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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospitalized; Trump's Lawyer Jokes About Being The Fall Guy; Three Killed After A Train Crashed Into Car In Florida; Military Leaders Clash With President Trump Over Eddie Gallagher's Fate; Suspect Arrested For Killing Of Beloved Alabama Sheriff; Right-Wing Media Hits Back After Conspiracy Theories Are Shredded; Spending On Impeachment-Focused Ads Triples In Three Months; Prince Andrew Forced To Step Back From Public Duties; NASA's Mission To Return To The Moon. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired November 24, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:14]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: As long as I can do the job full steam, I will be here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital after experiencing chills and fever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani says he isn't afraid of getting indicted. Why? Because in his own words, he has insurance.

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: I've seen things written like he's going to throw me under the bus. When they say that, I say, he isn't, but I have insurance.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: I was just leaving right now.

WILL FERRELL AS GORDON SONDLAND: Hang on. I just want to go on the record and say, you guys need to lay off my boy. Everybody loves his ass.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

FERRELL: Ukraine, Russia --

BALDWIN: That's enough. That's enough.

FERRELL: They'll do anything for this man. I know. I asked.

BALDWIN: All right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul. CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Starting you off with just a chuckle, a little chuckle from "Saturday Night Live" coming up. We are so glad to spend our Sunday morning for you.

New health scare though we have to tell you about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in the hospital this morning. Here's what we know about her condition. We'll tell you about it.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Also ahead, the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, jokes again about having insurance if he is made the fall guy for the Ukraine scandal.

PAUL: And a back story the fallout from Prince Andrew's some are calling a disastrous interview about his ties to a convicted sexual predator.

We do want to begin with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's health concerns though.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Ariane de Vogue -- Ariane de Vogue, rather, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 86 years old, fell ill Friday afternoon. She went to a local hospital on her own but then was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Baltimore where some of her regular doctors are. She was admitted and treated for a possible infection with antibiotics.

A court spokesperson said that after that treatment, her symptoms got better. It's worth noting she was at the court Friday morning when the justices met for their closed door conference. It's believed they discussed an emergency petition from President Trump who is seeking to block the release of his financial records.

The court is on a brief recess now. But they are in the middle of a momentous term. Earlier this month she did miss one day of arguments due to the stomach flu but otherwise she has been an active participant on the bench.

Ariane de Vogue, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a four-time cancer survivor and has had a lengthy history of medical issues. In August, you may remember, this year she was treated for pancreatic cancer last fall. Nearly two months before she underwent surgery to remove the cancerous nodules Ginsburg was treated for three ribs she had fractured, this was during a fall in her office.

PAUL: She's 86-years-old and previously had been treated for pancreatic cancer back in 2009 and colon cancer in 1999. But speaking this past July she said she's committed to staying on the court as long as she can do so effectively. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINSBURG: I've always said I'll stay on this job as long as I can do it full steam. That means at my age, 86, you have to take it year-by- year. So I know I'm OK.

I was OK this last term. I expect to be OK next term. And after that, we'll just have to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Coming up next hour in the 7:00 hour, we are speaking with Irin Carmon for some perspective. She's the co-author of "RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg."

BLACKWELL: President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani -- now for the second time this morning that he will not be anyone's sacrificial lamb. Giuliani's efforts in Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens became a simple focus on the public impeachment hearings. Giuliani was asked on "Fox News" if he believed President Trump would stay loyal to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIULIANI: You can assume that I talk to him early and often.

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes.

GIULIANI: And have a very, very good relationship with him and all of these comments, which are totally insulting.

HENRY: Yes.

GIULIANI: I mean, I've seen -- I've seen things written like he's going to throw me under the bus.

HENRY: Right.

GIULIANI: When they say that, I say, he isn't, but I have insurance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So, Giuliani later attempted to clean up that comment about having insurance.

He tweeted, "TRUTH ALERT: The statement I've made several times of having an insurance policy, if thrown under bus, is sarcastic & relates to the files in my safe about the Biden Family's 4 decade monetizing of his office.

[06:05:10]

If I disappear, it will appear immediately along with my RICO chart."

BLACKWELL: Joining me now to discuss is Michael Moore, a former U.S. attorney for the Middle District Georgia. Michael, welcome back. MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Listen, if I disappear, insurance, being thrown under the bus, you've talked about what we are hearing from Giuliani and not just Giuliani but also the president similar to what you hear in mob cases.

