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Tiger Woods Wins Masters; Sarah Sanders Says Congress Not Smart Enough to Assess President Trump's Tax Returns; Pete Buttigieg Rises in Recent Polls; President Trump Makes Controversial Tweet on Rep. Ilhan Omar. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 15, 2019 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to comprehend right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The public has a right to know whether their president is working in the interests of the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think Congress are smart enough to look through President Trump's taxes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like many of the arguments for this White House. It's really chum in the water for their base.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole house was shaking. We came outside and everything was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mobile homes either aren't there or so badly mangled that you can't really recognize what they are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know what else to do. I've never been homeless today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota on John Berman.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, April the 15th, 8:00 in the east. I'm Poppy Harlow along with my friend, John Avlon. We are in for John and Alisyn this hour. We're so glad you're with us.

Up first, the story that everyone is talking about this morning. Tiger Woods clinching his fifth Masters and 15th major title, ending a decade-long championship drought. The embattled sports legend pulling off one of the most stunning comebacks in sports history.

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: And out other top story, a deadly tornado outbreak in the southeast U.S. killing eight people. Entire communities ripped to shreds in several states, damaging homes, flipping over trailers, and downing trees and power lines.

Let's begin with CNN's Andy Scholes live in Augusta, Georgia, with more on Tiger Woods' epic win. Andy? ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Epic win is right, John. This was one of the best moments in sports history. Millions of fans all around the world have been waiting so long for this, 11 years, multiple back surgeries, both professional and personal adversity. Many people thought that Tiger Woods would never be back on top of the golf world. But he proved all those doubters wrong, winning his elusive illusive 15th Major here in Augusta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERS)

SCHOLES: It's a putt that caps off one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. Eleven years, nearly 4,000 days since his last major victory, Tiger Woods is a Masters champion once again. The 43-year- old walking off the green to delirious cheers and putting on the green jacket for the fifth time.

Did you ever think this day would come and how does it feel?

TIGER WOODS, 2019 MASTERS TOURNAMENT CHAMPION: I did think it would come, just because of what I did last year. I knew it was in me. Did I know it was going to be this week? No. But I had a good feeling the way I was shaping the golf ball that I was going to be in the mix.

SCHOLES: Praise came pouring in from decorated athletes, avid golfers like President Trump and former President Obama, and golf great Jack Nicklaus, who still holds the record for green jackets with six. The win completing an improbable return to the top after a series of personal scandals that could have been career ending.

WOODS: They did not do these things. I did.

SCHOLES: And debilitating injuries that took a toll on Woods.

WOODS: I could barely walk. I couldn't sit, I couldn't lay down. I really couldn't do much of anything.

SCHOLES: Woods underwent four back surgeries, including a career saving spinal fusion in 2017 that prevented him from swinging a golf club for months. But the former number one would not quit, and is now celebrating another win where he won his first major 22 years ago. Woods sharing an emotional motion with his 10-year-old son Charlie, mirroring the embrace he shared with his late father in 1997.

You joked before that your kids could think of you as the video game golfer they had never seen you win a major. And what was that moment like when your son Charlie jumped in your arms?

WOOD: Surreal. I did the same thing with my dad. And now I'm the dad with my son doing the same thing. So it's amazing how life has evolved and changes. It's hard to comprehend. I'm just a few hours out of I win the tournament. I'm still trying to enjoy it and trying to figure out that I won it. I know I have the green jacket on, but it's still -- I think it's going to take a little time for it to sink in. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES: And speaking with Tiger, it seemed like a giant weight has been now lifted off of his shoulders, guys. I followed him around for much of the weekend. I can't even put into words of how much this means to so many people. I saw hugs, high fives, people were crying when Tiger won. It's just hard to describe the emotion that Tiger Woods brings out in people, and that emotion yesterday was just pure joy.

HARLOW: John loves this story.

AVLON: America loves a comeback. That's one for the ages. Incredible.

HARLOW: Great job, getting that sit-down. No easy feat. We'll talk to Bob Costas about it all coming up.

