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Presence of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Wife During Official Pentagon Meeting Draws Criticism; Funeral for Pope Francis Held in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome; Thousands from Around the World Visit Rome for Funeral of Pope Francis Including World Leaders; Lawyer for Accused Killer Luigi Mangione Says Member of District Attorney's Office Eavesdropped on Call Between Her and Defendant; President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Meet in Rome During Funeral of Pope Francis to Discuss Ongoing War between Russia and Ukraine; Alabama State Trooper Befriends Woman after Pulling Her Over for Speeding and Inspiring Her to Pursue a Career; Deion Sanders Son Shedeur Sanders Drafted by Cleveland Browns in National Football League Draft. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired April 26, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- Pete Hegseth has grown increasingly paranoid about potential leaks to the media within the Pentagon and has begun depending on a smaller circle for counsel, including his wife.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It's Jesus and Jenny.

TODD: A U.S. official tells CNN Jennifer Hegseth shares her husband's distrust of many media outlets besides FOX. Jennifer Hegseth has also attended at least one official meeting with her husband at the Pentagon in March with Britain's defense secretary. Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson tells CNN that Jennifer Hegseth, "exited the meeting before any sensitive and classified discussions occurred." Still, one watchdog says her mere presence at that meeting could send concerning signals.

GREG WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR, PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT'S CENTER FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION: If foreign leaders can't count on our secretary of defense not to share sensitive information with their spouse or other personal connections, whether via signal or in-person meetings, it inevitably lessens their willingness to share sensitive information with us. That makes us less safe.

TODD: Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson tells CNN that Jennifer Hegseth is a, quote, "incredibly accomplished woman and leader." Wilson also said of her that she is a trusted advisor to her husband and an advocate for military families.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin with dramatic developments on the sidelines of the Pope's funeral. President Trump meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inside Saint Peter's Basilica before the service began. It's the first time the two have met since that contentious meeting at the White House back in February. It also follows a tumultuous few days that saw escalating Russian attacks on Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, and high stakes talks between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kevin Liptak is CNN's senior White House reporter, and he's joining us right now from New Jersey. So what is the White House saying about this meeting?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they have called this 15-minute conversation very productive, and it was notable. Those photos are so striking of the two men sitting perched on their chairs, essentially knee to knee, having this conversation. No aides nearby, not even translators, although we should note that we understand a top aide to the Ukrainian president also met with two aides to President Trump, his chief of staff, and his national security adviser.

According to these pictures, the contention that really colored their last meeting in the Oval Office 57 days ago was largely absent, although you can tell from these talks that they are in quite deep conversation. And that does illustrate that this is coming at quite a critical moment as President Trump grows more and more frustrated at his inability so far to bring this conflict to an end.

The U.S. has proposed this peace plan that would include ceding all of the territory that Russia has ceded -- or has seized as part of this conflict back to Moscow, also includes American recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Zelenskyy has said that those are terms that he cannot agree to as part of this conflict, and that has led to real animosity between himself and President Trump. Just in the last week, Trump said that he was no fan of Zelenskyy's. He has accused him of prolonging this conflict.

And so sitting down there in Saint Peter's Basilica, talking face to face, certainly was a very important moment for these two men to potentially air out any of their differences. And we did hear from Zelenskyy afterwards describing some of this meeting. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, how did the meeting with Trump go?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Really, really we had a productive meeting. I don't want to go to a lot of details if it's possible, because the questions were sensitive questions on, of course, totally it's about how to bring peace closer and how was resulted in positive Paris and London. And we want to continue such meetings to bring peace to Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now Trump has departed Rome. He's coming back here to New Jersey. But he has posted on his social media accounts something very, very important, I think, Fredricka. He's talking about this Russian assault on Kyiv that took place over the last week. It was its most intense assault on the Ukrainian capital in more than nine months. The president writing, "There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns over the last few days." So some rare criticism of Putin there. The president goes on to say, "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war. He's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently through banking or secondary sanctions."

[14:05:02]

And so you hear, after this meeting with Zelenskyy, a very notable shift in tone from the president. You know, it's just Thursday. I asked the president directly in the cabinet room whether he thought Putin was still interested in peace. And he was very confident then that Putin was interested in a peace deal. He said that both sides want to see this war come to an end.

Now we hear something very different from the president, saying that potentially Putin could be dragging out these talks, dragging out these negotiations, which in the end is precisely what many European officials and European leaders think is happening here. Now the president seems to think that could be happening as well. It's a notable shift after that conversation with Zelenskyy at the Vatican.

