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New Laptop Bombs Could Evade Airport Security; Schiff Views Sensitive Docs at the White House; No Takers Yet on Flynn Immunity Demand; Trump Floats Working With Democrats on Health Care; As Americans Fail Drug Tests, Employers Hire Refugees; Four Teams Left in March Madness. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 01, 2017 - 11:00   ET

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


[11:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's also played role in prohibiting travelers from flying out of eight countries from carrying laptops and other large devices on to planes.

CNN's Pentagon reporter Ryan Brown joining us now.

So, Ryan, how did intelligence officials discover this threat?

RYAN BROWN, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Fredricka, officials are telling us that they achieved this intelligence via two key sources. One was human intelligence, the other was intercepts. Now what various different sources were telling them was that there was an ability to power on these laptops for brief periods to avoid detection potentially of these bombs. And there was also -- and they've also learned that these terrorist groups may actually have acquired sophisticated screening equipment used by airports to detect laptops or detect bombs hidden in laptops. So these were the kind of two key intelligence items that were obtained that kind of led them to implement this ban.

WHITFIELD: And Ryan, we know that the United Kingdom has implemented similar measures. Any sign that other countries might be doing the same?

BROWN: Well, the officials talking to us said that, you know, western airports, western airlines tend to have a little bit more robust screening procedures, so that's one of the reasons the countries were designated. Now other countries who might not have this intelligence are learning more and more about this threat and may indeed extend that, but there's no immediate reports of additional countries planning to also implement the ban at this time.

But again, given how easily these bombs could potentially be modified, we've heard that it could be, you know, implements that could be found at home that could kind of make these bombs. That could raise some concerns potentially lending other countries to implement that ban.

WHITFIELD: Ryan Brown, thanks so much from Washington. Appreciate that.

All right. Let's discuss this further now, joining me right now CNN national security analyst and former assistant secretary of Homeland Security, Juliette Kayyem, CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson, and CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector, David Soucie.

Good to see all of you.

All right, Juliette, you first. So how realistic is this threat to you?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the threat is realistic in the sense that for some time there has been a threat string related to the attempts by terrorist organizations to essentially try to evade the security apparatus that the west sets up. So you have to view it a little bit -- you know, we do a defense. They do an offense. We then switch. It's a constant change. And so in that sense, the news is -- you know, it's disconcerting, but it's not that shocking.

I think the challenge on the defense front is how extreme do you want to make the measures? No laptops on airplanes. No laptops from certain airports given that we know there's this one particular threat. Because of course there's other ways to minimize the threat. You go after the bomb makers. You change your screening procedures to be able to pick up this kind of threat. And so it's -- we're in sort of a wait and see mode to see how much the international global aviation security system is willing to deprive people of something they anticipate or expect on air throughout the world essentially.

WHITFIELD: And so, Nic, let's talk more about these potential bomb makers. I'm talking about al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and in Yemen. People there have been known for their bomb-making technique. Tell us more about what we know about them and any connections to whether they are responsible for this new kind of bombing that could be -- that could be fairly undetectable in these small devices, electronic devices?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has a bomb-maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, who has developed sophisticated techniques to try to evade -- as we just heard there evade normal airport screening. He created, was the developer of the underpants bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, try to bring down a plane over Detroit Christmas Day 2009. He developed and sent out from Yemen two printer bombs that were addressed to the United States. They were intercepted, thanks to the help of Saudi intelligence, but they were so sophisticated.

One of them was intercepted in the UK. The police here had it in their hands and they couldn't even figure out it was a bomb, it was so sophisticated. So the concern is -- and there's intelligence that emerged in 2014 that Asiri and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were sharing this kind of information and technology with their associates, with al Qaeda and other places. Now 2009-2010, that was before ISIS really took off in Iraq and Syria.

The concern is now that those ISIS affiliates that he may have shared that information with may now perhaps be in the hands of ISIS. And you look at the laptop bomb in Somalia in 2016 last year and it's well known that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has had almost for a decade now increasing connections with Al-Shaab, the al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia. So the concern there is that there's sort of -- if you will -- a certain amount of public domain information that allows you to see a link.

