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CNN This Morning

U.S. And Iran Race To Find Crew Member From Downed F-15 Jet; Artemis II Leaves Earth Orbit On Way To Circling Moon; U.S. Added Almost 3x The Expected Number Of Jobs In March. Stocks, Oil Prices Volatile Over Middle East Developments; Bondi and Noem Firings Leave Trump Cabinet on Edge; Springs Fire in Southern California Now 25 Percent Contained. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 04, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:29]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN This Morning. Here's what's new right now. First up, it's a race against time and Iran for the U.S. to find the missing crew member of the fighter jet Iran shot down. We're live in the region with the latest on that rescue effort. And significant new strikes on Iran picking up overnight.

Plus, midway to the moon, a major milestone for the astronauts on the Artemis mission. But we're hearing they're having some trouble with toilet on board. We'll get the latest on that. And an incredible new look at our planet from outer space.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been a tremendous amount of disbelief. For me, it's just so extraordinary. I just kept saying to them yesterday, like, I really like it up here. I wish I could have got here sooner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALE: Just incredible. And later. It is April, but March Madness is living up to its name. We'll tell you what's behind this really tense scene on the court after one of last night's women's final four games.

It is Saturday, April 4th. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Victor Blackwell is off. I'm Danny Freeman live from New York.

A lot of news to get to, but right now we begin with the search is on for the missing crew member of a U.S. Air Force jet shot down over Iran. Some of the wreckage was found, including part of the wing of the jet and one of the ejection seats. Another person in the jet has already been found and rescued.

The new video shows low flying aircraft searching for person and dozens of people searching a ridgeline for any sign of the downed aircraft or its missing crew member. Iranian state media promised a reward Friday for anyone who captures the person alive.

Meanwhile, there's other video you're seeing right there appearing to show a group of Iranian police officers shooting at low flying helicopters in the area. Those choppers look like Black Hawks, which Israel and the United States both operate.

Iran is also taking responsibility for striking another U.S. fighter jet, an A10 Thunderbolt 2. Like this one right here. That pilot ejected before crashing and made it to safety.

For more on all this, we have CNN's Paula Hancocks. She's joining us now from Abu Dhabi with the latest developments. Paula, tell us, what more have you learned?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Danny, it was just over 24 hours ago that the Revolutionary Guard first claimed that they had shot down a U.S. fighter jet. And now there is very much a search and rescue ongoing. We know that both sides, the U.S. and Iran, are trying to find that missing crew member at this point.

Now we have seen on Iranian state media that they are offering a reward. Let's listen to exactly what the news anchors are saying.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If you capture and hand over a pilot or pilots of the enemy alive to the law enforcement and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and prize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, state media are also quoting a senior Iranian security commander talking about the fact that they managed to shoot down two jets in just one day, saying that they are using new methods and equipment and innovations in air defense systems. No further details of exactly what that entails.

But also we have been seeing some more strikes against Iran. We have seen damage to the perimeter of the Bushehr nuclear reactor. We understand that this was from state media reported either a U.S. or an Israeli strike. We hear from the U.N. IAEA, the nuclear watchdog. There is no rise in radiation detected, but they are calling once again for all sides to steer clear of nuclear facilities.

This is the fourth time that we have seen this Bushehr nuclear plants be targeted. We also know multiple petrochemical facilities and companies were targeted as well. Some damage to those. State media saying they believe casualties as well.

And when you look at what is coming the other way from Iran, we saw here in the UAE in Dubai, there was an interception of a projectile. The debris of that damaged the facade of the Oracle building in Dubai.

[06:05:00]

Now, this is the U.S. tech giant. It comes after we heard from Iran as well that they had threatened 17 technology companies with being targeted if more of their leadership were killed. And also we know that the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni is in the region. She has been in Saudi Arabia. She's also been quite critical of this Iran war and she's seen as a key ally of President Trump, but not when it comes to this war.

She's in the region to try and secure energy supplies, saying this time we disagree when talking about Trump's decision to carry out this war. Danny.

FREEMAN: A lot of really concerning details coming out of this war. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thank you so much for that reporting.

All right, joining me now for analysis, retired Lieutenant General William Caldwell. Thank you so much, Lieutenant General, for being with us this morning to talk through really a consequential 24 hours. Let's start with the search for that missing crew member.

I mean, let's speak frankly here. What do you think are the chances of this service member still being alive?

