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NYT: U.S. Navy Ships Destroy Iranian Surveillance Drone; Iranian State Media Reports Tehran Has No Plans For More Negotiations; Manhattan DA Launches Investigation Into Sexual Assault Allegation Against Rep. Eric Swalwell; Marathon U.S.-Iran Talks End With No Agreement. Melania Calls on Congress to Let Epstein's Victims Testify; Sean Combs' Lawyers Appeal Conviction in Prostitution Case; American Tipping Culture Hits Breaking Point. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired April 12, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:33]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Sunday, April 12th, thank you for joining me. I'm Victor Blackwell. We are following breaking news in the U.S.- Israel-Iran war. The talks ended early this morning with no deal between the U.S. and Iran. This was after hours of negotiation.

Vice President JD Vance led negotiations for the U.S. and said there was one specific issue that was a non-starter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the President of the United States and that's what we've tried to achieve through these negotiations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The leader of Tehran's negotiating team says that ultimately the U.S. failed to gain the trust of their delegation. Iranian state media says Tehran has no plans for another round of talks, but an Iranian official left a bit of an opening. He said that simply diplomacy never comes to an end. Pakistan says that it's committed to helping to mediate.

During the talks, U.S. Navy destroyers started to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz to allow ships to pass. The New York Times reports that ships destroyed an Iranian surveillance drone that approached them. The sources stressed that the drone did not violate the already fragile ceasefire. They just didn't want Iranian forces tracking the ship's movements.

We have team coverage. CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Islamabad and Jennifer Hansler is in Washington, D.C. Nic, a long day and early morning. Unfortunately, no deal. What have you learned?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, what we're hearing from Pakistani sources as the dust begins to settle a little bit here is, you know, their description for them, 29 hours of talks, hectic talks, very heavy involvement of the field marshal, the most powerful man in the country, if you will, and the view that, you know, both sides are going to go back and talk to their domestic audiences and say what they need to say to their domestic audiences.

But there's a real sense from the (technical difficulty) bring the two sides together, trying to bridge the gaps, that there (technical difficulty) torpedoed in any way, that there is positivity and both sides, according to Pakistani sources, don't want to return to the 28th of February, the day when the war began. So there's an implication here that the door for diplomacy is still open and that's very much how the Vice President left it.

He said the best and final offer had been given to the Iranian side. The good news was that the talks had happened. The bad news was that they hadn't reached an agreement. The (technical difficulty) on Tuesday into Wednesday this week was a two-week ceasefire. And no one right now is talking about that ceasefire breaking down.

No one's talking about ultimatums of what happens if the other side doesn't make a move. So it does appear that the possibility still to find an agreement exists. I don't think it's going to be happening in the immediate hours as really the heads of delegations return to their capital.

It does appear that the door remains open. And -- but the ball does feel at the moment very much in the Iranian court, they feel that they have leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. (Technical difficulty)

BLACKWELL: We're having some audio issues there reporting from Islamabad. I will also say that throughout the talks, the Vice President stressed that he was speaking with President Trump consistently.

Let's go to Jennifer Hansler in Washington. What else are we learning?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER AND WRITER, NATIONAL SECURITY: Well, Victor, just in the past half hour or so, we got an update from the traveling press with the Vice President that he is still making his long journey back to Washington, D.C. They just stopped for a refuel in Germany. And once he gets back to the U.S., of course, the expectation is that he will be meeting with the President to debrief on what happened.

But as he came out of those 21-hour talks last night, he said that he had talked some dozen, half dozen times with not only the President, but the entire U.S. national security team, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the head of CENTCOM, even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Of course, this aligns with a lot of what would have been discussed in that marathon talk, not only the idea of the nuclear program, but also sanctions relief the Strait of Hormuz. That would, of course, be an all-encompassing interagency discussion there.