But let's turn to politics. House Democrats setting a new deadline for the IRS to hand over the president's tax returns. But White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders with a bizarre new line of attack on why she thinks Congress should be denied.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think Congress, particularly not this group of Congressmen and women, are smart enough to look through the thousands of pages that I would assume that President Trump's taxes will be. My guess is most of them don't do their own taxes, and I certainly don't trust them to look through the decades of success that the president has and determine anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:07] HARLOW: Joining us to discuss, some very smart people, David Gregory, CNN political analyst, Ana Navarro, our political commentator, and Jonathan Martin, our political analyst and "New York Times" national political correspondent. David Gregory, maybe she missed the fact that there are at least 10 accountants in Congress, 10 CPAs. You've got folks Brad Sherman, who not only is a CPA but taught tax law at a little school called Harvard. So what gives?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You're right. I'm certainly not smart enough to look at his taxes.

HARLOW: Clearly, they're not giving them to you, David, but Congress is another story.

GREGORY: But I think the argument that Sarah Sanders makes assumes that the whole country is too stupid to understand these taxes, and certainly not bright enough to get what her answer is, which is nothing but a dodge, and a pretty silly one at that. There's obviously expertise on Capitol Hill to review the president's taxes. This is not what this is about. This is the president who doesn't want his taxes revealed. It's not clear why. What it shows about his holdings, about his business affairs going back decades, but he's been willing to buck all political tradition, which he's done in many different ways, to keep the taxes hidden. And now he's happy to have this fight with Congress on the argument that, look, I withheld it during the campaign but I got elected so the American people have spoken about this. Ultimately I think the courts are going to have to speak about this as to whether the president can be compelled to release him.

AVLON: They're certainly setting up a court fight. Ana, I wonder, because a majority of members of Congress who are CPAs are Republicans. How are Republicans reacting to that attack on the third branch of government and their intelligence?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, listen Donald Trump has been bypassing the third branch of government frankly from the moment he got elected. I think it's a mistake. Forget Republican or Democrat. I think because of American elections, because of American voters, because of the need for transparency, because tax returns can tell us so much about the person running and the person who might ultimately be running the U.S. government, it should be a law. It should be required that anybody running for president, certainly anybody nominated by a major party, release their taxes. We need to see what kind of person they are, what charitable contributions they make, if any, what leverage, if any, any organizations or institutions or foreign governments have over them.

This is important information for voters to be able to make an informed decision as to who is going to be the leader of the country. It should be law. Democrats should pass a law requiring, a bill requiring that any candidate has to release tax returns, and then punt it over to the Senate. Let's see what they do. Nothing obviously.

AVLON: Spoiler alert.

NAVARRO: Yes, spoiler alert.

HARLOW: Jonathan Martin, if we can switch gears and talk about Pete Buttigieg, because this is a fascinating story, a fascinating rise. It was weeks ago CNN had the town hall with him, and then everyone including me was mispronouncing his name the next day. But I got it down by now. Your colleague, Alex Burns, in "The Times" has a fascinating deep dive this morning about him, laying out high diametrically opposite he is to the current president, but at the same time pointing out a potential Achilles heel, and that is short on some specifics, but a good fundraiser, a million bucks in the last 24 hours or so. What's your read?

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That he's trying to imitate not the current president, but the past president. This is totally I think an intentional homage to President Obama, who as you recall well, purposely avoided ideological categorization when he ran in --

HARLOW: Hey, Jonathan, forgive me for interrupting. But let's just listen to the two of them side by side, OK, and then you can pick it up on the other side. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I recognize the audacity of doing this as a midwestern millennial mayor.

(APPLAUSE)

BUTTIGIEG: More than a little bold at age 37 to seek the highest office in the land.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I recognize that there is a certain presumption in this, a certain audacity to this announcement. I know that I haven't spent a lot of times learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Jonathan, go for it.

