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U.K. Parliament Passes Amendment Calling For Prime Minister Boris Johnson To Ask European Union For Three-Month Extension To Brexit Negotiations; Some Republicans Support Impeachment Proceedings Against President Trump; White House Acting Chief Of Staff Mick Mulvaney Connects Ukraine Aid With Request For Investigation In 2016 Election During Press Conference; Tropical Storm Threatens Gulf States; Hillary Clinton Accuses Tulsi Gabbard And Jill Stein Of Being Russian Assets; Report Released Exonerating Hillary Clinton From Mishandling Classified Information As Secretary Of State; President Trump Criticized For Withdrawing U.S. Troops From Northern Syria; E- mails Released Indicating Boeing Pilots Had Concerns Over 737 Max Plane; Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Returns To Campaign Trail After Heart Attack; Yankees Avoid Post-Season Elimination. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired October 19, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:07]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Saturday, October 19th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin with breaking news out of London in what is a major blow for the British prime minister. Opposition lawmakers have just delayed his Brexit plan deal.

BLACKWELL: Nic Robertson is live in London for us. Nic, what happens now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This was supposed to be the historic day where Boris Johnson could move forward implementing the legislation because he would have the backing for his Brexit deal. But it's just gone down 322 to 306 votes to an amendment, an amendment that essentially calls for Boris Johnson to write to the European Union and ask for a three-month extension to the negotiations.

We have just heard from the prime minister. He is saying he is dead set against that. He said there is no need for an extension. This is something that it isn't clear how he's going to respond to what's known as the Benn Act here, which is a law that compels him to write the European Union. But he says there is no need for a delay. He said he's going to begin next week to bring forward the legislation to bring about the deal that he has agreed with the European Union.

So at the moment the position that the country seems to be in is parliament has not yet been given the opportunity to say whether or not it accepts the Brexit deal that Boris Johnson has brokered with the European Union, but the prime minister is going to press ahead with it regardless. And it is not clear if he will write to the European Union and ask for the extension that he's compelled to do by law.

WALKER: It's incredible. The drama never ends surrounding Brexit. Nic Robertson, appreciate you live for us there in London.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to Washington now where there appears to be a few cracks in the Republican support for the president after hearing Mick Mulvaney's comments about a quid pro quo with Ukraine. Former Ohio Governor John Kasich says he believes the president should be impeached.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If you're asking me if I was sitting in the House of Representatives today, and you were to ask me how do I feel, do I think impeachment should move forward and should go for a full examination and a trial in the United States Senate, my vote would be yes.

FRANCIS ROONEY, (R-FL) HOUSE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Whatever might have been gray and unclear before is certainly quite clear right now. We're not supposed to use government power and prestige for political gain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Florida Representative Francis Rooney went on to say that he would not rule out voting to impeach the president. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly now believes an impeachment trial is, quote, inevitable.

BLACKWELL: Now, Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, he is hunkering down with GOP lawmakers at Camp David this weekend. Of course, this will come up. We're covering this from all angles today. CNN's Marshall Cohen is in Washington. Kristen Holmes is at the White House.

WALKER: And that is where we will begin. Kristen, we were just mentioning the president was hit on a number of fronts this week. I'd imagine he's feeling quite some pressure, especially from his own party?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Amara. It would be hard pressed for him not to feel this way, and here's why. Through the last couple of years we have seen these Republicans, this base really rally around President Trump.

And now not only are they saying that they have some issues with the president, but they're saying it on national television in front of a camera and on the record. We've heard mumblings of this in the past when there were certain negotiations they didn't like, but this was all in closed door talks. Now they're really coming out and saying it. And the concern is really in three different factions here, one being

the announcement of that G7 summit, international leaders coming down to Trump's resort in Doral. This is his golf resort. They say they're going to host it there in 2020. A lot of concern there, raising a lot of antennas about the transparency. Is the president going to be making money off of these foreign leaders?

Another thing that they're concerned about is Mick Mulvaney. As you mentioned, he is at Camp David, or he's heading there today with GOP lawmakers, and his comments about a quid pro quo will likely come up. And I just want to quickly remind our viewers what happened this week when he got out there in front of the camera on the podium, and he said, well, in fact we did want Ukraine to look into Democrats and that was part of withholding the aid from that country, millions of dollars in aid.

