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CNN This Morning
Pope Gives Easter Blessing In Highest Profile Appearance Yet; Ukraine: Fighting Continues Despite Putin's Easter Truce; Two Killed In Central Oklahoma When Vehicle Is Swept Away In Major Flooding; WH: "Very Good Progress" Made During Iran Nuclear Talks; Protesters Nationwide Rally Against Trump Administration; Trump Urges Supreme Court To Allow Non-Alien Enemies Act Deportations; Federal Funding Cutbacks Leave Some Migrant Kids To Navigate Immigration Court Without A Lawyer; Trump Admin Doubles Down On Painting Abrego Garcia As MS-13 Gang Member; Carville Calls Hogg "Contemptible Little Twerp"; Blue Origin Flight Backlash; Peeps Top-Searched Easter Candy; Two Killed in Oklahoma Flooding. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired April 20, 2025 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[07:00:36]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Welcome to CNN This Morning. It's Sunday, April 20th. Happy Easter to you. I'm Victor Blackwell.
Here's what's happening this morning. Easter Sunday mass just wrapped up at the Vatican. Pope Francis made an appearance there to huge cheers just a short time ago. We'll take you there in just a moment.
Also, demonstrators held more than 80 protests against the Trump administration across the country Saturday. Organizers called it a national day of action. They're protesting what they call an assault on Democratic institutions and civil liberties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declares a temporary Easter truce in Ukraine. But the situation tells a different story on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
GAYLE KING, BROADCAST JOURNALIST, CBS NEWS: My question is, have you all been in Space? Have you been in Space?
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BLACKWELL: Gayle King claps back at critics of her Blue Origin spaceflight, telling critics, "I'm not going to let you steal our joy".
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we're looking at a live look at some strong to severe thunderstorms making their way across the Southern Plains and heading to the Midwest. We'll detail the timeline coming up in a few minutes.
BLACKWELL: All right, here's the moment Pope Francis appearing before delighted crowds gathered in Vatican Square for Easter Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
POPE FRANCIS, SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE (through translation): Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BLACKWELL: The 88-year-old pontiff gave the traditional Easter blessing, which only the Pope can give. His voice noticeably weaker as he continues to recover from having double pneumonia. The Pope also met briefly with Vice President JD Vance and the two exchanged Easter greetings.
CNN's Christopher Lamb is live in Rome. Christopher, the Pope's appearance came as a great surprise, welcomed by the thousands of people there.
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Victor. The Pope appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's behind me at midday local time to offer the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing to the city of Rome and to the world. There was an expectation that he would do that. But of course, no one really knows at this point whether the Pope will turn up to events.
He's been making a lot of last minute appearances as he continues to recover from double pneumonia. The Pope didn't just go out to the balcony. He also delighted the crowd by getting onto his Popemobile and circling St. Peter's Square, meeting people.
There were children brought up to his Popemobile for him to bless. And he went round the crowd, which gathered in sizable numbers on Easter Sunday. It's the first time the Pope has been in the Popemobile since his hospitalization.
Really, today, Easter Sunday marks the most high profile appearance by the Pope since he was in hospital for double pneumonia, a condition that almost took his life. We were told by doctors that he came close to death on two occasions, but he is back in the Vatican. He's been back for almost a month and he is recovering slowly.
He's still, though, unable to speak for long periods of time. He had to delegate the reading of his Easter Sunday address to an aide. But he was able to offer that important Easter blessing and to go out into the square and greet the crowd.
Now, although Francis is recovering from what has been the most serious health crisis of his pontificate, he is trying his best to be present amongst people to adapt his ministry as best he can to the conditions. And he really did delight people today by getting out into the Square, greeting people and being among them.
And this is where Francis is at his happiest. He loves to be among the people. He was determined to do that today. Victor? BLACKWELL: Christopher Lamb for us there in Rome. Christopher, thank you.
Ukrainians in Kyiv woke to the sounds of air raid sirens overnight, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring a brief truce for the Easter holiday.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
(SIRENS)
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BLACKWELL: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has said that he was skeptical of Putin's truce. And just hours after Putin's announcement, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had recorded hundreds of instances of Russian shelling on the front lines. Putin said the truce would help Russia determine how sincere Kyiv is about wanting to reach a ceasefire.
