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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Judge: Trump Can't Move Forward with Deportation Flights Without Notice; Bloomberg: Data Shows Top Trump Crypto Buyers Vying for Dinner Seats are Likely Foreign; Chief Justice Roberts Stresses Judicial Independence; Pakistan Vows to Respond After India Launches Strikes; Air Traffic Controllers Repeatedly Reported Critical Safety Incidents at Newark Liberty International Airport; Milwaukee Public Schools Facing Lead Contamination Crisis; White House Makes Last- minute Pivot on Surgeon General Pick; Cardinals Fail to Pick New Pope on Day One of the Conclave. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 07, 2025 - 20:00   ET

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

ROBERTO REGOLI, PROFESSOR, PONTIFICAL GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY: ... first part of the 21st Century. We have more simple rings, because the style of the church and of the papacy is changed.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With the cardinals gathered in Rome for the Conclave to choose the next pope, has Claudio. received another call?

(CLAUDIO FRANCHI, GOLDSMITH WHO DESIGNED POPE BENEDICT'S RING speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): His answer "I know what you know."

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And I'll be back here tomorrow at 4:00 A.M. throughout the day and here "OutFront" as we cover this historic Conclave. Thanks for joining us. AC360 with Anderson begins now.

[20:00:42]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, the administration appears ready to put migrants they've arrested here and send them to Libya on a plane like this one, which is what they used back in January to send them to Central America.

Also tonight, a closer look at the President's crypto business after a new report shows more than 750,000 investors may have lost money on the President's crypto meme coin, but 58 investors made more than a billion dollars combined.

And day one of the Papal Conclave, how it all unfolded and all were learning about how the next pope is being chosen.

Good evening, thanks for joining us. Right now, the Trump administration appears to be ready to fly migrants on a military C-17 transport from an air base in Texas to Libya. Now the Libyan government denies it. President Trump, when asked, wouldn't talk about it. But today, a federal judge did, telling the administration that sending anyone anyplace other than back to their home country could be a violation of his order not to do so. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now with the very latest. Is anyone saying where this plane is right now and who, if anyone, is on it?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, our reporting indicates that it's still in Texas. That has been where these military flights have originated over the course of the last few months. But to your other point about who's on it, that has been the scramble for attorneys who have been trying to figure out if their clients could potentially be on this flight.

In fact, one attorney saying in a court filing that his Filipino client had been told by immigration and customs enforcement that he would be sent to Libya, he was told that verbally. And that is important because, Anderson, last month, a federal judge said that the administration could not remove individuals to countries that weren't their own unless they provided written notice, and they allowed some time for that person to contest their removal to that country.

That appears to not have happened here, and the judge essentially said so this afternoon, saying in a filing, reiterating rather that that written notice and that ability to contest still needs to hold. And if what he was being told in these filings by these attorneys was accurate, then the administration could be violating the order that he issued last month.

So, still remains to be seen whether this plane will actually take off to Libya. But certainly there are attorneys right now, Anderson, who are trying to figure out if their client could potentially be on this flight because there has been so much opaqueness as to who could be eligible for it.

COOPER: And what's the Trump administration saying anything?

ALVAREZ: Well, the President said that the reporters should ask the Department of Homeland Security about it. Libyan government has been pushing back. But, Anderson, in my conversations over the last week, sources have told me that the administration was pushing for this, that they wanted to send migrants to Libya.

They were specifically focused on those with criminal records, but hadn't yet landed on what nationalities would be sent to Libya, essentially saying that that would ultimately be up to that government and who they would be willing to accept. And it's part of this broader push by the administration to push migrants out, to send them anywhere else that is not the United States, even in this case, if it's a country that is so far away and also not the one that the person came here to be.

Now, I will also say, Anderson, that in my conversations with sources, some administration officials wanted to go even further with signing a potential safe third agreement with Libya, which is to say that any asylum seekers apprehended at the U.S. southern border could also be subject to be sent to Libya.

So, these are conversations that are still fluid, but this was the first sign today of the administration moving forward with those plans, plans that up until this point had been discussed behind-the- scenes.

COOPER: Priscilla Alvarez, thanks very much.

Now, keeping them honest, we have new reporting on the President's crypto business, starting with one company that's investing in it by its own public admission, to influence the administration.

Freight Technologies is a cross border shipping firm, last week, the company said it would issue up to $20 million in debt. The money raised, according to Freight logistics, would be used to buy Trump meme coins.

