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Large Crows Turn Out Across U.S. In Anti-Trump Protests; China Criticizes Trump Tariffs; European Stock Markets Drop After Trump Tariffs; Countries That Export Coffee To U.S. Brace For Impact From New Tariffs; Deadly Storms Kill 9 As Millions Face Flooding Threat; Global Markets On Edge After Trump Tariffs Drive Steep Losses; Tariffs To Cost U.S. Households $2,100 A Year; Presidential Photobomb On Family's Cherry Blossom Moment. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 05, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: To downsize government sine the new deal.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ronald Reagan, his supporters hope the new FDR of the right.

ZAKARIA: He would not waste any time. Before he even left the Capitol, Reagan signed an executive order to freeze all hiring in the federal government. Conservatives' hopes was sky high. But in the end the Reagan Revolution would fall far short. Big government got even bigger. And many hardcore conservatives once again felt betrayed.

I hope you'll join me for this special hour on the conservative movement's long running battle against government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Tune in to "THE WAR ON GOVERNMENT, A FAREED ZAKARIA SPECIAL" tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. Breaking news. Anti-Trump protesters taking to the streets across America in large numbers. These are live pictures out of Chicago now, just one of many U.S. cities where protesters are turning out with a message for President Donald Trump and Elon Musk about cuts to federal programs and workers. Their message enough is enough.

The so-called "Hands Off" protests are also in response to Trump's new tariffs that have the markets shedding trillions of dollars.

CNN's Brian Todd is on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where a huge crowd of protesters is gathering.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this is one of the largest and most dynamic shows of resistance to what President Trump and Elon Musk are doing here in Washington. This is sponsored by the group MoveOn.org and by the Hands Off movement. Hands Off is the main sponsor of this. They're getting people out all over the country.

I'm going to say a little bit more on that in a little bit here. But look at this crowd, thousands upon thousands of people here at the foot of the Washington Monument. People as far as the eye can see, signs as far as the eye can see. They're doing some chanting now as you hear. You've got speeches going on for most of the morning and afternoon here.

Going to move over here and talk to Congressman Don Beyer from the state of Virginia, Democrat representing northern Virginia here.

Congressman Beyer, thanks for joining us. What's your main message for coming out here and wanting to be part of this crowd and speaking here?

REP. DON BYER (D-VA): It's just so encouraging. And what's been a pretty depressing nine weeks to have, I don't know, hundreds of thousands of Americans show up here and across the country to say we're not going to take this lying down. We are fighting back. We are going to resist the evils of Trump and Musk. We're going to take back our country.

TODD: The president and Elon Musk argue that what they're doing is needed, that the government is bloated, inefficient, corrupt. They've got to downsize it, and they're fixing the problems. What's your response to that?

BYER: Well, first of all, the corruption is something like there are hundreds of billions of dollars of contracts that Elon Musk has. Come on. You always want to make sure that our agencies are lean and mean. But right now, this is a matter of taking money from the American people, closing Social Security offices, for example, cutting IRS agents to give it to the richest Americans through tax cuts.

TODD: All right, Congressman, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. We appreciate it. Good luck. Thank you very much.

All right, guys, we talked about just how widespread this is. This is not going on just here in Washington. The MoveOn.org and Hands Off are getting people to come out in cities across the United States. They want people to come out in 1300 cities and towns across the United States, just inside the United States, but also overseas in places like Berlin, London and Paris. So this is a sweeping movement, all designed to get people out in a show of force today against what President Trump and Elon Musk are doing here in Washington -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brian Todd, thank you so much, in the nation's capital.

All right. Let's turn now to Ivan Rodriguez, who is covering protests taking place in Atlanta. And they are walking to the state capitol. IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, as Brian was saying there, it

really is a sweeping movement. Rallies from here in Georgia, several cities throughout our state here, to Alaska, for example. But organizers here for this rally were anticipating about 5,000 people to show up. I mean, those estimates might be very fair. We might even have a little bit more than that, to be quite frank.

I've never been able to really see the end of this march, but I do want to bring in a group of friends. They came out here together. Tamara here is with me.

Tamara, what brought you out to the rally today?

