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Trump Threatens to "Hit and Obliterate" Iran's Power Plants; Trump Threatens to Send ICE Agents to Airports; Lawmakers Scramble to Find DHS Funding Deal; Robert Mueller Dies at 81. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired March 22, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:29]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: 7:00 a.m. Eastern. Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Here's what's happening today.

President Trump and Iran are trading threats over the Strait of Hormuz. The President says open it or he'll obliterate Iran's power plants. In response, Iran has now issued a threat of its own.

Also, it's looking like another day of tough travel at some airports. Look at this live, little wobbly look at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson. The wait time is more than two hours here. A reporter at the airport says the situation is worse than yesterday.

And as those lines and the frustrations grow, President Trump is threatening to send ICE to the airports to, I guess, take over for some of the call-outs from TSA. Lawmakers are back on Capitol Hill to try to reach a deal. We'll tell you where that stands.

Also, an unprecedented move by ABC to shelve the entire new season of "The Bachelorette." It was scheduled to premiere tonight. It happened after disturbing video emerged showing a star attacking her partner. That's coming up in our roundup this morning.

All right, it is Sunday, March 22nd. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining us.

We begin with new developments in the war on Iran. President Trump has now issued an ultimatum to Iran. In a social media post, he demanded Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 20 -- 48 hours, I should say, or he threatened to hit and obliterate Iran's power plants. In response, Iranian media says if Trump strikes Iran's power plants, Iran will retaliate by attacking U.S. infrastructure in the region.

In a joint statement, several European countries and Japan said that they're ready to help with the efforts to secure the safe passage of ships across the Strait of Hormuz. In the meantime, dozens of people were injured in missile strikes across southern Israel.

CNN's Eleni Giokos joins us now with more. Eleni, good morning to you. What do you know? ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I want to take you through these strikes in southern Israel, really important in Dimona, where we saw a single-story building hit by a missile slamming into the building. It pierced through Israel's air defenses. And then a few hours later, we also saw munitions hitting the city of Arad.

Now, why these two areas are very important is because it's very close to Israel's nuclear program and facility there. And Iran's saying that this isn't retaliation for the striking of its Natanz nuclear facility. Now, the Iranians are saying it was a joint strike by U.S. and Israel. The Israelis are saying that they know nothing about the strike.

But this kind of gives you a sense of what we've been seeing, a lot of retaliation, and both sides really trading lots of words in terms of what comes next. Iran has been told, open up the straits in 48 hours or else we are going to be hitting and obliterating power plants in Iran, starting with the biggest. That's the word from President Trump.

Now, it's quite interesting that earlier in the weekend, President Trump was saying that he's considering winding down the wall, that timeline keeps shifting, but this is surely escalatory in terms of the wording and the way that they're broaching this.

Iran, for its part, says that any vessel can pass through the Strait if they're not connected to what they call the enemy, which is the U.S. and Israel. How they are deciphering how they strike vessels in the Strait of Hormuz really is quite interesting because we've seen over 20 vessels that have been impacted, just one this morning off the coast here in the UAE in Sharjah, where the UKMTO, the U.K. Maritime Trade Organization, said that an unknown projectile caused a fire on one of the vessels.

This, of course, causing major concern for shippers not wanting to pass through the straits until there's some kind of security guarantee. Iran says that they want people to coordinate, countries to coordinate directly with Iran to secure the safe passage. Interestingly, you had 22 countries saying they're willing to engage in some kind of, you know, coalition to help secure the straits.

In the meantime, we're seeing retaliation across the Gulf region. It's been relentless. It's 23 days in. There's been a lot of interceptions, including here in the UAE. And, of course, at the center of this and what has been weaponized is, frankly, the energy markets. And that is why oil prices have increased so dramatically. And people are feeling it, I think, Victor, across the world at this point.

[07:05:04]

BLACKWELL: They certainly are. And we'll get to that conversation a little later as well. Eleni Giokos for us there in Dubai.

