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At Least 224 People Rescued In Texas As Rivers Flood; Univ. Of Virginia: 25 Arrested, Police Clear Encampment; Protesters Walk Out Of Indiana Univ. Graduation; Trump Calls Biden Admin "The Gestapo" At Donor Event; Hamas Says "Still Keen" To Make A Deal, But It Must Guarantee Israeli Withdrawal From Gaza; House Democrats Split Over How To Address Campus Protests; House Democrats To Support Johnson If Marjorie Taylor Greene Tries To Oust Him. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired May 05, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:10]

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And again and again, I was hearing from ordinary Australians, you know, we've never seen a fire or a flood this bad before. And it's prompting some people to consider leaving some of these much more vulnerable communities.

Amara and Victor.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: That's an urgent story and significant. Ivan Watson, thank you.

And be sure to tune in to The Whole Story tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and soon available to stream on Max.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, May 5th. I'm Amara Walker.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell. It is always a pleasure to be with you. Thank you for being with us.

Here's what we're watching for you. Two feet of rain in parts of Texas have flooded homes, stranded people on roofs and turned entire neighborhoods into rivers. And there is more rain on the way. The warnings from officials as more wet weather moves in.

WALKER: Police and protesters clashed during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Virginia. The school is now responding to that altercation. What we're hearing from administrators.

BLACKWELL: There are reports of progress but no breakthrough as ceasefire talks continue between Israel and Hamas. Where negotiations stand as Israel's government faces increasing pressure to bring those hostages home?

WALKER: And the cicadas are here. And there's a good chance you will hear them before you see them. We'll explain later on CNN This Morning. Well, millions across Texas are bracing for another round of punishing weather. Parts of southeast Texas have seen almost 2 feet of rain over just the past five days. Rivers in Harris County, which includes Houston, reached levels not seen since Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

BLACKWELL: Harris County officials issued mandatory evacuations for communities near the San Jacinto River. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, but more than 200 people were rescued from homes and vehicles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE LINA HIDALGO, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: The water was about this much below power lines. We had families that thankfully had evacuated, had heeded our call. We've not heard of any deaths or serious injuries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Rosa Flores reports from one of Houston's heavily damaged neighborhoods.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, well, it's very emotional and just devastating for the individuals who are in the areas that are inundated by water. I want to show you around because this street literally goes to an area that they call River Bottom.

But of course, right now, you really can't drive through this area because it's been swallowed by water. Now, back there, there's probably eight to 15 people that have refused to evacuate. That's according to a neighbor.

But take a look around. You can see that there are some mobile homes out there. And you can see also the water level here on this fence. And it really gives you a sense of the the height of the water and the water level and from the trees. You can see that some of the water has receded. That's the good news. But the bad news is, is that more water is expected.

I talked to the owner of this mobile home, Stacy Smith (ph). She says that she has been trying to convince the 18 to 15 people who refused to evacuate. She said that she's trying to find boats to go out there. Now, authorities have stopped by that area to try to convince these individuals to evacuate, but they just don't want to evacuate.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ones that didn't want to come right now, we're going to go back and get with a personal boat, and we're going to go get everybody. We're not leaving nobody behind because they're like our family. They're like family down there.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FLORES: Now, what you hear in the background is an airboat. There are still rescues that are being conducted. You might see it in the background here. Now, to put this into perspective, according to the Houston Office of Emergency Management, only a few hundred homes are being impacted in in the Houston area at this time.

Now, that could increase. Those numbers could grow, but they are telling individuals who are in the evacuation zones to please evacuate, because they describe this weather event as life threatening.

Amara, Victor?

BLACKWELL: Rosa Flores reporting for us there.

Let's bring in now CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Still active warnings right now. Obviously, more rain on the way.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we've got a very heavy line of rain actually moving in towards the Houston area as we speak, pushing into the western suburbs now should be moving through downtown here in about an hour or so.

And yes, impacting a lot of those northern suburb communities that were hit so hard the last few days. You can see all of these flash flood warnings. That's the red boxes there and then the overall flood watch, that's the green.