TAMARA, PROTEST PARTICIPANT: Well, I would say because I love this country. I love America. I love my children. I love all children. I'm a pediatrician. And I feel like what this administration particularly is doing and what Congress is doing with their lack of doing anything, is bankrupting my children's future in terms of our economy, our environment, and potentially our health is really concerning to me as a physician.

RODRIGUEZ: And you came here with your friend Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, what brought you out here as well? First off, tell me what your sign says, what that means to part of the reason why you might be here.

[15:05:06]

ELIZABETH, PROTEST PARTICIPANT: Well, I have an immunosuppressed child. I'm very concerned about controlling diseases. The CDC has always done a fabulous job. And I don't understand the assault on basic decent health care and science. I don't understand that. And I certainly, until a few weeks ago, had no idea that our democracy was this fragile. And so if Congress isn't going to stand up, if the courts are, I don't know what's going on there, if they actually have teeth in what they do, it's up to us. This is all we've got.

RODRIGUEZ: And obviously, the importance of the CDC here, where we are in Atlanta, the headquarters of the CDC, we've seen a lot of DOGE related layoffs, a lot of frustration here from the thousands of people who've come out.

ELIZABETH: Well, and many of us actually know some of the hard-working people at the CDC personally. And we know the hours they put in. We know how serious they are about their jobs and that they are paid less than they would be in the private sector because they feel a sense of mission. That's why they're there. And they work their rears off, and it makes no sense to just randomly cut some of them.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, guys, so much for taking the time.

Fred, we're about maybe half a mile still from the state capitol, so still some ways to go. By the time we get there, a long list of speakers, including senators in the state legislature, the CDC, as well as the NAACP as well. So still a quite the event to go on now. WHITFIELD: All right. We'll keep checking in with you. Ivan Rodriguez

there in Atlanta, thank you so much.

All right. Now to the growing international fallout from President Trump's expanding global trade war. China is now striking back, imposing 34 percent reciprocal tariffs on imports of all U.S. goods. That move is in retaliation for the taxes Trump added to all Chinese goods imported into the U.S.

CNN's Marc Stewart is in Beijing, where Chinese leaders are highlighting the U.S. stock market selloff to urge Trump to reverse course.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: China is fighting back even further, this time taking to social media to show its disapproval of the Trump administration tariffs.

Let me show you the Facebook post from a Foreign Ministry spokesperson. He said the market has spoken. You can see an image showing the losses of all three major U.S. stock indexes. He went on to call the action by the U.S. unprovoked and unjustified, and urged the U.S. to reverse course and resolve differences.

What's also notable here this post is in English, and Facebook is not available to most people here in mainland China, suggesting this is meant for an audience from the West.

With additional Chinese tariffs set to go into place next week, this is proving to be a big test for the world's two largest economies. Listen to what one economist had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM LEE, CHIEF ECONOMIST MILKEN INSTITUTE: I think the response from China to raising the tariffs is more like using a rifle rather than a cannon, in response to President Trump. And like every other political leader, President Xi has to demonstrate very quickly he's not going to get pushed around by an American president. He has to appeal to the domestic audience to show that he wants to maintain China's sovereignty, and he will not allow Americans to push him around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: And on that point, that raises the question who will pick up the phone first, Chinese leader Xi Jinping or President Trump?

Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Thanks so much, Marc.

All right. Italy's economy minister is calling for de-escalation with President Trump's administration after the U.S. announced 20 percent tariffs on the European Union this week.

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau is in Rome, where the trade war has Italian leaders using and urging calm and warning of economic chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: European Union stock markets suffered the worst day since the COVID pandemic after the U.S. tariffs were announced. Financial services and luxury goods were particularly hard hit especially those that use supply chains in places like Vietnam and Pakistan.

The European Union leadership promises a firm reaction and retaliation against the U.S. tariffs. But not all E.U. leaders agree with what that looks like. In France, Emmanuel Macron called the tariffs brutal and unfounded whereas here in Italy, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, enjoys a warm relationship with the President Donald Trump, the reaction was more muted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIORGIA MELONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It is a problem that must be solved, but it's not a catastrophe, as I am hearing these days, which paradoxically worries me more than the fact itself, because we must remember that we are talking about an important market, the U.S. market, which is worth about 10 percent of our total exports. We will not stop exporting to the United States. So it is a problem we must solve. But beware of the alarmism I am seeing in these hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LATZA NADEAU: Alarmism or not, the European Union is a single market, so the leaders will have to forge a united front however they choose to respond.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:10:06]

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Barbie.

