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White House Denies Defying Judge's Order to Halt Deportation Flights; At Least 39 Dead After Storms, Tornadoes Slam Midwest, South; March Madness Tips Off 68-Team Battle for Title. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 17, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, President Trump going against the judge's order and deporting Venezuelan migrants. The administration alleges are all gang members.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, dozens dead after violent storms ripped through a huge part of the country. Tornadoes, wildfires, dust storms leave a path of destruction.

And brace yourself, workplace productivity is about to grind to a halt. Everyone is about to be an expert on the 12-5 upset and someone you know is about to hate Duke. Let the madness commence.

Kate is out. I'm John O'Berman with Sara O'Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: A dramatic showdown between the White House and the federal courts after the Trump administration deported hundreds of suspected Venezuelan gang members. They were placed on planes and flown to El Salvador over the weekend despite a federal judge blocking the move and requiring any planes in the air to turn around and return to the United States.

In a rare move, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 for the first time since World War II to speed up the deportations. On Air Force One last night, he was asked, did his administration violate the judge's order?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't know. You have to speak to the lawyers about it.

REPORTER: Are you planning to do more deportations?

TRUMP: I can tell you this. These were bad people. That was a bad group of, as I say, hombres.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The White House denying it defied the order to halt the flights that actually flew, saying it came after the migrants had already been removed from the U.S. territory, though The Washington Post now reporting that two of the flights left while the judge was reviewing the case and a third departed after the judge's ruling.

CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now from the White House. Alayna, look, there are concerns that we are going to crash right into a constitutional crisis because of all this. What are you hearing?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Sara. I mean, this could be one of the most significant legal challenges and really legal quagmires that this administration faces ever since taking office, depending on how this moves forward. But, look, this is something that the president long vowed to do. And I know from my conversations with White House officials that he's behind the scenes talked about wanting to personally do for quite some time now. But it's also something that the White House expected would face significant legal challenges. And that is because the Alien Enemies Act is an 18th century law. It's designed to be invoked when the United States is at war with another country or is expected to be invaded or invade another country shortly.

Right now, the United States is clearly not at war with Venezuela. But the president actually also speaking on Air Force One last night argued that this was worse than war. Take a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They invaded our country. So, this isn't -- in that sense, this is war. In many respects, it's more dangerous than war because, you know, in war, they have uniforms. You know who you're shooting at. You know who you're going after. These are people that came out, they're walking on streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Sarah, again, this could be one of the most significant legal challenges the administration has faced yet because there are questions right now over whether or not the administration knowingly and intentionally violated that federal judge's order to halt this temporarily, this order, and also turn any planes carrying Venezuelan migrants to an El Salvador prison back around.

Now, the White House has been insisting repeatedly now that they did not defy the judge's order. I'm going to read for you quickly what some of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement yesterday. She said, quote, the administration did not refused to comply with a court order. The order which had no lawful basis was issued after terrorist aliens. There, she's referring to migrants associated with the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, had already been removed from U.S. territory.

It went on to say, a single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.

Now, to get to your point earlier, Sara, a key question, of course, is what the timeline was for those flights going to El Salvador, or what the deportation timeline really was, and whether or not it did -- you know, whether or not they had those flights in the air or even in El Salvador when this judge's order came down.

[07:05:08]

But I think the big picture here to keep in mind is that this is a pattern we've now seen with this administration. They do things very quickly, things they know are likely to face an uphill legal battle, uphill battle in court and then wait for the repercussions. And it's something we've continued to see them do, and it's definitely become a strategy behind closed doors of theirs. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. Alayna Treene, great reporting from you this morning there at the White House. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right. And breaking overnight, a new, different possible constitutional showdown. This morning, President Trump is claiming that the sweeping pardons that President Biden issued before leaving office are, quote, hereby declared void. Trump asserts it is because of the fact that they were done by auto pen. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them. But more importantly, Trump says he did not know anything about them.

With us now is former Manhattan Prosecutor Jeremy Saland, who is with us by phone. Jeremy, I'll keep on looking this way here. So, talk to me about this. Jeffrey Toobin, our friend, just wrote a terrific book on pardons and notes that it is probably among all the president's powers the one that is most unchallengeable, the one that is most absolute. If President Biden pardons someone, President Trump can't unpardon them.

