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CNN This Morning

1000-Plus Dead In Myanmar, Thailand After 7.7 Earthquake; Trump Attacked Judge, Called For His Impeachments; 4-Plus People Dead After Storm Bring Heavy Floods To South Texas And Mexico; V.P. Vance Accuses Denmark Of Neglecting Greenland; Stocks Plumet Friday As Tariff And Inflation Fears Worsen; 23andMe Files For Bankruptcy, Triggering Fears Over Customer Data. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired March 29, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:01:30]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Saturday, March 29. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining us. New this morning, the death toll has surged in Myanmar following that magnitude 7.7 earthquake. Officials say, more than a thousand people are dead and search-and-rescue crews are now working to dig through the rubble of those destroyed buildings.

The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on his efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants. The case they're making to the justices after legal setbacks in lower courts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: This has to happen, and the reason it has to happen, I hate to say it, is because our friends in Denmark have not done their job in keeping this area safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And Vice President Vance makes the highest profile case yet for the U.S. to take over control of Greenland, even as polls show most Americans and Greenlanders are against the idea.

Plus, the genetic testing service 23andMe filed for bankruptcy this week. We'll tell you what happens to all the data, the millions of people who use the service, and what privacy experts are urging users to do now.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we have not one, not two, but three days in a row of severe weather. We'll detail what areas are expected to be impacted coming up.

BLACKWELL: We're starting with the deadly earthquake that has devastated Southeast Asia. More than 1,000 people confirmed dead across Myanmar and Thailand, and that number is likely to rise over the next few days. Actually, U.S. officials say the death toll could end up topping 10,000.

Geologists say, this earthquake unleashed energy equivalent to 334 atomic bombs, and that aftershocks could last for months in that region. We're getting new video this morning of the devastation the earthquake brought to Myanmar showing entire buildings and mosques just crumbling on top of themselves.

In Bangkok, search-and-rescue crews are now working to free more than 100 people believed to be trapped under a collapsed high-rise. Rescue workers detected signs of life from 15 people stuck under the rubble. Heavy machinery has been brought in to help. And loved ones there who are waiting to get some word on the missing, they can just wait outside this twisted mass of metal, hoping that their buried loved ones are found alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here to wait for my mother and younger sister. I saw in the news that a building collapsed, so I called my sister, but no matter how many times I tried to call her, there was no connection. So, I asked her co-worker who said they couldn't reach her and my mother as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Will Ripley is live outside that collapsed high-rise in Bangkok. Will, what are you seeing there now?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Victor. Yes, there's a lot more heavy equipment that's been deployed out here over the last several hours or so. Initially, they said they were going to hold off on using the bulldozers and whatnot, and they were trying to dig through that massive pile of what was a 30-story skyscraper by hand. But the problem is that throughout the day, they have not found any survivors.

They pulled out a few more bodies, but even though they had talked about hearing cell phones ringing, detecting signs of life, you have family members hoping that their loved ones might be one of those maybe 15 people who could still be alive and trapped underneath all of that. But with each passing hour, obviously the sense of urgency increases in the hopes of finding people starts to diminish.

It's unimaginable to think about what some of these family members are going through. We chatted with a woman who worked with her husband on the construction site. They've been working together for 30 years, 30 years of marriage. He's the electrician, she's his assistant. She just happened to step outside of the building for a few minutes to try to use the bathroom.

When the earthquake happened and the building collapsed, she turned and she walked to the floor where her husband was -- hoping that maybe he's one of those 15 people who might have found a way to survive in some sort of a pocket, an air pocket in there. You've got rows and rows of ambulances here, just a huge number of not only recovery workers, but also volunteers preparing food, handing out water.

[07:06:01]

Bangkok has really turned out to try to help the victims and survivors of this building collapse. Unfortunately, in Myanmar, we believe that there is limited, if any, rescue operation right now, simply because that impoverished country, unlike prosperous Thailand -- has a extraordinarily large number of situations just like this.

