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Biden Returning To White House Early To Consult With National Security Team Over Middle East; Israel On "High Alert" For "Iranian Aggression"; NYPD Gears Up For Trump's High Stakes Criminal Trial Monday; Police Officer, 18-Year-Old Suspect Dead After Exchanging Gunfire; Measles Outbreaks Threaten Elimination Status In U.S. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired April 13, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right, everyone, thanks for joining me. I'm Omar Jimenez in for Fredricka Whitfield. We're going to start with breaking news.

President Biden is returning to the White House from Delaware a day early to consult with his national security team about the intensifying situation in the Middle East.

Now, a meeting that will include Secretary of State Antony Blinken. And sources say the U.S. expects Iran to carry out a direct attack on Israel in the coming days in retaliation for the killing of senior Iranian military officials in Syria last week.

Also new today, Iranian authorities have seized a container ship near the Strait of Hormuz. Now, the ship, which Tehran links to Israel, has been directed toward Iran now.

And overnight, Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah exchanged attacks across the border with southern Lebanon. CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House. Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem.

Kevin, we're also learning that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is speaking with the Israeli Defense Minister today. What -- what do we know about that conversation and about what's expected to happen at the White House with the President?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, those two men discussing what the Pentagon is calling urgent regional threats. Secretary Austin reiterating steadfast American support for Israel amid these threats of an Iranian counterattack potentially in Israel. And this is just the latest sign and the clearest indication that we have to date, that U.S. officials do believe that this attack could be imminent.

The decision by President Biden to return to the White House only lending to the sense that this attack could happen very soon. And we did hear from President Biden yesterday saying that he believed this attack could occur sooner rather than later. Now, how this attack unfolds exactly remains to be seen, where it

occurs, when it occurs. But we can report that American officials have detected movement of military assets in Iran, including drones and cruise missiles. This could mean any number of things. It could be an attempt at deterrence. It could also mean that Iran is preparing for a strike from Iranian soil, which would be a watershed moment in this conflict that hasn't happened yet. And it could lead to a greater escalation of this war, potentially dragging the United States closer into direct conflict with Iran.

Now, what we have heard from American officials is that they are preparing contingencies atop General Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, has been in Israel over the last several days discussing contingency plans with his counterparts.

In this phone call that Secretary Austin held today, he said that Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.

Now, one thing American officials have been clear is that they do not expect Iran to attack U.S. forces in the region. But nonetheless, this does place the U.S. in a precarious position. Certainly, the U.S. is Israel's top defender, top ally. But it does come at a moment of growing tensions between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Now, what we have heard directly from the President over the last several days is that the U.S. is steadfast in its support and that it will continue to defend Israel against Iran should this attack happen.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. And look, Jeremy, Israel, of course, is the potential direct recipient of any potential response. How is Israel preparing for a possible attack?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, Israeli forces certainly are on high alert tonight at a moment of extreme tension, a potential inflection point in this six-month war as we have been waiting over that period of time to see whether or not this war between Israel and Hamas could explode into a broader and much more significant regional conflict.

And now, in addition to Israeli forces being on high alert, Israeli civilians are also being put into a heightened state of alert. The Israeli military just now issuing new home front guidelines to civilians beginning at 11 p.m. Israeli time two hours from now. As part of these new guidelines, schools will be closed for the coming days across Israel.

In addition to that, people living along the Gaza border and those living in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon are essentially being advised not to hold any types of gatherings at all, social gatherings that they may be having over the coming days. And the Israeli military spokesman is saying that this is in direct relation to those potential threats coming from Iran.

I've been told that Israeli officials are bracing for a potential Iranian attack on Israeli facilities within Israel. That is viewed right now as the likeliest scenario, although it is certainly not the only scenario. But whether or not Iran chooses to respond directly on Israeli soil, whether it uses Iranian weapons fired by Iranian troops, or whether it chooses to attack using its proxy forces in the region, that will be very significant to determine what happens next and whether or not this Iranian response could indeed trigger that broader conflict, could trigger a potential war between Iran and Israel, and will certainly determine the scale and the scope of any Israeli response.

