Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Poppy Harlow And Jim Sciutto 20190408

Wanted her to do things that she couldnt lawfully do. For example, the two of them were down at the border on friday. We saw the video of it. And we know the president actually told Border Agents down there that he wanted to have them stop these migrants from coming into the United States. But we know that by law these migrants in central america, if theyre claiming asylum, theyre allowed to come into the United States. Because of that clash with the president , we know by early yesterday, nielsen likely knew how the day would unfold and she would be forced to resign. Here is the problem, dhs doesnt just handle immigration. Nielsen is leaving behind a department that has a plethora of issues to deal with, cyber security, infrastructure pro tech shun. Were told Kirstjen Nielsen had a strong grasp on all of this. Now its possible with such a focus of immigration, someone could come into the secretary role who doesnt have the broad base of knowledge. Weve heard from people within dhs that there are really gripes within the department because there is such a lack of leadership. For example, few of the roles are actually filled permanently. There are at least three positions filled right now by people in the acting capacity. Thats leading to these growing concerns that dhs potentially might not be ready to handle the next major crisis on top of the immigration issues. Jim and poppy, one interesting anecdote here, we know nielsen in the past week, she tried to double down on this immigration problem. She said in a Conference Call last week with white house officials that she intended to respond to the influx of migrants, in her words, like a category 5 hurricane threat. You would have thought, jim, that would appease the president and his advisers. We know top advisers to the president including Steven Miller, they were perplexed by that, didnt like that response. In the end it was nielsens undoing and, of course, event resignation yesterday. If the standard for success is breaking with the law, quite a hard standard to meet. It is. Jessica schneider, thanks very much. Inside the white house one thing was clear, nielsen had few allies remaining. In fact, cnn has learned many of those who spoke most frequently with the president were openly opposing nielsen and where she stood on this. Joe johns joins us outside the white house with more. Weve learned a lot over the last 24 hours about howe exactly this went down. What can you tell us . Reporter absolutely true, poppy and also important to say that out in front the administration is trying to put the best face on it. Kevin hassett, the economicing adviser to the president , who had a lot to say last week about the debate to close the border was out here saying nothing to see here, things running smoothly, people come and go at the white house, even kind words for Kirstjen Nielsen. Cnns kaitlan collins, my colleague here at the white house for cnn reporting that everyone from the president s chief of staff, Nick Mulvaney, to the influential adviser Steven Miller, to the National Security adviser john bolton had either butted heads with Kirstjen Nielsen or otherwise was critical of Kirstjen Nielsen and the way she was operating over at Homeland Security. So clear she was isolated here at the white house. Also very true that she didnt have a lot of friends on capitol hill. She was seen as too tough by Many Democrats in the house of representatives which now has the power and seen as not tough enough at the white house, poppy. Now the man stepping in at least temporarily to replace her is her deputy. There is kevin mcaleenan. Whats interesting about him, he was an obama he worked in the Obama Administration as deputy in dhs there, deputy commissioner. Hes talked about and praised aid, for example, to the northern triangle which was just cut by this administration. What else do we know about him and how long he may last in this role . Well, he is the commissioner of Border Protection and very highly regarded here. He is not seen as a flame thrower, if you will, as are many in the white house who are concerned about immigration. Nonetheless, we are told that hes expected to just take a temporary role. Its important to say he would be the fifth acting director in the administration at this time which is quite remarkable. Theres been, as you know, a lot of criticism of the administration from a systems analysis point of view because of all the turnover in acting secretaries. Okay. Joe johns at the white house. Let us know when you learn more. Thanks very much. Jim. Joining us now to discuss, cnn political analyst es stead herndon, cnn political commentator errol louis, host of the you decide podcast. You look at our reporting, jake tappers reporting, she left in part because the president was making unreasonable, even impossible requests. Went on to say the president fundamentally lacks the legal implications when it comes to border and immigration. It appears that the president was pushing nielsen, and we heard comments from him speaking to Border Agents when he was down at the border, to break u. S. Law here. Its alarming. It apparently didnt work. In the end you have officials who are not going to go along with that. That i think is the decisive break between secretary nielsen sand President Trump. I think its a misnomer to say President Trump is not aware of what the law is. He wants to put them by putting facts on the ground, change the policy, dare anyone to take him to court and have congress dither while he implements the policy he wants, which appears to be turning back people who have a legal asylum claim, turning back migrants, refugees, anybody he doesnt want showing up at the border. It cant work that way. Its unworkable. That is what is emerging as the white house policy. Were also seeing that the president is once again after seeing the retreat last week, once again threatening to close the border. He tweeted about