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New Day

Two Fires at a Pennsylvania Church; Deadly Tornadoes in Louisiana; Ed Rendell on Biden and Fundraising Push; Loughlin and Husband Maintain Innocence; NFL Draft Last Night. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 26, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:41] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: For the second time this week, a Pennsylvania church goes up in flames. The first blaze was ruled arson. And now investigators want to know if an early morning fire was also set intentionally.

Athena Jones joins us now with more.

What's this about, Athena?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Another upsetting story here. Two fires in one week at this church. The Iglesia Pentecostal De Bethlehem.

Now, the fire on Thursday was started in the early morning hours. The cause is unknown and there were no injuries. But as we've mentioned, this church was already badly burned by a fire on Tuesday that also began overnight. It started after midnight. The city's fire official has determined that that first fire was arson.

Now, Nitza Colon, the daughter of the church's pastor, and a church leader spoke to CNN affiliate WFMZ. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NITZA COLON, PASTOR'S DAUGHTER: It was heartbreaking and really sad that this would happen for the second time. And I said, who would do such a thing? I mean, what else can they burn in the building?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, she went on to say that she guesses the people responsible want to see the church burned all the way to the ground. But you saw from that video that it was burned very, very badly inside.

Now, we don't know much about the church itself, but we do know from the name, Iglesia Pentecostal De Bethlehem, that it likely serves a Spanish-speaking population. And the -- Bethlehem does have a sizable Hispanic population of about 30 percent.

Now, police say the motive is unclear. They're asking the public for any information they may have on this -- this -- these fires. And federal investigators from the ATF are offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to the successful prosecution of whoever did this

Guys.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Athena, thanks very much. Keep us updated on this story.

Several people are dead after a fiery crash on I-70 in Colorado. Look at that. Police say a speeding semitrailer slammed into several stopped cars that were in a traffic jam and set off a chain reaction. The crash shut down the highway in both directions. Emergency crews rushed six others to the hospital. Look at that mess.

CAMEROTA: That's horrible.

The mayor of Roustin (ph), Louisiana, now says it will take months to recover from a tornado's direct hit. Much of the town, including the Louisiana Tech's campus, sustained major damage. The storm killed a mother and teenage son when a tree fell on their home. The same system has now moved father east.

And CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has our forecast.

Scary stuff, Chad

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You bet, Alisyn. And the storm moved across the southeast yesterday and now it's turning up the East Coast toward the northeast. And there will be a threat of some severe weather. I'll say a chance, but there will be a threat of severe weather even for D.C. and maybe even for Long Island.

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

So let's get right to it. There's the chance for severe weather, all the way up from Pennsylvania, down to the Carolinas. Here is what the radar is going to look like later today. This is a forecast radar. We will see line after line, wave after wave of showers through D.C. and even into New York.

This is not going to be a great day to fly out of the northeast. Give yourself some extra time. Try to get on an earlier flight, whatever you can do. It will be very, very slow.

And, Chicago, it's going to be 40. I get it. But there is snow in your forecast. There's snow in your future for this weekend. Temperatures are going to be somewhere around 30, 32 when it's actually snowing. But then, eventually, it all melts. But, oh, we don't need this now, John.

BERMAN: All right, Chad.

Chad Myers, thank you very much. Chad, I have to tell you, today is the one day where I actually want

it to rain and rain heavily. Why? It has to do with my next story. I want my boy's soccer practice to be rained out so we can go see "Avengers: End Game." It's only been in the theaters for a few minutes and it's already a box office behemoth. It's the grand finale in the Avengers franchise (ph).

CAMEROTA: Exactly. Pixie dust. What's that about?

BERMAN: Well, I don't know if you know this, but it's about superheroes.

CAMEROTA: I have heard that.

BERMAN: They're all superheroes.

CAMEROTA: Oh, I like him, Mark Ruffalo. Go on.

BERMAN: So -- so preview night for this, you know, set a record, making at least $43 million last night.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

BERMAN: They are crushing it overseas as well. "End Game" made $169 million in its first day. It's on track to be the highest grossing debut weekend ever both in the United States and globally.

That's Thor.

CAMEROTA: Yes, he's cute.

