priscilla alvarez is at the white house with more. oving and i definitely know these early moments when you're trying to get people on the phone to figure out what's going on. what do we know at least at this point from the biden administration? >> reporter: that's right, phil. i reached out to the white house to get comment on this and try to get additional details as to what they know and are monitoring. here is what we know so far according to a tweet from the united nations command. they said that a u.s. national on a joint security area tour crossed without authorization. the military demarcation line into the democratic people's republic of korea. we believe he is currently in custody and are working with our kpa counterparts to resolve the incident. now, this is an orientation tour that is located inside the demilitarized zone between south and north korea and is organized by the unc and open to the general public. these are the details we have so far. simply that a u.s. national is believed to be in north korean custody. as you

priscilla alvarez has details from the white house. >> the justice department has given texas governorabbott until monday afternoon, to tell the administration whether he is going to remove the floating barriers along the rio grande. it's the latest escalation between the feud between president joe biden and governor greg abbott over the border. the justice department said texas did not have the authorization to set up the floating barriers. they went on to say, quote, the state of texas actions violate law, raise humanitarian concerns, pose risks to public safety and the environment and may interfere with the government's ability to carry out duties. officials are working out what actions can be taken by the justice department, as they watch with concern, the texas governor was taking along the border. the floating barriers are a drowning risk to migrants who are crossing. the governor said, it is a sovereign authority to defend our borders. he can reply by monday afternoon, as to whether or not he will take them down. if not the justice department says they are ready to take the gove

cnn white house reporter priscilla alvarez explains. >> reporter: the white house announced on sundayl be have thing three countries next week, the united kingdom, lithuania, and finland. the president will start his trip in the united kingdom where he is set to meet king charles iii as well as the british prime minister who visited the white house last month. those high stakes meetings will later be continued for the president at the nato summit, where there is going to be discussion over ukraine and the ongoing war, particularly after the counteroffensive that has been launched and internal tensions in russia all looming over this summit. president biden has repeatedly talked about the strength of the nato alliance, also saying it has never been "more united," but in all these discussions the ongoing debate will loom over how and when ukraine may become part of that alliance. after that summit president biden will then go to finland where he will conclude his three-country trip. priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. >>> ukraine is reporting heavy fighting along the entire eastern

cnn white house reporter priscilla alvarez joins us.l us in on the president's busy aagenda and what's at stake for him and the nato allies at this summit in. >> reporter: it comes at a critical time. this is a summit that comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war in ukraine and that failed coup attempt in russia last month. now, the trip will include three stops. president biden will head out today first to the united kingdom where he meets with king charles. the first time they meet face to face since his coronation. also with the british prime minister. then he goes tlithuania and conclude his trip in finland. looming over all of this is going to be the war in ukraine and on that front the u.s. made a significant announcement on friday where it said that a committed to sending cluster munitions to ukraine. now, this is a controversial decision by the biden administration and one that officials say they did not take lightly with president biden himself saying it was a difficult decision and the reason why is because these cluster

priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. >>> bye-bye birdie. that's the word from elon musk.o replace twitter's iconic logo. why he may be changing the logo and the nature of twitter itself. hi mom. that's the value of ownership. julian's about to learn that free food is a personal eating trigger. no, it isn't. (sigh) yes, it is. and that's just a bit of psychology julian learned from noom weight. sign up now at noom.com. [announcer] tens of thousands of customers wrote about carvana being smooth in their five star reviews, including teri. to be honest, i thought it was almost too smooth but carvana was super transparent from beginning to end, car details, financing, every step and there were no surprises. well, my monthly payment did come out lower than expected. then i got to pick up my mustang at the vending machine and it was so fun and exciting i did a little dance. (teri laughs) trust me, financing my car with carvana was super smooth. [announcer] finance your next car with carvana today. (soft whistling) hi! need new glasses? buy one pair, get one free at visionworks!

cnn's priscilla alvarez is at the white house. what can you tell us about this so-called plan b?lan that white house officials had been working on behind the scenes in case the supreme court ruled against president biden's student loan forgiveness program, which we saw happen this week. and, so, what this plan does is still try to provide debt relief to students. it is unclear the cope and breadth of this program and how it would compare to what the supreme court struck down. one, it includes temporary 12-month on-ramp repayment program. it also includes a department of education not referring borrowers to credit agencies during that period. now, this may take months to come to fruition, but it is an important effort, according to the white house, and one that the president has touted himself in remarks just yesterday. now, this has been a signaturish you for the president dating back to his presidential campaign, and it remains so now, including looking forward to the 2024 presidential election. but, still, the president was faced with tough questions yesterday, including whethe

great reporting, priscilla alvarez, from the white house.transportation secretary pete buttigieg will join us live as extreme weather and staffing shortage contribute to airline travel delays and cancellations. what the administration is doing cocoming up next. this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ ♪♪ alex! mateo, hey how's business? great. you know that loan has really worked wonders. that's what u.s. bank is for. and you're growing in california? -yup, socal, norcal... -monterey? -all day. -a branch in ventura? that's for sure-ah. atms in fresno? fres-yes. encinitas? yes, indeed-us. anaheim? big time. more guacamole? i'm on a roll-ay. how about you? i'm just visiting. u.s. bank. ranked #1 in customer satisfaction with retail banking in california by j.d. power. ♪ >>> singer lisa marie presley's cause of death just revealed. the 54-yr-old died from complications from a prior weight loss surgery.

