Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump's Campaign and Courtroom Calendar Collide; Biden Heads to South Carolina to Appeal to Black Voters; NTSB Says, Missing Part of Alaska Airlines Plane Found in Portland Yard. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 08, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump's grand juggling act this week, campaign appearances versus court appearances. More time in court than on the trail. Is this foreshadowing what the entire election season could look like?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A critical find in the Alaska Airlines investigation, the missing piece of that aircraft that ripped off a packed Boeing 737 MAX 9 has now been located in a backyard. What the NTSB is saying about the plane's history before the violent, explosive event.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new era in moon exploration, a historic launch overnight that will, among other things, create the most expensive cemetery in the galaxy.

I'm John Berman with Sarah Sidner and Kate Baldwin. It will, you've got to watch the report.

SIDNER : Okay, John.

BERMAN: This is CNN New Central.

BOLDUAN: I love the expensive cemetery.

But, first, this, welcome to the last week before the first votes, eight days to the Iowa caucuses and the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, is expected to spend more time in court than on the trail.

January will be a busy one for every one of the candidates, especially Donald Trump when you look at this calendar. He's expected in court two times before the Iowa caucuses and a second defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll will begin just before the New Hampshire primary.

To this point Trump's legal troubles have not turned into a drag on his support. Still, with the commanding lead in Iowa polling, how does that continue throughout the early election contests?

Let's get over to CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's got more on all of this. Kristen, what is this going to look like for Donald Trump? What are you hearing from people close to him?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Kate, let's start with this week because he does not have to be in court. You know, this talk of whether or not Trump and his campaign can juggle the politics and the legal, they are choosing to do this. They are choosing to not be on the campaign trail and instead be in a courtroom.

So, let's look at what this week in particular leading up to Iowa looks like. Tonight, he is expected to fly into Washington, D.C., so that tomorrow, he can sit in on the arguments that his legal team is making to a D.C. appeals court on the immunity -- presidential immunity claim. Wednesday, he's back out to Iowa. He's doing a town hall with Fox. Thursday, he's in New York, listening to those New York civil trial closing arguments in that case, then, for the weekend, back in Iowa leading up to the caucus. Again, he does not have to be here.

Now, there are two reasons that Donald Trump wants to be in court. One is that these are two cases that matter very deeply to him. One, he believes that he has immunity. This is a claim that we have heard him railing on social media about. He wants to hear those arguments too. As we have talked about time and time again, he feels deeply connected to the New York civil fraud case. It goes exactly to the core of who he is not only as a human being, but as a politician. He wants to see how this is played out. It's obviously something he's been very fixated on.

But the other part of this that cannot be left out is that there is a real strategy here. There is one way for Donald Trump to ensure that he takes up all of the oxygen from all the candidates on the trail this week, and that is going to court, going to the cameras as much as possible, giving those media availabilities, sitting in on those sessions. That is something he knows, they've seen it time and time again, and this goes to an overall strategy of what we are going to see moving forward.

Again, when I talk to these Trump advisers, no one is saying that they're happy that he is caught up in all of these legal issues, that he has all these trials, but they do say they're going to play the hand that's been dealt to them, and that means turning these trials, turning these court appearances into campaign events. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. It means lean in hard because there's no other option when you look at that calendar. It's great to see you, Kristen. Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, right now, President Joe Biden is on his way to South Carolina to court black voters critical to his reelection efforts. He is set to deliver a speech at Mother Emanuel AME Church, the historically black church that you will remember where nine people were killed by a shooter who opened fire on a bible study group back in 2015.

[10:05:03]

South Carolina's primary next month will be Biden's first real campaign test.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is following the story for us. She is joining us now from Charleston, South Carolina. Good morning to you.

This is going to be no doubt an emotional moment seeing Biden back there at the church where there was that horrific attack by a white supremacist.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Sara. He has a deep connection to this state and to this church. But this is a moment that the campaign is looking to recharge and re-energize the campaign. President Biden has cited South Carolina repeatedly as the state that turned the tide in the 2020 primaries and pointed to the black voters who buoyed his campaign at that time.

