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New Day Sunday

Man Who Reported 4-Year-Old's Disappearance Has Been Arrested; Pilot Indicated for Killing A Couple and Their Neighbor; Pete Buttigieg on America's "Crisis of Belonging"; Business Owners Feel the Impact of Trump's Trade War with China; How Climate Change and the "Green New Deal" Will be Pivotal in 2020; NASA Maps Out Plans to Send Astronauts to the Moon by 2024. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired May 12, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:41] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have shocking new developments in the disappearance of 4-year-old Maleah Davis. An arrest has been made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derion Vence is the last known person to have been with missing 4-year-old Maleah Davis. But police say since the beginning, his story has been full of holes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A pilot has been indicted for killing three people in 2015 and then burning their bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, we can announce an indictment of Christian Richard Martin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you worry that you fully prosecuted in the murder case?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I have no worries about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The battle over abortion laws is intensifying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are taking a stand. Our industry is taking a stand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree with them and glad they are taking a stand about it and hopefully taking that stand will make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. 7:01 on this Sunday. You're up early. We are glad for it. I'm Christi Paul.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Martin Savidge, filling in today for Victor Blackwell who is off.

We're going to begin this morning with developments of the tragic nature, in a case of a missing girl in the Houston area. PAUL: Yes, the man who first reported the disappearance of four-year-

old Maleah Davis has been arrested now.

SAVIDGE: Derion Vence was booked into the Harris County jail last night and charged with tampering with evidence. Investigators say they have found blood linked to the little girl in his apartment but they haven't said if they have found a body.

Last Saturday, Vence told police that three men abducted him, Maleah, and his one-year-old son before freeing him and the boy. Volunteers have been searching for Maleah, but investigators say they never lost sight of the holes in Vence's story.

PAUL: CNN's Nick Valencia walks us through this here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Darian Vence is the last known person to have been with missing four-year-old Maleah Davis, but police say since the beginning, his story has been full of holes.

SGT. MARK HOLBROOK, HOUSTON POLICE: I realize there's a lot of blanks of his story, and (INAUDIBLE) fill in the blanks.

VALENCIA: Vence, Malia's stepfather, told police he was on the way to the airport with Maleah and her 1-year-old brother last Friday to pick up their mom. En route, he says he heard a noise coming from the car so he got out to check if he had a flat tire, it's then he told police he was ambushed by three Hispanic men in a blue pickup truck.

HOLBROOK: One of them makes a comment saying Maleah looks very nice, very sweet. The other male hits Derion in the head. Derion loses consciousness.

VALENCIA: Vence says he and the two young children were carjacked and abducted, he didn't fully regain consciousness he says until 6:00 p.m. the next day when he woke up on the side of the highway more than 40 miles from the airport, his one-year-old son was with him but four- year-old Maleah was nowhere to be found.

It took him five hours to go to the hospital for his injuries and report Maleah missing.

BRITTANY BOWENS, MOTHER: I just want to find Maleah. I just want to find Maleah!

VALENCIA: Maleah's mother Britney Bowens (ph) initially defended Vence against those who doubted his story. In a long post on social media, she pushed back against his critics. But in the days that followed, and as the search for the missing girl intensified, there were more questions. On Thursday, the car Vence was driving the night Maleah disappeared was spotted in a shopping center parking lot just a few miles away from where he said he regained consciousness.

Maleah's mother said the discovery added to her suspicions about Vence. His story she says just doesn't add up.

Do you still believe Derion? Do you believe his story?

BOWENS: No, I don't believe his story. Only because I've been out here every single day and doing as I have to do as a mother. I've been trying and he hasn't been by my side, not one time.

He hasn't called me. I haven't heard from him since Monday. I don't know what is going on. And it's like if you're innocent, why can't you save yourself? Why aren't you out here defending yourself? I defended you in good faith.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And we thank Nick Valencia for that. We continue obviously to follow any developments in the case and bring you the very latest, of course.