[07:05:04]
His announcement comes at a pivotal moment for the war. As the U.S. warned, it was ready to move on from peace efforts within days of no tangible progress they've made.
Overnight, rescue crews recovered the bodies of two people from a vehicle swept off the road by major flooding in Oklahoma. Police in Moore, Oklahoma said that they had more than a dozen calls for help from residents trapped by the floods. The flooding is part of that severe weather that struck several states across the South, causing multiple tornado and flood warnings to be issued.
CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is back with us now. What are we looking at for the rest of this Easter Sunday?
CHINCHAR: Right. So we've got that overnight round that's kind of wrapping up. But then once the sun comes back out, that's going to start up a whole new wave of strong to severe thunderstorms, but in a slightly different area. So that's going to be the key.
Even if you see some of those storms on the radar right now, that doesn't mean that's where they're going to stay. Look at this. This entire map shows you where all those severe thunderstorm reports have been over the last 24 to 36 hours.
They stretch from Texas all the way up into the Northeast. And we had a variety of them. Hail reports, tornado reports, damaging wind reports. And we're still looking at those strong to severe thunderstorms right now.
You've got a severe thunderstorm watch valid until 8:00 a.m. across portions of Missouri. But you can see even some of those stronger thunderstorms are a little bit farther south, too. So, again, it's this whole system itself that's going to continue to slide off towards the east in the coming hour. So, again, a lot of these same states that saw the rain overnight are going to continue to see it. Nick (ph), if you could do me a favor and hit that space bar for me, push this along for me so we can kind of see where those storms are expected to go through the rest of the day.
Again, most of these right now are over portions of Missouri and Texas. You can see that large cluster right there, lots of lightning. And we've even had some severe thunderstorm warnings going off and on. But we also have some more storms farther south. Even portions of Texas and Oklahoma have started to see more of those storms throughout the morning.
Now, the one thing to note is that as we go through the rest of the day, they're going to continue to spread into the rest of the Midwest. And that's where you're going to see some more of those storms. Here's the look.
Now, we did have a tornado watch in effect earlier here this morning. That has since gone away. But the storms themselves are going to continue through the rest of the day. So, again, Victor, something we'll have to keep a close eye on.
BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thank you.
The Trump administration says it's optimistic after a second round of nuclear talks with Iranian officials. A senior official told CNN that they made very good progress during Saturday's talks in Rome and a third round is in the works.
CNN's Betsy Klein has more for us.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: There's cautious optimism from the U.S. and Iran following very high stakes talks in Rome on Saturday between the U.S. led by special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, Iran's foreign minister, and moderated by Oman's foreign minister.
President Trump and his team really seeking a diplomatic solution here. And this is the second round of indirect talks. And I say indirect because Oman's foreign minister essentially shuttled messages back and forth between these two siloed sides.
But we did get a readout from a senior administration official who tells CNN, quote, "We made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions. We agreed to meet again next week and are grateful to our Omani partners for facilitating these talks and to our Italian partners for hosting us".
This after the Iranian foreign minister said that there was, quote, "movement forward" and agreement on some principles. These talks come after there has been some mixed messaging from the Trump administration on whether or how much uranium it would allow Iran to continue to refine.
Steve Witkoff clarifying in a statement last week, "Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program". Key word there, of course, is eliminate. It also comes after a New York Times report that President Trump to waive Israel off of attacking an Iranian nuclear facility to allow some more time and space for these negotiations to progress. But Trump continues to say that if a deal isn't reached, there will be consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm for stopping Iran very simply from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.
With Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. And if they have a nuclear weapon, you'll all be very unhappy. You'll be very unhappy because your life, your life -- your life will be in great danger.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
KLEIN: Now, we expect a third round of talks to take place next Saturday in Oman. We also expect technical discussions with experts to get underway on Wednesday. But so many questions about if and whether a deal can be reached and how it could be different from that 2015 Obama era deal that Trump pulled out of back in 2018.
Betsy Klein, CNN, the White House.
