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Widespread Damage Reported, Thousands Without Power After Tornadoes Hit Oklahoma Overnight; Nebraska Residents Devastated By Tornado Destruction; Biden Ridicules Trump, His Own Age At White House Correspondents' Dinner; Trump Ramps Up Attacks On RFK Jr. For Taking Supporters; Pro-Palestinian Protests Continue To Flare Up At Universities; Pro-Palestinian Encampment At Columbia University Goes Into Second Week; Blinken To Travel To Saudi Arabia Amid Stalled Ceasefire Talks; Fed Policy Makers To Meet This Week As Inflation Remains High; Weinstein To Appear In Court Wednesday After Conviction Overturned; Hearing Thursday On Prosecution's Request To Hold Trump In Contempt; Protesters Call On Israeli Government To Bring Hostages Home. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 28, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:46]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, April 28. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. Here's what we're working on for you this morning. More than 50 million people are waking up to a widespread severe weather threat stretching from Texas all the way to Wisconsin as parts of the Midwest pick up the pieces from the last round of storms. We will have live team coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Age is an issue. I'm a grown man, running against a six-year-old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: President Biden telling some jokey jokes, taking some jabs also at Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents' Dinner. More of his comments and those pro-Palestinian protests that greeted guests as they arrived.

WALKER: And as pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country have led to at least 150 more arrest this morning. And one campus to close to everyone except students.

BLACKWELL: And the president flipped Georgia blue in the 2020 election. There's a suburban shift in Atlanta. The key issue splitting voters in the race for the White House and why some are backing the third-party candidates.

Families in Oklahoma are waking up this morning to assess the damage from more severe storms overnight. The National Weather Service says large dangerous tornadoes touchdown in the state. Officials reported initial damage and injuries in counties because of the storms. The power is out also for more than 45,000 customers this morning.

WALKER: Now, the severe storm threat is far from over with more than 50 million people from Texas to Wisconsin under a severe storm warning. The Storm Prediction Center raised Sunday's severe storm threat for the southern plains to a level three out of five. The threat includes possible damaging winds, strong tornadoes, and very large hail.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov joining us now from Elkhorn, a neighborhood near Omaha, Nebraska, where residents are, obviously, still recovering from the tornadoes that hit there Friday. Obviously, a lot of damage where you are, Lucy.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Here in the Elkhorn neighborhood, it took so much of the force of that twister that touchdown here on Friday afternoon. There was rain over night. But I want to give you a sense of the scale of the destruction.

I am standing right now in what used to be, what still is, the garage of this residential home. Most of the homes in the subdivision were built around 2022. It's a rather new subdivision. Some of the residents in nearby area -- you know, nearby streets that we spoke to yesterday, moved in only a few months ago. So, a lot of lives were just suddenly interrupted when this tornado swept through.

You can see here, most of the items that were left and there weren't that many were cleared out. The twister just completely destroying the roof, shredding the roof there. There's a part of the house in the back that's destroyed.

If we pan over a little bit, the aftermath of a car that's no longer usable, that is still here. We saw the owners of this house clearing out whatever possessions they had, trying to load them into trucks and vans to take them to a safer place because they're certainly not going to be able to be living here for quite a while longer.

Down the street, I know it's a bit dark, but the destruction continues. Some homes completely flattened, others half standing. The way that most of the families in this area survived was by hiding in the basements. That was a big lifesaver.

And in fact, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen says that it is a miracle. He said that yesterday that there was no casualty from this tornado. What we saw throughout the day yesterday, once the sun comes up, the families returned, volunteers from local churches and religious communities. There's a strong Indian -- American-Indian population here. And the Hindu temple as well as the Nebraska India Association were out here trying to help members of their flock, you know, salvage what they can, trying to place them into homes. And it was a really beautiful thing to see how much the community stepped up because we didn't see power crews here.

[06:05:02] We didn't see officials from the state or this county necessarily doing work, but we did see a lot of neighbors from nearby divisions or even neighbors from here whose homes were still standing, pitching in and helping. There's -- dumpster trucks full of debris that was being cleared out because folks are really just trying to salvage what they can from their memories before moving on to a different location and waiting for the rebuild to happen, which of course with destruction at this scale is going to take so long.