Why aren't we showing Robert Downey, Jr.?

BERMAN: He's Iron Man.

CAMEROTA: But he's in it, right?

BERMAN: Yes, he's in it.

CAMEROTA: Well, I don't feel -- I feel like we need to show him up there.

BERMAN: I'm not responsible for what superheroes we chose to show.

CAMEROTA: All right, I'm going to go reedit that, if you'll excuse me.

[06:35:00] BERMAN: We didn't show Hulk.

CAMEROTA: Which one is he?

BERMAN: Hulk.

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, who plays him?

BERMAN: Mark Ruffalo.

CAMEROTA: I like him also.

OK, thanks.

BERMAN: He's the green guy.

CAMEROTA: Got it.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is in the race and our next guest is here to tell us why President Trump should be very worried.

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CAMEROTA: Former Vice President Joe Biden is focusing on fundraising in the first week of his campaign. He attended a fundraiser last night in Philadelphia at the home of a media executive, which is catching the eye of some of his rivals.

Joining us now is the former governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell. He co-hosted last night's fundraiser and has endorsed Biden.

Good morning, governor

[06:40:00] ED RENDELL (D), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR: Good morning. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing well.

How did the fundraiser go? How much did you raise?

RENDELL: Well, that's -- the money isn't all in yet, but we think we raised well over the half million mark that we -- we were targeting. Probably close to three quarters of a million dollars.

CAMEROTA: And was that a surprise -- I mean I know that Joe Biden himself had said on this conference call the night before that he was going to have to come out of the gate very strong and that it was going to be all about the fundraising numbers. So was that a surprise to Biden?

RENDELL: Well, it was a surprise to even me, and I've been raising money for 42 years, and some for myself and often, many times, for other candidates. It was surprising the outpouring of affection. Of all of the fundraisers I've done and been a part of, this was the easiest to get people to come to because people here know Joe Biden. He was called our third senator when we had two Republican senators. He's got relationships here. And nobody's -- virtually nobody said no when I called. And one guy even called to complain to me that he didn't get an invitation to give $2,800. That's never happened to me in 42 years of fundraising.

CAMEROTA: That's funny.

As you know, another candidate, Bernie Sanders, is criticizing the way in which former VP Biden is going after getting money, or the places that he's trying to get it from. Here is what Sanders said. It's a big day in the Democratic primary and we're hoping to end it strong, not with a fundraiser in the home of a corporate lobbyist but with an overwhelming number of individual donations in response to today's news.

Do you think that in this day and age that Senator Sanders has a point that voters have a bit of an allergy to corporate lobbyists?

RENDELL: No, I think they have an allergy to the $100,000 million dollar gifts. This was people giving $2,800. That's not -- it's a -- it's a lot of money in one sense, but it's low compared to the super PACs that get billions of dollars on both sides of the aisle. So I think people have a right to give what they want. We shouldn't have these unreported gifts of, you know, half a million, a million dollars, $10 million.

But people have a right to give this type of money. There's nothing wrong with it. People don't expect anything in return with it. I think for 90 percent of the people who attended last night's fundraiser, they're contributing against their own financial interests.

CAMEROTA: Meaning?

RENDELL: They'll do better with a Republican president, because they're in the top 1 percent. So they'll do better with a Republican president. That will probably cost them money if Joe Biden wins because I think he'll bring some sense to the tax cut and he'll probably raise rates on the top 1 percent. So a lot of these people gave money even though it was against their own financial interest.

CAMEROTA: So --

RENDELL: They have a right to give. The question is not whether they give. The question is, does government respond to them in a way that's not right.

CAMEROTA: So --

RENDELL: And Joe Biden never has and never will.

CAMEROTA: So, governor, I want to ask you about this phone call to Anita Hill because it sounds like she and former VP Biden have different interpretations of how this phone call went.

So, we understand from the reporting that in the past couple of weeks he made a phone call to her that was, I guess, supposed to be an apology of some kind.

So, first, some people thought that that was a very belated phone call, number one, for what happened during the Clarence Thomas hearings. But -- but, number two, she's -- but she's saying is that basically he's saying I'm sorry for what happened to you. And that, she doesn't think, goes far enough.

