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FAA To Conduct Sweeping Safety Review Following Multiple Incidents; Ohio Governor Mike DeWine On East Palestine Derailment; Nikki Haley Announces Her White House Bid; Family of Gabby Petito Suing Family of Her Killer Brian Laundrie for Wrongful Death; Former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to U.N. Nikki Haley Announces She is Running for Republican Presidential Nomination for 2024. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 15, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Again. The Laundries texting them, do you know anything? They did not respond, and they blocked them on Facebook. They said that during that time, that was intentional infliction of emotional distress, and under Florida law, it has to be outrageous behavior, beyond the norms of decency. The Laundries are saying we had no right -- we had no duty to you to have to respond to you. That is our right to stay silent at that moment in time.

This case, if proceeding to trial, they have tried to dismiss it, the Laundries, several times. It has not happened. But it will be fascinating, I think, it's not for the money. It's for the principle involved and what may be discovered.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's fascinating to see if they actually do get that letter and why the date would even matter.

CASAREZ: The FBI had it. And Patrick Reilly has seen it, and it's in the hands of the Laundries' family attorney.

COLLINS: Jean Casarez, we know you'll stay on top of it, and let us know if they do actually get that letter. Thank you for bringing us that report.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

COLLINS: And CNN THIS MORNING continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Some people look at America and see vulnerability. The socialist left sees an opportunity to rewrite history. China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied, kicked around. You should know this about me. I don't put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels.

I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So good morning, everyone. It is a big day for Nikki Haley.

COLLINS: For 2024.

LEMON: For 2024, for Nikki Haley. Poppy is on assignment. So Nikki Haley, she's Donald Trump's first major Republican challenger for 2024. Just hours from now Nikki Haley is going to jumpstart her presidential race with her first campaign speech. Will she call out Trump by name? She didn't do it in the video there. Does she stand a chance, the big question. We have a political, what do we call them here, force standing by to discuss all of this.

COLLINS: Also, in the bigger picture of what 2024 could look like with Trump, his legal headache, is it getting worse, actually, over those classified documents that were found in Mar-a-Lago because the Justice Department is now saying that there could be evidence of a crime. The court, well, they forced Trump's attorney to testify without attorney-client privilege. And what does that mean for the former president's third run?

LEMON: Plus, fish and animals are sick and dying after a toxic train wreck in Ohio earlier this month. Should all of the people living nearby be concerned? Is the air safe to breathe? Is the water safe to drink? We are going to ask Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in just moments. He is going to join us here on CNN.

But we are going to begin in South Carolina where the battle to become the GOP's presidential nominee is getting underway. Nikki Haley is about to give her first campaign speech. Of course, Haley has said in the past that she would never run against her former boss, Donald Trump. Notably, she did not call out Trump by name in her announcement video yesterday, but she did point out that he lost two popular elections. There is still plenty of other big GOP names, if you could fit them all on the screen, at least the faces, that may be announcing a run coming up. But it could be weeks or even months before the Republican field fully takes shape.

COLLINS: So as we wait to see what the Republican field looks like, let's discuss with our panel. Charlotte Alter is "TIME" senior correspondent and the author of "The Ones We've Been Waiting For, How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America." Also with us, CNN political analyst and "New York Times" national politics reporter and host of a great podcast, Astead Herndon, and Chapin Fay, who is a Republican strategist at Actum and has worked on various Republican campaigns, most recently Representative Lee Zeldin.

LEMON: Political powerhouses, I think.

COLLINS: I think it's safe to say you guys have enough experience to stay here and talk about this. So Nikki Haley is now in the race. She is the first one to get in, to challenge Trump. What do you think it's going to look like? She made it through day one with no nickname, but it's -- ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think that's going to last. But the thing that Nikki Haley has to worry about, not necessarily Donald Trump, but Reorienting a whole Republican party. That's a bio, a campaign announcement that's forward looking, that tries to be optimistic, that talks about embracing a new generation of Republican leadership.

