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New Day
Colorado Community Honors Hero Student; Pulse of Pennsylvania Voters; Flooding and Severe Storms in U.S.; Durant Hurt in Victory Over Rockets. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired May 09, 2019 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:30:42] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds gathering at a vigil in Colorado to honor Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old who classmates are hailing as a hero for lunging at one of the shooter who opened fire at a school near Columbine.
Kendrick is the third person killed trying to stop a mass shooting in just the past two weeks. Lori Gilbert Kaye was murdered trying to shield her rabbi at a synagogue near San Diego, and UNC-Charlotte student Riley Howell died tackling a shooter at his campus.
CNN's Scot McLean is live in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with more.
Scott.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Alisyn.
Today would have been the second to last day of classes for seniors here at this STEM school. Instead, their school is cordoned off with police tape as they learn a lesson outside the classroom. A lesson about bravery and selflessness from a student who likely saved many lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN (voice over): Hundreds gathering at this STEM school Highlands Ranch outside Denver, Colorado, honoring 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, who's being called a hero.
Kendrick immediately jumping into action when two shooters entered his school. Without hesitating, rushing a gunman, sacrificing his life to save his classmates.
BRENDAN BIALY, STEM SCHOOL STUDENT: I want to make something very, very clear, Kendrick Castillo died a legend.
MCLEAN: Eight others were wounded, but authorities say Kendrick stopped the attack from being much worse, giving other students enough time to tackle and disarm one shooter.
TUSCANY GIASOLLI, STEM SCHOOL STUDENT: They risked their own lives so that we could all have our own. MCLEAN: Kendrick's parents not surprised by their son's actions.
JOHN CASTILLO, HERO STUDENT'S FATHER: It's no surprise that if danger was facing him, he would approach it, you know, and take it on.
MCLEAN: The mother of one student says her daughter witnessed Kendrick's heroic sacrifice. She says she's indebted to him.
NYKI GIASOLLI, MOTHER OF STEM SCHOOL STUDENT: If it had not been for him, I wouldn't have my baby today. I have no words other than, what a hero.
MCLEAN: The two suspects appearing in court for the first time Wednesday. Neither 18-year-old Devon Erickson nor 16-year-old Alec McKinney have been charged yet. The district attorney says first degree murder and attempted murder charges will be filed by Friday.
Meanwhile, the haunting picture inside the school becoming clearer. A parent's nightmare, the text messages Cami Branard (ph) received from her son Owen, an 8th grader at the school. The first messages reading, there are gunshots. We are about to get escorted to leave. Cami (ph) responding, where? Can you call me? Owen writing, no, we have to stay quiet.
Owen showing his mother this recording he took inside his pocket during the shooting.
INTERCOM: Attention please, lockdown. (INAUDIBLE) out of sight.
MCLEAN: Twelve-year-old Nate Holley and his classmates were hiding in a closet when the shooter approached.
NATE HOLLEY, STEM SCHOOL STUDENT: And they were right outside the door. I had my hand on the -- on a metal baseball bat just in case because I was going to go down fighting if I was going to go down.
MCLEAN: Kendrick's father saying he selfishly wished his son retreated.
CASTILLO: Because of what he did, others are alive. And I thank God for that. I love him. And he's a hero. He always will be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN: Hard to imagine what those parents are going through right now.
Now, the vigil last night got pretty political. According to "The Denver Post," a group of students actually walked out after hearing from a pair of Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Michael Bennet, who is running for president. At one point, several hundred students appeared to be chanting "mental health" in opposition to the political message on guns.
Now, neither of the suspects in this case have been formally charged. Their next court appearance will be on Friday. John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine a 12-year-old with a baseball bat saying he was going to go down fighting.
Scott McLean, thank you so much for being with us.
We have breaking news this morning. Pope Francis has issued a new law holding bishops accountable for sex abuse or cover-ups. The new rules, which go into effect June 1st, require priests and nuns around the world to report abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities. The new church law also provides whistleblower protections for anyone making a report of abuse.
