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Airbag Maker Expands Largest Recall in U.S. History; North Korea Claims It Can Miniaturize Nukes; Iraq Moving More Fighters Into Anbar Province; White House Defends Strategy in Iraq; Report: Biker Gang Cancels Annual Rally. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 20, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The largest auto recall in American history.

[05:57:52] TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-four million vehicles, almost a dozen car companies.

ANTHONY FOXX, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION; Takata has refused to acknowledge that their air bags are defective. That changes today.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Hope is not a strategy.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Are we going to light our hair on fire every time that there is a setback in the campaign against ISIL?

SEN. JAMES RISCH (R), IDAHO: I think setback's an understatement. The fall of Ramadi is a big deal.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have said repeatedly I want those e-mails out.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Did Hillary Clinton's staff block the release of politically sensitive documents when she was secretary of state?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: She can't run for president and not answer questions.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Is a war between biker gangs over or just beginning?

SGT. W. PATRICK SWANTON, WACO POLICE: Violence usually condones more violence. Is this over? Most likely not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira. CHRIS CUOMO, CO-ANCHOR: Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's

Wednesday, May 20, 6 a.m. in the East. And the headline says it all: the largest auto recall in U.S. history: 34 million cars. This the recall of airbags by Japanese auto parts supplier Takata, now doubling the previous recall of faulty bags. That means it affects one in seven vehicles on the road.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CO-ANCHOR: So this morning drivers waking up wondering if their car is dangerous. And if your car is recalled, how long will it take to get it fixed? Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Tom Foreman. He's live for us in Washington.

What do we know, Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an astonishing thing to imagine going on your commute today, wondering if your car itself the safety system is going to do something terrible to you, and if you are driving down the road with a truly lethal defect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): This is what the trouble is all about: airbags exploding, firing metal shards into passengers with so much force police say some victims look like they've been shot. That's allegedly what happened to Corey Burdick. His lawyer says when Burdick had a minor accident in Florida, the airbag should have protected him.

RICH NEWSOME, ATTORNEY FOR COREY BURDICK: But instead the airbag exploded and sent a 3-1/2-inch piece of steel into his face, taking out one of his eyes.

FOREMAN: Now federal authorities are saying enough, launching a recall of 34 million cars, nearly double the original number thought to be involved.

FOXX: Airbag inflators, we suspected, did not work correctly. And we believe that they have been responsible for at least five deaths in the United States.

FOREMAN: The airbag manufacturer is the Japanese company Takata. And for months the company tried to limit the recall, saying the problem was appearing only in areas with high humidity. The government didn't buy it, pounding Takata with more than $1 million in fines.

FOXX: Up until now, Takata has refused to acknowledge that their airbags are defective. That changes today.

FOREMAN: The most serious accidents have occurred in Hondas, but the recall also involves Fords, Chryslers, Mazdas, BMWs. In all, 11 manufacturers and parts suppliers. And there could be more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long is this going to take? Nobody knows that yet. There is no question it could be some years. FOREMAN: The manufacturer issued a statement saying it remains

committed to consumer safety, but like the government, it does not yet know why the airbags are exploding. Although Takata has devoted tremendous resources to these efforts with some of the leading researchers, it is clear that this is a complex issue which takes time to fully evaluate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: So of course, the thing you want to know is, is your car on the list? There's an easy way to find out. You go to SaferCar.gov, SaferCar.gov. Have your vehicle identification number, the VIN Number. You can put it in, and it will tell you if your car's on the list.

But I will tell you, Alisyn. You may want to go back to this website more than once. I did this last night, and at the end it even said, "Check back to make sure your car has not been added to the list," because this story is developing. It is not done yet -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Oh, boy. We can only imagine if that website can handle all the capacity it's going to get this morning. Thanks so much, Tom.

We want to bring in now Joan Claybrook. She was at the helm of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during the 1981 Ford recall. That was previously the largest ever until now. Ms. Claybrook, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

JOAN CLAYBROOK, FORMER HEAD OF NHTSA: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thirty-four million vehicles. What does that even look like? It's so monumental. Does every one of those cars need to be off the road today?

CLAYBROOK: They do. But they're not going to be, because this is such a huge recall it's going to take years, really, to carry it out.