priscilla alvarez joins us from the white house. good morning to you. jeremy diamond's reporting is it is going to end next week but they don't have a lot of the information, right, from the dna test, et cetera. >> reporter: that's right, poppy. this is on track to end whether or not a suspect is identified. so as of yesterday afternoon, secret service was still looking through security footage and visitor logs, and they still had not received the results of the dna test as well as the fingerprint analysis. so all that have is still under way. but what makes this very challenging is where this baggy of cocaine is found is a highly traveled part of the white house. this is on the ground floor of the west wing near the entrance in cubbies visitors go on staff-led tours and staff can use if they have to leave their cell phones behind to go into an area to review classified materials. now these tours happened over the weekend, led by staff. there is at least a time frame they can look at and, of course, this was also a finding that led to a temporary evacua

priscilla alvarez has the details now from the white house.king this announcement earlier today. what more are you learning about who the president is going to be sitting down with? >> reporter: that's right, boris. the white house announcing he will be visiting the united kingdom, lithuania and finland and all of those countries will have high stakes meetings beginning with president biden meeting king charles iii since his coronation biden did not attend and having instead the first lady attend. and he's going to meet with the british prime minister. the british prime minister had visited the white house last month. this will be another opportunity for them to meet and talk about what is going to be on the mind of the president over the course of these next few days, which is the war in ukraine. we expect them to have those conversations and sitdowns when he's in the united kingdom but then later, too, in the nato summit. president biden has repeatedly talked about the alliance and how critical it is, especially at this juncture of the war i

. >> cnn's priscilla alvarez is joining us now. priscilla, what are you learning about this?orter: well, jim, just moments ago we saw representative jayapal put out a statement where she apologized for her remarks. quote, at a conference, attempted to defuse a tense situduring a panel where fellow members of congress were being protested. words do matter, so it's important i clarify my statement. i do not believe the idea of israel as a nation is racist. she went on to say these are not easy conversations to have, and she offered her apologies. as you mentioned, this happened when pro-palestinian protesters interrupted a conference over the weekend. jayapal, the top progressive democrat and the caucus she leads the house progressive caucus. they have been vocal about opposition to israeli settlements in the west bank as well as the u.s. sponsorship of israel's iron dome defense system. all of this is likely to come to a head this week when the israeli president visits the white house and addresses a joint meeting of congress. all of this scheduled for this week. we also heard

cnn's priscilla alvarez is joining us live from the white house. u've been doing wonderful reporting on what's going on along the border. walk us through this department of justice lawsuit. and is there reaction from the white house? >> wolf, this is a fant development and really escalates the feud between president biden and texas government greg abbott with the justice department moving forward on its lawsuit against those floating barriers in the rio grande. this lawsuit focuses on a clause in the law about navigating waters. there's not mention of migrants and the concern it poses to their safety, but in a statement from vinita gupta, they say this floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns. this is the outcome of texas governor greg abbott defying a request by the justice department to remove these barriers on his own. he said instead today that he would see president biden in court. now, the white house is also weighing in on this, calling the texas governor's actions on the border dangero

cnn's priscilla alvarez has more on this now. biden policy that blocked folks from crossing the border, as i understand it, who traveled through another country, right? i mean, for folks watching at home, this is key, is it not, because this had helped reduce or the impression was, this had helped reduce the flows. >> jim, this is one of the measures that administration officials have cited for driving down border crossings, because what it does is it largely bars migrants who transit through other countries from seeki ing asylum at the u.s./mexico border if they didn't first try to seek refuge in other countries. and as you know, jim, migrants that do come to the u.s./mexico boater have often passed through other countries like mexico or guatemala, or recently, panama. so this is a blow to the administration, which had been using this policy as one of many measures to again drive down those border crossings. and we know that it had some effect. in fact, just last month, the full month, where all of these issues were in place, u.

