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CNN This Morning
Spirit Airlines Cancels All Flights, Shuts Down Operations; Major Carriers Creating Hiring Pipelines For Spirit Employees; President Trump Now Reviewing Peace Proposal From Iran; President Trump Pushes Back On His Remarks On Iran Deal; Iranian Media Reports U.S. Proposed Two-Month Ceasefire; Iranian Proposal Focused On Ending War Entirely; Majority Of U.S. Military Sites In Middle East Damaged By Iran; Gas Prices Hit War-Time High Of $4.45 A Gallon. Gas Prices Hit Wartime High Of $4.45 A Gallon; Powell Stepping Down As Fed Chair, Will Stay On As Governor; Political Groups Compete For Influence On College Campuses; Jamie Ding Sets Record & Wins Over $880 Thousand; Stunning Upset At The Kentucky Derby. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired May 03, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:35]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. Here's what you need to know today. We have new details about the collapse of Spirit Airlines. We're getting our first look at the letter sent to employees about the closure. And you're going to hear from a pilot about how and when he found out he was out of a job.
We're also learning more about that 14-point proposal Iran sent to the U.S. to end the war. How President Trump is responding to that. That's coming up.
And as the war continues, gas prices continue to rise. And that's becoming a problem for some Republicans who blamed Democrats for higher prices in the past.
Plus, a thrilling day at Churchill Downs. Did you see this? The come from behind victory and history making moment at the Kentucky derby. We have that ahead.
Welcome to a brand new week. It's Sunday, May 3rd. Thank you for joining me. I'm Victor Blackwell.
We're learning more this morning about the abrupt shutdown of Spirit Airlines. We have access now to a letter sent to staff. And Spirit explained the short notice was due to a failed last minute scramble for emergency funding. They also said that the layoffs would be permanent, and all operations at its facilities would permanently cease.
Spirit says it is issuing refunds and other airlines are jumping in to help by capping fares for customers when they go to rebook their flights. But a lot of passengers were left confused and frustrated as they arrived at the airport only to find their flights canceled. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can't get transferred. They didn't transfer over. They didn't offer any type of help, any type of like accommodations, nothing like that. Just your flight has been canceled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they literally said, don't come to the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't come to the airport, is what they said. Do not come to the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came here to the airport to try to get another ticket. American Airlines is like $1,300. And then I hear from Frontier that they're only helping customers until June 6th. Well, my flight is all the way into the 18th. I haven't even received my money back to even buy a new ticket. So, that means I got to come out of pocket with more money to purchase another ticket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: CNN's Rafael Romo has more from Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, good morning. Passengers' attitudes about what's happening with the shuttering of Spirit Airlines can be described with one word, confusion.
When we got to the Spirit Airlines in Atlanta earlier today, the area was cordoned off. Signs that normally direct passenger traffic were set up as barriers, and screens had a message for passengers saying the following. And here I quote, "We regret to inform you that Spirit Airlines has ceased global operations. All Spirit flights have been canceled, and customer service is no longer available. It has been our honor," it says, "to bring friends and families closer together for 34 years."
This decision will put 17,000 workers out of a job, including 14,000 Spirit employees and thousands of contractors and other people whose jobs depend on Spirit and its operations at multiple airports around the country. Spirit Airlines' demise has stranded thousands of passengers who have to adjust plans and perhaps millions who have tickets for future dates.
Customers have been instructed not to come to the airport. Those who booked directly through the airline with a credit or debit card will be issued refunds and have been instructed to rebook travel on other carriers, including JetBlue, Southwest, Delta, and United Airlines, all of which have announced they are offering lower costs rescue fares so that Spirit customers can rebook flights.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said some last minute efforts intended to save the airline were ultimately unsuccessful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The president was like a dog on a bone trying to figure out a way to keep Spirit afloat. He was concerned about the employees of Spirit. I was in the Oval many times hearing him talk about the employees and the customers. In the end, this was a creditor issue. Again, they have the final say of whether they want to do a deal with the government.
[06:05:01]
But also from the government's perspective, we oftentimes don't have a half a billion dollars laying around in a spare account that we can put into a bailout of a -- of an airline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: And let's remember, Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2024, but then emerged from it in March of the following year, 2025, only to file again. Five months later, in February, the airline was able to reach a deal with its creditors to move forward. But then fuel prices surged and ultimately contributed to its demise.