But polls have since shown that black voters are disengaged and disconnected from the political process. So, the goal here is to try to shore up those votes again, and the argument is twofold. The president is going to provide an extension of his speech last Friday and talking about preserving democracy and personal freedoms and the risk that former President Donald Trump poses to all of that, particularly in a location like this one, the Mother Manual AME Church, where nine black parishioners were killed by a white supremacist in 2015.

But the other part of the argument, too, is what the administration has done and delivered for black voters. Campaign officials say, for example, that includes cuts to the prices of insulin or also investing in HBCUs and the drop in the unemployment rate for black voters as well.

So, all of this is going to be folded into his remarks today. But South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn, a key ally and voice for the campaign, has also expressed some concern, saying the campaign hasn't yet broken through the MAGA wall. That's how he described it.

Now, in a follow-up interview that I had with him, he said what President Biden does best is engage with voters firsthand, that the voters can feel him. And that is what this location is for. Again, the South Carolina primary, it's not going to be very competitive this time around. But it will be the first test for President Biden where he stands with this very key constituency.

SIDNER: Priscilla Alvarez, I just have to give you kudos. You are competing with an excellent organist there inside of the Mother Emanuel Church and I see people are gathering there. Thank you so much for that. John?

BERMAN: Terrific accompaniment for the Priscilla Alvarez hit right there.

With us now, CNN Chief Political Correspondent and Anchor of Inside Politics Dana Bash. Dana, it's interesting with President Biden going to Charleston today to deliver that speech about preserving democracy. Donald Trump has been out on the trail the last few days doing things like calling the January 6 rioters who were in prison hostages. So, the contrast, it's there. Jim Clyburn says Biden is not breaking through the MAGA wall yet. How much does the campaign intend to continue with this messaging?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Biden campaign, they're going to continue, and then some, they're going to continue to step up. I mean, look, it is important to remember, and, John Berman, I don't need to tell you this, we are still, in fact, we haven't even officially started the Republican-nominating process yet.

And so when Donald Trump says outrageous things, like calling the people who are in jail because they attacked the United States Capitol and even democracy itself, calling them hostages when we know, unfortunately, as we speak, there are real hostages being held, Americans even, in places like Gaza, it's mind-blowing.

But for the people he's appealing to in the short-term, it's not a problem necessarily for him. When you talk about if he does get the nomination, the general election, that is an area where the Biden campaign thinks that talking about democracy, talking about these issues is baiting Donald Trump into playing on Joe Biden's turf. That's a term that one of Biden's advisers used to me.

But, again, Donald Trump has got to get from here to there, and we'll see how long that takes, or if something that is completely unknown to us happens between now and when the votes really start to add up in the Republican-nominating process.

BERMAN: It is interesting they use that terminology, baiting Donald Trump to engage like that, because saying things like calling the rioters hostages is just that, is engaging with Biden on the terms of Biden setting out.

As you noted, though, right now, Donald Trump is engaged in the nominating process with Iowa a week and a day away. There's a big debate, I'm told, in Iowa this week. I'm pretty sure you're going to be there, Dana Bash. Between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, it's really interesting. We just checked on this, all the spending from Donald Trump's super PAC in the campaign, negative ads on Nikki Haley, zero dollars in new spending against Ron DeSantis.

[10:10:04]

So, what does that tell us?

BASH: That he sees Nikki Haley as a threat, not just in Iowa, but even more so in New Hampshire. He did spend a lot of money to discredit and try to really eliminate Ron DeSantis early on. You remember the super PACs supporting Donald Trump in particular, and even the campaign really went after Ron DeSantis very hard, even before DeSantis was an official candidate. They defined DeSantis before he could.

So, it seems as though the Trump campaign of people in the Trump political orbit feel like that job was done, but it is Nikki Haley who is on the rise, and they are most concerned about her. Maybe not so much in Iowa, but definitely in the state of New Hampshire, which is why you are seeing the spending, you are seeing on ads, but you are seeing his own rhetoric now that he's finally, or at least he was this weekend, back on the trail, sharpened when it comes to Nikki Haley.

