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Nashville City Council Could Vote On Whether To Send Justin Jones Back To His Seat; Ignore Texas Judge's Ruling On Abortion Pills Says HHS Secretary; Imam Stabbed In New Jersey Mosque; Governor Abbott To Pardon Convicted Murderer; Israel Retaliates After Three Missiles Were Fired From Syria; China's Initiates Second Day Of Planned Military Drills Around Taiwan; Tiger Woods Out Of Masters Tournament; Controversy Over MLB Clock Rules; Tornado Season Not Yet Peaked. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 09, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We begin this hour in Nashville where a key vote is likely tomorrow on one of the lawmakers expelled from the Tennessee legislature. The Nashville City Council could vote on whether to send Justin Jones, you see right there, right back to his seat. He was one of the three state Tennessee lawmakers, all Democrats, targeted by the GOP supermajority for their loud but peaceful protest on the House floor.

They were demanding gun reform after the Nashville school shooting that left three 9-year-old children and three adults dead. The two expelled lawmakers, Justin Pearson and Justin Jones are black. Gloria Johnson, who was white, kept her seat by a single vote. Let's go to Nashville right now and CNN's Isabel Rosales. Isabel, the Nashville City Council would have to suspend its rules to vote tomorrow on Jones. What are you hearing at this point? Does it sound like they might have the votes to put them right back into the state house?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Jim, to reappoint former Representative Justin Jones, the Metro Council right behind me, they're going to decide his fate tomorrow. They will need a supermajority. That's 27 council members out of the overall 40 council members. I spoke just a couple of hours ago to one of the council members, Jeff Syracuse, and he tells me that he is confident that there is enough support there to push that vote through.

What he's not so confident about is a vote that happens right before that appointment, and that is a vote to suspend a council rule that prohibits a nomination and an appointment from happening during the same meeting. Just two council members could object to that rule and if that happens, if they fail to suspend that rule, that means that it could take more than four weeks until they are able to nominate Jones back to his seat. And if it succeeds, well, then they can do that appointment tomorrow. Political tensions are rising, Jim. We're hearing from the chairman of

the Tennessee Democratic Party who says that political threats have been made against Memphis and Shelby County, threats of withholding state funding for key projects should they reappoint former Representative Justin Pearson. We heard from Pearson during a powerful sermon delivered at his church earlier today, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN PEARSON, EXPELLED TENNESSEE STATE LAWYER: 55 years ago this week, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed by gun violence. And I tell you what his words from what he spoke just days before he was assassinated are still true. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement for justice lives or dies in Memphis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And when it comes to Pearson's vacancy, that is up to the Shelby County Commission. We're told by the chairman that they're not going to talk about it until their previously scheduled meeting that's happening next Wednesday. It's still unclear, Jim, when they're going to schedule a special meeting to figure out what happens to that vacant seat.

ACOSTA: All right, Isabel Rosales in Nashville for us. It's going to get tense there over the next 24 hours. Thanks very much. We appreciate it.

Joining us now, Kyonzte Toombs who sits on the Nashville Metro Council. Councilwoman, thanks so much for being with us. We really appreciate it. What do you think? Do you think you have the votes to return Justin -- Jones back to his seat in the state house?

KYONZTE TOOMBS, METRO NASHVILLE CITY COUNCIL: I'm confident that we do have the votes to return him back to his seat. The issue is going to be suspending the rules because that normal process is about a four- week process. And so, we will have to suspend the rules in order to get to a vote to reinstate Representative Jones. And if more than -- if at least two people objects to the suspension of the rules, then we can't move forward with the motion on Monday.

ACOSTA: And councilmember, why is there this momentum towards doing what you just said, to go ahead and suspend these rules and vote for Justin Jones to go right back to the state house? Is it because you and some of your fellow councilmembers feel like something wrong happened last week?