CAMEROTA: I mean, as we were saying in 1981 the previous recall of, I think, 21 million cars -- it was Ford. You were at the helm, then, and it got bogged down in all sorts of politics. I mean, what goes into a recall of this magnitude?

CLAYBROOK: Well, this has been a big fight with Takata, as we know. And the government has had to press. We're very grateful to Mark Rosekind, the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for grappling with this and for fining Takata, pushing them and enforcing the law and being the cop on the beat.

And so Takata has now conceded that it has a defect. And it's time to recall these vehicles. And it's going to take years to do it, because 34 million new airbags have to be manufactured. And then replaced in the vehicles. CAMEROTA: So it's going to take years. But what does that mean

for drivers who may be driving around with an airbag that, if it deploys, sprays shrapnel on the passengers?

CLAYBROOK: Well, what that means is that everyone should go to the website at the Department of Transportation, SaferCars.gov, and find out if their car has a Takata airbag. And if it does, they should be in contact with their dealer as soon as possible to see how fast they can get a replacement.

I do know that Honda has contracted with another airbag manufacturer to try and get replacement parts faster. So that you want to keep in touch and call your dealer as soon as possible.

CAMEROTA: Can we talk about the timeline of this? Because Honda knew that there were issues in 2008 and began trying to address them. Why just yesterday did Takata issue this recall?

CLAYBROOK: Well, you'll have to ask the company that question. I think that they made a huge mistake. If they had called the vehicles back in 2008 when they first really knew that there was a problem, then they would have a much cheaper and much more efficient recall back then.

Now it's just so humongous that people are at risk, and I know that we're going to see more deaths and injuries.

CAMEROTA: This affects a whole bunch of different cars, different models. BMW -- let me tick some off for you. BMW, Chrysler, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Ford, GM, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, Honda, as we said. I mean, it's almost as though there are no cars that aren't affected by this. So again, if you're a driver waking up, is it safe to drive your car this morning?

[06:05:06] CLAYBROOK: It is. And there's -- it's a real conundrum about whether or not to disconnect your airbag so that you don't have this problem or to leave it hooked up. I think you have to leave it hooked up, because you may have a crash where the airbag is desperately needed.

So you want to leave it hooked up. But on the other hand, it is -- it is a deadly system that not every single airbag is defective, just some of them are. But we don't know exactly which ones.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's a great point. Because there have been six deaths that we know of worldwide connected to these airbags. So in other words, it is extremely rare.

CLAYBROOK: Yes, it is rare. So the likelihood of any particular airbag at any particular point in time is going to have this problem is small.

But on the other hand, it could happen. And so that's why manufacturers, when they delay these recalls are really harming the public and harming themselves. And that's why I believe the Department of Transportation should

be the tough cop on the beat. When they find a problem initially, they should force manufacturers to do these recalls early on. And when they leave it for a long period of time, it becomes massive and difficult and expensive. And harmful to the public.

CAMEROTA: OK. So your advice is do not disconnect your airbag. You can continue to drive today, but as soon as possible, check the website and contact the dealership.

CLAYBROOK: That's correct.

CAMEROTA: Ms. Joan Claybrook, thanks so much for all of your expertise. We appreciate you being on.

CLAYBROOK: Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: If you think that your car might be affected, you can start a preliminary check by going to SaferCars.gov. Then you have to do slash "RS" slash "Takata." If your cars on the list, contact your local dealership. Dealers will replace the airbag, they say, for free as the parts become available.

Chris, who knows when that will happen.

CUOMO: Well, how long is going to be a big question there, but at least we know about it now, Alisyn.

All right. So also breaking overnight, North Korea claiming nuclear weapons are within its rich. Pyongyang's National Defense Commission says the country has achieved a key step toward placing a nuclear warhead on a missile.

CNN's Will Ripley joins us from Tokyo with breaking details. Will, what do we know?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a troubling development, Chris. And we saw these warning signs when we were in North Korea a short time ago.

While I was in the country, the state announced that they had successfully launched a test missile from a submarine. And now the new announcement that North Korea also says they have the ability to take nuclear bombs and make them small enough to fit on a ballistic missile. A ballistic missile that Pyongyang says would have the capability of reaching the U.S.

Of course, all of this very troubling, not only for the United States, which is North Korea's No. 1 sworn enemy. They talked about it the whole time we were on the ground there, but also the regional allies of the U.S. South Korea, Japan, countries that are within gunshot of North Korea now have a new reason to be concerned.

