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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Russian Soldier Killed, Family In America Reacts; Russian Official: Civilian In Russia Killed After Shelling; Pussy Riot's Masha Alyokhina On Putin's War In Ukraine; 8 Public Hearings Planned For Next Month By Jan. 6 Cmte; Passenger With No Flying Experience Safely Lands Plane After Pilot Falls Ill; How Effective Are Trump's Endorsements?; NY Judge Says Trump Must Pay $110K And Meet Other Conditions To End Contempt Order. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 11, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: The state's hit the hardest are North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, and Tennessee. The White House says it's now working 24/7 to address the shortage, which has been caused by the supply chain shortage. And on top of that, a major safety recall. It was back in February when Abbott recalled its formula after two infants died.

Thanks so much for joining us. AC 360 starts right now.

[20:00:24]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening.

For the first time since the war in Ukraine began almost 11 weeks ago, Russian civilian inside Russia has been reported killed. Russian official says this occurred in the village in the Belgorod region, that area is about six miles from the Ukrainian border near Ukraine second largest city, Kharkiv.

Kharkiv has been repeatedly shelled as you know, and there has been intense fighting in areas around the city. In just the last several days Ukrainian officials say they've liberated a number of towns and villages near Kharkiv. Russian officials say the region where they reported the civilian killed has seen several explosions in recent weeks. The cause they say where missiles and bombs. Now, Ukraine has not confirmed nor denied responsibility for the blasts.

Another major development today a possible step toward Finland joining NATO. Its President and Britain's Prime Minister agreed to assist each other militarily should either country face attack. Finland shares a roughly 800-mile border with Russia which has threatened military and political consequences should Finland or Sweden actually join NATO.

This was the message from Finland's President Vladimir Putin should that happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAULI NIINISTO, PRESIDENT OF FINLAND: If that would be the case that we join, well, my response would be that you caused this. Look at the mirror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So there's a lot to get to tonight, including a one-on-one interview with one of Vladimir Putin's most high profile critics, who has just made a daring escape from Russia. She'll tell us how she managed to get out.

We start with a report of the Russian civilian killed. Joining us from Lviv, Ukraine, CNN's Scott McLean.

So Scott, the first time since this war began at the end of February, a Russian civilian has reportedly been killed. What do we know?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, yes, as you mentioned earlier, this is an area where the Ukrainians have made some progress in taking back some towns and villages around Kharkiv. And in those areas, they are, in some places only a few miles from the actual border, and so they're telling civilians not to come back to those areas A., because they're heavily mined, but also, because they're within Russian artillery range.

But now the Russians are finding out that they are also well within Ukrainian artillery range. And so as you mentioned, for the first time, the Governor of the Belgorod region just across the border says that one civilian was killed in this very tiny village just six miles inside the border due north of the City of Kharkiv.

Other villages in that area have been evacuated because houses have been damaged or destroyed. Obviously, there have been other explosions inside Russian territory in recent weeks, and really since the war began. The Ukrainians not exactly jumping up and down to take responsibility for them with one notable exception, which is about two weeks ago or so that they didn't explicitly say that they were responsible, but a presidential adviser said, quote, "Karma is a cruel thing" -- Anderson.

COOPER: Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister is saying that Ukraine has offered to exchange Russian prisoners of war for the Ukrainian soldiers defending the steel plant in Mariupol, has there been any progress negotiating with Russia?

MCLEAN: I mean, this is something that President Zelenskyy says that he has been working on, even getting third-party countries -- influential third countries involved to try to broker this kind of a deal that they say is quite desperate, because there are hundreds of soldiers, perhaps hundreds of just wounded soldiers, who are inside that plant.

The Ukrainian troops released photos that they say were severely injured people. They don't have medicine. They don't have proper medical supplies to take care of them.

And so the Deputy Prime Minister who has been leading these negotiations with the Russians, has been running through her options. And basically she says, militarily, there is no way to extract these people. There's no way to get these soldiers out. They're also not going to surrender, which she respects and so she is working on a third option.

She says none of the options are perfect, but they don't need perfect, they just need something workable. And so, at the moment, what they've proposed is to basically exchange prisoners for just wounded soldiers, not even the able-bodied ones, just the wounded ones. So far, the Russians aren't biting but she also says that negotiations are ongoing.

