country as police investigate what may have motivated these murders. anti-asian attacks and hate crimes have been rising sharply since the pandemic hit. let's get the latest from ryan young live this morning in atlanta. good morning. >> good morning. eight people killed. that's a number that so many people are astonished by. we know police were able to use surveillance video which tied all these scenes together. it's an investigation that still is ongoing. a shooting rampage at three spas in the atlanta metro area tuesday leaving eight people dead and one wounded. police apprehending one suspect. 21-year-old robert aaron long of woodstock, georgia. video evidence suggests it's extremely likely the same person is responsible for all three shootings. >> georgia state patrol troopers performed a pit maneuver which caused the vehicle to spin out of control. he was taken into custody without incident. >> reporter: the first shooting took place outside of atlanta at young's asian massage in cherokee county. two died at that scene and two more in the hospital. one more individual is also injured. >> we had at least three today. pretty shocking for not only responding deputies and public safety but also for the community here. we take this very serious. >> reporter: the other two shootings took place in atlanta at spas right across the street from each other. the first at gold massage spa leaving three dead while police responded to that shooting, they learned of another across the street at aromatherapy spa. one person was killed there. atlanta police say this investigation is a high priority. >> we do have some witnesses that were in the location around the location. it's extreme priority for us. >> reporter: according to atlanta police, the suspect's vehicle was seen at the crime scene in cherry cokee county. >> we heard numerous gunshots coming from across the street. >> i won't say any names but they're really nice girls. they do great massages. so it's just unfortunate. >> reporter: authorities tell the "atlanta journal constitution" that six of the victims were asian women. police said they had no immediate indication of a motive for the shootings but the killings came at a time when attacks on asian americans have increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. that's left some people questioning whether race played a role. stop api hate called the deaths an unspeakable tragedy and said this latest attack will only heighten the fear and pain the asian american community continues to endure. the suspect will have his first court appearance today or tomorrow. the arrest happening late last night. we're going to hopefully find out from detectives at some point whether or not they've been able to establish a motive in this case. a lot of people who think that these places were targeted. there was one person involved. but it will be interesting once they start going through his social media, what was the connection to all these places. why did he target them. was this a place he had come to before? all things we'll try to figure out as we listen to police and hopefully get some information about what happened. >> you are waiting for a briefing. keep us posted as to what you hear. joining us now, andrew mccabe, former deputy director of the fbi. obviously, the concern here as we've seen this rise of anti-asian hate crime in the u.s. is this could somehow be connected to that. so as they are investigating this, how do you determine that starting with the car? >> well, john, this is very much like a -- an investigation you'd run after a terrorist attack because you are -- the motive of the shooter in this case is what you're looking for. whether this is a hate crime. the fact he was arrested in his vehicle automatically gives the law enforcement officers on the scene the right and the authorization to seize and search the vehicle. that vehicle could be a treasure trove of potential evidence, particularly if he is still in flight from the last shooting, which, with the timing, as this took place, seems fairly likely. inside that vehicle you could have the gun that was used in all of these crimes. you can find ammunition that may have been used in that firearm. you might find communications devices like telephones and other internet accessible devices. those are all important things you'd want to take into custody and get a search warrant for later. and you might find things like writings, a manifesto or notes to friends, things of that nature. these are all going to be important pieces of evidence that could later help you determine the motive of this shooter. >> again, if you are looking for a racial motivation here, how important will social media be? >> it's essential, john. access to the internet is the thing that unlocks what we are thinking, right? so they are going to be looking first to see if he has any social media account he's maintains and operates and those will be very revealing about his state of mind, about the topics and subjects that interest him, about the things he says about other people. maybe the things he says about asian american people or other minorities. it will also show us the types of folks that he is in contact with. the sort of conversations he's engaged in, and even beyond social media, just the record of his internet browsing will tell you the sort of websites that he's going to, the sort of topics he's interested in. maybe groups that he belongs to or follows closely. so those are all very important things to show us what is going on in the mind of