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New Day

O'Rourke Raises Record-Breaking $6.1 Million; Gillibrand Jumps into Race; Historic Flooding Across Nebraska; Nebraska Governor Talks about Historic Floods; African-American Editor Resigns From Alabama Newspaper; Manhunt in the Netherlands. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired March 18, 2019 - 08:30   ET

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


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[08:31:15] ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Number one, President Trump tweeted and retweeted dozens of times over the weekend, airing his grievances instead of condemning white supremacists after 58 Muslims were murdered inside two mosques in New Zealand.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New Zealand's government agreed to toughen the country's gun laws after that massacre. The prime minister says the terrorist's act exposed a range of weaknesses in that country's gun laws.

HILL: One person is dead, several others hurt after a gunman opened fire on a tram in the Netherlands. A manhunt is underway at this hour for the suspect who remains at large.

BERMAN: The FAA's approval of Boeing 737 Max jets is under investigation. "The Wall Street Journal" reports the Department of Transportation's Inspector General is focusing on the best-selling passenger jets' automatic safety system.

HILL: Beto O'Rourke's campaign announcing it raised a record-breaking $6.1 million in the first 24 hours of his 2020 run. The contributions coming from every state and territory in the country.

BERMAN: For more on the "5 Things to Know," go to cnn.com/newday for the very latest.

HILL: Let's stick, though, with number five, Beto O'Rourke. We know he is in Michigan this morning. There you see him holding a campaign event at this hour, after that record-breaking fundraising haul on day one of his campaign. So, how does he stack up against the rest of the Democratic field?

Well, who better to ask. There's something about Harry. Let's get "The Forecast" with CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten.

Mr. Enten, good morning.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Shalom. Good morning to both of you on this lovely Monday morning.

So, let us take a look at how he stacks up. In the first 24 hours, as we mentioned, $6.1 million. That beats Bernie Sanders' $5.9 million and blows Kamala Harris' $1.5 million. I think the Sanders part is especially impressive because we know that Sanders built a very impressive fundraising machine through e-mail lists. Much better than Harris. Of course Harris hasn't necessarily run a campaign before that received national recognition. And then Hickenlooper and Klobuchar came with $1 million under their first 48. So this is clearly the largest haul so far.

BERMAN: I'm dying to see the official numbers when they're released, when they file the FEC reports, because 6.1 is just above 5.9. It was very important for the O'Rourke people to get more than Bernie Sanders. I kind of want to see how they did it.

There's another figure which you've taught me about this cycle, which is the Google search results that gives you a sense of the most Internet interest on each candidate?

ENTEN: Yes. So basically -- how many people are searching for these individual candidates, right? I think it kind of is one of these things that tell us later on whether or not someone's going to get in the polls. It certainly did with Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders. And essentially here, I broke it up into three tiers. Basically these three people clearly got the highest. These three kind of in the middle. And these three sort of the lowest. And then there are even people who are below them.

And what we see is Beto O'Rourke again is in tier one here where he got about the same number of Google searches we think in the same general area, as well as Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders. So if their trend holds of their polls going up for Beto O'Rourke, his polls will go up, too.

HILL: They're in the third tier there. Kirsten Gillibrand, who formally announced, her polling numbers very low. I think the latest Iowa polling, it's not even registering.

ENTEN: Yes, if Beto O'Rourke had sort of this steamroller start to his campaign, Kirsten Gillibrand, not really. In primary polls so far, she's polling at less than 1 percent nationally. Only at 0 percent in Iowa. You can't really get any lower than that. Congressional endorsements so far, she's only got in one so far. That's tied for 11th among the candidates. Even Beto O'Rourke, who announced just this past week, already has four. And in Google searches on launch day, she's in eighth place. So, so far not really a good launch for her. I was actually sort of a little bit surprised because she had only formed an exploratory committee. I thought it kind of gave her an out, but she decided to stick in it and formally announce her campaign.

BERMAN: Nowhere to go but up.

