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CNN NEWSROOM

New Zealand Toughen Their Gun Laws; President Trump Continue to Attack a War Hero; American Public Wants Mueller Report to be Out; Boeing 737 Under Intense Scrutiny; British Prime Minister Makes a Last-Minute Effort; New Zealand To Ban Military-Style Assault Rifles; United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May Heads To Brussels, Asking To Delay Brexit; Boeing Has Developed Software Patch And Pilot Training Program To Address 737 Max Issues; Similarities Between Lion Air And Ethiopian Airlines Crashes; Aftermath Of Cyclone Idai; New Drug For Postpartum Depression. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 21, 2019 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday, will be banned in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: New Zealand's prime minister announces a sweeping change to the country's gun laws as the nation prepares for more funerals from Friday's deadly mass shooting.

U.S. President Donald Trump makes a stunning cause new claim about what he wants to happen with the Mueller report.

And after two deadly plane crashes, the U.S. Justice Department issue subpoenas in a criminal investigation in Boeing 737 MAX passenger jets.

Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, and of course, all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN Newsroom.

New Zealand's prime minister says history change on March 15th, and now the gun laws will too.

Well, less than a week after the mass shootings at two mosques killed 50 people, Jacinda Ardern has announced a ban on all assault style semiautomatic rifles. The country is still grieving and burying the dead, more funerals are taking place Thursday and a mass burial is expected on Friday.

So, we want to bring in CNN's Ivan Watson. He is there at Christchurch, he joins us now live. So, Ivan, the most significant part of this weapons ban is it came so swiftly, less than a week after that deadly terror attack. And it's immediate. How is this all going to work?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's -- well, it's immediate, that's one way of putting it. And it's really comprehensive. Take a listen to what the prime minister had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARDERN: Today, I am announcing that New Zealand will ban all military style semiautomatic weapons. We will also ban all assault rifles. We will all high capacity magazines.

We will ban all parts with the ability to convert semiautomatic or any other type of firearm into a military style semiautomatic weapon. We will ban parts that cause a firearm to generate semiautomatic, automatic or close to automatic gunfire.

In short, every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday, will be banned in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So, in other words, as the police commissioner here put it, up until three o'clock this afternoon, if you are in possession of one of these weapons and you are a licensed gun owner as of 3 p.m. that gun, that firearm, if it falls into this new categories is illegal.

However, they're not going to just start arresting people who have them or finding them. There is going to be an amnesty and a traditional period. And the authorities have already been urging gun owners to voluntarily surrender their weapon. They say that there will be an online forum that will come active this weekend for people to register these weapons, to return them with the police.

And they've also announced a plan for a buyback, a buy back that could cost in the area between 70 and $140 million U.S. dollars for people to give these weapons back.

There will be exemptions as well for hunters, for farmers, for pest control, but one of the measures they clearly want to do is limit the number of rounds that a given that a given weapon can fire, and thus, to make it far potentially less lethal.

I'll add one last point, Rosemary, that the suspect behind what he's accused of the deadliest terrorist attack in New Zealand's modern history. He was I licensed gun owner in New Zealand. All the weapons he had purchased he had acquired through legal means.

The authorities say he had modified some of the weapons to make them illegal under the pre-existing rules. All of that kind of thing is now illegal and banned by this new order. Rosemary.

CHURCH: This ban and the amnesty the buyback program sounding very similar to Australia in the wake of its 1996 Port Arthur massacre.

[03:04:55] I want to talk about just how bold this move is. It's one that has been commended here in the United States with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeting, "This is what real action to stop gun violence looks like. We must follow New Zealand's lead, take on the NRA and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States."

And this is what Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "Sandy Hook happened six years ago, and we can't even get the Senate to hold a vote on universal background checks. Christchurch happened and within days New Zealand acted to get weapons of war out of the consumer market. This is what leadership looks like."

So Ivan, why is there such a reluctance to take on the gun lobby here in the United States and show some leadership on these sorts of issues particularly the number of mass shootings we witnessed in this country?