The soldiers have been here for about two months or so, or longer, but perhaps they're not as ill-equipped as we thought as well because according to a high-ranking Ukrainian General, there actually have been deliveries of aid and ammunition to the plant multiple deliveries and they only stopped once the Russians actually caught wind of this.

What we don't know is how exact -- what the delivery method was. Apparently, was taken out by Russian airstrikes. We don't know how many got in or when they were cut off. The Ukrainians though say that they have enough ammunition to fight off the Russians. That is for the moment though -- Anderson.

[20:05:11]

COOPER: Scott McLean, appreciate it. Thanks.

We mentioned the ongoing fighting in Kharkiv. Nick Paton Walsh recently spoke to a survivor of one of the earliest and most memorable attacks on civilians in that area and to her husband, who saved her life that day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice over): Sometimes places that speak only of death throw a jewel of life. This is the first time Ayuna has stood in this spot, since 72 days ago, she was dragged out from the rubble here. Her husband Andrey had been scouring it, looking for her for three hours.

She remembers the cupboard.

AYUNA MOROZOVA, KHARKIV BLAST SURVIVOR (through translator): That was where I was standing.

PATON WALSH (voice over): The multiple rocket attack on this, the Kharkiv Regional Administration, was an early sign of the ferocious cowardly brutality Russia would unleash on civilian targets.

This is Ayuna then. She had been serving coffee and cookies to soldiers, saw a flash and curled into a ball.

MOROZOVA (through translator): I feel a physical manifestation of fear. I don't like cookies anymore. The box fell on me and I remember the smell.

PATON WALSH (voice over): She asked to step away saying she is sick with butterflies, like she hasn't felt since before races when she used to swim professionally. Andrei picks up the story.

ANDREY MOROZOVA, PULLED WIFE OUT OF RUBBLE IN KHARKIV (through translator): When I heard her voice, I was crawling across the rubble, and the Emergency Services were trying to kick me out. I pulled a man out and then heard her. I did not plan to leave her here.

PATON WALSH (voice over): The soldiers waiting in the corridor outside from her died. The young women in the basement below her died, their bodies not found for three weeks, yet somehow the concrete here fell shielding Ayuna.

MOROZOVA (through translator): I knew I was alive, in pain, but nothing broken, but was worried I would be left and never be heard.

The first time they heard me. They started to get me out and the second missile came and I was properly trapped.

PATON WALSH (voice over): A rescuer eventually heard her.

MOROZOVA (through translator): Andrei got closer and I said it was me and he cried. They said they shouldn't lift the baton on me, but Andrei did alone. It easier to breathe. I was surprised as I thought I was still at ground level. The ambulance guy said it's your second birthday, you're alive.

PATON WALSH (voice over): Fragments of a Kharkiv now past, pepper the shell, cleaning up and trying to sweep away its trauma.

MOROZOVA (through translator): I sleep with the lights on and when there's a loud car or God forbid a jet plane, I brace. The nightmare is that I'm again lying there and shivering cold and that nobody hears my cries that also stops me from sleeping.

PATON WALSH (voice over): Ayuna was born in Russia, but can no longer talk to her relatives there. She says they believe Russian state media's absurd claims, this is a limited operation against Nazis.

MOROZOVA (through translator): They say it was my stupidity and that I don't need to be here. I hope when time passes, our children can talk, but I can't talk to them now.

Russia has lost its mind and cannot control its President. They're all each responsible, every citizen.

PATON WALSH (voice over): The story here not of ruins, loss, or burial and dust, but instead of a feverish energy that burns through the buildings' bones, as Kharkiv gets to decide where its pieces fall now.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Earlier, I spoke with someone else fortunate to have survived Vladimir Putin's brutality. Her name is Masha Alyokhina. She is leader of the performance art group, Pussy Riot, who used a disguise to fool Russian Police and managed to escape Russia just last month.

She is now telling her story and I spoke to her just before airtime.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Masha, I understand you were already under house arrest and staying at your girlfriend's apartment in Moscow when the authorities contacted you. What did they say and what made you decide this was the time to leave?

MARIA "MASHA" ALYOKHINA, PUSSY RIOT: I was actually not under the house arrest. I was wearing an electronic bracelet and I was under the sentence of restriction of freedom and before that, I was under house arrest and besides this electronic bracelet, I was arrested six times and spent six times for 15 days in jail. So as I was like double arrested.

