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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
GOP Moving Forward on Nomination After Testimony from Kavanaugh and His Accuser; Trump Tells GOP Leaders The Senate Must Vote. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired September 28, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:00:13] JUDGE BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: You may defeat me in the final vote, but you'll never get me to quit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A defiant Brett Kavanaugh getting the final word before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but was it enough to save his Supreme Court nomination?
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CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD, BRETT KAVANAUGH'S ACCUSER: I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Kavanaugh's accuser Christine Blasey Ford gripping the nation as we hear her voice for the first time. What she said and what she remembers most about the alleged attack.
ROMANS: Wall Street's top regulator suing Tesla CEO Elon Musk for fraud. Could he be dropped from his own company?
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Good morning, Christine. Good morning to all of you. I'm Dave Briggs. Friday, September 28th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Yesterday right here we said this is one for the books. God, I hoped I was wrong.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: What did you make of the overall day?
ROMANS: It was wrenching. The day was wrenching honestly.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: And it felt as if there were two phases. You know, there was a kind of a crescendo into the end of her testimony and then in the afternoon, a defiant Brett Kavanaugh kind of -- some have said it clawed his way out.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: From back to the top.
BRIGGS: Ultimately we all may be worse off for it.
The fate of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court hanging in the balance as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to vote this morning. Members of the committee heard dramatic testimony from Kavanaugh and from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says he sexually assaulted when they were teenagers.
Now it's in the hands of four key senators. Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Jeff Flake, also red state Democrats Joe Manchin. They were seen meeting after the hearing.
ROMANS: Collins left Capitol Hill without commenting. Flake appears on the fence saying she offered good testimony, so did he. Manchin says, quote, "There are some concerns that people have." Murkowski says she needs a chance to think about all that's gone on.
A GOP source close to the process tells CNN they are not sure they have the votes to push Kavanaugh across the finish line. But it's definitely close.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from Capitol Hill.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, Christine and Dave, Republicans are moving forward. Obviously every one of them was staring with rapt attention at the hearing, just like pretty much everybody else in the country, to gripping testimony from both Christine Blasey Ford and from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But after that testimony was over, more than eight hours, committee members sitting there, witnesses testifying, members, I'm told, back in their offices watching, Republicans still plan to move forward.
They had a private meeting in the Capitol after the hearing to weigh their options going forward, for leaders to take the temperature of members, and they decided the Judiciary Committee will continue its plan to vote on Friday on the nomination.
Now the key individual to watch on that committee, Senator Jeff Flake. He still is undecided. He still has not made up his mind. He told my colleague Kristin Wilson after the meeting today that he had more doubts than certainty about what was going to happen next.
Even if they don't have the votes on the committee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell telling members behind closed doors, I'm told, they're going to move forward to the floor. Right now a procedural vote is tentatively planned for Saturday at noon.
So what does this all mean? Well, at this point in time, Republicans do not have the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. Republicans could have the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. There's a couple of Democrats who may vote with them as well but those votes haven't committed yet. So Republicans are basically taking a gamble. They're pushing forward with the president's support, with the vice president's support, taking what Brett Kavanaugh's testimony meant to them, at least, as a sign that it's time to push forward.
Will it all work out? Well, we'll have to wait and see. We'll get our first sign at 9:30 when the Judiciary Committee meets -- guys.
BRIGGS: Should be interesting. Phil Mattingly reporting.
Washington and the entire country trying to process Thursday's raw emotional testimony during more than four hours of questioning. We heard for the first time from Christine Blasey Ford. She told senators under oath there is no way this is was a case of mistaken identity.
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SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL), SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Dr. Ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh assaulted you?
FORD: One hundred percent.
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BRIGGS: Ford grew emotional as she described the alleged assault in detail. At one point recalling her most enduring memory of the incident.
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FORD: Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two and their having fun at my expense.
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ROMANS: During his afternoon testimony, Kavanaugh was furious, blaming Democrats for turning the hearing into what he called a national disgrace.
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[04:05:03] KAVANAUGH: This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent- up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. This is a circus.
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ROMANS: Kavanaugh's anger softening at times as he, too, was brought to the verge of tears.
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KAVANAUGH: The other night, Ashley and my daughter Liza said their prayers, and little Liza, all of 10 years old, said to Ashley, "We should pray for the woman." It's a lot of wisdom from a 10-year-old. We mean -- we mean no ill will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Senators quickly dug into their political trenches. Democrats hammering the nominee over his alleged behavior in high school, his yearbook, his failure to state whether he believes the FBI should reopen his background check.
