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New Day Saturday

Massive Explosion At Illinois Silicone Plant; Flight From Guantanamo Bay Skids Off Florida Runway; South Korea Says North Korea Test Fired Several Short-Range Projectiles; Interview with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) discussed about William Barr Lying To Congress And Talks About Robert Mueller Testifying To Congress; Trump Diverts Talks From Booming Economy To Russia; Trump-Putin Talk Venezuela, North Korea In "Lengthy Call". Aired 7-8a ET

Aired May 04, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:00] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Always so grateful to have you with us here. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. Breaking overnight, an NTSB investigative team is now on the way to Jacksonville, Florida after a Miami Air flight left the runway and ended up in the St. John's River. Now, everyone on board is safe. Everyone was rescued. But the more than 100 passengers and crew had to be rescued from the wing of the plane after it came to a stop in the shallow water.

PAUL: And on the Korean Peninsula this morning. South Korea urging North Korea to stop raising tensions after they detected several projectiles fired from North Korea's Eastern coast. Where the missiles -- were they missiles, were they rockets, were they something else? Japan and the U.S. are now working this morning with South Korea to try to make that determination.

BLACKWELL: We're also following breaking news out of Illinois where three people, right now, unaccounted for, after a massive explosion at a silicone plant. Four people have been taken to the hospital.

PAUL: This happened in the City of Waukegan, but the explosion was so powerful people in Wisconsin say they felt it. Steven Lenzi is on the phone with us now; he's the Fire Marshall for Waukegan. Mr. Lenzi -- Chief Lenzi, thank you so much for being with us. Can you bring us up-to-date as to what you know with this hour?

STEVEN LENZI, FIRE MARSHALL, WAUKEGAN: Certainly, at this hour, we can confirm that the fire on the scene is out. The building has sustained very heavy structural damage, and it's making it to very difficult for us to search for the three unaccounted for persons at this time. We've dealt throughout the evening with not only fire but hazardous material situation, as well as a structural collapse situation. We relied upon help not only from our immediate neighbors, we went into Wisconsin Interdivisional MABAS Box, which went about two counties away as well for help on this one.

BLACKWELL: The three people unaccounted for, right now, do we know, if they were employees -- were they working in the building at the time?

LENZI: Everybody affected by this was an employee that was working in the building at the time. The four subjects that were transported, the two that were seen at the scene but required no medical treatment and the three unaccounted for -- were the nine employees that were in the building this time.

PAUL: What do you know about this plant? Has there been problems at this facility before?

LENZI: No ma'am. We had one fire instance the past ten years that I recall. The plant has been very responsive, they were very safety cautious. After the incident on the previous fire, we've had no instances as far as code violations or anything like that with the plant.

BLACKWELL: We understand that you've told our producers -- or at least through a press release -- you've said that the damage caused by this fire is now in excess of $1 million. Can you tell us about the damage beyond the plant?

LENZI: Certainly, we are in the middle of an industrial area. And this building was -- I don't want to say surrounded, because some of the other building are quite a ways away and they all sustained damage as well. We're looking at damage to a total of at least five different buildings including the main building that was damaged. Most of the other buildings, there's no major structural. We're dealing with some broken glass, windows, broken garage doors, areas where the explosion could affect more.

PAUL: So, you mentioned a hazmat situation as well. What does that mean for the folks in that area?

LENZI: In the area, it means that there are no concerns. We have had our techs out here to ensure that. We also, early on, requested representatives from the Illinois EPA into the area to monitor for any type of issues. And everyone has stated that they see no concerns for the immediate public.

PAUL: All right. Fire Marshall Steven Lenzi, there. Thank you so much, Mr. Lenzi, for being with us. We appreciate you giving us an update. You take good care of yourselves and your crew there.

LENZI: Certainly. We'll do. Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's go back to Jacksonville, Florida now where a military charter jet skidded off the runway and ended up in the St. John River.