[11:05:10] What intelligence authorities have behind the scenes, we don't know. But the real concern is that spread of this key sophisticated bomb-makers expertise and skills.

WHITFIELD: And so, David, now that reportedly these terror groups have obtained these screening devices, if that is indeed the case, then is it possible for airports, for the screening devices to be updated so that they are far more sophisticated than any of these terror groups may have gotten their hands on?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Security at airports is a continually evolving thing. It's reactive. So as the intelligence comes forward, those machines are continually upgraded. What we're seeing here is the fact that the airports that haven't been upgraded to detect this type of weapon have not been done yet. So that's -- it's on the mitigation side. It's the threat and mitigation and that balance between the two. So the mitigation in these airports has been identified as not adequate to identify and mitigate this threat. So therefore that's why those particular airports -- if you notice, too, it's not about just the -- it's not about the passengers that might fly into those airports and back out again because they're within the secure area.

It's about the people who initiate from there and that's where the threat really is. There will always be threats. It's the chance and the ability to mitigate and upgrade those mitigation measures that counts.

WHITFIELD: And Juliette, how concerned are you that while these terror groups might be trying to come up with the most evasive type of bomb to be in these electronic devices, is it your feeling that it is powerful enough to try to take down a whole airliner or would it be a concerted effort that there would be many people with these kinds of devices or bombs that would have to work together?

KAYYEM: Well, no. It would be one. But the good news is there aren't that many bomb makers who would seem to have the capacity. Think about it, you not only have to make the bomb. You have to get it -- you have to have someone willing to get it on the airplane through all airport security, that that person is not picked up before. There's no intelligence about them. And then be able to detonate on air. So there's still -- you know, there's still barriers to this happening even if you do prove that manufacturing is going on.

So the challenge for the security apparatus is, do you focus on the low probability, high consequence event? Or as I see Nic standing there in London the higher probability but lower consequence event like, you know, cars and people using vehicles or guns or whatever else. And that's the range. We do -- but I do think a bomb like this could bring down an airport, but there's a lot of steps between proof of manufacturing and getting it on the airplane and detonating where something like this could be mitigated.

WHITFIELD: And then, Nic, what are the greatest concerns that intelligence -- you know, global intelligence has about AQAP and its ability to do something like this?

ROBERTSON: You know, AQAP if you look in Yemen it's been under civil war for the last couple of years and it's really been more internally focused. And there's certainly a strength of argument that says a lot of AQAP has really sort of been heavily sort of tribal and it's internally generated. It doesn't have a significantly large component that's focused on external operations. However, within the -- within that civil war last year and the year before, you know, al Qaeda took over a major port city. They got ahold of the bank there, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and were able to walk away with $100 million.

This was an organization that was scraping by in Yemen on pennies prior to this. So they've got the physical space. They've got the money. They've got the expertise and the question is do they have the intent and can they find the operatives? And they've done it once or twice before. You know, al-Siri is a ruthless killer. He gave a bomb to his brother, inserted in his brother's abdomen to try to kill a senior figure in the Saudi intelligence, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef. He detonated -- his brother detonated this bomb killing himself and injuring the prince.

He was willing to sacrifice his brother in an attack. So you have to factor all of that into the calculations and the problem is and we saw here with the IRA in the UK, and as they said, you know, we have to be lucky every time. They only have to be lucky once. And that obviously is a concern and the challenge for security authorities trying to contain a threat like Asiri's.

WHITFIELD: And David, is it removing the danger to have these devices checked as opposed to being able to have them in the cabin?

SOUCIE: Yes. The idea of having a check as opposed to taking them apart and looking what's inside of them is the fact that you're still again just trying to mitigate that -- mitigate that threat. So being able to do that ahead of time is imminently important, but this is not an imminent threat. If it was an imminent threat, this would be worldwide and it would happen immediately.

[11:10:01] So there is no idea. They haven't identified. They actually haven't accepted or received or identified a bomb and taken it out of circulation. This is intelligence and acting on intelligence, not on imminent devices.

WHITFIELD: David Soucie, Juliette Kayyem, Nic Robertson, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it. We'll see you again soon.

