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16 Arrested In Anti-Government Protests In Jerusalem; Biden, Trump Deliver Starkly Opposing Easter Day Messages; Pope Francis Calls For Immediate Ceasefire In Gaza; King Charles Greets Crowd Of Well- Wishers For Easter Service; AT&T Says Data Of 73 Million Customers Leaked On Dark Web. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 31, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: More than 2.3 million tickets won cash prizes on Saturday. The next drawing is -- and we're going to have to be careful with this -- tomorrow on April Fool's Day. And remember, the overall odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292.2 million, but it's also in the April Fool's Day. So heads up there.

And heads up on this. With all the excitement around the upcoming total Solar eclipse, people are trying to cash in by polluting the marketplace with fake eclipse glasses. Of course, looking directly at a solar eclipse without proper protection can lead to severe eye damage, even blindness. And if your glasses are fake you're going to know really fast. Regular sunglasses don't cut it.

The American Astronomical Society has a list of approved eclipse glasses. You can also find it on CNN.com. And join CNN for special live coverage of the eclipse across America Monday, April 8th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern or stream it on Max.

All right, everybody, welcome for another hour. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.

We're going to begin this hour in Jerusalem, where Israel's prime minister is underscoring a key message today that the IDF is going into Rafah no matter what the U.S. thinks. Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier today that no amount of American pressure will stop Israel from going through with an operation, and that there's no other way for Israel to defeat Hamas. Those remarks come in the midst of widespread anti-government protests in Jerusalem as demonstrators call for the release of hostages. At least 16 people were arrested on Saturday.

CNN's Melissa Bell reports.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Omar, a fairly substantial protests here in Jerusalem tonight, the first time the protest movement has come back to the streets of this city since the war began. And this has been a protest very much about the way the government has handled the war. Urgent calls for elections to be held in Benjamin Netanyahu to go. Anger expressed in fact that more than 130 hostages, nearly six months

on should still be in the hands of Hamas, but also anger about what has been done to the Palestinian people. We've heard a lot of that tonight, and also the displacement of Israelis in the north of the country. And what the protesters have done is they've set up tents down there by the Knesset. They intend to stay here for the next four days to keep up the pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now, we heard from the Israeli prime minister just ahead of this protest. He's getting surgery tonight. A hernia operation underway for which he'll undergo general anesthetic. But he told the people before going into that that he believed his policies were responsible for half the hostages having been brought home. And he doubled down on the idea that a ground operation in Rafah will be necessary in order to flush out Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Not Ramadan, and here is a fact. We operate during Ramadan in Shifa, Khan Younis and other places, nor the American pressure. And I'm already telling you that, and there is no hesitation as a reason for delay. It requires certain preparations. I won't go into them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Melissa Bell reporting there in Jerusalem. And CNN analyst Barak Ravid joins us now.

So help us put these protests into context. We talked about 16 arrests yesterday, more demonstrations today. But where is Israeli public opinion on the prime minister right now?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think what you saw yesterday, last night in Tel Aviv, and what you saw today in Jerusalem, I don't want to go too far and I want to be careful, but it could be a real turning point when it comes to Israeli public opinion about the war and about Benjamin Netanyahu, because many political observers thought that those demonstrations will happen long ago, two months ago, three months ago, after this shock of October 7th, but it didn't happen.

It didn't happen because people felt that it wasn't the right time, that the country was in war, that hundreds of thousands of Israelis, mainly reservists, were in the front. And now you see how this sort of desperation that was -- that took place over the last few months turning to anger and exploded yesterday and today. It is still a question, where is it going to go. Is it going to get bigger or is just going to stay as it is right now? But in any case, what we saw yesterday and today is unprecedented since October 7th.

JIMENEZ: Yes, it's a good point. We have seen anger and flashpoints of protests even going back to before October 7th with how the judicial system is being handled in Israel. But of course, is this the beginning of a new point? We will have to see if it leads to any long- term change. We've also been looking at Netanyahu's message today in regards to the

U.S.-Israel dynamic and his message today, of course, saying they're going into Rafah no matter essentially what the United States thinks about it. And I'm curious for you, what do you think that says about the current dynamic between Israel and the U.S. right now?

RAVID: Well, the dynamics between Israel and the U.S. is, in one word, it's good, in two words, it's not good.