We want to tell you now, though, about this new case, a pilot for an American Airlines subsidiary was arrested for a 2015 triple murder.

[07:05:00] SAVIDGE: He was indicted for killing a Kentucky couple and their neighbor and burning two of the bodies.

CNN national correspondent Natasha Chen has more details on this.

I guess the first thing you want to know is what motive could he possibly have had, Natasha?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is something prosecutors are still trying figuring out, but this has been several years in the making. The officials really credit the son of the murdered couple for not letting the case go cold. About two years ago, because of his persistence, the Kentucky attorney general accepted a request to appoint a special prosecutor for this case and that led to yesterday's arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN (voice-over): An arrest has been made in a brutal triple homicide that has hunted a Kentucky community for years.

ANDY BESHEAR, KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Today, we can announce an indictment of Christian Richard Martin for three counts of murder.

CHEN: Martin is charged with the 2015 murders of Calvin Phillips, his wife Pamela and their neighbor Edward Dansereau. Authorities say Calvin Phillips was found shot to death in his home and his wife and neighbor were found in a burned up car a few miles away in a corn field.

At a time, Martin expressed little concern about being charged in the case.

CHRISTIAN RICHARD MARTIN, FORMER PILOT: No, I have no worries about that. CHEN: He is a former pilot for PSA Airlines, a subsidiary for

American Airlines. He was arrested at the Louisville airport Saturday and booked while still in uniform. American Airlines released this statement: All of us at American Airlines and PSA Airlines are deeply saddened to have learned about these allegations from 2015. Our team was made aware of the indictment this morning after his arrest at the Louisville Airport. We have an unwavering commitment to the safety and security of our customer and team members, and we will provide any investigative assistance possible to law enforcement throughout their investigation.

The attorney general credits Matt Phillips, the son of the victims, with keeping the case alive.

BESHEAR: He was worried that the case was stalled and worried that justice would not come. We hope this is one example of when you never stop seeking justice, when you never give up on a case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN: Our affiliate WSMV in Nashville did their own investigation in 2016. They reported that Martin was getting a divorce when his ex- wife was moving., she and one of the victims, Calvin Phillips, found disks labeled "secret". They turned those over to the FBI which resulted in a court-martial for Martin, but just two weeks before the court case was a set to begin, these murders happened.

Christi and Martin, back to you.

PAUL: Wow. All right. Natasha, thank you so much.

SAVIDGE: Well, it's going to be a soggy Sunday for millions of Americans. In fact, more than 35 million people across the Southeast are under the threat of severe weather and we are talking hail, strong winds, driving heavy rain. In Houston, drivers were left navigating streets that looked more like rivers and in the past five days, over a foot of rain has fallen in some areas.

And in Mississippi, flash flooding caused a train to derail, 28 cars came off the tracks. Luckily, no injuries or deaths but the threat is far from over. Five million people along the Gulf Coast are along a flash flood watch of some kind.

CNN's Allison Chinchar joins us now with more -- Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right.

Now, it's starting to shift up into other areas that have not seen any rain yet and includes the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. Now, we still have some pretty storms across the Southeast. In fact, right now, New Orleans is just being battered with very strong thunderstorms. We also have light rain for cities like Atlanta, Pittsburgh. Now we are starting to see it creep into places like New York City and even Boston as that system pushes north.

The concern is how much rain will they end up getting? Because when you look at the last 48 hours, look at amount of rain that fell in Alabama, Mississippi and even Louisiana.

You see this bright shade right here, this pink color? Near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a foot of rain fell in just the last 48 hours. This is the area we are most concerned about for flooding. The target area is still going to be across portions of the Southeast because it's been days upon days of rain. But we are now starting to see it expand up into the Northeast as well because now they are going to start to get some bands of heavy rain.

This was actually from North Carolina yesterday. The town of River Bend is further closer to the coast along the eastern coast of North Carolina. Folks out here are on boats and that was the easiest way to get across the roads. Still heavy rain showers expected across the Southeast but places like Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston also expecting some very heavy rain off and on throughout the day.

