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Trump & Cruz Battle for Evangelicals in Iowa; Clinton Blankets Iowa, Sanders Makes His Case in Alabama; Freed Americans Reunited with Families; Remembering Eagles Legend Glenn Frey. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired January 19, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to protect Christianity. Two Corinthians 3:17. That's the whole ball game.

[05:58:00] SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ronald Reagan did not spent the first few years of his life supporting politicians.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we need is a sensible achievable agenda.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, guess what? That inevitable candidate ain't so inevitable today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American prisoners' first moments of freedom and first family reunions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, he's got to focus on getting himself better.

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I thought we did have an agreement well before implementation day.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Millions of Eagles fans remembering Glenn Frey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has certainly lived a rock star's lifestyle.

(MUSIC: "TAKE IT EASY")

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. A little bit of Eagles for you. It's Tuesday, January 19, 6 a.m. and Chris is off today. John Berman joins us.

Great to have you here, John.

Up first, Donald Trump looking for some forgiveness after a biblical flub on the campaign trail, the Republican frontrunner bungling the Book of Corinthians while at Liberty College in Virginia.

This as Trump tries to court evangelicals with three campaign events today in Iowa.

Donald Trump's main competition there, Ted Cruz. Brushing aside Trump's conservative credentials, dispelling comparisons to another Democrat turned Republican, Ronald Reagan.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Trump once again raising questions, more questions about Cruz's eligibility to be president. The 2016 race heating up. Just 13 days to the Iowa caucuses.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, live in New Hampshire. Hi, Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Michaela.

Well, Ted Cruz is now really starting to try to frame this race for voters as a choice between he and Donald Trump saying that more and more of this race is coming down to a two-man race. This intense feud that now has emerged between them, really fueling both candidates' fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Where the spirit of the lord is, there is liberty.

SERFATY (voice-over): Donald Trump trumpeting his faith.

TRUMP: I wrote "The Art of the Deal." I wrote many best sellers.

I always say a deep, deep second to the Bible. The Bible is the best. The Bible. The Bible blows it away.

SERFATY: Given the convocation at Liberty University in an attempt to connect with evangelical students, quoting from scripture.

TRUMP: Two Corinthians, right? Two Corinthians 3:17. That's the whole ball game.

SERFATY: But wrongly referring to it as "Two Corinthians," instead of "Second Corinthians," drawing laughter from the religious crowd. Trump trying to make the case that he's better for evangelicals than rival Ted Cruz as the battle for Iowa heats up.

TRUMP: Ronald Reagan wasn't a -- totally -- he didn't read the Bible every day, seven days a week, but he was a great president. Frankly, I would say that I will be a far better leader. I'll be much stronger in protecting the evangelicals.

SERFATY: While pounding pavement in the Granite State, Cruz firing back, questioning Trump's conservative credentials.

CRUZ: I'm pretty sure that Ronald Reagan didn't write checks and support Democratic politicians. SERFATY: Any attacks on the Texas senator noticeably absent from

Trump's modified stump Monday, never even mentioning his name after days of sharp jabs at his character.

TRUMP: He's a nasty guy. Nobody likes him.

SERFATY: Trump treading light on the trail but tweeting harsh rhetoric about Cruz's Canadian birth problem and his loans from big banks. Cruz not letting him have the last word.

CRUZ: We need a leader who is prepared to do what is needed to keep this country safe. That typically doesn't include spending your time on Twitter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And Donald Trump today keeps hinting at a potential major announcement that will be coming his way. Iowa State University, he'll have an event there later today, posting to his Facebook page that he will have a very special guest in attendance.

John, this could be a major potential endorsement coming his way today in Iowa.

BERMAN: Yes. Very interesting to see who that special guest is. Thanks, Sunlen, appreciate it.

Now to the Democrats. Charting different courses this morning. Hillary Clinton assuring voters of her electability in Iowa as Bernie Sanders tries to make in-roads with minority voters in the south. Could Sanders lead Clinton into a long primary fight for the nomination? That's a big story in "New York Times" this morning.

