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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Seeks Kavanaugh Vote; Latest on Russia Probe; Maryland Rite Aid Shooting. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 21, 2018 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: Why didn't somebody call the FBI 36 years ago? I don't think you can delay it any longer. They've delayed it a week already.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: The president wants to get moving on a vote for Brett Kavanaugh. His accuser says she will testify, but what does Dr. Ford want to make it happen?
ROMANS: The president dismissed intel concerns about releasing classified documents. But he is reconsidering his latest order after foreign allies voiced concern.
BRIGGS: A Florida student with a pilot's license boarded an empty passenger jet. How did he get past security and what was his intent?
ROMANS: And the dog pound can rejoice. It took 635 days, but Cleveland Browns are back in the win column. Sorry, Jets fans. Welcome back to Early Start. I'm Christine Romans. I love that little kid. I love that little kid. I love that guy.
BRIGGS: That's your boy. Two words for Browns fans, free beer. Congrats. I'm Dave Briggs. 4:32 eastern time, we start with the latest on the Supreme Court. Christine Blasey Ford ready to speak but only on her terms. Lawyers for the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teens, tell the Senate judiciary committee their client is prepared to testify next week, but first they want the committee to offer, quote, "terms that are fair and which ensure her safety."
ROMANS: Sources tell us Ford's lawyers and the committee staff held an hour long conference call. The date of the hearing remains the biggest hold up here. Ford's attorneys ruled out Monday, the original date was Monday, they suggested Thursday. They made it clear at no time during the hearing could Ford be in the same room as Kavanaugh.
BRIGGS: They made two other requests, that Kavanaugh testifies first and they want to subpoena Mark Judge and other witnesses. A senate staffer says that is non-starters for Republicans on the panel. A spokesman for Chairman Chuck Grassley says the Judiciary Committee remains committed to providing a fair forum for Dr. Ford and judge Kavanaugh.
ROMANS: After days of holding his tongue, President Trump showing signs patience is wearing thin. He spoke to Sean Hannity at Fox News before a rally in Las Vegas rally.
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TRUMP: Why didn't somebody call the FBI 36 years ago? I mean, you could say when did this all happen? What's going on? To take a man like this and besmirch -- now with that said, let her have her say and let's see how it all works. I don't think you can delay it any longer. They've delayed it a week already.
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ROMANS: Sunday, Professor Ford told the Washington Post she did not report it 36 years ago out of fear she would be in trouble for being at a party with alcohol, remember these re high schoolers, she was 15 at the time. Kavanaugh has strongly denied the assault allegations. The White House released a letter from Kavanaugh last night in which he said saying he would be at the planned hearing. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from Capitol Hill.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN REPORTER: Christine and Dave, after days of no response from the legal team of Christine Blasey Ford, the Senate Judiciary Committee, both Republicans and Democrats, receiving an e- mail saying Christine Blasey Ford was willing to testify, did want to testify in a public hearing, but would not testify on the scheduled date of Monday.
And would only testify under certain conditions and if the committee guaranteed her safety. That led to a phone call, a bipartisan phone call. I'm told the first substantive interaction with Republicans and Democrats on the committee in an entire week, trying to figure out the steps forward.
The end game of those negotiations while it's still an open question, it's very clear that both sides right now have entered the talks trying to get to a point of a public hearing. Will they actually get there? Well I can tell you this right now, Republicans and Democrats are preparing as if a hearing will happen.
Republican sources saying Republican members are looking into hiring an outside counsel, a woman. Remember, there are 11 Republican members on the committee, all of them are male. What they are trying to is bring in a female outside counsel to ask questions at that hearing. Democratic members say they too, are preparing. What are they preparing for?
[04:35:00]
Well, we'll have to see. Depends on if it actually happens. Guys?
