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U.S. Embassy Compound Struck In Missile Attack; U.S. Conducts Massive Bombing Of Strategic Iran Island; Marjorie Taylor Greene Blasts Trump's Iran Strikes; War With Iran Ripples To The Gas Pump For Americans; Suspect In Michigan Synagogue Attack Has Family Ties To Hezbollah; Attacks At Michigan Synagogue And Virginia University Rattle Sense Of Safety In American Communities. Missile Attack Hit U.S. Embassy Compound in Baghdad; President Trump Says U.S. Bombed "Iran's Crown Jewel" Kharg Island; Airfares Rise As Iran War Drives Jet Fuel Prices Higher. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired March 14, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:34]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a missile attack at the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad. We have details on that coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, FORMER GEORGIA REPRESENTATIVE: This war is not something that Americans voted for in 2024.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed President Trump over his decision to strike Iran.

And as the war rages on, you are likely feeling it at the gas pump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He started this. He's the one should be paying for it. But he's -- it doesn't come out of his pocket, it comes out of our pocket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And those surge of gas prices will soon lead to higher ticket prices just as spring break and the summer travel season picks up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D) MICHIGAN: Yesterday's attack was antisemitism. It was hate, plain and simple. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Plus, there are new details on the attack at a synagogue in Michigan, why officials believe the suspect had ties to a terror group in Lebanon.

Welcome to CNN this morning, Saturday, March 14th. I'm Victor Blackwell. We begin with breaking news. New video into CNN shows smoke and small flames rising from a building near the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad.

Now, it's not clear yet what exactly is happening there. CNN has reached out to the State Department for more information, but this situation is developing so stay close for that.

Meanwhile, President Trump says the U.S. bombed every military target on Iran's Kharg Island, which handles 90 percent of the country's crude oil exports. According to Iranian state media, no oil infrastructure was damaged in the attacks, but the president threatened to attack the island's infrastructure if Iran continues to block ships from traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, when will the Navy start escorting tankers to the Strait of Hormuz?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It'll happen soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Israel says it continued to strike Iran through the night. The death toll since the war started has now surpassed 2,000. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Abu Dhabi. And Paula, some Gulf States, including the UAE where you are reporting intercepting strikes overnight. What can you tell us?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor, we saw in Dubai that once again a building was impacted by the falling debris of an intercepted projectile that's been happening the past few days. No injuries that were being told by authorities there's been incoming into Qatar. We know Saudi Arabia dealt with a number of drones, most of them heading towards the east of the country where those oil fields are.

And what we have seen in Baghdad is smoke and flames rising from a building in the vicinity of the U.S. Embassy. Now Reuters is quoting security officials saying that this was a missile strike. We're trying to get more details on exactly what was impacted.

Now this is the one of the largest U.S. embassies in the world in Baghdad. It's part of the so called Green Zone, that more fortified area. And it has come under repeated missile and drone attack recently by Iranian funded proxies by the militia in Iraq that's trained and equipped by Iran. Now we do know that all non-emergency staff from that embassy had been

ordered to leave Iraq earlier in the month. So uncertain if anyone was actually in the building at the time. But we are also seeing in Oman the U.S. State Department saying that all non-emergency personnel should leave with their families from Oman as well.

Now bear in mind, Oman was the mediator between Iran and the United States when negotiations were still ongoing. This is a country that prides itself on not taking sides of being a mediator. And even Oman is finding itself as a target from the Iranian retaliation.

Now the Gulf nations are on edge at this point as Iranian officials have threatened retaliation due to the U.S. strikes on Kharg Island, that key bit of oil infrastructure for the Iranians. 90 percent of crude exports coming out of that island.

Now President Trump said they have destroyed the military targets on the island. They haven't touched the oil infrastructure at this point.