PAUL: Let's bring in CNN National Correspondent Natasha Chen, she has more details on what happened. Natasha, what are you learning?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christin, we know from a passenger who described thunder and lightning as they landed hard on the tarmac beyond the gates here. And officials say that about 50 first responders were helping to rescue them within 15 minutes of this crash landing.

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CHEN: The Boeing 737 went down in the St. John River near naval air station Jacksonville. Authorities said, the chartered jet was coming in for a landing from a military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- when it apparently slid off a runway and into the water. 136 passengers and seven crew members were on board. In the cabin, a mixture of civilians and military personnel. Cheryl Bormann, an attorney from Chicago was on the flight and spoke to CNN.

CHERYL BORMANN, PASSENGER: As we went down, we had a really hard landing, and then the plane bounced and screeched and bounced more, and it lifted to the right, then it lifted to the left. And then, it sort of swerved and then it came to a complete, like, a crash stop.

[07:05:21] CHEN: Fire and rescue crews arrived shortly afterward. 21 people were treated at the base with some going to local hospitals. There were no critical injuries or fatalities.

BORMANN: I hit my head on the plastic tray that is in the seat in front of you. I'm not injured, thankfully. Just a little bump on the head.

CHEN: Bormann said she and other passengers climbed on to the wings of the plane and described a chaotic scene.

BORMANN: We were in water. We couldn't tell where we were, whether it was a river or an ocean. There was rain coming down. There was lightning and thunder. We stood on that wing for a significant period of time. The rescue folks came. Eventually, somebody inflated a life raft that has been on the plane and we began climbing into it.

CHEN: It's unclear if severe weather played a role in the crash. There was a tropical disturbance in the area Friday night.

MICHAEL CONNOR, COMMANDING OFFICER, JACKSONVILLE NAVAL AIR STATION: I think it is a miracle. I could have ended very -- we could be talking about a different story this evening. So, I think there's a lot to say about the professionalism of the folks that helped the passengers off the airplane. There's a lot to say about that because it very well could be worse.

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CHEN: Yes, and that plane is still in the water right now. It's unclear how long it will remain there. The National Transportation Safety Board has a team on its way here to investigate what exactly happened. Live in Jacksonville, Florida, Natasha Chen. Back to you. PAUL: Natasha Chen, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. We

are staying on top of the breaking news out of North Korea this morning as well. Because overnight, the South Korean defense ministry said North Korea launched several short-ranged projectiles. Right now, officials are working to determine what those projectiles might have included. Officials say, whatever was launched has crashed into the sea. We're going to keep you up-to-date on this story with a live report for you later this hour.

BLACKWELL: Joining me now, Pennsylvania Congresswoman Madeline Dean, she's a Member of the House Financial Services and Judiciary Committee. So, congresswoman, good morning to you.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Good morning. Good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: Good to have you. I want to talk about the Mueller investigation and the hearings in a moment. But first, on North Korea. These short-range projectiles do not violate this moratorium -- self-imposed moratorium on long-range missiles and nuclear tests that was started in November of 2017 by Kim. But do you think this is a reason to act? What's your degree of concern?

DEAN: Well, I do have a concern that this administration is not holding a bright line with North Korea. Instead, cozying up to its leader who only punishes and harms his people. And of course, the threat -- the grave threat to South Korea. So, I do have great concerns and I'm hoping that this administration will take this very, very seriously. But unfortunately, we see the behaviors, whether it is toward North Korea or toward Putin, an administration who likes to cozy up with dictators.

BLACKWELL: Several months ago, I believe it was around the time of the first Kim/Trump summit, the president called off those large-scale military drills, he called them war games with South Korea. Would you suggest resurrecting those?

DEAN: I know that smarter people than I believe that we should not have suspended those exercises. So, I hope that we will use diplomatic force to say that we are protecting and making sure that South Korea is protected.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's talk now about the Mueller investigation and potential Mueller testimony. I know that there is no date determined on when Robert Mueller, Special Counsel, will come to testify before the House Judiciary. What do you know about the talks to agree upon testimony?