[20:10:15]

COOPER: You've been arrested, I think six times since last summer.

ALYOKHINA: Exactly.

COOPER: I mean, there was the original two-year sentence back in 2012. But six times you've been arrested since last summer. I mean, that's extraordinary. So what happened this time?

ALYOKHINA: This time, I just decided that my tour was scheduled, and it is important to me to make a statement against the war as loud as I can, and to speak as loudly as I can what I've seen in Russia, so I made a small change and decided not to spend this 21-day in prison, but spend it at the rehearsal studio with Kjartansson (ph).

COOPER: If you can, tell us about how you got out. You said you had an electronic bracelet. What did it take to get out of the country? We have a picture of you and I understand your girlfriend, Lucy, dressed up as food delivery couriers. You're on the left, Lucy is on the right.

You used that I understand as a disguise to evade the police who were staking out her apartment. How did you come up with that idea?

ALYOKHINA: I think that was the Lucy's idea and she used it first, and then I used it when that was like my turn, but the thing is that I sneaked at this uniform from the flood, which was surrounded by political police. And also, I had a little bit more difficult situation because my international passport was confiscated, so --

COOPER: You didn't have a Russian passport. They'd confiscated it.

ALYOKHINA: Yes. We have in Russia, all the citizens have two passports, internal and international. So for traveling, it's not possible to travel with internal, it's all in Russian, and it doesn't mean anything for the world, only for Russia. So they took my international passport. Yes.

COOPER: You went first to Belarus. Was Belarus safe? I mean, because you've been critical of the leader of Belarus.

ALYOKHINA: Belarus is hundred percent unsafe, believe me. Belarus is terrible dictatorship with the same crazy maniac in the power, but it is kind of only one way, you know? If you weren't --

COOPER: And so from Belarus, you were trying to get to Lithuania. Were you -- I mean, obviously they knew you had left by that point or they knew you were somewhere what how long were you in Belarus and where did you -- I mean, you couldn't stay in a hotel, I assume?

ALYOKHINA: No, I couldn't, well, I used my, I think theater experience and help of my friends to stay at places without registering with my passport.

COOPER: So you had to then to get to Lithuania, you had to cross the Belarus border with Lithuania. What was that like?

ALYOKHINA: Well, that I succeed from the third time and --

COOPER: It took you three times.

ALYOKHINA: Yes, three times.

COOPER: What happened the first time?

ALYOKHINA: First time was a nightmare. Second time was okay. They just said no. First time was terrible. First time was like, took me off the car, where I -- two, I was speaking with terrible KGB investigator and so on.

COOPER: Being there, I mean, is there relief? Or sadness or/and sadness? I mean, obviously you have been fighting inside Russia. You care about Russia. You want change in the country that you were born in, is there sadness to be out?

ALYOKHINA: Well, I was doing my activism, like half of my time I spent at tours doing lectures, and then each time I came back and continue to do activities, but not in Russia. I just now feel that we -- well, I'm as a holder of, let's say Russian citizenship, I should help Ukraine just to give a small balance to all those horrible things which Russian Army done, all these murders and raping and bombing, should somehow be -- I mean, I just want to do something good for Ukraine, and I think it's -- this is the only thing which we all can do.

[20:15:25]

COOPER: At the end of February when Vladimir Putin gave that hour- long speech on Ukraine's history, denying its statehood, essentially clearing the way for invasion. You were sitting in a jail cell, I understand, actually listening to the speech on radio.

When you first heard the Russian forces had invaded Ukraine, what did you think?

ALYOKHINA: What I felt -- I think that was combination of things. Anger and shock because I have understood that, you know, war started. And, I mean, I'm dealing with this state for 10 years, and I know the methods which they use, and I know that they do not -- that human life is nothing for them. Human life is nothing.

And yes, that was just hard to accept. And I don't think that I accepted all the things which I saw during the last two months, completely.

COOPER: You said to "The New York Times" that -- I want to make sure I have it right. You said that Russia doesn't have the right to exist, you think it no longer has the right to exist. What did you mean by that?