[18:05:05]

And I think we saw that today and over the last few weeks, and Netanyahu today, I think I don't want to treat the issue of Rafah in a way that doesn't sound serious enough, but, you know, let's go over the facts. This was the fourth time in the last two months than the Netanyahu said that Netanyahu said that he approved the operation in Rafah. OK. If you want to go in an operation, you go in an operation.

You don't say four times that you approved the operation, but it still hasn't happened. And I think it tells you a lot and it tells you a lot about, you know, Netanyahu's domestic political problems and how he's trying to divert attention from a lot of other stuff with this shiny object of Rafah. And, you know, he says Rafah and, you know, we are talking about Rafah, but on the ground nothing is happening regarding the operation in Rafah.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes. Look, while all of this is happening, at the center of all this, we've still been monitoring whether there is a potential for any type of ceasefire-hostages exchanges. It's been really the center point of a lot of the high-level negotiations, including in Cairo. And I'm curious from your perspective, what is your sense of the talks in Cairo and any outlook on a potential deal at this point, at least the latest version of what one would be?

RAVID: So the Israeli negotiation team is still in Cairo, still hasn't come back to Israel. The Israeli War Cabinet had a relatively short meeting, like an hour and a half earlier today, and it is still the bottom line is that it is still unclear whether it will be possible to break the logjam. The main issue that is the main sticking point in those talks is the Hamas demand that Israel will basically withdraw from this area in the middle of the Gaza Strip that divides the enclave into two parts and prevents people from going from the south back the north.

Israel is willing to allow some gradual return from the south to the north, but it does not agree, at least at the moment, withdraw from this corridor. And the main thing the Israeli cabinet needs to decide is whether it agrees to this demand by Hamas because it seems that at the moment if Israel does not agree and Hamas takes to its position, which is the case right now, there's not going to be a deal.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And look, on any version of a deal, I think it's important to also remind folks it's not like they're negotiating for the end of the war at this point. It almost is really for what the next phase of any type of room between the two sides would be. And look, I'm going ask you what may be an impossible question here, but let's say you get to a deal here for any sort of ceasefire, what is the long-term prognosis here for any type of end at this point?

RAVID: So I think that everything you said is true. OK. But still, once he go into -- let's say there is a deal and you go into this six- week temporary ceasefire. Six weeks of ceasefire is not nothing. That's a lot of time. The previous ceasefire was a week. Now we're talking about six weeks. To go back from a six-week ceasefire to a full-scale operation in Rafah, that's a very, very, very complicated thing.

And everybody knows it. Nobody wants to say it. Everybody knows it. Therefore even though a hostage deal doesn't mean the war ends, it also doesn't mean that the war continues after those six weeks of ceasefire.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And it could provide some real inroads for humanitarian aid as opposed to just a large portion of airdrops that we've been seeing to this point, which have merits on arguments for whether they're truly effective or not.

I want to touch on this before we go. The "Wall Street Journal" has a story out today on the U.S. expanding its intelligence sharing with Israel and the aftermath of October 7th, with some officials reportedly concerned that American supplied information is contributing to civilian deaths. What's your read on those concerns among U.S. officials? Is that a dynamic that you've been hearing in some of your reporting?

RAVID: I haven't heard about such concerns, and I have to say at least from my knowledge, I don't think the Israeli Air Force or the Israeli military is really dependent on U.S. intelligence when it comes to its airstrikes in Gaza. You know, with all due respect to U.S. intelligence when it comes to Gaza for the last 20 years or 30 years, Israel took the lead in the intelligence relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

Israel took the lead on Gaza and the U.S. capabilities are, again, there are capabilities, but they're not advanced as the Israelis have.

[18:10:06]

Therefore, I'm not so sure that, you know, U.S. intelligence is what was driving Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Well, Barak Ravid, thank you for coming on as always. Always appreciate the conversation.

RAVID: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

Still ahead, the House GOP's razor thin majority is getting even smaller with another lawmaker set to leave Congress. We're going to tell you how that could impact Speaker Mike Johnson's job and what gets passed in Congress. Plus Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire in Gaza during his Easter address. We're going to have more on his health and his message this holy holiday. You're on the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:24]

JIMENEZ: Tonight, the two candidates for president delivering very different messages this Easter Sunday. Joe Biden wishing Christians everywhere a Happy Easter and saying, quote, "With wars and conflict taking a toll on innocent lives around the world, we renew our commitment to work for peace, security, and dignity for all people."