President Trump threatening to send ICE agents now to airports as soon as tomorrow if Congress does not agree to end the partial government shutdown. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, the President told ICE to get ready. He says they will handle security better than ever. Nobody knows really what the ICE agents would do because they're not trained for airport security screenings. The shutdown has caused travel chaos, with security lines stretching for hours in major hubs like Atlanta and Houston. Hundreds of TSA agents have quit.

They've gone more than a month now without a full paycheck. A lot of travelers are frustrated with the long lines, but also that the TSA workers are going without pay.

CNN's Rafael Romo joins us now from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. Rafael, I've watched your live shot throughout the morning. We've been popping it up in commercial breaks. You've been talking to people. What are they saying?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you mentioned the word a moment ago, Victor, frustration. That's what these people are feeling here. And take a look at this area here. This is like a holding area. It's three lines. And then on the other side of the escalator, there's another two lines.

And that's before you get to this area, the main checkpoint area. That's for general boarding. We were talking about last hour how today seems worse than yesterday, Victor. And we noticed something that may explain the reason why.

Take a look at the green lights, those green lights behind me. Those are the windows that are available. Now, to put it in perspective, there are 18 total. This morning, we see four that are open. Compare that to yesterday when we saw eight open. So that may or may not explain the reason why we have this situation here.

Now, last hour, I failed miserably at finding the end of the line. I walked and walked and walked, and I was afraid that I was running out of time. This time, I think I found it, Victor. And the reason why I couldn't find it before is because it was looping around the airport. And so once I got to the baggage area, I kind of got lost.

And if that's happening to me, I'm not in any rush, imagine what's happening to passengers. See, the end of the line is right there in the baggage area. You see it right there. Just a few moments ago, I want to say like 15, 20 minutes ago, it was all the way here, and it actually looped all the way around to what -- where I started walking.

We've been talking to people here, and yes, the word that you mentioned before, frustration, that's how you can describe the way they're feeling. Let's take a listen to what they have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVIA WANNER, TRAVELING TO MINNESOTA: I mean, we got here at 4:00 a.m. We have a flight at 7:30. Thought we'd be safe enough, but it's just insane.

RAMSES DIAZ, TRAVELER: It's bad, but everybody is just dealing with the fallout. I mean, it's going to just take patience, and you've got to deal with it. ROMO: Did you know it was going to be this bad?

DIAZ: No, I did not. Not at all. I got here an hour early. Usually, it's two hours. Got here three hours, and I'm still in this line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Now, Victor, this is having an impact on people beyond frustration. A few moments ago, we saw a lady being escorted by Atlanta police because she was seemingly having a panic attack. There was a lady using our own chairs, the chairs I brought in, because she was feeling ill.

And so, once you see what's going on here, it's not hard to imagine why people are starting to feel ill. One good thing that I've noticed, Victor, there's this honor system that has developed where if someone needs to go to the restroom, if someone needs a drink of water, people save their place in line.

So, that's what you see this morning here at Atlanta's -- at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Victor, back to you.

BLACKWELL: Well, you found the end of the line this morning. We'll see where it goes throughout the day. We got up on the screen now 153- minute wait, and typically, TSA would be populating those numbers. Those people aren't working. Go to CNN.com for the updates on the TSA waits across the country.

Rafael, thank you for the report.

Now, that next payday for TSA agents coming on Friday. We'll see if they get paid. Lawmakers are scrambling to get a deal together to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. But talks between Democrats and Republicans are stalling, and a resolution is unclear.

CNN's Camila DeChalus has more from Washington.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: Well, Victor, what we're hearing right now is that Senate Democrats say that there is still a long way to go in order to end this partial government shutdown, but they say that they're optimistic that hopefully reforms will be made to several federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.

[07:10:00]

Mind you, the big point of contention here is that Democrats say that they will not support any spending bill, meaning funding, for the Department of Homeland Security unless reforms are taken with several federal agencies under DHS.

