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41 Killed When Russian Plane Catches Fire After Landing; Trump Says Mueller Should Not Testify Before Congress; Risks and Benefits of Frontrunner Status; Horse Racing World Reels Over Kentucky Shocker. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 05, 2019 - 20:00   ET

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


[20:00:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is -- it's powerful.

BLACKWELL: Victor Blackwell, CNN, Baltimore.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you so much for being here. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

A stunning new development in what may have forced a Russian passenger jet to make an emergency landing in Moscow resulting in 41 deaths. New video shows the plane was not on fire when it landed but burst into flames only after it slammed into the runway. Thirty-seven people on board survived this disaster. The Russian news agency Interfax is now reporting there was a loss of communication caused by a lightning strike.

We also have video taken from inside the plane. And I have to warn you, it's tough to watch.

At least two children are among the dead. Russian state media reporting a U.S. citizen was killed.

CNN's Richard Quest covers aviation issues for us. He's been following this story all day for us.

Richard, this new video showing the plane is not on fire before landing. What clues does that tell you?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Let's take it step by step. The first thing we know, the plane leaves the airport. It then reports that there's problems. We don't know what the problem is but we believe it might be that it's because it has been hit by lightning is what they say. The plane goes around. Does a couple of circles before coming back in to land for this emergency landing. And that's where we pick it up here.

Bounces once back into the air, bringing the nose back up but, you see that bit there, that is where the tail strikes. That tail strike causes an initial flurry of sparks and flames. But the main one, there, because what happens is the tail hits. Then the force of that. The undercarriage collapses. As the undercarriage collapses, the fuel, which is stored in the wings, that erupts. And that's how you get this appalling fireball right at the end. Now the nature of that is most of the fuselage, if you look at the

pictures of the plane on fire, most of the fuselage is consumed. Thereby meaning over wing exits, all rear exits if there are any would not be -- (INAUDIBLE), would not be available. They've only got the front exits to use. Those, of course, are limited. That's how you end up with so many people being on board the aircraft.

CABRERA: We know they were coming in for an emergency landing. They had been struck by lightning.

QUEST: Yes.

CABRERA: Take us through what a heavy emergency entails because, for example, we know they didn't necessarily dump fuel.

QUEST: No, they didn't dump fuel, but small aircraft don't necessarily need to. Quite often a small aircraft can land. This was a relatively short flight up to Murmansk. It may have been on takeoff. We don't know. I don't know the numbers. On takeoff it may have been within its maximum landing weight without dumping fuel. But even if it was overweight on its maximum landing weight, if you need to, you still land. What I see here is it's coming in very fast. It's coming in very fast.

It begs the question, as a result -- it's coming in fast. It doesn't look to be controlled. The nose looks down first. The flare looks to be -- there's the flare coming up to the -- forward. Then you get the flare and then you get the bounce. And my guess is that we -- until we know what happened with the lightning strike, we don't know -- shouldn't have happened, by the way.

Lightning strikes, planes are supposed to handle them. It's noisy, it's nasty, it smells a bit but the plane is not supposed to be -- and here the picture that you would see on the screen now, you see, clearly, the over wing exits are not usable. At least they don't appear to be because there's fire there. If they are being used, that's highly risky because you would evacuate off, out of the plane onto the wing, off the back of the wing.

CABRERA: You can only imagine, though, just how scared those people in the back of the plane would have been and how difficult it would have been to get everybody off as quickly as possible because as you can see one person at a time going down that slide there.

Let's play the video again.

QUEST: Sure.

CABRERA: If you will, Richard, from the inside of the plane.

QUEST: Yes.

CABRERA: People who were on board as it skid.

QUEST: Just behind the wing there. You can see the engine.

CABRERA: Yes. So they would have been right behind where that fire, as you hear the screaming in the background.

QUEST: Yes.

CABRERA: This is awful video to watch. But the fact that somebody had the -- I guess, the thought to even start filming --

QUEST: Well --

CABRERA: Do you think they didn't understand how serious this was?

QUEST: No, the -- oh, absolutely they didn't. And they didn't understand because whatever had happened, this plane did a normal approach. So you know an hour ago, I was saying who on earth videos in a fire?