LT. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL (RET.) PRESIDENT EMERITUS, GEORGIA MIITARY COLLEGE: Well, Danny, I'll tell you, I think in very high probability at this point. You know, the vice president went on social media and said that we have made contact with that person. That in itself is a very positive sign. That means the person is alive and is able to communicate with us.

Obviously, if they're going to do some sort of extraction, they're going to probably try to do it at night. That's our greatest asset, is night movement. We've got people already. You've heard what happened. So an airplane goes down.

We've flown over 13,000 combat missions. Not one aircraft has gone down during that time period. The fact that one has gone down now and we're not even sure it got shot down, that still hasn't been verified yet by the U.S. military. But we do know it went down.

Two members out, one picked up, one still missing. They think it's the weapons systems officer, the second person in that aircraft. If they're going to move at night. They're not going to move during the daytime. So whoever that person is, they've probably gone to ground.

But our combat search and rescue assets, assets we put into theater way before the war even began, are in there and operating. And those men and women are so incredibly brave. You see them in those photos. They're literally flying low level right over the earth looking for our downed pilot. They'll risk their lives to save that pilot. They really will.

That's why that A10 got hit. You heard the A10 got hit up pretty hard. It was able to get out over the water when that pilot ejected. But that pilot was down there on the, you know, on the ground searching for that other one because that's what we do.

FREEMAN: Yes, no doubt a lot of heroism is about to be on display and has been on display as folks search for these two crew members. Well now just this one, thankfully.

I want to talk though about this concept because you started to speak about this and this is very important in terms of where we are in this war. Since the start of the war, President Trump of course has been, I mean let's say, taking victory laps around Iran's anti-aircraft capabilities. I want you to take a listen to some of the things that he said recently about this.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can't do a thing about it. They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100 percent annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force. We're flying wherever we want, Pete. We have nobody even shooting at us.

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FREEMAN: All right, so Lieutenant General, I take your point that we don't still know exactly what led to this aircraft certainly yesterday ending up leading to those ejections. But listen, Iran is taking credit for striking two U.S. aircraft in the same day.

CALDWELL: Yes.

FREEMAN: From your perspective, has the administration been underestimating Iran's capabilities here or perhaps overestimating our successes?

CALDWELL: I will tell you, any military person knows that there's always a capability that exists. It could happen in the United States of America. There could be a terrorist here already in a sleeper cell that has some asset that could take down an American aircraft.

So, you can never say never when it comes to combat. Those assets will exist. They have manpad, manheld kind of little missiles that you can fire that could shoot at an aircraft. So you'll never eliminate everything.

But what we do have is the ability to at our will, travel where we want to do what we want in the air over Iran today. But it doesn't mean it's not without high risk. And fortunately all of our aviators know that. They're briefed on it, they discuss it, they go through contingency plane every time they get into that a cockpit of their helicopters and airplanes and take off to conduct an operation over Iran.

FREEMAN: We only have about 30 seconds left.

[06:10:00] But I want to ask you, after this particular incident and the promise from President Trump a few days ago that there's likely going to be more escalation, do you feel that we're closer to boots on the ground or a more full deployment in the region?

CALDWELL: From my personal assessment, we've not set the conditions to put boots on the ground. I don't doubt for a minute that we may go in and do a limited strike or limited raid. In fact, I would tell you for this downed pilot, there's no question that there's already special operating forces. They may already be on the ground --

FREEMAN: Sure.

CALDWELL: -- in that location looking for him. If they're not, they're poised, set and ready. The second they get the next ping off that radio that, you know, they've got preset times, probably they're communicating with us. And when that ping comes, they may be getting ready to insert. Of course, it's about 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon over there right now and another six hours, it'll be dark.

That's a perfect time if we're going to do an extraction to move in with a small U.S. element, special operating force element that could be inserted that would help with the overall extraction on the ground to ensure the safety of that pilot.

You know, I literally pray for that family. You know, at this point, there's American service members that are at that family's home. They're briefing them on what's going on, the agony they're going through, you know, with that not knowing what's happening.

But I just feel incredibly comfortable knowing that every man and woman in uniform is doing literally everything they can right now to bring that pilot home safely.

FREEMAN: Yes, very well said and really hoping that on this holiday weekend, especially that crew member is able to be rescued and come home. Lieutenant General William Caldwell, thank you so much for sharing your perspective this morning. Really do appreciate it.

CALDWELL: Absolutely, Danny, thank you.

