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New Day
Plane Wreckage Found; Clinton Hits Trump; Police Officers Saves Lives. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired May 20, 2016 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Alexandria, Egypt, and this is where they believe the plane went down. Can you tell us what the conditions will be like for searching in this area of the Mediterranean?
TIM TAYLOR, PRESIDENT & CEO, TIBURON SUBSEA: Well, there's not a big heavy current like a big ocean current, like a Gulf Stream, but there are currents driven by winds and some coastal currents that pretty much run in the counterclockwise area. So it's just going to be local weather conditions that they're going to have to deal with.
CAMEROTA: How deep is the area?
TAYLOR: This area is one of the deepest part of the Mediterranean. It averages about 2,500 meters or let's say 3,000 meters, 10,000 feet deep, is a - it's deepest up to 6,000 feet. So -
CAMEROTA: OK. Let's talk about that, the challenges of trying to find something in 10,000 feet of water.
TAYLOR: OK.
CAMEROTA: I mean, where do you even begin?
TAYLOR: Well, first they need to locate the wreckage and they're going to use several different pieces of equipment to do it. The pinger is our - is your first and -
CAMEROTA: OK, so you're talking about the black boxes.
TAYLOR: Right.
CAMEROTA: And we hear that they emit a sound. We always call it the pinger. So let's look at that because what they do is they send in a listening device and we have a graphic of what that looks like. Here it is.
TAYLOR: Yes.
CAMEROTA: So this -
TAYLOR: Well -
CAMEROTA: Is that it? TAYLOR: This is - this is the ROV. The ROV is a tool that once they find the wreckage on the bottom and identify it, they will send that down to actually help either bring pieces up, recover loved ones, or film in - with lights and actually get right up close to the wreckage and deal with it.
CAMEROTA: OK, but before they send in the ROV, they have to hear where the black boxes are.
TAYLOR: Correct.
CAMEROTA: So in 10,000 feet of water, can they hear - can a device hear the pinger through that?
TAYLOR: That's what it's designed for. And in that depth of water, you have to - you have to get the pinger receiver. It's kind of big ears listening for it. You have to lower it down closer to the object you're looking for. Water is very dense. It has lots of different layers. Sounds can ricochet, believe it or not, between layers. So you can't just tow it on the surface and kind of listen. You have to kind of lower things down to it. So that's your first tool to zero in on an area. Once you find the area, you're going to then send down acoustical equipment, an autonomous underwater vehicle or sonar -
CAMEROTA: Let's look at that because I believe we have an illustration of the autonomous underwater vehicle.
TAYLOR: Yes.
CAMEROTA: So what does that do?
TAYLOR: This is a - it's - it's a - a rapidly deployable system they can throw on a boat, get out there and start looking in the area that they find - narrowed down with the pinger, and it maps the bottom. It basically takes a big survey map of the area and everything - every geological structure, every piece of debris. You can find ancient shipwrecks. You can find, you know, mountains under water. You can find all the topographical areas and zero in on the wreckage. And then you can go in and take even closer pictures of that wreckage. And now you have a map of what you need to do in either reconstruct the accident or recover with your other tools, which are your ROVs.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that recovery. If they find the fuselage, if it's at the bottom of the ocean at 10,000 feet, how do they get that out?
TAYLOR: Well, they may not recover everything. They may recover what they need to, to piece this back together. Obviously, the black boxes are key. So recovery of the black boxes would be - remains first, but the black boxes are priority. They can get the data off of them. So that will help -
CAMEROTA: How do they get them out?
TAYLOR: They're going to run a remote operated vehicle. So once they map the area and they find it, they'll send a robot down that's tethered from the surface with a pilot on board the boat and has arms and - manipulator arms and can cut and will actually find and excavate and pick that up, put it in a tray and bring it to the top. It's not easy. It's deep water. But it's quite doable with the technology today.
CAMEROTA: It's great to get your expertise. You do this every day, not always for plane crashes, thank goodness, but for all sorts of other things.
TAYLOR: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And it's amazing that we have the technology to get this done. Tim Taylor, thanks so much.
TAYLOR: (INAUDIBLE).
CAMEROTA: We'll have much more on the EgyptAir investigation coming up.
Also, next, Donald Trump unleashing harsh attacks on Hillary Clinton. What's her game plan for fighting back? We have more of Chris' one-on- one with Hillary Clinton, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:38:50] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Expect a nasty battle if Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton square off in the general election. I sat down with the former secretary of state and asked how she plans to handle the incoming fire. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: If you are the nominee, and I know you have full confidence you will be, you know where Donald Trump is going.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Uh-huh.
