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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Boeing Jet Nearly Went Down Day Before Lion Air Crash; President Trump Launches Attacks With Ally At His Side; Video Shows Panic During Christchurch Attack; White House Slams Medicare For All. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired March 20, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:44] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the Boeing 737 MAX that went down off Indonesia last year nearly went down the day before. Who stepped in to save that 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)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Alongside the 'Trump of the Tropics' the president airs his grievances and stands by Brazil's president who lashes out against gays and the free press.
BRIGGS: Medicare for All is a key talking point for the Democratic field. The White House trying to brand it as a socialist plan destined to end in bankruptcy --
ROMANS: And that was a --
BRIGGS: Fed Ex was a misrule there if you're wondering.
ROMANS: A Fed Ex warning because of the trade war, so that's something we'll talk about in stocks today.
All right, welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It's 5:31 on the first day of spring.
Breaking overnight, some stunning revelations about the doomed Boeing jet that went down off Indonesia last October killing 189 people. "Bloomberg" is reporting that when the same Lion Air plane encountered trouble a day before the disaster, the crew got help from an unexpected source -- an off-duty pilot who happened to be traveling in the cockpit.
ROMANS: Now, CNN has previously reported a flight crew experienced issues on that very same Boeing jet a day before the Lion Air crash but that disaster is now under renewed scrutiny following last week's Ethiopian Airlines crash.
CNN's Melissa Bell is live for us in Paris with the details. And this is -- this is remarkable. Another pilot who happened to be off-duty but in the cockpit thwarting what could have been a disaster the day before on an Indonesian plane.
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This was a flight of that very same airplane that was to crash the next day into the Java Sea, Christine -- this time from Bali to Jakarta.
We know that that third pilot who wasn't even meant to be in the cockpit really saved the day and the lives of all those passengers since it was he who was able to show the two pilots who were in control of the flight on that day how to disable this particular automated software that essentially forces the nose of the plane down.
The next day, catastrophically, the pilots we know in the Lion Air crash fought against it repeatedly, never managing to retrieve control of the flight.
And that particular system now at the heart of so much scrutiny because of that Ethiopian Airlines crash on March the 10th. That's being investigated here in Paris. The data from the black boxes has now been extracted and will need to be analyzed, of course.
But crucially, what we're hearing from preliminary look -- a preliminary look at that data is that essentially, the two flights followed a very similar trajectory. That system, once again, at the heart of an investigation also into the FAA's approval -- certification of the system to begin with.
So a lot of scrutiny on this particular system even as we learn that on that fateful day for all those passengers, this one pilot managed to save the day.
ROMANS: Unbelievable. All right, thank you so much for that, Melissa.
BRIGGS: OK.
Intrigue building around the special counsel's investigation. This morning, prosecutors on Robert Mueller's team telling a federal judge they face, quote, "The press of other work" and they want a deadline extended from Friday to April first to release documents in Paul Manafort's case.
ROMANS: "The Washington Post" first approached the court last month asking for the documents. When prosecutors asked to keep details secret they told the judge the documents concerned ongoing investigations.
BRIGGS: And the man who oversaw the Mueller investigation until just recently is staying on the job a bit longer than expected. A source telling CNN Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wants to stick around so he can absorb the punches if there's fallout from the Mueller probe.
ROMANS: All right. Search warrant documents that led to the Michael Cohen raid have now been released and it's not all public. All materials related to the Stormy Daniels hush money payment have been redacted. They may pose the greatest threat to the president from the Southern District of New York investigation which appears to be ongoing.
BRIGGS: The documents show Cohen was the target of special counsel Robert Mueller early on. Prosecutors and the FBI getting approval to search Cohen's e-mail accounts in July of 2017. Now, that's two months after Mueller's appointment and long before the April 2018 raid on Cohen's home, office, and hotel room.
[05:35:01] ROMANS: And here is a fun fact. Federal prosecutors used a new law signed by President Trump to go after Cohen.
After investigators got a search warrant for Cohen's Gmail account, Google declined to produce data stored on servers outside the United States. A few weeks later, the president signed the Cloud Act, giving U.S. law enforcement new ways to pursue data stored overseas.
All right. Badly in need of an ally, the president found one at his front door. The president of Brazil, whose combative political persona echoes President Trump's, fawned over this American counterpart at the White House yesterday.