FREEMAN: All right. Coming up next on CNN This Morning, the Artemis II crew is sound asleep right now and more than halfway to the moon. We'll tell you about the latest issue, though, that the crew faced before going to sleep.

Plus, who was in line to take over for fired Attorney General Pam Bondi. We'll walk you through the short list. Plus break down, which Trump cabinet member could be the next one to go. Stay with us.

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[06:16:50]

FREEMAN: We have a moon mission update from the Artemis II. The crew is dealing with yet another technical glitch with their wastewater system.

Mission Control has instructed the now sleeping astronauts though to use contingency collapsible urinals while engineers in Houston worked overnight to try and fix that venting issue. But on a lighter note, NASA says Artemis II is now more than halfway to the moon. NASA released these just incredible images of Earth from the Orion capsule and CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Houston with the latest on this absolutely incredible and historic journey.

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REID WISEMAN, ARTEMIS II COMMANDER: You could see the entire globe from pole to pole. You could see Africa, Europe, and if you looked really close, you could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment and it paused all four of us in our tracks.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first breathtaking images shared by the Artemis II crew as they officially set course for the moon.

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: There's nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet, both lit up bright as day and also the moon glow on it at night with a beautiful beam of the sunset.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The four astronauts have traveled at speeds of up to 3,400 miles per hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're getting a live look outside the windows of the Orion spacecraft.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): That's nearly 5,000 feet per second as they head into the most crucial part of their mission.

WISEMAN: I got to tell you, there is nothing normal about this. Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a Herculean effort. And we are now just realizing the gravity of that.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): We got the clearest view yet of the astronauts on board the Orion spaceship as they answered questions about their journey so far and revealed they've been glued to the views of Earth from the four main windows in their cabin. And also finding the best ways to sleep.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christina has been sleeping heads down in the middle of the vehicle, kind of like a bat suspended from our docking tunnel. Victor's been up where Jeremy is right now. It's more comfortable than you would think. And it's nice to sleep in weightlessness again. Every time I was dozing off last night, I had that image that I was tripping off a curb and I was waking myself up. So my body's getting re acclimated.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Friday's Wake up song "In a Daydream" by the Freddy Jones Band.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was really great to wake up this morning and look out the window and see the full moon off the front of the vehicle. There's no doubt where we are heading right now.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Their planned course adjustment was canceled. It wasn't needed.

UNIDENATIFIED MALE: Copy that.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Up next, a cabin change. The crew will need to transition their seats positioned for the launch to set up for their lunar flyby when they make history.

VICTOR GLOVER, ARTEMIST II PILOT: It's brought us together and showed us what we can do when we put not just putting our differences aside, when we bring our differences together and use all the strengths to accomplish something.

LAVANDERA: Danny, the Artemis II crew is now about halfway to the moon and they are still preparing for that historic moment, conducting systems checks, communications checks, making sure everything is in place for that historic time, especially the window for about 40 minutes, they will be on the backside of the moon, unable to communicate with Earth.

[06:20:00]

But as they are traveling, they do have some time to communicate with friends. They were given private time to speak with their families here on Earth to update them on how the mission is going. Danny.

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FREEMAN: Absolutely incredible. Ed Lavender reporting from Houston. Thank you so much for that. And also on a related note, did you see this moment? It was from a CNN interview that got the attention of NASA and even the White House during the Artemis Moon mission launch. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you want to be here? Why do you love space? Why do you love being a part of history?

HILT BOLING, Space ENTHUSIAST: We're going back to the frickin moon. That's why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: OK, so 11 year old Hilt Boling has gone astronomically viral thanks to that enthusiasm right there. Well, he will join us live coming up at 8:00 a.m. to talk about that moment and drop some space knowledge. Not going to want to miss it. Stay with us.

Also coming up ahead this hour on CNN This Morning, the fight to control the California Springs fire that forced many to evacuate. We'll have an update coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:25:07]

FREEMAN: This morning in the war with Iran an urgent search is underway for a U.S. crew member missing after Iran downed an F-15 fighter jet. This video right here captures a low flying aircraft combing an area in southwestern Iran yesterday. And sources told CNN that the U.S. was able to rescue one of the two crew members aboard the downed fighter jet.

Iranian state media has released images that seem to show wreck in line with that of a U.S. Air Force F15 fighter jet. A U.S. official confirms that Iran struck a second U.S. military plane yesterday as well, similar to those pictured here. It was an A-10 Thunderbolt 2. According to the U.S. official, the pilot was rescued after safely ejecting from an aircraft.