DEAN: I know that our committee, Jerry Nadler's staff, are talking with Mueller's people. It is my hope that he will be coming soon. We have hope that he'll come in maybe by May 15th, within the next two weeks. And the reason is this, we now know that Attorney General Barr has not acted in good faith and been an honest broker of information regarding the Mueller report. Mueller, himself, sent a letter to Attorney General Barr saying that he was mischaracterizing the findings of the report. And so, we really need to hear from Special Counsel Mueller. I believe he is interested in coming before Congress and letting us know the full extent of his findings.

BLACKWELL: So, these talks, are they directly with Mueller and his representatives and not the DOJ? Because the president suggested that it's Attorney General Barr's decision whether or not Mueller will testify.

[07:10:14] DEAN: I don't know. I'm not on those phone calls. I believe it probably is with both. But what is important to know is that the president actually doesn't have that power. Thankfully, what we know is the special counsel regulations are prepared for this problem. What they allow the system of justice to do is what the drafter of the regulation, Neil Cattell said, which is there is a break the glass emergency option where Special Counsel Mueller doesn't have to go through DOJ, who is trying to block him, does not have to go through the administration, but can -- the provisions allow for him to come directly to Congress. That's what we want to take advantage of in the face of the duplicity of this administration and the duplicity of the attorney general.

BLACKWELL: Speaker Pelosi said this week that the attorney general lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, that is a crime. Do you agree with that and what could be done about it?

DEAN: I do agree with that. And I don't say the word lie. And I'm pretty sure the speaker doesn't say the word "lie" lightly, but it is directly clear. When questioned by Representative Christ, if he had any information from Mueller or his team about mischaracterization of the report, he said no. He had no communication. That was not true. He had both the phone call and a letter. And I'm pretty confident Special Counsel Mueller was very concerned so he that he put that concern in writing. What he was concerned about was public confusion over an investigation that revealed sweeping and systematic interference by Russia in our 2016 elections and obstruction of justice by this president. Imagine that.

BLACKWELL: What should be the consequence? If you believe that the attorney general committed a crime, lied to the Senate, what should be the consequence?

DEAN: Well, number one, you saw what Jerry Nadler is doing. He's going to seek to hold Attorney General Barr in contempt for failing to deliver the full report and the underlying documents and then there are legal proceedings where you can go forward with either contempt or he could be criminally charged.

BLACKWELL: But that referral is going to go to the Department of Justice, and what do you expect they're going to do with it?

DEAN: Well, the referral could go to the Department of Justice. But in the criminal contempt portion of it, that's a vote in our committee and that's a vote in the house. So, we have control over that portion of it.

BLACKWELL: And your colleague, Congressman Cohen out of Tennessee suggested on this network last night that because potentially sending a referral over to DOJ will go nowhere, that the House Sergeant at Arms should actually take custody of the attorney general and either bring him to your committee or that maybe he would be locked up, do you agree with that?

DEAN: Well, that is one of the procedures. There are three different ways to hold someone in contempt. Criminal contempt would involve -- obviously, he should surrender himself and the documents voluntarily. He should honor a legally drafted subpoena. But that is one of the mechanisms, absolutely.

BLACKWELL: Do you think that that should be one that the house should consider, that the sergeant at arms sent to the Department of Justice to arrest the attorney general?

DEAN: There are several steps before that. As I said, he could voluntarily come forward, voluntarily agree with the subpoena, comply with the subpoena. But, it's absolutely one of the steps. What's more important to me, and I think to your viewers, is the fact that this is an attorney general who was covering up for a president. That is not his job. His job is actually to provide the truth to the American people. Fortunately, we have the special counsel regulations and we have a 22-month investigation. So, the American people will get the bright light of day on the findings of that report, regardless of the obstruction by this attorney general and the administration.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you in the latest CNN poll. There's a plurality of respondents now: 44 percent, that's up since the last time the question was asked in March, before the Mueller report was out, who think the Democrats are investigating too much. Let's look at the numbers. 46 percent saying Democrats are investigating too much. 25, too little. 28 percent, the right amount. Again, that's up six points since the release of the findings. Are you concerned about losing public buy in for the breath of investigations in the House?