Trump's new round of tariffs also expected to impact the price Americans pay for coffee. Most of the coffee we drink is imported from countries which the president just slapped with tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 46 percent.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has the details on how Colombia's coffee industry is bracing for the impact from this growing trade war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Colombian coffee farmers are concerned after the White House imposed a 10 percent tariff on Colombian imports. Most of that include coffee. Now here I am at the warehouse where the Colombian Coffee Federation stores its beans before they are ready to be exported to the United States. About 40 percent of these sacks that are just behind my back are destined for the United States.

And of course, an import tariff of 10 percent can create havoc for the many people that depend on coffee here in Colombia. There are about 500,000 small coffee farmers that are part of the Colombian Coffee Federation. About three million people depend on coffee. So an increase of prices because of these tariffs could spell really bad for their bottom line. And that's why many here in Colombia are sharing these concerns.

Now one thing to notice is that the United States cannot just replace imports of coffee. It's not like America can start growing coffee in Arizona or California. They will still have to purchase coffee from the traditional exporting countries, such as Colombia, which got a 10 percent tariff, such as Brazil, which got a 10 percent tariff, or Vietnam, that got a 46 percent tariff.

Who will pay that extra bill, however, remains to be seen. And that's why there is so much concern here in the global south that those tariffs might impact the bottom line just down here.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Stefano.

All right. Still to come, the tariffs are also posing long-term financial problems for some Americans. How retirement accounts have taken a hit. And later, a big surprise when a family realizes the random person photobombing their photo was not a random person at all but former president Obama.

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[15:17:11]

WHITFIELD: All right. Breaking news this hour. A tornado watch is in effect for more than three million people in parts of Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. It's the latest in a line of deadly severe storms hitting the Mississippi Valley this week. Right now, Arkansas and Missouri are getting hammered with a third consecutive day of dangerous flooding and rain. And earlier today, a train trestle collapsed, knocking multiple cars off the rails in Mammoth Spring near the Arkansas-Missouri border.

CNN senior national correspondent Ryan Young is in Ravenden, Arkansas, with the latest.

Ryan, what are you seeing?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good afternoon, Fred. Look, the situation has changed since the last time we joined you. If

you walk this direction, you can see the state trooper that's been placed here. This is Highway 63. This is the way in northern Arkansas you move east to west, and right now this is shut down. In fact, there's a good chance that we might even be trapped on a certain section of Ravenswood in Arkansas because of how fast the water is moving up.

The way we came in, the highway was used, they are now flooded over, and you can see how much that water has covered that bridge at this point. This storm has been dangerous for many people across America. In fact, there are nine confirmed deaths right now. The rain is steady. We are actually standing in the flash flood warning area right now. We've been talking to firefighters and emergency crews about how they're trying to keep everyone safe.

Now there are low-lying areas. They gave those folks a call to heads up that they wanted them to heed the warnings to get out of this, because you can see how the lakes and rivers here have started to spill across the banks, and that's what they've been concerned about for quite some time. There have been some rescues with boats in other areas. We were trying to make our way to Hardy, which is just down this road.

There is no way for us to make it down this way. So state troopers, firefighters and emergency personnel throughout the area are here. The rain has been heavy. The lightning has been even stronger. And this is just getting more worse as the situation continues to grow. We're going to be looking at this as we try to drive out of here, but this is a situation that a lot of residents have been dealing with for several days -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Young, be careful there in Arkansas. Thank you.

And we'll be right back.

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[15:23:44]

WHITFIELD: As President Trump's sweeping tariffs take effect, financial pain and uncertainty are settling in for many Americans. Overnight, the U.S. initiated 10 percent tariffs on all U.S. imports with the White House's so-called reciprocal tariffs next to happen in the coming week. All of this likely driving costs even higher, but also causing a global selloff in the stock markets. The Dow, posting its largest back-to-back losses since the start of the COVID pandemic.

Here's CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: The Dow closed down more than 2,000 points for only the fourth time in history. The Nasdaq is in a bear market, and the S&P shed about $5 trillion worth of market value. And this is because of President Donald Trump's trade war. Investors are essentially pricing in right now the worst case scenario because they're not hearing any negotiation from the president with other countries to deescalate this trade war.