CNN's senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar, live in Alabama with the Sanders campaign this morning, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John.

And the Clinton campaign ready for this to stretch farther than they thought it would. We have a race on our hands. Bernie Sanders here in the south, in Birmingham, Alabama, trying to take aim at Hillary Clinton's southern fire wall.

He's been trying to court black voters, so important in these southern states that see contests in late February and early March. But I will tell you, the large crowd, several thousand people that he had last night, was overwhelmingly a white crowd still.

Now, Hillary Clinton has been stressing that she's more electable than Bernie Sanders as he stresses boldness and big changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I have the front row seat as to what it takes to be in that cauldron. SANDERS: We're seeing folks coming out, beginning to stand up and

demand that we have a government that represents all of the people, not just a handful of billionaires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, the Clinton campaign was really banking on a big win in Iowa. That does seem more uncertain now, with Bernie Sanders threatening her there.

It's really interesting, though, beyond Iowa, beyond New Hampshire, the Clinton campaign has long thought of this southern fire wall, these southern contests. I spoke, John and Christine -- or pardon me. I spoke with a Bernie Sanders aide who said the southern fire wall, Hillary's southern fire wall is nonsense. We will see.

CAMEROTA: All right, Brianna, thank you. You've given us a lot to talk about on both sides of the aisle.

So let's bring in Matt Lewis. He's a senior contributor for "The Daily Caller." And Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Time Warner Cable News. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here.

Let's start with Donald Trump. It turns out he is no biblical scholar, Matt. He botched this reference to Second Corinthians that many people -- many Christian feels is sort of Christianity 101. Do you think this is a big deal?

MATT LEWIS, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY CALLER": I don't think the specific Two Corinthians in and of itself is that big of a deal. It's a little pedantic to cling to that.

But I think the larger point is that there are shibboleths that evangelicals recognize. And Ted Cruz speaks fluent evangelical. And Donald Trump does not. You can just hear them talk. And you know the difference if you are an evangelical. And frankly, the way that Donald Trump talks about, quote, "the evangelicals" suggests that he is not one of us or one of them.

[06:05:09] BERMAN: But Donald Trump knows this. Right? And Donald Trump had Jerry Falwell Jr. before he spoke yesterday essentially say, "You know what? Donald Trump may not agree with us on everything, but he fights our fight better than anybody." Is there a case to be made for that, Errol?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, yes, absolutely. When Donald Trump talks about -- you could do it either of two ways. You could say, "I'm one of you. That won't work." He's not. Or you could say, "I'm of use to you."

And I think that second is kind of his calling card. That's his selling point. And he talks repeatedly about something that goes completely past anybody who's not an evangelical, which is that Christians are under attack around the world. They're being beheaded. They're being imprisoned. They're being excluded. They're being kicked out of government; they're being kicked out of communities.

And he has said over and over again, I am going to protect Christians overseas. That resonates with a lot of evangelicals. And we should also finally keep in mind when we talk about evangelicals, we paint them with one big broad brush.

The reality is people live out their faith in lots of different ways. You know, anybody who's sort of been part of a faith community knows that. Something like taking "Two Corinthians" is the least of the stumbles that you find in a community as people try to sort of struggle with this book and with their faith and with each other.

And so, you know, Trump is -- he's trying to be sort of good enough and trying to be of use to them. He's not trying to become sort of one of them. That's what Huckabee's doing. That's what Carson's doing. That's what Cruz is doing. Trump is clearly not eligible to do that.

BERMAN: I suppose if "Two Corinthians" bothered you, the three wives would have already bothered you more than that already.

LOUIS: Exactly. He already had a lot of problems.

CAMEROTA: I mean, to your point, there were tweets from rivals yesterday, and Marco Rubio basically says some version of that. The Cruz camp tweeted out, "What is Two Corinthians?" Marco Rubio's camp tweeted, "Two Corinthians?" It won't matter. Nothing seems to matter.

That shows, Matt, a, I think, reality about, you know, that these flubs don't affect Donald Trump the same way they would others. But he also said to Christian Broadcasting Network, and I'm going to get your take on that, that he will be a far better leader than Ronald Reagan was for Christians. How will that go over?