Another big concern that some folks expressed to us, documents. You know, a twister like this comes there's not a lot of personal possessions that remain standing. It's the memories that are gone, but it's also important paperwork, IDs, passports. We ran into one young teenage girl looking for her wallet desperately yesterday.

And so, it's the sort of the struggle in the immediate aftermath. A lot of people though, of course, grateful to be walking away with their lives, guys.

WALKER: Yes. And just uplifting to see people helping people during this tough time. Lucy Kafanov, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Let's go now to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Strong storms on Friday and Saturday, threat continues.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is a multi-day event. You know, the hope is that today won't be nearly as bad as the last few days but the potential is still there for those strong to severe thunderstorms. But just to kind of recap, take a look at some of these storms that we had. These are the total numbers for the last 48 hours. This includes both Friday and Saturday, 118 total tornado reports. That's all these red dots that you can see here.

So, you're talking a pretty wide swath that's been impacted. Eighty damaging wind reports and almost 150 hail reports. Some of those as large as baseball size. Again, impacting a pretty wide area, but you'll notice some of these same areas where you see dots have the potential to see more of those storms today.

This is where the line is right now. You can see essentially from Chicago all the way back down, well south of Dallas. This also means if you have some travel plans this morning, maybe in and out of Chicago or Dallas or some of the other is surrounding cities you may want to check for some delays because a lot of these very strong storms have a ton of lightning. There's also torrential rainfall with some of these and flooding has also been an issue.

This red box here you can see that's still a tornado watch. Most of this is in effect for at least another hour or so, but we're likely going to see additional tornado watches pop up as we go through the day today. Especially once the sun comes out, you get heating of the day, it's going to fire up a lot more of these showers and thunderstorms to develop especially this afternoon and the evening hours.

This is going to be the main target zone for today. Again, some of these same areas were areas that were hit yesterday. It's essentially from Wisconsin all the way down to the Gulf Coast. So, Houston, Dallas, Shreveport, Little Rock stretching up to St. Louis, Kansas City. All of those places have the potential for some strong tornadoes, damaging wind, and yes, again, some very large hail, golf ball size or even larger.

The big concern, again, is going to be tornadoes. The main threat is all of these areas, but right here in this orange hatched area, this is where we have that potential for those EF-2 tornadoes or larger. By this afternoon, again, you can see a lot more of that developing, especially 4:00 or 5:00, and that will continue unfortunately into the evening hours again.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. President Joe Biden joined members of the White House press corps, celebrities last night for the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The president took a chance to make fun of his age and the legal troubles facing Donald Trump.

WALKER: The annual gala was hosted by Saturday Night Live cast member, Colin Jost, who also poked fun at former President Trump, Biden, and the media. CNN White House reporter Camila DeChalus is live at the White House with more. Camila, what did the president have to say?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, President Biden made several jokes about Trump, but he also poked fun at himself. Take a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I'm a grown man, running against a six-year-old. Well, I feel great. I really feel great. I'm campaigning all over the country -- Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina. I've always done well in the original 13 colonies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now, Amara, Victor, even though this room was filled with mostly a lot of journalists, a lot -- I was inside the room and these jokes were really well received, but he was also hoping to capitalize on the voters across the country that are tuning in to listen to what he had to say. And he really hopes that by using this opportunity, to poke fun at himself, talk about his age, talking about things that people are saying about him, that it really shows this other side of him. It shows a more of a humanizing element and shows voters that he's just more than a political candidate that is trying to -- vying for their votes. But he is really just someone that can look -- not take himself too seriously, but also cares about important things that are happening across the country.

[06:10:00]

Amara, Victor, back to you.

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus, thanks so much. Joining me now, Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and host of "The Big Deal with Errol Louis." Errol, good morning to you.

Early morning after long nights, sir, I imagine. So, the president took as many shots at himself as he did his predecessor. What do you think?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor. Yes. Look, it worked the way it's supposed to work, which is kind of a soft way for politicians and media to kind of acknowledge each other, acknowledge that we're in a common enterprise of trying to inform and lead the country. And the president played that role perfectly.

He's been to a lot out of these. Apparently, he spent hours, Victor. The reporting is that he has spent something like four hours rehearsing that little 10-minute skit, but that's what it takes for it to look as effortless as he managed to pull it off last night.