DEAN: I'm concerned like Special Counsel Mueller, that that poll reveals the public confusion. That's exactly what Mueller said is going on. When you mischaracterize the report, when you clear by attorney general's standards, the Trump administration of wrong doing, if you continue to let the president call things a Russia hoax, you are creating public confusion. No wonder people think that there -- or some measure of people think there's too much investigation. The exact opposite is true.

BLACKWELL: They believe you're doing too much because they're confused?

[07:15:09] DEAN: Partly, yes. And this attorney general, specifically did that. He said no collusion, and he allowed the president to claim no obstruction. That's public confusion. That is incredibly dangerous on the side of Attorney General Barr. Imagine wallowing in that kind of public confusion over something as grave as obstruction of justice by a president.

BLACKWELL: Representative Madeleine Dean, always good to have you.

DEAN: My pleasure. Thanks for having me. BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: Well, President Trump and Russian President, Vladimir Putin talked Venezuela, North Korea -- but not election meddling. How is relationship with the Russian leader is seeming to distract from news of a booming economy?

BLACKWELL: Plus, Russia's former minister says he will meet with his Venezuelan counterpart tomorrow to discuss the ongoing crisis there. This is coming after President Trump said Russia wasn't looking to get involved at all. A live report from Caracas ahead.

PAUL: And people in Iowa have to use boats right now just to get around because of massive flooding there -- and it doesn't seem like that's going to change.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a little bit scary and I feel a little bit, like, trapped -- almost.

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BLACKWELL: President Trump says he'll be running on the economy in 2020. But the president -- they may be complicating his own election plans.

PAUL: New jobs numbers show the U.S. economy is booming. Unemployment at the lowest level since 1969 people, 50 years. Instead of focusing on that, the president is talking about a call between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin. CNN's Sarah Westwood is with us now. So, this call, I know they touch on a range of issues, but there are questions about those issues this morning.

[07:20: 06] SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christi and Victor. This was a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump that the White House says lasted more than an hour, and it was far ranging. They talked about Venezuela, North Korea, a potential nuclear deal between China, and Russia, and the situation in Ukraine. But on the issue of Venezuela, the president appeared to potentially contradict what his own Secretary of State said earlier this week.

Recall that Mike Pompeo told our colleague, Wolf Blitzer, that embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country, but it was the Russians who convinced Maduro to stay in the country. But President Trump said that Putin informed him Moscow was not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela. So, a bit of a disconnect there. I asked White House Press Secretary, Sarah Sanders about this yesterday, and she said President Trump was simply relaying what Putin had told him.

But by far, the part of this conversation that's getting the most scrutiny is President Trump's decision to talk about the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but not address Mueller's conclusion that Moscow waged a wide-ranging and potentially very effective influence campaign during the 2016 election. Here's President Trump talking about that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We discussed and he actually, sort of, smiled when he said something to the effect that it started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse. But he knew that because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you tell you him not meddle in this election?

TRUMP: We didn't discuss that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: And that was President Trump taking questions yesterday in the oval office. But as you mentioned, Christi, all of this talk about the Putin conversation is overshadowing what was a very good day, economically, for the president. That jobs report showing the economy added 263,000 jobs in the month of April. It's something that will be good for the president politically, but this is a theme when it comes to Trump. He sometimes gets distracted from news that could very well boost his re-election prospects.

BLACKWELL: All right, Sarah Westwood, thank you.

