you drive down to mississippi and you will see what i'm talking about. while the u.s. president trades insults with top leaders in iran, the white house is unveiling a plan designed to raise hopes for real peace between israelis and plntd pl palestinians. but so far it's mostly raising eyebrows. and right here in the atl an unbelievable graduation gift. a billionaire stuns the crowd at morehouse college as he promises to pay all their student loans. and after eight tumultuous and often bloody years we are saying good-bye to "game of thrones." stay tuned, we're going to break down the finale. hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church.

>> and i'm george howell from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. "newsroom" starts now. well, tensions between iran and the u.s. appear to be escalating yet again just as things were starting to quiet down. >> in a tweet the u.s. president warned that if iran wants a fight it would mark the official end he says of that country. mr. trump also told tehran not to threaten america again. but he did not provide context. in the meantime the u.s. ally saudi arabia also warning iran against reckless behavior as it calls it but the kingdom says it doesn't want conflict either. listen. >> translator: saudi arabia does not want to warn the region and is not seeking it and will do its best to avoid it. but at the same time if the other party chooses war then we will respond with all strength and determination and will defend itself and its interests. >> this week saudi arabia accused iran of ordering drone

strikes on two oil-pumping stations in response to alleged iranian threats countries of the gulf cooperation council have started enhanced security patrols around the persian gulf. >> all this comes a day after iran's foreign minister also said his nation does not want war in the region. now, while the president threatens iran, the white house is also rolling out a new peace plan for israelis and palestinians. it focuses on the economy, and it's being led in part by mr. trump's son-in-law jared kushner. >> a meeting is planned for bahrain next month. it's called the peace to prosperity workshop. finance ministers and business leaders will discuss that initiative. it aims to make places like gaza and the west bank "as investable as possible." it's not clear where the israelis stand on all of this. but we do have a pretty good idea from the palestinian authority. >> yeah, cnn's nic robertson has more now from abu dhabi.

>> reporter: the initial reaction coming from the palestinian authority president's spokesman seems to be negative. he calls this current plan, this economic workshop idea, a futile idea he says an economic plan without a political horizon will lead nowhere the minimum that the plnt president's spokesman is saying, a minimum that they need torch that the palestinians will want to have before they get engaged in conversationsize a palestinian state, and its capital will be east jerusalem. and the political component of this plan we're told by the white house is something that could come later in the year. it's very aspirational. it's very heavy on the idea of how the economy could lift the region, can lift the lives of plntd plnts. but what we're hearing from the palestinian authority is really a thumbs down. they're saying look, there was a workshop like this arranged in

d.c. last year in the united states in march, we didn't go to that. they lost their faith in the united states as being an international arbiter between themselves and the israelis. they point to the fact that when president trump in late 2017, december 2017, announced jerusalem as the capital of israel, says that it would move the u.s. emsz, did move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, that that really negated the u.s. position here to negotiate or to be a viable negotiator here. and what we have heard in recent weeks as well from palestinian authority leaders, from their ambassador to the u.n. saying that this deal would be dead on arrival, and just a couple of days ago in london their foreign minister saying that this plan would neeshl give no sovereignty, no justice, no independence, no freedom to the palestinians. so the message at the moment seems to be a thumbs down to this plan. nic robertson, cnn, abu dhabi.

well, president trump isn't holding back when it comes to a republican congressman who's breaking ranks on the mueller report. >> that's right. in a series of tweets michigan congressman justin amash said the president engaged in impeachable conduct. our boris sanchez has reaction from the white house. >> reporter: congressman justin amash had previously criticized president trump. but the response from the president had never been as harsh as it was until sunday morning. take a look at what he tweeted about the congressman from michigan's third district. he writes that congressman amash is doing this for publicity, that he never actually read the mueller report, and that in his words he is a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents' hands. amash clearly striking a chord with president trump. other republicans sort of echoed those remarks including republican national committee chairwoman rhonda mcdaniel. she put out a statement saying that it's sad that the congressman is in her words parroting democratic talking points. other republicans like senator

