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Report: Southwest Engine Fails, Blows Out Passenger Window; Starbucks To Close Stores for Racial Bias Education; Porn Star Shows Sketch of Man Who Threatened Her; Comey Says He Thought Clinton Would Win Election. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 17, 2018 - 14:00   ET

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


[15:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You are watching CNN. We are all over this breaking news this evening, waiting for this press conference to begin on this emergency landing on this Southwest flight that was supposed to go from New York to Dallas, ended up landing in Philadelphia.

Passengers say it became violently depressurized after a shrapnel, a piece of the jet engine actually smashed into a passenger window. This picture clearly showing it was blown out. Can you imagine? 30,000-plus feet and gone. Other passengers on board heard some sort of massive explosion. This picture, we've got another one for you, taken inside the cabin and posted on social media showed what appeared to be significant damage to the jet with part of the covering from its left engine entirely ripped off. So, let's begin with our reporter Polo Sandoval who's been covering this from Philadelphia. We know what passenger has been taken to the hospital. Do we have a status condition of this individual and how was this person injured?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Not quite, Brooke, but you don't have to go on social media and see these pictures to understand the extent of the damage. Outside the perimeter, we can see the damage here. As you mentioned, several passengers aboard that flight headed to Texas reported feeling like one of engines went out shortly after take-off late this morning and of course that debris that would have eventually hit the side of the aircraft and then heavily damaged that one window resulting in the injury of at least one person.

Officials have not gone beyond that, only saying that that one person, one of 143 passengers aboard was taken to the hospital here in the Philadelphia area but have not said much more. Five other crew members -- five crew members were aboard that southwest airlines flight at the time of this incident as well. Obviously, there were some precautions taken, for example, the FAA put in place a ground stop for all flights coming either into or flew Philadelphia. That was lifted a few moments ago. But from our vantage point again, Brooke, we can see here the heavily damaged engine on the Boeing 737 and also even from afar that damaged window as well.

You mentioned the investigators with the national transportation safety board leading Washington, they will be heading here but when you hear these stories from these passengers who were aboard that aircraft, they are extremely thankful for the crew, the pilots that eventually turned that plane around and landed here in Philadelphia. But they're also talking about several medical personnel that were on the flight that rushed to help that one injured passenger. That's what we know at this point, Brooke. Investigators headed here. The passengers also being spoken to by authorities here to try to find out exactly what happened to that plane behind me.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much. I have two more people I want to bring in to analyze all this, our aviation correspondent Richard Quest and CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo. Richard Quest, you're flying along at 30,000 feet, you hear a boom and a window blows out? How does this happen?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, an uncontained engine explosion. In the language of the investigators, a part of the engine was liberated is how they describe it.

BALDWIN: That's not the kind of liberation I'm liking.

QUEST: No but whether that is part of the turbine disc or fan blades. The engine is supposed to be contained by something known as the nacelle. The nacelle is designed so that it encapsulates the engine and if there is an explosion, it is designed or intended the pieces, the fragments don't --

BALDWIN: Don't go flying everywhere.

QUEST: Correct. But we know that the force and ferocity of these explosions very often the nacelle fails to do that, and pieces are liberated and of course what is next to the wing is the fuselage. There are three big cases. Mary it is very familiar with all of them. British Airways 777 Las Vegas, that was on the ground when it happened. There was the American airlines flight, 767, similar incident again on the ground but then you get to the Quantas flying from Singapore to Sydney, engine failure, uncontained, blew out vast parts of the system and these are very serious incidents user on the ground or in the air.

[14:05:00] BALDWIN: So then, Mary, what happens if you're at altitude and the window bursts and it makes the oxygen masks drop. What happens to the cabin pressure?

MARY SHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: An uncontained engine failure, if the parts pierce the cabin, they can cause what's called a rapid decompression and it's a very dangerous situation, not only for the lives of the passengers for sometimes planes are lost depending on how -- what they call explosive decompression it can be. And then of course can you also have pieces of the uncontained engine failure which pierce critical control parts of the plane. Everyone will remember the Sioux City crash in which part of the shrapnel pierced the hydraulic lines and impossible to control the plane and Richard I'm sure knows this one, too, Southwest had an eerily similar incident to this one in August of 2016.

BALDWIN: Which begs the question, Mary, if this is a similar issue with the very same airline, with the same sort of engine and the same sort of plane two years ago, who's looking at these engines? Who is checking the engines? How is this happening again? SHIAVO: Well, the NTSB hasn't issued its final report yet. The NTSB