[14:05:06]

But Israeli military leaders, its political leadership, have been trying to signal in recent days that Israel is not only prepared to defend itself and to respond to any potential Iranian threat, but also making clear that an Iranian attack on Israeli soil will result in an Israeli attack on Iranian soil. Omar?

JIMENEZ: A lot of implications, depending on, of course, the scale and the magnitude of any potential retaliation here. Jeremy Diamond, Kevin Liptak, thank you, as always.

I want to bring in CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kimberly Dozier. So what do you expect are some of the specifics that President Biden is discussing with his national security team today?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Look, the Biden administration and the Pentagon, they have to prepare for the worst. And so they've looked at the movement of Iranian military vessels and vehicles, and they are prepared for a direct strike, probably by missiles and drones, by Iran on Israeli territory.

That said, this would be out of character of Iran's behavior in the past. It's careful calculations, normally to respond in like and in kind. An eye-for-an-eye type attack would be to hit an Israeli diplomatic facility somewhere in the world. And that's why Israeli diplomats have been told to be on high alert ever since the strike on Iranian Quds Force commanders at an Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria that I have to mention Israel hasn't officially acknowledged.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, yeah. And look, tied to this, the United States has come out and said that they had no prior knowledge of -- of any attack on this embassy in Syria. Again, that Israel has yet to fully acknowledge at this point.

But also Iran has looped the United States into a potentially retaliatory territory based on its overall support of Israel. And from your perspective, should we be reading anything into the fact that Biden is cutting his weekend short to rush back to the White House to deal with this?

DOZIER: Given what the U.S. military has spotted, according to CNN's reporting of the movements of Iranian military forces, it's the smart thing to do. You don't want to be on the beach while bombs are falling anywhere. That said, I do think that Tehran is in some ways enjoying watching the U.S., Israelis, the Israeli public, all on high alert over what it might do. That demonstrates a certain amount of power. But Iran knows that even if it hits military facilities, not civilian

areas inside Israel, say naval ships in Haifa or the Israeli Pentagon, which is in the center of Tel Aviv, it still risks hitting civilian areas and it risks escalation, which wouldn't be in keeping with past practice.

So I hope that the U.S. is red teaming, thinking of the worst possibilities. But like many in the region and here, I'm hoping that's not what comes to pass.

JIMENEZ: And look, that, of course, is the calculus here, where from Iran's standpoint, it's responding without escalating as far as what we assume to be the case at this point. But Israel has also been fighting what has been multiple fronts of conflict, whether it's directly with Iran tensions, at least at this point, or it's in southern Lebanon with Hezbollah, of course, the war with Hamas as well.

You mentioned that Iran is likely enjoying the scrambling of sorts between American and Israeli forces. Do you -- is there a strategic goal here by waiting longer and continuing to let tensions rise? Should they -- or is there more strategy to just go ahead with whatever attack they were planning?

DOZIER: Well, by ratcheting up slowly, they accomplish a couple different things. They get to watch how their adversary prepares and gather intelligence for that, for either an attack this time or sometime in future. They also get to do things like you saw that they seized an Israeli-owned or Israeli-connected tanker passing through that 30-mile Strait of Hormuz. Something like 33,000 ships pass through there every day. 30% of the world's oil supply is passed through there. So just by seizing that one ship, they've driven up insurance for every ship that passes through there, drive up oil prices, that helps them.

And also it shows both internally, where Iran faces a certain amount of political dissent, and externally across the Arab world that Iran has its two main enemies singing to its tune. So that is useful rhetoric and part of the payback.