mitt romney of utah a lot more respectful of his point of view. still, though, he does not agree with justin amash on whether the president committed impeachable offenses. listen to what he told jake tapper on "state of the union" sunday morning. >> i respect him. i think it's a courageous statement. but i believe that to make a case for obstruction of justice you just don't have the elements that are evidenced in this document. and i also believe that an impeachment call is not only something that relates to the law but also considers praktd and politics. and the american people just aren't there. and i think those that are considering impeachment have to look also at the jury, which would be the senate. the senate is certainly not there either. >> now, democrats are split on the issue of impeachment. you have some like senator elizabeth warren who's running for president who believes that impeachment should be pursued. and then you have others like the most powerful democrat in congress, house speaker nancy pelosi, who does not believe it would be prudent politically to

try to impeach president trump, especially because the election is just about two years away. she, though, does say that president trump commits impeachable offenses every day that he is in office. boris sanchez, cnn, at the white house. >> and for more on this let's go to los angeles and cnn's senior political analyst ron brownstein. he's also the senior editor of "the atlantic." always great to have you with us. congressman justin amash is the lone republican blasting president trump for what he calls impeachable conduct. the president has hit back hard. what could be the ramifications of just such a statement from amash? and could this embolden some democrats to move in that same direction or perhaps do quite the opposite? >> well, i think the key in everything you said there was the lone republican. certainly this is going to matter. it is in fact going to embolden democrats. it is going to cross the threshold that nancy pelosi talked about, that there be

bipartisan interest or support in this idea. but as long as he is alone, and he is someone who has been as you know an ike on o'claft, willing to break from the party, of a libertarian than a traditional -- or at least a modern republican conservative. as long as he is alone, i think the impact will be limited. but not inconsequential. i think in the next few days this is going to get a lot of attention. it's going to force at least some american voters to kind of reconsider this whole question. but as long as he's alone only to a point. >> i want to move to the escalating tensions between the united states and iran. and everyone had been saying they didn't want war. then suddenly president trump threatens iran with this angry tweet. what happened? where's this all going, do you think? >> well, i don't think we know where it's all going, but i think we have been on this ride before. i mean, the president i think is not only impulsive and less

constrained than presidents traditionally have been about expressing each kind of change in emotion, wearing kind of emotions on his twitter sleeve than we've seen before, but i think he also sees a value in being unpredictable and in also being volatile. i mean, that is part of his persona. so i don't think you can really interpret where this is ultimately going from kind of the day-to-day gyrations in his attitude because those gyrations are themselves part of the point. i think he looks to gyrate, if that makes sense. in the end his instincts from 2016 on have been to minimize engagement abroad and certainly to minimize risk taking, i think, in military action. and i think in the end it is unlikely that he gets into a full-scale war with iran. miscalculation, however, can always occur. >> that is the big concern here. and of course while all this is going on the white house is rolling out a peace plan for the israelis and palestinians

focusing on the economy led by mr. trump's son-in-law jared kushner with an aim to make gaza and the west bank "as investable as possible." what does that even mean? and we know already the palestinians are not very impressed with this. we're not quite sure what the israelis think at this point. >> again, we have been on this ride before. when prime minister tony blair was the negotiator for the quartet in the mideast starting in 2007, the heart of their vision was to push the two sides closer together by promoting economic development in the areas controlled by the palestinian authority. and it had very limited success. it's very hard to imagine putting this cart -- this horse -- this cart before the horse in the sense that how much investment can you ultimate -- can you really create -- first of all, can you create an environment in which there is a sound climate for investment without any kind of political stability? who would invest other than

those who are making kind of very short-term political calculation? and as you heard before in the report from nic robertson, certainly the palestinians themselves are not particularly interested in an economic solution that leaves their political status vague or where it is today. they have certainly made mistakes over the years. never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. as we said about yasser arafat. but it's hard to see a solution first without a political solution. >> it seems a strange first point to be taking it from here. a lot of people are wondering what is going on here. jared kushner being the one leading all of this is problematic in itself, isn't it? >> the saying in the u.s., when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. economic development is probably what they are most comfortable with. i mean, that's what they -- that's what they -- has driven them all of their lives. you know, making money, making deals.