Spirit is the first significant U.S. airline in nearly 25 years to go out of business because of financial problems. Victor, now back to you.
BLACKWELL: All right. Rafael, reporting from Atlanta, thank you very much. Also, we heard from Secretary Duffy that major airlines are creating some hiring pipelines for those thousands of Spirit workers dedicated job portals for the folks who are out of work. CNN spoke with a pilot earlier who said that the airline closure could have been avoided.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON KEENE, FORMER SPIRIT AIRLINES PILOT: I don't want to get too political, but I mean, yes, it could have been avoided. Anything in life can be avoided, you know, when you take the right precautionary steps.
Sure, COVID had a big, big hit on the airline, but we also -- as far as where Spirit would be today, if we're going back to the blocked merger attempt with JetBlue, Spirit, the name may not be there, but we would all have jobs, 17,000 of us or however many it ended up being.
I know there's a lot of contractors in there too, but all of those people, including myself would have a job if that merger wasn't blocked. So, I can't help but speculate and wonder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And that's what the Trump administration is also blaming this closure for. They said that it could have been prevented. They say it was that blocked merger with JetBlue. And they blame the Biden administration.
Here's CNN's Betsy Klein with more on the White House response and why their own last minute rescue deal fell through.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Victor, winding down the business of a major U.S. airline is quite complicated. But doing so when the president of the United States says that it could still be saved, adds another layer of complexity to that equation.
We know that Spirit Airlines had been embroiled in financial trouble for months, filing its second bankruptcy in August of 2025. But the war with Iran has further complicated that, as oil prices have spiked and they were really in dire financial straits.
We learned a few weeks ago, according to attorneys for the airline, that intensive discussions were underway about the possibility of a $500 million government bailout of Spirit airways. President Trump said that he could be on board, quote, "if we can get it at the right place." And he indicated that he believes that the government could flip Spirit Airlines for a profit once fuel prices go down.
But there was backlash to the idea of a bailout from the airline industry, as well as from Republican lawmakers. We know that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, along with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, were involved in constant communication with Spirit officials in recent days.
And then Friday, even as Secretary Duffy was working with Spirit's competitors to try to come up with some contingency plans, the president once more raised the possibility of a bailout. He said, I'd like to save the jobs, but we'll have an announcement sometime today. Going on to say that they had been given a final proposal.
But ultimately, as Sean Duffy laid out for reporters at Newark Airport on Saturday morning, the creditors were just not on board. And the U.S. government did not have the cash to get a deal across the finish line. The airline announcing overnight Friday into Saturday that it would be ceasing its operations.
But Duffy did lay out some of the steps that they had taken. They said that the Trump administration was not surprised that this had happened and that they were prepared. Some airlines, he said, had placed a cap on ticket prices for Spirit customers. There had been reduced fares on high volume Spirit routes, and there is also, he said, an effort to prioritize hiring Spirit employees at other airlines. That, of course, includes pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, other airline personnel.
But the impacts of this airline's demise are just beginning, and the closure could have broader effects on prices and accessibility going forward, Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right. Betsy, thank you very much. President Trump says that he's now reviewing a new proposal from Iran. But he said in a post on social media he cannot imagine it will be acceptable and that they have not paid a big enough price for what they've done. In addition to calling for an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, Iranian state media says their proposal makes 14 points.
[06:10:05]
They include the release of frozen Iranian assets, sanction removal, and the introduction of a, quote, "new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz." The talks between the U.S. and Iran have been stalled for days. And President Trump is now pushing back on his own comments, Friday night. He says that maybe the U.S. should not make a deal at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They've got to make a bad deal. But if they make a deal, it all because, frankly, maybe were better off not making a deal at all. Do you want to know the truth? Because we can't let this thing go on. It's been going on too long.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, last night you said we might be better off not making a deal with Iran.
TRUMP: Well, I wouldn't have to. I didn't say that. I said that if we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild. But we're not leaving right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from Islamabad. What have we learned about the back and forth over the latest proposal from Iran?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the president certainly presenting the impression there that he is either indecisive or he continues to flesh out the details on what the Iranians have given him. And I think there was a real sense here in the middle of the night here. So late evening or mid-evening East Coast time, that there was something about to be agreed. And then that appeared to change.