PAUL: We want to get some analysis here and perspective from CNN Political Commentator and Host of the "You Decide" Podcast, Errol Louis. Errol, are you surprised with this huge news that came out about the economy yesterday -- that the president kind of went off on this tangent?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's always startling to hear the president recite Russian talking points rather than speak about the interest and the future of both the American economy and American society. It's really what the crisis looks like. All of the things that people have talked about, why is President Trump always saying nice things about President Putin? Why does he refuse to ever criticize Putin? Why does he recite talking points that were written in Moscow rather than written by his own staff? And this is what it looks like. You know, it is not in anybody's interest, including the president's political interest, as far as anybody can tell, to sit around talking about what Putin wants him to talk about, and yet here we are and that's what he does.

PAUL: So, the president had this hour-long, I think he said it was nearly an hour or over an hour phone call with President Putin. He said he spoke about the Russian hoax. He didn't ask him about or say anything to him about 2020 meddling, which is something we know, our intel tells us happened in 2016 and is still happening today. At what point do -- somebody, I mean, what could possibly be done to hold the president to a standard where you need to address something that could happen in 2020 that -- that you're not addressing? How are you on the phone with somebody over an hour and not mention that?

LOUIS: Christi, this is a big part of why in head-to-head match ups, all of the leading Democratic candidates who want to challenge President Trump are polling ahead of him. Because this is a case where everybody can understand this. There are a lot of things in the Mueller report that are a little shady, or hard to understand, you know, it's been an ongoing drama for two years, maybe you're not following every piece of it. I think everybody gets that when American intelligence says, we've had rampant, wide sweeping interference and it is set to happen all over again and then the president quietly sits through an hour-long meeting and doesn't even raise the issue.

What we then know, I think, is that we've got a very serious problem that strikes at the root of American democracy. And so, there are thousands of boards of election all around the country and I think everybody is going to do their best, but there needs to be leadership from the top -- and that, right now, is just not there.

PAUL: We do know that Venezuela, they said was a big part of this phone call. But the Kremlin says, President Trump initiated this phone call. Do you have any idea, maybe what his intention was with that call?

[07:25:15] LOUIS: You know, you hate to be cynical and say perhaps he was simply calling in for instructions, but it's hard to reach, really any other conclusion. He initiates the phone call, he takes Putin at his word, for some reason, despite what his own National Security Adviser and his own Secretary of State have said about Russian interference in Venezuela propping up a dictator amid a collapsing economy and the possibility of regional instability, and he comes away from it saying: well, Vladimir Putin says he's not involved there. So, that's good enough for me. It's really startling.

PAUL: There are Russian troops in Venezuela. We're getting word this morning that the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, will be meeting with his Venezuela counterpart tomorrow. How does the president make his case that Putin says we don't want anything to do with Venezuela, but guess what? Now, tomorrow, my foreign minister will meet with them.

LOUIS: Well, you know, that's actually the most startling part of it is that the president doesn't make any case for consistency or logic here. He's saying things that directly con -- flatly contradict what his own National Security Adviser has been saying. And keep in mind, the National Security Advisor, John Bolton, he's not a soft guy. You know, kind of a tough guy. He's got 400 of the best people in government working for him every single day around the clock to bring the best possible intelligence both to the president and to the American people, and for the president to just kind of blow that off, tells you that there's something really, really amiss in this administration.

PAUL: Daniel Littman, last hour, said he thinks the president believes and repeats essentially the last person he talked to. Does that make sense to you? LOUIS: You know, that's -- in some ways, it's almost more troubling

than to think that we've got somebody who is intentionally reciting what he has been told by the leader of, the dictator of a hostile foreign power. The notion that -- well, he's just a dummy and he simply recites whatever somebody just told him a few minutes ago. I don't know if I buy that, to be honest with you. Because what we've seen consistently, Christi, there are a lot of times where the last person he's talked to has said to him, we've got a problem. Russia's interfering in our elections; it's interfering in Venezuela. And yet, as is always the case, he has nothing negative to say. Even the childish kind of tweets, and the silly insults, the made up names that he tries to slap on all of his opponents never, ever, ever applies to the Russian dictator.

PAUL: Good point. Errol Louis, always appreciate your perspective, sir. Thank you for being here.