LEWIS: Not well. I think that, you know, Donald Trump is Teflon. He gets away with a lot of stuff, as that tweet suggested.

I still think Ronald Reagan is -- is off-limits. And that's treading on, you know, dangerous territory. Look, I will say this real quick. I think Errol is right about most of what he had to say.

The one thing I would throw in, though, is right now it's all about Iowa. And that is where I think that this does hurt Trump. I agree like nationally, not that big of a deal, probably.

In Iowa specifically, I think Ted Cruz is really tailor-made. He talks about put on the full armor of God. He speaks very fluently evangelical. Donald Trump does not. And I think in Iowa, where these two guys are really closely competing, that could be the difference.

BERMAN: So Errol, I also want to talk about Donald Trump, who says he's got a big endorsement or a special guest coming in Iowa today at an event. Now, we do not know who it is. There's been all sorts of speculation. Maybe it's Sarah Palin. Been speculation maybe it's Jerry Falwell Jr., who gave him a really nice introduction yesterday. Would an endorsement like that, a Palin or Jerry Falwell Jr., would that help?

LOUIS: My guess is that it probably won't. I mean, for somebody else, a big endorsement, a big star, somebody to sort of vouch for you and sort of put your face on every TV screen and in all of the newspapers, that's a great idea.

But Trump doesn't need that. He's already got that. So I'm not sure who he's looking to sort of have vouch for him. If it's not somebody from within Iowa who has organization, you know, the governor or somebody, to sort of put behind him, I'm not sure how much good it will do.

BERMAN: It will not be Terry Branstad. It will not be the governor.

CAMEROTA: Matt, let's talk about what's going on over on the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton seems to taking a different tact and maybe sort of lowering expectations. She says now, in light that she might actually lose Iowa and New Hampshire to Bernie Sanders, his poll numbers have come up and leapfrogged her in some places.

So here now what she's talking about in terms of promises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I don't want to overpromise. I don't want to come out with theories and concepts that may or may not be possible. We don't need any more of that. What we need is a sensible, achievable agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Sensible, achievable, does it get any sexier, Matt?

LEWIS: I think this is a mistake. I really do. I think that every once in a while, I hear conservatives and Republicans, you know, when they're running against Barack Obama, say, "We need a boring guy. We've had too much of an exciting guy. We need a boring guy." No. Americans like exciting. We want entertainment, and we want exciting.

And I get that Hillary wants to stress her experience, but I think it's a real mistake to try to sell yourself as, like, the boring vanilla candidate.

[06:10:10] BERMAN: I was saying before, it's like getting a good pair of slacks on Christmas morning. Like, "Whoa, pant! Yes! Just what I was after."

Errol, Brianna was talking about the fact that the Clinton campaign, you know, is planning beyond Iowa and New Hampshire right now, the SEC primary. She quoted the Sanders campaign, saying the idea that she has a firewall in the south is bull. That's according to the Sanders campaign.

That might be a stretch. I mean, a lot of these southern states seem to line up pretty well for her.

LOUIS: I'm not so sure about that. I mean, when he says it's bull, I mean, that's, you know, campaign

talk. But the reality is, she was supposed to be a prohibitive favorite against Barack Obama in 2008. And the whole thing collapsed in about four weeks. You know, I remember being in South Carolina when that primary went down. And she had been leading, leading, leading, and then the whole thing just got taken away from her. I mean...

BERMAN: A lot of it had to do with strength among minority voters, though, which Sanders has shown zero of.

LOUIS: Well, I mean, but he's making in-roads. He's down there. You see that he's down there and that he's talking with people. But no, I mean, it was supposed to be a fire wall for -- for Hillary Clinton, and it wasn't.

I mean, the reality is, all of the dominoes start tumbling. It's going to be like nothing we've ever seen, although we have seen it before. Iowa happens. New Hampshire happens. Then people in South Carolina start looking.

