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New Day Saturday

6 Suspected Terrorist Killed In Sri Lanka Shootout; Trump Tees Off With The Japanese Prime Minister This Morning; Tyreek Hill Under Investigation For Alleged Child Abuse; Students Quarantined At Two California Universities; Trump And Biden Trade Fighting Words Over Energy And Age; Source: Boeing Whistleblowers Report 737 MAX Problems To FAA; Report: NRA Executive Says President Pressured Him To Resign. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired April 27, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here in (INAUDIBLE), the scene of a gun battle and a series of explosions that has been devastating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are fears that the terrorist bombers could strike again and there are fears that Muslims in this community could be targeted in revenge attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden flexing his fund-raising muscle, with his campaign announcing he raised $6.3 million during his opening day in the race.

BETO O'ROURKE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Congratulations to Vice President Biden, and felt really good about what we have raised.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Joe Biden is on the side of credit card companies.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am a young, vibrant man. I look at Joe, I don't know about him.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If he looks young and vibrant compared to me, I should probably go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. We're starting with breaking news overnight in Sri Lanka. At least 16 people are dead and suspected terrorists are on the run. This happened after a gun fight during the police raid on a home in Eastern Sri Lanka. 16 six of the dead are set to be terrorist. The other ten civilians, including children. Now, this morning, the U.S. State Department is warning citizens to reconsider travel to Sri Lanka because of the threat of terrorism.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And take a look at this, police were led to the hideout after uncovering a potential bomb-making garage -- this was a few miles away. And that's where officials recovered explosives, ball bearings, ISIS flags, uniforms. This is less than a week, of course, since the coordinated bombings (INAUDIBLE) churches and high-end hotels there in Sri Lanka. 253 people died on Easter Sunday because of those attacks.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Senior International Correspondent Sam Kylie is at the scene of the shootout. Sam, talk to us about this raid.

SAM KYLIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, what we can see in the background there is a gathering of the police and the special forces police thanking the local, predominantly Muslim community for their involvement in this whole process because it was a tip off from this community and the community next door to it that led first to that cache of explosives, which includes 150 sticks of gel- ignite and then to this location where the police got involved in a gun battle.

And then, the terrorists detonated three explosive devices in this house. You can see the damage that, internally, explosion it has done there. They've just blown a hole through the roof. There's a dead body or was a dead body until recently now been removed on the roof. But catastrophically for the moral perspective, was the death of nine civilians -- three adult women and six children in this building, which I've been into a bit earlier on when the bodies were here and it was a channel house.

Now, you can see the effects of what a suicide bomb would do in a contained space. There was one attached to this motorcycle. It's taken the roof clean off. And there were a number of bodies strewn here -- I'm afraid to say, including children. But this also represents something of a coup for the Sri Lankan forces because they have been saying since the Easter massacres, that they feared there were more bombers out there and that there were more explosives.

And they've been able to put some of those bombers out of the picture and capture some those explosives. But just in the last few hours, Victor, we've also had a reconfirmed report that another bomber has been caught on a motorcycle, also with gel-ignite, also with detonators. So, fully functional capability to continue a bombing campaign. Victor?

PAUL: All right. Sam Kylie, thank you so much for walking us through what was going on there. We appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: Next hour, President Trump is set to leave the White House to go to the golf -- Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. This is after a trade and policy meetings in the White House yesterday. The president will play golf today with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. With us now, CNN White House Correspondent Boris Sanchez. Boris, good morning to you.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey there. Good morning, Victor. Yes, it's a big day for President Trump. As you said, he's said to hit the links with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in just a short while. This visit from the Japanese prime minister coming at a critical time for relations between the two countries, not only with upcoming bilateral talks but also, with ongoing American efforts to secure that part of the world and ultimately to denuclearize North Korea.

[07:05:08] The president is returning the favor to Abe. He's going to visit Tokyo next month. The president yesterday told reporters that he was looking forward to potentially attending a sumo match while he's there. He's in a bit of a wrestling match himself right now with former Vice President Joe Biden, who of course, launched his bid for the White House this week with a launch video that included some criticism of President Trump, specifically comments the president made following racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia a couple of years ago.

