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New Day

Warren Pushes Student Debt and Tuition Plan; Kim Jong-un to Meet with Putin in Russia; Sri Lanka Bombings Retaliation for Christchurch; Queen to Invite Trump for State Visit; Ran and Flooding Threats in the South. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 23, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Example of how it's not just Warren, it's -- it's a combination of the Bernie and Warren lane pushing the Democrats to start to think big and bold about some of these issues. I mean just years ago it was Bernie Sanders out on a limb on free college tuition, and now Warren is coming out with a plan that's similar, but the way that she's trying to differentiate herself from Bernie is by adding more meat to the bones of this plan, saying, I'm not just saying I want it to be free, I'm showing you how I would don't.

And, for Warren, I think she would argue that that is her statement of values. I mean in the same way that Pete Buttigieg is saying, you know, well, I'm just going to talk to voters about what I believe and how I might lead, and I'm not going to give them too much specifics, Warren is saying, my specifics are my values. And I think that when we are -- as we proceed here, it's going to be up to the voters which of these various ideas they are most interested in, which of these approaches they're most interested in.

I think Kamala Harris' approach is a risky one. It is a good one to avoid getting into trouble right now in this phase of the campaign, but this Democratic primary audience seems to be really interested in their candidates giving them something bold and not giving them sort of incrementalist answers. The primary voters, I should say. I mean, and I think that's really important. And that's why it's risky for Kamala Harris. But for Harris and for Klobuchar, it could be a great general election strategy to kind of leave your options open until you get further down into the race.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And as was pointed out on Twitter, when Senator Harris said, you know, I think that that's a conversation we should be having, people point out, like, say, at a town hall?

PHILLIP: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Would now be a good time to have that? Anyway, ladies, thank you all very much.

Obviously, we will continue to talk about that.

And coming up on NEW DAY, we will speak live with two of the 19 Democratic candidates. We have Congressman Eric Swalwell with us, as well as author Marianne Williamson. We have a lot of interesting questions for them.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Indeed we do.

All right, much more on the dramatic developments out of Sri Lanka. We are hearing from a government official that these attacks were in retaliation for the massacre at two mosques in New Zealand. We have breaking details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:23] CAMEROTA: Russia is preparing to host a first ever summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un this week.

CNN's Matthew Chance is live in Russia with more.

What's this going to look like, Matthew?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is, as you say, the first time that these two figures are going to be meeting. It's almost as if Vladimir Putin of Russia watched President Trump, you know, siding on up to Kim Jong-un and said, you know, I want to -- I want to do that, too because after those -- that summit broke down in Vietnam back in February between Trump and -- President Trump and Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin has moved in and is holding these talks, we think, over the next couple of days. There haven't been many details about exactly when it's going to take place or what actually is going to be discussed.

And to add to that lack of clarity, this thick, dense fog has descended over Vladivostok here in eastern Russia, as well, making it almost impossible to see anything of the -- of the city. The Kremlin say the issue of denuclearization on the Korean peninsula is the main issue that's going to be talked about. But, you know, you get the impression what Vladimir Putin wants more than anything else is a seat at that -- at that top table of international diplomacy. He wants to be seen as a great power, just like the United States can talk about denuclearization. Russia wants to be able to do that with North Korea as well, Alisyn.

BERMAN: All right, Matthew Chance for us from the set of a spy thriller.

Matthew, please stay safe in the midst of all the espionage there around you in Vladivostok. Appreciate it.

All right, Sri Lanka now says that the Easter Sunday attacks of catholic churches, they were in retaliations for Muslims being murdered at New Zealand mosques. We have breaking details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:59] CAMEROTA: We are following breaking news.

A top official in Sri Lanka says the Easter Sunday bombings were in retaliation for the massacre at mosques in New Zealand last month. The death toll in Sri Lanka has now risen to 321 people.

Joining us now is Paul Cruickshank. He's the editor-in-chief of the "CTC Sentinel", that's the premier publication of West Point's center to combat terrorism, and he's the co-author of "Nine Lives: My Time as the West's Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda."

That sounds good, Paul.

Let's talk about this. What about this theory, that somehow, in the space of five weeks, that this small jihadi group could put together a coordinated attack in retaliation of what happened at the mosques in Christchurch. Do you believe that?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, it's a very, very small group in Sri Lanka. There hasn't been a lot of jihadi activity in the country. This group wasn't thought to have much capability or capacity. So the theory is, maybe they reached out to a group like ISIS to get more capacity to carry out this attack.

