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New Day Saturday

Hiding Explosives In Electronics That Can Evade Airport Screeners; New Docs Show White House Advisers Raked In Millions Last Year; FBI Not Interested In What Mike Flynn Had To Say; Fire on Atlanta Interstate, 3 People Arrested; U.S. Investigations On Civilian Casualties In Iraq; Trump Agenda Overshadowed by Russia; Mississippi State Shocks Huskies in Overtime; Trump's Habit of Rearranging Things Goes Viral; Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 01, 2017 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:00:19] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ISIS and other terror groups have found a way to hide powerful explosives in electronic devices to take down a commercial airliner has been the kind of holy grail of any of these various plethora of terrorist groups.

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Unfortunately, they are going to make it through on one -- with one of these bombs. That's my prediction.

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: Very mysterious to me, though, why all of a sudden General Flynn is suddenly out there saying he wants immunity.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you're not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for, right?

When you are given immunity that means you probably committed a crime.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: It wasn't that Donald Trump won the election. It was that the Democratic Party lost the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So glad to see you. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. First on CNN, U.S. intelligence agencies say that terrorists have now found ways to hide explosives in electronics that can evade commonly used airport screeners.

PAUL: And what's more, they even have their own equipment to test whether they can bypass security. CNN's Pentagon Correspondent, Barbara Starr, walks us through on what we've learned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials have grown

increasingly concerned about the threats against aviation that they are seeing not just from ISIS but also Al-Qaeda in Syria and Al-Qaeda in Yemen.

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies believe that ISIS and other terror groups have developed innovative ways to plans explosives in electronic devices that can fool airport security screening. The concern is heightened because there is U.S. intelligence suggesting that terrorists have obtained sophisticated airport security equipment to test how well the bombs are concealed.

CNN has learned this new intelligence was a significant part of the decision earlier this month to ban laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices from the passenger cabins of planes flying directly to the United States from ten Middle Eastern and North African airports, demanding instead that they be stored in checked luggage.

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Elevated intelligence that were aware indicates a terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressive in pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling of explosive devices in various consumer objects.

STARR: Officials have told CNN there was credible and specific intelligence that ISIS would try to attack aviation assets and a hint from a top U.S. commander about why they accelerated effort on the ground in Syria against the group.

STEPHEN TOWNSEND, COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE -- OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE COMMANDER: There's an imperative to get isolation in place around Raqqah because our intelligence feeds tell us that there is significant external operations attacks planning.

STARR: Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, AQAP, has for years been actively trying to target commercial airliners destined for the U.S., looking for ways to create bombs that contain little or no metal content to evade airport security measures. Including hiding explosives in the batteries of electronic devices, like laptops.

And in February 2016, a wakeup call when a laptop bomb, according to Somalia authorities, was used to blow a hole in this Somali passenger jet. The plane landed safely despite the attack claimed by the Al- Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab. CNN has learned the explosives were hidden in space created by removing parts of the DVD drive.

The transportation security administration gave CNN a statement noting that while they will not discuss specific intelligence, they continue to monitor all the threats that they see, and that they will change security procedures as they see fit. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Mary Schiavo, our CNN Aviation Analyst joining us now and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mary, good to see again. First of all, let's talk about the reality of this risk. Do we or do you have any sense of how close they really are to putting this theory into practice?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, yes. We have a pretty good idea because of the attack in 2016 on the Somali jetliner. And there, there's a little bit of a different twist from what we're seeing now. In surveillance tapes of that airport, what was revealed is that it appeared that the -- that the bombers there or the bomber there might have had inside help from the airport.

[06:05:05] There was some discussions as to whether on the surveillance tape, the laptop was actually passed around security or was gone, you know, went through security and people just didn't inspect it. Later on two people were sought to be arrested. One was killed. Others were taken into custody. But now, it's changed and that they don't think that insiders would be necessary. They have so increased their capability that the U.S. at least and others, the U.K, are saying that it can skirt the traditional screening methods. So now, whether that will mean we need additional kinds of sensing devices, dogs, which are usually the best, that remains to be seen.

BLACKWELL: Mary, let's talk about the equipment that they have now gotten their hands on. CNN is reporting that according to sources that some of these would be attackers have obtained the hi-tech screening devices to determine how detectable these bombs would be in an airport. How would they get their hands on those?