BRIGGS: All right, Phil Mattingly, thank you. Both Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford have been the target of numerous death threats in recent days, and CNN has learned that Kavanaugh's wife, Ashley, has received multiple graphic emails since she was accused -- since he was accused of sexual assault. In one, a Kavanaugh critic writes, "My condolences to you for being married to a rapist, although you probably deserve it."
Ford is also married and has two teenage sons. She has received death threats of her own. She's not been seen publicly for several days.
ROMANS: And those threats have forced her and her family to move out of their home. In the meantime, public support for Kavanaugh's nomination is slipping. A new NBC Wall Street Journal poll conducted after the allegations were made finds more Americans oppose his confirmation than support it by four points.
The increase in oppositions comes from women over 50, seniors in general, and especially from independents, whose support plunged by 31 points.
BRIGGS: President Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. According to ABC News, Cohen has spoke to Mueller's team several times. Over the past month, with prosecutors focusing primarily on Mr. Trump's dealings with Russia.
Cohen is also cooperating with the New York State investigation into the Trump family charity and the Trump organization. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts last month and implicated the president in payoffs to two women made to influence the election.
President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, attacking Cohen, labeling him a "professional deceiver."
ROMANS: It now appears President Trump may not release certain documents related to the Russia investigation at the urging of several close allies. This is a reversal. Just days after his unprecedented directive for the immediate declassification of some documents, including that application for surveillance on former Trump advisor, Carter Page.
And here's what the president is saying now.
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TRUMP: We're moving along, we're working along, we're also dealing with foreign countries that do have a problem. I must tell you, I got called today from two very good allies saying, "Please can we talk?" I -- so it's not as simple as all that, and we do have to respect their wishes, but it'll all come out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The White House did not immediately return a request (ph) for comment to which allies the president's spoken with. Trump supporters claim without proof that the FBI wrongfully obtained its warrant for Carter Page and is hiding information that could discredit the Mueller probe.
The decision to publically release the records prompted an outcry the President was potentially jeopardizing critical intelligence sources.
ROMANS: The first American remains returned by North Korea have now been identified. President Trump making the announcement Thursday. Army Master Sergeant Charles McDaniel of Vernon, Indiana was 32 years old when he was killed. Army Private First Class William Jones of Nash County, North Carolina was just 19. Both went missing in 1950 after separate battles against the Chinese.
BRIGGS: Their remains, part of 55 cases turned over by North Korea in July. An agreement to repatriate the remains of American service members from the Korean War was part of President Trump and Kim Jong- un's joint statement at the Singapore Summit. More than 7,600 Americans are still unaccounted for from the Korean War.
ROMANS: Right, it is just 47 days before the midterms, and that would be the 2-year anniversary of the President's election victory. The president wants to refocus on the strong economy, and there are some impressive numbers. We just learned that claims for unemployment benefits are the lowest in 49 years. There are a record 7 million -- almost 7 million jobs open today, and people are quitting their jobs in record numbers. That's a good sign.
The president even tweeting encouragement to those job quitters, quote, "There are plenty of new high-paying jobs available in our great and very vibrant economy. If you're not happy where you are, start looking." Ivanka Trump also tweeting on the economy yesterday.
It is the economy, stupid, as James Carville said under a different president, and the president taking credit fro those job gains; 1.6 million net new jobs so far this year on top of 2.1 million new jobs last year. Look at those numbers.
Now let's look at the context, because context matters. Here are the strong jobs gains of the president's first 2 years -- see them there -- shown over the past decade. Job creation almost matching the very strong numbers of 2014, 2015, and 2016, but not quite yet. I think you're going to get a great year for 2018, I think hiring's going to remain strong until the end of the year so you're going to see that 2018 number maybe match some of those from the Obama years.
BRIGGS: That is very important context for the last 3 years that proceeded President Trump.
OK, a 22-year old student pilot facing criminal charges for allegedly hopping a security fence at Orlando Melbourne International Airport and boarding a passenger jet. The suspect, Nishal Sankat, is a student at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.