The president famously saying that there were very fine people on both sides in a confrontation between a white supremacist and counter protesters. Listen to what President Trump said yesterday when he was asked if he still felt that there were fine people on both sides of that fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I've answered that question. And if you look at what I said, you will see that that question was answered perfectly. And I was talking about people that went because they felt very strongly about the monument to Robert E. Lee -- a great general. Whether you like it or not, he was one of the great generals. I've spoken to many generals here, right at the White House, and many people thought of the generals they think that he was maybe their favorite general. People were there protesting the taking down of the monument of Robert E. Lee. Everybody knows that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Although, the president has defended those remarks now multiple times. Let's remember that at the time, there was a tremendous fallout for the White House with the president having to reclarify those remarks and White House officials even threatening to resign over them. The president took shots at Biden over his aides -- at one point suggesting that the former vice president who's only about four years older than Trump, made Trump feel like a vibrant young man.

We should also point: the president has a rally later tonight in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He's trying to counterprogram the White House Correspondents' Dinner -- which he is skipping yet again, taking place in D.C. tonight, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Boris Sanchez, thank you.

PAUL: There's some tough choices ahead for Congressional Democrats here. A new Washington Post/ABC News Poll shows exactly why. According to this poll, a majority of Americans, 47 percent say, they believe the president did try to interfere in the Russian investigation and they said he did it in way that amounts to obstructing justice. But in that same poll, a majority said they do not believe Congress should start impeachment proceedings.

To talk about this more: we have David Mark, Senior Editor at the Washington Examiner. David, thank you so much for being with us. I want to throw up another number here: 58 percent of the people in this poll believe that President Trump lied to the public about matters that were under investigation by Special Counsel Mueller. But 56 percent of Americans polled also oppose impeachment; only 37 percent support starting that process that would lead to impeachment. What does this tell you about the -- what voters' value?

DAVID MARK, SENIOR EDITOR, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: I think it says that voter perceptions of President Trump are baked in at this point. Voters, by and large, knew what they were getting in 2016. We certainly didn't have all the details of the Mueller report as provided in some of the other investigations. But, basically, voters had a pretty clear view of what he was about -- they elected him anyway. And I think we're seeing it reflected in those numbers.

The challenge now, of course, is for the Democrats, whoever they nominate for president to find somebody to able to transcend those numbers, reach into the high 40s, early -- low 50s of support and beat out President Trump. How you do that? That's an open question.

PAUL: OK. So, and that leads me to my next question. When we look at, you know, the question of should Congress impeach President Trump, I want to break this down in terms of the parties. Democrats, 62 percent say yes. Republicans, only 36 percent. But look at Independent number, 46 percent -- only 46 percent. So, here is my question: what do Democrats do with those numbers in terms of deciphering who they target and how they do so?

MARK: And this is precisely why the Democratic leadership in the house, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team are so reluctant, even skittish to go about impeachment. They're looking at that -- those same sets of numbers and realizing the support just isn't there, particularly for removing President Trump from office in the U.S. Senate. There's just absolutely, at this point, in any conceivable way, no way of achieving that. So, their challenge is to keep the pressure and the heat on President Trump, but not actually go for impeachment. How to thread that needle? That's something they're really grappling with right now.

PAUL: OK. So, that's my question as well. When we look at -- let's show some of the things that the president, his team, his administration is being investigated for, outside of the special counsel investigation, the administration, the inauguration, the organization, the transition. What other investigations might be worth pursuing for the Democrats? Because let's face it, we've got 18 months of Democratic work to do outside the campaigns, but on Capitol Hill itself.

[07:10:16] MARK: Well, there's -- one of the challenges for the Democrats is the process. For instance, trying to get President Trump's tax returns for the last six years, which they are requesting; they're being stone walled by IRS officials, by the treasury secretary. That's fairly predictable. How that ends up? That's an open question.

One perhaps, fruitful line of inquiry which I think they're going down is going to be led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of the Los Angeles area, Southern California, looking into the president's finances at Deutsche Bank, allegedly, where as a private businessman, he had a lot of dealings. And it appears that bank has been cooperating with the New York state attorney's general office. We have no idea what, if anything, they've done, cooperation at the federal level, at the committee level. But that's one line of inquiry. There may be others that we don't even know about right now.

PAUL: David, I want to get to this really quickly. There's 3.2 percent GDP growth -- great number for the president. If people can put food on their table, they can put gas in their car, they drive to work, to a job that they like, clothe their children, how do Democrats get around a strong economy?

