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CNN New Poll Numbers; Family Paid $6.5 Million in Admissions Scandal; Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Buck Royal Tradition; Storms Hit the Midwest; Holzhauer Wins 20th Straight Game; Trebek Opens up about Cancer. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 02, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:06] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new CNN poll out this morning gives President Trump his highest marks yet on the economy. It also shows how the president stacks up against the top Democratic contenders in the 2020 race.

Our political director David Chalian back for an unprecedented and very welcome third segment, out with the new numbers.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: By popular demand.

BERMAN: Really.

CAMEROTA: You are the man.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, thanks, guys.

BERMAN: All right, David.

CHALIAN: Listen, I just want to say, these are so ridiculously early to look at these general election match-ups. Remember, this is not predictive. This is just a snapshot in time, though, to give us the context of what the president may be up against this election season. We tested the top six Democrats. Here's Joe Biden, Democratic frontrunner. He matches up 51 percent to 45 percent against the president. Bernie Sanders similar, 50 percent to 44 percent. I should note, the 5.5 percent margin of error in these polls.

Elizabeth Warren is the only of the top six Democrats who numerically falls just short of the president, but, obviously, that's a tied race, 47 percent to 48 percent. Pete Buttigieg is at 47 percent to 44 percent. And Beto O'Rourke, this may surprise some folks, he actually performs best in these early data against the president, a ten-point gap there, 52 percent to 42 percent. And Kamala Harris also edges out the president, but by a smaller margin, 49 percent to 45 percent.

But as you noted, John, despite the president looking like he has an uphill battle, take a look at the number there, 56 percent of Americans in this poll approve of how the president is handling the economy. If you stack that 56 percent up in all of our past polling, it's the high water mark. In all of CNN's polling during the Trump presidency, we've never seen an approval rating on the economy that high. That is what Donald Trump is counting on for his re-election campaign. What those general election metrics show us is, he's got a tough road ahead.

CAMEROTA: And isn't that number about the economy what most elections do boil down to, which is, on Election Day, people look at their pocketbooks and they decide if they feel good or they don't?

[06:35:08] CHALIAN: That, without a doubt, Alisyn, this number, 56 percent, is why, if you're in the Trump White House or in the Trump campaign today, you're not sweating those early general election match-ups that show you're, you know, in a close race but slightly behind some of these Democrats. You're banking on the fact that Americans are going to be feeling better about the economy headed into the campaign.

BERMAN: Well, one of the unanswered questions about the entire Trump presidency has been, are his approval ratings and his re-election numbers, therefore, divorced from the economic numbers? And we don't know that completely yet.

CHALIAN: Right.

BERMAN: We will.

CHALIAN: We definitely will.

BERMAN: All right.

CAMEROTA: I like when David begins his segment by saying, pay no attention to these polls, it's too early.

CHALIAN: I didn't say that.

BERMAN: I don't think that's what he was doing. I don't think that's what he was doing there. I think he -- don't misrepresent him.

CHALIAN: A healthy dose of confidence.

BERMAN: Attorney general Alisyn Camerota.

CAMEROTA: It depends on what you mean by misrepresent.

BERMAN: That's a good point.

CAMEROTA: All right, thank you very much, David.

So, the college admissions scandal takes yet another turn. Why a family that spent more than $6 million to get their daughter into Stanford may not be charged. All the details, next.

BERMAN: You thought tuition was high already.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:04] BERMAN: New overnight, sources tell CNN that a Chinese family whose child was accepted into Stanford, they paid more than $6 million to the mastermind behind the college admissions scandal. So far the student and her parents, they have not been charged.

Our Brynn Gingras, who's been covering this story from the beginning, joins us now with more.

Unbelievable.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a lot of money. Yes, in fact, $6.5 million is the largest amount of money U.S. attorneys say a parent paid Rick Singer. Now we know where it came from.

According to a source with knowledge of this ongoing college scam investigation, the parents of a Chinese student paid Singer, the admitted mastermind behind the scheme, that enormous amount of money to get their child into Stanford. However, that source says these parents are still under investigation because it's unclear if they paid Singer to gain an advantage for their child's admission and they haven't been charged in the case yet.

We also know these parents were referred to Singer by a Morgan Stanley adviser named Michael Wu (ph). Now Wu, according to a Morgan Stanley spokesperson, has been terminated from the company for not cooperating in its internal investigation into the college scam. His connection, we're still working on.

Now, here's how Stanford is responding to all of this. Quote, it's important to clarify that Stanford did not receive $6.5 million from Singer, or from a student's family working with Singer. Stanford was not aware of this reported $6.5 million payment from the family to Singer until today's news reports.

Also, interesting to note this morning about this story, a source tells CNN federal prosecutors have issued subpoenas to more parents possibly connected to this case. Now, no one additional has been charged, but investigators are looking to gain more evidence against them, like financial records, call logs, things we've seen before.