this twice last night, well close the southern border if necessary. Is there a risk here for the president and the party as a whole of looking like the boy who cried wolf . Hes threatened this over and over again here. If mexico does not do more, as hes calling on, whats the risk here . The politics here can be a little messy. You have the president who is actually going out further and further. Immigration has been his calling card issue since he entered the race, but you do have that risk of being someone who continuously has words but without action. I talked to thumb supporters, people who are not democrats, who say i backed him because he was the best on the issue i care about, closing immigration and restricting immigration. Those words for some folks havent matched up with action. Weve seen the president especially in election times and as he gears up into reelection mode, try to ramp up the anti immigrant language. I dont think its any mistake that as we ramp closer and closer to the 2020 swing, hell be pushing this immigration issue because thats what he thinks he wins on. The question, errol, does he actually win on it . He pushed the wall issue in the midterms. The numbers show it did not help him in the midterms, at least in house races. May have been different in a couple of the senate races here. Its a sign of the rise of Steven Miller who also pushed back against his choice for i. C. E. Director last week. Is this a Winning Strategy for republicans . Well, its their strategy. Sometimes it wins, sometimes it loses. It didnt work well in a number of house races in the midterms, but overall, if you poll where the Republican Base is on this issue, it really is very much a symbolic marker. In many cases, the Republican Base that supports what the president is doing are nowhere near the border. They dont know nor care whats actually going on down there, nor the chaos that would result from it. Its a symbolic statement about what it means to be an american. This is trumps goto place. This is where he goes to rile up the base. It seems to work, to rile up the base. The problem for him, of course, thats not a majority of the country. And its not likely to be a majority in 2020. We lad good reporting, jim, that members of the white house wanted to see rioting at the airports when they announced the muslim ban in the early days of the administration. They think thats what juices up their vote. I think we should trust them that thats really who theyre talking to and who theyre appealing to. Astead, lets talk about what we should expect from the white house in terms of immigration policy moving forward. Steven miller clearly is the one with the president s ear, even more so this morning. Its important to remind people where Steven Miller has stood on immigration, even on the rights of legal immigration. Remind us. We can expect the white house to go further than previously. Steven miller, and i think it extends past Steven Miller to President Trump himself, has shown the willingness not only to limit illegal immigration for reasons they lay out that arent based in fact, but legal immigrants, close down the ability for Asylum Seekers to come to the u. S. As the white house continues to push in this direction, including the implementation of a new i. C. E. Director or now in a new Homeland Security secretary, you can see them ramping up to the point to get to the policy to try to match their more nativist rhetoric. You see this happening even now, as secretary nielsen leaves, you have hardliners going on the president s favorite tv shows now, trying to get their name in the mix. People like kris kobach and others who would be morale lined with the president than Steven Miller, to go even further what typical republicans have said and be more in terms of the hard line route on what it means to be an american and just who is allowed to be an acceptable immigrant in this country. Okay. Thank you very much. Errol, congrats on the podcast. Everybody should be listening to it. We appreciate. Always good to have you. Acting white house chief of staff Nick Mulvaney says democrats will never see President Trumps tax returns. Why . Well speak to a former irs commissioner about what the rules are. Plus, on the eve of elections in israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising to annex settlements in the west bank. It could be good for his chances in the election tomorrow. Well see. What does it mean for peace in the region. An american tourist while on a, quote, dream trip to uganda has been rescued. Were live with the details. 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This as a Senior Administration officials tells cnn the president is becoming, quote, unhinged with the situation at the border. Democratic congressman rohan nah serv serves, cochair of senator Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign. Nice to have you. Thanks for joining me. Great to be on, poppy. You said last week on fox news, quote, there is no doubt the number of people coming over has increased. Thats a fact. So is there a crisis at the southern border this morning . I do think theres a crisis in terms of how we process people who are coming. There are two ways that we could go about this. First, we could be processing people in country, in el salvador, in guatemala, in honduras, president obama had actually started that program. President trump has discontinued it. I dont understand why we cant continue that. Second, we should be providing these countries with aid. My colleagues was in el salvador, one of the programs was educating folks in coding. There are 1,000 guatemalan kids who want to become programmers and not come to the United States. Those are ways to solve the crisis. The administration announced its cutting off aid. The man replacing Kirstjen Nielsen at dhs, kevin mcaleenan, he was on abc news back in december when the president first threatened to stop that aid to the northern triangle. He said we need to invest in central america, quote, the