WHITFIELD: Yes, notable indeed. All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.

The world leaders attending the Pope's funeral were among the more than 250,000 people at Saint Peter's Square paying their respects to the late pontiff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Pope's modest coffin, carried out to Saint Peter's Square for the funeral this morning, his body laid to rest after the service, entombed in Rome's Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the first Pope buried outside the Vatican in more than 100 years.

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau is live for us in Rome. And Barbie, the conclave to select a new Pope will happen after a period of mourning. For now, what are people saying and feeling?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Well, right now, people are slowly coming back to this square in front of the church where Pope Francis was buried earlier today to take part in a rosary service. And we can expect that to be a very solemn moment with candles and people praying. And among those people praying will be, of course, the cardinals who are going to be voting in the coming weeks for their next leader of the Catholic Church. But we've seen the mood here in this particular church, so solemn and so energized at the same time, because when the Pope's casket came here earlier today in the Popemobile, people around here, the people who consider this their parish church, the people who get married here, have their babies baptized, they know that Pope Francis loved this church. He made more than 100 visits here during his 12-year papacy, always before and after foreign trips, and most recently when he got out of the hospital on March 23rd.

And so they felt very much that he is part of their community and always has been. And now the fact that anyone who wants to pay their respects to his tomb will do so in their church. It's very much an emotional thing. But of course, everybody now is looking for what happens to the Catholic Church next. And that conclave, which the start date hasn't been announced yet, it's really, really on the minds of all of the marginalized people who were part of this service. You know, he'd invited people, poor people, homeless people to greet his coffin when it arrived.

And the choice is vast and the spectrum is very, very large compared to, like, where Pope Francis is and some of the cardinals who are eligible or potentially going to be the next Pope. So everybody is wondering what the direction of the church is going to be, if there's going to be some sort of continuation following the footsteps of Pope Francis, some sort of drastic change with the traditionalists, or if it's just going to be some sort of person in the middle, a compromise choice. Everybody's eyes will be on the Sistine Chapel, though, when that starts in a couple of week's time, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Barbie Latza Nadeau, thank you so much, in Rome.

Let's bring in now Matthew Bunson. He is the executive editor at ETWN, a network providing Catholic programing and news coverage from around the world. Great to see you.

MATTHEW BUNSON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, EWTN NEWS: Good evening.

WHITFIELD: And you're joining us from Rome. So I'm wondering if there was a moment or perhaps several moments that really moved you and helped you reflect on, wow, what a historic moment this was for the world.

BUNSON: Yes, I think there were a number today. The first, of course, was at the very start of the funeral mass when they brought, or the technical term is translated the remains of Pope Francis from the basilica where the coffin had been closed last night onto the parvis, or the main part of the square for the funeral mass.

And the stark reality that this was in fact a funeral mass, it took me back 20 years to the funeral of Pope Saint John Paul II, enormous crowds there. That was a deeply moving moment. But then also the very fond farewell that was given to him by the eastern Catholics, the leaders of the eastern Catholic churches, as they chanted "Christos Anesti," which means Christ is risen in Greek. [14:10:03]

And that is a representative body there of a reminder that the universal church, it's vast, it is everywhere. And that its certainly something that Pope Francis wanted us all to be aware of, that this is a very large church. And he reached out always at the peripheries.

WHITFIELD: A very large church, a very opulent service, even though he worked very hard to underscore simplicities about his papacy and with his going home here with the wooden coffin with just his name on the wooden coffin. It didn't say Pope Francis, but just Francis. Do you think he achieved his goal of underscoring the simplicity of his leadership?

BUNSON: Yes, I think he arrived with a number of objectives. The first was the proclamation of mercy. The other was that reaching out. The phrase of this pontificate was "todos, todos, todos." It means everyone, that he wanted everyone to feel welcome into the church. And talking with pilgrims, talking with priests, talking with even cardinals over these last few days here in Rome, it is manifestly obvious that Pope Francis got his message across to the church. Everyone uses a similar phrase. Everyone hails the fact that he was so welcoming and wanted to have that reach out, that a church that goes out into the world.

He has left, however, a number of unfinished projects. The first, and probably most important, is that the completion of the reforms of Vatican finances. I know that that's going to be very much in the minds of the cardinals as they get to work next week in the process of working toward that conclave that will be starting in early May.