We're 600 miles from the epicenter. You can imagine all of the buildings with people potentially trapped inside in Myanmar right now, buildings that we can't see because there's no way to get images out of there. Even getting a visa to get in there is extraordinarily tricky because they're in the midst of a civil war. So, you have a military junta controlling some areas, militias controlling other areas.

So, even though we're seeing this vibrant rescue effort with limited survivors coming out here in Bangkok, you just can't help but imagining what the situation is like for the neighboring country of Myanmar and all of the people there in desperate straits right now, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So, many variables that are complicating, as you have detailed for us this rescue effort, but this is still for them a rescue effort there in Bangkok and so much worse in Myanmar. We will get more from Will throughout the morning. Will, thank you.

President Trump is now asking the Supreme Court to step in and reverse a lower court's ruling temporary pausing his use of the Alien Enemies Act to justify deportations. CNN's Chief Legal Correspondent Paula Reid explains the latest in this emergency appeal. Paula, good morning to you.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. Well, here the administration is asking the Supreme Court to wade into one of the more contentious legal battles that it has waged. And it involves not just one, but two thorny legal issues.

The first is, of course, the constitutional question of whether President Trump can use this expansive wartime power to facilitate deportations of people the administration alleges are affiliated with a Venezuelan gang.

But they're asking the high court To overturn a ruling by a lower court judge that temporarily put that policy on hold. That judge, Judge James Boasberg, has been the target of repeated attacks from President Trump and even Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Trump went so far as to call for Boasberg's impeachment over this decision which prompted a rare statement from Chief Justice John Roberts who said, look, if you're unhappy with the way a case went you appeal it, you don't impeach the judge.

So, the administration, they went ahead, they appealed, and in their appeal Friday, they argued, this case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national security related operations in this country.

They go on to say that the answer is clear, the president and that the republic cannot afford a different choice. But the Supreme Court has a choice as to whether it wants to weigh in here.

And it's unclear if the justices are going to want to step in at this point or if they want to let this issue work its way through the lower courts, and maybe return to the high court

sometime next year.

But next Tuesday, we expect a response from the other side of this case. Then, we'll likely hear from the justices on how they're going to proceed. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Paula, thank you. A federal district court judge did not make an immediate decision on whether or not Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist's case, should continue in New Jersey.

His arrest was the first of several high-profile international student activists who protested on college campuses. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more on what happened in Khalil's hearing. Gloria?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it's important to remember that Khalil's attorneys have said over and over that this issue of venue and jurisdiction has already been resolved. As you remember, it was two weeks ago that a judge in New York said that the case should be heard right here in New Jersey, where Khalil was briefly detained after he was arrested in Manhattan.

Now, I know all of this sounds like a big technicality, but it's actually quite important. And the reason for that is because we're starting to see a pattern by the government. They have arrested students and scholars and some of them have been moved around jurisdictions.

Khalil's attorneys tell me that that's not an accident. In fact, they believe it's part of the government strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's this shell game where the government's trying to make it hard for lawyers to prevent them from doing this so that, again, they can pick the court where they want these cases to move forward. For some reason they think Louisiana gives them home court advantage. I'm not sure that's true, but that seems to be their belief.

And they want to cut people off from their communities, from their base of support, from their lawyers, from their families, from their schools, their friends, and isolate them so that they can deport them in silence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, the judge in this hearing did not really show his cards. You could tell that he was studying both sides of the argument, being really methodical in his questioning, really bringing up previous case law and challenging the lawyers arguments. At one point, Khalil's attorneys described Khalil's detention as

casket-esque. The government said that they simply believe the case has to be heard where he is in custody down south in Louisiana.

[07:11:27]

In the meantime, Khalil's attorneys tell me that he is aware of the other arrests that followed since his detention. They say that he is determined to fight the case, he is undeterred and wants to continue to fight on behalf of Palestinian human rights. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Gloria Pazmino, thank you. This morning, at least four people are dead after severe storms brought heavy flooding to South Texas and Northern Mexico. We have video for you now from near the Rio Grande River. It shows a trail of abandoned cars lining the streets covered by floodwaters.

