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New Day
Arizona Voters Share Their Feelings On Impeachment Hearings; Police Have No Motive In California School Shooting; Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick Enters 2020 Race. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired November 15, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:34:03]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN's special coverage of the impeachment inquiry and these hearings are to find out new information. Congress is investigating the president.
But one of the issues is how will this play in the public. What does the public see when they are watching these hearings? We've been out in the country asking this question and CNN's Kyung Lah traveled to Arizona to see what voters there think so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rising in Phoenix --
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": -- is about to begin this historic moment. This is true history unfolding.
LAH (voice-over): -- the sentiment of a possible impeachment --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When there's smoke, there's fire.
LAH (voice-over): -- amid the breakfast rush.
DAVID CRONIN, INDEPENDENT VOTER: I would just say it doesn't pass the sniff test. And I say that as an Independent, middle-of-the-road guy who could vote for a Republican or a Democrat.
LAH (voice-over): That middle ground, Independents, make up about one-third of Arizona voters.
BOYCE O'BRIEN, REGISTERED Republican: My entire life I've voted Republican.
[05:35:01]
LAH (on camera): Every single time?
O'BRIEN: Every single time up until the last election.
LAH (voice-over): Until Donald Trump, says Boyce O'Brien, watching to see if it's a party he will return to.
O'BRIEN: And I'm so disappointed in the Republican Party. I -- it's embarrassing to me to even be affiliated with it at this point. My hope is that they'll finally develop a backbone and stand up for what's right.
LAH (voice-over): While there are plenty who have made up their minds, from the right --
KENT JEFFERS, REGISTERED REPUBLICAN: Mueller didn't get him, other people didn't get him. I'm pretty sure I'm going to vote for him again.
LAH (voice-over): -- to the left --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ho hey, ho ho.
VOTERS: Donald Trump has got to go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orange mango.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ooh.
LAH (voice-over): -- it is those in the middle in places like the Phoenix suburbs who represent the battleground.
CARLY REBUCK, FORMER REPUBLICAN TURNED DEMOCRAT: They insulate him. He doesn't hear any of this.
LAH (voice-over): Carly Rebuck grew up a McCain Republican.
REBUCK: And then, Meghan McCain is here.
LAH (voice-over): She switched parties after Trump's election, her lifelong political identity gone --
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): No [iconic thumbs down health vote].
LAH (voice-over): -- with the maverick senator who left a lasting mark.
REBUCK: It made me feel proud to be an Arizonan. It made me feel proud to be a former Republican to see him do that. It was just -- it meant a lot.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): This is -- this is what I can't believe, and you're their star witness.
REBUCK: I don't recognize the Republican Party as it is right now.
LAH (voice-over): Wearing her sentiment --
REBUCK: We're changing the world, (INAUDIBLE).
LAH (voice-over): -- she watches the impeachment hearings with friends. CINDY HANS, REGISTERED INDEPENDENT: My card actually says no party.
LAH (on camera): Your card says no party?
HANS: No party, no party.
LAH (voice-over): And as the day begins to wrap --
HANS: I haven't heard anything yet to make me think that this president is innocent.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): This concludes this portion of the hearings.
HANS: So if you can show me that, I might change my mind.
LAH (on camera): Independents we spoke with said that they were glad to watch the public hearings -- to hear the testimony in full, live as it happened without any sort of filter to judge it for them.
But we did speak with plenty of other Independents who said yes, they are aware that these hearings are going on but they didn't have the time or the interest to sit there and watch all day.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Scottsdale, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Our thanks to Kyung for that perspective.
All right, it's time for "CNN Business Now."
Senator Elizabeth Warren taking demands for a wealth tax straight to a billionaire audience. Now, billionaires are firing back.
Chief business correspondent Christine Romans is in our business center with the details. What has billionaires upset?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Oh, well, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is trolling these billionaires -- trolling them on their own turf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is time for a wealth tax in America. I've heard that there are some billionaires who don't support this plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Warren released this ad on CNBC Thursday. She says they just don't pay their fair share and they can afford to pay a two-cent tax on fortunes over $50 million and a six percent tax over a billion. That number was doubled to pay for Medicare for All.
