democrats are demanding president trump's tax returns and setting a deadline. storms rip through the united states and the system isn't over. we'll get a weather update of derek van dam. also the "game of thrones" season premiere, it's finally upon us. we'll dive into some fan siris and what to expect in the show's final season. ugh. we appreciate you joining us. i'm natalie allen as cnn headquarters atlanta and this is "cnn newsroom."

u.s. president donald trump saying he has the absolute right to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities. those are cities which limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement. his critics say he's using the move to retaliate against cities that oppose his border wall. mr. trump tweets, democrats must change the immigration laws fast, in not, sanctuary cities must immediately act to take care of the illegal immigrants. he then went on, after the mayors of those cities, writing, so interesting to see the mayor of oakland, california, and other sanctuary cities, not want our currently detained immigrants. well, oakland's mayor responded to the president saying, oakland welcomes all, no matter where you came from, or how you got

here. meantime the president denies he offered pardons to homeland security officials after mr. trump reportedly told customs and border protection chief kevin mcaleenan he would pardon him if he was jailed for having border patrol agents block asylum seekers trying to enter the u.s. that is a violation of u.s. law, which may be why mr. trump tweeted the denial, adding, it's his right to close the border and still may do it. the president writes, and we quote, it is all fake and corrupt news. a constant thing he likes to say. well, the u.s. house meantime is flexing its muscles on another issue, demanding president trump's tax returns for the last six years. that order comes from the ways and means committee, which is controlled by democrats. the treasury secretary says he will consult with the justice department to find out if such a demand is legal. for more on all of this, here's lauren fox.

>> reporter: the fight over the president's tax returns escalating today with richard neil, the chairman of the house ways and means committee, sending a letter to the irs commissioner, giving him 10 more days to comply with that request for the president's personal returns and business returns. in this letter neil writes, quote, i'm aware concerns have been raised regarding my request and the authority of the committee. those concerns lack merit. i expect a reply from the irs by 5:00 p.m. on april 23rd, 2019. please know that if you fail to comply, your failure will be interpreted as a denial of my request. neil has been preparing for this case to potentially go to court, and the trump administration has made it clear they are not prepared to hand over the president's tax returns. they believe the democrats are overstepping their investigative authority on this issue. but prothe beginning, richard neil, chairman of this committee, has been laying the

groundwork to go to court. even while some of the liberals on the committee have been arguing for him to make this request sooner, clearly this letter today, which relies a lot on precedent, is an example of why he waited. he wanted to be prepared for when this goes to court, which we expect it will, to go to court ready and with a case for why he believes he should have the president's tax returns. from cnn washington, lauren fox. let's talk about it with our professor of international politics at city university of london and a frequent guest on our program. thanks for coming on. let's begin there with the mystery tax returns that the president does not want to disclose. republicans claim democrats are reaching beyond their purview. democrats believe the president has something to hide. what if this drags all the way to the supreme court? >> well, if it gets to the supreme court, i think there's a

really significant legal test. and that is, president trump has effectively got a majority on that court. and there's a chance that they will be more partisan than one might expect. and that could then thereby basically get rid of that legal precedent, which has been there since the 1970s and the watergate scandal. i think that would concentrate in the hands of the president even more power to withhold information, which is really very strongly in the public interest and which congress and certain committees have the, at the moment, the legal right to demand. >> some republicans have questioned, though, would democrats be doing this against a democrat president? they're just trying to embarrass president trump. is any of that at play here? >> well, we know that partisan politics is sort of the real stuff of the congress. so whether a democratic

committee would ask for the tax returns of a democratic president, i wouldn't have thought so. but still, there is actually a law, and the law says the irs should provide, through the treasury secretary, to the ways and means committee on demand, the tax returns of the president, or the vice president. so that has been precedent now for many, many decades. so that's a legal requirement. and therefore the president ought really to comply with it. but clearly this is also seen as a partisan attack too. and it has that very strong dimension, especially since the russia probe has kind of gone on to the back burner. this is the kind of financial issue which is more likely to embroil the president into a larger scandal. >> right. and by not releasing them and having this go on and on and on, really it's president trump who's created this issue.

