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Two Dueling Rulings On Access To Medication Abortion Pill In U.S.; GOP Led Tennessee House Expels Two Black Dems Over Gun Reform Protest; Israel Calls Up Reserve Units After Friday's Deadly Attacks; GOP's Jordan Expands Probe Of Manhattan D.A. Office Over Trump Charges; Trump Charges Overshadow Republican President Race; Tiger Woods Makes Record-Tying 23rd Consecutive Cut; Jeremy Renner's Interview After Snowplow Accident. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 08, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:23]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me from New York.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour with a pair of dueling decisions creating a flash point in the fight for abortion rights. In Texas, a federal judge is halting the FDA's more than two decades' old approval of the drug mifepristone, one of the main medications used to provide abortions.

But less than an hour later a conflicting court ruling out of Washington State. The federal judge there protecting access to the drug in 17 Democratic led states and the District of Columbia, which sued to protect the medication.

The two decisions are the most significant on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.

Here with us now is CNN senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic. Joan, good to see you. Also, you're the author of the new book, "Nine Black Robes".

So two rulings now, two very different decisions. What happens next?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPRME COURT ANALYST: Well, this puts the abortion issue right back on the path to the Supreme Court. Attorney General Merrick Garland said last night that the government is going to appeal this decision to defend the Food and Drug Administration's review and approval of this abortion drug, saying that it was a very comprehensive review that led to the approval, that it was scientifically, medically sound and that it's safe for use. And the government's, you know, definitely going to put forward that appeal. First step would likely be the Fifth Circuit, a regional court, and then all the way up to the Supreme Court. But let me just give you some context about the Supreme Court. You

know, everyone is well aware of what the justices did last June. Five justice majority completely rolled back Roe v. Wade nearly half century worth of precedent on women's privacy rights, reproductive rights.

But the question now, though, is the authority of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate medicine and drugs and health and, you know, health care. It's a much different question. And as much as the Dobbs decision was a thunderbolt in the constitutional law if this ruling by a lower court judge in Texas the main one that happened last night, Fredricka is allowed to stand, it would really shake the medical and healthcare field.

But I do want to mention something about just what the justices said last June when they ruled. Critical justices to that opinion did say that they were not outlawing abortion nationwide, that they wanted to leave it to the states.

And Brett Kavanaugh, who apparently was the critical fifth vote, made a very strong declaration in a separate opinion back in June, saying that judges were not going to be in the policy business anymore. They were not going to be making moral judgments.

And when the case comes up this time around, I do think there might be some shifting of votes that would allow the Food and Drug Administration to keep this drug on the market.

WHITFIELD: All right. Maybe that was a sign post, you know, coming from Justice Kavanaugh.

All right. Joan Biskupic, thank you so much.

BISKUPIC: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. For more on this let's bring in CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, I mean, what is the drug? Help people understand what it is, its function and what the concerns are if it's off the table.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So Fredricka, these two pills mifepristone and another pill called misoprostol. They're used together for miscarriages and they're also used to induce abortions.

And it's become actually the main way that American women are getting abortions. Let's take a look in 2020 when it went on the market, the use has grown steadily since then. So right now, more than 53 percent of abortions in the U.S. are by pill, not by surgery.

Now, let's take a look at the safety of this drug. So when any drug can have side effects, any drug can have deadly side effects. For every million women who are taking this drug five deaths per million users.

When you look at penicillin, it's 20 deaths per million users. Viagra 49 deaths. So mifepristone is safer than either of those drugs and actually safer than many other drugs that are on the market.

Now if this Texas judge, if his ruling becomes the law of the land, it means that women in no states would be allowed to get it. So obviously that is a huge difference. You've got 53 percent of the women who are getting abortions this way would not be able to get them, Fred.

[11:04:55]

WHITFIELD: And then Elizabeth, you know, big picture. Could the Texas decision have an effect on the development of new drugs in general?

COHEN: So Fred, we just heard from Joan, who said that this decision really is about challenging the FDA like the very essence of how we approve drugs in this country. So imagine you're pharmaceutical company, you want to invest millions of dollars in lifesaving drugs, you know, up until now, the FDA has looked at them, experts within the FDA, experts who are outside advisers to the FDA. You know the process and the process works really well.

Now a pharmaceutical company might say, wait a second, I'm going to invest billions of dollars go through this process and then a single judge can say no, we don't think the FDA did its job, we're pulling this drug off the market.

