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NTSB Says No Evidence of Engine Failure in Deadly Kobe Bryant Crash; Candidates Spar Tonight in Final Debate Before New Hampshire; Key Impeachment Witness Vindman Fired from White House Job; Lack of Diverse Nominees Overshadows Sunday's Oscars. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 07, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Investigators say that there is no evidence of engine failure and as you can see here, we're now getting these new pictures showing just how low the visibility was right before the crash. How low that ceiling was for this pilot.

CNN aviation analyst Justin Green is with me who was a Marine Corps helicopter pilot before going to law school. So I appreciate you rushing in. First things first, just your assessment, just -- guys, let's throw those photos back up and you can just see how low the ceiling was and how I image disorienting that must have been for a pilot.

JUSTIN GREEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Right, and so, the pilot took off under special VFR rules, visual flight rules. So he was flying basically using his eyes to look outside to orient himself. So when you do that and you encounter clouds what could end up happening is you get to the point where you can't orient yourself by looking outside the airplane.

BALDWIN: So then try and use the instruments.

GREEN: Right. There is a procedure what you do if you inadvertently encounter IMC conditions, instrument flight rules conditions, is you can turn around. You basically get on your instruments, conduct a standard rate turn, 180 degrees and try to fly out of the clouds. Or in this case it looks like the pilot may have tried to start a climb on instruments and perhaps with a plan to contact air traffic control and get an IFR, instrument flight rules clearance.

The key is that you have to stay aware. You have to stay oriented and what can happen when you transition from visual rules to instrument rules or visual flight to instrument flight you can get disoriented in the same way that, you know, we have had some very famous accidents before with similar circumstances.

BALDWIN: With this kind of helicopter, I've been reading so much about how this could have happened and I was reading that a lot of times with this kind of huge, you know, helicopter that various folks out to oil rigs or a lot of VIPs, it's a fancy helicopter. A lot of times you have two pilots, you can totally go with just one. Is it rare to have one pilot in a situation like this or not necessarily?

GREEN: It's not rare in this type of operation.

BALDWIN: OK. Just to take people from point A to point B.

GREEN: Yes, point A to point A. Obviously, a second set of eyes, second set of hands in the cockpit would most likely make it more, you know, safer, especially if a pilot succumbs to spatial disorientation. If one pilot does the other pilot can say I got so the aircraft, I have the helicopter and take control of it.

Two pilots would be a great idea. The FAA allowed the one pilot operation of this aircraft and it could actually have played a role in what happened, but that's kind of speculation at this point.

BALDWIN: OK. Justin Green, thank you very much. And again, just to remind everyone, his wife Vanessa told everyone that there will be now she referred to it as a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and the victims on 2/24, February 24th, a memorial at the Staples Center.

Right now most of the Democrats in the race for 2020 are preparing for a big debate tonight. So we are just a few days away from the New Hampshire Primary. We will take you there live with three key things to watch when they take the stage. We will be right back.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are just hours away from the final Democratic debate before next Tuesday's New Hampshire Primary. And today Senator Bernie Sanders was one of the few candidates who actually made any public appearances this morning at St. Anselm College the site of tonight's debate. The Vermont lawmaker went against rival Pete Buttigieg who holds a very slim lead over Sanders after the Iowa caucuses. Sanders started by reading some news headlines about the former South Bend Mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm reading some headlines from newspapers about Pete Buttigieg. Pete Buttigieg has most exclusive billionaire donors of any Democrat. I like Pete Buttigieg, nice guy. But we are in a moment where billionaires control not only our economy, but our political life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just in the last hour, Sanders kept up his attacks on Buttigieg's donors tweeting this election is fundamentally about whose side you are on, #Petesbillionaires.

CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston is in Concord, New Hampshire, although you're from Massachusetts so you would say Concord, New Hampshire.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Of course it's Concord.

BALDWIN: Concord where you just met with New Hampshire's Secretary of State. What can you tell us?

PRESTON: Yes, Brooke, I just met with William Gardner he is the protector of the New Hampshire Primary. He just went through and has -- went through an estimate of how many votes he thinks are going to be cast on Tuesday evening.

He thinks it's going to be about 420,000 ballots will be cast across both primaries, 292,000 in the Democratic Primary, 128,000 in the Republican Primary. Basing this estimate on, of course, what they have seen in the past and what they've seen over the past couple weeks coming into this election.

You know, interestingly enough he says that this is going to be the most votes cast or at least he's predicting when an incumbent is running for reelection and of course President Donald Trump is running for reelection, Brooke.

