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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) Discusses The NRA Investigation; Venezuelan Opposition Leader Calls For Military Uprising; Boeing Whistleblower Speaks Out. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 30, 2019 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: -- for about 20 years for very good reasons.

I believe the NRA is counterproductive not just for the people of this country but also for legal gun owners. I don't think they serve gun owners well. They haven't been constructive. They have been a destructive force in this country for everyone involved.

The investigation by the attorney general is what it is. The attorney general is independently elected and she is elected in this state to enforce the law.

The NRA is originally chartered in this state. It's a not-for-profit organization. So she has jurisdiction and she believes it may have been illegal activity and she is pursuing that case.

The president's accusation that it's politically-motivated is all garbage. We don't do that in New York State.

I think it's telling that the president would think right away -- well, you're using the justice -- criminal justice apparatus for politics. That's his thinking and that's his mindset. It's not how we operate in the state of New York.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let me ask -- let me read you --

CUOMO: But the NRA --

BERMAN: You're talking about what the president said. Let me read people what the president said about this and the New York action.

"The NRA is under siege by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo" -- that's you -- "and the New York State A.G., who are illegally using the state's legal apparatus to take down and destroy this very important organization and others. It must get its act together quickly, stop the internal fighting, and get back to GREATNESS -- FAST!"

So that was the president's statement.

CUOMO: Yes, and again, when the president makes a statement, often, facts don't matter.

Cuomo did this. No, we have an independently-elected attorney general. The attorney general enforces the law. If you break the law you answer to the attorney general and other criminal law enforcement people in New York.

And we don't use the criminal justice apparatus for -- to play politics. It's separate, Mr. President. You have the Justice Department, which acts independently to enforce the laws, and you don't politicize the justice system, Mr. President -- news flash.

As far as the NRA and the president -- look, the President of the United States, for all his bluster, is afraid of the NRA. It is that simple. We know it's that simple.

The NRA has been a strong political force for many, many years. They're threatening, they have money, they mobilize people. They've been attacking me all my professional career because I had the audacity to call them out.

The president came close to doing the right thing on this issue of guns.

After Parkland, Florida, you'll remember John, he appeared rational on the issue of guns for a brief moment in time. And after Parkland, Florida he said do we really need assault weapons?

Maybe we should raise the age of buying an assault weapon to 21 years old. Why don't we have universal background checks? That was the President of the United States.

He even accused a GOP senator of being afraid of the NRA.

What happened? Twenty-four hours later the NRA showed up. They had a conversation with the president. He did a 180-degree turn. He just flipped.

All the logic, all the reason that he had spouted after Parkland, Florida was reversed after the NRA told him what the script was. They are afraid of the NRA.

BERMAN: Do you think --

CUOMO: -- and there is no reason to be.

BERMAN: Do you think based on this leadership --

CUOMO: Go ahead.

BERMAN: -- turmoil they had over the weekend and the lawsuits and investigations involved here -- do you think the NRA is in trouble right now? If there's any jeopardy with the organization?

CUOMO: Oh, I think they're in trouble. I think the gig is up for the NRA because people now know the truth.

I mean, you have -- in 2017, we had the highest year for mass shootings in the history of the nation. Almost every week -- last weekend, the awful synagogue shooting in San Diego. And what this president has done, he's walked around the house pouring gasoline on the floor and then says well, every American should have a match. No, that's the toxic cocktail -- this environment of hate in the nation.

Yes, intolerance, division, anti-Semitism, racism, plus a gun -- plus a gun. That's when people die.

BERMAN: The president -- the president had --

CUOMO: Plus, an assault weapon.

BERMAN: The president had other things to say about you personally, saying you did not fight in 2017 during the tax cut debate --

[07:35:00] CUOMO: Yes.

BERMAN: -- over the capping of state and local taxes, which has a net effect of frankly raising a lot of people in New York's taxes, saying that you didn't fight hard for New York there.

What do you say to him on that?

CUOMO: Yes. Well, I also have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a little button nose. Can you see it, John, my little button nose?

Again, the president is divorced from facts. You can run him the tape of the shows I've done with you talking about SALT. And for him to now say well, New York should have fought harder to stop SALT, he was the one who proposed it. Why would have a SALT at the state of New York with a tax reform that raised our taxes?

This SALT reform, by the way, again, it was pure politics. Fifteen states had their taxes effectively raised by the SALT deduction -- ending of state and local tax deductibility -- all Democratic states.

It's all politics all the time with him. There is no policy, there is not good government.

And that's what it is with the NRA and guns. They are afraid of the NRA and the political strength of the NRA, and that's why they don't represent the American people.

The NRA is out of touch. Why don't we have universal background checks? We see Americans getting slain every week.

