to benefit around 650,000 people in this country from this aid and the important thing here is they're not going to allow any interference not from the government of nicolas maduro, not from the opposition leaders like juan gauido. >> in gaza about 40,000 palestinians turned out for a large protest noer the israeli border. three teenagers were killed by

israeli security forces. israel says five rockets were fired from gaza into israel but caused no casualties or damage. michael holmes is at the border and filed this report. >> hamas had pulled for today's protests to be peaceful for the first time deploying hundreds of marshalls to keep those back from the border fence and possible death. >> trying to keep protesters back but had some success but the longer it goes on the harder it's going to be. >> reporter: in the end it didn't work. hundreds broke through. rocks thrown toward israeli trops on the other side. tear gas came in the israeli side and there was some live fire as well. israel says it only uses such measures when an imminent threat is per severed. a year of weekly protests like this has nearly 270 palestinians

killed and thousands wounded as they protest f. >> translator: we're here to get our land back, our homes. i'm participating to get it back. >> reporter: these protesters turn out a crowd big enough that shows support for the cause, but at the same time exercise enough control over that crowd to minimize minimize violence and casualties. hamas also looking for israelry restraint and so how this day ended would likely impact this with talks amongst israel and for israel's part, excessive violence would show a lack of hamas will or ability to tamp down the violence. >> and it appeared to work at least to a degree. casualty numbers far less than

in previous demonstrations even though at the end of the day there had been hundreds of injuries. many from bullets, most from tear gas. those truce talks now continue. hamas wanting israel to ease restrictions on gaza in a number of areas. israel wanting quiet from the strip and an end to protests like this among the border. the days ahead will determine which direction this ongoing conflict goes. >> thank you. if you feail at something three times maybe you don't try it again. the british prime minister may not be ready to give up on her brexit deal. lit's give it a fourth try, maybe. stay with us.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell with the headlines we're following this hour. the move comes as an immigration crisis at the u.s./mexico border. prths threatening to close the border on saturday. he's accused central american countries of setting up migrant caravans headed to the united states. a man mistaken for an uber driver has been charged with kidnapping and killing a college student. he was arrested after blood found in his car matched that of samantha josephson, the victim.

she was expecting an uber ride and apparently mistook roland's car for that ride. her cell phone was also discovered in the vehicle. >> polls are now open in ukraine, the presidential election there. the top three contenders are running on promise to have closer ties with the west. the current president says his main opponet in the election is vladimir putin. british media say the prime minister is not giving up on her eu withdrawal bill even though it's been trashed by parliament three separate times now. she is expected to bring it to lawmakers for a fourth time. the paper says that ms. may risks the total collapse of her government if she fails to get it through but many brate t-- britains have already lost faith

in the process. is this teresa may's play here to run out the clock, to force more mps perhaps desperate to recorps her deal? >> that's what analysts will tell you. they will say that all along the prime minister has had this plan to slowly make them realize that her option is the only option. yes, there have been three defeats and then on friday by 58 votes. the margin is getting smaller and smaller so what she could do is say there's a few more people i could turn, but i can tell you the public is not happy with it. i just brought you a few to show you, brexit the final here from the sunday telegraph saying snap election under may would

annihilate and number ten at war over suicidal elections. so as you can see, yes, there is that discussion of her taking it for a fourth time to parliament, but potentially there are other options still on the table and the one being discussed the most is the possibility of a snap election. that is that the prime minister could throw in the towel and call for a general election. she could also go to brussels and ask for a lengthier extension. she could also wait for mps who are moeeting on monday to find n alternative to brexit. hay had eight options on the table last week. all eight of those options were defeated but there were two kwloes to succeeding and that is the customs union and the proposal for a second referendum