[17:05:00]

TOOMBS: Well, something wrong did happen and we've heard from at this point, thousands of constituents, most of whom are in the district represented by Representative Jones, and they want him back in the seat. They elected him. Essentially, the voice of the entire district was silenced last week and that's undemocratic and I feel like most of my colleagues believe that that is undemocratic and this is really the right thing to do to restore him to the seat that he was elected to.

ACOSTA: And the people who elected Jones and Pearson, they have no representation right now while those seats are empty, to people in your community feel disenfranchised, and I -- and some of that, perhaps part of what we might see play out tomorrow. Apparently, there are calls for protests to return to the capital, return to the state house there in Nashville. Do you think we're going to see more protests tomorrow to sort of push this forward to get that momentum going again?

TOOMBS: Absolutely you'll see more protest. Constituents do feel disillusioned. They feel disenfranchised. They feel like their voice has been silenced. When you go to the ballot box and choose the person that you want to represent you for someone to come behind that voting and essentially take it away again, that's undemocratic. That's not how we're supposed to operate as a government.

And I know all of my colleagues, we've heard, again, from thousands of constituents that they want Representative Jones restored to his seat. He was just standing up for his constituents, which is what he vowed to do when he was running and once, he took his oath as a representative.

ACOSTA: And we know that Jones and Pearson are both well known for their activism, their community work. We just saw Pearson; former Representative Pearson deliver a pretty rousing sermon in that church in Memphis just a few moments ago. Do you think that this backfired on Republican lawmakers who expelled them? Essentially, what they've done, it seems, is give both Jones and Pearson a larger stage and a louder voice.

TOOMBS: The actions of the legislature on last week have definitely given Representative Jones and Pearson a larger stage. As you said, they are activists. They speak for the people. They've been involved in the community for years when individuals elected them to that seat. They knew who they were. They wanted an activist in those seats, someone who would be unapologetic and speak for the people.

And so, you'll see the people won't be silenced and so you'll see a lot more protests until they are restored to their seats. And also, you'll see protests because there's still the issue of common-sense gun laws and, you know, we're still experiencing gun violence at a high level in this country and in this state.

So, you'll still see protests and you'll still see constituents getting behind Representative Jones and Pearson and pushing them forward for it even more. And the recent events have just given them a bigger stage to continue to speak for the people.

ACOSTA: Councilmember Kyonzte Toombs, thank you very much for your time. Happy Easter. We appreciate it very much.

TOOMBS: Thank you. ACOSTA: Thanks for joining us. Back here in Washington, Health and

Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says the Biden administration is reviewing all options after a Texas judge ruled to suspend the FDA's approval of abortion medication.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVIER BECERRA, HHS SERETARY: You've got to believe that an appeals court, the Supreme Court, whatever court, has to understand that this ruling by this one judge overturns not just access to mifepristone, but possibly any number of drugs.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: What if they don't?

BECERRA: That is speculation that I think is not worth engaging in.

BASH: But are you taking it off the table that you will recommend the FDA ignore a ban?

BECERRA: Everything is on the table. The president said that way back when the Dobbs decision came out. Every option is on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, as for the ruling from the federal judge in Texas, it won't take effect immediately and the Justice Department and the drugs maker have already begun the appeals process. Within an hour of the ruling out of Texas, a judge in Washington State acted to preserve the right of doctors to continue prescribing the drug in 17 states and the District of Columbia. And CNN's Alayna Treene is here with more on all of this. Alayna, strong reaction from both sides on this issue and the administration seems to be saying we're not backing down on this.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: They are, and I will say, though, that the reaction at least from lawmakers has been pretty disparate (ph). I mean, immediately after the court's decision was made and announced, Democrats began railing against the ruling. They held press conferences. They span the airwaves and they -- even some of them went so far as to tell President Biden that they think he should ignore the ruling altogether.

