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CNN This Morning

Boeing Admits Mistake; House Panel Holds Mayorkas Impeachment Hearing; Trump Leads Going into Iowa Caucuses; Shelby Talcott is Interviewed about the Presidential Race. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 10, 2024 - 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: Never happen again and he vowed complete transparency going forward.

Our Pete Muntean joins us live from Washington, D.C.

You heard part of what the head of the NTSB said. What is the latest, especially on what we heard from the head of Boeing?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You got to hand it to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy for being the public face of this investigation. Still a very controlled response from Boeing. And Boeing's CEO Dave Callhoun is now acknowledging the company's mistake after this dramatic in-flight blowout involving the 737 Max 9.

Here is the issue. Calhoun did not say exactly what the mistake is. And you heard NTSB Chair Homendy say she wants to talk to Boeing's CEO about that, but they have not spoken yet.

One question investigators will ask Boeing is whether they have had any previous problems with the door plug. That is the part of the left side of Alaska 1282 that shot off with an explosive bang. Remember, this is a door, visible from the outside of the plane, normal window, wall and seats inside the plane.

What is crucial here are the bolts that are essentially there to keep this part from shooting off like a rocket. Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines say they discovered loose bolts as they prepare for FAA mandated inspections. United noted possible installation problems.

I want you to listen now to part of this company-provided excerpt from Boeing's CEO after their all-hands meeting yesterday, and Dave Calhoun said employees are a huge part of the investigation and Boeing will be a huge part of the investigation.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE CALHOUN, CEO, BOEING: I've got kids, I've got grandkids, so do you. This stuff matters. Everything matters. Every detail matters. We're going to approach this, number one, acknowledging our mistake. We are going to approach it with 100 percent and complete transparency every step of the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: This is the latest black eye for Boeing after issue after issue with the Max line. Remember, there are two crashes abroad that led to a 20-month grounding of Maxs in the U.S. That was a flight control system issue. And since, the company has been dogged by quality control issues, especially by Spirit Arrow Systems, which is the contractor that builds the fuselage.

By the way, this was a new airplane that rolled off the factory floor only back in October, Poppy.

HARLOW: Wow. Pete Muntean, so appreciate all your reporting. Thank you.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in about 90 minutes the House Homeland Security Committee will start its first impeachment hearing for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. House Republicans going after the DHS secretary over what they've claimed to be, quote, "dereliction of duty" because border crossings have reached record highs.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us live from Washington.

Priscilla, I think the - the threshold for impeachment for a cabinet secretary enacting policy decisions is different and definitely new. What do we expect today?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, this is the start of a process that was a long time coming, Phil. Secretary Mayorkas had been a target for Republicans really early on as someone that they criticized over President Biden's border policies. And now senior Republicans see this as the way forward as their probe into President Biden has moved quite slowly. So, this is what they are going to do now, is move forward with impeachment proceedings against Secretary Mayorkas on an issue that has been a defining one in the 2024 campaign.

Now, in a statement, the House Homeland Security Committee said the following, quote, "the committee will ensure that the public is aware of the scope of Secretary Mayorkas' egregious misconduct and refusal to enforce the law. But also that this process is completed promptly and accountability is achieved swiftly."

Now, to your earlier point, Phil, conservative scholars and legal experts have said, and argued, that just not agreeing with an administration's policies isn't enough for impeachment. But that hasn't dissuaded House Republicans who will be laying out their case over the course of multiple hearings against the secretary.

Now, I'll also note that the administration has been preparing for this. They knew that House Republicans, upon taking the House, would do exactly this. And so senior communication legal advisers, aides at the White House, have been in regular communication with the homeland security officials and the secretary himself to lay out a strategy on all of this.

MATTINGLY: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, live for us, thank you.

HARLOW: So, just a few hours away from the Republican CNN debate in Iowa tonight. How coming in second in the caucuses on Monday could propel Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis.

