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Iraqi P.M. Pushes Back Against Carter Comments; Defense Secretary: Iraqis Lack "Will to Fight"; Severe Floods Wash Away Hundreds of Homes; Cleveland Protests Erupt After Officer's Acquittal; Bomb Squad Destroys Pressure Cooker Near Capitol; Cleveland Officer Acquitted of Shooting Deaths. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 25, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[05:57:55] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There has been a lot of discussion about whether the U.S. needs change its entire strategy towards ISIS.

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight ISIL.

HAIDER AL-ABADI, PRIME MINISTER OF IRAQ: I'm surprised why he said that. I'm sure he was going on wrong information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big scare near the U.S. Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: U.S. Capitol police are investigating a suspicious vehicle on a nearby street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is legally excused from liability for those crimes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The local police officer was acquitted of two voluntary manslaughter charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 137 shots fired.

CROWD: (Shouting) We want justice!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Water at one point was flowing over the highway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing but chaos. Pieces everywhere. Trees all over the park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, May 25th, Memorial Day, 6:00 in the East and Chris is off this morning. Some stunning candor from the Defense Secretary and it's making waves in the fight against ISIS. Ash Carter exclusively telling CNN that Iraqi fighters could have done much more to hold onto the key city of Ramadi, which was overtaken over by ISIS last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force and yet, they failed to fight, they withdrew from the site and that says, to me, and I think to most of us, that we have the issue with the will of the Iraqis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: That remark is being met with mixed reaction here in the United States. And in Iraq, the prime minister this morning pushing back.

CNN's coverage begins this morning with senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta at the White House. Good morning to you, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. As President Obama is set to remember the nation's fallen soldiers on this Memorial Day, his plan for dealing with ISIS is coming under increasing scrutiny. Asked about

Defense Secretary, Ash Carter's comments that you just played a few moments ago, White House official pointed out that the President just also said just last week that the Iraqi's have to fight for their own security and that the U.S. cannot do that for them. And not only are Republican's criticizing the President strategy, a few Democrats have also said the White House need to rethink it's approach. House Democrat, Tulsi Gabbard, who is also an Iraq war veteran is echoing Defense Secretary Carter's concern that the Iraqis just don't have the will to fight.

And we should point out relying on those Iraqi forces on the ground while the U.S. provides air support has been a key part of the President's plan. I talked to two former top national security officials under President Obama yesterday. The former under Secretary of Defense, Michele Flournoy, told me now is the time to do more. A former National Counter-Terrorism Senator Director, Michael Leiter, told me the Administration has underestimated ISIS and the group's ability to seize territory and we'll be listening to what the President has to say later this morning about this battle against ISIS as he lays a reef and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, Michaela. He will make some remarks. We'll be listening to see what he has to say. Michaela.

PEREIRA: We certainly will, Jim. Thank you so much for that.

So meanwhile, what the are the Iraqis saying about Ash Carter's comments and the fight to retake Ramadi? CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Arwa Damon is in Baghdad and she picks up that part of the story for us. Arwa. ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning,

Michaela and those comments are causing quite a few here to bristle as them saying that the Iraqi security forces do have the will to fight and that it was the U.S. after all that did train them. Just take a listen to what the country's Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi said to the BBC.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

AL-ABADI: I'm surprised why he said that. I mean, he was very supportive of Iraq. I'm sure as he was headed back, he was fed with the wrong information.

JOHN SIMPSON, BBC: Nevertheless, Ramadi was a disaster. Wasn't it?

AL-ABADI: It makes my heart bleed because we lost Ramadi, but can assure you - assure you we can bring it back soon.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DAMON: And many here do feel as if this is just the U.S.' attempt to try to take away any responsibility it may have for its failed strategy in Iraq by blaming the Iraqi security forces, themselves. One soldier that we spoke to Michaela, said that he was on the front lines until the very last minute, but they ran out of ammunition, blaming their orders for withdrawal on a order because they ran out of bullets. But, he was saying the real problem lies with the leadership of the Iraqi security force and this was, again, an army that the U.S. built up, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about all of those different responses. Arwa, thanks so much. We want to turn to Peter Beinhart. He's our CNN Political Commentator and Associated Professor at City University of New York and Lieutenant General, Mark Hertling, CNN Military Analyst and and former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army. Great to see both of you this morning. So let's talk about what Ash Carter said because these have been the strongest comments to date about what went wrong in Ramadi. So, for our viewers, let's remind them of what the Secretary said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CARTER: What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So Peter, what do you think of his comments saying they lost the will to fight?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the larger problem is the political problem, right? You have a Shia-dominated government in Iraq and you have Sunni forces that we're relying on to fight against ISIS. But, those forces themselves don't have faith in the Iraqi government that they're fighting for. - CAMEROTA: So, meaning --

BEINART: -- This has been a political problem at the heart of the military.