WATSON: Look, in the U.S. everybody knows that there's the second amendment and it gives Americans the right to bear arms. There is a very intrench lobby in favor of the right to have guns.

And the U.S. unfortunately, tragically, has become inured to the type of mass shootings that happened there on almost a monthly basis, it happened down the road from where I grew up in the U.S. at the Sandy Hook Elementary School where babies were mowed down by an American carrying a semiautomatic weapon.

Here, New Zealand has never experience violence on this scale before. There was opposition in the past to new gun control legislation. In fact, the Deputy Prime Minister, Winston Peters had been on record after the Orlando nightclub shooting in the U.S. several years ago, speaking out against this.

He is now in support of these new gun safety regulations, which suggest that the scale of the atrocity last Friday was such that it has built almost overnight a consensus for a dramatic change in the gun ownership laws in this country, even though there is a massive amount of these firearms in this population.

The police estimate from between 1.2 and 1.5 million guns in a country of just under five million people. I don't know how many of these firearms fall in the categories that are now banned. And it may be too early to see whether or not there will be an organized opposition to it.

But certainly, the circumstances here looked dramatically different from the hot button and very contentious debate in the U.S. that continues to swirl around this issue.

And we've already seen politicians in the U.S. jumping on what the New Zealand government is doing to try to set some kind of example for their own country and their own situation. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. We'll watch to see what sort of resistance there is in New Zealand. Of course, in the hours ahead no doubt there will be a lot of debate on this very topic here in the United States.

Ivan Watson, thank you so much for your live report in Christchurch. I appreciate it.

And we have exclusive new CNN polling on how Americans feel about impeachment and the Russia probe. It shows 36 percent say President Trump should be impeached. That's down seven points from December, following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the move would be divisive.

The poll also shows 49 percent approved of how special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting the Russia probe. And a massive 87 percent say the Mueller report should be made public.

And now despite trashing the probe, even the president claims he won't mind if Mueller's findings are released.

Our Pamela Brown reports from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No collusion. No collusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For the first time President Trump claiming he wants the world to see special counsel Robert Mueller's impending report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Let it come out, let people see it. That's up to the attorney general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That coming right before he returns to his usual litany of complaints about the investigation, first, suggesting Mueller's report is coming as a surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's sort of interesting that a man out of the blue just writes a report against 63 million votes. And now somebody just writes a report, I think it's ridiculous. But I want to see the report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Then attacking Mueller himself, claiming Mueller was denied a job at the FBI the day his appointments as special counsel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I told him he wouldn't be working at the FBI, and then the following day they get him for this. I don't think so. I don't think people get.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: Mueller not his only target, Trump also launching attacks

against Kellyanne Conway's husband, conservative attorney George Conway after he question Trump's mental fitness and claim the president had personality disorder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:10:02] TRUMP: He's a lack job, there is no question about it. But I really don't know him. He, I think he's doing a tremendous disservice to a wonderful wife. Kellyanne is a wonderful woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Trump going further on Twitter, George Conway often referred to as "Mr. Kellyanne Conway by those who him is very jealous of his wife's success, and angry that I, with her help, didn't give him the job he so desperately wanted."

George Conway's response? "The president is extremely juvenile and boorish." For her part, Kellyanne Conway taking the president side, telling Politico today "You think he shouldn't respond when somebody, a non-medical professional accuses him of having a mental disorder? You think he should just take that sitting down?"

Speaking to the Washington Post Tuesday, her husband says his stinging criticisms of the president on Twitter are therapeutic. "The mendacity, the incompetence is just maddening to watch. The tweeting is just the way to get it out of the way, so I can get it off my chest so I don't end up screaming at her about it."

In an interview last month with CNN's Dana Bash, well before the latest toss up, Kellyanne Conway pointed out that her husband was once a fervent Trump supporter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: George was so excited literally crying with joy in his MAGA hat, black not red of his MAGA hat on election night. And so, in that way he's changed. He's changed his opinion on I guess matters with the president, the presidency, but I haven't, and Donald Trump hasn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Here at the White House, officials are on high alert for the Mueller report to be delivered any day now. Sources tell me that White House lawyers expect to preview whatever attorney general gives to Congress to have his opportunity to assert executive privilege.