And when one reporter said to him, hey, you're describing a quid pro quo, he responded and said that happens in foreign policy, get over it.

[10:05:03]

And the last thing, of course, being the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria. We saw a lot of Republicans incredibly angry. Staunch supporter of Trump, Senator Lindsey Graham, was really attacking this policy all week long. And yesterday the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote an op-ed. But I do want to note one thing about that op-ed.

While he did excoriate the idea of taking out U.S. troops from Syria, he never once mentioned the president's name. So clearly going up to the line there but not quite crossing it, not quite directly attacking Trump. But as you said, Francis Rooney, the Republican from Florida, he did go up to that line. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are saying at this point you are not ruling out the possibility that this is an impeachable offense for the president?

REP. FRANCIS ROONEY (R-FL): I don't think you can rule anything out until you know all the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So that's pretty incredible there, clearly saying that he wasn't ruling out impeachment. That's the first time that we've heard this from a GOP congressman. So it's going to be an interesting week, particularly as we have more testimony on Capitol Hill.

BLACKWELL: Kristen Holmes for us at the White House. Kristen, thank you.

Now to new reporting on President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. We've learned that he tried to use his clout with the White House to get Viktor Shokin, a former Ukrainian official, a visa to enter the U.S.

WALKER: Let's go to CNN's Marshall Cohen in Washington with more. Marshall, so tell us more about his efforts to get a visa for Shokin. First off, why was he trying to do that?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, guys. Sources tell CNN that in testimony this week a senior official from the State Department told lawmakers that Rudy Giuliani did press the State Department for a visa for this former Ukrainian prosecutor. The man is Viktor Shokin. He was forced out of his job several years ago during the Obama administration, he claims because of Joe Biden.

And so he was going to bring those allegations to Giuliani. Giuliani wanted him to come into the U.S. so they could sit down and talk. The State Department did not grant that visa, so Giuliani took his case to the White House where he's obviously very close to President Trump. Despite that appeal, though, the State Department never granted a visa to Mr. Shokin. He did not come to the United States.

BLACKWELL: He couldn't visit the U.S., but tell us about the effort that Giuliani made then to actually get the information from Shokin.

COHEN: Sure. They were not -- without the visa, it wasn't the end of the story. And Giuliani got on a skype call with Viktor Shokin where they talked about Joe Biden and the investigation into a company that Joe Biden's son was on the board for.

And Giuliani took those allegations from Shokin of misconduct and corruption by Joe Biden and put those allegations on the airwaves, in op-eds. Of course, it should be clear, there's no allegations of -- there's no proof of wrongdoing by the Bidens.

WALKER: All right, Marshall Cohen, appreciate your reporting. Thank you for that.

I want to bring in Lynn Sweet now. She is the Washington bureau chief for "The Chicago Sun-Times." Lynn, always great to see you.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Good morning.

WALKER: It's incredible what we're learning here, especially as we're seeing how deeply involved Rudy Giuliani reportedly was when it came to digging up dirt on the Democrats, particularly the Bidens. But we're also learning about just how influential he was of a figure in the White House even though he was the president's personal attorney.

SWEET: Well, I think it -- here's what might be useful as we all plunge ahead as to where this story goes with Giuliani. Mulvaney made a point that what's the big deal, the president can appoint who he wants to do whatever. So the point isn't so much if Giuliani was conducting what usually is State Department business outside of the usual lines, NSC, State Department.

Let's keep an eye on what he does, not on whether or not he was employed as a personal attorney or not, because people may think that the president does have some leeway there. But the point here is, what does he do? You talked about how he was trying to use his influence to get someone in the United States to help advance a political aim.

That clearly is something that's questionable. There are stories out there about a potential New York based federal investigation of Giuliani and what he was doing with foreign contacts, whether or not he was trying to use political influence with foreign governments. Those are the things to look for here.

And I think what is remarkable is that finally you have people from within the State Department and that intelligence and government community who are willing to come up with Capitol Hill and testify to what was going on.

