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Spying for Iran; New 2020 Power Rankings; Study on Soda. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 14, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Iranians.

CNN's Barbara Starr is live traveling in Oman with the very latest.

Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

For the U.S. military, it's as bad as it gets when you betray your country. All the more painful in this case because the betrayal was to help Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice over): A former U.S. Air Force intelligence specialist, who disappeared and was believed to be in Iran, is now wanted by the FBI for spying on behalf of the Islamic Republic. Thirty-nine-year-old Monica Witt, who had access to top secret information, including names of U.S. intelligence officers, defected to Iran in 2013 and was once thought to be missing. But, instead, the Justice Department says she was recruited by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

JAY TABB, FBI EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SECURITY BRANCH: Monica Witt protested the Iranian government with the identities of employees in the U.S. intelligence community who were operating covertly.

STARR: The Justice Department says Witt worked with Iran to target at least eight U.S. government agent computer accounts in order to deploy malware that would provide access to computers and networks used by the U.S. intelligence community. The U.S. also alleges Witt created target packages for Iran to identify and track down U.S. government agents.

This week, Iran marks 40 years since the Islamic Revolution brought the current regime to power. And the rhetoric from the Trump administration is getting hotter.

JOHN BOLTON, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I don't think you'll have many more anniversaries to enjoy.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I appreciate you, John. STARR: The hawkish language from National Security Adviser John Bolton is at odds with the Pentagon, according to a senior military official. The official said the military is seeking to avoid open conflict with Iran and rely instead on economic and diplomatic pressure.

But in an exclusive television interview, the top navy commander for the region says the threat is real.

VICE ADMIRAL JAMES MALLOY, COMMANDER, U.S. NAVAL FORCES CENTRAL COMMAND: They have a growing capability in cruise missiles, they have a growing capability in ballistic missiles. They have a growing capability in unmanned surface systems.

STARR: CNN went aboard the USS Gladiator, one of the Navy's mine countermeasure ships in the Persian Gulf, where the crew faces the threat Iran poses to the U.S. and shipping in this critical area.

MALLOY: We are prepared for everything that they actually have and everything that they're rhetoric says that they have.

STARR: For the commanding officer of USS Gladiator, the mission is making sure that if Iran lays mines in the vital Strait of Hurmuz waterway, the ship will be able to find and destroy them.

LT. COMMANDER REBECCA WOLF, U.S. NAVY: We take it as a threat that is something that could happen and that we need to be ready for and prepared for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And, of course, this is just one issue the military -- the U.S. military is watching very, very closely.

Barbara, you're on this tour with General Votel as he gets ready to depart his command. What is he hearing from U.S. allies around the world?

STARR: Well, look, up and down the Persian Gulf right now they are well aware that for the first time since 9/11, the U.S. is pulling back. There's no question about it. Troops are coming out of Syria. Troops will come out of Afghanistan. Forces are being reduced in this region because the Pentagon, the Trump administration, is shifting its focus to China and Russia.

But, up and down the Persian Gulf there is consistent worry about Iran and whether Iran might be deciding at some point to engage in a destabilizing action in the Gulf and will the U.S. be here to work with the allies and protect this region?

John.

BERMAN: All right, Barbara Starr for us on a fascinating journey. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Erica. ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We have more Democrats now in the 2020 race. Who's up? Who's down? Harry Enten debuts his new power rankings and he's got another sweet surprise for us, next. Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:00] BERMAN: Overnight, a new possible entry into the 2020 race for president. Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan tells our Erin Burnett he may be next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM RYAN (D), OHIO: I don't feel any pressure for any timeline at this point, but I am seriously considering it. The country is divided. We can't get anything done because of these huge divisions that we have. And people in communities like the ones I represent, Erin, are suffering because of this division. You can't win the future divided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So how can we measure the relative success or failure of the rollouts so far? CNN's Chris Cillizza and Harry Enten have new power rankings for the 2020 race. Harry's the one who got up to tell us about it.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes, did I. And that's six out of the last seven days.

Good morning, everybody.

BERMAN: Good morning.

ENTEN: All right, let's go 10 through six and then we'll go five through one. So here is our six through ten. You can read them on the screen. I think a few notable ones here. Sherrod Brown we've backed down to number ten, only because he hasn't launched yet. A lot of the other candidates that we tend to have up towards the top we've given them a bonus for getting in, because if you're getting in, you actually have a chance of winning. If you stay out, you can't.