All right. Coming up next, the House Intelligence Committee's ranking member rips the White House after viewing sensitive documents about Russia. And this morning, President Trump is attacking the media. What both men are saying next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. The specter of Russia continues to hang over the White House this weekend with two congressional investigations under way and the demand for immunity from former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn is ready to testify to the committees about what he knows about possible Trump campaign connections with Russia, but as of right now, neither committee says they will take Flynn up on his offer.

[11:15:09] The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, California Democrat, Adam Schiff, went to the White House to view national security documents connected with investigations, but despite all of this, the president again says it's nothing to take too seriously. Tweeting this morning, this from President Trump, "It is the same fake news media that said there is no path to victory for Trump that is now pushing the phony Russia story. A total scam."

All right, let me bring in CNN correspondent Ryan Nobles now from the White House.

So, Ryan, the documents seen by Congressman Schiff, are they the same documents seen by the committee chairman, Devin Nunes, that caused so much controversy?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to what Adam Schiff said yesterday that is what he was told. But Congressman Schiff seems to have a much different impression of what he reviewed than what Congressman Nunes reviewed a couple of weeks ago that started all this controversy.

Listen to what Schiff said in a statement yesterday after reviewing those documents. "It was represented to me that these are precisely the same materials that were provided to the chairman over a week ago. Nothing I could see today warranted a departure from the normal review procedures and these materials should now be provided to the full membership of both committees. And the White House is yet to explain why senior White House staff apparently shared these materials with but one member of either committee only for their contents to be briefed back to the White House."

And if you remember how this all played out, this is when Devin Nunes held a press conference and announced that he had come into receipt of some materials that seemed to at least somewhat back up Donald Trump's claim from a few weeks ago that he was under surveillance by the previous administration during the campaign and during the transition. But Nunes didn't say where that material came from or what the material contained, other than to say that it wasn't connected to the Russia investigation.

Now Schiff himself has not said or provided any specifics about what this material contains, but he believes firmly that it should have gone through the normal process. Now how this impacts the investigation at large still remains to be seen.

Fredricka, of course, there have been big concerns that at least on the House side that the investigation has become too politicized and it may be difficult for them to draw a final conclusion -- Fred. WHITFIELD: And then, Ryan, there was a rather odd moment at the White

House yesterday, the president peppered with questions and he simply walked out before even signing an executive order.

NOBLES: Yes. This was an odd moment, to say the least, in the Oval Office. The president came out, gave a few remarks about these executive orders and was signing -- that he was scheduled to sign having to do with trade. And as soon as the questions started, he just got up and walked out. And he hadn't signed those executive orders yet. In fact, it was the vice president, Mike Pence, who walked over to the resolute desk to pick up those executive orders and walk them over to the president.

Now the White House tells us that the president did end up signing those in private after the fact. We're not sure what led to this kind of awkward moment but that's exactly what happened here yesterday.

WHITFIELD: OK. It was definitely unusual set of circumstances there. All right, Ryan Nobles, at the White House. Thanks so much. We're going to talk more about that and other things. And we're going to talk also about Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser who wants immunity and apparently is not getting any of that thus far.

Let's bring in our panel right now to talk about this. National security analyst Juliette Kayyem, CNN political commentator and "Washington Post" assistant editor David Swerdlick, and national security attorney, Mark Zaid.

All right. Good to see all of you. OK. So, Juliette, let me begin with you. Now that the House Intelligence Committee's ranking member, Adam, you know, Schiff has seen documents, although in his statement it's -- you know, he doesn't justify in any way why Devin Nunes wanted to break, you know, protocol the way that happened. So what does this tell you about the material that Schiff may have seen and whether that is the same kind of material that Chairman Nunes saw?

KAYYEM: Well, so we don't know because Adam Schiff was completely dependent on the White House just given how badly Nunes just did this. I mean, the whole thing is absolutely ridiculous in terms of if it was or we now know it was White House staff who gave Nunes the information. So I think what Adam Schiff is trying to do is reset the House Intelligence hearing and put it back into the normal process, which is this is an independent investigation.