[10:10:08]

What's important in all these things as this impeachment unfolds is exactly what happened. And we're finding out more. And Giuliani's role now is so important because he seemed to go beyond the role of personal attorney and as a political emissary. That's what his real role is here.

WALKER: Exactly. Speaking of Mick Mulvaney, Democrats and Republicans, they're still reeling from this stunning admission the other day about a quid pro quo with the Ukrainians, and of course he quickly denied that in a statement. But how much would you say Mick Mulvaney is adding to President Trump's impeachment troubles?

SWEET: If you were just a person who doesn't just hang on every minute of this, and they watched what he said, whatever, you may have the impression that he was good at kind of minimizing all of this by saying get over it, which by the way now is a t-shirt being sold by the Trump reelection committee.

But it is damaging because you still have an admission. He tried to clean it up later. People who give depositions to law enforcement officials get in trouble when they don't think through what they want to say and how they want to say it. So even -- you can't be flip, you can't be offhand. I think part of the reason he got in trouble in that long briefing is that he did try to be a little too flip and maybe just a little, what are you all bothering me with these questions for but I'm happy to take it.

But clearly an admission is an admission. And I think he will have trouble politically within the Democratic House impeachment of walking it back. But never underestimate the power of the president to communicate in diluting whatever might seem that Mulvaney went wrong. The president's powerful ability to communicate via Twitter may make this a different political outcome.

WALKER: That's an interesting point. And yes, that "Get over it" slogan now being a t-shirt. It really does underscore that cavalier attitude of normalizing what we've seen as outrageous before compared to what's going on now. It's really incredible.

We're going to have to leave it there. Lynn Sweet, thank you so much for joining us.

SWEET: Thank you.

WALKER: Well, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggesting that the Russians are grooming Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. We'll tell you how she is responding to those allegations.

And incredible video from a high school in Portland, Oregon, showing the moment after a high school football coach disarmed a student carrying a loaded shotgun.

BLACKWELL: As we head to break, the body of Congressman Elijah Cummings will lie in state in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. capital next week. A formal memorial service is scheduled for Thursday morning for members of Congress and invited guests. A public viewing will follow immediately after.

In lieu of flowers, his family has asked that people donate to the Elijah Cummings Youth Program. And I have to say that I participated in it as a teenager in Baltimore more than 20 years ago, and it was a transformative experience.

He was Maryland's seventh congressional district congressman since 1996, served as the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. He was a key figure that led multiple investigations into President Trump. He died last Thursday -- or this Thursday at 68 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:17:32]

BLACKWELL: A tropical storm is soaking Florida, at least parts of it right now, bringing with it dangerous tornados. We just got video showing a semi being blown over. This happened on the interstate overnight. Allison Chinchar is tracking tropical storm Nestor and the threat of more tornados to come. Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. Damage reports coming in from Polk County, Florida. And again, you've got that area right here, the central and even portions of northern Florida that are under that tornado watch until noon today, so we've still got a couple more hours to go through.

But it's not just Florida. Keep in mind that watch may be expanded as we go through the day, because as the storm slides up the east coast, so do the threats for damaging winds as well as tornados for places like Savannah, Hilton Head, Charleston, even up around Wilmington, North Carolina.

Here's a look at the forecast for this storm. Still sustained winds of 50 miles per hour moving to the northeast at 17 miles per hour. And a lot of heavy rain across the central portion of the state there. Visibility is very poor. You've got downpours, so, again, please take extra time if you are out driving on the roads today. It's a relatively fast-moving storm, which means we expect this to be

back out to sea by tomorrow afternoon. So again, a very rapidly moving storm. This is good news because it doesn't mean that it's going to have a tremendous amount of time to dump rain. But we talked about the tornados. You can see the video right here off to the side of your scene, that tractor-trailer being flipped over.

We know of damage reports to homes as well as a church that was nearby. Again, today is really going to be the cleanup process for those. The National Weather Service has said they will go out, they will survey this area to determine whether or not this was a tornado, and if so what strength rating do they actually give it.