BLACKWELL: Practice if you need to, but you got to bring the funny. There was one element here that I want to get your take on. The president made a reference to Trump's legal issues. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I had a great stretch since the State of the Union. But Donald has had few tough days lately. You might call it stormy weather. What the hell?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: For as much though as the White House has been careful about avoiding the president talking about those legal issues because President Trump says that this is all some scheme from Biden and it is not. Are you surprised at all that he went there last night?

LOUIS: Well, I mean, it was a bit of a groaner, you know? It's kind of a -- slow pitch over, over the fat part of the plate. I mean, this was something that I think we're going to see the lid put right back on, Victor. Honestly, I don't expect to see the White House press secretary or the campaign spokespeople making any reference to this because it's not necessary. It's leading the news every night. You know, the split screen really is --

BLACKWELL: And all day.

LOUIS: -- the campaign at this point. All day and all night.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The president made -- and Camila just played one of the soundbites, the president making fun of his age. The night is about self-deprecation for most presidents. They come up, make their jokes about themselves at the expense of everybody who covers them.

Is this the continued way that we're going to see the president deal with this? And is it assuaging any concerns about the age? Because even the first ad was about his age and he said, I'm a young guy. I don't even know why I'm doing this.

LOUIS: Look, I think the public is going to make a judgment on this. I mean -- but, you know, Victor, what I keep wondering about and, you know, this was before your time and my time, but you know, President Franklin Roosevelt got elected four times and he was in a wheelchair for all four of those elections.

I mean, I don't know if people think that this is a deal killer. Right now, when it comes up, it's a question of preferences. Would people prefer that the president be young and vigorous and handsome and bounding up and down stairs every time they get on Air Force One? Sure.

But that's not on the menu, you know? And I think people are going to make some kind of a judgment, but to the extent that we keep asking, are you OK with having a septuagenarian or an octogenarian as president? People are going to say, no. They're not comfortable with that. We'd like to see something different.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Roosevelt also dealt with a different media then. There was no social media, no 24-hour cycle, no Twitter pictures, none of that. So, the former president, as one might expect, did not enjoy the White House Correspondents' Dinner. He -- I guess, it's called truth or posted on Truth Social. I'm not going to read what he said.

He also, though, went off yesterday on RFK Jr. He refers to him as junior. Calling him a wasted protest vote. Let me show you these numbers. This is from a Quinnipiac poll on Wednesday because I think this is -- this is interesting. Kennedy is it at 16 percent behind a tied Trump and Biden in a five-way race.

And Republicans -- let's flip to the next one here. Republicans have a far more favorable view of Kennedy than Democrats, 44 percent to 11 percent. Democrats are anxious about RFK Jr. taking votes from Biden, flipping this to Trump, but is he a greater threat to former president Trump than to Biden?

LOUIS: Yes. No, it's interesting that the numbers suggest that, Victor, because there's been a theory floating around for quite a while now. And I think this gives some truth to it that if what you're looking for is a protest vote, that you don't like the status quo, you believe in the deep state, you've bought into some conspiracy theories, you're anti-vaccine, well, you know, that's a lot of the Trump base and they're going to find their way over to RFK Jr.

So that -- yes, it's not clear who he takes votes from. It's, you know, you shouldn't just assume that because the name is Kennedy, that Democrats are going to flock to him. The last Kennedy in federal office was Senator Kennedy.

[06:15:01]

And Ted Kennedy died in what? Was it 2008? This is not -- this is not necessarily going to play out the way that a lot of the commentators have assumed.

BLACKWELL: Errol Louis, thanks for spending some time with us this morning.

LOUIS: Thanks, Victor.

WALKER: America's top diplomat heads to the Middle East for the seventh time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Will it be enough to fire up stalled ceasefire talks and get those hostages released?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't feel comfortable with Biden's age. And I don't feel comfortable with Trump's mouth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Plus, both President Biden and former President Trump have Georgia on their minds this consequential election season. But what's splitting voters in Atlanta suburbs? We'll take a look a little later on CNN THIS MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:26]

BLACKWELL: Pro-Palestinian protests are digging in, continuing to disrupt some college campuses across the country. The University of Southern California is now closed off to anyone who is not a student or a staff member. The LAPD was called in last night to lock down that campus. And earlier this week, USC announced the cancellation of its main commencement because of safety concerns.

WALKER: Students in Auraria Campus in Denver were hauled off and zip ties. Dozens were arrested at yesterday's rally.