[14:10:01]

JIMENEZ: And look, I think at this point one of the parallels that some may look at is back in 2020 when the U.S. killed Iranian General Soleimani. And of course there were all these calculations over what would Iran's response be. They vowed revenge. And we saw that play out in a few different ways, with some ballistic strikes on a U.S. base. And, of course, at the time, accidental as they claimed downing of that Ukrainian airline. But are there parallels that can be drawn here in the nature and scope of what we saw back in 2020 to what we could potentially see in this case?

DOZIER: Well, what we're hearing from Middle East sources is that -- well, what U.S. officials are worried about is in this case Iran feels it has to somehow react in a way it hasn't done before. And that's what's got everyone worried. What is going just a little bit further from Tehran's point of view without instigating a full-on Middle East regional war? Or does Iran think that it can push a lot further and that the U.S. won't respond? This is going to be a real test for the Biden administration depending what happens in the coming hours and days.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, a crucial few days ahead to see what the scale and scope of this will be. And then, of course, afterwards, what will the reverberations of any potential retaliation be? We will see.

Kimberly Dozier, really appreciate the perspective. Thanks for being here.

DOZIER: Thanks.

JIMENEZ: All right, everyone. On Monday, here in the U.S., jury selection starts in the first ever criminal trial against a former president. What to expect as Donald Trump's hush money trial gets underway?

And Tiger Woods is back on the green. Can he swing his way to his sixth master's jacket? He's got a long way to go, but our team is following it all live from Augusta.

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[14:16:39]

JIMENEZ: There's a lot of cameras in here. One just came around the wall there. But anyway, look, we got a lot of news to get to, so let's get serious here.

In just two days, former President Donald Trump returns to court and the stakes couldn't be higher. Jury selection is set to begin on Monday in his new New York hush money trial. Trump's indictment stems from his alleged role in a scheme to silence salacious details about alleged affairs with adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Model Karen McDougal before the 2016 election.

Now, Trump has denied all of that. But it's an unprecedented trial, the first time a former president has ever faced criminal prosecution, and with it, unprecedented security. The NYPD, Secret Service and the New York Court System are taking multilayered steps to ensure all parties stay safe.

CNN's Mark Morales is standing outside the courthouse where Trump is set to appear on Monday.

Mark, look, the courthouse knows how to handle high-profile witnesses and defendants here. How are police, though, preparing for this, and how different is it when you're dealing with a former president?

MARK MORALES, CNN REPORTER: Right, and as you mentioned, Omar, it's very different. There's already a framework to deal with the former president. He's been to this area before. But there's a key difference now from all those other times. Now, he's the presumptive Republican nominee, and because of that, law enforcement officials tell me that it does two things. It not only raises the stakes, but it also raises the threat level, and you're going to see this, what they're calling a robust security package, different from last time in that there's going to be more of some things that we're always seeing when we imagine security. That's boots on the ground, so we'll see a lot more officers.

You'll see barricades. You'll see a lot of the high-tech electronic equipment that law enforcement is known for, like drones, like cameras in the sky. You'll see a lot of this happening, but what you'll also see, or what you'll also understand is happening at the same time is the intelligence arm of these -- of these branches of law enforcement.

Their job is to look through and to find out if there are any potential threats and to dig into those threats to see if they are exactly things that they should be worried about, and that could be anything from lone wolf potential attacks or lone wolf threats that are being made online to even protests or disturbances, things of that nature. So all this is going to be happening at the same time, and law enforcement themselves acknowledge that this is going to be a big challenge. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HART, ASSISTANT CHIEF, NYPD: This is six to eight weeks of a -- of a trial, jury selection, and then a trial of, you know, unprecedented scale, former president running for president on trial here in New York City. So this is -- it's a big challenge. It's a lot of moving parts. He'll be also moving in and out of the city on a regular basis. So we are working with all of our partners.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORALES: And while this is happening, security inside the courthouse is also going to be very tight. And remember, this is more of a marathon than a sprint. It's six to eight weeks, and it's very different from the civil trial in that this is now a criminal trial, and former president Trump has to be here for every day court is in session.

