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New Day

Texas School Shooting, Lebron James sores 44 points; HAWAII's Kilauea volcano erupted; Trump Vs. DOJ. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 22, 2018 - 8:30   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: ... CNN's Nick Valencia live in Santa Fe Texas, you know, people forget 1,400 kids were in that school. What do we know now?

(START VIDEO CLIP)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just terrifying - this gun fight, we understand lasted for about 30 minutes in all. Yesterday, the Galveston County Sheriff gave a press conference, a news conference, where he said that officers were heroes. He particularly highlighted the actions of the two school resource officers who said was able to engage the suspect within about four minutes. He particularly highlighted the actions of John Barnes, who was critically wounded during that shootout with the suspect.

That during this press conference we also heard him clarify some statements that he made earlier to us saying that that 25-minute gun battle also included negotiations. He did however, say he does not believe that anyone shot on Friday was caught in that crossfire. Although he says that will be made clear once the autopsies are released.

We are hearing this morning that according to The Wall Street Journal, the father of this alleged gunman met with him on Saturday and during that exchange, the son was evidently confused, but he never said he was sorry. Alisyn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN LANE CAMEROTA, TELEVISION JOURNALIST AND CO-ANCHORING CNN'S NEW DAY: Hey, Nick, thank you very much for that update. Now to this, body cam video shows an intense showdown as police were trying to find the gunman at the Trump National Doral Resort in Miami and Florida.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: In this video, a Miami-Dade police officer fires and ducks for cover before entering the lobby. The officer eventually goes up stairs as the suspect's description comes in. The suspect was shot in the leg before he was arrested. Police say he draped an American flag across the desk and made anti-Trump comments before pulling out a gun. He faces attempted second degree murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CUOMO: All right, Lebron James showing why he is El Rey, The King

against the Celtics in last night's NBA playoff game. Lindsay Czarniak has more in this morning Bleacher Report, not to be a bucket of cold water, he was amazing, you know, going for 44 but one guy can't beat a whole team every time out.

LINDSAY ANN CZARNIAK, AMERICAN SPORTS ANCHOR, REPORTER: And that was the question. We didn't know how his team would respond and this is why Lebron James kept saying - he's not concerned, so now that we've seen him come together, the tone of this series has changed because the cavaliers are winning and even though did have an epic performance, last night Lebron wasn't the only one doing it. Lebron James, leading his Cavaliers with 44 points, getting some help from his friends in the process. Take a look at this, Kevin Love is over- the-top, full court pass to Lebron James there. What a catch for the bucket then later in this game, this jumper made history. He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time lead in playoff shots made.

So the Cavs go on to win 111-102. Now, it's a best of three series, and if they want to stay in this, Lebron James knows they have to do something no other team has done in these playoffs, and have to win in Boston.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER FOR CLEVELAND,CAVALIERS: ...we understand that, we know that, there's no love in there. If you ain't got on green, if you don't play for that team, if you don't bleed green they got no love for you, so we got to come out with a bunker mentality. Understand it's just us, it's going to be a great atmosphere, they have not lost a game in a post-season yet on their home court but they play extremely confident. We know that and it's going to be a tough but a collective group. If we play like we did in three and four, then we have a good chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CZARNIAK: He put them on their shoulders when they were down two games. This is a different kind of confidence. Game five tomorrow in Boston.

CAMEROTA: Exciting, that will be great to watch.

CUOMO: You think they can win up there?

CZARNIAK: I do. I do, because I think this whole momentum has shifted. I think it's going to be fantastic and interesting.

CAMEROTA: Okay Lindsay, thank you.

CZARNIAK: You got it.