Donald Trump, on the other hand, is lashing out with dozens of angry posts in all caps on Truth Social, blasting his political opponents, prosecutors and judges, saying in part, "Happy Easter to all including those many people I completely and totally despise because they want to destroy America."

This of course, is just after a day after sharing an image of his political opponent, Joe Biden, tied up and bound in the back of a pickup truck. Trump tonight is also appearing to test the limits of his gag order in the New York hush money case, where he's going to face trial in two weeks. Trump is also ramping up attacks against Judge Juan Merchan's daughter, posting a link to an article showing her picture just days after attacking her as a, quote, "rabid Trump hater."

All right. Thats a lot. Joining me now is CNN senior political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings, and former Clinton White House press secretary, Joe Lockhart.

Glad to have both of you.

Scott, I want to start with you. Obviously, we just went through a list of what appears to be on brand Trump messaging in some respects. But what is your reaction? I mean, does this help Trump in a general election sense politically? What are we looking at here?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, it's the same old. I think his people like it, obviously. Does it help him with, you know, regular people or independents, or folks who are trying to decide what to do in this election? Probably not. But he's never really cared all that much about that. You know, most of what he communicates is fan service. And when you write things in all caps and when you, you know, share these kinds of things, it's fan service to his hardest core audience.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And Joe, I want to bring you in on this because I think the contrasting Easter messages in some ways are sort of themes of how both have tried to run the campaign. But I think the question from Joe Biden's perspective is, how do you counter some of what have been much more strong worded and much more emotional poles from the former president Trump? And that seemed to at least rile up a good portion of the current Republican base. JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, I agree with that. It has

riled them up. I think you do exactly what he did today, calling for unity, talking about bringing people together because this election will be decided on turnout and turnout particularly in the suburbs with independent voters and what were formerly Republicans are now this little small caucus of the former Republican Party, the non- Trumpers.

If you look at an ad he did this week, which is now explicitly going after voters who voted for Nikki Haley in the primary. So that's what they need to do. And I think the other thing that it hurts Trump is there is a lack of enthusiasm about President Biden among the Democratic core voter, but this fires them up. This fired them up into 2020, and will fire up again. So, you know, its on-brand, but it's a bad strategy.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And Scott, obviously a portion of this is, look, Trump is facing a number of trials this year. Some of them that which may go to trial this year, but we know at least one in a couple of weeks here, and he has gone on offense against the judge, against the legal system even before this in regards to describing Merrick Garland and the justice system. But from your respective where is he going with this?

What is the point of attacking the judicial system and the way that he has done either politically or otherwise?

JENNINGS: Well, I would say there's probably two things going on inside his head. Number one is he's enraged that he thinks he's been indicted unfairly. And he's lashing out at the people he thinks are responsible. But number two, you know, his whole brand is I'm going to fight the system. I'm going to fight the institutions. I'm going to fight back against the elites who are trying to take away your voice.

That's his message to his core audience. And so all of this I think is in service to both of those things.

JIMENEZ: Yes. I want to ask you separate topic, but I want to ask you both about a controversy surrounding Republican congressman from Michigan, who in the town hall videos making the rounds online, appeared to suggest nuclear weapons should be used in Gaza. The Michigan congressman isn't seen on the video, but you can hear him making the comments. We have a clip, but we want to note the video appears to have been distributed online by a person affiliated with the Democratic Advocacy Group. Here it is.

[18:20:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM WALBERG (R-MI): We shouldn't be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JIMENEZ: Now Congressman Walberg's office released a transcript of the video in reaction to his distribution and also issues a statement insisting he wasn't advocating for using nuclear weapons, saying in part, quote, "I used a metaphor to convey the need for both Israel and Ukraine to win their wars as swiftly as possible."

Joe, is that how you saw it?

LOCKHART: Well, I don't think so. And I think any fair-minded person would say that he was wrong to say it's offensive on so many levels. It's not worth going through it. You know -- but the fact of the matter is this is Trump's party. This is how they speak this, this is what they advocate, and their voters, you know, are very happy with this kind of rhetoric and that just says something about what Trump has done to transform the party.

JIMENEZ: And Scott, I'll ask you the same question, but also it does appear or I'm curious if you think that there is a want for those in the Republican side to end our aid to Ukraine, to end our involvement, whether through aid or otherwise in Israel. So I'll just start with the first part. Do you see this as a metaphor as what the congressman said?