cnn's priscilla alvarez is at the white house. what can you tell us about this new plan? >> reporter: well, they are setting all of this in motion now, that being plan b. but there's no question that this is a major blow for president biden and the administration which wanted to provide student debt forgiveness under its plan that's now been struck down by the supreme court. now it's not clear that this plan b will provide the same breadth and scope or at least have -- impact as many millions as it would have before this case and this ruling, but they are setting it all in motion. so a few things that that will include -- for example, a temporary 12-months onramp repayment program. the department of education will not refer borrowers to credit agencies during that period. now it will take a few months for this to come to fruition according to the white house, but white house officials had been working on this behind the scenes leading up to this ruling. it was always a possibility that the supreme court was going to rule against the administration on this. and so over the

. >> i'm joined now by cnn white house reporter priscilla alvarez.lans, the white house plans. >> reporter: well, fred, this is a move to protect places central to till's life and death. on tuesday what would have been the 82nd birthday of emmett till, president biden will sign a proclamation establishing this new monument. this would be the fourth time that president biden has created a new monument and it will span two states, illinois and mississippi, to reflect where he lived and where he died. and it will be across three sites. let me tell you the significance of each one. the first is where mourners gathered after till's death. the second is where his body was to believed to be pulled out of the rifrpver and the third is t course where all we jurors acquitted his death. it says this reflects the biden administration's work for a commitment to civil rights. this comes at a fraught time over issues of race. the vice president going after republicans for their education standards in florida. this is a moment that the president will mark to really

priscilla alvarez is there. there. >> reporter: it certainly does. one of the big questions is how it entered the white house to begin with. now as you mentioned, a person familiar is now confirming that the lab tests have shown it is positive for cocaine. sources had previously told cnn that field tests in the moment had determined that it was possibly cocaine. we now know that that is the case. now where it was found was in the west wing, in a common area, not an individual office, and also an area where private group-led tours pass through. we know the substance was found near where the guests are asked to leave their cell phones before proceeding into the west wing. now of course this did prompt that brief evacuation on sunday evening, and they called in washington, d.c., fire department which deployed their hazmat suits to try to determine what this was. and now since sunday we are learning that it is, indeed, cocaine. again, this is part of an ongoing investigation. we're trying to get more from the secret

cnn's priscilla alvarez has details. >> reporter: the floating barriers along the rio grande, it's theatest escalation between president joe biden and governor abbott over the handles of the u.s./mexico border. over the weekend saying that texas will not have the authority to set up the barriers. it went also to say, quote, the state of texas raised environmental concerns, caused serious risks to the environment and may interfere with the federal government's ability to carry out its official duties. now, officials have talking for months with the administration as to what action if any may be taken by the justice department as they watch with concern the action that the texas governor was taking along the border. those floating borders have posed drowning risks to migrants crossing. the texas governor said in a tweet it's our sovereign authority to defend our borders. again, he can reply by monday afternoon as to whether or not he will take them down. if not, the justice department says in their letter, they're ready to take the texas governor to court. priscilla alvarez, cnn, the whi

priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. >>> and fighting for nonstop support with ukraine ever sincear began, military leaders say critical units of the u.s. army are stretched too thin. >> the navy's air defense is charged with missiles around the glob to protect around-the-clock terrorists. cnn explains the pressure that those units are under. >> the leaders have said they've seen an increase in soldiers going to behavorial help on post, so seeking out mental health support. and they're concerned about the wear and tear on families. in the pentagon, you recruit the service member but retain the family. that's a concern as well, they're working to mitigate the issues, as well as keeping them ready for the mission. they're stepping up the air defense that's staggered. and uplift the ranks, they're also bemding mental health specialists, behavorial health specials into air defense brigades to get someone closer to the soldiers if case they need them. they're reducing commitment, reducing commitment in the middle east especially as foreign allies and others in the region can provide ot

priscilla alvarez is with us. it sounds like texas is not backing down in any way. >> reporter: they're not. they're standing firm in their position as far as we know now. this is really an escalation between the feud of president joe biden and texas governor greg abbott on this delicate issue of immigration. in a letter on thursday, the justice department notified texas it plans to sue if they did not get rid of the floating barriers that you see there, telling texas they didn't have authorization to put those in the water and citing a clause of the through that effect. the letter went on to say, quote, the state of texas's actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment and may interfere with the fire department's ability to carry out its official duties. officials tell me they have been monitoring this situation along the border for some time and there were internal discussions about what action, if any, could be taken against the state. now t