Kirsten Gillibrand -- yes, I know, there's a real surprise. Kirsten Gillibrand, we've dropped a little bit, even though she has formed an exploratory committee. Her polling isn't so great. Her traffic isn't so great. I think most people agree her rollout has been kind of eh.

And then Amy Klobuchar we've moved up to number seven. Again, I think he's gotten a lot of attention from her launch. You know, people talking about her electability, including yours truly. I think that, you know, being in the snow sort of definitely helped her. Tough, iron, Minnesota.

One through five. Most of this is pretty stable. Beto O'Rourke has dropped a little bit. We've seen his polling drop a little bit. Some questions about whether he'll get in. If, in fact, he does get in, I think we may raise him again. And Joe Biden, I mean these are basically tied at two, two and a half.

Joe Biden we've raised a little bit because we think that his polling has maintained a pretty good level and more than that I've looked at some of the polling and just the people, we think it might be name recognition, but also a lot of people are saying the attributes that Joe Biden's strongest on are the most important for their vote.

[06:40:05] HILL: Kamala Harris still in number one. You talk about we could, you know, see what happens with Amy Klobuchar. You mentioned her rollout.

Kamala Harris's launch is still getting a lot of very positive marks.

ENTEN: Yes, I would say that Kamala Harris had the best launch. And we can look at this in a number of different ways. One of which is the net favorability ratings, which is favorable minus unfavorable. In the CNN poll in December before she launched, in the February poll after it, and you see, in December, she was seven points behind Elizabeth Warren on her net favorability. But look at February, in our latest poll, she's actually two points above. She has seen a 12-point bounce, versus Elizabeth Warren, who has only seen a three-point bounce, and that's really statistically insignificant.

BERMAN: And there are other metrics you have that show basically the same thing?

ENTEN: Exactly right. So let's take a look at the national polling average. So this is Harry's aggregate. I took all the polls together and created an aggregate. And look where they were on June 1st. If you look, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren were tied at six. Cory Booker was at three, Klobuchar at two, Gillibrand at one. But look at where we are now. Kamala Harris more than doubled her support to 13 percent now, while Elizabeth Warren only saw a point bounce. Cory Booker saw a two-point bounce and the other few really didn't see very much going on.

I mean this is a sign of a very successful launch where you've basically taken support from Beto O'Rourke and some of the undecideds and put them into your column.

BERMAN: And there's other -- again, in terms of traffic, you mentioned traffic, which is one way you can look at this, that means people asking or wondering about you, right?

ENTEN: Right. So, you know, Google search trends are an interesting sort of metric to try and understand how different people are doing. And I just basically looked at all the senators who have declared or formed an exploratory committee so far. And what percentage of the search that was going to all of them has each of the candidates gotten. This is since Elizabeth Warren launched. And despite the fact that Kamala Harris launched a few weeks afterwards, so she was actually running behind, she has actually received double the Google search traffic than Elizabeth Warren has. I'm not sure I would read too much into this because Klobuchar just launched. But the fact that Harris basically has as much search traffic as the other candidates combined really indicates a lot of interest in her candidacy from people nationwide.

HILL: And is that why the next tab says betting Harris, Harry?

ENTEN: Well, this actually might throw you for a little bit of a loop. So, you know, I've spoken up -- Senator Harris up during this segment. But one thing that I think should be really important is, just because someone's at the top doesn't necessarily mean that they're the runway, that they're the favorite to win the nomination. She may be the frontrunner, but she's not the favorite.

There is, in fact, only a one in four shot if you believe the betting markets that Harris will win. There's a three in four shot that she doesn't. So there's actually a better shot that another candidate besides Harris wins. We just don't know who that is.

BERMAN: Does any single candidate, though, have a better chance (INAUDIBLE)?

ENTEN: No, she has the top chance in the betting markets, she has the top chance in the rings (ph), and she's seen the greatest bouncer (ph). She has clearly had the best launch so far.

HILL: There we go.

ENTEN: By the way, it's Valentine's Day.

BERMAN: We didn't know. We didn't know that.

HILL: Yay.

