Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
China thinks War with U.S. is Inevitable; Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Seven States; Bill Nelson is Interviewed about NASA's Moon Mission. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired April 03, 2023 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you.
Don.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A good question, Poppy, why do you want to be president? Perfect question.
Thank you very much for that.
A frightening statement from a top U.S. general. Why he says that he believes China thinks war with the United States is, quote, inevitable.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the Virginia teacher who was shot by one of her six-year-old students has now filed a lawsuit against the school. Her allegations ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: All right, welcome back.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, says that he believes China has already surmised that war with the United States is inevitable, but the United States could potentially lower that risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: And my analysis of China is that at least their military and perhaps others have come to some sort of conclusion that war with the United States is inevitable.
I don't believe war is inevitable. I don't think it's imminent. But I do think that we need to be very, very pragmatic and cautious going forward and we will reduce the likelihood of war if we remain really, really strong relative to China.
[08:35:07]
And China knows that we have the will to use it if necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: CNN's Natasha Bertrand is joining us live this morning from the Pentagon.
Natasha, these comments were really notable coming from Milley. Obviously, you know, he's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff only for several more months, but he was talking about lowering the rhetoric when it comes to China. A notable comment there.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Very notable, Kaitlan. And it's something that the chairman has been saying, essentially that China believes, according to the U.S. intelligence, that war with the United States is going to be, quote, inevitable. And that is because, again, according to Chairman Milley, there is a sense in the Chinese government that the Chinese president wants their military to be able to take over the island of Taiwan by the year 2027. And so what Milley believes and what the U.S. military tends to believe is that that is going to potentially take place, that the Chinese are going to try to absorb Taiwan militarily here.
So what Milley has been saying is that the U.S. needs to prepare Taiwan for that possibility, right? And he added in those remarks that he believes the U.S. actually needs to speed up its shipment of weapons and arms to Taiwan in order to prepare them for that possibility.
But, again, he is saying all of this as a hypothetical. He believes it is important to get Taiwan ready for this possibility, but that he does not necessarily believe it is inevitable. However, as the U.S. military has said repeatedly, and as Biden has said, the U.S., of course, is prepared to come to Taiwan's defense if China does try to make a move on it, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes. And we should also point out that Kevin McCarthy has just confirmed he will be meeting with the president of Taiwan on Wednesday in California. We'll be watching that.
Natasha Bertrand, thank you.
LEMON: And new this morning on CNN, Abby Zwerner, the Virginia teacher who was shot by her six year old student, is suing the staff at Richneck Elementary School for $40 million in damages for failing to take action when there were concerns the boy had a firearm the day of the shooting. The lawsuit alleges that the school administrators and the school board were also aware of the child's history of random violence, including strangling a teacher while in kindergarten, and that his parents refused to place him in special education classrooms.
This morning, Zwerner's lawyers spoke to NBC explaining who this lawsuit is against, and why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The allegations are, and we believe the facts will support, the fact that they knew that they had three complaints, and then eventually a teacher comes down there and says, one of the students has actually seen the gun. At that point in time you have a ticking time bomb in the school and the school failed to do anything about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what they've maintained up until today, that that is just part of the job. It's an assumption of the job that a first grade teacher is going to be shot by their own students, a six-year-old. That is unacceptable. That's outrageous. And that's not what happened here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I need to tell you that CNN reached out to the attorney for the Newport News School System, the private attorney for the former principal, and city of Newport News Monday morning. They did not receive a response.
HARLOW: Well, communities across the south and the Midwest are facing huge cleanup after just devastating tornadoes ripped through the region. We'll take you live next to Arkansas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:41:43]
COLLINS: You can see the damage there in Arkansas as authorities this morning are warning that more extreme weather is on the way. A monster storm system spawned more than 50 tornadoes across the south and Midwest in recent days, killing at least 32 people with winds of up to 165 mph. You can see here, the storms flattened homes, brought down trees and power lines and left debris everywhere.
CNN's Derek Van Dam is live in Wynne, Arkansas.