SCHIAVO: Well, unfortunately, you know, there was a big push after September 11, 2001 to try to get all the airports in the world and those of aviation nations, and with treaties we allow such nations to fly to and from the United States, we commanded, we required and we should, nations that fly here to have security that matches ours. And that only makes sense because if one airport is weak in the system, they can compromise them all because passengers land behind security. So we, among other nations said, "Hey get this modern security in or you're not flying here." So, we exported it. And it only takes, you know, one bad actor somewhere in the world to sell this equipment, and also there's been -- it hasn't been well-policed because we wanted everybody to buy it.

And this, Victor, I think, Christi, is one of the most dangerous developments because what we saw leading up to September 11, 2001 was immense amounts of testing, years of testing that the terrorists put in before carrying out their attacks. And we had intelligence about it but we had a piecemeal response to what we knew. And here, I think the response is good and necessary but we got to make sure it's not piecemeal. If they are able to test their devices when they finally deploy, they will work.

PAUL: So, I want to talk about the origin of these. Many of the attackers that we've seen, even in general when it comes to being radicalized, are native to their own countries, say the U.K., and other places in Europe. So, do you think this ban that we're talking about, with these Middle Eastern countries and Northern African countries, is that enough? Do you think that ban needs to be more expansive because how do you stop somebody who is native from doing something like this?

SCHIAVO: You're exactly right. No, I don't think the ban is enough. I think it was a necessary first step and I suspect there will be additional steps after that, but it's not enough. And then you also have the problem of you landed in an intermediate airport. Remember this ban was on nonstop flights to the U.S. and you landed in an intermediate airport, there you mingled with passengers from all over the world, and there were reports in the U.K. last week that even airports that have this bans, the U.S. allowed passengers then to mingle once they were past security. So, I think that the initial ban was probably a hasty response and it should be expanded. And it will be expanded. It has to be.

BLACKWELL: All right. A lot of questions still to be answered. Mary Schiavo, thanks so much.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

Well, President Trump having a hard time shaking off the Russia controversy. It's still swirling around the White House. And now, his former security advisor, Michael Flynn, offering his testimony in exchange for immunity. President Trump calls it, though, a "witch- hunt". During an executive order signing ceremony, the president actually walked out without truly signing the orders, targeting foreign trade abuses after reporters asked questions about Flynn.

BLACKWELL: Plus, new documents out show that the White House is stacked with advisers who raked in millions of dollars last year, including daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose combined assets could exceed $700 million.

Let's bring in Errol Louis, CNN Political Commentator and (INAUDIBLE) and Sarah Westwood, White House Correspondent for the Washington Examiner. Good morning.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, Sarah, let's start here. The Trumps are rich. That's not breaking news. A lot of the people around the Trumps there in the White House are rich. That is not breaking news either. What to you is the headline out of these, you know, 180 or so financial disclosures?

[06:09:48] SARAH WESTWOOD, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Well, I think in particular when you look at Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's financial disclosures, this is part of the reason why the Trump team ultimately made the decision to bring both on board in an official capacity and did not let them continue to advise the president in, sort of, an ad hoc role because it forced them to undergo this financial disclosure process, it forced them to divest their assets, and we wouldn't have seen them otherwise if they had continued to just informally advise President Trump. They could have retained all of those assets. I believe Jared Kushner resigned 267 some odd positions in order to take his role as President Trump's Senior Adviser. That wouldn't have happened if he had had an informal role. And so, while there has been some claims of nepotism, while there has been some charges that this is a little an orthodox to have family members in the White House, it's clear that it was necessary to bring them on officially in order to subject them to these office of government ethics requirements.

BLACKWELL: And Errol, we know that there was some re-organization of the Trump organization as it relates to the D.C. hotel so that the president would not personally profit from it while he's in office, but we know that Ivanka Trump will still maintain her stake there. Is there conflict of interest considering that she's not an elected official appointed, but that she still will be making money from potentially foreign dignitaries coming to stay at the Trump Hotel.