Now, you might wonder, why would a company borrow money to buy meme coins? This is from their press release, "We believe that the addition of the official Trump tokens are an excellent way to diversify our crypto treasury, and also an effective way to advocate for fair, balanced and free trade between Mexico and the U.S.

Now, an effective way to advocate the company says it's not clear exactly what they mean by advocating, but buying those meme coins and announcing it, they perhaps get the President's attention. And also, it appears, send some money the President's way because, according to the coins official website, a Trump organization affiliated company called CIC Digital will "receive trading revenue derived from trading activities," meaning a fee anytime the coin is bought or sold.

Now, when asked recently, Mr. Trump denied he's even tried to find out if he's making any money from cryptocurrency.

[20:05:24]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What do you say to those who argue that when they hear that, they worry you're profiting from the presidency?

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm not profiting from anything. I'm just -- all I'm doing is, you know, this. I started this long before the election. I want crypto. I think crypto is important because if we don't do it, China is going to. And its new, it's very popular. It's very hot.

WELKER: You're not profiting off of the cryptocurrency?

TRUMP: I haven't even looked.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Well, if true, it would be strikingly out of character for a man who, in 1990 cashed a 13 cent check that the now long gone "Spy" Magazine sent him and some other, notably wealthy people. Only two recipients cashed their checks. By the way, a Saudi arms dealer and Donald J. Trump. Now, in any case, whether he's tracking his meme coin profits or not, only very few investors have seen any profits from it at all.

Yesterday, according to CNBC, citing first data from a crypto industry analyst, they reported that 764,000 mostly small investors have lost money on the coin.

By contrast, the report found just 58 accounts have racked up a combined $1.1 billion in profits, all in just a few months since the President launched the coin the day before taking office, which in itself was unprecedented. And by the way, back then, the same as now, he professed ignorance about his new line of work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: The crypto coin, the other day. Do you intend to continue selling products that benefit yourself personally while you're President?

TRUMP: Well, I don't know if it benefited. I don't know where it is. I don't know much about it other than I launched it. I heard it was very successful. I haven't checked it. Where is it today?

REPORTER: You made a lot of money, sir.

TRUMP: How much?

REPORTER: Several billion dollars, it seems like in the last several days.

TRUMP: Several billion, that's peanuts for these guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, later this month, the President is hosting a dinner at one of his golf clubs for his top 220 meme coin investors. According to Bloomberg, at least 56 percent bought the coins on foreign exchanges not available to people living in the U.S., as did all but six of the top 25 investors who will attend, what's being billed as an exclusive reception beforehand.

Now, the suggestion, true or not, is the more money you spend, the more access you get. And as we reported earlier this week, it's not just meme coins. The President and his three sons are also connected to a cryptocurrency venture called World Liberty Financial, which has already done a $2 billion deal with 75 percent of the proceeds from it reportedly going to a Trump affiliated company.

So, there's a World Liberty Financial crypto token. He's got the $Trump meme coin that's reportedly lost more than three quarters of a million investors' money while making a few dozen a combined billion dollars plus largely overseas. And on top of all that, the President has been deregulating it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're ending the last administration's regulatory war on crypto and Bitcoin with the right legal framework, institutions large and small will be liberated to invest, innovate and take part in one of the most exciting technological revolutions in modern history. It's so big. It's, I think, as big as you can get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, Harry Truman once famously said, the buck stops here with him. These days, it seems it's just getting started.

Joining me now is Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at the NYU Stern School of Business and the host of the podcast "Pivot" "The Prof G Pod" and "Raging Moderates."

I'm fascinated, Scott, that according to CNBC, while 58 crypto wallets have made over $10 million each on President Trump's meme coin -- that's the fight, fight, fight coin. Over three quarters of a million wallets have lost money on it. That's incredible to me.

Like 58 people, who, I guess somehow were in the know made money or most many of them may have been in the know. And the vast majority of people who are buying small amounts, supporters of the President, I'm guessing, lost money.

SCOTT GALLOWAY, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING AT THE NYU STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: But that's the definition of a kleptocracy. Is that a small number of people with proximity to power make an exceptional amount of money, but the larger public loses a lot of money. It extends beyond that.

