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Trump Tweets about Mueller Investigation; NTSB Probes Southwest Incident; Food as Fuel Focuses on Turkeys; Trump and the Caravan. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 15, 2018 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:42] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have new results from the midterm elections more than one week ago. The Democrats picked up two more seats overnight. They now have a net gain of 32 seats, giving them a total of 227. The Republicans, 200 in the House. Eight races remain to be called by CNN. And a number of them, we should note, the Democrats are leading. So the gains could be even more for them.

In New Jersey's third congressional district, Republican Congressman Tom MacArthur, who was big supporting the president's health care plan, he conceded. He lost to Democrat Andy Kim. And in California's tenth district, Democrat Josh Harder defeated GOP Congressman Jeff Denham.

Again, Democrats will take control of the House, which means they will control the committees.

Joining us now is the likely new chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler of New York.

Congressman, thank you very much for being with us.

REP. JERROLD NADLER (D), NEW YORK: Good morning.

BERMAN: If I can start with some of the breaking news, because it gets to -- it gets to you and your committee. The president wrote moments ago, and we don't need to put it back up on the screen, but he was criticizing Robert Mueller and his first sentence was, the inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. The question is, how would he know? Do you worry now that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, who's the president's guy, who now has oversight of the Mueller investigation, is giving the president information about that investigation?

NADLER: Well, I do worry about that. Of course, with this president, we don't know. He may have simply made that up because he lies all the time.

What is notable about the Mueller investigation is that there have been no leaks. Everybody we know about it is from court filings. And that's proper. I certainly worry that the acting attorney general, Whittaker, was put

there for the express purpose of being a hatchet man to sabotage this investigation because the only beef that the president had with Sessions was that Sessions refused to be a hatchet man by recusing himself from anything to do with the investigation. He was supposed to recuse himself. He did. And Whitaker, who certainly should recuse himself since he is -- since he's prejudged the outcome of the investigation, he said the Russians did not interfere in our election in any way, which is absurd, as we know. He has said the investigation was a witch hunt. So he's prejudged the investigation. He should recuse himself.

BERMAN: Yes.

NADLER: And he shouldn't be involved in supervising it. And I worry that he's there simply to sabotage it.

BERMAN: The Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department has said now, they came out with a ruling, that the appointment of Matt Whitaker as acting attorney general, they say it is legal.

NADLER: Well, the Office of Legal Counsel is there to -- works for the president. And they'll say whatever he wants. But constitutional experts, both Democratic and Republican, are pretty -- not unanimous, but pretty overwhelming that the appointment is illegal because of -- Mr. Whitaker was not confirmed by the Senate. The OLC reaches back to an 1866 case, which seems completely not relevant. So I think his appointment is illegal, and that will be tested in court.

BERMAN: And it might be tested before your committee. You said the other day you want Matt Whitaker to be the first witness to appear before your controlled committee.

NADLER: In --

BERMAN: Go ahead.

[08:35:02] NADLER: If he hasn't been removed by the court as illegally appointed by January, yes, he will be the first witness we will -- we will call to ask him about what guarantees he can give us that he will not interfere with -- with the investigation, he will not sabotage it, he will not leak information to the subjects.

You know, one of the problems is that you don't want, in a criminal investigation, you don't want information about the prosecution going to possible defendants, such as the people around the president. And those are the questions we have to ask him because he shows every sign of being there only for the purpose of sabotaging the investigation.

BERMAN: We don't know. The bottom line is, we don't know what he's doing at this point. You know, I was asking about that first sentence from the president staying the inner workings.

NADLER: Well, I think -- I think -- I think --

BERMAN: That was curious. But, again, we don't know what he's doing. We haven't heard from anyone he has intervened.

NADLER: I think -- I think we have a pretty good idea he's there only for the purposes of sabotaging the investigation because that's why Sessions is no longer there, because he wouldn't do it.

BERMAN: Right.

NADLER: And the president is going to find out that the American people and the Congress will hold him accountable.

BERMAN: Let me ask you --

NADLER: He may think that he can get away with anything, but he can't.

BERMAN: A few quick questions.

The president has weighed in on Republican leadership, and he has suggested that he would like to see Jim Jordan, who was on the Judiciary Committee, perhaps be the ranking member there to serve as a check to you. How do you respond to that?

NADLER: Well, we have a large agenda of legislation we want to pass on a lot of different subjects from safeguarding people's votes, to voter suppression, to helping people in different ways, to the refusal of the administration to defend the Affordable Care Act in court. And I hope we can work with the Republicans on this legislation. And we'd love to cooperate with whoever is the Republican leader and who their leader is up to them. I'm not going to comment on that.

BERMAN: You look forward to working with Jim Jordan, if he is the leader?

NADLER: Absolutely. We look forward to attempting to work with whoever the Republican leader is, and I hope they'll work with us.