And there are more signs this country may be pulling back and trying to isolate itself more from the international community after North Korea abruptly canceled a trip to the DMZ's Kesong Industrial Complex by the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon. They canceled it without notice, Michaela, showing that they clearly don't want to do any talking with the international community, even as they step up their military rhetoric.

CUOMO: Well, let me ask you a question before we let you go. The problem with North Korea is that they lie, right? Is that they spin things out there just to intimidate everybody else and get us yapping like this.

We think about the submarine photos of something supposedly being launched; turns out they were doctored. What is the believability on this?

RIPLEY: Well, many experts, including the United States and China, believe that North Korea does possess nuclear weapons. Now, the U.N. and the Pentagon also does believe, and they're actually talking about this back in April that North Korea has the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons.

However, the accuracy of their ballistic missile, the number of weapons that they may possess, of course there are suspicions that the North does tend to embellish.

But the bottom line here, Chris, is that this country, which doesn't have enough money to feed its own people, is investing a tremendous amount of money in its military program, specifically its nuclear program. They are very serious about developing nuclear weapons and have no plans to back down -- Chris.

CUOMO: So it does seem safe to say it's not an "if" but a "when" question. All right. So we'll stay on it. Will, thank you very much -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. To Iraq now where ISIS is tightening its grip on Ramadi and now pressing east. Top Iraqi government officials are hoping to stop the terrorist advance by moving even more fighters into the area.

CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has more live from Amman, Jordan -- Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

The big problem, though, is where to get a capable fighting force from, because it most certainly does not exist within the ranks of the Iraqi security forces themselves. And therefore, we do have the government now calling for more of those Shia paramilitary units to move to an area called Habbaniyah.

[06:10:09] There is a military base there, and it is located between Ramadi and Fallujah both, which are under ISIS control. ISIS seems to be focusing its attacks now on smaller towns that are to the east of Ramadi.

ISIS does not necessarily have to make a significant push toward Baghdad at this stage. All it has to do is bog the Iraqi forces down, trying to defend the various front lines that could potentially threaten the capital.

The Iraqi government is also saying at this stage that it is finally going to make a serious attempt to arm up the Sunni tribes, all of which, yes, will further complicate the battlefield, given that there is no real cohesive chain of command between the various different entities that do make up the force that is trying to make a stance against ISIS, but at this stage the Iraqi government does not have a choice.

The U.S. Also is going to have to somehow seriously revise its so-called strategy at this stage If it does want to see ISIS pushed back, especially when it comes to the dynamics In Anbar province -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Arwa. Let's talk about that. Because despite the backlash, the White House reaffirming its strategy to fight ISIS in Iraq. Officials insist that President Obama's use of airstrikes on key ISIS targets while relying on Iraqi ground forces has yielded gains in retaking Ramadi.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty live at the White House with the latest. Are they rethinking all this, Sunlen?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, the White House continues to characterize the fall of Ramadi as a setback, a setback which they say does not necessitate discarding their strategy.

This comes as there's been a lot of criticism from Republicans, even the president's own former secretary of defense, who say they do need a strategy in -- when talking about the broader fight over ISIS. Speaker of the House John Boehner saying hope is not a strategy, and the White House pushing back, saying that they're -- they were always clear that this will be a long slog, but they're clearly on the defensive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EARNEST: Are we going to light our hair on fire every time there's a setback in the campaign against ISIL? Or are we going to take very seriously our responsibility to evaluate those areas where we succeed and evaluate where steps are necessary for us to change our strategy where we've sustained setbacks?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: On Tuesday President Obama met not only with his secretary of defense but his broader national security team to assess the situation. And while White House aides say that they do not have a formal review of the strategy going on, emphasis there, of course, on formal, that they are looking on ways where they can help the Iraqi-led operation, including accelerating training and equipping local tribes.

Chris, that's in addition to the ongoing coalition airstrikes -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Sunlen, thank you very much. We do have new developments on that biker war in Texas that has police and gangs worried about what comes next.

CNN's Nick Valencia live in Waco. What are these developments?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

New overnight, one of the gangs involved in Sunday's incident has decided to cancel its annual event outside of Waco, Texas. This based on the suggestion of the local sheriff. More than 300 bikers were expected to attend.