this shooter. >> obviously, it's understandable that asian americans around the country may be on higher alert this morning and cities may be taking new precautions there. the fact this happened in multiple locations, what concerns does that raise in terms of whether or not this person may have acted alone? >> so the multiple locations here is really striking because it raises some very clear indicators that there was a specific group that he was trying to victimize. if these were simply robberies for, you know, financial reasons, there's plenty of businesses between young's asian massage in cherokee county and the two in atlanta. the fact he traveled about 45 minutes, 30 miles or so in between these crimes and hit places almost identical both in the nature of the business and also in the types of folks that are working there and likely support them. those are pretty strong indicators he may have been looking for specific victims. that, to me, makes him look more like a mass shooter and less like a average criminal looking to steal money or what have you from these businesses. >> we get really interesting insight from you. thank you for being with us and helping us understand this. i'm sure we'll be back with you throughout the day as we learn more information. >> thanks, john. >> erica? president biden weighing in on a u.s. intelligence report which finds russia's vladimir putin probably directed a disinformation campaign meant to hurt the biden campaign and undermine the 2020 election. >> he will pay a price. we had a long talk. i know him relatively well. and the conversation started off. i said, i know you, and you know me. if i establish this occurred, then be prepared. >> you said you know he doesn't have a soul. >> i did say that to him, yes. and his response was, we understand one another. i wasn't being a wise guy. i was alone with him in his office. it was when president bush said i've looked in his eyes and saw his soul. i said looked in the eyes and i don't think you have a soul. he looked back and said, we understand each other. the most important thing dealing with foreign leaders in my experience, and i've dealt with an awful lot of them in my career is just know the other guy. >> so the vladimir putin you know is a killer? >> i do. >> what's the price he's going to pay? >> well, you'll see shortly. >> let's bring in correspondent john harwood. we'll spee shortly. that will make you sit and perk up your ears, john. >> that's right. we expect there will be additional sanctions placed on russia. people close to vladimir putin that they -- u.s. officials have told my colleague kylie atwoodx week. the president imposing sanctions on people close to vladimir putin and the fsb, the intelligence service,oning of a. we saw in the case of saudi arabia the united states said we have a position of not sanctioning foreign leaders. i assume we'll not see sanctions placed on vladimir putin directly, but he is likely to pay a price. if you are joe biden, think about your motivation here. you have seen from this odni report about election interference that russia was peddling this misinformation, and a lot of that misinformation was about joe biden's family, about his son hunter. he has an extra personal motivation to take this very seriously. >> i have to say, it's not every day you hear a president of the united states saying to another foreign leader, yes, i think he's a killer. that was a moment. >> that's right. and you remember, john, when bill o'reilly interviewed president trump in 2017, made that point, he's a killer, donald trump absolved vladimir putin and said, well, we've got a lot of -- we do a lot of killing, too. we're not so innocent ourselves. joe biden has a very different approach to that. >> another striking part of this interview was when the president gave his most extended comments yet about new york governor andrew cuomo under investigation for sexual harassment. listen. >> if the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign? >> yes, i think he'd end up being prosecuted. >> a woman should be presumed to telling the truth and should not be scapegoated and victimized by her coming forward. but there should be an investigation to determine whether what she says is true. >> he could end up being prosecuted, too, john. how surprised were white house officials that president biden went that far? >> well, the language was bracing, but the way i interpreted that, john, was less of an eska calation of pressure governor cuomo than a release of pressure to president biden himself. both new york senators, much of the congressional delegation, many democrats in new york have been calling on andrew cuomo to resign. president biden clearly does not want to do that. so what can he say? he can't avoid the issue altogether. what can he say that will allow him to avoid calling for cuomo to resign but nevertheless indicate that he takes it seriously? one of the things you can do is, if this is true, he not only will have to resign but may face prosecution. there he's striking out a stance that is very conditional on whether or not those allegations are substantiated. and i think that was a way for him to try to put that issue aside in a similar way that house speaker nancy pelosi has done. >> john harwood, thank you very much. we have new comments just in from president biden about the surge of migrants at the southern u.s. border. more on the president's plan next. the adults are being sent back, number one. number two, what do you do with an unaccompanied child? do you