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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
New Revelations About Lion Air Disaster; Brazilian President Visits White House; Video Surveillance of New Zealand Mosque Attacks Shows Panic; Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired March 20, 2019 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:40] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the very same Boeing 737 Max that went down off Indonesia last year nearly crashed the day before. Who stepped in to save the day?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Republicans, if they're in a certain group, there's discrimination. I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Alongside the "Trump of the Tropics" the president continues to air his grievances, and stands idly by as Brazil's president lashes out against gays and the free press.
ROMANS: Medicare for all is a key talking point for the 2020 Democratic field. The White House, though, trying to brand it as a socialist plan destined to end in bankruptcy.
BRIGGS: And the FDA approves the first drug to treat postpartum depression. But you'll need some patience and some serious cash.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. That's a really exciting development I think if insurance companies can cover the cost of that.
BRIGGS: Yes. The gift. Right.
ROMANS: I know there will be discounts but they have tried for years to figure out how to assuage those baby blues that happen to so many women, which is so devastating for new mothers and families.
Thirty-one minutes past the hour, breaking overnight, stunning revelations about the doomed Lion Air flight that went down off Indonesia last October, killing 189 people. Now Bloomberg is reporting that when the very same plane encountered trouble a day before the disaster the crew got help from an unexpected source. An off-duty pilot who happened, just happened to be traveling in the cockpit.
BRIGGS: CNN has previously reported the flight crew experienced issues on the same Boeing 737 Max 8 a day before the Lion Air crash but that disaster is under renewed scrutiny following last week's Ethiopian Airlines crash.
CNN's Mellissa Bell, live in Paris with the latest. Melissa, good morning.
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. What's so interesting about this latest revelation, this is according to Bloomberg, of this third pilot who was on that very plane the day before it crashed into the Java Sea in October, on a flight from Bali to Jakarta. He wasn't even meant to be there. He was off duty. We're told this is something that happens pretty often when one pilot needs to go from one city to another. He was sitting in the cockpit and it just so happens that he was able to show the pilots who were on duty, Dave, how to disable this particular flight mechanism, this piece of software that essentially forces the nose of the plane down.
This system is now the subject of so much scrutiny. Not just here in Paris where the black box is from the latest Boeing 747 Max 8 to crash, this Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed on the 10th of March. Those black boxes now being investigated here. We probably won't hear for some time exactly what they contain but we do now know from a number of different sources, Dave, that the trajectories of those two flights, the Lion Air crash back in October and the one as it headed off from Addis Ababa on March 10th were very similar.
That system now also the subject of scrutiny from the Transportation Department in the United States. As you know, it's opened an investigation into the Federal Aviation Administration's certification of this system. So an awful lot of attention on this particular bit of software and once again, according to this latest reporting, the suggestion that some pilots were able to disable it and some pilots crucially were not.
BRIGGS: Yes. One of those points you made a lot of questions here about how big a role Boeing played in its like self-approval process versus how much the FDA actually -- FAA actually did.
Melissa Bell live for us in Paris, thank you.
ROMANS: All right. Thirty-four minutes past the hour, the president badly in need of an ally found one at his front door. Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, whose combative political persona echoes President Trump's, fawned over his American counterpart in the White House yesterday. The scene was strange, unsettling, as you might expect.
Now there was diplomacy between the pair. The exchanging of the jerseys. President Trump announced the U.S. will designate Brazil a major non-NATO ally which will help it purchase military equipment from the U.S.
BRIGGS: The two leaders then echoed each other, airing a litany of grievances. Mr. Trump denouncing big social media companies, complaining they are biased against the GOP.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: It seems to be if they're conservative, if they're Republicans, if they're in a certain group, there's discrimination. A big discrimination.
[04:35:05] I see it absolutely on Twitter and Facebook. And I will tell you there is collusion with respect to that because something has to be going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Now there's collusion. The president's statement came hours after Facebook apologized to White House social media director Dan Scavino for briefly blocking some features on his account. The company said its automated systems mistook Scavino for a bot.