Republicans, meanwhile, have been far less outspoken, though we did hear from some of them today when they were pressed on the Sunday shows about the issue, that includes Congressman Tony Gonzalez. He's from Texas, of course, where the court made that decision. And then also from Senator Lindsey Graham. Here's what they had to say.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECERRA: This is not America. What you saw by that one judge in that one court in that one state, that's not America. America goes by the evidence. America does what's fair. America does what is transparent and can -- we can show that what we do is for the right reasons. That's not America. REP. TONY GONZALEZ (R-TX): The House Republicans have the power of the

purse, and if the administration wants to not lead this ruling, not live up to this ruling, then we're going to have a problem and it may become a point where House Republicans on the appropriation side have to defund FDA programs that don't make sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, it was Xavier Becerra and Congressman Tony Gonzalez. I will say pretty strong words from Congressman Gonzalez for the Biden administration, saying that he thinks that Republicans in Congress will use the tools that they have to preserve the ruling.

I will say though, however, Senator Lindsey Graham was also on the shows and he was urging the party to tamp down the divisive rhetoric and try to frame their positioning as more reasonable. And I think his comments were more indicative of the broader political environment around abortion. I mean, abortion ever since the Dobbs decision last year has not been a winning issue for the party, and we saw that during the 2022 midterm elections.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And we're still seeing it. All right, Alayna Treene, thank you very much. Now, to a developing story we are following out of New Jersey where an imam was stabbed during a Sunday morning prayer service. The religious leader has a punctured lung but is in stable condition at the hospital according to local officials.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino joins us now from New Jersey. Gloria, this happened during Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. What more are you learning? I mean, I imagine folks are just shocked there.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Jim. And not only that, it happened early this morning during early morning prayers at this mosque here behind me. We are in Paterson, which is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the entire country. Now, when I spoke to people here, they said, not only are we celebrating Ramadan, but we are also celebrating Easter and Passover. It is a very, very important time for -- of the year not just for this community, but also others.

A time of peace and unity. And that was disrupted here this morning by violence. People here telling us there was a man that came in to join in morning prayers. When they were kneeling down to pray that is when the man lunged forward and stop stabbed Imam Sayed Elnakib. He is now recovering at the hospital. As you said, a punctured and collapsed lung.

People here reacting to the violent news, but also hailing the people that responded in that moment preventing the attack from being much worse and now trying to come together in unity. People are actually going into the mosque as we speak because the prayers are continuing and they're gathering for the last few prayers of this evening. Listen to the spokesperson for the mosque as well as the mayor who gave us an update on what happened here this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL HAMDAN, SPOKESPERSON, OMAR MOSQUE: When this first happened, the congregation, we had over 200 congregants at the mosque and we consider them to be heroes, notwithstanding that the attacker was yielding a knife. They followed him as he attempted to exit the mosque and they were able to bring him down and apprehend him and hold him until Paterson police and Passaic County sheriff department arrived and arrested him.

ANDRE SAYEGH, MAYOR OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY: This is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar year, and we want to make sure that the safety of those that are just coming to pray is a priority for us and that we take this situation very seriously and want to let anyone who's coming to worship know that they can do this in peace without any fear of being attacked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: And that was the key message here today. I'm watching as congregants are now just coming out of the mosque after wrapping up that prayer. Prayers will continue here throughout the evening and police here in the city of Paterson have increased security presence not just here at this mosque, but others in the area here. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thanks very much. Coming up, a jury in Texas just convicted Daniel Perry of murder after he shot and killed a Black Lives Matter protester in July of 2020, but now the state's governor says he'll push for a pardon. More on that coming up.

And later, Tiger Woods is out at the Masters. The five-time champion withdrawing from the tournament over a foot injury. Legendary sportscaster Bob Costas will join me to discuss what's next for the 47-year-old golf great. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMECIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

ACOSTA: Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he is working to pardon army sergeant convicted of murdering an armed protester during a 2020 Black Lives Matter rally. Daniel Perry says he fired that day in self- defense. He claims protesters surrounded his car while he was driving through downtown Austin. Governor Abbott says he had the right to open fire based on the state's stand your ground law.