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: Yes, that's a generally a fair statement and there's nothing in the law and the Constitution that says explicitly it has to be signed. So, you know, he's going after President Biden's faculties, but, you know, the question is what this is setting up for. This is just an effort to maybe make an extended version of going after other things as well. The one would think that President Trump should think this through because it's successful. That means that his potential pardons, whomever they may be, can be challenged in a similar manner down the road. So, certainly, there's an issue here, but you're correct. This is a pretty liberal right or ability of the president.

BERMAN: And, again, the issue of auto pens are things that presidents have used for decades, often assigned legislation and orders. Does the use of an auto pen make anything more or less legitimate than signing it by your own hand?

SALAND: It does not. And I believe this has been back since roughly Truman that auto pens have been used, you know, give or take. So, this is something that is not new. This is not technologically an advancement that, wait a second now, the president needs to go to the Court of Appeals and up to the Supreme Court to say, hey, can you use an auto pen? This is a power grab, for lack of a better term, by the president, you know, to effectuate, whether that's revenge after people he doesn't like on the January 6th committee, whether that's, you know, Jack Smith specifically or Fauci. One doesn't know, but it's certainly to move his ends, whatever they may be.

BERMAN: What happens then if investigations -- if someone does try to commence a legal investigation into someone who was pardoned by President Biden, if President Trump does follow through with this, how does it get stopped or sanctioned?

SALAND: Well, you know, ultimately he could find himself in the court, in a court of law, but one of the issues that I think everyone is, should be concerned about is there has to, the rule of law has to mean something. And we're seeing challenges to birthright just moments ago talking about whether or not the deportations are legal and they have to be followed by the court's order or the Trump administration will do what it deems it wants to do.

So, ultimately, it may find itself in the court, but it should never be there in the first place. There's a rule of law. There is a pardon. There're certainly questions whether you can pre pardon someone, I understand that, but this is not the means to effectuate it by just blanketly saying at a tweet at night or a Trump Truth Social at night that it must be vacated.

BERMAN: Pushing the boundaries of the law and Constitution, every which way.

Jeremy Saland, thank you very much for all of your analysis on this. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Just ahead, we'll take you to the aftermath of the extreme storms that swept across several states killing 39 people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of people today that are looking for a place to land after something like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're filling the church building up, so we're going to have it open and ready for anybody that needs something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, President Trump says he'll be talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow. The question is, can the war end quickly?

And an incredible survival story, this man rescued after more than three months stranded at sea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: That was two gentlemen stuck in a tornado this morning. Shock and sorrow, the death toll rising after a deadly and devastating storms spread across ten states. 39 people have been killed. At least 80 tornadoes reported and there was a trail of destruction left behind from Oklahoma to Georgia. In Alabama, at least three people were killed. And a tornado tossed a school bus right on top of the roof of a high school in Alabama's Talladega County.

CNN's Rafael Romo is in Talladega County for us this morning. What are you seeing? What are you hearing? We can see some of the destruction very clearly behind you.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Sara. Good morning. That was that ended up on top of a high school's roof that you were mentioning has now been taken down, Sara. But that by itself gives you an idea about how powerful the tornado that ripped through this community was.

[07:15:06]

The good news is that dozens of volunteers showed up yesterday to help remove debris and bring food and water to those in need. But it's going to be a long time for this community, Sara, to go back to normal.

Behind me is Winterboro High School. The building was badly damaged by the storms and its gymnasium building is now in ruins, as you can see behind me. It took quite an effort and specialized heavy machinery to take the school bus down from its roof.

A pastor who leads a church across the street was amazed at how one side of the street was destroyed while the congregation's building sustained only minimal damage. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR CHARLES KELLY, WINTERBORO COMMUNITY CHURCH, AL: It's really amazing that what we're looking at right here across the road. And what we're looking at behind us is so drastically different. It's amazing. So, this -- as far as this community goes, what we're going to see is we're going to see people rallying around each other. You're going to see people at their best in the days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Unfortunately, Sara, at least three people have been confirmed dead as a result of the severe weather overnight here in Alabama. One of those who died was a gentleman who lived in a mobile home in Winterboro? Not too far from here, Alabama. Governor Kay Ivey said earlier in the statement that damage has been reported. Imagine this, in 52 of the states, 67 counties noting officials are still assessing the damage. Sara, back to you.