LOUIS: Well, yes, look, there are multiple conflicts of interest here. And let's be clear, I mean, Jared Kushner, sort of, divested himself or reshuffled within his own family in many cases, some of his ownership interest, but he still has kept reportedly upwards of $240 million worth of companies that are -- or company wealth that he does have control over. We should also keep in mind that it's not just about conflicts of interest, it's also about being able to influence the White House and one can certainly do that. There's such a vast array of different companies that one can, sort of, overpay for certain services, or just pay anything for services, even market prices in order to ingratiate one self. You know, the question that was put on the table with conflict of interests is a simple one, and it's a test that the Trump organization and its members don't seem to want to pass, which is, are you in this as a business or are you serving the public good exclusively? Trump himself has never wanted to answer that question in any kind of a comprehensive way, nor have been members of his family. It is indeed without precedent.

BLACKWELL: Sarah, let's talk about what Christi just mentioned, the former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, offered to tell his story in exchange for immunity. The reporting is that the FBI is not interested in speaking with him again, nor they're interested in any deal for immunity, and the investigations on Capitol Hill aren't looking to give him immunity either. What can you deduce from that rejection of an immunity deal, if anything?

WESTWOOD: Look, I think it's created a lot of opportunities for some delicious irony for people who watched the Hillary Clinton team take a lot of heat for having five of its aides, five of Hillary Clinton's former aides, receive immunity in the e-mail deal. And as you recalled, President Trump and Mike Flynn himself excoriated that decision and said that it was a definite group of Hillary Clinton's guilt and now you have a prominent former aide at the Trump White House offering to testify in exchange for immunity. That, definitely, created the opportunity for the Trump White House to revisit the e- mail scandal, something they've love to do at every opportunity. And it allowed some of Hillary Clinton supporters, I think, to feel a little vindicated in that. This is now happening to the Trump team.

BLACKWELL: So, Errol, is there potentially an expectation that he has nothing to offer that they don't already have, that he can't offer a bigger fish? LOUIS: Well, no. Look, every person is entitled to, well, legal counsel, and any competent legal counsel would tell you there's no way you walk into such a charged atmosphere without getting something in return as far as protection. So, his lawyer is doing what anybody would do, as did Mrs. Clinton's. You know, I mean, there is, in fact, some irony here. One of the ugliest moments in politics I've ever seen in 30 years of covering different things was Mike Flynn on the floor at the convention in Cleveland, chanting "Lock her up," leading chants of "Lock her up." And then -- so he knows very, very well because he used to lead -- because he led those chants, what mob mentality, how dangerous it is, how ugly it is, how inaccurate it can be, and the danger in can propose to somebody's legal standing or even freedom. So, yes, he doesn't want to be part of what he himself has created, and it's not just ironic, it's what the new politics in Washington appears to be based on.

BLACKWELL: All right. Errol Louis, Sarah Westwood, stick around. We've got more questions for you.

LOUIS: Sure.

PAUL: Well, charges are filed after that massive fire takes down part of an Atlanta interstate. The thing just collapsed. Next, investigators are getting their first clues as to what likely caused it.

[06:14:46] BLACKWELL: Plus, the U.S. expands its investigation after dozens of innocent people are killed in Iraq. The United States and its allies, are they responsible for those deaths?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Get this. Three people are facing charges this morning after that massive fire that collapsed part of an Atlanta interstate. Here are the pictures. Fire investigators think one of the suspects set construction materials on fire. This was under part of I-85. It happened on Thursday. But look at the smoke that was coming from this thing. It was an enormous fire. Eventually, it caused a piece of the interstate to just come to the ground. It buckled there. Repairs to the major highway could take several months. Now, look, we live in Atlanta. I can tell you, I thought -- I thought that we just had a storm coming in. That's how dark the clouds were. And then, my husband came home and said "No, there's a fire." He had heard a truck was on fire. Obviously, it was more than that. But --

BLACKWELL: This will be shut down for months as they have to repair.

PAUL: Oh, they're saying -- they're saying six months or so.

BLACKWELL: The interstate -- yes, and the surrounding roads. And we'll be following how that impacts the businesses there.

[06:20:00] Let's turn now to the U.S. in expanding the investigation into airstrikes, said to have killed more than 100 civilians in Iraq.

PAUL: Yes, this comes, of course, as the defense officials tell CNN the U.S. and its allies dropped dozens of bombs in Mosul on the day that the civilians were killed. CNN Senior International Correspondent, Ben Wedeman, live in Iraq for us.