CNN's Camila Bernal is following this for us. Camila, this is a very unusual case. What more do we know about what Greg Abbott is up to in this possible pardon?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well look, Jim, you mentioned the stand your ground laws, that is what the governor is pointing to. He says this is self-defense. But let's go to the beginning of the story. You mentioned this Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. This is in Austin, Texas. And at some point, he encounters these protesters. Daniel Perry was working as a Rideshare driver that night. [17:20:00]

But more specifically, he encounters Garrett Foster. He was 28-years- old at the time and he was carrying an AK-47. And so, what Daniel Perry's defense team says is that he raised that AK-47. And there is Garrett Foster right there on your screen the night of the protest. He was being interviewed on social media.

And so, Perry says he felt like his life was in jeopardy. So, he used the handgun that he had in his car and he shot Foster killing him that night. Now, the D.A. in Travis County in Austin, Texas, he says this was not self-defense. He says this was murder and actually the jury agreed convicting Perry of murder. After that conviction, Foster's dad spoke out and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN FOSTE, FATHER OF GARRETT FOSTER: I just like to say to thank you for that team that represented us and the jury and we're happy with the verdict. We are very sorry for his family as well. It just -- there's no winners in this and I'm just glad it's over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now, the governor says he will expedite this pardon. He is trying to work on it quickly, but keep in mind, Perry hasn't even been sentenced. He has not even appealed his conviction. So, there is some politics here. The governor is saying that this is because of a progressive D.A. in Travis County. We reached out to the D.A. for comment on this. He has not gotten back to us, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Camilla Bernal, thank you very much. Let's discuss this very unusual case with former federal prosecutor Michael Zeldin. Michael, good to see you. What is your reaction to Governor Abbott's announcement that he is working to pardon this man just one day after he was convicted of murder as Camila was saying a few moments ago. He hasn't even been sentenced yet.

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: That's right. And you have to understand the context of this. This Sergeant Perry is 70 miles away from his base, driving around in an Uber car of some sort. He encounters these protesters, and rather than turn around and leave, he drives his car into the middle of them. And you can't forget Charlottesville where people were killed by a car doing the exact same thing.

So, as he's approached by the victim, instead of again leaving the scene as he could have, he opens fire on him. The jury deliberates 17 hours, Jim, over an eight-day trial and they convict him of murder. They reject his right to defend himself defense. And the judge -- and Governor Abbott should let the jury's verdict stand. There's no basis in law or fact for this, so therefore, smacks of politics because this was a Black Lives Matter protests and you can't ignore that context.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And we're obviously going to keep our eye on this case, see how it unfolds. I want to ask you about Trump's indictment in Manhattan this past week. I know you said you're not a big fan of the indictment. But this morning, one of Trump's attorneys in the Mar-a- Lago documents case had this to say about the New York indictment. Let's listen to that and talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM TRUSTY, ATTORNEY FOR TRUMP IN MAR-A-LAGO DOCUMENTS CASE: I think the motions to dismiss have to be a priority because they amputate this miscarriage of justice early on. Legal motions that pick apart the statute of limitations problem, the specific intent problem, the bootstrapping of perhaps federal election law into a New York case, there's a lot to play with their --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: What do you think, Michael?

ZELDIN: I think he's right. I think that -- not that he wins on those motions, but that that is what is going to take place between now and December. This indictment, which may well withstand all of these motions to dismiss stands on very thin ice in many, many ways. As he said, there's a statute of limitations issue. There is a federal preemption issue. There is a lack of particularity in the indictment.

So, all that stuff is going to get played out and then it's going to be appealed and it's going to be appealed again. So, the sad part about this case is while it's important to hold Donald Trump accountable for bad behavior, this case may be a bad case, which results in bad law two years out before we ever get any verdict in this case.

ACOSTA: But of course, there are other looming potential indictments coming down the pike, Michael. Should the former president be more worried about what's to come?

ZELDIN: Sure, I think that's right, Jim. I think that the Mar-a-Lago documents case looks to be a stronger case for obstruction of justice. They're just now getting the testimony of key witnesses in that case. You can talk to what Trump did and what he intended to do. Similarly, in Georgia, it seems that there's a much stronger case for election interference.