[04:40:00]
A maintenance supervisor and a technician who were on the plane caught him, held him down and removed him. Sankat will be charged with trespassing on airport property, burglary and attempted theft of an aircraft.
Investigators don't know what his motive was. Sankat was not armed. The FBI responded to a similar incident, you certainly remember last month when that ground service agent stole a turbo passenger at -- in Seattle and crashed it into an island.
ROMANS: A former Southwest Airlines employee suing the company for discrimination. Jamal Parker claims the Houston's Hobby Airport had a whites-only break room for years until recent renovations. He also claims he was unfairly from the airline due to his race.
Parker is seeking unspecified damages, his court date set for January. In a statement, the airline says it works to foster a diverse and inclusive environment and does not tolerate discrimination of any kind.
BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, 3 deadly shootings in just about 24 hours; the latest, police asking why a woman opened fire at a Rite Aid distribution center in Maryland.
ROMANS: And a week after Florence slammed the Carolinas, pollution now flooding into the Atlantic and rising waters still pose a danger for some communities.
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ROMANS: Police are searching for a motive this morning after a woman killed three people and wounded three more before fatally shooting herself at a Rite Aid distribution center in Maryland. The ATF and the Baltimore FBI are assisting this investigation.
This just a day after two other shootings in an office complex in Wisconsin and a municipal center in Pennsylvania that left a total of seven dead, three mass shootings over the span of 24 to 36 hours. CNN's Brian Todd has the latest on the Maryland attack.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, the sheriff of Harford County says this shooting began outside the building and then moved inside. Sheriff Jeff Gahler says a total of six people were shot; three of them were killed, three remain hospitalized. The 26- year-old female suspect is also dead.
According to law enforcement, they've really not ascribed a motive yet for this attack. But law enforcement sources tell CNN that the suspect was a 26-year-old temporary employee of this facility and that she was a disgruntled employee. Our sources are telling us that after she opened fire inside this facility, the suspect shot herself in the head once. But that didn't work and she shot herself in the head a second time.
According to a Rite Aid official, this was a massive facility in Aberdeen, Maryland, a Rite Aid distribution center where about 1,000 people worked. According to law enforcement, law enforcement officers arrived within about five minutes of when this shooting started. But law enforcement official's tactical teams did not have to use their weapons. Christine and Dave.
BRIGGS: OK, Brian Todd. Thanks.
A full week after Florence hit the Carolinas the storm's impact is still being felt. Take a look at these satellite images, polluted water carrying sediment and debris from the Carolinas into the water. You can see the water changing from light blue to dark blue as material gets dumped into the Atlantic.
ROMANS: The death toll from the storm now up to 41 people across the Carolinas and Virginia, 31 of those deaths happening in North Carolina. The state's governor Roy Cooper says nearly 74,000 people still don't have power. While rivers in North Carolina have crested and are now falling, several South Carolina rivers are still rising. CNN's Nick Valencia has more from Conway, South Carolina.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Christine, this has been described by residents here as a slow motion disaster. As hard as some the residents here have been hit by Hurricane Florence with flash flooding, city officials warn it is only going to get worse.
And it's not matter of if but when this river behind me, the Waccamaw River overflows. It was already about four feet passed the flood level, with the expectation that it's going to go perhaps up to 21, maybe even 22 feet and crest on Monday or Tuesday. In fact, city officials here were going door-to-door, over 900 homes were knocked on to try to warn residents to evacuate now while they can.
Some of these areas I mentioned were overcome and inundated by flash flooding from Hurricane Florence. That flash flooding receded long enough for residents to go inside to some of their homes, collect their belongings. Because as I mentioned, city officials say that more flooding is on the way. Dave, Christine.
BRIGGS: All right, Nick reporting.