[06:05:02]

But we heard ministers saying, for example, the parliament speaker in Iran saying that if any of the islands are targeted, then there would be abandon or restraint when it comes to targeting U.S. assets and U.S. allies in the region. We've also heard from Iranian officials saying that there could be Gulf -- there could be oil infrastructure and energy infrastructure affiliated with the U.S .in the Gulf nations targeted as well. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Paula Hancocks reporting from Abu Dhabi. Thank you. Former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, she criticized President Trump over the war in Iran and she was with Kaitlan Collins on The Source last night. MTG slammed the president over his decision to strike Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: This war is not something that Americans voted for in 2024. As a matter of fact, we voted for the opposite. We voted for no more foreign wars, no more regime change. And were told by many members in the administration throughout the campaign, JD Vance, Tulsi Gabbard and others, that they believed that going to war with Iran would be a terrible idea. It was something that Charlie Kirk himself had said over and over again.

And Donald Trump, President Trump, I voted for him three times, fought for him to become president, and I still want him to be successful. But he told Americans for over 10 years and even longer that he thought foreign wars and regime change was really a bad direction for America to go in. And we trusted and believed him that we wouldn't be doing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And she went further. She said that Americans voted for the president to help the affordability crisis and that the president should focus on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: Here's Americans at home right now. We've got families getting ready to go on spring break and gas prices are skyrocketing. You know, inflation has barely stabilized and people voted for lower grocery costs. Well, we're going to see costs at the grocery stores going up because diesel is going up and oil is going up because of this war. We've got 30 percent of the world's fertilizer goes through the strait that affects our farmers that are struggling already. We voted for to put Americans first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Right now the ripple effects of the war involving Iran hitting Americans where it hurts the gas pump. Overnight, the national average for a gallon of regular jumped 4 cents to $3.67 on average. Let's put that in perspective. You take a look at that line at the right of your screen. At the start of this war, it was $2.98 a gallon. Now up to 3.67.

Prices are climbing as tension with Iran squeezes oil markets. Supply routes are under pressure. And the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route that carries about one fifth of the world's oil, is in a chokehold, pushing gas prices even higher. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke to drivers in New Jersey about whether this pain at the pump is worth it. Vanessa?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the national average for a gallon of regular gas has risen by more than 30 cents in just the last week. That is as oil prices have been flirting with that $100 a barrel mark. And that is because the Strait of Hormuz, for which about 20 percent of the world's oil passes through, has been essentially closed.

Here in New Jersey, we've been speaking to a lot of drivers actually commuting for work, coming down from Connecticut and New York, passing through New Jersey, moving to Philadelphia. And they've all said no matter where they've been across any of those states, they've all noticed the higher prices at the pump.

But the Trump administration and President Donald Trump has been saying that this is just short term pain at the pump for long term gain in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Do you think that is worth it?

PEDRO JACONE, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: I don't think so. I don't think it's worth it.

YURKEVICH: Why?

JACONE: Because, I mean, we're like -- we're paying the price of the war. EVELYN RUIZ, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: He started this. He's the one should

be paying for it. But he's -- it doesn't come out of his pocket. It comes out of our pocket. So, yes, it's affecting us as Americans. Yes, it's affecting us in every way.

CHRISTIAN VANSEOTEN, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: I don't think the United States should have any involvement in that whatsoever. I think the United States should stick with the United States and we should be focusing on our people rather than going out to these foreign countries and fighting fights for them.

ALAN FLETCHER, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: If we have to suffer through a little bit of gas prices going up, then we have to suffer through it. And it's a small pain to take for the rest of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: But no matter how drivers feel, GasBuddy is projecting that the national average will rise another 10 cents in the next week and in the next couple weeks could reach up to $4 a gallon. This is also the time of year here in the United States when we change over from that winter fuel blend to the summer fuel blend, which is already traditionally historically more expensive.

[06:10:00]

So that mixed with the higher oil prices is making it more expensive for drivers here at the pump. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Vanessa, thank you. And coming up later this hour, we'll take a look at how the war in Iran is affecting airline ticket prices and whether you should reconsider travel right now.

Well, next, the Temple Israel community is reuniting in Michigan to honor the teachers after their synagogue was attacked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RABBI ARIANNA GORDON, TEMPLE ISRAEL: And not a single teacher froze. In face of this crisis, they did exactly what they had been trained to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: We have new information about the man behind the attack and why he was flagged previously by the U.S. government.

Plus, the Justice Department files new charges against the man who they say sold the gun used in the Old Dominion University shooting. The latest on that investigation as well.

And 70 seconds, nearly $2 million gone. Take a look at this brazen jewelry heist. We now have the video.