On April, I believe it was the ninth, at 1:00 P.M., there was abnormal trading volume and calls, people betting the stock market was going to go up. And then at 1:18, Trump announced he was pausing tariffs and the market screamed to one of its largest gains in history. So somebody knew at 1:00 P.M. what he was about to do.

This is arguably the biggest grift in modern history. Think about it, the Trump family has gained a billion dollars in wealth per month over the last three months, and the world is getting or the U.S. is getting more expensive for everybody else.

[20:10:20]

COOPER: Yes, Bloomberg is reporting that over half of the top holders of President Donald Trump's meme coin have used foreign exchanges that they say ban American users. And according to Bloomberg, that suggests that those buyers or people not residing in the U.S. and so, if that is the case, then the President is basically, you know, has this event in which the top buyers of these coins, most of whom, according to Bloomberg, bought them, are not residing in the U.S. or probably foreigners, they will be able to come and have access to the President. GALLOWAY: I believe that the grift here, which the amount of the grift that is visible or above the waterline, like an iceberg, is only the tip of the iceberg. I think the majority of the grift here is below the surface, and we may never know about it.

Let me ask you this. If you're Vladimir Putin and you're spending $500 million a day on a war in Ukraine, and you're losing thousands of people, and there's a decent chance if you can't figure this out, you might be found falling out of a window. Wouldn't you be stupid not to send someone to that dinner? Give them a million bucks and say, go to the dinner, get close to the President and tell him I'm going to take the value of the Trump coin up $10 billion. You own 80 percent of it. You'll enrich yourself, eight billion. And if by chance you pull support weapons and funding to Ukraine, I'm going to put another $50 billion in it.

Wouldn't Vladimir Putin be stupid not to be driving the value of the Trump coin, which is a effectively a Swiss banking account where anyone can put any money in, and then the Trump family can take it out. And we don't know why people put it in or when he's taking it out.

COOPER: I mean, I think there's all sorts of reasons why that wouldn't happen, and obviously, you know, it -- then the President would be open to blackmail. That seems -- to me that seems farfetched. But your point at 75 percent, according to the reporting, Eric Lipton of "The New York Times," in the fine print, it's this other token, the World Liberty Financial token that the Trump family and affiliated entity, they get fees equal to 75 percent of the token sale proceeds after deduction of agreed reserves, expense and other amounts.

So basically, this entity, not only do they have a bunch of these World Liberty Financial tokens, which is different than the other Trump meme coin, they make money from buying and selling it. So even if they hold, they can't sell them right away. Even if they just hold on to them. People buying and selling it, if they have an event that makes the price go up and people want to buy it, they make money all throughout this process.

GALLOWAY: If they never sold a coin, they've already made $300 million in trading fees. So, they're making money on the trades. And I mean, effectively, what we have here is a small number of people getting very, very wealthy and a lot of people getting poorer.

If you look at our stock market, Anderson, we get $26.00 on every value, on every dollar of earnings because of our reputation for risk, aggressiveness, great universities.

COOPER: We -- the United States --

GALLOWAY: The United States and our companies risk aggressiveness, I.P., rule of law and consistency. Rule of law and consistency seem to have literally gone out the window. And our stocks are trading down. Our interest rates are going up. So, people's mortgages, student loans and auto loans are getting more expensive. And the wealth in the United States generated by our companies is going down. This is literally the definition of a kleptocracy. A small number of people with a proximity to the President are getting very wealthy, and everyone else is getting poorer.

COOPER: And anybody can -- I mean, anybody who just wants to buy as many coins as possible that would get -- how would that get the attention of the President? How would they -- how would the President or the Trump family --

GALLOWAY: He's inviting the top holders of the coin to a dinner where the press is not invited, and you have proximity to the President. So, that's exactly what corruption or greed and to be clear, there's been a slow creep towards corruption. Whether its Citizens United or PACs who have proximity to certain senators.

But it used to be that certain -- that the U.S. or certain components of the U.S. were sale. Now, it feels as if the world was for sale. And just going back to this notion, I don't think it's farfetched at all for a foreign leader to start putting money buying the Trump coin, and then ask for certain political favors. I think they'd be stupid not to do it.

This is the best return on investment for an autocrat right now, or looking for something from the United States would be to buy the Trump coin and make sure that someone at that dinner is communicating that there's a correlation and no one ever knows about it.

COOPER: Scott Galloway, thank you.

GALLOWAY: Thank you.