[07:05:09]

And you'll notice that extends into Oklahoma and areas of Arkansas as well because Texas isn't the only area that has the potential for the flooding today. It's just that the focal point really is that Houston greater area just because of how much rain has already fallen and is still on the ground.

Now, we're going to be adding a several more inches on top of that. So you've got that first round this morning. The second wave will start to file in late this afternoon and into the evening hours. And both of them, not just the round this morning, but also the afternoon round also has the potential for some severe thunderstorms.

The good news is by this evening, we will finally start to see an end to the rain and hopefully dry out here for the next several days. We talked about the severe potential that does include southern Texas. It also stretches into Louisiana, Arkansas and portions of Mississippi.

We're talking large hail, damaging winds and the potential for some tornadoes. The interesting thing here is yesterday we had an official confirmed tornado marking 10 straight days. That brings our total up to 224 total reports of tornadoes over the last few days, and then even more is expected as we head into Monday with another round of severe weather as well.

WALKER: That's concerning.

All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

And coming up later, we're going to be talking to someone from the Houston Office of Emergency Management for an update on where things stand this morning.

Graduation ceremonies at colleges and universities across the U.S. are happening while pro-Palestinian protests continue. During the University of Michigan's main commencement, several pro-Palestinian protesters were removed after briefly interrupting the ceremony on Saturday. A smaller ceremony held Friday was also interrupted.

BLACKWELL: The University of Virginia is the latest campus where clashes broke out between protesters and law enforcement. 25 people were arrested after police confronted demonstrators and tore down their encampment. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Amara and Victor, yesterday's clash came after pro-Palestinian demonstrators maintained a presence on the UVA campus for days. In fact, they were even actively engaged in conversations with the university. However, it wasn't until those tents came up that the university then reached out to police to take action and this is what happened.

In this video, you can see officers advancing steadily on a group, removing umbrellas and tents. At one point, you even see some sort of smoke or mist up in the air. Now, it's still unclear if any sort of chemical agent was deployed. UVA, encampment for Gaza, claiming that it was tear gassed. But campus police not responding to our request to verify that claim.

The Department of Safety and Security at the university did announce that it was an unlawful assembly on Saturday afternoon. A couple of hours later, they declared the situation to be, in their words, stable.

The university did respond to a request for comment from CNN saying that it had informed the participants repeatedly that the tent policies are in place, and that these sort of tents that were set violated said policy, and that's what initially prompted the university to respond.

But really wider picture, this just reminds us that UVA is really just the latest university where tensions between protesters and the police have resulted in some confrontation. We do not have any reports of any injuries, though, during the UVA incident. Victor, Amara?

BLACKWELL: Polo Sandoval, thank you.

WALKER: Student protests stood up -- protesters, I should say, stood up and walked out of Indiana University's graduation ceremony on Saturday. CNN's Whitney Wild is in Bloomington, Indiana with more.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Here at Indiana University, what we saw was dozens of students stand up as Indiana University President Pamela Whitten began speaking. And while it did not disrupt the ceremony, people that we spoke to who were inside Memorial Stadium here in Bloomington said that they could at least hear the protest.

Our understanding based on those conversations as well as social media video is that the students stood up, made this audible protest, and then walked out. It was a big question here to what degree protests might disrupt the ceremony, if at all, for two reasons.

The first is because Indiana University had set up a protest zone outside Memorial Stadium, but also because they have had pretty robust protests here in Bloomington. It was in April that 33 students were arrested at Indiana University at a pro-Palestine protest.

And what we've seen all across the country is that schools that have seen those protests in many cases have seen disruptions to their ceremonies. For example, at the University of Michigan, pro-Palestine protesters were able to actually disrupt the ceremony briefly before they were escorted out by Michigan State Police.

So again, that was the big question here at IU in Bloomington, Indiana. 41,000 people inside that stadium, and our understanding is that just dozens of students stood up again as the president was speaking, and then filed out. It was audible, but it was not disruptive.