ALYOKHINA: Without what's happened now and without, let's say denazification is -- what is the sense? I mean, Russia invaded another country. It's people, innocent people, you know, being killed and raped, and you've seen the photos of bombed cities. How -- I mean, I can't understand how we all can, you know, how the country can live with this in the future because more than half --

COOPER: It's interesting, you use the term denazification in Russia, that's what needs to take place. That's a term obviously they're using for Ukraine. Are you saying that are you equating them, the Putin regime to the Nazis?

ALYOKHINA: Of course. Of course, yes. I mean, just look of what they are doing. It is them who should be denazificated. They are doing genocide against Ukraine, and these Ukrainians.

COOPER: Masha Alyokhina, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

ALYOKHINA: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Still to come tonight, a Russian family divided after the death of a loved one on the battlefield. His cousin in America talks to CNN's Alex Marquardt about the grip that state TV has on those still inside Russia.

Later it sounds like the plot of a movie, a pilot is incapacitated and a passenger with no experience has to step in and safely land the plane. How it all turned out, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:22:54]

COOPER: Earlier we told you the story of a woman saved by her husband after a Russian missile attack, but who couldn't talk to her relatives in Russia about the traumatic event she says because they believe the lies told by Russian state media.

Alex Marquardt now has the details of a woman living in Brooklyn, New York whose Russian cousin died fighting in the war, who says she is encountering the same attitude from a family that she says has been brainwashed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Roman was just 19 when he married his girlfriend last November. He was already in the Russian Army, and within weeks he was deployed, not knowing he would eventually be sent into Ukraine.

His sister posted this video on Instagram, of Roman boarding a train the last time his family would see him alive.

According to Roma's cousin, Anna, Russian officials told the family he was killed by a mine. Anna lives in Brooklyn, and is fiercely against the Russian war.

ANNA, COUSIN OF RUSSIAN SOLDIER KILLED IN UKRAINE: I want to believe that he felt that it was wrong, and maybe he, you know, tried not to do something that he was asked to do that he was, you know, ordered to do. I just really hope -- I just feel I want to believe that.

MARQUARDT (voice over): When the war began, Anna called to hotline in Ukraine looking for any information on Roman, the Russian Army was offering none.

Last month we met Anna she had only heard that Roman was sent towards Kyiv. Back then, she was afraid to show her face. Now, she wants to tell the story of her family, which has lost a son to a war that Anna believes her family has been brainwashed into supporting.

MARQUARDT (on camera): Do you think as Russian families understand how many of their sons have been killed, that that will change the opinion about the war?

ANNA: I think that will happen little by little. You know, still they receive the bias and this, you know, see the outcome of this before, but they're so brainwashed.

MARQUARDT: I know it's very difficult to speak with your family right now and a lot of them don't want to speak with you, but you get any sense that their attitude is shifting?

ANNA: If it's shifting, they're always afraid to speak about it. They are just intimidated, they are afraid, you know they could be reported. It is just, this fear around all this.

[20:25:13]

MARQUARDT: Roman's body returned to Russia in a coffin. He was identified by his father, the coffin stayed closed for the funeral at which he was posthumously given an award for courage.

Anna says the family had been waiting for any sign, a call saying Roman was alive. Then a Russian official arrived with the devastating news that a mine had killed their son.

ANNA: They were just patiently waiting, and then the officials called up.

MARQUARDT: Now, do they want more answers?

ANNA: His father does, I know for sure that his father wants more answers. He just wants to know more, what happened to his son?

MARQUARDT (voice over): Five months after cutting her wedding cake, Roman's wife is now a widow and like countless Russian and Ukrainian parents, Roman's have lost their only son.

ANNA: They just obey the orders, really, and the people who started all this, they are sick. They're not in fight.

MARQUARDT (on camera): You feel anger towards them?

ANNA: Oh, yes. Yes. It should not have happened at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Alex Marquardt joins us now. It's sad, because obviously she will probably fetch less sympathy from others because her cousin was fighting for the Russians.

MARQUARDT: Yes, that's right. But she says that these are young men who are going off and fighting and dying because of the ego and the agenda of one man, Vladimir Putin.

And then her cousin Roman, she says, joined the military because he needed money and he sent that money, a lot of it back to his parents. And then he was sent off very soon after his wedding, as you saw, he didn't know where he was going. He certainly didn't know that he was going to fight a war.