MARK: Right, four the last five presidents have been re-elected in strong economies. Democrats have to say, you know, this isn't working for everybody. This looks good on paper. It's the kind of conversation you have over social media, over Twitter, but a lot of people could still barely pay their bills, their 401(k)s are down, all kinds of other problems. That's a tough needle to thread for the Democrats.

PAUL: All right. David Mark, I appreciate your insight, sir. Thanks for being with us.

MARK: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: The FBI will soon meet with Florida Senator Rick Scott and his successor, Governor Ron DeSantis. The meeting will happen after Scott demanded to know which Florida counties election system was hacked in 2016 during the election. Well, the Mueller report contained the first public claim by the U.S. government that a county's election network was hacked. Mueller said, it was compromised by Russia, but did not say which county.

PAUL: Still to come, Kansas City Chiefs' Wide Receiver, Tyreek Hill under investigation because of newly released audio recordings that reveal reporting discussions about child abuse. We're going to have more on that -- and what the team decided to do with him.

BLACKWELL: Students at two California universities are under a measles quarantine. We'll look at why this potentially deadly disease has resurfaced here, again.

PAUL: And President Trump, Joe Biden, trading insults on their age and their energies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm the youngest person. I am a young, vibrant man. I look at Joe, I don't know about him.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:16:10] BLACKWELL: This morning, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is calling the sentence of Russian national, Maria Butina, arbitrary. A federal judge sentenced Butina to 18 months in prison. In a jailhouse interview with CNN's Sara Murray, Butina expressed remorse for actions and said she has no plans to become a television star when she returns home.

She pleaded guilty to try to infiltrate conservative political circles and promote Russian interests before and after the 2016 presidential election and told the judge, "I deeply regret this crime." However, her attorney says, they strongly disagree with the sentence.

PAUL: So, Kansas City Chiefs Tyreek Hill under investigation this morning after disturbing audio recordings were released of his fiance suggesting he broke their 3-year-old son's arm. Now, CNN has not authenticated the audio which was originally obtained by CNN-affiliate KCTV, but Hill was pulled from all team activities in the interim.

BLACKWELL: The team's general manager says they've deeply -- are deeply disturbed and deeply concerned with what they've heard. CNN Correspondent Ryan Young is following the story. So, what more are you learning about this?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, this is one of those tough stories, right? We don't have all the evidence so far. We don't know what investigators are looking into. But what we do know is you have an NFL star, someone who is having a career that is just exploding at this point. But at the same time, when you listen to his audio, and you see the things that he's accused of, it's very tough to listen to.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We decided that, at this time, and for the foreseeable future, Tyreek Hill will not take part in any team activities.

YOUNG: This decision by the Kansas City Chiefs comes hours after an audio recording surfaced, Thursday, reportedly between the wide receiver and his fiance, Crystal Espanil, as they discuss how he treats his son. In an exchange on the recording, obtained exclusively by CNN-affiliate KCTV.

CRYSTAL ESPINAL, FIANCE OF TYREEK HILL: He is terrified of you. And you say that he respects you, but it's not respect -- it's terrify. He is terrified of you.

TYREEK HILL, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: You need to be terrified of me, too.

YOUNG: CNN has not authenticated the recording. But KCTV says, this exchange is part of a longer, 11-minute audio recording.

ESPINAL: And then, he kept crying because he was scared. He's terrified and you grabbed on to him, somehow, or he fell, one of the two -- HILL: I didn't do nothing. That's sad. That is really sad.

ESPINAL: Then, why does he say daddy did it? Why? Why did he say daddy did it?

HILL: I don't know. He says daddy does a lot of things.

YOUNG: The couple was arguing over how their child got a broken arm. At one point, they debate what investigators about their son's alleged abuse. The Overland Park, Kansas Police Department and the State's Department for children and families has been investigating the child's welfare.

STEVE HOWE, JOHNSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We believe a crime has occurred. However, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed the crime.

YOUNG: Before the audio was made public, Hill denied wrong doing in a statement released by his legal team to the Kansas City star. He said, "I love and support my family above anything. My son's health and happiness is my number one priority." Hill's legal representatives did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment about the allegations, and we have been unable to reach Espinal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: Now, we're not sure yet whether or not an investigation will be reopened in the case, but what we do know is the child has been removed from the home.

BLACKWELL: Wow. Ryan Young, thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Ryan.

BLACKWELL: So, potential measles outbreak in California has sent health officials into sort of a panic here. We'll talk to our health expert: CNN's Jacquelin Howard on why this highly contagious disease has resurfaced.