That could make the pharmaceutical companies not want to invest money in drugs that save our lives that affects all of us, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

The White House is vowing to fight back against the Texas abortion pill ruling.

CNN's Jasmine Wright is at the White House for us. Jasmine, what is the president saying?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes Fred. Well look, the White House has really been bracing for this moment and frankly worried, given the Trump appointed federal judge's background and past rulings that the outcome could come out like this. And now we are here.

So President Biden last night in a statement, he slammed the decision. Now I want to read you a part of it because it is very forceful, Fred.

The president, he wrote that the court in this case has substituted its judgment for FDA, the expert agency that approves drugs. If this ruling were to stand then there will be virtually no prescription approved by the FDA that would be safe from these kinds of political ideological attacks.

This does not just affect women in Texas. If it stands, it would prevent women in every state from accessing the medication, regardless of whether abortion is legal in a state.

It is the next big step toward the national ban on abortion that Republican-elected officials have vowed to make law in America. Now we also heard from Vice President Kamala Harris, someone we know who's been deeply engaged on this issue yesterday in Tennessee. And she said that the Biden administration would stand with women and called this a dangerous precedent.

But we can tell from these two statements from the vice president, from the president himself that a couple of things are on the White House's mind when it comes to this appeal. First of all, that the White House does not believe that this judge has the purview to decide whether or not the FDA did its due diligence, did it basically its job in approving this drug for the market 20 years ago.

And that also just the impact, the massive impact really, that it would have on women and doctors if this drug that they relied on for 22 years was no longer available.

Now, when I've talked to White House officials in the past, both in the West Wing and the vice president's office and asked them what would happen if the judge ruled this way. The White House was very clear to say, look, let's wait for the ruling to come down, and now it has.

So all eyes will be on the White House to really lay out beyond the appeal process, which is now underway and beyond their calls for federal legislation, which is unlikely to happen in this current congressional makeup. What else the White House is prepared to do to safeguard access to abortion in this really unprecedented time, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. All right. Jasmine Wright at the White House, thanks so much.

A sad day for democracy -- those are the words from Tennessee state house representative Justin Jones after he was expelled in an ousting by Republican lawmakers. He and Representative Justin Pearson were removed for breaching decorum after the two black Democrats led a gun reform protest from the house floor in response to a school shooting that killed six in Nashville.

Representative Gloria Johnson, who you saw there also raising the fist holding hands, is white. She was among the three who protested but she was not ousted. She helped lead in the demonstration.

CNN correspondent Isabel Rosales is joining me now, with more details on this.

Isabel, Vice President Harris was in Nashville Friday, meeting with the three Democrats known as the Tennessee 3. How did it go?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. This is very visible support from the White House. It doesn't get much higher than Vice President Kamala Harris, unless you're talking, of course, the vice president coming and meeting with them.

So Vice President Harris, she met privately with the so-called Tennessee 3. She also spoke in front of a crowd asking for stricter gun laws. Things like background checks. Red flag laws, also restrictions on limiting assault weapons.

She also criticized the Republican controlled state house and received at times applause and standing ovations. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It wasn't about the three of these leaders. It was about who they were representing. It's about whose voices they were channeling.

[11:09:51]

HARRIS: Understand that. And is that not what a democracy allows?

A democracy says you don't silence the people. You do not stifle the people. You don't turn off their microphones when they are speaking about the importance --

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: -- of life and liberty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Right, so what happens next in all this? Well, according to the Tennessee Constitution, a special election must happen. That is because it's over a year to the general elections happening in November of 2024.

So in that gap, the legislative body of a county from where that seat, that open vacancy resides, they may elect an interim successor. So now the focus is really shifting to filling those two new vacancies in the statehouse.

So local lawmakers in the districts of Jones and Pearson they are working to figure out these next steps, and that could mean returning those ousted lawmakers back to the house chamber.

So Fred, Monday very big meeting happening in Nashville Metropolitan Council holding a special meeting for 30 Central, where they are looking to not only nominate Justin Jones, that's his district but also appoint him within the same meeting.

Now the flip side on this is that there is a rule within the council that these two things must not happen within the same meeting.