And we just lost Scott there. And do we have Joe or no? All right. Joe, and we have Scott back. All right.

JENNINGS: Hey there.

JIMENEZ: Hey, Scott, I thought you were duck in me. I was like, all right. But --

(CROSSTALK)

JIMENEZ: Come on.

JENNINGS: I heard the question. What do you want to know? I'll give you anything you want.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. I was -- I just wanted you reaction to the Michigan congressman's sound and whether you think there is actually a real concern to end what's happening in Ukraine and Israel as quickly as possible among Republican voters?

JENNINGS: It sounded like a stupid flippant remark to me. You know, congressmen don't have their finger on the button, I guess in this case thank goodness. And so it's not a serious comment. And so in response to something Joe said, though, I actually disagree a little bit with his point about how MAGA talks and how Trump -- Trump is actually and a lot of his supporters have actually moved the party in a lot more dovish direction.

I mean, they have in some ways become a lot of anti-war rhetoric and keep us out of wars. We didn't have wars when Trump was in. Now the world is in chaos. So when you listen to Trump supporters these days, you actually hear them talking about no war, no war, and so that kind of commentary is actually a little bit in my opinion out of step with what you hear from the people who are I would say the most ardent Trump supporters out there.

JIMENEZ: Joe, I'll give you a chance to respond to that if you'd like.

LOCKHART: I mean, I don't disagree. So you know, it's been -- the aid has been held up to Ukraine by Republicans, and, you know, they -- I think the point I was trying to make is outrageous is good. Say anything that divides the American people so that -- because that's how Trump thinks he can get elected. And we saw the contrast today on Easter Sunday.

JIMENEZ: Yes. I want to go to Capitol Hill real quick before we go here because Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher says he's going to resign in April. That of course shrinks the GOP majority and after of course Colorado Republican Ken Buck also made an early exit from Congress this month. So we're down to 217 to 213 majority. Republicans really can only lose one vote to pass legislation if everyone's there.

Scott, how does this change the way Johnson leads here?

JENNINGS: Well, I mean, I would maybe tell you it changes it somewhat, but does it really? I mean, the reality is taking one away from what he's already got, which is basically an ungovernable conference, I mean, he's still on the same problem. The problem is there's a handful of people in his conference that want to wield their authority over the rest of the U.S. House of Representatives.

They already threw out one speaker. One of them, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is threatening to try to get rid of Johnson. And so he's in this situation where he's in charge of a majority that's not actually a majority. You know, effectively you have three parties in the House, two of them are loosely combined in a coalition government right now and one of them is constantly threatening to walk away.

I mean, it -- you know, I wouldn't wish it on anybody. It's a miserable kind of thing to try to lead. I think Johnson has gotten some things done miraculously in some cases. His next big test is going to be putting the Ukraine aid on the floor, which has bipartisan support. If you put it on the floor today, but get over 300 votes.

[18:25:04]

He needs to get that done. But obviously this is going to enrage this sliver of his conference that wants to be in constant rebellion.

JIMENEZ: We will see what happens. Felt like we were just getting started, but I got to leave it there.

Scott Jennings, Joe Lockhart, I appreciate you both for being here.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, King Charles is back in the public attending easter service in Windsor for the first time since his cancer diagnosis. We have the latest on his health coming up.

And the untold story of that mission that changed spaceflight for ever. The new CNN Originals Series, space shuttle Columbia, the final flight premieres next Sunday 9:00 p.m. on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:08]

JIMENEZ: Pope Francis today called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza while leading the Easter mass in Saint Peter's in Rome. The Pope appeared in good form, even though he missed a good Friday service for health issues,

CNN's Christopher Lamb has more now on the Pope's future and his political message on this sacred Catholic holiday -- Christopher.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Omar, Pope Francis appeared in good spirits as he greeted the crowd in Saint Peters Square, having presided at the Easter Sunday mass in Saint Peters. The pontiff has been battling with bouts of ill-health and on Good Friday, he pulled out of service at the last minute in order to preserve his health but on easter Sunday, he was back in the Vatican and he delivered a strong message for Easter Sunday from the balcony of some pizzas addressing various conflicts taking place around the world, including the Israel-Hamas was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER: I appeal once again the access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on the 7th of October, and for an immediate ceasefire in the strip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAMB: Francis also warned about the winds of war that he sees blowing across Europe and the Mediterranean. The Pope has been presiding at a series of services during Holy Week and in the run-up to Easter. Despite his age, he's 87, and his health difficulties, Francis has insisted he is not going to resign and his appearances on Easter Sunday suggest he wants to continue in post -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Christopher Lamb, thank you so much for that report.