BERMAN: Yes, it just really is interesting to see all the spending being Haley spending, not DeSantis spending.

Let's focus on this debate where you will be one of the moderators on Wednesday night. These are the two people that are going to be there. What should we be looking for in that, Dana?

BASH: Well, you know, it is interesting that, well, first, yes, it's just those two who are going to come. Unfortunately, Donald Trump obviously qualified. He has decided, just as he did through the entire primary process so far, not to participate.

But what is our goal? I think that's the big question. And our goal is to illuminate for the voters who are going to decide who the Republican nominee is, what they stand for, who they are, where they differ to help these voters decide, first and foremost, obviously, where we are going to be in the state of Iowa.

And there are -- we're seeing a lot of sort of negative personal attacks, but there are really important, substantive areas that really matter to people where they disagree.

BERMAN: And it will be really interesting to see the two of them if they talk more about each other or if they focus on Donald Trump, who will not be there, the last real chance to get a super close look before the caucuses.

Dana Bash, so important, we're so glad you're doing it. Thanks so much for being with us today.

BASH: Nice to see you, John.

BERMAN: You can watch Dana, of course, later today on Inside Politics. And on Wednesday, if we didn't make it crystal clear, she'll be moderating the CNN Republican presidential debate along with Jake Tapper live from Iowa. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us still, new concerns Israel may have a new front to fight in its war to take out Hamas. A senior Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. The new details we have coming in.

We also have new details coming in about the terrifying 20 minutes in Alaska. Airlines jet was in the air, a critical piece of the plane recovered in someone's backyard, and the earlier warning lights on that same jet, the NTSB says, they're now looking into.

For the first time in more than 50 years, a U.S. lunar lander is rocketing to the moon and what cremated remains has to do with any of this.

We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

SIDNER: The NTSB is trying to get to the bottom of the explosive accident on an Alaskan Airlines flight that left behind a refrigerator sized hole in the plane and, of course, terrified passengers. It happened on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet.

Those jets, by the way, are grounded this morning, hundreds of flights canceled and an investigation, of course, underway after that chunk of the aircraft blew off in midflight.

The fuselage door that was a plug, it ripped off from the side of the plane shortly after it took off from Portland, Oregon on Friday night.

Overnight, a Portland schoolteacher actually found that door plug in his yard. We're now learning this plane had just been restricted from certain long haul flights.

CNN's Pete Muntean is walking us through the timeline of exactly what happened and where the investigation stands this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHIEF, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: It was very violent when the rapid decompression in the door was expelled out of the plane.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New images from the National Transportation Safety Board show the force of the failure on board Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. Damaged and contorted seats from a 400-mile-per-hour rush of air through a refrigerator sized hole ripped in the side of the plane.

HOMENDY: Head rests on 25A and 26A were gone. The extra oxygen mask was sheared off.

MUNTEAN: NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy now says even the cockpit door flew open.

HOMENDY: The time there is a bang, the door flies open. So, it did eventually shut, but it did blow open during the explosive decompression.

MUNTEAN: Amazingly, no passengers were seriously hurt.

EMMA VU, PASSENGER: I woke up to the plane just falling and I knew it was not just normal turbulence because the masks came down and that's when the panic definitely started to set in.

MUNTEAN: The flight departed Portland International Airport at 5L07 P.M. on Friday. Six minutes in, climbing through 16,000 feet, passengers describe multiple bangs and the loud rush of air audible as pilots radioed air traffic control emergency landing back in Portland.

[10:20:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ALASKA 1282, need to declare an emergency descending down to 10,000, just depressurized.

MUNTEAN: The plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, only months old, it took its first flight on October 15th and flew only 150 flights for Alaska Airlines. Investigators say a pressurization warning light came on three previous times, including the day before this incident and prompting Alaska Airlines to restrict the plane from over water flights.

HOMENDY: It's certainly a concern and it's one that we want to dig into.

