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NEW DAY
Joe Biden, Donald Trump to Campaign in Iowa Today; House to Vote to Enforce Barr & McGahn Subpoenas; David Ortiz Hospitalized in Boston After Being Shot; NTSB Investigating Helicopter Crash on NYC High-Rise; Warriors Beat Raptors, But Lose Durant to Injury. Aired 6- 6:30a ET
Aired June 11, 2019 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump and Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden both campaigning in Iowa today.
[05:59:10] JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Trump inherited an economy that was given to him, just like he inherited everything else in his life.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see him as a threat. He's only a threat to himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have what appears to be a helicopter that crashed into the roof. The helicopter is on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could feel the building shake. Security came in, told us, "Everybody, get out of the building now."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One individual is dead, seemingly the pilot. Certainly, an accident that is very hard to understand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, June 11, 6 a.m. here in New York, and John and I are both suffering from the sniffles this morning. I'm having an allergy attack. You're worse.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Apparently, you're contagious, so your allergies are contagious. Because I have it now.
CAMEROTA: All right. We will somehow get through this.
And we begin with President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, both campaigning in Iowa today. The split screen will give voters a glimpse of what a potential Biden/Trump matchup would look like in 2020. Both men have a lot to prove in the first-in-the-nation state.
We also have new poll numbers on how Iowa voters feel about this crowded field.
Meanwhile, Watergate's star witness went to Congress yesterday to draw parallels between President Trump and President Nixon. Did John Dean's testimony on the Mueller report move the needle at all?
BERMAN: Here in New York City this morning, federal investigators and the NYPD are on the scene of a helicopter crash on the roof of a Times Square high-rise. This was a very emotional and psychologically jarring day for so many people in New York City.
Now, you and I, we both heard from friends who were in this building who got out the minute they felt the building shake. Why? Because so many of us remember September 11.
The building remains closed this morning, and we're losing [SIC] much more about the pilot who died in the crash.
We have it all covered for you, though. We're going to begin, though, in Iowa, where there are three very important people today, the president, Joe Biden, and CNN's Jeff Zeleny, live in Des Moines with the top story -- Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Good morning.
This is the day that Joe Biden has been waiting for, to take on Donald Trump in this critical swing state, where six electoral votes are on the line.
Of course, Joe Biden must first get through this big Democratic primary, but he is here today, as Donald Trump is arriving, as well, to go one-on-one at a match they've been sparring at, for now, from afar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (voice-over): It's a matchup both men have been craving.
TRUMP: I don't see Joe Biden as a threat, no. I don't see him as a threat. I think he's only a threat to himself.
BIDEN: President Trump inherited an economy from Obama/Biden administration that was given to him, just like he inherited everything else in his life.
ZELENY: It's hardly a duel at high noon, but President Trump and Joe Biden are both heading so Iowa today, bringing their long-distance feud into far closer range. It's the president's first trip of the year to a state heavily inundated with Democratic presidential candidates. He's not only watching that race closely, but he's working to influence it.
TRUMP: You have a choice between Slippy Joe and Crazy Bernie. And I'll take any of them. Let's just pick somebody, please, and let's start this thing.
ZELENY: For Biden, it's his second visit to Iowa since launching his candidacy.
BIDEN: It's good to be back in Hawkeye country.
ZELENY: He would like nothing more than to focus on Trump, trying to prove his own electability. But he's facing an increasingly competitive Democratic primary, as he tries to prove that he's truly the frontrunner in the race.
Biden's first stop is in Ottumwa, home to one of 32 counties in the state that voted for he and Barack Obama in 2012 before flipping to Trump in 2016. Iowa had more of these blue-to-red counties than any other state in the country.
TRUMP: We love the people of Iowa.
ZELENY: Iowa is among Trump's most treasured victories. Not only for defeating all of the GOP rivals in the Iowa caucuses but for going on to defeat Hillary Clinton by nine points in a state Obama and Biden carried twice.
Former Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack, who served in Obama's cabinet for eight years, said Democrats underestimate Trump at their own peril.