MOORE: Right. They are really talking like this is an old mob movie. We talk about passing messages through intermediaries and saying things in a code people can't understand and conveying your wishes, your directives to your lieutenants down below. We have been seeing that from the White House now.

I think Giuliani is sort of playing along with that and maybe he is giving a little tease and maybe at the end of the day he may actually be sending a message to the president, look, I know more and remember we have had some talks and I've had some conferences with you and I know things so don't make me the sacrificial lamb.

BLACKWELL: All right. We will see how this plays out.

Let's talk broadly about the strategy we're seeing from the White House. First, I want to play a couple of the highlights from the two weeks of testimony and then I want to read something that Hogan Gidley, the deputy press secretary, said.

MOORE: Sure.

BLACKWELL: So, let's first listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FIONA HILL, FORMER TOP NSC RUSSIA AND EUROPE ADVISER: He was being involved in a domestic political errand and we were being involved in national security foreign policy and those two things had just diverse.

GORDON SONDLAND, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously with regard to the requested White House call and the White House meeting the answer is yes.

DANIEL GOLDMAN, DIRECTOR OF INVESTIGATIONS, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS: Mr. Holmes, you also understood that Burisma was code for Bidens?

DAVID HOLMES, POLITICAL COUNSELOR, U.S. EMBASSY-KIEV: Yes.

GOLDMAN: And do you think that anyone involved in Ukraine matters in the spring and the summer would understand that as well?

HOLMES: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: OK. So, this is from Hogan Gidley. Let's put this up. "When simply asked the question, is there enough evidence, is there any evidence of any wrongdoing, any bribery, any Quid Pro Quo." It goes on to say that the witnesses simply said no.

That is not the case.

MOORE: No, that is not the case at all. I think they laid it out and said we -- I felt like the hearing actually showed that it was expanded group of people who knew about exactly what was going on.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So, this strategy may not convince, I guess people who watched every hour of testimony, as many of us did, but it's enough to keep congressional Republicans in line thus far.

MOORE: But they have done this all along from -- whether we are talking about the Mueller investigation and now we are talking about the impeachment inquiry -- they have gotten behind the president time and time and time again, despite the fact that the evidence is really overwhelming what happened. We really had from him a confession in the transcript of the call and that has laid out the basis and sort of the road map for the impeachment inquiry.

And once we had that, that is really all we needed. Now we're just sort of putting some meat on the bones and this will be the package that hopefully the Senate will look at in an impeachment trial.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the Senate --

MOORE: Sure.

BLACKWELL: -- because Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, has sent this letter over now to the State Department requesting documents relating to a call or a series of calls between former Vice President Biden and former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and additional elements involving Hunter Biden. The State Department has stonewalled Democrats in Congress on the Trump-Ukraine documents.

How could they credibly then hand over the Biden-Ukraine documents and still claim impartiality?

MOORE: I don't think is there any even faint attempt to be claiming to be impartial by the Republicans at this point in this request.

BLACKWELL: But I'm talking about the Department of Justice claiming impartiality.

MOORE: Well, and I think -- we have seen Bob Barr come out and do some things that I think are -- Attorney General Barr come out and do some things that are just sort of beneath the tail beyond the appeal.

You know, this is a -- it's a pretty clear effort to get behind their team and support them, the man at the top of the ticket, to say the things that have gone on didn't happen. And when they are confronted with the facts about what has happened, they shift it to somebody else. They have done the same thing whether -- we have talked about -- we've heard more about Clinton, we've heard more about documents, we've heard more about servers.

BLACKWELL: We heard about John Kerry and George Washington from Republicans during this hearing.

MOORE: Right. Right. That's right.

BLACKWELL: Let's go through a couple of the terms that people are going to hear as we move on to the next phase. Maybe -- let's start with Latin that a lot of people typically don't use in normal everyday and some of the definitions. Put up -- just the simple quid pro quo. Legal definition here, quid pro quo, just quickly.

MOORE: It really just means this for that. So, I want to take the quid as this and I want something and I want that. We don't need to get caught up on what the legal term -- the Latin phrase is. It just simply means this for that.

BLACKWELL: All right. Bribery as it relate specifically to impeachment.

[06:10:02]

MOORE: You know, bribery here would be asking somebody or giving them some benefit because you want to benefit back. Something of value so that you can get something to help you.