We don't know all of the evidence there, but on the paper, that's been reported publicly, it seems as if there was an effort to overturn the will of the Georgia voters in violation of Georgia law.

[17:25:02]

So, we have those two cases and then of course, we have the 800-pound gorilla, which is the January 6th conspiracy to interfere with the orderly transition of power.

ACOSTA: Right. Okay.

ZELDIN: A lot to look forward to -- ACOSTA: A lot to keep our eyes on. Michael Zeldin, no question about that. Thanks so much for your expertise. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

ZELDIN: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, China says it is carrying out, quote, "planned drills around Taiwan." Why these may be intended as a warning amid escalating tensions.

Plus, what we are learning about leaked highly classified Pentagon documents that are showing up on social media sites. We have some new information on that live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

ACOSTA: We're keeping an eye on rising tensions along virtually all of Israel's borders and within the country itself. Israeli rockets say or Israeli officials, I should say, say more rockets were fired towards its territory from Syria overnight, and the Israeli military has now hit back. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the latest from Tel Aviv.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Jim. Well, it's certainly still is very tense and very volatile situation here. In fact, the Israel defense forces say that early this morning, several rockets were fired from Syrian territory towards the Golan Heights, which is of course held by Israel. Israeli say that one of those rockets impacted. They also say they were able to intercept one apparently another rocket landed on Jordanian territory.

Now, what the Israelis did then in return is they bombed positions inside Syria, in fact, Syrian military positions. They used drones for that, but also fighter aircraft as well. They say for instance, the radar infrastructure was hit. Now, the Israelis are saying that they hold Syria accountable for any attacks that originate from Syrian territory even at this point in time.

It's not clear whether or not the Syrian authorities or the Syrian military had anything to do with those rockets being fired. Now, of course, all of this is great cause for concern because of the fact that rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanese territory, also in the last couple of days, and then also from Gaza as well. So, certainly this another front and certainly cause for concern.

At the same time, the minister for strategic affairs of this country, Ron Dermer, earlier today, he told CNN that Israel's enemies should not underestimate this country, despite the fact that there are political divisions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON DERMER, ISRAELI STRATEGIC AFFAIRS MINISTER: I think that Israel's internal divisions have been misinterpreted. This is why I caught talked about Iran. Misinterpreted by our enemies, and maybe they think this is a time to attack Israel. Believe me, Israel will stand united and will defend itself against that aggression. I have no doubt that we will stand together and confront anyone who tries to endanger our country and endanger our civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: At the same time, Jim, we also had a funeral for those two sisters who were killed on Friday when their car was shot at and crashed. That certainly was a very emotional event that took place. In a more positive note, there were pretty much no incidents that took place here in Jerusalem on this Friday.

There were Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount. Those happen without any sort of incidents, and it seems as though Friday prayers near the Al Aqsa Mosque also happened without incident as well. At the same time again, though, the situation here on the ground very tense, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much. China is now in its second day of planned military drills, amping up its aggressive posturing toward Taiwan. The exercises began only a day after Taiwan's president completed a trip to the U.S. and Central America and met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Chinese officials are calling this show of force a, quote, "serious warning to the Taiwanese people." Taiwan's defense ministry says it's closely monitoring the situation. And let's talk about this now. CNN military analyst and retired lieutenant general Mark Hertling joins us now.

Great to see you, general. You know, Chinese officials say these playing drills were due to Taiwan's, quote, "collusion with external forces." I suppose we're used to chest beating coming out of China, but how concerned should the U.S. be about these exercises taking place right after a meeting with the Speaker of the House?

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: We're watching them very closely I think from both the Pentagon and the State Department, Jim. What you're talking about, you know, they're calling them drills, these three-day exercises, but they have about a dozen ships and close to 70 aircraft in the area. And what they really are not so much drills, but the navy is seeing them as rehearsals.

