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New Day

A Look at the Presidential Race; Georgia Sperm Bank Facing Lawsuit. Aired 8:30-9:00a ET

Aired April 20, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:33] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump certainly moving closer to the goal.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Moving closer.

CUOMO: The big nominations for their parties. New York's primary went exactly the way they wanted it to. All eyes now, though, this is how the race works, it's already New York, gone. What does it mean for next week?

BALDWIN: Next Tuesday.

CUOMO: A lot of points on the board to be taken. Let's discuss. CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, CNN political commentator and Washington correspondent for "The New Yorker," Ryan Lizza, and CNN political contributor and former Philadelphia mayor, Michael Nutter.

Let me start with the man in the middle in this pundit pie that you've been sandwiched into.

BALDWIN: Pundit pie.

CUOMO: Ryan, New York, big.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

CUOMO: The way they wanted it to go. Checked all the boxes, especially for Clinton, making up ground on Sanders, especially with white voters. She broke it 50/50.

LIZZA: Yes.

CUOMO: But what does this mean going into next Tuesday?

LIZZA: Well, look, if he wanted to change the race, which he needs to do, he needs a big victory in a state that - where she is projected to do well. And he hasn't done it. He hasn't been able to break through to the core Democratic constituencies. And you can't win the Democratic nomination unless you do that.

So I think the race is status quo. He's mathematically almost - it's mathematically almost impossible for Bernie Sanders to win, and yet he's raising $40 million a month and so he's not going away. I mean, you know, apologies to Sanders, but he's like a zombie candidate, right? She can't actually kill him, but he can continue to do damage to her because he's raising so much money.

What happens in these races usually? The insurgent that can't win drops out. Why? Because they run out of money. And so that, I think, you know, that's the math that matters for Sanders is he has all that money in the bank so he's going to stay in until the convention to try and shape the party agenda and to - but he's going to keep doing damage to her.

BALDWIN: On the theme of mathematically possibilities, Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz cannot hit the magic number to make it to - to clinch ahead of Cleveland. It's possible Donald Trump could. When you're watching all this landscape and looking ahead to next week and looking ahead to May, what is the strategy for I guess the Cruz camp, and Kasich is still kicking it as well, to prevent Trump from - from clinching?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, can you imagine? I went to law school because I couldn't do math and we're all doing math. So this idea of having to add and subtract and all this delegate math is driving me absolutely crazy.

I think that Ted Cruz and John Kasich have got one goal, one joint goal, which is to keep Trump from reaching 1,237. Now the only question I have left is, at what point is this joint goal going to turn into joint strategy. Definitely last night was a terrible night for Ted Cruz. He would have been much better off not playing here at all and gauging expectations that way. Blowing off New York the way that John Kasich basically blew off Iowa at the beginning, and when he came in practically last, it had no lasting effect.

[08:35:24] Last night was a bad, bad night for Ted Cruz. He would have been much better served had he accepted the offers from the John Kasich camp, and had they coordinated a bit, and, you know, Kasich would have done better, Trump would have done worse, and Ted Cruz would have suffered no consequences.

CUOMO: An interesting thought somebody offered up last night was that this was a bigger test for Cruz than people imagined.

BALDWIN: Right, how do you mean?

CUOMO: Because this was his chance to show that he could negate a negative. He came into a place with a negative perception of him.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CUOMO: This was his chance to show he can turn people as a metaphor for what he'd be able to do in the general.

BALDWIN: To turn it around.

CUOMO: And it didn't seem like it would work.

LIZZA: Yes. CUOMO: The question for him becomes, where can he win now? He's hoping Indiana. That's - that's not - that's not a given.

NAVARRO: He's - he's got to sit down with John Kasich and look at this map. Right now it's almost like he is willing to, you know, cut off his nose to spite his face.

CUOMO: There's about as good a chance of that happening as like any other remote possibility in the world.

NAVARRO: No, (INAUDIBLE) somebody there (INAUDIBLE) - you've got to learn how to play in the sandbox at some point.

CUOMO: Neither of those guys want to sit down. Yes, well, we haven't seen that yet.

So, Mr. Mayor, when you're looking at your side of the ball here, this was a good night for you and -

MICHAEL NUTTER, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.

CUOMO: The take from the Clinton campaign was forked last night. You had the secretary coming out in a way we haven't seen yet, reaching out to Sanders voters, saying big tent, big tent, big tent.