We're also following the impact of the war with Iran on the economy. Friday's jobs report is one of the first big economic data releases since the start of the war, and for now, numbers were actually much better than expected.

Economists predicted businesses would add just 60,000 jobs last month, while instead they added almost triple that and unemployment eased 0.1 percent. But of course, if the war drags on, the worry is it could greatly affect the economy, likely starting with the restaurant industry.

New York Times economy reporter Lydia DePillis joins me now. Lydia, thank you so much for getting up early to break down. Really a very interesting jobs report. Listen, the numbers were, let's say, different than what we were expecting. Can you explain why was that and what's going on here?

LYDIA DEPILLIS, ECONOMY REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: That's right. It is a little baffling. We don't totally know all the answers. The numbers have been really volatile, like up very much in January, down 133,000 jobs in February, back up 178,000 in March.

So if you look through that up and down, we're at about 68,000 jobs a month for the last three months, which is pretty healthy. And this is a snapshot of the labor market on the eve of the war. Of course, the war had started, but it was only a couple of weeks in, so not really enough time for that energy shock to hit employers and make them think, I'm not sure I can afford all of these workers for consumers to start pulling back. So we do expect things to start to downshift later in this year.

Economists are expecting only 40 to 50,000 jobs a month, which would be enough to soak up the number of folks who are entering the labor market. Because as we've also been learning, there are just not that many workers around these days since we've been cracking down on immigration so harshly, sending people out of the country and not letting anyone in. So that is why there's really a lid on job creation for the foreseeable future.

FREEMAN: Well, speaking on the war and trying to predict as to when it may or may not end, at least there are signs that it will at least last another month or so. Should we expect to see a drastic change in numbers for April or do you think as you started to say that it will be a more gradual shift? What are we predicting here?

DEPILLIS: Well, you should never bet against the U.S. labor market. We've been pretty surprised over the last literally five to six years now that it's made it through COVID, it's made it through high interest rates, it's made it through high tariffs. And we thought this was going to be the year when the labor market got out of a bit of a soft patch.

Last year there was essentially no job creation in the private or public sector. I mean, obviously in the public sector, we saw 355,000 jobs now lost in the federal government since the peak in October 2024.

So, we don't know. We should never predict doom here, but we're just saying that the fundamentals make it almost physically impossible to re accelerate very fast.

And now we have this additional hit of energy shock that of course doesn't affect the U.S. economy as much as it will overseas and also how much it used to in the 1980s when the U.S. economy was so oil dependent.

But still, people are already seeing it. You see that $4 a gallon gasoline, that is a direct transfer to oil companies and out of the pockets of Americans, which means they can't spend on things like going out to eat or getting their dog a new whatever. So these are things that are a direct transfer away from other priorities that do employ Americans.

FREEMAN: Well, you're coming my nerves by saying that we shouldn't be predicting doom. But of course, let's think about those everyday purchases and those everyday things that Americans are actually feeling because of the oil prices, because of the gas spiking.

If this war continues, I mean, is there any relief in sight? I understand that there may not be that again, you shouldn't bet against the U.S. market and its strength. But is there anything that might change to give relief? Because again, the prices at the pump, they are high. You know, those everyday costs are still high.

[06:30:00]

DEPILLIS: Yes, I mean, there's other factors on both sides that would both push up or down the JOLTS number. So, one tailwind is that, this year, we are expecting tax relief, so people are already getting their refund checks.

Which was expected to give an additional spending boost. That's also true on the corporate side. Big corporate tax cuts are impacting the deficit in a bad way. But at the same time have been encouraging businesses to invest and hire.

So, that is what we had expected to boost growth going into this year. But on the other side, growth has become incredibly dependent on these A.I. build-out sectors. So --

FREEMAN: Yes --

DEPILLIS: GDP is now largely powered by buying semiconductors and building those giant buildings in the desert, which are employing some people in the construction sector, and also just artificially inflating those numbers.

And we see this in the stock market as well, right? So, about 40 percent of the S&P 500 is concentrated in those big seven tech companies. And so, if that thesis breaks down, we could see some real trouble for the stock market, which would hit high income earners because they're the ones --

FREEMAN: Yes --

DEPILLIS: Whose wealth depends much on equities. And at the same time, you've got low-income earners who are disproportionately exposed to those gas prices. So, on both sides --

FREEMAN: Right --

DEPILLIS: We see these vulnerabilities. If --

FREEMAN: Right --

DEPILLIS: There were to be a turn in that sector in particular.