And my understanding from the sources that we have is there is sort of a continual flow of information going backwards and forwards through the mediators. And that's certainly the impression that's being created in the Iranian media, saying that the Pakistan mediators are continuing to sort of do their job.
So, there is a sense here that it's -- there is something that the Iranians put forward, Friday. The president's working on it, and it continues to be a flow of testing and seeing what the other side is willing to give on. You know, you might call it a negotiation. The president had talked about, you know, being feeling comfortable about doing this sort of thing by the phone. That appears to be what's happening.
At the same time the Iranians are leaking details of what they say in their state media are the sort of terms and positions on the -- on this proposal. And that is 14 points. And one of them would be that the United States would have to pull back its forces from the Strait of Hormuz, from being close to Iran. That fits with what a high level Iranian official told me just on Friday, saying that if there is, you know, dual synchronized suspension of the two blockades of the Strait of Hormuz, he said, what's to stop? Who's going to guarantee that the United States doesn't go back into the Strait of Hormuz and take control of it?
Iran deeply distrusts the United States on this. So, that seems to be a caveat there. Another point on the control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran continues to sort of build a narrative on, although totally unacceptable. I'm sure that President Trump and the international community that countries like the United States and allies would have to pay tolls to essentially to use the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel would be banned from using it completely. That's where we seem to be. But the idea that diplomacy is working behind the scenes, that seems to be the picture the president still considering. And as you saw and he said, backing off from this perhaps no deal.
BLACKWELL: Yes, we'll see if we hear from the president later this morning. Nic Robertson, for us there in Islamabad, thanks so much. CNN has been tracking the impact of Iranian missiles and drone attacks at U.S. bases in the Gulf. We'll get into the questions about the U.S. military footprint in the Middle East.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:18:32]
BLACKWELL: A new CNN investigation shows that at least 16 American military sites have been damaged by Iranian strikes. Now, that's the majority of U.S. positions in the Middle East. We're talking about some high value targets here. And that raises questions about America's footprint in the region. CNN's Tamara Qiblawi reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER/WRITER (voice-over): Camp Buehring, Kuwait, American soldiers enjoying a karaoke night at one of the biggest U.S. military hubs in the Gulf. That was then. This is now. A once-bustling American micro city in the desert, nearly empty and heavily damaged after a weeks-long barrage of Iranian missiles and drones, one of many U.S. military facilities in the oil- rich Arabian Peninsula targeted by Iran, even as the U.S. and Israel pummeled the Islamic Republic's large arsenal.
So, what impact have Iran strikes had on America's footprint in the Middle East? A CNN investigation found evidence of unprecedented destruction. We can reveal that strikes damaged at least 16 U.S. installations across eight countries.
According to our analysis and sourcing, that's the majority of American military positions in the region, and some of them are virtually unusable now. A U.S. source familiar with the situation told us that they'd never seen anything like this at American bases, that these were rapid, targeted strikes using advanced technology.
[06:20:02] Iran's main targets, multi-million dollar aircraft, like this Boeing E-3 Sentry, which gave the U.S. a huge amount of visibility over the Gulf. It's out of production, and in today's money, it's worth nearly half a billion dollars.
Critical communications equipment. Look at these giant golf balls. They're known as radomes, and they protect satellite dishes vital for data transmission. In this space alone, Iran destroyed all but one of the radomes less than a month into the war. And crucially, radar systems, highly sophisticated, expensive, difficult to replace and critical to air defense. A second U.S. source, this one, a congressional aide familiar with damage assessments, described these as the most cost-effective of the targets. Our radar systems, they said, are our most expensive and our most limited resource in the region.
(on camera): For U.S. allies in the region, there is a dilemma. In some ways, Iran's show of force makes the U.S.'s presence in the region even more necessary to Gulf security. But there is a new reality here, which is that U.S. military installations, previously seen as formidable fortresses, have turned into sitting targets. As a Saudi source told me, the war has shown Saudi Arabia, that's the U.S.'s longest standing Arab ally, that the alliance with the U.S. cannot be exclusive, and it is not, in their words, impregnable.
(voice-over): To get a sense of just how vulnerable U.S. facilities have become, have a look at this. It's the War Room at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base, the theater command and control hub for U.S. air power across 21 nations, struck not just once, but twice, and according to a U.S. source, causing significant damage. The base had been largely evacuated at this point, and no casualties were reported.