state departments announcement of unprecedented increase in aid is a tremendous separate forward. That seems to align with exactly what you want. Are you supportive of him in this role . If he gets his wishes. Hes read the same studies i have. Vanderbilt did a study saying u. S. Aid is leading to 50 reduction of violence there. We know people are coming here because theyre escaping violence. I hope he will continue to push for that. If he arguing for increased aids to the northern triangle, he would have the support of Many Democrats himself. Of course, he was an employee, career official, worked under the Obama Administration. Lets turn to the president and his taxes. You know the demand from the house ways and Means Committee. Here is what Nick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, has said about that this weekend. To be clear, you believe democrats will never see the president s tax returns. No, never. Nor should they. Keep in mind, thats an issue that was already litigated during the election. Voters knew the president could have given his tax returns, they knew he didnt and they elected him anyway which is what drives the democrats crazy. When you look at the polling, you have 64 of americans want to see them released. Only 37 of republicans. Im interested, congressman, in how much energy and Political Capital you think your party should expend over this fight to get the president s last six years of returns. We should spend Political Capital because its about transparency. Our party is calling for two very simple things. We want him to release his taxes like every president has going back to president reagan and we want the Mueller Report to become public. This is a call for basic transparency. I think most americans will realize thats fair. Which is more important to you, meaning if the democrats are going to go to the mat on one of them, the president s taxes, or the full Mueller Report, which should it be . I think the Mueller Report. Millions of dollars were spent on that. There was a thorough investigation, there are serious concerns of interference in our election that every american should be concerned about. That report should be public. Thats when mueller intended to have it come before congress. We will see bill barr testify tomorrow and wednesday before congress. This is a planned hearing before the house and Senate Appropriations committee. Obviously there are going to be a lot of questions to him no doubt about the Mueller Report, about the redactions hes making, about when hell see it and how much will be handed over to congress. As you know, the doj las defended these redactions, defended that fourpage summary from him so far, saying on the Mueller Report every page contained a note that said that theres material included here that is covered under law, therefore, cannot be publicly released. Do you want to see your party exercise a little bit of restraint for the next week and a half, two weeks, until it truly is mid or end of april in terms of demanding to see the report and see it now . We need to understand why he chose to issue an interpretation and issue that fourpage summary. Why didnt he release bob mumue own summaries. No one is asking for classified or sensitive information. Whats insensitive is that bill barr after two years of investigation think he should be the final arbiter. Thats not the case. We heard congressman jerry nadler who chairs the how Judiciary Committee saying nothing less than a fully unredacted report handed over to congress is acceptable to him. Do you agree with that . Is that the bar, no redactions whatsoever at least to congress . I think nadler was talking about what congress could see behind closed doors in a classified setting. Right. I do think that there should be enough confidence in the chair of the Judiciary Committee to see that. I dont need to see the full report. Not every member of Congress Needs to see it. For some selected individuals in congress, the speaker of the house, minority leader, chair of the judiciary, i do think they should share it with them. Lets talk about the war that rages in at yemen at a huge expense to human lives. You and a Bipartisan Group of lawmakers sent a letter to the president a little over a week ago calling on him to official sign on to end u. S. Support for the Saudiled Coalition in yemen. I understand you have not yet heard from the white house. You believe, congressman, theres a good chance the president is going to side with you on this. Why . Poppy, first of all, thanks for bringing this up. Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. 14 Million People face the prospect of famine if we dont do something in the next six months. We need to end our support for the saudis and call for the saudis to lift the blockade to allow food and medicine in so people dont starve to death. The president has called for ending endless wars. Ive actually supported the president when it comes to withdrawing troops from syria and afghanistan. A Bipartisan Group of lawmakers want to make the case to him that he can end this war. It began in 2015, and he can make sure we dont see a huge famine. So im hopeful hell at least take the meeting and consider signing the resolution that passed with a bipartisan vote in the senate and the house. Just finally to put a button on it, what tells you you think theres a likelihood he will . Are you getting messaging to that effect from the white house . I think its still uphill. I think theres a chance he will sign it. Partly on thursday, he said he still has to look at it. He didnt say he was definitely going to veto it. We have heard from some people close to the white house that they dont want this foreign involvement. The president has talked about more restraint in foreign policy, not having these interventions. This gives him a chance to come through on that rhetoric. Congressman ro khanna, nice to have you. Let us know what you hear. Thank you, poppy. Try as they might, President Trumps chief of staff says democrats will never see the president s tax returns. Hes talking about americans in general because no one is going to see them. Former irs commissioner will weigh in next. Watch senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a live town hall moderated by aaron buerin burnett. 