CUOMO: He has started early and he has adopted the go ugly early mentality. Heavily personal about you and your husband. Your response has been, I'm not going there.
CLINTON: Right.
CUOMO: I'm going to stay above it.
CLINTON: Right.
CUOMO: The risk is that that's what Jeb Bush said. That's what others said. And the stink wound up sticking to them. Are you concerned that by ignoring the attacks they become more powerful?
CLINTON: No, I'm not, because I think people can judge his campaign for what it is. I'm going to run my campaign. I'm not so much running against him, as I am running for the kind of future that I think America deserves to have and that I believe I'm the best candidate to deliver. So that's why I talk a lot about what I will do economically, what I will do on education, on health care, how we are going to bring the country together. Of have a lot of experience working across the aisle with Republicans. I did it as first lady, as senator, as secretary of state.
[08:40:08] I'm very confident that we're going to lay out my record of accomplishments, my ideas, my vision for the future. He can say whatever he wants to say, but I think in every election, people want to know, what are you going to do tomorrow? What's the future going to look like if I entrust you with this most solemn responsibility? And that's exactly the kind of campaign I am running, and I intend to keep running.
CUOMO: But his way is working for him.
CLINTON: No, it -
CUOMO: He took out an entire field.
CLINTON: Well, you know, but -
CUOMO: He keeps winning. He's gotten more votes than any Republican ever in a primary before.
CLINTON: And I've gotten 2 million more than he has. So, I mean, look, yes, he took out a field that couldn't really criticize him on issues, because they fundamentally agreed with him. They don't want to raise the minimum wage either. They don't want to criminalize abortion. So when he would say these outrageous things more dramatically perhaps than his Republican counterparts were saying, they were stymied. And then when it got to the personal piece of it, they just tried to respond tit-for-tat. Well, you know, you pick a fight with, you know, a bully, you know, you're going to be pulled down to their level. It's like -
CUOMO: But at some point you have to stand up to a bully as well, right? That's what we teach our kids.
CLINTON: And I think that's exactly - I think that's exactly what I am doing, what this campaign will be doing, because it's not so much for me, Chris, what he says about me. I am really used to it. I have very thick skin. It's what he says about other people. It's demeaning comments about all kinds of women, his offensive comments about immigrants, his mocking someone with a disability, the way he talks about Muslims, how really unmoored he is when he talks about foreign policy and the loose cannon that he has turned out to be when it comes to our national security. So I'm going after him. I'm going after him exactly on those issues and statements that are divisive and dangerous.
CUOMO: Do you ever feel compelled to defend your honor, the honor of your husband -
CLINTON: No.
CUOMO: With statements that he's making -
CLINTON: I -
CUOMO: That go to the core of the relationship?
CLINTON: No, not at all. I'm - I know that that's exactly what he is fishing for, and, you know, I'm not going to be responding.
CUOMO: So as you head forward in this, where do you believe the path forward is from here? What do you think happens within the Democratic Party going forward? Because it does seem to be somewhat of an unknown right now. Not the math about the nomination.
CLINTON: Right.
CUOMO: That's, frankly, the easy part.
CLINTON: Right, it is.
CUOMO: It's about, where does the party wind up.
CLINTON: Right.
CUOMO: And how.
CLINTON: Right.
CUOMO: And then, what do you bring against Donald Trump, because you know what he's bringing against you?
CLINTON: Well, I think that we are going to come together. We will unify. That doesn't mean we won't have some vigorous discussion and debate about issues, about the platform, about all of the process of a convention. I welcome that. I think that's healthy. I think bringing people into the party, giving them a voice at the end is going to help us in the fall. I think, as I said, I will certainly do my part and more to reach out and bring in Senator Sanders' supporters. And I have every reason to expect he will do the same.
I think we'll have a great convention in Philadelphia. And then we will go out and carry on the campaign against Donald Trump and the republicans. And I really believe that we're going to have a strong, compelling case to make about the choice that the American people will be facing. And I feel, you know, very optimistic about how the election will come out.
And I also feel optimistic about the country. I mean most of what Trump says is pretty negative about America. It's pretty much fear mongering, criticizing. You know, we are well positioned, if we do our part, if we show leadership, if we bring people together. I think the three big tests any of us have to meet who is running for president, can you produce positive results in people's lives? I have a track record of doing that. Can you protect America? Can you be commander in chief? Can you lead the world towards safety and prosperity? And, number three, can you unify our country? I think on all three of those, I'm able to go to the American public and say, I can meet that test. And I believe on all three of those, Donald Trump cannot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, so we've just heard the case that Hillary Clinton is making. Do top Republicans think that Trump is qualified to be commander in chief? We'll ask George W. Bush's former press secretary, Ari Fleischer, when he joins us momentarily.
