Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Youthful Drinking Could Prove Problematic for Kavanaugh Confirmation; 3 Key Republicans Will Likely Decide Fate of Kavanaugh; First Lady Heads to Africa; Trump Credits Trade Threats for Successful NAFTA Renegotiations; Death Toll Rises in Indonesia. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired October 02, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:00:13] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wanted to be comprehensive. I actually think it's a good thing.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We'll be voting this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate leader has made up his mind on Brett Kavanaugh before the FBI finishes his work. Kavanaugh's drinking history and whether he lied about it could pose a problem.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The first lady wheels up to Africa on the first foreign trip. What will see hear following the president's controversial comments and policies towards Africa?
ROMANS: And a Florida is back with her high school baseball team after she was kicked off because of her gender.
Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Good morning, my friend.
ROMANS: Good morning.
BRIGGS: Good morning to all of you. It is Tuesday, October 2nd, 4:00 a.m. in the east.
The president in Philadelphia today and in Mississippi tonight for another rally. We start with a shift from the White House this morning allowing the wider scope of the FBI's Brett Kavanaugh probe. But even if the FBI clears the Supreme Court nominee of sexual misconduct, some suggest his youthful drinking and recent comments about it could prove damaging. Several Senators said lying to the Judiciary Committee would be disqualifying.
The FBI has now reached out to one of Kavanaugh's former Yale classmates, Chad Ludington, who said Kavanaugh was not truthful about his alcohol consumption. Here are Kavanaugh last week and Ludington last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I drank beer with my friends. Almost everyone did. Sometimes I had too many beers. Sometimes others did. I liked beer. I still like beer. But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He testified he did drink and wasn't proud of everything.
CHAD LUDINGTON, FORMER YALE CLASSMATE OF KAVANAUGH: He did. But he also downplayed to a great degree the possibility that he could ever not know what was going on.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You are saying there were omissions?
LUDINGTON: I'm saying there were omissions. There were certainly many times where he could not remember what was going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Ludington says he witnessed a 1985 bar fight started by the future Supreme Court nominee. The police report says the victim accused Kavanaugh of throwing ice at him. The brawl ended with the man being hit in the head with a glass allegedly thrown by Kavanaugh's friend. The police report does not say if anyone was arrested. The White House released statements from two other Kavanaugh friends from Yale who say they never saw him black out.
BRIGGS: After the reports over the weekend that the West Wing was trying to limit the FBI background investigation of Kavanaugh, President Trump and the White House say agents can follow leads as they see fit, so long as they finish by Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I want it to be comprehensive. I actually think it is a good thing for Judge Kavanaugh. I think it's actually a good thing, not a bad thing. I think it is a good thing. With that being said, I would like it to go quickly. I think the FBI should interview anybody they want within reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That was the temperate Trump yesterday talking to reporters in the Rose Garden. Last night, before supporters at a rally in Tennessee, the president attacked Democrats and defended his nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They've been trying to destroy him since the very first second he was announced because they know Judge Kavanaugh will follow the Constitution as written.
(CHEERING) TRUMP: And he's a good man. Great student. Great intellect. Never had a problem. All of a sudden, let's go back to high school. Before high school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Three key Republican Senators making it clear they expect a legitimate investigation of Brett Kavanaugh. Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski will likely determine the fate of the nominee. Flake sent this message to the White House from the conference in Boston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JEFF FLAKE, (R), ARIZONA: We certainly want the FBI to do a real investigation. We are working to make sure that happens. It does no good to have an investigation that just gives us more cover.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Senator Collins said she is confident the FBI will follow-up on leads that result from the interviews. And Senator Murkowski says the FBI should be free to conduct an investigation without limits.
No matter what the FBI finds, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has decided to plow forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONNELL: Their goal post keeps shifting, but the goal hadn't moved an inch, not an inch. The goal has been the same all along. And so let me make it very clear, the time for endless delay and obstruction has come to a close. Judge Kavanaugh's nomination is out of committee. We're considering it here on the floor. And, Mr. President, we'll be voting this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:05:07] BRIGGS: Mark Judge, a witness to the alleged sex assault involving Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, has been interviewed by the FBI, according to the judge's lawyer. The questioning has not been completed. Senate Democrats are concerned about the short initial witness list. They sent a letter to the White House and the FBI with the names of 24 witnesses they want interviewed.
ROMANS: The Kavanaugh issue is a highly emotional one for voters on both sides. A large group of men and women marching yesterday from Madison Square Park in New York City to protest Kavanaugh's nomination.