She says that he was following orders, and we know that this war has become deeply unpopular with Russian soldiers. We know that the morale of the troops has been well-documented, but at the same time, we know very well these are Russian forces who are doing terrible things in Ukraine.

They are killing Ukrainian civilians. They're committing atrocities, possibly even war crimes. So Anna says that all she can hope for now is that her cousin, Roman, is not or was not among those Russian troops.

COOPER: Yes. Alex Marquardt, appreciate it.

MARQUARDT: Thank you.

COOPER: Thank you very much.

Up next, breaking news on Capitol Hill, the January 6 Committee is about to enter new territory, the public hearing phase. We will tell you how that's going to work coming up.

Plus, it's being called a miracle landing, how a passenger with no flying experience safely land a small plane after the pilot fell ill. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:17]

COOPER: We have breaking news tonight from Capitol Hill. The January 6 committee is getting ready to kick off a series of public hearings in less than a month. The first one is set for June 9. It's an important new phase as the committee continues to investigate the Capitol attacks.

CNN's Jamie Gangel joins us from Washington with more. So what are you learning about these hearings? How is it going to work?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So what we know is that we expect eight hearings over the month some during the day, some in prime time, we expect to see new evidence, new video, as well as some audio. Remember Anderson, they have done nearly 1,000 interviews behind closed doors. So this is going to be a challenge the committee has to put together presentations that incorporate that testimony as well as thousands of documents, text messages, call records, e-mails, and there's still more coming in.

We are told that the main goal is to show that even though Trump was told there was no election fraud by his own Attorney General Bill Barr on December 1st. And even though he was warned there could be violence. He continued to push forward relentlessly with this campaign to overturn the election that led to January 6. We also know the committee is going to focus on three words, dereliction of duty. What Trump didn't do that on January 6, while everyone was watching the attack on the Capitol in horror, while he staunch his GOP allies, his families were texting asking him to act that Trump simply sat there for hours reportedly watching television, there's one report that he was rewinding and watching it again. Before aides were finally able to convince him to make that video telling rioters to go home.

I am told the committee is really going to focus on why he didn't immediately tell them to stop and to leave, Anderson.

COOPER: Do we know what witnesses are expected to be called?

GANGEL: So the committee has not -- they are still finalizing the witness list. So thus far, our understanding is no one has actually received an invitation. That said we know there are some likely people that the committee is going to want for the public hearing. So for example, former Justice Department officials like acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen, his deputy Richard Donohue, also those top Mike Pence aides like his former chief of staff, Mark Short, his general counsel, Greg Jacob.

And also we've been told that while there were videotaped depositions of members of Trump's family like, right there, Ivanka Trump's son-in- law, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, Jr., what we don't know yet is whether the committee is going to rely on those taped interviews, or we'll call them back for actual public hearings. Our understanding is that it is unlikely that Vice President -- former Vice President Pence will testify in public and it's also unlikely the committee would call former President Trump.

I just heard this past hour that the committee may begin to reach out to potential witnesses as soon as next week, Anderson.

COOPER: And do expect any new revelations?

GANGEL: So, they're still collecting information. I would not rule it out. I think that one of the things to remember is for those of us who are old enough to remember the Watergate hearings. Keep in mind that the bombshell of the Watergate hearings when Alexander Butterfield the presidential aide disclosed that the Nixon White House had a recording system. That did not happen until the middle of the hearings. So, I do think there are going to be some surprises Anderson.

COOPER: Jamie Gangel, appreciate it. Thanks very much.

GANGEL: Sure.

[20:35:00]

COOPER: Coming up, passenger turned pilot and hero after landing this plane after the pilot became ill, he'd never flown a plane before. How he did it? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: In a scary situation aboard a plane leaving the Bahamas, the pilot became ill and a passenger who had never flown a plane before had to take control of the aircraft.

CNN correspondent Carlos Suarez has details of how he managed to fly the plane and landed safely in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT MORGAN, HELPED PASSENGER LAND PLANE: Caravan 333 Lima Delta, Fort Piece Tower.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new pilot has joined the ranks of heroes like Captain Sully.

DARREN HARRISON, PASSENGER TURNED PILOT: I've got a serious situation here.

SUAREZ (voice-over): Except this guy's not a true pilot at all.