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DURBIN: I'm asking about the FBI investigation.
KAVANAUGH: There -- the committee figures out how to ask the questions. I'll do whatever. I've been on the phone multiple times with committee counsel. I'll talk to --
DURBIN: Judge Kavanaugh, will you support an FBI investigation right now?
KAVANAUGH: I will do whatever the committee wants to --
DURBIN: Personally, do you think that's the best thing for us to do? You won't answer?
KAVANAUGH: You know, look, Senator, I -- I've said I wanted a hearing and I've said I would welcome anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Republicans allowed a sex crimes prosecutor hired for the occasion to ask questions on their behalf. A few slammed Democrats for their line of questioning. Senator Lindsey Graham erupting afterward. He said his BS meter got pegged.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold his seat open, and hope you win in 2020. You've said that, not me. This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics.
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ROMANS: The American Bar Association is calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to halt the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing until the FBI completes a renewed background investigation. CNN has obtained a letter written by the Bar Association's president to the committee. It reads in part, "Each appointment to our nation's highest court as with all others is simply too important to rush to a vote. Deciding to proceed without conducting additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate's reputation, it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court." No one can claim the Bar Association is playing politics. The
organization gave Judge Kavanaugh its highest rating for the Supreme Court, well qualified. Kavanaugh even touted that rating yesterday at that hearing.
BRIGGS: Like the rest of us, President Trump was riveted as this historic hearing played out. The president telling a group of Republican donors last night that it was, quote, "brutal and hard to watch" at time but in the end his embattled Supreme Court nominee made him proud.
More now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny at the White House.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, President Trump waking up in a much better feeling about his Supreme Court confirmation battle. He is urging the Senate to take an urgent vote and do it quickly. A committee vote could come as early as today. Of course many Democrats are rejecting that. But take a look at what the president sent out moments after the hearing ended.
He said this on Twitter, "Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest and riveting. Democrats' search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham. An effort to delay, obstruct and resist. The Senate must vote."
Of course no mention in that statement about Christine Blasey Ford. That was someone the president was also watching testify very intently. And he called her testimony, I'm told, compelling. And he found her believable. That he clearly wanted to hear from Judge Kavanaugh. He wanted to hear some anger and push back from Judge Kavanaugh. That's exactly what Judge Kavanaugh gave him.
I am told he prepared the opening the statement of the speech which really turned that hearing around with an audience of one in mind. President Trump. The judge was wanting to keep the president on board, did not want him to, you know, sort of lose faith in his nomination. And that, in turn, rallied the conservative base.
So of course this is not a done deal at all. But as this week ends here at the White House, President Trump certainly feeling much better about his Supreme Court nominee than he has in more than a week -- Dave and Christine.
[04:10:03] ROMANS: All right. A long day for Jeff Zeleny. Thanks, Jeff.
Nearly 60 people arrested among the hundreds who took to the streets of Washington to protest Kavanaugh's nomination.
Thursday's hearing gripped the nation. Women's marches and other protests most against Kavanaugh, some in support, took place in cities across the U.S. Millions more of course watched events unfold from their homes as others watched from airplanes and from classrooms. A North Carolina teacher tweeted this photo, saying her advanced placement students were writing history while watching history. BRIGGS: All right. Coming up. "Murphy Brown" back on TV with a top
secret cameo. More from Hillary Clinton's surprise appearance in primetime next.
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[04:15:00] ROMANS: All right. Big news for Tesla. And it's not good for shareholders. Wall Street's top regulator suing Tesla CEO Elon Musk for fraud, seeking to remove from the company he helped found 15 years ago.
This all began in August. Remember when Musk tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share. That boosted the stock price. But the SEC claims that was not true and that Musk misled investors. It wants to bar Musk from serving as an officer or director of any public company.
Musk is Tesla's top executive. Losing him would be a huge blow. He is the brains behind this operation. Not only is he the public face, but analysts tie Tesla's incredible $50 billion market value to investors' belief in him as a genius and an innovator. In fact, Tesla shares fell 12 percent overnight.
Musk calls the SEC action unjustified, leaving him deeply saddened and disappointed, adding, "Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this is in any way."
Tesla's board says it's fully confident in Musk, but the going private fiasco is one of several actions lately causing some to question his leadership. Remember this, the smoking marijuana blood during a live broadcast, it was just -- I mean, he just took a quick hit, I will say, and he said he doesn't really, you know, partake. It's not good for ambition.