Barbara Starr has been reporting that the U.S. has identified one of the operatives, and that that operative has links, they believe, to ISIS. So they're looking at an international dimension here.

But, yes, that small little group inside Sri Lanka, just responsible in the past for some defacements of Buddhist statues. So it sort of begs belief that they could pull this off alone. But this now, the Sir Lankans believe, was in retaliation for the Christchurch attacks, terrorist attack in New Zealand, that far right attack on two Mosques. In the wake of that attack, both ISIS and al Qaeda called for retaliation attacks. But al Qaeda made it very clear to their supporters that they should not attack places of worship. And I think that's one of the reasons why the U.S. thinks that this maybe has more of an ISIS connection. ISIS showed no such restraint in its calls for retaliation.

BERMAN: This is the statement at the time from a spokesperson for ISIS. The scenes of the massacres in the two mosques should wake up those who were fooled and should incite the supporters of the caliphate to avenge their religion.

So it was a call to arms.

CRUICKSHANK: It was a call to arms. They recognized that this was something that was going to help them recruit people into their organizations. It caused searing anger across the Muslim world, especially, obviously, within jihadi circles. So they sort of opportunistically put out these calls for revenge attacks. Clearly, the Sri Lankans feel that this is what the dynamic was inside Sri Lanka. This is what led to churches, presumably in particular, being targeted.

CAMEROTA: Sri Lankan officials seem to be expressing a lot of candor in the fact that they think that they missed sort of flashing red lights in terms of the U.S. having attempted to warn them, I guess, or getting some sort of intel that something was afoot. India says they did as well. Why were they so asleep at the switch? CRUICKSHANK: Well, we don't know. Clearly there were some warning

signs that came in, some intelligence that came in. I don't think anybody said so far that that intelligence suggested an attack on this huge scale.

[06:45:09] Also, we have to recognize there's -- the divided government in Sri Lanka. The prime minister and the president are feuding. So a lot of the talking points that are coming out kind of are a function of that rivalry. There's a politicization of this attack going on, a blame game that's going on. So I think we have to be a little bit cautious about what certain factions of the government are briefing with regard to what came in ahead of time.

But, clearly, some intelligence came in suggesting that churches could be -- could be targeted, linked to this small outfit and (INAUDIBLE) and -- and that was missed. And a lot of people lost their lives.

BERMAN: What's the lesson here, Paul? If you are perhaps another nation in south Asia or around the world that has this kind of religious tension.

CRUICKSHANK: Well, I think the lesson is that this can really come out of nowhere. I mean no one was expecting an attack of this magnitude in Sri Lanka. There hasn't been a lot of jihadi activity there. People have to recognize that jihadis are very good at exploiting religious tension. I think we have to be very worried right now in the months ahead about a vicious cycle of violence between, on the one side, far right extremists -- far right extremists carried out the Christchurch attack -- and then that feuding jihadi extremist then carrying out attacks and then further revenge attacks. This could get out of control globally very, very quickly indeed.

CAMEROTA: Do you think it's unusual that neither ISIS nor al Qaeda has claimed credit for this?

CRUICKSHANK: It's somewhat surprising given the magnitude of this attack. I don't think people think at this point that al Qaeda was responsible, just because their general command a month ago put out that guidance not to attack places of worship. I think that the theory right now is perhaps this had some kind of ISIS link up potentially, whether it was ISIS-inspired or whether there was some kind of communication, some kind of direction that was going on.

Given the scale of this attack, it seems reasonable to assume that that may have been the case. Are they preparing for some big propaganda release? We'll have to wait to see. But, yes, no claim of responsibility from any jihadi outfit so far.

CAMEROTA: Paul Cruickshank, thank you very much for all of your expertise, as always.

All right, big news across the pond, as they say.

BERMAN: Has the baby been born? Did I miss that?

CAMEROTA: Not -- not yet. No, you're back in time. Good, news, you're back in time.

BERMAN: I was afraid I would miss news while I was gone.

CAMEROTA: No.

BERMAN: And I -- but I didn't, clearly, because the babe hasn't been born.

CAMEROTA: Right. Right. I mean there was a little thing called the Mueller report that came out, but the baby hasn't been born.