But Democrats on the Hill, particularly Democratic Congressman Nadler who oversees the House judiciary committee are pushing back on that saying, that the White House gave up its opportunity to assert executive privilege because it cooperated with Mueller.

The White House says that's not the case. It had -- it didn't need to because Mueller is within the executive branch. So, this is just a preview of the political battle to come once the report is delivered.

Pamela Brown, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: President Trump is intensifying his attacks on the late Senator John McCain. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump restarted his feud with McCain who died last year after battling brain cancer.

He continued his attacks on Tuesday during a joint news conference with the visiting leader from Brazil. And then on Wednesday, the president who had multiple deferments to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War lashed out again at McCain, a man who spent a lifetime serving his country including five years as a prisoner of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, I have to be honest, I've never liked him much. Hasn't been for me. I've really probably never will, but there are certain reasons for it. John McCain received a fake and phony dossier. He said two hours before he was voting to repeal and replace and he went thumbs down.

McCain didn't get the job done for our great vets, and the V.A. We're in a war in the Middle East that McCain push so hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, Scott Lucas is professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham. He's also the founder and editor of E.A. World View. And he joins us now from Birmingham, England. Good to have you with us.

SCOTT LUCAS, POLITICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: Excellent morning to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, for days now, the President of the United States has been attacking one of this country's greatest war heroes, the late Senator John McCain. Is this about distracting us from other issues or is there something else going on here do you think?

LUCAS: Well, I think John McCain's daughter summed it up earlier this week when she wrote that the late senator now leaves rants-free inside Donald Trump's head.

That is in part because Donald Trump blames McCain for supporting the Russia investigation of Robert Mueller. He blames McCain for not repealing Obamacare. And I think most importantly, he is threatened by McCain.

Seven months after the senator's death Trump still sees a man who is lauded for his honor and his integrity. Some part of Trump realizes that many people don't find him being a man of honor. And so, he lashes out at McCain, even as you noted there, the fact that John McConnor (ph) -- John McCain showed the highest sacrifice by serving five and a half years as a POW in Vietnam while Donald Trump never step foot inside the country during that war. [03:14:55] CHURCH: But the president is not only obsessing about the

late Senator McCain, he can't stop feuding with the husband of his senior aide Kellyanne Conway. Another distraction? Or is something else going on here? Why are we seeing the sort of feuds these obsessions going on right now?

LUCAS: Would you like to be at dinner at the Conway household right now? In fact, is that Donald Trump is facing the claims from George Conway that Trump is a narcissist and that he is unstable, possibly with a personality disorder.

Kellyanne Conway's job -- because she effectively once a P.R. agency -- her client is Trump, but she unwittingly I think reveal the source of Trump's discomfort when she said that her husband, George, was a former fervent Trump supporter, because George Conway is not alone, even former Trump supporters in Washington and beyond are worried that this president is unstable. That he causes damage with each and every statement. And I can see why they have that concern.

CHURCH: And, of course, while all of this plays out President Trump says he wants Robert Mueller's Russia probe to be made public. We all seem to think that it's about to come out, we don't know that, but that certainly not what he said in the past. Why the change of heart, do you think?

LUCAS: Because it's an all-out offensive to trash the Mueller report. And what you saw yesterday in his extraordinary statement was just a continuation of it. I mean, it's doesn't matter if the report comes out next week, comes out next month, comes out during the summer.

The White House is now going day by day trying to tell Americans you should have no faith not only in the report, you have no faith in the man. And when you had Donald Trump making this nonsense statement that somehow the Mueller investigation is a threat to 63 million American voters that that's the real target or when Trump repeats the nonsense that Mueller and all his team are fervent Democrats who are involved in a deep state plot against him, it is part of this go on the offensive, do not defend against the report.