One analyst, Dan Ives from Wedbush, said it best really on social media, kind of summing up what he feels like is going on. He said essentially that this is the worst thing he's seen in 25 years covering markets. He pointed to the dotcom bubble, the financial crisis and COVID because he says that this is self-inflicted and that this did not need to happen.

[15:25:03]

Investors were digesting all of the tariffs that President Trump announced on other countries, and they were bracing for retaliatory tariffs. And they got one from one of our biggest trading partners, China, a 34 percent tariff announced by China on U.S. exports. And ultimately, even a solid jobs report could not turn the tide of the markets. One investor I spoke to said that consumers vote, this is how Wall Street votes, and this is not a good vote of confidence.

President Trump hopes that the markets will stabilize or return to some sense of normalcy. But that's not what I'm hearing from investors. They believe that the only way markets are really going to stabilize is if Trump repeals some of these tariffs. I spoke to one analyst just before coming on air and asked him, what is the next month look like? And he says that if we do not get a de-escalation or repeal of tariffs by the president, then we are, and I can't actually say what he said to me, but he used an expletive. We are expletive. So investors really thinking that this is going to go on for quite some time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much.

All right. The Nonpartisan Tax Foundation says the average American household will pay around $2100 a year more for goods as Trump's tariffs take effect. And that has some forecasters predicting a possible recession, though Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said Friday it's still too early to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: We don't make a probability forecast of how likely it is for there to be a recession, but many outside forecasters do, and many of them have raised the likelihood, albeit from very low levels. It's not something that anybody now is forecasting or some people are starting to. So I can't -- there's not much more I can say about that. I realize that the uncertainty is high. And you know, what we've learned is that the tariffs are higher than anticipated, higher than almost all forecasters predicted.

We're just -- we still don't know where that comes to rest, though. And we're just going to have to see that through. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining us now with tips on how to navigate all of this, personal finance columnist Terry Savage. Her book "The Savage Truth on Money," it's out right now.

Congratulations on your book. And so glad you could be with us, Terry.

TERRY SAVAGE, PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, so you say fasten your financial seatbelt, meaning don't spend. Instead save or brace yourself for more losses or expenses? What?

SAVAGE: Well, you know, I'm not just guessing about this. The stock market, as we just reported, is where money puts its mouth. And it is shouting very loudly that there's going to be a huge impact on American business, American consumers and American jobs because of all these price increases and supply chain dislocations. It would be silly -- the stock market doesn't vote Democrat or Republican.

Both were selling over the last few days, and it's probably not over yet. Let me just say this from a long history of -- with the stock market. We're down about 12 percent on the Standard and Poor's 500, the big index. But in 2000 the dotcom bubble burst, the market was down 49 percent, the S&P. In 2007, 2008 58 percent. So you can tell that this pain is going to be probably widespread unless something of course changes quickly.

WHITFIELD: Do you anticipate that people need to be bracing themselves for that kind of a drop, a repeat on those kinds of drops again?

SAVAGE: Well, I think that's entirely possible. You're looking at the obvious things. You've done a great job all afternoon of reporting on everything from coffee or if you're drinking beer from Mexico, or forget having guacamole with your domestic beer because the avocados come from there. They'll be all dislocations. It's not just Lululemon and Nike. It's -- or your Apple Watch. So people are going to have to make decisions.

But as people make these decisions not to spend, then you are in effect helping slow the economy. But it's your job to look out for your personal finances, your family finances first. And this is a moment where I know some people are thinking, OK, I'm going to go out and stock up on coffee or beer or whatever it might be. But it would be a big mistake now to get yourself into debt, as so many Americans are.

It's a good time to look at your spending and think, you know, am I going to do DoorDash? Are we going out to dinner? You know, maybe build up your savings now because we haven't had a real painful recession. The pandemic was frightening, but it was short. The last time we had a big jobs recession was 2007, 2009, the financial crisis, where we had high unemployment and one or even two family members lost jobs.

[15:30:07]

We've got a whole generation, think about that, that's over 15 years ago that haven't seen the pain of what happens when a lot of people are out of work, which could also happen now. I mean, all the people that deliver those packages that you order on Amazon that come from Shein or Temu and they're wrapped in that great plastic, every one of those, you know, those packages got in tariff free. Now they will each have a $25 tariff on them.