At Arizona State University, police were called in to tear down tents. And at one point, the school turned on its sprinklers to break up the encampment. More than 70 people were arrested there. And students at Columbia University are about to go into their second week of protests. CNN's Polo Sandoval is outside the encampment there.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Amara and Victor. Good morning to you. As we get ready to start yet another week of these demonstrations in the heart of Columbia University, which is where this massive wave of protests originally started, there is a sense that those conversations, the negotiations that were ongoing between members of the encampment and Columbia school officials, if they haven't stalled, they at least have slowed. That's according to one of two student negotiators that have been engaged in these conversations with the administration for well over a week now.

Mahmoud Khalil telling CNN on Friday that though there was some sign of progress late last week in terms of trying to find some common ground, they say, at least he said, that at this point they have not been able to successfully reach an agreement that would lead to clearing out this encampment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAHMOUD KHALIL, STUDENT NEGOTIATOR: We are at the stage where kind of an impasse. The university is not acknowledging the movement and the extent of the movement. And what they are willing to offer is mostly just the statements, processes and committees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And yesterday, one of the representatives of the student encampment said that is likely that they will not have an update regarding those negotiations at least until tomorrow. So, that very much leaves things still open-ended here on the campus.

We also heard from Khalil, who said that, they have not been offered any guarantees from the administration that they will not once again turn to the NYPD for help in clearing out the campus here. So, that certainly still something that remains open.

As for other parts of the country, earlier this weekend approximately 100 people were detained on the Northeastern University campus. The vice president of communications there saying that this was part of clearing out the campus for those who don't have any association with the university. According to officials, those who could produce identification were released, but will likely face -- likely face disciplinary action. Those that could -- rather those who refuse to identify themselves were arrested. Amara, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Polo, thank you. A planned counterprotest is scheduled on the campus of UCLA today. CNN national corresponding Camila Bernal is in Los Angeles. We will get to her in just a moment.

But first, back to court this week for disgraced movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein. What to expect during his first court appearance since a New York court overturned his 2020 rape conviction. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:15]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING. Here's what to watch this week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to Saudi Arabia tomorrow and he's going as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas are deadlocked. We'll talk more about the significance of Blinken's visit and what he hopes to achieve in just a minute.

Fed chair Jerome Powell will speak Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting. Now, the big question is, will the fed adjust interest rates? Hope for a rate cut had dimmed since a key report last week showed that inflation is still stubbornly high.

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to appear in a Manhattan Supreme Court, that's Wednesday. It will be his first appearance since an appeal's court overturned his 2020 conviction on sex crimes. Despite getting a new trial in New York, Weinstein is unlikely to be released because he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in Los Angeles last year for rape and sexual assault. That verdict has also been appealed. The judge in former President Trump's hush money trial will hold a hearing on Thursday to determine whether Trump has repeatedly violated the gag order in that case. Now, prosecutors have cited more than a dozen instances, including 10 posts on Truth Social, that they say violate the order. Trump is required to be in court for that hearing.

WALKER: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday to discuss ways to re-energize talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The State Department says, Blinken will also emphasize -- quote -- "how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire." Now, this comes as protesters in Israel ramp-up calls for the government to bring home their loved ones.

[06:30:06]

This was the scene in Tel Aviv Saturday night where a massive crowd rallied in Democracy Square. And in some areas, the protests turned rowdy with scuffles between police and demonstrators. And Israeli official says Israel has not accepted the latest proposal on a deal to free the hostages. That includes an end to the war and a withdrawal from Gaza.

Let's bring in CNN Global Analyst Kimberly Dozier to talk about all this. Good morning to you, Kimberly. So, regarding this trip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- I think I've lost count -- his seventh or eighth trip to the Mid East since the October 7th attack. How do you expect this one to go considering that Saudi Arabia seems to have more leverage with Hamas?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, what Blinken really needs is some sort of framework for a two-state solution of a Palestinian state next to an Israeli state, something that the Netanyahu government has fought as long as it's existed. But this is a chance to ask Saudi Arabia and the other attendees at a high-level meeting there, Qatar, Egypt, what kind of framework do you need to see? How detailed do you need it to be before you use your considerable leverage with Hamas.?

And Saudi Arabia as the home of Sunni Islam. Hamas is a Sunni organization. Before they use that leverage to put pressure on Hamas to accept some sort of a deal, and of course, Hamas keeps also rejecting this deal because it wants Israel to end its fighting in return for a ceasefire, and of course, Israel wants to continue until Hamas is all but decimated, including getting its top leader, which hasn't done yet.