In terms of rain, that's also going to be a big concern not just for Florida but even some other states, even cities further inland. Atlanta, Knoxville, Charlotte, even Washington, D.C., likely to get heavy downpours at times from this storm as it slides to the north and east. Widespread amounts, Victor and Amara, likely about two to four inches, but there will be some spots that could pick up six if not even eight inches of rain before this system finally exits.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thank you.

WALKER: Thanks, Allison.

It wasn't just Tulsi Gabbard. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also accused former Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, of being a Russian asset. Hear how she is responding, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:23:50]

BLACKWELL: Last hour Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate in both the 2012 and 2016 elections, hit back at Hillary Clinton after being accused of being a Russian asset.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a Russian spy?

DR. JILL STEIN, FORMER GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I am not a Russian spy. I think this is a completely unhinged conspiracy theory for which there is absolutely no basis in fact, not for myself and not for Tulsi Gabbard. I think it's really outrageous that Hillary Clinton is trying to promote this crazy idea. You can't just slander people. You have to present some basis in fact. It's a wild and insulting theory, and I think it speaks to Hillary's need to try to explain, perhaps to herself, why her campaign was not successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: All of this is happening as the former secretary of state claims the Russians are grooming Tulsi Gabbard for a third-party run. Clinton says the Russians want the Democrat to run as a third-party candidate in order to push their agenda. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who's currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.

[10:25:05]

She's a favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Gabbard responded on Twitter, calling Clinton the queen of warmongers and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party. CNN political commentator Van Jones weighed in on Clinton's comments. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If you're concerned about disinformation, if you're concerned -- what the Russians do is they spread disinformation and they get us divided against each other. That is just what happened. Just throw out some information, disinformation, smear somebody. She's a former nominee of our party, and she just came out against a sitting U.S. congresswoman, a decorated war veteran, and somebody who's running for the nomination of our party, with just a complete smear and no facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, there are new details this morning about the State Department investigation that went on for several years into Hillary Clinton's emails. Well, that investigation found that there was no deliberate mishandling of classified information.

WALKER: The State Department released that report yesterday, and it is another instance of federal investigators clearing Clinton and her associates of deliberately mishandling classified information. And it wraps up one of the controversies that loomed over the 2016 presidential campaign and election.

BLACKWELL: With us now to discuss, Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, and Evan Siegfried, Republican strategist and commentator and author of "GOP GPS, How to Find the Millenials and Urban Voters the Republican Party Needs to Survive." Good morning to both of you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Evan, let's start here. President Trump just brought up Hillary Clinton's emails alongside the president of Italy just a few days ago. Does this ending of the multiyear investigation deflate the what about her emails diatribe, the rally call? EVAN SIEGFRIED, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND COMMENTATOR: Not exactly.

If you read the report it was very careful it was very careful to say they didn't deliberately mishandle classified information. But everything else about it was deliberate. They deliberately built a home brew server to circumventing public records laws and avoid having to disclose communications that they are legally required to keep on State Department servers.

Further, it was a national security risk because she did not have a whole bunch of protections that would have prevented foreign actors or other malign actors from hacking it, as opposed to the State Department, which has a much better I.T. security apparatus. It was a very deliberate, wrong, and illegal way of going about things. And as a former federal official myself, if I had done that, I would have been fired and possibly prosecuted.

BLACKWELL: Maria?

CARDONA: I can't believe we're relitigating this yet again after there's been so many investigations that have cleared Hillary Clinton of any wrongdoing whatsoever. It's a little ridiculous and, frankly, laughable that Trump is continuing to use this.

Though, Victor, to your question, I don't think he's going stop using it, but it's laughable and hypocritical, because what has his own administration been doing? What have we learned recently that Giuliani and diplomats working for the administration have been communicating on WhatsApp, have been communicating on other apps that are completely insecure when it comes to national security issues.

And we have also learned that Jared Kushner and others in his administration also have been using private email servers. So give me an f-ing break, because this is ridiculous that Trump continues to use this as a foil. But he's not going to stop because he's completely insecure. He knows he's an illegitimate president that was helped by the Russians in getting elected in 2016. And we are seeing his meltdown about it every single day.

