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tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  January 8, 2024 9:00pm-10:01pm PST

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tonight on 360, the latest moves in the former presidents attempt to avoid any criminal accountability for january six. and two cases that can make any president immune for anything that they do in office. also tonight, congresswoman aoc -- on her calls for clarence thomas to recuse himself after the appeal to stay on the colorado ballot. and reports tonight of bolts on the door applauds a boeing 737 max 9, after a terrifying incident in the sky that left a hole in the same model plane with few answers as to how it happened. good evening, thank you for joining us, we begin tonight with new developments in the former presidents push to make any criminal charges against him disappear. he will be an
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washington tomorrow in court by choice we should add. as a federal appeals panel hears oral arguments on his claim for presidential immunity in the january 6th case. today he filed an immunity claim on similar state charges in georgia. if they go his way, especially in the federal case, it could make him, and any former president, legally unaccountable for any crime they may commit while in office. the same notion, another former president, who drew scorn for embracing. >> when the president does it, it means it's not immunity by definition. >> former president nixon said in 1977, that's what the current former president is claiming now, what the courts never fully decided back that. perhaps because richard nixon was never indicted on 91 felony accounts. and perhaps because at the time lawmakers held him political accountable including members of his own party. by contrast, during the second trump impeachment, most republicans refused to, quoting
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north carolina senator tom tell us at the time, quote, the ultimate accountability is through criminal justice system. and if republicans were reluctant back then to impose a political consequence on the former president, but even more so now during his campaign to retake the white house. i want to play something mr. trump has been saying lately and repeated over the weekend about those convicted and serving time for those crimes on january six. >> they ought to release the j six hostages, they've suffered enough. (applause) they ought to release them. i call them hostages, some people call them prisoners, i call them hostages. release the j six hostages, joe. release them, joe, you can do it real easy, joe. >> they're not hostages, he knows that, he's done this before trying to turn convicted violent felons into martyrs. but now, far from condemning and some republicans are using the same term. >> i have concerns about the
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treatment of january six hostages. i have concerns, we have a role in congress oversight, over our treatments of prisoners. >> that was elise stefanik, chair of the house republican conference, fourth ranking republican in congress. and that's what political accountability looks like within that party, it's the kind of criminal accountability or lack of it that the former president is asking the courts to give him now. joining us now, conservative lawyer and atlantic monthly contributor or, george conway. george, -- using the term, hostages, to refer to people committing crimes on january six, what do you think? >>, it's completely obscene. the notion that these people who tried to overthrow the government, and try to and constitutional democracy in america and who are being prosecuted who are indicted by federal grand juries for their crimes against united states. to say they're hostages, it's the definition of absurd, but it's morally obscene and the
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notion that people accept that, that he's not dropped out of public life for saying something like that, and that people like elise stefanik, parrot his lies is just one more condemnation, self condemnation of the republican party. i don't know how much lower they can go. >> as we mentioned, the former president's lawyers will argue tomorrow that his actions after the 2020 election were all covered by presidential immunity. how do you think this will play out? >> i don't think it's gonna play out very well for the former president tomorrow. i think one of the basic guidelines i have been watching arguments of any sort in court, and appellate arguments, is -- the side that gets the most questions is the one that's going to get the short end of the stick in the ruling at the end. and i anticipate that most of the questions are gonna be directed at the trump and his lawyers on how you could possibly justify giving a president who is sworn to uphold the laws of the united
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states and the constitution of the united states, how that person can be above the law. and anything can be lawful because the president if he says so, like the clip you played of president nixon, no one has ever thought that, it's completely inconsistent with our constitutional tradition. there is no way that a court is going to accept that. >> if the former president is attending the oral arguments tomorrow, do you think it's purely for fundraising purposes and he knows that's more cameras will be, he'll make a statement before and/or after, or both, or is there a legal strategy in play here in terms of maybe some sort of impact on judges? >> no, i don't think there's a legal strategy in play, that's something i think he's too small minded to be able to think through, think that through. what he's doing is he seeking maximum attention, he's a narcissist, he thinks somehow that his presence can persuade