repeat what trump did, take them from their mothers, move them away, hold them in cells? we're not doing that. we're in the process of getting set up, and it's not going to take a whole long time, is to be able to apply for asylum in place. so don't leave your town or city or community. we're going to make sure we have facilities in those cities and towns run by dhs and also access with hhs, the health and human services to say you can apply for asylum from where you are right now. >> president biden defending the administration's handling of thousands of unaccompanied minors heading across the border, urging migrants to stay home. lucy kafanov live from dallas at the convention center where migrant teenage boys will be sheltered. good morning. >> good morning. that's right. the kay bailey hutchison convention center in dallas will be temporarily sheltering teenage boys who arrived at the u.s./mexico border alone. this is to relieve strain on facilities at the border which president joe biden said he will not be visiting at this time. we know of at least one cbp facility where lawyers there said they were unable to shower or see daylight for days so the conditions have been quite terrible. and to get a better handle on this problem, the biden administration tapped fema to try to take care of these unaccompanied minors. they, in turn, approached the city of dallas about leasing this convention center which they'll be managing with health and human services. they are describing this as an emergency intake site. they expect to begin operations potentially as early as today. according to an hhs memo, we know they'll be providing clean and comfortable sleeping quarters, toiletries, laundry facilities, medical access. we know they'll be screening the kids for covid-19. and we also know that the red cross has been tapped to help with these services. we've seen the red cross staffers go in and out of the building earlier this morning. texas governor greg abbott is expected to be here in the next couple of hours. he's going to be doing a press conference to talk about the surge in unaccompanied minors. he's been critical of the biden administration's handling of this recent surge of migrants at the southern border here in the u.s. meanwhile, in d.c., we also know that homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas will be testifying before lawmakers. he said yesterday that border crossings are approaching a 20-year high. illegal border crossings approaching a 20-year high. he also has acknowledged that federal agencies have been overwhelmed with the number of unaccompanied minors, so we can expect him to address that at the hearing today. >> lucy kafanov, thank you for being there. joining us now, republican congressman tony gonzales of texas. his district includes more than 800 miles of the u.s./mexico border. welcome to "new day." you heard president biden's message there to migrants. he says don't come here. is that the right message? >> the american dream is powerful. the american dream doesn't always start in america. me and my colleagues, we were just down in el paso at the processing center, and it was heartbreaking to see the number of unaccompanied minors and families that have made this dangerous trek. in the same breath, my constituents are telling me they feel unsafe. it's not right for americans to feel unsafe in their homes in their communities and in their countries. if we can deploy thousands of troops to secure the capitol, why can't we secure our southern border. >> the message -- don't come here. is that the right message? >> the message needs to be legal immigration. we need to work together. i urge that this administration work with republicans, democrats alike to find a long-term solution to legal immigration. >> one of the things that we heard president biden say moments ago is, they are turning back. they are sending adults back home. the poolicy -- the major policy change we've seen over the last 60 days of the biden administration is they are accepting unaccompanied minors into the united states. do you support reversing that? would you turn the unaccompanied minors back at the border? >> what i am hearing is this administration is not communicating with anybody. not with our -- not with the elected officials on our side and not with the elected officials on the mexican side. that needs to start. there needs to be better communication and they need to listen. >> better communication, absolutely. you get the sense, the administration acknowledges that the message that they are trying to send is being manipulated by the smugglers and whatnot. and they are, i think, trying to make it clear. you heard the president there trying to make it clear. specifically on the policy change, which again is to start accepting unaccompanied minors in, are you opposed to that? >> immigration is not a new topic. it's been happening since the birth of our country. in my district in particular, we deal with it every single day. what the administration needs to do is find ways to alleviate some of this stress. and part of that is giving resources to those on the ground. i urge the president, please go visit the southern border. see it firsthand. >> i'm confused here. this isn't meant to be a trick question. i want to know on this policy change of accepting unaccompanied minors in, if you support or oppose it. >> americans are compassionate. we need to remain compassionate. and i think we need to accept those that come here to seek a better life. but this system is broken. they shouldn't