CAMEROTA: Okay now so this news, there are new eruptions from the K?lauea volcano under way right now as we speak. It's creating a very real danger for people who live there, so we have a live report from Hawaii next. [08:05:00]

CUOMO: Oh man, it's just not ending. Okay, these are live pictures from K?lauea. This is a new eruption at the summit of that volcano. Here's a live look for all of you at home. Whatever you're doing, take a look at it. This is molten rock pumping out of this bad boy and it's going in all directions. Residents are being warned, "You got to get ready to leave with little or no notice," that's the quote.

CNN National Correspondent, Scott McClean, has the latest has the latest from 0:03:56.3, one of the problems for you in dealing with this is that people are still trying to live their lives. Tell us the story.

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SCOTT MCLEAN, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: It's hell on Earth, in a place that's heaven to so many. In just a matter of hours, a virtually dormant fissure suddenly woke up spewing fountains of lava down a molten stream, destroying everything in its way.

BRUCE DECAL, K?LAUEA, HAWAII, RESIDENT : It's all a guessing game.

MCLEAN: Bruce Decal owns two properties on this piece of paradise. He may soon have just one.

DECAL: We're ready to pretty much leave there in ten minutes if we have to and it's say good-bye to everything.

DONNA MEULLER, HAWAII RESIDENT: It shows me the power of God, the power of our Earth.

MCLEAN: Donna Meuller's home is just a few hundred yards from this molten sparkler, popping, groaning, and sometimes violently exploding.

MEULLER: See what I mean.

MCLEAN: At first, the constant earthquakes made it impossible to sleep.

MEULLER: Because I couldn't stand anymore.

MCLEAN: When this fissure opened up, it was impossible even to stay.

MEULLER: You can see it blew out this window, glass all over.

MCLEAN: As the lava flow quickly approaches, her family has come to salvage her valuables and go. She's not taking much with her.

MEULLER: There's not much I can walk away, it's tough.

[08:10:00]

MCLEAN: Just down the hill, Daryl Clinton is risking life and limb to protect two homes that belong to friends.

DARYL CLINTON, HAWAII RESIDENT: A lot of sentimental value, a lot of good family times.

MCLEAN: As we spoke, his friend Mark, was looking out for flying lava and so were we. The yard is littered with fresh volcanic rock.

CLINTON: This lava bomb came and hit right here.

MCLEAN: Giant lava bombs have broken windows, dented the water catchment pool and taken out the septic tank, even just getting from one home to the other is a life and death game of Frogger.

CLINTON: Look up and watch them, keep your eye on them, it's almost like catching a football but you don't want to catch this football.

MCLEAN: Clinton has been a quick study on the different sounds of the fissure. The sounds he knows to ignore.

CLINTON: You're good, you're all safe.

MCLEAN: And the ones that scream, "take cover."

CLINTON: You might want to step back on this one.

MCLEAN: Equipped with just a fire extinguisher and a garden hose, he's been spraying down the molten rocks that hit the house.

CLINTON: The inside, so the ones that we're concerned about, these are ones - are the once that catch the ceiling on fire.

MCLEAN: It's man versus mother nature, in a match Daryl Clinton intends to win.

And this weekend, just a day after we shot that interview, Daryl Clinton ended up getting hit in the leg with a lava bomb the size of a bowling ball while he was standing on his back porch.

Luckily his ex-wife was there to take him to the hospital and she said the heat of that lava bomb was so intense that it seemed to cauterize the wound on his leg keeping him from bleeding too much. It was also so hot that it started a fire on his porch that the neighbor actually had to put out.

Now, mother nature undoubtedly scored a big blow here. Clinton will be off of his feet for the six weeks at least. But the two houses he was protecting, they are still standing. So, point for Daryl Clinton, Chris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh, Scott. That is an incredible story. I mean, just what this one man fighting mother nature, thought that he could survive and then what he did endure, that's incredible, thank you very much for all that reporting with all those dramatic victors. Behind you, let's bring in Professor Kenneth Ruben, He's from the Department Chair of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

(START VIDEO CLIP) CAMEROTA: Professor, I mean, look at this. Look at all - this is

live okay, all these dramatic pictures and the audio that Scott just played for us, how dangerous is what's happening for Hawaiian's today?