[07:05:15]

Now, of course, Victor, there are still significant gaps between the two sides coming out of this negotiation, coming out with no deal. JD Vance framed the top issue, rather, as the nuclear program. However, he did acknowledge that other issues did come up the Strait of Hormuz was front and center of a lot of the President's rhetoric leading up to these talks, the idea that Iran needed to have full access, full freedom for vessels to move forward there.

This is something that the Iranians have used as a key negotiating tool, the fact that they have been able to snarl that key waterway. And something that was interesting in his remarks last night, Victor, is the Vice President seemed to acknowledge that there is a deep deficit in trust between the two sides. He said that the U.S. had come into these talks in good faith, that the President had tasked them with negotiating in good faith here, and they said ultimately they were trying to be flexible and they didn't see flexibility from the Iranian side.

As Nic was saying, he said this was the U.S.'s best and final offer, but there are still many questions. I would say more questions than answers that came out of last night and that very brief press conference. The timeline in which the U.S. wants to see a response from Iran, whether there is an ultimatum here. So there is a lot at stake here, Victor.

BLACKWELL: And of course, we're still waiting for President Trump to weigh in after the end of these talks with no deal.

Jennifer Hansler in Washington, thank you.

Let's bring in now Aaron David Miller, he's a former State Department Middle East negotiator and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Good morning to you.

Let's start here. I've been describing and many have been describing these talks as marathon talks that went on for 21 hours. The delegation that secured the JCPOA a decade ago says that that deal took 18 months. So is it a surprise to you that after 21 hours that the Iranians didn't accept the final and best offer from the U.S.?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPT. MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: No, it's not a surprise, Victor. And thanks for having me. And Victor, I think you broke the code. Look, negotiations under normal circumstances with the Iranians have proven to have only two speeds, slow and slower.

21 hours might seem like a long time, but it really isn't given the complexity of the issues, given the absence of trust between the two sides. And I made this point before, and I think it's worth making again, that two sides are operating on different clocks.

And those clocks, the issue of time is directly a result of how each side perceives the win-loss here. The Iranians came emboldened with a lot of cards to play. They have the highly enriched uranium, they threatened the Gulf States, the regime survived. And of course, they've deployed geography to manage and control the Strait.

Administration has cards, it's hollowed out, Iran's military, tremendous economic devastation. But I'm thinking -- the President is in a lot more of a hurry to get out of this thing than the Iranians are. And that is going to embolden Iran's position. So negotiations are not dead, but it's hard to believe given the complexity of the issues that they're going to resume anytime soon, or that an agreement is going to be reached.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The Vice President said that the U.S. had not seen a fundamental commitment of will not to seek a nuclear weapon. The Iranians said publicly that they're not developing a nuclear weapon, but they're committed to Iranian enrichment. But the President, President Trump's assumption, or at least he's been convinced that the military victories, taking out the Navy, taking out the Air Force, would break that will. Is that the original miscalculation here?

MILLER: Other than the fact that this was a war of choice, there was no critical or overwhelming imperative to do this. Yes, Iran is a brutal, authoritarian, repressive regime. And yes, it threatens its neighbors. The question is, how do you define success and the metrics in such a war?

And the reality is Iranian and U.S. negotiators have struggled since 2013 to get a conclusive result on the issue of Iran's putative nuclear weapons program and the right to enrich. I don't think there was any way in 21 hours or 21 days that the negotiators would break the back of this thing.

There could have been progress, perhaps, on what to do about the highly enriched uranium, 900 pounds. I think the Iranians have agreed at some point to dilute it.

[07:10:03]

But the notion that this regime, now dominated by the IRGC, Victor, convinced it's winning, was going to give up in an initial round of negotiation, something that it has clung to for years, is just untethered from reality. If that's the expectation of the administration, these were doomed to fail.

BLACKWELL: So the VP also says the U.S. did not commit this -- get this commitment. President Trump said this leading into the talks. I want to play for you how he frames the consequences of not getting a deal, at least before he didn't get the deal. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We win, no matter what. Their leaders are all dead. With all -- Khomeini is gone. For many years, he ruled, he's gone.