BLACKWELL: Let's move on to another topic here, and I want to talk Syria. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote this op-ed for "The Washington Post" published overnight. And I want to read two lines, the first two of it. Withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria is a grave strategic mistake. It will leave the American people and homeland less safe, embolden our enemies, and weaken important alliances. Evan, to you, how does his condemnation after what we've heard from other Republicans on the Hill change this conversation, or does it?

SIEGFRIED: Well, first of all, he's 100 percent right. Trump's decision to willy-nilly pull out of Syria was a strategic blunder which has only enabled Recep Erdogan to go out and invade and hurt our allies. Further, it has hurt our ability to look our allies in the face and say we'll have your back on something. Our credibility with the rest of the world is completely diminished.

[10:30:02] And Mitch McConnell is trying to band-aid a gaping wound right now by standing up and saying we should have gone further than what the House resolution did disapproving of the president's conduct. I think it's also very, very telling that President Trump said he wants out of the Middle East. We don't want any forever wars.

We don't need American troops in the Middle East. Yet in the last two weeks he sent 3,000 more troops to Saudi Arabia. It's completely nonsensical, and there really isn't any sort of ideology governing this foreign policy. It's all kneejerk seat of the pants.

BLACKWELL: Maria, let me come to you. After the debate, the CNN-"New York Times" debate this week, we saw Democrats condemn the president's choice in how he pulled U.S. troops out of Syria. But CNN contributor Peter Beinart has a piece in "The Atlantic" this weekend calling Democrats hypocrites for condemning the president over Syria.

He points to several statements, but this specifically. This is Senator Warren at the ABC debate in September, and this is on Afghanistan. Let's watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have said of Afghanistan, let's help them reach a peace settlement. It is time to bring our troops home, in your words, starting right now. Would you keep that promise to bring the troops home starting right now with no deal with the Taliban?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes. And I'll tell you why. What we're doing right now in Afghanistan is not helping the safety and security of the United States. It is not helping the safety and security of the world. It is not helping the safety and security of Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Pulling them out without a deal with the Taliban and just bringing troops home, would that not, to Peter's point, leave Afghans exposed, Maria?

CARDONA: Well, I will tell you this. I am 100 percent confident that any person in the Democratic primary right now would do a much better job on national security and foreign policy than this president. I agree with Evan that his approach to this is completely kneejerk, and it has nothing to do with keeping America safe. On the contrary, I think it is making America much more unsafe.

BLACKWELL: But to the point, what is Elizabeth Warren and several other Democrats pitching as it relates to Afghanistan that is so different than what we're seeing in northern Syria?

CARDONA: To your point, Victor, well, to your point, again, I guarantee you that if they were going to do that, they would do it with a plan. They wouldn't do it over Twitter. They wouldn't do it from one day to the next. They wouldn't do it because they cut a deal with Turkey's President Erdogan. They wouldn't do it perhaps because they cut a deal with Russia back

in 2016 as payback for having elected President Trump. And they wouldn't do it in a way that would completely betray our allies, the Kurds, who have helped us time and time again and who were the ones who were the majority responsible for essentially decapitating ISIS.

And so, again, I go back to if that is her plan and if that is the plan of Democrats who want to take troops out of Afghanistan or out of the Middle East, they would do it with a plan.

BLACKWELL: Maria --

CARDONA: Plans are something that this president does not understand.

BLACKWELL: Got to wrap it there. Maria Cardona, Evan Siegfried, thank you both.

SIEGFRIED: Thank you.

CARDONA: Thank you, Victor.

WALKER: Federal regulators are demanding answers from Boeing as internal messages reveal employees' concerns about the 737 Max two years before a pair of deadly accidents grounded the planes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:37:41]

BLACKWELL: Police are looking for a man who they say may be a witness to the disappearance of a toddler in Alabama. It's been a week since three-year-old Kamille McKinney, nicknamed "Cupcake," was kidnapped from an apartment complex. That new surveillance video shows the moments before she was abducted. Police say that one of the two children you see here in the red circle, there was McKinney, but the man that walks past them, actually he's in the circle there, police say one is a suspect, the other may have seen something.

