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New Day
Climate Change Puts Nearly One Million Species At Risk; Historic Disqualification At The Kentucky Derby; Russia Launches Criminal Investigation Into Deadly Plane Fire. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired May 06, 2019 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:30:46] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The 2020 Democratic field wants the support of a group of voters who could decide the primary.
CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in Washington with more. Who is this that we're talking about, Arlette?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Alisyn, in her speech in Detroit last night, Sen. Kamala Harris directly took on the debate currently playing out over electability. She argued the path to winning back the Midwest isn't just through Trump voters but through women and people of color.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president isn't trying to make America great, he's trying to make America hate.
SAENZ (voice-over): Senator Kamala Harris with a new battle cry to defeat President Trump.
HARRIS: It's time we had leaders who bring people together rather than rip them apart. It's time we had a president who is not scared to call neo-Nazi violence what it is, domestic terrorism.
SAENZ (voice-over): Speaking at an NAACP event in Detroit, Harris directly challenged the notion of electability.
HARRIS: The conversation too often suggests certain voters will only vote for certain candidates, regardless of whether their ideas will lift up all our families, and it is short-sided. We cannot get dragged into simplistic narratives or yesterday's politics.
SAENZ (voice-over): That argument comes as 2020 candidates adapt to a new phase of the Democratic primary, one with Joe Biden officially in.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Folks, above all else, we must defeat Donald Trump.
SAENZ (voice-over): The former vice president front and center at a South Carolina church Sunday, courting black voters who will be key in the state's Democratic primary. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How critical is South Carolina to your path?
BIDEN: Critical.
SAENZ (voice-over): Biden is betting his deep ties to state leaders and the black community will pay off in 2020 and he's reminding voters of his close relationship with President Obama.
BIDEN: I watched my buddy, Barack, stand up there. And by the way, he's a hell of a guy. Folks, I think he's one of the best presidents we've ever, ever had.
SAENZ (voice-over): Also down south this weekend, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who met with President Jimmy Carter at his home in Georgia before speaking with voters in South Carolina.
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a new generation in American leadership.
SAENZ (voice-over): The South Bend mayor is hoping to expand his appeal among minority voters. Asked about the lack of diversity in his crowds, Buttigieg acknowledged he has work to do.
BUTTIGIEG: 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 VIDEOTAPE)
SAENZ: And also in South Carolina over the weekend, Joe Biden attended a fundraiser where a supporter told him he needs to give a nickname to President Trump. Biden called the president a clown and said while he'll debate him on the issues he won't get into a, quote, "mud wrestling match" with the president -- John and Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: All right, Arlette. Thank you very much for setting all of that up.
Joining us now is Michael Smerconish. He's the host of CNN's "SMERCONISH."
Michael, we want to start with that inevitable term that we all sort of take as gospel. Well, somebody has to be electable, we all nod wisely. Yes, they must be electable. What does that even mean?
And so, Kamala Harris, this weekend, talked about how that might mean different things for different people. So let me play one more portion of her speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: There has been a lot of conversation by pundits about the electability and who can speak to the Midwest. But when they say that they usually put the Midwest in a simplistic box and a narrow narrative. And too often, their definition of the Midwest leaves people out. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Michael, does she have a point?
[07:35:00] MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH": She has a point. I think that there's this -- there's this tug-of-war between passion and practicality. And, Kamala Harris and, I'm sure, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, among others, are trying to address those who say -- you know, I really like the junior senator from the great state of California, but I don't know if she's the one who can beat Donald Trump. Maybe I should go for Joe Biden because he seems to be most reliable among those Midwestern voters and those Rust Belt voters.
And I think what's really going on -- the big picture is that you've got this enormous field. Joe Biden has come out of the gate with a head of steam. Remember Alisyn that initial CNN survey that showed him with an 11-point gap found that 46 percent of Democratic voters think it extremely important that someone be nominated who is electable.
And I keep coming back to that data point because I think in the tug- of-war between passion and practicality, practicality's winning, so far.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I have to tell you, I think Harris's speech last night was a huge moment in this campaign. An acknowledgment by all of the other candidates that this issue -- this amorphous word "electability" is driving things right now and so she decided to take it head-on.