With all of that, let's see what happens. But from my standpoint, I don't care. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Most experts and analysts I've spoken with said the President's looking for an off-ramp. Do you expect a resumption of hostilities, continuation of hostilities, if the President says, we won, I don't care?

MILLER: Yes. I mean, I think he have a couple weeks of grace here. But this really is a strategic conundrum for the administration. They -- their options are not good. They can go back to the battlefield. But I'm thinking no amount of kinetic energy -- kinetic activity, military strikes, is going to break the back of this regime.

You know, they could deploy a quarter of a million troops, you could do in Iraq, fundamentally occupy the country, try to take over the regime. That's simply not practical or feasible. I suspect now, Victor, the focus is going to be on the Strait. What to do about the Strait?

If a way could be found to open them at an acceptable cost, forget all the rest of this stuff. The nukes, the proxies, the ballistic missiles, all that stuff. President does care. And he needs to figure out a way to get inflation down, to get the prices of gas down. And it won't happen for months, by the way.

But he needs to create a pathway where normal humans believe that, in fact, on the economic side, we're going to get an improvement in this situation. That means opening the straits. And that, I think, is the challenge that the administration, and to some degree, if the Iranians want economic relief, challenge they're going to face as well.

BLACKWELL: And of course, the straits were open on February 27th before this. So that would just be a return to status quo.

Aaron David Miller, thank you so much.

Still ahead, Congressman Eric Swalwell, now under investigation -- allegations under investigation after a former staffer accused him of rape. We're monitoring new developments.

The First Lady, Melania Trump, shocked a lot of people when she came out to deny any connection to Jeffrey Epstein. The question is, why now? We dig into the issue in this morning's roundup. Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we've also got storms in several different places. One area is the Midwest. We've also got portions of the Southern Plains. The real question is, where does all of this move over the next couple of days? We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:17:55]

BLACKWELL: We have new developments related to CNN's exclusive reporting on sexual misconduct allegations against Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced that it is investigating an allegation made by a former staffer who says that she was raped by Swalwell.

And Swalwell is currently running for governor in California. Several prominent Democrats are now calling for him to end his campaign. Swalwell has denied all accusations, including in a video posted late Friday. CNN's Pamela Brown has the update.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: We have learned that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is now investigating the rape allegation from one of the four women CNN spoke with. I sat down with this woman. She was a former staffer for Congressman Swalwell.

She talked about a sexual misconduct in 2019. She says that she was out drinking with the congressman then, went back to his hotel room, woke up the next morning and didn't know what had happened, but said to her it was clear some sort of sexual contact took place. She says that he acknowledged as much and said that she hoped that next time she would remember the encounter.

Now, Congressman Swalwell denies the allegation, but she also went on to talk about a more serious allegation in 2024, where she says she, again, was out drinking with the congressman. At this point, she was not working in his office.

They went out drinking. She says she went to the bathroom and then came out and couldn't remember what had happened. She woke up the next morning alone in his hotel room and he was not there, she says.

She was so intoxicated still, it was really confusing to her. She had to put the pieces together that she was there in her hotel room. And she called her mother.

We corroborated her story with her mother, with friends, she told, her partner, she told, also a text message where she says she was sexually assaulted by Eric. We also obtained documentation from a medical provider in the week after the alleged assault where that medical provider called her a survivor. She went there for STD testing and pregnancy testing.

[07:20:09]

Now, Congressman Swalwell, for his part, is denying that sex assault allegation. This is what he said in a social media post last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D), CALIFORNIA: A lot has been said about me today through anonymous allegations. And I thought it was important that you see and hear from me directly. These allegations of sexual assault are flat false. They are absolutely false.

They did not happen. They have never happened. And I will fight them with everything that I have. They also come on the eve of an election where I have been the front runner candidate for governor in California. I do not suggest to you in any way that I'm perfect or that I'm a saint. I've certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past. But those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her, I apologize deeply for putting her in this position.