MUNTEAN: The Federal Aviation Administration has now grounded MAX 9s until airlines can make new inspections. But the incident has once again thrust Boeing under the microscope. Two fatal crashes grounded the 737 MAX for 20 months in the U.S.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: All right. That was our Pete Muntean with all the details of that story. Thank you so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And with those details, let's talk more about this. Joining us right now is CNN Aviation Analyst Miles O'Brien. Miles, it's good to see you.

So, let's start with this missing piece, this door plug. They found it in this man's backyard in Portland, Oregon. The door plug, this piece that blew out, it can help investigators answer what questions?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes, it's crucial, Kate. This is one of those cases. You know, we often talk about crashes where we're looking for the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder, to solve it.

This is an investigation that is going to have a lot more to do with looking at the actual metal, looking at how things were fastened and where those fasteners applied properly, and also going through the paperwork associated with all the work that is done on the aircraft to ensure every nut was tightened properly, that pins were put in and wires and so forth that would ensure whatever was tightened down was tightened down properly and meant to hold.

BOLDUAN: Just the -- it's been a couple days since, but I'm just still hit with what the pilots were experiencing, what the flight crew was experiencing, what the passengers were experiencing, the fact that, by happenstance, people were not sitting in those direct two seats right where this blew out. It's really just mind boggling and terrifying what they all went through.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you don't want an aircraft to open up a door in flight. That goes without saying, I think we're going to all agree on that one. And it would have been noisy, it would have been loud, it would have been extremely confusing, it would have been cold. A lot of things would have happened.

It's a reminder to all of us to please stay buckled when you're sitting in your seat no matter what. This is fairly short after takeoff, so most people were, in fact, buckled. And as you say, some good news here is that there weren't people right there.

Now, I will say that you talk about silver linings here, this happened at 16,000 feet, which means the pressure differential between the inside and the outside would have been about two pounds per square inch. Given the size of the door, that would have been 5,000 pounds of pressure on it.

Now, if they had been at 36,000 feet, it would have been 22,000 pounds of pressure on that same door and would have been a much more dramatic incident. And, incidentally, at 36,000 feet, you have ten seconds of what we call useful consciousness, whereas at 16,000 feet, you've got ten minutes. So, the fact that it happened at that altitude is yet another silver lining here.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And I want to play for you. You talked about what we're normally talking about is the search for the black box, the cockpit voice and data recorders to go through that. One thing we know here is that the cockpit voice recorder, they basically have lost all of the usable material from it because of how it gets overwritten every two hours. For the control room, this is the second sound bite. Let me play what the chair of NTSB said about this today, Miles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOMENDY: We're disappointed that the cockpit voice recorder was overwritten. We can learn a lot from that cockpit voice recorder. We have urged the FAA to extend the cockpit voice recorder time from 2 hours to 25 hours because we want to hear communications, noise, alerts on the flight deck, which may help us prevent future tragedies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Jennifer Homendy is not happy that this happened, that this went down this way. What could be on there that now is not, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Yes, you've hit a pet peeve of mine as well, Kate. To me, in this day, it's kind of scandalous that we only capture the last two hours with digital data and hard drives and we don't have looped tapes anymore.

[10:25:08]

We can capture in excess of 24 hours, as is recommended.

And I'm going to take it one step further from the good chairperson and suggest once again that we have video cameras in the cockpit. The pilots union hates these ideas. They consider it invasion of privacy, as they say.

Well, I don't know about you, but when I'm at work, I don't consider that a private place. And if what you're doing can involve consequences which lead to the deaths of others, I think you might have to give up a little bit of your so-called privacy.

It's high time that we improved the amount of data we got out of these cockpit voice recorders, including video. And for that matter, it should be streaming out of the aircraft in real time. But that's -- you got me on my high horse.

BOLDUAN: I'll take you on your higher horse anytime, Miles. It's great that you're coming on. Thank you so much. So much of this investigation to go, Miles will help us walk through it all. John?

BERMAN: All right, just in a CNN, a powerful house chairman just released a resolution recommending Hunter Biden be held in contempt of Congress. So, what happens next.

And developing this morning, a senior Hezbollah leader has been killed by an Israeli drone strike in Southern Lebanon. We have details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]