>> priscilla alvarez, thank you. president biden is launching a new effort to forgive student loans on a large scale following the supreme court ruling friday that struck down his mass student debt cancellation plan. now, these new programs could give borrowers some wiggle room to pay off their debt without going into default or damaging their credit. but in order for them to go into effect, the department of education must undertake a formal rule-making process, and that typically takes months. nearly 44 million student borrowers must begin repaying their loans as early as october. so joining me now, natalia abrams, the president and founder of the student debt crisis center. natalia, thank you so much for being with us, because there are so many, many people who are probably very confused right now about their options. clearly, the president's post-covid debt relief program is off the table. that was struck down by the supreme court. but while he sorts out his, quote, plan "b," there are a lot of programs that have

priscilla alvarez is there for us where president biden is spending the weekend. priscilla, nato allies will have a lot to discuss, as well as this war in ukraine will be a huge part of the conversation. what can you tell us? >> reporter: it is going to be the key topic of discussion, as this war is ongoing. especially as there are questions as to what aid can be prided in the long-term. president den, will start his trip in the united kingdom where he will meet with king charles, as well as the british prime minister. he will then move onto lithuania to attend a nato summit and conclude his trip in england. there is a question about whether ukraine will be joining the alliance, and yesterday, national security adviser jake sullivan told reporters that it is unlikely that they would come out of the summit with ukraine joining, but they could make steps in that direction. president biden himself noted that it is premature for now for ukraine to join, but discussions will be around what could happen moving forward. take a listen. >> when you go to the nato summit, th

priscilla alvarez joins us live with more.ill us in on the president's agenda and give us a sense on what is at stake for him this week as he meets with nato allies in lithuania. >> reporter: his agenda includes a series of high stakes meetings with world leaders and it comes at a critical time with the war in ukraine still ongoing and the failed coup attempt. he will start at the united kingdom where he will meet with king charles, the first face-to-face meeting since his corn nation and then he'll move ton to lithuania and then conclude in finland. looming over all of that is the war in ukraine. especially now after the u.s. a announcement that they will provide cluster munitions. this is a controversial announcement and one that was considered for sometime within the administration and now is moving forward after unanimous decision among president biden's national security team. the reason there is concern is because this is a weapon that over 100 nations agree should not be used in modern warfare. this is a munition that i

cnn's white house reporter priscilla alvarez joins us now.l us in on the president's itinerary and give us a sense of what's at stake for the president and nato allies at this summit. >> reporter: well, this is a trip that comes at a critical time. it is one where contentious issues are expected to come up all against the backdrop of that war in ukraine and that failed coup attempt in russia last month. now, the war in ukraine is going to loom over all of these meetings. president biden heading out this morning to the united kingdom where he is going to meet with king charles, the first face-to-face meeting since his coronation. later lithuania for the nato summit and then conclude the trip in finland. but again they will be talking about ukraine as he goes, especially after a key announcement this past friday where the u.s. committed to sending cluster munitions in the latest aid package to ukraine. those are controversial, ones that over 100 nations have banned and said they should not be used in modern warfare. the united states and ukrain

. >> cnn's priscilla alvarez joins us live from the white house.s was fascinating last night. this clearly wasn't a prescheduled trip, at least from the time that we usually expect a vice president or presidential trip. this happened fairly quickly. the decision was made to send the vice president down for the vice president to go down herself. tells about the backdrop here of why this happened. >> and it's also not the first time that this has happened, phil. vice president harris also went to tennessee following controversy that happened in the legislature there. so this is part of the ongoing trips over the course of the summer that the vice president has made to highlight areas where the white house and democrats see republican attacks against what they call the freedoms like abortion and now also education. now, again, this is the first biden administration official to go to florida since those controversial standards were approved, and it is an opportunity for the vice president to talk about what you heard there in condemning these standards

>> priscilla alvarez at the white house.ho is standing in eagle pass now looking out on that river. rosa, give us a sense of what you're seeing. >> reporter: you know, john, to priscilla's point about border patrol telling her in d.c. and on the ground that they are having issues with having access to the river, let me show you exactly what priscilla is talking about here because we can see it. now, this gate where i'm standing, you can see that it's barricaded by both wire, metal stakes and also a pile of dirt. if you look here to my right you will see this leads towards the river and there are several layers of wire, the wire that's right by the water, take a look at that really closely because right now the water levels on the rio grande are very low and this is what critics have been talking about when it comes to what we've heard as, quote, death traps for migrants. when that water level rises, that wire at the bottom of the banks of the river here, that's completely underwater. beyond that you see the buoys that are in

for more on the president's upcoming trip, here's cnn's priscilla alvarez. >> reporter: the stakes couldn't be higher for the future of the nato alliance with the ongoing war in ukraine and the failed coup attempt in russia just last month, biden is going to embark on this three-country trip, he'll start in the uk where he'll meet with king charles, then lithulithuania, then finla. discussions about whether or not ukraine will join nato. on friday igs national security adviser sullivan told reporters that unlikely coming out of the meeting that ukraine will be joining nato. >> i don't think there's unanimity whether to bring ukraine into the nato family now at this moment. the middle of the war. you did that, you know, and i mean what i say, we're determined to commit every inch of territory that's nato territory as a commitment that we've all made no matter what, if the war is going on we're all in a war, so i think we have to lay out a path for the rational path for russia -- excuse me for ukraine to be able to qualify to get into nato. nato is a process that takes some time to meet all t