And, the fact of the matter is, is that we know it is having some effect. You cited the polls which say that more than half of Americans now think that the Mueller report is a witch hunt. There's absolutely no evidence of that, but more than half of American believe it because that's what they get from the White House day in and day out.

The key point here though, is the White House wants to suppress the report. They don't want it to see the light of day because it doesn't matter 51 percent believe this is a witch hunt. If the details of that report are laid before the American public, and if they show that there was illegal behavior, then that is what the Trump card is, and Donald Trump doesn't want that Trump card to ever be played.

CHURCH: Interesting that Robert Mueller's approval rating has gone up, and a lot of people do want to see that report. Now the president does. We'll see whether we actually do.

Scott Lucas, thank you so much for joining us and bringing us your analysis. I appreciate it.

LUCAS: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Let's take a short break. Still to come, Theresa May is under more pressure than ever to get her Brexit deal through parliament. And the E.U. might grant her an extension with one major condition.

Plus, days after Boeing 737 MAX airplanes were grounded around the world, U.S. investigators have issued a slew of subpoenas looking to learn more about how the plane was given the OK to fly.

We're back in just a moment.

[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: British Prime Minister Theresa May has turned on U.K. lawmakers blaming the entire Brexit mess on their decisiveness.

With just eight days until the U.K. leaves the E.U., Mrs. May is headed back to Brussels to ask for a three-month delay. But that will only work if the British parliament passes her Brexit deal which they've already rejected twice. Now she's appealing to the public to urge lawmakers into action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This delay is a matter of great personal regret for me. And of this, I am absolutely sure you the public have had enough. You are tired of the infighting, you are tired of the political games, and the arcane procedural rouse, tired of M.P.s talking about nothing else but Brexit when you have real concerns about our children's schools, our national health service, knife crime.

You want the stage with the Brexit process to be over and done with. I agree. I am on your side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Theresa May there. And our correspondents are covering the story across Europe. Phil Black is in London and Melissa Bell is live from Brussels. Good to see you both. So, Phil, let's go to you first.

And the British prime minister attacking lawmakers of rather interesting strategy given she does want their support for her Brexit deal. What could be the ramifications of that rather unique approach?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, you're right. I mean, Theresa May has never been considered especially skilled in this. There's a lot of persuasion and so now with this very late stage of the Brexit process she's not even pretending anymore as you saw there.

She is scolding. She is blaming and shaming members of parliament in the hope that they will at this very late moment swing behind the Brexit deal which they have now rejected twice. She's accused them of nasal gazing as you heard there. She spoke directly to the British people from Downing Street and said, I'm on your side, I'm trying to get this done to deliver what you voted but it's parliament that's getting in the way.

The problem with this, of course, is that it appears to absolve her of blame. And there are many people here who really believe that it is the prime minister's leadership, her style, her very competence, her what they considered to be her flawed policy, her unwillingness to listen and compromise.

These are things that they believe are responsible for this entire Brexit mess in the very last-minute nature of the panic that you get to see here in Westminster next week.

[03:24:55] And so it is entirely possible that this risky strategy could, in the event, in the final even, perhaps cost her support rather than with it over. But at this stage it clearly seems that the prime minister feels as if she has nothing to lose, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Right. That's the way it certainly looks. So Melissa, let's go to you now in Brussels. Because of course, Prime Minister May is now asking for an extension from the E.U., so she can get her Brexit deal through parliament. How likely is it that she'll get that extension if she can't get support for her deal?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, all the indications are that the E.U. would be willing to grant the United Kingdom an extension for a limited period in order to allow it to organize an orderly Brexit. That is in any case the message that we are receiving as we head into the beginning of the summit.

European leaders of course are expected to arrive here this afternoon in order to discuss just that. Not just the ifs of an extension but the how. Of course, we know that Theresa May is now asking for an extension up until the 30th of June. Because of course it is on the first of July the very next say that the new European parliament comes in.