There's also the question of what's called synodality, which is a process that he embarked on in 2015. That's unresolved to. So it's going to be up to his successor to decide how he wants to proceed in both of those directions. But I think both of those are going to be overhanging the discussions in the weeks to come.

WHITFIELD: He left an impression in a variety of ways, and he wanted very much to be inclusive in a variety of ways. So I understand that, you know, at the start of his papacy, there were cardinals representing some 48 countries. But then in so doing, during his service, some 70 countries are represented among these cardinals. So how does that set the stage for what could become a very different transition to the next Pope, including perhaps countries that prior to his papacy may not have ever been considered before -- Africa, Asia, maybe even again, the southern hemisphere.

BUNSON: Yes, you're absolutely right. He created cardinals from all the far flung corners of the world, including a lot of places that had never had one. Myanmar comes to mind. Mongolia comes to mind. And yet he was building on the legacy of his predecessors, sort of expanding the College of Cardinals to represent the growth of the church globally. One thing about his choices is that they are so diverse. He's chosen 110 out of what we are assuming is about 134 electors who will be locked into the Sistine Chapel, symbolically. And we don't know exactly how each of those think. Each cardinal is

going to be proceeding forward with what they're looking for in a Pope. There's also the challenge that they don't really know each other. Pope Francis rarely brought them to Rome to get to know each other. So one of the keys for them over the next week or so is going to be spending time in general congregations where they have a chance to discuss what the church needs, what they're looking for in terms of a successor to Pope Francis.

But he left an indelible mark on the College of Cardinals. As I said, 110 out of 135 of the -- 134 of the cardinals are going to be picking his successor. We have to be careful about making too many assumptions that every one of those members of the electors are going to be a sort of a carbon copy of him. He was very clear in wanting a wide variety, both geographically but also spiritually and theologically, from within the college, which makes trying to predict how this is going to go very, very difficult.

WHITFIELD: So it sounds as though perhaps it was intentional that he didn't bring all those cardinals together, that they are joining now, many of them as strangers so as to, you know, make their selections not based on bias or previous relations or interactions, but, you know, coming with a clean slate, so to speak. You think that's fair?

BUNSON: That's exactly the -- that's exactly the phrase that one wants to use here. It's a clean slate. They are starting from scratch in many ways, especially because he's added a number of cardinals just in the last couple of years.

[14:15:01]

WHITFIELD: Wow.

BUNSON: He's averaged about one consistory or creation of new cardinals every year. That's a very interesting group of people that's coming together. And when you combine that with the fact that they have a lot of these issues pressing ahead, they're going to be paying very close attention to what each cardinal says during these general congregations.

And, of course, as is always a tradition with conclaves, especially leading up to conclaves, it's the dinners, it's the small conversations that they're having with each other across Rome, in restaurants, in the seminaries here, where they really are seeking advice. Who are we looking for? Where do we go for our Pope is going to be a question that is asked very quietly, very discreetly, but it's a major one for each of them. And we'll see over the next days as sort of rumors percolate. But they're always going to be surprises. And again, as they come together to know each other, I think that's where they will begin assessing each other and really starting to get to know each other.

WHITFIELD: Yes, powerful messaging with that breaking of bread. All right, Matthew Bunson, thank you so much.

BUNSON: Great to be with you. WHITFIELD: All right, well, thousands gathered in Rome to honor Pope

Francis as he was laid to rest in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the Pope was born. Mourners attended a mass to celebrate his life there and his legacy around the world. CNN's senior national correspondent David Culver was there.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the several days that we've been here in Buenos Aires since Pope Francis's passing, we've seen isolated, small memorials, devout nonetheless. But this, this is the mass gathering of so many in this city coming together for a final mass and memorial for one of their own who became the world's Pope. As you can see in the Plaza de Mayo, crowds packed in here to be together in a very celebratory mood, too. I mean, you notice they have banners, they wear t-shirts that they've had made. They've got music. And there's a positive, uplifting spirit about all of this.

And yet at the same time, there's a lot of symbolism in the folks who are here and where they have come from. Many of them have traveled in, and we were able to get on a bus and go with a few of them, but directly from the margins. And that's exactly what Pope Francis would speak of, wanting to reach out to those who are on the fringes.

And they offered several different shuttle buses to bring in folks from these communities, from the villas, the humble, simple, lower income neighborhoods. And they were able to bring them here and to be together. And it doesn't end with just a mass. It continues throughout in what's going to be essentially a pilgrimage of sorts through Buenos Aires, going to sites that were important to then-cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. They'll then end the day with what will be a very personal sporting event, San Lorenzo soccer club. They're playing, and they will be wearing commemorative jerseys. All of this coming together in what is a country. Bidding farewell to their beloved Pope.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: David Culver, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, the attorney for Luigi Mangione says a member of the district attorney's office eavesdropped on a phone call with Mangione.