Iran's visibility over its targets has never been clearer. In 2024, according to the "Financial Times," Tehran secretly acquired a Chinese satellite known as the TEE-01B, a massive upgrade from its own satellites. That means that Tehran went from looking at images of this quality to this. This is the first time America has fought an adversary with satellites that capture high-res imagery, almost as detailed as its own.
As the scale of the damage comes into focus, many will wonder whether America's presence, once a protective shield in the Middle East, has turned into its Achilles heel.
Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Now, in response to CNN's findings, a Pentagon official said the defense department does not discuss damage assessments, but that the U.S. forces remain fully operational with the same readiness and combat effectiveness. Now, CNN also understands from its sources that the vast majority of U.S. troops evacuated their positions in the Middle East, and many are working from the safety of hotels and apartments in the Arabian Peninsula. Let's talk about those surging gas prices hitting families hard. The national average went up again overnight. Analysts say it could only get worse. We'll discuss what drivers can expect moving forward next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:27:43]
BLACKWELL: Gas prices have reached a war-time high. According to AAA, the average price is now $4.45 for a gallon of regular nationally. It's up more than $0.30 from a week ago. And analysts warn that prices will continue to rise as long as the Strait of Hormuz is closed to shipping traffic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When this war ends, gasoline and oil and everything is going to come tumbling down. But right now, as of this moment, the stock market has hit record highs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about this with Ben Werschkul. He's the Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Ben, always good to have you on a Sunday morning.
Listen, as the president was there on Friday, good to have you in, he's asked about gas prices almost every day since the start of the war as the prices increased. Your latest reporting is that you're hearing a shift in tone, maybe not always from the president, but from the White House.
BEN WERSCHKUL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, YAHOO FINANCE: Absolutely. Yes, there is a definite shift you're seeing from Trump's aides. I think that is the -- that is the clearest one. You saw -- you saw projections early in this war, as the interior secretary said, a few weeks in, weeks, not months. That's a specific timeline that he offered.
In terms of these gas prices coming down, that has really shifted in recent weeks as this -- as this standoff has dragged on, as the Strait of Hormuz has stayed closed, folks like the energy secretary told Congress a few days back, I can't predict the future. That's a very different message than you were hearing early on that this would drop down.
As you mentioned, and as that as -- that as that sound from Trump showed, the president doesn't always stick to the message. He has offered some notes of caution here. He's talked about how maybe prices won't be down by the midterm elections, but he has also offered repeated promises here that things will drop rapidly after the war ends, and also that it will be lower than before. That's -- that's a real point of contention amongst economists here who -- to sort of say this is going to be a long, gradual drawdown in prices whenever the war ends, whenever the Strait of Hormuz opens, it's going to be a long process ahead for certain. BLACKWELL: And maybe this influences the tone. The Quinnipiac poll shows that close to two-thirds of all Americans believe that President Trump is responsible for the recent rise in gas prices.
[06:30:06]
More than half say that he has a lot of that blame.
Now, he's not on the ballot. Republicans in Congress are, and many of them ran in the last cycle, cycle before that, on gas prices under President Biden.
So, I want to play for you an example. This is Republican congressman in Michigan, Tom Barrett, ahead of the 2024 election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TOM BARRETT, (MI-R): Gas in Michigan is four bucks a gallon all over again. We saw this last year, and now we're seeing it again. And it's all because we're not producing enough of our own natural gas, our own energy, and our own oil. That's because of the Biden administration, the choices that they're making.
When I'm elected to Congress, we'll produce our own energy, we'll get gas under control so that this will be a lot more affordable for families like yours and families like mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Yes, you heard him there say it's around $4 a gallon. In Michigan, the average this morning is $4.87 a gallon for regular.
Is the concern more urgent on Capitol Hill than it is in the White House?
BEN WERSCHKUL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, YAHOO FINANCE: I think that's definitely a fair read here, that these lawmakers really, they're, like you mentioned, they're on the ballot in a few weeks' time. They're going to be really watching how these prices move closely.
I think analysts project it's about $4.44, $4.45 a gallon is the national average right now. $4.50 is done, that's likely to happen in the next few days. I think the one big number to watch here in terms of the -- as we get towards closer to the midterms, is if we get close to $5 a gallon.