and the thought that there are kind of deeper motivations i think may be somewhat lost on them. it is not an unreasonable component of an overall strategy. the problem is there is no overall strategy. and to the extent there is one it has been to give more rope, more leeway to prime minister netanyahu as he has moved to the right both in kind of the racially tinged campaigning and also kind of downplaying the possibility of a two-state solution. so to go from that, to go from that kind of identification for months and months and months with netanyahu and then say okay, we're back to being the honest broker, i mean, that is just a very difficult hairpin turn to execute and it is not surprising that the palestinian authority and leaders are very skeptical that this administration truly does want to be that kind of bridge. >> ron brownstein, always great to get your analysis. many thanks. >> thank you. here in the united states a 180 from the trump

administration on the topic of immigration. the acting chief of homeland security now says the administration won't send migrants to the state of florida or send them to any sanctuary cities. >> his comments come after officials in florida blasted a possible plan to send migrants to the state. all this as u.s. border control faces a record influx of migrants along the nation's border with mexico. more now from cnn's rosa flores. >> reporter: the pictures of migrants waiting to get processed on the u.s. side of the southern border are difficult to watch. families sprawled under makeshift tents. children sleeping on the ground covered in mylar blankets. the strain is not just on migrants. it's also on the officers who have apprehended a record-breaking number of migrants. more than 500,000 since october. >> i'm a father. i'm a grandfather. somebody needs to do something about this. >> reporter: thursday officials

in florida's palm beach and broward counties said they were notified that about 1,000 undocumented migrants a month could be sent to the sunshine state for processing and releasing. >> it's not a good plan. we think it's a danger to this community. and it's going to put a real strain on what the resources are. >> i personally would suggest that we bring these people over to his hotel and ask the president to open his heart and home to these people as well. >> reporter: sunday the acting dhs secretary said the agency had been looking at all options. president trump told florida governor ron desantis would not be flown to florida but border patrol agents on the ground say washington has to do something. >> until folks in congress, folks at the white house, folks on capitol hill actually put forth an honest effort to address the situation here on the border, it's not just a humanitarian crisis, it's a border security crisis. >> reporter: without more

resources from our nation's capital, dhs has resorted to other measures like releasing thousands of undocumented migrants into border communities, flying or driving thousands of others to laredo or san diego, and reassigning agents from ports of entry to migrant processing centers. one newly added temporary facility in south texas alone holds 8,000 migrants on any given day. >> we're doing everything we can in our power to ensure that they're safe. we want to let them know that they're safe now. >> reporter: while agents continue to do their jobs along the border, many are asking if politicians are doing theirs in washington. rosa flores, cnn, atlanta. >> rosa, thank you. still ahead, vote counting in the world's largest election has just ended. many see this as a referendum on the prime minister of india, narendra modi.

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oklahoma. and another front poses a front to those areas for the next 24 hours. it's estimated that a total of 55 million people in the u.s. could be in the path of destructive storms. let's turn to our meteorologist pedram javaheri who joins us with the very latest. that is a lot of people in trouble here. >> it is. and climatologically this time of year as you go in from the latter portion of may into early june, this is peak season for not only strong thunderstorms but the strongest storms that produce the strongest tornadoes. the largest outbreaks typically occur this time of year. the past three days alone you take a look from friday into now sunday afternoon. total reports of over 50 tornadoes across the u.s. nearly 500 reports of wind and hail damage. and again, just start of what is going to be peak season here inside the next couple of weeks. the activity on water vapor imagery. it shows you the moisture content in the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere. a little spin right there over california. that system itself has produced significant snowfall, especially for this time of year. kind of resembling what you would see in the winter season

for the amount of snow that has come down in recent days across the high sierra. and notice the next couple of days still could see as much as 18 inches of snow across that region. work your way into eastern wyoming, western colorado, southern utah. higher elevations here easily could get one to two feet of snow, again, inside the next couple of days. it shows you that disparity between winter conditions and spring conditions still taking place across portions of the u.s. now a level 5, which is an unusual level of concern as far as severe weather. you take a look, here we go, across portions of northern texas, western and southern areas of oklahoma, that is for strong tornadoes potentially on into this afternoon. certainly some damaging winds and large hail to be had as well across this region. but this is an area that has the highest risk here for severe weather going into monday. you notice the energy shifts a little farther toward the east come tuesday, includes larger cities there from st. louis on into springfield, for that area come tuesday afternoon with knees storms. as george kind of alluded to across the the northeastern u.s., we do have active weather

