By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN

(CNN) — As speculation continues about what Kamala Harris will do next, she has at least the first part of an answer: a swing through four Southern state Democratic Party events in April.

And conversations about similar stops through the summer and fall are already underway, a person familiar with her plans told CNN.

But first, she’ll appear at fundraisers for the North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia state parties the week of April 13, then follow that with a keynote address at the Arkansas Democrats’ annual Fisher Shackelford Dinner in Little Rock on April 25. That’s in addition to her appearance last Friday at the National Women’s Law Center annual gala in Washington and another scheduled speech at the end of April.

Invitations to many of these events will start going out in the coming days and come as even other prospective 2028 Democratic candidates are beginning to ask around for intel on her plans. Though she has not made any decision on a repeat run, her geographic choices for this swing are reminiscent of what her 2020 campaign team used to call its “SEC strategy,” hoping to win lots of delegates among the heavily Black primary electorates to counter what they expected would be weaker showings in other early voting states.

In the end, she dropped out over a month before the first contest that year.

The former vice president and 2024 replacement Democratic nominee is coming to the end of a six-month national tour to promote her memoir of the campaign, which has put her in front of dozens of friendly audiences. As the book was published last September — shortly after Harris passed on entering the California governor’s race — she said she wanted to take a break from being in government, while hoping to boost Democrats in this year’s midterms.

Harris has already recorded ads for the Democratic National Committee and for Virginia Democrats’ ballot proposition, scheduled for April 21. And though she endorsed Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the final days of the Texas Senate Democratic race, she has been in touch with the winner of that primary, James Talarico, as well as other recent primary winners Juliana Stratton in Illinois and Scott Colom in Mississippi.

Harris also endorsed Helena Moreno and Zohran Mamdani in last year’s New Orleans and New York mayoral races, and former aide Dan Koh in his primary for Congress in Massachusetts.

In late February, appearing in Cleveland at a fundraiser for Rep. Emilia Sykes, the congresswoman asked, “What have you been doing lately?”

“Listening,” Harris replied.

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By Isabelle Khurshudyan, CNN

(CNN) — In the years since disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead from what was ruled a suicide in his prison cell on August 10, 2019, conspiracy theories have abounded about whether the convicted sex offender actually killed himself.

That speculation is likely to get new life now that Tova Noel, one of the prison guards on duty the night of Epstein’s death, has been asked to testify before the House Oversight Committee. Her testimony had been scheduled for Thursday but has been postponed due to scheduling issues.

Noel, an Army veteran who started working in the Special Housing Unit of New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in early July 2019 – the same week Epstein was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges and incarcerated there – was supposed to be making checks on Epstein every 30 minutes that night along with her colleague, Michael Thomas.

The DOJ’s recent release of millions of documents relating to Epstein has shed new light into his final hours and what prison guards were doing at the time. But they’ve done little to dispel conspiracy theories about the nature of Epstein’s death.

Security cameras positioned near Epstein’s cell that night in the Special Housing Unit failed to record, the result of a long-term problem with the facility’s cameras detailed in a 2023 DOJ report. Noel and Thomas were also accused of sleeping on the job at the time of Epstein’s death.

The materials released in the files have only raised more questions, including new details about cash deposits Noel made in the months surrounding Epstein’s death. The files also show Noel Googled “latest on Epstein in jail” less than an hour before his body was found in his jail cell at around 6:30 a.m.

The files also include allegations from an inmate who reported that prison officials were shredding documents relating to Epstein in the days after his death.

In 2019, both Noel and Thomas were charged with conspiracy and falsifying records indicating they had checked on Epstein every 30 minutes as required that night.

Both were fired, but the federal criminal charges were later dropped under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement that required community service and cooperation with a Justice Department inspector general review of the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.

CNN has reached out to attorneys for both Noel and Thomas for comment.

According to that inspector general report released by the DOJ in 2023, half of the security cameras in the prison weren’t functional. As a result, there was a significant lack of video footage for the FBI and OIG to review in their investigations — a detail that has fueled speculation that Epstein, who was in close contact with many influential people, including royalty, politicians and celebrities, could have been killed by someone wanting to keep him quiet.

It was announced in 2021 that the Metropolitan Correctional Center would be temporarily closed to address issues that long plagued the facility, including lax security and crumbling infrastructure. It remains closed today.

‘No interest’ in killing himself

Epstein was placed on suicide watch after prison officials determined he tried to kill himself on July 23, 2019. But what actually occurred was unclear, as Epstein then accused his cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer facing murder charges, of trying to kill him. Epstein then recanted that story; in the days after, he told a prison psychologist that Tartaglione had not threatened to harm him and that he had no recollection of the incident,

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Yustine Chang and her husband only have half the concern about gas prices they did a week ago.