And, finally, those so-called target letters that we discussed a few weeks ago that went out to students who may have participated in the scam, remember, those letters tell the recipient they're the subject of an investigation. Well, we know from a source that three students received those letters so far. Actress Lori Loughlin's daughters, who have pleaded not guilty, of course, her parents, they did not receive a letter.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Brynn, it just seems like this scandal gets bigger and bigger every week.

GINGRAS: And more interesting.

Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much for covering it for us. Speaking of interesting, royal watchers are on high alert for the

birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first child. The little one is set to arrive any day, but the royal couple is bucking recent tradition and saying no to a high profile photo op.

CNN's Max Foster is live in Windsor for us with more.

Max, what is the due date of this baby?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, something interesting happened yesterday, Alisyn, and that was that Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Harry would be embarking on a brief tour of the Netherlands next week starting Wednesday. That convinced all of us here gathered amongst this baby fever that the due date has to be this week. And we'll get to see this new addition to the royal family in the coming days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The new royal heir in the United Kingdom.

FOSTER (voice over): When the duchess of Cambridge emerged from hospital with her first baby, Prince George, in 2013, she amazed everyone waiting outside, including royal reporter Emily Nash.

EMILY NASH, ROYAL CORRESPONDENT, "HELLO!": She looked every inch the princess. As a mom myself, I found it slightly incredible that she was looking so fresh.

FOSTER: Then Kate did it again with baby number two, Charlotte. And again with number three, Louis.

NASH: Most women who have given birth are not remotely thinking of putting themselves on display in front of the world's media within several hours of that happening. So it's quite a feat for anyone to endure.

FOSTER: The tradition of royals appearing outside hospital shortly after giving birth only goes back a generation to, most famously, Princess Diana.

DICKIE ARBITER, ROYAL PRESS SECRETARY AT THE TIME: Yes, it would have been painful, but she put on a brave face and she smiled. And she did what she thought was expected in front of the cameras. Difficult to do straight after birth, but it was something that she felt had to be done. And it was done.

FOSTER: The duchess of Sussex isn't having any of it, though. She hasn't even revealed where she's having her baby. And she'll only appear before the cameras after the family has had time to celebrate privately, in the words of the palace.

BONNIE GREER, CNN COMMENTATOR: She's saying to us that her baby, even though this baby's born into a very public family, one of the most public in the world, is not a public baby. This is our baby. And we'll let you see this baby when we're ready to show you, if we show you. FOSTER: And then there's the example that sets for other new mothers.

GREER: Women won't feel the pressure to look like they're ready for the cover of "Vogue" after they've given birth. And I think Meghan is leading the way with that with this. I think it's great.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:45:02] FOSTER: You do have to ask yourself, guys, how many professions there are out there where a woman is expected to go back to work within hours of giving birth. But that's pretty much what we've come to expect of senior royals in recent decades.

CAMEROTA: All right, Max, it's very exciting. Thank you very much.

And you know, John, there are also Instagram conspiracy theories that I'm about to peddle that the baby's already been born and we just haven't been told.

BERMAN: Look, I've been virtually cut out of the entire royal coverage here, so -- so --

CAMEROTA: Because you haven't earned a place in the royal coverage.

BERMAN: Because I -- look, I'm very happy for them as human beings. Like, congratulations to them. And I hope they have their baby on their terms.

CAMEROTA: Here we go. Here we go.

BERMAN: Exclusively. But why should I care as an American about the 15th in line to the throne being born?

CAMEROTA: Because it's just an exciting time.

BERMAN: And I don't need to see it. And I don't need to see a picture of it.

CAMEROTA: It's a story about love. These two are so in love. They're both so attractive. It will be so interesting to see their baby.

BERMAN: Do we -- do we cover everyone who's in love children being born?

CAMEROTA: We should.

BERMAN: All right.

A new round of severe storms expected to slam the Midwest.

CNN meteorologist and royal watcher Chad Myers has the forecast.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're going to need more than 24 hours a day to cover all that, John. So, yes, here we go.

And more severe weather yesterday. Six tornados on the ground, unlike the 31 we had the day before. But more weather coming today.

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

So, here we go. The weather in two spots today. Ohio Valley and also Texas. The storms have kind of broken up. One part is going to move on up toward Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, and then back down to the south, more storms are going to fire up down in the deep part of Texas, the deep south part. So this is where we're going to see the storms today and again for tomorrow and then some showers on and off through the weekend.

The problem still is going to be the heavy rain. These areas can't take two to three inches of rainfall in three to four hours. And so we're going to run off some of that water, run off some of that flash flooding possibility. Also some more heavy rainfall from a tropical- like system in Florida. No, it's not going to get a name. It's not going to be anything. But it's certainly going to make very heavy rainfall across parts of Florida.

New York City still can't seem to get that warm front. Over the weekend, still in the 50s.