And a judge rules a jury will be shown footage of Sean "Diddy" Combs physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend. How his defense team could respond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:23:28]

WHITFIELD: A lawyer for accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione says a member of the district attorney's office eavesdropped on a call between her and the 26-year-old defendant. Calls from jail are routinely recorded, but conversations between defendants and their attorneys are off limits from sharing with prosecutors. The district attorney's office later responded, saying they informed the legal team of the inadvertent occurrence right away and that no prosecutor heard the contents of the call.

Criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson is here with more insight. Joey, great to see you. So the D.A.'s office has been transparent about hearing the call. How might this impact the case?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So it's troubling and problematic, Fredricka. Good to be with you. And as much as you have conversations, well, I should first initially say that when you're in prison and you are a defendant in a case, you don't have an expectation of privacy. So as a result of that, those calls are persistently monitored, and they're monitored for safety and other reasons.

That's separate and apart from instances, for example, when you are speaking with counsel. Those conversations with counsel are privileged. And as a result, you should feel free, right, to say what you need to say to your lawyer and for your lawyer to ask various questions. There are instances where potentially you can't meet in person, so those are important. So the way it impacts them is you want to determine how often this occurred, what specific information was there, are the assertions of prosecutors' true with regard to information heard and not, and more importantly, what protocols in the future will be provided to safeguard the issue?

[14:25:07]

And so I think if you get it early, you wrap your arms around it, you stop it and it doesn't impair. But like anything else, final thought, Fredricka, and that's this. You don't want any side to have an unfair advantage, right? Prosecutors can prepare their case without defense lawyers listening in. Defense attorneys should be able to prepare theirs without prosecutors listening in. And so the same rules of engagement should apply. This will be stopped moving forward, and hopefully it doesn't go any further such that it influences the trial at all.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Mangione has received a lot of support from people who have been cheering for him, you know, outside the courtroom to people sending emails. What kind of challenges does this present for the prosecutors?

JACKSON: So, you know, it presents, I think, significant challenges, because here you have a case which would otherwise be airtight. And in fact, although there's two, we know really three prosecutions that are ongoing, right. The one, of course, in Pennsylvania, where he was ultimately apprehended, he was charged there. Then, of course, more importantly, you have the New York state prosecution, and then the federal prosecution. And so what happens is, is that in any particular case, in a case like this, you have specific evidence, right? And specific evidence with regard to what he did, allegedly, where he did it, who he did it to. You see it on tape, him actually shooting twice, him escaping, et cetera, and you have this timeline. And so you have concrete specific evidence as to the occurrence. Yet you have a public that seems to be fascinated with this alleged

crime and seems to be siding with him, inasmuch as there's this hatred of the health care system, I think this hatred of greed, this hatred of exploitation by health care executives and families dying because they're not honoring claims. And so I think it's a challenge when you have a public narrative that's really celebrating this activity. But I think what they'll try to do, Fredricka, is during jury selection, really whittle out those jurors who have preconceived notions and who have -- really can't be fair to those who can really assess the facts and the evidence based upon what you see in court, not on any agendas, political or otherwise.

So it does present challenges on the one hand, but those challenges certainly could be controlled based upon who ultimately is impaneled to be on that jury.

WHITFIELD: OK. And now let's switch gears to the case involving Sean "Diddy" Combs. A judge on Friday ruled that footage of the music mogul physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, will be shown to the jury in next month's scheduled criminal sex trafficking trial. Is this unusual, or should this have been presumed that it would be admissible?

JACKSON: So, you know what, Fredricka, it's not that it's unusual, but I do think it's a blow to the defense. Why? Because what you want to do is you want to, if you're a defense lawyer, and prosecutors do it, too -- you want to keep out evidence as we see it there that's so damaging to the case. So the issue is, is looking at this conduct engaged in by P. Diddy, is this the type of person jurors will be thinking who just

does this in general, right? Is this a person who could be trusted, respected? Is this the one we should give the benefit of doubt? Is this the one we should really afford reasonable doubt to? What am I saying?