COOPER: Much more ahead tonight. Breaking late tonight, Chief Justice Roberts weighing in again on what the three branches of government do in remarks aimed, it seems, at the President who likes to attack judges.

Plus, act two in the Presidents takeover of the Kennedy Center, some cast of "Les Mis" bow out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:19:26]

COOPER: Tonight for the second time in two months, Chief Justice John Roberts has addressed tensions between the Judiciary and Executive branches.

The President, as you know, often lashes out at judges who've ruled against him, including some whom he himself has appointed.

Now, speaking tonight in his native, Buffalo, Chief Justice Roberts did not say the President's name. He did, however, send a message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT: In our Constitution, judges and the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government separate from the others with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down acts of Congress or acts of the President. And that innovation doesn't work if it's not -- the Judiciary is not independent.

Its job is to obviously decide cases. But in the course of that check the excesses of Congress or of the Executive, and that does require a degree of independence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:20:28]

COOPER: Joining us now is CNN chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid and bestselling Supreme Court biographer Jeffrey Toobin. Jeff, how do you view the message from Chief Justice Roberts, and how do you think the President will receive it?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, AUTHOR AND FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I think it's quite clear that this is aimed at not just the President, but the entire administration, which has indicated that some -- they regard a lot of court orders as advisory rather than binding.

You know, I think it's important to point out that Chief Justice Roberts, in terms of his substantive views ever since, he served in the Reagan administration, has been a big proponent of strong executive power.

So, I don't think he disagrees with the President a lot on the substance. He just wants the court's respected in a way that this administration simply has not done.

COOPER: And, Paula, I understand that Roberts again addressed the issue of President Trump and his allies calling for a federal judges to be impeached. What did he say?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, not that long ago, Trump called for one of the judges who blocked his policies to be impeached and Roberts actually issued a rare public rebuke of President Trump, saying, look, if you don't like a judge's decision, you don't have them impeached. The proper remedy is the appellate process.

Now, this whole incident was sort of referenced tonight. Let's take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: I've already spoken to that. Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with decisions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what you're for, right? That's what you're there for.

ROBERTS: That's what we're there for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Now, sources inside the administration say they believe that statement was just to show support for lower court judges. They didn't see it as a rebuke of the President. But if the Chief Justice thought in any way that would deter Trump from continuing to attack judges, that has just not been the case.

As recently as this morning, Trump was complaining about judges blocking his deportation policy, suggesting they're preventing him from doing his job. He just sort of rejects the idea that Roberts was espousing tonight, that there is a co-equal branch of government that can check his power.

COOPER: And, Jeff, how unusual is it for the Chief Justice to speak out like this twice in the last two months?

TOOBIN: Well, it's unusual, though not unprecedented. During President Trump's first term, he rebuked the President when the President talked about Obama judges and Trump judges. You know, the Chief Justice said there's no such thing as Trump judges or Obama judges, there are just federal judges.

But I think, you know, what's going on here is that the Trump administration is playing games here. Today in federal court and Judge Boasberg's court, regarding Mr. Abrego Garcia, you know, the man who was mistakenly sent to El Salvador, there is a unanimous Supreme Court opinion that says the administration has to bring him back.

Judge Boasberg said, why did the President on "Meet The Press" say I could bring him back, but I'm not bringing him back. I mean, the administration is at the same time saying, well, we have no control over what goes on in El Salvador. But the President is saying, well, I could return him. These are the kind of game playing that I think is irritating a lot of federal judges. It's not clear what they'll be able to do about it, but it's a real problem.

COOPER: And, Paula, the Supreme Court is set to decide a case next week related to birthright citizenship.

REID: That's exactly right, though, it does not appear that the justices are going to weigh in on the constitutional question of birthright citizenship, which is a great relief to the Trump administration because they weren't sure they were going to win that. Instead, it appears that they're going to weigh in on this question of nationwide injunctions. So, whether one judge can block a policy for the entire country, this is something that has vexed Presidents across multiple administrations.

But this is going to be the first time that the Trump administration has a full argument in front of this conservative supermajority. And Trump's lawyers have been telling me since day one, they are confident that if they can get these policies, these questions before this court, they will win. Even though these policies have been so often blocked by lower court judges. So, this is going to be really the first big test for the Trump administration in front of this Supreme Court.

[20:25:21]

COOPER: All right, Paula, thanks very much. Paula Reid, Jeff Toobin as well.

