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New Day

Pilot Tries to Steal Plane; A Look Back at Hurricane Maria; Browns Beat Jets; Battleground in Colorado. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired September 21, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:31:17] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have an update for you on that story we first told you about yesterday. Authorities now say that 22-year-old man who -- he'd actually recently obtained a commercial pilot's license, but he jumped the fence at Orlando Airport and boarded an empty American Airlines plane. That suspect is now charged with attempting to steal that plane.

CNN's Victor Blackwell is live at Orlando-Melbourne International Airport with more.

This is such a strange story.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning to you.

A really bizarre story here. Nishal Sankat is waking up this morning at the Brevard County Jail. This is the morning after police say that he hopped the fence here at the Orlando-Melbourne International Airport, ran across the tarmac and boarded the empty American Airlines A-321 Airbus. No passengers onboard the jet, but two maintenance workers saw him. And when they asked for his badge and he couldn't show one, then went for the flight deck, they detained him, took him off the plane, and airport police were there within minutes.

Now, let's get to the answers that people want. Who is Nishal Sankat and why potentially did he board that plane? First to who. Twenty-two years old, a duel citizen of Canada and Trinidad in Tobago in the United States legally.

Now, we know that he was also a licensed commercial pilot. Now, we should say that the -- there's no evidence that he is certificated to fly the type of plane he boarded yesterday and the local police chief says that there's no evidence that he was actually working recently as a pilot for hire.

Now to his training here. He, we know, had that training as a pilot, but also was a student at the Florida Institute of Technology studying aviation management.

Now to the question of why. Why did he get on that plane? Investigators so far do not have an answer to that, but they can say that there is no indication thus far that there is any connection to terror. They searched the car that he drove here. There were no weapons or explosives. He had no weapons on him. He said nothing that was suspicious when he was detained by those maintenance workers. They have searched him home and they say that they have not found anything there that's suspicious. They have taken some laptops.

Broader question here, is there a problem with airport security? Surprisingly, the airport officials here, John, say that this is a success story, although he got on to the plane, because he did not get off the ground with the plane.

Back to you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, interesting. Clearly, though, they're going to deal with this situation.

Victor Blackwell, thanks very much.

One year after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, why this storm is still causing controversy. Two CNN correspondents, who have extensively covered the island's recovery, give us their take, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:01] CAMEROTA: It's been one year since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The governor of the island honored the nearly 3,000 Americans who were killed in the storm's aftermath. Tonight, CNN will air a special report "Storm of Controversy: What Really Happened in Puerto Rico." It looks at the continuing challenges and the ongoing human toll.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Summer of '17 was a perfect storm of perfect storms. First, Hurricane Harvey blasted Texas.

BERMAN: It is delivering not only punishing winds, but the potential for feet of rain, feet.

WEIR: That turned Houston into a giant concrete bowl full of rain.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": Take a look at this, Hurricane Irma now one of the most powerful hurricanes ever seen in the Atlantic, ever.

WEIR: Then Irma careened through the Caribbean on its way to the Florida Keys. And when it grazed Puerto Rico, they thought they had dodged a bullet. But then a little storm named Maria grew into the mother of God awfulness.

GOV. RICARDO ROSSELLO, PUERTO RICO: Maria changed from a tropical storm to a category five hurricane in historic speed. The truth of the matter was that we were prepared for another type of event. We had never anticipated an event of this magnitude here in Puerto Rico. And I think that's one of the lessons learned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, we are joined by CNN's Bill Weir and Leyla Santiago, who have covered Hurricane Maria extensively and are a part of tonight's CNN special report.

Great to have both of you here.

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: So, Leyla, your impressions a year later, where are we? What will we learn in this report?

SANTIAGO: Well, you know, we have come a long way. You'll see that in San Juan. You take a 20-minute drive out, less than that probably, and you'll see we have a long way to go. People in Puerto Rico feel forgotten.

[06:40:02] What have we learned? I think it depends on what level of government you ask. Every --

CAMEROTA: And there were mistakes everywhere. We've learned that.

SANTIAGO: Yes. And Bill and I were talking about this recently. I believe every level of government should be questioned. I mean municipalities, central governments, federal government. But the important thing is to question this now, because not all levels of government right now are on the same page when it comes to what happened and/or the denial of what happened.

BERMAN: And I've got to say, Bill, I've known you for a long time and you've covered a lot of storms. One of the things that still strikes me and why the history of this is so important is when you went back to Puerto Rico after Maria, you were aghast.

WEIR: Yes.

BERMAN: You couldn't believe what you were seeing.

WEIR: No. I mean it was human nature taking Mother Nature and super charging the tragedy, really, because I think that the response -- and we get FEMA to admit this -- it was completely flat-footed. Every cot, every tarp was gone. They'd been sent to the Virgin Islands for Irma. There were just a few dozen generators on an island that now has over 2,000, if you think about it.

And I compared it to Haiti, the quake in Haiti. This is an earthquake. You can't predict earthquakes. We saw the hurricane coming for days. Two weeks after, the U.S. had 22,000 troops, 300 helicopters, 30 ships in a foreign country.