Police charging a man on the brutal stabbing death of a Washington, D.C. woman who was jogging Tuesday evening. Based on surveillance footage, authorities say 23-year-old Anthony Crawford stabbed 35-year- old Wendy Martinez in what looks like an unprovoked attack. Police found Crawford in a park Wednesday. They arrested him and charged him with murder. Wendy Martinez was recently engaged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTINA MOORE, WENDY MARTINEZ'S FRIEND: Wendy should have been shopping for her wedding dress on Friday. There's a hole in our hearts that will never be replaced.
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BRIGGS: Condolences. CNN unable to determine whether Crawford has legal representation.
ROMANS: All right. At least 57 Detroit public schools have tested positive for high levels of copper, lead or both in their drinking water. And -- and test results for 17 more schools are pending. Last month, the districts had to turn off the drinking water in all the school buildings because some showed elevated lead and copper levels. The city's water department blames aging plumbing systems.
Lead consumption is particularly harmful to children, it causes impaired cognition, behavioral disorders, hearing problems, delayed puberty, you know, lead consumption for children lowers IQ's. It's just exactly not the situation you want in a school setting.
BRIGGS: Boy, something has to be done. Ahead, Alexa, please cook my potato. Thanks to Amazon, you can now talk to your microwave. You don't have to actually push the buttons.
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Thank God. CNN Money tells us why next.
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Rap mogul Suge Knight, facing decades in prison after pleading no contest of voluntary manslaughter. Knight was accused of committing a hit and run in January 2015. He allegedly ran over two men after a confrontation on the set of a movie, "Straight Out of Compton."
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One of the men was killed. The 53 year old is scheduled to be sentenced October 4th. Prosecutors are calling for a 28-year sentence. The defense previously argued Knight was defending himself because one of the men had a gun.
ROMANS: Disney CEO Bob Iger says fans can expect a slowdown in the Star Wars franchise films. The company is still stung by how the Solo spinoff underperformed at the box office this spring, released just a few months after The Last Jedi. Iger tells the Hollywood Reporter it may have been a little too much, too fast and led to Star Wars fatigue. He says they'll be more careful about timing and volume. Star Wars Episode 9 currently in production due for release December 2019.
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(SPORTS)
ROMANS: All right, Derek, thank you. That's your weather, here's your money. Let's get a check of CNN Money this morning. What trade war? Global stocks higher today after Wall Street closed at record highs. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs. The Dow rising more than 250 points for the first record since late January.
Wall Street, unfazed between the trade war with U.S. and china. Investors still expect a compromise, and the U.S. economy is strong. In fact, claims for unemployment benefits just fell to the lowest level in 49 years.
Freezing your credit is the best way to protect against identity theft, not buying those expensive monitoring services, just freezing credit. And starting today, you can do this for free. Last year, Equifax data breach exposed the personal information of 148 million Americans.
So Congress amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act that now requires agencies freeze reports for no charge. Previously you had to pay between $2 and $10 to do this. A freeze restricts new lenders from accessing your credit report. That stops identify thieves from using your info to open credit cards or take out loans.
Alexa, please cook my potato. Thanks to Amazon, you can talk to your microwave. Amazon just introduced an Alexa-enabled microwave. It responds to your commands and figures out how long to cook your dinner. Such as (ph) microwaves though, Amazon is expanding the reach of its voice assistant to many home products, including coffee machines, room fans, wall clocks and your car. I'm waiting for Alexa; please teach my kid how to do algebra. Alexa, please help with homework. Alexa, please walk the dog.
BRIGGS: Oh boy, that I will pay for. But pushing of the buttons on the microwave. OK, Early Start continues right now with the latest on the Supreme Court.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: Why didn't somebody call the FBI 36 years ago? I don't think you can delay it any longer. They've delayed it a week already.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: The president, he wants to get moving on a vote for Brett Kavanaugh. His accuser Christine Blasey Ford says she'll testify under certain terms.
ROMANS: The president dismissed intel concerns about releasing classified documents. But now he's reconsidering --
[05:00:00]