But the high of during Biden's term during the earliest stages of the war in Ukraine was $5.01 a gallon. So that could be, if we reach that level, then I think this kind of volume you're hearing from Capitol Hill, which is already there and sort of trying to pressure the White House, even with Trump's public pronouncements, are going to get a lot louder as these prices go up.
It's also, I think, important to note that there's other ways that this is impacting the business sector that aren't -- that are even sort of more pointed at the moment. Diesel prices, jet fuel prices are really having an effect on the economy that I think is going to be increasing in the weeks ahead and are going to increase this question you're asking about the volume of kind of political pushback here as the standoff in continues.
BLACKWELL: And diesel is closing in on the record, just maybe made $0.19 or so away from the record set in the last administration.
One last here on Jerome Powell. He -- his term as the Fed chair is ending soon. He says he's going to stay on as a member of the board of governors, atypical, but what's the significance for everyone watching this morning?
WERSCHKUL: Yes, it's definitely an atypical move. You have to go back in, back decades and decades to have anything similar. The last time a Federal Reserve chairman stayed on as a governor for more than a few months after -- after his term ended, we were talking about the '40s here. So, 1948 was the last time that happened.
So it's definitely been a long time since that happened and Powell's definite immediate predecessors immediately left after their term as chairman ended.
What it means sort of directly right at the moment is that Trump doesn't get a pick to replace him. Trump says he doesn't care at the moment, but Trump really wants interest rates to be lowered. And he's going to have Powell and a larger board that is very wary of interest rate cuts at the moment.
One of the sort of notable dissensions we saw in the past week was not towards a lowering of rates, but of -- of a kind of pushing back on the notion that, that a cutting of rates is the next step from the Fed. It's led to a lot of projections that by next year, we may see a rise in rates as opposed to rate. That's going to be really important for Trump and for the board. And Powell gives one more vote kind of towards the, at least the stay steady camp at the moment.
BLACKWELL: Ben Werschkul of Yahoo Finance. Always good to have you make it a good week. Thank you very much.
Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding spent 31 consecutive shows on top. He wanted his historic run to shed a positive light on immigrants.
We'll talk to him live, next.
And remember, if you're heading out, I need to remember to tell you that you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S. right from the CNN app. You can also go to CNN.com/Watch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:38:57]
BLACKWELL: Because of this war with Iran, a lot of young MAGA voters are distancing themselves from President Trump. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk played a key role in keeping these voters united with his viral debates on college campuses. But after his death, political groups are competing for influence on college campuses across the country.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan reports from Arizona and California, where activists target young voters online and in person.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you feel about the current war in Iran?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think you're going to find many Gen Z people that are super pro-war in Iran.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The MAGA coalition.
DAVE SMITH, HOST, PART OF THE PROBLEM: I was wrong to support Donald Trump. That was a big mistake.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Is struggling.
JULIAN BECERRA, INFLUENCER: Is I was one of those guys back in 2020, 2024, not proud of it, man enough to say it.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): A key part of that coalition was young voters, particularly young men.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): MAGA! MAGA!
ALEXANDER SOLBY, CPAC ATTENDEE: A lot of people I knew who just voted for Trump because they thought it was cool. Now just being like, I can't stand the guy.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): And the key to them was Charlie Kirk. His Turning Point USA juggernaut was a fixture on college campuses.
[06:40:05]
CHARLIE KIRK, AMERICAN POLITICAL ACTIVIST: What is a woman?
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): With his prove-me-wrong debates.
KIRK: What species is the baby in the womb?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a human --
KIRK: Therefore, they have human rights!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- but it's an embryo.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But since he was killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlie was the glue that held the conservative movement together.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Turning Point USA has struggled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since he has passed, there's been a lot of division.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): And sensing an opportunity.
(CROSSTALK)
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Groups on the left and on the right are trying to fill Kirk's place.
On this sparsely staged set, a group of Democrats are trying to catch up.
O'SULLIVAN: Where are we? What is this?
ZEE COHEN-SANCHEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL GROUND GAME: So, this is going to be Destiny versus probably five to six Turning Point students.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Un**** America was set up last year as a Democratic alternative to Turning Point USA. Their plan was to show up to Turning Point events to try to debate Charlie Kirk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why won't you debate me, Charlie?
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): While debate is important --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me a five countdown.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): -- the real priority are clips. How? How? Because Trump snippets of debates that are cut up and shared all over the internet. It's something Charlie Kirk mastered.