Now, Senate Republicans say that they are willing to make some concessions and to reform some federal agencies like ICE and CBP, and that they even sent a counterproposal alongside the White House to Democrats, really outlining what they're willing to do. But Democrats simply say that that is not enough. Now, just these past few days, we know that Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans on the Appropriations Committee have been meeting with Trump's appointed border czar, Tom Holman, and they're saying that these talks are productive. I've heard from both sides saying that, you know what, this is still a long way to go, but you know what, progress and steps are being taken in the right direction to try to end this partial government shutdown.

Now, some Democrats have proposed trying to do a piecemeal approach when it comes to funding different parts of the Department of Homeland Security, but Republicans have really shot that down, saying, you know what, we're not going to do where we only fund TSA or the Coast Guard.

If we're going to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security, it's going to be in its entirety, not just this piecemeal approach. But we are hearing that more conversations from both parties are being had behind the scenes to try to work out some type of deal around reforms to federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.

And we're hoping that they're saying to me that in case that these conversations keep progressing, then they also land them a little bit closer to ending this partial government shutdown. And as you know, because this government shutdown has lasted for more than 30 days, it has really put a financial and emotional toll on hundreds and thousands of federal employees under DHS. And so both sides are saying, you know what, now it's time to come to the table and finally end this.

Camila DeChalus, CNN, Washington.

BLACKWELL: There were funerals held Saturday for soldiers killed this month during operations in the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JEFF FRISBY, FRIEND OF MAJ. JEFFREY O'BRIEN: He was everything you could ever hope to be as an Army officer. He was a leader. He was a teacher. He was a mentor. But above all that, he was a father, a husband, and he was my friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Army Reservist Major Jeffrey O'Brien was remembered as a role model to the kids, but also a goofy and silly dad. O'Brien was 45 years old and leaves behind a wife and three children. At services for a 20-year-old Sergeant Declan Coady, relatives remembered him for his endless curiosity about the world. They say he wanted to learn about anything and everything.

Services for Staff Sergeant Benjamin Pennington happened at his high school in Central Kentucky. According to his obituary, Pennington enjoyed running on his high school cross-country and track and field teams, and several people attending the service wore cross-country and track gear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACY KHORK, STEPMOTHER OF MAJ. CODY KHORK: He believed in doing the right thing, even when it cost him something. And in the end, it cost him everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Family and friends paid tribute to Major Cody Khork in Central Florida. He was 35 years old, a military police officer. He was remembered for his dedication to his country and his impact on the people around him.

In all, 13 service members have been killed in the U.S. war with Iran.

All right, here are this morning's headlines. Emergency crews in Hawaii's National Guard, they also have been carrying out hundreds of rescues across the island of O'ahu after a powerful storm dumped up to three months of rain in just 24 hours. Officials say it's the worst flooding in more than 20 years. Some people stranded on rooftops had to be rescued by helicopters, flooding cut off roads and engulfed homes.

Cuba is experiencing another island-wide blackout, the second one in less than a week. More than 10 million people across the island are without power. That power grid has experienced more failures since the U.S. started blocking oil supplies from Venezuela earlier this year. The blockade has meant no oil, no electricity and a water shortage.

And gas prices up 2 cents overnight. They're up more than $1 in the past month. And how the President is trying to lower costs, we'll get into that and ask, will it work?

Plus, nearly 50 million people across the U.S. are under the threat of severe storms today. Allison is tracking it all.

Also, a coin as wide as a baseball, the new commemorative coin that will bear President Trump's image.

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[07:19:20]

BLACKWELL: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the DHS shutdown is not only causing agonizing delays at airports, it's also making Americans less safe. Because unpaid TSA agents are overwhelmed and more prone to distraction, Secretary Duffy says the problem will get worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: You're going to see what's happening today look like child's play. This is going to be a -- these are going to be good days compared to what's going to happen a week from now as America tries to travel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: My next guest echoes that warning. Shamara Fielder quit her job as a TSA agent during the last shutdown, the longest in history. She joins us now live from Orlando.

Shamara, good morning to you.