is investigating. So, for this investigation, they will have just a wealth of good information and they will be issuing their recommendations when they complete that previous investigation. And they looked at the turbine fan planes, it then hit the nacelle that Richard was talking about and it caused that to come off. It was a chain reaction. They'll have a lot of data to work with.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Richard, stick around. We have other breaking news this afternoon. Starbucks is saying it will close its more than 8,000 stores in the United States on the afternoon of May 29th, all of them closed, to educate employees about racial bias. This is in the wake of that arrest of those two African-American men waiting for a friend in a Philadelphia Starbucks when they were arrested for trespassing. So, we saw that CEO, he apologized. Starbucks said he would meet with those two men involved. They weren't charged, they were let go but not until eight hours later and now they're closing all these stores.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just as a side bar, Kevin Johnson, the CEO of Starbucks, he did meet with those two men. We're not sure exactly what transpired but he has met with those men who he, by the way, apologized to on tv. As for Starbucks saying it's closing all of its U.S. stores on May 29th, yes, that's happening. That's more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the U.S. to educate its employees about racial bias. Starbucks is saying this training will be given to 175,000 of its workers. And of course, this is an announcement coming after this incident on Thursday when two black men walked into this Philadelphia Starbucks, asked to use the bathroom. They were told they weren't paying customers and cannot. They waited for a third person to arrive and when they friend arrived, they were being arrested. We have learned that the employee who called the police that day is no longer working at that Starbucks but once again, Starbucks closing all of its 8,000 stores for racial bias education for its 175,000 workers.

BALDWIN: For all of the firestorm that this ignited and understandable, it does seem like Starbucks is jumping on it.

QUEST: This has been a textbook example of how to handle a crisis. And from the moment the CEO said this should not have happened, I am sorry, describing it as reprehensible. From that moment, he went on television and did a full-scale interview. No hiding, scurry, no mealy-mouthed word like we had with other words. I won't use the language, but he basically said we did this and it was wrong and now we're putting it right. Now the protesters outside have been protesting.

[14:10:00] I'm not sure what they want more than this. They've got exactly what they want and more. So, to anybody who's paying vast sums of money to PR people, to tell them what to do, the answer is very simple --

BALDWIN: Look at Starbucks.

QUEST: Look at Starbucks and do what is right. BALDWIN: Richard Quest, thank you so much.

Coming up here on CNN a dramatic new revelation in the fast-moving saga involving the president and this porn star, Stormy Daniels revealing a sketch of the man who she says threatened her with over her alleged affair with Trump some years ago. Now she is asking the public to help quote, ID the thug. Plus, the fired FBI director James Comey firing back at the president after Trump says Comey should be put in jail.

You're watching CNN, I'm Brooke Baldwin.

[14:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Now to a new phase in the scandal between the president and the porn star suing him. After weeks of hype, Stormy Daniels and her attorney have unveiled this likeness of the man she says threatened her against revealing her alleged affair with Donald Trump. She developed the sketch with a leading forensic artist. Her attorney is now offering $100,000 for information on this man who they say stands somewhere between 5'9" and 6 foot tall. She says this was back in 2011, it happened in a parking lot with she was with her young child. She detailed on "The View" how this man intimidated her with she was with her newborn and explained why she did not go to police at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STORMY DANIELS, PORN STAR: He had his hands in his pocket. He said something like she's a beautiful little girl, forget about this story, leave Mr. Trump alone. As I said, his face was burned in my memory. I wasn't that scared at that moment because it was so shocking. I got her out and hurried inside and when I got in the elevator to go up to the floor, I remember I leaned against the wall. I would have gone to the police and said a man approached me, he told me to leave Mr. Trump alone and their very next question the detective would have asked me, why would somebody tell you to leave Mr. Trump alone and I would have had to answer that question. One of the main reasons I didn't say anything is because I didn't tell my husband at the time. I didn't want him to be upset with me. He didn't know. So, to go home and go, like, I had this guy attack me and say I did this because of this, I didn't want him to think I was a bad mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now Michael Cohen who is the president's personal attorney who is under criminal investigation, he admitted to paying Daniels $130,000 for her silence about this alleged affair, which of course the president denies. Cohen's attorney says Cohen played no part in or new of this threat. Daniels is suing both Cohen and Trump citing a because Trump never signed this nondisclosure agreement, it's not valid.

That bringing our legal experts. Renato Mariotti is a former federal prosecutor who is now a trial attorney. And Yodit Tewolde is a criminal defense attorney and a former prosecutor. So welcome, welcome to both of you.

I want to start with the sketch that they -- Avenatti and Stormy Daniels released this morning. It's not a law enforcement sketch. This is something they took upon themselves. It has zero to do with this lawsuit of theirs. I understand they want to catch the guy but why are they doing this?

YODIT TEWOLDE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They're doing a phenomenal job keeping the story alive. I seriously have a bucket of popcorn every single time glued to the TV waiting for the next shoe to drop. But what they are doing here is not only strengthening Stormy Daniels' credibility because she's mentioned that before in her "60 Minutes" special with Anderson Cooper. And she's mentioned being threatened. But when she filed this lawsuit against Cohen and Trump she cited a number of reasons for why this nondisclosure agreement should be voided.

One, he didn't sign the agreement. And the other argument was that she was in fear, there was a crime taking place at the time. She was threatened and feared for her life and for her silence that she's been forced into this nondisclosure agreement that should be voided. It only strengthens her argument into going this far and saying, listen, I've got this sketch by this very credible sketch artist, we're willing to offer money. That adds credibility to what she's already saying. I think she's credible. I think she's telling the truth and it's just, one, it's arguing to the court of public opinion. So, it's only going to favor her more than the other side.