[20:05:02] Well, when that person started videoing, it was probably, you know, we're making an emergency landing for X, Y, Z reasons and then for us --

CABRERA: But we made the landing, they're thinking.

QUEST: They were making a landing for whatever reason that there was a controlled problem with the aircraft, that the pilot wanted the plane on the ground. The result of that landing meant the plane bounced, the hard landing was a tail strike. That led to what happened.

The issue, Ana, here is going to be, this was survivable, all right? The plane -- and I don't mean this part at the end or even this part at the end, the fireball was survivable. That right there, that is survivable. If the plane is in that condition as its touching down, it raises the question, what happened? And that will be the focus of the inquiry.

CABRERA: And what happened in terms of responding --

QUEST: Multiple--

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: Absolutely.

CABRERA: To this emergency --

QUEST: By the way, I was checking earlier. The fire brigade has, depending on where in the airport, it has three minutes, maximum, maximum to get to --

CABRERA: Just three minutes.

QUEST: So these later pictures show, unless the fire brigade was slow. And I have no reason to believe they were at Moscow airport, and that they -- that's what it was like. That's what it's like.

CABRERA: Wow. Richard Quest, thank you very much. So glad to have you with us to walk us through all of that. Forty-one people now dead.

President Trump today declaring that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should not testify. It was part of another set of tweets today complaining about the Mueller investigation. Here it is. "There was no crime except on the other side. And no obstruction. Bob Mueller should not testify. No re-dos for the Dems."

Of course, the Mueller report did not find that there was no obstruction. In fact Mueller wrote they could not exonerate Trump on obstruction. Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee leaders are trying to secure a time and a date for Mueller to appear.

And our Boris Sanchez is at the White House.

Despite this tweet, is there any indication, Boris, if the president will block an appearance by Robert Mueller?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No indication yet, Ana, but based on that tweet we may see the White House move in that direction. The president arguing that he does not want Democrats to get a re-do. He didn't express those concerns on Friday, though, when he was asked about the potential for Robert Mueller to testify before the House Judiciary Committee by reporters. Listen to what the president said on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, should Mueller testify? Would you like to see him testify?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know. That's up to our attorney general who I think has done a fantastic job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Well, on Wednesday, Attorney General William Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and he said that he would have no objection to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller taking the stand before House Democrats who would ask him all sorts of questions that likely the White House would not like him to expand on publicly. Namely, some of the embarrassing details in the Mueller report about aides ignoring the president's orders, suggestions that witnesses involved in the investigation may have destroyed evidence.

And, of course, those 10 or so instances of the president trying to interfere in the Russia probe. Not to mention, of course, the letter that Robert Mueller delivered to William Barr talking about the mischaracterizations, the inconsistencies and Barr's letter and the attempt to summarize the findings of the Mueller report. You can bet the White House does not want Robert Mueller to talk about that extensively, considering they want to move past this, despite the president's tweets -- Ana.

CABRERA: Boris, we're just about 13 hours now from that deadline set by House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler for Attorney General William Barr to turn over the unredacted Mueller report. Are there any indications that's going to happen?

SANCHEZ: None yet. Look, and this wouldn't be the first standoff between House Democrats and the Justice Department. There have been several instances where the Justice Department has effectively held the president's line here and not allowed, for example, tax returns to be handed over from the IRS to subpoenas based on the House Democrats' request. So this is likely yet another front where the White House will continue to battle Congress essentially in a battle of wills that may go on for years and won't be decided until they potentially get to the Supreme Court -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right, Boris Sanchez, at the White House for us tonight, thank you.

Coming up, Joe Biden and the risks and benefits of being the frontrunner in the 2020 race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:12:57] CABRERA: A busy Sunday for Democratic contenders in the 2020 race as they criss-cross key states. Senator Kamala Harris is speaking this evening at an NAACP event in Detroit. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg are both in South Carolina, a state where black voters will play a key role in determining who will get the 2020 nomination.