Think about this. You give a guy in a local context you pay the county commissioner off or send him ball game tickets because you want your road paved in front of your house. It's just a simple -- I'm giving you something of value because I want something else.

BLACKWELL: Extortion.

MOORE: That is used typically something to -- of a negative context. Think of in terms of I'm going to threaten to release this information on you if you don't do something for me or I'm going to withhold something that you need to survive if you don't do something for me. So, from a negative context or the negative side of the bribery.

BLACKWELL: And there's always the question of the illegality of taking something of value from a foreign source.

MOORE: True.

BLACKWELL: Foreign election aid. In the context of the conversation we will be having over this -- the next several weeks, detail that for us.

MOORE: Well, that is soliciting or asking the foreign government get involved in our election process. And I think that is pretty clear -- we've had pretty clear testimony about that through the hearings. Remember that all the things we have talked about, all of these terms they really look at the conduct of one person. It doesn't matter so much of what happened -- in order words the quid for the pro quo. Here's -- somebody asked for the quid it didn't matter if they deliver on the quo of bank robber. We talked about the bank robber doing wrong. It didn't matter if the teller gives him the money or not. The crime is in the fact that he went in the bank with a gun and said this is what I want.

BLACKWELL: All Right. Michael Moore, always good to have you help us break it down.

MOORE: Glad to be with us.

BLACKWELL: All right. Christi --

PAUL: A couple of things that I tell you about notes here. "The Impeachment Inquiry In The Words Of The Witnesses" airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern. That is followed by a CNN Special Report "All Of The President's Lies." That is at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: Some pretty serious concerns from the nation's top military officials over President Trump's interference in the case of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher. How his involvement could damage the integrity they say of the military's judicial system.

PAUL: Also, a disastrous week for Prince Andrew some say because of his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. What is next for the Duke of York and the image of the British monarchy as a whole now?

BLACKWELL: And a beloved sheriff shot and killed at a gas station in Alabama. There's now a teen suspect under arrest. We've got more details for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:53]

PAUL: Fifteen minutes past the hour.

And we're learning from CNN local affiliates that a woman and two children are dead after an Amtrak train crashed into their car. This was something that happened in Florida.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The train was travelling from Miami to New York yesterday afternoon when the car crossed its tracks. A Palm Beach police say no one of the 200 passengers on board the train was injured. There is no crossing gate or flashing light at the intersection where this crash happened.

This morning, the Navy secretary is denying plans to resign over a dispute with the president. A Navy official decided to conduct a review of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's fitness to serve and this was days after the president restored his rank.

PAUL: Gallagher was demoted after being found guilty of posing for a photo with a dead ISIS fighter's body.

CNN's National Correspondent, Kristen Holmes has more details for us here. Good morning, Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi.

That's right. So, there's more tension now between the White House and the Pentagon. We have to remember that this is ongoing. From earlier this month when the president ignored the Pentagon's advice and intervened in this three war crime cases. And, of course, now the tension is around, as you said, Eddie Gallagher, this Navy SEAL.

President Trump essentially taking matters into his own hands when it came to restoring his position in the Navy SEAL. This is what he tweeted on Thursday.

He said, "The Navy will not be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher's Trident Pin."

Why is this a big deal? Well, first of all there's extreme concern now that the decision making is being pulled from the Navy. And we know this is happening at all ranks. The defense secretary, the rear admiral -- Joint Chiefs of Staff, all of them talking to the White House trying to get him to not intervene, trying to get the president to not tweet.

So, what happens now? What happens with his rank? What happens next in this review process? Well, as you guys said, the secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, essentially says nothing, that he does not view this tweet as a reversal of the review. It is not a direct order.

One thing to note here, both of these heads of the Navy we have the secretary who I just mentioned and also the admiral who's in charge of the SEALs, they ordered this review and we hear from sources that at least the admiral believe that he could get fired for ordering this review and went ahead and did it anyway. But when it comes to whether or not they will resign which of course, we saw reports of yesterday, this is what Spencer had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SPENCER, U.S. NAVY SECRETARY: Contrary to popular belief I'm still hear. I did not threaten to resign but let us just say that we are here to talk about external threats and Eddie Gallagher is not one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, Eddie Gallagher is not one of them, but clearly it is on a lot of people's minds. And we do know that these -- when these military leaders went and talked to President Trump, they said that if he were to tweet again a follow-up that was a direct order that there would be huge consequences across the military.

