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Connect the World

Lebanon's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens Amid Conflict; Artemis II Crew Completes Planned Orbital Adjustment; Vote on the Future of the White House Ballroom Build; Employers Cite AI as Reason for 25 Percent of March Job Cuts; U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Venezuelan Leader Delcy Rodriguez; Belgium's Top Chocolatiers Craft Intricate Masterpieces. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired April 02, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Investors and allies are losing patience with President Trump on Iran. There are still no exit plans

and no timeline for the war's end. It's 09:00 a.m. in Washington. It's 02:00 p.m. in London. I'm Christina Macfarlane, this is "Connect the

World".

And the stock market in New York opens in about 30 minutes from now. And take a look at this. We are looking at a lower open across the board after

President Trump said the war will continue for weeks. Markets will be closed on Friday for the Easter holiday.

Well, Iran's military is dismissing Donald Trump's claim that it has been left weakened by the past month of war, and says destructive new action is

on the cards. In an address to the nation on Wednesday, the U.S. President said the conflict could wrap up in two to three weeks, with the U.S. close

to achieving its strategic goals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of conventional ballistic missiles, and

would soon have had missiles that could reach the American homeland, Europe and virtually any other place on earth, Iran's strategy was so obvious.

They wanted to produce as many missiles as possible, and they did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well Tehran is vowing to step up attacks. A missile strike caused street to flood in central Israel, while dozens of rockets were

fired on the north of the country, causing injuries and damage as Israel's began Passover. While in Iran, stunning new video shows large explosions

south of Esfahan.

Its Iranian media said there was an attack on the area on Wednesday, which reportedly targeted a military installation. Well Kevin Liptak is in

Washington with home President Trump's address, while Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi, which says it is still intercepting new missiles.

Kevin, let's begin with you. I think anyone expecting the president to calm some fears last night would have been sorely disappointed. What has been

the reaction you're seeing in Washington today to this address?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And I think it's falling along predictable lines. If you were for this war before the

president's speech, you're for it now, if you were against the president the war, I'm not sure the president did much to change your mind.

In part because he didn't say anything that was different than what he has been saying for the last several weeks. This was essentially the same

message that he's been delivering in his almost daily appearances, just delivered all in one speech and later at night. And so, I don't know that

the president changed many minds in this address.

And I think that will be a disappointment to a lot of people, including some of his own supporters, who are looking for a better picture of what

the end game in this war actually looks like. You know, we're now in the middle of week four. The president had initially said that this war would

last between four to six weeks.

And there is now growing agitation to hear more about how he envisions it ending. You know, we just had a poll yesterday that showed the popularity

of this conflict overall is declining, and I think that's a recognition that many of the president's advisors have absorbed.

That's part of the reason that they scheduled this address to the nation to begin with. But I think when you were listening to the president, some of

those contradictory messages continued carrying through. You know, he talked about how there were negotiations underway to try and end this

conflict, that the Iranians would be wise to agree to a deal that would end the violence.

But at the same time, he said that the U.S. strikes and the Israeli strikes would only escalate over the next two to three weeks. And so, if you're

looking to try and gage how the president plans to proceed, I don't know that you got any better picture of what his ultimate intentions were.

Nor did the president offer much empathy for Americans when it comes to the economic costs of this war. You know, the rising cost and fuel, certainly

the human toll that this war has cost. He didn't really strike much of an empathetic note or an acknowledgement that Americans are suffering as a

result of what the president has decided to do in Iran.

Instead, he really encouraged Americans to put everything into perspective, and you saw that moment in the speech when he listed through previous

American conflicts going all the way back to World War One, stating how long they lasted and noting that this war for now is much, much shorter

than all of those previous entanglements, saying that it was very important to keep everything in perspective.