WALKER: Children told police a man was handing out candy when little Kamille was taken away in this Toyota SUV. The combined reward now stands at $33,000 for information about the location of McKinney.

Internal messages reveal Boeing pilots knew of, quote, fundamental issues with the 737 Max two years before hundreds were killed in a pair of crashes involving the aircraft. The messages including one pilot's concerns that the plane's stabilization system was, quote, running rampant during a simulation and that he unknowingly lied to regulators about those issues.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about this with CNN Aviation Analyst, Les Abend. He's a retired Boeing 777 captain, also the author of the book "Paper Wings." Les, good morning to you. What do you make of -- and you've read the text messages -- what do you make of this discussion?

LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes, good morning, Victor. For me it's confirmation that this airplane had issues right from the get-go. And we're not just talking the average pilot that made this communication. We're talking a technical pilot with Boeing. I mean he makes some self-deprecating remarks with reference to his flying abilities, but that's very typical of pilots.

But what it says to me is what I've been saying all along since this issue has been happened is that there was no documentation for pilots flying this airplane, let alone the ones that were testing out the systems on this airplane. And you're given a system hasn't been tested, period, and is not getting high marks from some very experienced people at the Boeing corporation.

[10:40:00]

WALKER: According to those messages, one of the pilots called the issues that he was experiencing on the flight simulator egregious, but then he said I unknowingly lied to the FAA and told them these planes were safe to fly, or the MCAS system was safe. But he also said that he didn't believe that the system needed to be included in the pilot manuals.

Does that surprise you that any pilot would say that? Is there any circumstance where it would be permissible to omit such important information in the case of an emergency happening or it not working the way it should?

ABEND: No. For pilots, eliminating something -- a system that works in the background regardless, it's just -- I go with this egregiousness. It's something that we would find -- we find very difficult to deal with. We need to know our airplane. We need to know the functions and the systems of our airplane. And for it to be excluded from manuals, it just -- it's almost criminal to me.

BLACKWELL: A significant loss in confidence in the company. The 737 Max still grounded. The stock price took a hit on Friday. What does Boeing need to do now to restore confidence not only in this aircraft but in the company?

ABEND: Well, I'm sure behind closed doors they're doing some serious P.R. strategy right now because it's just -- when you say the word "Max," it already offers a connotation of an airplane that's troubling or potentially dangerous, let alone the company itself, people losing confidence in flying a Boeing airplane. I've been a Boeing advocate for years, my entire career, and this is even more upsetting to me.

So whatever Boeing is deciding to do, they're going to have to rebrand this airplane. I don't see any other way, like airlines rebranded themselves with different names after serious incidents. It's just -- it's -- to me the public is going to remember this airplane. It can no longer be called the Max in my view.

WALKER: Yes, I think some people will remember the plane even when it is rebranded and follow how it's rebranded and possibly try to avoid that particular model of plane. Les Abend, we appreciate you joining us, sir, thank you.

ABEND: My pleasure. BLACKWELL: Listen, we've got some dramatic video. This is of a high

school football coach disarming a student who was carrying a loaded shotgun. Look at the screen. Back in may a student brought the weapon onto the Park Rose High School campus in Portland. It was loaded with a single round. And Keanon Lowe, who is also a security guard at the school, says his instincts kicked in. He lunged for the gun, took it. And look at this.

WALKER: You can see that there, Lowe continuing to hug the boy as police arrived and other students ran away. Officials say he never pointed the gun at anyone other than himself. Investigators said he made suicidal statements before bringing the gun on campus. He pleaded guilty to gun charges. Authorities says as a part of the deal he will get a mental health and substance abuse treatment. Powerful stuff.

BLACKWELL: All right, he's back on the campaign trail. Senator Bernie Sanders returns today with an important endorsement. He's going to unveil this at his first event since his heart attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:29]

BLACKWELL: Senator Bernie Sanders will be back on the campaign trail today.

WALKER: This afternoon's rally in Queens will be his first since suffering a heart attack over two weeks ago, and he will have a rising progressive star backing him up. CNN's Ryan Nobles is in New York. And Ryan, it seems like a reset of sorts for the campaign today.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's a good way to describe it, Amara. Bernie Sanders has been off the campaign trail for the most part since he suffered that heart attack at the beginning of the month. And what they're going to try and demonstrate here is that he is back and he's back in a big way, and despite the fact that he had this health setback, that he is very much still in this race and is still in it to win.

