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New Day

GOP Ad: What "War On Women"; State Department Spokesman Stumped; "Object Of Interest" Spotted On Australian Coast; Possibility Stowaway Survived By "Hibernating"

Aired April 23, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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


JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to Georgia now. Michelle Nunn is the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. She is the Democrat, but listen here it sounds like she's auditioning for the Tea Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE NUNN, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA: What's going on in Washington has to stop. That's why I'm for banning members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists. I don't think congressmen should get paid unless they pass a budget.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Striking, ladies, to listen to those two Democrats. Let's start in Pennsylvania. Allyson Schwartz is losing a Democratic primary. So that's a direct play to the base and Obama loyalists, right?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, "THE WASHINGTON POST": That's right. I mean, she's behind. Tom Wolf, self-funded candidate, looks like he has a better chance. She's behind. It's her attempt to really break out of the pack. It would be interesting if she gets out of the pack whether or not she is still embracing and hugging Obamacare in the same way. Michelle Nunn, of course, in a better position in Georgia. Remember, it's Georgia. So she's got to run in a more conservative way down there in her first ad.

She talked about her ties to George Bush. She, of course, ran the Points of Light Foundation down there. It's a tale of geography and tale of positioning. One candidate not doing so well. The other one pretty well positioned.

KING: It's one of the things I love about covering politics is the different pieces of puzzle. Pennsylvania very different from Georgia, but in Pennsylvania if she succeeds, now, even if she doesn't win the primary, if she moves a lot, other Democratic campaigns might take notice if that appeal works for the base.

JUANA SUMMERS, "POLITICO": That's correct. That's something they're hoping for as you're dealing with the president's approval numbers. Looking at that latest Gallup survey we talked about yesterday. They're not exactly where most Democrats would like it to be. If Allyson Schwartz is able to move things along. If Michelle Nunn is Georgia is able to do it better. They're going to see it as very strong indication.

KING: She is smart in Georgia, Michelle Nunn. She's reaching out to conservative Democrats in her state who often vote Republican when they send someone to Washington. She's trying to do business while the Republicans fight among themselves. This is a Senate race to watch. Barack Obama won it twice, it's a blue state. Republicans think they have a chance here to pick up a Senate seat.

Terri Lynn Land is the woman candidate. She is the Republican. She is the former secretary of state. Remember Democrats nationally have been saying Republicans are waging a war on women. Here's her rebuttal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRI LYNN LAND, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE FOR MICHIGAN: Congressman Gary and his buddies want you believe I'm waging a war on women. Really? Think about that for a moment. I approve this message because as a woman I might know a little bit more a women than Gary Peters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It's good stuff.

HENDERSON: Fantastic ad. It really is a fantastic ad. You have had Republicans try to figure out how they push back on this war against women. The best way they are doing it, I think, is with women candidates. You see Terri Lynn Land there in Michigan. The same sort of language. How can I be a waging war against myself, she said?

SUMMERS: This is also important for Land if you remember she is being attacked by those in the state in Michigan for saying that women in terms of payroll are looking for flexibility more than pay in terms of jobs. This is really an effort to humanize her, put a face on her that works as this national narrative they're also doing less.

KING: One of my favorite races in this career is Bob Dole run for president in 1996 against Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. It was clear Dole was going to lose. Bob Dole is 90 now. He's back in Kansas on what he calls a thank you tour. He's never shy about speaking his mind. Here's what he said about a number of younger Republicans positioning themselves to run for president.

A number of the younger members first term like Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and that extreme right wing guy, Ted Cruz, all running for president now? I don't think they've got enough experience yet. God bless Bob Dole for speaking his mind. Ted Cruz took a shot at Bob Dole not that long ago saying Republicans keep nominating, quote/unquote, "losers."

Is he right in the sense that the Republican argument against Obama has been nice guy wasn't ready. If you have these three freshmen senators, Barack Obama was a freshman senator running, can somebody, a Rick Perry, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, even says these guys are not ready?