We do also have a severe threat as well. The target area is going to be this yellow-shaded region. That includes cities like Charlotte, Raleigh, Charleston, South Carolina, Albany, Georgia. Damaging winds and some large hail will be the main concern there.

And, Christi, Martin, this is an usual surprise, this is actually an alligator in all of places northeastern Arkansas, not really a place that you would think to find a alligator. Here's the problem, it was all the flood water. It basically ruined his home, so he had to go find somewhere else, he decided he picked a rice field as perhaps the next location he is going to live.

The sheriff's office there saying that this is even rare. They do have alligators in Arkansas, but not this far north.

PAUL: Wow. Did they move him, do you know? Do they just kind of let him run?

CHINCHAR: I believe when they were trying to capture him, he escaped was the terms that they used.

PAUL: All right. We hope he found a good home.

Allison Chinchar, thank you. Happy Mother's Day, by the way.

CHINCHAR: You too.

PAUL: Thanks.

Listen, when we come back, Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg says America is suffering a, quote, crisis of belonging, and says he is the guy to bring people together. We're going to tell you what he's doing.

SAVIDGE: Plus, the president says trade wars are easy to win. But coming up, business owners -- they have a different opinion.

PAUL: And an asteroid headed to earth? Listen, it was just a drill this time. But coming up, how the world together to try to stop it, and which city got hit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Forty minutes past the hour right now. And among the barrage of tweets and retweets yesterday, President Trump said he was not going to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

SAVIDGE: Now, that seems completely to contradict what former White House lawyer Don McGahn told Mueller's team and comes just days after we learned that the White House asked McGahn to say Trump had not committed obstruction of justice.

[07:10:02] PAUL: CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood following all of the developments.

Good morning to you, Sarah.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Good morning, Christi and Martin.

And, yes, President Trump venting his frustrations about McGahn on the heels of these reports that President Trump, through lawyer Emmet Flood asked McGahn to come out and state publicly that he didn't believe the president obstructed justice, McGahn declined to do so, although sources tell CNN that McGahn did relay to investigators that he didn't necessarily believe that the president was committing obstruction of justice through his actions. Sources also tell CNN that Trump was upset by the fact that McGahn refused to come out and clear his name from obstruction and something the Mueller report explicitly did not do.

So, here is what the president wrote on Twitter yesterday. He wrote: I was not going to fire Bob Mueller and did not fire Bob Mueller. In fact, he was allowed to finish his report with unprecedented help from the Trump administration. Actually, lawyer Don McGahn had a much better chance of being fired than Mueller. Never a big fan.

Of course, the president is on record praising McGahn who advised his 2016 campaign help with the transition was his first White House counsel. But just for some context what Mueller investigators learned through more than 30 hours of speaking to Don McGahn was that in June 2017, President Trump called McGahn at home and asked him to tell the Deputy Attorney General that Mueller had conflicts of interest and needed to go. McGahn never act odd that.

Then on January 2018, "The New York Times" reported that exchange that Trump had asked McGahn to get Mueller removed and Trump asked McGahn to deny that those conversations took place. McGahn declined to come out and deny them. He said that the reports were true. Trump was also frustrated about that.

But this request from the White House to McGahn to come out and say that the president didn't obstruct justice shows the measures the White House is willing to take to try to portrayal the Mueller report as fully exonerating President Trump, Martin and Christi.

SAVIDGE: All right. Thank you, Sarah Westwood, very much. We appreciate it very much.

And I got to tell you, there is so much to discuss as we talk about what lies ahead first. Let me tell you about 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. He's trying to bridge the political divide at a campaign event last night. He warned the crowd of the danger of playing identity politics, saying that he feared that it even drives people of his own party apart.