ROMANS: Then the so-called Trump of the Tropics smeared his role model on several topics including the free press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAIR BOLSONARO, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (through translator): May I say that Brazil and the United States stand side by side in their efforts to ensure liberties and respect to traditional family lifestyles, respect to God our creator, against the gender ideology or the politically correct attitudes and against fake news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Then there was this, the president -- President Trump refusing once again to let John McCain rest in peace. John McCain is under this president's skin and continues to be. Obviously, he tweeted twice about the late senator over the weekend and was asked about it in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm very unhappy that he didn't repeal and replace Obamacare it as you know, he campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare for years, and then it got to a vote and he said thumbs down. I think that's disgraceful. Plus there were other things. I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: That did not sit well with many. Among them the man who lost the 2008 Republican nomination to Senator McCain, Senator Mitt Romney. "I can't understand why the president would once again disparage a man as exemplary as my friend John McCain." And McCain's widow, Cindy, posting a truly hateful message she received from a stranger.
Read it yourself or the parts suitable for television, Mrs. McCain commented, "I want to make sure all of you could see how kind and loving a stranger can be. I'm posting her note so her family and friends would see." ROMANS: It was so ugly. I just -- the McCain family has my deepest
sympathy in their mourning. They are still mourning. It's just awful.
All right, 37 minutes past the hour. There's new branding from the White House for Medicare for All, M4A, and they slammed the proposal in a new economic report. The Council of Economic Advisers says M4A will be neither more efficient nor cheaper than the current system and it could adversely affect health care. Under the Medicare for All proposal the federal government would provide coverage to all Americans at virtually no cost. The proposal would essentially eliminate private insurance.
The White House says the program would add $2.4 trillion to federal spending in 2022. Now Trump's 2020 budget, however, reduces Medicare spending by $845 billion over 10 years. The administration has repeatedly said it expects the economy to grow 3 percent each year for the next decade if the president's policies are put into place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: If you say well, that's a rosy scenario, you're saying that maybe there's going to be 3 percent growth over the next decade, you know, I agree that it's an optimistic scenario because it's a scenario where President Trump's policies are enacted into law. If they're not enacted into law, if people obstruct our ability to engage in these positive policies, then for sure growth will fall short.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The administration is backing the typical Republican moves of increasing competition or requiring patients to put at least part of their health care bills.
And I want to say something about Kevin Hassett there in those Council of Economic Adviser 3 percent targets. That assumes more spending, more tax cuts, permanent tax cuts by the -- for the middle class.
BRIGGS: And?
ROMANS: Infrastructure spending.
BRIGGS: Right.
ROMANS: And more --
BRIGGS: A trillion dollars of infrastructure spending.
ROMANS: And more deregulation. We know that last year, growth was about 2.9 percent. Already starting this year, it's a little bit softer, so you -- one wonders if the president will get his growth numbers in time for the election.
BRIGGS: Just about impossible to climb out of those things in this political atmosphere but elsewhere intrigue building around the special counsel's investigation. Prosecutors on Robert Mueller's team telling a federal judge they face, quote, "the press of other work." And they want a deadline extended related to documents in Paul Manafort's criminal case. "The Washington Post" first approached the court last month asking for the documents. The special counsel's legal team asking to move the deadline from this Friday to April 1st. When prosecutors originally asked to keep details secret they told the judge the documents concerned ongoing investigation and uncharged individual.
ROMANS: Congressman Elijah Cummings claims President Trump is violating the Constitution's fundamental principle of checks and balances. The chairman of the House and Oversight Committee just penned an Op-ed in the "Washington Post" claiming the president is ignoring his request for documents.
BRIGGS: Yes, Cummings writes, quote, "The White House is engaged in an unprecedented level of stonewalling, delay and obstruction. I have sent 12 letters to the White House and a half dozen topics. The White House has refused to hand over any documents or produce any witnesses for interviews.
[04:40:06] Democrats are threatening to escalate the standoff by issuing subpoenas.
ROMANS: Conservative lawyer George Conway says he tweets criticism of the president as a way to avoid shouting matches with his wife Kellyanne. Speaking to the "Washington Post," Conway said he tweets about Trump to let off steam. The mendacity, the incompetence, it's just maddening to watch. The tweeting is just a way to get it out of the way, frankly so I don't end up screaming at her about it.
BRIGGS: The president spent much of the weekend tweeting dozens of grievances leading Conway to respond that Trump's mental condition is, quote, "getting worse." That led the president to call Conway a total loser. Yesterday re-tweeting a claim that Conway was jealous of his wife. In response, Conway told the "Post," "No one was prouder than I was that she was able to elect this man president despite his obvious flaws." He said he would prefer she not work for President Trump.
