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Hussle Vigil Ends in Stampede; Harris Raises $12 Million; Equal Pay Day focuses on Women's Salaries; Saudi Government Pays Khashoggi's Children; Software Fix Weeks Away for Boeing. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 02, 2019 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:14] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: We are expecting an update from the LAPD in about two hours on the manhunt for the suspect in the murder, the shooting death, of Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle. Police are looking for this man, we have a picture, 29-year-old Eric Holder, of course no relation to the former attorney general. The alleged gunman was identified just hours after a stampede broke out at a vigil for Hussle, that's it there, in Los Angeles Monday night.

Nick Watt has the latest.

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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Los Angeles police now identifying a suspect in the killing of Nipsey Hussle. Twenty-nine- year-old Eric Holder is wanted in connection with the rapper's murder. Security camera video just obtained by CNN shows the suspect walking up to hustle and two other men as they stood outside the rapper's store, firing at them multiple times before running to a nearby alley and fleeing in a car driven by an unidentified female.

"The Los Angeles Times" citing law enforcement sources reports the gunman and Hussle got into a fight before the shooting.

The medical examiner says that Hussle died within an hour from gunshot wounds to his head and torso.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never been like all distraught over somebody like this, like a rapper, you know what I mean, and it was more -- he was more than just a rapper.

WATT: The beloved rapper's community heartbroken in the wake of his death.

D. JOHNSON, FAN AND COMMUNITY MEMBER: He is someone who put our community on the map. People thought that our community was just about violence and Nipsey put a change to that. He was willing to partner to bring things to this community that we are now going to lose.

WATT: A massive crowd of fans gathering throughout the day to honor Hussle, then chaos erupted Monday night. Hundreds of mourners scattering across the parking lot where Hussle was killed after police say a disturbance incited panic.

Aerial footage captures the crowd fleeing in all directions, shoes and smashed candles left behind. At least 19 injured in the stampede. One person was critically wounded after being hit by a car.

MEGHAN AGUILAR, LAPD SPOKESWOMAN: Absolutely chaotic. Mass panic.

WATT: Mourners carrying the injured as firefighters treated people at the scene.

Police dressed in riot gear rushing in, trying to disburse the crowd and breaking up fights that broke out amid the confusion.

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WATT: As you mentioned, Jim, the LAPD is holding a presser just two hours from now. We hope to hear more about the motive and also about this initiative that Nipsey Hussle was pushing. He wanted to collaborate with the LAPD to try and stop the violence in south Los Angeles. He, of course, died a day before he was due to meet with the LAPD. And they say there is, in fact, a surge. We are told by the LAPD Nipsey Hussle just one of 26 people shot in Los Angeles in just one week.

[09:35:10] Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: My goodness.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: (INAUDIBLE) and irony.

SCIUTTO: And that shooting captured on that video, it's just -- it's incredible to see.

Nick Watt, thanks for covering this story. And we know you're going to stay on top of it.

They say money talks, but does it mean votes? Actually, the first fundraising numbers for many of those White House hopefuls are trickling in, and we'll bring them to you.

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HARLOW: All right, some new signs of strength for one Democratic presidential contender.

SCIUTTO: Senator Kamala Harris, her aides say she pulled in $12 million in the first three months of the 2020 campaign season.

[09:40:00] MJ Lee has more on the numbers.

Certainly quite a haul. Where does this place her in the pantheon of Democratic candidates' fundraisers so far?

MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, certainly this is not small change. $12 million from 218,000 contributions. Very interesting that the press release that they put out was pretty carefully worded. They were really emphasizing the smaller dollar donations, saying that 98 percent of the contributions were less than $100.

But there is so much that we don't know right now. We don't know how much donors ended up maxing out. We don't know how many people ended up giving, say, more than $1,000. And, of course, most importantly, we don't know how her number compares to that of her competitors.

We do know, of course, that Pete Buttigieg raised $7 million according to his campaign in the first quarter. But we don't know what Beto O'Rourke will end up raising or Bernie Sanders. They, of course, raised around $6 million in just the first day.

And then some of her fellow -- Kamala Harris' fellow senators, including Cory Booker or Elizabeth Warren, because so much of this is going to be about the relative, the comparison of what each of the candidates raised.

HARLOW: Sure. Right. And this is a long slog. There's a long way to go and many quarters of fundraising ahead.

LEE: It is.

HARLOW: Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, 36 years old, did something that I don't know if any presidential candidate or exploring a presidential candidacy has done before.

