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WAPO: Some Trump Records Taken From White House Labeled "Top Secret"; Teen Basketball Player Taunted With Racial Slurs During Game; LAPD Officers Rescue Pilot Of Downed Plane From Oncoming Train. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 11, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You got it. Thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I'm in front of Trump Tower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So why is a Republican lawmaker who spoke out against former President Trump following the insurrection now pledging her loyalty outside of Trump Tower?

Plus, brace yourself for this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAPD OFFICER: Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Train hits small plane on tracks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely incredible video of officers saving a man from an oncoming train after his plane crashed on the tracks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This morning "The Washington Post" is reporting that, quote, "Some of the White House documents that Donald Trump improperly took to his Mar-a-Lago residence were clearly marked as classified, including documents at the top-secret level."

Joining us now is former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham to talk about this.

[07:35:00]

Stephanie, what did you think about this? I also want to mention you are the author of "I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House." What did you make of this report? And tell us how this hues to how he handled documents when you were at the White House.

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO FIRST LADY MELANIE TRUMP, AUTHOR, "I'LL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS NOW: WHAT I SAW AT THE TRUMP White House" (via Webex by Cisco): You know, I wasn't surprised at -- when I saw the report. I think that what's important is this is another example of a White House and an administration that just -- we had no rules. We followed no rules.

Obviously, with this, I do think it should be looked into, but there's going to be a lot that goes into it. They may have been marked top secret but had the president declassified them? Who packed them? What was the intent there? Was everything really returned?

I think the point is -- I know people are talking about should he be -- get in trouble legally for this which, again, I do think it should be looked into because it's very, very serious. But I think this is also another example of what we do not want, ever, back in our government at the -- at the highest level in the White House again.

BERMAN: Stephanie, what did you personally see him do in terms of documents, and was it clear to you why he was doing it? Was it a nervous tick or was it because he wanted them out of circulation and destroyed?

GRISHAM: I don't know the answer to that. To be honest with you, I always thought it was a nervous tick. I mean, it was something -- he always tore everything up.

I do recall on a flight we were headed to the Middle East on one of our Christmas -- surprise Christmas troop visits and I was sitting behind him watching him because there was nothing else to watch. And he was going through his boxes and he was keeping some things in a folder, he was signing some things.

He was tearing some things up and throwing it on the floor, which was completely normal. He did that in the White House. He did that in the residence. And then he would tear up some pieces of paper and I saw him put some of the torn up pieces of paper in his jacket inside pocket.

And I remember at the time just thinking I wonder why that's going in his pocket, rather on the floor? It was -- there weren't alarm bells for me at the time because I was so used to seeing it. But I distinctly remember wondering why those torn-up pieces went into his jacket. Maybe they were to be flushed down a toilet later. I don't know.

KEILAR: OK. Well, speaking of flushing down the toilet later, Maggie Haberman reporting that on multiple occasions there had to be a plumber or a technician come in because there were wads of paper in the pipes -- the president's toilet, specifically.

Did you understand that was something that went on or was this news to you when you heard it?

GRISHAM: That was -- that was news to me. It -- again, it did not surprise me at all. You have to remember that the former president is a very, very paranoid man. And so that didn't surprise me at all, which is pretty bonkers, honestly.

But I know that Maggie Haberman is very well-sourced. I remember in the White House when Maggie -- a story would come out by Maggie everybody was worried. So I trust that she probably had some very good sourcing there.

BERMAN: Paranoid how, Stephanie?

GRISHAM: You know, he was just -- he didn't trust anybody. He didn't trust the people around him. He didn't trust some of -- you know, the people who were around him the most. There were just times when he would want to do things alone or -- again, I saw him meet with Rudy Giuliani before in a room with literally nobody else in there.

He was just a paranoid man. And for me, he was always that way so it didn't set alarm bells off. But now that I've kind of stepped back and taken a break from this cult-like atmosphere, I'm now seeing how crazy and strange it all really was.

KEILAR: Congressional investigators, Stephanie, say that the White House call records that they now have from the National Archives do not have calls made to or from Trump during the attack on the Capitol.