Come on in, Ari.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:48:44] CUOMO: Hillary Clinton zeroing in on Donald Trump, blasting the presumptive Republican nominee as unqualified. He is firing back, as are others in his party. Joining us now, former White House press secretary and Republican consultant, Ari Fleischer.
It's great to have you on the show.
ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good morning.
CUOMO: It's good to see you.
FLEISCHER: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Good to see you.
FLEISCHER: And I'm not a Republican consultant.
CAMEROTA: Oh.
FLEISCHER: I do no work in politics, other than I used to be in it.
CAMEROTA: You look so happy about that.
FLEISCHER: I am.
CAMEROTA: You seem free.
CUOMO: But we can consult you about Republican politics.
FLEISCHER: Yes, you can.
CAMEROTA: OK. Very good.
CUOMO: Donald Trump is not qualified to be president. That's what Hillary Clinton says. Agree, disagree and why?
FLEISCHER: I disagree, and I think it's the typical political thing that you say about somebody when you're running against them. Bernie Sanders said it about Hillary. Hillary says it about Donald. Donald says it about Hillary. It's meaningless. The voters will decide who's qualified. They both are by virtue of winning their nominations.
CAMEROTA: One of the things that she has said about him, and many of his critics, is that he doesn't give specifics of his plan.
FLEISCHER: Yes. CAMEROTA: He gives - makes these grandiose statements and plans and he doesn't ever say how he's going to achieve them. He says that that's because he likes the element of surprise. Listen to what he just said on another morning show this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I've met with many, many people, and I have definite ideas. And I'd rather not tell what those ideas are because, Brian, I'm so tired of watching these politicians get up and say exactly what they're going to do with ISIS -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
TRUMP: And in the meantime ISIS sits back and they laugh and they go out and they prepare for it. You've got to hit people with a little surprise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:50:10] CAMEROTA: Is that going to pass muster with voters, if you don't ever lay out how you're going to beat ISIS?
FLEISCHER: I'd make a distinction between domestic policies, where it is a Donald Trump weakness. He does have to offer more specifics about what his policies are. People would actually be riveted to listen to it. But on foreign policy, I think Donald Trump is right, the lack of predictability with ISIS, if he becomes president, will become an asset for a commander in chief to make the enemy worry, what is America going to do? We don't know.
CAMEROTA: So when he tells people, I'm going to beat ISIS. It's going to be very quick. Voters should trust him on that?
FLEISCHER: Well, it's a gamble. Trump is taking a gamble because he is a bit inconsistent on this. He says we're not going to be involved and -
CUOMO: But there's also a lock (ph). You know you have to tell - I mean, look, you ran an operation. You can't not tell the military what you think we should do. You can't not tell politicians what you think you should do. And at some point you have to tell the American people what you think you can do. Not from an operational security standpoint, but you have to sell the people on what your mandate is, and you had to do that within the White House.
FLEISCHER: Well, that's what I was saying, it's inconsistency for Donald Trump because on the one hand he says we shouldn't have gone to Iraq, shouldn't have gone to Libya, shouldn't have gone to Syria, but I'm going to destroy ISIS. So he doesn't want to go anywhere to put any assets on the ground that could be in the region to destroy ISIS, but we're going to destroy ISIS. So it's a bit of an inconsistency.
CUOMO: Those are the two things people want to hear. FLEISCHER: But - but the point that Donald Trump would make on this
is, he doesn't want ISIS to have any guess of what he's going to do. He wants them to just fear him. And in that he's trying to channel a little bit of Ronald Reagan. I think it is fair that the Iranians released the hostages on January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, because they feared what Ronald Reagan might do. I think Trump is trying to capture that. I'm not saying he's a Ronald Reagan, but I think that's what's motivating him.
CAMEROTA: What did you think of Trump tweeting out almost instantaneously when the EgyptAir flight vanished -
FLEISCHER: Yes.
CAMEROTA: That he was certain that it was terrorism before information came out?
FLEISCHER: And Hillary said hours later in her interview with you that it appeared to be terrorism. I think they both jumped the gun. You know, I went through this on Veteran's Day 2001, two month after September 11th, one month after the war in Afghanistan began. An aircraft took off and crashed out of JFK. All the bridges and tunnels were shut to Manhattan again (ph). Everybody feared terrorism. It took us about five hours to realize this was not terrorism. It was mechanical. The plane crashed on shore. We had the plane right away.