Guys, back to you

CAMEROTA: Yes, no likey. Thank you very much, Chad, for that.

MYERS: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: As so many of you know, I have the honor of sitting next to a "Jeopardy!" champion every morning here.

BERMAN: It's true. It's true.

CAMEROTA: And if you don't know, he'll tell you.

But even he does not have the answer to this next question, who can stop the streak of the current champ? The latest milestone for the current winner, John, I know you're waiting with bated breath.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:40] BERMAN: The world's greatest competitor -- James --

CAMEROTA: You?

BERMAN: I do. I really do.

James Holzhauer just won his 20th straight game of "Jeopardy!," tying for the second longest streak in the show's history, and he's raking in a record amount of cash.

CNN's Brian Stelter joins us now with much more. This guy is just amazing.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It is. It's great. It's fun to watch. It's amazing television. He's up to 20 games in a row. That ties the record from Julia Collins five years ago. Of course, the number one winner of all time is Ken Jennings. He won 74 games in a row. So, James Holzhauer, he has a ways to go. But here's what happened last night when he topped $1.5 million.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": Let's see if you came up with the correct response. Of course you did. And your wager, substantial? Of course it was. $40,784. $101,682 today. And now let's take a look at the total, shall we, folks? A 20-day total of $1,528,012

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: One of the reasons why he's breaking so many records is because he bets so much money every game. His strategy is straight out of Los Vegas, and that's where he's from. To play fast, to bet big, to make a lot of money and then to take a lot of risk. He tries for the daily doubles. He moves all around the board. And he knows so many answers. And, by the way, that's really all that matters. He knows all the answers.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but that is interesting because it's not just that he has a big brain, you're saying, its that he does all these other kind of Vegasy things

STELTER: There's almost some game theory to this.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

STELTER: A lot of critics say he's broken the game, he's changed the game forever. That's quite possible.

And, by the way, these have been taped weeks ahead of time. So it's a big secret --

CAMEROTA: The truth is out there.

STELTER: We don't know how many games he's won. He may have won for the entire season. He may come back in the fall. All of that's a mystery, but it's amazing television.

BERMAN: It's really also amazing they've been able to kept the secret --

STELTER: Right.

BERMAN: About whether he's still winning or not. Secrets don't last like that anymore.

So, Alex Trebek battling pancreatic cancer. We heard him talked about it at length really for the first time yesterday STELTER: Yes, on with ABC's Robin Roberts, talking about this really

terrifying situation. You know, stage four pancreatic cancer is a real challenge for him. And yet he talked in very candid detail about the ups and downs and how he's continued to produce and host this show in the middle of it. Here's a bit of what Trebek said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": Well, I'm used to dealing with pain. But what I'm not used to dealing with is these surges that come on suddenly of deep, deep sadness. And it brings tears to my eyes. I'm -- I've discovered in this whole episode, ladies and gentlemen, that I'm a bit of a wuss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: He doesn't look like a wuss.

STELTER: No, he -- we're really seeing a side of Trebek we've never seen before. Incredible courage throughout all of this. To be talking about it publicly. Of course he came out in March. He shared this news. He said, I'm going to keep taping the show. I've got a three- year contract, so I have no choice. He made light of this. He talked about wanting to come back for the fall season. But right now he's going through chemo. He said he's trying to find the strength every day to continue through it.

In that interview, you see that strength in real time. It's quite incredible.

BERMAN: You know what's interesting, and I agree in the way he's talking about it, depression is something that so many people have to deal with. James Holzhauer, to have that phenomenon going on at the same time as Alex Trebek --

STELTER: At the same time.

BERMAN: It elevates him and elevates the show and --

STELTER: It really does. The ratings are way up for "Jeopardy!" right now. People are cheering on James Holzhauer and they're cheering on Alex Trebek.

BERMAN: All right, Brian.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful. Thank you, Brian.

STELTER: Thanks.

[06:54:51] BERMAN: All right, Attorney General William Barr, he's not going to show up for a hearing on Capitol Hill today. The big question now, though, is about this man, when will Robert Mueller testify and how will he respond to the stunning comments made by the attorney general? Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The attorney general is making clear, he is not going to come to today's hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is trying to blackmail the committee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barr was not coming to the circus that was presented to us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barr's rejection follows a defiant and unapologetic performance. We saw him getting grilled.

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The letter's a bit snitty. It was probably written by one of his staff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The attorney general lost any remaining trust me may have had. He does need to resign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has to go on the conclusions of Mueller. And he did that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

So, the ball is now in Robert Mueller's court. All of Washington is wondering how the special counsel will respond to Bill Barr's Senate testimony yesterday, especially after the attorney general called Mueller's criticism of his four-page summary, quote, a bit snitty.

[07:00:02] Will Robert Mueller come to Capitol Hill to answer questions?

BERMAN: Barr, the attorney general, is refusing to testify today before the House.

END