Can you illuminate his calling practices for us and why they may not be part of the record?

GRISHAM: No. You know, he was on the phone all the time, whether we were in the Oval Office or we were in the dining room in the middle of something, he would yell out get somebody on the phone -- get somebody on the phone, or he would take phone calls in the middle of meetings all the time. So I do find that those gaps are kind of odd.

However, from all the reports that are out there, there were people frantically calling, asking for help, and asking for him to do something. So I don't know this for a fact but knowing him the way that I do I imagine people were coming in and saying so and so is on the phone -- they want you to call it off -- and he didn't want to. So if he didn't want to hear a message that somebody was saying, I'm sure he just didn't take the call.

He also would use staffers' phones sometimes, so that could be something that was happening. Somebody that was in the room with him could have handed him a phone if somebody was calling in that regard. I do think it's very odd and I hope that they can look into it and maybe piece some things together perhaps by getting other people's cell phone records.

BERMAN: Whose phones would he use? How would that work?

GRISHAM: You know, again, anybody in the room. I'll just use Dan Scavino as an example because he was always, always in the room. [07:40:00]

But let's say Jared or Ivanka would have been in the room, and let's say McCarthy would have been calling. Perhaps then, Ivanka would hand the phone over and say here you go, or perhaps the president would have said no. He did this all the time if he just didn't want to hear what somebody had to say.

So, in those moments, maybe he just didn't want to hear all these pleas for help because he was enjoying that people were fighting for him.

BERMAN: I will note you listed Dan Scavino and Ivanka there -- a couple of people who are not cooperating, really --

GRISHAM: Yes.

BERMAN: -- with the January 6 Committee now. So that's notable.

GRISHAM: Yes. And if you have nothing to hide, I don't understand why you don't just turn things over, say what happened, and move on with things.

KEILAR: Yes. Trump certainly isn't standing for people doing that and still being an ally of his, we should -- we should mention as well.

Stephanie, it's great to see you. Stephanie Grisham, former Trump White House press secretary. Thank you.

GRISHAM: Thank you, guys.

KEILAR: President Biden snapping at a reporter's legitimate question on inflation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you're being a wise guy with me a little bit and I understand that's your job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A teenage basketball player taunted with racial slurs during a game. First, she wanted to ignore it. Now she says she's determined to speak out. She will join us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:35]

BERMAN: A high school basketball player in Wayland, Massachusetts says she was taunted on the court with racial slurs by a group of boys from the opposing school. That athlete is bravely speaking out in her first national interview this morning.

Joining me now, Wayland High School varsity girls basketball player Saniyyah Phillips and her mother, Paola Gutierrez. Thank you both so much for being with us. I really appreciate you speaking out.

Saniyyah, just tell us what happened.

SANIYYAH PHILLIPS, HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY BASKETBALL PLAYER TARGETED WITH RACIAL SLURS: So, in the game, I was taunted by racial slurs. It didn't feel good.

BERMAN: It didn't feel good. When were you taunted? How were you taunted? I don't want to make you live through it again but what were they saying?

PHILLIPS: They were commenting on how I looked, how my hair was, how I was the only colored person on the team. They made it seem like me being on the team was a privilege.

BERMAN: And have you ever gone through that before?

PHILLIPS: No.

BERMAN: And what did it feel like for you at the time?

PHILLIPS: I was shocked. I felt attacked. I felt very emotional.

BERMAN: What did you do about it right then?

PHILLIPS: Right then and there, I didn't do anything. It was mostly like me getting in my head. But at the end of the quarter four, I had to let it out. I just cried and my coach just asked me what's wrong.

BERMAN: You cried to your coach. Did the coach tell the refs? What happened to the game?

PHILLIPS: Yes, my coach did tell the refs and the other coach. I wasn't really paying closely attention to what he was saying. I was just mostly in my head. I was crying.

BERMAN: Again, I'm so sorry that you had to go through this.

Paola, they didn't stop the game, which I find strange. What do you think of the response there?