ROMANS: The modern working family. A modern working couple, sort of.
All right. The FDA approving the first drug to treat postpartum depression. Zulresso will be administered as continuous intravenous infusion over the course of 60 hours. It rebalances hormones that spike during pregnancy and plummet after child birth. The drug has been shown to work within hours. The treatment will cost on average $34,000 per patient before discounts. Postpartum depression affects 1 in 9 new mothers. The medication will be available in June.
Boy, you certainly hope that insurance companies are going to pay for that. What I don't know is if they start the intravenous injections after you have signs of postpartum depression? Or if it's something that --
BRIGGS: Right.
ROMANS: You know, you can somehow monitor when these hormones change.
BRIGGS: And look, obviously, the cost is prohibitive at the beginning and generally comes down over time.
ROMANS: Right.
BRIGGS: Some good news there.
Three kids saved from a burning building in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop them. Drop them.
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BRIGGS: They had to jump from a window into the arms of police.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:46:19] ROMANS: And breaking overnight, a sheriff's deputy killed, an officer injured during a shoot-out with a suspect in Kittitas, Washington. It unfolded as deputies tried to stop a car after receiving a complaint. When the driver failed to stop a chase ensued. The vehicle ultimately came to a stop and gunfire was exchanged. Right now the deputy's name is not being released. The suspect was also shot and is being treated at a hospital.
BRIGGS: Four tanks are still burning at a massive chemical fire in Texas. A thick plume of black smoke billowing from the Houston area storage facility for more than three days now. Fire officials don't know how long it will take for the fire to burn itself out. Now the smoke can be seen for miles over the Deer Park community where those tanks are located. And now there are concerns about the air quality. The Deer Park Independent School District cancelling classes today under pressure from parents. Five other nearby school districts also cancelling classes today.
ROMANS: Five days under water in Nebraska, devastation, whole towns turned into islands. The governor submitting an expedited emergency declaration for relief from these catastrophic floods. 95 percent of Nebraska is still reeling from last week's storms. Vice President Mike Pence surveyed the flood damage across the state yesterday. And he said he's going to make sure all federal resources are made available to the state.
Flood records has been shattered in 17 places in Nebraska. Check out this time lapse video. This is Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, flooding restricting the city's water supply and swallowing an entire power pole. "The Wall Street Journal" estimates farmers are losing $1 million a day in the flooding.
Really important. Caving season right now. You got planting season in another month. This is devastating for farmers who are already reeling from the trade war with China which has slapped tariffs on their products. BRIGGS: And on this the first day of spring, showers for parts of the
already waterlogged Midwest. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with the forecast.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Dave and Christine. Yes, spring officially arriving this afternoon, this evening here -- 5:58 Eastern daylight time is when we see spring on (INAUDIBLE), equinox take place meaning 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of nighttime across the world. And of course, with it you expect some milder temperatures, some quieter weather.
We still have a few showers, though, to tell you about across portions of the Midwest, the plain states as well with generally light to moderate rainfall, but enough here to do some damage of course on top of already flooded landscape from Omaha down towards Kansas City. The same pattern continues but the area of coverage here as far as flood warnings has lessened just a little bit in recent days so some better news in that sense.
But follow that system, and also follow what's happening off the eastern seaboard there going in from Wednesday into Thursday. That's your weather pattern going into Thursday and eventually Friday as well for the northeast, we get a round of wet weather potentially from heavier rainfall in Washington at times over, say, Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening. Highs there over the next 24 hours up to 57 today in Washington, 52 in New York City. Boston in the low 50s. And then a rapid rise before another drop going into early next week -- guys.
BRIGGS: All right. Pedram, thank you.
New legal trouble for the Catholic Church. West Virginia's attorney general is suing the state's lone diocese and its former bishop. The A.G. claims they knowingly employed pedophiles and failed to alert parents about potential risks at schools. Attorney General Patrick Morrissey says the state's investigation reveals a serious need to enact policy changes to protect kids. The diocese of Charleston- Wheeling has not commented.
ROMANS: They are heroes in blue.