Omar?

JIMENEZ: Mark Morales, thank you so much.

Now, look, holding Trump's fate in the balance will be 12 jurors and six alternates chosen from hundreds of New Yorkers in what is usually an exhaustive process.

[14:20:05]

Joining us now is Richard Gabriel. He's assisted in jury selections for several high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson, Aaron Hernandez, and Casey Anthony trials. And he's the author of "Acquittal: An Insider Reveals the Stories and Strategies Behind Today's Most Infamous Verdicts." When we get there, this will be likely one of those infamous verdicts.

Richard, welcome. Walk us through the vetting process that we're going to see on Monday, and how long do you anticipate it's going to take to find a full jury with a defendant that has a profile like Donald Trump?

RICHARD GABRIEL, JURY CONSULTANT: Well, as you said, it can be an extremely exhaustive process. I think on Monday what's going to happen is the judge is going to bring in groups of 100. Then there's a phase they call hardship in which the jurors are going to be asked, OK, can you even sit for this long a trial financially, or do you have care for older parents or kids and things like that?

There are also some jurors that are going to be asked, well, is this something that is just going to be too much for you? In other words, some jurors are going to feel like this is just overwhelming. They're going to feel like it's going to threaten themselves. They're going to be nervous about it.

So there's a whole process of sort of self-evaluation of this even before you get down to a pool where jurors are going to be filling out questionnaires. And then once the jurors fill out some questionnaires, then the parties do have a time to actually discuss it with them.

Now, that moves into a phase we call the jury selection or the voir dire phase where the parties have the ability to talk to the jurors themselves. They will have their questionnaires. They may have done some social media searches to look into the backgrounds of some of these jurors, you know, just obviously publicly available information.

And then they get to ask those questions, those core questions about really how do you feel about Donald Trump and talking to jurors about whether they feel they can actually be a fair and impartial juror in a case like this where obviously everybody has very strong opinions of this.

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

GABRIEL: However, I will say this. The judge has indicated in some of his pretrial things that he is going to be very strict in terms of what he's going to allow the attorneys to ask the jurors. And also, he's going to be making decisions himself about whether a juror actually is what they call a cause challenge, in other words, can be excused because they really can't be fair and impartial, have too strong an opinion or whether the attorneys can do it.

JIMENEZ: Well, you mentioned that strong opinion. Look, it's hard to look beyond the politics of this case, especially for someone who was elected into office based on politics, at least the first time in 2016. And Trump's team has argued that he can't get a fair trial in Manhattan, where President Joe Biden won handily in the 2020 election. The former president addressed that concern during a press conference on Friday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, jury selection is largely luck. It depends who you get. It's very unfair that I'm having a trial there.

It's a witch hunt that takes place in New York and that is taking place. And it's very bad for New York and it's very bad -- and it's very bad for the judicial system in New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Do you agree that that's a fair argument, that it will be impossible to find impartial jurors for this case in New York and maybe on one of his other claims that getting a good jury is just luck?

GABRIEL: Well, it's not just luck. It is luck, basically, who shows up and who ends up in the pool there. But jury selection is kind of an art and a science in terms of how you look at the jurors themselves.

And there is a process by which you're really trying to study who are the people, what are the decision-making process. He is correct that in Manhattan, Manhattanites have a very long experience with Donald Trump, even beyond what most of us in the public do, having him as a president. So there's a lot that goes into discussing what their knowledge is of him, what their experiences and what their opinions are.

But that being said, a pretty remarkable thing happens when jurors get together in deliberations and a diverse group gets together. They do manage to focus on the evidence. And Donald Trump, he actually made a change of venue motion to say it should be moved out of Manhattan.

He found that 60% thought he was guilty. But quite frankly, I've done a lot of high-profile cases, and 60% is actually not that bad for a lot of high-profile defendants. In Casey Anthony's case, 80 to 90% thought she was guilty, and yet she was acquitted in that case. So it's an interesting process.