NUTTER: Right.

CUOMO: But the campaign coming out and saying, these dirty, these dirty attacks, these personal attacks, they have to stop. That got some raised eyebrows from people in the media for two reasons. One, you think Sanders is giving you haymakers, you haven't seen nothing yet. You know, crooked Hillary is just the beginning of what's coming her way from Trump. And he's talking about the war. He's talking about speech transcripts.

NUTTER: Right.

CUOMO: He's talking about ties to money. This is not dirty pool, is it?

NUTTER: At some point in time, I mean every candidate has a sense of where things are going. I think Senator Sanders realizes from the math, we keep talking about the math, that it is highly unlikely that he will win the nomination with the number of pledged delegates. At what point in time does he drop the attacks against Hillary Clinton, continue the message. No one has suggested that I know that he drop out of the race. I mean other than the political commentary. But no one from the Clinton campaign. No - I don't think any other surrogate. No one has said anything about dropping out of the race.

But drop the gloves. Stop hitting her and giving literal ammunition to the Republican Party for the general election. How do you bring the party together? And how do you support ultimately who we think will be the nominee and continue that message. He has a great message. Keep that activism. Keep that enthusiasm and all that. But at what point in time do you shift a little bit and stop punching your fellow Democrat. NAVARRO: I've got to tell you, Michael, and I - you know, I think the

world of you, but I've just got to tell you, both those arguments to me are so disingenuous. Number one, how could Hillary Clinton be making the argument that he needs to get out when she clung on until the middle of June in 2008.

NUTTER: Ana, she's never said he should get out. She's never said -

NAVARRO: You just said it.

NUTTER: I did not say that. You didn't hear me.

NAVARRO: He has got to do the math. But the second part is, you know, you -

NUTTER: What I said was, he needs to stop punching her. He's not going anywhere.

NAVARRO: The second part is - well, he - that's not a punch, sweetheart.

NUTTER: It - it's a - it -

NAVARRO: If you take a look at the Republican side where we have a cage match going on, this discussion -

NUTTER: Ana, Democrats are not trying to replicate the circus that's going on in your party.

NAVARRO: This actual debate that's going on, on the Democratic side is rock, paper, scissors compared.

NUTTER: No.

NAVARRO: So if you think that this is punching -

NUTTER: We're not trying to replicate that.

NAVARRO: I would tell you, you're in for a hell of (INAUDIBLE) -

CUOMO: Look at - look at Lizza.

BALDWIN: He's like, (INAUDIBLE).

NAVARRO: A hell of a next six months.

CUOMO: Look at Lizza.

NUTTER: If that's how the Republicans want to conduct their business, have a good time.

LIZZA: Mom - mom and dad, (INAUDIBLE) bless (ph) this table.

BALDWIN: Jump in, Ryan.

CUOMO: Look at Lizza. LIZZA: I mean isn't the reason - the reason she's not - she's not hitting him as hard is because she needs those voters.

NUTTER: Absolutely.

LIZZA: She's losing 70/30 to millennials.

NUTTER: She's - she's trying to unify a party that's going in - going to a great convention in Philadelphia.

LIZZA: The whole - the whole next generation of -

NUTTER: We're not trying to replicate that circus.

LIZZA: The whole next generation of the party is with Bernie Sanders.

BALDWIN: Is he making her a better candidate?

NAVARRO: Hell yes.

LIZZA: You know, I - I think so, because if she's going to run against a populist candidate like Donald Trump, then maybe it will have been a good thing that she ran against Sanders and adjusted her -

NUTTER: Right.

LIZZA: Her position on free trade, for instance, and sort of started thinking about inequality in a new way.

NUTTER: I understand that. I think that it's been very, very helpful during the course of the campaign season. But it is going in the direction that it's going. We want to unify a convention, unlike the circus that - that will be in the Republican Party.

LIZZA: I want to unify this panel.

NUTTER: And the candidates, at some point, has a responsibility to the party, trying to win in November, bring it altogether and those - those tracks have to come together.

NAVARRO: Hillary Clinton should be sending Bernie Sanders a giant thank you bag of hot sauce this morning. But for Bernie Sanders, it would be a snooze fest.

NUTTER: A thank you bag of hot sauce.

NAVARRO: There would be absolutely nothing to talk about.