But really European leaders have been saying for some time, that an extension beyond the 23rd of May which is the beginning of that election period would be complicated because it will take all kinds of, sort of maneuvers both institution and political to allow that to happen with the United Kingdom, for instance, field candidates at European election for a parliamentary term in which it won't sit.

All of these would be questions that would have to be resolved. And no doubt that will be discussed here today. But what is so interesting about Europe's stance at this stage, is that in a sense after the last couple of years, Rosemary, they've so often essentially agreed to what the United Kingdom government was asking for. Only to see the government go back to Westminster and have that rejected.

So, this time they are saying, look, we might agree on an extension but the first thing that has to happen is that the British prime minister has to get her deal through parliament next week in a vote for E.U. leaders to meet once again, presumably, before the end of next week since we're now just a week and a day away that March 29th deadline.

In order to say OK, the U.K. parliament has now authorized this, in fact this deal, we will therefore formally allow this extension.

So, this time they're really saying Westminster it is up to you first. Today, no doubt we'll hear more about precisely what might be on offer, how far they're willing to go, what the timetable might be. But only that formal acceptance, that formal awarding of the extension will only be done once Westminster has had its say, and crucially, once Westminster has backed Theresa May's deal. Third time, lucky, perhaps.

CHURCH: Perhaps and eight days to go if they don't get this right they're crashing out. Melissa Bell reporting live from Brussels, our Phil Black in London. Many thanks to you both.

Well, before the deadly crash of the Ethiopian Airlines flight, another airline had its own disaster with the Boeing 737 MAX plane.

Still to come, chilling new details on what was happening in the cockpit during the flight's last moments. And after two deadly crashes many wondered do aviation investors in the U.S. properly regulate Boeing. What the U.S. Justice Department is doing to find out. That is next.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers here in United States and of course all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now in the main stories we've been following this hour.

New Zealand has moved quickly to changes its gun laws, less than a week after the mosque attacks that killed 50 people. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a ban on military style semi-automatic rifles. It comes as more funerals for the victims were taking place.

President Trump said Wednesday, he is OK, with the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller being made public. This, despite him still calling the Russia probe a witch hunt, and a hoax. An exclusive new CNN poll shows a massive majority, 87 percent of those polled say the Mueller report should be made public.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is urging lawmakers to once again back her Brexit deal. As she heads back to Brussels to ask the E.U. for a delay until June 30th. The E.U. has warned against extending the deadline beyond May 23rd to avoid the U.K. having to take part in Europe's parliamentary election.

Well Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, are under intense scrutiny after two deadly crashes involving the same type of aircraft. And now we've learned that the U.S. Justice Department has issued subpoenas as part of a criminal investigation in to the way Boeing was regulated by the FAA.

More now from CNN's Evan Perez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Justice Department prosecutors have issued multiple subpoenas as part of an investigation into Boeing's certification and marketing of 737 Max aircraft. Now this is the plane that is involved in two fatal crashes in less than six months.

Sources tell us that the investigation is in its early stages and that it began after the Indonesia crash of Lion Air 737 Max in October. Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao, this week also ask the agency's inspector general to investigate the Max's certification.

Criminal investigators have sought information from Boeing on the plane's safety and certification procedures, including training manuals pilots. Along with how they company marketed the new aircraft. Now, it's not clear what possible criminal laws could be at issue in the probe among the things that investigators are looking into is the process by which Boeing itself certified the plane is safe. And the data that it gave to the FAA about that self- certification.

Boeing spokesperson said that the company does not respond or comment on questions regarding legal matters. The planes have been grounded worldwide, after the crash last week, of a Max aircraft operated by Ethiopian airlines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Evan Perez with that report. Well, meantime Boeing said there is now a software patch and pilot training program to address issues with the 737 Max involved in the Lion Air crashed. It's not clear when the planes will fly again, since the fleet has been grounded. As Evan just reported.