At a campaign gala Saturday, Mayor Buttigieg also addressed one of his biggest vulnerabilities, running for president as a privileged white man. He tried to connect with his audience and supporters by recognizing that discrimination isn't experienced the same way by everyone, touching on his own experiences as a gay man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not talking about pretending there are equivalencies between the different patterns of exclusion in this country. I may a part of the LGBTQ community but being a gay man doesn't tell me what it's like to be a transwoman of color in that same community.

(APPLAUSE)

Let alone an undocumented mother of four or a disabled veteran or displaced autoworker.

(APPLAUSE)

But being gay just like every other fact about me, from where I grew up to what I look like means that I have a story. And if I look to that story, I can find the building blocks, not only for empathy, but for the impetus for action, because the more you know about exclusion, the more you think about belonging. And we have a crisis of belonging in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: A crisis of belonging. There is a lot to talk about here, so we have Wesley Lowery. He is a CNN contributor and national reporter for "The Washington Post".

Good to see you this morning. Thanks for being here.

WESLEY LOWERY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks for having me.

SAVIDGE: Let's pick it up there with Pete Buttigieg, last night, trying to connect with a audience on a kind of new level, showing his vulnerabilities.

Do you think this was a right time and place for this kind of conversation and comment? And what do you think it tells you about the mayor?

LOWERY: Certainly, and I think those comments were relatively insightful and one much things that is interesting especially because one of the things Mayor Pete has done he has tried -- he has been one of the candidates he is willing to criticize, you know, quote/unquote identity politics but at the same time, trying to speak to the intricacies and nuances and the realities that, you know, we live different lives in part based on who are identities are in America.

This is one of the major fault lines of the Democratic primary in 2020 is as to what tenth do candidates embrace their own identities whether it be Mayor Pete's sexuality, whether it's be the race of the several candidates, the status of women of many of the candidates, or to what extent does a candidate accept as a premises talking about those things might scare away the white suburban mothers and fathers and voters who think they need to win back from President Trump.

[07:20:14] So, it's interesting here and continue to be interesting for Mayor Pete, for Joe Biden, for others, how do they try to thread that needle, appealing to those Midwestern voters they need to win back from President Trump but also not losing the Democrat, the core Democratic base of black women, of black men, of the young people who have high expectations of how a Democratic standard bearer is going to talk about things like intersexuality, about the pressure the way our own identities affect our lived experiences as Americans.

SAVIDGE: Let me ask about another candidate here, Joe Biden. He responded to Rudy Giuliani's cancelled trip to Ukraine. The Biden campaign released a statement and it went on to say a number of things but essentially that this was an attempt of blatantly political smear.

Giuliani says he cancelled the trip because he wanted essentially to, as he put it, avoid face potential enemies of the president. What is your take?

LOWERY: It's been -- this Ukraine story is fascinating on reading a reporting from colleagues from "The Post", and also Ken Vogel of "The New York Times" who has been remarkable and interesting the idea that the president's personal attorney would travel to Ukraine, at the attempt to convince them, to continue investigating the president for possible political opponent does speak to a level of shamelessness in our politics that is remarkable no matter your partisan leanings.

But that said, what's going to be interesting here and this is part of Donald Trump's continued increase on the attacks of Joe Biden. Joe Biden is clearly the Democratic front-runner at this moment, and this is a reminder of how President Trump, how Donald Trump goes after his political opponents.

And so, what is interesting here is not only the choices that Giuliani is making but also the responses from former Vice President Biden how willing he is going to be able to engage with Donald Trump in these types of attacks? Is he going to get into the weeds with him or is he going to try to stay above the fray on them? Because as we know, once Donald Trump finds a thing that needles you, he's going to keep needling.

It's a long campaign. Joe Biden, as a front runner, has to find a way to stay there and doesn't want to get dragged down in the polls if Democratic voters think he is vulnerable because maybe Trump has it in on him it could harm him.

SAVIDGE: Speaking of needling, President Trump still seems to be very much hung on his former White House lawyer Don McGahn and he was tweeting about him yesterday. Why is it the president can't let it go?