we are tracking this at the white house with priscilla alvarez. ourt stopped the efforts of this just last month, and forgetting the calendar, this month. but what is the avenue and the path they are trying right now? >> well, this is part of the ongoing effort to provide some relief after that supreme court decision after this blow to the white house and the plans to provide student relief to far more people. what this is amounting to is addressing the fixes in the system so that payments that people have made can go to the relief and wipe it. it is historical failures and administrative errors that miscounted qualifying payments made by borrowers and taking int to account, it could have some people know that their debt is wiped. in the statement, the education secretary said in the following, by fixing e past administrative failures, we are ensuring that everybody is going to get the forgiveness that they deserve. students cheated by the colleges and the borrowers with permanent disabilities including veterans. of course, kate, this is coming wit

priscilla Álvarez, cnn, the white house. >> now, to a remarkable admission by a russian official, dimmitri security council says his country is threatened by the possibility that ukraine could join nato. he wrote an article for a russian government newspaper saying russiaes goal is to eliminate that threat, even if it means keeping the war going in ukraine indefinitely. well, ukraine is reporting heavy fighting along the entire eastern front with russian forces attacking in several directions and making some advances, but ukranian officials say their forces are having partial success south of bakhmut. they posted this video showing what appears to be a strike on a russian tank in the region and ukraine says it's gradually advancing tom labonge southern front lines. claire sebastian joins me live from london. so claire what is the latest on russian advances made in eastern ukraine? >> yes, rosemary deputy defense minister ukraine admitted sunday russia is making some advances. we can show you on a map near this axis in the northern hansk donbas area. the russians took early part of the

priscilla alvarez is on the road where the president is spending the weekend, priscilla, the president is facing some pushback even from fellow democrats on the inclusion of cluster bombs in this military aid package. tell us more. >> reporter: that's right because is a significant development, and one that is not sitting well with democrats in congress. now, senator merkley, along with former senator leahy wrote an op-ed in the "washington post", quite blunt about this, saying it was a serious mistake and could have, quote, devastating impact. the concern is when you outlined earlier, that these munitions can scatter bomblets and there is a long-term risk, because they may not explode right away. ukrainian officials have given the u.s. assurance they would not use these in urban areas, but the concern is clearly still there among democrats. of course, this is a decision the administration did not take lightly. national security adviser, jake sullivan, said they came to a unanimous decision within the national security team that it was time to provide these munitions. ticketless in. >>

. >> priscilla alvarez at rehoboth beach, thank you very much. >>> ben wedeman is in eastern ukraine.o we expect this supply of cluster bombs to provide a significant boost, and do we know when they arrive? >> reporter: it's not clear when these weapons are going to arrive. but unlike some of the weapons systems the united states and the west have provided to ukraine, they don't require much in terms of new equipment. in fact, you can fire them off of a himar rocket system, something the ukrainians have had since last summer. as far as the situation in the battlefield goes, it continues to be difficult. but the ukrainians say they are making progress in the area around bakhmut, which seems to be at the moment the focus of the counteroffensive. as soon as one artillery round blast toward bakhmut, the crew rushes to prepare for another. the town since last year has been the epicenter of the war. gun commander artem has been in the area for months. the task of taking down coordinates and barking orders now routine. he says he's now half deaf from the blasts. yet, he has sensed a change.

cnn's white house reporter priscilla alvarez is digging in on this. en doing some excellent reporting and your latest reporting suggesting that the white house is growing increasingly concerned by these reports from the texas-mexico border. tell our viewers what you're learning. >> that's right, wolf. texas governor greg abbot launched this operation in 2021 as an affront to president biden and his immigration policies. it's an operation that white house officials and administration officials were monitoring for some time, but they have grown increasingly concerned amid the troubling reports that have come about texas trooper sending migrants back to mex toe and not giving them water in the blistering heat. this ultimately led this week to us learning that the justice department in its first public acknowledgement is going to assess the situation on the ground which could be the first step toward an investigation and that is a significant development and goes to show, wolf, how concerning this has become within the white house and within the administra