BLACKWELL: All right, Betsy, thank you.
Saturday marked another round of protests against the Trump administration across the country. Part of the 50501 demonstration, short for 50 protests, 50 state, one movement.
[07:10:12]
But there were more than 50 protests. People marched in more than 80 events.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We gather here today to send a message. We will not stand by and let the government take a chainsaw to our public services.
CROWD: Yes!
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BLACKWELL: It wasn't just protests. Communities banded together through food drives, donation campaigns, also to support those affected by the administration's policies.
CNN's Rafael Romo was at the demonstration here in Atlanta.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People are chanting things like regulate guns, not women, no mass deportations. America has no kings. Defend our Constitution. Save the CDC and resist fascism and white supremacy. We're standing at the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue here in Atlanta.
This is a protest that started around noon. It's still going on. These people earlier today started marching north here in the Midtown neighborhood towards Piedmont Park, the historic Piedmont Park.
They went as far north as 14th Street, where the Peace Monument is located. They say they want to put an end to some of the things that they're seeing from the Trump administration. They were very specific that they do not agree with the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. And they say that he should be brought back to this country.
A lot of the protesters here are expressing feelings of friendship, feelings of camaraderie, as you have seen. And so far, they have not blocked any streets. They have not blocked any of the sidewalks. We earlier saw Atlanta police come to this location, but only to keep an eye on things because it has been peaceful.
One thing I have to say, though, is that this protest is considerably smaller than what we saw here a couple of weeks ago, when thousands upon thousands of people marched from this area here near Piedmont Park, several miles to the Georgia state capital.
But they say this is only the beginning. They're talking about resisting the current government, and they say they are here to stay. Again, something that has been mirrored in other cities. There was a protest today also in Washington, D.C. and other places around the country.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
BLACKWELL: Last month, the Trump administration cut off federal funding to legal services for 26,000 unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. How the youngest migrants are left to navigate the complicated court system on their own.
And the Democratic National Committee's Vice Chair, David Hogg, is planning to spend tens of millions of dollars to oust lawmakers in his own party. A panel will weigh in on the infighting.
And, yes, it's Easter Sunday, and it's the time of year when peeps start popping up again. A look at some of the top Easter candy a little later on CNN This Morning weekend.
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[07:18:03]
BLACKWELL: The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court for permission to deport a group of Venezuelans under regular immigration laws while their cases play out in court. Now, the administration's lawyer urged the courts to lift its temporary block and argued lower court should review the case first.
He also asked for clarity that migrants can still be removed under standard procedures, not just the Alien Enemies Act. The ACLU sued after some Venezuelans were targeted under that 1798 law. And although lower courts denied the challenge, the Supreme Court paused removals.
The Trump administration's immigration crackdown and budget cuts are hitting some of the youngest and most vulnerable people in the system hard. Attorneys say some children, either arriving alone or separated from their parents, are being forced to face immigration judges without a lawyer by their side.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVELYN FLORES, MANAGING PARALEGAL CHILDREN'S PROGRAM, AMICA CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS (through translation): They had to cross the border of Mexico and the United States.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This story time starts at the U.S. southern border. It's a tale for children who crossed into the United States alone and are in government custody.
Fulanito, a cartoon cat, is supposed to represent them. The lesson, almost impossible to imagine for a child, how to navigate the U.S. immigration system alone.
FLORES (through translation): A very important right that Fulanito has now that he is in the United States is the right to go to immigration court.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Evelyn Flores of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights gives this presentation to kids in custody weekly. And she's not alone. Legal service providers serve a critical role for unaccompanied kids, whether preparing for court or getting ready for school.
Now, those lessons are taking on added significance amid concerns that children will be stripped of the very legal services they need.
ALVAREZ: This image that you share in your storytelling could be all a child has to get through their immigration proceedings.
FLORES: Yes.
[07:20:02]
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The termination of a federal contract for legal services has left organizations like Amica scrambling, and the thousands of children they and others serve potentially facing deportation proceedings alone.
Without attorneys, advocates say, kids don't stand a chance.