FREEMAN: Lydia DePillis, I could talk to you all morning about this. I really appreciate it though. We've got to go. Thank you so much for sharing your insight on an important report this week. All right, to this now.

When former Attorney General Pam Bondi sat with President Trump at the Supreme Court this week, we now know he had just told her she would be fired.

Sources tell us it's hard to pinpoint exactly what led him to that decision, but the President had been upset over her botched release of the Epstein files and her failure to successfully prosecute enough of his perceived enemies.

Bondi is the second cabinet official to get the boot in less than a month after former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. And as Kristen Holmes reports, other members of the President's inner circle are now feeling the heat as well.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump's firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi has sparked somewhat of a firestorm within MAGA world. Lots of speculation as to who could be next.

One thing is clear, these cabinet secretaries, these top-level officials, they are all aware that the job security that they've enjoyed up until now is gone. Now, there's been a lot of conversation about who might be on the chopping block next. There's been speculation about Department of Labor Secretary Lori

Chavez-DeRemer. She is somebody who is currently under investigation by the Department of Labor Inspector General. We know Kash Patel; the head of the FBI, has been under scrutiny.

President Trump and top administration officials were unhappy with the publicity about his trip to the Olympics, in particular, the chugging of that beer, and Howard Lutnick; the Commerce Secretary. He's been hot and cold with President Trump for months now.

But the real question is not necessarily who is going to go next. The real question is, why have we seen this sudden shift? It was over a year of no top officials being ousted other than Mike Waltz over Signalgate, and that was intentional.

Susie Wiles, President Trump, they did not want the second term of President Trump's presidency to look like the first, where there was drama and unending revolving door. But after President Trump fired the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, he realized that there was not that much push-back and gained confidence, particularly at a time in which we are heading into those midterms.

President Trump's approval ratings are getting lower and lower, and it seems as though they need to have a shake-up. Now, the big question I've been hearing about among these sources is why did they fire Pam Bondi now?

And that is what has led to a lot of this kind of heightened concern among these top officials, because Pam Bondi is mishandling of the Epstein files. That's something that had been going on for over a year. That is not something that was new.

It was not -- these prosecutions brought against his political enemies. That was something that had been going on. His frustration had been building up, but there was no real catalyst or moment that led to this firing in particular.

It was just as though President Trump didn't want to deal with it anymore. And that, again, has a lot of these cabinet officials on edge because most of them have had their fair share of back-and-forth with President Trump.

They've been in the doghouse at different times, and now they all are realizing, and this is what I'm hearing from my sources, that they've got to be on their best behavior. Because, again, that kind of job security that they had, those first several months into the first year, seemingly gone. Danny?

FREEMAN: Right, Kristen Holmes, thank you very much for that report. Switching gears now, this morning, firefighters in southern California are making progress in the fight against the Springs Fire.

[06:35:00]

It's burning in Riverside County, that's east of Moreno Valley, about an hour east of Los Angeles. Cal Fire says the fire has burned more than 4,000 acres, and is now 25 percent contained. Video shows smoke rising behind homes yesterday in Riverside County, and evacuations remain in effect for some areas.

Officials say winds have eased a bit, but the threat is not over yet. Sticking with weather now, storms are on the move this weekend across a large part of the country. Millions are in the path from the Great Lakes all the way down to Texas.

And it's not just Iran, a few of these storms could turn severe with damaging winds and the threat of tornadoes. For more on this, let's get straight to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, good to see you. But tell us, where is the greatest risk right now for these storms?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, yes, good morning. Yes, we take a look. This is a wide-stretching storm. Again, you've got the Winter aspect side of it still into portions of the upper Midwest, especially across North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan.

But down to the south, this is where we have that very strong line of thunderstorms moving through. A lot of lightning across portions of Missouri, Arkansas, and even back through Texas. As we zoom in a little bit closer, you've got the strong line about to move into the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Some gusty winds up around 40 to 50 miles per hour, along with that line too. And that whole line is going to continue to slide off to the east through the remainder of the day today. So, the potential for those strong to severe thunderstorms exists from Texas all the way into Upstate New York.

We've got a focal point here across portions of the Ohio Valley and right around the Great Lakes region. But really, all of this area has the potential for those damaging winds. And we can't rule out the possibility for a tornado as well.