PAUL: And there's apparently a power struggle at the NRA. Why one leader says he's being extorted and pressured to resign.

[07:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: 23 minutes past the hour right now. Good to have you here. Health officials are scrambling to contain a potential measles outbreak in California. We're talking about more than 600 people under individual quarantine at UCLA and California State University in Los Angeles. Those are just the people; the health department was able to identify. Measles cases in the U.S., record highs right now since it was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 and President Trump has weighed in on the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They have to get the shot. The vaccinations are so important. This is really going around now. They have to get their shots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So, Jacqueline Howard, CNN Feature Writer for Health and Wellness with us now. And Jacqueline, before -- we just heard what he says now. Back in 2012, he tweeted a different story when it came to vaccinations. He wrote massive combined inoculations to small children is the cause for big increase in autism. Now, there are a lot of people who believe that, not just President Trump. Help us clarify what really is going on here and vaccinations as a whole.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN FEATURE WRITER FOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Yes. Well, as you mentioned, a lot of people do believe that. And the World Health Organization calls it vaccine hesitancy, and that's when anyone has you know, fears of getting vaccinated and they're hesitant to get vaccinated due to unfound claims of, you know, potential harms.

[07:25:10] But the CDC has made it clear there is no strong harm in getting vaccinated and it's important to get vaccinated. Because when, you know, there's a huge community of people who are unvaccinated, outbreaks like what we're seeing now in the U.S. will happen. And that's what we're seeing with the measles outbreak. So, with the measles outbreak right now in the U.S., we're seeing pockets of unvaccinated communities where there are several cases. And that's why currently, we're at the highest number of measles cases in the U.S. since the virus was eliminated in the year 2000.

PAUL: OK. And when we talk about vaccinations and some of the information that's out there that is just outright wrong, social media is contributing to that, is that right?

HOWARD: That's correct. And it's interesting to see that many social media companies now are taking a stand to no longer promote or spread misinformation. So, as of now, YouTube has decided no longer run ads on anti-vaccination videos and other videos that spread misinformation. Pinterest doesn't allow any vaccine-related searches on its platform. Facebook is looking into no longer promoting a post that spread misinformation.

And so, those are just a few examples that we're seeing now. And one other, Amazon no longer -- well, they've actually pulled anti- vaccination documentaries from the Amazon Prime video streaming service. So, all of those companies are taking action to not really promote or spread misinformation while we're seeing these huge outbreaks spreading across the U.S.

PAUL: Do we know why people believed vaccinations were causing autism? Is there any connection, just for clarification purposes?

HOWARD: Well, there's no connect. But we have seen a recent rise in the antivaccination movement -- and this isn't just in the U.S., it's a global concern. So, around the world, we're also seeing a 30 percent increase in measles cases and other vaccine preventable diseases. And as I mentioned earlier, going back to the World Health Organization, they now name vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 global threats to public health. PAUL: So, that is what's part -- large part of what's contributing to

the outbreak we're seeing right now.

HOWARD: Exactly. We are -- there are several factors with the outbreak right now. But we are seeing that the vaccination -- anti- vaccination movement is one of those factors.

PAUL: What else?

HOWARD: And so, there's concerns about just not being aware of travel-related, you know, measles cases. There's other concerns about just -- you know, if you're -- excuse me -- if you're too young to get vaccinated. You know, we're also seeing cases among, you know, the young and the elderly. So, it's a very complex situation when you see large outbreaks like the one we're seeing now. But it has been, you know, very evident and the evidence is clear that a lot of the cases are in pockets of unvaccinated communities. And so, the movement is, you know, a big factor driving the outbreak right now.

PAUL: Is there any indication that the outbreak we see is having an effect on the anti-vax movement, that perhaps people are rethinking it?

HOWARD: I think so. You know, now we are seeing several people who were maybe not really strongly against vaccines but they were hearing this misinformation. And now, with the outbreak, you're seeing the consequence of that. And so, we are kind of seeing the vaccine hesitancy kind of pulling back and hopefully, you know, this outbreak will be contained soon. And you know, hopefully, there won't be any others in the future.

PAUL: No doubt. Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much.

HOWARD: Thank you.