PAOLA GUTIERREZ, MOTHER OF SANIYYAH PHILLIPS: During the game, I didn't know it was going on until the end of the game. That's when I found out what was going on, what happened, what was being said. So I first -- I really didn't think much of it, so I was a little confused. Like, very, very confused. I was just trying to read the body language to try to figure out what exactly was going on.

BERMAN: And, Saniyyah, at first, you weren't going public with this. Why do you think it's important to speak out?

PHILLIPS: Yes. So at first, I wasn't going public with this but I realized that no one should experience what I experienced. I wanted to be an -- I want to be an advocate for others that have gone through similar situations and cannot speak up. BERMAN: No one should have to go through this. And I have to say, you speaking out hopefully will help make sure it doesn't happen again -- at least not there.

Paola, let me read you a statement from the Westford Public Schools. This is the school where the students went to who were -- who were yelling those things.

"I think you will understand that as a school district, we are not at liberty to discuss specific student discipline. There were initial consequences as well as ongoing consequences following the investigation. We are now focused on making sure that there is clear, direct education and counseling surrounding this issue and the students involved as well as our community at large are able to learn from this so that it is not repeated."

Is that a strong enough statement, Paola, to you?

GUTIERREZ: It is a statement. I feel like more work should be done. More should -- more consequences should be done as well only because this shouldn't have happened. I'm not sure if it has happened before and nobody has spoken. But this is a serious situation that affects our kids.

BERMAN: Paola Gutierrez, I appreciate you being with us. Saniyyah Phillips, I appreciate you and your courage for speaking out. And more than anything, I just want you to have a great rest of the season.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

GUTIERREZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: Super Bowl weekend is upon us. Who is favored to win, and what food is favored to be at your party? We're going to talk about all these important statistics next.

[07:50:00]

And watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAPD OFFICER: Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Train hits small plane on tracks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: A pilot whose plane crashed onto the tracks nearly hit by that oncoming train. Officers going beyond the call of duty to save his life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A heroic rescue with just seconds to spare. LAPD officers going beyond the call of duty to save the pilot of a downed plane from an oncoming train.

CNN's Josh Campbell has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Los Angeles commuter train slamming into a downed plane. Mere seconds before impact, the pilot was still trapped inside.

LAPD OFFICER: Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

CAMPBELL (voice-over): First, he survived the plane crash, then that speeding train, saved from certain death by the heroic efforts of Los Angeles police officers.

OFFICER ROBERT SHEROCK, LOS ANGELES POLICE: I knew that if we failed this man that he would die, and I didn't want to be the one to have to watch him die.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): It all started on a sunny Sunday. A pilot in distress, unable to reach a nearby runway.

LAPD Sgt. Joseph Cavestany saw it all going down.

SGT. JOSEPH CAVESTANY, LOS ANGELES POLICE: It took me a second to realize what it was, but knowing that the airport's right here, I pretty much understood that it was going to be an airplane.

[07:55:00]

CAMPBELL (voice-over): The pilot managed to avoid a busy intersection, instead coming to a stop on the tracks. LAPD radioed dispatch to stop all trains.

CAVESTANY: I wasn't sure of his injuries -- if he had neck or spinal injuries. We were just going to wait for the fire department to get there to extricate him and render first aid.

CAMPBELL (on camera): Now, Metrolink says it can stop a train within five minutes. The problem for these officers -- the next train through this intersection was only minutes away.

SHEROCK: How could this get any worse. Well, it just happened.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Officers Robert Sherock and Damien Castro were directing traffic when warning bells began sounding and the gates started to come down.

SHEROCK: And then I looked over to my right, down the tracks, and I saw these three giant headlights from the train. And I don't know -- something -- I know we had requested to stop the train but just something in my head -- I just knew, like, this train's not going to stop.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Officer Castro tried to break a mangled panel that was trapping the pilot inside the plane. OFFICER DAMIEN CASTRO, LOS ANGELES POLICE: As I'm trying to pull it off, it's not coming off. And I looked back one more time and I see the train was approaching a lot faster than I thought it was. So at that point, I said forget about the panel, grabbed onto him, and helped pull him out.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Four seconds later --

(Train crashes into plane).

