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CNN This Morning

At Least 16 Killed As Severe Storms Sweep Parts Of U.S.; Stock Market To Open Monday After 2,200 Plus Point Drop Friday; Wall Street Braces For Further Tariff Impact As More Tariffs Roll Out; Pope Francis Makes Surprise Public Appearance After Leaving Hospital; Millions Worldwide Take Part In "Hands Off!" Protests; Wall Street Bracing For Opening Bell Ahead Of New Tariffs. Obama and Harris Rebukes Trump's Second-Term; 1,400 Plus "Hands Off!" Protests Held Across the U.S. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired April 06, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:46]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You're up early. Good to have you along. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, April 6th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Breaking news, Pope Francis makes his first public appearance at St. Peter's Square since getting out of the hospital. We're live in Rome.

Stubborn storms have parked over parts of the south. They're triggering generational flooding, and the death toll is rising this morning.

Also, millions of people are at risk as the threat for the flooding and tornadoes is heading east. We're live in one of the hardest hit areas this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CROWD: Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BLACKWELL: Millions of people in all 50 states and across the world poured into the streets to protest President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's slow dismantling of critical and life-saving government agencies. Team coverage from across the country is ahead for you.

And Senator Cory Booker held his first town hall since his historic 25-hour Senate speech. What he told the crowd about Democrats finding their footing in taking on the Trump administration. Our panel weighs in a little later.

And call them the comeback cougars, the big final four upset everybody is talking about this morning. That's for you a little later. All right, we're starting this morning with the severe storms that are threatening tens of millions of people across central U.S. Several areas have flood and tornado watches in effect. These are abandoned cars, we have video for you now, left sitting in floodwaters overnight. This is Memphis, Tennessee.

Heavy rains also brought catastrophic flooding to parts of Kentucky. The death toll from this week's severe storms has now risen to at least 16 people across five states.

Let's bring in now CNN's Michael Yoshida. He's in Black Rock, Arkansas. Michael, I understand from my producers you were trying to get around this morning. There were some areas that just were inaccessible. What are the conditions like there now?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Victor. You're exactly right. The conditions were inaccessible when we were trying to make our way through Arkansas early this morning. A lot of sites just like this. You can see here in Black Rock the water overtaking this street nearby creek just out of its banks, all of the water across the roadway.

We saw this on county roads, on highways. Highway 63 here in the northern part of Arkansas, still parts of it closed this morning. And that's cut off access to a lot of places including Hardy, Arkansas. That's where we were yesterday reporting live an area in a city that saw historic flooding.

The mayor speaking with us telling us about 50 percent of his town impacted by the high waters. The Spring River there, way out of its banks. They saw flood levels yesterday around 23 feet. To put that in perspective, flood stage for that area is around 10 feet. So just well surpassing that water up to the roofs of some buildings.

And when we see all of that water, we also are seeing the strength of it. A little bit further northwest of Hardy we saw in Mammoth Spring some train tracks and a bridge just washed away. You can see video showing the cars there into the water, some of them underwater.

Thankfully, we're told, no personnel, no one injured there. There was also no threat to the public. Officials and crews were on the scene trying to figure out how to clean that mess up. Again, just puts into perspective the amount of rainfall we saw in Arkansas, in Missouri, all throughout this part of the country over the last few days.

And with that, again, we're seeing the impacts of the flooding this morning. Now we did get news yesterday, sadly, a 5-year-old in the Little Rock area here in Arkansas did die as a result of this severe weather. We also now know at least 12 people injured as a result of these storms.

But again, the concern right now, flooded waters. You can see a vehicle back there doing exactly what officials have been telling us to get the word out. You see water like this, stop and turn around. That's the message this morning here in Arkansas and across the region as they're starting to get a handle and start the cleanup process here following all of this weather.

BLACKWELL: Michael Yoshida for us there in Black Rock. It is wet and it also looks cold there. Thank you for the reporting. We'll check back throughout the day.