And it's what Un**** America are trying to do here today with Destiny. A streamer and online debater who has millions of followers online and who has joined the Un**** campaign.
O'SULLIVAN: How important are clips?
COHEN-SANCHEZ: Oh, that's the most important thing ever. Because I think one of the biggest issues that the Democrats have had is that they don't understand how to take advantage of the attention economy.
When we go places it's like the viral moments don't come to us. We create them.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Trying to emulate Charlie Kirk, Un**** America have started a campus debate tour of their own. And today they've come to ASU in Tempe, Arizona. This is Turning Point's backyard where Kirk built his empire The group's headquarters is only a few miles away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just wanted to let you know that we're not allowed to film in this area.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But it started to become clear that Un**** America's event was not going to happen here today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I'm outside of the Turning Point USA headquarters right now.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Convinced that Turning Point had something to do with the campus event cancellation the group thought of another way of making some viral content.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Erika Kirk here with the (INAUDIBLE) --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are being censored. We want to know why.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Inside, far-right provocateur Jack Posobiec was broadcasting his show live. Posobiec has a long history of promoting conspiracy theories like Pizzagate.
JACK POSOBIEC, FAR-RIGHT PROVOCATEUR: I'm literally doing the show right now, dude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. There's -- you know the Un-F America guys? So they're outside right now.
POSOBIEC: Wait, they're outside? They're here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, right outside (INAUDIBLE) --
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): It seemed like Posobiec also thought that this would be good content.
BRIAN SHAPIRO, PODCAST HOST: Hey everybody, Brian Shapiro here in front of the official Turning Point headquarters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfuck America tour was cancelled by the ASU.
POSOBIEC: Hey, how are you? What's going on? You're in a 47 house.
SHAPIRO: Disguised. We're just a little frustrated because we agree on freedom of speech what Charlie Kirk stood for.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDREW KOLVET, TPUSA SPOKESPERSON: I didn't know you guys were coming until I heard that there was I got a press inquiry about it saying, did we have anything to do with it? And yes, we didn't. So.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): While online the rhetoric was heated in person it became a respectful conversation of the day's politics. Even a photo-op.
O'SULLIVAN: And they've been debating for like more than an hour now. None of them want to be seen to be walking away from the debate. I'm desperately hoping they end it. It's 110 degrees.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Despite their ASU setback, Un**** America held an event the following week in UCLA where there would be more heated debate and yes, clips.
After all, agreement just isn't as profitable. O'SULLIVAN: And true, reporting that story really was a reminder of just how important a role Charlie Kirk played at keeping the young MAGA coalition united. And we've seen, of course, in recent months many young people breaking with Trump many podcasters breaking with Trump because of the war in Iran.
You heard a student there ask Vice President JD Vance at the start of the piece, what are they going to do now without Kirk? Who is going to unite them? And I think what you see Turning Point USA is struggling to fill Kirk's shoes both as a unifier and also as somebody who can draw those big crowds to college campuses that then translate into viral clips online.
So I think this is one very important to watch as we go into the midterms and, of course, into the 2028 election.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Agreement just isn't as profitable. Donie O'Sullivan reporting for us there. Thank you.
Journey across France with Eva Longoria as she discovers its rich history and influence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVA LONGORIA, EVA LONGORIA SEARCHING FOR FRANCE, HOST: Land in Burgundy is so expensive that most small winemakers buy in surplus grapes from bigger producers.
[06:45:03]
Oh, yes. It's a cellar- cellar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is.
LONGORIA: The week supplies a handful of local restaurants but this bijou operation is about pleasure over profit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tiny, but there's enough space to make a little bit of wine.
LONGORIA: And what do you make?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's two grapes in Burgundy. There is Pinot Noir and there is Chardonnay. These two come from here.
We're starting with a Pinot Noir.
LONGORIA: Oh yes, that's so easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fresh, easy.
LONGORIA: I've never had such a fresh Pinot Noir. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this is the Chardonnay.
LONGORIA: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
LONGORIA: That is so nice. Sometimes Chardonnays can be very perfumey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pure, fresh, elegant.
LONGORIA: It really rivals the Pinot Noir. If they were arm wrestling, it'd be a tie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Watch two new episodes of "EVA LONGORIA SEARCHING FOR FRANCE," tonight at 9:00 p.m. on CNN and tomorrow on the CNN app.