So they're going to hold a vote to suspend the rules and I'm told by Jeff Syracuse, a council member that if just two council members object to suspending the rules, should nominate and appoint within the same meeting. Well, then that will slow down the appointment and we could be looking at a week later, April 18th should Jones have the numbers to then be sent back to the statehouse, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then potentially the same kind of process but a different jurisdiction in the Memphis area for Justin Pearson.

So we'll see how that goes, I'll ask you about that a little bit later on. Isabel Rosales thank you so much. All right.

So how are GOP-led states able to take these measures and why? Let's discuss right now with Ron Brownstein. He is a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic". Ron, good to see you again.

So we talked yesterday, Bakari Sellers literally laughed in my face when I asked if any Tennessee Republicans might have regret you know, because this expulsion has elevated the Tennessee 3 and further galvanized a movement.

So let's instead now talk about whether the outcome of Tennessee Republicans vote further inspires other supermajorities to do the same.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Look, I think Fred we are seeing across the board already in the roughly two dozen states where Republicans have unified control of government what I have described as an effort to build a nation within a nation.

Across the board on a broad array of issues on LGBTQ rights, to voting rights, to abortion rights, to classroom censorship, to book bans, to gun regulation -- we are seeing, I think the greatest divergence among the states since at least Jim Crow and possibly back to the 19th century.

The red states are moving very aggressively to lock into law the preferences of their predominantly white, predominantly non urban, predominantly Christian electoral coalition. And as they do that, they are also working very assiduously to block either the federal government from setting -- from interfering with their rules or to preempt local governments that are more diverse and more blue leaning, and you see all elements of that this week.

I mean, this mifepristone decision is part of the effort to build a nation within a nation and it reflects the attempt to hobble federal power and then eliminate -- expelling these two young men from office is really the ultimate form of preemption. Erasing the decision of their voters to be represented by them in the state legislature.

WHITFIELD: So this power to expel like we saw, it's also a consequence of gerrymandering, right? I mean, in addition to power grabbing, this expulsion highlights generational differences in what is considered acceptable if not expected. Decorum -- can you have both restraint and nonviolent dissension?

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Well look, I mean, you know, there's no question that there should have been some sanction for their -- I think most people would agree there should be some sanctions for their action. But boy, there's a lot in between doing nothing and expelling them.

And the choice to expel them I think as you suggest, and the tone of the debate, I watched the whole debate, the condescension and almost open contempt from the majority for these -- for these two young men in particular, I don't believe would be possible if they -- if they thought they were subject to normal political consequences. But they were -- they are gerrymandered in a way that that makes it very hard for them to undo -- Democrats to undo this majority. Not that they would necessarily want a majority in Tennessee anyway.

[11:14:57]

BROWNSTEIN: The larger point though is that Tennessee is like many of the states where you see this cultural agenda moving most aggressively in that it is defined by what I have called the collision between the brown and the gray. The older population in these many of these states, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, et cetera are predominantly white, 85 percent of seniors in Tennessee are white.

The younger generation is increasingly diverse. Almost 40 percent of young people in Tennessee are non white and what you see so starkly on the floor of the legislature there is this struggle for control of direction of the state and the nation between these two different generations that in many ways reflect the nation's racial evolution as well.

WHITFIELD: The vice president visited Nashville, met with the Tennessee 3. If the Tennessee general assembly thought it was doing this under the radar that no one would notice, it's quite the opposite.

I mean, overall, this can't be good for the national Republican leadership, especially ahead of 2024.

BROWNSTEIN: Well look, it was really striking that it wasn't it that Vice President Harris was in Nashville to kind of register outrage over this, and the mifepristone decision comes down while she was there, and we've had a week of Idaho banning -- you know, creating a new felony for helping a minor go out of state to obtain an abortion and multiple more states banning transgender girls in high school sports -- banning gender, you know, a gender care for minors.

We are watching a multi front attempt as I said, to build a nation within a nation, to unravel what has been the general trajectory of American life since the 1960s with starting with One Person-One Vote, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the court decisions on contraception and abortion, Title 9, the American with Disabilities Act. The general trend in American life since the 60s has been to nationalize more rights and to reduce the ability of states to constrict those rights.

And now what we see is the red states working hand in glove with a Republican majority and a Republican minority in the Senate, a U.S. Senate that uses the filibuster and that conservative majority on the Supreme Court. We are moving back in the opposite direction toward a pre 60s world where your rights and liberties varied much more depending on your zip code.