[07:05:06]

We're also bracing to see how the U.S. stock market will open tomorrow after the massive sell-off last week. It was sparked by President Trump's tariffs and China's 34 percent retaliatory tariffs. And, of course, more targeted tariffs roll out Wednesday against certain countries.

Let's discuss this now with Emory University Finance Professor, Dr. Thomas Smith. Dr. Smith, thanks for coming in.

DR. THOMAS SMITH, FINANCE PROFESSOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: So the President calls this an economic revolution for better or worse. Is he right framing it that way?

SMITH: Well, it's going to be a revolution. I don't think it's the kind that he's anticipating.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: I think we're seeing a lot of pushback. And I think we could be heading towards an economic shock might push us into an economic recession actually.

BLACKWELL: JPMorgan has increased their forecast of a chance of a recession from 40 to 60 percent. You think it's more likely than 60 percent?

SMITH: Well, I mean, I don't want to put a number on it and --

BLACKWELL: Sure.

SMITH: -- freak anybody out. But I think that, yes, the likelihood is over 50 percent for sure now. I anticipate that a lot of people are going to be looking at the markets the next couple of days.

BLACKWELL: Yes, certainly will be after, but 1,600 points on Thursday, more than 2,200 points on Friday. Let's talk about what potentially satisfies the White House, because there have been many economists who looked at the tariffs that the White House said that are being charged against U.S. products imported to these countries and how they calculated what they called reciprocal.

You're already smiling about it --

SMITH: Well --

BLACKWELL: -- the reciprocal tariffs. And those numbers don't make sense. If the numbers at the start don't make sense, how do you get to a satisfying position with these countries? Look at these numbers we've got out.

SMITH: Yes. No, I mean, the truth is that that the calculation that the White House put out, it was couched in some academic writings. And the truth is that it looks like there was just random elements put together.

Hey, let's look at our trade imbalance. Let's, you know, slap half of that on a reciprocal tariff. And let's call it called a day. I don't think that they went about this the appropriate way.

BLACKWELL: Yes. What would have been the appropriate way? Because some of these economists who are still critical of how the President went about this says that tariffs can be utilized in a way that would make the relationship more fair?

SMITH: For sure. I mean, the way you would do it is you would actually go through the products that you're being charged tariffs in a methodical, thoughtful way, identify what tariff rates are being charged and try to find rates that would try to offset some of the impacts. But just throwing a number out there seems very random and not very thoughtful at all.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The administration is asking American people to hang tough. That's what the President asked for. How long is this arc that you expect? If he's trying to get to, and let's say it works, right? Is it to bring manufacturers back to the U.S.? How long is that pain? Because that's a word they're using.

SMITH: Yes.

BLACKWELL: How long is that going to take?

SMITH: Well, I mean, we know that Rome wasn't built in a day --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: -- and neither is a manufacturing facility, right? When you're talking about, you know, down here in Georgia, the Rivian plant three, four, five years in the making, maybe a couple of years out. If you're going to bring manufacturing back, this isn't going to happen overnight. It's not even going to happen the next year. So, I mean, that pain they're asking for, that might last years.

BLACKWELL: And what's that mean for unemployment?

SMITH: Oh, I mean, I think that there's a lot of companies that are already making adjustments right now to their production facilities because they're seeing the cost of their inputs, their raw materials increasing, you know, exponentially. And so they're already starting to fire people, lay people off. We're already seeing that.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: I think unemployment is going to be going up.

BLACKWELL: We heard that announcement almost immediately from Stellantis, a big American carmaker that said that they're going to be laying off hundreds of people across several facilities.

Doctor, we're going to have you back a few minutes later to talk more about this and a few other things in our morning roundup. So stick by.

SMITH: That's great. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thanks so much.

Breaking news, Pope Francis, as I mentioned at the top of the show, made his first appearance publicly since recovering from pneumonia that left him in the hospital for five weeks.

