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CNN This Morning
Trump Says He'll Be Arrested Tuesday, Calls For Protests; Top Republicans Rally Behind Trump Ahead Of Possible Arrest; Democrats Condemn Trump's Reckless Push For Arrest Protests; Legal Advisers Urge Trump To Ask For Remote Hearing If Indicted; New York Authorities Discussing Logistics Of Possible Trump Indictment; NYPD Briefed On Security Measures Ahead Of Possible Indictment; Defiant Putin Visits Occupied Ukrainian City Of Mariupol; Putin Drives Around Mariupol, Discusses Rebuilding; U.S. Will Be Watching As Putin-Xi Meeting Begins Tomorrow; Tomorrow Marks 20 Years Since The Start Of The Iraq War; No Weapons Of Mass Destruction Were Found In Iraq. Aired 6-7a
Aired March 19, 2023 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:33]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, March 19th. I'm Amara Walker.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Amara. I'm Boris Sanchez. Thank you so much for starting your week and spending part of your morning with us. There is plenty to get to this Sunday. So, here is what we're watching.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I think this is an effort that's ongoing, never ending to destroy Donald Trump, everything around Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Politicians on both sides of the aisle reacting to the news that former President Trump could be indicted this week. How Trump's team and New York officials are preparing for that possibility and potential fallout.
WALKER: Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a surprise visit to the Russian occupied city of Mariupol just days ahead of a high stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Our Ivan Watson is standing by in Ukraine with more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What would you say the weight of the job is?
COLT ISEMINGER, INSTRUCTOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA, DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION: You hold people's lives in your hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Following a series of close calls at the nation's airports, CNN is getting an up close look at how the next generation of air traffic controllers are training to keep us safe in the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say most of my friends are actually living at home with their parents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Yes. Who says you can't go back home? The reason many young adults are choosing to move back in with their parents that is coming up on CNN THIS MORNING.
SANCHEZ: A lot of questions on how you date as an adult while also living with your parents. We will get to those but we start this morning with the reaction to former President Donald Trump's claim that he's going to be arrested on Tuesday. Remember, early yesterday morning he posted on Truth Social that his arrest was looming. He offered no evidence though. He did call on his supporters to protest.
While the potential arrest has not yet been confirmed by the Manhattan district attorney, Trump's lawyers say they do believe an indictment is soon coming down. The case is in connection to a hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels over an alleged affair that Trump still denies.
WALKER: Now, today Republicans are rallying behind the former president. New York Representative Elise Stefanik calls this move by the Manhattan D.A. un-American. And Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence is also condemning the potential indictment as a political witch hunt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I'm taken aback at the idea of indicting a former president of the United States, at a time when there is a crime wave in New York City that -- the fact that the Manhattan D.A. thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority, I think is, just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Top Democrats are reminding Americans though that no one is above the law. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi calling Trump's post urging his supporters to protest reckless and going on to say that our legal system will decide how to hold him accountable. CNN's Kristen Holmes explains how Trump's legal team is preparing for this possible indictment.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Boris and Amara. Well, former President Trump's team has yet to hear from the Manhattan district attorney's office regarding timing around this potential indictment. They are very much anticipating this and preparing for it.
Trump's team has been huddled at Mar-a-Lago essentially going over various scenarios. One of which is how to get the former president in and out of New York. The other is whether or not to do a remote hearing, have Trump stay at his resort in Mar-a-Lago. And we know that some of Trump's legal advisers have urged Trump to ask for this kind of remote hearing citing security concerns but it's just not clear whether or not he is going to do that for a number of reasons.
One of which is that he has mentioned that he might want to give a statement outside of the courthouse. The other thing that their team is working on is messaging. I have learned from a source that they are considering hiring a TV-friendly attorney, something that matters to Trump, someone who could communicate this to the media and that they have also already beefed up their staff to focus on the messaging.
Part of that messaging is that this is going to make former President Trump politically stronger. What we saw all day on Saturday was Republicans really coming out and rallying around the former president.
[06:05:02]
And that included former Vice President Mike Pence, several of the 2024 GOP hopefuls, as well as Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy who said that it was outrageous, the potential indictment, and called on committees to investigate whether or not federal funds were used in this New York investigation. Boris and Amara.
WALKER: Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that. And this morning the Manhattan D.A. is pushing back to the GOP's claims that this is an abuse of power saying in part, "We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York."