>> well, he has actually, yes. he has lit more fire under it. he's refusing. but on the other hand, this is a significant question for the congress to pursue. but it does mean that a very large amount of time and effort and attention is paid to a particular kind of palace politics, which is the critique many people have of congressional politicians, that it's all about them, it's all about them and the president, all about the kind of drama of congressional committees. meanwhile very, very large number of other things kind of are not being dealt with as a result. those affect a large number of people's lives too. >> absolutely. all the issues in this country. and we're talking about the president's tax returns, that's a very good point. let's pivot to a huge issue right now in the united states, and that is immigration. i want to talk to you about your thoughts on the president's

latest brazen threat or strategy or however people see it to send migrants straight to sanctuary cities. it's almost his, okay, democrats, you won't build a wall, here, take them. it's not legal, but clearly he's trying any tactic to stop the influx and win this wall, this thing that he wants. >> yes. i think what is an electoral ploy, that is, kind of make something very televisual, that is, sanctuary cities, real places in real time, and possibly show the emptying of buses and so on, of immigrants, there. i think that's the superficial level. that is 2020 electoral politics. i think this signals a much deeper change in american politics and american government now, and that is, it's all centered around the president. the president is acting more and more in authoritarian ways. he's got more acting secretaries and other appointees than anyone else has ever had.

he's gone around the congress in declaring a national emergency when he couldn't get them to spend money on the wall. he has actually -- separating families, stopping asylum seekers and so on. this is actually a much more draconian move, which suggests that the president is developing a kind of personal dictatorship, that whatever he says goes, that effectively there are no checks on his power, that the congress is not a check on his power. he's declared the media enemy of the people. and actually he's ramping the american system of government away from constitutional protections and far more towards a presidency particularly around himself. his argument is, he is the people, he is the president, and nobody has the right to stop him from doing anything that he wants. and i think this is much more than sanctuary cities. this is about presidential power within the system of constitutional government. and i think he's ramping it way

to the authoritarian right. that is a very serious issue indeed. >> that is serious, when he continuously shows disdain for the laws that support separation of powers in the united states. we always appreciate your perspectives, thank you. >> thank you very much. it's been almost one year since the photograph of a little girl showed the face of president trump's zero tolerance immigration policy. and here it is. and now the world press photo foundation has awarded this picture its top prize. photo of the year. it is a haunting scene. a 2-year-old honduran girl crying uncontrollably as u.s. border patrol agents search her mother. the two entered the u.s. at a time the trump administration was forcibly separating children from their parents, a policy, of course, that sparked fury in the u.s. and around the world.

earlier we spoke with john moore. he's the photographer who took this picture. >> having covered the border and immigration issues for more than ten years, this picture really resonated with so many people. i think because it touched them on an emotional level. really when, as you can imagine, every single day we see thousands of images in one form or fashion, whether it's video or stills. and it's very hard to make a connection with people who are often seeing these photographs and swiping on their phones. seeing them for very little time. so if you can really touch people and bring them into the photograph, spend time to learn more about the story. so i think that's what this picture did and that's why it was so widely distributed and seen by so many people. >> john moore there, award-winning photographer for getty images talking with us earlier. now we tender to texas. two children have died after powerful storms ripped through

the eastern part of the state. officials say it happened after a tree fell on the children's car. earlier our ana cabrera spoke with a sheriff's captain about what happened. >> a family that was driving down one of the residential streets in the northern part of the county, unfortunately a tree, as they were driving down the street, fell across their car, falling across the rear passenger car. the driver and passenger in the front, the parents, received no injuries. but unfortunately an 8-year-old and 3-year-old were in the back, and they were killed. >> that is so, so heartbreaking. so you said this tree came down. was there a tornado where you are? or just heavy winds and hail? >> just heavy winds and hail. we felt like this is a straight-line wind. it was just a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong

time, unfortunately, for this family. in the town of franklin, texas, a tornado with winds up to 140 miles an hour, that's 220 kilometers per hour, destroyed homes, uprooted trees, caused multiple injuries. the winds are part of a major storm system moving eastward in the coming hours. that's why derek van dam is here with me now. you see what happened in texas. and other states could now face the same danger. >> without a doubt. the severe weather threat is ongoing as we speak. in fact, we just got off the phone with the monroe county sheriff. this is out of eastern mississippi. we were watching very closely the radar. we saw some strong signatures of tornadic development. and it appears that this particular area, monroe county, got hit quite hard. i quote, he says it looks like a storm came up through louisiana into mississippi and exbloodied over monroe county. we ar miss, we hit very, very

hard, we have a lot of flooding, there are several trees down. this is a story we're going to follow. to backtrack a little bit on the franklin, texas, torn that you saw the damage on, that was an ef-3 tornado. winds over 140 miles per hour. that is incredible. i'm going to try to get ougall details. you're watching the moments when this franklin tornado spawned. you can see how ominous those skies are. this is referred to as a wedge tornado. it's often where the base of the tornado is wider than the actual height of the tornado. this is a large, very significant, very destructive tornado that moved through the eastern portions of texas. let's get to the details. graphics behind me. this is the latest from the storm prediction center. there were 10 tornados, 67 reports of wind damage, 29 hail reports causing damage. the list and the numbers keep peopling up as well. and these are some of the hailstones that fell from the

skies in the colony texas. normally hailstones are more cylindrical. when you start getting jagged edges, a picture says a million words. we don't want to see that falling from the sky in a regular hailstorm. so much energy in this system, at one point over 175,000 lightning strikes in a 12-hour period just from this storm system moving from texas all the way through to alabama. now the severe weather threat is shifting eastward. there are over 100 million americans in the path or in the potential path of thunderstorms that could produce damaging winds, large hail, and strong tornados today. we've shifted the highest pr ee probability to the north and east. this is including portions of pennsylvania, including pittsburgh, whereas 12 hours ago it was not the case. new york city, you're also included in the slight risk. all the way down to atlanta. extending to the gulf coast. this storm system is large and

it means business. here it is on the radar. you can see the lightning associated with the system. birmingham, tuscaloosa. there's the watch boxes at the moment. they will likely be extended as it approaches georgia and into the atlanta metro area. here goes the storm system as it races eastward bringing showers and thunderstorms from pittsburgh to baltimore, d.c., as well as new york, by this evening and by the way there's a full-on snowstorm on the cold side of the storm. in my home state of grand rapids. look out for g.r. and the chicago area, you could see 6 inches of slushy wet snow on the ground by this time tomorrow. check this out if you're a golf fan. you know that the masters has been pushed back by several hours. the tee times for the professional golfers trying to beat the severe weather as it moves in later this afternoon in august tax georgia. >> absolutely. sunday's a critical day for the masters. >> it is a critical day. tiger woods is watching closely.

you don't want to be holding a metal rod when lightning comes through. >> no room for error there, thank you. all right, in sudan some protesters fear the new boss looks like the old boss. why a military coup hasn't stopped calls for a regime change. also, the human toll of venezuela's crumbling oil industry. we'll show you how the crisis has turned a once-thriving oil region into a ghost town.

the downfall of a dictator hasn't stopped the protests in sudan. the military toppled omar al bashir on thursday, putting an end to his three-decade rule. that means the strongman's former generals are now in charge. they're running the country, and what they say is a transitional military council. they're making concessions, vowing to free prisoners and lift a curfew. they've promised civilian rule, but that could take two years. for many protesters, that is not

fast enough. cnn is following developments. f fariah in kenya, it seems two steps forward in sudan, one step back, as this country roilss over its future. what's the latest you're hearing? >> reporter: that's a very good way to put it. what we're hearing at the moment, there was a great deal of activity saturday with the new man in charge of the military's transitional council, lieutenant general abdel al fattah burhan. he was trying to say he needs the two years for transition government. he promised he would be having a dialogue with all the stakeholders in sudan's empires. that means that umbrella body we talked about the sudanese professional association, all the political parties, the protesters themselves. he said he would empty the jails of everybody who had been in