That's not where the Republican base has been. The energy driving the Republican base that culminated in Donald Trump but predates Donald Trump has been more grievance driven, has been more backwards looking. And so Nikki Haley has a big task on her hands. She not only needs to convince them that she is the person of the candidates to lead the party. She needs to convince the voters to have a complete change of heart about what is their driving political ideology.

LEMON: OK, so then how does one do that? In her campaign speech, or in the video, she says we are not going to let the socialists rewrite, or whatever.

[08:05:02]

That's kind of harkening back to a Donald Trump message, a Ron DeSantis message. So how do you reorient and move forward by still looking back and still having the albatross of Donald Trump hanging?

CHARLOTTE ALTER, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, "TIME": I think that one of the things she said in her announcement video that really stuck out to me which you mentioned earlier is that Republicans have lost seven out of the eight -- out of the last eight popular votes. And even just acknowledging that is a step away from where much of the party has been in trying to essentially argue they didn't lose these elections when they did.

And so acknowledging that the Republican Party has a persuasion problem and has to work on actually persuading voters who have not been inclined to vote for them to consider voting for them rather than just beating these elections over the head and insisting they won when they didn't, even that is a major departure from where the Republican Party has been.

COLLINS: And it's such a dig at Trump, because you know the idea of him losing the popular vote is something that drives him crazy. I wonder what you think, though, of what it's saying, basically like she is messaging to the Republican base that doesn't exist, that she's got this message about a new generation of leadership. Do you think that that's effective? Will she be a formidable opponent?

CHAPIN FAY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, ACTUM: I think she will be a formidable opponent, but I agree with both my colleagues. It's an incredibly narrow path to victory here. Republican primaries have always skewed conservative, the conservative candidate always has an edge. And recently they've skewed Trump, right. You saw last cycle a lot of Trump candidates won their primaries. A lot of them were close.

But I think that she did what she had to do. In politics, you want to be first. You always want to be first. She is out first. It is going to be difficult to persuade the Republican base that she is the candidate. But the good news about running for president is that it's a big platform. She will have a voice, she will have a voice at least until it gets messy or more chaotic when more candidates get in. And she did what she had to do, which is to -- right now she is biography candidate, personality candidate. She's a moderate woman of color who has a pretty good resume. So she has to go out and make that case that that's the way forward. But I do agree it's going to be a tough ask.

LEMON: Just a couple things. She does a have good resume. I was telling Kaitlan that yesterday, and I said it this morning, but there are other issues that we will talk about and that people are going to ask, more people than just me, right? But you said she is appealing to a Republican base that doesn't exist? Did you say that?

FAY: I believe my colleague said that.

WHITFIELD: Why do you say that?

HERNDON: This is the challenge with being a consensus candidate, which I think she is trying to do. I think she is trying to have a foot in all lanes. She has the history with Donald Trump. She has the kind of forward-looking nature. But there is a really thin line between creating a consensus between all the wings and all of the wings feeling like you are not really a part of them.

And to his point, the primary really skews about authenticity, it skews conservative, and it really prioritizes people who speak the language of the base. I am just saying she is not a natural fit for that. That does not mean she can't convince the base that other things like electability and beating Donald Trump matter more.

LEMON: But if you look at a party that says it wants to widen the tent, right, or broaden the tent, right, and you've got a woman of color in the Republican Party who has a good resume, she was ambassador to the U.N., whatever, governor of South Carolina. OK, so having her foot in two things. So she removed the flag, but only after Dylann Roof, right, this horrible tragedy that happened at the church. And then she is saying, she talks about, what she is going to be questioned about is why she said one thing one day and then another thing the other day. When she took the flag down, she said that it was a symbol of heritage for some people, but yet she took it down. How is she going to square those circles?

HERNDON: That's my point is that because she has often been seen to be following where the political winds are going, it has created a sense of questions among a base who has seen her compromised in some instances, and also among some that have seen her play to a Donald Trump base in some instances. And so when you are asking in the Republican primary who is going to be able to siphon off the right amount of voters in what could be a very crowded race, she not only has -- she has a play for a lot of folks, but is she going to be top of any of those groups' list is going to be the difficult part.