So not only will the cheap stuff not be there, the dollar stores are going to be the $10 store. But the drivers that deliver those things will be out of jobs. And that's how this thing could spiral. And so for you, number one, look at your spending. This is the moment. I mean, what's really necessary. Number two, gosh, look at your debt. If you're paying 20 percent, 23 percent, 25 percent interest on credit card debt and you lose your job, you're -- I don't know if we could put up the toll free number for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the nonprofit, national and FCC, it's 800 --

WHITFIELD: We have that. There it is.

SAVAGE: It's 800-388-2227. That connects you with the local office. Don't fall for the credit repair rip-offs. But this is the time to get help to get your house in order. So if the slowdown does last for a while, you can make your way through it.

WHITFIELD: These are really great tips. It's so important. So prioritizing. You know, this is a time where you have to decide, do I really need this right now? Can we hold off? And that whole cutting down on your debt is so, so big. So now there's another, you know, community of people who are very concerned, particularly those who are close to retirement or in retirement, people who have been planning for their retirement, they're looking at their 401(k)s, or maybe they're afraid to look at the 401(k)s right now, for those who really are fortunate enough to have a 401(k), right, because not everybody has that.

But, you know, what's the breakdown now for people say your 20s and your 30s and you have a 401(k), you've got time to plan. But the people who are over 50 who are getting close, they're kind of really worried. And then what about the people who are retired, who are living on their annuities? So quickly, what's the advice on those brackets of people?

SAVAGE: Yes. Let me say this. We've had some scary bear markets. And by the way, every time America survives and moves on to better things, it's not a political statement, it's just a historic fact. So if you're young, in your 20s and 30s, and they're taking that $250 out of your paycheck and putting it in the stock market mutual fund, you keep doing that. I mean, we all have to bet on the future of America.

If you're in the 401(k) plan and you're getting closer to retirement now, I mean, like Monday is a time -- or over the weekend if you're online, move to the more conservative investment choices. And for retirees, I've been writing all my columns are up at TerrySavage.com. I've been preparing people for this for the last few months. You need to have what I call chicken money. That's money you cannot afford to lose. And it goes in a money market account or a short term treasury bill, or a savings account. If the market does go down further and I have no crystal ball, you'll be glad you set some money aside. You can earn 4 percent in short term government T-bills these days. So you can sleep at night.

Retirement is no time to speculate because you're not making any more money. So it's not too late, look at that IRA and say, I'm going to make some changes in case it's worse.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. All great advice. Thank you so much. Folks have been feeling really sleepless. And maybe, maybe you gave them a few more Z's with that food for thought.

Terry Savage, thank you so much.

SAVAGE: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sean "Diddy" Combs hit with new charges just one month before jury selection gets underway for his upcoming trial.

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[15:38:39]

WHITFIELD: OK. The matchup is set for the women's college basketball national title tomorrow. And it's a doozy. Two powerhouses, South Carolina will face off against UConn, pitting two of the most high profile coaches against each other. It will be the second time they squared up in the title game after the Gamecocks defeated the Huskies for the title back in 2022.

CNN Sports anchor Coy Wire joining me live from San Antonio, where the fans are pumped up.

So, Coy, so much excitement for tomorrow. And that's just the women's teams and then you've got the men's final four.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Oh, incredible. Yes. The energy is starting to really pick up the buzz here in San Antonio, Fredricka. So many juicy story lines swirling around this year's final four. One of them is that each of these four head coaches will get the opportunity to win their first ever national championship as a head coach. And to add some spice to it in that first game we'll see tonight you have Auburn's head coach Bruce Pearl facing off against Florida's head coach Todd Golden.

Well, Coach Golden was under Pearl's tutelage at Auburn. So you have this crazy dynamic tonight. Are they friends or are they foes? We asked both of them yesterday about their relationship heading into tonight's big matchup. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE PEARL, AUBURN HEAD COACH: It's almost like having two coaches from our staff being the final four, even though we're going up against Florida.

[15:40:02]

You know, the fact that I coached Todd as a player in Israel for the Maccabiah Games, and when I got the Auburn job, I asked my son to come with me, and I asked Todd Golden to come with me because I trusted them and it's no shock to me he is one of the very best young coaches in all of the country.

