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Trump Raises Prospect of Election Fraud; Chinese Woman Illegally Entered Mar-a-Lago; Lori Lightfoot on Her Historic Win; Helen Costa-Giles Shares Her Story in "Turning Points;" Ethiopian Air Pilots Followed Procedures; Teens Teach Autistic Boy to Skateboard. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 03, 2019 - 08:30   ET

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


[08:30:00]

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Right. A -- and fraud by people affiliated with the Republicans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

TOOBIN: Not by the Democrats.

OK. So -- so the -- so just the factual assertion is wrong.

The -- the more sinister, scary prospect is what does this mean in the presidential election of 2020 if it turns out that the Democrat wins, does the president accept the results?

Michael Cohen, as we talked about earlier in the show, said in his testimony a couple of weeks ago he worries that the president would not accept that result. And comments like that from the fundraiser last night suggest that he is setting the stage for challenging the results.

I don't know what you do about it, but I know you just talk --

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Just be on notice. I mean I think just talk about it because I think --

TOOBIN: Call it out.

CAMEROTA: Call it out, because I just think that it's dangerous and I think that it is ominous what Michael Cohen said that he -- there would not be a peaceful transition of power. So --

TOOBIN: And not -- and not based on any actual facts.

BERMAN: So, Seung Min, this was part of the speech last night to the NRCC. And I guess the president didn't think it was televised. He actually suggested at one point this whole speech is going to leak out. Well, it was being broadcast live on CSPAN.

CAMEROTA: Yes. BERMAN: There were pool cameras there covering the whole thing. But that was just one of the odd things he talked about. You know, he also talked about windmills giving people cancer. You know, he joked about Joe Biden. It's a little bit odd. I mean the stream of consciousness here was even by Trumpian terms unusual.

SEUNG MIN KIM, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": It was a little bit unusual, but I actually sat through that two-hour speech at CPAC in suburban Washington where it was similarly rambly (ph) and questionable and kind of in that Trump style. And a lot of what he said last night is -- are kind of fixtures of his campaign rallies and which are undoubtedly going to step up in the coming weeks.

But I thought there was one moment at last night's dinner that I thought was interesting where the president kind of hints at a moment of weakness, and that's on healthcare. He has, you know, proclaimed for days that he's -- the Republican Party's going to be the party of healthcare before he walked it back, punted a vote until after the elections. But he acknowledged that Democrats currently have the upper issue, which is correct. I mean Democrats largely won the House on a healthcare focused message. Public polling shows that the public trusts Democrats more on the healthcare issue. And the president acknowledged that is why the Republicans have to kind of try to claim that healthcare mantle, win the election and try to push forward their own plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Now, we've talked many times before about the difficulties of doing that. Mitch McConnell actually kind of talked him off that in a series of phone conversations over the last couple of days. But we know that healthcare is going to be at least a rhetorical fixture of the president's speeches for the -- for the next several months of the election.

TOOBIN: But -- but, I mean, is it -- is it realistic. And I ask this as a question because, you know, after 2016, I don't know what people vote on. But the idea that I can run for president, Donald Trump, as -- with a secret plan to fix healthcare, I mean, is that credible? Is that something that will actually work in a presidential campaign?

KIM: Well, I think that what it does is -- what the president is doing by saying that, oh, we'll vote on healthcare after the election, is that he is also kind of making this a referendum on healthcare, which is what, again, Republicans don't want to do. They would rather run on the economy. They want to emphasize the appointment of conservative jurists to the courts. And healthcare is not an issue that they would -- is an issue they would rather not take up. They may be forced into it by various court decisions, but for now they would rather -- much rather be talking about something else.

CAMEROTA: We'll see if voters like a surprise, if they vote on a surprise, much like "Let's Make a Deal." Like, what's inside the box?

TOOBIN: Right.

