State Department Condemns Arrest Of Russian Protesters; Putin Critic Navalny Arrested; Carnage In Mosul.
BRIGGS: The State Department is condemning the kremlin for the arrests of hundreds of Russian protesters including a key opposition figure to President Vladimir Putin. Thousands of people hit the streets on Sunday in Moscow and nearly 100 other Russian cities and towns for anti-corruption demonstrations. The detention of opposition leader, Alexey Navalny (ph) coming less than a week after another well-known Putin critic was shot and killed in Kiev. Let's go live to Moscow and bring in CNN's Frederik Pleitgen with the very latest. Fred, you yourself were caught up in these protests?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. You know, we walked along with the crowds that were going in there in Central Moscow with these protests, and you could really see how many people were being arrested in that demonstration. It was interesting because it seemed as though the police had what I would call was a no tolerance or zero tolerance policy. Anybody who chanted anything against the government or anyone who held up a sign or anything got arrested pretty quickly. We also got pushed around while we were sort of trying to do some reporting from the scene and that was really one of the things that we did see a lot of. A lot of people -- turnout was actually much bigger than many people thought. A lot of folks, though, getting hauled into those vans and then getting detained, many of them has not been released yet -- Dave.</s>BRIGGS: Yes, speaking out against the government there, especially Vladimir Putin, has become a deadly proposition, Fred. What's the latest with Alexey Navalny, who led these protests?</s>PLEITGEN: Yes, absolutely. And that's one of the things that we've been following because he was taken into detention before he could make any sort of speech at those protests yesterday. The latest that we have is that he is actually still in detention, but he is now in court and has actually been tweeting from court. He's also been trying to start a live stream from the court that he's in here in Moscow. Of course, he wants to get released today, but it really is unclear whether or not he is going to be sentenced to some sort of disorderly conduct or starting troubles here in the streets of Moscow. So he could be in jail for a couple of days if the court rules against him. We also have to keep in mind, this is a guy who wants to run against Vladimir Putin in the upcoming election in 2018, it's very much unclear whether or not he's going to be able to do that. He has another case pending against him as well for alleged embezzlement, a case that he says he's being wrongfully charged as well.</s>BRIGGS: All right, we'll check in with you in about half hour. Thanks, Fred. The military campaign to defeat ISIS triggering carnage in Mosul. Dozens of civilians in the Iraqi city killed in a U.S.-led attack against the terrorists. A senior Iraqi military officer confirming a coalition airstrike hit a truck filled with explosives setting off a deadly blast. The Pentagon is still investigating. CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, has the very latest for us. Good morning to you, Ben.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. Yes, that strike took place on the 17th of March in the Mosul (inaudible) or the new Mosul neighborhood where there's been a lot of fighting. Now the U.S. says that yes, they did conduct an airstrike in that area on that day. The Iraqis say they had called in an airstrike because of an ISIS truck bomb in the area, but apparently there was many as 130 people, civilians, hiding out in a nearby building, which was destroyed as a result. Now yesterday, the Iraqis said that they had pulled 61 bodies from the ruins of that building. This is really just part of a pattern that has been going on in Mosul and also Syria where there has been a series of U.S. airstrikes resulting in large civilian casualties. It's not clear if there's been a change in U.S. rules of engagement. Previously I'd heard from Iraqi officials who complained that when they would call in U.S. airstrikes, the U.S. would reject those requests out of fear of civilian casualties. The question is, is the Trump administration taking a somewhat more pro-active approach when it comes to hitting ISIS targets and perhaps not having such a great priority on preventing civilian casualties -- Dave.</s>BRIGGS: Of course, there is some reporting suggest there could have been some type of booby trap. Ben, thank you. Turning to sports, next, the final four all set and two of the teams left standing have never been here before. Andy Scholes has your matchups in this morning's "Bleacher Report" next.