I also apologize to you if in any way you've doubted your support for me. But I think you know who I am. For over 20 years, I have served the public as a city councilman, as a member of Congress, and as a prosecutor who went to court on behalf of victims, particularly on behalf of sexual assault victims. That's who I am and have always been.

This weekend, I'm going to spend time with my family and friends. And I appreciate those who have reached out to me to show support. And I look forward to updating you very soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN spoke with three other women who had varying degrees of stories of sexual misconduct, from unwanted touching to unsolicited photos of his penis. For right now, Congressman Swalwell is staying in the race, although he is under mounting pressure to withdraw from leaders in the Democratic Party.

We should also note two of the women we interviewed received cease and desist letters from Congressman Swalwell's lawyer, but they are standing by their stories.

BLACKWELL: All right, Pam Brown, thank you.

Peace talks between the U.S. and Iran failed with no more scheduled. Just ahead, we discuss next steps as the war continues.

Plus, U.S. inflation tripled last month, mostly because of a spike in gas prices. How much it could cost you next in the morning roundup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:26:57]

BLACKWELL: All right, more on our breaking news this morning. The marathon session of talks between the U.S. and Iran and Islamabad yesterday ended without a deal. In the end, Vice President JD Vance said nuclear development remained a sticking point.

Joining me now to discuss is WABE and NPR Politics Reporter, Rahul Bali, Special Counsel for Georgia Trial Attorneys, Cody Randall, and Senior Editor at BOSSIP, Jason Lee. Welcome to you all.

And let's start here with what is next. The President told the New York Post on Friday that if there is no deal, this is what he said, "We're loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we use to do a complete decimation. And if we don't have a deal, we'll be using them, and we will be using them very effectively." That was Friday.

Here's what he said on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We win, no matter what. Their leaders are all dead. With all -- Khomeini is gone. For many years, he ruled. He's gone. With all of that, let's see what happens. But from my standpoint, I don't care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, we're using the weapons, I don't care, we'll see what happens. What's it mean at home not to get a deal?

RAHUL BALI, WABE/NPR NEWS POLITICS REPORTER: I think my biggest question is when. What's this timeframe? What does this look like? When you've got the ceasefire, how long does that hold before all of this happens and kind of all of it goes down?

I think that's my biggest question, is when does this happen? Do we start getting a deadline from the President that this is when it's going to happen? That's what I'm watching for.

CODY RANDALL, SPECIAL COUNSEL, GEORGIA TRIAL ATTORNEYS AT KIRCHEN & GRANT: Well, I saw deadlines and they passed and they went and they came and they went and nothing came of them. There was supposed to be a ceasefire that lasted like 18 minutes and then it kept going. At a certain point, we have to realize that we can't keep starting wars in the Middle East every 10 to 15 years and then running them for 10 years.

If we keep going the way we're going and we don't get some kind of a deal, we're going to be doing Iraq and Afghanistan and they're all going to start looking like Vietnam. We can't keep doing this for the next 20 years.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JASON "JAH" LEE, SENIOR EDITOR, BOSSIP: On the latest episode of "Invincible," there was a fight between two characters. And "Invincible" had his hands wrapped around the neck of his enemy. And regardless of how bad the fighting got, regardless of how much harm he took, how much damage he took, he kept his hands around the enemy's neck and that appears to be what's going to happen in this situation.

Iran has no reason to let go and I don't see what the off ramp is for Trump or the administration to get a ceasefire or get a deal done.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The top story, obviously, as this war has continued has been what is happening in Iran? How does this war end? But the First Lady has introduced something that Congress will be certainly asked about when they return this week and here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors. Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, when she said that this week, the question was why is this coming out now? Why is she denying the connection to Jeffrey Epstein? No one has said that she's done anything wrong or illegal. Do you think Congress takes up that call? The Republicans hear the First Lady and have to do something.

