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Air India Crash Details; W. Kamau Bell is Interviewed about Trump at the Kennedy Center. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 12, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA): Of corruption that we haven't seen since the privatization of the -- of the Soviet Union. And so, for him -- you know, I represent the Pacific Palisades. For him to be taunting California or for his secretary of Homeland Security to describe my city as a city of criminals, his hatred of California is not only palpable, but it's useful to him because he's got a lot to distract America from, particularly the -- the crypto corruption.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: With that view, how do you square that with then also -- all of the recent polling I was looking at, I was looking most recently at the CBS News/YouGov poll showing that nationwide voters are giving him some of his best marks on immigration policy right now. In this recent poll taken in June from CBS, it said 54 percent of Americans said they approved of Trump's deportation policy, 50 percent approve of his handling of immigration, which are -- including in that poll is -- that's a far better number than their approval of his -- his handling of the economy.

SHERMAN: People wanted the border closed. Now, Biden closed it in the final year of his administration. Trump has closed the border. People want those who have committed serious felonies deported, or any felony deported. And that is what people expected from Trump when they voted for him. Yes, he said a lot of batshit crazy things, as he always does, but people remember 2017 and a focus on deporting those who have been committed -- who have committed crimes.

And in fact, California has cooperated with I.C.E. in the last two years to deport well over 10,000 people who have been convicted of felonies. So, that's the immigration policy the country supports. There's a lot of -- of -- of other polling that say they -- the country does not support what he is doing in Los Angeles. They don't support things that cause a disruption and that tear our country apart. And they don't support going into car washes and warehouses and deporting anybody who speaks with a -- with a Spanish accent. It's -- the destruction we see in Los Angeles, created by Trump, from the beginning, our city was peaceful ten days ago, is not what Americans want. They want a peaceful society.

BOLDUAN: We'll have to see if this is a turning point in that -- in that public opinion, as you suggest.

The -- the events of the last, I'll just say, of the last week have very clearly also rekindled this long simmering, long ongoing feud and rivalry and dislike between Donald Trump and California's governor, Gavin Newsom. I mean this week we heard the governor say the rule of law has increasingly given way to the rule of Don. And on the suggestion that Gavin Newsom himself could be targeted if he kind of stands in the way of Trump's immigration policy, Newsom said, arrest me. Let's go. I mean, and Newsom's presidential ambitions are -- are known. Do you think that Newsom is taking his critiques and putting himself out there too much? He is going too far in his pushback?

SHERMAN: No, I don't. I -- when Trump talks about arresting Gavin Newsom, I don't think we should arrest any of the most prominent elected officials in our country. But if we're going to arrest any of the most prominent officials, we should start with the one with 34 felony convictions. This idea of arresting the governor of California is a rhetorical, overblown attack that we don't need.

BOLDUAN: Congressman Brad Sherman, thank you for your time this morning.

SHERMAN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, jeers, boos and someone shouting "felon," and not a Jean Valjean. How the Kennedy Center crowd reacted to President Trump during opening night of "Les Mis."

And the breaking news this morning. We're going to get the very latest from -- from India as this Air India flight crashed just after takeoff. It is feared all 242 passengers on board were killed. And now there are serious concerns about people on the ground.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:39:20]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news, we are waiting on new information on the Air India flight that crashed just after takeoff in Ahmedabad, in western India. A police official tells the "Associated Press," all 242 people on board are believed dead. Video does show the moment the plane went down. Flight tracking data says it lost signal less than a minute after takeoff. There was a mayday call from the plane before the crash. And you can see it ending in a large fireball there.

There is fear that many on the ground, and you could see it in that fireball, were also hurt or kill, but no confirmation of that just yet. It crashed into a medical center.

[09:40:01]

The flight was on the way to London's Gatwick Airport.

CNN's Tom Foreman has been digging into as much information as we can find out.

What are you learning, Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a -- a -- it's a mystery at the moment, obviously. Let's take a look at where this plane was going to fly to. If you look at that map, it's a pretty long flight. These people would have -- I mean, obviously, you're just getting off the ground. They haven't really even started yet. The crash happened right next to the airport. This is a picture of the type of aircraft, 787-8. This is a Boeing aircraft. This one was almost, I believe, a dozen years old. It was -- but it had a lot of excellent flying time. 2023 came -- was delivered to Air India. It was made in Seattle. It had 18 business seats, 238 economy seats and so on.