And she -- in this ad, she names billionaire business titans like Leon Cooperman and former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Cooperman called her disgraceful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON COOPERMAN, BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR, HEDGE FUND MANAGER, PHILANTHROPIST: A wealth tax makes no sense. It will lead to unnatural acts, be near-impossible to police, and is probably unconstitutional. If this lady wins, we're in big trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Blankfein also trolled back, tweeting "Vilification of people as a member of a group may be good for her campaign, not the country. Maybe tribalism is just in her DNA."
This feud with the billionaires has been bubbling for weeks now. Cooperman was reduced to tears on CNBC -- tears -- saying that she was attacking capitalism and the American way of life.
Now, Warren wears this criticism like a badge of honor and her campaign has started selling the billionaire tears mug. It is not the fastest-selling item on the campaign Web site, guys.
BERMAN: It really does make me wonder, though. While the mug is selling fast, how many actual voters are watching this play out on CNBC as they're watching the market go up and down during the day?
ROMANS: It feels like it's fodder for her supporters and her rallies, quite frankly, because she talks about this again and again. And every time a billionaire hits her back, she again wears it like a badge of honor to her -- to people who follow her.
CAMEROTA: I'm just stuck on unnatural acts.
ROMANS: That got me, too.
BERMAN: As you are.
CAMEROTA: I'm interested in what he's predicting.
All right, thank you very much, Christine.
BERMAN: All right. This morning, we are again mourning lives lost in this school shooting in California. Look at these pictures -- just awful.
We're going to speak to the sheriff overseeing the investigation about what he has learned about the gunman who carries out -- carried out yesterday's attack. That's next.
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[05:44:10]
CAMEROTA: This morning, authorities are working to figure out why a student in Santa Clarita, California opened fire on his classmates on his 16th birthday. The gunman killed two teenagers and wounded three others. The suspect is in critical condition after turning the gun on himself.
And joining us now is Sheriff Alex Villaneuva of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff, thank you very much for taking time to talk to us.
As we just said, yesterday was the gunman's 16th birthday. Have you figured out why he did this?
SHERIFF ALEX VILLANEUVA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: Well, that is the question of the day and we're going to be working all day long, all night long trying to get to the bottom of the question of why.
We know a little bit about his past -- his history -- and there's nothing really that stands out. He wasn't a loner, wasn't socially awkward, was involved in student activities, a student-athlete, and this is kind of out of the blue. It's shocking to pretty much everyone who knew him.
[05:45:08]
CAMEROTA: That is shocking, Sheriff, because there's often a profile for these school shooters like this and they're disaffected, they're isolated, they've been bullied. They were lonely somehow. And you're saying that he doesn't fit any of that.
So what have you learned?
VILLANEUVA: To date -- to date, he doesn't quite fit that expectation.
So we're still digging. We're going through all of the social media. Our homicide investigators -- we are being assisted by the FBI and the ATF as we trace the weapon involved and still, we don't have the answers we're looking for.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the weapon. Where did he get that gun?
VILLANEUVA: That is still a question. It's a 45-caliber semiauto pistol. He used literally six rounds that he fired and he saved the last round for himself. So we're looking to see where it came from and how he came in possession of it.
It turns out that since 2010, this is the 142nd shooting in a school where a minor had access to a firearm.
CAMEROTA: God, it's just horrible to have this pattern repeat over and over and to have to report on this time and again.
VILLANEUVA: Yes.
CAMEROTA: What can you tell us, Sheriff, about the shooter's family? Was there any history of violence there?
VILLANEUVA: Nothing that would stand out, no. His father passed away of natural causes in 2017 and living with his mother, and there's really nothing remarkable. Our history of calls for service at the residence doesn't show anything that would jump out at all.
CAMEROTA: Some of the reporting has suggested that the father was an avid hunter. That the father may have taught the son to shoot. That the father had guns.