SANCHEZ: Now, these are just uncommon circumstances to say the least for New York law enforcement, but CNN's Polo Sandoval explains how they are preparing for what could be a historic undertaking.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Amara, good morning. Law enforcement officials who are participating in these behind-the-scenes discussions, they are raising several concerns with different kind of scenarios. One of which certainly includes bringing Donald Trump here to lower Manhattan to face any potential charges. And with that would come concerns about courthouse security, for example, with the potential for demonstrations or rallies by Trump supporters that could possibly be galvanized by what we heard over the weekend from the former commander in chief calling for protests.
Of course, the concern is any sort of assemblies would make it beyond peaceful protests and maybe lead to violence and counter demonstrations. And that is why at this hour local, state and federal law enforcement certainly talking about the potential there.
Also another just fascinating angle in all this is what one federal law enforcement official told our colleague John Miller that the Secret Service detail in charge of the former president's security is actively engaged in conversations of their own with some of their New York counterparts about the logistics involved in transporting Donald Trump here to the Manhattan district attorney's office to face any potential charges. Sources telling Miller that certainly would likely be away from the crowds, away from the cameras given the publicity. But this is all just speaks to the fascinating and unprecedented nature of what is happening behind the scenes as we wait to see what the grand jury's next step will be. Amara, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much for that update. Let's get some insight now from CNN national security analyst and former Homeland Security assistant secretary Juliette Kayyem. Also with us, political White House reporter Daniel Lippman. Thank you both for being up bright and early for us.
Juliette, first to you. There has been some debate about the assessment of the threat level posed by Trump's calls for protests. What is your impression of what that threat level is?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, there is no question that he is trying to incite something. It wasn't simply him writing, you know, people should go out and protest. That's fine. People support him. It was the language where he said, you know, get -- take America back. That's the language of January 6th.
So, I think there is concern that in the way that we know Trump does this, he sort of says words that his listeners know exactly what he means. I think the difference here and why the threat level is reduced from January 6th is for a number of reasons.
One is we have notice. I mean, as John Miller and other CNN reporters are stating there is, you know, considerable prep for what to anticipate. Second, the Trump's lawyers have said that if there is an arrest, we don't know if it's Tuesday or whenever, that they will comply so that, hopefully, there is not too much drama. And third, what we've seen over the last couple of years, just those of us who monitor sort of the violent wing of Trump supporters, is that it will be harder for him to get people animated.
He doesn't have the platforms. He doesn't have the apparatus of government. And many of them saw what happened to those who went on the Hill on January 6th, arrested, losing jobs, losing their reputations and are likely unwilling to essentially, you know, sort of charge the Hill for him if he is unable to protect them.
SANCHEZ: And, Daniel, speaking about getting his supporters animated, our reporting from Kristen Holmes and Kaitlan Collins and others indicates that Trump was looking forward to this, that he almost wanted this to happen believing it would boost his case as he moves forward in his presidential campaign.
DANIEL LIPPMAN, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Totally. But I also wanted to say congratulations on your final show, Boris. I don't want to bury the lede. Yes. But definitely, you know, the Trump news, well, I am sure will continue into the weekdays for you.
But Trump sees this as an opportunity to kind of show that he is a victim. He is facing the legal music just like a thousand plus of his supporters did on January 6th, and he is going to say that the political system is rigged against him. That he is going to try to make his supporters feel like this is an unfair prosecution and that, you know, if you have lost your coal job in West Virginia that you are a victim of the establishment as well.
[06:10:13]
And so he wants to capitalize. He wants to try to use this as an opportunity to get back into office and maybe, you know, pardon himself as well.
SANCHEZ: And -- well, that's quite an interesting take.
LIPPMAN: Yes. If he, you know, is found guilty.
SANCHEZ: Right, right. Juliette, one of the things that I think Daniel sort of alluded to if Trump utilizes this moment as a spotlight on his presidential campaign, just the image of that potential perp walk. I'm thinking that there is a lot of security considerations that go into something like turning yourself in when you are a former president. He would be the first former president ever indicted.
KAYYEM: Yes. That's exactly right. This is -- you know, we -- though Trump is sort of controlling this narrative and, therefore, it has an aspect of sort of, you know, like, we are watching TV. This is as a constitutional matter a big deal as well.
The United States, unlike many democracies has never done this before. This has never occurred before. Trump is unique in that regard as well.