Do you think that saying I'm sorry for what happened to you is good enough?

RENDELL: Well, first of all, I'm going to shock you. I bet most of your guests don't say this. I don't have a clue about what you're talking about. I didn't know anything about a phone call. But --

CAMEROTA: Oh, so you don't know -- OK, so let me just tell you, in case our viewers don't as well. It has been reported that Joe Biden made a phone call to Anita Hill. And this is after decades.

RENDELL: Sure.

CAMEROTA: You know, she had been, I think, expecting that there would have been -- would be some sort of resolution.

RENDELL: I watched the hearings.

CAMEROTA: OK. That there would be some sort of resolution.

RENDELL: I'm older than I look, so I watched the hearings.

CAMEROTA: As did I. And so what has been reported is that this phone call happened in the last couple of weeks and that it didn't go the way she anticipated. And so do you think that by him saying I'm sorry what happened to you, that is sort of a backwards apology. Do you think that he should handle that differently?

RENDELL: I'm totally confused and I don't think I know enough to answer it. I will say this, Joe Biden has had a terrific record of dealing with women's issues, including his authorship and prime -- being the prime mover of the Violence Against Women Act. Whether he had an individual phone call about something that happened I guess almost 30 years ago, whether it was the right type of apology, I don't know. I can't say because I just wasn't privy to the conversation and you can't take one line of a conversation out of context.

[06:45:11] CAMEROTA: Yes, I understand and I appreciate your candor about this. But do you think that what happened with Anita Hill will be a challenge for him on the campaign trail?

RENDELL: No, because he has a terrific record on women's issues.

Look, we -- and I include the media and people like me who would sort of make our business politics -- we tend to think the public reacts or overreacts to everything. It's not true. What the proof of that is, Governor Northam in Virginia, who wore blackface at a college photo session. There's a recent poll that shows 55 percent of African- Americans in Virginia don't want him to resign. Why? Because he's been a good governor on their issues. That's what people are interested in. What are they doing to help the challenges that we face? That's more important than some apology that could be construed one way or the other.

CAMEROTA: So you think that women in general will forgive Joe Biden for what happened with Anita Hill?

RENDELL: I think that it won't be a factor in deciding whether or not to vote for or support Vice President Biden. At the fundraiser last night, there were a lot of women who gave $2,800. And some of them, I know, it was a significant dent in their financial resources. So I think he has support among women. I don't think this will change it in any way.

CAMEROTA: Governor Ed Rendell, we really appreciate your perspective. And thank you for your candor. We will speak to you again.

RENDELL: Yes. Thanks very much.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, helping her children or breaking the law? A source close to actress Lori Loughlin says they did not do anything illegal. Loughlin and her husband say they did not do anything illegal. We'll discuss, next.

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[06:50:38] BERMAN: Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband are maintaining their innocence in the college admission scandal. A source close to the couple tells CNN's Chloe Melas that they did what so many people in their financial situation do to get their kids into schools. What about people that donate buildings to schools? Why are they becoming the poster children for things that have been going on forever? They didn't do anything illegal. They just wanted a good education for their kids, like every parent does.

Joining us now is criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

Joey, is this sound, legal theory?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Not sound legal theory at all. OK, so I'll premise it with what I always do, right, presumption of innocence. You want a trial? We have a system that's very well designed and equipped to provide you with that trial. Go into court, plead your case.

So what are you going to say? Everyone else was driving 75, therefore I figured I could drive 75 too. Everyone else, you know, was doing things for their kids, I should too. Everyone wants what's best for their children. But usually when you want what's best, you work and operate within the confines of something called the law. And so, at the end of the day, while you can make any arguments you want, I think these will fall on deaf ears.

Also, understand this, John, there's a distinction between donating a buildering or a library, which has the benefit of benefitting every other student, than submitting a half a million dollars to do underhanded things to bribe your way into school. I don't think that dog will hunt.

Again, have your defense, do what you have to do, stand for principle and justice, but I think there's a few realities here.