Buttigieg admits he still has work to do in winning over African- American voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-IN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think, you know, what this tells us is we've got a lot of work cut out for us. We're building a campaign staff team that's going to reflect the diversity of our party and our generation. But clearly, we've got a long way to go before we can say the same about our support base. We're going to be continuing to engage and reach out through faith communities, through activist leadership anywhere we can in order to continue connecting with black voters and every voter that we can get to in this state and every state in order to win and in order to deserve to win.

My campaign needs to go above and beyond in reaching out to black voters and that's going to continue to be a priority for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining us now, CNN political commentator and former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart, and Michael Blake, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Gentlemen, so great to have you with us. I'm curious, let me start with you, Michael, do you think white males face an uphill battle when it comes to representing the diversity of the party?

MICHAEL BLAKE, VICE CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I think everyone has to be clear about how they're going to empower and embrace the diversity of our party. Has to focus on the diversity inclusion. It cannot just be on one candidate alone. You know, Pete is obviously a phenomenal candidate as is Vice President Biden or Secretary Castro, but the reality is this, we have to make sure that you can't just show up for one time. It cannot just be engaging with black churches four weeks before an election. How do you mobilize the black community and the Latino community, and Native American, and Asian community all of the time? That's what we're looking for in the Democratic Party.

CABRERA: Joe, why do you think white males are leading the polls?

JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think some of it is the party is more familiar with Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders. Biden's been around for decades. Bernie Sanders ran a very aggressive campaign in 2016.

[20:15:03] I do think that there's -- you know, the race kind of bifurcates a little bit. The party has gotten younger. The party has gotten more supportive of women candidates. People of color. But there's that -- pushing against that is this idea that the paramount interest in the party is defeating Donald Trump at the polls. And those two things are going to stay in conflict. It's not a bad thing. I think particularly for the candidates who are just introducing themselves on a national level.

So I think we're going to continue to see a little bit of tension there, and at the end of the day, we're going to make a decision based on who can beat Trump. That may very well be with someone who is generationally different or is a gender or, you know, person of color.

CABRERA: We are starting to see a little bit of tension among the Democrats themselves in this crowded field with Joe Biden taking this big lead according to the most recent polling, 39 percent in CNN's poll, 38 percent in the Quinnipiac poll. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren taking some shots at Biden. Biden said today he's not going to be hitting back at Democrats. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We agree on basically everything, all of us running. All 400 of us.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: I'm not going to get into a debate with my colleagues here. Plenty of time on the stage.

I'm not going to speak ill of any Democrat during this campaign. Unlike some other Democrats now. That's not useful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: He says it's not a useful strategy, but, Joe, do you think that he's going to stick with that if it starts to tighten or he starts falling behind? LOCKHART: Listen, I think his strategy that he's following is running

against Donald Trump. He's trying to build a race that says I'm the best candidate who can take Trump on, and I don't want to do anything that makes it harder for the Democratic Party to come together.

Now, you know, anything can change. I think on the debates he'll certainly defend himself but I don't expect him to spend a lot of time talking about the other people in the race. I expect him to stay focused on Trump.

CABRERA: Do you see it the same way, Michael?

BLAKE: Overwhelmingly, yes. At the end of the day, you know, communities want to hear you speak of your positive vision. You know, we talk about protecting health care, we talk about fighting for education.

CABRERA: But Joe Biden is not necessarily talking about a positive vision. He's talking about how bad America has gone down the road.

BLAKE: No, I would counter that. He's conveying that we have to fight for the soul of the country which is obviously a positive direction because what's happening right now under the Trump and the Republican Party is something that we can't accept. However, how do we move forward? And so at the end of the day, us fighting one another as Democrats is not helping someone. In the South Bronx, no one is asking me about Trump's tweets. They're asking me about heat and hot water.

And so the reality is people want to know that you're going to speak positively and in that direction. Now as Joe mentioned, when you go into debates, obviously, you have to protect yourself. Obviously there's choice and contrast. But the most important thing for us is how do we not just get the White House back in 2020 but how do we expand with state Houses and city council and county commission races.

I was just in Santa Barbara, California, on yesterday for their local county party event. Why? Because people want to know that we're actually talking and engaging with them on the ground. They don't want to hear us divide each other. They don't want us to fight each other. They want us to stay focused and united, while the ultimate goal of getting the White House back in 2020.