BRIGGS: He knew what he was doing there.
ROMANS: Look, and he called a British cave diver involved in the Thai soccer team rescue a pedophile. I mean, that was really, you know, untoward, unnecessary, and shareholders, they don't like that behavior but that's Elon Musk.
BRIGGS: It's been a bumpy ride.
ROMANS: Sure has.
BRIGGS: All right. A tragic end to the search for the missing 6- year-old boy with autism. Authorities in North Carolina say a body discovered in a creek on Thursday is believed to be Maddox Ritch. He had been missing since last Saturday after his parents say they took off running, while on a walk with his father at a park in Gastonia, North Carolina. A search crew found the body about a mile from the park. The local police chief says the community is heartbroken. FBI investigators will try to determine the cause and manner of death as well as the boy's exact moments after move -- movements, excuse me, after he disappeared. ROMANS: Seventeen minutes past the hour. After two decades off the
air "Murphy Brown" returned to television Thursday. The premier episode featuring a surprise cameo by Hillary Clinton, keeping with the original series traditional of Murphy's ever-changing roster of secretaries. Clinton interviewed for that job.
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CANDACE BERGEN, ACTRESS: I also assume you've had previous secretarial experience?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Absolutely. For four years I was the secretary -- I was a secretary of a very large organization.
BERGEN: And you have all the requisite skills? Computer? E-mail?
CLINTON: E-mails. I do have some experience with e-mails.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Brown tells her she's impressive, but a little overqualified for her secretary job. Clinton leaves her contact information. Her e-mail, Hillary@youcouldhavehadme.com.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Youcouldhavehadme.com
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: All right. Terrifying moments on a plane over the South Pacific after it crashed -- oh my goodness -- into the ocean, leaving these passengers with water up to their waists. How everyone was able to make it off that plane. Wow.
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[04:22:42] BRIGGS: At this hour investigators are flying to the scene of a plane crash near Micronesia in the Western Pacific. 47 passengers were on board the Air New Guinea flight when it went down in a lagoon 160 yards from the runway. One passenger says he felt a hard landing then realized there was a hole on the side of the plane as it took on water. He described terrified passengers in water up to their waists. Volunteers in boats helped rescue all on board and miraculously no serious injuries were reported.
ROMANS: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling a U.N. Security Council meeting that world leaders must keep up the economic pressure on North Korea.
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MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The path to peace and a brighter future is only through diplomacy and only denuclearization. That means any other path North Korea may choose will inevitably lead to ever increasing isolation and pressure.
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ROMANS: Pompeo says until the process of denuclearization is complete, countries must abide by the economic sanctions against Kim Jong-un's regime. Pompeo plans to travel to Pyongyang next month. His fourth visit this year. The goal he says is securing North Korea's final fully verified denuclearization.
All right. In just five hours, five hours from right now, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on whether Brett Kavanaugh deserves a seat on the nation's highest court. The latest we are hearing on where senators stand.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:28:28] KAVANAUGH: You may defeat me in the final vote, but you'll never get me to quit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: A defiant Brett Kavanaugh getting the final word before the Senate Judiciary Committee. But was it enough to save his Supreme Court nomination?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD: I am here today not because I want to be. I'm terrified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Kavanaugh's accuser Christine Blasey Ford gripping the nation as we hear her voice for the first time. What she said she remembers most about the alleged attack.
BRIGGS: Wall Street's top regulator suing Tesla's CEO Elon Musk for fraud. Could he be dropped from his own company?
Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: That SEC complaint is fascinating.
BRIGGS: It is.
ROMANS: We'll tell you more about it in a minute. I'm Christine Romans. 29 minutes past the hour. Let's begin here with this. The state of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court hanging in the balance as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to vote this morning in just about five hours. Members of the committee heard dramatic testimony from Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.
Now four senators could decide Kavanaugh's fate, Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake and red state Democrat, Joe Manchin. They were seen meeting after the hearing.
BRIGGS: Collins left Capitol Hill without commenting. Murkowski says she needs the chance to think about all that's gone. Flake appears to be on the fence saying she offered good testimony, so did he. And Manchin says, quote, "There are some concerns that people have."
A GOP source close to the nomination process tells CNN they are not sure they have the votes to push Kavanaugh across the finish line. But it's definitely close.
CNN's Phil Mattingly reporting from Capitol Hill.