Also new this morning, police have brought back into custody three of the men that were originally arrested under a different case number, brought in on a $50,000 bond. As we have been reporting, many of those that are in custody -- all of those, I should say, that are in custody have been held on $1 million bond.

Jim Harris, Juan Garcia and Drew King all taken back into custody with the help of the U.S. Marshal Service. Also this morning, things at the scene creeping back to normal.

Yesterday police removing many of the vehicles left behind after Sunday's incident. They were removing some heavy weapons from those cars. This is the first day that we've seen a sort of smaller perimeter around the strip mall. Police hope that it's a sign of better developments here to come -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CO-ANCHOR: All right, Nick. We'll be watching this, and we'll be discussing more about it on our show.

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, doing something she hasn't done for nearly a month, talking to the media. At a campaign stop in Iowa, Clinton told reporters she made a mistake when she supported the Iraq War. Clinton also called for the speedy release of e-mails from her days as secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have said repeatedly I want those e-mails out. Nobody has a bigger interest in getting them released than I do. I respect the State Department. They have their process that they do for everybody, not just for me. But anything that they might do to expedite that process I heartily support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Also this morning, "The Wall Street Journal" reporting that when Clinton was secretary of state, her staff scrutinized, sometimes even blocked the release of politically sensitive documents that were legally requested as public records.

CAMEROTA: A medical drama unfolding for the family of Vice President Biden. His son, Beau, is at Walter Reed Medical Center at this hour. No word on what he's being treated for, but a source calls the situation serious.

[06:15:05] The younger Biden is the former attorney general of Delaware, and he has a history of medical trouble, including a mild stroke in 2010 and a brain lesion in 2013.

PEREIRA: Certainly very concerning. We send our best thoughts to the family.

CUOMO: Tough news. He didn't just get into the hospital, but there's not a lot of information. No. He is a very special guy. He had a very bright political future. Hopefully, he still does. Our thoughts go to the Biden family. But Beau Biden is a very special guy. He's much more than just Joe's son.

CAMEROTA: All right. We're going to keep an eye on that story for you.

CUOMO: All right. So we do know that ISIS has taken Ramadi. Now, some say this is a big deal. The administration says not really. But now that these big meetings about strategy and potentially changing course, so what's the deal? And what are the options? We have answers for you on that ahead.

CAMEROTA: And it seemed like the perfect crime, right out of a movie. A $300 million jewel heist in London, the thieves vanishing without a trace, until now. How police cracked the case, ahead.

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CUOMO: The coalition strategy, the U.S. strategy coming under scrutiny with this news that ISIS has taken Ramadi. The White House is now saying it may accelerate training Sunni fighters but is resisting other changes. Is this the right course? Do they need to change? Is this the right change if they do have to change?

Let's bring in Hillary Mann-Leverett. She's the author of "Going to Tehran," and she served on the National Security Council under both President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Bipartisan genius in play.

[06:20:10] Let's do a little bit of a short answer session here on this stuff.

HILLARY MANN-LEVERETT, AUTHOR, "GOING TO TEHRAN": Sure.

CUOMO: This is a lot in the air. ISIS taking Ramadi, big deal, not big deal?

MANN-LEVERETT: I think it is a big deal. And the White House itself is reacting in that way. Even though they're saying it's not a big deal, they've convened not just the National Security Council but an expanded session of the National Security Council to really deeply re-examine strategy.

And they've decided to rush 1,000 rocket -- shoulder-held rocket -- rocket propellers to Iraqi forces. Which I think is a dramatic testament to the -- to the significance of this development.

CUOMO: Is this the reality that the people fighting on the ground just are not that good? And this is the frustration without having U.S. boots on the ground?

MANN-LEVERETT: I don't think so. I mean, even when we had U.S. boots on the ground, we've had over 100,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground in Iraq.

The problem is not whether people are good fighters or not. We've had our best fighters there, not only in terms of numbers but our best people. And so have the Iraqis. The problem is there's not a military solution to this.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq and destruction of the state was enormous -- had enormous significance strategically. It destroyed the state and completely overturned the Sunni-led political order in the state and the region. There's not a military solution to that. There's only a political solution that focuses on conflict resolution and empowering states to be states, not to attack their citizens.