Close to 700 people had to be rescued from the rising water in Mexico and the storms dropped almost a year's worth of rain in some areas on just Thursday and Friday. And Texas is not the only place bracing for storms this weekend.

More than 15 million people from Texas to Iowa right now are under severe weather threats. CNN's Allison Chinchar is back with us now. So, which areas are you watching?

CHINCHAR: Right. So, it's going to be a wide area, because it's not just today, it's also tomorrow, and it's Monday. So, as it kind of makes its way eastward, it's going to impact a lot of states. So, let's begin with where the impact areas are going to be for today.

And that's going to be this red-shaded area you see here, essentially stretching from Iowa all the way back down to Texas. The main concern with these storms is really going to be hail. Could be the size of baseballs or even larger, but you could also have some damaging wind gusts.

You've already got some s the gulf coast as well as pushing into Iowa. This is going to be the main target for today. Again, this green and yellow shaded areas where we have the best potential for those strong to severe thunderstorms today.

But then we transition into tomorrow and Sunday, not only does it expand, and you can see it grows quite significantly in size but also it intensify. So, you're actually going to see even stronger storms tomorrow than we're seeing today.

In here, the potential, especially for tornadoes and damaging winds, also increases especially for places, you know, you're talking Indianapolis, down through Louisville, Paducah, St. Louis, even down through Memphis, all looking at those strong to severe thunderstorms.

Now, the timing for this afternoon, we do have a couple of them that will develop late this afternoon. But really, tonight, once we lose that heating of the day, you're going to lose the bulk of those showers and thunderstorms as well. Tomorrow, you see it really ramped back up again, then now across

portions of the southeast, so states like Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and then that line continues to spread eastward.

Then, it redevelops yet again on Monday because it really doesn't advance much forward, further forward. So, you can see right here that line, again you're talking Knoxville, Atlanta, Birmingham, all going to be looking at those cities Sunday night into early morning where that line continues to spread off to the east.

And even Monday, again it's still not over yet, you're just now seeing it more up and down kind of much of the eastern seaboard with a lot of the same threats. You're still talking damaging winds, the potential for tornadoes and even some hail.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it seems like every weekend we're in together, this is that time of year with severe weather for most people.

CHINCHAR: It is, and it doesn't even peak until May. So, you're going to probably keep seeing this every couple of weeks where you're getting another severe weather outbreak.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thanks, Allison. Still ahead, Tesla is now calling itself the most American-made car maker, but will that actually shield it from President Trump's proposed 25 percent auto tariffs, or is the pain coming for Tesla, too?

And 23andMe, it's going bankrupt. And if you were a customer, your DNA could be sold. What you can do to protect your private data. That's still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:19:37]

BLACKWELL: Well, what was supposed to be a cultural trip for the Second Lady Usha Vance, turned into another push for U.S. control of Greenland. Vice President J.D. Vance told the crowd at the military installation that Denmark neglected its territory, but he did acknowledge that the island's future should be up to its residents, even as President Donald Trump insists that he'll get Greenland one way or another.

In a late-night statement, Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Lars Rasmussen said that the countries need to work together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARS RASMUSSEN, DANISH MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: But let me be completely honest, we do not appreciate the tone in which it's being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies. And I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Hours before the Vances arrived, leaders announced a new coalition government that shut out a pro-independence party that had expressed interest in working with the U.S.

Joining us now, Meg Kinnard, National Politics Reporter for the Associated Press. Meg, welcome back. So, this was not on the radar of most voters during the 2024 election, neither was really a fight with Canada going after Panama.

But what is the view from the administration from just the political context? Is this a net positive, they believe, for them?

MEG KINNARD, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER FOR ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hey, Victor, it's really good to be back with you. Certainly, you're absolutely right. This is not an angle during the campaign where we all kind of thought we'd be focusing in these first couple months of the Trump administration.

But certainly, with the Vice President making this trip, as he pointed out, the first ever from a sitting vice president to Greenland. This is part of that whole area of focus for the administration in taking interesting tacks when it comes to countries with which the U.S. has been aligned.