KENNETH RUBEN, DEPARTMENT CHAIR OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA: It's extremely dangerous and it's an extremely dynamic situation. The locust of activity is moving from spot to spot. It's difficult when peoples' homes and livelihood are in the back of an erupting volcano but this is dangerous business and it would be best if people would stay out of harm's way by keeping a safe distance.

CAMEROTA: You say that the lava flow has really picked up in the last day and a half, so why is that happening and is that the biggest danger or is the biggest danger the acid gas that we keep hearing about?

RUBEN: There are four or five different dangers at the volcano and it's difficult at any time to say which one is the most dangerous. The reason the supply of magma is picking up, we believe, is that in the subterranean area within the volcano, magma moves from one place to another and during the early days of this eruption, an older, sort of resident magma, something that had been sitting in the magma chamber for perhaps a half a century was pushed out first.

It's cooler and stickier, it's didn't have as much gas in it and as this newer magma is reaching the area it's like uncorking a bottle of champagne. There's a lot more gas streaming out that's helping the magma to come out with more vigor. It's also a slightly chemical composition and we believe, warmer which makes it runnier and this is contributing to the intensity of the eruption right now.

Now the hazards are many, there are hazards from the molten lava, obviously, and the bombs, they are hazards from the volcanic gases. There are two different kinds. The ones up at the fissure and the one down at the ocean and there are hazards at the summit from the explosive eruptions.

CAMEROTA: Professor, just help us to understand, because we keep seeing these dramatic pictures day after day. Is this tapering off or is it getting stronger?

RUBEN: It's difficult to say when it will taper off. Obviously, we know it hasn't started to taper off yet.

[08:15:12]

RUBEN: There are various signals that we can measure, earthquakes, and deformation of the ground. So far, they tell us the supply of magma to this area is continuous. In 1955, there was an eruption in this exact area that lasted 86 days, it had its most intense period of time, about three to four weeks in. We could be in for the long haul, we just don't know, time will tell.

CAMEROTA: Also, this phenomenon of laze, so it's not lava, its laze and this is what our full screen explains it. When lava reaches the ocean, then it creates a laze, correct me if I'm wrong, made of hydrochloric acid gas, steam and glass particles.

Richard Myers, was just talking about when this rains down on you - I think he was likening it to battery acid and obviously it causes lung, eye, and skin irritation. So that sounds like a huge danger.

RUBEN: It is a huge danger. Interestingly enough, it's a danger that we're fairly familiar with during the last 35 years of activity at the volcano. We've been having what we call an ocean entry where lava flows into the sea for a little bit more than half of that time. This phenomena is fairly common and, it's fairly well-known. The vapors are very noxious. They tend to be driven by the winds. As long as the winds are fairly stable and people stay upwind, there's not much hazard but we don't recommend anyone go anywhere near the ocean entry without a properly equipped gas mask.

CAMEROTA: Professor Kenneth Ruben, thank much for your expertise and helping us all understand it a little bit better.

RUBEN: You're welcome. Aloha.

CAMEROTA: Aloha.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: When he explained that laze to us, which is haze and lava, I said they should have reversed it and it should be called hala. Because when you see that stuff you got to get out of there.

CAMEROTA: I like that.

CUOMO: I mean, I can't believe the sticktoitiveness of the people there that they're holding on to the last section, hopefully they're safe.

CAMEROTA: I can't either, I mean they're being hit with these lava bombs as we just learned.

CUOMO: President Trump demanding the Justice Department to investigate whether the FBI infiltrated his Presidential Campaign, what is the wrongdoing the President wants investigated? CNN's David Chalian, The Bottom Line.