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That is, stephen miller, the white house the president s close adviser who has hard line positions on immigration, following Kirstjen Nielsens departure, he wants more officials in dhs elsewhere removed, including director of United States citizenship and Immigration Services as well as dhs general counsel. It looks like an attempted cleaning of house here of officials dealing with immigration policy who stevphen miller. Its a story well continue to follow this morning. More later this hour. Poppy, to you. Important reporting from our jake tapper. On another front, the fight of the president s tax returns. The white house pushing back hard against the push from Congressional Democrats to try to use irs code to get the president s tax returns. Acting chief of staff Nick Mulvaney called the democrats strategy a political stunt, vowing democrats will never see them. Phil mattingly is with us on the hill. Its a political fight. But theres also law here, phil, the obscure irs code that hasnt been used much or at all in the past. Where does this go . Reporter i think thats why you see democrats are confident in their position. They believe it is in statute, something the administration doesnt really have a choice over. In terms of what actually comes next, i dont think im going to break any news that tell you democrats on capitol hill arent expecting the immigration to comply at any point in the near term with their request. A request sent last week to the irs. A couple steps that are important. First and foremost, how the irs or Treasury Department which oversees the irs actually responds to house ways and Means Committee chairman richard neal and his request. We heard from the president s personal lawyers who sent a letter to the Treasury Department making clear their posture. Youve seen from Nick Mulvaney, the president himself, their posture on this. The question of what comes next will start with that response from the administration officially and whatever richard neal, whatever he does next. The expectation is youre not going to see a lawsuit or subpoena next week. Theyll likely create a paper trail for any future legal action, perhaps a followup letter if nothing is complied with. Keep in mind what the chairman can do later on. There is subpoena possibility. This is law and some think they dont need to send a subpoena. Instead theyd go straight to a lawsuit. The big question as this week plays out, obviously the political football, but also the positioning as well. Following this fight is only going to escalate, knowing this fight is likely to end up in the courts, how both sides position themselves could end up being very important to whether or not the committee and members of the committee ever get a chance to look at, not just the president s tax, not the eight business entities they also asked for, but the supporting documents the committee requested as well. Its a large request, important request for democrats. Whether or not theyll get it, thats very much in the air, poppy. It is indeed, phil. Thanks so much. Lets discuss with mark eberson, former commissioner with the irs. Thanks for taking the time with us this morning. Thank you, sir. You say the law is clear, that the president s stacks returns should be provided and privacy concerns are not relevant. Explain that to our viewers . I do think im on record, jim, as saying the president should have disclosed his returns when he sought the office in 2016. Privacy concerns which are legitimate i think do give way when you seek the office of the presidency. The law here is clear. It says if the chairman of ways and means asks for a return, he or she gets it. Thats it. So the administration makes a political argument, one they eve made for a couple of years now which this was, quote, litigated in the election. In other words, because he was elected, therefore, americans dont care about his tax returns. Thats a political argument though. Legally then, on what basis does the president and his supporters, the administration, fight the law here . I dont think the law is on their side. They cant have it both ways. We just went through this exercise where congress said, mr. President , were not giving you more money for the border wall. The president said, wait a minute, theres a little statute here that says i can take money from the defense department. There he says im following the law written rather than congressional intent. Here you have congressional intent in the form of one chamber of the legislative branch and you clearly have a law that says they ask, they get. That said, jim, i dont like the request the way the chairman has written it. Clearly they want the returns so they can get to the broader questions of conflicts of interest. I think theyre entitled to say we want them because of our oversight responsibility to the executive branch. Thats not what theyve done. The other argument, of course, is this audit argument which Michael Cohen under oath testified he doesnt believe the president is actually under audit. In reality, he doesnt want taxes exposed, poured over and he may face tax penalties here. All president s are under audit for the first year of their presidency. A basic question is cant we find out if the president is actually under audit . Hes been under audit for years. During the campaign in 2016 his attorneys from morgan and lewis wrote a letter saying hes been under continuous audit since 2002. Is that relevant . Anybody can be under audit. Is that an excuse to not release your returns . No. People are saying he hasnt been under audit. With somebody with withholdings as complex as he is, he just doesnt want the information out