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau in Rome with details of this surprise visit. How do you look?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you know, it was really a surprise visit, and he looked a lot better than he did on March 23rd when he left the hospital. He still has an infection, we were told last week, but he's recovering. He's doing all sorts of physical therapy, respiratory therapy.

He greeted the crowds and wished them a happy Sunday like he does every Sunday when he's well, but his voice was very, very hoarse and weak. And he had what appeared to be oxygen tubes in his nose to get oxygen. We do know that he receives oxygen regularly.

[07:10:04]

One of the things that's most surprising about this visit, though, is when he was released from the hospital, his doctor said that he would take several months of convalescence in which he would not be able to be around large crowds of people. And now I don't know how many people were in St. Peter's Square this morning for a Lenten Mass held out in the beautiful sunshine, but there were lots of people there.

He was not around all of them for the cameras, but we've seen images of him after that greeting several people. So he seems to be defying doctor's orders, but he is the pope and he can do what he wants, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Pope and he can do what he wants. All right, Barbie Latza Nadeau, thank you so much.

Still to come, a global day of action. Protesters push back on the Trump administration's policies. How the President responded to the hands off calls.

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to the U.S. today ahead. His planned meeting with Donald Trump and why the two are expected to discuss the International Criminal Court.

And March Madness has college basketball fans on the edge of their seats. The latest on the team's heading to the championship and how they earned a shot at this year's title.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:15:56]

BLACKWELL: Effective immediately, the U.S. has suspended visas to all South Sudanese passport holders. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement yesterday. The order also stops visas from being given to people of South Sudan -- from South Sudan in the future.

The Trump administration is accusing the nation's transitional government of taking advantage of the U.S. by not accepting back its citizens in a timely matter as the U.S. works to remove them. South Sudan has undergone civil unrest since its split from Sudan in 2011.

Tomorrow, President Trump is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. This visit comes just days after Israel was hit with a 17 percent tariff by the U.S. But Trump and Netanyahu had a call on Thursday following their talk. Trump told reporters that Gaza is a big problem that he was working to resolve.

On Friday, Israel expanded ground operations in northern Gaza. They'll also discuss the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes, a move Netanyahu has described as absurd and anti-Semitic.

Millions of people around the world gathered Saturday to protest President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk. These are the hands off protests you've heard about. The protesters demanded three things -- an end to billionaire takeovers and corruption, an end to slashing federal funds for programs like Medicaid and Social Security, and an end to attacks on immigrants, trans people and other communities.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones takes a look at these protests around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CROWD: Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Across the U.S. and the world, more than 1,400 protests on Saturday, according to organizers, telling U.S. President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, hands off.

CROWD: Hands off Canada.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hands off Greenland.

JONES (voice-over): People taking to the streets in Portugal, Germany, France, the U.K. and North America. Many are Americans living abroad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never seen things worse in American than now.

JONES (voice-over): Organized by pro-democracy groups such as labor unions, LGBTQ plus advocates, veterans and election activists uniting against the Trump administration's policies on the economy, human rights and more. MICHAEL BRASSARD, ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTER: Hands off means restore what we've had as a democracy. In fact, when we were making our poster and we were saying what to have hands off off, we had trouble limiting the list. The list got so long between free speech and reproductive rights and Social Security. I mean, we could have done 20 other things.

CROWD: Hands off U.K.

JONES (voice-over): In London's Trafalgar Square, one protester holds a sign reading, "Keep your tiny orange hands off the world". Hundreds of demonstrators came out in London. Also in Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany.

TIMOTH KAUTZ, DEMOCRATS ABROAD: We have to show solidarity with all the demonstrations in a thousand cities today in the USA. We have to show that we are not in agreement with what is happening in the USA. People in Germany, people in Europe need to know that.

This is not something that is happening with our approval. And we need to get up off of our -- get onto our feet and out in the streets to show that this is something that will not pass.

CROWD: I will not be silent. I will not be silent.

JONES (voice-over): With barely three months in office, Trump's policies on immigration, tariffs and more resonating around the world.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BLACKWELL: A Justice Department attorney is on leave after struggling to explain the mistaken deportation of a Salvadoran national who lives in Maryland. Now the department is appealing a judge's order that the man be brought back to the U.S. by tomorrow. We have the latest developments.

And Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. says that 20 percent of the health agency's layoffs last week may be mistakes. Those stories ahead in our roundup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:24:33]

BLACKWELL: Wall Street is bracing for the opening bell tomorrow ahead of even more tariffs set to go into effect in just a matter of days. Let's talk about this and a lot more. We've got Sam Gringlas, politics reporter with WABA -- WABE FM in Atlanta. Dr. Thomas Smith of Emory University is still with us. And Mike Jordan, senior editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Black Culture brand, UATL, here for the morning roundup.

Gentlemen, welcome to you.

[07:25:01] And let's start with what so many people are talking about, what we saw, just the slide on Wall Street. And Sam, let me start with the politics here. The administration and most congressional Republicans are asking the American people to endure pain. And we don't hear politicians tell the American people that they are doing something that is going to hurt them and to endure it. This is a remarkable moment to hear Republicans say, this is going to hurt, but it's going to pay off.

SAM GRINGLAS, POLITICS REPORTER, WABE PBS: You know, even here at the Georgia capital, we've started to hear from some Republicans, though, who are questioning this strategy. I mean, Georgia is a big agriculture state, exporting pecans, timber products, poultry, and also a big auto import, export port at the Port of Brunswick.

And so we're starting to hear some Republicans who represent those districts saying they have grave concerns about these policies. So this is a moment when, sure, there is a lot of unity in the Republican Party, but I'm starting to see some cracks from Republicans I'm talking to about this particular issue.

BLACKWELL: And there's some -- listen, there was a moment of levity last night on Saturday Night Live in which we remember seeing this huge chart from the President, the Rose Garden. Let's play a bit of that and then we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now it's time for the really big piece of cardboard. Howard, you want to bring that up, please? This is Howard, my commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, everybody. Look at him.

Let me get that giant cardboard. I love this. Here we go.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh Howard. This is Cheesecake Factory menu, Howard. This is for the luncheon after, OK? I'm getting Bang Bang Tacos. Give me this. Thank you.

Thanks, Howard. You're doing an amazing job figuring out the scary tariffs. You want to stay up here and be the face of tariffs with me? Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's modest. That's why he's a modest guy.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BLACKWELL: Dr. Smith, there are people who support the President. They knew that there would be a tariff strategy. They just didn't expect this breadth of tariffs.

SMITH: No, not at all. I mean, I don't think that -- I think a lot of people that I've talked to and a lot of people that I've heard from said, well, we think there might be some tariffs. We know how Trump operates. Maybe he'll say one thing and do something else.

He'll shout out, we'll do a bunch of tariffs, and then he'll roll them back a little bit. And we even saw a little bit of that early on where he said, Mexico, big tariff, oh, let's wait 30 days. Canada, big tariff, let's wait 30 days.

So I figured a lot of people were thinking, well, he'll do a big production and then he'll roll it back immediately. But, you know, 10 percent down on the Dow Jones and 12 percent down on the S&P, maybe people are rethinking whether he's going to roll this back the way that he did with Canada and Mexico.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And, Mike, how much do you think of what we saw over the back half of last week played into what we saw in the streets across the country and around the world yesterday with these hands off protests?

MIKE JORDAN, SENIOR EDITOR, AJC'S BLACK CULTURE BRAND, UATL: Well, I think what we're seeing is just, you know, there's been time, I think, taken to really understand what's going on. And so when you have the rubber meeting the road, people in the streets, I think with the reaction, with the stock market, with people having conversations, it was different because I've seen some other protests in the last few weeks that seem to sort of fizzle and not get as much attention.

And this one was one where, again, if you were out in the streets of Atlanta, you saw them. I was on 285 and saw someone over at one of the overpasses near Chamblee Tucker with a sign that said, eat the rich and things. So it's, again, you're starting to see some sort of movement towards an understanding of policy and maybe that's what's driving things. But there's certainly more energy right now.