In the meantime, Senator Lindsey Graham was asked what would happen if Kavanaugh falls short at confirmation. Graham pulled a page from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's playbook, telling FOX News, let the voters have a say in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I would re-nominate him and I would take this case to the American people and ask voters in Indiana and Missouri and North Dakota and other places where Trump won saying who he would nominate if he got president and see --
(CROSSTALK)
GRAHAM: -- if voters want to appeal the verdict of the Senator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Even if the FBI comes up with nothing new on Kavanaugh, Republican John Kennedy, of Louisiana, believes every Senate Democrat will still oppose him. He is making the point as only he can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, (R), LOUISIANA: If you think this is a search for the truth, you should put down the bong. It's not a search for the truth. My Democratic colleagues have accused Judge Kavanaugh of being a rich drunk, lying sexual predator. And the six FBI investigations that he's been through did not support that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Judge Kavanaugh will not be returning to Harvard to teach in January. Law students have been informed his classes have been canceled.
ROMANS: He's been accused of many things, but the president got a few laughs in the Rose Garden after admitting he does not share Kavanaugh's love of beer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I am not a drinker. I can honestly say I have never had a beer in my life. OK. It's one of my only good traits. I don't drink. When they are looking for something, I say, I never had alcohol. I've never had alcohol. For whatever reason. Can you imagine if I had, what a mess I'd be? I would be the world's worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: He has been known to pour Diet Coke in his wine glass at state events.
About a year ago, the president opened up about his brother Fred's life-long battle with alcohol. Fred Trump Jr died in 1981 at the age of 43.
BRIGGS: I can't recall seeing self-deprecating humor from Donald Trump. It was refreshing, until what came next. President Trump getting combative with female reporters during the same press conference. Listen to these exchanges with CBS's Cecilia Vega and CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CECILIA VEGA, CBS REPORTER: Now that you've answered some questions on trade, I'd like to turn to Judge Kavanaugh.
TRUMP: Don't do that. Don't do that. Do you have -- do you have --
VEGA: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Excuse me. Do you have a question on trade? One or two more questions on trade.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Don't do that. That's not nice. Listen. Listen.
VEGA: Can you promise --
TRUMP: You've really had enough. You've had enough.
She's shocked I picked her. A state of shock.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm not thinking --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: It's OK. I know you're not thinking. You never do.
COLLINS: I'm sorry?
TRUMP: No, go ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Sounds like the president said, I know you're not thinking. The White House transcript says, I know you're not thanking. Mr. Trump later referred to the press as "loco" and said he used that word because of his new trade agreement with Mexico.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Melania Trump is on her way to Africa. The first significant solo trip she has taken as first lady. First going to Mawali, Kenya and Egypt.
We will go to Johannesburg and bring in CNN's David McKenzie.
The president very famously and to the chagrin of so many African leaders talked about S-hole countries in Africa and immigration policies there. This is interesting. Her first solo trip, Melania Trump.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The first lady, this was her idea, according to USAID officials I've spoken to, the main development agency of the U.S. She is making the swing through Africa, Ghana, Mawali, and Kenya and Egypt. This is a high-profile trip by the first lady where they hope to put on the charm offensive within the African countries.
However, on some way, her aims have been -- really the president has tried to withdraw the U.S. from the foreign aid space.. A few days ago at the U.N. G.A., the U.S., he said, will only give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends. That received bipartisan criticism. Senators saying to give aid without strings attached. This is an interesting trip to see if she can put positive vibes from the U.S. across the continent after the derogatory comments attributed to Trump as you describe.
One very specific thing in Mawali and Kenya, particularly, the Mexico City policy, which President Trump signed, which is known by critics as the gag rule, has rarely stopped money from flowing into the non- governmental organizations who previously had given advice on issues like abortion. But now face the prospect of losing that money from the U.S. by continuing with that advice. There's controversy surrounding the U.S.'s policy in Africa. What the first lady can do above that, we have to see within the next few days.
[04:11:07] ROMANS: All right, indeed.
David McKenzie, in Johannesburg, thank you so much, sir.
BRIGGS: A big moment for her.