And that is the fundamental trajectory that we are watching, and it is unfolding on both the political, legislative, a legal as you see in the mifepristone case, and it is not clear exactly that there are answers for those who support civil rights and civil liberties to maintain a unified floor across the country in the face of this, um, counter offensive.

WHITFIELD: Oh my God. That's so powerful.

Ron Brownstein you narrowed it down in such a succinct, digestible and frightening manner -- a multi front attempt to build a nation within a nation. People really need to be paying attention.

All right. Thank you so much, Ron Brownstein.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, tensions remain high in the Middle East after a week of violent attacks on civilians, airstrikes and rocket attacks. We're live in Tel Aviv.

Plus House Republicans are ramping up their investigation into Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg over the indictment of Donald Trump. Who they're demanding testimony from straight ahead.

[11:18:25]

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WHITFIELD: Officials in Israel say they have called up reserve units after reporting two separate deadly attacks on Friday night. Among the dead was an Italian tourist who was killed in a car ramming attack near a beach in Tel Aviv.

The attack occurred after Israel carried out airstrikes on Palestinian militant targets in southern Lebanon and Gaza.

Tensions have been running high since an Israeli raid earlier in the week on the al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. The violence is taking place during a sensitive time for both Israelis and Palestinians. Muslims have been marking the holy month of Ramadan, while Jews are celebrating Passover.

Meantime in Tel Aviv, the protests over judicial reform continue despite what has been happening in the last few days.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tel Aviv. So Fred, is today's protest as big as what we've been seeing over the past few weeks?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Fredricka. Well, they certainly are still gearing up here as you can see behind me. There are people pouring in, and we believe that protest is going to start very shortly.

We'll wait and see whether or not it is actually as big as it has been over the past really months, if you will. This is already the 14th weekend in a row that these protests are taking place.

However the organizers themselves have said that they believe that the things they're protesting for which is, of course, specifically trying to prevent that reform or overhaul of the judiciary that the Netanyahu government has planned. They believe that's so important. They do need to continue this

protest despite the security situation. Nevertheless the security situation and the very volatile security situation certainly, of course, plays into the way that this protest is taking place.

For instance, you're going to have the protest taking place, but there's not going to be a march around the city afterwards, simply because right now is a very tense time. You mentioned the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu called up a lot of reserves yesterday, not just in the police and also the border force, but then also air defense and the air force as well as you really have a volatile situation on the ground.

So the organizers here have said what they want to do is they want to show that they support the country's security forces, especially in these tense times when you had those rocket attacks coming from south Lebanon, from Gaza as well, the retaliatory action upon the Israelis.

[11:24:44]

PLEITGEN: And at the same time they also say that they do need to keep the pressure on the Netanyahu government up because they do believe that the division of power here in this country is very much under threat from some of the reforms or from the reform that right now has been put on ice but has not been shelved completely.

And I think that's something that's drawing people out. And looking around here you can see that it's still in the early stages, but there are quite a few people who have already come out.

But at the same time, of course, Fredricka that also means that a big gathering like this, a protest like this potentially also could be a target as well.

And you know, as you understand, as we understand, of course, that's something that the organizers are aware of. Its something that the police and security forces are aware of as well.

Nevertheless they are going to go through with this. They have made some concessions to the authorities like, for instance, not marching around the town. But this is happening here in Tel Aviv, and it's happening in various other cities across Israel, as well as the political action continues, despite the fact that right now as you very correctly pointed it is an extremely tense time here.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. Fred Pleitgen in Tel Aviv, thanks so much. We'll check back with you.

All right. Coming up some of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential rivals are already changing their tune in the wake of his historic indictment and are now seeming to avoid invoking his name during events. We'll explain straight ahead.

[11:26:07]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: House Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan is expanding his investigation of the Manhattan district attorney's office following the indictment of former president Donald Trump. One day after the GOP congressman fired off his first subpoena in the probe, Jordan is now seeking the voluntary cooperation from a senior counsel to the Manhattan D.A. as House Republicans attempt to frame the indictment against the former president as politically motivated.

CNN's Alayna Treene joining us now. Alayna, what can you tell us about this latest step in this growing investigation.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Fred. So we're seeing just days after Donald Trump was arraigned in court, Jim Jordan is expanding its investigation into the Manhattan district attorney's office. And Jordan so far has been unsuccessful at getting the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg to come in and testify before his panel.