BLACKWELL: Sam, we heard from the former Vice President Kamala Harris in, I would say, the most substantive way since the inauguration this week. We heard also from former President Obama in which he asked, what if I had done this? He got to a larger point, but that was what he started with. And is the Democratic Party looking to Obama, to Harris on a path forward? Are they looking in a different direction?

GRINGLAS: I mean, I think we are in this moment where Democrats are trying to figure out who's going to lead them in this moment. We went through a couple of months where I'd say the party was feeling a little rudderless, maybe angry.

I've covered some town halls recently with Senators Raphael Warnock, Senator Ossoff here in Georgia, had a campaign launch. And I think Democrats are looking for a place to channel their energy. They're shouting for, we need more fight, we need more action, we need a plan here, not just describing the problem.

And so I think both in these protests, also in the comments that we saw from Vice President -- former Vice President Harris, former President Obama, you know, a real trying to figure out a plan to chart a path forward in this moment. And maybe that is starting to coalesce in this moment. SMITH: Do you think though that the -- let's say the formal, let's say, outpouring of people, hitting to the streets or whatever else, do you think that's going to have a bigger impact than people saying with their dollars, like, I'm not going to buy these stocks? You see the market tumbling 12 percent, you don't think that's going to have a bigger impact than, you know, like a formalized set of, you know, hitting the streets? I don't know which one is going to be more important. I think the stock market is going to play a bigger role, but I don't know.

BLACKWELL: That also comes from an economist though.

DR. SMITH: No, no. I'll admit. I mean, I'll admit. Like I think about money. You know, money's the -- one of the first things I think about. But I don't know if people are paying more attention or politicians are paying more attention to people hitting the streets versus hitting the wall streets.

GRINGLAS: I mean, it might be both and all of the above question, right?

DR. SMITH: Right.

GRINGLAS: You know, not everyone has a stock portfolio.

DR. SMITH: That's true.

GRINGLAS: A lot of people do though. People are looking at their retirement accounts. I know, you know, my parents are at retirement age and it's something that they're thinking about. But I think also Democrats are looking for a place to channel their frustrations and hitting the streets is part of that. We saw this a little bit after the fall of Roe here in Atlanta. Of course, those really big protests in 2017, the women's march during the George Floyd protests in cities across the country.

But, you know, I ran into the protests yesterday on Peachtree Street, kind of by accident. I wasn't planning to work. I was on the way to a show at the Fox. And there was a much bigger crowd than I expected, kind of up there with some of these bigger historic protests that we've seen in this country in the last couple of years. And I'll be curious to see if that energy is sustained, especially as we get closer to the 2026 midterms, or it's just kind of this moment when there's so much chaos and tumult happening at the top level, the federal government.

DR. SMITH: Maybe you need both. Maybe you need, you know, money on the Wall Street not happening, and then you need people on the streets, you know, voicing their discontent. I mean, I think maybe it's a combination of both.

BLACKWELL: Mike, what was interesting, I saw online that there were some black activists who were very vocal about saying that they are not engaging in the Hands Off! Protest, encouraging other black activists not to get involved. What's that about? MIKE JORDAN, SENIOR EDITOR, AJC'S BLACK CULTURE BRAND, UATL AND SENIOR EDITOR, THAT ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Well, yes, on social media, content creators were saying, you know, stay home sit this one out. And going back to what we were saying, I mean, you are seeing the return of Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, this return to in some sort of fight, I guess is what people want to see. But I mean, if you look back to the traditional idea that black voters are sort of like a central soul of the Democratic Party, I think that there is a little bit of what we were saying before that there is a return to wanting to see that leadership and that representation, especially after the results of the election.

But then, also, I think the black community is sort of in this place where charity begins at home, as they say. You know, we're in a place where, you know, there's things like the Nap Ministry and people really saying like, this is a time to rest. I think there's a lot of work has been done by black voters, by the black community when it comes to the issues around today. And so, people are just kind of looking for their place.