have to make a trek all the way across to make it here. it's unsafe. there needs to be legal immigration reform. >> so do you then support comprehensive immigration reform, the likes of which has been discussed in congress? you are just getting there. welcome, by the way, to all of this. >> yeah. >> but it's been discussed for over a decade. and it can't happen. so you want a comprehensive answer? >> one of the most difficult things for me is up here, things are very dysfunctional and nobody wants to talk with one another. i'm jumping up and down going, i want to have this conversation. i want to work together to find a solution, but nobody will pick up the phone and have this discussion. >> look, you know, we want to have it. so thank you for coming on and having it. part of the reason it's a hard discussion to have is the answers aren't crystal clear. it's not that you do x and y happens. sometimes the migrants just come. look, you know, if you talk about what happened in the trump administration, 2019, i want to read a quote here from david lapham, a dhs spokesman at the time. even though the trump administration put draconian policies into place, all its anti-immigration rhetoric, that didn't stop people from coming. now this year may meet or surpass the numbers then. but the point is that you saw surges then with what the dhs spokesman said were draconian measures and now when some of those measures are not in place. it may be that specific measures like that don't even make the difference. >> i think we absolutely have to have border security and legal immigration reform. they go hand in hand. we can't just focus on one. and not the other. you need to have both. and part of that is having the conversation. people don't want to have the conversation. and a comprehensive package this administration is going to put down, it's going to be dead on arrival because nobody is having that conversation. >> cooperation, obviously, is a big part. and having these conversations across party lines a big part of it, too. texas governor greg abbott, a republican, has refused, or won't authorize fema money to be used for testing coronavirus testing and quarantine of migrants who have crossed the border. how do you feel about that? >> this pandemic has just added another layer to it all. and we can't forget about it, right? so we have to get the vaccine distributed far and wide. that first starts with american citizens. but that next step is making sure that any migrants that come in, they get tested and they get handled in the appropriate manner. the last thing we want is to go back on this pandemic. we need to distribute the vaccine far and wide. >> again, do you think greg abbott should accept that fema money, authorize the fema resources to make sure that the migrants who have crossed are vaccinated and quarantined? >> i'm proud of the work we've done in texas. i think the governor needs to continue to push vaccines for american citizens. and then make sure that any migrants coming through have those same resources. >> tony gonzales, congressman from texas, we appreciate you being with us. look forward to speaking to you again. >> thank you. coronavirus cases increasing right now in more than a dozen states as they race to vaccinate. is this a new sign of a new surge? dr. sanjay gupta joins us next. at jackson hewitt, we offer safe and easy ways to file with a skilled tax pro. securely drop off your documents, have them picked up, or upload them, and work with a tax pro online from home. safe and easy ways to file that work around you. see every delivery... and work with a tax pro online from home. every yikes... and even every awwwwwwww... wait, where was i? introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notification and a week of uninterrupted recording... all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determinatio. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. this morning, 14 states are seeing an increase in new coronavirus cases when compared to last week. all the states there in red seeing an increase. michigan in deep red. that's up more than 50% since last week. so nationwide, overall the numbers are still trending down. as we look at those specific states the question is, in those places, are we starting to see signs of a new surge? i want to bring in dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay, you don't like seeing any red on that map. and michigan, which holds a special place in your heart, to see it up 50% in a week, how alarming is that? >> well, this is concerning. a lot of people have obviously been talking about these potential surges going into this time of the year. this is what we saw last year around this time. there's a couple of things i think that are important and i've been talking to some folks this morning about it. what really is driving these surges? i think it's important to know what's driving it, what's not driving it. so for example, a lot of people talking about these variants, this variant from the uk has been here since probably mid, early december. in some states we know it's in 49 states now in some states it's become more dominant than others. in florida where it's become dominant, cases continue to go down. i just point that out to say, what exactly is driving the surge? it may not be the variants so these states have to understand what is going on there. but also, looking at italy, for example. we are talking about this last year around st. patrick's day and saying, hey if you see what's happening in italy, the