Of course, you have a constitutional Second Amendment right. We respect that but it's not unconditional. Why would you let mentally ill people who could hurt themselves or hurt others buy a gun?

BERMAN: Governor --

CUOMO: Why would you do that? Where is the common sense and why can't our federal government appreciate that?

I passed the toughest gun laws -- BERMAN: Governor --

CUOMO: -- in the nation respecting the Second Amendment, but you need a federal law to stop the guns coming in the back door.

BERMAN: Governor Andrew Cuomo, thank you --

CUOMO: Sorry, John.

BERMAN: -- thank you for joining us. We would never say anything about your nose on this broadcast. We appreciate you being with us. Thank you, sir.

CUOMO: Well, because you know -- well, you've seen it before.

BERMAN: Thank you very much, Governor. We'll let it go there.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: He never lets it go just there.

BERMAN: Exactly, exactly.

CAMEROTA: Governor, thank you very much.

All right. Venezuela's opposition leader is now calling for a military uprising. What does this mean for the Maduro regime?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:02] CAMEROTA: We're following some breaking news out of Venezuela. The country's opposition leader, Juan Guaido, now calling for a military uprising.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has been following this. He's live in London with all the breaking details -- Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, you know this crisis has been going on since January when Juan Guaido, recognized by about a dozen other countries as being the country's interim president when he declared himself effectively the new leader of the country and Donald Trump backed him up.

What's incredibly new today is the fact that we're seeing a large number of soldiers at his back when he is calling on the rest of the Venezuelan military to rise up against the president, Nicolas Maduro.

Also next to him, too, is a key opposition figure who is meant to be under house arrest, Leopoldo Lopez -- kind of the old version, if you like, of Juan Guaido who got arrested. Somehow he seems to be out of jail leading this new call for a military uprising, which Juan Guaido has always wanted -- an extra level of significance.

And now, people around the world are seeing these startling images of Venezuelan National Guard soldiers being, it seems, tear-gassed by their own forces.

Add to that, as well, the fact that the Venezuelan government have come out and called this a coup, saying that they are trying to put it down. In fact, claiming the situation is entirely under their control. We seem to be in a different kind of moment for Venezuela here.

There have been efforts by the Trump administration to push humanitarian aid in to try and deal with the severe medicine and foot shortage inside that country. That's kind of failed, although the Venezuelan Red Cross are beginning to get stuff in.

Russia and China have come to President Nicolas Maduro's aid in the past months.

But today, with these images of tear gas being used on Venezuelan soldiers and Juan Guaido and those key figures around him themselves as they claim to be outside a military base and calling people on the streets for a long-planned protest tomorrow on May the first, we're looking at a key moment.

Does Nicolas Maduro crack down with force or hope this peters out?

Alisyn --

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Nick.

BERMAN: All right. The end of an imperial era playing out in Japan. Eighty-five-year-old Emperor Akihito has become the country's first monarch in more than 200 years to formally abdicate. His eldest son, the Crown Prince Naruhito, will inherit the imperial regalia and become the new emperor tomorrow.

You know, of all the things we talk about, the thing with the most historic, like, worldwide global --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: -- significance is this right here. This is history being made in Japan. It's fascinating to see.

CAMEROTA: It's also like he has just grown tired and weary of the position.

BERMAN: He's been in the job for a long time.

CAMEROTA: That's right.

BERMAN: He's 85 and wants to go into retirement --

CAMEROTA: Sure.

BERMAN: -- as many kings do.

CAMEROTA: Fair enough.

All right. There's new information now about the moments leading up to that deadly attack on the California synagogue. The FBI says it received tips about a threatening social media post just five minutes before the gunfire began.

CNN's Dan Simon is live in Poway, California with more. What did they hear, Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Alisyn.

The suspect will be in court this morning. This will be the first time he's been in a courtroom since the shooting took place. All of the charges that he faces also come with a hate crime special circumstance.

In the meantime, we are also getting a statement from the suspect's family and they're saying they don't know where any of this came from.

The statement reads, in part, "To our great shame, he is now part of the history of evil that has been perpetrated on Jewish people for centuries. Our son's actions were informed by people we do not know and ideas we do not hold. Like our other five children, he was raised in a family, a faith, and a community that all rejected hate and taught that love must be the motive for everything we do."

We can also report that the FBI is acknowledging that it received a tip approximately five minutes before the shooting -- a tip about a threatening post on social media. The problem is is that the tip wasn't specific. It didn't mention a person by name nor did it mention the place that was being targeted.