[09:05:00]

And so, whether that convinces anyone who is listening remains to be seen. But not really much new from the president last night.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, certainly didn't appear that way. Kevin, thanks. Paula, with Donald Trump claiming the war will end in his words shortly, what

reaction Tehran having to that today?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, we've had some reaction from the military, from the Revolutionary Guard. They've given a statement

via state media saying that this war will continue until the U.S. and Israel face, quote, humiliation, disgrace, lasting regret and ultimate

surrender. So, dismissing this timeline that President Trump gave one of the latest timelines he's given two to three weeks for this war to

continue.

We have heard Iranian officials saying that they are prepared for six months if it is necessary. Now, the IRGC also rejected Trump's claims that

the navy had been destroyed, that the military and missile capability had been destroyed, saying that they still have capability to build more

missiles, that there are sites and compounds that the U.S. doesn't know about and will not be able to reach so, as you would expect, a full

throttle rejection of what the U.S. President said.

We also had a response, or not a response. Sorry, this was before President Trump's speech, but from the political area of Iran, from the President

Masoud Pezeshkian, he wrote an open letter to the American people, and he was trying to explain why, or ask why this war was still going on, why it

had been waged against Iran.

He also showed knowledge of the working way of the American political system. He did say exactly which of the American people's interests are

truly being served with this war. Also talking about America First, the Trump policy, saying is America First truly among the priorities of the

U.S. government today?

So, you have two different responses and reactions to what is coming out of the Trump Administration there. Of course, we've heard from President Trump

that he believes that they are talking to the more reasonable leaders within Iran at this point, so that could potentially point to the

president.

He's considered one of the more reasonable leaders, but he's not necessarily considered the one who is in charge. It is still considered to

be the Islamic regime, excuse me, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that is very much in the driving seat when it comes to the retaliation.

And certainly, that's what we're seeing in this, the very forceful statements against the U.S. and Israel, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Thanks Paula. And Kevin, just briefly, back to you. I mean, obviously, as Paula is saying, that Iran striking a very defiant tone,

especially against Donald Trump's claims, this could all be over in two to three weeks, but even if the U.S. were to pull out of this conflict.

I mean, it's changing by the day, isn't it, but even if at this point, they were to pull out. What challenges still remain on that front?

LIPTAK: Well, there are two that come to mind. One is the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed, which has caused this spike in oil prices around the

globe. The president, again last night, shrugged off responsibility for getting that reopened. Said that because other countries rely more on oil

from the Middle East, that they would have to patrol it and ensure that tankers are going through.

So that does not seem to be a prerequisite for the president to end the war. The other question is the fate of the highly enriched uranium that

remains buried underground inside Iran. And that too, the president did not seem to suggest needed to come out in order for the war to end.

He said that it's buried so far underground that U.S. satellites would be able to keep an eye on it. And so both of those points, it does not seem as

if the president is necessarily looking to check those off before the war ends in his own timeline of two to three weeks, which does raise the

question of whether the initial objective that he said at the onset of the war to ensure that Iran never be able to obtain a nuclear weapon, whether

that is actually fulfillable, given his own sort of set of criteria now for bringing the conflict to an end.

So, I think still a lot of questions about what he's trying to do, but on those two points, it seems evident that he's willing to leave them

unresolved and still declare this war over.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, this is criteria, of course. It's been ever changing throughout the course of this war, but Kevin, we appreciate it there from

the White House, and thanks to Paula as well in Abu Dhabi. Well, President Trump's big address on the Iran war didn't calm any energy markets either.

Oil prices shot back up on fears of conflict that could still escalate. Let's take a check the international benchmark for Brent crude up there you

can see.

[09:10:00]

Now $108 a barrel, where it was down about 100 this time yesterday, and West Texas crude, the U.S. oil benchmark, also sharply higher as well.

CNN's Eleni Giokos has been following all of this from Dubai. So, Eleni, oil prices soaring again, and after spiking by 51 percent in March,

economists and analysts are weighing in on what could happen to the price of crude this month. What are you hearing on that --

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, these are phenomenally sharp increases today, Christina. And actually, there was, you know, this lull

yesterday. There was hope, there was optimism that perhaps would be hearing some kind of concrete plan to unwind the war in Iran.