Exclusive reporting now about a high-dollar fundraiser President Trump is planning for the Kennedy Center next month. The President will be in attendance for the June 11th performance of "Les Mis," but several members of the productions cast will not be there.

Jamie Gangel joins us now. What more have you learned about this?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So, as you say, when Donald Trump makes his debut appearance at the Kennedy Center and he's having a big fundraiser, he won't be seeing the entire usual cast performing.

At least 10 to 12 performers in "Les Mis" we are told, are planning to sit out the show on June 11th. We're told the cast was given the option to not perform the night Trump will be in the audience, and that there are both major cast members and members of the ensemble who are sitting out the show.

Just to remember, Anderson, the boycott follows Trump's decision to fire the Board and take control of the Kennedy Center, part of his attempt to bend cultural, artistic institutions to his will. I think this one is really going to bother him because he picked "Les Mis" for his big first visit.

COOPER: And has the White House responded?

GANGEL: So we haven't heard from the White House yet, but we did hear from Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell. He said he was unaware that some cast members would not be appearing. He said the Kennedy Center, "will no longer fund intolerance. Any performer who isn't professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won't be welcomed."

Grenell, went on to say. "In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn't hire." He goes on to say, "And that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience."

I think what's critical in that statement is the words to important to "out" these actors, and that "producers should know who they shouldn't hire." It sounds like blacklisting.

COOPER: When he attended the Kennedy Center board meeting, the President waxed nostalgic about seeing Betty Buckley in "Cats" on Broadway. Is it other -- clear what other shows are programming he's hoping for at the Kennedy Center?

GANGEL: So, he has said Broadway shows. But let's remember when this first happened, "Hamilton" canceled their run at the Kennedy Center. Certainly a big Broadway show.

The other thing that we should remember is in February, Trump posted the following on his Truth Social account. He said, "No more drag shows or other anti-American propaganda. Only the best."

But, you know, as we've seen, there have been many actors, producers, artists who really feel that the Kennedy Center is no longer a welcoming place for everybody -- Anderson.

COOPER: Jamie Gangel, thanks very much.

GANGEL: Sure.

COOPER: Appreciate it. Coming up next, a report from Pakistan -- what comes next after India's airstrikes over Kashmir.

Also, a CNN exclusive on the aviation communications outage at Newark Airport in this country's busiest airspace.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:32:59]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CO-HOST OF "ANDERSON COOPER 360": When we left you last night, India had launched military strikes on parts of Pakistan in retaliation, they said, for a terror attack last month in India-administered Kashmir. Indian officials said nine sites were targeted in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, notably in Eastern Pakistan. Pakistan says mosques were hit and civilians killed, and claim they downed five Indian war plans. Now the question tonight, where does the conflict go between two nuclear powers? Where does it go next?

CNN's Nic Robertson is an Islamabad for us tonight. Nick, do officials believe the military action is over or is this just a lull?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It is just a lull. It's not over. Speaking with sources here this evening, this is a point where Pakistan has made it clear they're going to reply and respond in kind. The military has sort of given a justification. The prime minister has said, told the nation in an address, that the blood of our martyrs will be avenged. He means the women and the children and all the people who died, the 31 who died. So this is not over.

When that return strike happens isn't clear, it could be a couple of days. I think President Trump coming into the region next week is a consideration for Pakistan about when it may respond. There is background diplomacy going on here at the moment, but there's nothing in the offing. And this includes President Trump's offer to get engaged in diplomacy, which Pakistan is open to -- very much open to, but there's nothing that's really gaining traction that would be attractive for both sides.

So absolutely, India is expecting Pakistan to respond. Pakistan is making very clear, very publicly that it will respond, and that's for a couple of reasons because India killed women and children, struck deeper than they had ever done into Pakistan before. And it's the issue of the water, which is really existential, India saying it'll cut off the water coming from several rivers. And that's really the crux of where Pakistan is at the moment, Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah, Nic Robertson, thanks very much. Well, here at home, Newark Liberty International Airport continues to feel the effects of last week's air traffic system meltdown.

[20:35:00]

For about 60 to 90 seconds, air traffic controllers could not communicate with pilots or see planes on radar scopes. Now, more than a thousand flights have been canceled since that April 28 outage. One air traffic controller on duty that day tells CNN it was the most dangerous situation you could have, but it's not the first or only such time an outage like that has hit Newark Airport in the last year. Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They all have radio failure and they're turning every plane that's in the sky, so I have no idea.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the evening of November 6 last year, months before this recent crisis at Newark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just lost all frequencies and communications here.