BERMAN: But not the baby?

CAMEROTA: Right, not the baby.

President Trump will make his first state visit to the U.K. We have details for you in a live report, next.

BERMAN: Will he bring a onesie? Do you bring a gift, like a baby gift?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:33] BERMAN: All right, CNN has learned that any moment Buckingham Palace will announce that President Trump will be invited for his first state visit to the United Kingdom. That visit, we are told, will happen in June.

Our Max Foster is live at Buckingham Palace with more.

The president's been to the U.K., but it wasn't a state visit. So this is a bigger, more royal deal, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So when he came last year, that was known as a working visit. He met the prime minister, he met the queen, but there wasn't all that pomp and pageantry, which Britain is famous for. That's what you'll see this time around.

We're waiting for the exact details, but we're looking for what sort of honors he'll actually be afforded because not everyone gets the full works, as it were. So we can assume that (INAUDIBLE) parade, he'll get a military welcome. The question then is whether he'll get the big carriage procession with the Calvary down to mile to Buckingham Palace. President Obama didn't take up that opportunity because of the security costs involved. But President Putin did. President Xi did. I think President Trump would probably quite like that, too.

Then they'll be hosted at Buckingham Palace by the queen. There will probably be a state dinner. The big question is whether he'll be offered the chance to address the joint houses of parliament. Now, that's very controversial here. Many MPs don't want to see it happen. It is the top honor.

This is what the speaker of the House of Commons said recently -- who can actually block it, is my understanding -- an address to both houses of parliament is not an automatic right, it's an earned honor. My view is that he -- President Trump -- has not earned that honor. That was John Berco (ph) speaking in 2017.

We'll wait to see whether or not the White House, the embassy here have convinced John Berco to allow that, and whether or not President Trump indeed wants it. But that's the big thing we're looking out for, Alisyn and John.

CAMEROTA: Max, we know how well sourced you are. So what date exactly will the royal baby be born on?

FOSTER: Alisyn, you ask me the question that I can't answer. I don't know. It's got to be sometime this month, right? I mean we're expecting you to be here. Alisyn, the flowers are out. We planted them for you. The studio is ready to go. But we'll expect to hear when she's in labor, I'm told, and then we'll get some pictures a couple of days later.

BERMAN: And then full rolling coverage for the days in between.

All right, Max, thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:52] BERMAN: The risk of severe weather and threat of flooding returning to the south central United States.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with the forecast.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, John.

Oklahoma City waking up right now to a lot of thunder. And that's going to be the case for a lot of the southwest over the next couple of days.

This weather is brought to you by Shark self-cleaning brush roll. The vacuum that deep cleans now cleans itself.

So where are we going from here? Right through Oklahoma City into Tulsa. And by later on today, if you're flying through DFW, you may get a slowdown or two. Big storms there going to be off to the west moving your way.

This is springtime. This is what we expect. And very normal for the northeast. Temperatures even across New York City going to be in the 60s for the next couple of days, maybe even 70 somewhere around D.C., approaching 75 by the middle part of the forecast.

Thursday, the severe weather gets into Mobile and also into New Orleans. We'll watch that. Really, this is more of a flood threat than anything else. There were places in Oklahoma yesterday with five inches of rainfall just in 12 hours. Look at this, New York City with some showers on Friday, 66, but normal all the way through the weekend.

And sometimes you just have to be satisfied with normal.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes, when it's spring, we're quite satisfied with normal spring.

Chad, thank you very much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

SCARBOROUGH: Satisfied with normal. If only. If only.

CAMEROTA: We're shooting for higher, Chad.

BERMAN: That's right.

CAMEROTA: All right, thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. For our U.S. viewers, breaking news on the Sri Lanka terror attacks.

NEW DAY continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: All right, good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

And we do begin with breaking news for you because a top defense official in Sri Lanka says the coordinated Easter Sunday bombings at catholic churches and luxury hotels were in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attacks. You'll remember, of course, a white supremacist killed 50 Muslims inside of two mosques in Christchurch last month.

BERMAN: The explosions in Sri Lanka have now killed 321 people, injured more than 500. Authorities there are under scrutiny for having prior knowledge that an attack was coming and seemingly doing nothing to stop it.

[07:00:00] At this moment, police in the country's capital, they are on high alert as they search for two new vehicles that might be carrying explosives.

END