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[06:15:45]

BLACKWELL: Breaking news out of Amsterdam. The city's mayor is denouncing what he called a targeted attack against the Jewish community. Four teenage boys were arrested in after officials say they threw an explosive device at a Jewish school. The blast hit the outer wall of the building. The good news here, no injuries have been reported.

We have new information this morning about the Detroit area synagogue and preschool targeted in an alleged terror attack. Temple Israel hosted a Shabbat service last night at a country club founded by the Chaldean Iraqi immigrants. The club is located across the street from Temple Israel.

Immediately after the attack, the club served as a shelter and reunification center. During the Shabbat service, the congregation honored the teachers who kept more than 100 preschoolers safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON: In recent months, we all have undergone security training and not a single teacher froze in face of this crisis. They did exactly what they had been trained to do.

RABBI JEN LADER, TEMPLE ISRAEL: They smiled and they laughed as they schlepped a bunch of babies wrapped in blankets through hundreds of police cars so that the kids weren't scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: We also learned that the suspect allegedly had ties to members of terror organization Hezbollah in Lebanon. CNN's law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild has details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 41-year old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali the attacker who investigators say drove a truck filled with explosives into a Michigan synagogue and preschool and setting it on fire.

JENNIFER RUNYAN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: In the bed of the truck we found large quantities of commercial grade fireworks and several jugs of flammable liquid we believe to be gasoline.

WILD (voice-over): Law enforcement sources tell CNN Ghazali appears in federal government databases with connections to, quote, known or suspected terrorists connected with Hezbollah in Lebanon, though he is not listed as a member of Hezbollah himself.

Survivors recount the attack on Thursday, which the FBI is calling a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.

CASSI COHEN, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT, TEMPLE ISRAEL: I was just standing near the hallway where the car came in and I heard a large loud crash and I saw some debris from the car. I heard a bang which was a shot and just barricaded the door and hid under my desk.

WILD (voice-over): The Department of Homeland Security says Ghazali was a Lebanese born U.S. Citizen who was seen purchasing fireworks just days before the attack. He lost four members of his family to an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, according to the mayor of the village where they lived. He revealed the family details to CNN producer Charbel Mallow (ph).

The airstrikes 30 miles from Beirut, killed Ghazali's two brothers, two of their children and also injured his parents and sisters-in-law. Michigan's governor said more than 100 children aged five and younger were at the school attached to Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield Township when the building caught fire.

WHITMER: Yesterday's attack was antisemitism. It was hate, plain and simple. We will fight this ancient and rampant evil. We will stand together as we do it and we will call it out.

WILD (voice-over): A security guard was hit after the suspect rammed the building but is expected to recover. He exchanged gunfire with security officers employed by the synagogue, according to the FBI.

RUNYAN: Reports from the medical examiner's office show a self- inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

WILD (voice-over): The FBI Friday searched the suspect's home in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He was born in Lebanon and entered the U.S. in 2011 with a spousal visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016 and last visited Lebanon in 2019, according to law enforcement.

He was flagged in DHS systems for threshold targeting based on records of prior contact with suspected Hezbollah members and contacts that were found in his phone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILD: Victor, law enforcement gave more detail about what happened before this attack and in the minutes as it unfolded. They said that the attacker to the temple hours before initiating this attack, sitting in that parking lot for more than two hours.

Then he drove his vehicle into that front hallway where it became wedged in the hallway. He opened fire. Security forces then engaged in a gunfight with him after he had already struck one of the security officers.

[06:20:06]

They are also saying that the children were in a different part of the building. And in total, they say 605 members of law enforcement responded. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Whitney Wild, thank you for the reporting. Let's discuss now with CNN senior national security analyst and former DHS Assistant Secretary Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, good morning to you. Let me ask you about this 3 threshold targeting, as Whitney reported

there, because of his communications with people tied to members of Hezbollah. Although CNN sources say that Ghazali was not a member himself.

Should that have created some higher surveillance of him? Should we have expected more of Ghazali from the DHS?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It is so hard to know right now what put him in the threshold category. The way that we do targeting is you have this sort of bullseye list, people who are known to be part of a terror organization, and then you have a whole bunch of concentric circles around them depending on the nature of the ties. Threshold is pretty far out.