CABRERA: Mayor Pete Buttigieg was on the cover of "TIME" magazine.

LOCKHART: Yes.

CABRERA: This week, with his husband, and he's been on a bit of a hot streak lately. I'm curious how you think his "TIME" magazine cover was received compared to how Beto O'Rourke's "Vanity Fair" cover was received.

LOCKHART: Yes, listen, I think both of them gave them an initial charge. I think Mayor Buttigieg has done a better job of going out and trying to build support. You know, listen to how he answered the question in South Carolina. He didn't say everyone should vote for me because, you know, I'm the best mayor in the world. He talked about having to earn that. And I think that's very important. He's very humble in the way he approaches this campaign and the work that he has to do.

It is an uphill battle. I mean, he's -- he is sitting, you know, with less than 10 percent of the vote in most of the polls but he does seem to hit the right notes, and he does appeal to a millennial generation that he shares so much with. And I think that's one of the reasons we've seen some of the more established candidates like Sanders and Warren come down a little bit because they are all competing for the same pool of voters.

And that competition is eventually going to produce, you know, I think, two or three real frontrunners here and produce the best candidate to take on Trump.

CABRERA: Gentlemen, so good to have both of you with us. Thank you, Joe Lockhart. Thank you, Michael, for being here as well. Appreciate it.

Coming up, the --

The derby disqualification that wasn't just shocking but pricey, too.

[20:20:01] How much betters lost when the original outcome was thrown out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Well, we all know what President Trump was doing Saturday afternoon. Apparently he was watching the Kentucky Derby and he wasn't happy about the amended results. The fastest horse, Maximum Security, was disqualified leaving second place finisher and 65 to 1 long shot Country House to claim the coveted roses.

The president griped on Twitter about the wet and sloppy track and chalked up the final decision to political correctness. Not quite sure how PC applies here. But he wasn't alone in his dismay. A lot of people flipped their very fancy lids over the call.

CNN sports anchor Coy Wire joins us now.

Coy, I have to observe that this is something we're all warned to do. Stay in your lane. Maximum Security didn't stay in his lane. This has never happened in the 145-year history of the derby. What went wrong?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Ana. You know what this is a little bit like? This is -- you know, back to 1875, never had this happened before. Kentucky Derby winners being stripped due to on- track violations. And this was kind of like being Miss Colombia and told you just won the Miss Universe Pageant and then being told, no, you didn't.

So let's check out what happened here. Roll this video. You'll see they're in pink. That's Maximum Security. [20:25:03] And notice how close he is to the rail. As they come

around that turn, there's not much but you do see he drifts away farther from the rail and that was what the infraction was. And so 22 excruciating minutes the stewards would have to look over this replay and determine, was the outcome of the race altered? Well, in the end, they did decide Maximum Security disqualified from the race. Unprecedented. Fans going crazy. People bet on Maximum Security said, oh, no. Yes.

CABRERA: Yes, is Country House's victory tainted, do you think? And what kind of pressure now is on for the next jewel in the Triple Crown, the Preakness?

WIRE: It's a good question, Ana. 65 to 1 odds, the second biggest long shot ever. Country House becomes the winner. And it is a great question. Do you want to win the crown jewel of the sport of horse racing in this manner? Let's listen to what the trainer of Country House had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's bittersweet. I'd be lying if I said it was any different. I mean, I'd like, you know, you always want to win with a clean trip and have everybody recognize the horse as the very good horse and the great athlete that he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: So that's an interesting reaction, especially since the stewards who made this decision said that Country House's path was never altered and, Ana, guess what, team Country House was the only team that filed an objection.

CABRERA: Really?

WIRE: Really.

CABRERA: OK. Well, the unqualified -- or unexpected disqualification, I should, it cost a lot of money. $9 million? Tell me more.

WIRE: Yes. So lots of money changing hands here, right? There was one person who made a $2500 bet Maximum Security win, to not win, Country House to win. They won 133,000 bucks. According to the Action Network, if you were to bet the $1 super high five it's called and you picked Country House to win in the second and third place correctly, it pays out over $500,000.