SHAMARA FIELDER, FORMER TSA AGENT: OK.

[07:20:03]

BLACKWELL: I want to ask you first about this distraction element because TSOs have to get it right every time and talk to me about what it's like to be on the line doing the job on day 39, 40, 41 without pay.

FIELDER: It's extremely distracting. It's discouraging when you have to choose between putting gas in your car to get to work versus feeding your family. It can be a bit distracting on the floor as well as our attention needs to be on Homeland Security and not when our next paycheck is going to come.

BLITZER: Was there a single tipping point for you or was it the wear down of the shutdown as it went on?

FIELDER: I would definitely say it's the wear down as a whole. It messes with the morale of your officers. People aren't happy to be at work. And then we deal with the public and they don't understand what's going on. So it's coming from all sides.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So President Trump has said that if this is not resolved, he's sending ICE to the airports to fill in for TSA. Now, I'm not asking you to comment on the political element of this, but what's the training necessary to do that job effectively? How long does it take? How involved is it?

FIELDER: So to become a TSO, we have to go to FLETC, Federal Law Enforcement Training Camp. That's about two to three weeks, depending on your program. And then afterwards, you have about two additional months of training on the floor.

We learn X-ray operations. We learn how to work, you know, our walkthrough metal detectors. There's a lot of ins and outs of becoming a TSO. Those officers are not trained to do so. They're ICE. They're Federal Law Enforcement on a different spectrum.

BLACKWELL: And so what's your degree of concern if that is what it comes to, that there will be ICE officers there doing the job of trained TSOs?

FIELDER: I think it's going to be terrible in all retrospects because one, the fear-mongering, the aggression, they're cops at the end of the day. That's a whole other type of training. We're taught to be more so customer-friendly. We're taught to be more so understanding of people's concerns. Law enforcement, that's not their realm.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you, I mean, it's a peculiar question to ask as we're talking about people who are not being paid, but I read that you did this because you wanted to serve your country. Do you miss it? Do you miss the job?

FIELDER: Absolutely, I do. I miss the purpose. I think we've gotten away from the narrative of what we were there for and what TSA was created for. It gave me a purpose to put on my badge, to put on my uniform, to be proud to serve my community. And I feel like we've gotten away from that.

BLACKWELL: Well, Shamara Fielder, I thank you for your years of service as a TSO as we're watching this video of what unpaid TSA workers are dealing with at airports across the country. Hopefully this wraps up soon.

Thank you so much.

FIELDER: Yes. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has died and now President Trump is facing some backlash for his response. That story and more in the roundup this morning.

And on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, Pamela Brown explores the rise of Christian nationalism and its growing political influence. The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and next day on the CNN app.

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[07:28:03]

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump is threatening to take out Iran's power plants if Iran does not completely open the Strait by Monday night. And Iran is threatening to target U.S. infrastructure in the region if that happens.

With me now for the morning roundup, Rick Folbaum, anchor with Atlanta News First, publicist and writer Mara Davis, and senior editor for Bossip, Jason "Jah" Lee. Welcome to you all.

RICK FOLBAUM, ANCHOR, ATLANTA NEWS FIRST: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Rick, let me start with you. The President's showing some frustration, obviously, over the Strait. He posted on social media, "If Iran doesn't fully open without threat the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, from this exact point in time, the U.S. will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first." 20 percent of the world's oil passing through.

FOLBAUM: Yes.

BLACKWELL: So much for it'll open itself, we're winding down military operations.

FOLBAUM: Right. I mean, we've seen the strategy sort of shift a little bit over the last couple of weeks. The President trying to enlist the help of other countries, then saying, we don't need their help, we really never asked for their help. Now, of course, he's making these threats to go after these nuclear sites.

And we're seeing Iran already retaliate. There were some strikes in Israel near some facilities in that country as well. So this is clearly an issue. The President probably looking for a little bit of an off-ramp here and hoping that maybe these threats are enough to cause Iran to back up a little bit.