SHEROCK: And I just remember thinking well, now is the plane going to hit me, or is it going to catch on fire or blow up?

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Pieces of the plane rained down on bystanders but no one else on the ground or the train was hurt.

It's a story that has garnered international attention and praise for a group of officers who went beyond the call, risking their own lives to save another. Many now calling them heroes.

CAMPBELL (on camera): What goes through your mind when you hear that?

CAVESTANY: You know, honestly, it's -- that's not the word that we associate ourselves with. It's part of the job.

CASTRO: Officers around the world do this every day -- maybe not a train coming at them, but they're saving lives all the time and putting their lives on the line.

POLICE OFFICER: We got him out.

POLICE OFFICER: He's out. He's alive.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: There was a train coming at them and it does not happen every day.

All right. Super Bowl weekend is upon us. The Los Angeles Rams will be hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on their own turf. And while diehard football fans will tune in, there are people who insist that this isn't just about the game. I don't understand those people but they do say that.

All right, joining us now, Harry Enten, CNN senior data reporter. So, Harry, I do understand there are people who say they like things other than the football.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: There are people who like things other than the football. I mean, for me -- look, this is the important thing. The favorite part of watching the Super Bowl -- it should be the football game, but only 58 percent say that's their favorite part of it. Twenty-four percent of people say their favorite thing is the

commercials. I know there are a few of those. Thirteen percent say the halftime show. I'm wondering who this two percent -- the pregame show. What's going on there?

BERMAN: They didn't hear the question right. They didn't hear the question right -- those two percent.

All right, favorite food.

ENTEN: Now, this one's an easy one for me and I am in the plurality on this one. Yes, chicken wings, 33 percent. Pizza at 19. Chips and dip, 16 percent. Burgers and sliders, 13 percent. Nachos, eight, I guess.

Chili at five. That could be a pretty healthy option if it's a turkey chili, right?

BERMAN: Why do you have to choose? I mean, why can't it be all of it?'

ENTEN: I guess it could be all of it. I mean, I do love my chicken at Popeyes, so that still is number one. But maybe I can throw in a little burger and slider -- get a little different type of meat in there. You know, get all of my disgusting meats on one day.

BERMAN: And also, just as a point of -- you know, shouldn't those be combined? Can't you dip your nachos?

ENTEN: I guess you could. You know, maybe cheese and, like, a garlic dip would be a little odd for me. But, you know, each to their own. I mean, you're an interesting person so why not have an interesting food.

BERMAN: I just have a problem with the methodology of this poll.

The game -- there is an actual game.

ENTEN: There is.

BERMAN: Who do the fans want to win?

ENTEN: So, if you go to your Super Bowl and you're unsure who to root for and you want to fit in -- and I have spoken with a number of people who either a) didn't even know who was playing and they were supposed sports fans, or b) they just didn't care.

The Bengals -- 57 percent of fans want them to win among those who have a preference, versus just 43 percent of Los Angeles Raiders (sic). I don't -- the Los Angeles Rams. Raiders, my goodness -- my head. We were just talking about that.

I'm not a big L.A. guy; I'm a New York guy. So I'm going for the Bengals in this one. BERMAN: I actually have to say, I bet you this is the number in L.A., too, because I don't know that a lot of people there know they have a team -- you know.

In terms of who hasn't won in a while, there is some sentimental favorites for the Bengals there.

ENTEN: Yes. I mean, look, the Bengals have never won a Super Bowl. It's been 54 years. They were enfranchised in 1968.

Although I should point out that's not even close to the longest streak of not winning a championship. It's actually the Arizona Cardinals haven't won an NFL championship since 1947. They won it against the Eagles. Charley Trippi returned a punt for a touchdown in that game.

The Cleveland Guardians, in baseball, since '48. "Major League," the movie, obviously hit on that.

And then, the Sacramento Kings -- they haven't even been to an NBA final in 70 years, since 1951 when they were the Rochester Royals.

BERMAN: The games are getting better, Harry.

ENTEN: They are getting better. So, you know, look, the Rams are favored to win by five points this year. And if you look at the median Super Bowl margin, the first 19.