And you know more news about the Strait of Hormuz. We got the exact opposite. You saw a massive reversal in some of the losses that we saw on

the oil front. And I'm looking at WTI, and that's up around 12 percent it really goes to show just the uncertainty about the war that has been

injected into the market.

And importantly, you know, a lot of economists are weighing in, in terms of base case scenarios, worst case scenarios. Oxford Economics has come out

with something sort of, you know, understandable in terms of what we could see in the Strait of Hormuz. I want to take you through that.

So, if the Iran war continues two to three weeks, like, you know, President Trump has asserted here the base case scenario is that Brent crude is going

to average around $113 a barrel, that's for the second quarter of this year, then that means that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed until the

end of April.

Then come May and June, we're talking about 50 percent capacity being brought back into the system, so only half of what we normally see passing

through the straits and then would take around six months to reach full capacity. So even if the war does end in the two to three weeks' timeline,

we're still looking at a dire economic scenario, an oil shock that's pretty much a reality.

Then, if we're looking at a prolonged war, so something that takes us beyond the two to three weeks, we're looking at oil prices in a very

different scenario there that could hit around $150 a barrel. That would last for around four months. And then global inflation would hit 7.7

percent.

And we know that this has now become a global economic energy shock. We've been hearing from the International Energy Agency. In fact, the Executive

Director Fatih Birol, was commenting on the current scenario, and he said that the oil shock that we saw in March is much better than what the oil

shock will be in April.

So, he's expecting an even worse scenario to play out in this coming month. The other important thing is, and I think we really just need to focus on

some of the numbers here, Christina, when we see, when we talk about 20 million barrels of oil that's not passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

It is those refined products that are going to matter. Jet fuel shortages already a reality. Fertilizer shortages are starting to impact farmers

around the world. You're seeing surcharges being added to airline ticket pricing as we speak right now. And you know, many economists tell me the

worst is yet to come.

The only thing that could alleviate all of this is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz something that President Trump is sort of downplaying, is

saying, well, you know, the United States is energy independent. It doesn't rely on the strait for, you know, its oil and its refined products.

And also, another statement that he made that if countries require oil, they should just go to the United States and purchase it, or just go to the

Strait of Hormuz and get it. I spoke to one economist today that told me the United States does not produce enough crude and refined products to

fill in the gap that has been created by the Strait of Hormuz.

So, net-net, we're looking at a deficit, and the longer that Iran has de facto control over the straits, the longer the economic pain for everyone.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, it's a really troubling trajectory, and a reason why European leaders are meeting today to discuss the possibility of forming

that coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

MACFARLANE: Eleni, appreciate it for now. Thank you. And as we've been reporting on CNN, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has taken a

devastating toll on Lebanese civilians who are bearing the brunt of these hostilities. Fighting since March 2nd has led to at least 1300 deaths,

displaced more than a million people and destroyed infrastructure across Lebanon.

According to the government, this casualty numbers said to include at least 125 children. Amy Pope is in Beirut and is closely monitoring the

humanitarian crisis. She's the Director General for the International Organization for Migration. Amy, thank you so much for being with us.

And I know you're getting a first-hand view there as this conflict plays out. I mean, as Israeli forces are pushing deeper into Lebanese territory,

as we said that the human cost is mounting.

[09:15:00]

What is it that your organization witnessing and how are aid groups trying to respond to this?

AMY POPE, DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: Well, first of all, the scale of displacement is enormous. We're

talking about more than a million people who are no longer able to live at home, especially coming from the south up to the north.

They're coming into communities that are already strained, and many, many people just cannot find the resources they need. Now, on top of that,

humanitarian funding is low. The needs are far from being addressed. So, we're talking about the most basic things that people cannot get, baby

formula for their children.