And I want to note here Eddie Gallagher's lawyer is saying that this is a dangerous line, that these military leaders are crossing, that they are directly pushing back against President Trump's orders.

BLACKWELL: Kristen Holmes, we will see where this goes. As you said, this is ongoing. Thank you. PAUL: Still ahead, tackling climate change head-on. A college football game interrupted when hundreds of students rushed the field to get their school's attention.

BLACKWELL: Plus conservative media goes on the attack after the president's former top Russia expert tears apart Republican conspiracy theories. What it means for the future of the investigation? That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:09]

PAUL: Twenty-two minutes past the hour. Glad to have you here. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

An 18-year-old is accused of murdering a beloved sheriff in Alabama. So, here's the story. The shooting happened in Hayneville, Alabama, about 20 miles from Montgomery. Police say William Chase Johnson was arrested at the same gas station where he allegedly shot the sheriff Big John Williams last night.

PAUL: Johnson showed up at that gas station after a nearly four-hour manhunt. Now local police say Sheriff Williams was a marine and his law enforcement career span more than 40 years.

Well, last week President Trump's former top Russia expert, Fiona Hill, discredited as you know several conspiracy theories about Ukraine meddling in the 2016 election.

BLACKWELL: With us now to talk about it is CNN chief media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter. Stelter, good morning to you.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, there was huge pushback from conservative media after what we saw from Dr. Fiona Hill. Detail for us what we saw in that ramp-up even after several witnesses that we've seen over those two weeks.

STELTER: Yes. There has been a really disappointing attempt to discredit and dismiss the testimony of these witnesses. When we see President Trump swear in that his Republican allies and more with him than ever before, more strongly with him than ever before, that is partly a reflection of what all of them are hearing from right wing media.

For example, Jeanine Pirro overnight on Fox saying that Gordon Sondland, who was a Trump donor and a Trump appointee is not a fan of the president and that's why he was like a deep state bureaucrat. So this kind of rhetoric we just -- on tether from reality has been quite popular. And I think it's most disappointing with regard to Fiona Hill. That's why I'm so glad you all mentioned her testimony. Fiona Hill is the one who really called out this right wing conspiracy theory involving Ukraine attempting to meddle in the 2016 election.

[06:25:03]

She said, not only is that they're not proof of that it actually is a Russian propaganda talking point. And yet despite her really vivid testimony we continue to see House lawmakers and right wing media stars promote this Ukraine theory as if there is something to it. And frankly just very deeply disappointing at the end of this week.

PAUL: Is there any indication though, Brian, that the messaging going into 2020 is going to be changed on either side because of Dr. Hill?

STELTER: I don't see any early sign that's going to be changed. Look, I do think it's early though. This morning's "Washington Post" points out that this is a fluid situation, a fluid process that we are in the middle of right now. These House Democrats are going to working on their report after all this -- during the Thanksgiving week and working on the report based on their findings from this testimony.

But more importantly, we have not seen a lot of polling from the results of last week's hearings. There have been a couple of polls here and there but it is fluid. I don't think we know yet what the impact of the hearings has been.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about ad spending focused on impeachment. I understand that it has increased significantly.

STELTER: Yes. Really interesting to see how both Democrats and Republicans are using impeachment in their ads in local districts and we are seeing this on social media as well.

On Facebook, for example, the amount of spending with the word impeachment has really increased. Facebook, for example, there has been more than $5.6 million worth of ads spent by candidates and Super PACs and other groups on Facebook involving impeachment.

And so I went and I searched in the past week when you look at all the posts on Facebook about impeachment. Many of them are the most divisive. Many of them are the most hostile, in many cases promoting President Trump's talking points. Unfortunately in the social media sewer that we all sometimes live in, it's the most angry and divisive messages that get promoted the most.

PAUL: All right. A few hours, we're going to see you again on "RELIABLE SOURCES" here. What have you got going on?

STELTER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is coming on later. He's at brand-new reporting about last week and that mystery involving President Trump's trip to Walter Reed. That will be really interesting.

And also the interviewer who sat down with Prince Andrew and ended up being a disastrous interview for Prince Andrew which I know you all will be talking about later this hour. We're going to talk to the woman who interviewed him for the BBC.