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people generally. i think that he's, he's gonna want to put on a show, he wants to put on a show that he's somehow being politically persecuted, that he's being unfairly a victim of a witch hunt, which we've heard thousands of times. he probably will raise money off of it but i don't think it's gonna happen -- how a proceeding goes. >> he makes the argument, i need to go to court i can't be on the campaign trail when he actually doesn't need to be in court. the former presidents attorneys filed motions today, the election fraud case in georgia, claiming that the indictment should be barred under presidential immunity. if his claims of immunity are ultimately upheld on the federal level, what impact would that have on a state court case like this one? >> i think the state court case would follow. i think if the presidential immunity claim is defeated in the united states court of appeals, which i think it will be in a matter of days,
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i think that will shut down his immunity claim in the georgia case. i don't think, the world question will be, will the supreme court bother to take either one of those cases. i think it's quite possible to take the d.c. circuit case, but it's possible that they may not knowing that the trial is upcoming, knowing they can review any immunity claims that he loses this time around after he's convicted and sentenced. >> if the federal appeals court, where supreme court, agrees with the former presidents interpretation of presidential immunity. long term, what implications of that decision, what does it have on the presidency long term? >> it would have more of than impact for the presidency, it would have a devastating and dangerous impact on our constitutional tradition and the rule of law, if you talk to students, scholars of authoritarianism, they'll tell you that authoritarian
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governance is governance of criminals, the governance of criminal mobs, and essential element of that is immunity, or impunity, the ability to break the law, make the law whatever the leader wanted it to be. and not only is this immunity, criminal immunity for basically any action related to this job that he seeks, it's not consistent with our constitutional tradition, it would be an essential element for an authoritarian regime. i don't think there's any chance it's gonna be accepted. indeed, even if some kind of criminal immunity were accepted by the court, it wouldn't cover the conduct he engaged in here which was basically anti-ethical to his duties as president of the united states. in the civil realm, the cases that he's relying on, the only immunity that our president gets's for actions that occur within the outer perimeter of
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their official responsibility. here he was outside this parameter, he was undermining these institutions. >> how long do you think it will take for the court to rule? >> i think it will be a matter of days. i think the court of appeals obviously knows what the timetable is -- importance. at the same time, they said, an expedited schedule to hear the case tomorrow, i think they'll act swiftly after that, there is no question how the rule, the rule quickly and i think the parties of the united states and donald trump will be back preparing for the trial. the trials probably gonna go up in april, if not shortly soon thereafter. >> you wrote a piece for the atlantic on the u.s. supreme court's recent announcement that they'll review the colorado supreme court's decision to hold the president ineligible to serve as president under section three under the 14th amendment. what stood out to you about the former presidents petition to the u.s. supreme court? >> as i pointed out in the
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atlantic piece, what was odd about the petition was that it didn't point out particular errors and its focus on specific errors in the decision of the errors of the colorado supreme court. what you're supposed to do when you draft this document is you're supposed to -- taking them to take the. case what you're supposed to do is set for the question one by one on the inside cover, that you say that the questions of law that you say that the lower court got wrong, here they put one question basically, was donald trump improperly disqualified? it's not the normal way you do things, there's a couple of reasons why, the most important reason is that when you ask that question people say, oh, he should be allowed because they're not familiar with the idea and the provision that bars insurrectionists from holding public office. when you actually break it down to the
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legal issues, factual issues involved, who's subject to the section three of the 14th amendment, is there some kind of necessity for congressional legislation to enforce it, and did donald trump engage an insurrection for purposes -- he loses when he actually breaks down the questions, the case into its sub questions, the way lawyers and judges are supposed to do. >> george conway, we appreciate it. as we noted, every time this has come up the former presidents appearance in court is not mandatory. he's choosing to go. he alone is choosing to take himself off the campaign trail. he said otherwise this weekend in an email saying, quote, twice in this final week i will be forced off the campaign trail and into the courtroom's for phony witch hunts, in both new york and washington, d.c.. again, that is not true. as we said, he's choosing to go to d.c. tomorrow and new york -- real estate business. the reality is, the courtroom is the campaign trail