Of course, there's no access for schools, for kids who are displaced, but shelter, blankets, food, you name it. There is a need for it, and it's

being felt very, very much here, especially in Beirut.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and I was reading that you have, I think, around 660 formal shelters in Lebanon. But of course, that's not enough to meet this

need. So where are you seeing the majority of displaced people, sort of gathering, coalescing?

POPE: In fact, only about 10 percent of the displaced people are in shelters right now. Now, part of that is because of capacity, but also,

it's because people want to stay close to where they can find jobs, or where they have jobs, because, of course, if they can't work, the impact of

this crisis becomes even worse.

So right here in Beirut, there's a tremendous need for support. We see people being absorbed in the community with families, and of course, many

people are forced onto the streets or in their cars or sort of makeshift or informal ways of getting by. That's the real concern. And of course, the

longer the conflict continues, the more that strain will be felt.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and to your point, I think it is currently something like around 1/5 of Lebanon's population displaced, all within a matter of just

weeks. On Tuesday, you'll have seen Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said Israel planned to occupy the entire South of Lebanon up to the Litani

River, which, of course, is home to, I think, some 600,000 people. How alarming is that to you? And what would that spell?

POPE: Well, that is extremely alarming for a couple of reasons. First and foremost is that it creates tension in communities. Many people who have

already hosted Syrians for many, many years now hosting a wave of display from the south. The longer that goes, the more resources are strange, the

more tensions are fueled.

And particularly in a country where the balance between communities is so important, when that is destabilized, it leads to increasing community

tensions, and it leads to increasing risk of violence.

MACFARLANE: Yeah.

POPE: Now, on top of that, we have migrant communities who are likewise displaced. This is often an untold story of a conflict like this. I'm

sitting in a community center right now where migrants are able to find some food. People who worked and lived in houses, and once they're the

house is destroyed, they have nowhere to go.

MACFARLANE: Yeah.

POPE: And so, communities like this are standing up and trying to provide services, but the strain is real.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, because, of course, they were already displaced people inside Lebanon on before this conflict started, look Israel Katz also said

on Tuesday that Lebanese homes close to the border with Israel will be demolished in accordance with the Rafah model in Gaza.

Those were his words. With these attacks we're seeing. You know, civilian infrastructure, health care workers, paramedics and facilities. How much

are you seeing Israel deploying the same tactics in Lebanon here as they did in Gaza?

POPE: Well, the fundamental destruction of infrastructure is certainly very similar, and that's very worrisome. As you pointed out, just 15 months ago,

there had been a wave of displacement from the south. The last time there were hostilities in the south, many of those people had never gone home,

simply because their home had been destroyed.

Now we're seeing the all-out destruction of homes, the all-out destruction of infrastructure, the likelihood that people can go home is more and more

slim, and that means that this the strain on existing communities, the strain on resources, the escalating tension, all of that is going to become

more acute long after the hostilities themselves, and that's what's really worrisome. It's the day after.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and is the displacement that we're going to see in neighboring countries concerning you as well, because it's already having a

knock-on effect. I think earlier this month, you were reporting that, I think staggering number of almost 90,000 individuals have crossed through

into Syria.

I mean, given Israel is saying this is, at this point, there is no end in sight for this conflict, or they at least haven't stated anything. How

worried are you about the wider implications here?

[09:20:00]

POPE: If we spoke three or four months ago, I would have told you that we wanted to make sure that when Syrians go home, they can be absorbed back

into communities, as we know, the impact of the civil war in Syria already had led to seek serious destruction of infrastructure, lack of access to

hospitals, lack of access to schools.

Now, this current conflict is pushing people, pushing Syrians home, faster than anyone anticipated. And the real question is, what is going to be the

impact on fragile Syrian communities? So, we risk destabilizing a fragile situation in Syria in addition to the displacement that we're witnessing

here in Lebanon.

MACFARLANE: Well, it's important for us to follow this, Amy and we appreciate your time today and giving us your account of what is happening

there. Thank you.

POPE: Thank you so much.