Have you been able to make any connection whether or not he used a family gun?
VILLANEUVA: That still hasn't been determined yet. So we're working closely with all the investigators and we'll -- hopefully, we'll have an answer to that today.
CAMEROTA: What can you tell us about the victims? Was there any connection that you have figured out between this shooter and the five victims, some of whom are still in the hospital and struggling this morning, or was he firing indiscriminately?
VILLANEUVA: Well, the video surveillance shows that he walks into the quad area where the freshmen congregate and he was just standing there really not engaged with anyone -- by himself. And then, at one point, he took off his backpack, reached in and retrieved the pistol from his backpack, and fired one round.
It appeared he had a gun jam. He cleared the malfunction then fired again at the remaining four victims and then saved the last round for himself.
So the whole thing transpired in 16 seconds. There was no -- he wasn't chasing anyone. It appeared to be what -- who was around him available at the time that he decided to do it.
CAMEROTA: God, it's so mystifying and just so sickening to have to report all of this. But, Sheriff, we know that you're still looking for answers and we look forward to getting those as well. Thank you very much for coming on NEW DAY.
VILLANEUVA: Anytime, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: John.
BERMAN: All right.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has officially entered the Democratic race. What will his role be and what are his chances? And before you say oh, oh, it's so, so late -- this changes nothing -- stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:52:57]
BERMAN: It is official. A new Democrat has joined the crowded 2020 race. Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick made his announcement Thursday morning.
Joining me now Terry McAuliffe, former governor of Virginia and DNC chair. And, Andrew Gillum, former gubernatorial candidate in Florida. Both are CNN political commentators.
Andrew Gillum, I want to start with you here. Deval Patrick, he's come out against Medicare for All. He has suggested or tried to position himself maybe somewhere between Joe Biden and the more progressive candidates.
ANDREW GILLUM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, (D) FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: Yes.
BERMAN: What do you see his role in this campaign is? Where is he running?
GILLUM: Yes.
Well, first of all, we have to take the entrance of Gov. Patrick seriously. He's governor two times over of an important state, left with a good record intact.
And I believe that his entrance into this race, frankly, will create more of a problem for Joe Biden. I think he's going to try to basically be the alternative to Joe Biden and basically say I can get moderates, but I also can extend my reach into what might be otherwise progressive lanes of the party.
I would also suggest that maybe Gov. Patrick is also concluding that in this race where no one yet has been able to penetrate the vice president's hold on the black vote, largely in South Carolina, could he give him a run for the money, especially when you consider that Joe Biden's standing right now has mostly been buoyed by the fact that the black vote has been with him, along with moderates who have made him -- made him their choice.
BERMAN: Terry -- you know, Gov. McAuliffe, Deval Patrick, himself, admits this isn't just a Hail Mary; it's a Hail Mary from two stadiums over.
And look, I covered Wes Clark -- his late entry into the race in 2004.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, (D) FORMER GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, FORMER CHAIR, DNC: Yes.
BERMAN: And no matter how hard Wes Clark tried to make this about his ideas, he had to answer questions about what was wrong with the other candidates. Why was he getting in so late?
And that is something that Gov. Patrick's going to have to face.
MCAULIFFE: Yes, I think the same thing for Michael Bloomberg.
[07:55:00]
We have a great field of candidates. Let me start right from there. I don't buy any of this -- you know, the hand-wringing Democrats worried to death.
We show that we beat Donald Trump today in next year's presidential election. A poll out today actually has Joe Biden winning in North Carolina. Well, if we're winning in North Carolina and we're winning in Ohio, we are winning the Electoral College.
So, we've got great candidates running today. Anybody's entitled to run.
But, John, you make a very valid point. It is hard at this stage.
You now have -- we're about 70 days away from the kickoff in Iowa. Then you've got these big contests. You've got to spend about $25 million in these first couple of contests.
And then, March third, which is just a couple of months away -- that's a $75-$100 million day. So the new candidate, Michael Bloomberg, doesn't have to worry about it, but Gov. Patrick, who has a great record -- but he has got to worry about having people on the ground in these early states and how you raise that much money this quickly in order to be competitive in those early primary states.