TOM VILSACK (D), FORMER GOVERNOR OF IOWA: I think it would be foolish for anyone to assume that a sitting president is easily defeated. And I think we need to understand, this is going to be a very, very difficult fight.
ZELENY (on camera): What is Joe Biden's biggest challenge, do you think?
VILSACK: Well, you know, obviously, when you're the frontrunner, you've got 18 or 19 people taking shots at you every day, and that's -- that will wear on you. We know Joe Biden. And there is a certain level of comfort that comes with that.
ZELENY (voice-over): Trump has locked in most Republicans and has escaped a primary challenge. Biden is just beginning to wage his. Democratic leaders here say he still has to prove himself.
(on camera): So is Joe Biden a strong frontrunner?
J.D. SCHOLTEN, IOWA DEMOCRAT: Well, again, he's a leader. And it's anybody's game at this point. And you're going to have to come here. You're going to have to retail politics and really get out there and earn votes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: So that is the sense from Democratic leaders here, that Joe Biden does, indeed, have to prove himself as a front runner.
I am told by aides to the former vice president he plans to talk about trade and tariffs, and go directly after President Trump on his policy on this. John and Alisyn, one thing is clear, Joe Biden has wanted to go after Donald Trump for so long. But again, that competitive Democratic primary here comes much first -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: OK, Jeff. Thank you very much.
Back in Washington, House Democrats are expected to vote today to enforce subpoenas on Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn. This after the star witness who took down President Nixon during Watergate drew parallels between that president and President Trump.
CNN's Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill with more. Tell us the highlights.
[06:05:00] LAUREN FOX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, Democrats intensifying their push to re-cast the fallout from the Mueller report, as they are getting more documents from the Department of Justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOX (voice-over): Republicans and Democrats have already begun reviewing new documents related to the Mueller report's obstruction of justice probe. Multiple sources tell CNN that the access to the documents was brokered between the House Judiciary Committee and the Justice Department Monday.
Because of the deal, Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler saying, now, there is no need to hold Attorney General William Barr criminally in contempt of Congress. But adding, the committee must proceed with the original contempt resolution to enforce other congressional subpoenas.
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): Our arrangement with the department does not extend to the full scope of our request with the full Mueller report and its underlying materials, including grand jury information. Nor does it extend to our demand that McGahn, a key fact witness, testify before this committee.
FOX: Meanwhile, Nadler hosting President Nixon's former White House counsel and CNN contributor John Dean to discuss the Mueller report.
JOHN DEAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL TO RICHARD NIXON: The last time I appeared before your committee was July 11, 1974, during the impeachment inquiry of Richard Nixon. Clearly, I'm not here today as a fact witness.
FOX: Dean's testimony during the Watergate hearings was crucial to Nixon resigning.
DEAN: I thought, "Yes, I could share, with particularly, a lot of the people who are on the committee, who were either not born or they were very young when Watergate occurred." And it's quite striking and startling to me that history is repeating itself and with a vengeance.
FOX: The hearing quickly turning into a partisan food fight, with loyal Trump allies taking aim at Dean's credibility.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): You are functionally here as a prop, because they can't impeach President Trump; because 70 percent of Democrats want something that 60 percent of Americans don't.
FOX: Then Republicans levying attacks on Dean himself.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): And now, we've got John Dean, 45 years ago, went to -- pled guilty to obstruction of justice. And now coming in to enlighten the Judiciary Committee on obstruction of justice. Well, we could be going right to the start of how this whole thing started.
GAETZ: Whoa. Wait a second. Wait a second. Mr. Dean has made a cottage industry out of accusing presidents of acting like Richard Nixon.
DEAN: Mr. Gaetz, I appreciate you were not born at the time this all happened. The -- it's not by choice that I've done a lot of this. It's that I've been dragged into it.
FOX: Dean shaking off the blows, attempting to turn the focus back on the Mueller report.