LAH (voice-over): That call came from the Newark approach air traffic controllers, unable to communicate with passenger planes. And this tech failure wasn't the only one. It happened multiple times within the last year. A CNN review of safety reports and air traffic audio show newer controllers were repeatedly sounding the alarm about "incredibly dangerous" conditions in Newark airspace saying the FAA's moves in the last year pose a "significant detriment to safety."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flight 743 heavy descend and maintain 3,000 and speed 180.

LAH (voice-over): That appears to be the last radio call from the Newark approach controllers in the November incident. The system then fell silent for minutes as pilots from three different planes were left in the dark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't heard anything in a minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, we have no answer on approach, so I don't -- it seems like he's not talking to anyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody answering.

LAH (voice-over): This plane, FedEx 743 should have landed at Newark, instead, with no communication from the Newark approach controllers, it ended up where it wasn't supposed to be, in LaGuardia's airspace. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're on a 150 heading. What do you want us to do now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: FedEx 743 heavy turn left, heading 360.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Left 367, FedEx 743 heavy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: FedEx 743 heavy, climb and maintain 5,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 5,000 FedEx 743 heavy.

LAH (voice-over): Critical minutes ticked by with no word from the Newark approach controllers until --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: United 1043, Newark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. United 1043. Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, got you loud and clear. Thank you.

LAH (voice-over): For the next few minutes, air traffic controllers for Newark checked in with the planes in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Besides -- listen up everybody, real careful. Anybody besides United 1560, 1043, or 2192? Is there anybody else that can hear me on this frequency?

LAH (voice-over): Last July, the FAA moved about two dozen air traffic controllers in New York who were overseeing Newark to Philadelphia, splitting duties between two locations. The reason to address staffing problems and air traffic congestion. Within weeks, air traffic controllers reported serious safety issues because of the move.

The fact that there was no catastrophic mid-air collision is nothing short of luck, wrote a controller about an August incident. I am absolutely dumbfounded, another controller reported about the lack of training on the Philadelphia move. And another wrote that moving the controllers has caused an extremely dangerous situation in the extremely complicated NYC area airspace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2346, how do you hear this transmission?

LAH (voice-over): The November failure captured in real-time in air traffic recordings as was the relief from the pilots in the sky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 070 134 point niner, thanks for the deconflict. Appreciate it. Good night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Kyung Lah joins me now. So, what's the FAA saying in the response?

LAH (on camera): Well, Anderson, we did reach out to the FAA with very specific questions about the repeated criticism from controllers and experts, as well as what happened on what you just heard on November 6th. Now, the FAA did not respond directly to our questions, but said it is taking immediate steps to improve the reliability of operations at Newark, including upgrading technology and increasing staffing at the Philadelphia location. And we also did reach out to FedEx, Anderson. You saw that plane go into LaGuardia airspace. A FedEx spokesman says that the crew did comply with air traffic control before landing safely.

COOPER: All right. Kyung Lah, thanks very much. Appreciate it. Coming up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports from Milwaukee, reports on the lead contamination crisis impacting kids in several public schools.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These shavings of paint. They're sweet. They taste sweet. Is that why kids eat them?

DR. MICHAEL TOTORAITIS, MILWAUKEE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH: Yes. So they actually have a sweetness to them. So, that's why we are generally concerned about children under the age of six who are crawling around on the ground and constantly putting things in their mouth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Sanjay shows us what officials are trying to do to fix the lead crisis ahead. And later, what we know about President Trump's new pick to be Surgeon General.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:44:22]

COOPER: Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Milwaukee tonight where lead contamination crisis hitting the city's school district is growing. Several schools have closed temporarily and students relocated to other buildings as officials try to deal with the dangerous situation. The issue is old paint that has lead in it and it peels off, which if consumed by a child can hurt their brain development causing behavioral or learning issues.

On top of that, the CDC denied the city's request for help, saying that lead experts were let go in the mass firings last month. Now, local officials are in the process of inspecting their screening children who may have been exposed. Here is Sanjay's report.