prison for political reasons by mr. al bashir. of course this has led to maybe three steps forward and one step back, if i may put that it way. now a dialogue has started to happen. the protesters are staying on the street. sudan as multi-cultural, multi-faith sunday. today being palm sunday for sudan's catholics, they want to hold their mass at military headquarters. the inclusivity is there in terms of the protests. the determination to stay is there. we're also hearing from mr. al bash bashir's national congress party which rejects the decisions of the leaders, that basically all the people we arrested on thursday, april 11th, they want them all released. they condemn the military council's steps to remove al bashir as unconstitutional. some might say they are now on

the wrong side of history and things have moved on beyond them. but it remains to be seen now whether or not they will do what they say and have done with all the stakeholders, and the stakeholders, whether they will accept that or want to move straight away to civilian government. >> three steps forward, one step back. that sounds a tad more hopeful, farai, thank you. we turn to new developments in venezuela's political crisis in another attempt to cling to power, embattled president nicolas maduro has announced plans to expand his civilian militia. mr. maduro says he wants to raise the number of militia members from 2 million to 3 million by the end the year. and this comes as u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo is preparing to tour the colombia/venezuela border on sunday. he's been visiting latin american nations dealing with an

influx of venezuelan migrants. many people getting out of the country. in a news conference, he blamed mr. maduro for the crisis. >> the responsibility for these refugees lies squarely with nichololas maduro, not any polis that any democratic nation has taken with our deep intent to make lives better for the venezuelan people. 100% of the refugee challenge that is faced by peru and colombia, the direct result of the russians, the cubans, and nicolas maduro. it is our deep hope that we can achieve our objectives quickly, timely, so these individuals can return to their home countries. it's what they want, it's what the people of peru and colombia and other countries that are graciously, generously hosting and educating these people today, that want to create the conditions in every country so this migration, these refugees, don't need to travel to these places.

>> meantime, mr. maduro says he is giving venezuelan workers three days of rest to recover from recurring blackouts. the crisis in venezuela has also affected the nation's once-thriving oil industry. experts say it is on the verge of collapse. and the former oil capital of the country has become a ghost town. cnn's david mckenzie traveled to the area to see how the crisis is affecting the people. >> reporter: venezuelan oil workers giving us a rare look inside their crumbling industry. they brought us to the salinas oil fields. it's risky speaking out, they could be fired or detained by venezuelan intelligence. but they want the truth to get out. "populism finished all of this," he says. "do you see this, nothing works anymore, the government finished us completely." they say successive venezuelan

regimes the state oil company petavesa as a slush fund for socialist programs and their own personal gain. this entire coastline is covered in oil sludge. the regime blames the collapse of the oil industry on the u.s., but it's been collapsing for years. trump administration sanctions could make it worse. the u.s. was the biggest customer. in march the u.s. bought zero barrels of oil, the first time since the '70s. and the retired oil workers who helped build this company say they gave decades of their lives for almost nothing. some say they are forced to eat dog food. they say their pensions are worth around $5 a month. >> translator: it's outrageous, look at us, we don't have money for medication, for food. soon we'll have to bring our dead colleagues to this protest.

>> translator: normal? normal if you're living in this country. >> translator: i want america to take out maduro, to get him out of here, he's stealing from the people, he's taking food from us. >> reporter: now they're taking for themselves. last week looters ransacked this pharmacy, looking for medicine. in nearby maricabo, a mob spent two days tearing a hotel apart. they even ripped out the carp carpets. the true scale of venezuela's crisis becomes clear when the sun sets. business leaders say it's like the walking dead. a zombie economy with 80% of businesses closed here. in this energy-rich region, people are left to shelter in their homes in darkness. almost seven years of isolation. we're learning more about julian assange's life at the embassy in

ecuador. we'll share that with you next. moving is hard.

