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Eminem Unleashes on Trump During BET Awards Performance; California Firefighters Face Gusty Winds And Dry Conditions. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 11, 2017 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:31:28] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Rap, football, and the White House. But that's all going to have to wait because I've just been told we're going to House Speaker Paul Ryan who knows about some of those three things. Let's listen to the House speaker right now.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: What mountain was that?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The cascades, south (INAUDIBLE).

RYAN: All right. So you got it down.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes. I want to talk about Puerto Rico and what have you done to help not just the immediate cash needs but also in the long-term? Is Congress staying committed to that? And also what did the president mean by wiping out that debt?

RYAN: I would have to refer you to the White House on that. First of all, as you know, we have the PROMESA board in place. So that is already in place. So there's no need to redo that legislation because that legislation and that board is already in place, doing their work.

As Jennifer mentioned, like we did in Katrina with New Orleans, when a local unit government wiped -- its tax base wiped out, there is a loan program to help replace that tax base on an emergency basis. That is -- that's something we just added to this bill because their tax base has been wiped out just like we did with respect to Katrina.

We noticed since the supplemental, another hurricane, a smaller one, but also the fires. So that's why we want to make sure that on multi- fronts, hurricanes, local tax base that are being wiped out, and fires that we are responding now, so that our first responders have the tools they need.

We've got 17,000 personnel in Puerto Rico right now, between FEMA and the military. And the Disaster Reserve Fund -- the Disaster Relief Fund is typically what finances that. And we've been burning through that pretty fast. That's why we need to put more money in the dirt as soon as possible. Juan?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Speaker, based on your conversations with the president and the White House, is it your expectation that the executive branch will handle the loophole concerning bump stocks and firearms?

RYAN: We are still trying to assess why the ATF let this go through in the first place. So what happened on the regulatory side to allow this to occur in the first place and that is something that we're both trying to assess. And yes, it makes sense that this is a regulation that probably shouldn't have happened in the first place. And we want to understand why is it that they got -- let this go through in the first place. So we think the regulatory fix is the smartest, quickest fix. And I'd frankly like to know how it happened in the first place. Thanks.

BERMAN: House Speaker Paul Ryan there. What you missed is he was commenting on the feud between the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, and the president. He says he thinks that Senator Corker and the president ought to work it out.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Get along.

BERMAN: Get along. They'll find some way to do that.

Now the speaker prefers heavy metal, but rap music is in the news today.

HARLOW: Is that true? That -- it may be true.

BERMAN: That is 100 percent true.

HARLOW: I believe you.

BERMAN: Hundred percent true.

HARLOW: Fact.

BERMAN: He may listen to Eminem as well. Eminem, very much in the news this morning, for sort of a freestyle takedown he did of the president that aired on the BET Awards last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMINEM, RAPPER: When he attacks the NFL so we focus on that instead of talking Puerto Rico or gun reform from Nevada. All these horrible tragedies and he's bored and would rather cause a Twitter storm with the Packers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So this is part of what is clearly a multi-front culture war right now, taking place also on the football field. The president wrote this morning, "It is about time that Roger Goodell of the NFL is finally demanding that all players stand for our great national anthem, respect our country."

BERMAN: But the only thing is, Commissioner Goodell never demanded that and now the NFL says the president is, quote, "not accurate" in that tweet. Yesterday, Commissioner Goodell did send a letter to team owners and he wrote, "We believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem," and that it was important for the league to, quote, "move past this controversy."

[10:35:04] A lot to get to. Our political panel is here, Eminem experts and all. CNN political commentators, Symone Sanders, John Phillips, and the ultimate Eminem expert, senior political analyst, David Gergen.

BERMAN: The "Real Slim Shady," as we like to call him.

(LAUGHTER)

SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Please stand up.

BERMAN: All right.

HARLOW: There you go. That made my day.

Symone Sanders, we'll get to Eminem in a moment. But just the big picture here. Eminem is attacking the president, which, by the way, Eminem has rapped about raping people, so --

SANDERS: Yes. Eminem has been problematic.

HARLOW: All right, so, he's -- so just take that. He's attacking the president. The president's attacking the NFL.

SANDERS: Where are we? We're in the Twilight Zone. Look, I think for Eminem, he's an artist. So he has had some very problematic raps, he's had some very problematic lyrics in the past. But what I think we're going to see more and more of is rappers and actors and even some folks who view themselves as entertainment activists come out and speak up on this issue, because they do feel some type of way about the president.

In terms of Donald Trump and the NFL, I think Donald Trump has totally sucked up all the air where the NFL is concerned and has totally conflated the issue about why these players intended to kneel. The NFL I do believe is very, very frustrated. Roger Goodell will tell you, he did not kowtow to the president and is saying that the players don't have their constitutional rights, saying that the NFL doesn't believe that the players should be talking about their social justice, activism.

That's not what they're saying at all. But again, the president -- he's been bullying the NFL, really, for lack of a better term. And the NFL, I just -- I don't think they've been able to get their hands around this PR crisis. And so here we have owners who are clearly on the side and in bed with the president. And you've got the NFL that is trying to, you know, navigate these political waters.