>> priscilla alvarez, thanks so much for that. >> last month an overcrowded boat capsized near greecepeople drown, including a 14-year-o-ol boy. that story is straight ahead. then you came along and made every m mile worth it. hi mom. at vanguard you're more than just an investor, you're an owner. helping you prepare for today's longer retirement. that's the value of ownership. people always ask me, "kevin, what does being the ceo of cashbacking mean to you?" the way that i see it, if you're buying it, flying it, or wing n' dining it, then you gotta be cashbacking it. [chuckles] come on now. earn big with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? sleep more deepl and wake up rejuvenated. purple mattress's exclusive gelflex grid draws away heat, relieves pressure, and instantly adapts. sleep better, live purple. visit purple.com or a mattress store near you. the world will remember this day. the trinity test and the revelation of the first atomic explosion to the world was one of the most important moments in the 20th century. the trinity test and the development and the race and t

for more, here is priscilla alvarez. >> reporter: the stakes couldn't be higher for the future of the nato alliance at a critical time with the ongoing war in ukraine and failed coup attempt in russia last month. so president biden will embark on this three country trip, he will start at the united kingdom where he will meet with king k45ir8s as well as the british prime minister and then move on for the nato summit and conclude in finland. but the summit is key and it is one in which there will likely be discussions about whether or not ukraine will join nato. on friday, national security adviser jake sullivan told reporters that it is unlikely that coming out of the summit ukraine will be joining nato, but they could be discussing steps forward and that is something that president biden himself has acknowledged would be premature for ukraine to enjoy now, but they could be discussing what it looks like moving forward. >> i don't think there is unanimity about whether or not to bring ukraine into the nato family now. at this moment. the middle of a war. for example, if you did that,

priscilla alvarez is in delaware, where the president is spending the weekend. priscilla, the president is facing some pushback from some of his fellow democrats, isn't that right? >> reporter: that's right. two democrats put it bluntly, calling it, quote, a serious mistake. in a "washington post" op-ed, senator merkley and former senator leahy said this will have a devastating impact and pushback against the biden administration's decisions to send these munitions to ukraine. but of course, the administration is doing that at a critical time where ukraine has not made major gains in his counteroffensive against russia as is expected by this point. officials have said that this was taken under serious consideration. it was not until the national security team came to a unanimous decision, and then, it was ultimately up to president biden to make the final call. take a listen to what he said. >> two things and this was a difficult decision on my part, and by the way, i discussed this with our allies, with our friends up on the hill, and we are in a situation where

cnn white house reporter priscilla alvarez is joining us now.re is a plan b that the president says he's working on. >> reporter: there is. but there's no question this was a major blow for president biden and the white house which had been touting student debt relief. the white house has laid out what they call a plan b. this is something that white house officials have been preparing behind the scenes in the event that the supreme court struck their original plan. it includes a couple things, starting with reducing levels for income-driven repayment plan from 10% to 5%. it also has the department of education creating a temporary 12-month on ramp repayment program when debt payments restart. these are a couple things that are in the works. they're going to take months to get done. of course, there were millions who were hoping that their student debt would be forgiven up to $20,000 in the immediate term. but the administration is trying to give reassurances and the president himself saying that they have been working on different options to tr

for more on the president's upcoming trip, here's cnn's priscilla alvarez. >> reporter: the stakes couldn'te higher for the future of the nato alliance at a critical time, with the ongoing war in ukraine and the failed coup attempt in russia just last month. president biden is going to embark on this three-country trip. he's going to start at the united kingdom where he'll meet with king charles and the prime minister, then move to lit lithuania, and conclude his trip in poland. there will likely be discussions whether or not ukraine will join nato. friday, national security adviser jake sullivan told reporters it's unlikely that coming out of the summit, ukraine will be joining nato. but they could be discussing steps for-bard. that is something president biden himself has acknowledged would be premature for ukraine to join now but they could be discussing what that looks like moving forward. >> i don't think there is unanimity in nato about whether or not to bring ukraine into the nato family now. at this moment in the middle of a war. for example, if you did that, then, you know, we -- a

for more on all of that, let's bring in priscilla alvarez. we know there is a plan b when it comes to some of these rulings, particularly the student loan debt ruling by the biden administration. what do you know? >> reporter: there is, but there's no question that it is still a major blow for president biden to have lost this case before the supreme court on what has been a signature issue dating back to his presidential campaign. now, president biden laid out his plan b in remarks just yesterday. what we don't quite know is whether it's going to have the same breadth and scope as his previous plan had had. it will reduce levels for income driven repayment plan from 10% to 5%. the president touting that in his remarks yesterday. it will also have the department of education create a temporary 12-month on ramp repayment program when the debt payments restart. both of these will take months, not days. the problem that the administration faces, what the white house was trying to relay is that they had discussions about this. there was always ta