TODD GOLDEN, FLORIDA HEAD COACH: It's a full circle moment. You know, for me, I had the opportunity to work with them over 10 years ago. You know, was at the ground floor of Auburn's program in the Renaissance. Being a small part of that build back and now I'm leading my own program, competing against these guys tomorrow night. It's surreal. And I'm just really happy that one of us is going to be competing for national championship on Monday night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. The other two teams competing for that national championship Monday night, you'll have Houston's head coach, Kelvin Sampson. This is his fourth trip to the final four. And he's facing off against Duke's Jon Scheyer. His fourth trip as well. But once as a player, twice as an assistant, his first as a head coach.

We asked both of them, a lot of fans out here, maybe not have any team in this race tonight, so why should they pick your team to win it all? Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELVIN SAMPSON, HOUSTON HEAD COACH: We're in the state of Texas. We're the first team from this state to participate in the final four in the state of Texas. So we got a lot of great schools in this state. And this is one week we can all come together and go Cougs.

JON SCHEYER, DUKES HEAD COACH: My pitch would be the fact that we've done this differently, you know, the way these guys have come together. Not many teams are playing young players. We start three freshmen, five in our main rotation. The fact that they're none of them are about themselves, I think it's a group that's likable and easy to root for. But, we'll see, we'll see if that pitch did anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: One of those freshman that coach was talking about is Cooper Flagg, arguably the best player in the entire country. He will be the number one pick in the next NBA draft, and he was pitching his case. Duke is the overwhelming favorite to win it all, and there are some fans out here who might not want Duke to win it all. We shall see.

You have those games tipping off tonight. You can follow all the updates and analysis during the game on our March Madness live story. That's at CNN.com. So it'll be a fun night here in San Antonio as they all duke it out to try to make their trip to the national title game -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, so exciting. OK, so you got -- you've got players in the mix. You've got a lot of fans back there in the mix. And I also understand, Coy, that there have been a few ghosts here and there? Huh?

WIRE: OK, so when I found out where we were going to stay, I looked up this hotel, the Emily Morgan. As a matter of fact, we can see it. OK. And the first thing that pops up in Google is haunted. This is 1924. It opened as a hospital. There are gargoyles on the outside. There is a surgical floor at one time. A psych ward floor at one time. And in the basement was the morgue. And I have been talking, doing some investigative reporting to folks that work at the hotel.

And unfortunately for me, in all of my coworkers here they do say some of these stories may be true because they hear about them or have experienced them themselves.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. OK, that's a little creepy. And something tells me, I mean, a lot of people made those discoveries, you know, like guests made those discoveries or learned about it once they've already, you know, checked in. And because you've got all this madness, good luck on trying to get another hotel room.

WIRE: Yes. That's right. And you know what? I wouldn't want to. It is a fabulous hotel and everyone working there is outstanding. All of the living are incredibly nice people.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Critically. I like it. All right. Coy Wire, thank you so much. Good luck. Good luck.

WIRE: You got it.

WHITFIELD: In San Antonio.

All right. Coming up tonight on an all-new original episode of "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU," Roy Wood, Jr.. Congressman Ro Khanna, and the rest of the panel try to figure out how many countries make up the Trump administration's list of the dirty 15.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JUNIOR, HOST: Question, does anyone know the name the administration has for the countries that they think are ripping America off the worst?

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Countries that just have penguins?

(LAUGHTER)

WOOD: Let's hear the name of the countries.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The dirty 15.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The dirty 15.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dirty 15.

WOOD: Question. How many countries comprise the dirty 15 countries?

AMBER RUFFIN, CO-HOST: No, Roy, it has to be 15. I don't like it when we're this dumb.

IAN MICHAEL BLACK, CO-HOST: I'm going to say 23.

KAREN CHEE, COMEDIAN: I'm going to say three.

WOOD: Twenty-nine countries.

(LAUGHTER)

WOOD: The administration has not given any type of clarity. It's like, well, what is the dirty 15? Is it 15 percent or is it 15? It's like a baker's dozen, plus two more, and then --

RUFFIN: I would like to file a motion that we be known as the dirty five.

CHEE: OK.

KHANNA: I mean, can we be the dirty eight?