Now, that does not mean that work is not being done. So, you're seeing community work happening on the level of, you know, just being involved, wrapping arms around each other and sort of saying like, what can we do to affect our community?

So, I think all of that is important. I don't think any necessarily messaging should say, oh, black people are no longer invested, or they don't care what's going on. I think there's just a little bit of healing and, you know, like getting our house in order before we come back out, so to say.

BLACKWELL: Some self-care --

JORDAN: Yes, I think so.

BLACKWELL: -- before the midterms. All right. Gentlemen, stick with us. We have a lot more to talk about. More of the roundup after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00]

BLACKWELL: Sam, Thomas and Mike are back with us now. All right. Let's talk about DOGE, because before the tariff conversation that was at the center of the political conversation for so many weeks. And the new HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says that up to 20 percent of those who have been laid off or fired as part of DOGE could be rehired because everybody makes mistakes.

I mean, when we look at -- even at the overlap with the last conversation of some of the countries on the chart that have tariffs that don't even have people there, it speaks kind of to the due diligence going into these massive changes.

DR. SMITH: Or the lack of due diligence, right? I mean, so you're -- I mean, you're talking about -- I mean, you just mentioned we've got tariffs on uninhabited islands, or maybe they're inhabited by penguins, right? So, it seems incredibly random. And then, you have firings by this agency, again, which seems incredibly random. Again, from an economics perspective, those kind of randomness elements inject a certain amount of uncomfort into the economy. It makes people pause and hesitate. And that's why I think you're seeing consumer confidence fall. People aren't confident that people know what they're doing. And that's a challenge.

JORDAN: Well, it seems like the U.S. as a nation is not yet used to the Silicon Valley way of thinking with the move fast and break things ethos, you know?

BLACKWELL: OK.

JORDAN: So, I'm not saying that I endorse it at all, but I think that this is sort of a moment to say, again, you know, it's the pizza that we've ordered, so to speak. This is now a place where, you know, when mistakes are being made in Silicon Valley, that's sort of the concept and the idea.

[07:40:00]

So, you know, it's sort of for everyone who has been familiar with that in startup culture. It feels like that's sort of where we are, like almost where we have a dot com instead of a country, in some ways.

GRINGLAS: But the stakes do feel a lot higher here because let's remember what we're talking about in terms of the programs. I read that one of the programs affected by this 20 percent mistake was an office involved in helping municipalities work on removing lead from pipes and water infrastructure. And a project was underway in Milwaukee when this program was pulled apart.

And so, there are immediate consequences when this happens. So, it's not just, you know, a company is experimenting, but you know, people's jobs, but also programs that people rely on in this country.

JORDAN: Oh, yes. The CDC here in Atlanta, again, you're seeing, you know, a lot of things happening where, you know, we are still dealing with, you know, the possibilities of a bird flu and other pandemics that we're talking about. So, I'm not exactly sure what the logic is behind some of these decisions, but it does feel as if, you know, that's the ideas that we'll figure it out as we go and maybe that is the new way of doing things in terms of the how we get business accomplished. But I do think it is something that not everybody's familiar with.

DR. SMITH: No. I mean, I think that makes sense. I mean, the way that you framed it makes a lot of sense to me, but now you're asking the American people to, all of a sudden, turn into venture capitalists. I don't think most people think about like, you know, having lead free water as something that they want to take risks at, right?

Venture capitalists take risks, and they're willing to have a, OK, break it, and let's fix it. We learn from our mistakes. Well, it's hard to learn from having lead in your water. I mean, that's only going to have negative consequences.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Let's talk about something -- let's talk about some sports related right at the edge there. So, a lot of people sitting watching the games. Master starts this week, of course, we're talking about the final four championships. Surgeries spike this time of year, but a specific surgery to my all-male panel, vasectomies. 50 percent increase in surgeries and calls. Everybody got real serious. A 50 percent increase.