PAUL: Yes. I will be interested to hear about that because her facial expressions during that interview they seemed telling but I'm going to make no assumptions until I watch your report.

STELTER: I will ask her.

BLACKWELL: All right.

PAUL: Thanks, Brian.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Stelter. And be sure to watch his show "RELIABLE SOURCES" today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: Well, the royal family as Brian just mentioned on damage control after Prince Andrew tried to defend himself and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Why the Duke of York is being pushed out of the public view now after an interview that certainly seemed to backfire but what does it mean for the royal family as a whole?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]

BLACKWELL: All right, 31 minutes after the hour now.

Let's talk about Prince Andrew. He is now a royal without a role. The Duke of York is stepping back from public duties. Several companies and charities are reconsidering their ties to him.

Just this weekend, London's prestigious Royal Philharmonic Orchestra decided to drop him as a patron and it's all being blamed on what the palace apparently believes was a disaster of an interview the BBC.

PAUL: Last weekend, he tried to defend his relationship with a convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, and he denied the sex abuse allegations that he himself is facing.

CNN Royal Commentator and Historian, Kate Williams, is joining us now from London.

Kate, I want to first replay one of the more controversial moments from this interview where Prince Andrew defends staying at the Epstein home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY MAITLIS, BBC NEWS HOST: You were staying at the house of a convicted sex offender?

PRINCE ANDREW, DUKE OF YORK: It was a convenient place to stay. I've gone through this in my mind so many times. At the end of the day with the benefit of all the hindsight that one could have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But at the time, I felt it was the honorable and right thing to do.

I admit fully that my judgment was probably colored by my tendency to be too honorable but that's just the way it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: All right. So, Kate, there are a lot of people, I think, looking at this going why would you come out and have this interview now and I'm assuming thinks that he did a good job in that interview.

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, we understand that Prince Andrew, from the team who were there, he was delighted. He took the team on a tour at Buckingham Palace, the BBC team. He then asked what was going out that night because he was so pleased with it and, of course, it had to be edited.

But, really, I think what we saw in the interview, an absolutely catastrophic interview, couldn't be worse for him. And this week has been a catapulting avalanche of bad news for Prince Andrew. And all coming from this one interview, he's lost his patronages, he's lost his office in Buckingham Palace, he's off the royal roster, everything to this one-hour interview.

So you really can't wreck your reputation in an hour and he did it. And a combination of bad alibis as to where he was when Ms. Roberts, the allegation she's made, where he was during the moment she said he was with her.

Also a complete lack of regret for his friendship with Mr. Epstein, he said he didn't regret it because he met interesting people through him. And as we saw in the clip you've just played there, he didn't break it off on the phone because he was too honorable.

[06:35:01]

And also, thirdly, a complete lack of sympathy for the victims. He could have said how awful these women have suffered so much. He didn't say anything. And, in fact, when they present and asked him, did you see women about in these mansions? He said, well, I did but I'm used to staff and there is just no comparison between Buckingham Palace footmen and trafficked women. So it was shocking from beginning to end.

And as a consequence, he has lost a lot. But I think he really thought he was completely innocent, had nothing to hide. And if he just went on T.V. and spoke to Britain, also the world, because it was broadcast in the world, on YouTube, he would be completely redeemed. And, of course, it's been the opposite.

BLACKWELL: And, Kate, that is an important element, because he is not the first royal to speak to the British people to do an interview like in that format. This just was a really bad one.

WILLIAMS: You're completely right, Victor. Of course, he's seen that the royals do this. The queen turned things around. There was a lot of negative feeling about her after the death of Princess Diana that she hadn't been there. She went on the T.V. She addressed the nation as a grandmother, absolutely turned it around. It was -- and the affection was back.

We saw Princess Diana giving the bombshell interview on the television talking about her feelings, her pain during the marriage. We gave a lot to her and gave a lot of -- we did gave a lot of P.R. to her and also William and Harry have addressed interviews that have helped their

P.R. a lot.

But simply, all of those -- the royals were talking, they were not suspected of -- they were not accused of criminal allegations and they were not obviously consorting with a convicted criminal. So, simply, I think Andrew just didn't realize the gravity of the charges against him, the gravity of what people were saying. And he thought, oh, well, I'll just go on and I'll chat and be me.