We've seen Vice President Vance during his previous trips in Europe talking in a different kind of way about U.S. alliances with other European countries. And so, Denmark, with its relationship with Greenland, is now part of that conversation. And I think for the administration's part, they probably feel like this trip went relatively well.

This was a show of force for the United States, literally going and putting its money where its mouth is in terms of making this trip to Greenland. But we will continue to keep a very close eye on what other European countries are doing in reaction to this and certainly as you point out those are some fairly strongly worded remarks from Denmark and those leaders themselves in terms of how they're viewing the Vice President's trip.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And polls show that Greenlanders and the American people do not want this. The majority of respondents, we have it for you here 69 percent of people in this Reuters/Ipsos poll say they disagree that the U.S. should take control of Greenland, so the U.S. military can better guard the country.

Let's turn toward Wisconsin now, the most expensive judicial race in history. Millions coming in from out of state, close to 20 million from Elon Musk and Musk-affiliated groups alone. He actually is going to be going to Wisconsin to hand out millions of dollars.

Initially, he tweeted out that he was going to give this money to people who voted. Then, he changed it to people who signed the petition. But the state's attorney general is concerned, it says, that he never really withdrew that initial offer. Two questions here.

How central to this race is Elon Musk and what he's doing with DOGE? And how serious potentially is this is offer given away millions something like what we saw in 2024? KINNARD: Certainly, any race that Elon Musk is aiming to play a role in is going to get a lot of attention. I think that the elevated role that Musk took on within the Trump orbit at the tail end of last year's campaign has certainly forecast the sort of role that he's playing in the administration.

So, I'm not saying that you are not just looking to get very individually involved in Wisconsin politics later on, but certainly that he's playing in this campaign is to be of note. With all of the money he's bringing in, this clearly got a lot of attention when he's going out on his own social media platform saying he's going to be giving away millions of dollars.

That was kind of a media moment in and of its own. But in a circumstance in the calendar right now where there's not a whole lot of other elections going on, this Wisconsin Supreme Court race has really just been the major focal point for people covering politics, and for someone like Elon Musk to be angling to play this kind of role, that is very significant.

[07:24:16]

He has put a lot of money into it, and so now with these giveaways, we saw this happen during the presidential campaign in Pennsylvania, and that got a lot of attention and put some big focus in terms of the Trump campaign and what they were angling to do there.

So, all of it boils down to Tuesday and we'll see how the vote turns out. But this is certainly, I think, something that we can keep a close eye on in terms of figures like Musk and others in the Trump orbit focusing on a lot of these state campaigns as they come through on the calendar.

And then seeing what kind of influence, and after effects that can have for what the Trump administration and what Trump and his allies are looking to do in states across the country not just at the federal level.

BLACKWELL: Elise Stefanik until very recently was President Trump's nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He pulled her nomination because he wants to protect the very slim Republican majority in the House.

Maybe less concerned about her district than he is actually about the Florida race, but what does this this shift tell us about Republican confidence or lack thereof? And also, she's got to get it office back in order. She gave up her leadership position. That's going to take some work.

KINNARD: Yes, Speaker Johnson has said that he wants to see Stefanik come back into the house leadership. But you're right her role has now gone to someone else, and so we'll see how that all turns out. But for the congresswoman and for others within the Trump orbit saying we need her in the house.

These margins are too slim for our party, so we really need to have that reliable vote, and Stefanik has been a very reliable vote for Trump and for his policies. That really signifies how seriously they are looking at some of those margins.

These elections in Florida, it is presumed that those will be safe Republican seats, but with the intense focus that Democrats have put on those races, that could be a little bit of a crystal ball into the 26 midterms, and what we can anticipate will be some highly contested races in that very closely divided house.

BLACKWELL: All right, Meg Kinnard, thanks so much.

KINNARD: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: A top vaccine official is out at the FDA. What he said about Health and Human Services Secretary, RFK Jr. in his stinging resignation letter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:01]

BLACKWELL: President Trump's new auto tariffs are going into effect next week, and Tesla may be able to dodge the worst of them, because their cars and a lot of their parts are made in the U.S.