It becomes so what we call in law prejudicial that that's all you need to see if you're a jury to say guilty. And that's prosecutors wanted it in, and defense lawyers said no, no, no, no, we need it out. But ultimately the judge believes that this is critical evidence that goes to prosecutors' theory with respect to his coercion, with regard to his violence, with regard to his temperament, and with regard to the alleged criminal enterprise. So it's a blow to the defense, to be clear. But certainly the defense has other things they can argue. This will not be helpful at trial at all.

WHITFIELD: So how will a defense attorney try to argue against that video? Or is this one of those moments where they just won't ask any, you know, no follow up questions and just hope that, you know, people will move on to the next thing?

JACKSON: Yes, no, so that won't happen. I think, you know, you have to embrace the elephant in the room, and this will be the elephant in the room. And there will be a number of ways that they address it, right. Number one, what they have to do is to provide context with respect to this. You can have a person who has a one off, who loses their temper, who engages in despicable conduct. That, however, doesn't go to the root issues, defense lawyers will say, of the indictment. Defense lawyers will argue that this was a specific instance, which you can't deny. But does it demonstrate that he was running a criminal enterprise for the purpose of exploiting women, for the purpose of engaging in prostitution and drug trafficking -- excuse me, and sexual exploitation? That's really the core issue.

And so although you have this specific case and this specific example, that doesn't go to prove the charges of sex trafficking in any way, they will say, defense attorneys, to prostitution in any way, or a criminal enterprise in any way. And if the jury really believes that, then I think they have a fighting shot, notwithstanding this tape that we'll see.

[14:30:02]

WHITFIELD: All right, Joey Jackson, always a pleasure having you. Thank you.

JACKSON: Pleasure's mine. Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, more than 250,000 mourners gather at Saint Peter's Square to honor Pope Francis and receive holy communion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very moved for me. This was the time when we say goodbye to the Holy Father. I lived here like one year, and I participate many masses, and even the last one on Sunday. It was this I was -- I saw him very close. And next day the information he passed away. This was very sad. But I am happy I can be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:35:21]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was different. He was not afraid to speak. And, according to me, in my opinion, he was always ready to give a voice to the voiceless. I feel very lucky to be here in the circumstances, of course, to pay, to pay homage and tribute to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Vatican says over 250,000 people gathered at Saint Peter's Square to honor Pope Francis. Priests distributed holy communion first among the cardinals, then to mourners in the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign Language)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:59]

WHITFIELD: An Alabama state trooper thought he'd be writing a ticket when he pulled over a speeding driver back in 2022. Instead, he convinced her to follow her dream and help change the trajectory of her life. CNN's Nick Valencia has the story in this "Beyond the Call of Duty" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SENIOR TROOPER J.T. BROWN, ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS HIGHWAY PATROL: How are you?

ABBIE JO RUTLEDGE, CERTIFIED SURGICAL TECHNOLOGIST: I'm good. You?

BROWN: Good.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An unlikely friendship between a senior state trooper and a scrub tech.

It all started one August morning in 2022 after Abby Jo Rutledge saw Alabama State Trooper J.T. Brown in her rearview mirror on Highway 78.

BROWN: So, I hit her with my radar just like that.

VALENCIA: Rutledge was just 20 years old at the time.

What was going through your head when you got pulled over?

RUTLEDGE: Just that sinking empty stomach feeling, like I'm going to have to pay an expensive ticket.

BROWN: She was shaking very bad. She was super nervous. I was like, hey, we're going to try to win somebody over today.

VALENCIA: Brown said he decided to take a different approach with Rutledge. The two of them ended up talking for about 10 to 15 minutes.

[14:45:06]

BROWN: She really didn't have a clue what she wanted to do with her life. And maybe, I guess, me being a dad, you know, I kind of -- I was like, well, I need -- you know what? We need to talk about this.

RUTLEDGE: It was him telling me to start my life, or else I would get a ticket.

VALENCIA: Brown let Rutledge off with the warning and advice that changed her life.

RUTLEDGE: Promise me you'll go to scrub and nursing school and slow down and I won't give you a ticket.

VALENCIA: Within hours of being pulled over here, you're making the decision to change your life?

RUTLEDGE: As soon as I got to where I was going, I called my mother and I said, I need your help to get me in this program.

VALENCIA: The traffic stop was serendipitous. Rutledge's mom taught Trooper Brown when he was studying to be a surgical tech himself years earlier.

BROWN: I had no clue that her mother was one of my instructors, because me and her mother obviously didn't talk about that.

VALENCIA: Last year, they were both there to see Rutledge graduate from the surgical technology program in Jasper.