WALKER: You know, on Saturday, Hamas released a new video that appear to show two Israeli hostages who have been held in the Gaza Strip since October 7th. Obviously, this is going to just add pressure, you know, to Israel to negotiate, to come to a compromise to release those hostages. Where do things stand? Because we hear Hamas rejecting the proposal, now Israel is rejecting the proposal. Have they inched any closer to some kind of compromise?

DOZIER: Well, the proposals keep going back and forth. But every time -- yes, it's good, in a sense, for the families that Hamas released these videos. The families get to see proof that these two men are alive. And it is the proof of life that negotiators have demanded. It also, though, puts pressure on the Israeli government to do something, to offer something in return for getting these people out.

As you saw, those Israelis swelling that street in Tel Aviv. From their perspective, you can announce a ceasefire now, and you can go back and get Hamas much later, months later, years later. They just want these people out. And I think a lot of Israelis from opinion polls, et cetera, believe that Netanyahu is partly pursuing this onslaught on Gaza to try to stay in power. Opinion polls show though, if he were to run for an election right now, he would likely lose.

WALKER: And regarding what happens after the war, and as we both know well, you know, before the attacks, there was this potential deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel that the U.S. have been trying to broker to normalize relations. Do you see that as a strong bargaining chip, you know, to get Netanyahu to start thinking about a two-state solution? Obviously, they resolve against a two-state solution, the Israeli leadership, and of course, some of the Israelis have hardened after the attacks.

DOZIER: Yes, holding that out as a bargaining chip is something that might work in the short-term for Blinken to say, look, this is still in the offing. But you also have the larger Arab world opinion to consider. Saudi Arabia I suspect wouldn't do a deal with the Netanyahu administration. They'd hold out for a new Israeli administration and hold Netanyahu responsible for Gaza.

In the meantime, though, Blinken, to his advantage, to try to get something on offer from the Arab world to offer to Netanyahu to look like a win, because he's a political leader sorely in need of a win.

WALKER: And just a quick pivot, if you will, regarding Ukraine. Now that President Biden has signed this foreign aid bill, which means $61 billion in aid will go to help replenish Ukraine's supplies and weapons ammunition, what have you. Obviously, there was many -- there were many, many months of delay. How has that impacted Ukraine on the ground? And do you see -- I mean, I guess the question is will they be able to regain some momentum against Russia?

[06:35:15]

DOZIER: Well, there's going to be a pause. It's going to take a bit to get some of these shipments over there. The most immediate need Ukraine has is for mortar shells. The Russians have been firing something like 10 times as many as Ukraine has been able to fire, and they have lost territory, momentum, and their most important resource, manpower. But it will help.

That said, we're in Spring. We've got summer and then the fall coming, and then another winter pause. The Pentagon put a caveat on all of this, saying we will get the equipment over there as fast as U.S. manufacturers can produce the equipment. So that means weeks to months delay. So, I don't think we're going to see anything dramatic on Ukrainian battlefield this year. And everyone is waiting for the U.S. presidential elections. And

Ukraine and Europe are fearing that a possible Trump win would mean supplying Ukraine with weapons will really fall to Europe.

WALKER: Yes. And of course that could really change the course of the war. Kimberly Dozier, great to have you this morning. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: In 2020, President Biden flipped Georgia blue for the first time in almost 30 years. Straight ahead, what voters in this new Southern swing state think of his chances of pulling off a repeat win this year?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:15]

BLACKWELL: Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Atlanta tomorrow for the launch of her nationwide economic opportunity tour. This is the latest visit from the Biden Campaign as the administration hopes to score a repeat of its win in Georgia in the last presidential election.

WALKER: Now, voters in the all-important Atlanta suburbs are telling CNN they may go in an entirely different direction this November. Here's the latest in John King's all over the map series.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Sweet Acre Farms Winery is in Alto, a tiny rural North Georgia town that votes ruby red.

MATT VRAHIOTES, OWNER, SWEET ACRE FARMS: We were the first winery in the whole county since the Prohibition.

KING (voiceover): Matt Vrahiotes and his wife opened the shop eight years ago. Christian, conservative, a Trump voter in 2016, but cautious when asked about 2020, when the suburbs less than an hour to the South rebuked Trump and helped Joe Biden flip Georgia blue.