MATTINGLY: And a reunion that almost didn't happen. A man who was trapped in a truck for six days meets the men who saved his life.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:38:21]

MATTINGLY: Phrases like a big win, or a strong second, maybe even a close third, we've heard these types of phrases tossed around repeatedly ahead of Iowa caucuses. Donald Trump, of course, urging his supporters to help him run up the scoreboard with a wide margin of victory. Meanwhile, both Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley will try to come from behind with respectable numbers.

But what does a big win or a strong second actually look like in Iowa, and can either candidate actually do it? We asked the man who would know, CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten, digging into that data and the historical races. He's here with some answers.

The expectations for Trump in Iowa are sky high. If he doesn't hit them, I'm sure he'll just change the expectations. But is there any doubt that he can meet kind of where they currently sit?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I mean these are sky high expectations. I mean look at these polls that we have from December. A 36-point lead, 34-point lead, 3-point lead. My goodness gracious. All three high-quality pollsters.

And to give you an understanding, Phil, going back historically, these are the biggest blowouts, 13 points, 11 points, 9 points. And Trump, right now, is leading by over 30 points. So, can he meet these expectations? We'll have to wait and see. But the fact is, no Republican has ever come anywhere close.

MATTINGLY: So, the expectations are high is what you're saying?

ENTEN: The expectations - the expectations are high.

MATTINGLY: So, when Governor Sununu, New Hampshire Governor Sununu says a strong second would be a threshold for Nikki Haley, what does strong second mean?

ENTEN: Yes, what - what does strong second mean. I mean, look, DeSantis and Haley both poll below 20 percent in Iowa. The thing that's important here is expectations and exceeding those expectations. Why is that? Because the contest after Iowa is New Hampshire. Who had - closed the biggest New Hampshire polling deficits, Gary Hart, Pat Buchanan, John Kerry.

[08:40:04]

They all outperformed their Iowa polls. Of course, they all - both Buchanan and Hart also came

In second place. So, you don't have to finish in first in order to exceed expectations.

For Nikki Haley, if she can exceed expectations in Iowa, look, overcame deficits as large as Haley's in New Hampshire at this point in the campaign, part one, Buchanan one, Kery won, McCain won, and Haley's only down by seven points. And I guess the real question for Ron DeSantis, if he can't win in Iowa, Phil, where can he win? Because in New Hampshire's he's just at 5, South Carolina at 13, national, 11. I think there are going to be some real questions about Ron DeSantis and his campaign going forward if he has a poor finish in Iowa.

MATTINGLY: Expectations, they're important, even if they seem a little amorphous.

Harry Enten, thank you, my friend.

ENTEN: Thank you.

HARLOW: Former President Trump has been ramping up his attacks on Nikki Haley ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Monday. And new this morning, "The Wall Street Journal" editorial board posting this piece, writing, quote, "if Mr. Trump is such a strong candidate, why is he afraid of Ms. Haley?"

Joining us now from Iowa, "Semafor" reporter Shelby Talcott.

The editorial board of "The Journal" writes, quote, "the former president is clearly afraid that a real alternative is gaining on him."

How does it feel on the ground there?

SHELBY TALCOTT, REPORTER, "SEMAFOR": Yes, it's interesting, on the ground, depending on which event you go to, you'll hear from Iowa voters who are interested in Nikki Haley, who are interested in Ron DeSantis and, of course, who are interested in Donald Trump. So, from a voting perspective, when I talk to voters, I've heard all three. I've heard a lot of interest from all the main presidential candidates out here. The polls are saying something differently. And certainly Nikki Haley is saying something different to her voters. Yesterday morning, out here in Iowa, she essentially argued to voters that she was the one that they should vote for because it was time to move on from the chaos that Donald Trump brings and they need a new generational leader, they need somebody who's going to look forward, not backwards. And so we're going to see in a few days if that's a message that's going to resonate.