CUOMO: Right.
FLEISCHER: But I didn't, as press secretary, say a word until I was sure we could report this accurately. And, believe me, those five hours were the longest in my life. The White House press core went nuts demanding to know if it was terrorism or not. But when you're in office, you've got -
CUOMO: Yes, I was one of the guys calling you. It was scary.
FLEISCHER: You have to stand back and let the facts develop first. I think they both jumped the gun.
CUOMO: Are you interested, from a media standpoint, of Trump and the media? Just this morning he was - he was on home base this morning. He was at Fox, he was on MSNBC, and the dynamic of kind of counseling him through interviews.
FLEISCHER: Yes.
CUOMO: Like, when you say this, you know, so you mean like you would just kind of do it this way? You know, are you marveling at how he uses the media and how it comes back?
FLEISCHER: Who isn't in my business? You know, Donald Trump has changed all the rules. First of all, he's made people like me virtually irrelevant. Donald Trump handles it himself to profound effect. You know, that "New York Times" front page story about his relationship with women, Donald Trump came out front and center and fought it, defeated it and made it go away and it backfired on "The New York Times."
CUOMO: You believe that, right, because (INAUDIBLE) schools of thought on it -
FLEISCHER: (INAUDIBLE) could not do that. Donald Trump (INAUDIBLE) -
CUOMO: That the piece still hurt on - the left is saying the piece still hurt him. You don't believe it?
FLEISCHER: Absolutely not. That piece was thin to begin with and Donald Trump made it into cotton candy and made it go away. But when a staffer does that the traditional way in politics, you send out your surrogates, you send out your spokesperson, it doesn't have as much impact. Trump might be overexposing himself, but he's changing the rules. And one of the things, Chris, all of us have to get used to is what we measured politics by for decades is now under change and we're in an atmosphere where most American people are sick of politicians, sick of the way we're doing it and it's one of the reasons Trump is winning so far. So everything's different the way Donald Trump does it. And I just am not - I'm self-aware enough to know, just because we did it my way for years doesn't mean it's right.
CAMEROTA: Ari Fleischer, great to have you on NEW DAY. Thanks so much for being here.
CUOMO: Continued success outside this fear (ph) of politics. It's good to have you.
FLEISCHER: Thank you.
CUOMO: First on the scene of a raking house fire. A police officer takes heroic action just second to spare. We're going to show you how he truly went beyond the call of duty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:58:03] CAMEROTA: So flames break out at a house in Massachusetts and a police officer nearby jumps into action. CNN's Jessica Schneider (ph) shows us how he went "Beyond the Call of Duty."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUIS LOPEZ, BOSTON POLICE OFFICER: The fire is raging. You can hear it. I mean you can just feel this is a very intense heat.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Officer Luis Lopez didn't know what he was walking into. He spotted the smoke and flames from the police precinct, got into his patrol car and tried to find where it was coming from. He says no one had even called 911 yet. He spotted a crowd outside this multi family home.
LOPEZ: As I'm yelling at people to get back, people are yelling back at me that there are people inside the house. I come into this gate, run to the back door.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): Were you feeling the heat of this fire when you're in this space here?
LOPEZ: Oh, absolutely. You could feel it. The smoke is pretty heavy.
SCHNEIDER: But that didn't stop you?
LOPEZ: No. My main concern was to make sure that if anyone was in here, that they got out. I remember forcing this door and going in - right in. When I end up in the kitchen, I start looking around and start yelling, "hello, Boston Police, anyone in here?"
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): No one answered, but Officer Lopez saw a door close just off the kitchen and forced it open.
LOPEZ: The door flies open. There's a gentleman on the bed. I start yelling at him, come on, let's go, we've got to go. The house is on fire and he's looking at me startled.
SCHNEIDER: No one inside new the urgency of the situation. Flames were shooting out the back, but the two other people Officer Lopez encountered inside didn't want to leave.
LOPEZ: They wanted to collect belongings in a time where we only had seconds to spare.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): And you had to be the one to say, no, this is serious, we have to get out of here?
LOPEZ: Yes, we gotta go.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Luckily, there was no one else inside and firefighters, trained for these flames, had finally arrived.
LOPEZ: I always wondered why firefighters run into a burning building, but now I know. It's not something that you think about, you just react to the moment.
[09:00:01] SCHNEIDER: A swift reaction, and a big rescue by a 20 year Boston Police veteran, now with a flair for firefighting.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: That's what he does without thinking.