BRIGGS: The two leaders echoed one another, airing a litany of grievances. Mr. Trump denouncing big social media companies, complaining they're biased against the GOP.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It seems to be if they're conservative, if they're Republicans, if they are in a certain group, there's discrimination -- and big discrimination. 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: That, even though Twitter is clearly his biggest megaphone.
The president's statement came hours after Facebook apologized to White House social media 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" mirrored his role model on several topics, including the free press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAIR BOLSONARO, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (through translator): And may I say that Brazil and the United States stand side-by-side in their efforts to ensure liberties in 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 refusing, once again, to let John McCain rest in peace. He tweeted twice about the late senator over the weekend and then was asked about it in the Oval Office.
TEXT (DONALD TRUMP, TWITTER): Spreading the fake and totally discredited Dossier is, unfortunately, a very dark stain against John McCain. Ken Starr, former independent counsel -- he had far worse stains than this, including thumbs down on repeal and replace after years of campaigning to repeal and replace!
So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) last in his class (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the fake dossier to the FBI and media hoping to have it printed before the election. He and the Dems, working together, failed as usual. Even the fake news refused this garbage!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm very unhappy that he didn't repeal and replace Obamacare, 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 are 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, including the man who lost the 2008 Republican nomination to McCain, Sen. Mitt Romney. Quote, "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. You can read it yourself here -- or at least the parts that are suitable for television.
TEXT: Your husband was a traitorous piece of warmongering s*** and I'm glad he's dead. Hope your Miss Piggy-looking daughter chokes to death on the next burger she stuffs down her fat neck too, c***.
BRIGGS: 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 could see."
ROMANS: I found that so awful -- just awful. That family is still in mourning.
Her husband is a war hero. You can't rewrite that history. You can't rebrand that as fake news.
BRIGGS: Every day a new low. Let's bring in Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of "Inside Elections" and a CNN political analyst.
ROMANS: Hi, Nathan.
NATHAN GONZALES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, "INSIDE ELECTIONS": Good morning.
BRIGGS: I want to spin this all forward because it's not surprise -- the deplorable comments of the president about American war hero and former POW, John McCain.
But how might this impact 2020, per se? I mean, can you see Cindy McCain standing on a stage with Joe Biden at some point? Are there going to be more conservatives other than Mitt Romney that step up and draw a line in the sand here?
GONZALES: Well, I mean, as you said, I'm not surprised and I don't think you all are surprised. I mean, the president always needs to have the last word and even when someone has passed away six months ago he feels like he still needs to get in -- get in the last word.
You know, sadly, I think Sen. Romney is probably in the minority when it comes to Republicans. I think the Republican Party has largely become a following of President Trump. And I know that even when Sen. McCain was still alive and was battling health issues and battling for his life, at rallies when the president would talk about Sen. McCain the crowd was on his side -- on the president's side.
And so, the tweet that Cindy McCain was retweeting and talking about, I think that's almost par for the course even though that's not -- and so, fast-forwarding to next year, sure -- I mean, I think we could see Cindy McCain at a -- at a Democratic Convention. There are always a couple of people from sort of the other party that join, but I'm not sure it's going to change a lot of minds.
ROMANS: McCain certainly under the president's skin. I mean, that's what we can tell is that John McCain --
BRIGGS: Yes, no doubt about that, still to this day.
ROMANS: -- gone but not forgotten.
I want to talk a little bit about Kamala Harris and her rise in the polls. Look at these numbers. Since December, she's up 10 points among Democrats, up five points among Independents, and a big bounce of nine points among women.
What do you make of these new poll numbers on Kamala Harris?
[05:40:00] GONZALES: Well, the first thing I think that as we talk about this for the next year-plus, I think we need to remember that we don't have a national election, that we have a -- this is going to be a state-by-state, caucus-by-caucus or primary-by-primary process. But I think this gives us an initial indication of where the field stands. I think that Sen. Harris is clearly either the bottom of the first tier or the top of the second tier, depending on how you want to place it. She got a good bump out of her announcement. Not all of these candidates have gotten a similar bump than what she has.
And I think she's well-positioned at this very early stage.
ROMANS: Yes.