RAHUL BALI, WABE/NPR NEWS POLITICS REPORTER: I think they do. I think they're going to do something. And again, I still think we're asking the question, why is there another story coming out, another shoe that's going to drop on this? I think you would see, I have not talked to any politicians yet about, you know, what their thinking on this is, but I think you'd see something.

BLACKWELL: Do you think it changes the equation legally at all? Because we heard from Todd Blanche that Epstein was the story of 2025. It should not be the story of 2026.

CODY RANDALL, SPECIAL COUNSEL, GEORGIA TRIAL ATTORNEYS AT KIRCHEN & GRANT: It's going to be the story of 2026 and 2027 and 2028. And it's going to be the story until we start holding these people accountable. As far as why she made her statement, we all know it's a prebuttal. She's trying to get in front of something. Nobody just comes out and makes a statement like that and changes their positions.

You have her husband, the president saying, let's stop talking about it. And then she makes an unprovoked announcement about let's keep talking about it. I think something does come up. But I think that when they passed the Transparency Act and you had like a vote between both houses, and I think only two people objected to the entire vote, and that was in Congress, and then they forced the release of the files. I think everyone's on the same page here. We don't care who's in there or what's in there, who it's good and who's it's bad for. We have to get the information out there and find out what's going on.

And as far as her -- her statement was interesting, because at the end, she was like, also, he didn't introduce me to my husband. I met him naturally at a party. And it's giving Macbeth, it's -- I believe the lady doth protest too much.

BLACKWELL: Yes, let me let me stay with you for your story of the week. It's Sean Combs, his legal team trying to get him released from prison. Tell us about it.

RANDALL: So, that's interesting. So, his team is filing with an appeal, which is a normal legal process. You can appeal any judgment against your any kind of conviction. And they're saying that what he did and how he was punished for it. He was given a sentence that wasn't consistent with what he was convicted of. And they imposed sentencing guidelines under the Mann Act, right. And the problem is, that is with regards to transporting people across state lines for the purposes of like prostitution.

And his attorneys have like a novel argument now, which is saying, it wasn't prostitution, it was pornography. Yes, they had like some illicit services, but these people were brought over, they performed sexual acts, it was filmed, they were all paid for their work. And it wasn't for distribution. It was for Mr. Combs, his girlfriends and his friends to watch and enjoy. In fact, he even lost money on it. It wasn't a profitable endeavor. So, they can't say that it was prostitution to that set.

Like, you got to remember, pornography, whatever your opinion of it is, is a constitutionally protected activity. It's speech, you have a right to view and produce it.

BLACKWELL: You think it's a credible argument?

RANDALL: I think it's a novel argument. And I think there's something to be said for it. Because the way that they came down with his sentencing when they came up with timeline, it seems like he got a sentence that was harsher than most other people that have been convicted of similar actions. And I think they were trying to make a statement or an example out of it.

BALI: Jah, go ahead.

JASON "JAH" LEE, SENIOR EDITOR, BOSSIP: Well, legally, you have a point. Legally, there's the legal issue. And then there's the issue of Sean Combs and everything that we know about Sean Combs, right? When we first talked about this story, we talked about his arrogance and how he kind of thought he was going to get away with it. As far as I'm concerned, he should be happy that he just got this amount of time and that he, then that's it.

Because to try to get this -- try to get out of jail now kind of seems like you don't get it, do you? Like we've seen all the things that you've done. You have this long history. And you sitting down for this amount of time is the very least of the punishment that you'll probably get for all the things that we've seen you commit over the years.

RANDALL: Yes, but you're talking about morality, not legality.

BLACKWELL: Correct.

RANDALL: You live in a country where you are innocent until proven guilty. And you're only guilty if a jury of your peers convicts you of a crime. And once you're convicted, then you're sentenced and you serve that time. The sentence that he got isn't consistent with his type of conviction. And the other charges he wasn't convicted on.