And so you just, you simply could not -- we don't have the capacity to follow everyone to, to determine, you know, whether they might go from threshold to a terrorist. That's why it takes, you know, community members, others who may see radicalization. Threshold likely means or as we've been reporting -- threshold means that there he had contacts with suspected or known members of Hezbollah when he was in Lebanon. And it's hard for some people to understand this, but when you're in Lebanon, those, you know, Hezbollah is part of the government. Those contacts aren't necessarily a proof that you indeed are a terrorist. And that's the challenge.

The other thing is he's a part -- he's from a part of Lebanon in what's called the Beqaa Valley. Beqaa Valley is sort of south of Beirut. That is the area that is a Hezbollah stronghold. So even family connections may have put him on the threshold list without him actually being a terrorist or when he came through the border that last time.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's broaden the conversation a bit. Year one of the second term of President Trump, Department of Homeland Security focused heavily on illegal immigration, less on counterterrorism, cut counterterrorism grants to states as well.

Is DHS at this moment properly positioned, prepared for a likely increased threat of terror?

KAYYEM: No, and I think that's exactly right. I think it's not political to say that a war that is regional is going to have political consequences. We see that in oil. We see that in the markets. We are also going to see it in radicalization and the vulnerability of Americans here and abroad, here in the U.S. and abroad, in terms of an increased threat environment.

Now, to be clear, that environment can come from state sponsorship of terrorism through Iran. So we don't know what the reaction is going to be long term, but also just greater radicalization by people who either don't like this war, support Iran, have ties to ISIS or other Islamic terror groups, or, and this is the worst, and I think that's -- this is what we might be seeing in Michigan, or the worst of many worst is they equate their antagonism towards Israel's conduct, say in Lebanon, which we're seeing now, to the Jewish community. So it's -- that they're linking people of the Jewish faith with

Israel's conduct. That appears to be the case in our reporting of what happened. How a person with no criminal record, no weapons, no lawful weapons, ends up trying a mass, you know, mass murder attack, antisemitic terrorist attack just this week.

BLACKWELL: Last thing here, you told NPR, and I'd like you to expound a bit on this, that you no longer talk about safe. You talk about safer. And so explain that.

KAYYEM: I've been in this field a long time. People will always say to me, you know, is it safe to do X, is it safe to do Y? And I, you know, I don't -- I can't -- you can't promise anything. And so the way we think about it now in these complex environments is can you make things safer from all risks? So that's, you know, that is both minimizing the risk. So think about putting in a helmet on when you ride your bike, to increasing defenses.

But we are -- we are a species, I won't even say a society that likes to be together, likes to go out and do things.

[06:25:04]

And so this idea of can I live my life, you know, safe is, I think a very is a fool's errand. And so what we try to do in the world I'm in and what the government should be trying to do is minimize those risks, increase those defenses and then also though understand that, you know, that we need to live our lives as well. Otherwise it's not all those defenses are not worth it if we, you know, can't go out and see a concert or go to our synagogue, actually.

BLACKWELL: Juliette Kayyem, thank you. As always. We're monitoring the rising cost of crude oil this morning. Live look at both the U.S. and international benchmarks almost $100 per barrel. Why air travelers need to pay special attention to the impact it's having on airlines.

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[06:30:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: Breaking overnight. New video into CNN shows smoke and flames rising from a building near the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad. Now, CNN has reached out to the State Department for more information.

As soon as we get some details, we will pass them on the U.S. raising the stakes in the war this weekend with the strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, that key area controls nearly all of Tehran's crude exports and is extremely vital to Iran's economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Now, Kharg Island, specifically, if we were to shut that off, that is a lifeline for Iran. I am told that somewhere between 80 percent to 90 percent of their oil goes through that spot. If they could not use it, it would have a devastating economic impact on Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so far, the Pentagon says airstrikes have been confined to military targets, but President Trump is threatening to attack the island's oil infrastructure. Tehran says it will retaliate with attacks on oil facilities across the Gulf if the U.S. strikes its energy infrastructure.

It continues to hit U.S. assets and allies in the region with missiles and drones. Iran's retaliatory attacks on Gulf nations allied with the U.S. is causing massive travel disruptions across the Mideast. And new this morning, we're learning the U.S. Embassy in Qatar says all personnel there are under shelter in order -- a shelter in place order.