[04:50:01] Police in Des Moines, Iowa, responded to an apartment fire early Tuesday. Heavy smoke prevented them from entering the build so they positioned themselves outside and caught three children who were dropped from a third floor window to escape the flames.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send them down. I got them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop them. Drop them. Keep going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: None of the children or the officers were injured. Des Moines Police Department gave a shout-out on social media to the life- saving officers. They are Cole Johnson, Craig Vasquez, Tyler Kelly and Casey Sanders. Thank you.
BRIGGS: All right. A slithery start to your morning.
Yikes. That is not the sound of one but 45 rattlesnakes. Crews in Texas made that startling discovery under a house in Texas. You see the homeowner had crawled under the house to figure out why the cable was acting wonky. When he saw a few snakes, he quickly crawled out. Crews immediately swooped in and removed the rattlers. They say the most snakes ever seen under one house is 88.
How are you doing?
(LAUGHTER)
BRIGGS: Would you -- I would never, ever sleep again. I think we share our disdain for snakes.
ROMANS: I hate snakes. Really hate snakes.
BRIGGS: I'm with you. I'm with you.
ROMANS: Fifty-one minutes past the hour, the popular workout program Peloton. Peloton slammed with a lawsuit for using music without permission. CNN Business has the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:56:09] BRIGGS: CNN has obtained surveillance video that sheds more light on that deadly terrorist attack in New Zealand. It was recorded at a property close to the first targeted mosque. We should warn you some of the images may be disturbing.
Ivan Watson live in Christchurch with the exclusive details.
Ivan, what are we learning?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Dave. We are learning from the police that they believe that the terrorist, the suspected terrorist, was on his way to a third target when he was apprehended. And from the security camera footage that we're seeing, we're seeing that he attacked passersby on the road as he was driving from his first targeted mosque on Friday towards a second mosque that he targeted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON (voice-over): Security camera footage from what was soon to become New Zealand's darkest day. This video from March 15th shows people casually strolling past at 1:42 in the afternoon. It's filmed from a camera on a hotel located around 300 meters from the Al Noor Mosque.
Seconds later a series of gunshots ring out from what appear to be two different types of firearms. And even though this is the start of a deadly terrorist attack, passersby still have no idea what is unfolding nearby. It isn't until nearly four minutes later that pedestrians show signs
of alarm. And then this car appears. The driver honks his horn to get pedestrians' attention and then shoots through the passenger side window at a man on the sidewalk.
The hotel owners say they shared this security camera footage with the New Zealand police. Police won't comment on the video during the ongoing investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: So here's what we've learned from this video. Number one, you can hear sirens. And that backs up the police's statement that they were on the scene within five, six minutes of the first emergency call they received. Second, we see how determined this killer was, how desperate he was, to hurt people because he stops his car while leaving the first targeted mosque. Doesn't even lower the window. Just shoots through the window at an innocent man walking down the street.
Now what's remarkable is how quickly the police were able to detain him. They say it took them only 21 minutes from the first call before they had the suspect in custody. All of this took place in less than half an hour. But that's all it took for this determined killer to claim at least 50 innocent lives -- Dave, Christine.
BRIGGS: 10:00 p.m. there in Christchurch, Ivan Watson live for us, thank you.
ROMANS: All right. Just about the top of the hour. Let's get a check of CNN Business this morning. Global stock markets mixed right now. There's a bit of trade uncertainty again injected into the market place.
Let's take a look at futures on Wall Street. They are also leaning a tad bit higher here. We have a Federal Reserve meeting later today.
The action yesterday was pretty confusing. U.S. stocks faded. They closed mixed on these conflicting confusing signals about where trade talks stand between the U.S. and China. Now Bloomberg reported American officials are worried that Chinese negotiators are hardening their stance on U.S. demands for reform.
The Dow closed down 27 points. That snaps a four-day win streak. The Dow had been up almost 200 points. So you can see that fade I was telling you about. The S&P unchanged. The Nasdaq up just a little bit. You know, not very much there. I call that a mixed performance really.
Now, the Fed, the Fed will meet today, yesterday and today will announce its decision on interest rates with a news conference from the Fed chief Jerome Powell this afternoon. No interest rate hike is expected.
All right. There are K-Cup pods for coffee, for your tea. What about a cocktail, Dave Briggs? Anheuser-Busch and Keurig have teamed up. [05:00:00]