Most high-profile white, you know, white collar defendants, this is not a murder trial, would prefer and choose and be given the option to do this without a perp walk. They would be brought in behind so Trump certainly has the apparatus to do that, and that was what we would expect. Unfortunately -- or fortunately we are talking about Donald Trump who is going to view this moment as one in which, you know, he can raise money, essentially, and may choose for it to be public.
In that regard, there will just be what we call perimeter security to ensure that people can't get close. There will be images that everyone will be watching and -- on TV and live. And so, it just depends how his lawyers want this -- he and his lawyers want this to play out. Knowing Trump as we do, I would suspect he is going to want the public moment because -- for fundraising purposes.
SANCHEZ: Well, his advisers -- some of his advisers according to our reporting urged him not to call for protests and he did anyway. So, I am not sure how --
KAYYEM: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- closely he is listening to their --
KAYYEM: Exactly. SANCHEZ: -- advice. Daniel, what stood out to you about the response from fellow Republicans?
LIPPMAN: Well, it's always interesting to see someone like Mike Pence who criticized him last week for his role on January 6th to the gridiron dinner totally back him yesterday on this front. And Kevin McCarthy, who has been loyal to Trump for a long time, he called for Congress to investigate what the D.A. is likely to do.
But what I also thought was the most interesting is that Ron DeSantis, his -- Trump's likely biggest rival in the 2024 race was silent. He didn't tweet. He hasn't talked about it much. And so, he might be the rare Republican who says, hey, let's just let the criminal justice system take its course and maybe take out my biggest opponent.
SANCHEZ: Well, there is a scenario, albeit potentially farfetched, in which DeSantis may have something to do with an extradition fight if Trump and his attorneys decide to go that route and refuse to leave the state of Florida. Juliette and Daniel, we got to leave the conversation there. Appreciate your perspectives. Thank you.
LIPPMAN: Thanks.
KAYYEM: Good luck.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Juliette.
WALKER: Yes. We did kind of bury the lede there so we have to revisit it in a little bit. We will tell you more about Boris' bright future in a few.
Up next, Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Russian occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol today ahead of a high-stakes meeting that everyone is watching with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The significance of today's trip and what everyone is watching for in the meeting just ahead.
Plus, calls for justice from the family of a man who died in a Memphis jail as we get our first look at just released video of what happened the day he died.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:18:20]
WALKER: A defiant Vladimir Putin visits the Russian occupied city of Mariupol on a trip to Ukraine. And this is just after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin accusing him of war crimes. And it comes ahead of Putin's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, that begins tomorrow.
SANCHEZ: The video shows Putin reviewing plans for rebuilding the city that was devastated by his invasion. Let's get more on Putin's visit and the latest from the front lines in Ukraine. CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson joins us live now from Kharkiv. Ivan, Russian officials were describing Putin's visit as a working visit, but it sounds a lot like a publicity move.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the timing of it is certainly interesting. I mean, about 24 hours after being issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for allegedly forcibly deporting thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, breaking international law doing that. And here you have the Kremlin releasing long, somewhat unedited video of Vladimir Putin landing by helicopter in Mariupol then driving his own car while being briefed by a deputy prime minister into the outskirts of the city to look at some recently constructed apartment buildings, and hearing from that Kremlin official about all of the reconstruction efforts there.
As part of this tour, Putin met with several residents of this newly constructed building. One was a woman who almost started crying and said thank you for victory and said thank you for this apartment building, it's like a piece of heaven here.
[06:20:04]
Another man who said, I had nothing left at all, but now I have a new apartment. So, what is that getting at? Well, basically, much of that city was destroyed by Russia's invasion, which started in February of last year.
I sat at the edge of Ukrainian-controlled territory and watched as thousands of residents of that city fled in battered cars that were pockmarked with shrapnel from the Russian bombardment. I heard horrific stories about people hiding in their basements, drinking rainwater from gutters, burying their neighbors in the front yards of their apartment buildings, and the terror that they had when they fled that city after it had been encircled by Russian troops and shelled and bombarded day and night for months until finally they captured the city in May.
So, the irony now of Vladimir Putin and Russian officials saying, hey, we are coming here to build a new city. In fact, announcing that they are going to build a new drama theater there, Boris and Amara, when it was the Russians that bombed a drama theater at the center of Mariupol that hundreds and hundreds of residents had been hiding in with giant signs saying, civilians and don't bomb us, basically. It's very striking to see an attempt at basically proving that Russia is going to rebuild something that it smashed in the very first place.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Ironic and notably the attack on that theater, the one- year anniversary was just a few days ago. The timing of this, as you noted, Ivan, very interesting. Ivan Watson, reporting from Kharkiv, thank you so much.