BERMAN: Quickly on overall House Democratic leadership. Nancy Pelosi has guaranteed she will be the next speaker. However, we heard from Seth Moulton moments ago, Democrat from Massachusetts, that 17 members have signed a letter saying that under no terms will they vote for Nancy Pelosi on the floor of the House, the full House, as speaker. Are you 100 percent certain she'll be the next speaker.

NADLER: Well, I'm not 100 percent certain because I'm not doing the vote count. But I am very confident. Nancy is a battle tested leader. She maintained message discipline. She marshalled the forces that led us to this great victory in taking back the House. She is the -- one of the greatest legislative craft people in a long time. She is responsible for the Affordable Care Act passing and for various other things. And I certainly hope that she is our leader -- that she is re- elected speaker of the House. And I don't see any other candidate.

BERMAN: Congressman Jerry Nadler, future chairman, we believe, Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee. Thanks for being with us.

NADLER: Thank you. CAMEROTA: OK, John, now to this important story. Did Boeing withhold

important safety information about its planes from airline pilots and airlines? The investigation into two deadly accidents reveals upsetting findings.

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[08:42:19] CAMEROTA: There were new revolutions during an NTSB hearing on a deadly incident onboard a Southwest Airlines jet that you'll remember ended with a woman being partially sucked out of a plane. The manufacturer now reveals that concerns about cracks in the engines fan blades existed long before that April incident.

CNN's Rene Marsh is live in Washington with details.

This is horrible, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Alisyn.

You know, the NTSB is really still trying to figure out how a Boeing 737 aircraft, certified as safe by the FAA, had an engine explode midair. Both Boeing, the FAA, the airline, even the air engine manufacturer, CFM International, they were all questioned by the NTSB. And we now know there were similar cracked blades discovered in engines of other planes flown by other airlines. Pilots and crew has massive communication problems. We know pilots and flight attendants, they actually didn't talk for 11 minutes. So the pilots didn't know that a woman had been partially sucked out of the window and pilots were unable to talk to emergency crews for a short time. But the focus of the NTSB investigation into the cause is really on the engines, the design and the FAA certification process that deemed the plane safe to fly.

Now, this investigation is all happening while another probe into a newer version Boeing 737 is underway. Investigators are trying to determine why a Lion Air plane crashed. Indonesian officials are now looking into that crash investigation. The airline says, specifically talking about Lion Air here, they say that Boeing's flight manual did not contain guidance on new flight control features.

That echoes what pilots with the Allied Pilot Association, which is a pilot labor union here in the U.S., told me. I'm told that Boeing failed to warn pilots about a potentially dangerous feature on the new Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9. This is a very high-tech aircraft.

Now, t spokesman for the union here in the U.S. told me, quote, they didn't provide us all the information that we rely on when we fly an aircraft, specifically with the aircraft's flight control system.

I just want to make one last point. They all say that they believe -- they meaning U.S. pilots -- believe that this aircraft is safe. The danger comes in when the -- Boeing, the manufacture, did not enlighten them about all the features and how they work within this aircraft. So lots of investigations focusing in on Boeing's aircrafts.

BERMAN: All right.

CAMEROTA: I mean, look, more information is better. It's very nerve wracking to think that they were not enlightened by some information, but luckily they are now attempting to fix that.

[08:45:04] Thank you, Rene.

BERMAN: Up next, the president talked a lot. He couldn't stop talking about the so-called caravan heading toward the border ahead of Election Day. Now some are approaching the border and the president really isn't talking about them hardly at all. We'll get a "Reality Check," next.

CAMEROTA: But, first, Americans will devour millions of turkeys this Thanksgiving. And, increasingly, many of the birds will be called heritage turkeys. What is that? CNN's Jacqueline Howard is going to explain it to you in this edition of "Food as Fuel."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH WRITER: Compared to most super market gobblers, heritage turkeys more closely resemble what the pilgrims may have had on their plates. They're also different in how they're brought up and how much they cost. Heritage turkeys are raised outside. Most grocery store turkeys live indoors. Heritage breeds mate naturally. Commercial breeds are often artificially inseminated. And heritage birds tend to grow slower than common turkeys, which are bred to grow fast. Heritage turkeys are also more expensive. Roughly four to ten times what you'd normally pay in a grocery store. And that doesn't include shipping if you can't find a farm near you.

As for what you get for the money, heritage birds tend to have more dark meat and a more intense, sometimes gamier flavor. But experts say it all comes down to personal preference. Some prefer heritage. Others, the milder taste of commercial turkeys, since that's what we're used to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[08:50:39] BERMAN: Members of one of the migrant caravans did make it to Tijuana, Mexico, just miles from the U.S. border. So why isn't the president talking about it anymore?