So, we can call him morally reprehensible. We can disagree with everything that he did and say that it's horrible. But the jury didn't convict him of that. And if his sentence isn't accurate and they're imposing stricter guidelines based upon things that he was acquitted from, it's improper. Like, yes, did he do other things? Sure. Convicted? No. What he was convicted of, I mean, essentially was pornography.

BLACKWELL: Let's pause here. Everybody stay with us because we've got more to talk about when we come back. After years of struggling, movie theaters making a comeback. We'll tell you what's driving that trend. And if you're heading out, remember, you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S. on the CNN app. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to the Morning Roundup. Back with me now, Raul Bali, Cody Randall, and Jah Lee.

Jah Lee, I'm going to start with you. Your story of the week is Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has banned Ye, formerly Kanye West, from entering the U.K. for the Wireless Music Festival in July. Starmer says he never should have been invited considering his history of antisemitic remarks.

LEE: So, there's a lot of layers to this thing, right? We all know what Kanye West has been doing and saying over the past almost 10 years now.

[07:40:00]

But I think one of the major issues that was brought up this week that is kind of galling, at least to the black community, is that Kanye West has said a lot of terrible things about a lot of different groups and the antisemitic remarks seem to be the headline of why he was not allowed into the U.K.

So, what does that say about all the other things he said about other groups? Why are they being treated as lesser offensive than the antisemitic remark? It's all terrible speech. And so, that was one part of it.

The other part of it is that, sure, I guess the U.K. has a right to not allow in who they want to allow in, but when you start going down the slope of you're not allowing artists in for things that they've said, where do you draw that line? What is the distinction?

RANDALL: I think you draw the line at Nazis. I think that's where we draw the line. And you're talking about the U.K., a country that was devastated during World War II, a country that fought off in offense of Nazis. They were fighting this war. And then you have an artist who was at one point in time selling merchandise on his website with SS logos and swastikas.

LEE: He had a song called "Heil Hitler."

RANDALL: Like he's making songs about Hitler. So, you're going to make a song about a man who tried to conquer, destroy the world, killed millions of people, and then you want to go visit the country that he carpet bombed?

BLACKWELL: Here's my question also. So, we're having this conversation about him not getting into the U.K. And a couple of weeks ago, he sold out SoFi Stadium twice with tens of thousands of people and celebrity guests. And he had celebrities in the audience. So, while the government is saying, the U.K. government is saying that Kanye is not welcome here --

LEE: The people don't seem to feel it.

BLACKWELL: -- the fans seem to give him a pass or forgive him or however they would characterize it.

RANDALL: Yes, but 50,000 fans in an arena does not a country make, right? So, just because his fans are willing to overlook the things that he said or pretend that it didn't happen so that they can go listen to their music doesn't mean that the people themselves find it offensive. And it doesn't really matter at that point. The government finds it offensive.

Listen, you can say whatever you want to within the bounds of the U.S. You have the right to free speech. No one is limiting his speech. No one is saying what he can and can't do. But these are the consequences of his actions coming back to bite him.

LEE: Well, he deserves the consequences a thousand percent. But I think the question still remains is, is the U.K. cherry-picking this issue specifically because of what he's talking about? Because there's a lot of other artists who I think the government would probably find offensive speech that they are going to let into the country happily with no questions asked.

BLACKWELL: Let me go into something else here because we got a lot to hit. Rahul, your story of the week. Something we're all pretty involved in is the tipping culture has probably hit a tipping point, according to a new survey. Four out of five respondents say that they think it's ridiculous. Many are tipping less.

BALI: I think the reason this jumped out at me is I'm not tipping less when I go to a sit-down restaurant.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BALI: But there are a couple of places where they'll put in the drive-thru, put the tipping thing out the window. And I think that's what surprised me about that. And then reading that survey, by the way, jumped out at me that auto repair places are also doing tipping, which I -- none of the places I go to do that.

BLACKWELL: I've never done that. I don't know if I'm a cheap now because I don't tip there.