A stunning finish at Churchill Downs. Long shot, golden tempo surges from behind to win the Kentucky Derby.
Next, why this win was a first in the Run for the Roses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:50:38]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN JENNINGS, JEOPARDY! HOST: Jamie. It's the seventh seal. That's right.
JAMIE DING, JEOPARY! CHAMPION: What are meteorites?
JENNINGS: Right, 20-game winner, 25-day total, $702,000. That makes you a 30-game Jeopardy! champion, 31-game total. Congratulations, Jamie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right, after more than a month of dominating Jeopardy!, Jamie Ding's remarkable run is over. For 31 shows, he racked up win after win, the fifth-longest streak in the show's history.
And when his run has ended, Ding walked away with more than $880,000, and he did it all while using his regular vacation days from his job, a program administrator for New Jersey's Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
With me now, the champ himself, the champ is here, Jamie Ding in his signature orange. You're an hour behind, so it's very early where you are. Actually, it's 6:50, so you're there on our time.
Listen, what have you felt with all this new attention and all the people who know you and come up and talk to you?
DING: Good morning. It's very flattering. It's very wonderful. Everyone's been so great and so kind. And, I mean, it's cool to get recognized in the bagel shop or on NJ Transit. I'm just enjoying the ride so far.
BLACKWELL: So, I said that you used your regular vacation days to tape the show. So, is it true that you now have $880,000, but you don't have time to take a vacation? Or is there any left for you to be able to actually spend some of the money?
DING: Oh, I've got some days left. But also, I mean, there's a lot of work to get done. And, I mean, New Jersey certainly needs as much housing as it can get. So, you know, so far, I'm still surviving. But, yes, maybe I'll use some more vacation days later.
BLACKWELL: What's your favorite part of the experience? What will you remember most?
DING: It's the people from start to finish, like the crew, the other contestants, the audiences. They've all been lovely.
And then since the episode started airing, I mean, I've been hearing from, I mean, complete strangers and also people from my past and also just really dear friends who've all just been wishing me the best and, you know, telling me that I'm, like, a bright spot on TV right now. And that's an honor to hear, and it's nice to hear.
BLACKWELL: Speaking of bright spot, you're in orange this morning. I noticed the fish and the futon and, of course, your colors on the show. What's the story behind the orange?
DING: I've just loved it since I was a very young child. I don't remember why exactly. I just know that my mother was really surprised because, you know, her options being limited growing up in communist China in terms of the color palette. She's never had a favorite color. But, yes, I've had one since I was, like, three.
BLACKWELL: OK, so that's the -- you just loved it since you were three. Don't really remember why. Let me ask you this, because you're not the first Jeopardy! winner I've interviewed, the first to earn so much money.
But what's the secret? Because I hear it's maybe timing with the buzzer because, obviously, you know the answers. What do you think your secret was more than just being prepared for the questions?
DING: I think it was the timing of the buzzer. For whatever reason, I figured that out pretty quickly. And managed to rang in ahead most of the time. Not every time, but, you know, often enough.
BLACKWELL: Yes. You told --
DING: And, yes, being able to just move on quickly from, you know, each clue to each clue. BLACKWELL: You told People magazine, as an immigrant and a person of color, I was able to become part of the history of an American institution and the hope that your run paints immigrants in a positive light.
What is it about this moment that you felt you need to speak about the experience from that context?
[06:55:03]
DING: Well, I mean, it's a terrible time for immigrants right now. The current administration is putting them in concentration camps and trying to end birthright citizenship. It's yes, it's rough out there.
BLACKWELL: Jamie Ding congratulations on all the wins and all the money. I know you're going to get to work for the people of New Jersey, but you know, spend a couple of dollars taking some time for yourself.
Thanks so much for being with me this morning.
DING: Thanks for having me. Have a good day.
BLACKWELL: All right, you too.
Yesterday brought a historic moment at Churchill Downs. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Golden Tempo! Golden Tempo had (INAUDIBLE) make history in the Kentucky Derby (INAUDIBLE) --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: A huge upset by underdog Golden Tempo, Cherie Devaux became the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. The horse surge at this run is remarkable from the back of the pack to take the win by a head at the 150 second running of the race.
All right ahead in the next hour. Momentum is building to reschedule the White House Correspondents' Dinner after last week's shooting. Why so many are saying the show must go on?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