Matias Grez is in Doha, the capital city there. One of several Gulf nations struggling to intercept these missiles and drones from Iran. What's the latest?

MATIAS GREZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it had been a very quiet last 36 hours or so here in Doha, maybe Thursday afternoon was the last time we had an alert of any kind on our phones. But that all changed around midnight last night.

The first in a series of incidents was an evacuation notice ordered by the Ministry of Interior, telling people in a couple of different areas in the city to evacuate. And then soon after, around 1:30 in the morning, another security alert followed by some loud explosions overhead.

And then just before 6:00 this morning, another security alert, followed by more explosions. And I have to say, those explosions we experienced, in particular, the one at 1:30 last night were among the loudest that we felt here so far in Doha.

And here, of course, is a really popular commercial and residential area both with locals and with tourists. And earlier this afternoon, we saw a gun-mounted helicopter circling overhead. And the Ministry of Defense confirmed they had been subjected to two missile strikes or attempted missile strikes overnight.

But despite that increased activity, there is some good news, and Qatar Airways told us, they are continuing repatriation flights today. The Minister of Interior said last night that nearly all of the 8,000- plus stranded passengers here in Doha had been repatriated.

We know over the last couple of days, around 15 flights had been coming in and out of Doha, and Qatar Airways told us again this morning that they're expecting another 18 departures today and 17 arrivals. In fact, a CNN colleague of ours had been trying to leave to go back to London since Wednesday and had three flights canceled.

But he told us not long before you came to us that he had managed to board that flight. But of course, Qatar Airways told us they are still urging travelers to continuously check the status of their flights online and update their emergency contact information, because of course, this is still a very fluid situation.

They're still operating within a narrow flight corridor, and are in constant contact with the Qatar Aviation Authority to ensure the safe departure and arrival of those flights.

BLACKWELL: Matias Grez for us there in Doha, thank you. Jet fuel prices going up from about 250 a gallon a few weeks ago to nearly $4 a gallon. Today, a jump of almost 60 percent since the war began with Iran. The price jumps after strikes on oil facilities, growing pressure on supply routes and trouble moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fuel is one of the biggest costs for airlines which is why airfares are expected to rise. Joining me now, aviation reporter, Sean Cudahy from The Points Guy. Sean, hello to you. Argus has a gallon of jet fuel. The average at 250 a gallon a day before the war was started, $3.99 at the -- at the end of this week on Friday.

Does a ticket that someone books today reflect that increase in cost or has the airline yet to pass that on?

[06:35:00]

SEAN CUDAHY, AVIATION REPORTER, THE POINTS GUY: Well, good morning. And I think increasingly, it is reflecting that cost. We saw some reports out from Wall Street, analysts late this past week in the last 48 hours or so, that show that, you know, ticket prices -- you know, if you're looking about three weeks out for booking have already risen pretty sharply.

We've seen pretty solid increases. Whether you're talking about Trans- Atlantic flights to Europe, trans-continental flights, coast-to-coast routes in the U.S., but really just across the board, you know, whether you're going to the Caribbean or, you know, on something kind of short haul domestic, we are definitely starting to see higher prices.

And we expect at this point, talking with global supply chain experts, I've spoken with this week, the expectation is that this is going to kind of plague travelers as they go to book Summer flights. So, we are certainly advising folks to go ahead and get those Summer trips locked in if you're -- if you're planning to fly.

BLACKWELL: Now, is that for international flights and domestic flights?

CUDAHY: I think so. I -- you know, typically, we will advise that you book international farther out than domestic. But I think at this point, especially if you're trying to travel in June or July, which are really -- they've really become kind of the two-peak months of Summer.

If you're planning to fly in those months, I would go ahead and get your trip locked in right now, today, even if it's a domestic trip, keep in mind as long as you don't book basic economy, the cheapest fares that a lot of airlines offer with a lot of restrictions, if you book just a normal ticket, you should be able to go back and later change your ticket, your booking, if the price eventually does drop.

At this point, obviously, though, we don't really know what's going to happen with pricing, but it certainly looks like it's only going up at this point.