HARRISON: My pilot has gone incoherent and I have no idea how to fly an airplane.

SUAREZ (voice-over): Daarren Harrison is a passenger who had to land this single engine Cessna coming back from the Bahamas Tuesday after the pilot was incapacitated.

MORGAN: Caravan 333 Lima Delta, roger. What's your position?

HARRISON: I have no idea. I see the coast of Florida in front of me and I have no idea.

SUAREZ (voice-over): Soon enough, the plane was located on radar about 20 miles east of Boca Raton, Florida and air traffic controller Robert Morgan was urgently called in from his break to help Harrison who was suddenly in charge of landing a plane.

MORGAN: What was the situation with the pilot?

HARRISON: He is incoherent. He is out.

MORGAN: 3 Lima Delta Roger. Try to hold the wings level and see if you can start descending for me push forward on the controls and descend at a very slow rate.

[20:40:09]

SUAREZ (voice-over): Morgan has been an air traffic controller for 20 years and is also a flight instructor. He took us up in his Cessna today to show us just how he helped Harrison get out of the air safely.

MORGAN: This is our propeller which moves the blades.

SUAREZ (voice-over): Even giving me a chance at taking over the controls.

(on-camera): I've never done this before. You get the call. Yes. What's the first thing that I need to do?

MORGAN: So, he was -- it was kind of like stable, right? He was already stable at 3,000. So you're just going to grab the control wheel. You know, gentle. Not a lot of pressure. It's like holding your first girlfriend's hand.

SUAREZ (voice-over): Teaching two novice pilots to fly in just two days time.

MORGAN: And so you have the control. So you're flying out.

SUAREZ (voice-over): If there was ever a moment of panic for either Morgan or Harrison, you would never know by listening to their column exchange over the radio.

MORGAN: He was a really good listener.

SUAREZ (on-camera): And how good of a landing was it?

MORGAN: I would rate his landing a 10. So, I've never flown that plane and he landed it safely and didn't damage it and didn't damaged. Nobody got hurt.

SUAREZ (voice-over): The two were definitely happy to see each other after the plane was on the ground.

MORGAN: You know, I was just about in tears. I didn't cry. I was trying to be strong and look very manly. But I kind of wanted to cry. It was just a lot of emotion. Gave him a big bear hug, shook hands. I told him I owe him a cold beer. He said no, I owe you cold beer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Carlos Suarez joins me now from Palm Beach International Airport where the plane landed. So how are the passenger and the pilot doing?

SUAREZ: Yes, so we're still trying to get a little bit more information on both the pilot and that passenger. We know that Harrison lives just outside of Tampa and that he works at a flooring business. But a co-worker there said he is a very private person and his family they did not want to talk about what happened. As for that pilot, Morgan tells us that he did pass out after he complained about having chest pains, but that he was awake when that plane made that emergency landing and he was taken to the hospital. But his name and his condition has not been released. Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Carlos Suarez, appreciate it.

Joining me now, CNN aerospace analyst and PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien. So Miles, so many things could have gone wrong here.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Yes, Anderson, if you think about it, a lot of things were stacked in the right direction. First of all, beautiful sunny day in Florida, an aircraft that was really docile, was in contact with air traffic control. And you had a very calm passenger. And then you had the fortunate happenstance of having an air traffic controller, who was a seasoned flight controller able to get on the line. All of those things were very crucial to make that happy landing happen. You know, they say, any landing you can walk away from is a good one.

And I think if you pulled any of those things out of the mix, if it was a dark and stormy night, a more complex airplane, or if somebody had panicked, we'd be telling a very different story right now.

COOPER: I know you've looked at the flight path and the changes in altitude and speed or is there anything you gleaned from that?

O'BRIEN: Well, it's quite evident when the plane is being flown by a professional pilot, probably on autopilot. And when things dramatically shift at about an hour into the flight, it plummets in excess of 2,500 feet almost instantaneously. That would really get your attention. Now perhaps that was because the incapacitated pilot fell into the wheel or the yoke as we call it, causing it to dive. But then you see slowly but surely it begins to return to control.

COOPER: I mean, that's cannot be a good moment. I mean watching that just take a nosedive there. How rare is this for -- I mean this got to be pretty rare. Yes?