BERMAN: One of the thing that they claim is that they didn't know that what was going on was illegal. They thought they were giving to a foundation, even if they knew it was going to help her daughter get in, they didn't know it was illegal. JACKSON: All right, here's a couple of practical realities. More than

a couple. The first thing is, is that there's something called the law. And when you're ignorant of that law, that falls upon deaf ears, right? You don't have to be a scholar in the law. If you run afoul of it, it's a problem.

The other is something called evidence. If you look at the indictment, right, the fact is, is that an indictment is only allegations.

BERMAN: Right.

JACKSON: But it provides a timeline where you were knowingly knowing that your daughters don't do crew, but you're providing money to do that. The other reality, John, is the fact that you're going to have jurors that are not millionaires, that did things the right way, that are going to resent you.

BERMAN: The indictment says they took pictures of their daughter on a rowing machine --

JACKSON: Right.

BERMAN: As part of the application. They know they took those pictures. They know she wasn't a crew star. That seems to be a problem

JACKSON: It's problematic in as much as, again, it's not -- it's going to focus on your knowledge. Did you know what you were doing was incorrect, improper? In addition to that, John, you're writing $50,000 to an administrator who oversees the crew issue. And so you're going to say, you know what, not me.

And here's the other reality. There's something called, right, in addition to that thing called evidence, right, there are other people you're being tried with. And when you're tried with other people --

BERMAN: Yes.

JACKSON: And the judge could sever, meaning separate the cases, but, at the end of the day, ultimately, I think, when you're mixed in with that group of people, and you have public attitudes, as you are, there's a problem.

BERMAN: I think that's an interesting point. It may be why the prosecution is looking for Felicity Huffman to have her case wrapped up. She pleaded guilty. Have all that wrapped up sooner, at least in the court of public opinion, may make it tougher for Lori Loughlin.

JACKSON: Indeed.

BERMAN: Joey Jackson, great to have you here.

JACKSON: A pleasure and a privilege.

BERMAN: Alisyn, I know this next story is very important to you.

CAMEROTA: Yes, John, let me tell you all about sports, because it was draft night in America. And the top pick was not a surprise, I mean to me at least, OK. But another pick had fans booing. I'll explain it all when the "Bleacher Report" happens next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:58:13] BERMAN: One of my favorite days of the year, the NFL draft. Dreams coming true for 32 young men last night. The first round of the NFL draft.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report."

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

You know, the NFL draft, always one of the best weekends of the entire year because, you know, no matter who you're a fan of, you get to be optimistic that your team is getting better with these selections. Check out the crowd in Nashville. An estimated 150,000 people lining Broadway Street to take in this year's draft.

The Arizona Cardinals were up first and they really didn't surprise anyone with their pick, taking Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, making history, becoming the first player ever to be drafted in the first round of both Major League Baseball and NFL draft. Cardinal's new coach Kliff Kingsbury actually recruited Murray when he was a sophomore in high school. Seven years later, they finally got him.

Now, while Murray wasn't a surprise at one, the Giants shocking their fans, passing on Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins at sixth and instead drafting Duke quarterback Daniel Jones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The New York Giants select Daniel Jones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: So that was the draft party at Met Life Stadium. Good thing the draft wasn't in New York, like it used to be every year. You know, Giants fans not happy with the pick. Many of them believe they could have taken Jones much later. They also had pick number 17.

So, Alisyn, you know, if you see a Giants fan maybe walking in the hallway today at work, give them a smile and a pat on the back --

CAMEROTA: Console them.

SCHOLES: Because they're not having a great day.

CAMEROTA: But I want to console that player because I don't like that everybody was booing when he had to get up there. SCHOLES: Yes, it's never their fault. And, you know, who knows, he might end up being a great, great quarterback in the NFL. But, you know, at least he wasn't -- he wasn't treated well by the fans on draft night.

CAMEROTA: No, he wasn't.

BERMAN: And sometimes quarterbacks who don't go in the first round turn out to be pretty good.

CAMEROTA: Huh, a warning (ph).

[07:00:01] SCHOLES: Yes, the guy named Tom Brady turned out well, right?

BERMAN: Thank you very much. Andy Scholes, appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: Ba-bing.

All right, thank you.

Thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. And for our U.S.

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