LOUIS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Former White House Chief of Staff and Retire General John Kelly has a new job -- and it's a little controversial. He joined the Board of Directors for Caliburn International. That's the parent company of another business operate shelters for unaccompanied migrant families. Kelly first raised the idea of separating migrant families when he was in charge of the Department of Homeland Security.

PAUL: Straight ahead, the situation in Venezuela is really heating up this morning. The country's opposition leader is calling for more protests today and says, they'll continue until President Maduro steps down. We have a live report for you from Caracas.

[07:28:33] BLACKWELL: Plus, how a military flight from Cuba to Jacksonville skidded off the runway and ended up in a river.

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[07:32:25] BLACKWELL: Breaking overnight, a Miami air flight left the runway and ended up in the St. Johns River. Now, an NTSB investigative team is on the way to Jacksonville, Florida to find out why.

PAUL: Now, the most important thing here is that everybody onboard is safe. The more than 100 passengers and the crew, though, had been rescued from the wing of that plane after it came to a stop in shallow water there.

Russia's foreign minister, says he's going to hold talks with his Venezuelan counterpart tomorrow. This is according to Reuters, and this is after President Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin was, "Not looking to get involved in the Venezuela crisis."

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, the head of the opposition party, Juan Guaido, says the protests will continue at the country's military bases until president Nicolas Maduro steps down. CNN's correspondent Paula Newton joins us from Caracas. Paula, what are you expecting today? PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is going to be a lot of fireworks. And the reason, Christi, and Victor is because this is one of the first times that the opposition has indeed said, look, we want you to go directly to those military bases, to those military installations. And although, the opposition says they want this to be a peaceful process. It really is bound to lead to confrontation as it has in the past, as we've seen pitch battles here on the streets of Caracas and elsewhere in Venezuela.

I want you to listen to the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, and what he's going to talk about is how they continue both at the level of just rank-and-file soldiers' right up to the very tops of the military. Trying to convince them to join the opposition in ousting Nicolas Maduro. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN GUAIDO, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF VENEZUELA (through translator): We are willing to talk to all the civil and military officials. With all, no matter where they come from, who are willing to cooperate with the cessation of usurpation, the government of transition and the free election, because that is the mandate that I have by the Constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, this is interesting because, of course, just Tuesday, we had that failed uprising where the opposition claimed, and the Trump administration claimed that, at least, three top commanders for Nicolas Maduro had been willing to go over the opposition side. And yet, none of that has transpired at this point.

It's interesting too, just following up on your prior conversation, Christi and Victor, about what are the signs from the Trump administration? The opposition is listening very closely, they're wanting to know how much they can count on the Trump administration.

And you had John Bolton, of course, and Mike Pompeo, being very forceful this week. Saying that the Russians were interfering. Saying that military options were being looked at. You had a high- level meeting at the Pentagon just on Friday. Looking at all of those options. And yet you had the president, saying that look, Russia doesn't want to interfere in Venezuela. And what they were looking for was some kind of humanitarian assistance.

Contradictory notes there from the Trump administration, something that the opposition will continue to hear very closely and watch very closely to see what they can expect. Victor, Christi?

[07:35:25] PAUL: All righty. Paula Newton, thank you so much for the update. We appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: More also on the "BREAKING NEWS" out of North Korea this morning. The U.S. and South Korea are trying to determine exactly what the North Koreans launched? We know that these are short-range projectiles. But, what more do we know? A live report from Seoul, coming up.

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BLACKWELL: Breaking overnight, the South Korean Defense Ministry, says North Korea has launched several short-range projectiles. And right now, officials are working to determine if those projectiles include missiles.

PAUL: South Korean officials say the launchers came from North Korea's East Coast, north of the city of Wonsan. They flew anywhere between 43 to 125 miles before they crashed into the sea. Now, White House Press Secretary Sara Sanders, said in a statement, "We're aware of North Korea's actions tonight. We will continue to monitor as necessary."

CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks, following the very latest from Seoul, South Korea. Talked to us about the level of concern of the South Koreans this morning, Paula.