So, Ben, from your end there in Iraq, what are you hearing about this formal investigation?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is an investigation into an incident, Christi, that took placed on the 17th of March in the Mosul, El Jadida neighborhood, which is in the western part of the city. Now, we understand from Pentagon officials that on that morning the coalition dropped 36 bombs in the area of Western Mosul, including 2,000 pound, 500 pound and 250 pounds, they were dropped by French, Belgian, British and American aircraft. In addition to that, they fired 33 artillery and 12 smoke rounds into the area as well. And just to give you an idea of how much fire power the coalition is using, in the past week alone, they dropped more than 700 bombs, fired more than 400 artillery rounds. They also say -- the Pentagon officials -- they have video of ISIS fighters forcing civilians into buildings, which they then use as fighting positions, which may explain why so many civilians were killed on the morning of the 17th of March. At least 140 civilians, according to the latest count. Christi?

PAUL: Ben, things seem calm where you are right now but can you tell us what's happening in the fight in Mosul? What is the latest?

WEDEMAN: Well, the fight has really slowed down because of the level of resistance by ISIS. There was initially in the initial weeks that the Iraqi forces were making good progress, but now, they are really bogged down in and around the old city. They're now fighting -- there's intense fighting we're told around the Grand Nuri Mosque, that's where in July of 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the so-called "Caliph" of the Islamic State, made his most notable appearance. So, that's what the Iraqi forces are focusing on. But as we've seen, the level of resistance is quite high and progress has been very difficult in recent weeks. Christi?

PAUL: All right. Ben Wedeman, live in Iraq for us there. Thank you so much, Ben.

BLACKWELL: For some members of the house committee, investigating potential connections between Russia and U.S. say that partisanship has overtaken the investigation. We're now seeing a growing divide between the two heads of that team. The choice words the top democrat on the case has for his counterpart and the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:07] PAUL: 27 minutes past the hour on this Saturday. Good morning to you. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Hope you're doing well this morning. The top democrat investigating Russia's meddling in the election is now slamming the White House after he reviewed some controversial documents on the White House property. PAUL: Congressman Adam Schiff we're talking about through the White House finally showed him what appears to be precisely the documents shown to House Intel Chair Devin Nunes last week. Nunes mysteriously met with two NSC officials on White House grounds. Now, a U.S. official told CNN they helped provide Nunes with Intel of incidental collection of Donald Trump and his associates. Schiff released this statement after reviewing the documents, quote, "While I cannot discuss the content of the documents, if the White House had any concern over these materials, they should have been shared with the full committees in the first place. Nothing I could see today warranted a departure from the normal review procedures, and these materials should now be provided to the full membership of both committees."

Nic Robertson, CNN International Diplomatic Editor with us, as well as Sarah Westwood, White House Correspondent for the Washington Examiner. Good morning to you both. Sarah, I want to start with you. Obviously, some information the ranking member cannot discuss. What do you make of his initial statement, though, that this should have been shared initially with the full committee?

WESTWOOD: Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have been upset about the deviation from normal procedure since Chairman Nunes stepped foot on White House grounds on March 22nd. So, this isn't surprising that Schiff fell back on a process argument after reviewing these documents. And I think that looking to process and looking to deviation from normal procedures has been a tactic employed by both sides in this investigation when they feel backed into a corner. I mean, recall when the information leaked out about Michael Flynn, the Trump White House and republicans were crying out about how this information was leaked illegally, this is classified information, the process of how this Intel ended up in the hands of reporters, and not wanting to confront the substance of those allegations that Flynn maybe misled the vice president over his discussions with the Russian Ambassador. Now, the tables are a little bit turned. Republicans have what they have characterized as a smoking gun about Obama administration surveillance tactics and democrats are the ones now pointing to process at the defense. And so, this is sort of a tactic that's familiar in this Russian situation.

PAUL: Well, Chairman Nunes, no doubt is feeling the heat back in his district in Fresno, California. Take a look here. CNN captured it on camera kind of ducking into a building to avoid some of the protests that are going on out there. And let's listen to what one protester had to say here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't seem like he has our interest in mind. And it's unfortunate because he works for us. He doesn't work for Trump. And that seems like his first priority lately is working for Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:30:02] PAUL: How much is his credibility at stake here as much as you can tell, Sarah?