BALDWIN: She's from Miami. (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: That's how they see love is through hot sauce.

NUTTER: I like hot sauce, too.

LIZZA: Can I just say one more thing about the - about the -

CUOMO: All right, no, we have to go. They're yelling at us inside.

BALDWIN: Got to go. I like hot sauce.

CUOMO: Although, this was exactly what we need to see more of, different points of view.

[08:40:01] BALDWIN: So interesting.

CUOMO: But how the points are made, a lot winds of (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: With Ryan in the middle.

CUOMO: And I like to see Lizza uncomfortable. That's what I like to see.

NUTTER: She called me - she called me sweetheart.

CUOMO: That's - that's high praise.

NUTTER: Yes.

CUOMO: All right, so what do you think about all this? You tweet us at NewDay or post your comments on facebook.com/newday.

Mic.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we've got a really fascinating story ahead. A Georgia sperm bank is facing a lawsuit after allegedly lying about one of its donors. The donors several families picked out turned out to have a startling past and was not who they expected. You're going to hear from one of the families ahead on NEW DAY.

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PEREIRA: The music tells me it's time for the five things to know for your new day.

Hillary Clinton saving her - savoring, rather, her New York win and pivoting now to the general election, saying the Democratic nomination is in sight. Her rival, Bernie Sanders, shifting focus now to next week's Super Tuesday contest.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump back on the trail after taking a giant step toward the Republican Party nomination with a landslide victory in New York. He declared Senator Ted Cruz is, quote, "just about mathematically eliminated."

[08:45:00] The president is in Saudi Arabia today with defense Secretary Ash Carter to encourage the nation to step up attacks against ISIS. This visit comes amid tensions between the two nations over the 9/11 bill that's before Congress.

Michigan's attorney general is about to announce criminal charges in the Flint water crisis. A source says as many as four people connected to the State Department of Environmental Quality or the city of Flint are expected to be named.

Well, March is on record for its historic heat. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, says it's now the 11th straight month to be designated the warmest ever on record.

For more on the five things to know, be sure to visit cnnnewday.com.

And, Brooke, I thought it was just hot in here because you were here.

BALDWIN: Oh, aren't you so sweet.

PEREIRA: See.

BALDWIN: Look at you in your smoking hot red dress. Michaela Pereira, thank you very much. We're going to miss you around these parts.

PEREIRA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: OK. A Georgia family taking - we're moving on. A Georgia family taking a sperm bank to court, claiming they were lied to about a donor's mental health and criminal history. Do they have a case and what is likely to prevent this from happening again? We will talk to one of the women suing, next.

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[08:50:18] PEREIRA: All right, so a Georgia based sperm bank is being sued. It turns out one of its donors wasn't who he claimed to be. But by the time it was discovered, it was far too late. His sperm had been used to create at least 36 children. Joining us now, a plaintiff in the case. She has a child. Her - she is the mother, Angie Collins, and her attorney, who is also representing other families in the case, Nancy Hersh, joins us from San Francisco. Angie, you're in Toronto there. You used this sperm bank because in Canada the rules are a little different. It's illegal to pay men to donate sperm. Did you have any reason to doubt that the sperm that you were receiving was the quality you were looking for? I mean this guy on paper spoke five languages, working on a Ph.D. in neuroscience engineering, IQ of 160. Any reason for you to doubt that?

ANGIE COLLINS, MOTHER SUING SPERM BANK: Obviously the IQ of 160 I could have doubted, but, you know, you have room for error of some sort of embellishment. But, no, I didn't have any doubts of the company's claims at that time. I had no reason to disbelieve their claims for their testing and their screening and their psychological assessments and the stuff that they claim to do on our behalf that should be done on our behalf, because that's what we would do if we had the donor's name.

PEREIRA: Right. Right.

COLLINS: Yes.

PEREIRA: Well, you learned from another woman, who actually used the same donor as you, that that donor suffered from mental illness, was not the 160 IQ, did not have the Ph.D. He, in fact, dropped out of college. He had run-ins with the law. He even did some time in jail. How did you react?

COLLINS: Well, it was heart-wrenching information to learn. It was like a lead ball dropped to the bottom of my stomach and I felt physically ill.

PEREIRA: I know that you're concerned that your son may - he's nine now I understand and you're concerned of how this could -

COLLINS: Yes, he's eight.