and a slight risk exists across this region as well for some severe weather. but the big story once we get through this, guys, is the major heat that is forecast for the upcoming holiday weekend. we're talking about temps near 100 degrees across portions of the south going into this weekend. >> 100 -- >> i didn't hear that. pedram, thank you. >> thank you so much. in india voting ended on sunday. the final phase of a weeks-long process. >> some 900 million eligible voters cast ballots for the 545-seat lower house of parliament called the loksapa. many see this election as a referendum on prime minister narendra modi. the official results are due thursday. >> let's go live to new delhi. our bureau chief there nakil kumar is following the story. and nakil, exit polls suggest that there may be a positive here for modi. what are you learning?

>> reporter: that is what they suggest, george. exit polls commissioned by a bunch of local media outlets, private polls, they're pointing to a victory for mr. modi and a return to power. but there's a big warning here, which is that exit polls like this have been wrong in the past. in 2004, for example, they predicted the then bjp coalition government would return to power. it was kicked out of power. so we'll have to wait and see whether or not these polls prove accurate. the counting will be done on the 23rd, which is when we will get the result. but if he does return to power, it is going to be an extraordinary achievement. in 2014 he won in a landslide. if he's able to replicate that, then it will really be a major, major achievement. the question will be if he does come back to power then what kind of prime minister is he going to be in the future? and something quite instructive here maybe is to look back at the way the two campaigns unfolded 2014 versus 2019. back then in 2014 the message was all about the economy, economic progress. modi basically presented himself as some kind of economic messiah

who will overhaul india's economic system to deliver things people have been talking about for a long time, making it an easier place to do business, jobs, for a cohort of young people. this campaign has been much more about nationalism, particularly hindu nationalism which is the founding creed of his party the bjp, and that's very troubling to india's liberals and minorities. we'll have to wait and see until the 23rd if that is what we're going to get over the next five years. george? >> just to push forward a bit on that, to get a sense, if another five years of modi, what would that mean given that message does resonate in the bigger cities as opposed to people outside the city? what would it mean for minorities? what would it mean for farmers, et cetera? >> well, you know, george, over the last few years since mr. modi has been in power there has been a growing concern that no matter what he says on his stage as prime minister, no matter the language that he uses, the fact

that he comes from the hindu right wing, many members of which believe that this is a hindu country and a country for hindus, something that troubles and makes a lot of minorities very nervous, and india's very diverse, there are some 200 million muslims among other minorities in this country, that that emboldens all of those hardline actors who are part of the hindu right-wing movement. and as i say, in this campaign that's just ended in this election, we have seen the bjp make decisions that are really, really very troubling. one in particular, they chose a candidate in central india who's currently facing terrorism charges for a bomb attack on muslims several years ago. she denies it. but the fact is that we haven't had a court verdict yet. yet it didn't stop the bjp from nominating her as a candidate in this election. and that sends out a very troubling message to india's minorities and to indian liberals who are worried about the fraying of the secular fabric and what happens if mr. modi comes back to power.

>> thank you, nikhil kumar. we'll stay in touch with you with you. in the slums of venezuela a lawless militia group is working to keep the country's president in office. >> collectivos as they're known have essentially become the private army of nicolas maduro. and as our patrick opman reports, violence and intimidation, that's their trademark. >> reporter: they wear hoods and carry guns. mysterious figures who seem to be able to attack anti-government protesters in venezuela with impunity. witnesses to these shootings say they are the work of colectivos, shadowy paramilitary forces that support the government of embattled president n in the areas they control the colectivos operate openly. to learn more about their role in venzwell a&e's political viebls we go to one of caracas's sprawling slums and to a radio station controlled by the colectivos they use to air

pro-government propaganda. colectivo leader nari mendez agrees to an interview but only if we do it live on air. mendez says he's been shot five times in confrontations and will take up arms if the united states tries to intervene militarily in venezuela. "the revolution is going forward," he tells me. "if these people try to step foot on venezuelan soil what there will be here is a lot of lead for them. i'm not afraid of the bringos." but according to venezuela's opposition, the colectivos' main target these days is not foreign adversaries but their political rivals inside venezuela. opposition member julio cesar reyes says on three occasions colectivos have come to his house into timid him. "they come without uniforms," he told me, "carrying weapons of war. their faces are covered and they break down your door. they aimed a gun at me in front