BLACKWELL: So, Sean, we've been reporting this morning, and obviously now, for the last two weeks about some of the air travel issues in the region. Of course, you've got Emirates and Qatar and Etihad as well with those hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Doha. If people have flights booked on those, should they reconsider?

CUDAHY: Yes, I think it's definitely worth, you know, a second thought at this point. I mean, you heard the report from, you know, from Doha just a couple of minutes ago there. You know, it's really kind of touch and go, and it's such a fast-developing situation.

We've seen airlines, you know, American Airlines also fly to the region and they've issued their travel advisory that give travelers basically, flexibility to make ticket changes. That's now extended out through the end of May. So, really kind of getting into the Summer season there, I think that you know, it's just -- it's so uncertain what's going to happen from one day to the next.

So, you know, the concern of kind of getting stuck somewhere and not being able to get back. I had family friends that were trying to get back from India through Dubai. It took them a while to connect back to the U.S., that's just kind of the reality for a lot of travelers right now.

Yes, we're starting to see more flights than we were, you know, a week or two ago, but you know, it's certainly not, you know, completely reliable at this point that you'll be able to get to your destination.

BLACKWELL: How long, Sean, is the tale of supply disruption? Let's say, you know, the Strait of Hormuz essentially shut down because of the attacks from Iran right now. But if that reopens and traffic resumes, let's say April 1, how long does the airline expect that, that will have an impact on their jet fuel prices? And of course, the price passed on to the passenger.

CUDAHY: Historically, we've heard airlines say, it can take a couple months, sort of the tail to quote, to use that word there, for kind of the oil prices to affect fares. But we've definitely seen, you know, a much faster adjustment from airlines when it comes to, you know, fares going up.

So, you know, I don't expect fares to go down today or tomorrow but certainly, if things were to open up again, you know, you would expect that eventually or you'd hope at least, that fares would come down eventually.

I think that's why, you know if you are booking a -- you know, a trip today for the summer and, you know, things do eventually improve or fares go down for some other reason, you know, to give yourself kind of that out, that flexibility to go in and kind of capture that lower price-point. I think that's really sort of the best -- your best bet at this point.

BLACKWELL: All right, Sean Cudahy, he says act now. If you're traveling this Summer domestically or internationally, aviation reporter from The Points Guy, thanks so much. Next on CNN THIS MORNING, what court documents are revealing about the man who opened fire inside an Old Dominion University classroom and his previous ties to ISIS.

And remember, if you're heading out, you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S. right from the CNN app. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: This morning, flights in the Washington D.C. area are back to normal after a rough night of delays. See the problem started at a regional air traffic control facility in Virginia. Workers there reported a really strong chemical smell in the building.

Officials traced it to an overheated circuit board. They replaced it. More than 30 FAA employees were checked out and cleared to return to work once the building was deemed safe. While the issue was fixed, the ripple effects, though, lasted into the evening with delays and cancellations and long waits at the gates for travelers trying to get out.

The FBI is now investigating the deadly shooting in Virginia at Old Dominion University as an act of terror. Now, the shooter opened fire Thursday morning at an ROTC classroom in the university's Constant Hall in Norfolk, Virginia.

[06:45:00]

One person was killed, two were wounded. The shooter, a former Virginia National Guard member, also died. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're getting new details about the Old Dominion University gunman from court documents, from other sources and from neighbors of his and his family's here in Sterling, Virginia, where he lived.

According to court documents that CNN has revealed, the suspect identified as 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Sierra Leone. Now, we do know that he spent about seven years in prison -- almost seven years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to help the terror group ISIS.

According to authorities at the time, he was arrested in 2016, he tried to procure weapons for an ISIS attack. He is a former member of the Virginia National Guard, and according to neighbors, this is a family who he lived with here in Sterling, in a townhouse here, who did not interact very much at all with the community. One neighbor described walking past Mohamed Jalloh on walks in the

neighborhood, saying that when he would say, hi to him, that Jalloh would not engage at all, wouldn't say hi, would just look down to the ground, he said, that happened on multiple occasions.

Neighbors described the family as being a large extended family, many members of which lived in this townhouse behind me here in Sterling, Virginia, which -- with people always coming and going, but neighbors said that the family didn't really interact very much at all with the neighbors.