WESTWOOD: Certainly he has suffered some credibility issues. I mean, there are calls for his recusal. This is not something that we've seen before. He's led a lot of thorny investigations in the past. He was one of the members that looked into allegations of covering up sensitive intelligence in CENTCOM reports under the Obama administration so he's no stranger to controversial intelligence conversations but this is a new level of pressure for Chairman Devin Nunes.

It'll be interesting to see how he responds to it. Obviously he's not heeding calls for recusal right now. He says he doesn't see the need. But down the road, it will be interesting to see if it has any long- term implications for his career or if this is just a flash in the pan and if he can continue on with his career without having this hanging over his head. It really depends on how he responds to this criticism and whether he does bring Democratic members of that committee into the process earlier rather than cutting them out of the loop which seems to be the main criticism.

PAUL: Nic, you know, it seems like President Trump just cannot get away from the Russia discussion. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis publicly condemning Russia over its interference in the 2016 election as well as its actions in Ukraine. They said some of these just this week. Let's listen together here real quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to obviously have a discussion around NATO's posture here in Europe, most particularly eastern Europe, in response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere.

JAMES MATTIS, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Russia's violation of international law are now a matter of record from what happened with Crimea to other aspects of their behavior in mocking around inside other people's elections and that sort of thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Very different language than what we have heard from President Trump, especially candidate Trump as he at times praised President Putin. What are you hearing there from Russia, from the Kremlin about these latest comments?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Sure. The Kremlin is pushing back. I mean, this isn't the administration the Kremlin thought that they were getting. If you remember how well, if you like, how favorably they covered President Trump just a couple of months ago. That's all gone away. What we have today is Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president's spokesman, saying that he thinks, Russia thinks, that the situation is now worse than it was during the Cold War. This is how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: If we're at the lowest point in history that means we're in a new Cold War.

DMITRY PESKOV, SPOKESMAN FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN: New Cold War? Well maybe even worse. Maybe even worse taking into account actions for the present presidential administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now Secretary Mattis when he was here in London was meeting with the British secretary of Defense, Michael Fallon. Michael Fallon also echoing what Mattis has said, you know, Russia has a pattern of interference. And that really is the view that also Tillerson found speaking to NATO members yesterday in Brussels. That's the view from here.

Britain has contributed 800 troops to Estonia, over 50 fighting vehicles has helped in Poland, the United States to transport tanks across Poland. And so it's a joint joined up effort to shift some forces, NATO forces, U.S. forces, Canadian forces, British forces, other forces to shore up the defenses in the Baltic States and in Poland because of their concerns about Russian aggression in Ukraine.

So the language that we're hearing here from the secretary of Defense, secretary of State, very, very strong echoed by their allies but of course Russia casting this that somehow they're the one that's having wrong done to them.

PAUL: You mentioned British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon. He -- and you mentioned what he said about a pattern of interference. He also said we need to be wary of what Russia is up to and that is why there cannot be at the moment any return to business as usual with Russia. What is Russia up to a lot of people might be asking. To that you say what?

ROBERTSON: Yes, I think, you know, and I was interested by the language that Secretary Mattis used yesterday. He said that Russia -- and he said this wise actually when speaking about Russia these precise words that Russia has decided to be a strategic competitor rather than if you go back five or 10 years ago when we thought that we could have a relationship with them going forward and indeed Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general at NATO, has said that we can only at this time now deal with Russia from a position of strength.

We want to engage with them diplomatically, politically. Fallon has said -- and Mattis also echoed this as well, saying, you know, we need to carve out the diplomatic space to make that possible to have those conversations but we need to do it from a position of strength. And I think that is the view here.

[06:35:05] Russia has chosen to be a strategic competitor and that, if you will, makes the situation between NATO and Russia more dangerous than it was five or 10 years ago.

PAUL: All right. So one more quick question to you. Obviously we can't get away from Russia because it is part of what's happening in the world and there's so many questions about it. But is there any one thing you see that could happen that could get the conversation and the dialogue back to more policy with President Trump?

WESTWOOD: President Trump's team just needs to allow the investigation to proceed as quickly and as smoothly as possible. I think it was a smart move to invite Ranking Member Schiff to the White House to review these documents. The quicker this is over as far as the Trump administration is concerned the better. And they should have this proceed as quickly as possible. It's clear they believe this is a partisan exercise.