ENTEN: Nowhere -- you know what, nowhere to go but up. Hey, you know what, a good debate performance, you never know. BERMAN: All right, I want to talk about this next figure here, because

this is interesting. Everyone says there's excitement in the Democratic field. The president's unpopular. But do you think there's a different way to look at this?

[08:35:06] ENTEN: Yes, I mean, look, so far we have concentrated on this 2020 campaign as it being a referendum on the president of the United States. And he isn't very popular. I mean, in most situations, a candidate, who's only at a negative 11 percentage point net approval rating would be in really big trouble.

But, you know, he does actually have to face off against someone in the general election. Democrats are going to have to choose someone. And with the exception of Joe Biden up here at plus 18 percentage points on his net favorability rating, which of course is his favorable minus the unfavorable rating, the rest of the candidates really are not that popular. In fact, Beto O'Rourke's the only one who's breaking at even right now nationally. The rest of them are averaging in the negatives. These are not popular candidates.

So, remember, this is going to eventually have to be a choice election. And think back to 2016, right? Remember both Clinton and Trump were unpopular. Clinton was a little less unpopular than Trump. But there was this slew of people right here, this neither category, as I'm drawing this long line across the screen, and basically these were the people who determined the election. And Trump won among those who hold a -- neither of which -- they didn't hold a favorable view of Clinton or Trump He won by 17 points among them. And this was the key group that put him over the top.

So my question is, are we going to maybe get a redux of 2020 where the Democrats nominate someone unpopular because they think, hey, we can beat Trump no matter what because his net approval rating is all the way down here. But, in fact, you get this whole group of people who have to decide who is the lesser of two evils, and that's a situation I'm not sure Democrats necessarily want to get themselves into because, look at this, if we go back since 1956, and we were basically figuring out, OK, what's the best way to predict what the final outcome is going to be when an incumbent is running for re- election. Do we just look at their net approval or do we take into account both the net favorability rating of the incumbent, as well as the challenger? And what we see here, and this is very key, what we see here is this when we take into both is actually more accurate. The margin of error is four points lower when you take into account both versus just the incumbent. So, to me, we shouldn't just be paying attention to how popular the president is. We should be paying attention to how popular the opponent is as well.

BERMAN: And I think if our viewers pay attention to you, Harry, they'll learn something from this. This is an important number as they're watching the campaign.

There's one thing you wanted to tell us about the NCAA, but wait, you're going to hold it until tomorrow because this tournament goes on for weeks.

ENTEN: We're holding it.

BERMAN: We're out of time.

ENTEN: Oh, I was going to do it. I could -- I could have squeezed it in.

BERMAN: Nope.

HILL: It's all right. It's going to be even better tomorrow.

BERMAN: No, Harry's going to tell you how to win your bracket tomorrow.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: Also, a quick programing note. CNN is going to hosts a presidential town hall tonight with Senator Elizabeth Warren. Jake Tapper hosts that live from Jackson, Mississippi, at 9:00 Eastern Time.

HILL: And here's what to watch today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ON SCREEN TEXT: 10:00 ET, First lady hosts Be Best workshop.

5:45 p.m. ET, President hosts Greek independence day event.

9:00 p.m. ET, CNN town hall with Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, devastating floods in Nebraska. Floods like they have never seen before. And the threat is far from over. We have a live report on this historic flooding, next.

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[08:42:20] HILL: A critical situation in the Midwest this morning where floods are turning deadly. Dozens of records already broken in Nebraska alone and officials warn the worst is still to come.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live in Winslow, Nebraska, which has been completely cut off by this flooding.

Steph.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Erica. That's exactly right. If you look behind me, you can see Winslow there in the distance. It's a town of about 200 people or so. And there's really no way in there or out. We understand that everyone is believed to have evacuated by car before the flooding got to this level here. But we're talking about maybe five to six feet high water within that town.

