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New Day

Sanders Escalates Feud with Democratic Establishment; Submarine Searching for EgyptAir Black Boxes. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 23, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

CAMEROTA: Clinton and Trump now neck and neck in two new national polls. One of those polls has Sanders defeating Trump by double digits.

Meanwhile, speculation building over who Donald Trump might choose as his running mate.

[07:00:13] We've got the 2016 race covered the way only CNN can. So let's begin with senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns. Good morning, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

It's a sign of the bitterness in the race. One of the top candidates suggesting that, if elected, he would get rid of the leader of his party. And then there's that Sanders sound bite, suggesting Americans could be choosing between the lesser of two evils in November.

But, look, some of the latest polling does show sky-high negatives for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you!

JOHNS (voice-over): Bernie Sanders coming out strong over the weekend against the head of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

SANDERS: With all due respect to the current chairperson, if elected president, she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC.

JOHNS: Sanders going as far as backing her challenger for her Florida House seat.

SANDERS: Clearly, I favor her opponent. His views are much closer to mine than is -- is Wasserman Schultz's.

JOHNS: The head of the DNC responding, insisting she'll stay unbiased, saying in a statement, "I remain as I have been from the beginning, neutral in the presidential Democratic primary."

Sanders further challenging the establishment, doubling down on charges that the party is unfairly propping up Hillary Clinton's campaign before the primary contests are finished. SANDERS: You had 400 pledged delegates come onboard Clinton's

campaign before anyone else was in the race. That's called an anointment process. That's called the establishment talking.

JOHNS: Sanders saying he's going to carry the party to victory in November.

SANDERS: Virtually every national poll and every state poll, we defeat Trump by larger numbers than does Secretary Clinton.

JOHNS: Pointing out the unfavorable ratings plaguing both Clinton and Trump.

SANDERS: I don't want to see the American people voting for the lesser of two evils.

JOHNS: But quickly walking back that description when pressed.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Is that how you would describe Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump? The lesser of two evils?

SANDERS: No, I wouldn't describe it, but that's what the American people are saying.

JOHNS: Clinton less than 100 delegates shy of clinching the nomination.

CLINTON: There's no way that I won't be.

JOHNS: Taking a jab at Sanders' viability on Sunday.

CLINTON: I have been vetted and tested, and I don't think he's had a single negative ad ever run against him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: All eyes on the West Coast this week as the candidates get ready to go to California for the primary on June 7. Bernie Sanders spending most of the week there and Hillary Clinton heads out West after a speech in Detroit today -- Chris.

CUOMO: Boy, Joe, you touched on the big headline today. There's two new national polls making it clear that Clinton/Trump could be the tightest, ugliest race in a long time. A dead heat. Clinton at 44 percent. Trump at 46 percent. That's the "Washington Post"/ABC News survey. Clinton at 46, Trump at 43 in the "Wall Street Journal"/NBC News poll. Both candidates sport huge unfavorables of well over 50 percent. That's important to remember.

Later today Trump's going to meet with a man some see as a potential running mate. For that, CNN correspondent Phil Mattingly joins us.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Chris. A meeting with Senator Bob Corker later today, but first, focus on those numbers. The party clearly coalescing behind its nominee. Trump's numbers have shown a substantial improvement. His negatives, they remain at historic highs.

Now, take a look at this: 58 percent of registered voters in the ABC/"Wall Street Journal" poll have a negative opinion of Trump. Now, that's the highest in the poll's history. Ye, even in that, there's actually some good news for the Trump camp. His negatives have improved by 12 points since April. Now, this is something his advisers have predicted would happen.

Now, these numbers coming at Trump continues to reach out to various crucial blocks that make up the Republican Party. As well as its top officials. Today Bob Corker, now, the Tennessee Republican, is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

This meeting is stoking speculation that perhaps the former Chattanooga mayor may be in the running as Trump's running mate selection. Now Corker is the latest top foreign policy official to meet with Trump. It's more or less a tacit acknowledgment of Trump's need to beef up his expertise in that area.