It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. And I think that we'll know in the next 24 hours if it works.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Has he, Jah, created a red line for himself, though? He's actually put a time on it that if they don't open it up, by his definition, he's going to attack.

JASON "JAH" LEE, SENIOR EDITOR, "BOSSIP": I don't see a situation under which they just open this thing up. I mean, it's one of the few things they have that is leveraged in their favor, is holding this straight, essentially hostage for the United States.

And to your point about other countries, other countries don't seem to be jumping at the possibility of helping. It more looks like, you know, this is your mess, you go fix it.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LEE: And it's not helping the gas prices, obviously. We're way, way, way up in comparison to what we should be.

[07:30:00]

BLACKWELL: And let's talk about that, because that was a promise that the president made during the 2024 campaign. I'm making an audible call, Control Room, let's take the 2024 soundbite. This is President Trump in Wilmington, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's under the Trump economic plan, we will cut your energy prices in half within, mark it down, and you can get very angry at me if we don't do it. Within 12 months, your energy prices will be cut in half.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Gas is up more than a dollar a gallon, heating oil prices are up.

LEE: And that clip is from 2024. Just at the State of the Union address, he bragged about how low gas was. Gas is $2.30 a gallon nationwide. That was his big talking point. And now, it sounds like he's reverse course in trying to convince our gaslight, pardon the pun, the American people to think that because gas prices have gone up, somehow this is good for America. We're making so much money, we create the most oil in the world, and somehow you paying $4 a gallon is good for us now. That's what he wants us to believe.

MARA DAVIS, PUBLICIST, HOST, PRODUCER AND WRITER: Well, I think you can only give those speeches and talk about this for so long until people are really feeling it in their pocketbook. Because as we all know, gas is going to affect your groceries, it's going to affect your travel, it's going to affect taking your kids to soccer practice. So, everything is tied to this.

So, I think when you're making jokes or giving speeches or putting out information on social media, that's one thing and people can kind of believe that. But it's another when you're going to get gas and you're seeing trying to make ends meet. So, I think that's really the consequences here of all of this.

FOLBAUM: Well, you know who could step in to help are the states. And here in Georgia, the legislature just passed a 60-day suspension of the gas tax. That's going to knock about $0.33 a gallon off of what people are paying at the pump. And that's going to help consumers, at least here in our state. So, if other states start doing that, they actually could come to help the president in this --

DAVIS: For two months here in Atlanta, so not forever.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

DAVIS: And so, it's a limited time. But maybe this is an opportunity for us to think about climate for a second. Maybe we carpool, maybe we take public transportation.

BLACKWELL: And of course, though, beyond the public transportation and the carpool, and that may help some people, it's also the fertilizer that passes through the strait that farmers need, who say that the cost of food will go up as well because of the stoppage of passage through.

Let me talk now about what's happening at the airports, because we've been checking in with Rafael Romo all day. And at the start of the show, 6:00 a.m., the wait was two and a half hours. It's 6:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Mara, let me ask you, when the president says ICE is going to be sent to the airports, is it clear to you what they would do, how they would help?

DAVIS: I don't know. And it's so uncomfortable and weird. And here's what I would say for those of you waiting in line and you just had a TSA agent on a few minutes ago.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

DAVIS: And I would say if you're waiting in those lines, please be kind to those agents. So, many of them are working without pay and they're showing up. And it is not helping if you're not nice to them. And I think it's a time where so much of this is beyond our control. And to have a level of higher intensity at the airport, I don't know what that's doing, but we're going to have to show up and catch our flights. It isn't stopping the desire for people to travel.

BLACKWELL: Sure. Yes, people are certainly going.

LEE: And the thing that I found telling about his threat to send ICE to the airport was that he focused in on Somalis.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LEE: So, it sounded like this is more of a revenge thing. We know that Trump is the administration is apt for revenge against people who he believes are his political enemies. But this doesn't seem to be a practical thing of we want to help the TSA along or we want to help people get travel, make it a little bit easier for them. This just sounds like a way to get back at people who he wants to take action against.