[10:40:00]

So the Secretary of State right now is also telling me that they are confident they will not run into any problems that they have seen out in Iowa. In fact, it probably won't be a very late night -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. Knocking on wood. The debate tonight, my friend, very high stakes for Joe Biden and also Senator Elizabeth Warren. Tell me what the three things are that you're going to be watching for this evening.

PRESTON: All right. Let's go backwards. Elizabeth Warren, will she focus any of her attacks on Bernie Sanders? The fact of the matter is where she's

losing support is where Bernie Sanders is getting support, they're fishing off the same pier into the progressive pool. Will we see Elizabeth Warren try to get back some of that momentum, try to take a little piece out of Bernie Sanders?

Joe Biden, will he change who he is as a person? It goes against his better judgment to go on the attack of people, but the fact of the matter is his poor showing in Iowa, the reason why he has to do here well as he heads into South Carolina, will he go on the attack?

And then interestingly enough, what's going to happen to Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders? They're the front runners right now. We saw Bernie Sanders just a moment ago as you played went on the attack against Pete Buttigieg.

The fact of the matter is if they don't attack each other now, Brooke, are they going to be able to attack Donald Trump if they are the nominee in November? What we saw in Iowa, nice Iowa, is now going to turn to cold biting politics just like we're seeing right now as the snow is falling all around me -- Brooke. BALDWIN: Enjoy it. Mark Preston, thank you very much.

Coming up next, she normally shies away from the spotlight, but first lady Melania Trump is planning to hit the campaign trail as the 2020 election grows closer. Details on where we will see her.

[15:45:00]

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BALDWIN: First lady Melania Trump has been known to stay out of the spotlight. When it comes to the President's reelection efforts though CNN has new reporting that she is poised to play a much larger role now that 2020 is in full swing.

And CNN White House reporter Kate Bennett is with me now. She just published a book on the first lady, and so here we go, "Free Melania" is the name of it. Kate, what are you expecting from Melania Trump in the coming weeks?

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, we've heard that she's head lining two fundraising events for the Trump 2020 campaign which is not unusual nor should it be for a first lady. They're typically very much involved in campaigning for their husbands and for reelection.

Except Melania Trump who doesn't do anything that Melania Trump doesn't want to do, as we learned the first time around. She didn't do a lot of campaigning. So for her to be sort of the headline name, the headline draw indicates that she is going to be spending more time on the campaign trail for 2020. Which our reporting shows as well.

It seems like she wants to have a bigger profile, that she's perhaps more comfortable in front of the spotlight. And I think this is an indication that although she spent most of the campaign last time taking care of her young son who was 10 at the time, and this time around she wants a bigger role. And that's -- that's a new thing for Melania Trump.

You know, we saw her, Brooke, at the kickoff for Trump's campaign, she did one rally back this summer and so we might be seeing more of her at these rallies and private fundraisers.

BALDWIN: We'lI watch for that, Kate, thank you.

I've got to pivot now to some breaking news we're also getting here out of Washington. We have just learned that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, one of the key witnesses in the impeachment hearings, has now been fired at the White House. So Kaitlan Collins, you're our White House correspondent. My goodness, that was fast. What happened?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This was the move we've been expecting since about last night hearing it could be imminent and essentially any day now. And we are being told that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman who of course testified in President Trump's impeachment inquiry has been escorted out of the White House grounds by security and told that his services are no longer needed.

We're told that his brother who was also an attorney for the National Security Council went with him. It is unclear if that same message was delivered to him as well, Brooke. But we are now getting a statement from Vindman's attorney. I'm going to read it to you and in the statement, they say that he was escorted out of the White House where he is dutifully served his country and his President. He does so having spoken publicly once and only pursuant to a subpoena from the United States Congress. There is no question in the mind of any American why this man's job is over. Why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House.

They say Lieutenant Colonel Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His attorney goes on to say his attorney -- his honor, has a commitment to right, frighten the powerful. During his decades of service to his country Vindman has served quietly but dutifully and has served with honor. He came into the public eye only when subpoenaed to testify before Congress and he did what the law demanded.

They say in recent months many entrusted with power in our political system have cowered out of fear and yet a handful of men and women not endowed with prestige or power but equipped only with a sense of right born out of years of quiet service to their country made different choices.

They go on to essentially say that they believe the truth has cost Lieutenant Colonel Vindman his job. In this lengthy statement they say he leaves the White House today but we must not accept the departure of truth, duty and loyalty that he represents. And they essentially end with this, Brooke. If we allow truthful voices to be silenced, if we ignore their warnings eventually there will be no one left to warn us.

Quite a statement from Vindman's attorney there. Now that he has been pushed out of his job at the National Security Council months before he was supposed to leave.