Derek, I mean, just to see what is behind you is remarkable in and of itself. What are you hearing from people on the ground there?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, that the moment that the tornado came through, it changed their lives in a matter of seconds. It's really incredible to think that the threat of more severe weather and tornadoes just weighs so heavily on the residents of Wynne, Arkansas, that was damaged so badly.
This actually used to be a home. We know that it's not just in Arkansas, but they're waking up to so much heartache across Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois as well.
And this home is incredible. We're going to get to a story about it in just one second. But I want you to see -- I spoke to a resident, Jessie Wilson, who lives in the apartment complex behind me. And she actually had shrapnel from this Grace First Baptist Church that flew across the road and hit into her window, splatting -- smashing the window around her as she slept. And listen to her harrowing encounter as she stepped outside to survey the damage and what she noticed with her neighbor's home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSIE WILSON, SURVIVED TORNADO IN WYNNE, ARKANSAS: She was looking around. She was looking around. And then all of a sudden she said, where's my mother? She said, where is my mother? She said, I can't find my mama. She started calling mama, mama, and she started calling her name. And when they found her up under that board, she was smashed. She was dead. It was just horrible. Her daughter just started screaming and hollering and it was horrible. It was horrible.
VAN DAM: Where is her house?
WILSON: There is no house. Everything was just gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DAM: Sadly, this is the remnants of the home where the woman lost her life. And so far this season we have already had over two times the amount of tornado related fatalities compared to last year. And we still haven't even reached the peak of tornado season. We know that the threat of tornadoes exist tomorrow from here all the way through the Midwest.
Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes, that's what's so scary, haven't even hit the peak yet.
HARLOW: Yes.
COLLINS: Derek Van Dam, it's hard to seal all that destruction behind you. We are thinking of everybody there. Please, let them know. And thank you for that.
LEMON: In just hours, a major announcement for NASA's first manned mission to orbit the moon in five decades. NASA administrator, Mr. Bill Nelson, standing by for a preview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:48:48]
HARLOW: "SNL's" Michael Che and Colin Jost have a history of torturing each other with their comedy bits for April Fools. Che pulled off a prank with the help of the live audience. During the segment, Jost just couldn't figure out why his jokes weren't landing.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN JOST, COMEDIAN: Breaking news for conservatives. New York is finally cracking down on crime.
At this point it feels like even pro-Trump people have moved on. I mean I went down to the courthouse today and I was the only protester there.
MICHAEL CHE, COMEDIAN: He's safe.
I told them not to laugh at you for April Fools. JOST: Am I not miced?
And then I was just like, oh, I just suck.
That's the meanest thing you've ever done to me.
I was - I am covered in sweat.
Yes, no, no, no. No, no, no. Don't you even dare. Don't you ever dare try now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was pretty good.
[08:50:00]
HARLOW: That was a very good one.
LEMON: That frequently happens to me. You guys never laugh at my jokes.
HARLOW: That's not true at all.
COLLINS: Except it's not a joke.
LEMON: Wow, see what I mean.
NASA now - shall we move on?
COLLINS: NASA's like, why are we being brought into this?
LEMON: NASA now getting set to take another giant step. What will happen during the moon mission in five decades.
HARLOW: Love that.
LEMON: NASA administrator Bill Nelson joins us next.
HARLOW: Next.
COLLINS: He's like, just leave me out of this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Fly me to the moon. Let me play among the stars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That is one of my very favorite songs, Frank, "Fly Me to the Moon."
NASA is taking a major step forward in doing just that. In just about two hours, NASA will announce the names of the four astronauts who will take part in next year's Artemis II mission. This will be the first crude flight to orbit the moon in more than 50 years.
[08:55:04]
To get everyone excited, NASA released this hype (ph) video.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: It's a new era of pioneers, star sailors, thinkers and adventurers.
ON SCREEN TEXT: The next step.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), go. (INAUDIBLE), go. (INAUDIBLE), go. (INAUDIBLE), go. (INAUDIBLE), go.