But no car is truly 100 percent American-made, as Trump adviser Elon Musk pointed out after the tariff announcement. But while rivals like General Motors have entire factories in Mexico, Teslas have some of their parts made there too. And that will cost them. One estimate says a Tesla could face up to $1.6 billion each year.

Dr. Peter Marks, the head of the FDA's vaccine safety department, was forced out of his position after being given the choice to step down and be fired. And HHS officials said that Marks did not align with the agency's push for radical transparency.

Now, in his resignation letter, Marks accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of rejecting truth and transparency in favor of subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lives.

Stocks tumbled again on Friday, with the Dow dropping more than 700 points. The sell off was fueled by concerns over tariffs and inflation. CNN's Matt Egan has more for us. Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: The latest slew of economic indicators did not paint a very inspiring picture about how the U.S. economy is holding up amid all of this turbulence out of Washington, and these new economic numbers did not sit well with investors on Wall Street, with U.S. stocks experiencing another bout of turbulence ahead of next week's significant announcements on tariffs.

Let me run you through some of the key findings from today's economic reports.

First, the Fed's go to inflation metric found that Americans are saving more and they are spending next ahead of tariffs.

And this report also suggested that inflation kind of stuck in this, no man's land, right? Not as bad as a few years ago, but also not great. Core inflation, which is -- which excludes food and energy, it heated up in February. That's significant, because economists say that core inflation is a better indicator of underlying pricing pressures.

And keep in mind, these are numbers for February, so, they don't fully capture the elephant in the room, the trade war, right? This is price changes before much of the tariffs, including the tariffs on steel and aluminum, the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and some of the tariffs on China, for all of that even kicked in.

And we know the cost of living, of course, is a major concern right now. And so, there is another disappointing confidence report out. This is from the University of Michigan, and not only did it find that consumer sentiment fell sharply in March, but some of the underlying indicators here were also concerning.

Consumers outlook for the future fell significantly. Two-thirds of consumers are now expecting unemployment to increase. That's the most since the great recession, and consumer expectations around inflation, price increases. They heated up to the highest level since 1993.

Market veteran, Art Hogan, he told me he's not shocked to see consumers expecting higher inflation. This is the worst trade war since William McKinley was in the White House.

Now, I know that sometimes these surveys can be colored a bit by partisanship, as people sometimes tell pollsters they don't like the economy when their party is not in the White House.

That's why this finding from University of Michigan was striking. They said that this month's decline reflects a clear consensus across all demographics, and political affiliations, Republicans joined Independents and Democrats in expressing worsening expectations since February for their personal finances, business conditions, unemployment, and inflation.

[07:35:07]

I think the growing concern on Wall Street is that weak consumer confidence will eventually cause people to kind of hunker down and spend less money. And, of course, that's where the real trouble would come for an economy that is really built on consumer spending. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Matt.

Coming up next, popular genetic testing company, 23andMe -- you've heard of it. It's now bankrupt and up for sale. What this means for millions of people, maybe you, who sent the DNA to the company, and now, it's going to be sold.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:27]

BLACKWELL: 23andMe, the popular genetic testing service has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Now, that's raising concerns for its 15 million users about the safety and the privacy of their personal genetic data.

As the company sees a -- seeks a buyer, consumer advocates are urging users to delete their accounts and their data to protect their information from potentially falling into the wrong hands.

The 23andMe has tried to reassure customers and say the company will not sell customers identifiable genetic data.

Joining me now is Anya Prince, a law professor at Iowa State University. All right. Thanks for being with me.

If a customer requests, delete this data, delete the DNA info, is the company obligated to do it? I imagine, if you're trying to get that high auction sale price, the more people who delete, the less the company will be worth.

ANYA PRINCE, LAW PROFESSOR, IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: Yes. So, 23andMe would have to delete the data under a couple of different things. There are some state laws that required them to do so, in -- for international customers, there is some international laws that require them to do so. But most importantly, for everybody, their privacy policy that the customers agreed to says that you can go in and request a deletion of your account.