CNN's senior political analyst John Avlon joins us with a "Reality Check."

John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, John.

OK, so I'm so old, and you are too, that I remember just over a week ago when America was being warned about a migrant caravan that was invading the USA. The president was calling it a crisis, threatening to end birthright citizenship by executive order and deploying soldiers to the southern border, all to bolster his campaign closing message. All the while the so-called migrant caravan of Central American asylum seekers was hundreds of miles away from the USA.

The threat has apparently evaporated with the passing of Election Day. President Trump has not tweeted about the caravan once since the midterm elections. In the three weeks leading up to the election, he tweeted 55 times about the caravan, or its proxy, the border. And that's not to mention the countless times he mentioned the caravan at campaign rallies across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No nation can allow its borders to be overrun.

And that's an invasion.

Last week I called up the United States military. We're not playing games, folks.

When you look at that caravan coming up, that's not what we want. That's not for us, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Of course, Fox News echoed Trump's invasion rhetoric about the caravan, mentioning the caravan 733 times in the week leading up to the midterms. In the week after, they mentioned the caravan just 126 times.

Fox News also amplified the president's message on Twitter, tweeting about the caravan 51 times. But since the election, their Twitter feed has been silent on the subject. In fact, they haven't tweeted at all since November 8th, which is a little odd for a media company in 2018, but I digress.

It's not as odd as the dance that Defense Secretary Mattis has been forced to do. Yesterday, Mattis went down to the Texas/Mexico border where there are currently 1,300 troops. He described them as confidence builders but clarified they would not be armed and were there solely to lend support to the Border Patrol. He's trying to separate the mission from the political posturing of the president.

But, for his part, the president has largely moved on. Many of his tweets since Election Day have been focused on things like baseless claims of illegal voting, especially in Florida, where the recounts are scheduled to be completed today.

And here's a gauge of the president's seriousness. In an interview with "The Daily Caller" yesterday, the president said this, quote, sometimes they go to a car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in again and vote. This is a cartoon vision of voter fraud that's untethered to reality. The president also defended voter ID laws by saying that people needed a voter ID to buy cereal. As anyone who's ever bought cereal can tell you, that's just not true. All the more evidence that the president was simply trying to stoke the fires of fear and anger to motivate his base before the election. And now he's moved on to focus his baseless claims on voter fraud, while 12 federal elections are still being decided.

And that's your "Reality Check."

CAMEROTA: That is just remarkable.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: To see the numbers, John, is remarkable of what a charade it turns out that it was.

AVLON: One hundred percent.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

BERMAN: As John was noting, the midterm elections are apparently haunting the president and late night comics are having a field day with it. Here are your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Some in Trump's inner circle say the president is miserable and depressed. And to that I say, welcome to the club because that's how -- now you know what it's like to be us for a change.

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": First the midterms didn't go Trump's way and now Fox News is against him. Today, Vladimir Putin was like, is bad time to tell him I support Bernie in 2020? Not yet. Just wait. Just wait a day.

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": The incoming freshman class of Democrats is being called the most diverse ever. Check out this photo. Look at that. That's who's coming in. That is so diverse it's insane. It looks like -- it looks like a stock photo in a college brochure, that's what it looks like. And it's not just the Democrats. The Republicans have also welcomed their most diverse group ever. Look at that. Huh? Look at that. They have -- they have old white guys. They've got young white guys. They've got bald white guys. They've got balding white guys. They've got white guys with hair. They've got the white guy from "SNL" and the one guy who I think is Latino, but if they start running them up, I'm pretty sure he's going to be white. So many different types of white guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's funny.

BERMAN: It is funny.

CAMEROTA: Poor Dan Crenshaw is now the white guys from "SNL."

BERMAN: I know.

[08:55:01] CAMEROTA: He doesn't actually work there, but he did a great bit on it.

BERMAN: He'll be back, I'm sure again.

CAMEROTA: OK, "The Good Stuff" is next.

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CAMEROTA: OK, time now for "The Good Stuff."

A man in Tennessee dedicating his life to help the homeless. Meet Steven Young. He started a non-profit to help those in need because he was once one of them. After spending five years on the streets, he turned his life around, and he wanted to pay it forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN YOUNG: Food, tents, tarps, sleeping bags, heaters, propane, things that help them get through days like today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Steven says just a little bit of help can go a long way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: We hear all the time about getting them housing, getting them jobs. But they have to survive until they have that opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's such a great point, you know, is that like those things can seem daunting and overwhelming. How are we going to get all of the homeless jobs, so just save them for one night with a tent and a heater.

BERMAN: Good for him. He apparently has lived through it and knows what they need. Thanks for that.

All right, we've got a lot of news going on today, covering the president who appears to be in a mood already. CNN "NEWSROOM " with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto picks it up right now.

[09:00:06] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, top of the hour. Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.