Whitney Wild, CNN, Bloomington, Indiana.

[07:10:01]

BLACKWELL: Thank you for the report.

While Donald Trump's criminal trial takes a break for the weekend, the former president headed to Florida for the Republican National Committee's Spring Retreat. Now, Trump ramped up his attacks on Democrats, even compared President Biden's administration to the Gestapo.

WALKER: He also took the time to rail against the prosecutors behind his 88 criminal indictments and praised a former Illinois governor convicted of corruption. CNN's Alayna Treene is in Palm Beach, Florida. Hi there, Alayna. Tell us what happened at this event.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, it was a 90-minute speech that Donald Trump gave at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday. And I'm told that it was a pretty profanity laden speech. The former president cursed on occasion while railing against the former -- excuse me -- Special Counselor Jack Smith, as well as others who are leveling their criminal indictments against him.

And you're right, at one point in the speech, Donald Trump had even compared the Biden administration to the Gestapo, further trying to equate them to Nazi Germany. Now, Donald Trump also used the speech to lavish praise on some of his vice presidential contenders, including many of them who he actually called up to to the stage.

People like J.D. Vance, Tim Scott, Doug Burgum, Elise Stefanik. A lot of people that we know are currently on his short list to become his running mate, even though, while I talked to his advisers, they insist that he has no plans to announce his running mate anytime soon. They say that decision will come closer to the Republican National Convention in July.

Now, you mentioned there as well that he also called up former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, someone who was sent to prison on corruption charges that in that sentence, Donald Trump while president commuted that. I actually spoke with Blagojevich on the sidelines of the event this weekend. And he told me that he describes himself as a Trumpocrat, a Trump Democrat.

So, a lot of interesting characters at this event this weekend. Now, I also just want to give you some insight into some of the other things that were happening at the Republican National Committee retreat this weekend. At one point, Donald Trump's co-campaign managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, as well as his upholsterer, Tony Fabrizio, watched the group through their recent fundraising numbers.

They said that they raised $76.2 million in April. Of course, we can't independently verify those numbers because the FEC reports won't drop until later this month. But they said they were very happy to see that kind of progress.

And, of course, all of that comes in the context here is that one of the main events, this Mar-a-Lago luncheon where Donald Trump spoke and the RNC retreat even more broadly was really used as a key fundraising opportunity for the Trump campaign.

They have been aggressively trying to to close the gap with the Biden campaign, which ever growing war trust continues to kind of, you know, elude the Trump campaign as they try to catch up with them. And so that's really what a lot of this weekend was about with Donald Trump at this event trying to get many donors to give him money.

At one point, he actually called up some people and said, if you give me $1 million, you can take the podium and two people actually decided to do that. And so he was surrounded by his supporters and really aggressively trying to raise money this weekend. Victor, Amara?

WALKER: Never a dull moment. Alayna Treene, thanks so much.

Still to come, negotiators are in Cairo working to secure a ceasefire deal and the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. But a potential ground incursion of Rafah is looming over the talks.

BLACKWELL: Plus, House Democrats may come to save Mike Johnson speakership after Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene said she plans to force a vote on his ouster this week.

WALKER: Plus, billions of cicadas are emerging from the ground this spring. What you need to know if you live in the Midwest or South, that is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:18:37] BLACKWELL: There is cautious optimism as ceasefire talks continue in Cairo. The negotiators are working on a potential deal that would pair a temporary ceasefire with the release of hostages still in Gaza. Egyptian media has reported noticeable progress. But both the U.S. and Israeli officials say it would take days to iron out the final details, even if Hamas accepts the current proposal.

WALKER: In the meantime, more than 1 million displaced Palestinians are on edge in Rafah, where Israel has been threatening a major ground offensive for months, deal or no deal, at least from the Prime Minister.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us now from Abu Dhabi. Paula, what are you learning about these talks?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, we've just seen a statement from the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and he has said that the team in Cairo is there in a positive frame of mind. They have positive and flexible positions, he says, and pointing out that Hamas is keen to reach a comprehensive, interconnected agreement, which does have to include a ceasefire and does have to include the Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza. Also a serious prisoner exchange deal.