SCOTT BASSETT, MANAGING ATTORNEY, CHILDREN'S PROGRAM, AMICA CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: The system is just too complicated for a child to succeed alone without an attorney. To ask a 12-year-old to do that without the support of an adult, much less one trained in the complicated world of immigration law, it's just not feasible. It can't happen. ALVAREZ (voice-over): A child's deportation proceedings start shortly after they cross into the United States, similar to an adult.
WENDY YOUNG, PRESIDENT, KIDS IN NEED OF DEFENSE: I was in a court last summer where a 3-year-old was in proceedings. He played with his toy car in the aisle of the courtroom until he was called, and then a young woman picked him up and brought him to the front of the courtroom.
I knew that child knew something dramatic was about to happen. He started crying. He was inconsolable at that point.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Under U.S. law, immigrants don't have a right to counsel at the government's expense, not even children, leaving them to depend on volunteer lawyers or NGOs.
YOUNG: Federal support is everything. Without those monies, we would probably see more like 90 percent of these kids going through proceedings without counsel.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): In March, the Trump administration cut off federally funded legal services for 26,000 unaccompanied children in the United States, prompting lawsuits. A federal judge has since ordered the administration to temporarily restore funding, but to date, that hasn't happened.
The uncertainty has led to staff layoffs and disrupted legal services for kids. As the administration cracks down on immigration, experts argue that taking away attorneys will only hurt efforts to get migrant kids to court.
BASSETT: The dinosaur and the unicorn --
ALVAREZ: OK.
BASSETT: -- are huge hits.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Organizations who work with migrant children often have to get creative to get the kids to open up. Children often color as they share why they fled their home countries and get acquainted with attorneys.
BASSETT: They get thrown off the walls --
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Or they play with stress balls. One group in Michigan even has toy court sets for one-on-one legal screenings with kids.
YOUNG: We'll have toddlers running all over the place, and my staff is explaining to them using toys, crayons, chalkboards, what their rights are in the immigration system. And it's both -- something that's both very poignant, it's very joyful, but there's also a tremendous sense of gravity to it.
ALVAREZ: It's a nursery school where the lesson is how to fight your deportation proceedings. YOUNG: That's exactly right.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: All right, still to come, they have no arrests, no connection to student protests or encampments. But hundreds of international students have found themselves caught up in the President's immigration crackdown. More in their fight to stay in the country.
And Drake, Drake? If you haven't heard it, it's Soulja Boy, expanding his legal battle over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" diss track. The new allegations Drake has leveled against his own record label.
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[07:27:32]
BLACKWELL: We're following that ongoing immigration battle over a Maryland father deported to El Salvador who the Trump administration claims is a violent member of the MS-13 gang.
Joining me now, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Race and Culture Reporter Ernie Suggs, CNN Legal Analyst Michael Moore, and Rose Scott of WABE. Welcome to you all.
So this week, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen went over to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, both the White House and Senator Van Hollen. They believe that they're on the right side of this, not just morally, but politically.
Ernie, let me start with you. Who has the political advantage here after this week?
ERNIE SUGGS, RACE & CULTURE REPORTER, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Well, I think the -- Van Hollen does. I think that what we're seeing right now is a White House that has a lot of power and is expressing that power. And he's expressing that power in a way that is defying what the courts are saying.
So you have a White House who has -- who -- you have a president who controls the White House, who controls the House and the Senate, who now controls the -- it looks like he's -- he controls the Supreme Court because he's defying the Supreme Court by not allowing Garcia to come back into the country.
So, I think what we're seeing now is just a tide that's changing, a shifting of America, a shifting of how we see and how we operate in America by not letting this guy come back into the country.
BLACKWELL: And Rose, the White House, though, they believe this plays right into their sweet spot.
ROSE SCOTT, WABE-FM, ATLANTA AND HOST, "CLOSER LOOK": You know, as Ernie said, there's this shift, right? So there is the shift to politics, the political aspect of this. But at the core of this, obviously, is the dispute between these two branches, judicial and executive.
What has to happen, it appears, is that if it -- well, what we hope will happen is that will there be some sort of compromise here? The Trump administration is not known thus far for willing to compromise or admit, other than admitting that they wrongly deported this gentleman.