CAMEROTA: But, meaning that they don't have the perseverance because philosophically, they're not aligned?

BEINART: Right, right. They may not like ISIS, but they don't believe that the Iraqi government actually represents them. And the Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shia's has also not been willing to support, to really give a lot of support to these Sunni forces that we're relying on. So, I mean, you know, Ash Carter can talk about this as a military problem, them lacking the will to fight, but at root, it's basically a political problem of the fact that Iraq doesn't have a national unity identity right now that can ban together against ISIS.

CAMEROTA: General Hertling, what do you think of that theory?

[06:04:34] LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Peter is exactly correct, Alisyn. But there's more to it in the Ramadi situation. They have actually been fighting pretty hard out there for the last 12-to-18 months, the Iraqi security forces along with some of the tribal members, but what I saw out there from reports, I'm already seeing is it was just a disaster. You have a variety of forces all fighting under different commanders.

You have an insertion of the golden division, which is a very elite division out of Baghdad to assist in the propping up of some of the cities. You have poor communications, bad coordination, coalition air strikes that aren't being hit on the right locations. So, it's a series of things. I mean, if we saw one of things at our, one of our army training centers, we'd just say hey, we got to retrain this force completely. It is a combination of the political as Peter said, but there's some military problems there, too.

I just say one more thing and that is the Iraqi soldiers, I've fought with them. They are very good. They're courageous, they will fight if they're led properly and feel like the government is behind them.

CAMEROTA: And General, I want to stick with you for one more second because what about what Arwa Damon just reported and that is that they ran out of bullets. I mean, that seems like an easy enough fix.

HERTLING: Well, I'm not sure that's actually what happened because you certainly see a lot of ISIS forces taking on the weapons and the ammunitions that were left behind. I think it's a distribution problem.

And again, that's a part of command and control. You have to take the logistics you receive and make sure the soldiers get them. I don't know what exactly happened on the ground in that particular case, but bullets weren't enough for some of those suicide cars that were driving into the city, the BBIED's, as we called them. Even the bulldozers, you can't fight those off with AK-47's. You have to have larger caliber weapons and that's part of the problem. So it's an operational, strategic and certainly a tactical issue there.

CAMEROTA: So, Peter -- and it's also a political issue. So what's the answer?.

BEINART: Well, I think we were going to see more of is people pushing for the U.S. to have these spotters in on the ground. One of the problems is that although we have aircraft, a lot of times, they're not hitting anything because they don't have targets. The only way for them to have good targets, at least according to a lot of the reporting, is to have Americans on the ground who can call in these strikes. And that's what some of the Iraqis want. The Obama Administration has been resisting this, but I think the pressure is likely to grow.

CAMEROTA: General, what would those spotters look like? How many would we need and would that turn this around?

HERTLING: Yes, I keep hearing this Alisyn about hey we need more special operators. We need more J-Tex (sp). Those could help if they were coordinated the right way, but truthfully, you can't just put an Air Force spotter on the ground with a force that's not prepared coordinate their activities. Because, what's going to happen is the guys on the ground say hey, hit that target over there. You have to clear that target before you bring the airplanes in. That's a part of the problem. You can't clear the target. You don't know who the friends and who the enemies are out there. And that has to come from the command and control once again. The same thing with special operators. Just dumping a bunch of special operators into the mix is not going to solve this problem.

CAMEROTA: Okay, so General -

HERTLING: IT requires the Iraqi army.

CAMEROTA: -- So, but let's talk about that. So, what is the answer General? To your mind then, how do you coordinate better than what we've seen?

HERTLING: Again, it goes to Peter's point. You have to get the government together. They have to put Iraqi commanders who are competent on the scene and that's going to be very difficult, although there are some of them out there. There are some that will coordinate and then you have to get the political leaders to say hey, you can't have the Shia Militia going one place, the Sunni tribes going another and the army going a third. That's happening right now because they're in a crisis. But, eventually, you have to get the coordination between those forces together to beef up the lines and make sure the commanders are controlling the operation.