CAMEROTA: We'll see if they like that in 2020. Josh, let's talk about something that it's hard for us to know this

morning how seriously to take this breach at Mar-a-Lago. The fact that this Chinese woman showed up with two Chinese passports, four cell phones, malware, all -- different computer devices, a laptop and made it into Mar-a-Lago, what do you make of that?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: So I think there are two issues here. There is the physical security issue and then a possible technical, you know, certain here. On the physical side, we know that, you know, there was a failure of the system here where you have someone who's able to get through these series of check points and then up to the reception desk. Now, you know, we heard that statement from the Secret Service that they put out saying that, look, we're not the ones who determined who had -- who has access to this facility. That's up to Mar-a-Lago. So it looks as though the Mar-a-Lago resort dropped the ball here when it comes to letting this person on the facility.

Now, the Secret Service, you know, screens for weapons and the like and, of course, anyone who gets in close proximity to the president, that's a whole other issue. But there was a failure there.

Now, when it gets to the possible national security issue here, when it comes to the cyber side, we just don't know. Was this someone working for a foreign intelligence service? Was she working on her own? A lot of questions remaining.

BERMAN: And, again, the issue here is, by and large, the president wants people at Mar-a-Lago, particularly people who pay.

[08:35:06] CAMEROTA: But maybe not Chinese spies.

BERMAN: No. Probably not Chinese spies.

CAMEROTA: All right.

BERMAN: All right, thank you all very much.

Chicago making history last night. We will speak to the mayor-elect, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A double dose of history last night in Chicago. That city elected a black woman, gay, mayor. Lori Lightfoot beat the establishment, winning in a landslide victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), MAYOR-ELECT OF CHICAGO: Out there tonight a lot of little girls and boys are watching. They're watching us and they're seeing the beginning of something, well, a little bit different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The new mayor-elect of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, joins me now for her first national interview.

Congratulations, mayor-elect. You didn't just win, you won huge. There was a blowout. Were you expecting this?

LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), MAYOR-ELECT OF CHICAGO: Well, we were optimistic that we would have a fairly comfortable margin, but I don't think anybody could have predicted the landslide victory that we got.

BERMAN: And we talk about firsts. You had a double dose of firsts. You're the first black woman to be elected mayor of Chicago and you will be the first gay mayor of Chicago. Has that --

LIGHTFOOT: Yes.

BERMAN: Has that reality set in? What does that mean to you?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, you know, this is something, obviously, that we've been talking about and the historic nature of the election for some time. But I think the most historic thing was beating the old entrenched Chicago machine and getting such a resounding mandate for change. That gives me incredible joy and makes me feel very humble.

[08:40:13] BERMAN: Now, I don't know if anyone's told you this, but we all have the sense that being mayor of Chicago has got to be one of the hardest jobs in the country. It's a big city, a lot of diverse interests there and, of course, there are the challenges facing the trust deficit that exist between law enforcement and the community that it protects.

LIGHTFOOT: Yes.

BERMAN: You've served on two -- at least two police boards here. What will you do to restore that trust?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, I think you have to lead by example and keep pushing the police department to extend itself to the residents of this city. I think the burden really falls upon them.

But I think that also means that we've got to support and give better training to our police officers to help them understand how to bridge that divide better. And we've got lots of different ways in which we can do it. We'll certainly be borrowing from other cities like New York. But I feel confident that we're going to be able to continue to make progress. Really, our children's lives depend upon it.

BERMAN: We've all seen the superintendent, Johnson, in regards to the Jussie Smollett case. Again, that's made national headlines.

LIGHTFOOT: Yes.

BERMAN: Will he stay on the job?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, what I've said is, look, we -- we have a lot of challenges to face and he's very well aware of it. We're going to be heading soon into the summer violence season. After that's over, we'll evaluate at that point. But I'm going to be working closely with the superintendent and his executive team to make sure that we keep our neighborhoods safe.

BERMAN: So no guarantees past the summer.

Again, a national issue here, the outgoing mayor, Rahm Emanuel, in 2017, and this was surrounding the DACA issue, he declared Chicago to be a Trump-free zone. In other words, we're going to do our only thing. You know, we're not going to ask the federal government for help anymore. We're going to do our one thing and let the chips fall where they may.