Now, this isn't necessarily seen as the official line from Hamas, even though he is the political leader. That decision will come from Yahya Sinwar, who is the leader of Hamas within Gaza itself. Now, there is this Hamas delegation in Cairo.

[07:20:06:]

They have been given this Egyptian-led proposal well over a week ago, and it's believed that they have an answer to that. We haven't heard that yet, but we do know that the CIA director was in Cairo as well. And so there is certainly hope that at least this first stage of this this deal could be agreed on, which is believed to be up to 33 hostages in the first stage would be released.

The women, the elderly, the sick, the wounded in return for some 40 days or so of ceasefire and Palestinian prisoners to be released. It does seem more positive than it has for some time, but also, we have had a number of moments like this in recent months where it seemed a deal was close hence the caution on many sides.

And also, what other potential difficult moment has come as the Israeli cabinet has unanimously voted to shut down the Arabic news channel Al Jazeera in Israel to shut down those offices. Now Al Jazeera is funded by Qatar and the Israelis believe that it is biased against Israel which Qatar has denied. And of course, Qatar is one of the key mediating parties when it comes to trying to secure this hostage ceasefire deal.

So the timing of that is very interesting that they have unanimously voted just now, just today to shut down the Al Jazeera offices. Back to you.

WALKER: All right. Paula Hancocks watching the developments for us. Thank you so much.

Still to come, more rain is expected after strong storms and downpours damaged homes and resulted in evacuations in Texas. Our next guest will talk about how the state is managing the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby was as good as it gets. Three horses coming down to the wire. That truly gives meaning to the phrase "by a nose."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:26:25]

BLACKWELL: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses have left President Biden in a tough political position. Some see it that way. He denounces anti-Semitism, but also supports young voters' right to protest. President Biden also addressed those tensions on Thursday.

He said students had a right to protest, but some had taken it too far. And now some Democrats warn that young voters, already uncertain about Biden, could desert him over Israel.

Let's bring in Manu Raju now, CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent and host of Inside Politics Sunday. Manu, good morning to you. So there is this division within the party. Where is that divide and how deep is it? How wide?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It is wide. And, in fact, it is growing. And the actually polls show that more and more democratic voters believe that the U.S. is doing too much to aid Israel. And that is starting to manifest itself on Capitol Hill.

You're seeing growing concerns within the Democratic Party about how far to go in supporting Israel and growing criticism of the Netanyahu government, and that's playing out over legislative debates on Capitol Hill, whether to condition further aid to Israel or not. And also a bill that just passed the House last week to essentially a shrine in federal law what did -- the definition of anti-Semitism in an effort to crack down on anti-Semitic speech and activity on these college campuses.

That bill that passed the house last week, there were some Republicans who voted against it, but there were 70 House Democrats who also opposed it despite the support of top Democrats in the house. Now that is going over to the United States Senate, and there's not an agreement yet for moving forward.

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, who is the highest ranking Jewish leader in the history of the United States Senate, wants to move forward on some piece of legislation. It's unclear exactly what that will entail, but all this certainly having an impact and concerns among some Democrats, too, and what this could mean in some swing states like in Wisconsin and Michigan.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk now about this move by Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust the Speaker, Mike Johnson, in moving forward on this motion to vacate. Is there consensus among Democrats on how to move forward, if they're going to save him and continue to save him if she brings this up again and again?

RAJU: Well, look, there is not a consensus, but we do expect there will be enough Democrats to essentially save Mike Johnson's speakership. Early as tomorrow, Marjorie Taylor Greene could go to the floor and call for a vote, seeking the ouster of a sitting speaker.

Unlike when Kevin McCarthy was ousted for the first time ever, a sitting speaker getting kicked out, that happened last fall. All Democrats voted to kick out Kevin McCarthy, along with eight Republicans. Right now, at least three Republicans are supporting the idea of ousting Mike Johnson from the speakership.