Now, it does say that they will keep a little bit of information for compliance purposes with some laws. So, it's not a complete deletion of everything, but it does minimize the amount of data.

BLACKWELL: Who is on the list of entities that would be interested in buying 23andMe?

PRINCE: So, we haven't heard, or I haven't heard any specific companies, but you could imagine, right, genetic information and health information is so valuable. And so, you could imagine that a medical research company or a pharmaceutical company could find this data helpful.

Somebody who wanted to partner with law enforcement to share genetic information might find this useful. Insurance companies, like a life insurance company, could find genetic information useful.

And so, while each of those might not be a buyer, there might be a company that's seeking to partner with some of those entities and leverage the data in a new business model.

BLACKWELL: And so, there they'd find it interesting and valuable, even if they can't identify the people from whom that data comes?

PRINCE: Well, so, yes/. So, it would depend on whether or not the information is identifiable. Some, like pharmaceutical companies, might not care, right, whether they can identify people.

Others, the information would be more helpful.

It's also important to remember that you can take somebody's name off of their DNA, but your DNA sequence is unique, and so, there are -- and there are small, but there are some re-identifiability concerns, just because you can't completely obscure your genetic sequence.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the law and protection of those who have handed their DNA information over.

We have covered these stories where there is one person who went through 23andme or another service, and then, they arrest cousin Reggie (PH) for a cold case 20 years ago, because they've connected him through this one person's information.

What are the federal laws that protect this, this genetic information?

PRINCE: So, at the federal level, we really don't have too many laws that protect this information.

Most people know about HIPAA, or health privacy law, but that only protects health information within the healthcare setting. And this direct-to-consumer testing model is different. It is outside the realm of HIPAA.

And at the federal level, we don't have a general data protection law. We do have a law called the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, or GINA. And this prohibits health insurers and employers from discriminating on the basis of genetic information.

But really, what governs this at the federal level, in the U.S. is the company's privacy policy.

BLACKWELL: Is there any recourse for a person who was a 23andMe client against whichever entity buys this, can they go after that company and say, I don't want you to use this. I don't want my information as part of your database?

[07:45:06]

PRINCE: So, unfortunately, there is really little that customers can do.

Like I said, I mean, they can delete the account now, right, and press that deletion.

But like I said, there in some states, there is not a requirement for companies to abide by deletion requests or to offer that up.

And so -- and so, a new company, 23 means current privacy policy says that you can delete your account, but a new company could get rid of that option for people whose states don't require it.

And so, really, the problem is that customers don't have control, because they've given their data over to this private company.

BLACKWELL: Wow. All right. Anya Prince, thanks for helping us understand it.

PRINCE: Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: A new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL" with Jake Tapper focuses on the story that shocked sports fans everywhere.

Lance Armstrong, he was a role model, a symbol of resilience, but Armstrong's legacy was threatened when accusations of doping came to light.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: It took about 15 years for the truth to come out about Lance and doping in the sport in general. Why? Why did it take so long? And would it have come out, were it not for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may have never come out. I don't know. I can't believe that I was the reason for it. I can't believe it had to -- had to be that, because it had gone on so long, so long.

TAPPER: So long, indeed. Lance, finally confessed to doping in 2013 and the story of what was going on in all those years between becoming a phenom and his shameful admission is fascinating and upsetting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: A new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL" with Jake Tapper airs tomorrow at 9:00 p.m., on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:16]

BLACKWELL: More than 15 million people from Texas to Iowa right now are under severe weather threats. CNN's Allison Chinchar is here to track it all. What are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So, we take a look, as it's going to be a multi-day event.

So, begins today across this area in red, you see right here, that's going to be the system that begins to shift eastward in the coming days. So, you're going to start to see the spread, but also intensify Sunday and Monday.

The main threat for today is actually going to be large hail, could be baseball size or even larger.

Can't rule out the potential for some damaging winds. Now, we transition to Sunday. Notice, again, not only does it really start to expand into a much larger area, but also it intensifies, especially in this orange area you see here.