In the Lightfoot administration, will Chicago be a Trump-free zone?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, look, we've got to do everything we can to speak to and protect our immigrant communities. I spoke at length about that last night. But I also want to make sure that the -- as the city of Chicago gets its fair share of federal tax dollars. So we're going to stand strong and speak our values and we're going to keep pushing back against hate, but I'm also going to make sure that we are treated fairly by the federal government, and that starts with making sure that we build good, strong relationships with our congressional delegation and our two senator, and building bridges where we can.

BERMAN: So -- and I wanted to go back to the historical nature of this election. Can you imagine being a kid growing up and seeing someone like you on stage, like you were last night, declaring victory in the mayor's race in Chicago? What would it have meant to a 12 year old Lori Lightfoot?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, it would have been a remarkable thing and I would have been -- it would have been something I had talked about with my parents and my classmates and I hope our children are watching and I want to make sure that I am the leader that respects the fact that kids all over the city and hopefully all over the country really understand that they can do anything that they want to do that they set their minds to do as long as they've got good, strong support from adults and love to support them.

BERMAN: Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot, congratulations on your win.

LIGHTFOOT: Thank you.

BERMAN: Get some sleep while you can. It's a tough job. Thanks so much for being with us.

LIGHTFOOT: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, John, we do have some breaking news right now because an American tourist has been abducted overseas. So we'll bring you the breaking details that are just coming into our newsroom, next.

But first, a doctor's dire warning inspired one woman to motivate her neighborhood into shape. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has her story in today's "Turning Points."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HELEN COSTA-GILES, LOST 90 POUNDS: So every morning I come out of my garage, just before 5:00, and I write the workout on my fridge. I'm literally the fittest and healthiest I've been in my entire life.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): But four years before Helen Costa-Giles hit her peak condition, she was at her worst. At five foot tall and weigh 220 pounds, a yearly doctor's appointment turned into a moment Helen will never forget.

COSTA-GILES: He shown me all of my bloodwork, with my LDLs, my cholesterol. My sugar levels were off the chart. He just told me that I was going to be chronically ill and that was enough. It was fear that set in.

GUPTA: Helen purged her house of processed foods and began cooking with fresh ingredients. Within six months, she says, she dropped almost 60 pounds. But Helen still wasn't satisfied.

COSTA-GILES: I would take pictures every Sunday and I was like, oh, I kind of look like Gumby. I probably should start working out.

GUPTA: All that was missing was a little motivation.

COSTA-GILES: So I put a post on my neighborhood FaceBook and I said, hey, anybody want to work out with me at 4:00 a.m. And we went from two to four to 10 to 12.

GUPTA: Today, Helen still hosts free workouts in her garage three times a week.

COSTA-GILES: I think once you help somebody else in their own health journey, it does a lot for you. I speak about my picture now, it's the most beautiful picture in the world. That day was day one.

[08:45:05] GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: All right, we do have some breaking news for you right now because an American tourist has been kidnapped in Uganda. Ugandan officials say the unidentified woman and her Ugandan driver were taken at gunpoint by four armed men at Queen Elizabeth National Park during a game drive. The kidnappers are demanding a half a million dollars ransom. Ugandan police have dispatched what they call an elite squad to track down the abductors and the victims. No word yet from the State Department about this breaking story. We'll bring you more details as we have them.

BERMAN: All right, the pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, the one that crashed, they initially followed Boeing's emergency procedures last month, but still could not stop the 737 Max 8 jet from going down. This is according to a new report this morning in "The Wall Street Journal."

[08:50:10] Also, a Senate committee is now investigating whether FAA inspectors were properly trained on the 737 Max software.

CNN's Tom Foreman is live in Washington.

And these are both significant developments, Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They absolutely are. Let's start with the first one. If, in fact, this "Wall Street Journal" report is correct and the pilots did follow the procedure, that presents a whole new level of problem to Boeing because Boeing has argued along, and as has the FAA, in a sense, that if pilots had followed the proper procedure, that was considered adequate to deal with this problem with this self-leveling system called MCAS (ph), which some believe made the plane dive into the ground.