MATTINGLY: Shelby, you're making an interesting point, and it's one you sometimes hear from campaigns, you hear from other people on the ground in Iowa. We're seeing the polls, particularly in a caucus state, doesn't necessarily translate or they don't think maybe it's going to translate. Do you think people are more open, the race is more wide open, in the state of Iowa, than what people have been framing it as the last couple of months?

TALCOTT: It's a really good question and any answer I give you is obviously going to be a guess. But when I talk to voters on the ground, they are interested in other candidates. And that's the argument that I'm hearing from non-Trump alternatives. It's that the polls are wrong. Just wait and see.

I was talking to Bob Vander Plaats last night, the influential evangelical leader here in Iowa who has endorsed Ron DeSantis, and that's what he was arguing, that the polls are wrong, Ron DeSantis is going to have a really strong showing, and we're just going to all wait and see in a week.

HARLOW: What about -- "The Journal" article also points to the new CNN poll that shows the seven point spread now only between Trump and Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. What about that? She has more leeway to not do as well as DeSantis needs to do in Ohio, right, given how she is surging, at least in the polls in New Hampshire.

TALCOTT: Yes, and I think that it's interesting because, remember, Ron DeSantis previously had said he plans to win Iowa.

HARLOW: Right.

TALCOTT: And so you talk to his opponents, they've noted that that's the bar for Ron DeSantis. And, again, when I talked to Bob Vander Plaats and pointed that out last night, he said, no, the bar is the polling. And so as long as he does better than the polling, that's his bar that he needs to exceed.

Nikki Haley's team has been much more vague here in Iowa, and even in New Hampshire. Their goal is to just do really well. Chris Sununu suggested that she could have a surprise second place finish here, but she - she has not put that pressure that some of the other presidential campaigns have put on herself. I think if she -- her goal is to do really well in Iowa, which means either a very tight third place or ideally a second place finish. If she has a second place finish, they believe it will really propel her into New Hampshire, where she's already doing much better than any other presidential candidate against Donald Trump.

HARLOW: Shelby Talcott, thank you very much, live from Iowa.

MATTINGLY: Well, up next, Ashley Judd opens up about life and loss after the death of her mother, Naomi. She tells Anderson Cooper what she said to her mother in her final moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY JUDD: My mother's death was traumatic and unexpected because it was death by suicide. And I found her. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:48:13]

MATTINGLY: Well, this morning, a poignant new episode of Anderson Cooper's podcast "ALL THERE IS" is out and it's a conversation about grief with Ashley Judd. The actor, author and activist opened up about the death of her mother, Naomi Judd, by suicide in 2022.

HARLOW: And Ashley Judd is the one who found her mom right before she died. She talks about what that was like for her personally and the impact of suicide on a family.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAOMI AND WYNONNA JUDD, MUSICIANS (singing): Love can build a bridge.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): On April 11, 2022, Naomi Judd and her daughter Wynonna, one of the biggest country duos of all- time, performed at the Country Music Television Awards. The song, co- written by Maomi, was "Love Can Build a Bridge."

NAOMI AND WYNONNA JUDD, MUSICIANS (singing): Don't you think it's time.

COOPER (voice over): This was Maomi Judd's last performance. She died 19 days later by suicide.

Her daughter Ashley, actress, author and mental health advocate, first spoke about it in this interview just 12 days later.

ASHLEY JUDD: Because we don't want it to be a part of the gossip economy, I will share with you that she used a weapon. Mother used a firearm.

COOPER (voice over): Ashley Judd has never spoken publicly in-depth about those final moments of her mother's life and the trauma and grief she's been living with until now. I sat down with her a few days ago for my podcast "ALL THERE IS."

A. JUDD: My mother's death was traumatic and unexpected because it was death by suicide. And, I found her.

My grief was - was in lock step with trauma because of the manner of her death and - and the - and the fact that I found her.

I held my mother as she was dying.

[08:50:01]

And there was blood. And I just needed to like process the fact that I was with my mother's blood. I'm so glad I was there because even when I walked in that room, and I

saw that she had harmed herself, the first thing out of my mouth was, mama, I see how much you've been suffering.