numbers over there are starting to go up. we're not going to become italy, are we? and then we did. and then there was another surge and a few weeks behind that surge, again, we follow. you can see that in the middle of the screen. look at the right side of the screen. here's the big question. are the numbers going to go up like they have in italy or not? they may. now our vaccination in this country around 12% in italy, around 3% to 4%. that's going to help a lot in the united states because it's not only 10% to 12% but also people elderly, people more vulnerable are more likely to have been vaccinated. numbers may go up. we'll see what happens with hospitalizations and deaths. >> sticking with vaccines for a moment, president biden was asked this morning about just how political things have become. i want to play that moment for you. >> how do you get the politics out of this vaccine talk? >> i honest to god thought we had it out. i honest to god thought that once we guaranteed we had enough vaccine for everybody, things would start to calm down. well, they have calmed down a great deal, but i just don't understand this macho thing about, i'm not going to get the vaccine. i have a right as an american. my freedom to not do it. well, why don't you be a patriot? protect other people? >> there's the message from president biden. we heard from former president trump last night who said this is safe. it's effective. are they the best messengers at this point to deal with the hesitancy that we're seeing? >> that's a really good question, erica. i think the really important messengers, and i've done this reporting in the united states and around the world and oftentimes it makes a difference when you hear and even see your leaders taking these vaccines. i think when you look at overall data, in terms of hesitancy, you find the primary care doctors, their pharmacists, people like that are the better messengers because they interact with people on a regular basis. make sure there's not hesitancy among those providers. what's interesting is now have this incredibly effective vaccine and it's not so much vaccine hesitancy as much as vaccine fade where people are saying, look, things are getting better. the weather is getting warmer. we see people getting on planes going to hawaii. do i really need the vaccine? and that's a problem because the numbers will continue to get better, i think, going into the summer. but going into the fall you can have resurgences if not enough people are protected. so that's the real concern here. >> erica and i were talking about my reading of specific journals. >> actually, we were. >> i saw dr. fauci quoted with a sentence that struck me which he said, one of the central components of virology or tenets of virology is that replication leads to mutation. and that is why it's such a concern when people refuse to get vaccinated because it means -- well, explain what that means to our viewers because you can do better than i can. >> so the more times the virus sort of spreads and replicates this tiny piece of genetic material, the more mutations it accum accumulates. that's the evolution of the virus. most are innocuous, but every now and then it will mutate in a way we see with these variants. it makes it more transmissible, for example. that's what happens with the flu virus. the flu virus and flu vaccine have been around -- this strain, 100 years, and it's accumulated lots of mutations and turn into these different strains along the way which is why we need a flu shot every year. same thing they think could happen with the coronavirus. >> sanjay, always appreciate it. thank you. >> see you guys. thank you. on saturday, we hope you'll join us for an important emotional hour about loss and survival from our colleague miguel marquez. "the human cost of covid" begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. there's a new warning from u.s. intelligence about north korea. we're live at the pentagon, next. - if you want a rockstar team like ours, you need grammarly business. (guitar strumming) grammarly business turned my marketing team into rock stars that amplify our bottom line. just ask maya, who started three weeks ago. - [announcer] maya swears by grammarly business, because it keeps her work on brand and error free, fast, and easy. and we know clear and concise marketing leads to a killer performance. - steady beat to rising revenues, right, maya? (microphone whooshing) - [announcer] learn more at grammarly.com/business. u.s. intelligence officials believe north korea could be preparing for its first weapons test since president biden took office. the biden administration has tried reaching out to pyongyang but the move failed triggering a threat from kim jong-un's sister. >> today there are fresh worries across the biden administration that north korea indeed may be preparing for its first weapons test of the biden era. not clear whether it might be a missile test, an engine test, what it might be, but serious enough that u.s. satellites now are watching sites in north korea to get any information they can about all of this. it comes at a very sensitive time, of course. secretary of state tony blinken, defense secretary lloyd austin, traveling in the region, meeting with south korean officials to reaffirm the alliance that they will defend south korea and to press for denuclearization of north korea. but how concerning is all of this? i want to read to you something a top u.s. journal in charge of defending the continental united states told congress just