No one came forward with that yet, but think about this. If you are at the Derby, I've been to multiple, and you see it all the time. Your horses lose, what do you do, you tear up your tickets, you throw them in the trash, you go on drinking your mint juleps. This is a reality that might exist for some people who didn't think that Country House won but in the end he did. So it is incredible to think about. It says that here - Action Network also says Twinspires.com, the online wager service for Churchill Downs would have had to pay out $42 million had Maximum Security won. Maybe they're happy he didn't.

(LAUGHTER)

CABRERA: No kidding. All right. Coy Wire, really appreciate it. Thank you, my friend.

WIRE: My pleasure.

CABRERA: Have a good weekend.

OK, the prospect of going to federal prison may sound ominous, but if you have to go, jailhouse experts say Michael Cohen definitely made the right choice. Details of the federal facility former inmates say is so cushy, it's basically a bad sleep-away camp.

[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Welcome back. President Trump's former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, reports to prison tomorrow. But experts say, as far as prisons go, he definitely made the right choice. This is the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville, where Cohen will serve a three-year sentence for among other things, campaign finance violations.

The facility located about 70 miles northwest of New York City has been called a castle behind bars. Forbes Magazine once ranked it one of America's 10 cushiest prisons where inmates can play tennis and bocce ball. And then there's the food, a commissary menu that includes raw almonds, creamy dill potato chips, turkey bacon, herbal tea.

My next guest knows firsthand about the conditions at Otisville, Jack Donson, is a former manager at the prison and now runs a prison consulting firm. He's here with me in New York. Thanks, Jack for coming on.

JACK DONSON, FORMER CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT SPECIALIST, BUREAU OF PRISONS: Thank you.

CABRERA: Former inmates have compared this place to basically a boys' summer camp. Is that a fair comparison?

JACK: It's a comparison as far as camp-like environment; no fence, no cells, walking track. They do have a net to play tennis and they do have a handball court as well. So, it's more of -- it is a campus- type environment.

CABRERA: You say this isn't a good fit for Cohen. Why?

DONSON: It's not a good fit for Cohen, in my opinion, because of the proximity to media and the New York City metro area. It's not very secure. And I don't mean he will get any trouble from the population itself, but there's nobody stopping anybody from walking in to Otisville, right up to the visiting room.

It's the first time you get I.D.'d. So you're walking through the inmates, walking past the activity areas, and some -- you know, a crazy person wanted to get in there, it would be so -- it would be very easy.

CABRERA: Interesting. This prison, though, is no stranger to high- profile prisoners.

DONSON: Sure.

CABRERA: Right? You have disgraced ImClone founder, Sam Waksal, he spent time there for insider training scandal Martha Stewart was caught up in, the fire festival convicted fraudster Billy McFarland, Jersey Shore tax-evader, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. What is life like there for somebody who has big-time name recognition like Michael Cohen?

DONSON: And it depends how they handle it. If they're going to have an entourage and they're going to be giving orders and trying to assume their prior, you know, being important, that's not going to work. So, he's just another eight-digit number. And if he had any -- if he was smart, he would just assume that low profile, humble attitude and approach.

But he's going to have a difficult time managing boredom in an environment like that; 120 beds, very small satellite camp. They refer to them as minimal programs, activities. So, the time can tend to drag in a smaller environment like that.

And, again, he's a big fish in a small environment. Other inmates will watch every move, be sending information out to the public. You know, they're going to track every single movement of him.

So, if I had any advice to give him, I would just tell him to -- don't make friends. Lay back. Be humble. Treat everybody with respect and just do your time.

CABRERA: I understand this prison is well-known for catering to Jewish inmates? Tell us about that.

DONSON: Yes. It's always been in the proximity to the Jewish communities, there are Ultra-Orthodox communities in (INAUDIBLE) Kiryas Joel and Brooklyn, obviously, is not far away. So, there is a full-time-staff Rabbi. They have very good Kosher food, CRC actually, you know, strict supervision of the food. They have a Kosher kitchen.

So, for religious person in New York City, a Jewish person, it's a great fit, as far as their religious dietary practices.

[20:35:12] CABRERA: We mentioned the top there, it has this reputation of being a cushy --

DONSON: Yes.