So, that's the first problem here. If they followed procedure, then that procedure proved inadequate or possibly proved inadequate based on the other material. Remember, these are preliminary findings. This can change as we move forward.

But, secondly, it also gives more energy to all these investigations right now into not just how Boeing handled this, how this plane was certified, how it got into the air, but also how the FAA was involved. Now, I want to have one quick quote from the chairman of the science -- the Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation. According to information obtained from whistleblowers and a review of documents, the FAA may have been notified about these deficiencies as early as August 2018. That means they would have known about this before the Lion Air crash in Indonesia. This is all blockbuster news right now, John, and certain to keep this story rolling for at least weeks, if not months.

CAMEROTA: All right, please stay on it for us. Tom Foreman, thank you very much.

FOREMAN: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: So a group of teenagers teach a five-year-old boy with autism how to ride a skateboard on his birthday and it's all captured on video. That little boy's mom will tell us the rest of the story in "The Good Stuff," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:55:53] BERMAN: Time now for "The Good Stuff."

A day at the skate park turned into a birthday that one young boy will never forget. Five-year-old Carter Burrnell (ph), who has high functioning autism and ADHD was riding his scooter when a group of teenagers showed up. You can see it here, they taught him how to ride a mini skateboard. They encouraged him, picking him up when he fell. And they even sang him happy birthday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIDS (singing): Happy birthday, dear Carter, happy birthday to you.

BERMAN: All right, it's getting a little dusty in here.

Joining us now is Carter's mother, Kristen Braconi.

Kristen, thank you so much for being with us.

I've seen that video now several times and each time it gets me.

Just tell me what you were thinking, what was going through your head when you saw these teenagers play with your son, interact with your son, delight in your son at that skate park.

KRISTEN BRACONI, MOTHER OF FIVE-YEAR-OLD SON WITH AUTISM: Hi. Good morning. Thank you for having me.

That day I never expected anything other than to give my son a fun day at the park. My expectations were nonexistence. I was really hoping that, you know, we could get him to interact with other kids and work on the social aspect.

When we showed up, there was nobody there. And the next thing I knew, there was a group of middle schoolers and Carter had said, oh, no. And, you know, kind of got a little discouraged. I think he was intimidated.

And before I knew it, they were interacting all on their own with him. They had no idea who they were. I had never seen them before in my life. And, you know, they didn't know anything was going on with Carter. They didn't know the woman standing with me was his behavioral therapist.

And it's not something that I go around and I tell everyone. I don't want anyone to look at him differently or treat him differently. He is just a wonderful absolutely amazing little boy and he's the love of my life. And these kids, what they did for him, I can't even put into words the joy that I felt to see the kindness that young kids at that age could show my son.

CAMEROTA: That is so touching, Kristen. And I know you want to commend these adolescent kids and teenagers and their parents because, you know, clearly they were taught something right.

BRACONI: Yes. That was my whole intention. I got lucky enough to capture these moments on video. And usually I'm not good about recording anything. But, you know, Carter had said, watch me, and I was getting him go around and going down the ramps. And when he came up to where the kids were sitting, I never expected them to start singing to him to make him feel so absolutely special.

BERMAN: And, of course, we should note that they've -- you found the kids. The police helped you find these kids. They're getting a pizza party out of it.

Very quickly, you told us what it means to you. What did this mean to Carter? What did he say about this after?

BRACONI: Carter always asks to go and see Gavin (ph) at the skate park. He wants to see him. He wants to hug him. He wants to talk with him. I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And without that chance meeting at the park, I would have never known that he lived right in my community.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for being with us, Kristen Braconi. Thank you for telling the story and thank you for showing us that there are great people out there who will do great things for no reason other than it's the right thing to do.

BRACONI: Thank you.

BERMAN: Really appreciate your being here (ph).

CAMEROTA: Say hi to Carter for us.

BRACONI: Yes. We will. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: You're welcome.

All right, there's a big vote on Capitol Hill on the Mueller report. "NEWSROOM" picks up right now.

[09:00:07] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.