Now guys, as to the vice-presidential selection, Trump and his advisers continuing to maintain the selection will be announced in July at the Republican National Convention -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Interesting as the guessing game continues. Thanks so much for that, Phil.

New polling also suggests the majority of Americans are not satisfied with Trump or Clinton as president. Fifty-one percent in a "Washington Post"/ABC News poll say they want a third-party candidate. That is music to the ears of our next guest. Former Massachusetts governor, William Weld is vying to be Gary Johnson's running mate for the Libertarian Party, and William Weld joins us now.

Good morning, Governor.

WILLIAM WELD, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: Thank you, Alisyn. Good to be with you.

[07:05:04] CAMEROTA: Great to have you here. So when and why did you decide that this year, this moment, is the time that you should throw your hat in the ring for a third party?

WELD: You know, Gary Johnson and I have known each other a long time. We were both Republican governors, two-term governors back in the '90s. Knew each other well. We were two highly-rated governors in terms of cutting spending. I think he's a hell of a guy. You know, he climbs mountains too high to even think about. He's climbed the highest mountain in all seven continents. I don't know anyone else who's done that.

So I'm excited to get together with him. It's not a done deal yet in that we have to get nominated at the Libertarian Party convention in Orlando, which is coming up this next weekend.

But you ask why this year. There's an obvious answer to that, and that's that the American people have woken up to the fact that neither major party has the mix of policy positions that a lot of people, between 40 and 50 percent, even, entertain. And that's fiscally and economically conservative, i.e., responsible, but socially inclusive and tolerant. Neither party. It's not the Republicans, with their anti-abortion, their queasiness about gay marriage, their rounding up and deporting 11 million people. It's not really the Democrats with spend, spend, spend. I was out on the hustings in 2010, which was a very good year for Republicans.

CAMEROTA: Right.

WELD: You could cut the spending fatigue with a knife, and I think that's back.

CAMEROTA: Are you motivated at all by Donald Trump's rise?

WELD: No. I'm most motivated by how great it could be to run with Gary Johnson and able, both of us, to swing for the fences and say exactly what we think about every issue. And I do think there's an opening. As you point out, 51 percent of the people are not satisfied with the current offering. Fifty-one percent is a pretty big figure.

Our first task is to get to where we are included in the presidential polls and then to get to 15 percent. And then we would be in the presidential and vice presidential debates. At that point, there's going to be so much attention on the election, that I think in the last three weeks money may be just irrelevant. There's going to be so much media attention. So that will be "Katie, bar the door" if we get that far.

CAMEROTA: So you say that, you know, your motivation was not about Donald Trump. Your enthusiasm is for Gary Johnson. But you did say something controversial about Trump and his plan to deport 11 or 12 million illegal immigrants. You invoked the bloody episode of Kristallnacht during the Holocaust. And you basically said that that -- you used that as an analogy for what you see would happen if Donald Trump's plan were to actually go forward.

And I'm wondering if you could expound on that a bit? In other words, you think that scores of people would be killed if Donald Trump tried to deport illegal immigrants?

WELD: Kristallnacht itself was breaking the windows of Jewish -- Jewish merchants. It was a shot across their bow. It was November 9, 1938. It was kicked off by a Polish Jew assassinating a mid-level Nazi officer a few weeks earlier, and on October 28, 1938, Hitler did deport 12,000 Polish Jews. It was considered a big deal at the time.

And I point out, that was 12,000, not 12 million. Mr. Trump's plan, as I understand it, is to round up and deport 11 million people whose papers are not in order here. To me that evokes -- it's haunting. It reminds me of Anne Frank hiding in her attic, waiting -- waiting for the Nazi sirens to pass by, and it does evoke the memory -- not the memory, I was not alive, but the notion of Kristallnacht.

And this is perhaps, in a way, personal to me. I spent five years on the United States Holocaust Memorial Commission, and I do think it's important that we all remember the Holocaust. Because if we don't remember it, we're going to forget. And that's a dangerous situation.