MARTIN: It's pretty intentional homage. It's not just Obama, by the way. Every president in modern history has tried to cast themselves as a Washington outsider who is unsullied by the ways of the beltway, who wanted to tame Washington. Nothing new. But the generational call and embracing the so-called audacity of running as a younger person is very similar to the Obama pitch.

[08:10:05] A little tougher in a field this big. I think it's still a long way to go for him, but certainly he's gotten further sooner than many people expected in the race.

What I'm curious about is two things. First of all, how does he hold off when he's attacked, especially from the left on what you mentioned as a lack of ideas in his candidacy. And secondly, how does he appeal to non-white voters in the Democratic primary who are not following this race 10 months out, who don't live online. That's going to be, I think, his real test.

GREGORY: Can I just underscore, I think what Jonathan says is really important around the generational argument. I think what has been so compelling about Buttigieg is that generational argument. And he's so smart to try to channel Obama because this was someone who was a force in Democratic politics who is last up who also assembled the kind of coalition for Democrats that he, Buttigieg, or any Democrat would like to replicate and that Hillary Clinton could not. And that's the key point.

So the last time this was really successful and durable is when Obama did it. And I think Buttigieg is also making, I actually think his policy thinness right now doesn't matter. People don't vote on specific policy areas unless it's galvanizing specific voters around a particular issue. Right now, people are taking his measure.

And I think he's also talking about, not just a generational argument, about his generation being affected by issues in the world, but how he wants to try to restore the American dream, restore jobs, restore a sense of hope to people who have been left out by this economy. Those are important arguments right now. AVLON: Ana, I want your take on the controversy between President

Trump and Representative Ilhan Omar. Both the president politicizing 9/11 and Representative Omar's own comments, which Democrats are rushing to defend right now.

NAVARRO: The entire thing is horrible. It is horrible that 9/11, such suffering, such death, such distress for so many families and for all America, frankly, should be used and exploited in order to advance a political agenda.

Let's talk about, first, Congressman Omar. She's a congresswoman. She's no longer a community activist. And she is one of the first Muslim women in Congress. There's going to be added scrutiny on her because of that. There's also added notoriety. There's pros and advantages to being the first.

And I think she has got to understand that responsibility. She's got to know that there is a huge magnifying glass over her, and she has got to be very careful about what she says and how she speaks, because it's going to be picked over. That's on her. That's on her to accept that responsibility.

But as far as Trump, I just can't even fathom his level of hypocrisy and inappropriateness. Let's remember Donald Trump's own history with 9/11. This is a guy who lied about seeing Muslims celebrating in the streets of New Jersey right after 9/11. This is a guy who lied about being on site cleaning up rubble. This is a guy who applied for small business aid funds in New York after 9/11. Time and time again he has exploited the 9/11 issue for his personal gain, and it is wrong. It is wrong, 9/11 is a date of reverence. It should be a sacred date for all Americans. It's a date of suffering and a date to reflect and a date to unify, not to divide Americans. So this entire thing needs to stop.

HARLOW: Jonathan, I'm interested in what you think we see going forward from the Democratic Party. So many of the biggest names in the party have run to her defense on this, ones that were not -- were very quick to condemn her words on Israel.

MARTIN: I'm not terribly surprised. I think once President Trump is involved, that leads to a natural rallying effect, especially when he lobs such an incendiary attack. It's a little fascinating to watch the various Democrats and how fast they moved and what exactly they said, because obviously Congressman Omar has made some comments herself about Jewish-Americans, obviously, that are controversial. I think there was a little bit of hesitation among some people in the party.

But once the president has done what he has done, that is going to sort of bring Democrats to her side. I was in Minneapolis last week, and I can tell you talking to Democrats there, there was a sense that she could have a real primary challenge next year, but every time the president goes after her, that lessens the chance she could actually lose in the primary because there will be less of an opening for Democrats to oppose her because the president is against her.

HARLOW: That's interesting.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: What we see here on both sides of this is an opportunity to make an important point that gets totally lost because of how it is communicated.