CAMEROTA: All right, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle introducing Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor to the world. The baby, of course, weighed in at seven pounds three ounces and the British royal family likes to honor those who came before them. However, we are told the duke and duchess of Sussex simply liked the name Archie. There he is, the little bundle of Archie joy. And as for his second name, Harrison, it means son of Harry. Fitting.
[06:35:25] All right, meanwhile, the numbers show the U.S. economy is booming but are voters feeling it?
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SHEILA THOMAS, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: To me, the middle class is struggling. And that's a fact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: All right, we get the pulse of the people from our Pennsylvania voter panel, next.
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CAMEROTA: It's time for our next NEW DAY voter panel.
Pennsylvania is becoming a key stop on the campaign trail. Former VP Joe Biden was born there and he chose that rustbelt state in which to launch his 2020 bid.
Now, in 2016, Pennsylvania went from blue to red for the first time in almost three decades, helping to deliver the surprise victory to Donald Trump.
[06:40:05] So, we sat down with a group of politically active Democrats and one independent, some of whom worked on campaigns in the past, to ask how they're feeling about the mood in their state today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: Why do you think Pennsylvanians voted for President Trump?
SHEILA THOMAS, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT:: Well, I think we didn't get the right people out. I think that was a problem. A lot of people stayed home. And that was particularly acute in the black community.
PAT FLANNIGAN, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: I think people wanted a change. And Hillary just had so much political history and baggage. They were looking for something different
THOMAS: Also, I think, the gender issue, people don't want to talk about it, but a lot of guys I talk to, oh, well she's a woman. Can she really run the country?
ALEX LUDY, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: Didn't people say the same thing about President Obama and him being black? Didn't a large majority of people -- or not a large majority, but didn't people also be like, are we really ready for an African-American president? So I think we can overcome that.
JESSICA WOLFE, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: Yes. We were able to elect Barack Obama in 2008. I'm not sure we would get Barack Obama elected in 2020.
CAMEROTA: How many of you think that Joe Biden being from Pennsylvania will make a difference to Pennsylvania voters?
FLANNIGAN: I don't think Pennsylvania claims Joe Biden. Like we don't go like, oh, he's our boy. I mean I don't know of any connection that says, we're going to vote for him because he's from Pennsylvania.
LUDY: Especially for like young people like me, I have no like real bond, emotional ties to Joe Biden.
CAMEROTA: How do you guys feel about how the economy is doing in Pennsylvania? I mean the economy, by all metrics, is booming. Being in Pennsylvania, do you feel it?
Why are you shaking your head, Sheila?
THOMAS: I'm shaking my head because we know the statistics show one thing, but everybody I talked to, OK, they're struggling to pay their mortgage, to put their kids through college. To me, the middle class is struggling, and that's a fact.
WOLFE: It seems that the gap is widening. There are so many people in Pennsylvania that are doing better, but they were already doing marginally well. And then there are people who are falling off the ladder, who are losing hope every day.
THOMAS: But, again, there is the inequity. And, to me, that's a problem. You know, the gap is rising (ph).
CAMEROTA: I guess the question is, will President Trump be able to win on that this time: Because the economy is doing so well, do voters feel it enough that he will have an easy path to a second --
THOMAS: I don't think so.
NASYA JENKINS, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: No. I don't feel like that he should win it at all because like you're not -- you're not voicing the voice of the people when you say that it's booming. Like, it's -- who are you speaking for?
I work with kids. I talk to parents every day who cannot get by with check to check and are working three different jobs trying to support one child. That's not fair. And then you have me, with my experience, I dropped out of college. I had to. I couldn't afford it. My mother couldn't afford it. So it's just like, you can't come to my face and tell me something is booming and I'm not where I'm supposed to be.
LUDY: I am thankfully still in college and I'm very fortunate to be there. When I graduate, I cannot imagine that I will not be paying off my student loans until the day I die.
CAMEROTA: What's your plan for that?
LUDY: Great question. I don't know. I -- literally, I don't know. I -- you know, I mean, we live in a society that tells kids to go to college. And I think that is fine. And now there's a huge bubble of debt and none of us have any idea what we're going to do about it.
