when you are given immunity that means you probably committed a crime. >> will michael flynn's words come back to haunt him? >> was the white house colluding with devin nunes, a bombshell report from new york times reveals that may be the case. the war is on in the republican party, the president warning the freedom caucus to get on board or lose in it wasn't 18. ordinarily our lead story --

>> there's so much going on, good morning, i'm christine romans. >> and i'm dave briggs. it's march 31st, 4:00 a.m. in the probe of russian meddling in u.s. elections michael flynn's lawyer says he has a story to tell to congressional investigators but will only tell it if granted immunity. he stepped down after it came out that he misled vice president pence about ambassador kislyak. >> three former aides said they would testify freely without immunity. paul manafort, roger stone and carter page. so far this morning the white house is refusing to comment. let's get the latest from cnn's

jessica schneider. >> reporter: general flynn's lawyers putting the offer out there that he will talk if offered immunity. the statement said general flynn certainly has a story to tell and he wants to tell it should the circumstances permit then going on to say no reasonable person who has the benefit of advice to counsel would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized witch hunt. a spokesman for the house intelligence committee says they haven't gotten any word from general flynn yet. he resigned shortly after president trump took office when it was revealed he had not not revealed his communications with the russian ambassador. will flynn be granted the

immunity? it's interesting to note general flynn had spoken last year in reference to hillary clinton's campai campai campaign staffers saying when you are given immunity that means you probably committed a crime, so could those words come back to haunt him? at this point the white house not commenting on this. dave and christine? >> thank you. come back to haunt michael flynn? probably but how about donald trump's own words in september at a rally in florida. listen to what the then candidate trump said then. >> took the fifth amendment and ring leaders were given immunity. >> and if you're not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity

for, right? and he gave us the question, why ask for immunity if you have not committed a crime? >> i can fill the room with sound bites like that. >> you could argue this is a simple legal maneuver to protect your client but when you have said that it's difficult to maneuver. technically the word is not, but ask any attorney and they'll say that's what they were talking about. another bombshell report rocking the trump administration. according to "the new york times" who white house officials gave devin nunes the reports that president trump might backup his claims about being wiretapped. meanwhile the senate intelligence committee opens it's investigation while the

house intelligence committee remains crippled. >> reporter: another wild turn of events in the house intelligence committee when devin nunes source potentially revealed a new york city time article suggesting a couple of white house officials may have allowed him on white house grounds to review the information that he secretly briefed the president on regarding insolently collection of communications, something that the white house has used to try to defend itself so far on the unsubstantiated claims of being wiretapped by barrack obama. the white house not commenting on the report, neither devin nunes will not either. he will not say whether the white house had any role when i've asked him multiple occasions. now adam schiff raised questions, i asked him do you think the white house is involved in the effort to under

cut your committee? >> if there's been a substantial question about whether we can do that, then we need to take whatever steps are necessary to restore credibility to the investigation. >> reporter: the question going forward is whether or not the house intelligence committee can produce a bipartisan product in a committee that's been bogged down in partisan politics and trying to move forward laying the ground work saying they radare trying to do a deep dive regarding the alleged -- the question is who will be the first to come and testify. we don't know, but know that jared kushner will at least have a private interview. a civil war is brewing in the republican party. president trump warning members

of the freedom caucus that he will fight them in the 2018 election if they don't get on board. he says we must fight them and dems in 2018. iowa congressman labrador is firing back. the freedom caucus stood with you when you ran. remember who you are. we're trying to help you succeed. the supreme court decision edging a bit forward. republicans only need to peel off eight democrats in total to reach the 60-vote threshold required to confirm gorsuch.