CAMEROTA: And yet, Governor, of course, there is anger in this country at the in-flow of illegal immigrants. So what would be your suggestion for how to deal with them?

WELD: You know, I think we've been a nation of immigrants our entire history. People who say we cannot deal with an immigrant population, it just means they're incompetent in execution.

CAMEROTA: Well, look, they say -- they make a distinction between illegal immigration and legal immigration.

WELD: No. I understand they do, and I understand that people are and have been coming across the borders. I'm not convinced that they're taking brick layer and heavy gardening jobs that there are long lines of Americans waiting up to take, I think. In sections of that country, that undocumented labor pool is something of an economic outlet.

So I think -- I think the country can deal with it without pressing the panic button in saying "No Hispanics, no Muslims." That's just not us, or it shouldn't be us.

CAMEROTA: Sure, but how? What would be your...

[06:10:09] WELD: It's hardly a Lincolnesque appeal to the -- I was saying, that's not an appeal to the better angels of our nature.

CAMEROTA: I understand, but what would be your suggestion for what -- How would you deal with them?

WELD: I don't think they have to become citizens. I think if they're working here, paying taxes, bearing all the burdens of citizenship, I certainly wouldn't round them up and deport them.

CAMEROTA: Governor Bill Weld, great to get your position and your plan. We look forward to talking to you as this progresses. Thanks for being here on NEW DAY.

WELD: Thanks, Alisyn. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris.

CUOMO: All right. The latest now in the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804. A submarine is now joining the search for the black boxes, and we also know some details now about the flight's final moments. For that, CNN's Nic Robertson in Alexandria, Egypt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of feet below the Mediterranean Sea, the search for EgyptAir 804 continues. Egypt deploying a submarine scouring the bottom of the ocean floor, 200 miles off the coast of Alexandria, hoping to retrieve the plane's black boxes in waters nearly two miles deep in some parts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, hello, EgyptAir Flight 804 flight level 370.

ROBERTSON: This is audio recordings of the two men flying the doomed flight, a release, the pilot making this final haunting call to air traffic control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much. Good day. Have a good night.

ROBERTSON: Just minutes before falling off radar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight zero four, this is Turkish 814. How do you read me?

ROBERTSON: Flight data obtained by CNN indicate multiple smoke alerts occurring near the cockpit minutes before the crash, the smoke indicators providing a new clue for investigators. Was it mechanical failure or something deliberate, like terrorism, that made Flight 804 suddenly drop 38,000 feet out of the sky?

SAMEH SHOUKRY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: This is certainly an important element in the jigsaw puzzle that has to be fully combined.

ROBERTSON: A French official telling passengers' families that no theory has been ruled out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot at this stage come up with any conclusions. Stop making, how you call it, speculations, without having facts.

ROBERTSON: Wreckage found over the weekend, reminders of the 66 lives lost, including a purse, and a child's pink backpack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Breaking news now to tell you about. President Obama making history in Vietnam. Today in Hanoi, he announced the U.S. is lifting the decades-old arms embargo on Vietnam. The president dismissing suggestions the move is aimed at countering the rise of China. When it comes to Vietnam's rocky road on human rights, well, the president stated that arms sales would be evaluated on a case-by- case basis.

CUOMO: New this morning, the German drug maker Bayer is putting its money where its mouth is. Just days after leading takeover talks, the company is making a cash offer for Monsanto. Ready? Sixty-two billion dollars. Monsanto, of course, the big New York -- big American pharma company based out of St. Louis.

Now, if this move is approved, it would create the world's largest agricultural company. This place could make antibiotics and pesticides all of the world's largest supply, under one roof.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk entertainment. Britney Spears kicking off last night's Billboard music awards, the pop star who performed a mash-up of her hit songs, as you can hear. She received the Billboard Millennium Award. That was kind of fun to watch. Among the other top winners of the night, the Weeknd, Adele, Justin Bieber, and Rihanna. But the most talked about moment was a tribute to Prince.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: "PURPLE RAIN" BY PRINCE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Still Madonna and Stevie Wonder's performance slammed by BET, that network promising a, quote, "proper tribute" to the late singer during its award show next month.