CABRERA: -- prison environment. Is this an example of the vast discrepancies, do you think, in prison placement when it comes to the people who have wealth and status? DONSON: No. And it's -- I want to stay there's no cushy prisons. There's no club fed. He'll have a hell of a difficult time sleeping because it will never be dark and there will be officers walking around, jiggling keys. He'll be told when to get up. He'll be told when to eat. He'll -- it's no such thing as cushy.

It's not -- it's somewhat demeaning, showering in the -- in the open. He's not going to be in control of anything. He's going to be told when to work. He'll stand in line with a plastic tray like anybody else, so there are no cushy prisons.

Satellite camps are all pretty much the same. And honestly, the bigger, larger camps like a Montgomery or a Pensacola are far more cushier in far as programs and activities, because that's really what you want when you're in prison for the time to pass by, you know, a variety of programs and activities. And the satellite camps have very minimal programs and activities.

CABRERA: Jack Donson, so good to have you insight. Thank you very much --

DONSON: OK. Thank you.

CABRERA: -- for sharing.

Coming up, from playing beer pong to playing off Trump's name-calling, a look at how Democratic presidential candidates are trying to standout in a crowded field of now 21.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN COHEN, CO-FOUNDER, BEN & JERRY'S ICE CREAM: I hate to let you down.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not Bernie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

SANDERS: I'm Bernie. Anyone know who this guy is? Did you ever eat Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream? Now, I know, I know, i am reasonably famous, but compared to this guy who gave the country Cherry Garcia, what can I say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And that was Senator Bernie Sanders, campaigning, of course, with the co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in Iowa, this weekend. It's one of those viral moments candidates are seeking when you have a field of 21 people. CNN's Jessica Dean takes a look at the fight to stand out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: In a field of 21 contenders, Democrats are looking for their big moment to break out from the pack.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think you've made it clear that you've not looked at the evidence. We can move on. I think you've made it clear, sir, that you've not looked at the evidence and we can move on.

DEAN: Senator Kamala Harris' questioning of Attorney General William Barr, this week, going viral, drawing the attention of President Trump.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, she was probably very nasty.

DEAN: Harris is now fundraising off that moment, writing to supporters, "Nasty? It seems like any time Donald Trump feels threatened by a strong woman, he lashes out with this gross, weird attack."

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also uses Senate hearing as a way to grab the spotlight, delivering a strong statement about sexual assault in the military.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am tired of the statement I get over and over from the chain of command. We've got this, ma'am, we've got this. You don't have it. You're failing us.

DEAN: Meantime, Senator Amy Klobuchar is focussing on policy as a way to stand out, rolling out a plan to prioritize mental health and combat addiction. She's talked openly about her father's struggle with alcoholism.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When he went to treatment, in his words, he was pursued by grace. And so that has pushed me --

DEAN: Governor Jay Inslee, who has made combating climate change, the central theme of his candidacy, unveiled his plan to implement 100 percent clean energy standards for key sectors of the U.S. economy.

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is a dark cloud over America. And that is the dark cloud of climate change.

DEAN: His announcement follows Beto O'Rourke's release of his own climate change plan, earlier this week, his first major 2020 policy proposal.

REP. BETO O'ROURKE (D-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This country needs direction when it comes to meeting the single greatest threat that we've ever faced.

DEAN: Polls support focusing on climate change is a good strategy, 82 percent of Democrats say that issue is very important. And while each of those candidates mentioned, in the story, are doing what they can to stand out. They all continue to poll well behind Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.

Jessica Dean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Coming up, her drunk driving destroyed the life of a teenage girl. And now she's sitting down with the girl's family on "THE REDEMPTION PROJECT WITH VAN JONES."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN JONES, CNN HOST: You got a dad. You got a mom. You got a baby sister. You got a young woman in a wheelchair. Why do you want to sit across from all that pain?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Welcome back. In his new show "THE REDEMPTION PROJECT," Van Jones explores the question, what happens when the victim of a crime and the person who committed that crime, people you'd think would never come together, do just that.

Tonight, Van introduces us to a woman whose drunk-driving accident changed a family forever. And now both sides are preparing to meet for the first time about that fateful day. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAN GILL, DRUNK DRIVER: I had wrote a letter to the Stokes. And when I was writing the letter, I felt like nothing I was going to say was going to be OK.