But if they could learn anything from the Clintons and from what they dealt with the Whitewater scandal the underlying allegations turned out to be nothing major, that real estate deal he was accused of meddling with in an inappropriate way, but the attempts to cover up documents stretched years that led to independent counsels that it ultimately cast a shadow over a lot of his presidency the things that came out in that investigation.

But the underlying allegations, the original reason why the investigation started, actually wasn't a big deal at all. So lots of politicians have learned that lesson the hard way, that the cover up is often worse than the crime so the Trump administration would do well to just comply and get it over with.

PAUL: Interesting point there. Nic Robertson, Sarah Westwood, appreciate both of you. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Let's turn to some severe weather. The funnel clouds, possible tornado in Virginia beach. At least a dozen homes destroyed. And the bad news is there is -- the worse thing, I should say, the more severe weather on the way this weekend.

PAUL: Also that missing student and teacher in Tennessee, they were spotted together on camera. Take a look at this. New surveillance video coming out just in the last 24 hours that adds more details to the investigation. The latest on that manhunt next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:41:34] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tornado up there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a tornado right there. Oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Yes. That's too close for comfort there. Possible tornado tearing through Virginia Beach, destroying at least a dozen homes, damaging two dozen others. So far, though, thankfully no injuries being reported.

BLACKWELL: Now a local pastor says the storm tore a third of his churn into a field across the street. Collapsing the auditorium and peeling the metal roof right off the building. PAUL: My goodness. And there's a round of early spring snow to talk

about.

BLACKWELL: I can't --

PAUL: Yes -- it's not even you. You're in the south.

BLACKWELL: I just feel for people who have to deal with spring -- it's April. And this is not an April Fool's joke.

PAUL: No, it's not.

BLACKWELL: This is real.

PAUL: Oh, my goodness. If I -- as I understand it, it's from the same storm system that hit Virginia Beach. Is that right, Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Indeed it is. Yes. So it's kind of been a tight compact to where the severe weather was located but there's also other impacts.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHINCHAR: That doesn't mean trend will continue but we certainly hope not because April really begins our peak season.

PAUL: Exactly.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

PAUL: So this is a sound I hope I never here in person. Must I just say. The roar of an avalanche coming down in Juneau, in Alaska. Listen.

Oh, no. Sounds like thunder. But Juneau residents, they are smart. They know better. Yesterday was the third time in about six weeks that an avalanche brought there snow and ice just barreling down that mountain as you see it.

[06:45:04] The thing is this stopped just 50 feet from the neighborhood. Now thankfully no one was hurt. But you can listen to one of the people here talk about how close this got.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the crackling and the crunching of it, ripping and tearing and slamming trees to the ground. I just jumped up immediately. Thank God because if it was -- if it really would have hit we probably wouldn't have had time. Just probably would have swept the house away, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Can you imagine? Forecasters say more avalanches are expected, too, because they've had some really extreme weather in that area. BLACKWELL: Plus new details in that Tennessee manhunt for the missing

student and teacher. We've got new video. Look at this. It was released showing two at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma City last month. 50- year-old Tad Cummings is suspected of abducting his former student, 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas. The girl has been missing since March 13th. And investigators found romantic e-mail messages between two on that teacher's school account. According to authorities the teacher is armed with two guns and he was added to the state's top 10 most wanted list.

All right. Let's turn to sports. We've had one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Last night, Andy -- listen, 111 I think it was. That's enough, right?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Unbelievable, Victor. I mean, it used to be three things certain in life, death, taxes, and UConn Women's basketball team is going to win it all. You can cross that last one off of the list. We're going to show you the shocking upset up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:47] BLACKWELL: So possibly the biggest upset in women's college basketball history. Mississippi State snapping UConn's 111 game winning streak and I mean this was down to I guess beyond the buzzer because it went into overtime, right?

PAUL: Andy Scholes has been waiting for something like this. That I can tell you.

SCHOLES: And I'll tell you what, guys. This is not an April Fools' joke. Right?

PAUL: Yes.

SCHOLES: This is April 1st. UConn actually did lose this game as incredible as it is. And Mississippi State, get this, guys, they were a 21.5 point underdog. That's a massive underdog.