Devin Nunes, I have to say at this stage, was either played or is playing all of us. I'm not quite sure yet and I -- you know, and I think Paul Ryan ought to step in at this stage because if you want the House Intelligence Committee to work and to function, it cannot do so with Nunes.

[11:20:05] So I think what you saw in both the silences and in his -- and in Adam Schiff's acknowledgment that there was -- you know, there was nothing here to sort of, you know, justify the madness that had happened over the last week is trying to sort of put this back on track. I don't know if the House Intelligence Committee can survive what Devin Nunes did. It probably could if he's replaced. WHITFIELD: And so, David, is the pressure on for the House speaker to

make a move since Nunes thus far has said he's not recusing himself? Is it your feeling that the House speaker will feel the pressure and say maybe the chairman does need to step aside?

KAYYEM: Well, I think -- in this instance what you're starting to hear from other Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee is concern about it.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, David, what do you think?

DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Fredricka, I -- I, you know, concur with Juliette's assessment to a degree. I don't think there's a lot of pressure on Ryan right now in part because the Senate investigation is proceeding, at least for now, much more bipartisan spirit and they haven't had these missteps that Congressman Nunes has sort of made these unforced errors in the last few days. And so in Congress folks are looking now to the Senate to make sense of this and to gain back some credibility of the overall investigation.

I think where the pressure might come in down the road on Speaker Ryan is the fact that his credibility as speaker of the House of Representatives will be at stake if it turns out later on that he placed too much faith in Congressman Nunes' leadership of the House committee to investigate this and turns out that the House committee's investigation was messed up by his conduct over the last week going to the White House, apparently speaking out of turn to the president without Congressman Schiff, the ranking member and his Democratic counterpart.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And it doesn't help that so many testimonies and interviews were cancelled in the House mysteriously, you know, at the -- you know, at the surprise of many of the other committee members.

So, Mark, if most of the pressure now is on the Senate Intel Commission's investigation, in your view, what's behind not wanting to grant immunity to Michael Flynn? Would that mean the Senate Intel Committee just feels like there's not enough there-there for his testimony to make that kind of exchange?

MARK ZAID, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: No. It's just premature at this moment. I think it was a good legal strategy by Flynn's lawyers to make it public that he was trying to seek immunity or that he was willing to talk. There's a lot of reasons why. And it's a very difficult environment here in Washington, D.C. when you have a politically charged national security matter that involves so many different angles. But the Senate committee and whether the House gets back involved, there's a lot of things they need to do first before even thinking about giving anybody immunity.

I mean, we know from reporting -- because it would be classified if we had seen it -- of transcripts of Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador. They're going to want to review all of that. They're going to want to look at his SF-86 which is his national security questionnaire to see what he might have put down with respect to his involvement with Turkey and Russia in the past. And they're going to want to talk to a number of what we'll say is smaller players to get the story straight to see before they go to someone as big a fish as Flynn.

WHITFIELD: And then, Juliette, would there be some concern that if the Senate Intel Committee were to grant that kind of immunity, it would have an impact on the FBI investigation and some way it would impair that arm of the investigation?

KAYYEM: Given what we've seen from the Senate leadership, they would not do it if the FBI said don't do it. I mean, it's just -- they work together, in fact, it's the FBI that provides a lot of the information to the Senate hearing. So you're not going to see some let's give it to Flynn to shut off the FBI investigation. The reason to give Flynn immunity both from the prosecution side and of course from the more public Senate side is that he has something that makes the picture clearer and may have something on someone in particular. We don't know if this is related specifically to the Russian hacking issues or other financial issues, like what Mark was saying. There's a lot of stuff behind Flynn that's questionable.

WHITFIELD: And quickly, David, is this more deflection that the president would say, yes, go ahead. Grant him immunity, even after, you know, President Trump fired Flynn?

SWERDLICK: Yes. I'm not sure what President Trump was hoping to accomplish with that tweet yesterday where he said Flynn should request immunity. I mean, number one, let's be clear, just because Flynn is requesting immunity does not mean that he committed a crime, but it's just one more sort of drip, drip, drip of what's coming out day by day in this -- in this ongoing controversy that keeps the public attention focused on the investigation into Russia ties and has people wondering every day if this can't be just simply cleared up by having a public hearing, what is there behind the scenes that Americans don't know?