Jim Clyburn, who basically is the master strategist and basically owns Democratic politics in South Carolina has said if Hillary Clinton loses the first two states, all bets are off in South Carolina.

CAMEROTA: And why is that? Why wouldn't he endorse her or support her? Why is he saying all bets would be off? They have a relationship.

LOUIS: Well, I mean, he knows his -- he knows his constituency. He knows his voters. He certainly -- I mean, we saw this play out again in 2008. He wasn't going to be the guy to say, "Hey, don't vote for the first black president, you know, although all indications, as he well knew, were that it was going to be a landslide for Obama, and indeed it was.

CAMEROTA: Do you agree that -- I mean, what do you think about her strategy that, if all else fails, I've got South Carolina?

LEWIS: So it's not where she wants to be, but I think I -- I think I slightly disagree with Errol. I still think Hillary can lose the first two states and come back.

Now, if she loses Nevada and South Carolina, then it's time to -- then -- you know, then it's crisis mode. And then I think she's in real, real trouble.

But no. I think she could lose the first two states. Again, demographically, Iowa, New Hampshire, very white states. You've got kind of liberal college professors voting for Bernie. I think when you go south, African-Americans, I believe, will come through for Hillary. If they don't, though, again, then it's time to pull the plug; it's panic time.

CAMEROTA: Got it. Matt, Errol, thank you. Great to see you guys this morning. Three Americans freed in that Iranian prison swap, reuniting with their families at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. This morning, though, questions remain about one American that is still missing in Iran.

CNN international correspondent Fred Pleitgen live in Landstuhl, Germany, with more for us -- Fred.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michaela, of course, it was very emotional scenes that happened here at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, one of America's biggest and best medical facilities outside of the U.S., when Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini were finally able to reunite with their friends and family.

There was a picture that came out of Jason with his wife, his mother and also his brother, Ali Rezaian. From what we hear, Jason is in very good spirits. It's unclear, however, how long he's still going to have to stay here.

Now earlier I was able to speak to Representative Jared Huffman, who was also there and met Jason Rezaian; and here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED HUFFMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: His spirits are terrific. He's feeling good physically. I think he's having waves of complex emotions as you would imagine. But if Iran's goal was to break Jason Rezaian's spirit, they failed miserably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Nevertheless, these men are still going to have to undergo medical tests and medical evaluation and treatment, as well. It's unclear how long that is going to take. And of course, with all the joy about the release of these five Americans in total, there are, of course, still Americans that are still in Iranian custody or believed to be in Iranian custody. There's the businessman Siamak Namazi. And then, of course, the big question is where is Robert Levinson? What do the Iranians know? That's certainly something the Obama administration said it still wants to find out -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Fred, thank you. In fact, coming up in our next hour, we're going to speak with the family of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson. As you mentioned, he disappeared while on assignment in Iran in 2007 while. We'll talk to them about why they feel betrayed and what they want the U.S. government to do now -- John.

BERMAN: New information this morning about the detainment of those U.S. Navy sailors in Iran last week. The Pentagon now says the Iranian military took two sim cards from the American satellite phones. No weapons, ammunition or communications here taken. And the sailors did not seem to suffer any physical harm.

The navy is investigating the circumstances which led to the sailors getting into Iranian waters. [06:15:07] CAMEROTA: Well, new details about the security surrounding

El Chapo. They reveal that Mexican prison officials are taking zero chances.

One of the leading newspapers in Mexico reports the drug lord is being guarded by dogs trained to detect his scent, plus hundreds of cameras with no blind spots, like the ones that covered his escape over the summer. Guards also move him cell to cell, and motion sensors detect underground activity are now in place.

BERMAN: So he was a founding member and leader of one of the most American rock bands around, the Eagles. Glenn Frey died Monday at the age of 67. He played guitar. He sang. He wrote so many of the big hits. The Eagles had two dozen top 40 hits during his career. Their music, it really defined the '70s. and for millions of fans, Glenn Frey was part of the surround track of their lives.

We're going to look back at his influential life and his unforgettable sound.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLENN FREY, MUSICIAN (singing): Well, I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load. I've got seven women on my mind.