And urology centers are marketing toward men to say, listen, this is the time. If you have some time that you need to just sit and watch a game, this is the time to give us a call. There's one in Oregon that said -- they're giving out free t-shirts that says lower your seed. They're going for, you know, the seed on both sides. I didn't know where I was going to take this conversation. What do you think?

GRINGLAS: Look, I'm all for men taking responsibility in reproductive family decisions. But I got to say, as soon as my Michigan Wolverines were out of the tournament, I was a little checked out on March Madness.

BLACKWELL: Yes. No need to sit back and watch.

JORDAN: Yes. OK. March Madness indeed is what I'm thinking. But I mean, in the same time, I mean, I don't, I -- you never quite know where, you know people's heads are. So, I'm just always curious, it's like, well, again, what kind of research and data has been done around this time? I mean, are more babies being born in March and April than other before? I mean, I was born in September. And you know, I think it was just cold around that time of year when all of the September babies were being made. But I don't know, like why, all of a sudden, in March are we seeing this sort of advertisement?

BLACKWELL: Well, the reason is because you have to sit and recover.

JORDAN: Right.

BLACKWELL: And so, that could be your excuse to be able to sit and watch the game. It's like if you got to take the time off, well, you can say, well, I had to take the time off for the vasectomy. So, while I'm here I might as well just sit and watch basketball and golf for the next couple of weeks.

DR. SMITH: No, no, no. OK. I can't do anything else, I might as well partake --

BLACKWELL: I might as well.

DR. SMITH: -- sports.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they had advertised this in Oregon. Enjoy your vacation even more. Get ahead of the summer rush when you don't have to worry about an unplanned pregnancy. That's their branding and promotion, not mine. All right. One more thing here, Popeye's has a new menu and an interesting ingredient, pickles. They've got pickle glaze sandwich, pickled -- fried pickles and sweet savory pickled lemonade. Now, I could get into fried pickles. I've had them before. Pickle glazed sandwich, OK, I'm cool with that. Pickle and lemonade. I don't know.

JORDAN: You ever had a pickle batch?

BLACKWELL: No. What's that?

JORDAN: It's a drink. It's a like a shot.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JORDAN: But actually, pickle juice is actually -- you can use it for all kinds of things. So, I'd love to see about some pickle brine. I wouldn't go so far as to dismiss it before you get a chance to really try the pickled lemonade. It might be up your alley.

BLACKWELL: Sweet, savory lemonade. I don't know.

GRINGLAS: OK. I saw the commercial when I was in the green room before we got on today, and it was not looking appetizing to me. And -- but I got to say I'm not a pickle person, old dill not my thing.

JORDAN: I think we need more fermentation than -- you know what I mean? Like I think it's a good thing.

BLACKWELL: All right. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being with me this morning for the morning roundup. All right. The matches are set. The men's and women's NCAA basketball championships. We'll have your march badness highlights after the break.

[07:45:00]

And a new episode of United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper follows the story of Anna Delvey over a few short years. She was able to con banks, hotels, and businesses, and even friends by claiming to be a German heiress. Despite her eventual theft, conviction, Anna celebrity continues to grow. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It says on her reservation that she is a friend of Aby Rosen. So, she avoids putting down a credit card. She's going to pay by her wire transfer. It wasn't a lie. She was in negotiations to purchase a building at 281 Park Avenue, which is owned by Aby Rosen.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Despite being as broke as your average 20 something in New York, Anna was negotiating a lease for a $50 million headquarters for her arts foundation. Anna had already charmed the beautiful people of New York. And now, armed with a few Photoshopped documents and unshakeable confidence, she'd get an investment back to flip the bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: A new episode of United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

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[07:50:00]

BLACKWELL: After an epic ending to one men's final four game and an upset in another, tomorrow night's championship game will see the Houston Cougars face off against the Florida Gators. CNN's Coy Wire is covering how one of the best nights of basketball played out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: March Madness turned April absurdity with four teams, four student sections, four bands, and fan bases, all filing in under one roof on the same day. The final four is one of the greatest sporting events on the planet. And this one, in front of 68,000 people, lived up to all the hype.