LEE: I thought groceries on a list. I'm sorry if this makes me a terrible person. I've never tipped the grocery people. I didn't even know that that was still really a thing.

BLACKWELL: I think anybody will take a tip.

LEE: Sure.

BLACKWELL: I'll take a tip right now if you -- LEE: I can take it right now. If you want to go pass down the --

BLACKWELL: I didn't know that that was a thing that you could tip at the grocery store.

BALI: But growing up, I remember that they would take your groceries out to your car.

BLACKWELL: Oh, yes. (INAUDIBLE).

BALI: OK. So --

RANDALL: I was at the airport the other day and went to one of those little news kiosks where you walk up and there wasn't even a guy there. There was just a grab your thing, put it into a little A.I. scanner, tells you what it is that you pay. And as I paid, it asked me if I wanted to tip. Tip who?

BALI: Really?

RANDALL: I selected the items. I put it in the cart. I put the basket. I rang it up. Do I get a tip?

BLACKWELL: Tip yourself.

RANDALL: In that case --

LEE: Tip the algorithm, Cody. Tip the algorithm.

BLACKWELL: Speaking of the algorithm, there's something that we've been talking about during the break. A tech company called Just Like Me will allow you to have a little talk with Jesus. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Jesus. My name is Jeff, and I've been having a really hard time in life, and I'm looking for some inspiration and guidance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That heaviness you're carrying is truly felt, and I want you to know you're not walking through it alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That is an A.I. Jesus. The Associated Press is reporting that for just a low, low price of $1.99 a minute, you can speak with that avatar. A minute? Of Jesus, $1.99 a minute. You can speak with that avatar generated by artificial intelligence. There is an A.I. religious gold rush happening right now. But who is that?

LEE: That looks like Jay Shady. That looks like Riz Ahmed. Like --

[07:45:00]

BLACKWELL: That was visually inspired by Jonathan Roumie from the TV show "The Chosen." That's who they modeled after. LEE: Our algorithm will art in heaven, Wi-Fi be thy name.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LEE: What are we doing here? What exactly is going on here?

RANDALL: I'm just so flummoxed by that. That did not look like any version of Jesus I've ever seen. I don't ever remember thinking of Jesus looking like that. Also, why are we paying $1.99 a minute to talk to an A.I. chatbot? Just go pick your chatbot of choice, tell them, respond to me as if you were Jesus, and then have a conversation with them. But even that's absurd.

BALI: I have to ask, though, if you confide something to this A.I., can it be -- I mean, I'm embezzling from my company.

BLACKWELL: I don't have it.

BALI: Can it -- I mean, we've heard about A.I. using things against people.

BLACKWELL: And there are serious concerns about it. I will say that the company, the CEO of Just Like Me, told the AP that their model was trained on the King James Bible and sermons, although they didn't say which preachers, so that could be a question. But if they're preaching the gospel, apparently, some people are, you know, certainly using it. 45 minutes per month could cost you $50.

One more here, one more here, because we could talk about A.I. Jesus for a while. Movie theaters are having a resurgence. I personally don't like movie theaters, but people are going back to them. The best first quarter of 2026 since COVID, "Super Mario Galaxy" movie, "Project Hail Mary," "Big Money Makers," you all going to movies?

LEE: Absolutely. I never stopped going to the theater. Like I -- for some movies, streaming shows, you can watch a rom-com or, you know, a murder mystery on your TV, whatever. But I don't care if you have a 120-inch screen. It would never replace a 250-foot screen when it comes to movies like "Project Hail Mary," or this upcoming "Spider- Man," or big event movies that are supposed to be seen as spectacles. You just can't get that on your home TV.

BALI: There are two experiences I love. The Atlanta Symphony puts movies on the big screen, and it's a live symphony. I love that, and I still love going to live theater, you know. And we were talking about that Reno live theater has really come back. The reason I'm a little tired this morning was I went and saw the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee last night.

BLACKWELL: OK. Yes.