[20:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Any building built before 1978 in America probably has lead based paint in it, which could poison kids. Our story starts here, Milwaukee. In January, a kid was found to have four times the amount of lead in their blood as expected. So they started to investigate and they did not find any lead in the child's home. And that brought investigators here where for the first time, they were able to link lead poisoning in children to the city's aging schools.

Specifically, they found evidence of lead-containing paint in the elementary school bathroom. Since then, at least three more children have tested positive for elevated blood lead levels, and eight schools have also been found to have unsafe lead levels as well. In fact, here at Westside Academy, these kids had to be relocated to another school just this week. They found evidence of red flaking paint -- problems on the inside, paint that was flaking on doors and walls and window sills.

City has now got a big job on their hands. They have to inspect around a hundred buildings. The health commissioners invited us to come take a look at the lab where they're analyzing a lot of the samples that have been taken from schools.

TOTORAITIS: They will be diluted and then actually tested within this machine. We look at that concentration and decide, OK, can school reopen safely, or does it need more time to be closed?

GUPTA: These shavings of paint, they're sweet. They taste sweet. Is that why kids eat them?

TOTORAITIS: Yes. So, they actually have a sweetness to them. So that's why we are generally concerned about children under the age of six who are crawling around on the ground and constantly putting things in their mouth.

GUPTA: What is the lead actually doing in the body?

TOTORAITIS: That gets it absorbed into the bloodstream and can cause long-term cognitive delays and behavioral issues.

GUPTA: Do you guys have enough resources to accomplish what you need to do?

TOTORAITIS: We have enough of a team right now. I think the long-term investigation into the potential chronic exposures of students at the districts is a part that we were really looking to the CDC to help us with. And unfortunately, HHS had laid off that entire team for childhood lead exposure. These are the best and brightest minds in these areas around lead poisoning, and now they're gone.

GUPTA: So for now, the city is trying to do the best that they can. In fact, they've set up a testing clinic here at this high school to screen up to 300 children today. Basically, the kid comes in, they sit down, there's a little lancet here that they do a finger prick test on -- the -- it goes into this machine over here, and they will get a result back right away, basically then telling the parents, look, your kid's lead level may be too high.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Again, I implore you all to shift to prevention, not reaction.

GUPTA (voice-over): While we are at the screening, a parent-led group gathered nearby, making some demands about lead remediation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My grandchildren have the right to go to school without the threat of exposure to lead.

GUPTA: Now, you should know that one of the most cost-effective and straightforward ways to control exposure from old paint is to paint over it. But schools in the school district fell behind, and now the superintendent is under a lot of pressure to get this done.

This is particularly concerning if it's down low like this.

DR. BRENDA CASSELLIUS, MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: That's right, because it's where kids handle their materials. And if you're pulling things out, you could certainly just chip. So we remediated these surfaces and then now, we have to go back and paint it. But it's a constant cleaning, a constant upkeep, a constant painting. Painting a room can cost $800. We've got tens of thousands of square feet in just one school. We anticipate this could cost up to $20 million.

GUPTA: Do you have the money?

CASSELLIUS: Well, we, we do in our reserve. So right now, I'm just saying I need to just spend every dollar. We are working with urgency and we are not sparing any expense because one student with lead is too many.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Sanjay joins us. Now, how sick can a child get from even a small amount of lead?

GUPTA (on camera): You know, the mantra, Anderson, is there is no safe amount of lead. And I think for, for good reasons. Because even small amounts of lead can cause symptoms somewhat quickly. They can cause irritability and fatigue and abdominal pains and mood disorders. But some of the problem is that I'm talking to parents here, Anderson, is this idea that it may cause problems later in life as well. So kids may appear fine, may feel like they did not have an issue with this, but then later in life, start to develop some of those symptoms and they trace it back to the lead.

Just want to give you a little context. 3.5 micrograms is what is sort of considered acceptable. They say no amount of lead is safe, but 3.5 is sort of the sensitivity of the testing. There was a kid yesterday that we found out about who had a level of 40.

COOPER: Wow.

GUPTA: So more than 10 times that limit. Kids in the hospital getting chelation therapy, that's part of what's happening here on the ground in Milwaukee Anderson.

COOPER: Wow. And when they asked for help from the CDC, the experts had been let go?

[20:50:00]

GUPTA: Yeah. I mean, the department wasn't there. So, the city is sort of left to fend on its own and they're doing a good job. I spoke to the health commissioner. They're setting up these pop-up testing clinics. They're trying to provide as much resources as they can. But when we were in Flint several years ago, there was a lot of federal support over there. They were thinking they'd get that same kind of federal support here. It's not happening right now. There's just nobody answering the phone, they said.