But the Democratic leaders say now is not the time, particularly as Johnson has moved forward on aid to Ukraine. I put this question to people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, progressive Democrats, about whether they're willing to go as far as their Democratic leaders in saving Mike Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Would you support tabling the motion to vacate?

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: You know, I think it's a procedural vote. I may vote against it to send the message that Mike Johnson is still a dangerous leader. He is -- he wants to take away our right to abortion. He wants to ban IVF in this country.

And so, I could see myself voting no on the motion to table. But also I think that there is -- there's -- it's entirely reasonable to say, listen, you know, this circus that Republicans of -- inevitably kind of descend the country down into is not something that we want to indulge at the moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:30:11]

RAJU: And the question is how many more times will Marjorie Taylor Greene move forward with this effort? Because any one member can call for such a vote. And we do expect the Democrats to help Mike Johnson in this situation, but how long will that help last? That's a big question in the weeks ahead.

BLACKWELL: All right. First vote this week. Manu Raju, thanks so much. And be sure to watch "Inside Politics Sunday" starts now at the top of the hour, just about 30 minutes away.

WALKER: Still to come, President Biden will deliver a keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as universities deal with pro- Palestinian protests and concerns over antisemitism on college campuses. What we expect to hear from him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00]

WALKER: This morning, residents across the state of Texas are bracing for another round of extreme weather. Officials in Harris County, which includes Houston, say the rivers there reach levels not seen since Hurricane Harvey, that was in 2017.

Brent Taylor joining me now. He is a Chief Communications Officer for the Houston Office of Emergency Management. Brent, good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining me on. I'm sure it is a busy morning for you. More rain on the way, at least for another day, Brent. How is that impacting ongoing rescue operations?

BRENT TAYLOR, CHIEF COMMUNICATION OFFICER, HOUSTON OEM: Yes. Good morning, Amara. Thank you. You know, we're -- we've been in this for several days at this point, where there have been rescues and evacuations up in that northern Harris County, Houston, Kingwood area.

And fortunately, we've had an, you know -- many of the people in the city of Houston have been evacuated early ahead of the worst of this. Obviously, the river, we've been monitoring conditions there as well. And this last bit of rain, it's actually going to be a little more of a citywide event as opposed to the isolated rains that we saw up to the north. So, this is going to impact the same area that's been getting hit, but also to the -- across the city, but to a lesser extent across the city.

WALKER: Can you talk about how these rescues are happening? I mean, you know, we saw from our Rosa Flores who's on the ground, that there were airboats being used. I know that jet skis also being used and how people are being found.

TAYLOR: Absolutely. There are various ways. And so, we have the Houston Police and Houston Fire who are patrolling these neighborhoods that are near the river and where the water has gone so high. There's been some instances where someone just yelling for help. Saying, hey, I'm stuck over here. There have been instances, certainly, where people are calling 9-1-1 to let us know where they are.

And exactly to your point, we have high water rescue vehicles. We have jet skis, we have airboats. Our Houston public works department has dump trucks that can be outfitted to move people through those high waters. So, it really is a unified effort to make sure that these Houstonians are staying safe.

WALKER: Are you making efforts to make sure that everyone is out or evacuated before more rain comes today?

TAYLOR: We certainly have been, yes, and we're going to continue to do that. You know, once the sun comes up around here, we want to make sure that it's safe for people to get around as they can. We've contacted the people in our state who have registered as having disabilities, access and functional needs, and we've given them special consideration to make sure they have everything they need.

So, we really do want to make sure that everyone is in the right place so that they're not further impacted beyond what they -- they're already seeing.

WALKER: I mean, Brent, just given that you're from there, you also deal with, you know, emergency management. What is your reaction been to just seeing all this water, in and around the Houston area when there wasn't even a hurricane that hit the state?