And I think he's a man, to put it bluntly, who is being very indulged his whole life and didn't realize -- had never had anyone to say to him, do you that's a good idea? Do you think you should say that and shouldn't you change your views? And, certainly, I think this week has been a huge shock to him, a huge shock in which he has pretty much lost everything.

PAUL: Kate Williams, thank you so much for breaking it all down for us. Good to see you today.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, mission in space, the search for life on Mars. Former NASA astronaut, our favorite, Leroy Chiao is with us to talk about the hunt for fossils on the red planet.

PAUL: And what does it take to make it in the United States Navy? Guess who had a chance it find out the hard way? No less, Mr. Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor.

14 hours of pain. We went inside the minds of the future defenders of our nation, the lead up to our Army-Navy game coverage with barbed wire and a lot of whining, an exclusive look inside Sea Trials at the U.S. Naval Academy coming up on New Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: So there was a halftime show that few saw coming. Student protesters that stormed the field during the Harvard/Yale football game in New Haven, Connecticut yesterday.

PAUL: The demonstration was to call on both schools to stop investing in fossil fuel companies. And the game was delayed nearly an hour until students were escorted off the field by police, no less.

BLACKWELL: All right, countdown now to America's game, the historic match-up between Army and Navy. Each week, we will feature the young women and men who had committed their lives to serving our nation.

PAUL: Coy Wire got an exclusive look inside what's known as the Sea Trials. And the thing is he smiled through the whole darn thing.

BLACKWELL: Only Coy.

WIRE: We carefully selected the highlight here. PAUL: Yes, it's very nice.

WIRE: This is a rite of passage of sorts of the U.S. Naval Academy. We're talking about 14 hours of grueling physical and mental testing. It started dark and early and we got an exclusive look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: It's 2:30 in the morning. I'm in Annapolis, Maryland at the U.S. Naval Academy. I'm Coy Wire. And this is Sea Trials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are doing their exercises in the water, the wet and sandy, which sounds fun at 5:30 in the morning in a 50-degree weather. This shows them they are only as strong as their weakest link. So they learn how to work together. They learn how to communicate together.

WIRE: 100.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These plebes are tried. Their feet hurt. They are wet. They're sweaty. It's just a very long day for them physically and mentally.

WIRE: How's been feeling alive?

No joke, baby. This is no joke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) right now, we have a rifle overhead treads with a -- in the water with a rifle over their head , treading and work on teamwork. We will have a group of plebes going underwater and undoing locks while their teammates are out there are giving them the combination. So it's really a neat event, a great team building.

WIRE: Look at his determination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody here, we have been learning about everything, from leadership to building up each other encouragement, trust, all of that throughout the year. So this is like the combination of all that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are going ahead to the endurance course.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Come on, guys, finish strong.

[06:45:00]

WIRE: What kept you going?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have so many people here that are looking out for me. Honestly, I have never felt anything like that before, like it gives me shivers.

WIRE: Does it inspire you to be that for someone else now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No doubt, no doubt.

WIRE: 14 hours of blood, sweat and tears. They could have quit but they didn't. Sea Trials is done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: A joyous moment when that was over. But, look, I mean, this was -- I was just tired after one day as I was after about a week of training camp when I played in the NFL. And I'm not even kidding. Sea Trials is meant to break you down.

And after getting a glimpse inside of the heart and minds of the young men and women at the U.S. Naval Academy who have decided dedicate their lives to all of us, I have a whole new level of respect of those young men and women that feature when we go to the Army-Navy games.

PAUL: And he trained for a month. Let's make sure that people understand there was training leading up to this.

WIRE: And still almost didn't make it. There were people falling out left and right. They just couldn't go. But there were special moments where you saw others picking each other up, literally carrying them across the end of three-mile run finish line. Those were the moments that were really inspiring.

PAUL: Those are the people we trust and we thank.

WIRE: That's right.

BLACKWELL: That's psychological and emotional strength, as much as physical strength, to get through 14 hours. Coy, thank you.

WIRE: You're welcome.

PAUL: And he's is still standing.

WIRE: For now.

PAUL: Thank you, Coy.

Listen, when we come back, the next mission to Mars and the chances of finding life there, NASA astronaut -- retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao is with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

PAUL: This is something so many people have been waiting for, but NASA's mission to return to the moon may be in jeopardy now. For that and other pretty huge space exploration headlines of the week, I spoke with retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRNAUTE: At the end of the day, space programs and just about -- well, pretty much every decision, especially policy decisions, are made based on politics. And so, of course, we would love to go back to the moon. I would love to see us go back to the moon as a NASA person and, of course, the original moon mission was driven by the politics between the United States and the Soviet Union.