LEMON: Just one more thing. She was not an election denier, but yet she said she wouldn't support election deniers, but then she campaigned for Don Bolduc and also supported Herschel Walker. So -- FAY: So that cuts both ways. You're both absolutely right. She is going to have to answer these questions about why she's on one side of an issue and another side of an issue, which, as we all know in politics, is never good. But also she is one of those candidates who can go into like a Trump supported room and talk about how she was in the Trump administration, for example. Then she can go to a moderate room and talk about how she is the moderate way forward, woman. She made that a big deal the other day in her announcement, which is very smart. She's the only woman, I think, Republican woman currently being mentioned.

[08:10:00]

And then the other point I'd like to make is that all non-Trump presidential candidates benefit from more candidates being in, right, because then -- so her path really I think is going to wind up being moderates, which is going to be difficult. But, for example, if Governor DeSantis and President Trump are fighting for the same conservative Trumpian base, that may -- this never really works. I talk about this all the time. I don't know that it ever works in reality, but she may be able to slide up the middle that way.

COLLINS: But that remains to be seen. We'll see what that looks like, because Trump does have a pretty firm grip on that part of it. But what you mentioned there about Nikki Haley in her announcement that she is a woman, the first woman of color. Not very many women have sought the Republican nomination. And the other thing that I am thinking about here is Trump's response, because he was already referring to her as overly ambitious. It reminded me of the attacks that he had on Hillary Clinton when he ran against her. And I wonder if that could potentially backfire on him, how he is talking about her as a female candidate, not just a candidate against him.

ALTER: One of the things that we know about Donald Trump is that he loves to attack and belittle anybody who challenges him. And one of the things that we know about women in politics is that because of just the latent sexism in our society, a lot of those attacks tend to stick to women better than they stick to men. And so I do think that Trump has had a lot of success in attacking and belittling women who run against him, and I guess it remains to be seen whether that's going to stick here.

One thing I do want to say to Chapin's point is that I am not sure I agree, because I think that one of the things we saw in the midterms is that when there were primaries where there was one candidate that was endorsed by Trump and then one opponent, typically that opponent had -- did a little better. But when there were multiple candidates who split the anti-Trump vote, then the Trump endorsed candidate normally came out on top.

COLLINS: That's a really good point. I guess the question is when Trump is going after Nikki Haley, you're a Republican advisor to his campaign, what do you say to him about that?

FAY: I think the reality is, and maybe I'm being optimistic or hopeful, I think those types of tactics effectiveness are waning, maybe slower than we would like. It didn't work in 2020. It worked to great effect in 2016, to our surprise, right, to some, no surprise. But I think it's waning. I would advise him -- and it seemed like he did it in his response. I actually saw his response as a little reserved. His campaign official response --

COLLINS: He said he wished her luck.

FAY: Yes. So I think maybe his advisors are trying to get him to run a more traditional campaign this time. I do agree with Charlotte, sort of counterintuitive to what I said before, but multiple candidates also helps Donald Trump being the frontrunner. And if he consolidates all his support, they're all going to be fighting for the same votes. That being said, I do think a candidate like Ron DeSantis is going to be fighting for the same votes that Trump is, so it's going to be interesting how this plays out. But I do -- it looks like he may be headed towards a more traditional campaign, though he is Donald Trump, and I don't know if he will be able help it.

COLLINS: Famous last words said, Astead.

HERNDON: I think Donald Trump knows that Nikki Haley is not his chief problem in this race. Donald Trump --

LEMON: Are you sure about that?

HERNDON: -- has a Ron DeSantis problem. And Donald Trump has other issues even among the --

LEMON: Let me be a contrarian here, because at first, I was like, oh, Nikki Haley -- but think about it. Because I've talked to you about social issues and issues as it relates to race, right, especially you have a woman who is a person of color who might be able to appeal to a more moderate faction of the Republican Party. I think there is a lane for her if she plays it correctly. Do you think that she can, having worked in the Trump administration, the Confederate flag or whatever, all that, do you think that there is an appeal for minorities and maybe some independents and maybe even some Democrats for Nikki Haley?