And that's what you're dealing with. You're dealing with records that have been in place since the 50s and '60s that are being broken with this flooding. In fact, Nima (ph) here telling me that when they look at the stats right now that they are seeing, that all of the rivers in Nebraska are dealing with some sort of flooding at this point. They're also saying that more than half of the counties in Nebraska are dealing with a state of emergency because of the flooding. And now that the day is starting here, the sun has just come up, they're reassessing the situation here for the people of Nebraska. We understand that there have been two fatalities. We may get an update on that so for later on this morning as the governor gives us a briefing on that.

But what the conditions are right now are still very dangerous because you have the fact that this huge bomb cyclone storm happened where it brought all that precipitation across the region, but really impacting Nebraska because right after that storm it got warm. So a lot of that water just really inundating the state and making it very difficult here for the people here in Nebraska.

Erica.

BERMAN: All right, I'll take it, Stephanie. Stephanie Elam for us in Nebraska.

Joining me now is the governor of that state, Pete Ricketts, who has been touring the damage all weekend long.

Governor, thank you so much for being with us.

What are you seeing? The pictures that we have up on our screen are remarkable.

GOV. PETE RICKETTS, NEBRASKA (via telephone): Yes, this really is the most devastating flooding we've probably ever had in our state's history from the standpoint of how widespread it is. We've, you know, hit record crestings in the Elk Horn River, the Platte River. We expected yesterday the Missouri was also going to break a record. I mean these -- and these are record that go back to the 1960s.

So what you're seeing is so many people are being displaced. We've got towns that are isolated, such as, you know, Valley and Waterloo. We were able to get a convoy of trucks into Fremont yesterday, but we were very concerned there about running low on food and fuel in Fremont. We have rescued nearly 300 people.

And just to put this in perspective. The big floods we had back in 2011, when we deployed National Guard soldiers, they were basically there to watch the levees. They didn't do any rescue operations. And now, you know, we've been doing these operations over the last several days to be able to keep people safe. We have had two fatalities of people who were lost and washed away in the water and we've got one person missing we still haven't found yet.

[08:45:24] So what we really want people to do is to stay safe. If you see water, don't try to cross it. It's very dangerous. So many people are thinking that they can just drive through this water and if --

BERMAN: No. RICKETTS: And if -- just a few inches of water can carry your car away.

BERMAN: Yes, don't -- don't drive through standing water if you see it. That is such an important message to send out to people.

Governor, are you worried at all that the worst might not be over?

RICKETTS: Well, what we're concerned about now is that all this water that was in northeast Nebraska and north central Nebraska is now flowing into the Missouri River and heading south to southeast Nebraska. And we are experiencing flooding there as well. So those communities are being impacted.

We're continuing to watch those water levels rise. You know, for example, Offutt Air Force Base is about a third flooded. Fortunately, none of the housing's been impacted there. But a lot of the operational facilities have. And we're also keeping an eye on our Cooper nuclear station, which is in southeast Nebraska. So far that's still operating at 100 percent capacity. But we're very concerned. And there's risks. You know, it's got an unusual event going on with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission but we're concerned about making sure that facility stays dry as well.

So there are still some areas of concern and there's still a lot of water around. And, again, we want people to stay safe. And I've got to tell you, our first responders, law enforcement officers, volunteers, they're all doing a fantastic job of keeping people safe. They've just been working around the clock to make sure that their fellow neighbors are, you know, being taken care of.

BERMAN: All right, Governor Pete Ricketts, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. We'll let you get back to work this morning. And there is a lot of work left to do judging from these pictures that we're seeing. Thanks so much, governor.

RICKETTS: Great. Thank you very much.

BERMAN: Erica.

HILL: Just weeks after taking over a newspaper that called for the Klan to ride again, an African-American woman is stepping down as editor and publisher. She joins us to tell us why.

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[08:51:22] HILL: The newly installed publisher and editor of an Alabama weekly newspaper, "The Democrat-Reporter," is stepping down. Elecia Dexter was promoted to the position last month after the paper's own, Goodloe Sutton, penned an editorial with the headline, "the Klan needs to ride again."