That three-day meeting between Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping begins tomorrow in Moscow and the United States is going to be closely watching what happens at that meeting.
WALKER: That's right. CNN White House reporter Jasmine Wright is traveling with President Biden. She is in Wilmington, Delaware. Good morning to you, Jasmine. What specifically will the U.S., at least the White House, be looking for from this meeting?
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Amara and Boris. Well, you're right. The White House will be watching this meeting very closely and they will be watching it with a sense of deep skepticism, especially when it comes to the intentions of Chinese President Xi Jinping, specifically for the fact that China has not condemned the war and it continues to support Russia.
So as my colleague Kevin Liptak has reported, the White House has been out early trying to reframe this meeting pitched by the Chinese as a peace mission saying that anything that comes from this peace mission meeting is going to be tilted towards Russia and, therefore, bad for Ukraine.
For instance, John Kirby, the national security spokesperson here, he said very clearly that something that could come out of this meeting would be a ceasefire, but that that ceasefire would only be beneficial to Russia to allow it to regroup. So, that's some of the things that we're hearing from the White House.
Now, of course, this meeting will come after U.S. officials have in recent weeks warned that China is considering providing lethal and military aid to Russia really an escalation of what they are already doing in terms of this confrontation, in terms of this war. And, of course, the White House now will be watching very closely to see if there are any developments on that front.
U.S. officials have been very clear to say that they have not seen that Russia -- that China has made a decision on that front and they have not seen that China has provided any of that aid, but, of course, they are considering it. So, those are two major things here, that the White House will be watching this meeting, these three days very, very closely.
WALKER: Yes, clearly there is a calculus behind President Xi Jinping's meeting. Thank you, Jasmine Wright, for your reporting. As always appreciate it.
So, tomorrow marks 20 years since the start of the Iraq War. The U.S.- led invasion resulted in the ouster of Saddam Hussein but also the rise of ISIS.
SANCHEZ: CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman gives us a look at the mistakes and missteps of the Iraq War, and the state of the country today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It began with shock and awe. Twenty years ago the United States and its allies embarked on a war in Iraq. Within weeks, Saddam Hussein's regime fell.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. WEDEMAN (voice-over): They prevailed in the brief battle of Iraq, but the war in Iraq that followed was long and hard. The American road paved with good intentions soon led to hell.
[06:25:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Son of a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Well, welcome to frigging Iraq, huh? Get back in the vehicle.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The U.S. never found Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, the original rationale for the war. And blunder after blunder poured fuel on a fire of resentment. Every U.S. operation like this one I covered in the summer of 2003 left behind a trail of bitterness.
By midweek, U.S. troops had detained nearly 400 men. None from their most wanted list. They also managed, however, to arouse a fair amount of resentment.
The Americans are occupiers, says this man. They have no manners or ethics. One of them grabbed a Quran and threw it to the ground.
The U.S. cobbled together a political order based on sectarian divisions. Disbanded the Iraqi army and the once ruling Ba'ath Party throwing hundreds of thousands out of the job. And was mired in Abu Ghraib prison scandal where Iraqis were tortured, humiliated and photographed. Eleven U.S. soldiers were convicted of crimes.
Less than a year after the invasion, large parts of Iraq were in chaos. Saddam Hussein was captured, tried and executed but the insurgency went on. The Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was killed but the insurgency went on.
Two years after the invasion, sectarian tensions between the Shia majority and the once dominant Sunni, Arab minority, erupted into civil war and the killing intensified. The violence only subsided after the U.S. surged more troops into Iraq in 2007.
In August, 2010, the last U.S. combat troops left Iraq leaving behind a brittle, corrupt, deeply flawed democratic regime riven by sectarian tensions, which provided fertile ground for the rampage of the Islamic State, or ISIS, spilling over from the war in Syria into Iraq. ISIS seized control of the northern city of Mosul and then captured city after city, reaching the outskirts of Baghdad.
It took more than three years of bitter combat and foreign military assistance to defeat the group. That enemy vanquished, old discontents resurfaced. In 2019 Baghdad was gripped by massive protests against corruption, sectarianism and poor living conditions. But like protest movements across the region, it, too, was crushed.