Now, King Charles made his most high-profile public appearance yet since his cancer diagnosis. The king went to the Easter mass service at the chapel at Windsor Castle, and then went on a surprise walkabout two greet people.

CNN royal correspondent Max Foster gives us an up-close look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A lucky few royal well-wishers given a surprise invite into Windsor Castle to see the king making his first major public appearance since his cancer diagnosis. Then an even bigger surprise when he went for a walk and a chat.

KING CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: You haven't got too cold standing here.

FOSTER: A royal source telling CNN all future engagements remain subject to medical advice near the time. But this was an encouraging sign of how the treatment is progressing, as we look towards summer and how the road ahead is looking positive.

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: He's obviously looking, you know, really in great form. He's walking. He's, you know, out there again. But we've been told that this isn't a return for public duties. What it is is a gentle return to the public eyes. So we're seeing Charles, you know, out and about waving, you know, seeing people. But he's not going back to the full duties of kingship and we don't yet have a timeline as to when that's going to be.

FOSTER: The service at Windsor is a tradition for the royals. Prince Andrew amongst those invited, showing that he's part of the family if not part of the firm anymore. The Princess of Wales didn't attend as she receives her own treatment for cancer but that was expected as she also spends time with her children during the school holidays.

CATHERINE, PRINCESS OF WALES: We hope that you'll understand that as a family we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment.

FOSTER: It's an unprecedented time for the royal family with two senior royals sidelined due to serious illness, leaving only a handful of working royals to carry out public duties. Queen Camilla has shouldered much of the load in Charles' absence. Prince William is expected to resume public engagements in mid-April, but it's been a strain on the system.

ERIN HILL, PEOPLE MAGAZINE SENIOR EDITOR, ROYALS: King Charles really wanted to have a slimmed down monarchy when he took on the throne, but he never could have anticipated it slimming down to where it is now.

FOSTER: And there's also a matter of trust. The statement by the Princess of Wales diffused a frenzy of conspiracy theories about her health and whereabouts. But there are lingering questions about a digitally altered photo of Catherine and the children, and concerns that the palace isn't being transparent enough. Media cameras were invited to film the events rather than in-house media teams.

Behind the scenes, the king has been carrying out meetings and continuing his work as head of state as both he and Catherine continue their cancer treatments.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (on-camera): Omar, I think what's most significant about today really is that the king was confident enough to go and speak to members of the public and shake their hands. Up until now, his doctors have been advising him not to do that. So it certainly shows his recovery is going pretty well. He looked in good spirits at least and so did the queen -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Thank you, Max Foster. Appreciate the reporting.

Coming up next, a major phone carrier breach exposing the personal information of millions of Americans.

[18:35:01]

We're going to explain coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Tonight AT&T is investigating how the personal data of more than 70 million of its current and former customers, that's one in four U.S. adults ended up on the dark Web. Now the company says that includes personal information, like Social Security numbers, names, and mailing addresses.

So joining us now to discuss is Glenn Gastel, former general counsel at the National Security Agency, and now senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

[18:40:08]

All right, Glenn, good to see you. I just want to start with the obvious here. More than 70 million people. How concerned should they actually be here?

GLENN GERSTELL, FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: Absolutely should be concerned. This is a very significant hack. As you said, it involves over 70 million people. This is the nation's largest cellular carrier and the kind of information that was made available about two weeks ago on the dark Web was really serious. It was the names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, Social Security information, and even date of birth for many of their AT&T customers.

So that's really serious because once a bad guy has that or a criminal has that information perhaps they could pose as you and call up one of your bank account or health accounts claimed you lost your password and you reset it by validating their identity using the stolen Social Security number or birth date or whatever. So this is quite a serious issue.

JIMENEZ: Yes, a lot of that is definitely verification level data as opposed to just a password that you might guess.

GERSTELL: Exactly.

JIMENEZ: Which again, we've got those two-step verifications for a reason. Now, look, telecom companies have been hacked before. Is there something that makes them especially good targets here? Is it just the range of data that they operate with?