yesterday. general glen van hurk saying, the north korean regime has also indicated that it is no longer bound by the unilateral nuclear and icbm testing moratorium announced in 2018. of course, during the trump administration. suggesting that kim jong-un may begin flight testing an improved icbm design in the near future. of course, that being an intercontinental missile with potentially, some day, a nuclear warhead that could reach the united states. that has been kim's goal. and as you point out, just the other day, one of the most powerful figures in north korea, kim's sister, threatened the united states in a statement warning that the biden administration shouldn't, in her words, cause a stink. now the question is what does kim's sister really mean by that and what could, if anything, be next to come. erica? >> barbara, thank you. well, right now there is a lot in right wing media about joe biden's border crisis. when did it start and what is really going on at the southern border? here's john avlon with a "reality check." >> this st. patrick's day, it's worth recalling one of the first anti-immigrant movements in american politics, the no-nothing party, channeled its anger at irish and catholic immigration. now we have an irish catholic president. but the politics of immigration panic are still very much with us. remember the migrant caravan that dominated coverage before the 2018 midterms and then largely disappeared from the air waves after election day? well, republicans are beating the border crisis drum again. but just how much is fact and how much is partisan fiction. let's dig into the data. there is a spike of apprehensions at the southern border. over 100,000 in february alone. that included nearly 9600 kids, many unaccompanied by adults. the recent rise began in the final months of trump's term but has escalated since biden took office. the border is not open, that's false, but biden's retraction of a trump policy which made people wait on the mexican side of the border has contributed to the rise. you may have heard hypocrisy in the detention of underage minors. is this a redux of the kids in cages policy from the trump years? no. the trump administration intentionally pursued a policy of separating children from their parents when they crossed the border. as then attorney general jeff sessions said, we need to take away children. the cruelty was the point. the kids now held in detention came across the border bhot their parents so this is not a child separation policy. but it is a humanitarian crisis and fema has been dispatched to help. here's more context. current levels of undocumented immigration lag behind a spike in 2019 when 977,000 people were apprehended at the southern border, including 80,000 unaccompanied minors. the highest in more than a decade. but many of the migrants think that biden's less punitive approach means they're welcome to across the country illegal. they're not. the biden administration needs to clean that up. that's the cleanup biden tried with george stephanopoulos p. i can say quite clearly don't come. >> this is a political vulnerability. his approval rating is 51% last week, only 43% approve of his handling of immigration. consider this. donald trump increased his vote total on the texas/mexico border against biden flipping eight latino heavy counties. if republicans want to help solve this problem, a big if, they could try to work with the biden administration to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. this would need more enforcement than progressives would be happy wuths and a pathway to citizenship that many conservatives would balk at. whether they want to call this a crisis, biden has a practical problem brewing at the border. and he can't afford to ignore it. and that's your "reality check." >> it was interesting when i had congressman tony gonzales on, a republican. he wasn't actually against one of the major policies that joe biden had changed, which is accepting unaccompanied minors over the border which goes to show how complicated this is when the accusations are going back and forth. >> especially when you represent those folks. you don't want to give a direct answer but you back end into the policy. >> thank you very much. here's what else to watch today. so the hottest team in college basketball right now from a small religious school you've probably never heard of. the story behind this historic winning streak, next. in a recent clinical study, patients using salonpas patch reported reductions in pain severity, using less or a lot less oral pain medicines. and improved quality of life. ask your doctor about salonpas. it's good medicine. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have one hundred thousand dollars or more of life insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit conventrydirect.com to find out if you policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. so is tournament time but even some of the most rabid college basketball fans wouldn't know which team has the longest current winning streak in the nation. it's not gonzaga, it's not michigan. it's yeshiva university. jason carroll joins us with this story. this is awesome, jason. >> yeah, it's really great. and the team is playing against sarah lawrence tonight and hoping to add another win to the winning streak. this is a team that's finally getting the attention it deserves. march madness is taking hold of fans eager to once again obsess over brackets, stats and wins. but if you're talking basketball this season, you