And So I understand because of the way the politics are now with the animosity between the Congress and the White House, that it's pretty unlikely, I think, that we're going to be able to work out a scenario where the funding that is necessary could come about in time to make that mission land on 2024.

Having said that, I know that NASA, the greatest efforts are being expended by some very fine people to do their best to kind of set up a winning, kind of a proactive scenario and way of thinking, trying to get all of the pieces in place so that if they are able to get the funding, then they will be ready to go.

PAUL: So I want to talk to you about this new study that finds NASA's Mars 2020 rover is going to land in a specific area that apparently is perfect to hunt for this fossilized evidence of past lives. What is the key to the end of that day that this mission to getting some of those answers?

CHIAO: Well, this is a very exciting mission, of course. We've had indications over the last few years from different missions that suggests they are the basic building blocks of life, even here in our own cosmic backyard, our own solar system and also some of the strongest ones from Mars from finding trapped methane in the sedimentary rock from billions of years ago to the most recent discovery of these fluctuating oxygen levels. And that's right around the area where they're going to plan to put this new rover in 2020.

So it has a pretty good chance, I think, of finding either past or possibly even some kind of present microbial life on Mars. And I think the impacts of that are going to be huge.

PAUL: I want to ask you lastly about SpaceX's Mars rocket prototype. It had a little problem. It's burst apart during a ground test. Is SpaceX, do you think, capable of developing this equipment that can accomplish its goals?

CHIAO: Oh, I would expect, as in any development program, you're going to find issues like they just had. Certainly, we remember that they had a problem with their abort system, fuel system, pressurization test not that long ago. It's all part of developing these kinds of programs. They're going to will learn from it. And I'm pretty confidence or I'm very confident, I should say, that the starship will be successful.

PAUL: Yes. Leroy Chiao, we know that, especially at NASA, and it makes sense, it's not a failure. It is a lesson. Thank you so much. We appreciate you being here every time.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you so much.

PAUL: Thanks, Leroy.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLACKWELL: Let's take it to Chicago now. A woman's determination may have earned her a Guinness World Record. Jenny Doan hula hooped for 100 hours this week. That crushes the world record. Her marathon attempt still has to be verified by Guinness. But once that is, she will have officially demolished the current record of 74 hours and 54 minutes.

PAUL: Fifty-four minutes, can you imagine? I just have how many more minutes to get to 75?

Doan the goal to raise money for Mental Health America. It's a non- profit organization. And she raised more than $400,000 for the cause. Congratulations to her. She's got to have some abs of steel after that.

BLACKWELL: I wonder what the breaks are built-in. But that goes on forever.

PAUL: 100 hours? Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: All right. Thank you so much for starting your morning with us. We love having you here.

BLACKWELL: The next hour of new day is up after a break.

But first, some of the highlights from Saturday Night Live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEC BALDWIN, AMERICAN ACTOR: I don't even know this Ambassador Sondland guy. That's fake news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he's donated $1 million to your inauguration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you appointed him to the E.U.

BALDWIN: Well, I know him but I don't know him/know him. I never like met him in person. Look, I'd love to explain but this battery on the shop is going to die very, very soon.

[06:55:00]

Look, I'm holding everybody up, okay?

WILL FERRELL, AMERICAN ACTOR: No.

BALDWIN: Oh, it's you, Ambassador Sondland. You've (INAUDIBLE) for me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump, can you at least elaborate on your comments yesterday on Fox and Friends where you said Adam Schiff was the whistleblower?

BALDWIN: No, I never said he was the whistleblower, okay? It's so great to finally meet you for the first time, by the way.

FERRELL: Oh, right, right, right, right. Keep the quid pro quo on the low, low. Got it.

BALDWIN: And I just was leaving right now.

FERRELL: Hang on. I just want to go on the record and say, you guys need to lay off my boy. Everybody loves his ass.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

FERRELL: Ukraine, Russia.

BALDWIN: That's enough. That's enough.

FERRELL: They will do anything for this man. I know. I asked.

BALDWIN: All right. I got to go.

In conclusion, no quid pro quo.

FERRELL: Oh, there definitely was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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