GERSTELL: Exactly. It's like that old saying when the bank robber was asked, why do you rob banks? Because that's where the money is. So any hacker who is both skilled enough and lucky enough to get inside a telecom company is going to find a digital treasure chest. The information that's available there will be large in numbers. These telecom companies handle tens of millions of people when T-Mobile was hacked to last year.

They had a data breach affecting tens of millions of their customers. And the information is, of course, quite significant as we've said, it's all the kind of information used to verify your identity now. Now many of these companies to be sure don't necessarily, necessarily have lax security practices. AT&T in this particular case, I think this is important to say, hasn't said whether the data which they admit is AT&T customer data came from AT&T itself or whether it came from one of their vendors? That of course would be also of concern.

JIMENEZ: And look you touched on it here because I think it's really important that all of these, all of these telecom companies, or at least a company at this scale, their defenses around this have to be essentially impeccable and erase where there are folks who are constantly trying to break their defenses, and they go back and forth until the end of time.

How delicate is that race, is that balance for a company like AT&T? I guess my question is, what is the magnitude of work that needs to be done to actually prevent something like this from happening?

GERSTELL: Well, that of course is the question. I mean, there's some good news and bad news there. I mean, the reality is that for the past, what, decade or two, we've been racing to put all of our lives in digital form. So it's all up in there in the cloud, or it's on a company's computers, and there's tremendous benefits to be gained from having all that information be digitally accessible on our cell phones or laptops.

But the consequences that we haven't paid enough attention over the past decade or two to the vulnerabilities and risks that are created both by cybercriminals, teenage hackers, as well as nation states like Iran, China, North Korea, Russia, who are out to get this kind of information on Americans. Ultimately, we're going to have to move past passwords. We're going to have to move toward greater use of two- factor authentication.

Possibly some biometric identifications, and get to a system that's much, much more secure both for the individual user and the companies themselves. But that's expensive and that's a long way off.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And quickly before we go, if AT&T has notified you that your information has been compromised, I mean, what is the first thing that you should be doing here?

GERSTELL: So just because -- if you are notified that is one key issue. If you're not notified, just don't assume automatically that you're safe. You need to investigate this. But if you are notified, the first thing I would do is change my passwords for any really serious important financial account or health account. If I had a couple of credit cards or bank accounts or health account that was especially sensitive information or where a criminal could do mischief if they got into my account, I'd changed the password. It costs you nothing. There's no downside. It's a little bit of annoyance.

The second thing I'd probably do is consider contacting the three credit report agencies, the Equifax, Experian, Transunion. This is all available on the Web for customers, and asked to put a fraud alert on your account and possibly AT&T will assist you with that.

[18:45:08]

I'm not -- it's not at all clear yet what exactly what they're going to do in that regard. But you can put a fraud alert, give that to the credit information. You can get a copy of your credit report once a year. And if you're really concerned, you can put a credit freeze on your account which will prevent someone from opening up a credit card using your stolen Social Security number and birth date.

That's a little more complicated, but there are steps you can take and I'd pay attention to the respectable news media and find out what are the right solutions to be taking.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. Well, Glenn Gerstell, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time and perspective.

GERSTELL: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Now, if basketball star Caitlin Clark wants to end her college career with a championship trophy, she's going to have to go through a road she couldn't get through last year and beat last year's champions LSU. We're going to have a preview of this huge Elite Eight matchup coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:36]

JIMENEZ: It's been a giant weekend for college basketball and it's not over yet. The final four for the men's bracket will be set after tonight. And this afternoon's big win for Purdue and the showdown happening right now between Duke and NC State and the women's tournament has some big face-offs tomorrow with four of its biggest names clashing in the Elite Eight.

Rachel Nichols is host of "Headliners" on Showtime and joins us now.

Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Page Beckers, Juju Watkins, some would call that cinema. Is tomorrow one of the biggest nights for women's college hoops that we've ever had?

RACHEL NICHOLS, HOST, "HEADLINERS WITH RACHEL NICHOLS": Yes, 100 percent. This is poised to capture the attention of the country and we have been able to say that time after time in women's basketball. There's a combination of a few different things. Women's sports in general have just really reached terminal velocity over the past couple of years. You've had them breaking free out of more of a niche audience to just general sports fans, understanding how good these games can be, how talented these athletes are.