[07:40:03] PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi and Victor, we've had a response already from the presidential office here, the Blue House. And they've said that they are concerned that North Korea's actions has actually gone against a military agreement.

That North and South Korea signed when President Moon Jae-in was in Pyongyang last September. They signed an agreement which said that neither side would do anything that would increase the tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Now, according to the South Korean presidential office, they say this has gone against that. And they're calling on Pyongyang to come back to the negotiating table as soon as possible. But, of course, a lot does depend on what the U.S. President Donald Trump makes of this particular projectile launch. And what the response there is going to be as to how this moves forward.

It is key though for the intelligence agencies to figure out exactly what was fired. We know U.S. and South Korean authorities are working together. They're going through all the data that they can get their hands on to try and figure out exactly what it was that North Korea launched?

The assessment is that Kim Jong-un probably is trying to send a message to Washington. A message to the Trump administration because he's made it very clear in recent weeks that he is not happy with the Hanoi summit ending in February without any agreement.

He told Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, just last month when he met him in Vladivostok that he thought that the U.S. acted in bad faith in Hanoi. And he has said publicly that he wants the U.S. to change its attitude before the end of the year or negotiations are over, and they could go back to previous years.

So, this is really sort of a reminder of what previous years look like. These projectiles being launched from the East Coast back in 2017. It was unprecedented, the amount of nuclear and missile testing that was carried out. So, certainly, that is key to find out whether or not it was missiles that were launched or whether it was potentially a multiple rocket launch system, something like that which could just keep Kim Jong-un under the radar of being too much of a provocation, and something that the Trump administration could accept, and not react quite so -- quite so strongly to. Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: We'll see if we get any more reaction from the White House this morning. Paula Hancocks for us there in Seoul. Thank you.

PAUL: All right, listen. It was the longest game in NBA playoff history, ever.

BLACKWELL: Blazers, Nuggets instant classic.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes, if there was an unlikely hero as well. Good morning to you. This frolicking man turned into an assassin like Arya Stark putting the dagger in the heart of Denver. I'm skipping like that too because I got the tie, Victor, let me borrow.

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[07:46:49] PAUL: So, the Blazers in Nuggets game was an all-time instant classic people.

BLACKWELL: This game went on, and on, and on, until 2:00 a.m. Eastern.

WIRE: Yes.

PAUL: We came in, and I think we are going, what is just happening?

BLACKWELL: Yes, on and on.

WIRE: Yes, is this a replay? Blazers and Nuggets, they just played the longest NBA playoff game in over half a century. Only one other had ever gone to four overtimes, and this one came down to a man named, Rodney Hood.

Everyone else is exhausted in the fourth overtime. But look at him, the backup, skipping into the game. Most players had even fans, don't feel pressure even in just one over time, but not Hood. He hits this jumper to tie it up. Seizing the moment, right?

And then, with just 18 seconds to go, look at him say, "Give me the ball, give me the ball." His team's down one. He pump-faked, sets up with a three-pointer and it is good, seven straight points for the guy.

PAUL: Oh, wow.

WIRE: He was benched for a rookie during his time with Utah, then last year, shipped to Cleveland where he was benched there. He comes off the bench for his Blazer, seals the win, 140 to 137, given them a two-to-one series lead. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODNEY HOOD, GUARD, BLAZERS, NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: I actually felt pretty good, you know, I was telling Gary Trent, and -- you know, Ant. That if I got a chance, I was going to end it. It's up there man, is one of the biggest moments, you know, obviously, being in the playoffs and, you know, I'm playing game winners and big shot before. But this one, I think, it means a lot, you know, especially, given the circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Making his home state Mississippi proud. Now, the only other time in NBA playoff game went to four overtimes was 1953, Alaska and Hawaii weren't even states yet. The NBA was formed in 1946. So, there were just ten teams back then compared to the thirty now. The farthest team out west was the Minneapolis Lakers.

PAUL: Wow.

BLACKWELL: Minneapolis Lakers.