TAYLOR: Right. We, you know, we've done it a time or two. We've certainly experienced it with hurricanes, but it doesn't take a hurricane. I think back to 2016 we had the floods on Tax Day that dumped, you know, a foot of water into certain neighborhoods. We've had, you know, other hit -- serious flooding situations that didn't come with any type of tropical system.

So, it's something that we recognize the city is, you know, vulnerable to and that we work to mitigate against those threats so that, again, everyone can stay safe and that they have the right path to recovery whenever time comes.

WALKER: How have you guys mitigated those threats? Do you feel like, you know, years later, at least after Hurricane Harvey or that threat during Tax Day -- on Tax Day, that the city now is -- the county is better equipped to handle these extreme weather events?

TAYLOR: Certainly. Absolutely, I do. Beyond the infrastructure projects that have come from that, there have been so many processes and procedures that we have implemented internally in terms of notification, in terms of standing up those teams just in time and preparing everyone.

So, whether it's the human resource, whether it's the infrastructure, you know, projects that are ongoing, any number of things, we have certainly -- every time we get a storm like this, we learn something and we take something new away from it.

[07:40:00]

And this -- I'm honest, I truly believe that we've had fewer rescues in the City of Houston because people are responding better individually.

WALKER: Well, it's remarkable that no deaths or serious injuries have been reported, and we hope that it stays that way. Brent Taylor with the Houston Office of Emergency Management. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: President Biden will deliver the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Museum -- the Memorial Museum Day marking the Day of Remembrance on Tuesday. Biden's remarks come as there's a rise in antisemitism across the U.S. and as colleges and universities continue to grapple with pro-Palestinian protesters on campuses.

CNN's Camila DeChalus joins us now from Wilmington, Delaware. So, what is the president expected to say? CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, President Biden really wants to make it clear that he stands against antisemitism. And White House officials tell us, Victor, that part of the speech will also focus on what the Biden administration is doing to combat the rise of antisemitism that is happening in this country.

Now, this speech is coming at a very pivotal time. You just saw a few days ago, Biden made his first ever public remarks about the college campus protest. And part of those remarks, he was really trying to convey that he believes that there is no place in this country and on college campuses for threats of violence against Jewish students.

And so, you'll see that even in these days ahead that he wants to be more forceful with that message and he wants to convey what his administration is doing to combat antisemitism, and just the rise that you've seen in the past few months of the rise of antisemitic incidents that are taking a place across the country. Victor, back to you,

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus reporting from Wilmington, thank you so much.

The cicadas are arriving. I was telling Amara during the break that as a kid, I would pick up the dead ones and throw it at my friend.

WALKER: You're just a terrible pal. That will-- yes, that's just awful.

BLACKWELL: What Midwest and southern states can expect to see as they deal with what's called cicada getting, apparently, this spring.

WALKER: I mean, who does that? Who finds that funny?

BLACKWELL: I was a kid.

WALKER: I mean, dead cicadas.

BLACKWELL: I was a kid.

WALKER: Following the 2001 terror attacks on 9/11, a second wave of threats surfaced, potentially, even more deadly. Anthrax, this episode of "How It Really Happened", features interviews with top U.S. officials, postal workers, and members of the media who survived exposure to the bacteria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRIS SHAYS, (R-CT): In the beginning, I think there was a sense that if the mail wasn't opened, it wasn't dangerous. Obviously, a lot of us were wrong in what we thought.

CASEY CHAMBERLAIN, VICTIM OF ANTHRAX ATTACKS: I mean, this was a whole, whole new world and a scary one.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, PHD, SERVED UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: The president was briefed every morning on what was happening. We knew that these letters were arriving at news outlets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America has now confirmed several different cases of anthrax exposure.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yet another case of possible anthrax exposure. This one at ABC News.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The CBS News employee, who's an assistant to Anchorman Dan Rather, has tested positive for anthrax.