As the U.S. invasion and occupation fade into history, neighboring Iran plays an ever greater role in the country's affairs. Old problems, corruption, dysfunctional infrastructure and unemployment remain unresolved. Yet, despite it all, today Baghdad is more peaceful than it has been in years. Ben Wedeman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Thanks to Ben for that report. Still ahead, a public plea for justice. The family of a Black man killed in a Memphis jail last October say they want answers from officials and for those responsible to be held accountable. We are back in just moments.
[06:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This morning, the family of Gershun Freeman say they want justice and answers from authorities after the 33-year-old black man died in October while in jail in Memphis.
WALKER: This comes after video footage was made public earlier this month showing a violent encounter between Freeman and multiple corrections officers. CNN's Isabel Rosales has the details in the report. And a warning, you may find some of the video disturbing.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, Amara, good morning to you. There is not a lot that we know about these corrections officers. And that is because they have not been publicly identified by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.
But according to their latest statement, those officers that did have contact with Freeman, all of them have been relieved of duty and they remain under that status today. But all of this is fueling that frustration for Freeman's parents who want more transparency from the sheriff's office. They want to know the names of these officers involved. The family is demanding accountability, they're demanding answers, and also jail reform.
I want to jump into a little bit of that autopsy report, that 19-page autopsy report shared by CNN affiliate WHBQ, but conducted by the Shelby County Medical Examiner's Office. That autopsy report found that Freeman had multiple deep cuts and bruises throughout his body. And his cause of death was noted as cardiovascular disease made worse due to a physical altercation.
The report also notes that Freeman had a history of psychosis and that that likely was a contributing condition to his cause of death. The report also classified Freeman's death as a homicide but importantly it notes it is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent. Now, here is what one of Freeman's family attorneys had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE BROWN, FREEMAN ATTORNEY FAMILY: Mr. Freeman ran out and he was subjected to a gauntlet of punches and kicks. He was stricken with implements ranging from handcuffs to heavy rings of jail keys. He was hit with canisters of chemical irritant in addition to being sprayed with chemical irritant. It was not the way that our community, the people we put in place to watch over the detainees in the jail should allow things to operate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:35:22]
ROSALES: And the Shelby County Sheriff's Office did put out this statement indicating that they took immediate action. They claim that they contacted the District Attorney's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation immediately on the day of that incident. And are also saying that anything dealing with jail health care and the number of mental health professionals in jail that is determined by the mayor's administration and not by the sheriff. Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. also stating it is unfortunate that this case is being tried in the media before the review is complete. Amara, Boris.
WALKER: Isabel Rosales, thank you.
And coming up. In the wake of several close calls on runways across the country, CNN gets an up-close look at the next generation of air traffic controllers being trained to prevent those incidents in the future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:40:33]
WALKER: Aviation officials are sounding the alarm after multiple near misses this year between commercial airplanes.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And after an emergency meeting last week, the FAA says that one way to prevent these close calls is simply better technology, especially for air traffic controllers. Let's go to CNN's Omar Jimenez, who got the chance to visit one of the nation's largest aviation schools for a firsthand look at how things can go wrong on the runway.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Boris and Amara. Well, when you get delayed on the runway, there's a whole lot more going on behind the scenes than you think. We went all the way to the University of North Dakota, one of the best aviation schools in the country. And they brought us into their air traffic control simulator not just to show us how they train students, but also to show what it may have looked like inside the control tower during some of the more recent significant incursions at U.S. airports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ (voiceover): Grand Forks, North Dakota, home to one of the largest aviation schools in the country. You can place planes anywhere you want. You can change the weather -- and at the University of North Dakota, air traffic control can be simulated.
COLT ISEMINGER, INSTRUCTOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA, DEPT. OF AVIATION: Really slow, to really busy. We can have aircraft coming in on final. We can have no aircraft -- JIMENEZ: Or for when things don't go as planned. And a January JFK
airport incident, an American Airlines Flight crossed the runway in front of a Delta Airlines Flight cleared for takeoff. And while the NTSB is still investigating through the simulation, we see it might have simply come down to communication.
ISEMINGER: Most likely, the American aircraft was on ground control, so they're on a different position. So, as the controller that's controlling Delta, I'm not actually talking to that American traffic.
JIMENEZ: I'm here. I'm on ground control.