So while he weighs a potential subpoena for Bragg, he's trying to go around him and target other officials in his office. And one of those is Matthew Colangelo. He's a senior counsel for Bragg, who previously worked in the New York attorney general's office looking into the Trump Foundation.

And I'm told that Jim Jordan and other Republicans on the committee are planning to use that and his prior experience to argue that the entire district attorney's office and the prosecutors are politically motivated against Donald Trump and just want to go after him.

He also issued his first subpoena this week as part of this investigation for Mark Pomerantz. Pomerantz resigned from the district attorney's office in 2022 and has since written a book going through some of the claims against Donald Trump and their investigation into his businesses.

Here's what Jim Jordan had to say about him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): The other angle that I think is really important is Mr. Pomerantz because Mr. Pomerantz is the guy who wrote the book. He's the D.A. who was out to get President Trump. He has left the D. He's no longer employed there. He's written a book. He has lectured on this. He's talked on this. He's been on TV and talked about it.

We think we'd like to talk to him and start to get some answers. That maybe an easier route to pursue initially than Mr. Bragg, but everything is on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So Fred, all of these -- all this outreach in these requests are really part of Republicans and Jim Jordan's efforts to paint this investigation against Donald Trump as politically motivated. Of course, that's something that they did long before the indictment was unsealed, and they saw the charges against the former president.

And as for Bragg's part, he's been arguing very critical of Jim Jordan and this outreach effort and has argued so far that he thinks this is their attempt to meddle in his investigation, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alayna Treene thanks so much from D.C.

All right. The road to the White House grew even more complicated for Republican presidential contenders following the historic indictment of Donald Trump this week. In the aftermath of those criminal charges, GOP rivals are rallying around the current front runner and being careful not to anger Trump's fervent supporters.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: They plan to run against him.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): The winners get to make policy. The losers go home.

ZELENY: And believed Republicans were ready to turn the page.

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you're tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation.

ZELENY: Yet at the end of a historic week in American politics --

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.

ZELENY: -- Donald Trump's top GOP challengers are suddenly on his side after falling into line and blasting criminal charges against the former president.

DESANTIS: You see this guy in Manhattan, this district attorney, they're weaponizing the prosecutorial power to advance a political agenda. Maybe it's targeting a politician they don't like.

ZELENY: Republican rivals fear their opening against Trump may have closed a bit after Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg's indictment on 34 counts.

ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: These are felony crimes in New York state no matter who you are.

ZELENY: Prompted a storm of outrage even from some of Trump's fiercest critics, like Senator Mitt Romney, who called it a dangerous precedent, saying, I believe President Trump's character and conduct make him unfit for office. Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda. With Republican wagons circling around Trump, or at least against his

indictment, it's unclear when the window to forcefully challenge his candidacy will open again or who will dare to try.

HALEY: We've got a liberal prosecutor that's doing political revenge against a former president. I mean, that's not a precedent that you want to have.

ZELENY: Not long ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did tiptoe around a critique of Trump's predicament with Stormy Daniels --

[11:35:00]

DESANTIS: I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just -- I can't speak to that.

ZELENY: -- before quickly dropping any references to porn stars and hush money and simply going on the attack against the New York prosecutor. When asked Friday whether the indictment influenced his plans to run DeSantis answered like this.

DESANTIS: It's affected me in the sense that it's reinforced this problem we have in our country where we have the political left weaponizing the rule of law, actually abandoning the rule of law by weaponizing it and using gets people they don't like and that needs to stop in this country.

ZELENY: An unorthodox presidential primary becomes even more so. Advisors to Republican campaigns tell CNN the biggest risk of all is to get crosswise with voters deeply loyal to Trump, who once again is dominating and overshadowing the race.

TRUMP: This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election. And it should be dropped immediately.

ZELENY: Even though former president Trump has effectively frozen this Republican race into place, at least for now, the show must go on former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who's running against Trump is going to Iowa next week to campaign and Senator Tim Scott is also dipping his toe into the waters traveling to Iowa and New Hampshire as he decides whether to jump into this race.

There is no doubt the 2024 campaign has been changed dramatically by the Trump indictment. It's an open question, though, if that Trump exhaustion out there, among so many Republican voters does still exist.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Stormy politics and storms on the green, coming up round two of the Masters, it still has resumed after play was halted yesterday because of heavy rain, wind and downed trees along the course. And Tiger Woods, guess what? He just made the cut. We'll go there live

next.