of my kids." maduro has calmed on the colectivos to defend his socialist revolution and says they are patriots. u.s. officials call them domestic terrorists. the group started doing social work in venezuela's poorest slums decades ago. then hugo chavez took power and envisioned a new role for the colectivos. hugo chavez saw the colectivos could be transformed into a private army loyal to him. he gave them food, weapons, and free rein. in many of caracas's most dangerous neighborhoods they are the only law. the colectivos are maduro's most loyal enforcers, says naude mendez. but when asked if things are better after to years of socialist revolution even he concedes that support for the revolution is fading. "the war has been tough," he says. "they attack the poor people through their stomachs. they made our food disappear and

people got mad and everyone says it's maduro's fault. but it's not maduro's fault. it's the united states' fault." with the conflict brewing the colectivos say they have thousands of foot soldiers ready to fight to the end. patrick upman, cnn, caracas. we'll take a short break on "cnn newsroom." still to come, many college graduates get gifts this time of year, but a billionaire investor gave a group of graduates in the state of georgia a gift of a lifetime. we'll explain when we come back. i have one kid in each branch of the military, but i'm command central. it's so important to us that verizon is supporting military families. when i have a child deployed, having a reliable network means everything. so, when i get a video chat, and i get to see their face, it's the best thing in the world. and i've earned every one of these gray hairs. military moms, we serve too. (vo) the network more people rely on, gives you more. like military plans with a special price on unlimited.

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welcome back to viewers here in the united states and around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom" live from atlanta. i'm george howell. >> and i'm rosemary church. let's check the headlines for you this hour. u.s. president donald trump is warning iran against picking a fight with the united states. in a tweet he says "if iran wants conflict, it would mark the official end of the country." the aggressive tweet comes after iran's foreign minister reiterated that his nation does not seek war. the white house says investment is at the core of its israeli-palestinian peace plan. presidential son-in-law and adviser jared kushner is directing that effort. it will bring together finance ministers and business leaders at a workshop in bahrain in june. a spokesperson for the palestinian authority president calls the plan futile. in egypt at least 14 people have been wounded in an explosion that apparently targeted a tour bus. it happened sunday near the pyramids of giza. state media report that a device

exploded close to the bus, which was carrying 25 south african visitors. no word yet on who's responsible. tens of millions of dollars. that's how much the 2019 graduating class at morehouse college here in atlanta, georgia owes in student loan debt. >> that's right. and lucky for them, they won't have to pay one penny of it because billionaire entrepreneur robert f. smith says he and his family will pay the tab. he made the announcement during morehouse's graduation ceremony on sunday. take a listen. >> on behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we're going to put a little fuel in your bus. this is my class, 2019. and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. [ cheers and applause ]

>> joining now to talk more about this is the president of morehouse college, david thomas. good to have you with us, sir. >> it's great to be here. >> look, the question i think everyone wants to know, did you know that this was going to happen? >> i had no idea. >> really? >> i had no idea. >> what was your reaction when you heard it? >> amazement. gratitude. and excitement for what this means for our students. >> it's pretty significant. >> very significant. you know, our students leave with probably on average about $26,000 to $30,000 of debt. some far exceed that. and you know, people ask me how would i characterize the gift. and i characterize it as a

liberation gift because it frees these young men up to make choices driven by their passion and their interests. many of our students want to go into education. we know there's a need for black male teachers in schools. but morehouse is the kind of place where they get lots of opportunities to go for jobs that pay much more. and some do so because they need to service the debt. others want to go directly to graduate school but they delay it because they need to service this debt. so this really liberates them to follow their passions. >> wonderful. >> and it's an extraordinary gesture on the part of robert smith, isn't it? and his family. to do this for these nearly 400 students. >> that's right. >> have you ever seen anything like this happen? and talk to us a little bit more about the ramifications and how it impacts some of these kids. >> yeah. so i've been in academia as a