And if you look at this map, this is very important here, that's the airport over there to the right. And that medical college down there is where it crashed. So, you can see that if you just doubled the runway, you get to the distance involved here, which speaks to what some of our aviation analysts said earlier on. This plane does not appear to have ever really initiated a takeoff in terms of a successful takeoff. That that transitional time from being on the ground to being in the air. If you talk about being at 625, 650 feet, where they -- seems to be the highest point they reached, bear in mind, that is so low, that could not even fly across the island of Manhattan because there are buildings that are much taller than that. Freedom Tower, like three times as tall as that, roughly, something like that. So, this never really got off the ground here.

Two engines on this plane. We know that there was a mayday called out for this moment. The question is, if -- theoretically, this plane should be able to take off on one engine, but it did not successfully take off. It would have been at somewhere approaching 200 miles an hour when it took off. That's one of the reasons why, when a crash like this happens, people can't survive, because the impact of stopping at that speed is so much that even if you didn't have the fireball, tremendous impact.

One thing I want to mention, John. This airport has been working in recent years, from all the accounts I can find, they have been working on a higher than usual bird strike problem there with flocks of vultures and a type of raptor called a Black Kite. It's the most common in the world. It's about a pound and a half bird. So, a type of a hawk or falcon type of bird, if you want to think of it that way.

They've had a problem with this in the past, and they've been trying to reduce the number of bird strikes. That would be another thing that you would look at, because that is the kind of thing -- we know from the miracle on the Hudson -- that can take a plane out really fast, can take out the engines very fast. Do we know that in this case? No, we don't. But we know it's one of the things they have to consider, especially at this airport where they've dealt with this.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, that is an interesting data point that I had not heard.

Tom Foreman, thank you very much.

FOREMAN: You're welcome.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump was met with a mixture -- you can hear the cheers there -- but there were also boos at the Kennedy Center opening night of "Les Miserables." One woman screamed "convicted felon" and "rapist" before security escorted her out. The president said he was unbothered by reports that some cast members planned to boycott the -- boycott the performance due to his appearance.

Joining me now, W. Kamau Bell, filmmaker, comedian.

You wrote a whole substack, as I remember in talking to you, of why you performed at the Kennedy Center after Trump took over. You said to boycott or to show up, that is the question.

And in your case, though, this all happened days before you performed. I'm curious what you think about what happened this day when people responded to the president showing up there.

W. KAMAU BELL, TV HOST, FILMMAKER AND COMEDIAN: Well, I'm happy to say I had a better night at the Kennedy Center than Donald Trump did. Whoever would think that I would have a better night at -- at a -- at the Kennedy Center than the president?

I think people don't understand that the Kennedy Center is not -- we think of it as some sort of presidential, regal place. It is really just the most well-funded community center in the country. And it is there for the community. It is not really there for the president. It serves the community of D.C., which is a bright blue Democratic dot in the middle of -- in the middle of our government. And so, it is not really the president's home, it is the people of D.C.'s home.

SIDNER: You know, there have been a lot of people talking about boycotting. And in this particular case, you have people refusing to perform at the Kennedy Center because the unusual step that the president took of taking over the center with the board, et cetera. Would you still perform at the Kennedy Center? I mean, have you asked yourself and answered the question as to whether or not you would boycott or take place -- take part?

[09:45:00]

BELL: I would perform at the Kennedy Center if they 100 percent told me that Trump was going to be there. I would definitely be there on that night. Any other regular night in D.C., I would probably find a different venue.

But I do think, I was lucky enough over the weekend to -- to speak at Nikki Giovanni's memorial service in Virginia Tech. And Sweet Honey in the Rock was there. And Sweet Honey in the Rock famously showed up in North Carolina to -- to -- to -- to sort of perform for the people there during the anti-trans bathroom bills. And a lot of performers canceled, Springsteen, other people, and they said, we showed up for our people. And I talked to the founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock that night. She

said, you have to do what makes sense for you. And so I feel like, for me, as a stand-up comedian, I can speak truth directly to power. If you're in "Les Mis," you kind of got to stick to the script or you're going to get fired. But as a stand-up comedian, I am standing firmly in the First Amendment, and I hold tight to it every day.

SIDNER: You're doing a comedy show, because you are a comedian and funny as hell, frankly. Your show is called "Who's with Me?" But there is a purpose behind this because it is helping support local arts organizations. Tell me about that.

BELL: Yes. So, the NEA, through Trump's directive, cut arts funding around the country of giant -- big places, like the Berkeley Rep, which is our main repertory theater out here in the bay area, but also small black and brown theaters that really rely on the few thousand dollars they get from the NEA.