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for him. harry enten is here to show us why. how is the former presidents polling change with these court cases? >> reporter: if you go back ten months ago, this was an actual campaign for the presidency on the republican side. donald trump was ahead. but ron desantis was at least within 20 points, he was within striking distance, i could show you historical examples with the second place person coming back to when -- you're look now, it's just not anywhere close. donald trump now has a clear majority north of 60%, he's up over 50 points over ron desantis, that's the largest leap ever for a non incumbent at this play in the primary. if you look at the polling -- republicans actually say that these indictments have made the more likely to vote for the president and less likely, it's something that's backed up by the polling data that shows trump's lead is expanding ever wider. >> we talked about with george, he's been fundraising off this campaign? >> reporter: he's absolutely been fundraising. -- what are's two best fundraising campaign
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day so far? one of them was when he appeared in new york in the court in new york, the other one was the day that his mugshot was taken, he raised millions of dollars each of those days. and more than that, his fund raising quarters in the second quarter and the third quarter of last year, he was raising $35 million, $45 million in that third quarter. in the first quarter, he raised less than $20 million, there was a question as to whether or not ron desantis made the juggernaut and outraised donald trump at this particular plant. what these indictments have done and appearing in court has done, it's choked off the oxygen from those other candidates and has supercharged, put the trump campaign on steroids. he has so much money right now he's blanketing the airways, and he's able to pay his legal bills. >> what about the primary or be on the primary? >> reporter: we've been talking about the primary. let's talk
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about beyond the primary. among republicans, this perhaps won a more interesting pull questions that i found. it's not just that republicans believe, it's more likely that all vote for him in the primary, had they actually believe that it makes him more electable in the general election. they say he's more likely to beat joe -- not less likely. and here's the thing, anderson, i'm not sure they're necessarily wrong, if you look preindictment at the general election polls, joe biden had a two-point lead nationally among registered voters. today donald trump has a two point lead. it's not just that trump has seen his polling numbers gone up in the primary. they've gone up in the general election as well. voters claim to say they care about these charges among the general electorate, but overall in the polls, it's not showing. >> harry enten, thanks very. much >> president biden -- is a threat to democracy, the question how and what's becoming the centerpiece of his campaign landing with voters. also tonight, the supreme court case and where the justice clarence thomas should recuse himself from the case and keep the former president off the ballot. i'll talk with
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alexandra occasio ortiz who said he. should and troubling new revelations about the boeing airliners, like the one that lost a chunk at 16,000 feet. we'll be right back.
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this weekend, the former president repeated his claim-- civil war could've been averted by negotiation. speaking today at a church in charleston, south carolina, president biden called him out on civil war history and compare trump supporters with former confederates who embrace
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what became know as the lost cause. >> once again, some in this country are trying, trying to, president biden called him out >> once again, some in this country are trying, trying to turn a loss into a lie. a lie, if allowed to live once again would bring terrible damage to this country. this time the lies about the 2020 election. >> again, biden made threats to democracy a central theme of his remarks. again tonight, how is the case he making being received? joining us is a political contributor, -- bakari sellers, and trump campaign advisor, david urban. bakari, president biden spoke to black voters in south carolina, he's hitting on this
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message that his predecessors have threatened democracy, comparing supporters to defeated confederates embracing the lost cause. in your view, is that a strategy that will resonate with voters? [laughter] >> i think it will. [laughter] i think it's not just the messaging about the lost cause of the confederacy of the civil war. it's actually the act of meeting voters where they are, my good friend david's chuckling in the background. let me give you a point of personal privilege, and teach for one moment, he was at this church where we had one of the most devastating massacres in the history of the united states. he was a few hundred yards away from where the first slaves entered the country, he was in hollow ground speaking hollow words that could really absorb what he was saying. and what he's gonna need to win the election. yeah, i know people get caught up in what he may say, it was about where he was, and it was
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about the fact that he was meeting voters where they were. today was a good day for the biden campaign. it's one they can build upon. >> dave, it was today a good day for the biden campaign? >> listen, i agree with bakari in terms of the location, the messaging, if the president biden doesn't have african americans, from young african americans, to old african americans, -- younger african american skew more progressive, older african americans are more conservative. he needs every african american voter to turn out for him, not just not vote for trump, but to turn out and support biden. if he doesn't, he's definitely gonna lose. >> david, for his -- making these bizarre ridiculous claims of the civil war could've been negotiated, he said you can solve the war in ukraine in a the day. the doj and the fbi have been weaponized against him, he's claiming, he's calling convicted insurrectionists, hostages. do you think he risks playing to president biden's hands with that kind of rhetoric?