BERMAN: It is interesting. Unlike Michael Bloomberg, Patrick actually is running everywhere.
GILLUM: Yes.
BERMAN: He's going to run as many places as he can and qualify for, including the early states. Bloomberg is not doing New Hampshire or Iowa.
Mayor Gillum, if I can, I want to change focus because we're talking about Iowa and New Hampshire and March third. But, Saturday --
GILLUM: Yes.
BERMAN: -- there's an election in Louisiana. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, is up for reelection there.
And, President Trump was in Louisiana last night campaigning for the Republican. You have personal experience with President Trump coming to campaign in the days before the election.
GILLUM: Sure.
BERMAN: When you were running for governor of Florida he was there.
What effect do you see? How much does it help the Republican candidate?
GILLUM: Well, certainly when I was candidate for governor Florida, we were not in the situation that we are currently in in this country and the issues, including impeachment, that's confronting this president.
The president obviously has a loyal base of support, but can we just acknowledge is this not strange that the sitting Republican president is having to go down into Louisiana and campaign for a Republican when, quite frankly, that's a state that Donald Trump won pretty handily, just as Kentucky was and we saw how that went. My guess is that if the suburbs do what they did in Virginia, if they do what they did in Kentucky, and with Trump's latest visit, maybe it will be the kiss of death and we'll see John Bel Edwards reelected to a second term as governor.
BERMAN: Twenty seconds on the Louisiana race, governor.
MCAULIFFE: Yes. Listen, John Bel Edwards has delivered. He's delivered on Medicaid expansion. Health care is the big issue. That's why we won in Kentucky.
I'd also make the point that Donald Trump could not come into Virginia last week. He could not drive 1.4 miles into Virginia. He wasn't wanted.
And as you know, we picked up the House and the Senate, with the governor's mansion, for the first time in 26 years. We have all three now.
Donald Trump couldn't come to Virginia. We're winning on health care, lowering prescription drug prices. And that's what John Bel Edwards in Louisiana -- he is going to win. We won Kentucky and now we will keep what we have in Louisiana.
We will have won nine governorships since Donald Trump has been elected. We've picked up 400 State Legislative seats, 10 chambers in America, and 41 U.S. House seats.
The Republican Party is crumbling under Donald Trump. So they can hang onto him through impeachment all they want. He will be the destruction of the Republican Party.
BERMAN: We will see. We will see when they actually vote on Saturday --
MCAULIFFE: Yes.
BERMAN: -- how much that ends up being true in Louisiana, itself.
Governor McAuliffe, Mayor Gillum, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
MCAULIFFE: Thank you.
GILLUM: Thank you for having us.
BERMAN: We are just a couple of hours away now from more public impeachment hearings. CNN's special coverage continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, set to testify this morning.
BLITZER: David Holmes was the aide who overheard this conversation.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In a real court of law that would be objected to as hearsay.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Republicans are coming. Sir, our poll numbers are going through the roof. Do you think we could keep this going?
The Republicans have really stuck together. It's a beautiful thing to see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard the first two shots, and when a heard the third one I just started running.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): There is a school shooting in California. We are complicit if we fail to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, November 15th. It's 6:00 here in New York.
And this is a special edition of NEW DAY -- CNN's coverage of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. And we are getting closer to the next round of public hearings.
And -- uh, there it went.
CAMEROTA: Wow.
BERMAN: We just had a look inside the hearing room where --
CAMEROTA: And then, suspiciously, it was cut off via satellite.
BERMAN: We'll discuss extensively what that means -- why they don't want us to see inside the hearing room.
There it is right now. You can see the lights are off. They're setting up.
We will see much more from there later today when we hear from ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. Several witnesses have testified that she was recalled after becoming the target of a smear campaign led by Rudy Giuliani and individuals described as corrupt Ukrainian insiders.
Ambassador Yovanovitch says she felt threatened --