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: And that meant that we had multiple outbreaks happening simultaneously.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there was going to be more to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Tune in to the CNN original series, "How It Really Happened: Anthrax, Terror by Mail". Tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00]

WALKER: All right. Here are your headlines this morning. First to Ukraine, where six people, including an eight-year-old girl, were injured in an early morning Russian drone attack. It is the second straight day that the city of Kharkiv was hit. Officials say, debris from one of their drones fell in a residential neighborhood. That started a fire that burned at least eight homes. Now, Russia has intensified its attacks as both Ukrainian and Russian orthodox Christians celebrate Easter.

BLACKWELL: A Republican group in Colorado cancelled a fundraising event this weekend that was set to feature South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. A leader for the group said that the event was cancelled because of safety concerns.

Now, here's the back story if you have not heard by now. Noem once mentioned as a potential GOP vice presidential contender, is facing national backlash now for killing a dog. Well, since telling that story in her memoir, Noem says that she's received death threats.

WALKER: This threat -- this morning, a stretch of road along one of America's busiest interstates is back open after a fiery crash last week. Connecticut's governor says, the northbound lanes of I-95 in Norwalk reopened around 8:00 last night. A gas tanker crashed there on Thursday, and that damaged a bridge and created a traffic nightmare. For now, the southbound lanes will stay closed for cleanup.

And right now, a rare phenomenon is affecting more than a dozen states, and chances are you will hear it before you see it and they are here to take revenge on Victor for the things he did as a child.

BLACKWELL: It's a long time ago. A long, long time ago. Billions, billions of cicadas are just beginning to emerge above ground across parts of the South and Midwest, including heavily populated areas. We're talking Nashville, Chicago.

CNN's Whitley -- Whitney Wild learns more about the arrival of these really noisy insects more than 200 years in the making.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you live in several Midwest or Southern states this spring, neighbors you likely didn't know were there, will make their presence known by the billions.

Two broods of cyclical cicadas will emerge. Brood 19 and Brood 13 have been living underground for 13 and 17 years each, well before Abby Warren (ph) and Persia Arcilis (ph) were born.

[07:50:00]

WILD: Are you excited for the cicadas?

ABBY WARREN (PH): Yes.

PERSIA ARCILIS (PH): No.

WILD: How come you're excited, Abby (ph)?

WARREN (PH): Because I love how they're really loud and they go --

WILD (voice-over): The two broods haven't crawled above ground at same time since 1803. Back then, Thomas Jefferson was president and Illinois wasn't a state yet. Fast forward to 2024 and teenage cicadas are set to crawl in every corner of the Prairie State. Major metro areas like Nashville, Atlanta, and St. Louis will also see their share of what's been dubbed cicada-geddon.

When groups of males get together, their mating call will be impossible to ignore. The volume of the buzz can rival a dump truck.

WILD: How many cicadas, do you think, are going to emerge?

ALLEN LAWRENCE, ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF ENTOMOLOGY, PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM: Across the entire eastern U.S., we probably are going to see trillions.

WILD: Trillions?

WILD (voice-over): Allen Lawrence studies insects at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago and can't wait for this year's Super Bowl of super bugs.

LAWRENCE: To me this means a chance to be fully immersed in just a really unique entomological phenomenon. This really only happens in the U.S.

WILD (voice-over): Here, swarms have pestered the press and politicians alike.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Watch out for the cicadas. I just got one. It got me.

WILD (voice-over): They have also inspired artists like Anthony Hall who created a t shirt and a mascot for the moment.

WILD: OK. What's the inspiration behind the Chicago Cicadas shirt?

ANTHONY HALL, DESIGNER AND ILLUSTRATOR, HAREBRAINED: So, I've always been a huge fan of vintage sports mascots.

WILD: So, how many orders do you have so far?

HALL: Oh, hundreds.

WILD: Hundreds?

NINA SALEM, OWNER AND FOUNDER, INSECT ASYLUM, CHICAGO: I think I'm most excited about the opportunity to communicate and to educate --

WILD (voice-over): At the Insect Asylum in Chicago, Nina Salem says their call for artists to paint plaster cicadas to raise funds echoed farther than she imagined.

WILD: Ooh, look at that. Just like the real thing when it comes out of the shell.