COOPER: You said that to her.

A. JUDD: And it is OK. It is OK to go. And it's OK to go. I am here. It is OK to let go. I love you. Go see your daddy. Go see Papa Judd. Go be with your people.

COOPER: And she heard you?

A. JUDD: Oh, she heard me. And I just got in the bed with her and held her and talked to her and said, let it all go. Be free. All was forgiven long ago. All was forgiven long ago. Leave it all here. Take nothing with you. Just be free.

COOPER: IT's an extraordinary blessing that you were able to do that.

A. JUDD: Oh, it was -- I'm so thankful I was there.

COOPER (voice over): One of the reasons I wanted to talk with Ashley for my podcast was that I still struggle with my brother Carter's suicide 35 years ago.

COOPER: One of the things that -- I'm sorry --

A. JUDD: I'm here, Anderson.

COOPER: One of the things I have found so hard about -- one of the things I've found so hard about losing my brother to suicide was, a, the -- I get stuck in how his life ended and the violence of it. And he killed himself in front of my mom. And also the realization that, in my shock over it, and the realization that I didn't really know him. And I'm wondering if the manner of your mom's death made you question how much you knew her?

A. JUDD: Thank you so much for sharing that. All our stories are sacred. And I really honor the place in you that that's coming from. And I think we all deserve to be remembered for how we lived. And how we died is simply part of a bigger story.

COOPER (voice over): My conversation with Ashley Judd about grief, trauma, and how her mother's spirit is still very much alive in her life is available Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You can listen to it all right now. We thank Anderson for his very powerful, personal, meaningful and important conversation with Ashley Judd.

If you are struggling, if someone you love is struggling, help is available.

MATTINGLY: Anyone can call or text The Nationwide Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Again it's 988.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:58:14]

HARLOW: Well, call it luck or call it coincidence, either way Matt Reum is forever grateful for two good Samaritans who stumbled upon his truck wreck and saved his life. You'll remember we told you this a couple of weeks ago. That's Reum, who was pinned inside his truck for six days when Mario Garcia and Nivardo De La Torre found the vehicle while they were searching for a fishing spot. They immediately called the police. It took multiple firefighters and police to pull Reum out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIO GARCIA, GOOD SAMARITAN: I was in shock at first, but right away that sends you into another different mode. We see somebody in distress like that, as a human being that's an instinct that we have. And this would be a better place if we all loved each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: But days later Reum reunited with the two men and the first responders who saved his life. He broke multiple bones and had to get one of his legs amputated right above the knee, but that hasn't stopped him from having a positive outlook at life now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT REUM, SAVED BY GOOD SAMARITANS: There's so many things that we take for granted in life. And now I can't take it for granted. And you have showered me with love. And you have shown me so much kindness and -- that - there is not enough and there - there is no way I can ever start to repay you guys or just say thank you enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What a wonderful guy.

MATTINGLY: I love it. And I love this story.

HARLOW: That's right.

MATTINGLY: And I love that we had the update to the story as well.

HARLOW: Reunited.

MATTINGLY: It was a miracle and it's been awesome to watch.

Well, also, finally, one Lakers fan had one heck of a night. Fidel Olmos with a chance to win $100,000 if he could make a half-court shot. There it is. Wait for it. Wait for it. That's $100,000 right there.

[09:00:00]

He said it's only the third time in his life he had made a half-court shot. My man, the timing is good on your ability to cash in on that. I love the half-court shots, the full-court shots, the people winning money for doing things they (INAUDIBLE).

HARLOW: How many half-court shots have you made, Mattingly?

MATTINGLY: I mean, so many, Poppy.

HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE).

MATTINGLY: No, are you kidding me? In front of a crowd like that? In front -

HARLOW: There's nothing this guy can't do, folks.

MATTINGLY: In front of a crowd like that? That's awesome. Huge congrats.

HARLOW: We - we will be up late. Don't forget, CNN debate tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is now.