PAUL: Important information there. We appreciate it. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Well, one 72 and the other is 76 -- they're both younger than Bernie Sanders, but President Trump and former Vice President Biden are locked in this fight about age and energy. Coming up, (INAUDIBLE), looks at the fight between the president and the former vice president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:40] BLACKWELL: At 72, President Trump has declared he is a young vibrant man, in comparison to former Vice President Joe Biden who launched his 2020 presidential campaign this week.

PAUL: I forgot animated a young vibrant man, but that's how he did it.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Well, that's how he said it.

PAUL: Right.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Well, the president's comment is just one of many volleys fired in this battle of these 70-something candidates. Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The last time Donald Trump walked in a mirror and saw a truly younger man was when Jimmy Fallon played his mirror image. But when the 72-year-old president was asked how old is too old to be president?

TRUMP: I just feel like a young man. I'm so young. I am a young, vibrant man. I look at Joe. I don't know about him. I don't know.

MOOS: Those comments left 76-year-old Joe Biden momentarily speechless. When he was asked about them on "The View".

BIDEN: If he looks young and vibrant compared to me, I should probably go home.

MOOS: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most vibrant 70-something candidate of them all? The battle of the elders spilled onto Twitter in the form of side-by-side comparisons and challenges.

"Show me, Trump, doing this, I'll wait." The president's description of himself as a young vibrant man inspired blowback. "A vibrant imagination", and "So young, practically infantile. I'm the youngest person in the history of people."

And as for President Trump's nickname for Biden --

TRUMP: So, I start to refer to him as sleepy Joe.

MOOS: Joe, said that's the opposite of what he usually hears.

BIDEN: The other hand, hyper Joe.

MOOS: These two were hyperactive even before Biden officially announced.

BIDEN: No, I wish we are in high school, I could take him behind the gym.

TRUMP: He said, I'd like to take him behind the gym. Oh, I dream of that.

MOOS: Fighting like two grumpy old men. Maybe these two should take a page from Ronald Reagan, vowing not to make age an issue.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am NOT going to exploit for political purposes, my opponents, youth, and inexperience.

MOOS: Even young Mondale cracked up, the issue of age never gets old.

TRUMP: I am a young vibrant man.

MOOS: "A young vibrant ham." There, someone fixed it. Jeanne Moos, CNN --

[07:35:04] TRUMP: You need tremendous stamina.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right jokes aside. The issue of age could be a factor in the 2020 race. Let's get some analysis now, and joining me now, CNN presidential historian and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library, Tim Naftali. Tim, welcome back.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you. Hi, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So, you know that the line that got so many laughs from President Reagan in the '84 campaign, really we got a look at the question there because the question was about -- you know if you have the stamina energy to do this, this job.

I want you to listen to Senator Sanders and Vice President Biden about their age as a consideration in this race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: It's a legitimate question to ask about my age. The same question was asked to me was I old enough when I got elected, age 29 before I was -- you know, old not to serve. It's a question whether or not, they know hopefully, I can demonstrate not only with ages come wisdom, an experience that can make things a lot better.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we look at, at people, whether the old or the young, you got to look the totality of the person. Cross-country runner, a long distance running when I was a kid, and I've been running hard in a sense since then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: It isn't that what really matters here if you could do the job. Sanders would be 79, Biden would be 78 on inauguration day.

NAFTALI: Well, first of all, the election itself is a marathon. And all these candidates regardless of their age will be tested by that particular marathon. And we'll see how much stamina they have. You know, historically, we've had older Americans run for president.

Bob Dole was the nominee for the Republican Party at age 73. Bob Dole is still with us. Bob Dole would have been a fine president in his late 70s. George Herbert Walker Bush would have been a strong president in his late 70s. Jimmy Carter, regardless of what you think of his policies would have been mentally acute and certainly had the stamina of being president in his late 70s and early 80s. So, we actually have examples in the small group of people we call former presidents, of people who actually could have done the job in their late 70s. Really, age is only a number. The question is whether their ideas are old. And whether their ideas represent a period that Americans don't wish to live in anymore.

Bob Dole's problem in 1996 was that he was not selling an agenda that was attractive. At his age, as it turns out didn't matter at all.

BLACKWELL: But, we are seeing older candidates. Let's put up here, we've got to look at the, the oldest presidents. This is on inauguration day. President Trump at the top of the list there at 70. And then, top five maxing out, at 64 for George Herbert Walker Bush.

Let's look at the ages of the Democratic candidates here. You've got Bernie Sanders at 79. Joe Biden at 78. Elizabeth Warren at 71 on inauguration day. They don't qualify to be the oldest presidents elected. And then, you've got Hickenlooper and Inslee at 69.