They said that they often -- they sometimes would have a large party at the house with loud music, but other than that, they just did not interact at all with members of the community. Neighbors also expressing some frustration that he spent this time in prison for collaborating with ISIS, and was allowed to come back here.

One neighbor was saying he was surprised that they released him and let him come back and live in the neighborhood with everybody else here. Back to you guys.

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BLACKWELL: All right, Brian, thank you. Coming up later this morning on "FIRST OF ALL", I'll speak with a friend of Colonel Shah; the professor killed in that shooting. We'll talk about what he remembers most about him. That's at 8:00 a.m. Eastern on "FIRST OF ALL".

A teacher in Georgia will be laid to rest a few hours from now after he died during a senior prank gone wrong. Next, what we know about the students who were initially charged in this incident.

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[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Funeral services will be held today for Georgia high school teacher Jason Hughes. Forty years old Math teacher was killed last week in high school prank gone wrong, and a school tradition shows that students were covering the trees of his home with toilet paper.

When Hughes came outside, he tripped and fell and was then run over as the students drove off. At the request of Hughes family though, all charges, including a homicide and trespassing charge, have been dropped against the students involved.

President Trump says he's replacing Richard Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center. Grenell took over last February, but his tenure saw high profile performance cancellations and declining ticket sales. Matt Floca will replace him, he's the art center's current Vice President of Facilities Operations.

This is the latest in a long list of changes at the institution that now holds the President's name, and is expected to close for two years for renovations. One-point-seven million dollars' worth of jewelry stolen in 70 seconds. Here's the video just released. This is a smash and grab last June in Fremont, California.

These robbers wearing masks, they rammed a car near the store, and look at them flood in. Several had getaway cars waiting outside. Northern district of California's U.S. Attorney's Office there, they charge four people in that robbery. Well, a drastic weather pattern change is coming for most of us across the U.S.

It's an early Summer for the west coast, where a heat wave is pushing temperatures well above normal and sending crowds to water to cool off. The opposite on the east coast, though, more than 15 million people under Winter weather alerts after temperatures dropped, bringing Winter back after what felt like an early Spring.

CNN's Chris Warren has the latest. Tuesday, I was outside --

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes --

BLACKWELL: It was 80 degrees --

WARREN: Yes --

BLACKWELL: The next day, back in the house with a fire lit.

WARREN: Yes, big changes. And Victor, really, the worst of three seasons will be felt over the next few days. The exception, Fall, no hurricanes --

BLACKWELL: OK --

WARREN: This is the headline, no hurricanes --

BLACKWELL: I get that --

WARREN: Is expected, but blizzard warnings already up here. We're looking at about more than 20 million people under some form of Winter weather alert. Here's the Winter weather right now. This is snow falling in the northeast and the Midwest.

This system has really yet to get going. So, the worst of Winter here with blizzard conditions, very cold temperatures, and then there's going to be a severe side. So, there's your Spring, the potential for after this, possibly feet of snow in the Midwest, the threat for severe weather.

Again, this is more typical Spring time weather here. The dangerous side damaging winds, a few tornadoes, large hail. Also, a possibility that Sunday going into Monday as well. So, that risk will continue over the next couple of days, really picking up for severe weather.

And then Summer's worst here. The heat, extreme heat is on the way. In fact, between now and the end of next week, more than 300 records could fall. Some of the warmest temperatures for some areas, for even April, let alone March.

[06:55:00] Here's the early start to this. With temperatures going to get up into

the upper 80s by Tuesday in Sacramento, Los Angeles, upper 80s and lower 90s Monday and Tuesday. Some of this extreme heat, well, you might expect it, just don't expect it this early in the season.

Triple-digits here in Phoenix, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. And then, Victor, talking about those ups and downs here, another warm, beautiful day in Atlanta. But overnight lows into the 20s early next week with highs staying in the 40s.

BLACKWELL: All right, but it's short-lived though, right?

WARREN: Yes.

BLACKWELL: OK --

WARREN: Yes --

BLACKWELL: That's a good headline too. Chris Warren, thank you. Ahead in the next hour of CNN THIS MORNING, we watch gas prices rise another few cents overnight. How drivers are dealing with the increased cost.

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