there. Thats true. So you know other moves that hes making here. He appointed a general counsel of the irs who will interpret law on this, someone who worked with his own tax attorneys previously at the trump organization. He picked a commissioner of the irs who publicly was against the president releasing his tax returns before he was chosen. You heard the president s allies saying that democrats are politicizing taxes here. Based on these moves, are you concerned that the president is politicizing the irs to protect himself . Not as to the appointment of those two people. Redick has an excellent reputation and i worked with Michael Desmond. Hes a totally straight shooter. Totally straight shooter. Frankly, they will not be calls the shots on this, tim. All that Michael Desmond will be doing is developing the history. This piece of the tax code has been used quite a bit, not for this purpose, but ways and means and finance routinely ask for returns when theyre looking at areas where the law needs to be changed or they want to know how has the irs done its job. My concern here is that thats not the purpose of why the chairman is asking for the returns. So it muddies the waters and it potentially compromises the independence of the irs. Its good to hear, as you say, the folks in these positions are honorable civil servants. Theyre the folks doing the work of government every day. That should give confidence to folks at home. Final question, quickly, can the president drag this out . It seems part of the strategy is to drag it out through 2020, keep it in the courts until then so folks dont have this information before them when they have a chance to vote again . Im not going to answer that one. Hard to predict is what youre saying. Its possible, right . You fight it long enough, thats a strategy on a whole host of these questions. Thats obviously the intent. Mark everson, good to have you on the show. Thank you, sir. Ahead, israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making a lastminute vow as he faces a tough reelection bid in the election tomorrow. How bid of an about face is this when it comes to the west bank, what does it mean for prospects for peace in the region . Well dive in ahead. Things will be tight but, we can make this work. Now. Grandpa, what about your dream car . This is my dream now. Principal we can help you plan for that. I couldnt catch my breath. It was the last song of the night. It felt like my heart was skipping beats. They said i had afib. 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Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. And i dont add trup the years. S. But what i do count on. Is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. Boost® high protein. Be up for life. A really significant vote in israel tomorrow. Benjamin netanyahu hoping a lastminute move will give him an edge, promising what would essentially be the annexation of the west bank, talking about settlements there and isolated settlements, this in a bid to win reelection. His main challenger criticizing the comments as, in his words, irresponsible. This race may be the toughest of his career, considering the multiple corruption allegations against him. Netanyahu seems to be going to any advantage he can get. Oren liebermann in is in jerusalem. Hes made other promises on the eve of elections that have been controversial at least. This would be breaking international, would it not . Reporter well, of course, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesnt see it that way, nor do those who vote for him and his party. For them, International Law is irrelevant. Netanyahu has been moving sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, calling for annexation of the settlement blocks. Some say the isolated settlements as well. This is a sharp push from the right and netanyahu in an attempt to suck up and win as many votes as possible, even at the risk of hurting smaller right wing parties, hell need to form a government. The latest polls showing him a little behind. He wants to close the gap and come out on top tomorrow. His rival, benny ganz says you havent pursued annexation in 13 years of leadership. Youre not going to do it now. Its an irresponsible act just intended to win votes. He says hell do it as part of a regional process. He says annexation is part of the process, not the starting point as netanyahu pictures it. That gives you an idea of how tight the race is. If netanyahu wants to pursue the policy, he probably has the friendliest cover possible from u. S. President donald trump. The relationship between vale and america, its important to israel and america that the relationship remain strong after this election. Were all waiting for the peace plan as well. Oren liebermann, thank you. Aaron david miller is with us, former state department negotiator and adviser. As tim points out, the International Law and the oslo accords and the shift from netanyahu since 2009, more and more to the right and now this tip over. I guess the question is do people buy him or is this just a strategy to win . Clearly it may be both. Hes facing the toughest electoral fight of his life. Lick kood has dominated politics since 1977. 