So, here's a look at that line as it continues to slide east. By later this afternoon, now, you're looking more like Detroit, Toledo, Indianapolis, Memphis, and back down through portions of east Texas. By the time we get to say around 8:00, 9:00, 10 O'clock this evening, now the focus is more across Cleveland, down through Nashville, and stretching back down to the Gulf Coast.

It's going to be a very soggy start to Easter Sunday for places like Atlanta and into Knoxville, stretching up through the northeast. That line will continue to slide eastward into the afternoon for places like New York, Boston, Providence, places like that, with the potential for some heavy downpours.

FREEMAN: Right, yes, along the east coast, the umbrellas out for Easter morning. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much, appreciate you. All right, coming up, a historic moment for Pope Leo. He's the first pontiff in decades to carry the cross for the entire Good Friday service.

Now, we're looking ahead to Holy Saturday and the Easter vigil. We'll take you live to Rome coming up next.

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[06:40:00]

FREEMAN: Here's a look at some of this morning's headlines. First up, President Trump signed a memo ordering all employees in the Department of Homeland Security to be paid as the partial government shutdown continues to drag on.

The money for the broader payments is expected to come from what's known as the Big, Beautiful Bill. DHS employees at agencies like FEMA and the Coast Guard have been reporting for work without pay for months.

And the White House also released its blueprint for the 2027 budget, which includes a massive defense spending increase to roughly $1.5 trillion. The plan aims to bolster U.S. munitions and build out the Naval fleet, while also beginning construction on President Trump's planned golden dome missile defense system.

And tomorrow night's women's national title game is set. Top seed UCLA got past a fellow top seed Texas in a defensive slugfest highlighted by this late game block from Bruins' center Lauren Betts -- oh, look at that, that sealed the win right there.

Facing the Bruins will be South Carolina. Now, the Gamecocks beat the undefeated and defending national champs UCONN, ending the Huskies' 54 game winning streak. The big headline though, from the game came moments before the final buzzer.

We saw UCONN head coach Geno Auriemma and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley get into a heated exchange. Staley says she doesn't know what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAWN STALEY, SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS: I have no idea, but I'm going to let you know this. I'm of integrity. I'm of integrity. So, if I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did. I guess he thought I didn't shake his hand at the beginning of the game.

I didn't know, I went down there, pre-game, shook everybody on his staff's hand, I don't know what he came with after the game, but hey, sometimes things get heated, we move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: We move on, indeed. Well, after the game, Auriemma did not elaborate on what he said to Staley, only saying, quote, "I said what I had to say". Keep an eye on that story. New this morning, Pope Leo is set to preside over an Easter vigil mass as Catholics around the world celebrate Holy Saturday.

Yesterday, the pontiff carried the cross for the entire Good Friday service at the Colosseum. That's something we have not seen in decades. CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb joins us now from Rome. Good morning, Christopher, tell us what is next for Pope Leo on this holiday weekend?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Danny, tonight on Saturday, there will be the Easter vigil, which Pope Leo will preside at in St. Peter's Basilica. This is the high point of the Holy Week celebrations.

And of course, it is the first holy week and Easter for the pope since his election last year. And we've seen throughout the services this week, you know, Leo put his own style onto how he wants to mark this, you know, most sacred week in the church's year.

[06:45:00]

And he decided to wash the feet of priests, on holy Thursday, which is different to his predecessor, Pope Francis, who used to go out to prisons or refugee centers. And of course, on Good Friday, he led the Via Crucis, Way of the Cross service, carrying the cross for the entirety of that procession.

It is the first time, as you say, in decades, that, that happened. And of course, that reflects that Leo, you know, is a relatively young pope. He is 70 years old, which is youthful by papal standards. And also, he's someone who keeps in good physical shape.

He likes to exercise, plays tennis, and, you know, was quite arduous for him to carry that cross. I was out there at the Colosseum last night, and I saw him pass by with it. It was a very somber and serious service.

And the prayers that were said included prayers for immigrant children who have been deported, and a warning to those in power that their actions will be judged, including whether they start or end wars. So, some strong political messages we're hearing from Leo too, during this holy week in Easter. Danny?

FREEMAN: Christopher Lamb live for us in Rome, always great to see you. Thank you so much for that reporting. All right, coming up, Apple has changed the technology game many times over for now 50 years, including introducing the world to the iPhone.