ENTEN: I know. Yay. So this is from the national -- this is a whole bunch of sales federation stuff and some stuff from some different folks and just what is like the best selling candy so far over the last 11 years. And what we see is those companion hearts were actually doing the best. Unfortunately, the company that is producing them is kind of like stopped producing them this year. So if you see them in stores, they might actually be leftovers from last time.

HILL: Good thing I didn't buy those yesterday on my list minute trip for my kids because they were there. Stale ones.

ENTEN: They might have -- they might have been a little iffy depending on where you were.

A box of chocolates in 15 states and Hershey Kisses and M&Ms in four states. And because they were in four states, look what I brought for you.

BERMAN: Awe.

HILL: Awe.

ENTEN: I brought -- and I also have a peanut. So, please.

HILL: Protein.

BERMAN: You shouldn't have.

ENTEN: Here.

BERMAN: You really shouldn't have.

HILL: Thanks, Harry.

ENTEN: Here you go.

HILL: That's great.

BERMAN: Here you go.

ENTEN: You know what? Even though --

HILL: He brought us breakfast.

BERMAN: Thank you.

ENTEN: I have work Valentine's and personal life Valentine's and you two can be my work ones.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. I'm touched. I'm touched.

HILL: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Although the failure of this candy to be sold any more tells me it's sort of the end of love overall.

ENTEN: I believe in the power of love.

HILL: Just for the record, all morning John Berman has been really bullish on Valentine's Day. So that comment, probably not a surprise.

ENTEN: This is the biggest smile he's ever had.

BERMAN: All right, Harry, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Severe turbulence forced a Delta flight to make an emergency landing. The scary moments for passenger and crew caught on tape. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:04] BERMAN: A veteran journalist in the Philippines, who is critical of the country's strong man Rodrigo Duterte, is free on bail one day after being arrested on cyber libel charges. Maria Ressa, who owns the news site Rappler says the charges stem from an article she wrote in 2012. The libel law, which is controversial, came into effect in September, 2012, four months after Ressa's article was published. Press freedom advocates say the charges against Ressa are an attempt by the Philippine government silence journalists.

HILL: FEMA Administrator Brock Long is out. Long resigned yesterday. He's been under fire for allegedly misusing government resources. And an inspector general's report found he continued to use government vehicles for personal use after he was told to stop. The agency was also criticized under his leadership for its response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. A response long later acknowledged was flawed. It's not clear when he plans to leave. Deputy FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor will serve as acting chief, though, when he does leave.

BERMAN: So we now know who tipped off the "National Enquirer" about the relationship between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and TV host Laura Sanchez. Two people with knowledge of the matter have confirmed to CNN that it was Sanchez's brother Michael, he was the leaker. Now, he denied to "The Washington Post" that he played a role in leaking information. In a blog post last week, Bezos made unsubstantiated claims that either President Trump or the kingdom of Saudi Arabia may have been involved in the leak or that the "National Enquirer" may have acted to curry favor with them.

HILL: Image from inside a Seattle-bound Delta connection flight that sent two passengers and one flight attendant to the hospital. Take a look at this. One passenger said the aircraft actually did a nose dive twice during that severe turbulence. The plane was forced make an emergency landing in Nevada. Customers did later board another flight to get to Seattle.

BERMAN: I always wonder if those things will tip over.

All right, actress Regina King might be rethinking the wisdom of courtside seats in Madison Square Garden. Here's why. I want to show you this. This is 7'2", 255 pound Joel Embiid of the 76ers, soaring over her head and into the crowd last night during the game against the Knicks.

[06:50:10] Now, King is fine. A statistician took a size 17 shoe to the chest, but he's OK also. After the game King tweeted, thank you, God, and @joelembiid for your athletic abilities. Crisis averted.

He was so nimble. He there going into the crowd.

HILL: That's right. Wow. I'm still process that, sorry.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: Glad everyone's all right.

You may want to put down your diet soda if that's your go-to in the morning. A new study has some important information about how those diet sodas could impact your health. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: So it's Valentine's Day and normally we'd maybe talk about your heart. This morning, though, we're talking about your brain. And a new study just published which links drinking two or more diet sodas a day with an increased risk of stroke.

[06:55:09] CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now with today's "Here's To Your Health."