LEE: Yes. Yes, no, this is a fun story. He ended up officiating a wedding. He wrote on FaceBook that there was a couple that was headed to a hospital for a c-section but they wanted to get married first. And so they walked into the mayor's office and asked him to do the honors. And so he did. He wrote that he called in a couple of staffers to be witnesses, he did the paperwork, ended up marrying the couple and then that couple went to the hospital and had the baby delivered. Buttigieg also wrote that this is one of the kinds of moments that he will miss when his term as mayor is up.

HARLOW: Oh, look at that little one.

LEE: It's a fun story. Yes.

SCIUTTO: It's great.

HARLOW: Sweet pea.

SCIUTTO: Can you still marry people if you're president?

LEE: I don't know.

HARLOW: I feel like that's definitely a presidential power.

SCIUTTO: Captains of ships.

LEE: If a mayor can --

SCIUTTO: If a mayor can, probably.

LEE: Right. HARLOW: Someone correct me on Twitter.

Thank you.

SCIUTTO: All right, question for you out there. Please answer for us.

HARLOW: Yes. Yes.

SCIUTTO: MJ Lee, thanks very much.

Today is Equal Pay Day, an important day where men and women can unite to acknowledge and address the real problem our country faces with income discrepancies, which still persist, between working men and women.

HARLOW: Right now --

SCIUTTO: I work with some pretty awesome women. I do.

HARLOW: I work with some pretty awesome men, but it's raising the voices of men and women for real equal pay for equal work that is going to change things.

Looking at the numbers, they're pretty sad still. Right now women make around 80 cents to every dollar that a man makes.

So, what is actually changing? What still needs to be done?

Christine Romans is with us for more.

And I think it's important, it's not just between men and women, right, it's disparate in pay among women of different races as well.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, so why is this Equal Pay Day today? I mean it's a symbolic day, you guys. This is the day today that on average the statistical woman will catch up with what a man made for 2018. Takes her all the way into April of 2019 to make what the typical man doing the same job made last year. So that's what this Equal Pay Day is really all about, women making 80 cents for every man's dollar.

And when you look, Poppy, you're so right, over the course of a 40- year career, look at the disparities for women, different kinds of women, different categories or sectors of women. Women overall earn about 400 grand less than men because they're paid a little bit less year after year. Latina women, a lot less. And black women, about $950,000.

You know, companies have been working hard to address this, you guys. Ever since I've been working, right, this has been a topic of conversation. Pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, how women negotiate different than men. Companies are working hard to try to be more transparent on how they pay people. Some cities and states even, a few, have decided that they are making it illegal to ask a candidate for a job. What did you make at your last job? Because, for women, that means they will always make a little bit less. It never levels the playing field there.

But we've got a lot of work to do. Poppy -- you guys, we've been talking about this for 20 years. We've got a lot of work to do, 80 cents on the dollar.

HARLOW: Yes.

ROMANS: It's not an easy problem to fix, but you see some interesting kind of cool experiments out there trying to address it.

HARLOW: Well, you know what can go a long way, it's what we're seeing in the U.K., mandating that big companies show their books in terms of what men and women make in equal jobs.

ROMANS: Yes.

HARLOW: That's mandated in the U.K. and some other European countries. Will that come here, I don't know?

ROMANS: I don't know.

HARLOW: But, could it help? It's worth the debate.

ROMANS: But maybe forcing men to take the same amount of time off as women do too, and all partners to take time off for the birth of the child so there's not a -- you know, there's not a penalty for having babies, that's important, too.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I'm for that.

HARLOW: My husband did it. Hi, honey.

SCIUTTO: I did it.

HARLOW: There you go. My husband and my -- and my work husband. All right. Christine, thank you.

ROMANS: Bye, guys.

[09:44:45] SCIUTTO: We have new reporting in Jamal Khashoggi's children receiving money and homes as apparent compensation for their father's murder, which the CIA blames on senior Saudi leadership. But who is holding the Saudi government responsible for the murder?

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SCIUTTO: Six months ago today, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. Now "The Washington Post," who he wrote for, is reporting that his children are receiving monthly payments and property from the Saudi government as compensation for that murder.

On October 2nd, last year, Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get marriage papers while his fiance waited outside. He never left. His body still hasn't been found.

The U.S. intelligence community believes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed Khashoggi's murder, but the Trump White House has not yet taken any action against the crown prince. It has also not answered U.S. law in determining who is responsible.

[09:50:06] Joining me now, "Washington Post" editorial page editor Fred Hiatt.

Fred, first of all, thanks for taking the time today.