CAMEROTA: Peter Beinart, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thanks so much. Nice to see both of you. Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: Alright, Alisyn. Right now we turn to Texas and Oklahoma. Flooding has turned deadly. The damage is catastrophic. We understand at least 21 countries -- counties, my goodness, are under flash flood watches right now. Let's turn to Hayes County, Texas, just outside of Austin. Look at

this. At least 350 homes have been swept away and the threat of more rain today means more homes are in danger.

We want to turn to Alina Machado. She is live in Wimberley, Texas. How much more can they take, Alina?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michaela. It's hard to think that there could be more rain in this area today. You know, when you take a stroll through some of the hardest hit areas, this is what you see. Debris littered everywhere, down power lines, severely damaged homes. All the result of this historic flood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God! Oh my God!

MACHADO (voice-over): Ravaging flood waters and severe weather across Central Texas and Oklahoma, forcing more than a thousand people to stay in shelters this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now is not the time to try to return to your home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh my God! Stop, stop, stop!

MACHADO (voice-over): Vehicles and hundreds of homes destroyed. Swept away by the deadly deluge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This flood is the largest I've seen in 25 years.

MACHADO (voice-over): Waters continuing to rise through Sunday in central Texas. The flood's height? Swelling one river to a record breaking 43-feet in San Marcos, according to officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, it's mainly an operation of rescue.

MACHADO (voice-over): Emergency crews scrambling to pull people from the flood waters. Bridges washed out, unable to handle the force of the rising tide.

[06:10:07 Roller coasters at the Six Flags Amusement Park near Dallas, Texas, submerged in water. In Wimberley, many residents returned to homes unsalvageable.

(on camera): We've seen houses that have been knocked off their foundations or tipped over, like this one over here, just by the sheer force of those rising flood waters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no electricity at the complex now.

MACHADO (voice-over): In Houston, hundreds are now homeless after an EF-1 tornado packing winds of 100 miles-an-hour slammed into their apartment complex. The severe storms turning deadly in Oklahoma. A fire fighter swept away from a dramatic rescue just north of Tulsa. Captain Jason Farley, a nearly 20-year-veteran, died while trying to rescue ten residents from the flood. The waters so high the fire fighter never saw the storm drain that carried him under.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We suspect that he drowned, got caught in the storm drain itself. It's something I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: We could see several more inches of rain in this county and the ground is already saturated so this could spell some big trouble for these residents who are trying to clean up. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: It sure could, Alina. Thanks so much. Keep us posted there. Well overnight, a small group of protesters gathering in Cleveland after a judge acquitted the police officer involved in that fatal shooting of two unarmed people in a car. Officer Michael Brelo remains on unpaid suspension while the police department continues its investigation. CNN's Ryan Young is live in Cleveland with the very latest. Tell us what you are seeing Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning Alisyn. We've been here since the very beginning after that decision was made. If you look behind me, there's only one protester that's left right now who is walking back and front of the Justice Center yelling toward that door, but no officers even confronting him at this point. That's what we've mostly seen throughout the week in here.

On Saturday, there were 70 arrests as people tried serge throughout the neighborhoods here and had sort of small confrontations with officers. But from there, we haven't seen the violence that we've seen throughout other cities. In front of the Justice Center, you can see all the marking that have been left here. People us chalk to write some of the messages they wanted to show.

But across the country or across this city, people wanted to make sure it was calm. Not like Baltimore, not like Ferguson. We heard over and over again. And one officer make a point that LeBron James came forward on Saturday, talked about the idea of keeping Cleveland calm, but so far, that's all we've seen. People say look, the only people who were talking about rioting have been people outside this area. All you left if the guy right here. Everyone here said they want to move forward. The officer Michael Brelo could still be fired by the Police Department. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Ryan. Thanks so much for that and we should let you know that in our next hour, we will speak live with Officer Michael Brelo's Attorney about all the ups and downs in this case. Michael?

PERIERA: Alright, breaking overnight, Washington, D.C. is on high alert after a major security scare over the holiday weekend. A bomb squad destroyed a pressure cooker that was found in an abandoned car on the National Mall. It happened as thousands of people were gathering for Memorial Day concert on the front of the Capitol building. CNN's Rosa Flores is here with more. What a fright. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I know, Michaela. Good morning.

Tense moments in D.C. Just think about it. Big names and big numbers of people in attendance at this concert and then police identify what they say is a suspicious vehicle that smells of gasoline with a suspicious object inside.