HENDERSON: Yes. That's why you say the governor's wing say the next nominee should be a governor. It's part of that buyer's remorse they feel like the nation should have, right, for nominating this first termer in President Obama.

SUMMERS: Reading a lot of coverage object Bob Dole I started my career covering Kansas. It's fascinating. He also said our party has to stop running against things. The next nominee for our party has to stand for something. Something that resonates and speaks to the rift you're seeing in the Republican Party not just nationally, but in Kansas where there's tense infighting against conservatives and moderate Republicans.

KING: Bob Dole has been part of that tension throughout his career. If you love politics and can read only one thing today read the Dan Ball's article in "The Washington Post" today about Bob Dole, a man who is an American hero whether you are a Democrat or Republican.

All right, let's move on to the State Department. Remember Hillary Clinton was the secretary of state before John Kerry. Jen Psaki is now the spokeswoman there. She worked in the Obama White House, now she represents John Kerry. But you think she might do her homework and expect a question about Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you off the top of your head identify one tangible achievement that was resulted from the last DDR?

JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: I am certain that those who were here at the time who worked hard on that effort could point out one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That should not be a surprise question, should it?

SUMMERS: No, Hillary Clinton obviously ambitions that we continually talk about although she's not giving us much to go off of. It shouldn't have been a surprising question. That answer is a reel for the Republicans who are going to be criticizing her.

HENDERSON: That's right. She works for Kerry now and there is this tension about Kerry versus Clinton and he wants to be the big man on the State Department's campus. So in some way she's doing her job. We all member Jen on the campaign trail in 2008. You would go to Jen Psaki to figure out, you know --

KING: There are some old Obama/Hillary tensions, do you?

HENDERSON: Yes.

KING: Hangover 7, carry that over. All right, Juana and Nia-Malika, thanks for coming in.

You know, folks, when you need to know the president's schedule, there is a reliable place to check, late night television, of course, and the comedy. Listen to Jimmy Fallon last night because he know where's the president is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON: President Obama left for a weeklong trip to Asia where he will visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Obama said these countries all share the same wonderful quality, he doesn't owe any of them money. Let's just skip China this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I'm just going fact check Jimmy Fallon, we do actually owe Japan a little bit of money, but China is the big one in the debt. And Kate, and Chris, and Michaela, that's what where you get the president's schedule, right?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's where I check every night. There's no other way to check it. Not all of the people working at the White House like you did for so many years.

KING: Nine years. Wonderful job.

BOLDUAN: We'll stop. Thanks, John.

CUOMO: When Jimmy Fallon is on you are in your second cycle of REM sleep. Not even your first, your second.

BOLDUAN: That's right. You're saying that as if that's just me, not just you.

CUOMO: You're a good sleeper. I'm up worried about things at that time about Jimmy Fallon. I would like to stay up and watch him. I don't know if it's just me or us, but I feel like he is quickly becoming the man there in his own right in late night TV. I really do.

BOLDUAN: He's been good. I like him.

CUOMO: He's got a lot of different talents. I didn't know he knew the president's schedule. One more reason to watch.

BOLDUAN: And he's smart.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, we are following breaking news in the search for Flight 370. Officials working to verify if an object recovered on coast of Australia just today is from the plane. What could it be?

CUOMO: Plus, you heard about this. It's being called human hibernation. A magic combination of hypothermia and hypoxia, effects of temperature and altitude. That's what that means. So is that how a teenager survived five hours in wheel well of a jet at 38,000 feet. We are going to talk to a doctor who actually worked on a stowaway and he'll tell us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Breaking news in the search for Flight 370, an object of interest has been found on the shore of Western Australia. It's described as a long piece of metal with rivets. Investigators have a picture of the object, but it's not clear yet if it's connected to Flight 370.