And so next week at the Berkeley Rep, June 17th through the 22nd, I am doing a series of shows there, even though I was just there, to try to help cover the gap. And so, the Berkeley Rep, I reached out to them and said, is there anything I can do? I can't write a $1 billion check -- not all celebrities are equally rich -- but I can show up and again donate my voice and give my voice to the cause of the arts, because we both know, Sara, I don't get a job at CNN because I'm a good journalist. I get a job at CNN because of my -- because of the arts.

SIDNER: Because you're funny and because of the art and because, well, you're just kind of a cool guy. I mean, I'm just going to say it. I know you're not a billionaire, but I like you anyway.

BELL: No, I'm -- I'm -- I consider myself the people's chairman of the Kennedy Center, the people's secretary of education, and the people's chair of the NEA. I got to -- I got to do all these things that our government refuses to do, frankly.

SIDNER: You've got a lot of titles. That -- that -- that's a lot of work. Thank you so much.

BELL: I -- I got a lot of kids. I got to have a lot of jobs.

SIDNER: And I know your mother would be very proud.

Kamau Bell, it is always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

BELL: She is.

SIDNER: John.

BOLDUAN: I'll take it, Sara, thank you.

Coming up for us, we're going to continue following the breaking news out of India this morning. A plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashing into a residential area, into a medical school, we're told, in India. Everyone on board is feared dead. There is a lot of fear of injuries and casualties on the ground as well. We've got new reports coming in.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:14]

SIDNER: This whole story blew my mind with so many twists and turns. It is a look at American history we never knew, but it is also a deeply searing look at a family grappling with its own history of slavery, segregation, and the Ku Klux Klan. A history that could have shattered a family, but instead brought them together.

Let me introduce you to Michael and Spenser Simrill, who discovered they were related. It's a sneak peek at my upcoming special, "The Simril(l)'s: A Family in Black and White."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SIMRIL, "SINGLE L" SIMRIL: We are downtown Rock Hill, South Carolina.

SIDNER (voice over): In York County, in the northern part of the state.

M. SIMRIL: It's been revitalized.

SIDNER (voice over): But despite the new shops and buildings, the dark history of the south surrounds you here.

SIDNER: So, the name of this church is?

SPENSER SIMRILL JR., "DOUBLE L" SIMRILL: Allison Creek Presbyterian Church. It was founded in 1854, right before the Civil War.

SIDNER: Wow.

Thank you.

S. SIMRILL: The Simrill family were among the founders.

Allison Creek was the home church for black and white Simrills during slavery in the early days of reconstruction.

SIDNER: So, both slaves and slave owners would come together to church. Now, they didn't actually come together.

S. SIMRILL: No.

SIDNER: And the reason why I am where I am, which is up here on a balcony, is because this is where the slaves had to be, right? It makes me really sad. Like -- like it's heavy being up here.

SIDNER (voice over): But this is where all the Simrills have gathered for family reunions, beginning with the first one in 2014. That's when Reverend Spenser Simrill Senior made a guest appearance at the pulpit, speaking of the heroine his ancestors once enslaved.

REVEREND SPENSER SIMRILL SR,: And Harriet, stood up, resurrected, and said, I'm a child of God. I'm a daughter of the most high. This is part of our history.

SIDNER (voice over): After church, Simrill reunions typically include a visit to the nearby graves.

S. SIMRILL: This is Hugh Simrill, my third great grandfather.

M. SIMRIL: It's crazy to me because this is the guy that enslaved my ancestors.

[09:55:02]

SIDNER (voice over): Beyond an obvious cemetery shrouded by trees is the Clay Hill Graveyard for slaves and free blacks.

M. SIMRIL: This is where my ancestors were buried at.

SIDNER (voice over): Hundreds are buried here. But there are just 14 headstones.

SIDNER: This doesn't look anything like the other cemetery.

M. SIMRIL: You see the things in the ground? Those are the markers for graves. And there's over 300 unmarked graves out here.

SIDNER: Oh.

M. SIMRIL: This is Dorcas -- in memory of Dorcas Hill.

SIDNER: Tell me who Dorcas Hill is and her significance in this story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: It turns out that Dorcas was the matriarch of Michael Simril's ancestors.

This story has so many twists and turns. I can't wait for you to see it. If you want to learn more, check out "The Simril(l)'s: A Family in Black and White," Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.

It was my pleasure to see a family coming together. When we're so divisive, this family, a lot of fun.

BOLDUAN: And fascinating. What a great story to tell.

SIDNER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Sara. Look forward to that this weekend.

Thank you all so much for joining us today. There's a lot of breaking news. Big focus on the details coming out of what is unfolding in India right now with that plane crash. "SIT ROOM" picks up from here. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)