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>> anderson, i said this repeatedly, i'll continue to say. i think the only one that can beat donald trump in 2024 is donald trump. if he shifts, pivots his focus to things, president biden should be talking about, things people are talking around the kitchen table, economic issues, insurance, whether they can pay their mortgage, whether they can get a mortgage, those are things people in america want to talk about, that they're concerned about. i think whether it's president biden looking backwards, or trump looking backwards, i don't think most americans want to focus on that. they want to focus on perspective, what their future looks like. >> bakari, to the point even made about black voters, tim scott released this video today saying that president biden's numbers with all minority groups -- dropping, people of color are losing confidence in him. what are your concerns about the support he is receiving from black voters or the lack thereof of it? >> my analysis is this, anderson, this race is not just
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joe biden versus donald trump, that's where people missed the mark. this race is joe biden versus donald trump versus the couch-- and the couch actually is a very, very successful candidate in the united states of america. literally runs no ads, year after year more and more people are choosing the couch. joe biden needs to make sure that voters want to come out and vote for him. black voters are tired, they're tired in this country, black women from carrying the democratic party, and not feeling the benefit of that whether or not it's in the gas tags, their pockets, or whether they can send their children to school. with joe biden needs to do is say, look, our administration has done things, whether or not it's -- or the inequity gap in terms of wages in this country are unemployment. we have done these things so he just needs to get out and share the good message. and he ended on a good note today. it was a gospel song where he talked about the fact that god wouldn't bring us this far to leave us.
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like rubbing salt in the wound anderson, i'm sure he hates it, i'm sure trump. it sure it's why he punches back with the weaponized doj, when i'm president again i'm coming after. i'm going to indict joe biden, and he punches back. listen, i don't think it's useful, i think again, i think people want to hear in america how is my life going to be better if you are president? that is what they want to hear. the couch winds both in and democratic tickets, people need to get off the couch get involved and candidates need to make them want to get involved with a message of optimism. you can do better as a country lots of ways let's hear about it >> le carré, when he was speaking about the school
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shooting in paris, iowa, the former president said that it is horrible but we need to get over. it's that kind of language may help him win the republican nomination, how do you see it playing in the general election? >> it turns away white, college, educated women, it turns away those independent voters. hell, it should turn away people that have some level of conscience. donald trump does not do well when it comes to sensible things that people should have, like basic empathy, like a emotion. he doesn't possess those character traits. i think there's a lot of people that have affinity for donald trump economy, we can argue those policies, but he won't stay on that, he always wants to go off the topic and talk about slavery, weaponizing doj, or in paris, iowa, we need to get over that, david will tell you, if they can keep him on message he'd have a better chance the president of the united states. but if he needs to show some type of emotion, i mean, i'd
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argue the man's emotionally stunted but i'm not a doctor. >> i was gonna say, one last thing to bakari's point, people know this, voters know this, it's not a secret, they've seen the guy before. knowing all that, and he's still leading biden, what does people know this, voters know this, it's not a secret, they've seen the guy before. knowing all that, and he's right alaska airlines flight a second airline says it has uncovered similar issues with the same model boeing aircraraft dedetails s on that ahahead
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george conway discussed the supreme court decision to review whether the high court can toss the former president from the states ballot-- insurrectionist. oral arguments are scheduled one month from today. in advance, democrats have sent a letter to justice clarence thomas saying he should recuse himself in large part because of the actions of his wife, ginni, in connection to the jan 6 riot-- quoting from the letter, not only did your wife attend the january 6th rally, she was instrumental in planning it, and bringing the insurrectionist of the capital. it's unthinkable you could be impartial in deciding whether your wife personally organized qualifies as an insurrection
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that would prevent someone from holding the office for president. i'm joined by one of the members of congress that signed the letter, new york's alexandria ocasio-cortez thank you for being with us. why do you think he should recuse himself? >> i mean, it's very clear, clarence thomas and his wife, jenny, participated in the events of january six, and now what's likely going before the supreme court of the judgment as to whether an event that his wife participated in, that his wife has been investigated by in the january six committee qualifies as an insurrection. and clarence thomas's decision on that one way or another and overall the court's decision on that, would directly implicate his wife. so, this is one of the most classic textbook conflicts of interest. it would frankly be a scandal if he did not recuse. >> you think he actually well?