[11:25:04] Maybe there's nothing, but if there's nothing, why not just have a hearing? Why not just hear what Flynn has to say?

WHITFIELD: Right, contrary to what the president had to say and even Flynn, they were talking about immunity and the real parallels of an admission of guilt.

All right, Juliette Kayyem, David Swerdlick, thanks so much. And Mark Zaid, good to see you.

All right. A programming note, the popular political podcast "The Axe Files" with David Axelrod is coming to CNN. Be sure to watch its television premiere, a special conversation with Senator John McCain. That's CNN special airing tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

All right. Coming up, Bernie Sanders is criticizing Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and the Democratic Party. What he's saying and why next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: House Speaker Paul Ryan is putting pressure on his fellow Republicans to forge a deal on health care warning them if they don't reach a consensus on repealing and replacing Obamacare, the president could make an unwelcomed change, of course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:30:03] REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI) HOUSE SPEAKER: What I worry about, Nora, is that if we don't do this then he'll just go work with Democrats to try and change Obamacare. And that's not -- that's hardly a conservative thing. We're going to do what we said we would do, which is repeal and replace Obamacare, and save the American health care system, something tells me the Democrats aren't going to help us repeal Obamacare. They're the ones who created it in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Ryan's comments come after the White House floated the idea of working with Democrats on health care.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson and CNN contributor Jason Kander.

All right. Good to see both of you.

All right, so, you know, I wonder, Jason, you first, why wouldn't Ryan want to welcome the Democrats, especially after such a difficult defeat last week?

JASON KANDER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This really speaks to just how bad things have gotten in Washington, that the speaker's big fear is that somebody in Washington might act in a bipartisan way. But it also speaks to the fact that this is a president who billed himself as a deal maker and can't even make a deal with his own party on something that they've been promising to do for a long time. He's not proven to be much of a deal maker so far at all.

WHITFIELD: OK. But then, Ben, it sounds as though the president is coming to some realization that perhaps making a deal means working with people on the other side. Is that your interpretation?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think this is part of the -- look, we're playing a big game here and it's a game of chicken with the Freedom Caucus. And you're looking for any point you can get leverage. And so going out there and saying, I might be willing to work with the Democrats is going to put a lot of pressure on the Freedom Caucus because many conservatives are going to say, look, we don't want the Democrats anywhere close to this repeal or replace because if they are involved they're not going to do anything close to repeal and replace. They're going to protect Obamacare.

I also think the Freedom Caucus understands that Democrats right now are not willing and-or wanting to change really any of Obamacare and help the Republicans with something that would be perceived as a victory to their base going into the midterm elections. So this is a big game of negotiating that's playing out in public.

I think what the president has to remember is this. You still need the Freedom Caucus for a lot of other issues, tax reform being one of them. Trade deals being another one. And for basically your entire agenda that you promised the American people outside of Obamacare. You don't want to make enemies right now.

The Freedom Caucus also needs to remember, look, you need the president of the United States of America to push your agenda forward that you promised. And so I think they need to dial down the rhetoric a little bit. Remember that they're friends and remember they've got a lot of things on the pot to do on the plate bigger and as big as Obamacare.

WHITFIELD: So on that note, multiple sources are telling CNN that this is a calculated effort by Ryan to spook more conservative lawmakers.

FERGUSON: Sure.

WHITFIELD: And President Trump is not only aware of it but he is actively participating, in fact, his tweet -- you know, hammering the Freedom Caucus shortly after Ryan's interview underscored that point. But House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows insists that his group is holding out strong against the president. So a failed strategy in your view, Ben?

(CROSSTALK)

KANDER: Well, this guy can't get along with anyone.

FERGUSON: Here's the thing about the Freedom Caucus. The Freedom Caucus was very smart to listen to their voters and not only that, but after they held firm on what some referred to as Obamacare-lite or Obamacare 2.0, they did not take a lot of heat from their voters in their district. That is in the short-term. The question is, if this continues to go forward and let's say that the idea is let Obamacare implode. Will those same voter be happy with them?