JIMENEZ: Now, look, I remember -- I covered the Kyle Rittenhouse case in 2021, and I spoke to a jury consultant there who worked on that case, but also on the O.J. Simpson case, as I know you were tied to as well. And she told me, "In looking at profiles of jurors, it's looking for individuals who are going to be most receptive to whatever the evidence is that comes out at trial."

[14:25:02]

So -- so if you were -- if you were helping select this jury for Trump's legal team, knowing the scope of what we may be getting into here, what sort of profile would you be looking to add or looking to flag as, yes, this is a person we want on the jury?

GABRIEL: So jury selection, for the most part, is jury deselection. You're really trying to identify the people you want to get rid of and hopefully end up with those people that you do want and are going to be receptive to your case. So it's kind of carving away, essentially, those people that you hopefully are going to be negative towards your case.

So it's to a certain extent, jury selection is a kind of an exercise in masochism where you want jurors to talk about their biases and their negative impressions so that you can then make a cause challenge and preemptory strike. The profile here is both sides are looking for high-risk jurors. In other words, obviously, jurors who have an agenda one way or the other. I want to convict Trump because I think our democracy is endangered or I think Joe Biden is terrible and Trump needs to save our democracy.

So those people who come with agenda, both sides are going to be looking for. I think President Trump is going to be looking for very individualistic, highly not following the crowd, really opinionated, somebody who's going to maybe hang this jury.

Because let's face it, he just needs one or two people to hang the jury and then he gets to push this beyond where the election is. So that's them. Obviously, the prosecution is looking for people who can get along and come to a unanimous verdict themselves and also can get past the difficult thing of, is hush money actually fraud on the public? That's a unique, novel theory in this case.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. We will see. We're going to start that process very soon. Richard Gabriel, thank you so much. I know you'll be watching closely as we will too.

GABRIEL: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: And you can watch special live coverage of the Trump hush money trial starting Monday morning at 9 Eastern on CNN and streaming on Max.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:34]

JIMENEZ: In Memphis, a police officer and an 18-year-old suspect are now dead following a shootout. Officers were dispatched early Friday morning to investigate a stolen car when the shooting broke out. Two other officers and a passenger riding with the suspect were also injured. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now gathering evidence to see what led to the officer involved shooting.

Joining me now is CNN National Correspondent Rafael Romo. So Rafael, obviously very serious situation here. What more are we learning about what happened?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the preliminary investigation shows that there's a big possibility, very real possibility that this could have been prevented, Omar. And political and community leaders are expressing shock and dismay after learning about the shooting, not only because of the tragic death of a police officers, but also because the suspects were both teenagers. Memphis Mayor Paul Young is speaking for many when he says that enough is enough. According to Memphis police, the shooting happened at about two in the

morning on Friday. Interim Police Chief C.J. Davis said that it all started with a report of a suspicious vehicle they believe to be stolen. Davis said that as officers were approaching the vehicle, they were fired upon by the two suspects and the officers then returned fire.

The suspects, age 18 and 17, drove off but were then arrested less than a mile away. Five people in total were struck, including three officers and the two teenage suspects who fled in the car. The fallen officer was identified as 26-year-old Joseph McKinney, who joined the force in 2020.

The second officer was taken to the hospital but has been upgraded to non-critical condition. And the third one was treated at the scene and is now in stable condition.

The teenager who was killed was identified by police as 18-year-old Jaylen Lobley, who, according to police, had been arrested last month by MPD in a stolen vehicle with a modified semi-automatic weapon with a Glock switch attached, which is illegal. Interim Police Chief Davis said the Glock switch converted the weapon to a fully automatic machine gun.