LOWERY: That is question for this entire era of politics on any number of issues, right?

But look, what was clear in reading the Mueller report that was don McGahn was remarkably cooperative and provided notes and had provided a level of candor in his conversations about the president and his own discomfort with some of the president's actions and request.

I mean, I think my colleague Josh Dawsey, a White House reporter at "The Post" tweeted McGahn gets the long awaited tweet, right? In many ways, people are waiting for this type of attack because it was so clear from the very first moments of reading even the first pages of the Mueller report that Don McGahn had been willing to cooperate are Robert Mueller and his investigators in a way the president was not clearly going to be happy.

What is clear what is provided by Don McGahn is that the president attempted to get rid of Robert Mueller as the investigator. In fact, Don McGahn said he was informed to fire him and that does make up with heart and soul of the potential obstruction of justice, one of many accounts, but one of the most compelling in cynicism which perhaps the president obstructed justice.

And so, what Donald Trump is that Don McGahn, especially those of Capitol Hill, especially, if speaks to ongoing congressional investigators could be one of his biggest problems or biggest political foes moving forward even though McGahn arguably took many of the actions that perhaps saved the Trump presidency by not listening to what President Trump had asked him to do.

SAVIDGE: He did, but now, the president has gone to the other side, basically said he is not a fan of McGahn any more.

Wesley Lowery, thanks very much for coming in this morning and enjoy the conversation.

LOWERY: Of course, thank you.

PAUL: So, the president says new tariffs will be good for the country. Well, there's one business owner who isn't quite convinced. We'll talk about that.

SAVIDGE: Plus an emergency in the air. Passengers on this jet were told to brace for impact after the landing gear failed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:28:28] MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're entering an America where you have a president and an administration that are standing strong, for all of the liberties we cherish, the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, and we stand without apology for the sanctity of human life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: That, of course, is Mike Pence, vice president, defending the Trump administration's stance on abortions. Georgia just banned abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The law is set to go into effect on January 1st.

PAUL: Now, Hollywood is making its own opinion known. Heads of three production countries are saying they're not going to film in the state any longer. There other majors companies haven't weighed in just yet.

But actress Alyssa Milano is asking for a sex strike to protest anti- abortion laws. Here's her quote: he says, quote, protect your vaginas, ladies. Men in positions of power are trying to legislate them.

SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, you can expect to pay more for, I don't know, baseball caps? Bikes and handbags from now on after, of course, the latest round of U.S./China trade talks collapsed. The president raised tariffs again and China said they're going to answer with tariffs of their own.

PAUL: Yes, but the prices in stores don't rise automatically. Businesses agonize over when to raise their prices and by how much do they need to do so.

Here is CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Step inside Ryan Zagata's New York City show room, and you see the unintended consequences of a trade war.

RYAN ZAGATA, OWNER, THE BROOKLY BICYCLE COMPANY: With this new tariff, it's inevitable, we have to increase the price on this model.

SANDOVAL: Like many of America's small to medium-sized businesses, the Brooklyn Bicycle Company is dealing with the burden of increased Chinese import tariffs.

[07:30:02] These bikes are assembled in China using foreign made components to keep the cost down for the consumers. In September, the Trump administration's 10 percent tariff hike on nearly $200 billion in Chinese goods forced Zagata to raise some prices.

RYAN ZAGATA, OWNER, THE BROOKLYN BICYCLE COMPANY: This is one of our most popular bicycles. It was a $449 bike last summer. It's now $499.

SANDOVAL: Then on Friday, the White House announced 10 percent will increase to 25. A change that will result in yet another price hike on the show room floor.

ZAGATA: For every hundred dollars we spend on bicycles, $5.50 we pay in duties. Since September we are paying an extra $10. Now, we're at $15.50. With this additional tariff, now it's another $15. We are talking $30.15 for every single bicycle we import on $100, not for every bike. Every hundred dollars we spend, $30.50. So, $200, our cost is $61 we are paying in duty to the government.

