Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Hunt For Woman Accused of Killing Cyclist; Birth Rates Rose in 2021; Ex-NFL Player Arrested for Airport Brawl; World's Fastest Passenger Jet; MLB Suspends White Yankee Slugger. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 24, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:48]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, a manhunt underway for a Texas woman accused of murdering an elite cyclist who at one time dated her boyfriend.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has the detail.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Brianna, the search for Kaitlin Marie Armstrong continues this morning. This as investigators in Austin, Texas, have released key details about the night a popular cyclist was murdered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice over): A manhunt is underway for 34-year-old Kaitlin Marie Armstrong in the suspected murder of professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is snaking through into the finish. This is Moriah Wilson.

LAVANDERA: Wilson, known as Mo, was considered one of the best gravel racing cyclists in the world. Police suspect she was killed in a love triangle gone wrong after Armstrong learned Wilson had been spending time with her boyfriend, fellow cyclist Colin Strickland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The champ is in the house. This is Moriah Wilson.

LAVANDERA: On May 11th, Wilson was in Austin, Texas, preparing for an upcoming race. Austin police say that night 25-year-old Wilson was found murdered in the bathroom of a friend's home. She was shot multiple times.

According to a police affidavit, on the day Wilson was murdered, she went to a public swimming pool and had dinner with fellow cyclist Colin Strickland. The two had a brief romantic relationship in the fall of 2021 while Strickland was on a break from his relationship with Armstrong, who he had dated for about three years. Austin police say surveillance video shows Armstrong's car pulling up next to the house where Wilson was staying around the time she was murdered, and that a gun discovered in the house where Armstrong lived with Strickland is the likely murder weapon.

The police affidavit also states that authorities have learned that Armstrong was furious and shaking in anger when she learned of Strickland's romantic relationship with Wilson in January. The day after the murder, Kaitlin Armstrong was interviewed by investigators and presented with the evidence. The police affidavit described Armstrong was very still and guarded as investigators detailed what they had discovered. She then requested to leave.

A week later, U.S. Marshals announce they were assisting in a search for Armstrong, but the 34-year-old woman has disappeared since her interview with police.

CROWD (singing): Happy birthday (INAUDIBLE).

LAVANDERA: Just weeks before her murder, Mo Wilson was celebrating with friends after winning the Belgium Waffle Ride in California.

These are the last images of her competing in a sport she dominated. Wilson is described as a role model, yet shy and compassionate. An athlete who developed an intense passion for cycling while growing up on the bike trails of Vermont.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: In a statement to the "Austin American Statesman" newspaper, Colin Strickland says he cannot adequately express his regret and torture that he feels for his proximity to the murder of Mo Wilson. Wilson's family says they're not commenting on details of the investigation, only to say that they believe that at the time of Mo Wilson's murder she was not involved in a romantic relationship with anyone.

John and Brianna.

BERMAN: All right, Ed, our thanks to you for that.

A former NFL player arrested after an ugly brawl with an airline worker. We will show you this shocking video.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And that pandemic-fueled baby bust is now a baby boom. The new data just released.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:37]

KEILAR: This morning, new CDC data shows births in the U.S. rising in 2021 after a steep decline in the first year of the pandemic. Nearly 3.7 million babies were born as the birth rate increased for first time in seven years.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard joining us now on this story.

Tell us about this trend. It's not a total turnaround, but certainly we're seeing this uptick. JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That's right, it's a small

uptick, but it is significant. And it might be the beginning of us as a nation returning to the pre-pandemic levels. But the real question, Brianna, is whether this trend will continue into next year and the following year and maybe past pre-pandemic levels. That's what I'm interested to see.

But, for now, here's what the data tell us. We do know that last year there were nearly 3.7 million births, as you mentioned. That's up 1 percent from the previous year in 2020. Birth rates declined among women ages 15 to 24. Birth rates rose among women ages 25 to 49.

And one data point that was concerning, Brianna, pre-term birth rates rose as well, 4 percent last year. And we know that the U.S. has the high -- among some of the highest rates of pre-term births among high- income nations. So that's something that was concerning to see.

But, overall, the uptick in births is interesting. Like I said, Brianna, I want to see if the data continue, if the trend continues next year as well.

[06:40:06]

KEILAR: All right, I do, too.

Jacqueline, thank you.

BERMAN: An ugly brawl between a former NFL player and a United Airlines worker caught on camera at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Laura Jarrett, "EARLY START" anchor and attorney at law. joins me now.

Someone may need an attorney after this.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": So, we've all seen these videos. They go viral from the not so friendly skies over the past two years, passengers' bad behavior during the pandemic caught on camera. But this one was on the ground. And I should warn you, the video is disturbing.

(VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: So, the guy on left there, that is former NFL player Brendan Langley. Now a member of the Canadian football league's Calgary Stampeders. You can see him caught smacking, punching a United employee. The worker then slaps Langley, too. He gets in some hits. It's not clear what started this fight, but the altercation happened last week at Newark Airport.