SIDNER: Wow. 52 of the 67 counties, that's a lot of damage that they're going to have to deal with. Thank you so much, Rafael Romo. for bringing that story to us.

All right, dozens of people were killed after President Trump ordered decisive military action overseas. This morning, those attacked vowing to respond.

And after weeks of speculation, the brackets are set. Let the March Madness begin. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, at long last, we have madness, March Madness. The brackets are set for the NCAA basketball tournaments. The first games are tomorrow with St. Francis taking on Alabama State in North Carolina against San Diego State. This, what you're about to see, is one of my favorite things that happens every year.

CNN's Andy Scholes here to break down how you should attack your bracket. This is the ultimate news you can use, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: There you go. You know, we all have fun filling out our brackets every year, but we all, you know, really competitive. We want to do well in our bracket pool. And, you know, it's fun trying to pick offsets, but, you know, if you want to be successful, you know the most important part of your brackets that Final four. And, really, if you want to win your pool, picking the champion is the most important.

And there's some stats that can help you do that. And one of them is KENPOM. It measures a team's offensive and defensive efficiency. And every single champion since 2002 has ended up in the top 40 in offense and top 22 in defense.

So, who qualifies for that right now? Well, you got Duke, Auburn, Houston, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan State, Iowa State, Maryland, Clemson, Louisville and UCLA. Some good teams though, not on that screen right now, and Alabama per se, a two seed, according to KENPOM, they're not good enough defensively to win it all. And then look at St. John's, best defense in the entire country but not even close to that top 40 you need it offensively in KENPOM in order to win at all, so you probably shouldn't pick them.

Now, another trend to follow, of the last 20 champions, they've all been in the top 12 of the week six A.P. poll, and there's one team noticeably missing from this poll. Houston Cougars got off to a slow start. They're not in that poll.

I like showing this map every single year. You see this red line down the middle of the country. Every champion since 1997 has been east of that line. So, that's not good news for a Texas Tech, UCLA or Gonzaga.

So, who qualifies to win right now based on the trends we went through? Well, Houston's not in that week six A.P. poll, neither was Michigan State, neither was Clemson, neither was Louisville or UCLA, and they're on the wrong side of the line on the map.

Now, who should you pick? Well, since 1979, one seeds, they win the overwhelming majority of the time, look at that, 27 times. So, we go back to our screen, who we should pick, based on all the trends we went through, Duke, Auburn, or Florida should be who's winning in your bracket this year.

But, John, I went to the University of Houston. I'm going to completely ignore that week six A.P. poll. I'm going with my Cougs to win in San Antonio. You know, I got the home cook in there in Texas. But, hey, bracket's all about having fun, right? Just make sure to fill it out Thursday before the game starts.

BERMAN: Three minutes of pure wisdom. You're like, ah, throw it out. Forget it. I'm picking Houston there. Uh oh, uh oh, we have an objection here.

SIDNER: Excuse me.

BERMAN: We have an objection.

SCHOLES: Okay.

SIDNER: The Gators. Go back to the screen where you had the green check under the Gators.

SCHOLES: Yes.

SIDNER: Can you find it? Thank you. Now, circle the Gators.

SCHOLES: Yes, it was this one. It was run -- right there.

SIDNER: There you go. Thank you.

SCHOLES: All right. That's Sara's pick right there.

SIDNER: Goodbye.

BERMAN: Apparently, that is the correct pick. Andy Scholes, thank you for all that. Honestly, that is terrific information. I love all that. I think there are a lot of people rushing to their brackets now to fill them in based on what Andy just said.

All right, this morning, new moves by Russia and China to weaponize outer space. We've got new reporting just in on how they are growing their space forces.

And if the Chicago River looks like this, it must mean it's St. Patrick's Day or the Jolly Green Giant had to go. A very verdant report ahead.

[07:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning, as with every morning these days, we're closely watching Wall Street futures. Stocks are coming off their worst week in two years, as investors become more concerned about President Trump's trade war and growing signs of economic uncertainty. But the president's secretary of the treasury says he's not worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: It would have been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in '06, '07. [07:30:00]

We wouldn't have had the problems in '08. So, I'm not worried about the markets. Over the long-term, if we put good tax policy in place.