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now all you have to do is move...that thing. [ sigh ] introducing an easier way to move with xfinity. it's just another way we're working to make your life simple, easy, awesome. go to xfinity.com/moving to get started. welcome back to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world, you're watching "cnn newsroom" from atlanta, i'm natalie allen. u.s. president trump says he absolutely has the right to release undocumented immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities. he says since those cities don't cooperate with immigration enforcement, they should be forced to deal with them. a major storm system is moving across the southeastern u.s. right now. it hammered texas, leaving two

children dead and many other people injured. a tornado with winds up to 140 miles an hour, that's 225 kilometers per hour, ripped through the small town of franklin, texas, causing widespread damage there. saudi arabia is backing the new military leadership in sudan. the sing come says it will send aid after the ouster of dictator omar al bashir. the head of the sudanese military council is promising a shift to civilian rule but says it could take two years. on monday israel's president will hear from delegates of the parties that won kines set seats in last month's elections. he'll listen for recommendations on who should form the government, although the certain choice is prime minister benjamin netanyahu. but it is complicated because he faces expected corruption charges that could come in the next few months. oren lieberman is in jerusalem for us with the latest.

and hello to you, oren. where are we in this process? what happens next? >> reporter: natalie, the next stage begins tomorrow morning when israel's president will begin meeting with political parties and ask for their recommendation on who forms the next government. all those political parties are talking amongst themselves to better position themselves for the negotiations in forming a coalition, essentially to extract as many demands as possible from prime minister benjamin netanyahu's likud party when negotiations begin. there's speculation about what might happen. some smaller parties, right-wing parties or religious parties, might band together to try to get more strength, more leverage in the negotiations with netanyahu. the likud party in terms what was they demand from him for joining his coalition, for supporting him. that's how this process plays out until the president officially says it's netanyahu who forms the next government, then netanyahu has initially 28 days to figure out how his government looks and then everyone asks for a two-week

expense so it's six weeks. a key question here is what happens to those corruption investigations if and when the attorney general here hands down charges against the prime minister? that will be one of the key questions in these negotiations, natalie. >> oren lieberman in jerusalem, thank you. we are just learning about julian assange's life inside the place he called home for almost seven years. cnn's selma abdel aziz says it's a sad and isolating existence that took a severe toll. >> reporter: summer 2012, julian assange arrived here, the ecuadoran embassy in london. the wikileaks founder would not again set foot outside the property for nearly seven long years. his home became a roughly 200 square foot room where he kept a work space, treadmill, and bed alongside all his personal possessions. this footage is of an artist'

replica of that room. the living conditions were challenging. the former counsel of ecuador and friend of assange said -- >> it's an apartment suitable for offices. he's not a resident. some adaptations needed to be done. >> reporter: from his tiny space, saunch found ways to stay busy. why did you decide to do your own show? >> reporter: he launched a show on a russian state tv network in 2012. entertained celebrity supporters, from lady gaga to pamela anderson. he got a tie-wearing cat named james to help him pass the time. but his supporters say it was a lonely existence. >> this is a victory that cannot be denied. >> reporter: other than his occasional balcony statements, assange rarely got sunlight or fresh air. he complained in a 2014 interview of the impact on his well-being. >> it is an environment in which

any healthy person would find themselves soon enough with certain difficulties. >> reporter: the conditions took a toll on the 47-year-old. he suffered shoulder pain, depression, and a toothache. >> it was a very, very hard and difficult environment for him to go through so long. >> reporter: in 2018, agency wa doer's newly elected president moreno imposed a new set of rules on assange. no phones, no internet, and only visits from his lawyers. >> there's a very, very huge difference between the first six years and the last one. he was isolated. >> reporter: assange did not respond well to the changes. ecuadoran officials accused assange of aggressive and hostile behavior. one minister said assange had smeared feces on the walls. he had gone from wanted man to

an unwanted house guest. finally out of the embassy, assange's fate now lies in the hands of uk authorities. selma abdulazeez, cnn, london. democratic presidential hopeful bernie sanders trying to do what hillary clinton could not and learning from her mistakes. we'll have a campaign update coming up. also, dragons, dungeons, and ice zombies. we get ready for the premiere of "the game of thrones" final season. for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free.