COOPER: Sanjay, thanks very much. One other bit of medical news, the Trump administration late today pulled its nominee for Surgeon General and replaced her with a new pick. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat's confirmation hearing was scheduled for tomorrow. She's now out. She's a former Fox News medical contributor. The president announcing her replacement, Dr. Casey Means. Dr. Means is a holistic medicine doctor whose prominence rose with the Make America Healthy Again movement and has ties to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kennedy's presidential campaign.

Coming up next, how the first day of the conclave to elect a new Pope went and what comes next when the cardinals meet again just hours from now.

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[20:55:42]

COOPER: Black smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel today, the sign that a new Pope was not selected on this, the first day of the conclave. 133 voting cardinals are gathered to decide the next leader of the church, who will succeed Pope Francis. Will it be a more, traditional conservative or -- conservative successor, or someone more in the mode (ph) of Pope Francis? The cardinals all swore an oath of secrecy, gave up their devices to prevent them from communicating outside the conclave. They'll continue voting tomorrow in a series of secret ballots until a new Pope is chosen. And once that moment comes, of course, we'll see the white smoke rise from the chimney.

Joining me now is Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, Host of the "Godsplaining" podcast and Editor of the Catholic magazine "Our Sunday Visitor." Father Briscoe, so how exciting was it to even be just in the vicinity of the conclave when it began, and how did it feel to see the black smoke today?

FATHER PATRICK MARY BRISCOE, HOST, "GODSPLAINING" PODCAST: The Black smoke, Anderson, it was an electric moment in St. Peter's Square this afternoon when the conclave proper began. Of course, the cardinals gathered for prayer this morning around the tomb of St. Peter there, in St. Peter's Basilica, for a mass. But as soon as the sign of the cross began and the conclave properly opened, the Square which was full of people just became very still. It was quite remarkable as all heads turned to watch the live feed that was available for viewing in the Square.

Catholics were able and anyone else gathered in the Square was able to join in the ceremony by praying alongside the cardinals and by seeing powerful visuals like the closing of the doors, the moment where the cardinals were finally sequestered from the world. It was an incredible moment.

COOPER: And in a mask before the conclave, the Dean of the College of Cardinals called on the group to unite and elect a Pope who, in the cardinal's words, the church and humanity need at this difficult, complex, and troubled turning point in history. Can you -- I mean, are you kind of reading tea leaves along with everybody else, or do you not get too involved in that? And yeah, what are you hearing from people that you talk to in the Square?

BRISCOE: That homily is a very important homily, Anderson, as it's often, in fact, one of the last things the cardinals will hear. So some of the themes that Cardinal Re developed certainly are going to impact this election especially, as you brought up, unity. I also love the cardinal's words about love. Love is the answer to what society needs today, to be thinking of God and to elect a Pope who will be a moral leader, a kind of moral voice as the world continues to change.

Around the Square, people are just excited. This is a moment of hope and a moment of light in a new cycle and in a moment of history that's especially troubled. So certainly, I'm hoping that we're going to see a Pope who can do exactly what Cardinal Re suggest, someone that can unite the world and be a great bridge builder.

COOPER: And are more do -- I mean, is it expected to have as many people there tomorrow watching?

BRISCOE: I was shocked by the crowds. That's certainly one of the stories of the day. I mean, usually after the first vote of a conclave, it would be very rare that a Pope would be elected the first night. And to have as many people as were gathered here in St. Peter's Square watching for smoke, as they were this first night as there were tonight, that in and of itself seemed a remarkable thing. So I expect and others as well, that those crowds will only grow and that interest will only continue to build as we continue to move through the conclave.

COOPER: Have you been to a conclave before? I mean, have you been in St. Peter's Square during a conclave before?

BRISCOE: I have not. I've only watched them on television before. So for me, just getting to see the crowds, getting to participate in the moment of history has been just so exciting and so deeply moving. One of the things you see is you see just how diverse the church is with the universality of the church representative, people coming from all over to participate. Many people coming to the Square because it was the last night of their trip, for example, to Rome and they just wanted to see this moment in history even though they didn't expect white smoke. Those stories are very touching.

COOPER: Yeah. It's also just to see so many young people, I mean, I was there for the --