SANDOVAL: Zagata says that means some of his customers will be paying more for the same bike.

ZAGATA: It's difficult for me. I can't call my customers and say you're getting better wheel set and better grips and this luxurious saddle. That's not what you're getting. Effectively, your money is going to the government.

SANDOVAL: It's been a rough ride for many business owners since President Trump waged his trade war with China. Zagata blames the uncertainty that comes with trade negotiations.

ZAGATA: It's not difficult for us as a business to decide what to do. We built financial models that we can punch in the variables regardless of what the scenario is and the model will spit out this is what you need to do. The challenge with the models now we are missing one main variable. We don't know what the final duty is going with these trade talks still ongoing.

SANDOVAL: There is some optimism coming from the president who on Friday took to Twitter saying tariffs will make the country, quote, much stronger. Just sit back and watch.

That may be hard to do for some U.S. importers with China now vowing to hit back after Friday's tariff hike.

ZAGATA: I think the tariffs are a great tool and I applaud the administration what they are doing but six months, nine months in it's becoming difficult and, come on, already, with these negotiations. Let's move ahead.

SANDOVAL: Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Take a look at these images coming to us overnight of a Myanmar Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing at Mandalay International Airport after the front landing gear failed, the pilot did burn out the fuel to lighten the weight of the plane before it attempted to land. We understand that everybody on board is OK, but I bet they were rather scared and shaken.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We are just glad everybody is good.

Climate change is the buzz word in 2020 Democratic field of presidential candidates. Next, we're going to ask one of the architects of the Green New Deal, Rhiana Gunn-Wright. Her views on how to take back our planet.

SAVIDGE: Plus, a quick programming note. All next week, CNN will bring you "Champions for Change", individuals that have not only changed communities but affected the hearts and minds of people around them in the most outstanding ways.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Some people.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Some stories.

BURNETT: Are so powerful.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: They leave their mark.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Nobody has ever affected me the way your son did.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Their work creates real impact.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: On their communities.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: On their country.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: On us all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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: Yeah. This is the place where I live.

LEMON: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Bill from CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my first time today.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: These --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are the champions for change.

BURNETT: It is amazing.

GUPTA: I just get to tell you a story.

ANNOUNCER: "Champions for Change: A Week-Long CNN Special Event", all next week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:37:37] SAVIDGE: Tomorrow, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders will be at a rally in support of the Green New Deal.

And last week, two Democrats, Senator Tina Smith and Congressman Ben Ray Lujan, unveiled their plan for a clean energy standard.

PAUL: Now, the green issues are top concern among Democratic voters. A CNN poll found 82 percent of Democratic respondents think it's very important that their presidential nominee supporting taking aggressive actions against climate change.

And I want to introduce to Rhiana Gunn-Wright. She's policy director for New Consensus, an she, by the way, played a role in crafting the New Deal -- the Green New Deal, I should say.

So, thank you. So good to have you here, Rhiana. We appreciate it.

RHIANA GUNN-WRIGHT, POLICY DIRECTOR, NEW CONSENSUS: Of course. Wonderful to be here.

PAUL: I know that you're going to be at tomorrow's rally as well.

GUNN-WRIGHT: Yes.

PAUL: First of all, talk to us about what your plan is for that rally.

GUNN-WRIGHT: So, the rally is really about getting out there and fighting back against the misconceptions about the Green New Deal, and showing that it's actionable, doable, and honestly crucial to the survival of our planet and also of our country.

PAUL: So, I know that there are -- look. Climate change deniers, people who say they believe in global warming. They don't believe in how much we humans are contributing to it.

How do you talk to them? Not necessarily just to get them to your side, your way of thinking. What do you say to them so maybe a better understanding and a smaller gap can be crafted?