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welcome back. bernie sanders is in the northern u.s. to repair the blue wall. those are the states that dependably vote democrat. but in 2016 swung right, backing donald trump. ryan nobles reports the presidential candidate is taking his message to areas devastated by a downturn in manufacturing.

>> reporter: senator bernie sanders this weekend continuing a rally across the rust belt, hitting five different states that donald trump won in 2016 and talking specifically about the issues of concerns to voters in this part of the country. but he's doing it without being able to escape the shadow of the fact that he's yet to release his tax returns and the revelation that those tax returns will reveal that he is a millionaire. sanders sounding a bit defensive during an event in indiana when asked about that new millionaire status. >> i don't think so. i didn't know that it was a crime to write a good book. [ laughter and applause ] and my view has always been that we need a progressive tax system which demands that the wealthiest people in this country finally start paying their fair share of taxes. and if i make a lot of money,

you make a lot of money, that is what i believe. so i don't apologize for writing a book that was number three on the "new york times" bestseller, translated into five or six languages, and that's that. by the way, by the way, it bothers me a little bit. maybe we might want to talk about gary, indiana. maybe we might want to talk about poverty. maybe we might want to -- >> reporter: sanders did say we should expect to see those tax returns by monday, which is tax day in the united states, april 15th. he made a bit of news during his rally in warren, michigan. he called on president trump to scrap the proposed u.s. mca, the new trade deal that would replace nafta. sanders has often railed against the plan but today specifically said president trump should go back to the drawing board, saying he should start all over and renegotiate that plan between canada and mexico. ryan nobles, cnn, warren,

michigan. another democrat is expected to make his way into the packed race within hours, and that is pete boud ajudge, expected to move from the exploratory phase to a full-blown campaign. we'll have to figure out how to pronounce his last name. he's called mayor pete, that's easier, in south bend, indiana. he's fast becoming a household name. in the early stages of the 2020 race for the white house he has shot up recently in the polls after starting out as a long shot. but he still has a crowded field of contenders to get through if he wants to challenge president trump. and he certainly does. meantime, democratic senator cory booker is trying to jump start his presidential campaign by kicking off a nationwide tour. on saturday cooker addressed supporters at his first major rally in newark, new jersey, where he was a two-term mayor. since first announcing his candidacy, booker is working to

gain momentum. he's set to hit key states like iowa, georgia, and nevada. we want to look at sports now because the golfing world is aching to find out if tiger woods is about to roar. the 14-time major winner is tied now in second place with tony finau at the masters tournament in georgia. they trail francesco molinari by two strokes into into today's final round. as you recall, woods had a messy divorce. he was plagued by back problems that sidelined him for years. it all but wiped out his hopes of beating jack nicklaus' 18-win major record. if a healthy tiger wins today, it would be his first major since 2008 and his first green jacket in 14 years. we'll be watching. all right, eight seasons later, it all comes down to this. the final season of "game of thrones" just hours away. what to expect and the show's

legacy. we'll talk with an expert coming up here.

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i look forward to seeing this one. >> well. for more than a year, rabid fans of "game of tloeps" have been asking, where are my dragons? is winter finally here? who will sit on the iron throne? in the coming hours, everyone's going to find out. the epic fantasy series returns on hbo for its eighth and final season. hbo and cnn share a parent company, by the way, warner media. let's talk about what to expect and all those fan theories. i'm joined from los angeles by eric voss, comedian and the youtube host of "new rock stars" and one of the rabid fans. eric, hello, thanks for being with us. >> hello, thank you for having me. >> all right, i want to start out, full disclosure, i'm one of the losers who haven't seen "game of thrones." i'm really sorry, i know, i know. but i'm equally fascinated with

most of the world on the show. i have talked with my colleagues here, zach and weldon in the studio, who have been telling me what i've missed and they have said, you've just missed everything, that's all you've missed. so explain the phenomenon of "game of thrones" to us. >> oh, it's inescapable. even fans who don't watch the show are now fans on it just by being in this world. >> exactly. >> hbo just has an unprecedented success their hands with "game of thrones" for two reasons. one, you just have a deeply passionate fan base, one of those nerds sitting right here. the other side of it is you have a book series that's still incomplete by author george r.r. martin. that's created a scenario where you have these rabid fan theories and online speculation, and until these final episodes air, all of it could be true. >> so tell us, you know, those of us that haven't watched it, why is this such an international phenomenon? what is it about this show that is so addictive and mesmerizing?