ISEMINGER: Yes.
JIMENEZ: All right. I've got American Airlines. Meanwhile, you're in your own world --
ISEMINGER: Yes.
JIMENEZ: -- talking to Delta.
ISEMINGER: I am going to do something with my Delta aircraft first, you know, tell them to cancel takeoff clearance. Traffic on the runway.
JIMENEZ: The actual radio traffic sounded a little different.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delta 1943, cancel takeoff plans. Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rejecting.
JIMENEZ: Air traffic controllers use a combination of radar, communication with pilots, and relying on what they can see from the tower, at least when they can see.
OK, now I'm stressed.
ISEMINGER: The controller from their vantage point in the tower is not able to see the actual runway environment.
JIMENEZ: Fog and low visibility were the conditions in Austin, Texas in February. A FedEx plane was approaching Austin's International Airport to land as a Southwest plane was supposed to have taken off from the same runway. With the weather, it would have been hard to visually confirm.
ISEMINGER: Maybe by now that Southwest should be off the ground and maybe I should be able to see it on my radar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rolling now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest abort. FedEx is on the go.
JIMENEZ: At the last minute, FedEx pulled up, an action led by the pilots. The two planes came within just a hundred feet of each other. They're the types of scenarios the school trains for in the simulator.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Country D138, contact departure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what's most important is I can learn from any kind of mistakes that happen in the real world or even in our simulation.
JACKSON SMITH, RECENT GRADUATE, AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA: Treating it as a learning opportunity is the biggest thing. So, we're always trying to look at the positive side out of it and prevent it for the future.
JIMENEZ: What would you say the weight of the job is?
ISEMINGER: You hold people's lives in your hands. If I do something wrong, or if I give the wrong command and they crash and something happens, that's the weight that you have to carry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: And they told us for these air traffic controllers when they're working in low visibility, they have to rely on their knowledge of the airport, and pilot reports to coordinate as opposed to being able to see. Now, some major airports have airport Surface Detection Technology which can help alert these air traffic controllers to possible incursions which, of course, can help at night and especially so when visibility is low. Boris, Amara.
SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Omar Jimenez for that report.
There is a growing trend among working young adults, millions of them still living with their parents in an effort to save money. Hear from several who've made the move back home when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:49:08]
SANCHEZ: So, the number of young adults in America living with their parents is still near an all-time high, 50 percent.
WALKER: Wow.
SANCHEZ: 50 percent according to the latest numbers from the Pew Research Institute.
WALKER: And it's really incredible. This age group defined as 18 to 29 years old has been hit especially hard by the economic downturn. And they're looking to save money as they plan their future financial exits. CNN's Gabe Cohen with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE LEMIRE, LIVES WITH PARENTS: Yes, it feels like home.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Grace Lemire shows us her Massachusetts home.
LEMIRE: So, that's my childhood bedroom.
COHEN: Well, her parent's home.
LEMIRE: This is my mom's office.
COHEN: The 24-year-old moved back after college and hasn't left even though she's now making close to six figures running her own content marketing business.
LEMIRE: I mean, it's been huge. I've been able to completely save an emergency fund. I have been able to put a lot of money onto my student loans. I have a bigger down payment for a future home. Those are things that are important to me and make -- living at home makes more sense for me.
[06:50:07]
COHEN: She posts about it on TikTok.
LEMIRE: Have you seen the rent prices out there?
COHEN: And she's not alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Living by yourself is almost impossible.
COHEN: Millions of young adults moved home during the pandemic and many haven't left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's something that I used to be almost like, embarrassed, or ashamed of, but not anymore.
COHEN: As of last summer, 50 percent of adults 18 to 29 years old were living with their parents, according to Pew, down just slightly from 52 percent at the peak of the pandemic the most since the Great Depression.
LEMIRE: I would say most of my friends are actually living at home with their parents.
COHEN: Housing costs are a key reason. The average rent nationwide nearly $2,000 is 26 percent higher than at the start of COVID and only rising amid this high inflation.
CRISTINE BRUNIK, LIVES WITH PARENTS: I can't be financially stable if I want to go out and live on my own.
COHEN: 23-year-old Christine Brunik has lived with her parents in a Minnesota suburb since finishing college. Renting her own place, she says could cost half her marketing salary.
BRUNIK: I feel kind of like in a stagnant position.
COHEN: What's your plan as of now?
BRUNIK: I'm hoping to move out in August. But again, that depends if I find roommates.