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he did recuse himself in the case regarding john eastman, never explaining why he recused. >> his wife, one of the documents that donald trump tried to prevent from coming to january six committee, or documents that showed ginni thomas in communication with john eastman. there is a precedent, clarence thomas as you mentioned, did not elaborate as to why he recused himself, but he recused himself in the case with respect to john eastman. his wife has actively been involved in communication, pressing john eastman, pressing -- at the time. and also continues to maintain that the 2020 election was stolen despite a complete lack of evidence thereof. our hope is that clarence thomas has shown that he's willing to recuse himself from a case. this is one of the most direct implications that he has with respect to one of any of the
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cases that's come before the court. >> do you worry that he might not because you've written the letter? you have called for his impeachment before, you've been very tough on clarence thomas? >> we have called for him to recuse himself in all cases related to january six. he has in the past, frankly, this truly is not even about partisan point scoring. it's about, this is about the integrity of the court. and to not recuse oneself from a case where one is so, where the justice's deeply involved would have larger ramifications not just for clarence thomas but for the supreme court overall. >> do you worry that it sets a bad precedent for justice has to recuse himself based on something that his wife is alleged to have been involved in? >> i think that if a justice's spouse would be directly implicated by a ruling from the
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supreme court, that's well within the standard professional bounds of a conflict of interest. i don't think it's a troubling precedent to set, i think the precedent has been set, that if something so personal would affect the justice that they would recuse themselves from a ruling. >> do you believe the former president's gonna be put on trial in any of these trials before the election, do you believe they'll be some opportunity for him to be judged by a jury of his peers? >> that's really up to the courts, and the court system as we know he has a lot of different legal matters up in the court. some of those potentially criminal, or particularly with his colleagues as well, others are civil. we're gonna have to see how the courts to really make their way through all of this. this is the most pressing question that we have, especially when it comes to
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this argument of complete and total immunity. >> can you foresee a circumstance what the supreme court would say that the president is immune? >> if the supreme court does come to that conclusion, it would have profound and destabilizing impact on the presidency, and for the country. >> not just for this former president but for history? >> all presidents to come. and to say that any president, as soon as you're elected, that you can commit any crime whatsoever related to anything, personal, or related to whether it's interpersonal or fraud, whether it's violence, whatever it may be to say that, no matter what happens you cannot be held accountable in a court of law, it's an extremely, extremely destabilizing position and finding for the entire country that would have deeply, deeply damaging
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ramifications. >> the move by republicans in the house, do you think it's inevitable that they would move to impeach the president? >> you know, they are certainly trying. what we're seeing though is that they can't even name what they would impeach the president for. we're seeing this case has come before the house oversight committee, on the vice chair, vice ranking member ranking member raskin. we have had countless closed-door sessions, closed-door depositions, open door hearings about this. the republican party cannot even name what the crime is that they are alleging the president or frankly anyone else that they're trying to investigate to have committed. an impeachment is one of the most serious procedures that we have in this country. in needs to tie directly to a crime, misdemeanor, or some other direct action that we
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find completely incompatible with the presidency. they haven't been able to name what it is, what are they actually investigating the president for, they had -- the president has not done anything impeachable that they've been able to prove. what they're using, what they're doing is taking impeachment, taking all the most serious procedures that we have as a country, they're learning to use it for political, politically weaponizing it for an election purpose, for a political purpose, and in doing so they are putting the people of this country, every day americans absolutely at the bottom of the barrel. they're putting themselves first. it's a selfishness that really endangers this country, it endangers our electoral process, it endangers our legal process, it's cynical and it's done to reelect themselves and line their pockets. >> congresswoman, we appreciate your time. still to come, breaking news on that section of a plane
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that blew off a boeing aircraft flown by alaska airlines last week. the issue may now extend to a second airline as well. we'll be right back.