FOLBAUM: Well, let's remember what this is all about. And this has to do with Democrats who are opposed to the immigration, the ICE tactics that are being employed and trying to basically stand in the way of funding the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA agents, which has led to a lot of them calling out sick, almost a quarter of them here in Atlanta calling out sick.

So, I think that the president is trying to negotiate with the Democrats by threatening to bring ICE into the airports. But we've already heard that the White House is softening its stance a little bit and beginning to signal that they're willing to compromise on some of these things that Democrats want to see in terms of keeping ICE agents away from schools, keeping them away from hospitals. And so, maybe this is just part of the negotiations that are taking place behind.

DAVIS: I mean, but what do we believe at this point? What we've seen the past couple of months, and this past year. So, when there's negotiation, how much can you really take stock into it based on the images we've seen and the news we've read?

[07:35:00]

BLACKWELL: The border czar is going to be on the show with Dana Bash at 9:00 a.m. to talk about that latest offer to Democrats to bring this to an end.

One more thing here from the president. The former FBI director, Robert Mueller, died on Friday. The president tweeted out, good. I'm glad he's dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people. Now, this is not the first time that the president has, I guess, derided people after their death, said that Rob Reiner died of Trump derangement syndrome, said that late-Congressman John Dingell was looking up from hell. But this is the first time that I remember it is celebrating the death of a person. This is a new level.

LEE: Well, it's -- the hypocrisy is flaming and it'll be interesting to see how people react to this, because when Charlie Kirk was assassinated, there was an outrage about how people reacted to that. And now, you have the president of the United States celebrating one of his political enemies' death. And it's right now it seems to be very quiet. I don't hear a lot of outrage about this tweet and this kind of way he comports himself. And people have come to expect this kind of thing from him, but it doesn't make it any less egregious.

BLACKWELL: All right. Everybody stand by. We've got more to talk about. They promised a dramatic season, but never made it to air. Why ABC is pulling the plug on the latest season of one of its most popular shows. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

BLACKWELL: All right. Welcome back to the Morning Roundup. ABC promised one of the most dramatic "Bachelorette" seasons ever, and that's exactly what happened. The season was supposed to debut tonight, but ABC pulled it after a shocking video of its star went public.

Back with me now, Rick Folbaum, Mara Davis, and Jason Jah Lee. This was, Mara, after the TMZ video of this domestic violence episode between Taylor Frankie Paul, 2023. She was arrested after this. You see her hauling bar stools here, a child screaming there. Right move for ABC?

DAVIS: Yes, but they knew what they were getting into. So, none of this was secret. She already pleaded guilty. There was already all the evidence there. We've already seen the other reality show. We were on The Mormon Wives. So, ABC was really taking a gamble here. And I think we're living in this, like, click culture, where if it's like social media candy, we're like, ooh, what kind of crazy are we going to bring to this "Bachelorette season?"

BLACKWELL: Yes.

DAVIS: So, while it's a real bummer that there's going to -- I read they were going to lose maybe $30 million on this season. It costs a fortune to produce this. And now, we're left with no season. All the bachelors are bummed because they were excited to juice up their social media follow.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

DAVIS: And so, it's a bummer for everybody in the production. But I would recommend Netflix's "Age of Attraction." If you need some of this, you know --

BLACKWELL: That's the tradeoff.

DAVIS: Yes, because it's like you're seeing a 20 something year old, like, dating your grandpa. And --

BLACKWELL: I don't know if that's the show.

DAVIS: It's not the actual grandpa, OK? It's the age difference. BLACKWELL: Yes.

LEE: Well, to Mara's point, Emmanuel Acho, former Fox Sports host, he talked on his podcast about how when he was working for ABC, he had a large binder of information about all of the guests and all the people. And he talked about how detail oriented it is.

So, to your point, they knew exactly what was going on with this woman. So, the question now begs, why did you think that you could get away with this, or why did you think that this was going to go over well just to fire her? I guess you didn't expect the video to come out, maybe.