They are conducting deployment operations, freedom of navigation operations in the straits between China and Taiwan. But they're also sending ships to the eastern side of Taiwan, and that kind of looks like I think to most naval experts as an attempt to blockade the island. So, I think we're seeing the potential for expansion of the kinds of things China is doing against Taiwan because of the speaker's engagement with the president of Taiwan.

ACOSTA: Right. They're flexing their muscles it seems. And general, let's turn to the unrest in the Middle East that we've been seeing in recent days. Just last night, Israel says six rockets were launched from Syria towards Israel. No damage was reported. But you saw, we heard Fred Pleitgen's report there just a few moments ago. Do you expect some of these recent attacks to get worse? And are we in sort of the cycle that we've seen in past years where it just gets worse and worse before it gets better?

HERTLING: Yeah. I think we are in that cycle, Jim, truthfully.

[17:35:00]

You know, about every 5 to 7 years there's this kind of uproar. But this time seems to be very different. You know, Fred reported on rockets coming out of Syria. We've seen rockets coming out of Lebanon. We've seen drones coming out of the of the Gaza attacking Israeli targets. We're seeing different players. Hamas inside of Lebanon, potentially. The Lebanese government saying they're going to investigate these attacks.

So, you know, as confusing as the Israeli situation was in the past, this is much more complex and much more confusing because there's more players. Plus, you also have, as you stated, the domestic situation inside of Israel with the prime minister feuding with his defense minister, firing him a few days ago, but not removing him from office, and protest against the prime minister because of the judiciary.

So, this has become truthfully a Star Wars bar scene of activity where you really don't know what's going to happen next. And whenever you have that kind of situation, it gets very dangerous.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. But I also want to get your thoughts on these newly leaked Pentagon documents. We've gotten some new reporting into CNN on this. They give an insight into things like how much the U.S. eavesdrops on key allies, the kinds of communications intercepted from Russian forces and some documents divulged, apparently divulged some weaknesses in Ukraine's military. I mean, how easy is it for this kind of sensitive information to leak and how worried would you be if you were in a position right now where you have to be worried about it?

HERTLING: Yeah, I would be very worried about it, Jim, because the Defense Department and -- does not know where these leaks are coming from. They probably have an idea in terms of seeing some of the details of the documents, how they've been photographed, how they've been crumpled up. I have an idea of where they might be coming from. I'm not going to talk about it here, having worked on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon, how these things could have gotten out, but it's horrific.

Everyone -- every country knows every other country conduct intelligence operation against everyone, friend and foes alike. But when it's leaked to an open press, it's really problematic because it really generates a lack of trust between nations, both friends and foes, particularly friends.

When you're also talking about a situation like we are in a shooting war between Ukraine and Russia, and some of the information about our intelligence assessment gets out, it can be troubling. And as we've seen as reported in these documents, it could affect the operations, which is not a good thing.

ACOSTA: Right. HERTLING: You know, Ukraine is conducting operations hanging on tenuously. These intelligence leaks could affect that operation and that campaign.

ACOSTA: Right. That's certainly not helpful. Not at this stage. All right, General Mark Hertling, great to talk to you. As always, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

HERTLING: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. They're in the home stretch at the Masters, but without golf's biggest name. Tiger Woods dropped out because of a foot injury. Legendary sportscaster Bob Costas joins me live next to talk about it. Well, I see him in just a few moments. There he is right there. We'll talk to him just a bit. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

ACOSTA: The final round of the Masters is underway, though, without Tiger Woods after making the cut for the 23rd straight time. The five- time champion withdrew from the tournament with a foot injury. Bob Costas joins us now to talk about this. You know, maybe it's the simpleton in me, but is the is the Masters the same without Tiger Woods?

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's always going to be the Masters. There's something about it. Of the four majors, it's the only one that's always held at the same course every year, so people are familiar with Augusta and all the distinctiveness of it and the beauty of it. So, the Masters will survive the departure of anybody. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, whomever it may be.