VRAHIOTES: I have to keep my business open. I literally turned bottles of wine into shoes for my kids and registration for soccer. And if I sit here and ostracize 50 percent of my community or 50 percent of my customers, it could hurt me. It could hurt my business tremendously.

KING (voiceover): The 2020 Georgia margin was just shy of 12,000 votes, so every shift here matters. Kim Cavallere is a school nurse in Gwinnett County, just east of Atlanta. It was reliably read when she moved here from Massachusetts 23 years ago. But Biden won Gwinnett by 18 points in 2020.

KIM CAVALLERE, GEORGIA VOTER: I was actually in shock because I figured Georgia wouldn't flip like that.

KING (voiceover): Cavallere is with Democrats on her big issues, healthcare, prescription drug costs, guns. But she voted third party in 2016 and 2020 and might again this year.

CAVALLERE: I just don't feel comfortable with Biden's age and I don't feel comfortable with Trump's mouth.

KING (voiceover): Rebel Tea House is in Decatur, part of DeKalb County just outside of Atlanta. Christine Nguyen started the business so she could leave behind the stress of being an ICU nurse during COVID.

CHRISTINE NGUYEN, GEORGIA VOTER: We were like right there front line, and there were all these battles about like, you know, whether or not we should be vaccinated. You know, seeing all the death didn't help either.

KING: As a medical professional, when you watched him as your president, what was your reaction?

NGUYEN: I definitely didn't want Trump to win again.

KING (voiceover): Yet she didn't vote.

KING: You support LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, younger voter, but Biden didn't do it for you.

NGUYEN: Yes.

KING: Why?

NGUYEN: I think because he was out of touch with our generation.

KING (voiceover): But this year is different, even though Nguyen still has reservations about Biden.

NGUYEN: The battle that's going on right now with abortion, I think that that's something that, you know, speaks to me.

KING (voiceover): Dunwoody is another DeKalb Enclave. Jan and Celia Gardner consistent Republican votes as they have lived Atlanta's giant suburban shift.

JAN GARDNER, GEORGIA VOTER: We probably were pretty much a Conservative community. We are now a split community.

KING (voiceover): Jan Gardner calls Biden weak, believes a second Trump term would help the economy and fix the border. He says it's time to move on from debates about the 2020 election, but he does echo other Trump grievances.

GARDNER: I don't think we trust the DOJ. I don't think we trust the FBI. I don't think we trust the CIA. We don't trust most of the government. This was the stone.

KING (voiceover): This line is for a food bank in Atlanta's Grove Park neighborhood. Carey Fulks grew up here, move back in with his parents during COVID.

CAREY FULKS, GEORGIA VOTER: Life now, part-time, substitute teacher, part-time door dasher, part-time everything almost.

KING: It's all you can do right now? All you can find?

FULKS: All I could find at the moment, just taking, you know, whatever jobs come.

KING (voiceover): Fulks is 35, wants to keep Georgia blue, wishes Biden had yielded to someone more energetic.

[06:45:02]

FULKS: Who is there now to lead the Democratic Party? Like we don't really know. And for all the negative things you can say about the Republicans, they at least have people out there running, like who's seem passionate.

KING (voiceover): Complaints about the choices are a constant from Atlanta and its blue suburbs to the red rural towns in our north.

VRAHIOTES: I try to vote with my Bible. I really do. I try to think, well, what is the moral thing to do? What is the right thing to do? But it's been -- it's been a little harder over the past couple of years to pick a candidate that I think fits what I believe in.

KING (voiceover): Vrahiotes calls himself a reasonable Republican. His qualms about Trump leave him open to voting third party.

VRAHIOTES: At this point, I really don't know. I mean, Kennedy is somebody who we also could kind of take into consideration.

KING: That might help Joe Biden. Does that factor into how you think?

VRAHIOTES: I mean, yes, absolutely it does. But you also have to vote the way you feel it needs to be voted for.

KING (voiceover): Every shift matters. Every conversation about politics too.

VRAHIOTES: It's part of being a small business owner. And when you're in a purple state and you have 50 percent one way and 50 percent the other, you absolutely have to make sure that you say the right things.

KING (voiceover): No guarantee, Vrahiotes will share his final choice, but well worth a return visit.