O'BRIEN: You know, Anderson, this as far as I know, I've only seen this in movies. You know, this is we could come up with a couple of treatments here. We've probably seen this movie too. You know, who ate the fish kind of thing. But this is an unusual scenario. And, you know, real hat tip to the air traffic controller but also that passenger for staying so calm, cool and collected. The panic is what kills you. If you just listen to the simple, relatively simple advice here. This is after all an aircraft that is kind of an overgrown trainer. The Cessna 208 is a turbine version of a Cessna 172 which is what we all learn on. So it's not a hard aircraft to fly, intrinsically, but you know, in that situation who knows how any of us would do.

COOPER: I believe you were making the airplane reference. No.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I was there.

COOPER: OK, good. I just -- good.

O'BRIEN: I had the lasagna (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: Just lastly, if anyone out there ever finds themselves in this situation, you fly yourself, what do you recommend?

O'BRIEN: Give me a call. I'll talk and. No, be cool. I get my cell phone number out to those who need this. But no, I do think this is an unusual circumstance but most importantly stay calm, get on the radio call somebody for help, don't do anything hastily.

[20:45:06]

COOPER: All right good advice. Miles O'Brien, appreciate it. Thanks very much.

Up next, my favorite senior data reporter Harry Enten joins us to break down what we learned from primary results in West Virginia and Nebraska and what they might tell us about next week's crucial matchups in Pennsylvania, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Former president's influence on the Republican Party some strong candidates he has endorsed or winning key GOP primaries and includes his pick in West Virginia second congressional district race, Congressman Alex Mooney who voted to overturn the 2020 electoral votes but his guide did not win in Nebraska's Republican gubernatorial race. Next Tuesday, the focus turns to Pennsylvania where their key Republican races.

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten joins us with his insight.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Sure, why not.

COOPER: How you doing Harry?

ENTEN: Hey.

[20:50:00]

COOPER: He's my favorite senior data reporter, but for the record you're also the only -- ENTEN: The only data reporter --

(CROSSTALK)

ENTER: I should be that -- you know I get a chief title but of course (INAUDIBLE) --

COOPER: You need some silver in your hair to really pull off the senior.

ENTEN: You know, my father didn't go silver till his 50s or maybe late 50s. So, a little bit of time.

COOPER: I'm envious. What takeaways do you see as far as where Republican voters will not tolerate -- what they'll tolerate going forward?

ENTEN: Yes. I think we did learn a lesson in Nebraska. And that is sexual harassment allegations will just simply not float with them.

COOPER: That's what tanked the --

ENTEN: That's what -- that is exactly as exactly what time Charles Herbster. And you can see that if you look at the polls before the allegation, Trump he was ahead with undecideds allocate, he was about a 36% vote. He ended up with 30% of and he did that with Donald Trump's endorsement. This is not a hard thing to figure out, right. Sometimes there are hard equations figured out. But if all of a sudden, you were 36%, you dropped down to 30, even with Trump's endorsement, and this fits with political science literature, right. This is the type of penalty that we might expect.

So it does show that some of the normal rules of gravity still apply even within the Republican Party of today. Obviously, we saw a few years ago down in Alabama with Doug Jones being able to defeat Roy Moore, something similar.

And I think, I think Anderson, we may see that in North Carolina's 11th District next week, right? Madison Cawthorn is running for re election, he is receiving a strong challenge from Chuck Edwards. You can see the betting odds on your screen right now. It's basically dead even. This is the probability that they that they could win and it's basically dead even. And, you know what this to me says something because Madison Cawthorn was supposedly this rising star within the Republican ranks. And then he's doing God knows what I mean, every single second. There's a scandal breaking on. I mean, who knows when it might have been one during this hour.

So look, Republican primary voters, they love Trump, but they're only willing to --

COOPER: From his backing Cawthorn.

ENTEN: Yes. He is backing Cawthorn, though I should point out that Tom Tillis, the states junior senator is in fact backing Chuck Edwards. He also has the backing from some major state legislative officials in that state. So there are a lot of Republicans who are just not willing to tolerate the BS.

COOPER: I feel like you're yelling at me.

ENTEN: I -- you know, what --

COOPER: No, it's fine. It's fine. It's your thing, but its fine.

ENTEN: I had to find my voice.