[15:45:02]

RUFFIN: Oh, yes, that's better. The dirty eight, because there's five of us.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Be sure to tune in tonight at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

All right. Up next, a couple hoping for the perfect picture of their kids got way more than they could have hoped. An Obama photo bomb. We'll talk with the professional photographer that snapped this photo of a lifetime, next.

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[15:50:11]

WHITFIELD: All right. The National Cherry Blossom Festival remains in its peak this weekend in the nation's capital as it enters the final week of celebrations. But for one family, a photo shoot on Washington's Tidal Basin captured more than just the quintessential emergence of spring. How about a presidential photo bomb? In between the bursts of pink and white blossoms and preschooler Belle Preston and her 1-year-old brother, Thomas, yes, in the background, that's a real photo, of this family photo, former president Barack Obama just kind of casually strolling through the frame as the family photographer snapped shots of the kiddos there.

The kids, kind of oblivious to this incredible moment. As for the parents, well, it took a minute to grasp what was actually happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PORTIA MOORE, CHILDREN PHOTOBOMBED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA: So once they finished the shoot, I picked him up and I was like, what did you say? And he was like, that's President Obama, and I was like, oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining us right now the photographer behind that photo, Briana Inell.

Oh, Briana, congratulations. Oh, my gosh. I mean, this was something you couldn't even plan. And here you do a lot of these photo shoots on the, you know, along the Tidal Basin all the time. You know, you're trying to coordinate how to deal with the kids and how to deal with the unexpected. And then this happened.

So what made you keep shooting? Even you didn't know it was really him right away, right?

BRIANA INELL, PHOTOGRAPHER: No, not at all. I did not -- I probably would not have realized that until, like they told me or they showed me like, we confirmed with, like, the Secret Service after we saw them walking past, we're like, who was that? We're like, was that Obama? And they're like, yes. And we were just freaking out.

WHITFIELD: Really? OK, so tell me about that freaking out moment. You know, you said, yes, who was that? And they said that was President Obama. And then you did you start, like, checking your frames to see if you got the shots or what happened?

INELL: My client, Portia, was like, did we actually capture him on camera? Like, and so I was like, I was for sure, like, we couldn't have. And I went back and rolled back on the pictures, and I found Obama in a couple of frames.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. And so did you think at this moment, like, OK, wait a minute, you know, what frame are they going to choose? Or do they want me to do this over? I mean, you know, as the photographer who captured an incredible moment at the same time, it's not exactly what anybody had planned for.

INELL: No, not at all. We were kind of like, how do we even continue the shoot now? Like, what do we -- are we going to take a better picture than that? And we already had so.

WHITFIELD: And what did you do?

INELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Did you all continue shooting more to see if you could get just the kids and without a president? Or were you just satisfied with we got the shots?

INELL: So I have like certain -- because I do it so many of these for like the past 10 years. Like, I make sure I get, like, all of the particular shots for each client. And so we had like one or two more poses in areas in the Tidal Basin. And then we were done. But, yes, it was pretty hard. We were just like still in shock and in awe.

WHITFIELD: So in the end, is there one favorite shot or do you just do like a framing, a sequence of all six shots? Because I understand you had six shots with Obama in it, right?

INELL: Yes. There are a couple. So, I mean, they could have -- I just sent them all to Portia the day of her session because we were just shocked and excited and we're like, oh my gosh, like, look at this.

WHITFIELD: OK. So I don't know what's better that you actually got the shots or that the former president actually shared your photo. At least one of your photos on Instagram saying Preston and Belle, I hope you enjoyed peak bloom. My bad for stepping into the shot. I mean, that's pretty killer.

INELL: I never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined President Obama reposting one of my pictures.

WHITFIELD: So, Briana, you're already pretty popular. People, you know, want and covet your shots. But now what has this done for your business?

INELL: We shall see. I don't even know if people know it's me, like my regular clients, unless they see it, see the news?

[15:55:02]

A couple people have reached out because they've seen the news, and I'm just -- I have a lot of e-mails to go through.

WHITFIELD: You do indeed. Well, they're beautiful pictures. Congratulations, Briana. I don't think anybody's seen better cherry blossom at the Tidal Basin photos. Nothing better than this,

Briana, I know, congrats. Thanks so much for being with us.

INELL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And thank you, everybody, for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "SMERCONISH" is up next.

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