Langley, who was drafted in 2017 by the Denver Broncos, was charged with simple assault. Released on his own recognizance, we're told. The airline worker has been fired by United. The Calgary Stampeders say they are looking into the matter.

BERMAN: That's tough to watch right there. Laura Jarrett, thank you very much.

JARRETT: Sure.

BERMAN: So a white New York Yankee suspended after calling a black rival "Jackie."

KEILAR: Plus, an aircraft company making a supersonic breakthrough. We have a look at the fastest passenger jet in the world, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:01]

KEILAR: Nearly two decades after the Concorde was retired, supersonic passenger flights around the world could once again be within reach. Calling it the world's fastest and longest range purpose-built business jet, plane manufacturer Bombardier's Global 8000 boasts speeds of over 750 miles per hour.

And joining me now on this is CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean.

Pete, the company is calling this the world's fastest jet. So, does that mean that, you know, breakfast in New York and then lunch in Sydney? Can I do this?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It's all about bragging rights, Brianna. You know, we're talking about the fastest civilian plane that money can buy. The Bombardier Global 8000. Eight thousand comes from the range. Eight thousand nautical miles. The top speed Mach 0.94. So, we're talking about 94 percent of the speed of sound. There has not been a civilian airplane built faster than this since the Concorde.

It can carry up to 19 passengers. Remember, this is a business yet. A private plane. Not really a passenger plane that you and I would fly on. More on this in a second.

So, let's just get a little perspective on how fast we're talking about here. Mach 1, the speed of sound, 761 miles per hour at sea level. It varies with temperature, a few other factors. So, most private planes, the fastest you could get is about Mach 0.92. Up until now we're talking about Mach 0.94. Long time ago we were talking about the Concorde, retired in 2003. It was up here, past Mach 2. So, still a long way to go for what we saw back in the Concorde.

But remember, retired back in 2003. It was plagued by tons of problems. It was really expensive to repair. The airlines didn't want to fly it anymore. It was tiny, but it could get about 100 people from New York to Paris in about three hours, which is a pretty incredible speed.

The test flight, the test bed for the Bombardier Global 8000 went Mach 0.0 -- 1.015 (ph) in a bit of a descent, so that meant that it was going a little bit faster downhill, but it was chasing an F-18, so going pretty darn fast, Brianna.

All of this speed means more range on the same amount of fuel. We're talking, oh, Houston to Dubai, London to Perth, Singapore to L.A., if you ever need to go that far. It's not built for the every person. This is more of something where you need to go, let's say to Dubai for breakfast or for a meeting.

These orders are up in the pandemic. Private planes have actually been doing pretty well, compared to commercial airliners, which have been down a bit. So, it's a pretty interesting time for business and private planes like this. We haven't seen something like this in a long, long time.

KEILAR: OK. So, let's talk about the cost. And does this include one of those like nice warm face towelettes and a champagne? I mean, what does this come with? What are you going to pay for it?

MUNTEAN: It is pretty boujey maybe for you and I. A little -- a little salty. Maybe not for Berman, but maybe for you and I it might be a little bit of that.

OK, so let's talk about the interior here. Four different zones of the cabin. Pretty plush. Might see a mahogany table like this. You can see the pretty advanced cockpit there. Up to 19 people on board, depending on the configuration.

We're not going to see this at the airline. We may see it at the airlines from a company called Boom Supersonic. And some of these planes, 15 orders, were just put in by United Airlines. Might not see a supersonic plane at the airlines until something like 2029. But this is something that would do Newark to London in about three and a half hours. Speed is king here. The airlines are dying for it and so are people with a lot of money. $78 million for the Bombardier Global 8000, Brianna.

KEILAR: That is a fancy plane on the inside, Berman. Did you see that? It definitely comes with a moist face towelette.

BERMAN: I did see it right after Pete Muntean called me boujey.

[06:50:00]

So, yes, that caught my attention.

MUNTEAN: Just making sure you're on your toes, John.

BERMAN: No, I'm the guy who falls asleep and like drools a little bit. Like, I'm like, you know.

KEILAR: He mows his own lawn, Pete. He's not boujey.

MUNTEAN: Well, you know. I think he could afford it. We'll see. Take out a loan.

BERMAN: London to Perth, I'm headed there. Definitely. That's one of my regular routes. MUNTEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Right. Definitely.

MUNTEAN: Everyone does that.

KEILAR: Just for lunch. Just for lunch.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Pete, thanks for showing us that.

MUNTEAN: You got it.

KEILAR: What a treat.

So, new this morning, what the Justice Department is now telling law enforcement to do in the wake of George Floyd's death.

BERMAN: Plus, one manager calls it racist. Major League Baseball now suspended a white New York Yankee for calling his black opponent "Jackie." We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Major League Baseball has issued a one-game suspension and a fine to Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson after he called the White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson "Jackie" during a game on Saturday.