BERMAN: In Haiti.

WEIR: In Haiti.

CAMEROTA: On an island, right.

WEIR: On an island in the Caribbean.

BERMAN: Surrounded by water.

WEIR: Surrounded by water, big water.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

WEIR: And -- but in this case, because of those other storms, because FEMA was so stretched, and honestly, I think, because people don't consider Puerto Ricans Americans. It's this strange colony, even though they've been dying in our wars and making our medicine and playing on our all-star teams for 100 years. You just cannot compare the responses between the mainland and what happened there.

CAMEROTA: Leyla, we have another moment of when you returned -- well, I think it's the first time that you go to the island and people are seeing outsiders for the first time. It's right after the storm and I think that they greet you because they're so happy that maybe help has come in some ways.

SANTIAGO: Well --

CAMEROTA: Well, you tell me. Set --

SANTIAGO: OK.

CAMEROTA: Is there a better way to set it up?

SANTIAGO: Well, truth be -- well, truth be told, the first gentleman I found when I landed was angry because I wasn't FEMA. I wasn't help. And then immediately after that was when this response came.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: As soon as I got off the chopper, a gentleman came towards me and he said, hey, who are you? And I said, I'm CNN.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

I'm asking him if this is enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

WEIR: My colleague, Leyla Santiago, has been providing relentless, award-winning coverage since day one.

SANTIAGO: And he was so angry. I mean he was mad.

WEIR: Because you weren't FEMA?

SANTIAGO: Because I didn't have any help with me. I had questions. And so he was angry. He walked away. And within seconds, a woman came out of nowhere and just hugged me. She had no idea who I was, but I was the first outsider she had seen in days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, that's powerful.

SANTIAGO: Her name is Brenda. I've kept in touch with her over the last year and she is still really struggling today, mostly from the mental health aspect. She hasn't been able to let it go. Every time it rains, every time she hears thunder, every time she's in a home with a blue tarp, which, by the way, there are at least 45,000 of those still on that island. It's still very much a trauma that lingers for the people.

BERMAN: I've got to say, the irony to this, of course, is that you ended up, I think, probably bringing Puerto Rico as much aid and support as anyone through your report. So it turns out you were, I think, the angel arriving there.

Bill, to you. You say that a lot of how Puerto Rico is covered now is a Rorschach test. And you had an example of it just like this week.

WEIR: Exactly. So we found millions of bottles of FEMA water sitting on a runway in a town about an hour's drive south of San Juan, and it was proof that -- and FEMA had later admitted to me that they just brought in too many supplies too late. And once they realized the extent of the problem, they flooded the zone, which any supply chain manager from Walmart or Amazon can tell you, it's about timing. And timing is key. And this -- we found this on the same day that the president was calling the response an unsung success.

But if we can't learn from our mistakes, if we can't count our dead accurately, count the cost, how do we brace for the next big, bad day?

BERMAN: And that's not a big ask, I should add.

CAMEROTA: Right. And those are the lingering questions. So, thank you both for all of the coverage and all of your reporting. Everybody can watch it all tonight in our CNN special report.

BERMAN: That's right. That special report, "Storm of Controversy: What Really Happened in Puerto Rico," that's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Don't miss it.

CAMEROTA: All right, it was nearly two years -- two years and 19 games in the making. The Cleveland Browns and their fans will never forget it. I'll learn what I'm talking about in the "Bleacher Report," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:46] BERMAN: Did you feel the tremor in the force? The streak is over. For the first time in 635 days, the Cleveland Browns have won an actual football game. They say -- they said it couldn't be done.

Coy Wire has more in the "Bleacher Report," live from Austin, Texas, this morning.

Good morning, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

You just love this as a Patriot's fan ad all you do is win, right? But the Browns' fans, my goodness, loving life. I'm here in Austin for tomorrow's college game between Texas Longhorns and number 17 TCU. But about 1,200 miles north of here, Browns fans are going crazy like they just won the Super Bowl, but they just won one game , a regular season game, for the first time in -- since Christmas Eve of 2016.

Now, rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield was the story of the game. He comes out onto the field like Maximus in "The Gladiator." They were down 14-0 to the Jets. Starter Tyrod Taylor went down with a concussion, but the number one overall draft pick came in and lit it up. He led the Browns on a pair of touchdown drives. He even caught a pass, this two-point conversion, looking like the Cleveland special. Remember, Philly ran something like this in the Super Bowl. Browns win 21-17. The Heisman Trophy winner was asked about how this win ranks amongst the others in his career?

[06:50:03] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER MAYFIELD, CLEVELAND BROWNS QUARTERBACK: It's definitely up there, being the first NFL game I've played in, the first regular season one that actually counts. So it's definitely up there for me. I've had some great memories, but, you know, I'm just getting started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Well, the Browns got their first taste of victory. Some lucky fans also got a taste of Bud Light. Their victory friges packed with free beer across the city. These friges were unlocked, allowing the thirty city to celebrate after a long drought.