But we'll talk about Apple's massive influence across five decades, that and much more coming up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

FREEMAN: Tonight on "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER", we'll look at how our lives have changed in the last half-century since Apple was founded. CNN's Bill Weir takes us back to one of its key moments, of course, when the world met the iPhone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE JOBS, LATE APPLE FOUNDER: Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said today, we're unveiling three new products.

JOBS: An iPod, a phone --

(LAUGHTER)

JOBS: And an internet communicator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then he goes, an iPod --

JOBS: An iPod --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a phone --

JOBS: A phone, are you getting it?!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you getting it?! And suddenly, people realized it's all the same thing.

JOBS: This is one device.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And people just lost their minds.

JOBS: And we are calling it iPhone.

(CHEERS)

(APPLAUSE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is this number one here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the original iPhone --

WEIR: Oh, I remember this baby. It's so adorable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it feels -- it feels small by today's standards. But it --

WEIR: Doesn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember holding it when it first came out and pulling the camera up and having a few -- I felt like I was looking through my hand. I was like this is such a big screen.

(LAUGHTER)

WEIR: Mind-blowing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Oh man, this is going to be so good, Bill Weir joins us with the preview of tonight's report. Bill, I mean, I'm so excited to watch this --

WEIR: OK --

FREEMAN: What surprises you the most about the impact that really Apple has had over the past 50 years.

WEIR: Oh, man, it's so massive. And when you think back to the early days in Steve Jobs' parents' garage, you know, Steve Wozniak is this brilliant self-taught engineer, Steve Jobs didn't know anything about computers, just wanted to start a company.

But that melding of those two guys created something that has changed billion-dollar economies. You know, the iPhone gave us the gig economy, the attention economy, it changed how we eat and sleep and how we communicate and isolate, change how we stand, our posture, it's so much.

But there were so many failures along the way. They were quarters from bankruptcy a few times. Steve Jobs famously fired by his own board, came out of exile, but then biggest corporate turnaround in history, and the power of that one device, the power of a hand-held internet, even some of the engineers told me before they even hit shelves, they could see the hypnotic pull of these things.

Because people would pull them out in meetings, and they never pulled their laptop in meetings. Something was very different. But I want to examine all the pluses and all the minuses of these devices when it comes to screen time and our kids really, what they're doing to our brains long term.

FREEMAN: Well, so, let's talk about that because it's funny. I -- on my iPhone this morning caught a preview of part of this report. I believe you recently tried going without an iPhone for an extended period of time, and I saw you had -- you had a device on your head. I mean, tell me, how did that all go?

WEIR: So, I went up to Western University, Ontario, they studied the effects of screen time on the brain. So, I went up and sort of set a baseline on my screen time before this experience was creeping up around six hours a day.

It's four hours for most adults, eight hours for teens, a lot of it for work, but a lot of it mindless, right? And so, we put this device on, measured my brain, then put it in a box, iPhone switched over to an old school dumbphone, flip phone with just basic internet connection.

A lot of friction that we've gotten used to not having there, but that was really the point. It takes like 27 keystrokes to type, I love you. So, it makes you think about how you're communicating, what messages you want to do throughout the day.

So, then I go back at the end of two weeks, and the tests were surprising even to the experts, reaction time, the connectivity between the spheres of my brain. A lot more data would be needed to draw any conclusions, but it was really a powerful exercise in resetting my relationship with this thing, my wants and needs, and treating it more like a tool instead of it using me, you know?

FREEMAN: Yes, I mean, that's good advice, I think for all of us, especially, you know, for some of us who have -- I know probably you -- I have two phones, right? Two iPhones in my --

WEIR: Yes --

[06:55:00]

FREEMAN: Pocket at all times. Real quick, we only have about 20 seconds left, Bill. Apple going to be around for another 50 years?

WEIR: Oh yes, the question is which way they're going, whether they're going to cannibalize this with maybe little cameras and A.I. in our air buds that we talk to throughout the day, so, we don't look at the screen as much, but we get into all of that as well.

FREEMAN: Oh, man, I can't wait. Bill Weir, thank you so much for getting up and for teasing your great --

WEIR: Right --

FREEMAN: Story tonight. "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER: 50 YEARS OF APPLE" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. And you can watch it tomorrow on the CNN app. All right, I'll be back here for another hour of CNN THIS MORNING at 8:00.

"TABLE FOR FIVE" is up next after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)