DEAN: In many ways, the Mueller report is to President Trump what the so-called Watergate road map was to President Richard Nixon. Stated a little differently, Special Counsel Mueller has provided this committee with a road map.
FOX: And drawing more comparisons between President Nixon and President Trump.
REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Would you say there was a future administration that committed more crimes than the Nixon administration, as far as obstruction?
DEAN: I would say the Trump administration is in fast competition with what happened in the Nixon administration. And I certainly hope Don McGahn is a key witness before this committee. His client is the office of the president. And I think he owes that office his testimony before this committee.
FOX: President Trump also taking swings at the Watergate figure.
TRUMP: John's been a loser for a long time. We know that. I think he was disbarred, and he went to prison. Other than that, he's doing a great job.
FOX: Dean responding with humor.
DEAN: Well, I'm honored to be on his enemies list. I was able to make Nixon's at the end. And so I'm pleased that I'm on Trump's.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOX: And more tension, of course, between Congress and the Trump administration. The House Oversight Committee is slated to vote tomorrow in committee to hold Wilbur Ross and Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress for not cooperating with their investigation into how a question about U.S. citizenship ended up on the census -- John. BERMAN: All right. Lauren Fox for us on Capitol Hill. Lauren, thank
you very much.
This morning, Red Sox legend David Ortiz is back in Boston, hospitalized after being shot in the Dominican Republic. His injuries appear to be more serious than first reported. He was flown overnight from the Dominican Republic to Boston on an airplane provided by the Red Sox.
CNN's Alexandra Field is live at Mass General in Boston with the very latest. A very rainy Boston, Alexandra. But what do we know about Ortiz this morning?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, he is in the city that he, for a long time, considered home. And he will always be one of Boston's own. That's why he's back here in Mass General recovering now.
We know, of course, that David Ortiz, Big Papi, was shot in the back, with that bullet entering his stomach. Doctors in the Dominican Republic rushed him into emergency surgery, repairing parts of his intestine, his gallbladder, his colon, really extensive injuries there. They decided he was out of danger and in stable condition. That's when the Red Sox were able to send in an air ambulance that took him from Santo Domingo all the way back to Boston for more treatment.
[06:10:19] At Fenway Park in Boston last night, tributes for David Ortiz, who of course, left an indelible mark on that team, on this city, on his fans, and these loving words from the Red Sox manager.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX CORA, BOSTON RED SOX MANAGER: Keep praying, stay positive, and when he comes back, well, he will be taken care of. And he'll be back with us. He'll be in that clubhouse with a big smile and that huge heart. But back home, you know, they talk about superheroes without capes. And he's a superhero without a cape. That's the way we see him, you know? So he'll be OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Big Papi retired from -- Big Papi retired from baseball in 2016. The Red Sox retired his number in 2017. But you heard it there. He is always going to be a part of that team. When he woke up from surgery, we understand the first thing he asked was to see his family. And even right here in Boston, we absolutely know there are a lot of people that Big Papi must certainly consider to be a part of his family -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Alexandra, please keep us posted on his progress.
Meanwhile, we're learning more details about this shooting and the man suspected of pulling the trigger.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann is live in Santo Domingo with more. What have you learned, Patrick?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, David Ortiz has left, but the investigation here still continues. One man in custody. His name is Eddie Garcia.
And other than a drug charge from a few years ago, police say they don't know much about him. And they are seeking an accomplice of his, someone who managed -- an alleged accomplice -- to flee the scene, running away.
Eddie Garcia was tackled by some of those bystanders. Of course, David Ortiz was sitting at this nightclub with friends and fans, admirers. And they -- many of them just tackled the alleged gunman here, grabbed him, threw him on the ground, beat him up very badly before turning him over to the police.
Police say they are interrogating him now. And all they will say and all representatives of David Ortiz will tell us is this does not appear to be a robbery. There was never an attempt to get any money from David Ortiz or anybody else.
And the individual who approaches him in that video shoots him in the back, and then attempts to flee. So they feel, without knowing why, that this was some sort of deliberate attack on David Ortiz.