You also have the fact that in college women's basketball, you've had this NIL licensing money coming into players, which means for some players, not all, but for some players, it's been more economically beneficial. They make more money staying in school than they do go into the WNBA. And that means that stars are around longer, rivalries can form. Teams can recruit better players to come in after them because, oh, you will get to play with Caitlin Clark. She's still going to be here at Iowa.

So we've gotten these really complete full teams and then I said the rivalries, man, last year, Caitlin Clark's Iowa team versus Angel Reese's LSU team, that was theater in the final of the women's tournament last year. The fact that they're meeting this early in the draw has gotten people just all a flutter. And I hope for this game is that it is as competitive as we expect, and that people who are watching allow it to be as competitive as we expect.

I think Angel Reese got so much unfair criticism last year for just celebrating the fact that her team won in the way we've seen so many male athletes do, showing the ring finger and making the John Cena pose and all of that stuff. And, you know, there's this idea that women athletes still have to be more polite, that they have to be more sportsman like, that they can't be as competitive. Get that dirt under their fingernails the way that men can.

And it's such a shame and I hope that we see something different this year. I think we're going to. I think we're going to allow this to be as competitive a game as it should be. And it's going to be amazing for women's hoops.

JIMENEZ: And they don't even see it that way. Like Caitlin Clark, even at the time, was saying, hey, I didn't even take offense to that.

NICHOLS: Not at all.

JIMENEZ: Competition is competition, and I think we see that across the board, but you're right from the outside in there is this expectation that for some reason they shouldn't be doing the same type of goodnight celebration that Steph Curry makes.

NICHOLS: Steph Curry, exactly.

JIMENEZ: But look, a serious part of the women's game that we've found out about recently, a big blunder came to light essentially that while both teams agreed to play the game, it was found out that the three- point arc was not the same distance from the hoops on the two sides of the court. How does that even happen?

NICHOLS: Yes. This was the regional in Portland.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

NICHOLS: It was the case for five of the six games they played here this weekend. It was just that fifth one that they finally figured it out. Someone took a tape measure out. It's just unbelievable that at this level that's allowed to happen. And Texas, which lost the game, the coach said afterward, he said, I'm sorry to have to say this, but a lot of my colleagues would tell you only in women's hoops, only in women's basketball. You know, the NCAA still has a long way to go and the way that they

treat these women, especially as this tournament has become so popular. There is no excuse for the fact that the women playing it don't get the same benefits. It was only a few years ago that the women's tournament was able to even use the term March Madness.

I want you to let that sink in. The NCAA's is own women's basketball tournament wouldn't allow the women to use the term March Madness because that was for the men. Apparently making sure that the court gets their proper dimensions is still for the men, too? And we hope that that changes. This should be incredibly embarrassing for the NCAA and should never happen again.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And especially when you consider a few years ago and now -- to now talking about the most anticipated game is on the women's side.

NICHOLS: Women's side.

JIMENEZ: Happening on a Monday night. Just incredible how far it's come. I do want to talk about the men's side a little bit here because big story is the seemingly unbeatable UConn Huskies. They went on a 30-0 run to put away Illinois yesterday. I just want to point out that didn't even happen against Northwestern. But is anyone --

NICHOLS: Exactly. Thank you very -- thank you, Omar. Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Just getting that in there. But is anyone stopping them at this point from going back-to-back? What do you see out there?

NICHOLS: I mean, like, it is hard to see it. They play Alabama next. Alabama had a really fun win here in Los Angeles.

[18:55:04]

They shot what felt like a million threes and their coach, Coach Oats is a former high school math teacher. He's very into that three-point analytics. They have an analytics team traveling with them. So they're going to come out against UConn. They are going to try to shoot the lights out, hit all those threes, and I got to tell you, Omar, it is unlikely that it will matter. This UConn team is so, so strong. They've been winning at a clip that even surpasses last year's champions.

And it is hard to see them going down and yet another reason why people are so interested in the competitiveness of the women's side because so much of the men's tournament feels a little bit more and more predetermined every time UConn takes the court.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. We will see what happens. We will know very soon, just about a week's time.

Rachel Nichols, thank you so much for being with us.

NICHOLS: Great to see you. JIMENEZ: All right. Former president Trump spends his Easter Sunday

attacking the judges in charge of the legal cases against him. I'm going to talk to a former judge about how -- just how dangerous this can be as CNN NEWSROOM continues.

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