COOPER: I know, I know. You're an actor. You're a thespian.

ENTEN: I can talk like this --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: No, no, it's fine. Be yourself. So, I mean what do we know about an endorsement from President Trump? Because it's clearly helpful in some places West Virginia, for example.

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, look, overall, it's been quite helpful. Four to five this month, Donald Trump has gone and what I would basically call competitive races, right. These are ones where there wasn't an incumbent running or one incumbent right in West Virginia had two incumbents, McKinley and Mooney or in the case of Nebraska, right, you had no incumbents running Pete Ricketts guy ended up winning that race. Pete Ricketts the governor who basically, adios amigos.

So look, having Donald Trump's endorsement is helpful. But the real question is what happens when you take away the scandals? Can he in fact put someone over the top who really doesn't have any quote unquote, scandals, but perhaps is a weak candidate. I think next week in Pennsylvania, we're going to get a real test of this. Dr. Oz is running in that race. He received Donald Trump's endorsement. He has seen a bump in the polls. But if you look right now at the numbers, this is a Fox News poll that literally came out last night. Look at this up and down, Oz, McCormick, Barnette, Kathy Barnette up to 19% of the vote.

COOPER: And she's spent like miniscule amount --

ENTEN: Miniscule.

COOPER: -- compared the others.

ENTEN: Miniscule amounts. Now she is getting some support from the club for growth. But this is going to be very interesting, because as far as I'm concerned, Dr. Oz doesn't really have a scandal. He's just a weak candidate. If Trump gets behind the weak candidate, can you really put them over the top? If Barnette wins that race next week, maybe the answer is Donald Trump isn't as strong as we think he is.

COOPER: Although she's very pro Trump.

ENTEN: Oh, she's very, I guess. Look, if you're running in a Republican primary these days, it's very hard to win without being strongly pro Trump outside of maybe some, you know, northeast cities and perhaps in the state of Utah. You have to be pro Trump. But the question is, how much is that Trump endorsement really what? When can he put someone over the top who's truly weak? Can he put someone over the top who basically is running against the popular incumbent? That's not the case in Pennsylvania, but it is the case with us being a weak candidate.

COOPER: In the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race Doug Mastriano who we profile --

ENTEN: Oh, boy.

COOPER: -- in the program. He's -- what does it say about his chances?

ENTEN: He going to win most likely Anderson, he is most likely going to win. If you look at the polling data, look at that 29% --

COOPER: Are you using a southern accent from Pennsylvania?

ENTEN: I don't know what the heck I'm doing right here. I'm having a good time. That's what, that's what's shaking. I think I'm getting folksy and so far is that he is going to win. And it's shocking. This is a chief election denier, right. This is the Democrats dream. Josh Shapiro, who's going to be the Democratic nominee for governor is licking at the chops. He wants Mastriano --

COOPER: Were they like, weren't some Democrats pushing commercials to get Mastriano?

ENTEN: Yes. I mean -- this is just the -- it's just amazing to me. But it looks like he is going to win that primary at this point.

COOPER: And turnout, what are the numbers showing that?

ENTEN: And I mean turnout, what the numbers are showing his Republican primary turnout across the board relative to the Dems in 2018 up. Republicans, this is another sign that it's going to be an very strong November for Republicans.

[20:55:00]

COOPER: All right, Harry Enten, appreciate it. Thanks.

ENTEN: Shalom my friend.

COOPER: All right.

A New York judge today said that he will lift the civil contempt charge against the former president only if he meet several conditions including providing sworn statements on his use of posted notes. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: A New York judge today said he would live to civil contempt finding against the former president provided that he made a number of conditions including paying $110,000 in fines racked up for his slow response to a civil subpoena issued by the state's attorney general. A reminder, the Attorney General's Office is investigating the accuracy of financial statements that Trump's organization provided to lenders, insurers and for tax benefits. He must also provide sworn statements describing document retention and destruction policy for the family business including their handling of post-it-notes which was known to use to communicate with the staff.

The judge also wants a review of five boxes tied to the former president that were located in an off site stored facility. The conditions have to be met by May 20th otherwise the judge says he'll restore the contempt finding and apply it retroactively.

[21:00:09]

The news continues right now. I want to hand it over to Laura Coates in CNN TONIGHT. Laura.