BERMAN: Some owners. Some owners.

SANDERS: Some owners. Some owners.

BERMAN: There's a difference in opinion among the ownership right now.

SANDERS: Yes, absolutely.

BERMAN: David Gergen, one thing is crystal clear to me, which is that the president is fanning the flames here of the culture war or culture divide. Someone estimated this morning he's tweeted 30 times about the NFL which is a lot when it's not an issue I think that, you know, people go to bed at night dreaming about and wake up in the morning worried about the NFL.

The president is fanning those flames. And when you have Eminem rapping about it, he actually did rap about the NFL. The president to some extent is getting what he wants here. Why does this culture war -- why does he think it helps him?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: God only knows. Listen, I think these are manufactured feuds. He went out of his way to get into a fight with the NFL. He knew it would bring on this kind of backing and forthing, puts him in the center of things. It's partly a distraction from the big issues of our time. But it's also, frankly, an abandonment of really serious work on the part of the president, to solve the bigger issues.

There is no way in hell that for any other president, the NFL would be on the top 10 list of problems in the White House. Just no way. And this is the first time it's happened. We're going to have more of this. But I think it's part -- it's a game. It's a political game. It's a series of stunts to distract us. When, you know, this week, within 24 hours, it looks like, he's going to decertify Iran and start us on a path that's going to be very controversial.

We still haven't solved the North Korea problem. He promises tax reductions or tax reform. Where's the bill? You know, he's dismantling the environmental regulations. He's got all these other things going on that are really serious for the way we live. And these other things that are just like, come on, guys.

Just like he ought to make it up with Bob Corker and get moving and deal with the serious issues, he ought to put this behind him and let it go. Eminem is fun, it's interesting, you know, it's culturally interesting. I also think he has stirred up the African-American community in ways that they're going to be on hair trigger to go after him for various things because they feel he is not supportive of them, he is not their friend.

HARLOW: You know, John, David brings up a good point, and that is some of these big, real, substantive things that are going on. I mean, obviously, you have the expected decertification of the Iran deal coming tomorrow, just this morning. The EPA put out its four- year strategic plan. Not one place in that plan, from the Environmental Protection Agency, do the words "climate change" appear. Not one place. They were number one on the list under the Obama administration, those words.

Are these the real, substantive, big, meaningful changes that are happening as the president and the world, frankly, are discussing, you know, the NFL and Eminem? JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Trump is going to

have to walk and chew gum at the same time. And first of all, John and Poppy, you're my new heroes for getting David Gergen to weigh in on Eminem. Let's see Kate Bolduan get Gloria Borger to weigh in on the Wu-Tang Clan and (INAUDIBLE). I don't think that's possible. But this is a battle that Trump is going to win. This is a battle that's good for Donald Trump.

[10:40:04] Eminem isn't exactly the Irving Berlin of our times and he makes Harvey Weinstein look like Gloria Steinem. You look at some of these words that he's put out --

HARLOW: Oh, come on, John. John.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely.

HARLOW: John?

PHILLIPS: He talked about violence against women. He talks about violence against gays. He's talked about horrific misogynistic things. And now he's the face of the opposition? Trump has had a very good record of taking his right enemies --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: OK. But don't belittle -- don't belittle what Harvey Weinstein did.

PHILLIPS: Harvey Weinstein has been accused of rape. And Eminem has talked about violence, very explicit violence against women. I think both of those two things coarsen the culture and are bad for America. And I think that having either one of these guys as the face of the opposition benefits Trump. No doubt about it.

SANDERS: I would -- I would push back and say, I don't think Eminem is the face of the opposition, but what I do think Eminem has done, has stood up and made his voice heard in a way that other people would like to do. Like he's an artist, an artist that has said some problematic things. But that doesn't mean what he said about Donald Trump is, one, inaccurate, or not right on the mark about how some other people are feeling.

I absolutely don't think we can just totally discount the fact that Eminem and other people are taking Donald Trump to task and it's getting under his skin.

BERMAN: The one thing we will be able to tell later on is if the president responds to Eminem, which we will really have gone in, you know, through the looking glass if the president of the United States enters a feud with Eminem.

SANDERS: I just hope Puerto Rico gets some additional help.

BERMAN: And that's the thing, right? Let's be clear about that. 85 percent, 90 percent of Puerto Rico still without power right now and the president of the United States talking about the NFL. HARLOW: And the tweets aren't about that this morning.

BERMAN: Not at all.

All right. Symone Sanders, John Phillips, David Gergen, thanks so much.

HARLOW: Thank you.

BERMAN: Great discussion.

HARLOW: Also, California, a crisis along much of northern California right now. An inferno, strong winds making it even harder for firefighters. The death toll is rising. Will those winds die down anytime soon to try to help firefighters contain this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:34] HARLOW: All right. We want to take you to California. We have the latest on the devastating wildfires that are raging through northern California. It could become worse, even worse as some officials call this potentially one of the worst disasters in California's history.

BERMAN: Yes, 122,000 acres up in flames right now. 17 people dead, 180, perhaps more than that, reported missing. Firefighters need those flames to die down. Will they, though?