This shift now that it's being political may weigh in the favor of the Democrats. It may not. Who knows? Because the Trump administration is not one that really reacts to something like this. They're going to stick to the playbook unless there's enough pressure. That is the question.
Will there be enough pressure for them to shift from the playbook of their responses that we've been seeing so far with this particular issue?
BLACKWELL: On the legal element of this, Michael, they claim that, the White House, that this is a member of MS-13.
MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.
BLACKWELL: And if they had stronger evidence, they'd release that, right?
[07:30:00]
MOORE: Yes, I think there's no question they would release it. This case, a long time ago, stopped being about him, right? This -- and really from our -- I think as the public, this case really is about us, right? So, when the White House feels like that they're losing on a legal front, they start throwing the dirt at him. He becomes a potential wife beater. He becomes a gang member. He may have some type -- they do these things to sort of shift the focus back on him. And he really saw, I think that they knew they were in a hole in their legal argument when they brought in the mother of that poor girl who was killed by somebody totally unrelated, had nothing to do with him, had nothing to do with this case, but they wanted to sort of shift the narrative back to be talking about gangs and illegal gangs and this type of thing.
So, you know, I think if they had the evidence, they would put it up. I think it would help them both in the court. But now, the question will be whether or not the Supreme Court takes it and decides, no, this has really nothing to do with him, this is about whether or not we give due process as a whole. Because once you start chipping away on an individual case, it becomes easier to get on the slippery slope and those protections are gone.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCOTT: And then, what Supreme Court will show up.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCOTT: If it does come down into this.
BLACKWELL: That's true. Because the Supreme Court, over the weekend, did give a bit of a loss to the administration saying that they cannot, for the moment, deport those migrants that are standing by in Texas. Let's talk about the DNC and David Hogg. Vice chair of the DNC, who's also announced this $20 million effort through his organization, Leaders We Deserve, to support younger Democratic candidates to primary Democrats. He says they're in safe blue districts. So, it's not as if there's some expectation that it'll go to Republicans. But there are some who are absolutely outraged by this. James Carville is one of them. Let's play what James Carville said about David Hogg's plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You have a fiduciary duty to your employer, which we -- anybody can understand. He's being paid to run against other Democrats. I think it's an outbreak. I'm a -- I'm -- if -- I don't know if I have standing, but I might give the DNC $10 and then sue him. He's a contemptible little twerp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Ernie, it seems, I mean, that does seem like a conflict of interest.
SUGGS: Well, when -- you know, when James Culver called you a twerp, that's serious.
BLACKWELL: Contemptible little twerp, not just any twerp.
SUGGS: Yes, exactly. But I think that David Hogg -- I think what he's doing, he's representing what the Democrats are dealing with now, and they're flailing. They're looking for ways to get out of this. They're looking for ways to appear whole because they have no counter to what the Republicans and what Donald Trump is doing.
So, David Hogg, what he is doing now is saying, OK, let's come up with a plan. Let's come up with something that we can -- that the Democrats can at least look formidable, at least look like they're fighting back. Is it a right decision? Carville says, no. That's left up to debate. But I think that he's trying at least to do something.
SCOTT: Listen, wake up calls are great, right? Sometimes you need that young pup out there. Listen, as Ernie said, Democrats are -- they have some -- they have an issue right now.
BLACKWELL: 29 percent approval rating according to CNN's latest poll.
SCOTT: And you talk to the under 35 crowd, they will tell you that they have issues, whether it's progressives or those who are a little bit more to the center. Whatever the solution will be, but it's a wakeup call for the Democrats. And perhaps now, they should take -- at least take the opportunity instead of name calling to maybe see if they can work within their own party to have some success here, especially with the, you know, midterms coming up next year.
MOORE: It seems a little naive on his part, maybe a little young, I think and maybe not the best strategic move as he's going forward. I think if he's going to take the party's money and he wants to do something, don't just go after safe blue districts. Spend the money somewhere where you're going to make a difference.
If you look, the Democrats have fairly -- have been fairly united in the House on -- it's been votes on marginal Republicans that they've tried to pull over to move things one way or another. Those seems like places to me where they could make end runs. It doesn't make a lot of sense that you go attack your own just to say that you're doing something. You should probably be trying to attack the other side if that's the case.