But he, like you know, in Boston, is just a legend here. And everyone I talk to says they can't imagine why anybody would want to hurt this famed baseball player who's beloved by so many here.
BERMAN: All right. Patrick Oppmann for us down in the Dominican Republic. Patrick, keep asking those questions. Obviously, why this happened still such a giant unknown.
I do want to give credit to someone for breaking the story about the Red Sox flying David Ortiz back to Boston. My mother broke that story, at least to me. Called me to tell me, "Did you hear the Red Sox are flying David Ortiz to Boston?" It may have been reported somewhere else first.
CAMEROTA: I doubt it.
BERMAN: But as far as I'm concerned, it was my mother who broke that story.
CAMEROTA: I doubt it. Thank you for revealing your sources.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: That is very, very helpful for all of us.
All right. So now to this. I mean, it gripped the city of New York yesterday, this crash that reminded so many people of 9/11.
BERMAN: Look at those pictures right there. Of course, that helicopter making a crash landing on top of a high-rise. It raises so many questions about the rules of flying these vehicles all around the city. You see them all the time. We have a live report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:18:18] CAMEROTA: The NTSB is investigating that deadly helicopter crash landing on the roof of a New York City skyscraper. Investigators are trying to figure out why the helicopter was flying in restricted airspace over the city. And the incident triggered some very tense moments.
CNN's Brynn Gingras is live in Times Square with more. What a day yesterday, Brynn.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What a day. Still a lot of questions this morning, Alisyn.
Tim McCormick, the pilot of that helicopter, the only fatality in this crash, was an experienced pilot from all accounts. For the last five years, he was flying for a company called American Continental Properties Group, a real-estate company. It was an executive plane. And it is registered in New Jersey.
However, this helicopter yesterday, in that terrible weather, took off at a heliport on 34th Street, which is on midtown Manhattan's West Side here in the city.
It flew, according to a law enforcement source, south, around near the Statue of Liberty and then back up the East Side before cutting across the heart of the city and having that crash landing 11 minutes later from take-off on the building here behind me.
Now, this is restricted airspace. It's not far from Trump Tower where, of course, the president stays when he is in New York City. But as you can imagine the scene here for people who were inside this building at that time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could feel the building shake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't until we got outside of the building that we understood that it was actually a helicopter that hit the building.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): If you're a New Yorker, you have a level of PTSD, right, from 9/11. So as soon as you hear an aircraft hit a building, I think my mind goes where every New Yorker's mind goes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:20:04] GINGRAS: And the big questions this morning: why did that pilot take off in that weather? What sort of communication, if any, did he have with air-traffic control? The NTSB is going to be on scene investigating today -- John.
BERMAN: All right. Brynn Gingras for us at the site of this crash. I have to say, my first reaction was, you have to be kidding me, that there was an helicopter in the air in that weather yesterday.
CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, but as we've been talking about, it was so reminiscent for our friends who were in the building and for us watching of -- remember on 9/11, the very first reports were it seemed like, "Oh, maybe this was a --"
BERMAN: A little -- yes.
CAMEROTA: -- "little tourist plane that flew into a building."
BERMAN: Private aircraft.
CAMEROTA: And then having those same thoughts again yesterday. And it turns out that we don't know the answer of what happened to this helicopter yet.
BERMAN: No. And you heard the guy in that piece right there. I have a friend who was in there who said the minute he felt something shake, he got right out. He got right out, because you don't take any chances any more.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BERMAN: All right. The Golden State Warriors stave off elimination in the NBA finals. But I've got to say, raising all kinds of controversy about the decision to play Kevin Durant in this game. Coy Wire has more in "The Bleacher Report." This was awful, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no doubt, John. Sometimes athletes, you face these inner demons. Do you come back and help your team, or do you rest, since your career's on the line?
Durant was back in that starting lineup after missing 33 days with a calf injury. His return lasting just 12 minutes. He lit it up in the first, with 11 points.
Then this happened, Durant buckling to the court, grabbing his lower leg in the second quarter. He knew he was done. And he's helped off the court, Raptors players showing support.