WIRE: Yes, right.

BLACKWELL: Not really how they'll who might do.

WIRE: So, yes, good stuff.

PAUL: Then, they can't move (INAUDIBLE), what they didn't delay.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I can't moving with that.

WIRE: Remember to break out your fedoras and fascinators, pour a mint, Julep, Kentucky Derby's today.

BLACKWELL: Fancy tie you have on there.

WIRE: This is big, there (INAUDIBLE).

BLACKWELL: Yes, he wasn't here the day, but I wore his, we have this trade that we do. He wasn't here the day I wore his tie.

PAUL: I look at to trade with you, Coy.

BLACKWELL: You don't get to trade.

PAUL: I get, I missed all the fun. But you both look fantastic.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and you get to take the Instagram pictures.

PAUL: OK, thank you. Yes, I will be taking Instagram pictures of them, and there -- and their fedoras, we will put it out there for you.

BLACKWELL: Yes, he'll do that. Yes, she takes the Instagram.

All right, rough weather. More than 10 million people under a severe flooding threat today. We'll go live to Iowa for the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:53:28] BLACKWELL: In today's "FOOD AS FUEL". We explore popular superfood that could have surprising benefits for your body. CNN health writer Jacqueline Howard shares the research behind this root and ways to get it into your diet.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN FEATURE WRITER, HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Ginger is often used to dress up a dish or add spice to a meal. But a growing body of research shows that this root can have big benefits for overall health.

Studies suggest that ginger can help common upset stomach often caused by nausea related to pregnancy or chemotherapy. One easy way to get ginger into your diet is with the breakfast smoothie.

Blend one carrot, three apples and a one-inch piece of ginger root with the squeeze of lemon, then stir and sip.

Another easy way to add ginger to your diet is to puree it into a ginger pumpkin soup. Or add it to your favorite meal as a sauce. Another plus, ginger can help you unwind after you hit the gym.

According to a University of Georgia study, when ginger is consumed either raw or heated, it helps ease muscle pain after working out by as much as 25 percent. Ginger helps improve blood circulation and relax muscles surrounding blood vessels. It can have the same pain relieving effect for women suffering menstrual cramps.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Jacqueline. All right, 10 million people are under a severe flood risk today. That's after seven people were killed by rising waters this week. People in Iowa are having to get around by boat after record flooding at the city of Davenport. CNN's Ryan Young, went there to get a look at the damage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[07:55:02] RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're here in Davenport, Iowa where the impact has been quite tremendous. In fact, as you look around, that's river drive right there, and the water's really crushed the banks.

You can see the cars that are submerged. This is had a lot of impact on the businesses throughout the area. They've been underwater for more than 30 days at this point in some parts of the area. And this is really having an impact on them trying to get businesses back to open, trying to get streets open, and they are worried about what could happen next. Because on Thursday, there could be more rain.

In fact, they're thinking between Sunday and Thursday of next week, you could be talking about anywhere from two to three more inches of rain. Steven, as you guide this boat, have you ever seen anything like this in the area?

STEVE BRISKE, RESIDENT, DAVENPORT: '93. That's when me and my family moved here from Florida and it was this bad. We actually lived on the river in Muscatine, and we were out of our house for almost a month.

YOUNG: And he's actually told me, the business that he works at, it had to generator run for more than 24 hours. So, you could understand this impact as the river is just right there. People are using kayaks to get around.

It'll be a tough few hours as emergency management continues to try to help businesses along the area. They say right now, they have enough sandbags. Ryan Young, CNN, Davenport, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Ryan, thank you. We know, at least, four people were hurt and several are unaccounted for this morning, following a plant explosion in Illinois.

BLACKWELL: We'll have an update on that developing story and much more the next hour of NEW DAY, starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "BREAKING NEWS".

BACKWELL: Breaking overnight. The NTSB, says a team will leave for Jacksonville, Florida next hour to start the investigation into why a Miami air flight skidded off the runway and in to the St. Johns River.

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