i want to go straight to the white house and cnn's priscilla alvarez. what are you hearing from your sources on this? >> reporter: dane, a source familiar tells our colleague that lab tests have confirmed that that powdery substance found at the white house on sunday is cocaine. now initially officials had described this as a powdery substance left in a ziplock bag in the west wing, in a common area. so not an office, and also an area accessible to group tours. in fact, it's a place where guests are asked to leave their cell phones as they take their tours. so now lab tests are confirming that it is cocaine. it was unclear as of earlier today whether that would be the case. field tests up to now had determined that it could possibly be cocaine. we now know from these tests that it is. dana, as you mentioned, this raises a lot of questions of how this could have entered the white house to begin with and who is the person responsible for it. those are two questions that have not been answered yet. the secret service up until now has said that this is an o

per -- priscilla alvarez broke this story. what are you learning?department of justice that they are assessing the situation on the texas/mexico border which is a concern to this administration. i was told by sources there were discussions for months about what actions, if any, could be taken, those actions taken between the department of homeland security and the justice department as they watched what was unfolding in texas with greg abbott sending migrants to cities without coordination and then setting up buoys, posing a potential drowning risk. so this is a development from the you justice department amid the reports that texas troopers were told not to give water to migrants in the blistering heat and push them back to mexico. governor abbott denying that. but the press secretary weighing in yesterday calling this atrocious. >> this is what we see over and over and over again from this texas governor, from governor abbott. it is -- all we're asking for, as a country and what we should hold near and dear is the basic human decency and we're not

. >>> i'm priscilla alvarez at the white house. >>> and now for the last look.tch government over immigration. here, in the united states, immigration is a political hot button as well. >> our country is full. we don't want people coming up here. our country is full. we want mexico to stop. we want all of them to stop. our country is packed to the gills. >> a record 2.4 million migrants were apprehended at the border last fiscal year. that shattered the record set the previous year and nearly equaled the total population of the city of chicago. america's immigration system is broken. but, the problem isn't what mr. trump and allies might have you believe. in fact, it's quite the opposite. here is a clip from my newest documentary, immigration breakdown. it will premiere tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on cnn. the real disaster isn't that too many immigrants have made it to the u.s. >> you are now u.s. citizens. >> it's that they aren't letting in nearly enough. >> the fertility rate in the united states fell to an all- time low. >> more and more america

priscilla alvarez joins me from the white house.u hearing from your sources in the building behind you about how they are approaching this potential strike? >> it's a delicate balance, one in which the president wants to show his support and be public about his support of unions, bus one that unions have asked him not to interfere. that is the sweet spot hashgs a president pro union but knows not to interfere when there are negotiations. unions have buoyed president biden's political ambitions. his first big re-election campaign rally was hosted by unions earlier this summer. it has the risk of hurting the economy when these strikes happen, so you mentioned, for example, the teamsters union, they and ups will be back at the negotiating table this week, but steam steres union president shawn o'brien already spoke to what could happen economically should it fail. take a listen. >> our members deliver goods and services in country, 7% of gross national product, so supply chain solution will take a huge hit, but more importantly, ups, i

a source tells priscilla alvarez is the cubbies where the phones were left was a blind spot for the surveillancend so that ultimately resulted in a dead end there as far as surveillance footage being used to identify this. as of now the white house says they are reviewing the findings of this investigation, but the secret service have closed this matter. some infuriated saying the secret service should have been able to get to the bottom of this. >> jeremy diamond. >>> let's head to capitol hill where melanie zanona is tracking the reaction to close the investigation without finding a suspect. what are you hearing? >> yeah. the secret service held a briefing this morning for members on the house oversight committee and there was interest from republicans on that committee, but gop lawmakers left that briefing feeling outraged and disappointed and unsatisfied with what they heard. some members were particularly concerned about the locker system that cubby system that jeremy was talking about for visitors who come to the white house located near the situation room. let's listen to congressman tim

priscilla alvarez, thanks for being with j. >>> coronation number two for congress charles. there. >>> the holiday weekend may be over, but travel delays and cancellations are sticking around. the faa is warning of possible ground stops at airports today. what to expect. that's coming up. tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists photographihing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. that can be analyzed by ai in real time. ♪ so researchers can identify which areas are at risk. and help life underwater flourish. ♪ crusius crusius,crusius crusius, power e*trade's easy-to-use tools, like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley. with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. e*trade from morgan stanley . >>> the head