BALI: So, it's like, yes, I still love going out and going to those things.

BLACKWELL: All right. RANDALL: I mean, listen. OK. So, you can't -- like I agree. A movie theater is great. You have the sound. You have the seats. You have the everything. I don't love the expense of going to the movie. It's $18 to $25 per person, $15 for a popcorn.

BLACKWELL: Mine is that people eat the popcorn for the full 90 minutes. That's why I don't go to the movies. Rahul, Cody, Jah, thank you all. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[07:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Eva Longoria is back, this time in France. "Eva Longoria's Searching for France" premieres tonight. Catch back-to-back episodes starting at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN and tomorrow on the CNN app.

And Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is back. You're watching storms.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. We've got several active areas right now across the Midwest and into the Southern Plains. This line of storms kind of sliding through Oklahoma City and Dallas heading up towards Tulsa. We also have a lot of lightning with this storm. That's the one that just made its way through Minneapolis, now pushing into areas of Wisconsin, and very heavy rain across portions of Minnesota.

For the remainder of the day today, the biggest threat for severe weather is really going to be focused across Texas and Oklahoma. The main threats here are going to be damaging winds, the potential for golf ball-sized hail or even larger, and even some tornadoes. But today is not the only day. This is going to be a multi-day event. So, even Monday and Tuesday, we still have the potential for those strong to severe thunderstorms. We're just going to see them shift into other areas.

So, for tomorrow, it's a very similar area. But once we get to Tuesday, you see that line does not break in the middle. So, you're basically going from Michigan all the way back down to Texas. You're talking over 50 million people under the threat for those severe storms. For today, this main line will continue to slide off to the east as we head through the afternoon and evening hours.

BLACKWELL: Allison, thanks. Now, to the Masters. Rory McIlroy built a historic lead heading into the weekend, and then he lost it. CNN's Andy Scholes is in Augusta. What happened?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, Victor. Well, on a day where a lot of guys were making shots and putting up low scores, Rory was out here on the course just trying to hang on for dear life. He entered the third round with the largest 36-hole lead in Masters' history, but that lead is now gone.

And, Rory, he just continues to struggle off the tee in this tournament. He's dead last in driving accuracy. His days started rough with a bogey on one, and then it got even worse on 11. Rory would go into the water on the hole. He ended up with a double bogey on 11. All the patrons out there were saying, oh, no, what's going on? But Rory able to weather the storm. I was out there following him on the back nine. Came through with a birdie on 14. Everyone let out a big cheer at that point.

Rory ended up one over for the day, drops him to 11 under for the tournament. And here's what Rory had to say about how he's going to approach today's final round as the defending champ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RORY MCILROY, SHOT 1-OVER 37 IN THIRD ROUND: I'd like to think that I'll play a little bit freer and I'll play, you know, play like I've already got a green jacket, which I do. Sometimes I maybe just have to remind myself of that. But, you know, there's a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow. I, you know, I'm still tied for the best score going into tomorrow, so I can't forget that. But I do know I'm going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Rory is now tied with Cam Young heading into today. Young had his best Masters round ever yesterday. Eight birdies, only one bogey.

[07:55:00]

The 28-year-old was eight shots back of Rory entering the day. But, wow, have things changed. Young, he's got three kids under five who travel with him everywhere. You know, they could be in for one special Sunday here together. Young's never won a major, but he just won the players. And the last two people who won the players, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, both of them ended up winning the Masters, so that's a good sign for him. He and Rory are going to tee off at 2:25 Eastern this afternoon.

And, you know, Victor, we thought we were maybe headed for a Rory blowout here at the Masters, but now we've got eight guys within four shots of the lead, including Scottie Scheffler, who sat after his round yesterday. He still thinks he can win this tournament. It's going to be another hot one here in Augusta, but we look like we're in for one fantastic finish.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's going to be an exciting Sunday. Andy Scholes, enjoy it. Thanks so much. And thank you for watching CNN This Morning Weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

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