[11:37:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Tiger Woods made history today by making his 23rd consecutive cut at the Masters.

CNN's Don Riddell is live for us in Augusta.

So Don, I mean, the second round is now complete after storms delayed play yesterday. Where do things stand and wow, what a moment for Tiger right now, too?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTWORLD ANCHOR: Yes what a moment. I'm not sure how happy he was this morning, Fred, because the conditions out here were absolutely miserable. Half the field was unable to finish their second round on Friday, so they had to come out this morning. It's been bitterly, bitterly cold like 48 degrees, a real chill wind and torrential rain.

And seeing these golfers the top golfers in the world having to deal with this, it just looked like an absolute nightmare for many of them. I didn't see many people smiling. There were bogeys and double bogeys being made all over the place.

And when they all got off the course there was only one thing really on their minds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was brutal this morning because it's just so cold.

MACKENZIE HUGHES, GOLFER: It felt like a different sport today, you know, dealing with all the elements in the cold rain.

FRED COUPLES, GOLFER: Am I going to look thrilled to play 18 holes in this this afternoon? No. I'm a wimp. You know, I'm an old wimp, but I'm excited to play.

SHANE LOWRY, GOLFER: Been out there this morning. It's freezing. So it's interesting. It's mad how the weather can change here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Yes, it's like chalk and cheese. Yesterday it was in the eighties and today this. So look, the good news is Tiger Woods made the cut as you say historic 23 consecutive years or playing in this tournament 23 consecutive attempts he has made the cut. That is tied with Gary Player and Fred couples.

He's going to be going out soon. The third round is already underway, the leaders will be playing at 1:06 p.m. that's the plan and that to speed things up because of all the time they have lost because of the weather, they're going to be playing off split tees and rather than groups of two today, which is traditional for a major tournament on the weekend, is going to be groups of three.

The final group going off at 1:06 is going to be Brooks Koepka, the Spanish world number three John Rahm and the amateur Sam Bennett absolutely incredible for an amateur player to be playing in the final group here at Augusta.

What a day. What a tournament he's having.

WHITFIELD: What a day. All right, I look forward to at least I'll get a chance to watch some of it after I get off the air.

But I mean, this is just so Augusta? The volatile weather, just like the course is unpredictable. So it's springtime there at Augusta.

Don Riddell. All right, take cover when you have to. Thank you so much. Good to see you.

All right. Joining me right now is Sports Illustrated golf writer Bob Harig. He's also the author of "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry".

Bob, so great to see you. I mean, Tiger, he was right on the cut line leading into play today. But now the five time Masters champion has made 23 consecutive cuts in Augusta National, and you just spoke with him. What did he tell you?

BOB HARIG, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Well, good morning.

Tiger obviously, he's happy to do it at the time. He wasn't sure if he was. He said I want to play two more rounds. This place is very special to me. Despite all my injuries I've always wanted to play here.

And look, it's not the big prize that he wants. But given his situation with the multiple injuries to his leg, his foot the difficulty he's having these days. He's hardly playing. To get through and make it is a small victory in itself.

[11:44:52]

HARIG: 23 in a row ties Fred Couples who you saw earlier there in that report, he's 63 years old and made the cut. And, of course, Gary Player legend in the game.

So you know that goes all the way back to when Tiger won the Masters for the first time in '97. The cut streak began there, so yes, it's impressive. And but now he's got a tough slog ahead of them in some tough conditions today.

WHITFIELD: Right I mean, I mean, you reminded of some of it. I mean, he is a fighter, you know, but just kind of the totality of all that Tiger has been through and he is known to surprise you know, his detractors. The competition, you know, he has come back from back injury that near fatal car crash. You talked about his, you know, leg and his foot injuries that was in 2021.

There have been so many times up to and since that 97 Masters win that he would come from behind and clinch it. So what will it take for him to at this point really stay in the game, and you mentioned how special it is this courses for him to be there. It's a challenging course to walk, let alone play.

But you know, I guess what is -- what is the apex that he continues to reach for out there even if he knows he may not win the whole thing. What is it about what keeps him going and staying in fight mode as best he can while at Augusta?

HARIG: Yes it's a good question, because you wonder what does he have to prove at this point. He's 47 years old. He's won the Masters five times. He's clearly not at his best physically.