John King, CNN, Alto, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: LeBron James and the rest of the Lakers aren't packing their bags just yet. L.A. came up with a big win to keep their season alive. But they still have an even bigger task ahead of them. A look at the playoff action this weekend.

BLACKWELL: Plus, with a new album, Beyonce became the first Black woman to top Bill Boyd's hot country songs chart, igniting a larger conversation about who gets to say what country music is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a gigantic moment for Black people who live in the country space. Beyonce is just here and she's out, but Tanner Adell lives here. Willie Jones, Rhiannon Giddens live here. So, she's absolutely changing the lives of some of the people who already lived in this world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Discover how Cowboy Carter is taking the industry back to its roots in the CNN FlashDoc "CALL ME COUNTRY: BEYONCE AND NASHVILLE'S RENAISSANCE" streaming now on Max.

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[06:51:47]

WALKER: LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers live to play another game as they avoided getting swept by the defending champion, Denver Nuggets.

BLACKWELL: Carolyn Manno is with us now. So, L.A. got the win but, I mean, for them to make it to the next round, they need something historic to happen.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: They do. No team has ever come back from a three-nothing hole in the NBA playoffs. There is a first time for everything, but it's going to take a lot of work. It started last night. The Lakers getting off to a really fast start with LeBron James and Anthony Davis working together like they have all season long. They led the way. Davis had 25 points and 23 boards on the night in L.A. led by 13 at halftime. But they also led at half in the first three games and loss. So, the issue really for this team is finishing games.

Nikola Jokic trying to spark a Nuggets comeback late in the third. Flick of the wrist, perfect pass for the layup there. The reigning finals MVP finishing with 33 and a triple-double. But this time around, L.A. holds on. LeBron stealing, dunking, scoring 30 as the Lakers win by 11, setting up another win-or-go-home game in game five.

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LEBRON JAMES, FORWARD, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: The only opportunity for us is just to play the next game. And we've given ourselves another life -- and give ourselves another lifeline. And it's a one game series for us. So, you know, Monday's game -- I believe it's Monday. Yes, Monday's game is the most important game of the season for us.

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MANNO: The Celtics giving a huge bounce-back win in game three on the road against the Heat. Boston scorching hot in the second quarter scoring 42 points led by a balanced attack inside and out from their stars and role players. The Celtics of 24 at half. They cruise from there. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown finishing with 22 on the way to a 104-84 win, regaining home-court advantage and a 2-1 series lead.

And elsewhere, a couple of overtime thrillers in the NHL playoffs. After dropping their first two games at home, the Dallas Stars discovered that a trip to Vegas was just what they needed. Wyatt Johnson from a near impossible angle, beating Golden Knights. Goalie Logan Thompson short-side and high for the game-winner, just shy of 2.15 a.m. Eastern this morning. 3-2 the final there.

The New York Islanders needed two overtimes to avoid getting swept by the Carolina Hurricane. Semyon Varlamov coming up so big for the aisles on his 36th birthday, making 44 saves. That was just enough for Matt Barzal to deflect Robert Bortuzzo's blast from the blue line and finish it over a minute into the second overtime to keep their season alive.

Eight more games today, six on our family of networks, TNT and TBS, and two are potential sweeps. The Suns trying to save off elimination by the Timberwolves in the NBA. The Rangers are going to try to finish off the Capitals in four.

And lastly but definitely not least this morning, the NFL draft wrapping up yesterday in Detroit with one of the most unique titles in sports. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a 257th pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the New York Jets select Jaylen Key, a defensive back from Alabama. Good luck, Mr. Rowland (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Still the Jets making Jaylen Key the final pick of the 2024 draft. This is a choice that's endeared itself to fans. It's become known as Mr. Irrelevant. Thankfully, he doesn't appear to be taking it as a slide. He said afterwards he wants to lean in to every bit of it.

Mr. Irrelevant is not a bad title to have, Victor and Amara. It's the guy before Mr. Irrelevant that you really feel for.

[06:55:14]

BLACKWELL: Right, because he really is irrelevant this morning. We didn't even mention the name or number. Carolyn, thanks so much.

Stormy stretch of severe weather is spawning destructive tornadoes leading to flooding in some areas. It's continuing this morning. We're tracking the severe storm threat more than 50 million Americans are facing. That's ahead on CNN THIS MORNING.

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