professor, a dean of faculty, and a dean of a business school and now president of morehouse college for 33 years. i've seen lots of graduations. i've raised hundreds of millions of dollars. and i've never seen a gift like this. and for sure i've never seen an announcement like this. >> it surprised a lot of people. >> it surprised a lot of people. it surprised us. >> it surprised elijah dormeus, who was a student there. let's listen to what he had to say about this. >> my plan before was basically, you know, work in sales, be like top salesman. still a goal, still will do it. and then pay all my loans in one year. be frugal without spending a lot of money but still paying off the loan. so not really living a life but giving back in a sense. so after i heard the news, of course in shock sitting still like wait, this is a joke, i

think he's lying. got down and said okay, god, thank you. and literally shed a tear. but a tear of joy. and i stood up and i said you know what? that's it. >> and you know, he talked about, during that speech, smith's speech, he talked about how smith described the hard work that he put into his career and talked about how it's important to pay it forward and then announced he's paying it forward. what does it mean for these students to have such an incredible gift? >> again, i think what it means for them is being liberated to follow their dreams. and the reality is most of these students have accumulated this debt over the last four years. student loans operate in a way gnaw don that you don't have to pay until you're done with school. so they actually have no experience of what it means to have to pay this debt out of their after-tax salaries once

they're out. they have no idea. most of them. so -- and if you also think about it from the vantage point of wealth accumulation. which is important for the black community. there are many young people who don't contribute to their 401(k)s while they're in their 20s because they're paying down the debt. and if you -- you know, you reach my age and you look back 40 years, that first ten years of not putting anything into your retirement. >> it matters. >> it matters. so this is -- more than just paying off the debt, this is also about wealth accumulation. these young men are part of the black community where we know there's a wealth gap. even if you have a job, there's still a wealth gap. so this is tremendous.

>> and for a lot of our viewers overseas, they're amazed at how much americans pay for education because in some countries, in germany you don't pay. in australia we didn't pay. i didn't pay for my university education. they do now. but it's about a third of the cost that americans pay. it just blows your mind what students in this country need to pay. and they're still paying off their loans by their 40s, aren't they? so when robert smith talks about paying it forward and he expects that from these students now that he's given them this incredible gift, what exactly does that mean? what is he expecting them to do? >> what that means is he's challenging them to be generous in helping others behind them. he's challenging them to support morehouse college as alumni by giving. he's challenging them to support

their community by giving. the reality is that the average morehouse student will wind up being in the top 5% of individuals in this country by income by the time they're 50 years old. that's a great thing. now they have to take responsibility for helping others. and i think robert smith challenged them to do that starting now. >> and robert smith, he typically does these things quite quietly. >> very quietly. >> so it's just an incredible gift from him. and what a tremendous gift to these students. david thomas, thank you again for taking time with us. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> all right. thank you. >> just amazing, isn't it? all right. well, coming up, the day "game of thrones" fans have dreaded. the show's eight-year run is over. we will dissect the end of this

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with his country fresh from elections, south africa's former president is due back in court. >> jacob zuma is facing a week of hearings. they will determine whether he should face criminal trial on a list of charges including fraud and racketeering. zuma's successor, president cyril ramaphosa, has vowed to crack down on corruption. >> cnn's david mckenzie is live in peter meritsburg this hour. good to have you with us, david. many south africans see this as part of a battle for the future of south africa. what's at stake here? >> reporter: that's right, george and rosemary. i'm here outside the high court. you can see all of the local press and the satellites are here. shortly we expect to have a great deal of pro-zuma here for this hearing. why is this important?

well, his lawyers, and it's a new set of lawyers, george, are trying to put a halt to this proceeding entirely. for many years, since at least 2007, there's been an attempt to prosecute the former president, then the deputy president, of fraud, corruption, racketeering charges. but as you say, this is also in a way a fight for the future of this country, feel many people, because the incoming president, cyril ramaphosa, who will be inaugurated in just a few days, he believes there needs to be a change, a fight on corruption, and this will be a key test. we expect jacob zuma here just in a few moments to enter this court. it is an important legal fight for him, but it's been many years in the making and people are fatigued by the attempt to put him in the dark. george? >> david mckenzie. obviously the media coming together watching for that. keel stay in touch with you as he arrives. thank you. still to come, game over. one of entertainment's most

successful series ever reaches the end of the line, and we will go back to westeros one last time.