HERNDON: We have seen Republicans increasingly recruit minority candidates in the last midterms, and I think in the kind of Trump era, there has been an embrace of women and people of color who can say that message. I think that's also a problem for Nikki Haley. There is not just a choice between identity and kind of Trumpism anymore. There is a growing class of Republicans who reflect a more diverse communication of that same type of political message. And so that's going to be her issue is how she makes identity and the political message both work at the same time.

LEMON: Trumpism is identity politics.

HERNDON: We know that. We know that.

FAY: Yes, but traditional identity politics and Republican politics typically doesn't work, with the base at least. So it may be more difficult for her than anticipated.

COLLINS: We'll find out. That's what we do.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Thank you all for being here. Very smart analysis.

LEMON: That is true. That was a morning cup of coffee right there. Got us going. Thank you, guys.

COLLINS: All right, also this morning, we are tracking acting FAA administrator -- there is not someone permanently leading that Federal Aviation Administration. Billy Nolen, though, has announced a sweeping safety review after a string of scary incidents. There's also a pressing question about a pair of recent near collisions on U.S. runways.

[08:15:00]

A commercial flight and a FedEx cargo plane came as close as a hundred feet in Austin, Texas just 10 days ago. Investigators say that the pilot actually gets the credit for averting disaster there because that happened just weeks after. Remember that Delta flight that was forced to abort takeoff. When an American Airlines jet crossed an active runway in New York, they are still investigating that. And then of course, remember last month when the FAA was forced to calls, that ground stop holding all departures across the nation because of a computer outage. That was the breakdown that forced the first nationwide departure grounding since 9/11. The FAA is review will try to identify other similar incidents. It's worth noting that President Biden's permanent pick to lead the agency, as we mentioned, has been stalled in Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: When you look at that animation, you put it in the context that is frightening. Frighteningly close.

COLLINS: I don't want to be on that plane.

LEMON: Yes. Concerns about toxic contamination are growing in Ohio after a fiery train wreck earlier this month. Some are complaining about headaches and feeling sick. And the state says more than 3500 fish have died. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, we're going to ask him, what is being done to help the residents in East Palestine. He's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, I want you to look at this and imagine if this was where you live. This is what a stream looks like near the site of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Look at all those dead fish. The state's Department of Natural Resources says 3500 Small fish have died, because of the derailment and release of toxic chemicals. Residents are saying that they're getting headaches, and sore throats. And tonight, the mayor will hold a town hall, to hopefully answer their questions. Remember at this, the rail train carried several dangerous chemicals, experts are most concerned about the Vinyl chloride.

[08:20:07]

Emergency workers had to vent the tankers, spill the Vinyl chloride into the trench, and then, burn it off. That chemical can cause dizziness, sleepiness, and headaches. It has been linked to an increased risk of liver, brain, lung, and blood cancer. Some residents have been told to drink bottled water until testing is complete. Even the governor says that's what he would do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): I think that I would be drink in the bottled water. And I would be continuing to find out what the tests were showing as far as the air. I would be alert and concerned, but I think I would probably be back in my house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, there you see Governor Mike DeWine, there in our big wall this morning. Thank you, for joining us. Governor.

DEWINE: Thank you.

LEMON: First of, we're sorry that you're having to deal with this, you the residents are having to deal with this. My question straight of to you is, can you say with absolute certainty that the residents of East Palestine are safe?

DEWINE: What we're trying to do is provide them every day with the information, and we started testing, you know, the air -- the air has remained good, we will continue to test every single day. Even when the controlled release was done, you know, we told people in a certain area they needed to leave. And outside that area, you know, we never saw a really significant change in the air at all. But we're going to continue to do that as far as the water, you know, the fish that were killed -- were killed very soon after the initial train crash occurred.