SALEM: Exactly.

WILD: For some people, this is, you know, it's fun. It's a chance to showcase their artistry. But for other people, it's a really heartfelt moment. I wonder what it is you find so fascinating and so enthralling about them.

SALEM: We all go through periods of growth, and the cicada goes through significant growth.

WILD (voice-over): Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BLACKWELL: They're beautiful, aren't they?

WALKER: I've -- can you see how tense I am right now?

BLACKWELL: Big, pretty red eyes.

WALKER: I'm like -- I like to -- you know, it's already loud enough as it is with the cicadas, right?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALKER: So, how much more deafening is it going to get when they come out?

BLACKWELL: When they're both here?

WALKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: All of them together? Yes, as long as they don't ruin summer festival season.

WALKER: Be nice to them.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I will be.

All right. This just in to CNN, the LAPD is moving in to clear a pro- Palestinian protest encampment. This is at the University of Southern California. The school posted a message on its social media account, telling people in the center of the campus to leave and that those who do not could be arrested.

Videos posted online appear to show officers in riot gear gathering in large numbers at the edge of campus. So that. Campus now, another police department, local police department coming in to clear a campus there and the encampment. We will of course stay on top of that.

WALKER: All right. Well, Caitlin Clark might be the name everyone knows, but the WNBA's youth movement is bigger than she is. A couple of other star rookies helped draw a sellout crowd in another country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00]

BLACKWELL: For the 150th, it really doesn't get better than this. You've got the oversized hats and the seersucker and the mint juleps and a photo finish. The Kentucky Derby delivered all the right kinds of drama.

WALKER: It sure did. Carolyn Manno joining us now. Carolyn, the Derby couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate the 150th running of the race.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It certainly not. It was such a beautiful day. The place was packed. It looked incredible and there's a reason that the Kentucky Derby is called the greatest two minutes in sports.

156, 000 packing Churchill Downs, dressed to the nines, and this race was a 10. Mystik Dan at 18 to one odds with a solid lead entering the back stretch. But Sierra Leone and Forever Young would close fast to finish so tight. It took several minutes to confirm who actually crossed first.

But the photo says it all. Mystik Dan by a nose. Sierra Leone finishing second, just another nose ahead of Forever Young. The closest three-way finish at the run for the roses since 1947 as Jockey Brian Hernandez wins his first Derby crown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRIN HERNANDEZ, JR., JOCKEY, FIRST KENTUCKY DERBY CROWN: That was the longest few minutes I've ever felt in my life waiting for them to hang that number up. I was -- it was exciting when we hit the wire, but I wasn't sure if we won. So, it was quite a rush to sit here and wait for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: From that elation to another season of playoff heartbreak for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the hands of the Boston Bruins, the two original six teams in a winner take all game seven last night. For the third time in seven years, the Bruins have now won all three. The puck taking a big, brutal bounce off the boards in overtime right to David Pastrnak who beats Ilya Samsonov for the game winning goal. A dagger for Leafs fans who last won it all 57 years ago.

Elsewhere, the Anthony Edwards show continues in the Playoffs. A franchise postseason records 43 points in last night's series opener against Denver. And as a group, Minnesota made an astounding 71 percent of their shots in the second half. Naz Reid, the NBA's sixth man of the year, had 14 of his 16 in the fourth as Minnesota steals game one on the road against the defending champs.

And the WNBA is thriving north of the border. A sellout crowd of over 16,000 fans on hand in Edmonton, Alberta for the second annual Canada game between the L.A. Sparks and Seattle Storm. And they got to see a show from L.A.'s two superstar rookies Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson, the second and fourth overall picks in last month's generational draft class.

[08:00:00]

Dazzling in their preseason pro debuts, giving fans in Hollywood a lot of hope for the future of the franchises.

L.A. wins by five.

Back to you, guys.

WALKER: Carolyn, thanks so much.

And thank you for being with us this morning. We'll see you back here next weekend.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY" with Manu Raju is next.