and there is the possibility of a no deal scenario. that is if the uk can't find a solution by april 12th they simply crash out, george. >> all right. keeping up with it. thank you. there is growing outrage in a new law that seeks to punish adultery and gay activity with death. elton john says he's backing actor george clooney. >> reporter: the new penal code was introduced in 2014, but it is this wednesday that one of the criminal laws goes into effect. it is a law that calls for the death penalty. and it is that anyone who engages in any type of homosexual activity and/or separate and district adultery

will face the death penalty, stoned to death. well, george clooney has spoken out and he says that there may be nothing that can be done at all in regard to what they're doing, but people around the world need to boycott the hotels that are owned by the sultan, his investment company and that includes in the united states, the beverly hills hotel and hotel bellaire. clooney says on this april 3rd the nation will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay. let that sink in. in the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarian m, this stands alone. the surreal law apart from

criminalizing acts that are against the teachings of islam it also aims to educate, and protect the legitimate right of all individuals, society and all nationalties of any face and race. they also believe that it could violate some international human rights obligations. >> thank you. the rolling stones are postponing their upcoming north america tour. the reason, mcjagger's health. doctors have advised him to hold off touring until he receives treatment for an unspecified health problem. the band was due to begin their concert trek on april 20th. he is expected to make a complete recovery. the parkland florida high

school shooting left painful scars in the hearts and minds of those who survived it. a look at how some of them are finding comfort and healing through art more than a year after that tragedy. plus this. >> so the normal reaction is you cut yourself, burn yourself, maybe once or twice but you avoid that because your brain says don't do that. >> a remarkable story about a woman never experiencing pain and now giving doctors insight into pain management. her story straight ahead. her story right after the break. stay with us. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers.

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and if you don't like a book just swap it for free. enjoy 100% ad free listening in the car, on your phone or any connected device. and when you switch a device pick up right where you left off. with our commitment free guarantee, there's never been a better time to start listening to audible. the most inspiring minds, the most compelling stories, the best place to listen. to start your free 30-day trial, text listen5 to 500500 today. ♪ pain management is a big part of the medical field. now medical researchers are looking into a rare genetic condition that could lead to new pain therapies without drugs. at the center of this approach, this woman, a 71-year-old

scottish woman who literally feels no pain. you can't hurt her. she feels no pain. she's one of only two people in the world known to have this condition. even more surprisingly joe cameron didn't even know that she was special until five years ago at the surgery that is normally very painful. while this could lead to a major break through for people who suffer chronic pan, come ran says there is a serious downside to not knowing when you're hurt. >> i put my arm on something and only realized it's burning when i can smell flesh burning. the normal reaction is you cut yourself or burn yourself and you avoid that because your brain says don't do that. my brain doesn't say don't do that and that's not good. that's not good at all, is it? i haven't got the normal sort of safeguards. i watch and it's quite a serious burn. it's still not healed but i felt

nothing. >> and on another occasion she was seriously injured while on vacation but never felt a thing. >> i was backpacking through eastern europe. on day one of our holiday and i tripped over an uneven paving stone, tripped over and the weight of the sack brought me forward and i head butted a rock and lost my teeth and locut my face. i didn't feel any pain from it. >> here's the thing. even her taste buds don't feel pain, she her husband and her doctor demonstrated this by eating hot chillies. while most men reacted to the peppers, cameron never even flinched. let's bring in that doctor. he was one of those eating ch e

chil chiles. >> good morning, everybody. >> so you are the first doctor to notice that joe cameron did not seem to feel pain. how can her rare genetic mutation, how can it help scientists with future painkillers? >> so as you rightly pointed out a the beginning of the program we are struggling with pain management, especially chronic pain. and with opioid therapy and they have their own problems as most of us are aware. >>'s condition is a very special one in that she has a genetic defect in what i will now call as an alternate system in her body. that's why she's very exciting because this can lead to a development of an alternative