THOMAS: People are not feeling this economic boom because they're struggling to get their kids through school, to pay the mortgage, to pay the bills. We need a candidate that understands the struggle, who's not somebody who's rich and had a silver spoon in their mouth, but understands what it means to raise a family, to struggle in America.
CAMEROTA: I know it's early days, but if the election were held today, who would you vote for?
LUDY: Elizabeth Warren, without question. She has policy plans. She knows what she's doing. She knows where she wants to go. She has a bold vision for the future and she wants to bring all of us with.
THOMAS: I'd probably vote for Joe Biden. I love Kamala Harris. I like Bernie. I like Elizabeth Warren. I think Elizabeth Warren is probably the smartest. But I'm going with who I think, in the long run, is going to present a vision, who's going to unify the country.
CAMEROTA: Pat.
FLANNIGAN: Kamala Harris. I think she's -- provides a contrast to what -- to what Trump is. I think she provides a great opportunity to win.
JENKINS: Definitely Kamala Harris. Not only is she a woman, but she's also a woman of color. I feel like that she has the energy, she has the plan, she has the mindset to go against somebody so disgusting.
BEN MEDINA, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: I will vote for her as well, although I'd love her -- Elizabeth Warren's ideas
CAMEROTA: And why do you like Kamala Harris more than Elizabeth Warren?
MEDINA: Just the fact -- I think she represents something else. Is -- she's not the typical white woman, like Elizabeth. And I see her like -- she will bring people together. And that's what we need. CAMEROTA: Jessica?
WOLFE: If the election were today, I would -- I would vote for Joe Biden. I worked for the Obama campaign. I have a lot of positive feelings toward the Obama-Biden years. I feel like everybody says, oh, we need to go forward, we don't want to go back. I want to go back. I want to go back to those eight years. I think that those eight years were some of the best eight years that we've ever had as a country.
[06:45:11] MEDINA: I agree with you.
WOLFE: And so I feel like when you're scared, and I'm scared, and when you're worried, you want to go home. And, to me, Joe Biden is home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Two really interesting things there. Number one, the candidate preferences are always interesting.
CAMEROTA: Always. They are unexpected. People are -- people never fit neatly into some box that you want to put them in. Well, if you're a woman of color, you're going to vote for a woman of color. Not true.
BERMAN: But I will say, it's early, and those may very well change.
What was really interesting to me is the lanes that these voters laid out that Democrats can run in, or for Democrats to run in. And it's income inequality. Yes, the economy is booming, but there are people who don't feel it. And if you articulate that in the right way, the students who are going to face student debt or if people who aren't making as much are struggling to get by, there's an opportunity for Democrats there to exploit it. And then also the nostalgia for Obama- Biden, which clearly Biden's already tapping into. It's a road map for Democratic candidates.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely, because student debt is not just the students who are burdened with it. You hear there the parents who are struggling with it as well. So that is a multi-generational feeling.
OK, so one of the interesting things is -- and you'll hear this tomorrow, why the women sometimes are more skittish about a female candidate. And though they desperately want a woman to be president, what it is, why they have such deep anxiety about some of that.
BERMAN: I'd actually like to talk a lot more about that as a subject in general. I think that a lot of the polling on this is fascinating and it needs to be explored.
CAMEROTA: You're going to get your opportunity tomorrow.
BERMAN: Fantastic.
All right, breaking overnight, North Korea has launched what is believed to be two short-range missiles. This is the second test in a week. So what does this tell us about the president's efforts to contain Kim Jong-un? A live report ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:51:05] BERMAN: All right, millions of Americans are on high alert this morning for the potential of flash flooding.
CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the forecast.
Chad, what do you see out there?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: An awful lot of people overnight saw lightning, thousands of lightning strikes and very heavy rainfall coming in, in the next 48 hours for the Houston area specifically. And they had enough rainfall in the past couple of days. But really a lot of lightning today. Make sure your pets have a safe place to be if you're headed out right now to work. We even have very strong weather through Louisiana and still one tornado warning still going on at this hour. And that's pretty rare to have tornadoes this time of day. Typically they're 4:00 or 5:00.