now west virginia joe mansionen and heidi hide camp say they will side for gorsuch. after watching his testimony in front of the judiciary committee and meeting with him i will vote to confirm him to be the ninth justice on the supreme court. the trump administration signaling a shift on policy of syria, announcing the white house will not pursue an end to the civil war or president assad. it will be decided by the syrian people. senator john mccain blasting the secretary of state saying this overlooks the tragic reality that the syrian people cannot decide the fate of assad when

they are being slaughtered by assad's barrel bombs. another issue, the u.s. debt is likely to double over the next 30 years. right now it amounts to 77% of g.d.p, the highest level since the post world war ii era. if current law remains in effect it will jump to 150% by the year 2047. the interest on the debt which will more than quadruple, the problem is that revenue and spending projected to grow, spending will far out weigh revenue. if he achieves his goal of 4%

economic growth, the gdp will grow. economists say it will be difficult to reach. the latest number on the fourth quarter they were increased 1.2% for the fourth quarter but this math should be at the forefront of every discussion that happens in washington. when you have a debt the size of our economy, at some point you don't have the wiggle room to spend on education or on the military or anything else when you are just spending so much to service your debt. >> and when you have pledged not to touch entitlements and a trillion dollars spending package. >> when he said he could get rid of the national debt -- >> doing to be a tough bill to fill. >> president trump turning his sights on china, stating next

week's meeting will be quote difficult. we'll find out why live from beijing next.

president trump plans to sign two executive orders to reduce america's trillion dollars trade deficit just one week before china's president visits the u.s. he says the meeting next week will china will be a difficult one. american companies must be prepared to look at all othothe alternatives. good morning, will, president trump says this meeting next week will be difficult. is that how the chinese see it? >> reporter: absolutely, christine and really digging in their heels on this because they feel donald trump's accusation

of unfair trade practices are not true, the fact that chinese goods are so much cheaper is why americans are buying hundreds of billions of items from china than from the u.s. his order pledges to investigate the causes of the massive trade deficit and establish anti-dumping laws that chinese countries and other countries have been accused of by flooding the market of goods at a much cheaper price, steel being one e item. lots of complaints from american companies about intellectual property theft, hacking, stealing corporate products and i.p. on the list.

what has sometitymies officials you can't talk about money issues and north korea, you talk about money issues and you talk about north japan, it's different than different levers that can be pulled separately. >> reporter: and the x factor is what is he going to do before or during the visit. analysts have been saying north korea needs to push the button on their next nuclear test. if kim jong-un would be so brazen to do that that would under cut the argument that china has a a whole lot of leverage over north korea, it would clearly show a disrespect for its chinese neighbor. will ripley, nice to see you this morning. have a great meeting. the backdrop at mar-a-lago.

lgbt activists and sports fans looking to see what happens with the hb 2 bill. this law in signing today is not just about north carolina reputation, jobs or sports. it's about working to end discrimination. >> because it still measures from banning anti-lgbt until 2020 it's still unclear whether

it will satisfy the president of the ncaa. he is saying we'll decide next week once we really review this pullback. >> a lot of people are saying is it repeal or too weak? >> it did not satisfy the tra transgender community. texas is hosting the final four next year, so we will see. secretary of state rex tillerson in brussels this morning. will he express trump's harsh message that nato is quote obsolete. we'll go live to brussels next.

i'm ricardo, a sales and service consultant here at the xfinity store in bellevue, washington. here at the store, we offer internet, tv, phone, customer service, home security. every situation is a little different. it could be about billing, simple questions like changing the phone number. sometimes, they want to upgrade, downgrade, but at the end of the day, you want to take care of the customer. one of the great things about comcast, there's always room to move up. of course, it depends on you, how hard you work. ♪

secretary of state rex tillerson is in brussels attending a first nato summit. president trump caused alarm by calling nato not elite. good morning, nick, do we expect tillerson to echo trump's criticism or walk it back and reassure our allies? >> reporter: what we are expecting is for him to amplify the message that the nato allies need to increase theirabili abi on the 2% increase on spending.