All right. (INAUDIBLE), go for launch.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Sending humans to the moon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our destiny is always to go and see what's further and what's next.
ON SCREEN TEXT: For all humanity.
Are you ready to meet your crew.
April 3.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It's like a movie trailer.
LEMON: Yes, it is, right? Hype and NASA. Oh, there he is. The voice was good. You may recognize it. There he is, joining us now from Houston, the man in charge of NASA administrator -- is NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Thank you, sir. We appreciate you joining us.
How you feeling about this?
BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Hey, what a great day. We're going back to the moon after a half century.
LEMON: You're going to be announcing a crew of three Americans, one Canadian. Tell us about them and how important their mission will be to the Artemis program.
NELSON: Well, we're going back to new moon, but this is just the beginning because we're going back to learn to live to create to invent in order to go to Mars and then beyond. So, this is mankind, humankind's further quest to reach out and explore this vastness of the cosmos. And to understand better who we are, where we are, what we are. That's our - that's our frontier spirit.
LEMON: I was just going to say, Poppy, doesn't that sound like space, the final frontier.
HARLOW: It totally does.
LEMON: (INAUDIBLE) voyages.
HARLOW: It totally does.
It's exciting. And you talked about Mars, which is sort of the ultimate goal after the moon. But talking about this initial goal, you told "Political," I think it was back in January, that we are in a space race with China. So, the first time around it was Russia. Now it's China. Talk about that in the context -- the political context of where we are vis a vis China right now.
NELSON: And isn't that interesting?
HARLOW: Yes.
NELSON: Russia is our partner, even though on the face of the earth we're having such difficulty with President Putin. But they've been our partner in space since 1975, in the middle of the Soviet Union, in the Cold War.
Now China is the aggressor. They're good. They have really increased their capacity in the last 10 years, and they are openly saying they're going to the moon. And we want to get to that south pole of the moon before they do, because if they get there, and they say this is ours you stay out, that's where the resources are. That's where water is. And if you have water, you have rocket fuel, hydrogen and oxygen.
COLLINS: Well, that's so important. I mean I know you've said, look what's happening in the South China Sea. You believe that's something that could happen if China does get there first.
And so we're so excited about this mission and what this is going to look like to find out the names of these astronauts today, but that context that you just gave us their really shows how important this is and how serious this mission is, right?
NELSON: Indeed. But it's also a way of inspiring our people. Look what the Apollo program 50 years ago did for a generation of engineers and mathematicians and scientists walking. Walk into any school classroom in America today and look at those little faces as they light up, particularly if you're wearing a blue suit like this. They are excited. And they want to be a part of it. And it's the Artemis generation now.
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: I think that's so right because this weekend Sienna, my almost seven-year-old, her birthday's next Monday, asked for a cake and said, I don't want rainbows and unicorns, I want outer space.
LEMON: Oh, nice.
HARLOW: And to here that from a little girl, because the last time we saw men on the moon.
NELSON: That's right. And when we land, hopefully it's late '25 on the third mission. Then it will be the first woman and the next man that will walk on the moon.
HARLOW: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes.
LEMON: It's -- I think it's important. The Artemis program not only seeks to send Americans to the moon, but eventually Mars.
HARLOW: Mars.
COLLINS: Mars.
LEMON: That's great.
Thank you, sir. It's a pleasure.
COLLINS: Thanks, Bill.
LEMON: Good luck. And we appreciate you appearing.
NELSON: Have a great day.
HARLOW: I love it. She's so excited.
LEMON: You too.
COLLINS: You too. Thank you.
HARLOW: That was great.
All right, so it's also an exciting day here at CNN, the debut of "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" with our friends and colleagues, John Berman, Kate Bolduan, Sara Sidner. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts now.
LEMON: Good luck, guys.
That looks great, doesn't it?
HARLOW: I love the background.
COLLINS: I know. That's what I was looking at when you were talking during the intro.
[09:00:00]
LEMON: Yes, it's really good.
HARLOW: That's a great.