Let's bring in David Soucie. He's a CNN safety analyst and author of "Why Planes Crash." Long metal with rivets. That's good. Fiberglass attached. That's confusing. What does it mean to you when you hear fiberglass?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, fiberglass isn't something that's typically used, especially in the structural parts of the aircrafts. So I'm a little concerned about that. Fiberglass could mean a couple of different things to the untrained eye. You know, composite structures can look just like fiberglass and actually be something else. I'm kind of wishy washy. I don't know yet until we see it. So many investigators said the more we look at it the less convinced that it has something to do with an aircraft. I'm not putting a lot of stock in this yet until we see photographs and see the actual structure itself.

CUOMO: Surprising that in the press conference of the Malaysian authorities, the interim minister of transportation there that he didn't even mention it until it was coaxed from a question?

SOUCIE: Yes. And I think they're just being super cautious, as they should be, about giving any false hope to the families. They've been through so much already. Every single piece of information just loses its credibility immediately until it's proven. And again, we have no proof of anything at this point. So to reach for straws is not a good practice especially in his position.

CUOMO: Do you think that you're giving them too much credit in terms of saying it's because they don't want to give false hope to families? They've been pretty tough on the families. What do you make of their resistance to answering these 26 questions, refusal to give out the Inmarsat data?

SOUCIE: You know, I think that they're just caught back on their heels. There are so many of these questions that could be very simply answered. I don't know if they're just standing back on the precedent that they don't have to because there's nothing forcing them to? But if you look at that in detail, ICAO rules they say should have a progress report out. They should have a preliminary report out 30 days after accident. We're far beyond that. There's even anything close to what would be a preliminary report in which they would answer most of those questions that are out there.

CUOMO: Now, some 40 some days into the story. Tell people what ICAO rules are.

SOUCIE: Yes. The ICAO rules is a part of the -- it's an annex, Annex 13 of NATO. And so it's, say, set of rules that the countries, participating countries, have worked together to try to say, we need to have some kind of standard on an international basis. It talks about accidents, when they should be there, who should control the findings, who should control the investigation, and at this point Annex 13 talks about the investigation authority, which goes to Malaysia because they're not only the country of register for the aircraft, they're the country of operation for the airline and the owners of the airline as well.

So almost everything points back to them when the aircraft crashes in international waters. But the annex rules are only enforceable by those countries that control them. At this point it's up to the countries. Duane Warth is the ambassador to the ICAO to the United States and I haven't talked with Duane yet, but I intend to soon about why it is that they haven't pushed that ICAO rule of having a 30-day preliminary report.

CUOMO: Finally, David, one of the good things we heard is coming out of disaster you hope to get better going forward. One of the major recommendations in this preliminary report is that planes should be tracked in realtime. You happy to hear that and is it doable given the cost constraints of the airline industry?

SOUCIE: You know, I think it is to some extent. Even with the black boxes that we have now they started out with just a certain bit of finite data, altitude, heading, airspeed, and that sort of information initially when they first put black boxes on the airplanes. I think that what is practical is basic heading information, some location data information. The idea that all 10,000 points are -- there's actually 82 tracking points, but as many as 10,000 data points could be transmitted on a realtime basis is impractical at this point, I think. But there's a lot of information that with very little effort can be done to track the aircrafts so we can't just lose an airplane like we have right now.

CUOMO: That would be good. David Soucie, thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Chris.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, a teen's unbelievable tale of survival has so many people wondering how he made it across the Pacific Ocean traveling within a plane's wheel well. And he may not be the first. We're going to speak to a doctor who treated a stowaway 13 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Medical professionals remain shocked that a 15-year-old boy can survive a 5- 1/2 hour flight from California all the way to Hawaii in the wheel well of a Boeing 767. Although it is very rare, the teen would not be the first to live through this kind of journey.

Back in 2000, a man survived a 7-1/2-hour flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles in the wheel well of a plane. Joining me now is the very physician who successfully treated that stowaway, Dr. Armand Dorian. Dr. Dorian, what a pleasure to have you here. Why don't you describe to us the condition of the stowaway survivor that presented to you in the E.R. back in 2000? DR. ARMAND DORIAN, USC VERDUGO HILLS HOSPITAL: Back in 2000, the patient that rolled in by paramedics was not in the same state as this young boy this year. He was literally frozen, almost cartoonishly frozen. His arms were kind of jutted out. He was moaning. He was unconscious. He was not alert. We had to do multiple critical measures to keep him alive. His core body temperature was below 80 degrees. We had to intubate him, put chest tubes in. It was really touch and go.