The soaring price of gas near their Southern California home wasn’t the only reason they replaced their eight-year-old Mercedes C-class sedan with their first electric vehicle, a Rivian R1 SUV.

But it made the decision easier. Especially since their other car, a three-year old Mercedes GLS SUV, is a “gas eater.”

“The last time we filled up and gas was over $6 a gallon, that made our decision to look for an EV car a lot quicker,” Chang said. California has the highest average gas price nationwide at $5.83 a gallon.

Chang and her husband aren’t the only car buyers considering buying an EV as gas prices rise.

Online car shoppers were 17% more likely to search for information about an EV in the week beginning March 2 than the week before, according to Edmunds.com, just as gas prices started to climb. Interest jumped another 8% in the weeks that followed.

But window shopping doesn’t guarantee sales, said Ivan Drury, the director of insights at Edmunds. And there’s no sign automakers are rushing to build more EVs than already planned.

“I think (gas prices) piques interest, and consumers should rightfully be looking around, especially if they’re already in the market for a new car,” Drury said. “But going out and buying an electric vehicle simply on what we’ve seen over the last two weeks wouldn’t be extremely rational.”

Part of the reason is the cost. The average US price for a gallon of gas is up more than a dollar over the past month. But higher prices at the pump alone may not be enough for buyers to make the jump from a gas vehicle to an EV.

US households use between 50 to 60 gallons of gas a month, said Tom Kloza, an independent oil analyst who advises Gulf Oil. If the national average gas price stays around $4 per gallon, households will end up spending about $240 each month. That’s about a third of the average cost of a new car payment.

Electric vehicles on average cost about $6,500 more than gasoline-powered cars, according to Cox Automotive. New car prices are already close to $50,000.

Electric cars do save their drivers money over time as they end up paying less for fuel and maintenance.

But Americans know buying a car is one of the biggest purchases they could make, save for buying a home. So, it would take a sustained increase in gas prices for them to change buying decisions, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox.

“The near‑term impact is more likely to show up in household behavior — with fewer trips and cutbacks elsewhere,” she said. “To materially change buying behavior and drive a trend toward smaller, more efficient vehicles, consumers would need to believe gas prices will remain elevated for years, not just months.”

Automakers not shifting back to EVs

Automakers poured billions into EV offerings in recent years, sparked by growing demand from buyers, tougher environmental regulations and soaring valuations for EV makers. Many automakers spoke about transitioning to an all-electric future within the next decade.

Those plans were helped by the promise of support from the Biden administration, including a network of EV charging stations, low interest government loans to build EV factories and a $7,500 tax credit for most EV buyers.

But that support quickly evaporated under Trump. The administration not only ended the tax credit for buyers but also scaled back tougher mileage standards and removed financial penalties for automakers that violated emissions rules.

US EV purchases fell by about 30,000 vehicles last year, from 1.23 million to 1.2 million, driven by the end of the $7,500 tax credit f

Por Alexandra Skores y Pete Muntean, CNN

Tras la colisión mortal esta semana en el aeropuerto de LaGuardia, en Nueva York, han resurgido las preocupaciones sobre cuánta carga de trabajo puede soportar un solo controlador de tráfico aéreo.

En ocasiones, los controladores de la torre son responsables de los aviones que se preparan para despegar y también pueden encargarse de los que están en el aire o en tierra.

“Sucede en todas las instalaciones cuando el tráfico disminuye, especialmente de noche. Se empiezan a combinar puestos”, explicó Harvey Scolnick, controlador de tráfico aéreo jubilado que trabajó durante 42 años tanto para las fuerzas armadas como para la Administración Federal de Aviación.

“Cuando el tiempo lo permite, se combinan en un solo puesto: control terrestre, control local, autorización, entrega; se combinan en un solo puesto. Pero se intenta hacerlo cuando el tráfico lo permite”, comentó.

El domingo, poco antes de la medianoche, el vuelo 8646 de Air Canada Express estaba aterrizando en el aeropuerto LaGuardia cuando se estrelló contra un camión de bomberos.

Dos controladores se encontraban trabajando en la cabina de la torre de control en ese momento, la parte superior que da al aeródromo, según confirmó la NTSB el martes.

El controlador local estaba a cargo de las pistas activas y del espacio aéreo inmediato que rodeaba el aeropuerto.

El supervisor responsable de la seguridad de las operaciones, esa noche, también tenía la tarea de proporcionar a los pilotos la información de salida. Uno de ellos —la NTSB aún intenta determinar cuál— también era responsable de las aeronaves y los vehículos en tierra.