MACFARLANE: More than 71,000 kilometers from Earth above us, the crew of the historic Artemis II mission preparing for a big moment later today,

that will propel them towards the moon. We're live at the Kennedy Space Center with an update just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Day two of the historic Artemis II mission. And it's a big one coming up after a successful launch on Wednesday. The four crew of the

Orion spacecraft just performed a planned path adjustment as well as other checks. They signed off a short time ago and went back to bed.

Later today, they'll be woken up and will execute another crucial maneuver to propel the Orion towards the Moon from Earth's orbit. And some good news

on the housekeeping front as well. NASA says an issue with the only toilet on board has been resolved. Could have been a bit of a leaky problem.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez joins us live from the Kennedy Space Center. So, I guess, Ivan, it's a bit of a case of so far so good, but we know that the

defining moment of the mission, the trans lunar injection burn is set to take place today. So, walk us through what we're expecting in the hours to

come.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, so far, everything has been going as planned, Christina. And something like this. There are a

million little things that could go wrong, and so far, every move has been successful. As you mentioned, that trans lunar injection burn is scheduled

to happen at 08:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

So, in a few hours now, we're going to begin to see that process begin. And that's really what's going to set the stage now for that journey across

into D space and also to the far side of the moon. And what was also interesting, before the crew board the Orion spacecraft went to take

another nap, now, until 01:00 p.m. Eastern.

There was a lot of chatter between the Artemis II crew and also mission control, which is based in Houston.

[09:25:00]

The commander, Reid Wiseman, commented on the spectacular view of Earth that he could see from the Orion spacecraft. He then went on to talk about

the communication systems on board, and then also had a conversation about the cabin temperature, which appeared to be blowing a little bit too much

cold air.

So, they adjusted the temperature inside of the spacecraft to make it a little bit more comfortable as the astronauts now went on to take that nap

for a few hours. Again, the Orion spacecraft is not very big. It's about the size of a studio apartment. We're told by NASA. It's also equivalent to

the interior space of about two mini vans.

So, they're all sharing that same space, or pretty much sleeping the same place where they work. And as you mentioned, the toilet seemed to have some

issues there a few hours ago. Good thing that it was resolved. It might seem, you know, silly and fun to talk about, but you definitely want to

have a functioning toilet when you do a 10-day journey around the moon.

And now on day six, I think Christina, is going to be a really important day for the crew as well, because that's the closest up, they'll be able to

get to the lunar surface, which will be about 4100 miles. It's also going to be the furthest away that they are from Earth at that point.

And when they're at that distance, they'll be able to look at some geological features of the lunar surface. They'll also be able to look at

things like impact craters and ancient lava flows. Let's also remember that there's a lot of research that's being done. Along with this test flight,

NASA wants to see how the astronauts respond physically and mentally to being in deep space.

They also want to see the impact that radiation has on them, also on the Orion spacecraft itself. So, there's a ton of data points going into this

mission here. And again, it's a historic mission, because this is the first time that we're seeing humans go that far into deep space.

We had Artemis I, which was a successful mission for the majority of it, until that heat shield, which was, you know, a point of discussion. But now

with humans aboard, I mean, every everyone across the world is paying close attention to this.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and close attention to all the tiny details as you laid out there. I'm so glad it was a toilet that didn't derail this operation.

Ivan, we'll be checking back in with you later on. Thanks so much. And ahead on "Connect the World" an important vote in Washington, D.C. on the

future of the White House's ballroom construction.

Our recent ruling to stop the project may impact this vote.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, and you are watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. President

Trump is threatening to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age if they don't agree to a deal to end the war. He delivered a prime-time address to the nation

Wednesday, claiming the U.S. is very close to completing its objectives, but without providing a clear timeline.

[09:30:00]

Iran's President has written an open letter to the American people asking whether the U.S. government is truly prioritizing America First. Released

hours before U.S. President Donald Trump's national address on Wednesday, the letter questions which Americans the war is truly serving.