And I would've liked to seen maybe a little -- his story is great. I'm not -- I mean, I don't fault him for, you know, for -- try -- you know, trying to get out there. But I would've liked to see maybe a little wiser, more tempered hand, come in and say here's where we think we can make a difference. Because where we lost, I think, as well is the middle group. And so, you don't win that back by playing to, you know, a far-left faction of a group in a blue district, I think.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SUGGS: But -- no. But you said the wiser hand, I'm not sure if they're listening to the wiser hand.
MOORE: It may be. I mean --
SUGGS: President Obama said he wanted an open primary before this, you know. And President Clinton told the Harris campaign that they need to address these Super Bowl ads or these football ads, and never -- they never addressed it.
[07:35:00]
So, I think that wiser hand is something that they're not looking for right now. And David Hogg seems to be the future.
MOORE: Yes, we just don't have -- we don't have a long runway to make a change. We don't have a long run runway to convince people. I mean, something's got to happen. We need to take the House back in two years. I think the Democrats are looking to do that. And if -- you know, sort of just trying things, to be trying them now's not the time to do that. We need a plan and a way to move forward.
BLACKWELL: All right. Rose, Michael, Ernie, stay with us because we're talking Gayle and Blue Origin. Have you been to space? And we're talking Easter, Drake. It's all coming up, Morning Roundup, when we get right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:40:00] BLACKWELL: All right. Back now with Ernie, Michael, and Rose. Let's talk about this Blue Origin flight that's getting a lot of backlash. Gayle King -- also Katy Perry is catching it too from some people. They went up on this 10-minute flight and there are people who are criticizing. It says that this was not a mission, it was not as it was this built, this great moment for women. Let's play Gayle King's response to the backlash. It's getting its own backlash now.
OK. So, we don't have the sound. But Gayle said at some point, have you been to space? I think we have it now. Let's play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAYLE KING, CBS ANCHOR: Two of the astronauts -- I still have a hard time calling myself an astronaut, but two of the astronauts on board, one is a rocket scientist, one is an astrophysicist activist. We're actually doing it -- doing experiments. But every time one of those goes up, you get some information that can be used for something else. So, I wish people would do more due diligence. And then my question is, have you all been into space? Have you been in space?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Is it tone deaf?
SCOTT: Yes. I think so. Listen, as a private citizen, I really don't have an interest in doing that. Maybe it was for charity or I was documenting some kids going. As a journalist, I would not be going because of the company, but people are free to do what they want to do. And so, when you do something that's public, then the backlash, your response probably is going to get a little bit more attention as well.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCOTT: And I think -- and again, everyone has their own response, but, you know, sometimes you just got to kind of move on, you know.
SUGGS: And to answer Gayle King, I've never been to space. Everyone knows that. But yes, I think, you know, the response -- you know, look, you know, these women who went up there, they did it. But the response after they got back has been a bit tone deaf. And, you know, Katy Perry and Gayle and what they've said, you know, they're not astronauts. You know, the -- you know, that's been documented. But, you know, I think that, you know, when you do something like this that's risky and when you do something like this that is not necessarily going along with what is the norm, you have to understand what the backlash is going to be. And I don't think that they understood what the backlash is going to be.
BLACKWELL: Here's what I don't understand, is that the people were critical even before they went up, right, there were people who were criticizing this this crew. There wasn't this criticism when William Shatner went up and inflation was higher. There was -- it was the height of the pandemic. It was October of 2021. So, why did we see this here when we didn't see it for him when he went up four years ago?
SUGGS: I think it was all also the preparation. You look at the photographs that they took, that, you know, they're all glammed up. And it was about these women who were gone to go to space and be scientists. And I think that that right there was kind of the critical part that the public was like, OK, what's going on with this? And I think that you, -- with -- you talked about William Shatner, you know, he went up. He went up quietly, almost quietly. But these women kind of went up loudly. And I'm not saying anything wrong with loud, aggressive, smart women doing things, but I think just the way that they approached it gave the wrong impression.