[08:20:00]

CUOMO: We know what the President wants. The President wants to go after the people whom he believes are going after him, so that means, in this case, getting the DOJ, getting the FBI to find out if he was being spied on during the campaign. Let's get the bottom line on this from CNN Political Director, David Chalian. What's the potential plus minus?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well as you said, the plus here is the continued effort; the political plus for the President, I mean is the continued effort to sort of discredit the overall investigation into him, in his campaign, which has been working with his supporters. And, by the way, it seems pretty clear to me that the President and his legal team, I'm sure this seems clear to everyone, has determined that this is likely going to be fought out in a political process down the road.

The report from Mueller to Congress, whether or not, impeachment proceedings start and that they're working refs of that potential jury, meaning the American people and if they can continue to attack the investigation and muddy the waters, they have a chance to rally at least half or 40% of the country to his side, and in that scenari, avoid some sweeping majority of Americans to choose a conclusion here that would be against the President's wishes. That's the political game plan here.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but even the President's supporters and those on the fence like to see evidence. What's the evidence that the President has offered that his campaign was being spied on?

CHALIAN: No, Alisyn, it's not only that there's no evidence offered. Our reporting actually has completely been clear that there was no infiltration and implantation of some spy in the Trump campaign. That did not happen, so this does beg the question, what is the President doing here? It's why I think we have to look at this through the lens of a pure political communication strategy, not an actual legal argument or true investigation of the investigation.

This is a President who is purely delivering a communication strategy here. There's no evidence whatsoever that there was spying on the campaign and, in fact, almost every legal expert you guys have talked to on the show has said, this is how the FBI goes about its investigations.

CAMEROTA: Standard operating procedure is they word they use.

CHALIAN: They were looking into a foreign adversary attacking the American electoral process, American democracy, and in so doing they wanted -- they were trying to get information from somebody who was having contact with some people who may be the Russians were utilizing to try and infiltrate the campaign. It seems like a pretty normal of events here when you're investigating a foreign adversary meddling in the U.S. Election.

CUOMO: Well, it's certainly an abnormal situation, Russian meddling and all these things and that's playing into the narrative as is the fact that the President has given himself a very low bar of satisfaction. It's like the wiretapping claim, we all know here was no wiretapping.

Yes, but there was some surveillance and maybe some of my people were picked up on lines where there was surveillance of somebody else, and they were on the phone with them, that's good enough.

The downside is, that how do we know or we'll know soon enough, that the FBI or the DOJ is going to say what this confidential source was told and what kinds of information was developed and what kind of proof there was that this campaign was open for business, that's a potential downside. CHALIAN: No doubt. So too is the downside, Chris, just the blurring

of the traditional line of dependence from the Justice Department to the Presidency of the United States. That seems done. Also, who is going to get included from Congress in getting this information? Is it going to be bipartisan? I think that's the big question too.

CAMEROTA: David Chalian, thank you very much for The Bottom Line. Great to talk to you.

CUOMO: Tuesday, Good Stuff, next.

[08:25:16]

CUOMO: All right, here's some good stuff. A waiter in Ohio going above and beyond for one of his youngest customers, that's the keyword. Four-year-old Drew Dill, born with one arm; she was learning how to ride her bike having a little trouble, turning the wheel. The message got to a waiter at a local restaurant that her family loves to go to, turns out, when Austin isn't waiting tables, he's building prosthetics.

CAMEROTA: Wow!

CUOMO: And was able to create a device to help her control the handle bars, after a few tries, bingo.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To see the excitement on her face once she figured out that she can turn it on her own, just, to me it means the world.

CUOMO: They're still working together, making some tweaks to the design, plans to have the final version by the end of the week. He is a good man to be doing this and it's more proof you are not your limitations.

CAMEROTA: And more proof that we love, love. That has been the theme all morning here despite your sometimes grumpy reaction to it, that is another illustration of love.

CUOMO: I'm all in favor of it. I say go full Pollyanna.

CAMEROTA: Let's do it. All right, on that note, we turn it over to CNN Newsroom.

08:30:00