right now 28 nato members only five pay their way up to the 2%. the united states is at 3.61%. you will poland, estonia and others not paying. but they are saying we need to consider how we do it. germany, they're unlikely to make significant changes to their defense spending in that period. belgium, it's right close to the bottom of the list, worst offender if you will. belgium is the home of nato, so it's a message that the europeans here and are responding to in some ways positively but it's not a one-way street. they are going to push back on this message. also have heard from the french foreign minister arriving here this morning saying he wants to

hear more from secretary tillerson on the take on syria. so we expect a little bit of give and take from both sides. thank you, my friend. former national security adviser michael flynn seeking immunity before testifying. his attorneys are saying he has a story to tell. more on that next.

when you are given immunity that means you probably committed a crime. >> will former national security adviser michael flynn's words come back to haunt him? he's now asking for immunity to testify before congressional hearings regarding russia. "the new york times"

revealed nunes might have helped -- >> get on board with the g.o.p. agenda or lose 2018. >> just a few things going on this morning. 31 minutes past the hour. nice to see you all. an explosive revelation in the probe of russian meddling in the u.s. elections. a lawyer for former trump national security adviser mie michael flynn says his client quote certainly has a story to tell but only if he is granted immunity. it came out he misled vice president pence about contacts with ambassador kislyak. three former aides of the president said they will testify without immunity, paul manafort, roger stone and carter page.

so far this morning the white house refusing to comment. the latest now from cnn's jessica schneider. >> reporter: general flynn's lawyers putting the offer out there that he will talk to congressional investigators if he is offered immunity. his lawyers putting it in a statement this way saying general flynn certainly has a story to tell and he wants to tell it should the circumstances permit then going on to say no reasonable person who has the benefit of advice from counsel would submit to questioning in such a highly publicized witch hunt against an assurances of unfair prosecution. senate intelligence committee refusing to comment. general flynn resigned shortly after president trump took office when it was revealed that general flynn had not disclosed his communications to the vice president about his

communications with russian ambassador kislyak. will he testify? will he be granted immunity? know details that might be forthcoming, but general flynn had spoken last year saying when you are given immunity that means you probably committed a crime. at this point the white house not commenting on this. the white house may have a tough time commenting on that and on what president trump said on the campaign trail at a rally in florida in september. listen to what he said about immune a few months before the election. >> she took the fifth amendment and her ring leaders were given immunity. and if you're not guilty of a crime, why do you need immunity

for, right? >> wow. >> boy, it's going to be difficult to push back on fake news when you read the president's own words, why did you ask for immunity if you didn't commit a crime? >> another bombshell according to "the new york times" two white house officials gave house intel chairman devin nunes those intelligence reports the president trump backed up his claims about being wiretapped. the senate intelligence committee opened its first hearings as the house intel committee is simply crippled, bipartisanship. more from manu raju. >> reporter: another day of wild turn of events when devin nunes source potentially revealed in a "the new york times" articles,

that a white house official allowed him on white house grounds to review i understanci collections -- now after the revelation of the two name it is white house not commenting on that report. neither devin nunes will either. he will not say whether the white house had any role whatsoever when i asked him multiple occasions now. adam schiff yesterday raised concerns, i asked him specifically do you think the white house was involved the effort to under cut your committee? >> what's the best route to doing a credible investigation? if there's been a substantial question about whether we can do that we need to take whatever steps are necessary to restore credibility to the investigation. >> reporter: the question going forward is whether or not the house intelligence committee can produce a bipartisan product in

a committee that's really been bogged down in part son politics, while trying to lay the ground work saying they are trying do a very deep dive on the issue of russian meddling between the trump campaign officials and russian officials. who will be the first of the trump associates to testify? we don't know. but do know jared kushner will at least have a private interview with the senate intelligence committee. meanwhile brewing in the republican party president trump warning members of the conservative freedom caucus that he will fight them in the 2018 election if they don't get on board. he said it will hurt the entire republican agenda if they don't get on the team an fast. we must fight them and dems in