GUNN-WRIGHT: Yes. Well, I think it's important to ground the conversation first in what people are seeing. So, often we talk about climate change on a very level of emissions but to talk about the ways that climate change is connected to pollution, to asthma, to health, is really important, and then also just talking about the stark effects.

So, right now, we are looking at a million species being extinct by the end of the century when over the last -- 130,000 years, 300 species went extinct, right? Something is not right in the natural order and can't just be explained by divine intervention.

[07:40:01] And so, I think really laying out the facts in the way that connects to people's lives and also shows how we have really been affecting our planet is crucial.

SAVIDGE: Well, I mean, so we have been hearing a long time what the impact is that we are having on our own environment. Many people want to know what are the solutions?

So, what would say are the top three things we need to be doing?

GUNN-WRIGHT: Well, of course, the Green New Deal, but within that, I think three things are crucial. One, we need to be investing in not just renewable energy which is incredibly crucial, but also restoration, right? And investing in rebuilding our environment.

I think the second thing that is incredibly important is, in fact, local action. States and local governments have been making a lot of movement in the absence of the federal government and so supporting that when it's happening in your community and in your state and pushing your state to make commitments like other states have made to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, 2035 is incredibly important.

And then I think the third thing that is really crucial is going out and becoming a climate voter, right? Making this an issue that you care about, that you evaluate candidates on, particularly in this election year, and standing by that when you get in the voting booth.

PAUL: So, Rhiana, there is a very aggressive plan, this ten-year mobilization plan in the Green New Deal and the five key pillars on the green house gas emissions, creating millions of good highway jobs and investing in U.S. infrastructure and industry.

I want to listen to Senator Dianne Feinstein. We know the Senate voted in March. It did not pass, but here is what she said when asked about supporting the Green New Deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): We have our own Green New Deal piece of legislation. Well, there are reasons why I can't, because there's no way to way for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Saying the reason she can't support the Green New Deal is because that we just can't afford it. How do you propose to fund these proposals?

GUNN-WRIGHT: Well, I think, first of all, the idea that we can't afford it is just is not true. There is multiple ways you can pay for this. You can, obviously, change the tax system and be taxing corporations and high net worth individuals more, which lots of politicians have talked about. You can have green banks that take money from private capital and money from the public sector and combine them to fund these projects.

And, of course, there is just market formation which the government has a huge role in. There are trillion of dollars in private investment that are waiting to be invested but they will not be invested until the federal government makes clear where it's going to fall on climate change.

PAUL: OK.

GUNN-WRIGHT: Those are just three. Then you always have Federal Reserve invention in your back pocket if you need it.

So, the fact is we can pay for it and the cost of not paying for it are just too high. We are talking about 10 percent of GDP being gone by the end of the century, if not earlier. And the fact is that once that's gone because costs are gone and because our environment has changed irreparably, that's money that's not coming back as opposed to the Green New Deal where money is being invested.

PAUL: Rhiana Gunn-Wright, I'm sorry we have run out of time. Thank you for taking time to being with us this morning.

GUNN-WRIGHT: Of course.

PAUL: Absolutely.

GUNN-WRIGHT: Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Vice President Pence called NASA to get astronauts back to the moon in the next five years. Amazon's founder says his space company is going to meet that deadline.

We'll talk to a chief NASA scientist about if it's realistic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:47:53] SAVIDGE: This week, the world's richest man said his company is ready to go to the moon in five years. Now, Jeff Bezos could get backing from NASA and from Vice President Mike Pence set a five-year time line to get back to the moon.

PAUL: Now, the president offered no budget plan to meet those goals. So, the question is, do private ventures like Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin answer?]

From Washington now is Jim Green, chief scientists for NASA.

OK. So, Jim, can we get to the moon in five years? How plausible is it?

JIM GREEN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, NASA: Oh, absolutely. Yes.

We are working with our international partners, in addition to our commercial partners, and I think the strength of that is going to really ensure that we'll be on the moon in 2024. We actually know where to go. We are going on the South Pole and we know the first person stepping on the moon will be a woman. PAUL: Hmm. Is there a budget for this?