GONZALES: You know, she's not -- she doesn't have the name I.D. of a Vice President Biden or a Bernie Sanders but I think she has -- she's shown some growth and has the potential for even more growth maybe, in part, because she's not just -- she's more -- she's not just a middle- aged or aging white guy in a party that's increasingly embracing diversity and the role of women.
BRIGGS: Kamala Harris was on Jimmy Kimmel last night and talked about a whole host of issues but finally came around to the man she will run against if she gets the nomination -- President Trump -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I also believe that what voters are going to want is they are going to want that there is someone who has the proven ability to prosecute the case against this administration --
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": Yes.
HARRIS: -- and this president.
KIMMEL: Yes, people do want it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: What caught me there is there's not a whole lot of chatter about President Trump out there on the campaign trail. What we do hear about is eliminating the Electoral College this week, more justices on the Supreme Court, the Green New Deal --
ROMANS: Medicare for All.
BRIGGS: -- Medicare for All, reparations.
Why so much focus on these litmus tests and not a lot of talk or attention to President Trump?
GONZALES: Well, I think the Democratic Party is universally against President Trump. I don't think there's a -- there's not a candidate in the field that is somehow in favor of him and so there's not -- it's not a point of distinction. I think when you have a crowded field each candidate is looking for a way to distinguish himself or herself from the field, and so that's why we're talking about other issues.
But I do think voters, particularly Democrats, want to defeat President Trump. They do not want him to have a second term. And so, finding this -- finding someone who has the right either persona or ability to take on the president when they get on those debate stages in the general election I think is important. And that's one thing that Democratic primary and caucusgoers are thinking about, even at this early stage.
ROMANS: Yes. You know, Trump, yesterday, was taking a victory lap for that 71 percent of people polled by CNN --
BRIGGS: Retweeting our poll.
ROMANS: -- found that they -- that the economy is good. I mean, that's something that he is really going to hold onto heading into the election.
BRIGGS: And should, yes.
ROMANS: It's so interesting to me because when I look at these numbers he's -- I mean, he's right. I mean, the economy is good right now -- there's no question.
BRIGGS: It's been good for years.
ROMANS: The stock market's up. The wages are up, growing the fastest since 2009. But his approval ratings don't reflect that level of good --
BRIGGS: Just over 40 percent.
ROMANS: So I think that's interesting.
GONZALES: Yes, and I think -- I think that's because Democrats are not going to give the president credit for anything. We could have the greatest economy in a generation of more and Democrats are going to say it's in spite of the president, not because of him. Republicans are going to give him credit for everything, even if the economy slumps a little bit.
BRIGGS: Sure.
GONZALES: So I think it's about those Independents, who they don't like the tweets.
ROMANS: Yes.
GONZALES: They don't like it when he goes after McCain, but they're balancing that with the economy. And they're going to be a big factor when we get to the 2020 general election.
BRIGGS: Well, GDP growth the same in 2015 as it was in '18, to make their argument.
Nathan Gonzales, thanks for being here -- appreciate it.
ROMANS: Nice to see you.
GONZALES: No problem.
ROMANS: Important medical news today for young families. The FDA approving the first drug to treat postpartum depression.
Zulresso will be administered as a continuous intravenous infusion over the course of 60 hours. Now, it rebalances hormones that spike during pregnancy and plummet after childbirth. The drug has been shown to work within hours.
The treatment will cost, on average, $34,000 per patient. That's before discounts.
Postpartum depression affects an amazing one in nine new mothers. This medication will be available in June.
BRIGGS: I couldn't believe that number -- one in nine.
ROMANS: One in nine, yes.
BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, three kids saved from a burning building in Iowa.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop him.
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BRIGGS: Oh -- ahead, jumped from a window into the arms of police.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he is. There he is. Come on. I got him.
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[05:48:32] BRIGGS: CNN has obtained surveillance video that sheds more light on the deadly terrorist attack in New Zealand. We should warn you some of these images may be disturbing.
CNN's Ivan Watson live in Christchurch tonight with the exclusive details. Hi, Ivan.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Dave.
Police here say that they intercepted the suspect as he was on his way to attack a third target. And we're learning from this exclusive footage that we obtained that he was shooting at victims on the way between the first two mosques that he attacked.
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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.