PEREIRA: Or he's eight, I'm sorry.

COLLINS: Yes, that's OK.

PEREIRA: Of how this could affect him as he gets older. We know that mental illness can manifest a little bit later in life. How's he doing?

COLLINS: He's doing very well right now. And, you know, hopefully, with the right environmental upbringing, we can - if anything does develop, it would be minimal. And we just hope for the best for all the kids that are affected by our donor's donations.

PEREIRA: Nancy, you're representing parents of 20 of the 36 children that were created by using this donor. What is the greatest - we should mention, it's not a class action suit. What are the parents of these kids' greatest concerns?

NANCY HERSH, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILIES SUING SPERM BANK: Their greatest concern, obviously, is for the welfare and the future of their children. Psychosis doesn't manifest until 18 or older, and the children are all between the ages of two and 11 at the present time. And -

PEREIRA: And now I understand -

HERSH: Go ahead.

PEREIRA: I just quickly want to say, most sperm banks do test for all of this. In fact, Xytex, the company, they say that they were in complete compliance with industry standards. Don't they all test for mental, physical standards that - that have to be met for their donors?

HERSH: There are no regulations that require them to do any testing in addition to testing the sperm for STDs and quality.

PEREIRA: OK, you actually -

HERSH: They're unregulated basically.

PEREIRA: You - you had a case against Xytex in Georgia and it was dismissed. Why do you feel things are going to be different this time around? Why take another shot at them?

HERSH: Well, because we want - we need to change this industry. They are selling a product to a population that's vulnerable and they are making representations that are not true. And the dismissal in Georgia had nothing to do with the merits of the case. It was dismissed on grounds that had nothing to do with the evidence that we have.

PEREIRA: Right.

HERSH: And this time around, we have a lot more.

PEREIRA: You certainly do. And let me actually pull up their response from Xytex just to give the other side. "Pursuing claims in a court of law requires actual evidence and proof. Making unfounded allegations in the court of public opinion requires no actual proof at all but merely the world of the very lawyers and litigants who already failed in a court of law."

I can imagine, Angie, as - this is a really frustrating situation, not as advertised, you're concerned about the future of - for your son and for the other children that are involved. What are you hoping for out of this legal action?

COLLINS: Well, we're hoping to establish a medical monitoring fund so that all of the kids can be looked after preventively and then in the incidents that they do end up with any of the mental illnesses that our donor has. We also hope to educate the public and we hope to change the industry, because it's deplorable the way it's being run right now.

PEREIRA: Angie, I send you our best. And we hope that there's a fantastic outcome. We hope that you get your day in court, again, and that your claims and your arguments are head. And, Nancy, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

[08:55:09] HERSH: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Thank you very much for having me on your show.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

All right, we're going to have "The Good Stuff" for you coming up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right, you ready?

BALDWIN: Ready.

CUOMO: This isn't just "The Good Stuff." This is a perfect example of exactly what we want to celebrate as "The Good Stuff."

PEREIRA: Hmm? OK.

CUOMO: OK?

BALDWIN: I'm in. CUOMO: Right outside Iowa City is the Johnson County Poor Farm. It sits - it's a piece of history - unused, until a community got it up and running.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a small space you can grow a tremendous amount of food for a lot of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: So true.

CUOMO: The farm was turned by community will, sweat, blood and treasure, into something called the Grow Johnson County Cooperative, where the crops are given to local homeless shelters, food pantries and hot lunch programs.

PEREIRA: Wow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just see people who are struggling, being able to come to a community garden context like this, and it just improves your health on so many levels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Yes. So true.

CUOMO: And that's not all. The project is going to start farming classes in an effort to end hunger in the community.

[09:00:00] BALDWIN: Iowa City.

PEREIRA: We had a hero last year they did something similar.

BALDWIN: Yes.

PEREIRA: I love when people do that.

BALDWIN: Love that.

CUOMO: Coming together. Their own will, their own inclination to help the community.

BALDWIN: Makes a huge difference.

CUOMO: Love it.

BALDWIN: Hey, thanks for letting me hang out.

CUOMO: You're great.

PEREIRA: Hang out any time you like.

CUOMO: Great series. You did our men and women, you did them right.

PEREIRA: Well done. Well done.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much. (INAUDIBLE) CNN. I'm back on