So an awful lot of rain has already fallen, especially around Houston, especially north and south of Houston. Flash flood watches and warnings are already posted. But watch the radar. This is today. All the way to 8:00 tonight, Atlanta, big weather here. But I'm going to circle this area right where there's already been plenty of rainfall. And overnight tonight, more big storms. One after another after another, right over the places that are already flooding.
Here's your chance of severe weather today. We'll keep an eye on it.
Guys, back to you.
BERMAN: All right, we're watching it very closely. Chad, thank you very much.
The Warriors, they won the pivotal fifth game of their series against the rockets, but did they lose superstar Kevin Durant in the process? The "Bleacher Report" is next.
CAMEROTA: But first, a look at a CNN special that's close to our hearts, "Champions for Change." This time anchors and correspondents will introduce you to people making a difference who have left a lasting impression on us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Some people --
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Some stories --
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Are so powerful --
ALISON CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: They leave their mark.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Nobody has ever affected me the way your son did.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Their work creates real impact.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: On their communities --
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: On their country --
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: On us all.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Meet the change makers we have never forgotten.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a difference seven years makes.
GUPTA: This is the place where you jumped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. This is the place where I lived.
COOPER: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Bill from CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my first time, today.
BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the champions for change.
BURNETT: It is amazing.
GUPTA: I just get to tell your story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Champions for Change," a week-long CNN special event, all next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:57:51] BERMAN: So the Warriors have pushed the Rockets to the brink of elimination, but they might have to do it without one of their biggest stars.
Coy Wire has more in the "Bleacher Report."
Say it ain't so, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Golden State one step closer to advancing, but one step is all it took to make their chance at a three-peat a little bit tougher. Watch here, Kevin Durant going to hit a jumper late in the third. And you'll see him look back at his leg like someone hit him with a pebble. Well, then he ends up limping to the locker room. The team says it's a calf strain. KD is scheduled for an MRI later today.
Steph Curry and Clay Thompson picked up the slack in his absence. A combined 52 points for them. The Warriors win 104-99, taking a 3-2 series lead. Coach Kerr says he highly doubts Durant will be ready for game six tomorrow in Houston. Milwaukee absolutely demolishes the Celtics, 116-91, advancing to the
Eastern Conference finals for the first time since '01. So John Berman's dream of a Boston slam winning all four major pro sports championships in the same year is now officially dead. Boston making history with an epic collapse. They're now the first team in league history to win their first five games in the playoffs, only to lose their next four.
Bucs get the winner of the Raptors/Sixers series next. No one more fired up for Milwaukee than Green Bay Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari. Yes, he chugs that beer, but he grabs another one and chugs another one too. My goodness. The crowd goes wild. Something Alisyn tells me Berman was did similar chugging, but only to drown his sorrows.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
WIRE: The poor guy, his city has only won 12 pro sports championships in the past 18 years.
CAMEROTA: You've really hit this point hard, I feel, Coy.
BERMAN: What he's not saying is the Bruins are still in it. The Bruins play game one tonight in the semis. And they're going all the way. You know that.
CAMEROTA: Why are you burying the lead, Coy?
BERMAN: I'm a hockey fan, Coy.
WIRE: His glass will be -- his glass of beer is half full, Alisyn.
BERMAN: Yes, you never leave it half full. All the glasses are completely empty, as they should be.
CAMEROTA: Well played.
Thank you, Coy.
WIRE: You're welcome.
CAMEROTA: Are you crushed?
BERMAN: I mean they weren't very good. The Bucs were much better and Kyrie Irving played his last game as a Celtic last night, which is sad.
CAMEROTA: Got it.
BERMAN: Got to get a new t-shirt.
CAMEROTA: All right.
Thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. For our U.S. viewers, the president's son has been subpoenaed by a Republican-led Senate panel. You heard me right. [07:00:08] NEW DAY continues right now.