At that time, Lobley was also charged for two stolen vehicles and having a programming device commonly used to steal cars. Davis added that Lobley had then been released after that arrest without bond, a fact already raising many questions, Omar, in the law enforcement community and beyond. This is what Interim Chief Davis and Memphis Mayor Paul Young had to say about the tragic shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERIM CHIEF C.J. DAVIS, MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: As a community, we have to do better. We have to, you know, ensure that parents know where our young people are at 3 o'clock in the morning. And we need to work together as a community to do whatever we can within our breath to work on reducing gun violence.

MAYOR PAUL YOUNG, (D) MEMPHIS, TN: We are heartbroken of the lives lost, our fallen officer, and this senseless act of violence. We know that we as a community have to do more to hold violent offenders accountable for their actions, even our young people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Political leaders like Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Senator Marsha Blackburn, and Congressman David Kustoff have all reacted to the shooting with a mix of shock, grief, and sadness. Others, like Councilman Chase Carlisle, say this is a tragedy that could have been prevented through what he called appropriate bail measures concerning the issue of guns and violence.

[14:35:07]

And right now, Omar, this is the question. Had he stayed in jail, could this have been prevented?

JIMENEZ: Of course, a lot of questions moving forward, but thank you for breaking down a lot of factors there in what ended up a really tragic situation. Rafael Romo, really appreciate it.

All right, teachers across America are struggling to find affordable housing due to the rising costs of living and stagnant wages. Some educators are juggling multiple jobs after school, while others are turning to communal living in order to make ends meet. CNN's Veronica Miracle has more on that report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Burt Dixon teaches high school math in one of the most expensive places to live in the world, the Bay Area suburbs. To live just three miles from school, he tutors and teaches at a community college.

(On camera): Hello, I'm Veronica.

BURT DIXON, HIGH SCHOOL MATH TEACHER: I'm Burt.

MIRACLE: Nice to meet you.

DIXON: Nice to meet you, Veronica.

MIRACLE: Did you think at this point in your career you would be working three jobs?

DIXON: Not really. I thought, you know, by this point in my career I'd be a little bit more financially stable. The salaries didn't really keep up with -- with the cost of living.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Working three jobs allows Burt to live close enough to school to bike there, a commute many teachers can't afford.

DIXON: Do we want teachers that stay after school, maybe coach sports, get involved in school activities, or do we want teachers that right after the bell rings that they have to get in their car and start their hour and a half commute.

MIRACLE: Claire McMahonman (ph), new to the profession, could be commuting from far away too if it wasn't for this place. She's one of six teachers living in this former San Jose parish that's been converted to communal living.

CLAIRE MCMAHONMAN (ph), TEACHER: My room is right here.

MIRACLE: OK. I'm getting the sense of like a dorm room.

MCMAHONMAN (ph): Mm-hmm. But like a little bit bigger and more privacy.

MIRACLE: She pays $1,000 a month for this room. A studio apartment in the area would cost more than double that.

(On camera): And so for you guys to be able to afford a place around here, is that a struggle?

BRITTA MARTIN, RESIDENT OF CONVERTED PARISH: Absolutely. Yeah, it's pretty impossible to afford living in the Bay Area.

MIRACLE: If you guys did not have this housing situation, do you think that you could live in this area?

SARA MITTMAN, RESIDENT OF CONVERTED PARISH: Oh my gosh, no. I would definitely leave. I definitely would, yeah.

MIRACLE (voice-over): One potential solution to this housing crisis? Affordable housing financed with government assistance, specifically with teachers and school staff. Cities like Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles are all building developments like these.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we're talking upwards of 400, 450 individuals. It'll be transformative.

MIRACLE: Nearly 80% of public schools nationwide struggle to fill teaching positions for the current school year, with low salaries being a key issue.

DR. MATT WAYNE, SUPERINTENDENT, SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: We're in the middle of a national and state teacher shortage. We started the year with about 5% of our classrooms not having teachers. This is a key strategy for us to be able to recruit and retain teachers and other staff in San Francisco.

MIRACLE: Between his second and third job of the day, Dixon grabs a quick bite at home. His wife Erin and daughter Kelly are also teachers.