And, Michael, I was listening to you carefully when you were talking -- and you know tons about Pennsylvania and the Rust Belt. I mean, this is where you live and breathe and you're talking to people. You talked about Biden against this weekend. It's a frequent subject here.
But does it mean -- the implication of what Harris was saying is sometimes when we talk about the Midwest and the Rust Belt, what we are also saying is white. Do you think there's an element of that there?
SMERCONISH: Yes, I do, and perhaps I'm one of those guilty of falling into that trap because I often think of this election in terms of who could win Pennsylvania and who could win Ohio, and Wisconsin, and Michigan. And at the top of my list are those high school-educated, white, Democratic, traditional voters who, this time -- 2016 -- went for Donald Trump.
So I think she makes a credible point, which is to say don't overlook other elements of the electorate, don't overlook people of color, don't overlook women who may come out in greater proportion next time around in comparison to 2016.
CAMEROTA: I mean, that is a great point because women do vote more than -- haven't we learned that from Harry, that women do vote more than men.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And so we do need to, I think, have a slightly broader view of what electability means rather than just falling into those stereotypes.
OK, next.
You were suggesting -- you have a theory on why there are so many people -- 21, I think, at last count -- in the Democratic Party. What is your theory?
SMERCONISH: My theory is that they look at 2016 and they say, 'He won? What the hell? I should take my shot.'
I mean, we're talking about electability, right? But how many among us in 2016 thought that Donald Trump would come out of nowhere, win the nomination, and then win the general election?
And yes, I'm convinced that that field would not be 21 strong if Donald Trump weren't the opponent.
And something else, Alisyn. It seems like we no longer value experience, right? And by the way, you can say that in the aftermath of Barack Obama, who was a junior senator from Illinois and catapulted into the presidency.
Gone are the days when you need to be backbencher, established seniority, established credentials, and then take your shot.
Pete Buttigieg is sort of the white knight of this campaign thus far and he's the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, which I think is the third- largest city in Indiana. No disrespect to South Bend, but in a past era we'd have said geez, you need to bide your time a little bit.
BERMAN: One of the things that President Trump has done is remove the barriers to entry to get into a presidential race, largely. And you're right. Barack Obama did that to an extent, too.
Michael Smerconish, great to have you on with us this morning. Thanks so much for being here.
SMERCONISH: See you, guys.
CAMEROTA: All right. On the next hour on NEW DAY we will speak with the latest Democrat to enter the 2020 race, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet. What does he think about all of those theories?
BERMAN: All right. A new study laying out a harsh reality. The threat that could change the earth's ecosystem forever. This seems like a pretty big deal
CAMEROTA: Yes, that sounds like a good tease.
BERMAN: That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:43:27] CAMEROTA: A dire warning from the U.N. about climate change. A report compiled by some of the world's leading scientists finds nearly one million species are at risk of extinction within the next few decades.
Nick Watt has the details, live from Los Angeles. This is stunning, Nick.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is.
Listen, Alisyn, this 1,800-page report is designed to be a wake-up call because take this fact. So, since the early 1990s -- so just a tiny sliver of global history -- the footprint of our urban -- our urban footprint has basically more than doubled and apparently, that is just not sustainable.
So after years of research and six days meeting in Paris, they -- the experts have come up with this report and here are some of the horrific headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (voice-over): Around one million species now face extinction, many within decades, because of humans. Three-quarters of all the land on earth has been significantly altered in just the past 50 years by humans. Plastic pollution at sea is up 10-fold since 1980 -- our fault.
PAUL EHRLICH, PROFESSOR, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: For a species that named itself Homo sapiens, the wise man, we're being incredibly stupid.
WATT (voice-over): The human population has doubled in just 50 years. Our agriculture consumes more and more land. Natural habitats are shrinking.
We continue to pollute, the climate continues to warm, and natural ecosystems crumble at an accelerating rate.
[07:45:04] One hundred forty-five leading experts from 50 countries spent three years compiling this gargantuan report, reaching frightening conclusions.
EHRLICH: The other organisms of the planet are our life support systems. You don't have to worry about them if you don't care about eating, if you don't care about breathing, if you don't care about having fresh water, and so on. Then you can just forget about it and die.
WATT (voice-over): The authors hope this work will land like last year's bombshell U.N. global warming report, which galvanized the Green Movement and spurred politicians towards more urgent action.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We must also face the existential threat of our time, the climate crisis.