BLACKWELL: That's what it is.

FOLBAUM: Right.

BLACKWELL: Because it's after the TMZ video came out, they were willing to potentially forgive it for a great season. Now, that people see this video, they couldn't possibly defend it.

FOLBAUM: I guess there is such a thing as too much reality, and maybe that was the case here. But I've got to tell you, you mentioned "The Bachelors," those poor guys that quit their jobs in order to be on the show. But --

DAVIS: Any poor guys?

FOLBAUM: Well, maybe there could be a new reality show just featuring them, all the guys that were supposed to be on with Frankie.

BLACKWELL: Well, let's talk about some big money. And when I mean big, I'm talking about a three-inch coin. So, the commemorative coin for America's 250th, the president's handpicked commission has now approved the design. You see the eagle on one side. This is what's on the other. President Trump, stern face, fist down on the resolute desk. And the commission's vice chair said that he's strongly encouraged to make it as large as possible, all the way to three inches in diameter. Now, this is a commemorative coin. Thoughts on the design?

LEE: You have the eagle on one side and the eagle on the other side.

BLACKWELL: Oh, you've been saving that one up.

LEE: I had that one in the test. But it's -- I want to know where they get -- I've never seen Trump do this before. He looks like Kevin Spacey on "House of Cards."

BLACKWELL: This is actually a photo.

LEE: This is real photo?

BLACKWELL: It's a real photo that was just submitted to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Apparently, he thinks that makes him look strong. LEE: It kind of makes him look little. He's hunched over. He has scoliosis or something. I don't know. It's weird.

[07:45:00]

DAVIS: And they made him thinner, too, clearly.

LEE: Yes, yes, yes.

DAVIS: They toned him down. And also, like --

BLACKWELL: You all are hard.

DAVIS: Well, I mean, when you have to have a coin to talk about how big you want it to be, it may not be exactly what the expectations are.

BLACKWELL: All right. Do we move on? I say we move on. Let's move on. Let's talk social media. World Happiness Report is out. It found that in most of the world, young people are happier today than they were 20 years ago, but not in the U.S., not in other English-speaking countries and parts of Western Europe. And it's because, they say, partly of social media, five hours or more a day.

FOLBAUM: Well, look, five hours a day on social media is not good for anybody, no matter how old you are or how young you are. But obviously, parents need to put some parameters on how long these kids are spending online. We had a story this week about a new app that allows parents to put money into an account that their kids can then access if they keep their social media time limited.

BLACKWELL: Well, that's smart. Yes.

FOLBAUM: So, basically, bribery. And as a parent myself, I know this works really well.

BLACKWELL: Right.

FOLBAUM: You could pay your kids to stay off their screens. That might actually work.

BLACKWELL: Five hours, and not even just for kids. As an adult, the comparisons that happen as you're on hour after hour, that's not healthy for anybody.

LEE: No, absolutely. I mean, just this week, we saw a Bay Area rapper named LaRussell go through a bit of a controversy, we'll call it. And after two or three days of defending this controversy, he shut down all of his social media. This is a grown man. So, if it's not good for grown people that have to shut down their social media because they're getting backlash and they're getting all of this feedback from the outside world, it definitely can't be good for your kid.

DAVIS: Well, it has to start with the parents too, right?

BLACKWELL: Yes. DAVIS: When I'm at restaurants and I see immediately the baby is with an iPad or with a phone.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

DAVIS: So, when they say on a plane, it's like you've got to put your mask on first and then do the -- your child. So, it's like parents have to monitor it. And I'm not going to say I'm immune to it. Like, I'm looking at dog videos all day long. And you know, I love the TikTok.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but we all have to limit it for our own, apparently, mental health.

DAVIS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Mara, Jah, Rick, thank you all for coming in.

LEE: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: All right. Still to come, Texas has punched his ticket to the Sweet 16 with an upset over Gonzaga. Andy Scholes has your March Madness highlights in sports.