Why is this happening? Clinton, if she had won in 2016 would have slipped in at number two. Romney would have been in the top five. McCain would have been the oldest president ever. Are we seeing the trend, is there a reason?

NAFTALI: Well, Victor, maybe 70 is the new 50. I mean, people are living longer, in nutrition has improved. There are account many, many reasons why people seem younger at an older age.

Let's keep in mind that we've had presidents who were much younger, who were not in physically good shape. Lyndon Johnson, at 59, knew he's 59 years old when he decided not to run again in 68. He was in terrible shape. He probably would not have survived another term if he had lived. Dwight Eisenhower left office at 70, and he was not in great shape.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

NAFTALI: So, it really depends on the person. And, let's not forget the first former president to live to 90 was John Adams. John Adams would have been a fine president at least physically in his 70s, and he was our second president. So, it's genes, it's nutrition, it's medicine, and it's a little bit of luck.

BLACKWELL: Well, let's talk about the message that often comes with the younger candidates that youth -- that new generation, the message of change. Look at Obama in 2008. You've got Clinton in 1992. You've got Kennedy in 60. But in this cycle, it's interesting that some of the younger candidates are making the experience argument against the 72-year-old sitting president.

NAFTALI: Well, Victor, first of all, this is a president who despite his age, gives the impression of activism. Remember the whole concept of disruption which is the theme of the Trump presidency is not something you associate with older people.

Now, I'm not sure if we actually looked at what Donald Trump does during the day that we would think he was an active vital president. He spends a lot of time playing golf. But, the image of his presidency is not the image of an -- of an older man's presidency. So, those against -- running against him are arguing, we're more competent than he is.

There's one thing to keep in mind about age in this era. Donald Trump has made running for president at 70, possible. He is not young. If Donald Trump were 60 or 50, I don't think you'd see as many 70-year- old candidates running against him in this election cycle.

[07:40:51] BLACKWELL: Is it dangerous for -- let's say a younger candidate for the Democrats to invoke age? Because we saw in 2008, with the 25 years between then-Senator Barack Obama and John McCain, the largest age gap for nominees, 25 years. I think was 47 and 72 that Barack Obama did not directly invoke the age of his opponent. That seems like that would be a delicate thing to bring up.

NAFTALI: It's not a good argument -- look, Americans tend to choose presidents are comfortable with. Sometimes they want a younger president, at president in his 40s or something maybe her 40s. Sometimes they want someone who's older. The argument -- the age argument just doesn't work, unless, you can make an argument that their age and their health suggests that they won't have the stamina and energy to pull off the job. And that's going to be something that will be -- we'll see played out in this election cycle.

If Vice President Biden, and if -- and if Bernie Sanders do not have the stamina to be president, we will know within a few months. Because we will see that their campaigns are lackluster.

BLACKWELL: All right. Tim Naftali, we'll see. Thanks so much.

NAFTALI: Thanks a lot, Victor.

PAUL: There is a bit of an unusual argument going around about the National Rifle Association right now. A new report claiming one leader is extorting another. And at the center of this fight? A series of wardrobe purchases.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:46:34] PAUL: A CNN source close to this investigation we're talking about here, says four Boeing employees called an FAA whistleblower hotline a day after Ethiopia released a report on the crash Ethiopian Airlines flight. And they described issues related to a vane which measures the planes angle in the air and an anti-stall system which is unique to Boeing's newest plane, as you know.

The FAA tells CNN, it may be opening up an entirely new investigative angle into what went wrong in the recent crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX commercial airliners. All of the 737 MAX planes worldwide are still grounded.

BLACKWELL: The Wall Street Journal is reporting on a power struggle in the National Rifle Association this morning. According to the report, Wayne LaPierre, who has been the head of the NRA, and is the vice president and CEO, says he is being extorted and pressured to resign by NRA president, Oliver North.

Lapierre wrote a letter to board members, saying, Oliver gave him an ultimatum, resign or there will be destructive allegations made against him and the NRA. According to the Journal, North said his actions were in the best interest of the organization. And told the board he was forming a crisis committee to look at the organization's finances.

North also sent a letter to the board's executive committee accusing LaPierre of more than $200,000 in wardrobe purchases, which the report says was charged to a vendor.