group of drugs which are not opioids. >> i want to give our viewers another example of how she does not feel pain. listen here as she describes what it was like in the middle of childbirth. >> i kept thinking as soon as i feel pain i'll ask for it and before i asked for it i had the children. so it was i'm prepared to take anything because they tell me it's going to be awful. i felt my body stretching but nothing to make me -- no pain. >> fascinating isn't it? you hear stories of people who don't remember what it was like to deliver a child but never a story like this where there was no pain to be remembered at all. >> and the other fascinating side of her story is that apart from not feeling pain, she's insanely happy and the theory is that her wounds heal very

quickly and she forgets very easily. the perfect human being i would think. >> and talked to us about the real danger that she faces every day, not having that signal from body to mind that indicates danger or pain. >> yes. and that is a induced condition and that pain is a warning sign within the body and outside the body and she doesn't seem to have that and when her hands burn while cooking, she first smells the flesh and knowing that it's burning. so -- but given all the dangers this lack of pain would have in her life, she has seemed to preva prevail. >> thank you again for taking

time with us and don't eat any chiles because they'll be very hot. they will be painful for you and i. she can eat as many as she wants and not flinch. thanks for your time. >> thank you very much. the ceo of facebook wants governments to take a more active role at policing the internet. in an opinion piece mark zuckerberg called for stricter regulation. both u.s. and european regulators are already scrutinizing his company over data sharing deals and that could lead to record fines for the social media company. >> it's been more than a year now since the mass shooting at a high school in parkland, florida and its horrifying effects are still being felt there. still ahead, a look at how one art program is helping students find some peace.

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welcome back. i'm george howell. 17 people were killed in last year's school shooting that took place in parkland, florida. a local art center there opened its doors to anyone who wanted to express their feelings through art. the program is still very much needed. cnn shows us. >> reporter: there's a saying, art is food for the soul. >> i believe it's a good way to get your mind off of what's happening. >> reporter: but in coral springs, this art could be saving souls. >> instead of just staying by yourself and letting your thoughts fester, you know. >> last year, days after the massacre, the coral springs museum of art expanded its veterans art therapy program to anyone affected by the shooting. art and trauma therapists work with survivors as they express their feelings about that trauma

through music and art. >> it didn't go in there as language and words. >> a survivor who is now a senior at msd has been coming to art therapy every tuesday since november but she's here this week for a special art play love program. it's running during spring break in response to the suicides of the former and current student. >> it's sad because these things keep happening to the community and it's just -- it feels like a setback. >> how does that help with emotions? how does it help with what you've been feeling and processing that? >> i think it's good because it's just -- it's an escape. it's a way to just let go. and just art. >> we are seeing people who are coming in saying, you know, even though this is, you know, 13 months out, this is my first time coming somewhere and saying, you know what, i need some help.

i'm not doing okay and i need some help. >> she runs the program. this week because for some the two suicides triggered old emoegs she brought in additional trauma therapists. >> we're letting people know that there is more help out there and efficient help. >> he believes that while a lot of therapy has been available to survivors over the past year, it hasn't necessarily been the right kind of help. >> they need and have always needed trauma informed care, so i mean, professionally in our opinion as trauma therapists we realize that's been the gap. >> reporter: the greatest struggle is often getting young people to come in and that's why she says the location, an art museum is key. >> it's a nice advantage because we've removed some of the stigma. no one has to identify that i need a therapist. we want to make sure that that definition is strong includes

people being strong enough to ask for help. more than 180 countries, people in those countries turned off their lights for an hour on saturday in recognition of earth hour. landmarks like the eiffel tower also went dark for an hour. they raised awareness for climate change and since then millions have taken part and turned off the lights. thank you for being with us for newsroom. let's do it again. more news right after the break.

capacity. an influx of immigrants at the border. the president threatens to close it altogether. >> and voters head to the polls where the comedian is front runner to be the next president. >> also ahead this hour. >> i think the people should just realize that all people are not us. >> a cnn exclusive report which already prompted one nation's government to reconsider taking back former isis fighters. live from cnn we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states