We continue to monitor the water in different streams as it goes out. And we did get a test back late yesterday of the water in the village. And the first well that we tested, was the water was fine. We expect to get the next results back today, we'll make those available as well. Out of an abundance of caution, we told people, and have told people, you know, yes, use a bottle of water, you know, don't take a chance waiting to --

LEMON: It sounds like you're saying you're not sure of those (INAUDIBLE)

DEWINE: -- get the test -- the test back. Look, at what I said yesterday, I would be back there if I was living in the community. Look, we're doing testing in the -- in the -- with the air -- the air has been safe. It continues to be safe. You know, the drinking -- the drinking water that comes into the system, we think is deep wells, we think it's safe. But we told people out of abundance of caution, until we get the test back. You know, you should drink bottled water. And we're getting those tests back, the first one came back, indicated that the water was in fact safe.

So, all we can do is give people the facts and give them the test. We've had people on the scene from The Ohio EPA, the U.S. EPA, we've had the Health Department there, Local Health Department, the State Health Department. We've been on the scene since the crash actually occurred and continue to you know, tell people exactly what we know.

COLLINS: But governor, what would you say to residents who are saying, you know, if I'm being told by my governor to drink bottled water, is it really safe to go back?

DEWINE: Were testing the air and the air continues to be safe, it has been safe all the way through. The water, what we've told them is just what I said, which is that we think these deep wells are fine, that they're not going to have a problem. But we can't tell them that until the tests come back. And so, waiting for the test, we've advised drink bottled water, it has been supplied to people, we suggest that they drink that. But we got the first test back from the first well, that tested fine.

We think we'll get the test back of the second, third fourth, well, we think they're going to be fine. But we don't know until we get that back. So, again, total transparency, we're testing as we test, we'll tell people exactly what we find. But, you know, we think -- they think that it's been controlled, you know, in regard to the -- to the water. And, you know, again, anybody who's got a private well, you know, we've told them, sign up, we'll test that no charge. And we'll be able to tell you very quickly whether that water is in fact OK.

COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE) some business owners in East Palestine residents they filed lawsuits against Norfolk Southern, saying that the company was negligent. And that they say that the company should fund court- supervised medical screenings for serious illnesses that could be caused by this exposure. Do you agree with that, that the company should be paying for those screenings?

[08:250:02]

DEWINE: Look the company should pay for everything, and, you know, I talked to their CEO yesterday, I said look -- I said there's concern with some people at East Palestine, that you're on weep (PH) before you get the cleanup done. You're going to weep before the problems are dealt with. And, you know, he pledged to me, we're going to stay. We're going to hold them to what they said, we're going to hold them accountable. They are responsible for this, they're responsible for a very serious train wreck that occurred, with some very toxic material. So, we're going to hold their feet to the fire, we're going to make sure they pay for everything as we move forward.

COLLINS: Governor, thank you, for joining us this morning. Before we let you go, you know, on these really important issues. Also, recently at a news conference that you were hosting on this issue, a NewsNation reporter Evan Lambert, was arrested. I know you've called for the Attorney General to drop the charges against him. But can you make sure that no reporters are ever arrested at a press conference that you're holding, again, simply for reporting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, he was trying to cover this --

DEWINE: Yes, sure. I mean, look, I've held over 500 press conferences. Since I've been governor of the State of Ohio. We've never had an incident -- never had a problem, a very, very accessible. This reporter who was reporting live from the back of -- back of the room, never should have been asked to stop, never should have been told to be quiet. That was a big, big mistake. And you know, the person who did that I've explained to them, and I'm sure that he'll never do that again.

LEMON: I just one quick thing before you go. Nikki Haley, what do you think?

DEWINE: She's very attractive candidate. You know, I think she's a very, very strong speaker, got a great resume. But I think it's much too early, you know, there's going to be a lot of people run, and we'll just see how it plays out.

LEMON: Yes, well, that was a very sort of judicious way of putting --

COLLINS: You must to see in our graphic.

LEMON: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Of all the people who could have possibly throw their hats into the ring. Thank you, Governor.

COLLINS: Thanks, Governor.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

DEWINE: Thank you.

COLLINS: All right, also this morning, we've been tracking this, you know, it's been nine days since that devastating earthquake in Turkey and Serya. Somehow though rescuers are still finding people alive. We're going to share some of their incredible stories, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)