So, Sanjay, what did the study find?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, by the way, I love the heart, but I love the brain even more. That was really nice, Erica.

This is a -- this is an interesting study. This has been brewing out there for some time, this idea that there's a connection between diet drinks, artificially sweetened beverages, and stroke. But this is now the largest study. It was a study of over 81,000 women. And what they found was that the women who drank two or more diet sodas a day were more likely to have a type of stroke. Thirty-one percent more likely to have that stroke. So specific -- and this was mostly in women who were ages 50 to 79, as you can see there, higher risk if you were African-American, higher risk if you had a body mass index over 30.

Now, let me show you something else real quick because everyone who's watching this is saying, yes, but, right? What were the things that they actually accounted for? Like, were they already had some sort of history of heart disease? No. Did they already have a history of stroke? No. They found that physical activity in the diet was the same between the people who actually drank more diet soda and those who didn't. So you can sort of dispense with all those other things that may have caused this to happen.

I will point out that out of the 81,000 women, only 5 percent or so actually drank two or more diet sodas a day. So it was a small population of people. But, again, they had this increased incidence of stroke.

HILL: And it is actually fascinating when you look at all of things, everything that was just listed on the screen there.

I'm sure people ask you this question all the time, but there's also this thinking, I know for a lot of people, that diet soda must be better than drinking regular soda. Is that true?

GUPTA: Well, it's a great question and, you know, surprisingly there's some controversy even within the medical community on this. The American Heart Association came out last year and said that for at least short periods of time they would recommend artificially sweetened or diet drinks versus sugar sweetened beverages for a short time because of the calorie restriction. They sort of were saying, look, we know there's a lot of people who drink soda. We know that they're probably not going to transition to water. This seems like a reasonable, short-term alternative.

Now, you know, when studies like this come out, it throws some of that advice into question. They also recommend, as you might guess, Erica, water, sparkling water, which I think I -- I think you drink.

HILL: I do.

GUPTA: And a good option. Coffee, you know, I mean coffee's one of these beverages -- I never grew up drinking coffee. I didn't drink a lot when I was younger. But they say up to five cups a day could have some health benefits.

BERMAN: And beer. Just saying.

GUPTA: (INAUDIBLE) --

BERMAN: All right, Sanjay -- Sanjay, we're going to cut you off right there. No answer. No answer. No answer.

All right, Sanjay, thank you very, very much. Appreciate it.

HILL: We'll stick with the expert Dr. John Berman on that one.

BERMAN: Beer.

HILL: Beer.

BERMAN: All right, the comics are chipping away at President Trump's border wall. Here are your "Late Night Laughs."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON: Since the government shutdown ended, Trump's approval rating has gone up seven points. And Trump said, great, what's my approval rating now? His staff is like, seven.

JAMES CORDEN, HOST, "THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN": A man in Jamaica recently won $158 million in the lottery. And in order to hide his identity and keep a low profile, he claimed the prize wearing a scream mask, right? Here he is here. There he is right there.

Now, there's suddenly all this extra mystery money for the border wall. Wait, guys, do you think it's --

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": House minority leader and man indicating how many Latinos he wants in America, Kevin McCarthy. Kev told CNBC, you've got to remember where Nancy Pelosi was. She who said no money for a wall. That's not case. Democrats have now agreed to more than 55 miles of new barrier being bill. Yes, 55 of the 2,000 miles of border wall Trump asked for. Just another example of Trump's slogan, promises made, promises 3 percent kept.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, the late night comics right there.

HILL: "Late Night Laughs."

BERMAN: I will note, the banner over the president's head the other night said finish the wall. Changes, clearly.

HILL: There has been a change in message, yes.

Thanks so much to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. For our U.S. viewers, another top Trump aide lied about Russia contacts. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The judge agreeing with the Mueller team, Paul Manafort lied repeatedly.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: There is apparently proof of the connections between him and Kilimnik.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: It's doomed for Paul Manafort. Going into sentencing with this kind of finding is just disastrous.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want to see a shutdown.

We'll be looking for land mines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he should sign it and I think he will sign it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a true compromise. I think it will be approved by Congress by a wide margin.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Take this as a down payment, go into the defense bill and move money around and build this damn wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:04] ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

END