GREEN: Well, currently, we are working with the administration to come up with, based on our schedule, what kind of budget we'll need over that time period and I think we will be announcing something in the coming days.

PAUL: All right. First woman on the moon! It's a plan.

GREEN: First woman on the moon, that's the plan.

SAVIDGE: I think we did this 50 years ago? Any way.

GREEN: But not a woman! Not a woman.

SAVIDGE: Not a woman.

GREEN: Come on now.

SAVIDGE: Taken far too long.

Let's talk about asteroids because I have strong interests in making sure the world doesn't come to an end, and I understand you folks at NASA actually practice? Had a drill? Tell us what that is all about that? How did we do?

GREEN: OK. Well, we have had several drills and what the drill is really all about is we create a scenario for which we see an asteroid coming and we have time to react and what would be that reaction. We had our international partners in this and the discussions go back and forth about what we know and when we know it and constantly updating the probability when it's going to hit.

In this particular exercise, it did hit the earth. Now it was an exercise. It came down and hit near Denver, Colorado. And so we also had to involve homeland security in terms of being able to evacuate these areas in time to -- for civil defense purposes.

[07:50:06] These are really important to do because we've got to practice how to work as a world to defend the planet.

SAVIDGE: Yes, I'm all for that. Is there anything out there? I mean, are you seeing anything? You guys would know, wouldn't you?

GREEN: Well, we think we need to track 60,000 objects. We're tracking 20 right now, 20,000 objects, and we're working our way up to that big 60. Right now things, look, pretty good. I think we're pretty good for the next 100 years but we haven't found them all either.

SAVIDGE: So, are you trying to deflect them, destroy them? I mean, what's the plan?

GREEN: Well, indeed, one of the big ideas we have is we're going to hit one and move it. In fact, we've already picked the one we want to hit. And in 2022, late in September, we're going to hit it. It will be close to earth, so we'll also using radar see how we move it and see the orbit change.

So, it will be really exciting time.

PAUL: Wow.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

PAUL: There's a movie right there, just right there.

Jim Green, you can be a star. Jim, we appreciate it always having you here. Thank you so much.

SAVIDGE: Love to see you. Thanks, Jim.

GREEN: Thank you so much, Christi. And thank you, Martin.

PAUL: We'll see you again.

GREEN: Bye now.

SAVIDGE: We'll take a break and be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Do you ever feel intimidated when you're trying to shop for healthy groceries, particularly on a tight budget? Well, community groups are showing how to navigate the store so they can stay well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[07:55:03] RENEE STACER, NUTRITION INSTRUCTOR, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: It is a huge misconception that to eat healthy is not affordable, when in fact it's the complete opposite.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of times people don't know how to shop. They might buy a bunch of fresh produce or vegetables and they buy it in a quantity that is too high for what they need for their family. You're ending up with a lot of food waste. Something as simple as going on a grocery store tour can help them fix that problem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody here goes to the grocery store, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We teach people how to prepare meals in a healthy way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for this stamp that says whole grains.

STACER: You can budget and give your family the same quality of food at the end of the month as they got at the beginning of the month.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The store tour actually shows you the different areas such as produce, canned goods, fresh and frozen, cereal.

We talk about sodium, calcium, various nutrients and everything, and really how to maximize your food dollars so that we can in a way combat food insecurity for our families. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $1.09 and this one is 59 cents. Major price

difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we can teach people how to save in one area, I think that would translate into many different areas of their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And here, we want to wish a happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. We know it is one of the most fatiguing and hardest jobs on the planet, but also one of the most important. We appreciate everything you do.

SAVIDGE: Wouldn't be here without her.

PAUL: Absolutely.

Thank you for spending time with us this morning. We hope you make memories today.

SAVIDGE: It's been a pleasure.

"INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" starts after a quick break.