But Tiger Woods is compelling. There's no question. He makes the cut. He had no real chance to win, but just making the cut was an achievement, all things considered, coming back off horrendous injuries from an automobile accident, which must be said was entirely his fault and only by good luck did it not involved anyone else, any other innocent person.

But it was thought for a long time that he might never play competitively again. So, the very fact that he's been able to compete at some level is kind of amazing. And he has a huge fan base and he has tremendous star power, so they're going to put him on camera anytime he takes a shot, but this is the third time that he's withdrawn from a tournament this year. It just gets more interest now because it's the Masters

ACOSTA: And you can see him favoring that foot and it was just obvious watching him.

COSTAS: Yeah.

ACOSTA: But he's just three shy of tying Jack Nicklaus's record for the most career majors if I'm right about that, great if not, please (inaudible). Is that quest slipping away at this point? Do you think he can continue and complete major tournaments like this?

COSTAS: It doesn't seem so. You know, he caught lightning in a bottle. I guess it was in 2019. He hadn't won a major in a long time. He won his 15th winning at the Masters for the fifth time. Only Jack Nicklaus with six has won in Augusta more often. But then subsequent to that comes the car accident and those gruesome injuries and he himself has said that he doesn't think he can ever approach his past competitive level, so.

And if he had played through to the end because they suspended play yesterday with a terrible weather, he would have had to have played, I think 27 holes today on that bed ankle. So, there's just no way that he could have made it through 18 let alone 27.

ACOSTA: Yeah. Well, let's turn to baseball. I love the new pitch clock. I'm just going to put it out there. I love it. It's changed the game.

COSTAS: Yeah.

ACOSTA: Let's take a look at this.

[17:45:00]

In 2022, the baseball-reference.com says the average time to play nine innings was three hours and three minutes. It was painful at times. And this year so far, the average is two hours and 37 minutes, and it's kind of wild. I mean, I was watching the Nat's this past weekend and these games are getting over faster. I mean, they just are.

COSTAS: Yeah. The overall time is down, you know, roughly half an hour or whatever it is, but it's also the pace within it. There's less just standing around. There's more continuous action. A lot of people think of me as a traditionalist, but I've always said the game has evolved over time. The question is, do they do it intelligently?

Baseball is supposed to have a pleasing, leisurely pace, not the plotting lethargic pace it still often had in recent seasons. So, I've been in favor of this for a long time and baseball did its due diligence. They checked it in the minor leagues and then they superimposed a pitch timer as they proposed to use over classic games of the past, games people remember and have enjoyed.

And seldom did the pitcher or the hitter violate in the '80s or '90s what would be the ruling today. Now, have there been a few little moments of confusion where the batter didn't make eye contact with the pitcher or the pitcher wasn't quite sure what the -- where the timer was, yeah, there have been a few.

But as of a couple of days ago, they were averaging only around one violation per game, not just per team, but both teams overall. And it's achieved the desired results. So, I'm all for it.

ACOSTA: That's good. Yeah, no, that's good. And it's going to take some tweaking, I'm sure. Padres third baseman Manny Machado was ejected, apparently for arguing a call, third strike. Machado says he called time out, the ump disagreed. We're looking at some photos right now.

COSTAS: Yeah.

ACOSTA: You can see the frustration and the photos. White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson said he was trying to call a time out. He stepped out of the box. He was called out on strikes. I mean, that's not fun.

COSTAS: Yeah.

ACOSTA: Apparently, he was ejected after arguing the decision, but the baseball commissioner --

COSTAS: Right.

ACOSTA: -- said on ABC earlier this morning, he says that the league could change the rules if they need to. I don't want to toss that sound, but we could just talk about its Bob. What do you think needs to happen? I noticed there's a lot of sign language that seems to be going on between the umps. It's kind of weird to watch that. What do you think?

COSTAS: They can tweak it if they have to. But the early returns are that the basic objective has been achieved and during spring training, and now in the first month of the regular season, everybody has a chance to get into a rhythm. Hitters have a rhythm; pitchers have a rhythm. They're going to have to figure that out.