An MRI scheduled for today with the fear being a torn Achilles.
So how did the Warriors respond? Like champs. From finally playing with Durant again to playing for him, they ripped a 106-105 win from the Raptors. Afterwards, Warriors G.M. Bob Myers fights back tears when talking about Durant's injury.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MYERS, WARRIORS GENERAL MANAGER: I don't believe there's somebody to blame, but I understand it's this world. And if you have to, you can blame me. I run our basketball operations department.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Warriors force a game six on Thursday with Durant likely out. The defending champs are here. The USA just hours from making their
women's World Cup debut in France. A favorite to win it all. Twelve players from the 2015 World Cup winning team returning. They've lost just once in 2019. That was to host nation France back in January. Team USA taking on Thailand today at 3 Eastern. Back to you.
CAMEROTA: My daughters are so excited about that one, Coy.
WIRE: So is my son.
CAMEROTA: Thank you. So they've been glued.
BERMAN: We're all watching.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Us, too.
OK. So the witness who helped bring down Richard Nixon says Robert Mueller handed Congress a road map to investigate President Trump. So how well did they follow that road map yesterday?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:27:25] CAMEROTA: Breaking news, President Trump and Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden are both campaigning in Iowa today. And we have just gotten a copy of the former vice president's speech in our hot, moist, little hands.
Joining us now --
BERMAN: What have you been doing with your hands?
CAMEROTA: As you know, I'm having an allergy attack.
BERMAN: OK.
CAMEROTA: So I'm just referencing that throughout the show, in case I sneeze.
Joining us now, Rachael Bade, congressional reporter for "The Washington Post" and CNN political analyst; Carrie Cordero, former counsel to the U.S. assistant attorney general and CNN legal analyst; and Jim Acosta, CNN chief White House correspondent. Great to have all of you.
OK. So this split screen, Jim, will be really interesting today, to watch the president campaign and Joe Biden. Here are just a couple of things. We'll just read it right fresh, since John and I are just going through it.
Here's what Joe Biden plans to say. That, you know, "Donald Trump and I are both in Iowa today. It wasn't planned that way." That's interesting, because we had speculated that maybe he was planning to kind of follow Donald Trump around. "But I hope Trump's presence will be a clarifying event. America's farmers have been crushed by his tariff war with China. No one knows that better than Iowa. He thinks he's being tough. Well, it's easy to be tough when someone else is feeling the pain."
So it sounds like Joe Biden is going to go right after President Trump from the jump.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And on, potentially, his vulnerability, which is how this -- this whole tariff trade war is going to affect Trump voters. And, you know, the president has kept a lot of these folks in his tent. You know, he's provided relief to farmers and so on. And, you know, lot of these farmers have been telling us here on CNN, "Well, no matter what happens, I'm going to stay with Donald Trump."
There have been some who have said they won't do that. And I think Joe Biden is wisely going in there and testing those waters to see, can he exploit this?
The question, though, is whether or not this passionate, very loyal base will ever defect from this president. And Joe Biden is smart to go after that base this early on and in a state as important as Iowa.
BERMAN: You know, it's a tried and true strategy of the campaign, which is saying, "This is about you. This is about you and what you're going through here."
Let me just read a little bit more of this. And it has to do specifically with the farmers. He says, "How many farmers across this state and nation have had to face the prospect of losing their business, of losing their farm because of Trump's tariffs? How many have had to stare at the ceiling at night, wondering how they're going to make it? How many sleepless nights do you think Trump has had over what he's doing to American farmers?"
And Rachel, I went through this whole speech. It's all about President Trump. The whole speech is, which is very interesting to me. You know, Joe Biden, who's been criticized by some of his Democratic counterparts for not being out on the campaign trail, for doing his own thing, is going to Iowa to make this big splash, and he is delivering a stemwinder exclusively about the president.
RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. This could help sort of cement his potential frontrunner status. This is good for Biden. You know, he doesn't want to be seen as somebody out there.
END