Congresswoman Omar, I think was making a very important point about what it was like to be a Muslim in America after 9/11; how many Muslims were targeted, including by politicians like Donald Trump, who continue to be targeted by politicians, including Donald Trump.

And she also had been making that point, the way she said it did not show the kind of reverence for 9/11 that I think is befitting anyone in America, certainly a member of Congress, and then in calling -- she deserves to be called out for that.

But in the way that President Trump did it, it completely obliterates that point of calling her out and makes her a target of violence, and conflates what she said was somehow being complicit in 9/11, which is just grotesque. And so that's what we lose in this kind of political dialogue is an ability to call somebody out to make a legitimate point, by complete overstatement.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And it's an important point of the feedback. Finally, before we go, Ana, I've got to ask you, you made "Saturday Night Live," this weekend. Let's get your reaction. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is a good person. This is Paul Rudd at 50, and this is Stephen Miller as a baby. He will eat you from the inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: What was it like watching that?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, to tell you the truth, I'm too old to be up watching "Saturday Night Live." I found out about it until post facto. But you know, for a long time, Latinos have been wanting more representation on TV and certainly on "Saturday Night Live," which is such an iconic program. And I was so happy that there is a woman named Melissa Villasenor who played me and who is a terrific comedian who was there.

So I'm so -- I have been asking for Latino representation for so long, but when she's they're spoofing me, I know have lost my right to be bothered or complain. Look, I am -- I think it's great and unlike Donald Trump, I am very willing to take it all in good fun, and a good ribbing and we can all laugh at it and laughter is good for the soul.

And also what Donald Trump is doing on the border is nasty and it's horrible and needs to stop.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Laughter is good for the soul.

AVLON: Yes.

HARLOW: Ana, I went to bed at 7:45 on Saturday night, so I'm sure you were awake later than I was.

AVLON: Bedtime confessions.

HARLOW: You know, when you've got to --

AVLON: Ana, you've arrived, I think.

HARLOW: You've arrived.

NAVARRO: I am tired from games -- I am so tired from "Game of Thrones" last night. I need to go sleep after this.

HARLOW: Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Much more on Tiger Woods epic come back. So will this momentum continue? Legendary sportscaster Bob Costas is with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:33] HARLOW: All right. This is a comeback story for the ages, Tiger Woods when he his fifth Masters nearly 11 years after winning his last major championship, once the greatest golfer in the world, had a stunning fall from grace after several personal scandals and injuries that nearly ended his career.

With us now, no better voice on this, Bob Costas, the award winning sportscaster and current host and play-by-play announcer for the MLB network. Bob, I am so glad you are here. You know, you listen to the reaction. Steph Curry calls it the greatest comeback in sports. Tennis phenom Serena Williams said she was crying and this was greatness like no other. How big was this?

BOB COSTAS, SPORTSCASTER (via phone): Oh, it's tremendously big, even if you just look at it, pardon me, from an objective standpoint, without his level of stardom. It's amazing.

Less than two years ago, he was ranked -- this is accurate -- 1,199th in the world. And now he's on top of the world. Leave all the personal scandal and travail aside, he had four major back surgeries. He himself, always a picture of confidence, said that at one time, he doubted that he could ever play again, let alone play at the highest possible level.

But then when you factor in how iconic he was, not necessarily beloved, but you couldn't take your eyes off him. During the stretch, he was probably, although his career achievements don't quite yet in some respects match that of Jack Nicklaus.

During a certain stretch, he was probably the greatest golfer of all time. The cameras were always on him win or lose. If you beat him, the victory was greater because of who you beat. He himself was an extraordinary percentage of the tournaments and especially the Majors in which he was entered.

And then the trap door opens and he plummets all the way to the bottom. You have to look at how iconic he was. Someone who wouldn't know a chip from a pitch on the golf course knew who Tiger Woods was the same way as your Aunt Matilda someplace new who Michael Jordan was. She might not know a three-pointer from a free throw, but she knew who Michael Jordan was.

So it's that kind of thing. It isn't just the statistics of it or the improbability of it. It's the fact that this guy was known to virtually everybody, fell off the radar screen in terms of being able to compete and then rose all the way back.