SCOTT: And I want to be fair too, because often there is a bit of a double standard when it comes to what women do and what men do. And folks had an issue with it because why they were celebrities or because Gayle was a journalist, I'm not sure. I think what Ernie point is to be taken at perhaps the preparation, but the end of the day too, you know, if it was for some type of campaign or awareness, if it's to inspire young little girls, hey, I'm all for that as well.
Again, I don't really care about the why, my issue is with the response because then your response says a lot about then perhaps why you did it in first place.
BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. let's talk Easter now. Easter candy. The National Retail Federation says that Americans will spend $23.6 billion on Easter this year. 92 percent of people surveyed will spend money on candy. And Google shows that there's one candy, that we've been talking about during the break, that is Googled more than any other in more than 35 states. It's Peeps.
That's not the response I was hoping for because I come bearing gifts for our panelists. I give you purple here. I'll pass the pink to you. Blue down to Ernie. I'll keep the classic yellow here. What do you all think? Fans of Peeps?
[07:45:00]
SCOTT: No.
SUGGS: When you invited us, they said breakfast.
BLACKWELL: Oh, yes. This is it. This is it.
SCOTT: Are we supposed to eat these?
BLACKWELL: Yes. Come on. Oh, well just have a Peep with you. And so, the list of the top 10 candies, this according to Instacart, surprisingly Peep --
SUGGS: I already ripped mine in half. Let me get another one. Sorry.
BLACKWELL: Surprisingly Peeps' not on the list of the top candies from Instacart. Do you know what the top candy is?
SCOTT: Reese's? BLACKWELL: Yes. Reese's peanut butter eggs and Reese's peanut butter cups number two. I don't know why they get two spots on this. They don't taste different, do they?
MOORE: They look different.
SUGGS: They're a little different.
BLACKWELL: All right. Peep.
SUGGS: All right. You ready?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCOTT: I am not eating those.
BLACKWELL: Come on, Rose.
SCOTT: It is too early in the morning.
BLACKWELL: Come on. I've been up since 12:30.
SCOTT: My Dennis is probably watching.
BLACKWELL: It's just the one. There you go.
SUGGS: I got to say, it's not as bad as I thought it was.
BLACKWELL: See, it is not the Peep you remember.
SCOTT: It's just sugar.
BLACKWELL: It's just sugar all.
MOORE: All sugar.
BLACKWELL: It's all sugar. So, let's put up the list again. The top 10 candies. Half of these, I've never even had. Some of them I haven't seen in stores. You got the Cadbury Mini Eggs, which I've never had a Cadbury Mini Egg. Hersch's Milk Chocolate, I don't know if that's necessarily just an Easter candy or just something that sneaks into the baskets. That's something uniquely Easter. Cadbury Cream Egg, never had that. I've got producers giving me like the details of candy in my -- or it comes in the egg. Thank you, Kristen (ph). Hershey Milk Chocolate Candy Eggs. Kinder Chocolate Candy Egg with a toy inside. No, I've never seen that.
SCOTT: Sometimes you just need a good old fashioned --
MOORE: Peep.
SCOTT: -- chocolate Easter bunny. That's all you need.
BLACKWELL: But what did the -- jelly beans didn't make the list of the top 10?
MOORE: Well, Not the little eggs, the little malted eggs.
BLACKWELL: Oh, those are the ones, yes.
MOORE: And the little milk. A little car boil -- yes.
BLACKWELL: Mine are also the Robins Eggs. That's what speckled ones. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's it. All right. Ernie, Michael, Rose, thank you for eating a piece of ear of the piece.
SCOTT: This was rough.
BLACKWELL: We'll take a break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:50:00]
BLACKWELL: This morning, new video coming in of the major flooding in Oklahoma. Overnight, rescue crews recovered the bodies of two people from a vehicle swept off the road by the flooding. At one point during the storm police in Moore, Oklahoma said that they were responding to two dozen reports of cars swept away or stuck in the floodwater. CNN's, Allison Chinchar has the latest. What are you seeing?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right. So, we've got both a flood threat and a severe threat going into today. Right now, this is where all the flood watches are. The red boxes indicate flash flood warnings. That means it is actively flooding at that moment. The green means kind of at any point today, the conditions are ripe for flooding to occur. In addition to that, you've also got the potential for severe thunderstorms in some of those same exact areas where we're talking about flooding.