And he's going to do that by rolling out a huge endorsement from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She's, of course, a rising star, particularly on the progressive left. And that's an area that Bernie Sanders is trying to consolidate.

He's trying to bring the support of the left of the party because he believes that's where the energy is in the party is right now, and he's going to show that with her by his side today. They're also going to do a series of interviews with each other over the weekend to really show that she is going to be an active part of this campaign.

Of course, the other big thing Bernie Sanders is going to try and demonstrate today is that he is feeling good, that his health is on the right track, that he feels much different after having those two stents inserted into his artery, and that he is up for the rigors of a campaign. He did tell us not too long ago that he expected to dial back his

campaign event, not do as many as four or five rallies a day, but his actions are now showing us something different. He now said that he is ready for a vigorous campaign, and this is going to launch a big week of campaign activities for Sanders after this huge rally here in New York.

He heads to Iowa later in the week, and he wants to show these voters that he is prepared for the rigors of this campaign and that he still has a legitimate shot to win. Victor and Amara?

BLACKWELL: All right, we'll be watching. Ryan Nobles, thank you.

It is gameday on the great plains. Coy Wire is in Norman, Oklahoma, for the Sooners' homecoming. Coy?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Victor, Amara. It's a great time to be a Sooner. These folks win and win a lot. An unprecedented four straight big 12 titles, seven Heisman trophy winners, one of them, Billy Sims, joining us after the break.

WALKER: All right, Coy, thank you.

More than 8 million tons of plastic end up in the world's oceans every year. Some forecasts predict by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

[10:50:05]

BLACKWELL: This week's CNN Hero is trying to solve a global problem.

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AFROZ SHAH, CNN HERO: The whole beach was like a carpet of plastic. For the first time in my life I didn't wanting to be near the water because the garbage was like five-and-a-half feet. It's a problem of pollution. It's created by us. And with this in my mind I started to clean the beach. And I told myself it will be difficult for a single man to do it, so I said why not take this personal journey to others.

If this huge ocean is in a problem, we'll have to rise up in huge numbers. When you have a complicated problem, sometimes solutions are simple.

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BLACKWELL: To see what that beach looks like today, go to CNNheroes.com.

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WALKER: The Yankees still have life in the playoffs. A big first inning propelled them against the Astros.

BLACKWELL: Coy Wire is in Norman, Oklahoma, for some college football. Let's start with baseball, though. WIRE: Yes, we'll start with a little baseball. How about those

Yankees? It was a must-win game five for them in New York. Their crowd was a little anxious after the Astros scored a run in the first inning, but then for the first time ever in a postseason game, the Yankees hit two home runs in the first inning.

[10:55:02]

DJ LeMahieu's solo shot was followed by this. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERS)

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WIRE: It was 50,000 fans going buck wild for Aaron Hicks, who's been waiting months for this moment coming off an elbow surgery, a three- run shot off Justin Verlander, his first homerun since July that gave the Yankees the four to one lead that they would maintain the rest of the game. Hicks said afterwards he never dreamed something like this could happen. The Yankees players say now they have the momentum. Game six is tonight. Astros still up three-two in this series.

Now, we are here at the University of Oklahoma, the fifth ranked Sooners. We are with one of their seven Heisman Trophy winners, the great Billy Sims. What makes this place so great?

BILLY SIMS, 1978 HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER: The fans make it greater than ever. Boomer!

WIRE: And we also, Sierra (ph) over here, has a hidden talent. Those little ponies that pull the Sooner schooner, they go something like this.

Oh, my goodness. Let's lead us away, Billy.

SIMS: Boomer!

CROWD: Sooner!

WIRE: Back to you.

BLACKWELL: Things I never thought we'd have on this show. That's one of them.

WALKER: Coy, thank you.

And thank you all for watching.

BLACKWELL: Much more ahead in the next hour of CNN's NEWSROOM. Fredricka Whitfield is up next. Stay with us.

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