[15:50:00]

We should remind our viewers that he came into this job, it's typically a one-year post in the summer of July 2018. He was asked to stay on for two years. So he was expected to be in the National Security Council until July 2019.

But after he did testify going forward because he was on the President's July call with the Ukrainian leader, we were told his duties were actually significantly reduced when he returned to his job. As were his brother's who did not testify but of course was someone that Vindman testified he had discussed his concerns about that the President said on that July call. And now he has left his job, and he is no longer here.

Of course, there are going to be questions and there are going to be critics raising their concerns believing that this is obviously direct retribution for that testimony. And in this statement, Brooke, you see them drawing a direct line between the two. And of course, the President earlier, when asked about Vindman leaving all but confirmed our reporting that he was expected to be pushed out of his job in the coming days.

And we should note one question is what will the National Security Adviser, Robert O'Brien have say about this? It doesn't appear we've gotten a statement from him yet but we will let you know if we do.

BALDWIN: I appreciate that and I'm so glad you read the Vindman statement for us, Kaitlan. You know, talking to Elie Honig, last hour, a former federal prosecutor, he said this is textbook witness retaliation. Kaitlan, thank you. Much more on those concerns of course regarding the Lieutenant Colonel coming up.

[15:55:00]

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BALDWIN: Hollywood's biggest night, the Academy Awards is this Sunday, preparations are under way to see who takes home this Oscar. But once again the lack of diversity in the nominees is a headliner. No female director nods, few if any actors of color, and the best picture nominations feature mainly white actors.

The Academy is fully aware of the problem, they've taken some steps to address it. And yet again, here we are. Rahsaan Harris, President and CEO of the Emma Bowen Foundation is with me. He co-authored this great piece in "Time Magazine" with the headline. "Everyone Knows About Hollywood's Lack of Representation. This Woman Fought to Remedy It More Than 50 Years Ago."

So, Rahsaan, thank you for coming in.

RAHSAAN HARRIS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, EMMA BOWEN FOUNDATION: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: So, Emma Bowen, the foundation, what -- what would the founders think of this diversity issue in Hollywood?

HARRIS: Well, first and foremost, Emma Bowen was a hidden figure but the impact of her work is in plain sight for everybody to see.

BALDWIN: She was doing this years ago.

HARRIS: Years ago. So any time you see an intern of color on the set of CNN or you might not have known the executive producer of "A Star Is Born," or "Just Mercy," and Emma Bowen alum, that's an Executive Vice President at Warner Media at Warner Brothers.

The founders think there's a little bit of progress, and you always have that hope and look for the progress but there's so much work to be done. So obviously with the nominations, it's not where we want it to be but we need to keep pushing and keep putting people in the places that can make decisions so we that can get to where we want to be.

BALDWIN: Yes. You cite a study in this "Time" piece, 2017 study that shows box office figures are higher when movies have diverse casts. So why do you think Hollywood still has this inclusion problem if money talks?

HARRIS: Money talks but fear is a powerful force. So sometimes when people are afraid, they don't necessarily work in their best interests. There might be fear to reach out to a different community that you don't necessarily know as much, so staying where it's comfortable. What's close, what's safe is what you might bank on even though there's a much higher upside by reaching out to different markets that might be domestically here, but in Africa, in Asia, in South America. You know, that's where real money comes in and where new possibilities are realized.

BALDWIN: Tell me a film or two that you love that you wish had been nominated for X or Y that people need to know about?

HARRIS: Well, first and foremost, "Harriet" was recognized but on a smaller scale than it needed to be. That the whole story of someone that gets to the promised land, the freedom, so to speak. But yet and still kind of sublimes their privilege to go back to help others is a universal story that I think we can all benefit from. We all have privilege but if we take a moment to think about what bigger impact we have. If we take risks for ourselves to help the larger good and that would be amazing.

There are also tons of other things out there. I saw "Dolomite" on Netflix and Eddie Murphy did a great job. I didn't see "Hustlers" but I heard Jennifer Lopez did an amazing job, and her bob at the Super Bowl --

BALDWIN: Yes, I was about to say we got a little --

HARRIS: -- and the message that he did there was pretty incredible on showing the rising tide of people of color and Latinos in particular in this country. So I think there are a lot of voices that need to be heard that aren't. And hopefully as people get into the decision- making spaces, they'll take those risks so they can see the upside of taking those risks.

BALDWIN: I'm so glad you came on today. Thank you very much for you and your voice, President and CEO, the Emma Bowen Foundation. Know here name, Emma Bowen, thank you very much.

HARRIS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

And that does it for me here on this Friday afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's go to Washington, and "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Vengeance is mine sayeth the Trump.