WATT (voice-over): As for our rapidly dwindling biodiversity, these experts claim it's the Eleventh Hour. We must act now, consuming less, polluting less, having fewer children.
EHRLICH: I'm very, very optimistic about what we could do in theory. I'm very pessimistic about what we will do.
WATT (voice-over): One-eighth of all animal and plant species on earth now at risk of extinction because of us. And as this report states, nature is essential for human existence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Now, one reason that Professor Ehrlich, who we just heard from, says he's pessimistic is because Donald Trump is in the White House. Donald Trump, of course, has vowed to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate change agreement.
And he recently tweeted this quote. "The whole climate crisis is not only fake news, it's fake science. There is no climate crisis."
So, will the president listen to a climate skeptic on "FOX & FRIENDS" or will he listen to the 145 global experts who just put this report together? Well, John and Alisyn, we'll just have to wait and see.
BERMAN: I think --
CAMEROTA: I think we know the answer.
BERMAN: I think we know the answer, sadly. Again, a really stunning report from the experts -- the people who study this.
Nick Watt, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.
So we've been talking about the phone call that President Trump had to Vladimir Putin last week -- 90 minutes where he apparently did not talk about election security, but they did have a good laugh.
CAMEROTA: Or at least a broad smile.
BERMAN: Or a broad smile, the president said, over the Mueller report.
Senior political analyst John Avlon breaks down what Alisyn says is akin to calling to congratulate the burglar who broke into your house.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's a good way of framing it, Ali.
So look, there's at least one person President Trump couldn't wait to talk about the Mueller report to or as he likes to call it, the Russia hoax, and that's Vladimir Putin. Yes, the bromance seems to be back on after Trump initiated a call to Putin on Friday and the two leaders talked for more than an hour, including about Mueller.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He actually sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that it started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse. But he knew that because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: And when asked whether they discussed Russia's attempts to interfere with America's election going forward, Trump said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We didn't discuss that. Really, we didn't discuss it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: Now that's odd because Russia's election interference is a matter of consensus with everyone except, apparently, the president.
Remember, the Mueller report found that, quote, "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." And this remains a clear and present danger to America's national security.
But don't take my word for it. Here's Trump's own FBI director Chris Wray.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FBI: That is not just an election cycle threat, it's pretty much a 365-days-a-year threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: The Trump administration's own 2019 worldwide threat assessment states, quote, "Moscow is now staging cyberattack assets to allow it to disrupt or damage U.S. civilian and military infrastructure during a crisis." And their toolkit may include "spreading disinformation, conducting hack and leak operation, manipulating data, in a more targeted fashion to influence U.S. policy, actions, and elections." Sound familiar?
Finally, here's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't think -- I don't think there's been a discussion between a senior U.S. official and Russians in this administration where we have not raised this issue about our concern about Russia's interference in our elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: Except, apparently, when that most-senior U.S. official is the President of the United States. Instead, after talking with Putin, Trump fired off this tweet praising
the "potential for a good/great relationship with Russia, despite what you read and see."
It's almost as if the president doesn't want to deal with Russia's attempts to influence our elections, past or present. Actually, that's exactly what's occurring, according to reporting by "The New York Times."
Now, Sarah Sanders attempted some cleanup on aisle Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What I can tell you is that this administration, unlike the previous one, takes election meddling seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: OK, it's worth remembering that Obama did warn Putin personally and the Intelligence Community issued a report before the election about Russian meddling. It was a big issue in the closing months of the campaign, hotly denied by candidate Trump.
[07:50:06] But according to Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell balked at a bipartisan statement condemning Russian interference. McConnell's office denies this.
But all of that's ancient history. What's troubling now is that by all responsible accounts, Russia is ramping up its attempt to interfere in America's upcoming elections. Someone should tell the president or ask him why he doesn't seem to care.
And that's your reality check.
CAMEROTA: John, it's just crazy. How can Sarah Sanders say that the president takes this seriously when he is calling the culprit who broke into our house? He is calling him for a friendly conversation. The victim is calling the culprit.
AVLON: When you've got nothing you pretend that something else is happening. It's not just a river in Egypt.
BERMAN: All right. John Avlon, thank you very much.
So, the controversy at the Kentucky Derby. We now know what the next step is for Maximum Security. This was the horse that crossed the finish line first but was disqualified because of a clear, frankly, infraction.
Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report." Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys.
You know, Gary West, the owner of Maximum Security, told NBC this morning he was going to file an appeal with the State Racing Commission. And, West also said since there's no Triple Crown on the line, Maximum Security will not be running in the Preakness in two weeks.
Now, the violation that everyone's talking about in this race happened on the final turn. Maximum Security drifted into the path of War of Will, who then, in turn, had to alter course and affected other horses.
Now, it is jockeys who make objections and raise issues after a race, and the jockeys of Country House and Long Range Toddy both placed objections against Maximum Security. And after 22 minutes, the stewards decided the move made by Maximum Security was worthy of taking away a Kentucky Derby title for the first time in its 145-year history.
Country House, who had 65 to one odds, declared the winner. And you can imagine if you're one of those thousands that bet money on Maximum Security -- the emotion of winning? Let's go to the window to collect our winnings, then getting the news the horse was disqualified.
Yes, those are the screams of people holding a Maximum Security ticket. And according to Action Network, $42 million in winnings just wiped away because of the disqualification.
I wasn't one of those people screaming guys because I had Improbable, so --
BERMAN: So you lost anyway?
SCHOLES: Yes.
CAMEROTA: I mean, was the name, at all, a tipoff to you that maybe you shouldn't have been betting on that, Andy?
SCHOLES: Yes, probably so.
CAMEROTA: All right.
BERMAN: All right, Andy. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Go watch the video here because the horse did move over. And, horses die and people die when this happens in horse races. This is no small thing.
CAMEROTA: OK.
Horrifying moments during a plane crash -- a crash-landing in Russia. We have a live report for you on what happened on this runway, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:57:02] CAMEROTA: This morning, Russia is launching a criminal investigation into what may have caused that deadly plane fire on a Moscow runway. Forty-one people were killed, including at least two children when this plane burst into a ball of flames after making an emergency landing. CNN's Nathan Hodge is live in Moscow with the very latest. What is the theory on what happened here, Nathan?
NATHAN HODGE, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Alisyn, Russia's Investigative Committee -- it's a top law enforcement agency -- has said that they're looking at a range of possible causes for this -- everything from the training of -- from the qualifications of the pilots, air traffic controllers, and aircraft maintainers to adverse weather or possibly, a problem with the aircraft.
The investigators have said that they've recovered the flight data recorders. They're taking a look at that. They are going to have forensic specialists looking to identify remains of passengers who did not survive.
And, of course, Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has ordered a sweeping investigation of this incident, which has grabbed headlines across Russia. Certainly, this is something that is of major importance for the Russian government.
The Sukhoi aircraft belong to Aeroflot. It was a very important part of the Russian fleets -- John.
BERMAN: All right, Nathan Hodge for us in Moscow, learning much more about that incident. We appreciate it, Nathan.
Also new this morning, we're learning more about the heart-pounding trip that ended with a military charter plane skidding off a runway at a naval station and ending up in a Florida river.
CNN's Rosa Flores live in Jacksonville, Florida with the details on this. Rosa, what are you learning?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning.
According to the NTSB, the flight data recorder has been recovered. The cockpit voice recorder has not. That's in the tail of the plane and it's submerged.
You know what also is submerged? The fuel tanks, and they have about 1,200 gallons of fuel. And according to the NTSB, those fuel tanks have to be emptied before the aircraft is moved.
There was a very small fuel leak and according to authorities, they have deployed a containment boom to contain the spill to the area of the scene.
Now, the NTSB is not just investigating the aircraft. They're also looking into the pilots and crew -- their histories, their records. They're trying to retrace what these individuals were doing the 72 hours prior to the incident.
They're also looking at environmental factors -- the weather. We do know that there were thunderstorms and lightning at the time.
Now, it's very early in the investigation but the NTSB says that their assessment is that this aircraft overran the runway, impacted the low- level seawall, and ended up in the shallow waters of the St. John's River.
And, Alisyn, we have to keep in mind the big picture here, and that is that the more than 140 passengers and crew are safe -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: That is -- I mean, that's the best possible outcome for this scary scenario. Thank you very much, Rosa.
All right, we're following a lot of news this morning so let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": The U.S. deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force in response to what the White House is calling troubling actions by Iran.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think that we should take it lightly.
END