FLORES (voice-over): A frightening scene at the Nation's Capitol. Authorities blowing up a cooker found in a quote "suspicious car". It all happened around 5:00 p.m. Just west of the Capitol building when officers on routine patrol notice a suspicious vehicle parked between Jefferson and Madison Drives. Further investigation revealing a pressure cooker coupled with the smell of gasoline. That's when officers called in the bomb squad. Authorities locking down 3rd Street between Independence and Constitution Avenues. Amid the annual Memorial Day concert on the National Mall. The bomb squad worked the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. Capital Police are investigating a suspicious vehicle on a nearby street. In the next few minutes, you may hear a loud noise as part of that process.

FLORES (voice-over): Then, nearly three hours later, this. No on was hurt. Police have arrested the owner of the vehicle, a Virginia man charged with driving with a revoked license. Pressure cookers have been used as tools for terrorists like in the2013 Boston Marathon Bombing that resulted in the deaths of three and debilitating injuries of hundreds of others.

[06:14:56] FLORES: Now authorities say their search and their investigation revealed nothing harmful was found inside, but the scare that was very real. Just think about it. Thousands of people present. Some of the big names in attendance, Gloria Estefan and also former Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

CAMEROTA: Rosa, Thank you so much for that. Well meanwhile, also breaking news overnight, former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, sentenced to eight months in prison for legally accepting money from an American supporter. Olmert fined about $25,000 as well and he was also sentenced to six years in a separate bribery trial last year. Olmert is appealing both decisions.

PERERIA: The nation is pausing on this Memorial Day to honor those who have fallen defending our nation. Showing you live Arlington National Cemetery this morning, the President will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Other top Defense officials will pay their respects and one of the newer sections of the cemetery where many of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. And on this Memorial Day, CNN is honoring the men and women who died serving our country. We'd like you to share our photos, your stories and memories of the veterans that you have lost. You can post on Instagram or on Twitter with #CNNRemembers.

CAMEROTA: Somber to see it so quiet at this hour. Well, more ahead on that Cleveland officer acquitted in the death of those two unarmed people. Was justice served or does the verdict leave other officers opened to attack? We'll debate all of that. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

[06:20:22] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) we find the defendant not guilty of counts one and two as indicted. I therefore also find the defendant not guilty of felonious assault of a lesser included offense on both indicted counts. And the defendant is discharged. Thank you.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That was the moment the Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo was acquitted in the 2012 shooting deaths of two unarmed African-Americans people. Brelo breaking down as the verdict was read. The judge said that while Officer Brelo did fire lethal shots, testimony did not prove that he caused either death.

With us this morning, Harry Houck, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst and Retired NYPD Detective, Marc Lamont Hill is here, CNN Political Commentator and Host on HuffPost Live. Gentleman, good to have you here.

HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be here.

PERIERA: This is such a situation. I mean, I think we can all agree that there's a lot of things that went wrong in this scenario. But do you -- what we know is that this couple, homeless, they were living out of a shelter, it is believed they might have been in the area looking for drugs. We don't know. The area was known for drug deals. They led police officers on a 22-mile chase. They got up to speed of about 100 miles-per-hour.

Do you believe, Harry, then I'll get to you, Marc, because I know you both have strong opinions. Do you believe the actions the officers took were fair and warranted? Because we know there were some 13 officers that fired 137 shots at this couple.

HOUCK: You have to remember, you had 13 officer here who perceived the same threat at the same time, so they fired. Alright, this isn't like, you know, playing baseball and the outfield saying, okay, I got it. That's not the way it is. I mean, you got all these officers who are perceiving the threat at the same time. And they fired all at the same time, 100 and some odd shots. They were shot 20 times apiece.

But then you have when the shooting stopped, this officer then jumped on the vehicle and fired into the vehicle. All right. I have a little bit of a problem with that, alright. Whether or not it's against the law, the judge has made that decision. We have to accept that decision, alright. But I think that he's going to be held accountable in a way departmentally.

PEREIRA: So though he will - you think he'll face departmental charges?

HOUCK: I think he'll face department charges.

PEREIRA: He's on unpaid leave right now while the investigation continues. Mark, what are your thoughts on this?

LAMONT HILL: Well, I think you're right on a few things here. Actually, the volume of shots per say doesn't bother me. If there is a threat and there 13 people shooting, it's not surprising that there be that number of bullets. What's disturbing to me as you said is after the shooting stops.

PERIERA: That he still felt.

HILL: That he alone -

PERIERA: Alone yes.

HILL: -- you know, felt the need to jump up on the hood of the car.