[07:45:00] As you know, this is a shooting that claimed the life of one person. Yesterday, the community said goodbye to Lori Gilbert Kaye. Among those who spoke at her funeral was Lori's daughter. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNAH KAYE, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: I know my mother has already forgiven this man who shot her. Her mission, how she lived her life, and her decision to preserve the life of the leader of the community, the children, all of us automatically banishes the hatred that tried to take her light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, Lori's husband also spoke. Remember, he is a physician who tried to resuscitate her at the scene. One of the things he mentioned is that Lori had put a peace pole outside of her home and he said that was the total theme -- the universal theme of her life.

John and Alisyn, back to you.

BERMAN: All right, Dan. Dan Simon for us in California.

CAMEROTA: I mean, hearing her daughter say that she is sure that her mother has already forgiven the gunman because that is how she lived her life in peace and in always representing forgiveness.

BERMAN: Yes, and we heard from Dr. Roneet Lev, a friend, yesterday. You know, so inspiring to hear about that family.

Twenty twenty Democratic hopeful Beto O'Rourke has unveiled a new plan to fight climate change with a lot of specifics and perhaps, a lot of cost as well. Just how costly?

John Avlon breaks it down in our reality check -- John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, guys.

So look, combating climate change is the number one issue for Democratic voters, according to a new CNN poll. Eighty-two percent saying it's very important for their nominee to be aggressive on the issue.

So after weeks of hopping up on lunch counters, Beto O'Rourke finally broke his policy silence on the right issue at the right time, but is it the right approach?

Let's take a deeper look at the climate change proposals inside the Democratic primary.

Noted non-candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez nailed the branding of her Green New Deal proposal. It was catchy, riffing off liberal history and adding green as a signifier of the environment and quite possibly, the cost to taxpayers.

And while seven of the 2020 candidates back it, her plan was basically a conversation starter, not ready for prime time, which might explain why the senator most eager to put it up for a vote was Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

But, Democrats understand that climate change is an existential issue. And while Beto's been warming up, Elizabeth Warren has been lapping the other candidates and bringing the wonk to the party.

So now, here we have Beto's foray into the policy game and it is a doozy -- a $5 trillion investment over 10 years to tackle climate change.

Now, according to the plan, it starts with a $1.5 trillion initial investment paid for by ensuring that corporations and the wealthiest among us, quote, "pay their fair share with tax increases."

Now, Beto wants to come strong out of the gate with day-one items, like rejoining the Paris Climate Accord and reversing Trump's environmental policies through executive action.

It's all designed to get us to net zero emissions by 2050, which is considered make it or break it by many climate scientists.

So to give you a sense of the scope of this proposal that $5 trillion is about as much as 48 Marshall Plans or two Trump tax cuts.

Now, Beto's been belated on the issue compared to at least one candidate. I'm talking about Jay Inslee, Washington governor, who has tried to build an entire campaign around it. He's called for a 10- year plan as well -- infrastructure changes and ending fossil fuel subsidies.

But he's been comparatively light on specifics, including how much it will all cost, saying that the full plan will be released, quote, "in the coming weeks."

Also light on specifics, that would be the rest of the 2020 field. "The New York Times" sent a climate survey out to the candidates and while everyone agrees that rejoining the climate accords from Paris is a no-brainer, that's the only thing they all agree on.

Only seven agree on the need for carbon emissions tax. Seven support bringing more nuclear power plants online. And only nine said they favor new federal regulations.

Look, incentive-based policies like cap and trade used to get broad bipartisan support but that was more than a decade ago back when it was possible to imagine Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich sitting on a couch together talking about climate change.

But the first step to solving a problem is recognizing you have one and there's no question that this has gotten worse. From floods to wildfires, to melting polar ice caps, the world is witnessing effects that don't give a damn about or domestic politics.

And that's why it's good to see more Democratic candidates roll up their sleeves and actually propose policy because without it the 2020 campaign is going to be just a lot more hot air.

And that's your reality check.

CAMEROTA: Well played, John Avlon.

AVLON: Oh, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much.

BERMAN: I get it -- the hot air.

AVLON: You got the double entendre there?

BERMAN: I get it.

CAMEROTA: I was going to explain it to you but, all right, you got it. Thank you.

All right. So, Boeing's CEO insisting that the 737 MAX jets are designed properly despite two major air disasters. Up next, we have a Boeing whistleblower here with the troubling things he saw.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:53:40] CAMEROTA: After two mysterious and deadly crashes in just months, Boeing's CEO speaking out, telling shareholders that the systems on its 737 MAX jets are properly designed and suggesting the problem was with the pilots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS MUILENBURG, CEO, BOEING: When we design a system, understand that these airplanes are flown in the hands of pilots. And in some cases, our system safety analysis includes not only the engineering design but also the actions that pilots would take as part of a failure scenario, right? That's all baked into a system end-to-end analysis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, CNN has learned that four Boeing employees called an FAA whistleblower hotline to report serious issues with MAX jets the day after the crash report was released.