BERMAN (voice-over): By the time he sang this version of one of the Eagles most famous songs, he was a quarter century from where he had started, the co-founder of one of the most iconic rock bands around, the group he and Don Henley began in 1971.

Some critics called their music country rock. To millions it was just ageless.

FREY (singing): Lighten up while you still can don't even try to understand.

BERMAN: The Eagles only lasted nine years before they broke up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody was really happy...

(MUSIC: "Life in the fast lane...")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... then.

(MUSIC: "Life in the fast lane. Everything all the time")

BERMAN: But in those nine years of albums, road trips, drinking and drug abuse, and everything in between, Glenn Frey and the Eagles made some truly amazing music. "Hotel California"...

(MUSIC: "Welcome to the Hotel California. Such a lovely place.")

BERMAN: ... "Lying Eyes"...

(MUSIC: "You can't hide your lying eyes.")

BERMAN: ... "Take It to the Limit"...

(MUSIC: "And take it to the limit one more time.")

BERMAN: And the song first made a hit by Linda Ronstadt, who was instrumental during the Eagles' early years, "Desperado."

(MUSIC: "Desperado, you ain't getting no younger.")

BERMAN: Glenn Frey lived all of it, the good and the bad.

FREY: I was riding shotgun in a Corvette with a drug dealer on the way to a poker game, and the next thing I knew we're going about 90 miles an hour, holding big time. "Hey, man, what are you doing?"

You know, he looked at me and he grinned, and he goes, "Life in the fast lane."

BERMAN: Fourteen years after the Eagles broke up, they reunited and began touring again all over the world. Their records have sold millions and millions of copies.

Upon word of his death, band member Don Henley released a statement that said in part, "I'm not sure I believe in fate but I know that crossing paths with Glenn Lewis Frey in 1970 changed my life forever, and it eventually had an impact on the lives of millions of other people all every the planet. It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it."

(MUSIC: "TAKE IT EASY")

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: You know, Glenn Frey was sort of at the crossroads of rock 'n' roll in the '70s. He worked with Bob Seger. Glenn Frey is from Michigan. He did backup stuff with Bob Seger. Goes to California, lives for Jackson Browne, sings backup for Linda Ronstadt, and then, you know, becomes the Eagles. Just amazing stuff.

CAMEROTA: Well, you know, I find it very hard to narrow down a favorite song of the Eagles. But I did move to a new school when "New Girl in Town" was a hit.

PEREIRA: That was your jam.

CAMEROTA: It became...

BERMAN: That's your anthem.

CAMEROTA: It became my anthem. And that's what I was going to say. It's between David Bowie and, you know, the Eagles. It is the soundtrack of our youth.

PEREIRA: Yes, absolutely.

CAMEROTA: I know. I can't believe it.

BERMAN: "Take it to the Limit" is my favorite.

PEREIRA: Me, too. I'm with you. And "Lying Eyes." That was good.

BERMAN: What is your favorite Eagles song? Tweet us, @NewDay. Post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay.

PEREIRA: So one of the Americans freed by Iran in that prisoner swap hails from Flint, Michigan. We're going to speak to a Michigan congressman who helped secure his release, travelled to Germany to greet him. We'll have that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:11] BERMAN: All right. A Midwestern city celebrating the release of one of its own right now in the prisoner swap with Iran. Flint, Michigan, native Amir Hekmati was one of four Americans freed from Iran. He met briefly with Congressman Dan Kildee on Monday, who worked for an awful long time to secure this release. Congressman Kildee joins us now. He's also dealing, I should say, with that city's water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us all the way from Germany this morning. You had a chance to meet with Amir. How is he doing?

REP. DAN KILDEE (D), MICHIGAN: Well, you know, he's doing pretty well for a young man who spent 4 1/2 years in one of the worst places on earth. I've got to say, he came out of it with his own spirit intact. He comes from a great family. And I think that's one of the

things that sustained him. He also comes from Flint, Michigan. We are in a tough place, and we're proud of him. Proud of him as an American, but also proud of him as one of our own from Flint.