PERIERA: Well, especially when the prosecution talked about the fact that he feared for his - or the defense said he feared for his life. That's why he did it. If you feared for your life, why would you jump on the hood - a suspects (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: And that's what's troublesome for me. And then you link that to this question about departmental charges, yes, he'll get departmental charges. He violated the rules by jumping up on the hood. The problem is that rule is more to protect the officers than it is to protect citizens, so I'm not sure that he'll get any extraordinary punishment. That's not going to make people feel like there's a sense of justice here and that's the ultimate problem is there's no justice.

HOUCK: Yes, I got no problem with him jumping on the hood. What I got a problem is when everybody stopped trying, nobody else was perceiving a threat but him -

PERIERA: But what even backing.

HOUCK: And then he jumped on it.

PERIERA: But, backing up a bit, we understand that it was widely believed that they thought -- the police officers thought they had a gun and that they had fired at the officers. It's widely believed that the old car they were in, I think it was a Chevy Malibu (INAUDIBLE) backfired.

HOUCK: Right. So officers thought he was shooting at them during the case. So, that heightens the level of awareness by the police officers also. These guys got a gun.

PERIERA: Is it that similar, a backfiring and a gun shoot? I don't know.

HOUCK: It shouldn't be.

HILL: It shouldn't be. I know the difference.

PERIERA: You know the difference? You both know the difference?

HOUCK: I know about that -

HILL: I've never been in law enforcement and that's the thing that concerns me -

HOUCK: No, it is different. It depends on how you heard it and the way - and where the sound came from.

HILL: And if you are predisposed to thinking that this person is a lethal threat and that's the thing that concerns me and the protesters right? Is that for black people and unarmed black people in particular, there's always this sense that we have guns. There's always a sense that even after we've been shot, we're still coming for you. I mean, that's what concerns people here is that there's a disproportionality.

PERIERA: Another thing that I think that's really interesting too, is this officer was allowed to wave his right to a jury trial. So, he opted to have the judge decide his fate. Should be been allowed to do that. I understand that it's law in that state, but should - does that need to be readdressed do you think? Do either of you have an issue with that?

HILL: I don't have a problem with -

HOUCK: I think we have -- this is what the law says that we choose to do. This is the regular criminal justice system in Ohio, alright? So, therefore, that officer is afforded the same rights as anyone else. Just like anyone. I'm sure this officer isn't the only person ever asked for judge trial, you know what I mean?

[06:25:00] Although, typically, the police officers want jury trials because juries are very sympathetic to law enforcement. It's interesting now in this climate to wonder if that will start to change because people are -

PEREIRA: Well, and then you also look at the fact in Cleveland, if you look at the racial make-up of Cleveland, the city of Cleveland, 53 percent black and 37 percent white. So maybe he thought his odds were better if he was dealing with the judge.

HOUCK: If it's a rule of law. Myself, as a police officer, if I know I did something and everything I did was a rule of law, I don't want a jury. I want a judge.

HILL: We have to be careful because that's like suggesting every police officer that won a jury trial is actually guilty and thinks he's going to get off.

HOUCK: No -- It's a rule of law. I don't want anybody's emotions getting, you know, involved in finding me guilty or not guilty.

HILL: I would argue that all of these things are ultimately supposed to be questions rule of law. Jurors aren't supposed to move on emotions. HOUCK: Yeah, but still, you know what happens.

PEREIRA: Let me ask one -

HILL: It often happens on favor of police.

PEREIRA: Let me ask one final thing. We know that the Justice Department last year did find an unreasonable and unnecessary use of force pattern within the department in Cleveland. We know some steps have been taken, 72 officers suspended without pay, one supervisor fired, two others demoted.

Marc, what else would you like to see done there? We understand there is a consent degree right now that is being negotiated.

HILL: We need rehiring. We need retraining. We need federal oversight to continue to make sure that this is done. And this is not just a Cleveland problem. This is a national problem.

Finally, as much as I'm angry at Brelo, as much as I think that he is actually guilty, I still want him to get a fair trial. I want everyone involved in this to get a fair trial. The goal here is not to create in unjust circumstances, to create justice for everybody. And that means stopping these events from happening.

PEREIRA: Quick few words what do you think needs to be done? You agree?

HOUCK: I agree. How about that?

PEREIRA: Oh! Consensus on a Monday!

HILL: Who knew?

PEREIRA: Marc has stayed down. Harry, Marc, we love it when you guys can find consensus, we also enjoy a spirited debate. Thank you so much.

Alisyn, over to you.

CAMEROTA: That was even less than a few words, Harry. Well done. Thanks so much, guys.

Parts of the South and the Mid-West pounded by damaging storms over the weekend. We will tell you what's in store for today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)