I would argue the Freedom Caucus probably not. They need to get back in a room and start all over with this president and with Paul Ryan, but they don't need to be at war with one another this early on in his administration. It's not going to help the Freedom Caucus. It's not going to help the Trump administration. It's not going to help Paul Ryan or even the Republican RINOs on Capitol Hill. They've got to get on the same team and they better do it quickly.

WHITFIELD: So, Jason, you know, Bernie Sanders was at a Boston rally last night and had some very harsh words for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: It wasn't that Donald Trump won the election. It was that the Democratic Party lost the election. At the time is long overdue for fundamental restructuring of the Democratic Party.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: We need a Democratic Party which is not the party of the liberal elite but a party of the working class of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Jason, what are you hearing there that Bernie Sanders has a departure from right now the Democrats displaying that there is some real cohesion now up against President Trump and Republican-led Congress?

[11:35:13] KANDER: Well, I think a lot of people may be view whether or not there's cohesion in the Democratic Party through what they see, you know, in clips like that, but I think what's important is what you see on the ground. I mean, I'm here in Kansas City. I'm here in the middle of the country. And there is enormous energy everywhere I go because 54 percent of the people who voted, voted for somebody not named Donald Trump and now this is a guy who promised Trump Tower and is delivering Trump University in his presidency. He can't seem to make a deal on anything.

Now in the case of health care, that's a good thing because everything he wanted to do is bad. But remember all those countries he was going to renegotiate trade deals with? They're probably laughing at him right now, hoping he tries to renegotiate a deal because they're going to fleece him and fleece our country. So the Trump presidency is going very poorly.

FERGUSON: Based on what?

KANDER: And on the ground, people are pretty excited to stand up against him.

WHITFIELD: All right, real quick, Ben.

FERGUSON: Look, I got to say one thing about trade. You look at the executive orders he's already been able to do, you look at the way that he's gotten out of many of these trade deals. To say that somehow his trade negotiations are a disaster is --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Well, that has been negotiating. Executive orders is not say negotiating. I think that's the point --

FERGUSON: Well, when you're the president of the United States of America, you're sending --

KANDER: He's signing executive orders --

FERGUSON: Hold on. You're sending a message to the rest of the world when you do that, that you're resetting with them. And when you do executive orders that change the way that we do trade and deals in general, it's sending a very clear message that America, it's a new day, a new president and a new set of ideals. And most of Americans are in favor of that, thinking we've got a bad deal. That's one of the reasons why he won. But let me go back to what --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: All right. You know what, we're actually -- we're going to have to -- I'm going to have to let you, Jason, just button it up there and then we're out of time. We'll have you back, of course. Go ahead, Jason.

KANDER: Ben, the only message that this president has sent to the world so far is that he will do absolutely anything to ease his own personal discomfort and that he is going to blame anybody not named Trump or honestly Putin when anything goes wrong.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jason Kander, Ben Ferguson, we'll leave it right there. Thanks so much. We'll have you back.

KANDER: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, a growing epidemic is forcing U.S. companies to hire refugees over Americans. Detail on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:41:16] WHITFIELD: President Trump has vowed to bring jobs back to America, but business owners in the rust belt are having trouble filling open positions with American workers. Why? An increasing rate of failed drug tests.

CNN's Dan Lieberman has more on how refugees are filling these vacancies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want it right here? Where'd Adam go? This is Ollie. Ollie, he's from Syria.

DAN LIEBERMAN, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hi. How are you?

(Voice-over): Sterling Technologies in Erie, Pennsylvania, is an American company that needs workers but has had trouble filling the jobs because local residents are failing drug tests.

CARY QUIGLEY, PRESIDENT, STERLING TECHNOLOGIES.: I would say we've probably had 20 percent every time we run a random test, 20 percent of the people are failing.

LIEBERMAN (on camera): That's pretty high.

QUIGLEY: Yes, it's pretty high. We're seeing positive tests anywhere from marijuana to amphetamines, right all the way through crystal meth and heroin.

LIEBERMAN (voice-over): And it's not just here. The percent of employees in the U.S. testing positive for drugs has increased steadily over the last three years, reaching the highest level in a decade.