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BLACKWELL: Nearly 50 million people are in the path of severe weather today. Allison is tracking it. What do you see?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So, let's take a look at where that greatest threat is going to be. Right now, we've got a lot of showers across the Midwest and the Northeast. This is not the severe. It's once this slides east along that cold front, then we're going to start to see those stronger and more severe thunderstorms ramp up later on today.

This is going to be the target area from Illinois all the way over through New Jersey. You're talking Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh over to Philadelphia. The main threat here is damaging winds, but we can't rule out some large hail as well as an isolated tornado.

So, here's a look at the timeline. Again, around dinner time tonight, 5:00, 6:00, you'll start to notice some of these discrete cells beginning to form. Then the entire rest of the line starts to form around 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 this evening. That will continue to slide east through the evening and overnight hours. It also means tomorrow morning, it could be a little bit of a soggy commute. Places like Boston, down through Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, D.C. Again, all of those major cities right through there. You're going to be looking at some of the heavy rain and even some gusty winds right there around that 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. timeline for a lot of these showers and thunderstorms. The good news is the bulk of it wraps up by the time we get to lunchtime tomorrow. BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thank you. Nebraska has a thrilling win over Vanderbilt to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. Andy Scholes is here. Good time to be in Nebraska.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, big weekend for Husker fans, Victor. I mean, Nebraska, they just got their first ever tournament win in the first round. They had been 0-8 all time. Now, Big Red is dancing into the Sweet 16s and thousands of Husker fans, they made the drive down to Oklahoma City for this game.

This was a great finish. Huskers were down two, 90 seconds left. They miss, but Sam Hoiberg, the coach's son, to put back to tie the game. The game would be tied again with under 10 seconds to go. Braden Frager, the layup here gives Nebraska a two-point lead with two seconds left. Vanderbilt calls timeout. They get the ball into Tyler Tanner. His half-court shot, look how close this was. It doesn't go, though. Vandy devastated. The Huskers celebrate their first ever trip to the Sweet 16. The emotions there were great.

Now, the Longhorns and Zags also coming down to the wire. Under a minute to go. Graham Ike is going to fly through the lane here, slam it home, put the Zags down by one. Under 20 seconds to go now. Tramon Mark is going to dish it to Camden Heide. It's the dagger three fading out of bounds. Texas, an 11 seed, goes from winning in the first four to now the Sweet 16. They win 74 to 68.

Could a 12-seed High Point University become really the only Cinderella in the whole tournament? And the answer is no. But they nearly upset Arkansas. Second half, Chase Johnston, one of the Panthers' heroes from the first round, makes a three there to tie it at 65. But in the clutch, Arkansas star, Darius Acob Jr. coming through. This three really put the game away with a minute to go. And Coach Cal and those Razorbacks, they move on winning 94 to 88.

So, who else is going to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16? Today, Miami and Purdue are going to get things started at 12, 10 Eastern on CBS. Then you got Rick Pitino and St. John versus Bill Self in Kansas. That should be a great one at 5:15. You can watch all the action across our sister networks, TNT and TBS.

[07:55:00]

Meanwhile, in the women's tournament, USC's still alive, but barely. Clemson's Mia Moore hits this runner at the buzzer. Tigers all mobber to celebrate. Now, on the broadcast, it looked like she got it all, but when they reviewed it, the ball's still in her hand with the red lights on. So, they go to OT and Jazzy Davidson is dominating in this one. Hits a huge three. She had 31 points. USC would pull it out in OT, 71-67.

Finally, got to see Tom Brady play some competitive football yesterday at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. Brady nifty move there before firing a touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs on his first pass of the game, but his team would not win this round-robin tournament. The team not made up of NFL stars actually dominated. It was the real Team USA Flag Football team winning it. You know, flag football guys going to be in the 2028 L.A. Olympics. A lot of NFL players have said they want to take part, but the real flag football players showed they were the dominant ones.

BLACKWELL: Yes, yes. All right. Andy, thank you. And thank you for watching CNN This Morning Weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

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