Let's go to the weather center. Chad Myers is there.

Chad, what's the forecast?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, they happen -- the opportunity this morning and this afternoon that the winds are calm. They're really good, but the forecast isn't good for tonight and again for Friday night. That's when it even gets worse. So there are 35 active fires. This is the problem. Typically we talk about one fire, it's in Yosemite and it's 120-whatever-thousand acres.

But it's in Yosemite or it's in a wild land area. The problem here is the wild land-urban interface. These fires are burning in towns, they are burning in cities, they are burning in Sonoma and Napa Valley. So there are people there, there are homes there. Not just vineyards, but thousands and thousands of homes in the way of these 35 fires.

Now 35 is kind of just a random number. That's how many pockets of big fires there are. There must be thousands of hot spots that are going to get blown around by these 26, 22, 18-mile-per-hour winds. That doesn't seem like a lot, and it's not compared to the 60 that we had over the weekend. But we are still going to see 20 to 25 miles per hour in these red flag warning areas. And that's in the valley.

And many times, the winds are higher in the mountains. And why, you say, are there mountains? Sure there are mountains because you wouldn't have a Napa or Sonoma Valley if there weren't mountains on all sides. And that's where we see the problem. The wind on the treetops, on the top of the mountain ranges, even if

they're only 3,000 feet, are significantly higher than the winds at the surface. So let's like -- let's get to that. Let's get to that now because the winds on the top of the mountain for the fire, at least as we talked about it last weekend, were about 45 miles per hour.

And then at times they were gusting to 75 miles per hour. So the treetops up here on top of the mountains were blowing embers into the valley and as those embers landed, that's why they caused so many more fires. So 35 fires, sure, technically, on the map. Thousands and thousands of hot spots still burning, guys.

HARLOW: Chad, thank you for keeping an eye on it. Keep us posted as the forecast changes.

MYERS: Good.

BERMAN: All right, one of the most embarrassing, shocking, and depressing losses for an American team ever, and I'm not using any hyperbole. I promise you, this was the worst. The "Bleacher Report" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:52:52] BERMAN: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league needs to move past this controversy over the national anthem.

HARLOW: Coy Wire has that and more in the "Bleacher Report" this morning.

Good morning, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. Good morning, John. This "Bleacher Report" presented by the new 2018 Ford F-150.

Now it was insinuated earlier this morning that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell demanded players stand during the national anthem. Well, the NFL responded just a few minutes ago, saying the commentary about the commissioner's position on the anthem is not accurate.

What Commissioner Goodell said was that while the league thinks players should stand for the national anthem, they also care about players' concerns about critical social issues. Commissioner Goodell is going to discuss the anthem issue with league owners next week in New York City.

Now even if the players were forced to stand, one player says, who's been at the forefront of this push for equality, Eagles star Malcolm Jenkins, he says that wouldn't deter their efforts. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALCOLM JENKINS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES SAFETY: You can threaten to do whatever you want to do. That's not going to deter players from doing what's right or doing what they believe is right. And so you might be able to change the manner in which that looks, but I don't see players stopping their pursuit for, you know, justice or equality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Let's move to NHL. Emotional moment in Los Vegas before the Golden Knights played their first home game in franchise history. The team honored the first responders and the victims of the mass shooting in Vegas with 58 seconds of silence for the 58 lives that were taken. The victims' names shown on the ice. Defensive -- defenceman Deryk Engelland, he played minor league hockey in Las Vegas about 14 years ago. His family has made Vegas home. Listen as he fights back tears during a speech to the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DERYK ENGELLAND, VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS DEFENCEMAN: I met my wife here. My kids were born here. And I know how special this city is.

To the families and friends of the victims, know that we'll do everything we can to help you and our city heal. We are Vegas strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: And once the game got going, Engelland was an inspiration on the ice as well.

[10:55:04] That goal right there en route to a 5-2 Golden Knights victory. They have made NHL history, becoming the first franchise expansion team to start a season 3-0.

For the first time in 30 years, the U.S. men's soccer team won't be playing in the World Cup. Team USA had their own fate in their hands last night, playing Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 99th in the world, a population of about 1.2 million people. That's smaller than the population of Dallas.

All the U.S. needed to do to advance was to win or maybe even tie, just don't beat yourself. Well, essentially, they did. This is a goal on their own goal. It contributed to the 2-1 defeat, ending a run of seven straight appearances on the biggest stage in all of soccer. Big implications in the corporate world, as well. A lot of people investing sponsorship dollars. That's going to affect Team USA here in the U.S., for sure.

BERMAN: Yes. This is not even a wait until next year thing. Five years. I'm going to be 50 the next time the U.S. is in the World Cup.

HARLOW: I never knew how old John was so --

BERMAN: Coy Wire, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

WIRE: You're welcome.

HARLOW: Thank you, Coy. To the very serious news across California. Officials are saying this

morning these fires could be one of the worst disasters in California's history. Entire subdivisions look like a war zone.

BERMAN: We're following all the latest. Stay with us.