But the FAA has said the Boeing updates will address the new maneuvering characteristics augmentation system. Which may have given faulty data that sent the plane into a nosedive. And the new report details the final desperate moments for that Lion Air flight crew. As investigators search for possible links between that crash, and last week's Ethiopian Airlines tragedy. Here's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[03:35:13] TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For nine terrifying minutes, the cockpit recorder captures the crew fighting to pull up the plane that has repeatedly diving toward the sea.

Scouring the operations manual for any explanation, apparently unaware they are battling an on board computer that is forcing those dives. This is what Reuters is reporting tonight from sources familiar with the Lion Air crash off in Indonesia last fall. Reuters says that the crew seemed oblivious to the fact that tail was automatically tilting. They didn't seem to know the trim was moving down. They thought only about air speed and altitude.

In the final moments, Reuters say one pilot issued a short prayer before the crash killed all 189 people aboard. Boeing and Indonesian authorities are not commenting, but analyst say the training was insufficient.

PETER GOELZ, FORMER NSTB MANAGING DIRECTOR: It must have been just horrifying in the cockpit for these professionals. I mean, you know, it's been stated or should have been a memory item. Well, clearly it wasn't,

FOREMAN: Once more, Bloomberg reports that same Lion Air jet had the same problem one day before, and were save because an off-duty pilot in the cockpit told the crew to cut power to that automatic system. Still the plane took off again.

DAVID SOUCIE, FORMER FAA SAFETY INSPECTOR: This is what I call a flight it and watch it kind of attitude. But that should not have occurred here, this was replicable and I can understand while at least it wasn't test flown or brought up in the ramp and test it again.

FOREMAN: It all raises troubling questions about the fatal Ethiopia jet crash which authorities say looks a lot like the Lion Air disaster. Why did Boeing design that anti-stall software to rely on only one sensor? Why were pilots not getting more pointed warnings and more extensive training and where was the Federal Aviation Administration.

JEAN PAUL TROADEC, FORMER PRESIDENT, FRENCH AVIATION SAFETY AGENCY: What happens in fact is that the measures were taken by Boeing after the first (inaudible), were not in us to avoid a certain accident.

FOREMAN: In the defense of Boeing, some analysts are pointing out that this type of plane has taken off and landed safely tens of thousands of times since the Lion Air crash, but for the worldwide aviation community, that is simply not enough at this point. They're saying that Boeing has to prove the planes are safe before they can carry passengers again. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now a CNN transportation analyst, Mary Schiavo, she is a former inspector general at the U.S. Department of Transportation. And she is now practicing law and represents crash victims and currently has litigation pending against Boeing. It's always good to have you with us.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST, FMR. INSPECTOR GENERAL U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Thank you.

CHURCH: Now I do want to start with some new information that we have, the Federal Aviation Administration just announced that Boeing has developed a software patch and pilot training program to address the problems associated with the Boeing's 737 Max identified in the October Lion Air crash. How far does that go to fixing this problem as far as you're concerned? Would that make you feel safe getting on this plane?

SCHIAVO: No and I don't think that is gonna be enough for the regulators and, certainly not for the investigators who are now investigating Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration. You know, Boeing was working on that software patch after the Lion Air and then when Ethiopian Airlines went down the FAA quickly entered an order saying, they have to have it then by April. But in that FAA order has indicated that it might not have been done, even in that time.

And so, now with the question about the software and the training, and how many things went wrong. I think that that won't necessarily be approve. There's still some issues about the software, was it the right fix for this tendency of the plane to pitched nose up, and so then they put the software to pitch the nose back down.

And if the training specified is enough, and people probably, I think that it would be determined that it was not enough. That you got to have hands on simulator training. So, well, it's a step forward, I don't think this will be enough and it won't be approved.

CHURCH: All right. And were also learning that the Justice Department prosecutors have issued multiple subpoenas. As part of an investigation into Boeing FAA's certification and marketing of 737 Max airliners involved in the Ethiopia and the Indonesian disasters. What would you expect to come out of that investigation?