And ringing the opening bell today, SmartStop Self Storage. Let's have a look and see how the stocks are getting on at that open on the last day of

trading this week. Goodness me, as you can see, the DOW very much down as markets prepare to be closed for the Easter holiday and after President

Trump offered no clarity on the end to the war in Iran.

We've all heard about the warnings of AI putting humans out of a job. Now the data is showing its gathering pace. A new report says in the U.S. last

month, AI was given as the reason for a quarter of all job cuts. That's up from just 5 percent of cuts in the whole of last year.

The total job losses increased 25 percent in March to 60,000 with the deepest cuts in tech. Transportation was another badly impacted sector,

given its vulnerability to the war in Iran. So, for more let's bring in CNN's Matt Egan, who's been analyzing the key figures in this morning's

report. Matt, tell us in more detail what the new report on jobs cuts is actually telling us.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Christina, Americans have been increasingly concerned about the health of the economy and how AI is

impacting the job market, and I don't think that today's report is going to help those concerns at all. This report from challenge regarding Christmas,

found that U.S. based employers announced almost 61,000 layoffs in March.

Now the good news is that this is down sharply from the same month last year, and that's because at this point last year, there were all of those

DOGE layoffs of the federal workforce. However, this is a 25 percent increase from February. When you look at the trend, you can see that on the

left side of the screen, this is 2023, 2024, layoff announcements were pretty low, and then there was this massive spike early last year.

It raised all kinds of concerns about the health of the job market. Now, thankfully, it has come down, although not as low as it had been at certain

points in 2024. Now, as far as where the job cuts are, you mentioned, a few of them, transportation, health care, education, technology as well.

And as far as why employers are cutting jobs, these are the top three reasons. These bottom two. These are kind of routine factors that are often

cited the closures of stores, the shutting down of certain businesses and also restructuring. But look at that artificial intelligence, as you

mentioned, AI, it was blamed for about one in four layoff announcements in March.

And we know that has been especially true in technology, where some roles, like coding that were typically done by humans have been replaced by

technology. And so that's why AI is the leading reason in March. And one good piece of news, though, that I want to leave you with, as far as this

report goes, is hiring.

Hiring plans spiked in March right up by 157 percent from February, doubling where they were in March. So that is encouraging to see, because

we've talked to a lot of people, Christina, who got out of college recently, they got laid off, and they're just having a hard time finding a

job right now.

So, we certainly hope that these announced hiring plans continue to recover. Back to you.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. It is quite troubling, isn't it? The staggering figures, Matt, appreciate you breaking it down for us, thanks. OK, let's get you up

to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.

South Korea's President is urging the country's parliament to pass more than $17 billion in funding to fend off what he calls the worst energy

security threat. The nation gets about 70 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East. Seoul has already put a cap on fuel prices.

The United States has lifted its sanctions on Venezuela's Acting Leader, Delcy Rodriguez. They had been imposed by President Trump during his first

term in 2018. Rodriguez welcomed the move and urged the U.S. to lift economic sanctions on the country as a whole.

A federal judge has delayed Luigi Mangione is federal trial by about a month, but rejected his lawyers request to push it into 2027. Jury

selection is now set for early October. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder and other charges in connection with the 2024 shooting

death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

And today U.S. President Donald Trump's $400 million White House ballroom build comes up for a vote. Despite widespread objections, the National

Capital Planning Commission is expected to rubber stamp the plan as it's filled with Trump loyalists.

[09:35:00]

The East Wing project did hit a major hurdle when a federal judge ordered the construction to stop. The judge is giving the government two weeks to

appeal the decision. The Trump Administration indicates that it will. CNN's Betsy Klein has been following the story. Joins us from Washington.

So, Betsy, tell us more about today's vote and how that may impact that judge's ruling.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Exactly, Christina, the Trump Administration's is going to the National Capital Planning Commission for a

key vote today on President Trump's sprawling ballroom project. And this is the key commission that oversees planning for federal buildings and lands.