COHEN: Then, there's student loan debt.
JON WILLIAMS, LIVES WITH PARENTS: That was the goal is to just clear that out as quickly as I can.
COHEN: 26-year-old Jon Williams, a pharmacist in Michigan, moved into his parents' basement after finishing grad school with $180,000 of student debt, he says.
WILLIAMS: It has been a very minimalist lifestyle. I saved over 80 percent of my net income.
COHEN: When do you think you'll be able to clear your student debt?
WILLIAMS: Probably late fall. About three-quarters, the way through right now.
COHEN: Are you getting antsy?
WILLIAMS: I think it's slightly antsy. I do feel like 2023 would probably be a good year for me to move out.
COHEN: Many Americans don't like this trend. 36 percent say that more young adults living with parents is bad for society, while 16 percent say it's good according to Pew Research.
LEMIRE: I've been called a fraud and a freeloader.
COHEN: Grace's mom had a different take.
NANCY LEMIRE, GRACE'S MOM: If she's in a better position, then, you know, that gives us peace of mind. And when we get older, if we need help, she'll be in a better position to help us, right?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: Yes. And as a parent, you know, you'll take them in with open arms for the most part. Gabe Cohen, thank you very much.
Still ahead. Eight teams have punched their ticket into the Sweet 16, so far. And for the third straight year, it will include a major underdog.
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[06:56:47]
WALKER: So, Cinderella strikes again. Princeton is heading to the Sweet 16 after pulling off another historic upset.
SANCHEZ: Let's bring in CNN's Coy Wire. Coy, March Madness. What we love about it is the unpredictability but now there's a bit of a trend, the third straight year, a 15 seed gets to the Sweet 16.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. And how wild is it? It's just the fourth time that's ever happened. So, quite the trend. Good morning to you.
Only about ONE percent of the tens of millions of brackets filled out this year have Princeton reaching the Sweet 16. The school of around 8000 students is taken down giants on this run. Princeton Tigers looking to continue their magical run against the seventh-seeded Tigers of Missouri.
And after pulling off one of the likeliest upsets in tournament history on Thursday beating two-seed Arizona, Princeton looked unstoppable against Mizzou hitting 12 three-pointers to jump out to the early lead and never looked back. They went 78-63, becomes just the second Ivy League school in the past 43 years to reach the final 16.
Coach Mitch Henderson was a member of the last Princeton team even to win a game in this tournament a quarter century ago. He says this is a dream come true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH HENDERSON, PRINCETON HEAD COACH: We are so thrilled to be going in sweet 16. It is a -- it is an absolute pleasure being around these guys. They just grit their teeth and they do it. I've always dreamed of playing deep into the tournament as a player who got to the second round a couple of times but never got beyond it so I'm just absolute -- I feel like these guys is unbelievable.
WIRE: All right, avert your eyes if you're easily hot and bothered. Defending champ Kansas down two to Arkansas with three seconds to go. They needed to miss a free throw to have a shot at the wind of the rebound or to win or tie but doesn't happen. Arkansas pulls off the upset.
And Coach Eric Musselman rips off that shirt and shows off the muscles, man. Down goes Kansas. No repeat Champ this year. The eighth- seeded Razorbacks are headed to their third straight sweet 16.
ERIC MUSSELMAN, ARKANSAS HEAD COACH: I would love to lie and say that you know I felt composed. But this -- I mean we only let for a minute 43. And this has been as challenging up and down season as I've ever been a part of, and for these guys to be rewarded for sticking with it and being able to go to Las Vegas and participate with only 16 teams still standing.
It's really hard to make this tournament. It's really hard to win a game in this tournament. It's really hard to beat defending champions, the number one seed. We did it.
Madness continues on the women's side. Two big-time upsets. 12-seed Toledo stunning big 12 champ Iowa State 80 to 73 for its first March Madness win since 1996. While golf -- Florida Gulf Coast, they make it back-to-back tournaments with a win as a 12-seed knocking off PAC-12 champ Washington State, 74-63.
16 more games today, eight women's and eight men's, five of which you can catch on our family of networks that includes Fairleigh Dickinson who's trying to become the first 16th-seed to ever reach the sweet 16. They'll face Florida Atlantic at 7:45 Eastern on our sister channel TruTV.
And, Boris, I need to ask you, who picked your bracket for you my, friend?
[07:00:00]