We've got to show some love to Berman's Boston Red Sox. Their fans popping some bottles, too. The Sox clinching the American League East title for the third straight year with an 11-6 win over their hated rivals, the Yankees. Champagne showers to everyone.

Congrats to you, Mr. Berman.

BERMAN: We won't be satisfied until we get the World Series. But I will tell you, Coy, that almost nothing is better than winning a key game in Yankee Stadium because it just says everything about what is right and what is wrong.

CAMEROTA: But do you get a free Bud Light?

BERMAN: I --

WIRE: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) the first like (ph) videotape of a shotgun in CNN history? Perhaps.

All right, Coy, thanks very much. Appreciate it. CAMEROTA: All right. So Democrats are hoping to win the House if the midterm elections and there's one district they consider the ultimate battleground.

BERMAN: Two will enter, one will leave.

CAMEROTA: That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:43] CAMEROTA: We are 46 days from the midterms. Will Democrats take the House in November? Colorado's sixth congressional district is the ultimate battleground.

CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A visit with the Chinese community, a Hispanic church, an Ethiopian celebration, all in one afternoon. The break-neck pace, being there for his suburb Denver district, is Republican Congressman Mike Coffman's calling card.

REP. MIKE COFFMAN (R), COLORADO: I'm not your Republican congressman. I am your congressman. And I just want them to see me, and they do now, not as a partisan player.

Thank you very much.

BASH: Kaufman defied the odds before. In 2016 he won by eight points despite Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump here by 9 percent.

BASH (on camera): This suburban Colorado district has been a battleground for years. One Democrats have lost. And they say if they can win here this year, it's a good indicator they can take back the house.

BASH (voice over): The Democrat --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not a career politician, all right. I haven't been spending my life trying to get elected.

BASH: Combat veteran and first-time politician Jason Crow is running a classic 2018 race learned from 2016 lessons.

JASON CROW (D), COLORADO CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Now is the defining struggle for our democracy and the defining election of our lifetimes.

BASH: One against Washington, even his own party leaders.

BASH (on camera): If you're elected, no way, no how you will not vote for Nancy Pelosi either as speaker or if Democrats don't take a majority, as Democratic leader?

CROW: That's right. I will not vote for Nancy Pelosi.

BASH (voice over): But says this year's game changer is President Trump.

BASH (on camera): For four cycles Democrats have been trying to topple Mike Coffman. What makes you think you're the one who's going to turn this district blue?

CROW: We live in a very different world than we lived in just two years ago. Donald Trumps is president of the United States.

BASH (voice over): Many in this immigrant-rich district are worried about Trump policies. Many suburbanites here discussed it by Trump's tone.

Crow's strategy is hardly subtle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike Coffman, voting with Trump 96 percent of the time.

BASH (on camera): You are hanging Donald Trump around Mike Coffman's neck like an albatross.

CROW: Well, he needs to be accountable for breaking the promise to the people of this district.

BASH: How much of a drag is he on you here?

COFFMAN: Well, it doesn't help. It's less about his policies and it's about his tone. You know, college-educated (INAUDIBLE) just really are offended by his tone.

BASH: Maybe more than any other race this year, it is all about independents here. They outnumber both Democrats and Republicans in this district.

You're not affiliated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not affiliated.

BASH: Not a Democrat. Not a Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not any more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We both became unaffiliated a couple years ago.

BASH (voice over): John and Meredith Brackni (ph) were Republicans. They're not independents. Left the party because of Trump.

BASH (on camera): Is this a protest vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of. Yes. Yes. I mean there's some Democrats that I actually like and there's some Republicans that I like. But I -- I'm pretty much voting all blue.

BASH (voice over): He's leaning Republican, knows and likes Coffman, but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just my disappointment in the president is so significant that I want to vote all the way down the ticket against Republicans.

BASH (on camera): And you might do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's conceivable.

BASH (voice over): Coffman says his best chance is deep ties to active, large ethnic communities, like Ethiopians, who praise him for helping fight human rights abuses back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know the Ethiopian community, you have showed your allegiance to Congressman Coffman.

BASH: The former Marine says he does 500 push-ups a day to keep up his stamina.

BASH (on camera): All right, let's -- so I say drop and give me 20.

COFFMAN: Yes, there we go.

BASH: Is anybody counting?

COFFMAN: I am.

BASH: How many?

COFFMAN: Seventeen.

BASH: Twenty.

COFFMAN: Yay.

BASH: Tireless drive, which this year may not be enough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And more than anything else, what is really striking in talking to the many independent voters that make up that district is how fed up they are with the dysfunction and chaos here in Washington. And, John, we know that was a driving force in 2016. It seems to be on steroids this year.

BERMAN: Indeed. And I'm sure you took Congressman Coffman to South Cycle after he did the pushups.

[07:00:01] Dana Bash, magically transporting from Colorado to Washington. Stick around. We'll talk to you in a second.

Thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. For our U.S. viewers, NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christine Blasey Ford does not want to testify