You know he's not going to be able to play to win this weekend. He's too far behind. But he has a lot of pride. And you know, I think he's shown that many, many times in his career.

You know, a few years ago in 2020 the year after he won the Masters, Tiger made a 10 on the 12th hole. He hit it in the water three times. It was just very uncharacteristic.

It happens. And what did he do? He could have just mailed it in. Just got to the clubhouse and steady, birdied five of the last six holes. I mean, he just has this sort of you know, he has a drive that a lot of people don't have. It would be easy to give up at this point. It would be easy for him to just kind of maybe even not drug continue right now, the conditions being as tough as they are, but just not really his style.

WHITFIELD: Right. He's just never quit. Never quit, right. I mean there -- there are a lot of great players to watch, you know, and I mean I'm pulling for Tiger all the way.

But there are still some great players you know to watch right now. This amateur, you know, Texas, you know, Texas Sam Bennett. I mean, he's sitting in third on the leader board right now. Do you think he has a shot at clinching the green jacket?

HARIG: I think it's going to be difficult because the farther along it goes, the more you start to realize what you are part of. And that's -- that's a heavy mental burden in golf. There's a lot of downtime to think about it.

It's remarkable where he is at this point. I mean, he's a senior in college at Texas A&M. He's an excellent player. The PGA tour has these university of rankings that help you get status when you're when you come out of college, and he is ranked 6th in that for and that's for among seniors.

It kind of shows you how good the young golfers are that he is sixth in that, and he's third in the Masters right now. It's amazing accomplishment. I think what he might be more focused on is just hang in there, you

know, get through today. Get through the bad weather. A top 12 finished gets him an invite back next year. That would be huge.

And you know, if maybe, somehow he finds himself he's going to be playing in the last group today with Rahm and Koepka. It will be a very, very interesting test for him against those accomplished players, you know, just to see sort of how he holds up it. It's going to be fascinating to watch that.

WHITFIELD: Wow it is something else.

Ok and folks you know can't forget. I mean, Tiger. We watched him at Stanford, but you know, and he catapulted onto the national scene, too. And now I guess you know it is Bennett's turn.

All right. Bob Harig, good to see you. Thank you so much.

HARIG: Thanks for having me. Take care.

WHITFIELD: Actor Jeremy Renner. He's speaking out for the first time since the horrific snowplow accident. Doctors say it was millimeters away from taking his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you remember the pain?

JEREMY RENNER, ACTOR: All of it? Yes, I was awake through every moment. It was cracked. I believe in I could see my eye with my other eye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. We will bring you that remarkable interview next.

[11:49:27]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oscar winning actor Jeremy Renner is speaking out as he recovers from a nearly deadly snowplow accident. Speaking to ABC Renner re-lived the experience of getting crushed while plowing the driveway at his ranch on New Year's Day. He suffered eight broken ribs, a broken eye socket, broken knee and a collapsed lung. Doctors say the snowplow was mere millimeters away from hitting a vital organ.

Renner says he knows he is lucky to be alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENNER: I was there on my own in a horrible way to die. And surely I would have surely. But I wasn't alone. It was my nephew. Sweet Alex and the rest of the cavalry came.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you remember the pain?

{11:54:49]

RENNER: All of it. They moved my legs. And I said, oh, that one. That one's really messed up. Oh, yes, that thing's going to -- this can be a problem. And they were like, what's my body look like. I just going to be like a spine in the brain like a science experiment. Is that my existence now? What's my existence going to go? You know, I'd do -- I'd it again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do it again.

RENNER: Yes, I'd do it again. I refuse to have that be a trauma and be a negative experience.

That is a man I'm proud of. Because I wouldn't let that happen to my nephew. Shift the narrative of being victimized or making a mistake or anything else. I refused to be (EXPLETIVE DELETED) haunted by that memory that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The fight to keep him alive and the fight to go on Renner is still going through physical therapy and near constant pain, as you see in the grimacing in his face there, but he says he intends to act once again, though he may have others do his stunts for him from now on.

And that's quick programming note. Nick Payton Walsh embarks on a treacherous journey through the Darien Gap, which connects North and South America. It is one of the world's most dangerous migration routes.

He takes you there, the first installment of the highly anticipated series "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" premieres Sunday, April 16th at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

And we'll be right back.

[11:56:23]

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