And even though they received overwhelmingly negative comments from about 32,000 members of the public and experts, it does appear poised to get the

green light, and that is because it has been stacked with Trump loyalists. Among the concerns, there are issues with the scale and scope of this

ballroom in comparison to the rest of the White House, the introduction of Corinthian columns as well as issues about the asymmetry in the driveway

that was once circular.

But this ballroom has been on the fast track since President Trump demolished the East Wing back in October. And he has maintained that it

should be able to proceed without any serious scrutiny or oversight. He's promised that it's going to be ready by the summer of 2028, a few months

before he leaves office.

But today's vote by this commission is going to clear a key hurdle, but it really has a very uncertain future, and that is because a federal judge

threw a wrench into the plans when he ruled earlier this week that the ballroom project needs a vote from Congress. I want to read to you a little

bit from his ruling.

He says, quote, the President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of first families. He is not, however,

the owner. Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop. The Trump Administration has

already appealed that ruling.

And in the immediate next two weeks, this federal judge said that any above ground construction on this project could have to be reversed. But in the

longer term, it's a little bit more uncertain. It's unclear if the legal wrangling is going to stall this construction, or if Trump Administration

lawyers are able to convince a different federal court to let that work proceed for now.

So, all of this is in a little bit of a holding pattern. But of course, President Trump has been so involved and invested in this ballroom project.

He was asked about it by reporters on Air Force One over the weekend, and he said he's so busy. He's fighting wars and other things, quote, but this

is very important. Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and we've certainly seen evidence of that, haven't we, time and time again from the White House throughout this period of war.

Betsy, we appreciate it. We'll keep following this. Thank you. Now with The Masters, just a week away, fans know they won't get to see Tiger Woods in

Augusta after last week's car crash.

But Tiger has also made a big announcement regarding next year's Ryder Cup as well. Details on that ahead.

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back a state trooper assigned to protect New Hampshire's Governor is being hailed as a hero after pulling actor and

comedian Eugene Mirman from a fiery vehicle. Mirman is more recently known as the voice actor on the animated series "Bob's Burgers".

New Hampshire State police say his car crashed into a toll plaza and then caught fire. The governor and her security detail arrived soon after.

That's when Mirman was pulled from his car. Officials say he suffered serious injuries. The crash is still under investigation.

Now, Belgium is known for its chocolate, and the country's top chocolatiers have come together to showcase intricate masterpieces, all centered, of

course, around an Easter egg theme. There are edible artworks that you can see here aren't just for show. They are on sale for around $1,000.

All proceeds will be donated to a Belgian Cancer Research Organization. Too much chocolate. Now, April is one of the best times of the year for golf

fans. Of The Masters set to stay off in Augusta just next week, but five- time masters champ Tiger Woods won't be attending after his car crash and arrest late last week.

Woods also made a big announcement regarding another big golfing event. For more on that, we're joined by Amanda Davies, and I imagine it has a lot to

do with the Ryder Cup.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. I mean the repercussions from his accident and arrest for driving under the influence of DUI still very much

continuing. We were expecting he had been saying all indications that he was aiming for The Masters next week, even if he wasn't necessarily going

to be competing for victory.

That was the earliest news from a sporting perspective that we heard. And the latest is that the Ryder Cup captain. See the next edition of the Ryder

Cup taking place at Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027. He has ruled himself out of contention for the captaincy of that. He had been talked about as a

potential replacement for Keegan Bradley. I mean, you wonder at this point, it wasn't a surprise.

MACFARLANE: Yeah.

DAVIES: I don't think the fact he's been ruled out. Was it from him? Was it coming from the Team USA perspective, you don't know, but we do know he's

undergoing treatment. He's taking himself outside the United States to do that, as he says, to focus on his well-being and his recovery.

And the latest from a news perspective, is that we are expecting the release of the body cam image of that accident that took place last Friday

--

MACFARLANE: There still could be a lot more to come from this. All right, Amanda, thank you, and there'll be much more for Amanda after the break

with "World Sports". Stay with us.

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