CUOMO: What did you think?

CAMEROTA: Well, I didn't get to stay up, obviously, for the whole thing. Just watched the Britney Spears thing. Hearing it right now, I need to watch the whole thing before I weigh in. I mean, I think that it's always beautiful to hear "Purple Rain," but nobody can do it better than Prince.

CUOMO: Stevie Wonder, though, very close to him, such a legend in his own right. Madonna?

CAMEROTA: Yes. Your thoughts?

CUOMO: Style. Style.

CAMEROTA: OK.

CUOMO: With style.

CAMEROTA: So your...

CUOMO: I believe any tribute is a good tribute. You can always have more.

CAMEROTA: Fair enough.

CUOMO: All right. You know what's not good?

CAMEROTA: What?

CUOMO: Malfunctions. Not just the wardrobe variety, but also at the national anthem at Saturday night's San Diego Padres baseball game. Take a listen to what happened during the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: "STAR-SPANGLED BANNER")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:15:15] CUOMO: That's a woman's voice singing, right?

CAMEROTA: Yes. CUOMO: The crowd was supposed to be hearing a lip-synch performance by the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus. Chorus members say they were humiliated. The Padres are apologizing for what they call a control- room error and say a team employee is being disciplined for the mistake.

CAMEROTA: That is -- that is a malfunction.

CUOMO: They are supposed to be singing. That was who was on the field.

CAMEROTA: So there was supposed to be...

CUOMO: Those guys on the field were supposed to be singing. Instead they piped this woman's voice out over the P.A. system.

CAMEROTA: Who was supposed to be lip-synching?

CUOMO: It was supposed to be the choir.

CAMEROTA: Just singing? No piping out of anything?

CUOMO: Correct.

CAMEROTA: That's a problem. That's a distinct problem.

CUOMO: That's why we're showing it to you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for a look at today's forecast and a preview of the holiday weekend. How's it looking, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Good morning. It's going to look hot, but you know, we expect hot weather for Memorial Day. For the next couple years, though, severe weather. Twenty-seven tornado, yesterday. We'll have about 40 today, I think.

In some spots across the western United States, and the Midwest. Still some weather right now across the Red River, but the big story is how things are going to shape up later on this afternoon.

We're going to get more storms coming out of the west. More storms between the dry air and the very muggy air across the eastern part of the country. That mugginess will create the thunderstorms the severe weather and maybe some bumps in your flight if you're flying today, because it could be a rough weekend across parts of the southern Midwest, from Kansas all the way down to Oklahoma and Texas.

But that's where we expect the rough and tumble weather here for spring, for tomorrow. Same story for Wednesday, about the same story. Maybe a little bit less.

And then for your Memorial Day, here we go. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, New York City, 82, 81 and 80. A couple of thunderstorms. But nothing to ruin that picnic, guys. Looks pretty good.

Chris, back to you.

CUOMO: A couple of thunderstorms and everybody is getting excited.

CAMEROTA: Eighties, I like.

CUOMO: All right. I'll take it.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: All right. So the final moments of what happened with EgyptAir 804. The more data, the more information, the more understanding. We have new details communicated by the plane itself. What do they mean? We'll give them to you in an expert analysis, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:21:42] CUOMO: All right. It's been five days since EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed into Mediterranean Sea. We still don't know why.

However, there were indications of smoke onboard the doomed flight. Now, is that a sign of mechanical failure or an explosive onboard? It could probably take us in both directions.

Let's look at the new information and figure out what's the best way to move forward. We have CNN analyst Miles O'Brien; and CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank. Gentlemen, thank you both for coming in this morning to discuss this.