SCHIAVO: I think that is a really important development, because so often in this government investigations and certainly when I was inspector general, I often had issues, subpoenas and warrants against our own government, against the FAA, because they weren't forthcoming. So the fact that they're resorting right out of the box, to subpoenas and using the powers of the United States Department of Justice and the FBI has also joined into.

[03:40:09] That it means that the information they get won't be filtered. Sometimes government agencies give you what they want you to have. And stood of all the documents they've asked for, and so what they're executing both subpoenas and eventually I would assume some warrants. Then they have a better chance of getting all the documents and the details. And really painting a better pictures, a much more robust. And probably more straightforward pictures.

CHURCH: Mary Schiavo, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

CHURCH: Four days after cyclone Idai blasted across Mozambique, desperate people are still fighting to survive. A look at how bad things are and why they could get even worst. We are back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well rescue workers in Mozambique are frantically trying to save thousands of victims of the tropical cyclone Idai. The port city of Beira is cut off from the outside world, and much of it has been left underwater. Some survivors are now waiting on roof tops, hoping to be rescued. Our Farai Sevenzo has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Several days after cyclone Idai struck Southeast Africa, enormous damage left in its wake is proven difficult to quantify. Villages and communities in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, still don't know how many had been killed.

Mozambique port city of Beira submerged and battered. In rural areas, rivers have burst their banks, creating an inland ocean and leaving untold numbers (inaudible). Waiting for the miracle of survival, they stand on rooftops for reach of higher branches.

[03:45:00] This man clinging to a tree was rescued, Shimani-mani (ph) in Zimbabwe, mudslides that buried people in their sleep. Muddy waters destroyed bridges and disappeared road networks. As rescue efforts for those still alive continue many are still in accessible and aid agencies to have their hands full.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see around us, it is atrocious weather conditions, the weather is still persisting and despite that everybody is helping and we are offloading 20 tons of cargo manually by hand, because the equipment has been destroyed by the cyclone.

SEVENZO: Mozambique's president Filipe Nyusi says this disaster of enormous proportions may claim more than a thousand lives in his country. That estimate may prove staggeringly low, given the long stretches of n Southern Africa, the cyclone hit. And for those rescued, there is only more trauma and anxiety. This young woman is struggling to accept that she may now be a widow. Because her family and husband were left behind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There's no way to save them, all of them. The rescue team told us to get in the helicopter, but all our relatives stayed there.

SEVENZO: As humanitarian disasters go, cyclone Idai may prove to be the worst for the African continent. Their questions now as Mozambique experienced is extreme heat, and whether bodies not recovered would lead to the crisis of disease. Questions too over food security for the region. Cyclone Idai struck just before the harbor season. And with questions of debate of a climate change.

Africans are asking, is this the new normal. Can a cyclone of such ferocious power strike again? What is certain know, is that in this rainy season another month of rain is set to fall on this drowning lands. Farai Sevenzo, CNN, Maputo, Mozambique.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And in the United States the Eastern U.S. is bracing for rain, snow and high winds. Let's turn to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri to get more on this in the International Weather Center, Pedram?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary, first day of spring is upon us here and we getting a pretty impressive storm system to be honest with you for the first day of spring. Coming in from the East, Eastern seaboard here and we got a secondary system back behind it, impacting portions of the Great Lakes, put it together, enough moisture, enough cold air, enough winds here to cause some disruptions around portions of the Northeastern U.S. and in fact into the early morning hours already seeing reports of some flooding and we do have coastal flood waters and warnings, that have been issued for some of those jersey coastline communities, the Del Marva region, the (inaudible) associated with the system that could impact some of these areas. The low lying areas, (inaudible) some water, but notice back towards the West, here comes our next line of weather here, pushing in some rain across the Eastern Great Lakes. With it makes it pretty soggy about Thursday, and certainly if soggy Friday across some of the major metro cities.

As we go in and notice pretty decent amount of snowfall coming down into the higher elevations, and also the interior portions of New England. We are talking about eight in some areas 12 inches of snowfall. Get out into the (inaudible), the white mountains, the green mountains, into new England there could see as much as 24 inches of fresh snow here to start off spring.