CUOMO: Right, but whether or not you can take Ramadi is a function of my ability to stop you from that and certainly the U.S. was better at that. I mean, as you know very well and those of us who covered it understood the U.S. and the coalition forces rolled through where they wanted to once the war got going. It was about whether or not they could hold them.

So you're saying short-term defies long-term reality here. They need to find a better state solution.

MANN-LEVERETT: Not only does it defy it, but it really dramatically shocks it. Because short-term, yes, sure you could kill Saddam Hussein. You can kill Moammar Gadhafi in Libya, but long-term, what you're doing is building and engendering this deep, seething resentment among largely Sunni populations that get them to fight to the death to participate in suicide car bombings and other types of tactics, because they're desperate to protect not only themselves and their families but what they see as the greater ula (ph) in Sunni Islam, the greater community of Sunni Muslims.

CUOMO: So we're trying to pick a new leader here, Hillary, as you know, and one of them on the Republican side, Rand Paul, says he knows what to do about ISIS. And here's part of his solution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Kurds are good fighters. I would go one step further. I would arm the Kurds, and I would also offer them a homeland. If you will fight, and if you will fight to keep people out, push out these marauders, I'd give you a homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Let's test it. The Peshmerga no question they're good fighters. They've been fighting to kind of -- their own existential reasons for a long time. What does that mean to hear somebody who wants to be president of the United States say I would give them a state. How does that play into the views of what the U.S. does?

MANN-LEVERETT: Well, I think two things. One, it's a strategic mistake. For the United States to, yet again, go down the road of arming, funding and training yet another ethnically focused group in the Middle East. That doesn't work when we do it with broader Sunni Muslims. That hasn't worked in Libya, in Syria, in Yemen. And it's not going to work for the Kurds in Iraq.

The other piece here is that I think it displays a level of ignorance. The United States does not control the map as the British and French did 100 years ago, where we can simply draw or carve out another state. The United States doesn't have that kind of power. And even if we did, when the British and French did it, it has led to 100 years of war in the Middle East. That's not a recipe for stability or something that's in U.S. interests.

CUOMO: You need to balance what is seen as American exceptionalism or ability to be leaders, whether it's militarily or in terms of lifestyle with what might be perceived as American imperialism, right?

MANN-LEVERETT: That's the critical difference. We should be leading as exemplars, as exemplars of the benefits of our system. Not by trying to impose it as the -- you know, as the butt of a gun. That doesn't work. We've been trying it now in the Middle East since 2003, and it hasn't worked in any of these battlefields, whether it's Iraq, Syria, Yemen, anywhere, Afghanistan. It just doesn't work. We need to lead as exemplars in the world, not as military imperialists.

CUOMO: How long does this go on?

MANN-LEVERETT: I think as long as we continue to fuel the anger and the resentment by arming, training and funding yet more militias in the Middle East, which leads to the destruction and death of more and more Muslims, they will continue to come together.

CUOMO: So what happens, though, Hillary -- what happens if we do the opposite? Which is just work on helping the evolution of politics there and social gains and dump money into the region and not fuel the fight? Then what happens?

MANN-LEVERETT: Well, we've already dumped money. We've spent over $1 trillion fighting -- fighting this so-called war in Iraq, which has led to disastrous results.

[06:25:09] I think instead of being the -- you know, putting more money in, we should focus on conflict resolution, on working with both existing governments and institutions internationally for real sustainable conflict resolution. It's something we haven't done in a long time since really during the Cold War when we were forced to, but we can return to that. And we can be leaders in diplomacy and conflict resolution. We created the United Nations, and we can create a better

international world order through diplomacy, not through militarily- based imperialism.

CUOMO: I was reading something about perspective on the Iraq War, and it was saying you know you're in a bad situation when the political debate right now is "Getting into Iraq was a really big mistake, but the last six years have been filled with really big mistakes. So who's made the bigger mistakes?" Never a good level of evaluation.

Hillary Mann-Leverett, thank you very much for giving us your perspective. Appreciate it -- Mick.

MANN-LEVERETT: Thank you.

PEREIRA: All right. Chris, this played out like a Hollywood movie, a stunning $300 million jewel heist over the weekend. A huge embarrassment for police. Now there is a break in the case. We're going to take you live to London next on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Big news this morning. Airbag maker...