>> well, you just have this rich cast of characters. and no matter who you are, there's someone on the show you can relate to, until they inevitably kill them off, then you have to find someone new to relate to. i think that unpredictability has been incredible for people to watch. because you really don't know what's going to happen next. as i said, even book readers who were the experts for years and years on this show you couldn't tell you anyone who just started watching the show in this final season. >> right, interesting twists of just killing, the deaths of beloved characters. what about what the show has meant for female leads? emilia clarke revered worldwide. daenerys is a household name now. >> oh, for sure. it's been such a remarkable transition for several of these characters. you go back and rewatch the first season, as many fans have been doing as we've been preparing for this final season, looking at where these characters started this journey, many of them were captives, they

were prisoners, they were forced into scenarios -- including people like daenerys, stark. at the end they're the people calling the shots on the show and they're going to be the ones who are really going to be competing for power, it looks like, from everything we've seen in the promotional footage for the final season. >> what about the sets and the costumes and the dragons as we're seeing? she's riding one right now. >> it's incredible that this is a tv show. hbo announced that they are spending upwards of $15 million per episode in this final season, making "game of tloeps" the most expensive tv show of all time. and fans can tell you that this pays off. it looks like we're watching a real hollywood movie on tv. and this is production value that no one has seen on a small screen before. >> you make several predictions

on your youtube channel "new rock stars." who do you think will win the iron throne? >> well, myself and the whole team at "new rock stars" have been debating about this. at the end of the day, i think it comes down to really debate between whether or not someone will win the iron throne or whether the whole existence of the iron throne will be gone by the threats of the wounded white walkers, the real enemies of the show. personally i'm hoping that tierian lannister is the one who takes over, peter dinklage's character. he's fascinating both for someone reading the books and watching the show. he has the best lines. he seems to be the smartest person in the room. it would be great to see him on top in the end. >> can you even imagine how many people are going to be watching this final episode? and yeah thank you so much. really appreciate your time and your passion, eric voss for us, thank you. >> thank you. how about another sensation here? some people are asking, bigger

than the beatles? maybe not yet. but bts is a legitimate sensation. the korean boy band cemented its celebrity status by appearing on "saturday night live" a few hours ago. ♪ ♪ >> maybe you get it now. how about that in the group is expected to set international sales records with its latest album, which just dropped. preorders have already topped 3 million, proving k-pop is big business. earlier we spoke about the rise of bts with jeff benjamin, senior digital editor at fuse tv and k-pop columnist for "billboard." >> of course bts has done an amazing job about really having music and choreography and visuals that are accessible to people regardless of you

speaking korean or not. but i think it goes a bit deeper than that. i think -- the main written i've written in my writing for years now is bts' messages in their music has always gone deeper than perhaps most pop acts. they're talking about things that people their age are going through. everything from mental health struggles to the politics that they are witnessing to, you know, even things like school life and bullying. there's always been a feeling of heart and a feeling of, you really get the sense that this is what these guys are going through in their music. and that parlays to everything from the way they interact on social media to the way that they meet the fans in real life. >> that's our first hour. but there's much more ahead. the day's top stories are right around the corner. i'm natalie allen. "cnn newsroom" will be right back. ♪

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the phone and network designed to do more. switch and save today, and you get a new galaxy. say "get a galaxy" to learn more. a battle is brewing. u.s. democrats set a new deadline for president trump to hand over his tax returns. the trump administration says releasing them is complicated. is it? we'll get into it. millions of americans are under severe storm watches across the south. we'll have the latest weather forecast as tornadoes rip through texas. later this hour, living in isolation. we'll look inside the room where julian assange spent the last few years before his arrest. welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm natalie allen. this is "cnn newsroom."