can't mention wins without talking to these players. >> we just started winning one game at a time. we took every game like it could have been our last. >> reporter: ryan terrell is a guard on the team with the distinction of having the longest current winning streak in the ncaa. he plays for the macabees at yeshiva university, a private jewish college in new york city. >> we want to make the jewish community proud. >> reporter: they swept the rest of last season. >> count it and the basket! >> reporter: and are undefeated so far this season. to date, the team has 36 consecutive wins. >> won the first game of the series. six-game winning streak. we were thinking let's win tonight. all the wins just added up. >> reporter: yeshiva university is a division iii school but coaches cringe at comparisons to a little engine or school that could. >> we are not the little engine that could anymore. we're not big engine that we're hoping can stay consistent. >> i'm just glad these guys are really given the respect that's much needed. they come in and work hard every single day. they don't care about the outside stuff. the win streak. >> reporter: assistant coach michael sweetney played his rookie year are in the knicks. head coach elliott steinbetz is a yeshiva alum. >> chasing the "w" every single game. >> reporter: the university had one of the earliest coronavirus cases in new york last year.can moved to remote learning. the macs' season cut short when the ncaa tournament was canceled and playing just eight games this year. players kept up with practices along with their required religious and academic studies while racking up wins despite playing in nearly empty gyms. covid restrictions forcing fans to cheer on their team from home. >> this team proves game in and game out practice, after practice, that they play with so much heart and they genuinely care about team. >> reporter: division iii's ncaa tournament canceled again this year due to the pandemic. the team's sense of pride representing the jewish community on the court. >> you think about it in the larger scale and you realize you represent to the people. all of a sudden, people are excited to come to our games. that's something bigger than basketball. >> reporter: and one of the players you saw, ryan terrell, he's playing so well, he's getting the attention of the nba. but for now, he's just a junior. for now his goal is keep playing for the team and hopefully next year, if the team can keep playing as it's been playing to get a chance to play in a championship. erica, john, back to you. >> first jewish star in the nba with amare stottlemyre. >> just completed his conversion last year p. we're sticking with basketball. georgia tech will take on loyola chicago in the first round of the division i men's basketball championship on friday. and the ramblers will have a very special guest in attendance. 101-year-old team chaplain sister jean. she got the green light to be at the game. she's fully vaccinated but hasn't sat in the stands with the students at all this season because of, understandably, coronavirus protocols. >> first of all, these young people keep me young. i'm 101. i consider myself young at heart. and they do keep me young. they keep me informed of what's happening and i learn new words all the time from them. and some good, some that are not so good. i learn them. >> sometimes you have to know the words that are not so good, too. sister jean became a household name during their improbable run to the final four. >> i feel like this is the godly edition of college basketball. >> it's lovely. >> somewhere i have a pair of sister jean's socks. it was a big deal a couple of years ago. i got a pair of sister jean socks which i'll wear next week. we want to show you a picture here. okay. do not be alarmed. it's not like -- it's like the simpsons nuclear power plant. this is not atomic water. the fountain is green for st. patrick's day at the white house. really bright green, i might add. or maybe it's like the slime on nickelodeon. >> it does look like slime green. i'm sure that was the plan. >> it's green for st. patrick's day. president biden will hold a virtual meeting with ireland's prime minister this afternoon. that's a cool picture. >> it is. all right. our coverage continues, next. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. thank you! hey, hey, no, no limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas, or abdominal discomfort? taking align every day can help. align contains a quality probiotic developed by gastroenterologists. it adds more good bacteria to your gut, to naturally help soothe your occasional bloating, gas, and abdominal discomfort 24/7. support your digestive health with align, the #1 doctor recommended probiotic. try align today, the pros in digestive health. also try align dualbiotic gummies to help support digestive health. if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. very good wednesday morning. happy st. patrick's day. i'm jim sciutto. >> someone remembered the green. not me. good on you, jim. i'm poppy harlow. this morning, a critical race to prevent another surge of covid. right now cases are rising in more than a dozen states and in michigan, new covid infections are 50% higher than just a week ago. this has the cdc calling two new variants in california a concern. will vaccines protect against them? also breaking developments out of atlanta. eight people killed in three separate shootings at massage parlors. according to local reports, six of the victims were asian,an