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breaking news to report, three days after a boeing 737 max 9 flown by alaska airlines lost a door plug midflight -- leaving a refrigerator-sized
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hole. in the cabin. united airlines reports that adam it's found loose bolts on the door plug of an undisclosed number of its own boeing 737 max 9's. the faa grounded 171 of that model aircraft on saturday. united says in a statement, darn inspections uncovered insulation issues including, quote, bolts that needed additional tightening. remarkably, the safety board announced that they located the door plug that blew off from the airline plane. it landed, found in someone's backyard in portland, oregon. investigators are examining the pressurization fail light that went off three times the
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pair spaces the safest in the world, but we need to keep it that way which means to an events like this happen it is our duty at the ntsb to launch an investigation to determine what happened, why it, happen so we prevent it from happening again. >> at this point have you been able to determine what caused this incident? >> it is too early. we have been on scene for a few days, we just found the door plug this morning, fortunately,
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we asked the community for their help to find that door plug, and somebody found it, a teacher found it in his backyard. >> that is remarkable. >> we picked it up this morning, and we are evaluating that right now. >> but now that you have found the door plug, what is the door plug -- what can that tell you? >> quite a lot. it really was the missing piece and the investigation. we are able to look at all of the components on this door plug, all of the fittings, all of any sort of structures that may romain, any sort of bolts war washers that may, war nuts that may reside on the door structure as well as the door plug itself. it is going to help our
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materials engineers determine how this door came off, and was expelled from the aircraft. >> on the alaska air flight, do you know -- was that just a coincidence? >> yes, it was a coincidence, and quite frankly a miracle. this plane has 178 seats, 171 were occupied, and by happenstance there was no one in 26 a and 28 be. >> if they had, been what they have been sucked out? >> it is possible, certainly that there could have been some catastrophic consequences to those individuals who were closest to the door frame. >> how damaging is it to the investigation that you don't have a cockpit voice recorder? the information was overwritten after just two hours. i did not realize it gets
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overwritten so quickly. >> yes, it is really disappointing. the ntsb has been urging the faa to extend the cbo are, the cockpit voice recorder, recording hours from two hours to 25 hours. >> why is it overwritten so quickly? that seems crazy. >> that is the federal regulation which is what we have been urging four years for faa to change. here is what i will say. may just put out a notice of proposed rulemaking to extended for 25 hours, while only four newly manufactured airplanes. there are hundreds of airplanes out there that will last 30, 40, 50 years. it is ridiculous to have some for two hours, and others were 25 hours. the 25-hour rule should apply to all airplanes. rachel fritz and new.