PEREIRA: It was really a miracle that he survived in your estimation?

DORIAN: There's no question. I thought in my lifetime I would never even hear of another case like this, let alone hear of a case where the gentleman who was a stowaway walks away from the incident.

PEREIRA: Let's get to that. You already compared the difference between that. Quickly, before we move on, do you know if that man had lasting side effects? Oftentimes you don't know the results many years later. Do you know?

DORIAN: Actually he had no gross motor dysfunction, so something may actually be -- later on that may come up like depression, chronic headaches, but nothing obvious at the time when he was discharged from the hospital. Know that it was a month after he was admitted.

PEREIRA: Interesting. OK, to this 15-year-old, he essentially after an hour after the plane landed sort of came out of the wheel well mostly able to move on his own power. This is phenomenal. Talk to me about what you think happened that this young man would present in a very different condition than the man in 2000.

DORIAN: I mean, the planets all were aligned. This was a perfect storm of disaster that actually probably saved his life because when the airplane ascends, you lose oxygen, the air gets thin as we would say in layman's terms. You would pass out in about a minute after being up there. Also, the temperature drops. With the temperature dropping it actually starts slowing down your body's need for oxygen.

It puts you in a frozen or some people termed it as a suspended state. Kind of like a cryogenic freezing that we've seen, you know, sci-fi or hear about in the future happening and because your demand decreases, you don't need as much oxygen. You can be suspended in time until your oxygen is replenished.

PEREIRA: We know your patient passed out and doesn't remember a thing of his flight. We don't what this young boy remembers. We know that he did tell police that he was unconscious for a time. What do you think it feels like for all of this to go on or do we know that because most people don't have a memory of it?

DORIAN: I'm pretty sure he's not going to have any memory or recollection of it. He's going to probably remember the adrenaline rush of trying to hide inside that wheel well, the beginning of that takeoff, and then about a minute max, 5 minutes after that takeoff he's unconscious. The next thing he remembers, he's waking up and he's landed already. Maybe he thinks he didn't take off. He passed out and is in a completely different place.

PEREIRA: How unusual is it, Dr. Dorian, for a person to survive subzero temperatures, lack of oxygen for 5-1/2 hours and also that he didn't fall out of the landing gear.

DORIAN: I kind of describe it as winning the lottery five times in a row. The fashion in which he did it, I would think it was a poor TV show production if they had a kid walk out of a wheel well like this. It's really mind-boggling.

PEREIRA: The story he was telling us, he was trying to get home to Somalia to see his mother. You can imagine the heartbreak. You can imagine the concern the family has. Hopefully he'll get medical attention to deal with any issues that come up after this. Dr. Dorian, what a pleasure to talk to you. Some miracles stories we are talking about. Thanks for joining us from Los Angeles -- Chris.

CUOMO: That just does not make sense. I don't know how that kid managed to not have any effects of such extreme conditions. Let's take a little break on NEW DAY to consider it. When we come back, an object of interest on the shoreline of Western Australia. Could it be debris from Flight 370?

BOLDUAN: The death toll continues to rise in the South Korean ferry disaster. Why did so many victims fail to get out alive? We'll take you inside a simulator to get a better understanding of the life-or- death emergency at sea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Good morning and welcome once again to NEW DAY. We have breaking news in the search for Flight 370 at this hour. Right now investigators are studying a piece of metal with rivets on it to see if it came from the missing plane. It was found along the shore of the Western Australia about three hours south of Perth, which has been the heart of the search effort.

Let's get to Erin McLaughlin in Perth this morning with the very latest. Any timeline yet, Erin, on when we could find out whether this is a piece of the plane?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at the moment, Kate. We're hearing from the Australian Transportation and Safety Bureau Head Martin Dolan. He says the ATSB is still in the process of analyzing these photos.