31 out of the 42 years have been the lick kood governments. The only time theyve lost is from two former chiefs of staff. Theyre facing in benny ganz a guy who represents the essence of what it means to be an israeli, child of holocaust survivors, grew up on agricultural settlement, decorated military figure. This is the toughest race of netanyahus life and hes willing to do just about anything to win. Whether, guys, this is political expedience, but the 100,000plus who live in settlements beyond the barrier, that remains to be seen. Well wait to see what the results are tomorrow. On principle, it seems mr. Netanyahu knows what the risks, implications and dangers of former annexation of most of these 60 that the israelis now physically control of the west bank. As you know better than me, through the years, u. S. Policy has opposed settlements in the west bank. Obama had a resolution toward the end of his term. Both push president s they opposed, they sometimes bristled when israel ignored u. S. Demands or opposition to those settlements. Where is u. S. Policy on this now . Will the u. S. Listen and say no, we wont stand for this, or has it moved so in line with israeli policy that netanyahu knows its a distance he can go to . A couple things. This is the most acquiesce sent pro israeli and anti Palestinian Administration certainly in the history of the u. S. Israeli relationship. It would not surprise me at all if mr. Kushners peace plan implicitly assumes, as previous administrations have also assumed, that the large settlement blocs which play contain a quarter of a million israelis who live beyond the 1967 borders, that those would, in fact, be annexed to israel. But this administration has gone beyond that. Its abandoned the notion that these are occupied territories, formally in terms of language and virtually said nothing with respect to the expansion of israeli Housing Units in the west bank, activities in the jerusalem area. And as both of you know, not only has the president recognized jerusalem all of jerusalem as the capital of the state of israel, but validated israeli claims over the claims of the goll land heights. If mr. Netanyahu is going to move in that direction to annexa fair amount of this territory, hell find an acquiesce anti trump administration. Its a complicated issue, aaron david miller, thanks very much. An american tourist is safe now after being kidnapped during her dream trip to uganda. How her nightmare ended. Its a relief. Thats a picture of her there. Well have more next. With a mig, thats one less ambulance to serve a community. I just dont want to let these people down. Excedrin migraine. Relief that works as hard as you do. Run with us. On a john deere x300 series mower. Because seasons may change. But true character doesnt. Wow, youve outdone yourself this time. Hey, whatre neighbors for . Its beautiful. Nothing runs like a deere™. Run with us. 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It was supposed to be a dream safari here in uganda looking at ugandas lions that climb trees and gorillas. Instead, take a look at this dramatic video. This is how it ended up for this lady and her driver, who were kidnapped at gunpoint by armed group out of the democratic republic of congo and held for several days. For five days in total. Eventually rescued, were told, by ugandan officials although were told as well a ransom was paid, but you see her. Shes disheveled, shes not wearing shoes. She has tears in her clothes. Obviously, completely traumatizing. We understand, as you said, she is in the custody of u. S. Officials. Its really sent shockwaves throughout uganda and wildlife parks in general because this sort of thing causes devastation for tourism. And this will be something that the ugandans really want to fight back on very quickly. We understand there are Security Operations going on at the moment in that place where she was kidnapped trying to find the armed groups that used her and her driver as essentially pawns in their game to get more money. We dont know how much they got. 500,000 is what was asked for, but definitely, this is something they want to get ahold of. Drc, very voltite. A lot of groups operating in the drc, and kidnappings as well, but it has not crossed the border yet. The question is was she targeted because she was an american . Robin, thank you so much for the reporting and thank goodness for her that she is safe. All right, jim, hows your bracket . Doing pretty well. Pretty well. Hes number two. Im always surrounded by women smarter than me, and youll see that in the standings. Ana cabrera is number one right 93, from a field of 78 teams, were down to the final two. Who will be crowned the next champion in college mens basketball tonight . 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Brian tessler, who produces the show every day behind the camera, you cant see him, he did mine. I thought i was last and im seventh, jim. Im going to lose to the much smarter ana cabrera regardless of what happens tonight, but were not going to say where andy schulz is on the list because i cant count that high. But how is it going, andy . A big night. Its going to be a big night. Im not toor fa behind you guys. Im like in ninth place. But tex techtech and virginia in your final four, that was not a very popular pick. Neither team has ever won a Mens College Basketball championship, so we will see some history later tonight. For texas tech, this would be huge. They have never won a mens championship, really in anything. The only team sports title they have to their name is a Womens Basketball championship back in 1993. That team is so revered and loved that they named a freeway after the coach, marsha sharp. The students there not accustomed to handling all the success. After saturday nights win, they were setting fires, turning over cars. I asked the players what they thought about the messages and what messages they had to fellow students. Dont burn down lubbock before we can get back. I hope nobody gets hurt. I heard it was crazy. Enjoy the moment, keep the city there for us when we come back. Calm down. It seems like theyre losing their minds. Sometimes you have to chill out a little bit. Im glad theyre having fun, but like i said, they have to calm down a little bit. Yeah, im a little scared. All right. You may want to mix in a nap at some point today. Late championship game. Red raiders and cavaliers tip off at 9 20 eastern. I lived in lubbock texas, for three years. Mildly concerned if they win what the celebration is going to look like in the city because they have been waiting for a very long time. They better be greasing the light posts. Youre in ninth place, i said tenth. There you go. Single digits. Thats good. Thanks, andy. Very good monday morning to you. Im jim sciutto in washington. Im