(On camera): So how many -- how many people here are refugees?

QUIGLEY: Almost everybody that you're seeing here.

LIEBERMAN (voice-over): At Sterling, refugees have become a hiring solution to the drug problem.

QUIGLEY: The immigrant workforce that's here has filled a void that we've had, that we were unable to fill with our local labor pool that we were drawing from.

LIEBERMAN: It's a dynamic that can be seen in many parts of the country, from upstate New York, to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. But some companies that work with refugees in these places don't want to talk about it.

(On camera): They don't want to admit that there is a problem when it comes to drug testing and refugees are filling that void.

(Voice-over): With President Trump's executive order putting a temporary ban on refugees and so much talk about the lack of jobs in the rust belt, businesses are in a tough spot, especially when they're in need of drug-free workers like Talib Alzamel, a refugee from Syria, who arrived in Erie, Pennsylvania, last summer. Within three months, he got a job at the factory.

TALIB ALZAMEL, SYRIAN REFUGEE (Through Translator): In our lives, we don't have drugs. We don't even know what they look like or how to use them. Alcohol is the same. We don't drink it. I'm 45 years old, and I haven't drunk alcohol my entire life, not even once.

LIEBERMAN (On camera): In terms of business, how important are refugees to a city like Erie?

DYLANNA JACKSON, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ERIE: I think they're extremely important. I mean they're the one growing group in this city. You know, it's a city that's been on decline with their population. So it's the only growing group.

LIEBERMAN (voice-over): The refugees in Erie have arrived to a city struggling economically and dealing with a drug epidemic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you like to be a teacher again in America?

SHANNON MONNAT, RURAL STUDIES PROFESSOR, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: The reality is when business owners are telling you that they can't find native residents who will do these jobs or they can't find enough people in the community to pass a drug test, what are they to do? They need to seek out employees somewhere. And for now immigrants are a really good source of that labor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's from Cuba. And that man's from Syria. United States. Indonesia. Vietnam. Five countries in this one room right here, yes.

LIEBERMAN: In Louisville, Kentucky, nearly 6,000 refugees have arrived in the last five years, helping companies fill jobs.

JAMIE RICHARDSON, VICE PRESIDENT, WHITE CASTLE: When we work with, for instance, Kentucky Refugee Ministries, we haven't had any troubles at all with drug testing.

LIEBERMAN (on camera): So refugees really are filling that gap for you?

RICHARDSON: Yes. In this instance there were refugees who were available, who were ready to contribute, and we were thrilled to be able to give them that opportunity.

ANTIGONA MEHANI, EMPLOYEE SERVICES MANAGER, KENTUCKY REFUGEE MINISTRIES: What size? Can you check what size you have? We are going to get you some shoes, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Thank you.

MEHANI: OK. Good luck tomorrow. Send us as many as you can. I hear this every single day, whether it's a small local restaurant, coffee shop, to Amazon. You know, we get flyers. We get e-mails, phone calls, we need people.

[11:45:04] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. What do you remember about work shift?

MEHANI: We usually get someone employed within three days. We've had someone start within one day. That's how fast refugees are able to get employed. So the refugees are not taking the jobs. The refugees are filling the gaps.

LIEBERMAN (voice-over): We spoke with locals about the struggle to find jobs because of drugs.

SMITH: Right now heroin and meth is one of the biggest problems.

LIEBERMAN: Recently in Louisville, there were 151 overdose calls in just four days and methamphetamine use is so high here the number of people testing positive for job drug tests is 47 percent higher than the national average.

SMITH: I did crack cocaine and heroin. After trying to get jobs and lose jobs, getting a job and lose a job, I said, might as well not try because I'm pretty sure people want to keep their jobs, it's just not knowing how to stop.

LIEBERMAN: In Erie, Pennsylvania, we hear similar stories.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 36, and my drug of choice was heroin.

LIEBERMAN (on camera): What kind of jobs were you looking for in Erie that you couldn't get? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like retail. Either like small corner stores,

any stores like that, they don't give -- someone like me, they wouldn't give me the opportunity. You know, they just see my background and that's all they see. They don't see me as a person.