You knew him. He worked for you. I imagine for you and your staff, this is an extremely difficult day.

FRED HIATT, EDITOR PAGE EDITOR, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Thanks, Jim. And thanks for having me.

It's difficult because it's the six-month anniversary. We all thing about Jamal today. But it's especially difficult because there's been no accountability in those six months since the murder. And it's kind of unfathomable when you think this was a really kind of uniquely barbaric crime to lure somebody to a diplomatic compound, which is supposed to be a place of safety, to torture, murder, dismember. And the people who were responsible for the crime are still at large.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

As you know, two months ago, under the Magnitsky Act, which is U.S. law, the Trump administration was required by law to make a determination as to responsibility for the killing. This despite the fact that we know the CIA has assessed that the crown prince ordered this. It's made its own determination. The administration has not. It blew through that deadline.

Do you believe that Trump has given the Saudi leadership, in effect, a pass on Khashoggi's murder?

HIATT: I think he has so far, and I think it's very strange, you know, when you think about it because this isn't the normal case of, oh, sometimes you have to trade human rights for U.S. strategic interests. Everything this crown prince has done in his three years, four years in power has been counter to U.S. interested. The same recklessness that he showed in apparently ordering the murder of Jamal, he has showed in invading Yemen, in kidnapping the prime minister of Beirut and all these other things you're familiar with.

And so what is the United States gaining by covering up for him? The answer is nothing. And at the same time we're giving a pass for a kind of barbaric behavior that, if unchecked, you know, we're going to see all over the world. It's not just the Saudis.

You know, for a long time we've seen dictators who feel comfortable abusing their own people in their own country. There's a new phenomenon now where Putin will use poison gas on a perceived enemy in Salisbury, England, and the Chinese will kidnap somebody they consider a dissident from Thailand. The Saudis now think they can get away with killing somebody in Turkey. If the United States and other democracies don't stand up to this, nobody is going to be safe anywhere. SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this. For months we've heard of action on The

Hill in Congress to make up for, in effect, the Trump administration's inaction. And you've heard that from Republican lawmakers. Lindsey Graham among the most vocal, a Trump supporter. In your view, has Congress failed in its duty to step in here, and do you have any hope that they will?

HIATT: I still do have hope. I think they've done more than the administration. You know, we've seen votes on restricting aid for military support to Yemen. We have seen votes raising questions about the U.S. attempts to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in nuclear energy. And, you know, I think at some point these senators, including Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio and others who have said that this crime was unacceptable, they're going to have to confront the fact that the administration is just not doing anything. And if the United States is going to respond, it's going to have to be Congress.

SCIUTTO: Fred Hiatt, again, our thoughts with you and your team. We think about Jamal Khashoggi often. It's a story we're going to continue to cover.

HIATT: Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: In other news we're following, a fix that was supposed to take days will now take much longer and keep Boeing's popular 737 Max planes on the ground.

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[09:58:19] HARLOW: All right, Boeing 737 Max jets will now stay on the ground for weeks to come. This is after a review shows the software fix for the planes' control system is not ready yet. This is your reporting, and it's big.

SCIUTTO: Well, it's interesting because last week Boeing was telling me that the software fix was coming within days. They were doing a final review, it was my understanding. And they discovered another issue that needs to be addressed. And that their estimate is it's going to take weeks to address that issue.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Tom Foreman, you know this very well. Do we know how significant an issue that is? And how long this latest delay will be?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, we don't.

What we do know is how significant the bigger issue is to Boeing and no doubt part of the trigger for this whole thing. Remember, they're facing a triple threat right now. They have to solve this problem. This is their most popular jet in the world. This is the latest advancement of it. They have so much of the company's future riding on the success of this jet, so there is no advantage to rushing to get this done and then finding something else wrong.

The second threat, they're under investigation by the Justice Department and transportation officials. This whole process of approving this jet is being looked at. Now, that's not just Boeing, but that's the FAA. They've got to look at all of that.

And then, thirdly, there is the legal threat from around the world, from companies that are saying, we invested in these planes. We need to know that they're going to be safe and when they're going to be back in the air or you may have to compensate us. One company at least trying to cancel its orders.

[09:59:47] And, of course, the potential lawsuits from the hundreds of people who were lost, their families out there in this. There is good reason for Boeing to be treading carefully right now, Jim, as you found out. And we have no ideas whether they -- when they say weeks, do they mean two weeks, three weeks, four weeks or longer? We don't know. But if they get it wrong again, then they have a much longer term problem of much greater depth.

END