(On camera): As a mom, did you try to talk her out of becoming a teacher?

ERIN DIXON, TEACHER: No, because it was her dream. We just hope that she can handle it because this is what she's always wanted to do.

B. DIXON: It's not the financial reward that I'm in this for. It's the intrinsic reward of working with the students and feeling success with the students.

E. DIXON: And ultimately, we go in our classrooms and just do the best. You can't.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Veronica Miracle, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Veronica Miracle, thank you for that reporting.

Coming up, for more than 20 years, we've considered measles to be eliminated in the U.S. Now, that may no longer be the case. The CDC's new warning about the rapid rise in cases, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:45]

JIMENEZ: A rapid rise in measles cases has the CDC warning that elimination status in this country could be in jeopardy. Their concern comes amid several outbreaks across the U.S. By the end of March, more cases were reported in 2024 than there were in all of last year.

Now, the highly contagious disease can cause serious health problems, even death, especially for unvaccinated children.

I want to discuss this more with my next guest, Dr. Sujatha Reddy.

Now, Dr. Reddy, measles was eliminated in the U.S. over two decades ago. Why are we still talking about it now? How worried should we be?

DR. SUJATHA REDDY, OBSTETRICIAN- GYNECOLOGIST: Yeah, great question, Omar. So what's happening is our status of being eliminated as far as measles is in jeopardy because we're seeing so many cases. And a lot of that has to do with vaccination rates dropping.

The aim for vaccination rates for children is about 95%, and last year it fell to 93. So as we have more unvaccinated people, we're at risk for having more outbreaks, and thereby our elimination status is in jeopardy. Measles may be something that pediatricians and doctors in the country start seeing more commonly if we're not careful.

JIMENEZ: Now, when the CDC talks about elimination status, that doesn't necessarily mean there are no -- there's no trace of measles anywhere on this planet. What exactly does elimination status mean?

[14:45:09]

REDDY: Yeah, so it's a small number of cases, but again, it's really what we're talking about is the vaccination rates, and that's the concern. The majority of people who got measles this quarter were traveling or they were from abroad, and almost 90% of them either had no vaccine or had inadequate vaccine, meaning they didn't get the complete series.

So you're right, elimination means -- doesn't mean that you'll never see a case, but it means you'll see very few, and we're seeing more than we expect to see or more than we've seen in years past when we've had adequate vaccination. So really the take-home point is we really need to get people to step up and really encourage vaccination to be at the rates that we need it to be to keep measles a thing of the past.

JIMENEZ: Now, you know, you talk about vaccination rates, and look, I can't help but think we're just a few years removed from when folks were encouraged to get their first COVID shots, and I'm curious, how do you think the -- how do you think the politicization around the COVID-19 vaccinations is affecting other diseases, including like measles?

REDDY: Yeah, no, I think it's a great question. I think it's a really valid point. I think there are concerns, and a lot of them were ill- founded about vaccinations in general, but I think the whole COVID vaccine process brought some of these things to light.

And, you know, we live in a country of free choice, so people are going to be entitled to their opinion, obviously, but what happened with measles, too, dates back several, a couple of decades ago where we had that whole concern of the MMR vaccine, which is the measles vaccine, leading to autism. While that study was proven, you know -- disproven, it was not scientifically sound, that fear has been in parents. And I think the COVID vaccine kind of brought that back to the surface, it kind of resurfaced after that. So you're exactly right, I think vaccines in general became much more talked about, and I think there's, in some people's mind, a lot of fear and doubt about vaccines in general, and that may be spilling over into vaccines for children, but measles, and mumps, and rubella, the MMR, has been around for decades. And that is why we can say measles is eliminated in the U.S., but again, with the vaccination rates dropping, that may not be the case down the road.

JIMENEZ: Dr. Sujatha Reddy, I hope that stays the case as it being eliminated, but of course, as you mentioned, the risk is there. Thank you so much for being with us.