HARLOW: You are so right. I'm that person you're talking to by the way who does know a thing about golf, but always new Tiger. I mean, you're so right. And I wonder Bob what you think it is about Tiger Woods specifically that generates such excitement. We know America loves a comeback story. But what is it about him?

COSTAS: Well, again, the raw achievements aside, there was something magnetic and charismatic about him and you can't overlook the fact that in what historically had been a lily white sport, he burst onto the scene and at 21, he wins his first Masters in 1997 and wins it in dominant fashion.

After that, he did extraordinary things. Virtually everybody said that talent-wise, players win the game. But talent-wise at his best, no one approached him. Now he doesn't lap the field in that respect. He has others who can compete at his level, but he's back in the mix. Whereas previously he'd been off the radar. It looked like when he won his 14th Major in 2008, winning the U.S. Open, it looked like only a matter of time until he overtook Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.

Now for the last many years, 11 years since his last major, people thought well, he'll never win another Major again. Now, he's back in that mix, the U.S. Open and the PGA this year, or at Pebble Beach and Bethpage, places where he's won Majors before, he is right back in the mix.

I think the thing that you would compare it to, you can talk about George Foreman, he retired in 1977, came back and won the heavyweight title in his mid-40s in '94. Mario Lemieux in the mid-90s was probably the second best player in hockey after Wayne Gretzky and a combination of injuries and a cancer diagnosis cost him most of two seasons, came back with the Pittsburgh Penguins and won the scoring championship and an MVP, but they were not quite as top of the tier iconic as someone like Michael Jordan.

So I think the best comparison here is to Michael Jordan, who for personal reasons, leaves after winning three straight NBA titles and MVP awards, leaves in the mid-90s. Essentially misses two seasons, comes back and wins three more in a row while retiring yet again from the Bulls. I think that's the closest comparison between that and Tiger Woods. HARLOW: Wow. And that's saying a lot. Look, you brought up Jack

Nicklaus. All right, so he's at 18; Tigers now at 15. And what does Jack Nicklaus have to say for it, quote, "He's got me shaking in my boots," should he?

COSTAS: Well, Jack has always been very gracious about Tiger. There was a time, a decade or more ago, where Jack just said matter of factly, "I expect Tiger to break my record." Most people expected Tiger to get into the 20s in terms of major wins to zoom right past Jack's 18.

Now I think he's got a shot. But where he is now is that he is among a handful, maybe a dozen or so guys that you'd always think of every time going into a major as having a shot. Whereas previously it was Tiger, and then the rest of the field. Everybody was chasing Tiger. Now, he's in the mix. And that's enough. It's extraordinary enough to get back to where he is now.

HARLOW: There's just something even more beautiful about the high, isn't there, Bob, when you've hit the low? I mean, for so many people that hit a high like this, they haven't really felt the depths.

COSTAS: Yes, in America, this has been said many, many times, America loves a comeback story. You know, if you do your penance publicly, which he has had to do, plus, you can't underestimate just the physical challenges, the four major back surgeries plus other injuries and difficulties. I mean, he couldn't even practice for a long period of time.

But he has accepted responsibility. He's gone through a form of public hell, even if it was self-imposed. So America loves that kind of thing. And then you also just have to look at him. And again, the comparison is to Michael Jordan.

Before Michael Jordan ever won an NBA MVP, before Tiger Woods, began reeling off major victories. They had star quality. There was something immediately charismatic about them. If you had never watched a golf match, or never been to an NBA game, and you sat down with the best vantage points, and you could see everybody, your eyes would automatically go to them. It's an inevitable quality, but you know it when you see it.

HARLOW: Yes, we certainly do. Bob Costas, as I said, no better voice. Thank you for getting up early for us. We appreciate it.

COSTAS: Thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: All right, John.

AVLON: None better. President Trump says he wants to release undocumented migrants into sanctuary cities. What the mayors in those cities have to say about it? We'll ask one, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)