BERMAN: You are tough. But even for tough people, years behind bars, even prison in Iran has got to be incredibly difficult, incredibly trying. Did he talk to you about what kind of conditions he lived under there?

KILDEE: He did. Of course we knew, you know, through the years a bit about it, because information was able to get out. But you know, there was a long period of time where he was in solitary confinement, psychological torture in effect. He was sentenced to death at one point in time, expected he was awaiting his execution. He was told he was going to be released many times.

And also, you know, all sorts of horrific conditions. He was in a cell at one point in time that was basically one meter by one meter. Not even enough room to lay down. So it was a terrible situation. That's why we fought so hard to get him home, and he never gave up. We never gave up. And thank God this day finally came.

[06:25:09] BERMAN: After all the fighting you did, this deal got held up for hours with the plane on the tarmac. How much did he know about what was going on at that moment? And how nervous was he at that time? KILDEE: Well, I think once -- once he got to the airport, he had a

sense that this was just not another false start. He had been through a few times where he told -- when he was told he would be released, and of course, it did not happen.

Once he got to the airport, he had a sense that this was actually going to happen. He had a fairly good sense of what was going on. You know, I spent -- I spent some time with him yesterday and then went back and had dinner with him, spent a few hours. And we talked about his imprisonment, talked about his release only a little bit.

But for the most part he was curious about what happened in the last 4 1/2 years and particularly was surprised to hear how many people had become involved in the effort to bring him home.

BERMAN: Did he have any idea about your efforts, about that effort? I mean, it's remarkable, 4 1/2 years behind bars, not to know what's going on, on your behalf.

KILDEE: Well, he knew his family was fighting for him. He knew I was. Because he would get reports, other prisoners would ask him about who this congressman is and why would a congressman help him.

But I don't think he had a full sense of how many thousands and thousands of people were engaged in the effort to bring him home. We were having dinner last night. My phone rang, and it was Madeleine Albright, who I worked with on this case. She was calling to just say congratulations. And I handed him the phone. He was absolutely shocked that so many people, particularly people with that kind of stature, had become involved in his case.

What is next for him? What does he want now?

KILDEE: Well, you know, I don't think he knows yet what the -- what the steps forward look like, other than that he will make those decisions as a free man.

He wants to be home. His father's been quite ill. So he's glad that he's home and can go back and see him.

But I think he just wants to restart his life. He's a young man. He's 32 years old. He has his whole life before him. And so I don't know that he's made those decisions, but he will make those decisions now. And I think that's something that he's happy about and that we all can be really thrilled for.

BERMAN: Congressman, talk about being in the middle of two giant news stories. You're in Germany right now dealing with this prison swap.

You're also from Flint, Michigan, where there's this water crisis, lead poisoning because of a choice made by that city two years ago. You've been very critical of many people involved here, particularly the governor. He's giving a very important state of the state address tonight, Rick Snyder is. What do you want to hear from him tonight?

KILDEE: Well, I want him -- I want him to say that he'll make it right. The decision to go to the Flint River was actually made by the state of Michigan for the people of Flint, without their consent. And that led to this cascade of events, including his own agencies ignoring warnings.

The state of Michigan made this decision for the people of Flint. They are paying a price. The children of Flint will pay a price for a long time.

They need to make it right. They need to provide justice, and that includes all sorts of help to give kids who now will have to have another hurdle of exposure to high levels of lead to overcome, he's got to make sure that those kids are given every opportunity to succeed with all the kinds of support that we know actually works. It's going to take a lot to make it right. And he needs to step up and do that.

BERMAN: A lot of kids are going to need a lot of help. Congressman Dan Kildee, thank you for being with us. And thank you for all your work over the last few years on behalf of Amir Hekmati.

Amazing to see him finally released after all this time. Thank you, sir -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Well, John, we'll pick up on that story, that situation in Flint. It is now a full-fledged disaster, according to the Michigan governor. Rick Snyder admits it's his Katrina. But does he have a fix for the contaminated water supply? We'll take you live to Flint, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)