BALDWIN: Let me move on from this, I want to ask you about the other mega headline, this judge. We've been watching this hearing in downtown Manhattan this federal courthouse, this judge has now ruled that Cohen can review

materials the FBI took from several of these properties when they raided them last week. The battle has to do with the materials and who gets to look through them. It sounds like the judge is considering appointing what the Cohen team wanted, which is this independent lawyer, this special master and so each side gets to toss out names and ultimately, it's up to the judge to decide. Can you walk me through how that works?

[14:20:00] RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Sure. First of all, as a starting point, what Cohen initially asked for that he would be able to look at the documents in the first instance and call out what he thought wasn't responsive or he thought should go to the government.

BALDWIN: He wanted a TRO.

MARIOTTI: Right. That didn't happen. Just to be clear because sometimes this get muddled and people wonder who won or who lost. I think this is ultimately a lost for Cohen, but a special master is an attorney who would go through the documents and figure out which ones are privileged or not and that person would make the determination as opposed to government lawyers that are called a filter team separate from the lawyers in the investigative team. The real difference is the person going through it wouldn't be

affiliated with the government. The only down side for the government is that it takes more time, it could slow things down a little bit and to the extent there is an argument or agreement about whether something is privileged, the government may have to reveal things about their investigation in order to argue --

BALDWIN: This is all about figuring what's privileged, what should be protected. Yodit, let's play this out. Cohen claims certain materials are protected and this taint team, let's say they say, no, this should be able to be included. Does the judge then decide? Go ahead, Yodit.

TEWOLDE: The attorney/client privilege, that begins once a client decides to confide in a lawyer and a lawyer accepts and listens. No money has to be exchanged no writing has to be in place. And so, it will have to be down to what the judge decides as well. So, both sides are going to make the argument the government has already made the argument that Michael Cohen hasn't even really practiced law, that he isn't an attorney in his capacity and that he is just the fixer.

With this news of Sean Hannity, for example, and the discrepancy between whether he's a client or not a client is calling into question whether Cohen had established an attorney/client relationship with his client. It only bolsters the government's argument that that privilege is nonexistent in this situation. And so, they kind of have an uphill battle here but if there is an argument as to whether the privilege can be invoked, the judge will have to decide.

BALDWIN: Let me just put a button on this because what they seized last week, it was ten boxes of Cohen's materials that in addition to that it was electronics. The assistant U.S. attorney says this is a fast-moving investigation for which the U.S. attorney is, quote unquote, devoting a large of the resources. TBD, we'll continue the conversation, Yodit and Renato, thank you very much for weighing in on that.

Coming up, new shots fired in the escalating war of words between the former FBI director and the president. The president saying Comey should be in jail. We have Connie's response to that ahead. Also, speak of Sean Hannity, why did he keep his Cohen secret for so long? Critics are blasting the Fox News host for failing to disclose he is also a client of Michael Cohen's and why isn't Fox News saying anything about all of this? Stay with me.

[14:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Fired FBI Director James Comey is denouncing President Trump as a threat to America's core values, as he is certainly making the round to promote his new book "A Higher Loyalty." It just hit store shelves. Trump tweeted that Comey should be in jail. Here is part of Comey's new interview with NPR.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: The president of the United States just said that a private citizen should be jailed. And I think the reaction of most of us was that's another one of those things. This is not normal. This is not OK. There's a danger that we will become numb to it and stop noticing the threats to our norms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, NPR justice correspondent, Carey Johnson who was in the room for that Comey interview, Carey, so nice to have you on.

CAREY JOHNSON, NPR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's a pleasure, thanks.

BALDWIN: You've known Comey for many years and I heard you described him as having quote unquote boundless confidence. But you this past year has changed him. What do you mean?

JOHNSON: He really talked to NPR and others about how the criticism from both left and right on the political spectrum has taken a toll on him. He says he really struggled with decisions during the 2016 election about what to say or not say.

[14:30:00] About the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation and about what to say or not say about investigation into Russian interference in the election. And whether any Americans were conspiring with the Russians.

A lot of people on both sides of the aisle seem to think he made a bad call. And maybe more important to Jim Comey a lot of people he's known over the years in the justice department and the FBI have a lot of criticism for him. Of course, he lost his job in a very surprising way last May when President Trump fired him, and it seems as though all of that has taken a bit of a toll on him, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about his decision on reopening the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation days before the election. He referred to it in this interview as the best bad option. What do you have make of that?

JOHNSON: Comey said it was not good but he maintains it would have been much worse had he failed to act in the way that he did in 2016. He expressed a lot of concern about his failure to tell Congress and the American people the FBI had reopened the e-mail investigation after those new messages or a new tranche of messages appeared to be found on Anthony Weiner's laptop. He said if that had leaked out and Hillary Clinton had won the election, it might have cast doubt on her legitimacy for president of the United States and he did not want that to happen. What Comey seems to not have absorbed is that a lot of people in the Hillary Clinton campaign and a lot of others that the injection of the FBI into that political issue so close to the election really damaged --