One thing that's interesting about this sort of a side note, but Max Scherzer of the Mets, three-time Cy Young award winner, but 38-years- old, has said that the pitch timer has not given him enough time to gather himself between pitches. You know, there's an exertion like if you're going to throw it max effort. There's a recovery time and you might be used to something closer to 30 seconds than 15 or 20 seconds.

And he's felt like he hasn't been able to gather himself to exert himself to the fullest and maybe now we're looking especially for older pitchers. You know, the pitch limit generally has been when you get to 100 pitches now, in modern baseball, we're going to take you out. Maybe with some guys now, it's 75 or 80 before the effect of this begins to dip down.

ACOSTA: Oh, that's interesting. So, the baseball statistics overall might be somewhat affected by this. But I will say, just as a viewer casually following along, seeing the clock on the screen is very easy to follow along.

COSTAS: Yeah.

ACOSTA: As a viewer, it doesn't affect it that much.

COSTAS: No, and this is sort of back to the future, if that's the best way to put it. This isn't something entirely new. It's a return to the baseball that you and I knew not that long ago. People ask me about broadcasting the games. I've only done one so far. I'm doing two more this coming week. But it wasn't difficult at all, because it was basically the same piece that I remember when I was doing the games on NBC in the '80s and '90s, and it's a better pace than what we've seen in the past decade or so.

ACOSTA: Terrific. All right. Bob Costas, great to see you. Thanks so much. We'll talk to you again soon. Appreciate the time.

COSTAS: All right, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, good to see you. We'll be right back.

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[17:50:00]

ACOSTA: We have not hit the peak of tornado season yet, but tornadoes and severe storms have already killed more people this year than all of last year. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar explains what's going on.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Jim, it has been an incredibly active start to the severe weather season. For example, just since January 1st, we've had over 500 tornado reports. Normally up to this point we would only have about 270. So, you're talking nearly 200 percent of average. The reason behind all of this, we've had a series of atmospheric river events that have pushed in along the west coast.

Well, those systems don't just end in California. They continue to traverse across the U.S. And while they've been intense when they arrive, point being, you've even had some tornado reports across California. But once they really surge east and they've had a lot of that very warm areas, especially that we had in February, bringing those moist conditions has really made the atmosphere perfect conditions for these tornadoes to occur specifically for areas of the Midwest and the south east specifically.

Now, the unfortunate part here is it's led to higher fatalities, mostly because this area tends to have a higher population density rather than, say, the traditional tornado alley of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, those types of states. They are also more difficult to see. The terrain can often be hillier, more mountainous, making it difficult to see these tornadoes from greater distances.

[17:54:58]

And also, they tend to be more rain wrapped, which can also be a concern. And housing, all of the houses in this area don't necessarily have basements or some type of underground structure that they can get to, whereas a lot of states in the great plains tend to have those in close proximity.

Another big concern that we've had with the last few months is a lot of the tornadoes that have occurred in these states are nocturnal tornadoes. And unfortunately, states like Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky tend to have very high amounts of these nocturnal tornadoes, which tends to lead to higher fatality rates as well because many people are asleep. They're not really able to be alert when those warnings and watches would come in.

Another thing we've started to notice a big shift in, not just this year, but really the last 40 years in general, is a traditional shift away from where we would normally see tornadoes in tornado alley, but granted a little bit further east into newer areas and, unfortunately, more populated areas on top of that. One thing to note is while in the short term, the next few days, we don't have high severe weather chances. Statistically speaking, the peak for tornadoes does not occur until May. So, it is very possible that over the next several weeks we could still see those tornado numbers continue to increase.

ACOSTA: All right, thanks for that. A quick programming notes for all of you, make sure to tune into CNN tonight for an investigation into what started with the disappearance of 20 people from a small town in Oregon and ended with the largest mass suicide on U.S. soil. It also changed the face of new age religion forever. "Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults" continues tonight at 10:00 eastern here on CNN. We'll be right back.

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