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priscilla alvarez is following this for us.essman castro about this yesterday. he was outraged in describing these floating barriers as drowning devices. they are very fired up, a lot of democrats are, in texas about this. what do you think is going to happen next? does this sound like this could be a battle that texas could win here or might the justice department be able to force the state to reverse course? >> this is certainly an escalation between president joe biden and texas governor abbott, both of whom have been going back and forth along the texas and new mexico border and now the governor is taking the step of putting the terriers up this month which do pose a risk to migrants, he said he didn't have authorization to put those barriers in the water in the first place, it may interfere with the governments of their ability to carry out its official duties. and officials i've been talking to said there were internal discussions and it was about the actions that they were seeing about what the governor is doing. the feu

priscilla alvarez is traveling with the president and joins us. so south carolina is obviously a deep red state, but it's also a critical democratic primary state. an early state and one that revived his 2020 primary hopes back in 2020. what is the sales pitch today? >> reporter: for those reasons, that is why this is a stop. and just the latest effort by president biden to highlight his legislative accomplishments like the "inflation reduction act" and the infrastructure law. so president biden is going to bring his sales pitch of biden-omics to the state here today. and that is a pitch that they -- one last week and one that they are embracing as they bank on a strong economy going into 2024. now president biden when he arrived will be coming to this manufacturing facility where he'll have a tour. and then he's going to deliver remarks where he's going to tout some of those accomplishments including $11 billion in manufacturing and clean energy in this state, as well as $2.6 billion in awards toward infrastructure. but of course president biden

. >> priscilla alvarez in rehoboth beach, thank you so much. >>> the announcement comes as ukraine continues its counteroffensive against russia. cnn's ben wedeman is in ukraine. do we expect the supply of cluster bombs to provide a significant force to ukrainian forces? >> reporter: fredricka, when they arrive they will. but nobody seems to know exactly when they'll arrive. the advantage of these controversial cluster munitions is that they can be fired from weapons systems that are already being used on the battlefield, and what we're seeing is that slowly, incrementally, the ukrainians are making progress in and around bakhmut, which really is the focal point of the current ukrainian counteroffensive. no longer on the front lines, he recounts how he ended up a prisoner of war. in russia he was behind bars for the third time for drugs. when they put me in prison, i heard they were recruiting. serve six months, and they pardon you, he tells me. so he signed up with storm z, a unit made up of convicts attached to the russian defense ministry. after only two weeks of basic training, he was sh

. >> cnn's priscilla alvarez is at the white house. these conversations need to happen.eporter: erica, we don't know if the white house is involved in the conversation that you heard there, but it would be the start of trying to get some information about travis king. recall he crossed into north korea last tuesday and we have not publicly seen or heard from him and north korea has not acknowledged that he is in their custody. so there has been no information so far about him and his condition. now the united nations command is a multinational military force that includes the u.s., and it controls the south korean side of the joint security area which king along with others was touring last week, but again, we have not heard from the white house yet whether the u.s. is involved in that conversation that the u.n. command is referring to. now we do know that u.s. officials have been trying to get in touch with north korea and talking to their allies to get some information about this u.s. national, but on friday, national security council spokesman john kirby said they hav

cnn's priscilla alvarez has our report. >> reporter: homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas grilleds today over the handling of the u.s./mexico border. >> i know that today the secretary is going to try to paint a rosy picture of this disastrous mismanagement of our border. >> reporter: border apprehensions remain high but fewer crossings in recent weeks according to the department of homeland security. alejandro mayorkas credited the drop to policies. >> our approach to managing the border is working. unlawful entries between portso decreased by more than half compared to the peak before the end of title 42. >> reporter: house republicans, who have been making the case to impeach the secretary, didn't buy it. >> did joe biden tell you to open up the border or did you? >> the border is not open. >> reporter: it's an uphill conversation even in the republican conference, and despite fierce criticism. >> mr. secretary, the last time you were here i told you my constituents told you that you are a traitor. when people die of fentanyl, it is your fault. >> reporter: the congressman said

cnn's priscilla alvarez is breaking this story. what are you learning?ant escalation and development in a feud between texas governor greg abbott and president biden over a delicate political issue being immigration. so the doj telling abbott on thursday that they plan to file legal action against the floating barriers that were put up by abbott in the rio grande saying, quote, the state of texas' actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government's ability to carry out its official duties. i've been talking to officials for months who said there was ongoing discussions between the department of homeland security and the justice department as to what to do against the texas governor and his border operation. they are now moving forward potentially with this legal action. we should note this is unrelated to the ongoing assessment about mistreatment of migrants. dana? >> thank you so much for that reporting. appreciate it. >>> and president bide

priscilla alvarez is at the white house with more on president biden's response but we start in eagle pass, texas, where rosa flores is live for us. how is he justifying this decision? >> reporter: well, governor abbott is saying that he has sovereign authority by the state of texas under the u.s. and texas constitutions. now here is what his defiance looked like on the rio grande. take a look. these are the buoys that are in question. they are four feet in diameter, and they are at the center of this controversy. and they're at the center of this rio grande river. the international boundary between the u.s. and mexico. there are multiple treaties that governor this waterway. and mexico has been concerned about these buoys because they're wondering if it is in their territory. now according to the u.s. state department, the state of texas did not consult with the federal government before deploying the buoys and they did not obtain permits that raises a lot of questions about what texas was doing and texas not following the law. there are laws and regulations that govern this waterway