Now, CNN did attempt to get a statement from Sutton and "The Democrat- Reporter." We have not heard back from them. Elecia Dexter, though, joins us now.

It's good to have you with us.

You weren't there very long.

ELECIA DEXTER, FORMER EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, "THE DEMOCRAT-REPORTER": Thank you so much.

HILL: I know you had very high hopes. You had very high hopes for what you could do in that position. Why did you decide to resign?

DEXTER: Yes. I decided to resign because I noticed that Mr. Sutton, it was very hard for him to pull away. This is something he's been doing for over 50 years. And I also began to recognize that there was some significant issues financially that were going on with the paper that I wasn't aware of prior to. There was issues with the business license not being paid for several years, which once I became editor and publisher, that was a thing that I needed to address with Mr. Sutton and also with the city of Linden.

HILL: So that was the practical matter that needed to be addressed. But you also touched on the fact that it sounds like you weren't really given the autonomy that you thought you may have in that position. Is that correct?

DEXTER: Yes. I was able to produce the paper, but what was occurring behind the scenes that I wasn't aware of was that certain things that he wanted to get out into the media or certain views that he wanted to have expressed, he would send them out separately outside of me. And so because it's a small operation, we had one e-mail at the particular time. So I started to see e-mails relating to that and so initially we did have a discussion concerning what he was sending out, and those were things that were his opinions. So I told him that I would begin to separate the newspaper from him. But he continued to send things out.

And one of the critical things that led to me stepping down was the first editorial that came out was February 28th that I was over and we had a front page that we created. The right was a reflection of my press release, the left was a reflection of the story about what the paper had meant to him. I end up finding out, later on the first week of March, that he had altered the front page cover and sent it out to different media outlets as if it was the actual front page.

So then I had to address that, which was challenging because we're at a point we were trying to do damage control. We were trying to restore the paper. Or at least I was trying to restore the paper. I was trying to regain trust from the community and the people that have supported the paper for a very long time. And so that really created a significant impact to that ability to be able to do that.

HILL: Did he understand your concerns on that front?

DEXTER: I think he did, but initially he said he couldn't remember doing it. And there was a sense of loss. I can tell in his eyes. So I'm not sure if he truly couldn't remember, but I definitely know that it was important to him for him to alter that page. So I'm torn between was it intentional or was it not? But he definitely understood that I felt that that was impeding upon me being successful and carrying on the legacy of this newspaper that had been in his family for over 100 -- almost 140 years.

HILL: So when what's next at this point for "The Democrat-Reporter"? Do you get the sense that it's something he wants to continue but only if it reflects his personal views?

DEXTER: I think that is the case. I know he has mentioned to me that he's been trying to sell the paper since 2008. He has recognized that he has significant health issues that have impeded his ability to carry on the paper full time. So I know there's a possibility he's trying to sell the paper. I'm not sure if that will go through. The paper will have some significant issues if it's just him running the paper. That is for sure.

[08:55:23] HILL: Elecia Dexter, appreciate you thanks the time to join us. Please let us know what's next for you. Thank you.

DEXTER: Thank you. I appreciate you having me. Very much so.

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news on a possible terror attack in the Netherlands. Authorities there are on high alert.

And we are waiting to hear how Republicans react to the president's weekend outbursts. That's next.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, top of the hour. We do begin this morning with breaking news. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Jim Sciutto has the day off.

And a manhunt is underway in the Dutch town of Utrecht after a gunman opened fire inside a tram. One person is feared dead. Multiple people injured at this hour. The threat level for that area is now at critical. A critical level 5. That is the highest in the country. Authorities have not ruled out terrorism as a potential motive.

Let's go straight to my colleague Richard Quest. He joins me there in the Netherlands.

[09:00:01] Richard, what do we know at this hour?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the facts are not very well known, other than the fact -- I'm going to get out of the way so you can see.

END