2018. we would have both great health care and massive tax cuts and reform. congressman labrador is firing back after being singled out by the president. his message, quote the freedom caucus stood with you when others ran. remember who your real friend are. we're trying to help you succeed. one of several tweets from freedom caucus pushing back sternly against the president's words. the supreme court edging a bit closer to confirmation in monday's vote of the senate judiciary to confirm gorsuch. now joe manson and north dakota heidi hide camp say they will side with republicans. mansion saying in a statement

after considering his record and watching his testimony and meeting with him twice i will vote to confirm him to be the ninth justice on the supreme court. if republicans are not able to coax six more democrats they have threatened to change senate rule so gorsuch can be confirmed with 51 votes. how the trump administration plans to renegotiate the north american trade agreement. showing how it is laying out the agenda to congress. the section getting a lot of focus is this. translation, the government will tax imports from mexico and canada if imports spike and put the u.s. at a disadvantage. the president ripped nafta, and constantly pointed to trade deficits that americas with

losing to other countries. the office did not respond to our request for comment. bids are rolling in for the border wall for mexico. the department of homeland security will review them and ask companies to build prototypes in the san diego area. it will take months to narrow down the field and months to build. c-max the larges cement company, said earlier this month it may provide materials to companies that do win contracts, now the company is saying no, we're not going to be part of the wall. trump hours before he signs two executive orders today aimed at reducing america's trade deficit is turning his sights on china. stating that the meeting will be

quote difficult. we'll find out why next from beijing.

president trump plans to sign two executive orders the goal reducing the trillion dollars deficit coming one week before the chinese president visits the u.s. he has accused beijing of hurting the american economy with unfair trade practices. the latest tweet, the meeting next week with chi-in a will na difficult, american companies must be prepare today look at other alternatives. good morning, will, president trump saying it will be a difficult meaning. is that how the chinese see it? >> reporter: they do, dave and

the chinese president watches the twitter account even though it is banned here. the ground work for these very difficult discussions they have come up with their own response and it will be they don't believe that china is engaging in unfair practices and currency manipulation, but say this is market conditions, saying it's less expensive to manufacture goods in china, put together in china and sent back to the u.s. so china is preparing for the trump administration imposing higher tariffs. things like furniture and steel. if the u.s. does that, china could respond by perhaps cutting exports of consumer electronics which would raise prices for american consumers, buy fewer agricultural goods, they could

even target u.s. companies doing business in china by enforcing regulations and making it difficult to operate here which could lead to a trade war. as important as this relationship is between the u.s. and china there are a lot of disagreements. for a long time the u.s. has accused chinese companies for under cutting the u.s. markets. they want to collect billions of dollars in unpaid fines and look into the causes of the trade de defic deficit and try to correct them. considering what's happening in north korea this is a pivotal meeting. all waiting to see how ncaa reacts after the controversial

hb 2 bill that requires people to use the bathroom of the same gender that's on their birth certificate. martin savage has the latest. >> reporter: it repeals house bill 2, using the bathroom as listed on their birth certificate. north carolina is going to revert to what it was before with no gender requirements. this is the controversial part, it imposes a moratorium on local nondiscrimination regulating public accommodations an private employment practices until december 1st, 2020.

the governor of north carolina roy cooper addressed the criticisms from his fellow democrats as failing the lgbt community. it is not about north carolina's reputation, jobs or sports. it's about working to end diskrdi discrimination. >> reporter: we know last week the organization said that absent of any change in the law would not hold championship events in north carolina. the ncaa is now saying its board will have to get together, review the new law and then determine whether it is good enough to allow championships back into the state. david and christine. thank you so much for that, martin. georgia's governor declaring a state of emergency after a huge chunk of highway collapses

following a huge fire. seen of i-85, part of the bridge collapse is bringing traffic to a stand still at one point. people are advice today stay clear of the area. it is not linked to terrorism. authorities are trying to figure out what in the world sparked the fires. no injuries. rex tillerson attending his first nato summit. will he express president trump's harsh term? live to brussels next. show me academy of country music awards.