Miles, let me start with you. This is about a screen grab, right? It shows that there were sensors going off on the windows of the cockpit and that two minutes later, there were reports of smoke in two places. The lavatory behind the cockpit and the avionics under the cockpit. Your take?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Clearly, something was burning on this aircraft, Chris. And what kind of fire, where it began, probably in the neighborhood of the avionics bay, which is right below the cockpit. What started it is the question. Could it have been some sort of mechanical malfunction? Maybe it was some problem with some cargo. Were there some lithium batteries on there? We haven't seen the cargo manifest.

Or was it a small bomb, an incendiary device of some kind? Not big enough to blow this plane instantaneously out of the sky, but enough to bring it down eventually?

CUOMO: Miles, does this jive with this understanding that there had been electrical problems with the anti-ice heaters in the A-320s? That's what this plane was, the Airbus 320?

O'BRIEN: This is a known weakness on these aircraft. I don't know if that necessarily was the point of origin here in this case. I think what you saw were a series of breakers tripping, and a lot of it has to do with what circuit they're on or bus, and where the location of the boxes are in the avionics bay themselves. So it might be a bit of a red herring, something to look at, and it's certainly something in the history to focus on. Would that bring this plane down? I am a little doubtful of that.

CUOMO: Brother Cruickshank, terrorists like to brag. We have heard nothing. What did that mean?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, it might mean that it's not terrorism, Chris. Because we're more than 100 hours into this event at this point, and there's been no claim of responsibility whatsoever from any terrorist group, and that includes ISIS. ISIS has been very trigger happy in terms of putting out claims of responsibility very quickly.

When that Russian airliner came down, they took it down with a bomb over the Sinai Peninsula in October, ISIS put out a claim of responsibility within five hours, and they put out all sorts of other statements in the last 100 hours about operations in Syria and Iraq.

But one of their top leaders in Syria put out a major audiotape over the weekend, but absolutely nothing on this crash. Al Qaeda in the past has taken a little bit longer, Chris, to take responsibility for some of its attacks. And notably, that attempt on that Somalia airliner in February, took them 11 days, but that was a failed attack. This was a successful attack, if it was indeed terrorism. But we've seen no claim of responsibility so far from any terrorist group.

In the social media age, Chris, they put out statements very quickly these days.

CUOMO: A couple more quick points here to make. The fact that this was one of the planes vandalized with graffiti in Arabic that it was actually one of the planes that got hit at Charles de Gaulle with this graffiti, does that matter to you, or is it just a random detail?

[07:25:12] CRUICKSHANK: It's certainly a concerning detail. There was, according to "The New York Times," graffiti scrolled on the plane "We're going to bring the plane down," reportedly by airport workers in Cairo. Certainly brings up concern about potential access to the aircraft, sabotage. But at this point, no evidence yet that this is some kind of nefarious act. It could be mechanical.

CUOMO: Miles, the idea that a submarine has been involved is obviously intriguing and also obvious, because they're looking for something deep under the water at this point in the Mediterranean. What's the best hope there about what it can find and what it can tell?

O'BRIEN: Well, we want to hear those pingers. And I haven't heard that they have actually heard them. The submarine is in the vicinity, the main body of the wreckage, as far as I know, has not been located.

Presumably, it will all be in a fairly condensed area, and you'll be able to find both boxes, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, both of which will be very telling. We have a little hint of what will be on the flight data recorder, seeing that transmission from the ACARS device, the live streaming capability from the aircraft.

But the cockpit voice recorder will tell us a lot. One of the things that I'll be very curious about was were they trying to issue some kind of mayday call, and it just wasn't heard for whatever reason?

CUOMO: ACARS is Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System. Miles, you know that, because you taught it to me.

Thank you very much, gentlemen, for giving us the latest understanding on all this. And, Miles, as you often point out, once again, we see that a plane does not have the same technology that you and I have in our cars that allow you to know where it is, when it is and how it is. Once again, we're waiting to hear from these pingers, again.

Gentlemen, thank you. When we get the next round of information, we'll come back to you -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Chris.

It is Bernie Sanders versus the DNC. Sanders threatening to oust Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. What is the party in-fighting doing to the Democrats? Michael Smerconish is here with his take, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)