The Duke Blue Devil's overwhelming favorites to win it all coming in led almost the entire game. Freshman phenom, Cooper Flagg, was everywhere. Sick passes, vicious blocks. A game high 27 points. But Kelvin Sampson's Cougars showed the resilience and fight that produced a rally that was fit for an all-time classic finish.

Down six, Emanuel Sharp sharpshooter, hits a huge three, bringing them within three. Then they steal the inbound pass, missed a three-point attempt, but Joseph Tugler slams home the rebound, bringing it within one. And after a Duke foul, Houston hits two free throws to take the lead with 19 seconds to go. Duke gets it to their star, but Cooper Flagg's final shot comes up short in the Cougs and this stadium erupt. Their fans couldn't believe what they'd just seen, neither could Dukes. Houston pulls off the unthinkable 70 to 67 upset win advancing to the national title game.

KELVIN SAMPSON: No one ever loses at anything as long as you don't quit. Now, when you quit, then I don't care if you've lost.

J'WAN ROBERTS, HOUSTON FORWARD: Looking at the time and looking at the clock, you know, I feel like we just believed in ourself and we -- like we had a feeling that we can still win the game.

SAMPSON: Don't sleep on Houston. Don't sleep on Houston.

WIRE: In the early game, Florida coach Todd Golden facing his mentor, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, also a slug fest. Their teams going back and forth throwing haymakers like Alijah Martin's statement dunk with about five minutes to go. But the Gator' Walter Clayton Jr. had his moment. Started his career at Iona, which has about 4,000 students. And now, on the sport's biggest stage, he scores 34 points, becoming the first player since Larry Bird to score 30 or more in an Elite Eight and Final Four in a single tourney. After a 79 73 win, Clayton Clutch and his coach, Todd Golden, reflect on the epic night.

WALTER CLAYTON JR., FLORIDA GUARD: Man, I just got a bunch of guys around me that trust me and I say it all the time, man, them guys trust me to take those shots. You know, some nights they fall. And tonight, was one of those nights.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your coach didn't even know you had 34 points.

TODD GOLDEN, FLORIDA HEAD COACH: I'm just used to seeing him put the ball in the basket, I guess. But he's done what he is done all year for us and big moments, stepped up, hit huge shots, settled our team down, and made winning plays when we needed him the most.

WIRE: The stage is set. The Florida Gators going for their first title in 18 years against the Houston Cougars, who's never won a title, but now they have a chance to get one in their home state. It all goes down right here with some Monday Night Madness.

Coy Wire, CNN, San Antonio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Coy. And the women's NCAA Championship Game will tip off later today. Two powerhouse programs gearing up to battle it out in Tampa. South Carolina Gamecocks are looking to win their third national title in four seasons and the University of Connecticut. The Huskies, they're ready for revenge after South Carolina beat them in the 2022 National Championship. If the Huskies win, this would mark the team's record-breaking 12th national title. Highly anticipated showdown starts at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

All right. Let's leave you with a smile this Sunday morning. The National Cherry Blossom Festival, full bloom this weekend in Washington. But for one family, a photo shoot captured more than Washington's symbol of the return of spring. How about a snapshot of Bell Preston and her little brother Thomas, with those pink perennials framing the scene photo bombed by former President Obama?

Just is on a casual stroll. Oblivious to the camera, apparently. The kids who wouldn't know him anyway, blissfully unaware. But for the parents, this took a minute to sink in.

[07:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PORTIA MOORE, CHILDREN PHOTOBOMBED BY FORMER PRESIDENT OBAMA: So, once they finished the shoot, I picked him up and I was like, what did you say? And he was like, that's President Obama. And I was like, oh, my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Being surprised the president walking by, you know, they can't say that we met the president when they're older, but they can say, I do have a picture with the former president. Something to hold on to.

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. We'll see you next week. Inside Politics with Manu Raju is up next.

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[08:00:00]