El avión transportaba 72 pasajeros y cuatro tripulantes para el vuelo de una hora desde Montreal al aeropuerto LaGuardia de Nueva York. Los dos pilotos fallecieron y decenas de pasajeros y dos bomberos que viajaban en el vehículo de emergencia resultaron heridos.

Aunque es demasiado pronto para saber qué causó el accidente, la presidenta de la Junta Nacional de Seguridad del Transporte, Jennifer Homendy, declaró que hay un problema sistémico cuando se combinan puestos de trabajo debido a la falta de personal durante las horas nocturnas.

“Nuestro equipo de control de tráfico aéreo ha manifestado que esto es un problema, que les preocupa desde hace años”, señaló Homendy a los periodistas el martes. “Puedo entender que sea una preocupación, especialmente si hay una gran carga de trabajo”.

Dos controladores trabajaron durante el turno de medianoche del domingo, lo cual podría haber sido lo habitual en LaGuardia a esa hora de la noche. La NTSB investigará si dicho procedimiento fue adecuado.

Peter Goelz, analista de aviación de CNN y exdirector gerente de la NTSB, afirma que combinar los puestos de control de tráfico aéreo puede funcionar durante una caída normal de vuelos a altas horas de la noche, pero cree que “se determinará que fue un factor que contribuyó a este accidente”.

Según Goelz, el tráfico en LaGuardia esa noche aumentó considerablemente debido al mal tiempo ocurrido horas antes y a los retrasos provocados por la escasez de personal de la TSA en los aeropuertos de todo el país, con decenas de llegadas tardías que desbordaron lo que normalmente es una carga de trabajo reducida.

“La realidad es que hay que contar con personal para afrontar la peor noche posible”, indicó Goelz. “Hay que estar preparado para afrontar un desafío cuando se han producido tormentas o retrasos”.

En cambio, según explicó, los controladores a menudo se ven obligados a gestionar demasiadas cosas a la vez en un sistema que ya está sobrecargado.

“Estamos trabajando con un sistema anticuado y una plantilla sobrecargada de trabajo y con falta de personal”, afirmó. “Esa es una combinación letal”.

A medida que el tráfico sigue aumentando, Goelz advirtió que combinar puestos d

By Dana O’Neil, CNN

(CNN) — Trying to understand Brad Underwood is not exactly solving the riddle of the sphinx. A knee-bending acolyte of the Our Fathers of the Unflinching Church built by Bob Huggins, Underwood is a disciplined, taciturn, hard-nosed coach who long has preferred his players who are molded in his own likeness.

Or at least he used to.

In the past few years, Underwood has come to realize that a bunch of barking alphas may not, in fact, be the best way to build a successful pack. He’s also recognized that maybe – just maybe – he has to give a little to get. Perhaps meet his players where they are. Understand how they need to be coached. God forbid, maybe even feel a little empathy for them on occasion.

“I’m still disciplined, and I demand and expect the same things, but maybe tolerant is the right word?” the Illinois coach tells CNN Sports of his coaching evolution. “Or communicative. Definitely more communicative. I used to tell guys, ‘I need you to pitch the ball ahead because that’s how we do it.’ Now I actually explain why.’’

At 62, it is not an easy old lesson for an old dog like Underwood to master, but it is also the only way he believes he can keep effectively coaching.

“Acceptance is the best word,’’ he said. “Accept the change and then figure it out for yourself.’’

If that sounds like the first in a 12-step program for basketball rebirth, well, it sort of is.

This weekend’s Sweet 16 is a fascinating case study in the current cross- section of college basketball: A regional semifinal that could very easily be bifurcated by age. On the one side, there are the old dogs: St. John’s Rick Pitino, 73; Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, both 71; Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, 70; and Underwood.

On the other, the young bucks: UConn’s Dan Hurley and Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg, both 53; Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Alabama’s Nate Oats, both 51; Michigan’s Dusty May, 49; Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger, 48; Iowa’s Ben McCollum, 44 and Duke’s Jon Scheyer, 38.

And then the two tweeners, Texas’ Sean Miller and Purdue’s Matt Painter, 57 and 55, respectively, but head-coaches for so long that you need to tack on some dog years.

The success of the (ahem) more mature coaches flies in the face of the narrative following a spate of recent retirements. In the last eight years, four Hall of Fame coaches (Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim and Jay Wright) have walked away and two likely future Hall of Famers (Tony Bennett and this year, Greg McDermott) followed them out the door.

The discombobulation of college athletics contributed to their hasty exits.

“I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way. That’s who I am,’’ Bennett said at his 2025 retirement press conference.

Which, in turn, crafted a theory that perhaps it was time for a new generation more willing to delve into NIL and navigate the transfer portal to take over.

Instead, here comes the AARP revolution.

Rather than passing the torch, these older guys are reigniting it. Pitino just led the Johnnie