But this is going to be a wider threat. It begins in the Southern Plains, then spreads into the Midwest as we go through the day, damaging winds, large hail, perhaps golf balls are larger, and then, yes, even the potential for some tornadoes.
You can see as we go through the morning, again, you're still focused, still is across Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. But then by the afternoon, then we start to see it spread into Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota. And then it finally starts to spread eastward as we go into the evening hours, and especially overnight. But this also means tomorrow morning, as many are headed out on their commutes, say in Cincinnati, Detroit, and Nashville, it's likely going to be a very soggy start to the day.
BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thank you. It was raining threes in L.A. last night, but not for the Lakers. Superstar, Luka Doncic, who made his playoff debut with the new team. CNN's Coy Wire is here with a look at the action.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORT ANCHOR: Yes, the NBA playoffs are finally officially here after 82 games in the regular season we get some all on the line full throttle hoops. And it was late night when the Lakers were battling those T-Wolves in round one. And L.A. was down big time, down 19 through three quarters until Luka Doncic did that, a half court buzzer beater. The Lakers finished the third on a 17 to six run. Luka finished the game with 37, but Anthony Edwards, Antman and his pack were just packing a punch. Edwards finished with 22. Naz Reid hit six three pointers and an absolute blowout. Minnesota wins by 22 points, 117-95.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JJ REDDICK, LAKERS HEAD COACH: It's not to say our guys weren't like ready to withstand like a playoff level basketball game. We were mentally ready. I thought our spirit was right. I thought even when they made runs, our huddles were great. You know, the communication was great. I mean, I'm not sure physically we were ready and -- if that makes sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: All right. Don't call it a comeback. Actually do. Pistons were up eight over the Knicks with nine minutes to play, but New York went on a 21 to 0 run and it was mama said, knock you out. Knicks star Jalen Brunson erupted for 12 of his game high 34 in the fourth quarter to help propel the Knicks to a 123-112 win in game one. Karl-Anthony Towns, big cat, who scored 23, was asked afterwards about Brunson's performance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNES, KNICKS CENTER: Did you expect anything less? You expect not anything less for the most clutch player in the NBA? This is what he does. That's all. Cap is cap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: four more playoff series tip off today, including two on our sister channel TNT and streaming on Max. Heat-Calves at 7:00 Eastern Warriors-Rockets at 9:30.
Finally, the last two games, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani didn't hit a home run. He missed two games to make a run home to be with his wife, Mamiko. And yesterday, Ohtani announced it's a girl. The couple's first child. He posted, so grateful to my loving wife who gave birth to our healthy, beautiful daughter.
[07:55:00]
And he said, to my daughter, thank you for making us very nervous yet super anxious parents. World Series Champ, three-time MVP now, he's got the greatest title his will ever hold, dad.
BLACKWELL: Yes, indeed.
WIRE: Pretty awesome.
BLACKWELL: Tiny little toes. Tiny little toes.
WIRE: It's so cute. BLACKWELL: Coy, thank you. And you know, I of course thought of you two for Easter. Don't say I never gave you anything, because I saved you Peeps.
WIRE: I saw those things here.
BLACKWELL: There you go.
WIRE: I was peeping your Peeps there.
BLACKWELL: There you go. Grab that one.
WIRE: Thank you very much.
BLACKWELL: Allison, that one's for you. Yes. Grab that. That's for you. That's just a -- you want the huge chunk of sugar that --
WIRE: I was wondering what these yellow specks were all over your green.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes. It's the sugar. Are you all fans of Peeps? Allison, you first?
WIRE: She's like, let me taste --
CHINCHAR: So good.
WIRE: I will never turn down a treat. Thank you very much. I'm going to go dip this in my coffee. See how that sounds.
BLACKWELL: He's not going to eat it. That's what he meant. He's not --
WIRE: You're right. That's what it meant.
BLACKWELL: I'll save this for later. Thanks for watching this morning.
WIRE: Cheers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:00:00]