KAREN STOKES, MOTHER OF ASHLEE STOKES: We haven't opened the letter yet, mainly because of -- because of my feelings. I mean, if I was in her position, I would have not let it have gone 10 years before reaching out.

JONES: When these people collided and spiraled and spiraled and spiraled for years and years and years, finally come back into contact with each other, it is like the biggest thing in these people's lives. I mean, we underestimate the amount of courage it takes for people to do this kind of stuff.

GILL: I have a lot of nervousness and anxiousness. The fact that I am going to really be sitting down face-to-face with the Stokes --

DAVID STOKES, FATHER OF ASHLEE STOKES: Callan Gill was the girl that chose to take everything from me and my family. I don't know where we're going to land. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Van Jones, host of "THE REDEMPTION PROJECT" joins us now. Looks like a powerful episode, Van.

JONES: Oh, yes.

CABRERA: Tell us a little bit more about this family and their daughter, Ashlee.

JONES: Well, you know, it often happens that, you know, we hear about, you know, drunk-driving incident or an impaired, you know, driver and, you know, the driver got a bunch of years and, therefore, you know, justice was served. We don't realize, you know, years later, that family is still struggling and still dealing.

And so, this family actually wants to have the conversation with the woman who was responsible. And it's a really beautiful episode. It's a very, very powerful episode, with some surprises in there as well, in terms of what gets revealed and what actually happened and all kind of stuff that goes on in there.

But, I think for me, people, you know, last week, I mean, Twitter just fell in love with this show. I mean, usually I call Twitter, a hater, you know, it's usually like a bunch of stuff, like just so many people said thank you, thank you. It's so heartwarming.

The content is tough. I don't know if I want to see that. And then they get hooked in, and at the end, the payoff is usually so beautiful so, I'm proud of this show.

[20:50:15] CABRERA: Let's talk about the woman who was behind the wheel

JONES: Yes.

CABRERA: -- in this particular case. She hadn't had contact with the Stokes family for more than a decade.

JONES: Right.

CABRERA: Right? Why now?

JONES: Well, you'll see. I mean, it comes out why she didn't have contact with them. You got -- you got to watch it, but --

CABRERA: Give us a little taste here, man. Come on.

JONES: I got to save something for the episode. But I'm going to tell you, you know, she -- she wanted to, I'll put it that way, she wanted to. And there was a barrier that prevented her from being able to, and that actually becomes something that was a very important part of the episode.

Look, people say why are you doing this? I think we need more hope. We need more inspiration. We need more healing. We need more empathy. We need more love. And listen, everybody's done something they regret. Everybody's done something they regret. And maybe they don't know how to apologize. They haven't apologized.

Everybody has had something done to them that's hard to get passed. And so, even though these are high-stakes shows, it's deeply, deeply human. I think the reason this show is resonating so much is because you look at, like, these people can have a conversation. Maybe I can talk to my father again. Maybe I can talk to my classmate who voted the wrong way last time.

Maybe there's more available to us as a society, than we have let ourselves know or believe, and so this show is really trying to put medicine back into a system, a culture, that's really anti-empathy, anti-forgive, and I don't think it works well when we are that way.

CABRERA: I mean, you look at this situation and the story that you're previewing, that we just previewed for tonight and nobody died, right?

JONES: Right.

CABRERA: And yet, I mean, there's so much negative emotion wrapped up in this on both sides.

JONES: Of course.

CABRERA: How do you even begin to bring those people on these two sides together?

JONES: You know, here's the thing, even when people say, this is not forgivable, I can't -- I can't get past it, here's what we know, and what we've seen throughout these shows, when people start talking to each other, even across great pain and great difference, they start to learn things and see things and realize things that they just didn't know before. And so, there's a healing that begins to happen.

Listen, everybody doesn't need to be all warm and fuzzy together after some of this stuff happens, but people do need more information than they've gotten. And in our system, after there's been a crime, the system separates the two people, so all you know is what was in the police report.

If the person copped a plea and never testified, you do not know what happened. And so you're just stuck in this emotional prison for years and years wondering, wondering, wondering. And so, on this show, we pulled down that curtain --

CABRERA: Yes.