When you saw him there show up at your graduation, what did you feel?

RUTLEDGE: It was just pure joy and relief really. I started crying immediately.

VALENCIA: Rutledge now works as a surgical technician at the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital.

RUTLEDGE: If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here.

VALENCIA: Brown, a father himself, says his job isn't just about protecting, but also serving his community, like on the day he met Rutledge.

BROWN: I want to set an example for my sons.

VALENCIA: Nick Valencia, CNN, Birmingham, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thats so nice.

All right, coming up, the stunning NFL story getting lots of attention. Shedeur Sanders not called during the first three rounds of the draft. But there's more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:51:29]

WHITFIELD: All right, the NFL draft returns for its third and final day of picks. And the big story after the first few days has centered on the saga of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, widely projected as one of the top quarterback prospects in this year's draft. After three days of disappointment, guess what? Now drafted, name called.

CNN's Patrick Snell is here. Wow.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Wow.

WHITFIELD: He must have been on pins and needles.

SNELL: The waiting is over.

WHITFIELD: Yes?

SNELL: Finally, the big update within the last few minutes. Shedeur Sanders finally selected in the fifth round with the 144th pick by the Cleveland Browns. Fred, Sanders is the Browns' second quarterback pick in this draft after getting Dillon Gabriel in the third round. A bit of history for you, look at this emotion there, just an outburst, an outpouring of emotion for the statisticians out there.

(LAUGHTER)

SNELL: This is the first time since 1976 the Browns have drafted multiple quarterbacks in a single draft. And for further context, for our viewers right across the world, Shedeur Sanders is the son of pro football hall of famer Deion Sanders. Sanders Junior now a very, very happy man. He started as a quarterback at Colorado for the last couple of years.

He was widely expected, I will say, to be picked early on, but it never, ever happened. He must have been wondering what on earth is going on. He was prolific in his two seasons for the Buffalos, leading them to a nine and four record last year while throwing for over 4,000 yards, 37 touchdowns, 10 interceptions.

I tell you what, I'm just going to stop talking for a minute, because this video is absolutely incredible. Let's just bask in it. That's his favorite pooch, there. Amazing.

All right, but as far as this year's draft was concerned, he slid. He kept on sliding, Fred, and all the way to the fifth round. The 23- year-old, he remained positive, though, throughout. He took to X on Friday night with this, "Thank you, God, for everything." Well, patience and perseverance has been rewarded.

It's going to be interesting to see, just to see how he now handles all this moving forward. Cleveland has had quarterback issues over the years, I will say, with 40 starters across the last quarter of a century. So how will he handle the pressure? Massive scrutiny. But for now, I'm sure he just wants to celebrate with those closest to him.

WHITFIELD: I know.

SNELL: Worth the wait, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes. Everyone is universally relieved because --

SNELL: I felt like we've been living in the moment with him as well over the last couple of days.

WHITFIELD: Of course, and that's some fun dancing, too.

(LAUGHTER)

SNELL: And that pooch, the dog part of the celebration, incredible.

WHITFIELD: I know, it's great. Patrick Snell, thank you so much. Great to see you.

All right, Eva Longoria is back with an all new food adventure. She explores the vibrant and daring cuisine of Spain one bite at a time. "Eva Longoria Searching for Spain" premieres tomorrow night on CNN. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think, is that Chicharrones?

EVA LONGORIA: Shiitake mushroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a duck tongue.

LONGORIA: Duck tongue? I didn't even know ducks had tongues.

Hello!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eva Longoria.

LONGORIA: Mucho gusto.

(MUSIC)

LONGORIA: Eleven generations ago, one of my ancestors left Spain for the new world and a new life. Four-hundred years later, I'm back.

I'm so excited!

To see how the land and its people have created one of the world's most exciting cuisines.

[14:55:04]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have an important question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you hungry?

LONGORIA: I'm hungry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perfect.

LONGORIA: Wow. You can taste the land, the grass, what they eat. Look at that guy. Oh, yes. This food makes me so happy.

Is it supposed to be eaten in one bite?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LONGORIA: She's a pincho (ph) expert.

I get to visit long lost family.

Hola, familia.

If you can preserve your food and your recipes, then you can teach the rest of the world who you are.

This is so beautiful.

Salud to that.

Oh, this is cuisine at a different level.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the best place to be a chef.

LONGORIA: Oh, my God. We have found Spain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: "Searching for Spain" premieres Sunday, 9:00 p.m., right here on CNN.

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