Certainly not unheard of, but an impressive storm again across the area, some of the major metros -- we will see impact associated with the storm system. But again, if you have some of the winter weather alerts that are in place in this area.

Look at the amount of snow that still on the ground across the northern tier of the United States. As much as 24 inches of snow depth on the ground in some of those areas. And the reason I point that out is those temperatures in these regions are climbing up into the middle 40's Fahrenheit. Not to lie, a lot of this melt rather quickly, still watching major flood concerns across portions of the Midwestern United States back towards the West. There's another system coming in with it temps have cooled off, rather sharply, but would you believe it, place such as Seattle in the last couple days, the warmest stretch of weather in March history, three consecutive days succeeding 75 degrees, all-time warmest winter day happening in the last day of winter. All-time warmest March day happening the first day of spring there, this is comparable to a summer-like August, 77 degree temperature, Rosemary, as we have seen in recent days in Seattle.

CHURCH: And Seattle as well. Well, you know it very well. Thank you so much, Pedram, I appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break, but coming up next, it is a condition that affects one in nine new mothers. And can put mother and child at sever risk. Now a new drug could offer the first hope for effected treatment, but it comes with a heavy price tag.

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: We want to tell you now that a new drug to treat women suffering from post-partum depression. That is a serious mental illness that affects estimated one in nine mothers after they give birth.

The drug just approved in the U.S. is the first of its kind. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: A couple of major headlines out of this -- this new story. One is that this is the first FDA approved drug for postpartum depression. The second big headline is that it is expensive $34,000, they're saying, that's before discounts at the pharmaceutical company may offer, but that's not even counting the fact that you got to get this drug as an IV infusion in a clinical setting. So there's a cost associated with that as well.

But there has not been in medication, specifically addressing postpartum depression symptoms. It's always been traditional antidepressants that were used. And that's why there's a paramount of excitement about this and you know it can work quickly. Typically, antidepressants can take weeks to kick in. If a woman is suffering from the symptoms of postpartum depression that can be too long.

So when they tried this drug. They studied it in clinical trials. They found that women would feel better if they are going to feel better within 48 hours. So much more quickly, obviously. You can look at the numbers, there are 75 percent of patients saw symptoms improve at least 50 percent and 94 percent of the patients had not relapsed a month later.

Now, were talking about postpartum depression, something that affects hundreds of thousands of women every year in the United States and it's worth distinguishing that from the baby blues, a euphemism that is sort of applied to the natural changes that women have after giving birth. You have a dramatic change in hormone levels, right at the time of delivery.

[03:55:06] Hormonal levels can drop tenfold. And that's probably in part what's causing some of these depressive like symptoms. For the majority of women, though those symptoms go away within a few days. For women with postpartum depression, a clinical diagnosis, those symptoms lead to a more severe and they can last a lot longer and that's why there's been so much interest in this medication.

Again, it's called Zulresso, it's not going to be available until June, but it is the first FDA approved drug for postpartum depression. So, something that a lot of women may be looking to finally get some relief.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: All right. Now to an uplifting story, a young immigrant from Nigeria who learned how to play chess a year ago is now the New York State chess champion for his age group, 8-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi, first learned to play while his family was living in a New York City homeless shelter after they fled Nigeria in 2017. The young prodigy explained how he only needed to get a draw in the final game to win the title. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TANITOLUWA ADEWUMI, NEW YORK STATE CHESS CHAMPION: I did not know I was going to win, because of my last game I was scared of losing, because my opponent was winning, but I was losing then I actually draw and he took it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Isn't it great? After Tani won the championship, a well- wisher gave his family an apartment, so now they are no longer homeless and $190,000 has been raised for the Tani Adewumi Foundation to help immigrants. And thank you so much for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church, Early Start is next for our viewers here in the United States and for everyone else. Stay tuned for more news with Max Foster in London. Have yourself a great day.

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