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one of the most successful series concluded an eight-year run on hbo sunday. the juggernaut enthralled millions of viewers each week as the battle for power was waged between rival clans. now, among those dissecting the last episode, cnn's senior media and entertainment writer brian lowry, who is a huge fan of the show, as am i. and he joins us live from los angeles. great to see you. >> thank you. >> let's repeat again before we begin, spoiler alert to all those "game of thrones" fans who have not yet seen the series final, finale. block your ears, close your eyes, walk out of the room. whatever you need to do. we are about to discuss who won the game of thrones. are you ready? so brian, not many people saw this one coming. right? and not many fans are happy about the ending. what did you think of that ending and who ended up taking

over? >> well, i said -- you know, when you think about hot takes, saying it's fine isn't the hottest of hot takes. but i kind of thought it was fine. i did have a problem with the pacing in the last couple of episodes leading up to it. i thought the first 40 minutes or so of the finale were very strong. and then after the big death, which i guess we are going to talk about, i felt like it was a little bit anti-climactic after that. so it's not -- by no means a one for the ages finale. not a great finale. but for me it was not an entirely satisfying finale. >> storyline of episode 6 was leaked online last week, and fans were furious. that's even before it aired. right? so how will they deal with this surprise ending? do you think -- and the demise of dany. >> well, i think some of the

fans have not been dealing with any of this very well. obviously, a lot of people were very upset with sort of the arc of daenerys's character this season. there was a speech in this last episode that peter dinklage's character delivered, tyrion, which i really think helped a lot in sort of explaining where she had gone. it's only too bad they didn't do that three or four episodes ago. if they had laid more groundwork for it i think they would have spared themselves some headaches and some criticism later on. >> yeah. that was a powerful speech. and basically you won't be born to power going forward, you will earn it, you will be chosen for that position, right? a real plug for democracy. >> right. >> a lot of fans were so upset last week with episode 5 when daenerys went mad and as you said mercilessly burned most of king's landing along with many innocent people. hundreds of thousands of viewers signed a petition for a do-over of the whole of season 8.

they were so angry with the writers and producers. what upset them the most, do you think? and how were they hoping they would end? were they looking for a hollywood ending here? after investing eight years of their lives, they surely realized this was not where this was going. >> well, i think you just said the magic word really, which is they invested eight years of their lives. and you know, you see this with some of these big franchises. i think "star wars" the last jedi was another example of this where people get very tied up in it. they spend a lot of time coming up with scenarios on the way they think this is going to go. and when it doesn't go the way they anticipate they get ticked off. in this case i think it also went back into some issues the show has had throughout its run about the way that it deals with female characters. i think it strengthened those characters dramatically the last couple seasons. and the arc with daenerys and cersei and brienne also this

season, a lot of people were saying oh, boy, there they go again. >> that was it. i think the demise of daenerys was the thing that upset people the most. and therapists are offering their services to "game of thrones" fans who need help getting over the show coming to an end but also the way it ended. how often does that happen with long-running shows like this? and what was it about this show that people got so invested in the characters and the storyline? >> well, i think the show -- first off, i think if you need a therapist when a tv show ends there may be more going on than just the tv show ending. as far as the show, i really think the "game of thrones" was a show that brought the scope and scale of a theatrical blockbuster to television. so it had the big serialized storyline with dozens of characters that you could get sucked into like "the sopranos" or "the wire" or any of the great hbo dramas. and then staged it on a level in this mythical world that really

no one had ever seen done quite that way for tv before. it set the bar on that level enormously high. and i think a lot of networks and streaming services are going to lose a lot of money trying to come up with something like it. >> all right. brian lowry, great to talk with you. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> and thank you for being with us this hour. i'm george howell. >> and i'm rosemary church. stick around. this is the couple who wanted to get away who used expedia to book the hotel that led to the ride ♪ which took them to the place where they discovered that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. ♪ flights, hotels, cars, activities. expedia. everything you need to go.

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fresh insults for iran and a new peace plan that raises instant skepticism. a look at the ever-shifting strategy the u.s. has for the middle east. plus, after almost a decade "game of thrones" is over. stay tuned. we're going to break down the finale. >> and get, this a life-changing graduation gift. a billionaire stuns the entire crowd here in atlanta at morehouse college promising to pay off all their student loans. it's amazing. welcome to viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. >> and i'm rosemary church. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, "cnn newsroom" starts right now.