The president's new trade deal is done, USMCA. Now his favorite part, which is getting it through Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But anything you submit to Congress is trouble. No matter what.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The deal could set up a big showdown with China. We'll explain why next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:15:36] All right. Big victory for the president yesterday. He credits his tough trade tactics for the successful renegotiation of NAFTA. The U.S., Mexico and Canada agreed to replace the 24-yeaer-old trade deal with the United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement, USMCA. The negotiations came down to the wire. Trump said a deal would not have happened without his trade threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: By the way, without tariffs, we would not be talking about a deal. Just for the babies out there that keep talking about tariffs. That includes Congress. Oh, please, don't charge tariffs. Without tariffs you won't be -- we wouldn't be standing here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The entire Republican leadership. Trump plans to keep using them to force other trade deals, like with China. The president calls the USMCA a brand-new deal. It is really a NAFTA modernization, addressing issues that have emerged since 1994. Think digital business and bio-tech. Those did not exist when this deal was first forged. Other big changes, more access to Canada's protected dairy market. It is a small part of U.S. and Canada trade. This was a big Trump campaign promise. The whole thing expires in 16 years unless renegotiated. There are higher labor and wage and environmental standards. That is good news for American workers, especially automakers. Here is a really important statistic. Look at this graphic. Two-fifths of a car sold in North America must be made by workers making at least $16 an hour. And 75 percent of car parts must be made in North America. In theory, that means higher wages and more domestic production. The deal does not kill the steel and aluminum tariffs that mean higher costs for U.S. automakers. The next stop is Congress.
Does the president think the deal will pass?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think so. You know, but if it doesn't, we have lots of other alternatives. But I do think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The president does not specify exactly what the alternatives are.
BRIGGS: Are we talking higher prices for automobiles in all likelihood in the U.S.?
ROMANS: Well, it could be marginally higher prices for automobiles. The theory is it will be higher wages for workers. You will have the reorientation of the supply chain back to North America.
BRIGGS: Some good news in there.
Donald Trump Jr says the current political climate makes him more concerned for his sons than for his daughters. The president's eldest son has five children. In an interview with the "Daily Mail TV," he seemed concerned his sons might one day face false accusations of sexual misconduct.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP JR, SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: I have boys and girls. When I see what's going on right now, it's scary for all things. I wouldn't want my --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who are you scared most for, your sons or your daughters?
TRUMP: Right now, I would say my sons. The other problem is that for the people who are real victims of these
things, when it is so obviously political in cases like this, it really diminishes the real claims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Trump Jr has been vocal in the debate over allegations of sexual misconduct. Just weeks ago, he posted a meme on social media appearing to mock Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school.
One year after the Las Vegas massacre, President Trump on Monday suggested bump fire stocks would be banned over the next couple of weeks. The devices allow semiautomatic weapons to fire at the rate of automatic rifles. Last week, the Justice Department formally submitted its proposed rule, starting a 90-day review period. Last night, the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed to mark the solemn anniversary of the massacre, which left 58 people dead. A motive has not been determined.
ROMANS: A teen baseball star in Florida now back on the team after told she should play with the girls. And 14-year-old Violet Mendez was booted from the team last week even though she played for the boys' team for the past two years. A parent complained to Mendez's principle after her first game last week. Mendez believes that parent is likely the same person that called her a freak of nature and various anti-gay slurs. Officials originally pinned the decision on a paper work problem which has been ironed out.
[04:19:38] Breaking overnight, a drastic rise in the death toll from the quake and tsunami in Indonesia. We have a live report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIGGS: Breaking moments ago, the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia rising sharply up to 1,234.
Alexandra Field joining us with the latest live from Hong Kong -- Alex?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORREDSPONDENT: David, another stunning uptick of those numbers. On top of that, some 66,000 houses destroyed and hundreds of people injured and so many missing. That is why rescue workers continue to do their digging through the rubble and debris, day and night. Conditions for survivors are tough. The Indonesian government has deployed cargo ships and aircraft full of food and other humanitarian supplies trying to reach people in the most heavily affected areas. But in some places, people are taking it upon themselves, going into gas stations and grocery stores filling up with whatever they can get their hands on. In some cases, the government officials say supermarkets have been told to let people have what they need. They will pay them back later. Fuel the other key necessity. Trucks of fuel are making their way to the most heavily hit area. They're under escort by police.
[04:25:14] Some 26 countries have made offers to help the Indonesian government as they take on the massive recovery effort.
The question, could any of it have been prevented? There have been accusations lodged against the government that the tsunami warning system was inadequate, that more could have been done. The government defending itself against the allegations. Some international experts weighed in saying, yes, there are some ways to improve the system. But when you consider the geography of Sulawesi and the nature of this disaster, it was something that was simply nearly impossible to defend against. The reality of it all in these heartbreaking images -- Dave?
BRIGGS: Clearly more difficult to find anything still standing than all that is devastated.
Alexandra Field live for us with an update. Thank you.
ROMANS: It's 26 minutes past the hour. Brett Kavanaugh is obviously not the only person to drink in college. But if he lied about it, could it keep him off the Supreme Court? One person who says Kavanaugh lied is talking to the FBI.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