[06:55:03]

Now, Anderson is black. Donaldson is white. Here's how Donaldson responded to questions about whether his comments were racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH DONALDSON, THIRD BASEMAN, NEW YORK YANKEES: And he came out with an interview that said that he's the new Jackie Robinson of baseball.

And I've said it to him in years past. Not -- not in any manner than just joking around, for the fact that he called himself Jackie Robinson.

My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist.

Obviously, he deemed that it was disrespectful. And, look, if he did, I apologize. Like that's not what I was trying to do by any manner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining me now is Bradford William Davis. He's an investigative journalist with "Insider" and a former sports columnist for "The New York Daily News."

All right, great to have you here. The context here matters. Donaldson apparently called Anderson "Jackie" several times during the game. Do you think it merited a punishment?

BRADFORD WILLIAM DAVIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, "INSIDER": Oh, absolutely. I mean, he's using the legacy of a civil rights icon to instigate. Like, that's point blank enough to narrate a serious look from the league.

And Anderson perceived it as a problem. His manager called it racist. All of his team stood up for him at that point. That's pretty, like, astounding, you know? Like to see 26 guys rally around their black teammate when there are very few black players in Major League Baseball, all saying, yes, we don't like what just went down here. Of course he had to get suspended.

BERMAN: What about Donaldson's defense of it, which is that he's basing it off of an interview Anderson did with "Sports Illustrated" where he said he wanted to be -- or wanted to emulate Jackie Robinson?

DAVIS: Two things. One, that "Sports Illustrated" interview had a lot more to say besides him trying to -- you know, him saying I want to be the next Jackie Robinson. Why was he discussing Jackie? It's because he wanted to encourage black kids to play the game of baseball. That is an honorable thing. And he's done a great job at it. He's constantly in the community. He's out in the south side of Chicago, he's back in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he's from, you know, trying to encourage kids, you know, as a positive role model that baseball is for them despite the lack of black athletes -- and particularly African American baseball players that are playing the game right now.

So, that is a term of, like, honor, you know. And so Josh Donaldson flipped that into a form of mockery. So whether or not Tim Anderson laughed at the joke three years ago is irrelevant. I mean haven't you been in a situation where someone said something that was like wildly out of pocket, really rude, but you didn't immediately square up. Like, of course not. I do that all the time. I let it roll off me sometimes. And props to Tim Anderson for letting it roll off him for three years but finally having a limit where he decided just to, rhetorically speaking, fight back.

BERMAN: Major League Baseball has an issue with race, in the sense that there are fewer African Americans playing baseball than there were, right?

DAVIS: Absolutely. Yes. It's from like, you know, the heydays of the '80s, early '90s, there are substantially fewer African American players. And now granted there hasn't been a great rise in talent, but, you know, that doesn't negate the problem of, you know, again, of a sport that once was on the forefront of integration, now making -- being really difficult for people without the financial means in their youth to go play this game, you know, in the United States. That's a huge issue that Major League Baseball needs to address. And Tim Anderson is trying to do his part by, again, giving away money, giving away his time to go and encourage black kids, you know, this game is for you, both on an economic level, I'm here to help you out, on a cultural level, I'm here to point (ph) on for you. That is like honorable. And so that's why it's so disgusting that Josh Donaldson would go and flip that comment into a term of derision.

BERMAN: Donaldson, I guess, is appealing the decision. Right now he's on Covid -- you know, he's on the disabled list with Covid, or whatever that Covid list is. He's not playing.

DAVIS: Right.

BERMAN: One game suspension. But given you feel the way you do, do you think a one-game suspension is sufficient?

DAVIS: I don't think so. There have been players who have been suspended for many more games for far less serious and severe, in my opinion, sorts of altercation -- you know, altercations instigations, issues. He -- you know, Josh Donaldson did frankly one of the more offensive things that I've heard, you know, on a ballfield. A Major League ballfield, I should say, you know, in my brief time covering the game. And one game doesn't really do that. Especial for a guy who's like clears 100 million in salary. He's 36 year old. He's a former MVP. He's a great player. To be clear, Josh Donaldson is a baller (ph). But like that is like pennies for him. And yet he's still repealing the suspension anyway. It shows a real sign of remorse. Like, oh, yes, like clearly feel bad because -- even though this is the first time he's ever received any sort of consequences for his actions of instigation -- or I should say not instigation but, you know, of a -- you know, my opinion, a racist comment. And -- and he's still, like, you know, trying to push back on one consequence. Ridiculous.

BERMAN: Bradford William Davis, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in. I appreciate the discussion.

DAVID: All right, a pleasure to be here.

BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.

I'm John Berman, with Brianna Keilar, on this NEW DAY.

[07:00:01]

A proxy war to determine the path of the Republican Party as primary voters head to the polls.

And President Biden heading home.