[05:50:02] 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: Now, one of the things we've learned from this video is you can hear sirens there and that backs up the police statements that they were rushing to the scene within five-six minutes of the first emergency call. And the police say it was only 21 minutes from the first call to when they were able to apprehend the suspect. But by then, he'd already succeeded in killing at least 50 innocent people -- Dave and Christine.
BRIGGS: Ivan Watson live tonight at Christchurch. People still showing their respects at just about 11:00 p.m. there. Thanks, Ivan.
ROMANS: All right, 10 minutes to the top of the hour.
New branding from the White House for Medicare for All. M4A slammed as socialist Democratic folly in a new economic report from the White House. The Council of Economic Advisers says, "M4A will be neither more efficient nor cheaper than the current system, and it could adversely affect health.
Under the Medicare for All proposal the federal government, of course, would provide coverage to all Americans at virtually no cost.
The White House says the program would add $2.4 trillion to federal spending by the year 2022. Trump's 2020 budget, however, reduces Medicare spending by $845 billion over 10 years.
The administration wants increased competition and wants to require patients to foot at least part of their health care bills. That's the administration's solution.
Now, the White House, though, also taking a victory lap for the economy under Trump and forecasting growth each year for the next decade of three percent, which some economists find too optimistic.
(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 three 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: And to be clear, that White House growth forecast -- those forecasts assume more deregulation making individual tax cuts permanent -- they are not right now -- and a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan.
All right, Peloton hit with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for using songs without permission. Peloton sells stationary bikes and provides a monthly streaming service for members to livestream different classes while they cycle.
Now, a group of music publishers representing several artists is suing Peloton for copyright infringement. The lawsuit seeks more than $150 million in damages.
Peloton told "The Wall Street Journal" yesterday, "We just received the complaint this morning and we are evaluating it. Peloton has great respect for songwriters and artists."
And, of course, the music is key to the whole thing. I mean --
BRIGGS: We love the Peloton -- yes.
ROMANS: -- these spin classes where you have your favorite artists. You can even sort the rides by whether it's a 90s ride or its Britney Spears or whether it's country music --
BRIGGS: Sure. Country music, if you're me -- yes.
ROMANS: -- or whether it's British rock. So the music is a key part of this selling point, yes.
BRIGGS: They're going to have to pay up here, I would assume.
We'll be right back.
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[05:57:27] BRIGGS: Live pictures now of some breaking news.
That huge fire burning for nearly three days at a Texas petrochemical plant is finally out after nearly three days. The plant owner, ITC, says firefighters are still spraying foam and water on the tanks to help cool them and prevent reignition. We are told the air quality readings are currently well below hazardous levels.
No word yet on whether schools in Deer Park and surrounding communities remained closed today as previously announced. ROMANS: Florida prosecutors offering a plea deal to New England
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and 24 other men accused of soliciting prostitution at a Jupiter day spa.
Now, to get the charges dropped, Kraft and the others would have to admit that they would have been found guilty at trial. It's not clear if the 77-year-old billionaire would accept such a deal. Kraft has denied he committed any crime.
BRIGGS: Nebraska state governor has submitted an expedited emergency declaration for relief in the catastrophic flooding there. At least 95 percent of Nebraska still reeling from last week's storms. Flood records have been shattered in 17 places in Nebraska.
Check out this time-lapse video in the city of Lincoln. Flood restricting the city's water supply and swallowing an entire power pole. Flooding also in 14 states across the region.
ROMANS: All right. Over in Des Moines, Iowa, police save three kids from an apartment fire. Heavy smoke prevented them from entering that building so they positioned themselves outside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send him down. I got him. Yes, drop him, drop him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: None of the children or the officers were injured. A shout- out to those lifesaving officers Cole Johnson, Craig Vasquez, Tyler Kelley, and Casey Sanders.
BRIGGS: And no idea how old the children were but it sounded -- it sounded like awfully young ones.
ROMANS: That's a little baby there.
All right, thanks for joining us, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Enjoy the first day of spring. Here's "NEW DAY".
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mueller is continuing to push forward in the court in parallel. He's wrapping up this investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's possible investigators were monitoring Cohen's transmissions before the raid on his apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were tracking his phones calls. If I was Donald Trump, I would be scared.
TRUMP: I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be.
LT. COL. RALPH PETERS (RET.): John McCain remains a man Trump could never be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been the president's approach and it resonates with many people.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, March 20th.
END