JONES: -- that the system puts up and we let people talk. It's amazing.

CABRERA: Were you concerned about how these conversations were going to go, were you nervous?

JONES: Very concerned, very nervous, very worried. That's why we have professional facilitators. Don't try this at home, folks. This is you know, really, really highly structured stuff. But I'm telling the reason, I think, that people are falling in love with this show is because it's reminding us that we can get past the stuck parts.

CABRERA: Reminding us of our humanity.

JONES: Yes, exactly, yes. And we need that.

CABRERA: Appreciate that, too.

JONES: We need that.

CABRERA: Yes. Thanks, Van Jones. Good to see you. Be sure to tune in. All new episode of "THE REDEMPTION PROJECT WITH VAN JONES" airs just minutes from now at 9:00 p.m. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: All bets are off. Some British bookies have stopped taking wagers on the Duchess of Sussex's due date, I can't spit out the words, amid speculation that Prince Harry and Meghan's baby has already been born.

They could also stop wagers on the name and the gender of the royal baby, after a flurry of betters predicted it would be a girl named Ivy. Other top name picks, Alice, Diana, Victoria, and Elizabeth, on the girl's side. Arthur, James, and Alexander, are the top choices for a boy.

Now, once the baby is born, Prince Harry and Meghan may be in the market for a royal nanny. CNN's Anna Coren -- Anna Stewart reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: It looks like a scene from a period drama but, these are 21st century nannies in training. Norland College has been providing nannies to the rich and famous for over 100 years. Norlander, Maria Borrallo, is never far from her three little royal charges, easily spotted in her iconic brown uniform.

A Norland nanny is something of a status symbol, and there aren't nearly enough to meet demand. There are seven client requests for every graduate, who'll earn around $65,000 a year, although it can be significantly more. The four-year training course goes far beyond childcare.

DR. JANET ROSE, PRINCIPAL, NORLAND COLLEGE: They do skid pan driving, so this isn't to try and escape the paparazzi, this is about trying to help our students to drive under, perhaps, more challenging circumstances, and also, of course, the military intelligence officers coming in to give them some cyber and personal security, for example.

STEWART: So you're churning out James Bond, Mary Poppins?

ROSE: Some people have put it like that. We want to make sure that our graduates are a set apart, that they are unique.

STEWART: Charles is in his third year of the four-year course. He'll be one of an elite few. Norland's first male nannies only graduated last year.

What sort of family are you hoping to work for when you leave here?

CHARLES LANZANI, STUDENT, NORLAND COLLEGE: One that makes me part of their family and not for being just an employee.

STEWART: Working in the public eye, is that something that would worry you or do you think you'd be OK working in that kind of environment?

LANZANI: I think I'd be OK working in that environment, and also being a male nanny, I feel like I'm already going to face, sort of, that press and high-profile demand.

STEWART: Charles, it's starting to rain. I'm worried about our baby. I think we should head in. Norland students do placements in schools, nurseries, and hospitals, but they're also tested on virtual babies.

Right now, we're doing a bit of practical work.

THERESA BARROWS, STUDENT, NORLAND COLLEGE: Yes.

STEWART: I'm told there is a risk that this baby, my child, Emily, might start crying.

BARROWS: Yes.

STEWART: What are the main reasons this could happen?

BARROWS: Because it's either a nappy, a bottle, wounding, or just a cuddle.

STEWART: And if I fail to fix it?

BARROWS: Then just (INAUDIBLE)

STEWART: You fed her.

BARROWS: I fed her. I could try (INAUDIBLE) her nappy again.

STEWART: OK. Well, just before you do, tell me why you decided to come Norland, other than this?

CHARITY SCHOFIELD, STUDENT, NORLAND COLLEGE: Maybe (INAUDIBLE) definitely what the training had to offer. It's so widespread and it covers such a variety of different skills.

STEWART: In a couple years, these nannies will be looking after real children, possibly, high profile, or even royal ones.

Anna Stewart, CNN, Bath.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: That does it for me. I'm Ana Cabrera. A brand-new episode of "THE REDEMPTION PROJECT WITH VAN JONES" is next. Thanks for being here.