LIEBERMAN: I mean, what do you think of the fact that for these employers they've had to go to new workers because of the drug problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand completely. I mean those refugees, they come here with the American dream in their mind. You know, they come to work. Come to build their life. You know, they obviously work hard compared to a drug addicted individual that just scrapes by, does the bare minimum to get by every day. So I completely understand the business owners.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that refugees need an opportunity when they come here and employers give them the opportunity. But people like us that live here also need an opportunity. And I'm not saying they don't deserve it. But we deserve it as well.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families.

LIEBERMAN: When you hear that our president wants to ban refugees, what goes through your mind, especially from a business perspective?

QUIGLEY: OK, great question. I knew eventually you were going to get to that question. Twenty-five percent of our workforce are either refugees or immigrants. Without them, once again, there are probably costs that we would have incurred that would have made us non- profitable. So there certainly is an impact to that.

LIEBERMAN (voice-over): Sterling Technologies' senior management voted for President Trump and hoped to grow their business under his administration.

QUIGLEY: Do I want to see all of my people deported? Absolutely not. They're a part of this company. They have helped build this company. We can't grow without people that want to do the work.

LIEBERMAN (on camera): What can be done about it?

QUIGLEY: People need to get off drugs. It's something that in our area of the country it's really bad. Drugs are a serious problem. We're going to continue to test. But, if anything, we're going to make it more stringent. A workforce that's not doing drugs is the workforce that we want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, very powerful view there.

All right. Call it an opportunity, call it an upset, whatever you call it, it was one of the biggest in sports history last night. A live report from the NCAA championship next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:52:46] WHITFIELD: All right. It's possibly the biggest upset in women's college basketball history. Mississippi State snaps up UConn's 111-game winning streak with an amazing overtime buzzer beater.

CNN's Coy Wire joins me live now from Glendale, Arizona.

So what is it with these buzzer beaters in the NCAA? We're seeing a lot of them lately.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I know it's April now but it's March Madness. That's why they call it this, Fred. So much is incredible what happened last night. It went -- this game went into -- past midnight into today, April Fool's. And UConn women are wishing this was some kind of cruel joke. But Mississippi State, 21 1/2-point underdogs. Hadn't lost since November of 2014 but here it was.

Morgan Williams with that last-second jump shot. She's only 5'5" but she became bigger than life. Bulldog nation goes crazy. Dak Prescott, the Cowboys quarterback, was there in the stands to cheer on his alma mater. This win sends the Bulldogs to Sunday's national championship game against South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got in those base, and I jumped up and I just made the shot. When I made the shot, I was in shock. I'm still in shock. I just won the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, you know, when you get to this point in the season and you lose, it's just -- it's the worst feeling imaginable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, heartbreak, I know. All right. Meantime, let's talk about the men's NCAA. Final Four. You've been talking to the coaches. What are they saying about, you know, the secret ingredients to helping that team win?

WIRE: I'm fascinated by the survival of this. This tournament started with 68 teams. Now they're down to four. So what separates the mighty from the mundane? Why do some stand tall when others stumble? I wanted to ask these final four coaches about how they handle the pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I instill confidence and trust in young people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talk at length almost daily about the process. And just focus on the process and focus on the task at hand. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to continue to play hard and play our

game. We hope it's good enough for two more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handling pressure is out here on the periphery. Doing what you're trying to do to the best of your ability, that's what it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:55:13] WHITFIELD: Really inspiring, Coy.

WIRE: Fred, we'll see if North Carolina could get redemption after that heartbreaking loss.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

WIRE: Fred, yes, good stuff. First games a little after 6:00. I cannot wait.

WHITFIELD: I know. It's exciting. Well, Coy, we're going to hear more from you and the players and the coaches because, folks, you don't want to miss it. "ALL ACCESS AT THE FINAL FOUR," a "Bleacher Report" special at 2:30 today. Hosted by yours truly along with Steve Smith.

All right, President Trump's agenda overshadowed by intrigue over Russia's meddling in the election. But did he foreshadow some of the more surprising developments of the week? We'll discuss, next.

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