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i spoke directly to the faa and said we were going to raise this, in this investigation, because we are really disappointed. we are very disappointed. there were significant communication issues between what was going on on the cockpit, and the flight attendants in the cabin. flight attendants had no idea what was happening in the cockpit at the time, and there is a lot of chaos in such an event, and we need to have all that information, not just for investigation, but to make sure we are getting to the right, answers and recommending the rights safety change. >> yes it seems like this is potentially crucial evidence and all of these cases. >> absolutely. >> jennifer, i appreciate, time thank you. >> thank you so much, anderson. >> next, the new action taken today against christian ziegler who is the splendid last month as the chair of florida's republican party as he faces a sex scandal an accusation of
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breaking the states video vovoyeurism lalaws.
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the republican party of florida has ousted chairman kristen ziegler as he faces a sex scandal that has shattered the public reputation of both he and his wife, who cofounded the concert of the group moms for liberty. last week it was revealed sarasota police are looking at whether mr. is the clear --
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video voyeurism loss when he secretly recorded a sexual encounter with a woman accusing him of. ziegler claims the sex was consensual, and according to a search warrant affidavit he showed detectives a video of the october sexual encounter. authorities say the woman and a previously with sexual encounter with ziegler and his wife brigitte. christian ziegler has not been criminally charge says he has done nothing wrong. as wife has not been accused of a crime. more now from cnn's carlos suarez who attended today's meeting and tallahassee. so tell us, what happened today, and what has been the reaction from florida republicans? >> anderson, christians illustrated with the florida republican party has been sealed for sometime now. unity, and the vote was not even close. we are talking about 100 and 99 to 3 to remove him as chair of the state party. for weeks now, top officials across the state of florida from governor ron desantis to senator marco rubio and rick scott, and congressman matt gaetz who was in town for the meeting here in tallahassee,
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wanting to see the clerk step aside since the details of the sex scandal broke back in early october. the allegations that ziegler assaulted a woman he had a previous consensual sexual encounter with along with his wife brigitte ziegler the cofounder of the moms for liberty group. now anderson, it is important to note here that question ziegler has not been criminally charged in -- sex with a woman was consensual. now officials told me after the vote that they really just want to move past this scandal, they admit that is some other fundraising efforts have taken a hit, much because we are in a 2024 presidential election cycle, and we have the florida legislative session which gets underway tomorrow, they are ready to move beyond christian ziegler. >> and what about his wife brigitte ziegler who is said admitted to the three-way with her husband and the same orman, sarasota county school board
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passed a resolution last month officially calling on her to resign. has she done that? >> anderson, she has not. she is given no indication that she plans on stepping aside anytime soon. in fact, i asked some of the very same republican party officials today whether they believe that brigitte ziegler should give up her school board seat considering the allegations against her husband, and the couples behavior, and just about every single party official i spoke to said they did not want to touch the subject, in fact the only person in the state of florida that could remove bridget segel from her school board seat is governor ron desantis, and anderson, so far he has given no indication that she should step aside. thank you very much. next, the very latest on an explosion and fire at an explosion in downtown fort worth texas. we will be right back.
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we have more breaking news, an explosion and fire at a hotel in fort worth, texas, 26 rooms are occupied when it happen. the for some of the blast causing part of the building to crash into the street. local authorities say at least 21 people were injured, with one of those in critical condition. no reports of the fatalities at the scene. investigators suspect the explosion was caused by a gas leak, federal authorities are
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also looking into it with atf agents on site. now that said a federal law -- says that there is currently no indication the incident is criminal in nature. that's it for, us the news continues all see you tomorrow on the source with kaitlan collins starting now. >> tonight, straight from the, source new word from the pentagon about the growing scandals surrounding secret hospitalization of the defense secretary. lloyd austin, rushed to walter reed put in the icu, give the president himself not told for days. also tonight, it's been a year of campaigning, now it is time to vote. one week from tonight, you could know -- donald trump is about to race to the courtroom for the campaign trail, and back again as his rivals are hoping to pull off an upset. also, tonight the missing piece about alaskan airlines plane blew off at 16,000 feet in the air has now been found. more planes are being grounded for inspections, as one major airline says they