PAUL: Well, Hollywood director, John Singleton's daughter, says her father is not in a coma and claims Singleton's mother, Sheila Ward is "misrepresenting" his condition. This is according to a new court filing.

Now, Singleton's family confirmed to CNN, he did suffer a stroke April 17th. They did not elaborate on his current state. Last week, Ward said he was "unable to provide for his personal needs or manages financial resources. Ward is Singleton's personal and business manager, by the way.

Singleton's daughter, says the filmmaker is responding to stimuli and could be out of ICU in the next five days.

BLACKWELL: Well, this weekend, we'll bring extreme weather. And we're talking different types of extreme weather here to parts of the U.S.

PAUL: OK, so that's one of those many trampolines that you see in somebody's backyard flying through the air. This was during a confirmed tornado in Wyoming. A few mobile homes were overturned. No reports of injuries, thankfully. But CNN's Allison Chinchar talking about this and several inches of snow. Isn't in May, Allison, or most?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Four days away, that's it. But, yes, it does seem, it does seem like this is awfully late to be dealing with this much snow. Dusting sure, but that's not what we're talking about here. This is live -- look at the radar. I want to point out in the last few frames, we've actually started to pick up some thundersnow across portions of western Minnesota and eastern South Dakota.

This is the same system that produced the severe storms yesterday in Wyoming, where you saw that trampoline go flying. But now, as it pushes off to the east, you're going to start to see some much colder air infiltrate down from the north, and that's where you're going to get that transition into snow.

Over 15 million people under some type of winter weather alert for today and tomorrow as this system continues to progress off to the east. For a lot of these cities, you're going to start in the form of rain. Then, is that cooler air begins to pull down from the north, then, you'll start to see it transition into snow. But it should do it rather quickly for a lot of these cities since that cold air is really already in place. Notice, it is a very narrow swath of snow. We're not talking widespread amounts, but for the few that do get to see snow, you're going to see a lot of it, especially for the end of April.

Widespread amounts about four inches, but notice some of those heavier pockets are purple there, including perhaps, the northern end of Chicago, six, seven, eight inches, absolutely, not out of the question.

Here's the problem though, that band is so narrow because if it shifts even a little bit, it could make a huge difference in how much snow. For example, Chicago, these are the four models that we use. There's a huge difference. One saying and they're only going to get two, another one saying maybe about six.

Madison, Wisconsin, one going maybe only about an inch. The other one saying, maybe perhaps as much as six inches. So, there's a lot of difference here. But regardless of how much snow they actually get, the point and the takeaway here from this is that this is very late in the season. Well beyond the average for when a lot of these cities would normally have snowfall.

Again, take Chicago, for example, Victor and Christi. March 31st is actually when their average last snowfall should be. You know, a lot of these other cities, Madison, Milwaukee, Mason City, Iowa, we are well beyond that.

And again, these numbers are for just 0.01 inches of snow. For a lot of these cities, they're going to get four, six, if not even eight inches of snow before it moves out.

[07:51:19] BLACKWELL: Snow has already begun. Thundersnow already out there. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Allison. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:22] ANNOUNCER: "STAYING WELL", brought to you by Aleve, p.m. Aleve, p.m. for a better a.m.

PAUL: So, getting outside for some fresh air could be just what the doctor ordered. If you are one of those workers stuck at desks, here "STAYING WELL".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT JARVIS, ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF 72ANDSUNNY: I talked to a woman there. I definitely feel like getting an energy boost after going on a walking, meeting. I feel better, I think better, and I just have greater sense of possibilities, I think when we're outside.

Walking meetings are great to relieve stress because they give you perspective. And you realize that there is more going on around you than maybe you were assuming, and that's a source of comfort.

RICHARD LOUV, AUTHOR, THE NATURE PRINCIPLE: A little bit of nature goes further, and we thank it does. There are studies that show that just 10 or 15 minutes outdoors walking through a park, there is a measurable improvement in mental attitude and psychological health.

JARVIS: Did you like it that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ALBERTO CABAN-MARTINEZ, MEDICAL RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: There's some new pilot scientific evidence that says, converting some of the time that you're at work into a walking meeting is really beneficial to cardiovascular health, and potentially even to productivity.

JARVIS: Our offices, our little Internet rooms, are all forms of bubbles. And going outside and getting the new perspective, really unlocks all kinds of creative ideas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's been helping --

LOUV: The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need, or we're looking at screens, we burn out. So, if you want to revive yourself, go outside.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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END