thank you so much for that down home welcome. show me female vocalist of the year. thank you so much. thank you so much acm's, i appreciate it. show me acm best moments. i could never have wished for, asked for and dreamt of anything more than this. catch your favorite moments from the acm awards and an exclusive encore performance by kelsea ballerini following the show on xfinity x1. the acm awards. live on sunday, april 2nd 8/7 central on cbs. welcome back, secretary of state rex tillerson is in brussels attending his first nato summit meeting.

president trump has caused nato obsolete. nick, do we expect tillerson to echo the president's criticism? >> reporter: you know, i think we're going to hear him amplify the message on spending. secretary tillerson arrived a couple minutes ago. he wants to talk about nato's stance against isis and nato resourcing, which is a euphemism for the gdp commitment that nato allies are signed up but 23 out of the 28 have not made that commitment and something that president trump, vice president has spoken about, james mattis and secretary tillerson expected

to amplify here. the germans half way down the table of countries failing to meet the commitment having major elections later this year. what we heard from another foreign minister going into the meeting is yes, we are speeding up our commitment to meet the 2% but can't just jump into it. perhaps the message will resonate across and around the table perhaps no more so than here in belgium the headquarters of nato. they're at the bottom of that list that make up the 2% of gdp. >> when you have to go right to nato's house and have that conversation, that might be a little bit more difficult. thanks so much for that. five of the 28 nato countries pay that 2%. so that does give the president

a little cover on that. weather now, rain along the east coast. even some spring snow in new england. the latest from meteorologist derek van dillen. >> the same system responsible for this week's -- weakening, but this time heavy rainfall. parts of massachusetts and rhode island and connecticut. this includes boston, you could see upwards of 6 inches of heavy wet snow. shading of yellow from philly to new york, two inches, locally hire amounts anticipated: it exits the coastline saturday midday. focus out west, snow fall to e

mountains. the latest weather watching utah, wyoming and colorado, temperature warming up somewhat by the end of the weekend into new york city. >> that's your weather. let's get a check of your money, nasdaq sitting at the highest level making history. histories lower, stock markets in europe and asia dropping as well. check out the gains. the dow up almost 5%. the nasdaq a big winner. 9.8%. one of the crea one of t one of the craziest stories is series. there are rumors that bankruptcy could be near. they sold their craftsman brand.

this week sears stocks have gone up. facebook taking direct hit at gofundme. it will expend to give personal fundraisers, 18-year-olds can raise money for their own goals. they will charge fees. spacex making space history. using a previously used rocket. it successfully made it into or b orb orbit, dropped off a satellite 22,000 miles into space, return today earth and landed on a platform known as a drone ship

in the atlantic ocean. that is your cool money news for the morning. -- versus jeff bezos is going to be fascinating. early start continues right now. when you are given immunity that means you probably committed a crime. >> will former national security adviser michael flynn's words come-back to haunt him? flynn is now asking for immunity to testify before congressional hearings on russia. >> did the white house coconclude with devin nunes? a "the new york times" report reveals he just might have. >> the war is on in the republican party. president trump warning the freedom caucus to get on board the g.o.p. agenda or lose in 2018. >> fighting words. >> dramatic word and fight back

from the freedom caucus. an extraordinary day in politics. >> it's friday, march 31st, 5:00 a.m. in the east. last night, a lawyer for former trump national security adviser michael flynn says his client certainly has a story to tell but will only tell it if granted immunity from prosecution. he was asked to step down after it came out that he misled vice president mike pence about his contacts with russia ambassador kislyak. three former aides have said they will testify freely without immunity. paul manafort, roger stone and carter page. so far this morning, the white house is refusing to comment. the latest now from cnn's