Joining us now is John Barnett. He's a former quality manager who worked at Boeing for nearly three decades before retiring and filing a whistleblower complaint. He worked on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Mr. Barnett, it is so good to have you here with us this morning.

What do you think when you hear the CEO there say that maybe the problem is with the pilots?

JOHN BARNETT, FORMER QUALITY MANAGER, BOEING, NORTH CHARLESTON PLANT, WHISTLEBLOWER: Well, it's -- it concerns me based on what I've seen in Charleston, and it concerns me that they're trying to point it at the pilots.

[07:55:07] CAMEROTA: Yes.

BARNETT: I've seen firsthand where Boeing turns things around on the people that are bringing up the issues.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, I know that you've --

BARNETT: That's concerning.

CAMEROTA: Understood.

So let's talk about what you saw. So you worked for three decades at the South Carolina plant of the Dreamliner. And just tell us some of the things that you saw with your own eyes that caused you concern.

BARNETT: OK, a real quick clarification. I've been with Boeing for 32 years and I spent 25 years up in Washington State.

CAMEROTA: Oh, OK, got it. Good to know.

BARNETT: I transferred -- yes, I transferred to Charleston in 2010 to help set up the plant here and get it rolling.

CAMEROTA: OK. So tell us the things that really worried you.

BARNETT: Well, the -- in a nutshell, just the lack of concern for following processes and procedures and following the build plan and making sure that the build records were accurate. That's where it started.

And I'm sure you've seen the "Times" report where I identified issues with the E-nut FOD on the electrical issues, you know.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I do want to get into that.

BARNETT: Those went ignored.

CAMEROTA: Specifically, let's talk about this. So you saw electrical -- you saw metal shavings -- am I right -- floating around electronics equipment.

BARNETT: Yes. The floorboards are installed with titanium fasteners and what was happening was the E-nuts that they were using, which is actually made out of corrosion-resistant steel, was peeling the threads off the titanium fasteners as they were torqued, and some of these are three inches long.

And what happens is they fall down and right up underneath where the floorboards is where all your main wiring runs for your airplane. That's where all your flight control wires run. That's where all your systems wiring runs.

So all these shavings and slivers are falling on top of the wiring, the electronic equipment, the little control boxes that are mounted in there. And when we found it, we found a layer on everything, so it's not just one or two pieces. It was -- it was significant.

CAMEROTA: OK, a couple more questions.

Did you also see -- and I'm looking at "The New York Times" report but I don't know if this is from you because there have been several whistleblowers. Did you see nuts, bolts, and dirty rags left inside the plane where they shouldn't be?

BARNETT: Yes, I have. FOD is a big problem in Charleston and it's -- like I say, it goes back to the -- I guess the culture that -- the people, I guess, really don't understand the significance or what the end result could be, right, so there doesn't seem to be as much focus on cleaning up FOD as you go --

CAMEROTA: Did you find a --

BARNETT: -- here in Charleston.

CAMEROTA: -- ladder in the tailpiece of the plane that is not supposed to be there?

BARNETT: No, I didn't see it myself but I did hear about it, yes. Yes, it was --

CAMEROTA: So all of these things caused you enough concern that you raised red flags. You didn't like seeing dirty rags inside the engine. You didn't like seeing metal shavings on top of the electronics equipment.

And you went to the management --

BARNETT: Oh, absolutely.

CAMEROTA: Here's what -- here's why -- I just want to read their statement, OK? So here's what management says.

"We can't comment on or verify the report. Here's what I can say. Safety and quality are absolutely the core of Boeing's values. Speaking up is a cornerstone of that safety culture and we look into all issues that are raised."

Mr. Barnett, what was your experience when you told your managers what you'd seen?

BARNETT: Well, basically, I was -- well, with the E-nut FOD, I was removed from it and one of my peers was put in charge of it. The defective parts -- again, I was basically told to don't worry about -- let it go.

But -- and if I could, I would like to jump to -- you know, I think this really needs to be a cultural discussion because one of the responses from Boeing was that they substantiated two out of my 10 complaints. Well, I've only filed four, right? So, I filed for the E-nut FOD, the defective parts.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BARNETT: In 2016, I discovered that 25 percent of the oxygen systems that provide emergency oxygen to passengers -- I discovered that we have a 25 percent failure rate with those.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh. That's really scary stuff.

BARNETT: Yes, and we have a --

CAMEROTA: And, Mr. Barnett --

BARNETT: And we have a serial number -- I'm sorry, go ahead.

CAMEROTA: Well, only because we're running out of time. I want to get -- I want to cut to the chase because this sounds like really.

END