REDDY: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right, it's day three at the Masters, and we're all watching Tiger Woods. Could he come back to win it all? But there's plenty of other golf going on, plenty of other players to watch. We're going to take you to the course live, coming up.

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[14:52:26]

JIMENEZ: The leaders have teed off at the Masters as the third round is in full swing. At the moment, it's a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, lurking not too far behind the leaders is crowd favorite Tiger Woods. Now, he set a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut on Friday. And this weekend, he's shooting for a record sixth green jacket.

CNN's Don Riddell is covering all the action for us at Augusta National. Don, I'm going to start with -- I'm jealous you're at Augusta National. But also, Tiger made history on Friday, making 24 straight cuts at the Masters. He teed off two hours ago. How's his third round looking?

DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORT: Not going so well. Maybe we should just say it was fun while it lasted.

JIMENEZ: Yeah.

RIDDELL: I'll just quickly talk about the last couple of days because it was brilliant. I mean, remember, he'd only played 24 holes of competitive golf all year, and then he rocks up and makes the cut, as you say, for a record 24th consecutive time. He finished ahead of so many amazing players right now who, of course, are very well practiced. He finished ahead of all four of the current major champions, the FedEx Cup winner. He was ahead of all of them on the leaderboard.

He started off OK this morning, but just literally within the last 30, 45 minutes, it's just gone really, really badly. Bogey, birdie, bogey, double bogey, another double bogey on eight, the first time he's ever done that in his career. So things not going too well for Tiger Woods, I'm afraid, right now.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, I mean, look, making the cut is one thing, but actually being able to get toward the leaderboard is something else completely different entirely.

Now, as it stands, there are three Americans atop the leaderboard to start the third round, moving day, as they call it. Who do you have, based on what you've seen, who do you have putting on the green jacket come Sunday?

RIDDELL: Well, I guess if you had to pick one, it would be Scottie Scheffler. He won here two years ago. He's the current world number one. He's arrived here on red-hot form. He's won two of his last three tournaments. The other one was a tie for second place.

He has literally just teed off with a birdie on the first hole, holing out from 32 yards. So he is absolutely on fire at the start of this third round. It means he's got a one-shot lead.

But Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau haven't yet got their first hole in the book. So we'll see what they can do. Max Homa, interesting to see him doing so well. He's a very successful PGA Tour player, but doesn't really deliver in the majors. Will that change this weekend?

The most interesting guy at the top of this leaderboard is without a doubt Bryson DeChambeau. He's the 2020 U.S. Open champion. You may remember he was the golf scientist, a very, very polarizing figure. Kind of burst onto the scene trying to reinvent almost the physics of the game. His clubs are always very, very unusual looking.

[14:55:10]

He is playing brilliantly so far this week. He made a real name for himself halfway through the second round on Friday when one of the iconic signposts was in his way. So like Hercules, he just ripped it out of the ground and just kind of marched away with it over his shoulder, which was quite a moment. I think it would be really, really exciting if he can go all the way and deliver a green jacket.

He is, as I think I said, a very, very polarizing figure. You kind of love him or hate him. He's a live player now, so he's flying the flag for the LIV Tour.

But I think we've got so many great names at the top of the leaderboard, so many American players for the Patriots have room for. It's going to be an exciting weekend no matter what. JIMENEZ: Look, I'm sure many people were looking for signs of Bryson DeChambeau -- Bryson DeChambeau winning here. He said, what if we didn't have any signs? And I'm just going to go rip it out. It was honestly, it was pretty funny to see, even though, of course, he was serious in that moment.

RIDDELL: Yeah.

JIMENEZ: Don Riddell, really appreciate it. Thank you.

RIDDELL: All right.

JIMENEZ: Now, President Biden is heading back to the White House to consult with his national security team about the Middle East as Israel prepares for a potential attack from Iran. We're going to have the latest from the region next.

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