So, Indianapolis, St. Louis, portions of Memphis and even farther south. All of these areas have the potential for severe thunderstorms. We are still talking hail, we are still talking damaging winds, but now, you're really starting to add in the component of tornadoes, not just one or two, but there could be several tornadoes into the areas for tomorrow.

Here is a look at the system as it develops later on this afternoon, you can see some of those showers and thunderstorms beginning to fire up.

But once we lose the heating of the day tonight, most of them fade away, but then, we start to see that system ramp back up again tomorrow afternoon from the heating of the day, and that's what will continue to spread eastward as we head into Monday.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Allison.

March Madness living up to the highs, and we could see an all-SEC Final Four on the men's side.

CNN's Carolyn Manno is here with a look at the action. Hey, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Victor.

You know, all four number one seeds are making an elite eight appearance. So, a little bit of shock, but that's OK. The top seed in the Midwest, Houston surviving an upset over number four Purdue last night.

Houston led by 10 with eight minutes left, but the Boilermakers rallied to tie the game after both teams went nearly two minutes without scoring. Purdue's Cam Heide, hitting a big three with 35 seconds left.

But Houston star guard, Milos Uzan had one last trick up his sleeve. He had this beautiful game winning layup with 0.9 seconds left for a 62-60 win.

So, coming up next for Houston, Tennessee on Sunday afternoon in a matchup between two of the best defenses in college hoops. The Volunteers looking for their first trip to the Final Four in program history.

Two seed Michigan State surviving an epic battle as their surprise season rolls on. The Spartans trailing by as many as 10 with less than four minutes left to play in the first half, but they used another second half rally to beat six-ranked Ole Miss and keep Tom Izzo's bid for a ninth Final Four in second national championship alive.

Jase Richardson was huge. He scored 20 points on six for eight shooting, and it was a heroic homecoming for Georgia native Coen Carr. He put up 15 for Michigan State in his first career start. So, the Spartans hanging on 73-70, earning a meeting with Auburn on Sunday.

In the women's tournament. The Sweet 16 kicked off yesterday with the first ever meeting between rivals North Carolina and Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Says some March Madness for two programs that know this stage well. It took Duke some time to get on the offensive end. They got going in the second quarter on an 8-0 round. They never let their foot off the gas.

Blue Devils bench out-scoring the Tar Heels 26-6, sophomore guard Oluchi Okananwa leading the way with 12 points, 12 boards as the six women up as the Blue Devils win 47-38 to advance the school's 12th overall Elite 8 appearance, where they are going to meet the defending champs, South Carolina.

And five months after a storybook World Series ending, the Dodgers seem to be picking up right where they left off. The team off to a four no start after a walk off win over Detroit that included a five- run rally and a game winning home run from Mookie Betts in the 10th inning.

This is wild. Betts has been battling a recent stomach illness that has caused him to lose more than 15 pounds. L.A. didn't even know if he was going to be available for the team's opening home stand.

[07:55:02]

But after surprising everybody by going yard two innings earlier to break a 2-2 tie, delivered again when it counted the most, and no doubter to end it as the Dodgers win 8-5.

Quite an opening week for this L.A. team that everybody fell in love with, in the postseason last year. And it seems like they're on track to do something special again this year too. Victor, back to you.

BLACKWELL: A lot to watch. Carolyn Manno, thank you.

"FIRST OF ALL," is coming up at the top of the hour.

Now, the government is facing heat for cracking down on college students with visas who spoke out about the war in Gaza. I'll speak with the attorneys of one student who says the feds are trying to come after him next.

Plus, the president wants now to force history and art museums to cheat history that evokes American pride, but avoids American shame.

A Pulitzer Prize winning historian is here to share his concerns with an executive order that targets, "improper ideology."

And later, a conversation with the actor who got a lot of people's attention this week when he said, "I'm no longer a black man." Actor Malik Yoba, says that some people missed his message.

So, Malik Yoba will be here to explain it.

Those conversations and how this, has become the sound of black joy. All coming up on "FIRST OF ALL", after a quick break.

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