UConn, they hadn't lost since November of 2014. It really is one of the greatest upsets in sports history. And the smallest player on the court coming up with the biggest shot to end historic streak. Time winding down the game Mississippi State's 5'5" Morgan Williams, pull up jumper at the buzzer to win the game in overtime. Bulldogs everywhere going nuts including Cowboys quarterback and Mississippi State alum Dak Prescott, he was in the stands there in Dallas rooting on his school. The win sends the Bulldogs to Sunday's national championship game against South Carolina.

PAUL: Men become little boys when stuff like that happens.

SCHOLES: An NFL quarterback, look how excited he is.

PAUL: Yes.

SCHOLES: That's how cool of a moment that was for Mississippi State. PAUL: It was awesome.

SCHOLES: All right. Game time fans going to have a lot of basketball to watch this weekend. Tonight the men take on Gonzaga in the final four in Arizona. South Carolina, the surprise of the tournament. They've already knocked out Duke, Baylor and Florida to get this far. And head coach Frank Martin says the pressure of tonight's big game, that really doesn't get to his team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK MARTIN, SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH: I don't know. Maybe I'm too dumb to understand what pressure is in sports. I get it. We're playing a real good team. We're playing on the biggest stage of them all. I understand all that. But we got to worry about ourselves and we got to worry about keeping our ears to the right voices. We have to focus on all of us doing our jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Gonzaga, they have been the darlings of the tournament for two decades now but this is their first ever appearance in the final four. And their coach Mark Few he has had them in the tournament 19 straight years. They've won plenty of big games but Few says, you know, it's kind of hard not to get caught up in this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK FEW, GONZAGA HEAD COACH: For our guys, I mean, you know, this is a -- it is a spectacle. And it's amazing. And it's hard not to get caught up in that. My stance all along was like you just got to be good enough and then eventually it's going to happen. We wanted to stay nationally relevant, eventually you'll kick the door down, and break through like we did this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Gonzaga and South Carolina are going to get things started a little after 6:00 Eastern. And North Carolina takes on Oregon in the late game. And be sure to join us here on CNN at 2:30 Eastern this afternoon for "ALL ACCESS AT THE FINAL FOUR," a CNN-"Bleacher Report" special. We're going to get you ready for all of the action.

And guys, my bracket is so bad I'm all out of terrible picks to give you. So I'm not even going to make a prediction for what happens tonight.

PAUL: No. You, the -- yes.

SCHOLES: Good for you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Don't ask me how and why I chose Gonzaga but I did. And that's all that matters.

PAUL: That's right. Because it's working for you.

BLACKWELL: It still is.

PAUL: Thank you, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

PAUL: Very much.

BLACKWELL: OK. So still to come we've got this viral video that shows President Trump's habit -- look at this -- of just moving things around.

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[06:58:03] PAUL: Well there's a video montage of President Trump rearranging things, moving around.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: It's gone viral. It's almost as though saying I don't want it so close to me. Like a big glass of water, it could be a coaster, it could be papers. Who knows.

BLACKWELL: He can't resist the movement so what does this tell us about our new president?

Well, CNN's Jeanne Moos has the play-by-play.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's your move, Mr. President. Whether it's a glass or a coaster, President Trump has a habit of moving things. A few inches here, a few inches there. A viewer alerted Jimmy Kimmel to the president's quirk.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": He's more of a mover than a shaker.

MOOS: Moving individual items and even an entire plate setting. Apparently seeking the sweet spot.

A shorter compilation circulated online leading to comments like, "This is desktop manspreading. He's marking his territory and trying to intimidate others with the space he takes up."

The president's moves inspired Web gags and armchair psychology. "He thinks he's the master of everything." "This is mine to touch."

KIMMEL: All I have to say is I hope the new healthcare plan covers OCD because --

MOOS (on-camera): OK. So everyone has an opinion, but what does a professional think, professor of psychology?

(Voice-over): While declining to diagnose, Professor Kevin Volkan weighed in on what may be behind this type of behavior.

KEVIN VOLKAN, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY: They're feeling some anxiety about something and so they control things. They move things around. They make lists.

MOOS: Or more likely, the professor says, in someone with a narcissistic profile --

VOLKAN: They're just really bored. They get bored very easily especially when the conversation is not about them.

MOOS: Internet posters likewise couldn't resist moving things, like the president's head replacing it with a cartoon called "Business Cat" and adding a soundtrack.