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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Targets Ford, Kavanaugh Probe Expands; NY Times: Trump Family Schemer?; Democrat Cites PTSD to Leave Mayor Race; Rosa Floods Arizona; Rockies Outlast Cubs in NL Wild Card Game. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 03, 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] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How did you get home? I don't remember. How did you get there? I don't remember. Where is the place? I don't remember. How many years ago was it? I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump launches his most direct attack on Christine Blasey Ford, mocking her, and the FBI expanding the Kavanaugh investigation. Who are they talking to now?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Fraud, sham corporations, and more. A revealing "New York Times" report on President Trump's family taxes suggests he's not the self-made millionaire he claims.

BRIGGS: A rising star in the Democratic Party forced out of a mayoral race, citing post traumatic stress from military service.

ROMANS: Some of the highest totals ever for Phoenix as a tropical depression rolls through the desert.

BRIGGS: And an instant classic. It took 13 innings, but the Colorado Rockies are headed to Milwaukee. The Cubbies, they're staying home. And myself, I am sleep deprived.

Romans, it was four hours and 55 minutes.

Good morning, everyone.

ROMANS: Was it worth it?

BRIGGS: No.

(LAUGHTER)

BRIGGS: Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: I'm excited the team won, but I'll be poking you throughout the program.

I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: Keep me up.

ROMANS: It is Wednesday, October 3rd. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

As soon as today, the FBI might deliver the report on Brett Kavanaugh to the White House and Capitol Hill. That news coming as sources tell CNN the bureau is expanding its inquiry into sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee.

Two sources say the FBI is now focusing on other high school friends of Kavanaugh. He listed them as attending a July 1, 1982 party, and the calendar he provided to the Judiciary Committee. It's not clear that the additional interviews will prolong the investigation.

BRIGGS: Kavanaugh vehemently denied allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he assaulted her at a high school party. She also said she does not remember some of details. The president seized on that admission at a rally last night, going further than ever before in attacking Kavanaugh's accuser.

Senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny was there. Here's his reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, President Trump in South Haven, Mississippi, on Tuesday night for a campaign rally, the second campaign rally in as many days. And, of course, we're five weeks before the critical midterm elections.

The president talking about Judge Kavanaugh, the brutal confirmation process. But he did something that he has not yet done during the course of all of this -- he mocked Christine Blasey Ford, the California research psychologist who accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her some 36 years ago. This is what he said --

TRUMP: I had one beer. Well, do you think -- nope. It was one beer. Oh, good.

How did you get home? I don't remember. How did you get there? I don't remember.

Where is the place? I don't remember. How many years ago was it? I don't know.

(APPLAUSE)

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. What neighborhood was it in? I don't know. Where's the house? I don't know.

Upstairs, downstairs, where was it? I don't know. But I had one beer, that's the only thing I remember.

ZELENY: Now, that comment was met with laughter and applause from the audience of loyal Trump supporters. The president went on to essentially warn mothers in this crowd that their sons and husbands could also be falsely accused. One thing not said at all was any mention about women who have come

forward to make credible allegations about sexual assault or misconduct, the force of the #metoo movement.

Clearly, the president believes that this is a rallying point. Some five weeks before the midterm elections. He believes it's unifying Republicans.

The open question, though, what it's doing to independent voters and Democrats who are so inspired and infuriated by this same movement?

Dave and Christine?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

Christine Blasey Ford's lawyer outraged by the president's comments, Michael Bromwich, accusing Mr. Trump of a, quote, vicious, vile, and soulless attack on his client. He went on to call the president a profile in cowardice.

BRIGGS: Four minutes past the hour.

The president's message about false accusations against men echoed his words earlier at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of. Somebody could accuse you of something -- and you're automatically guilty. But in this realm, you are truly guilty until proven innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president was asked if he had anything to say to young women. He replied women are doing great.

BRIGGS: In the 1983 letter written by Kavanaugh and obtained by "The New York Times," the future judge describes himself and his friends as, quote, loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers. Not exactly the image Kavanaugh tried to project in his Senate testimony.

[04:05:03] Of note, Kavanaugh signed the letter "Bart".

You may remember a book written by Kavanaugh's former classmate, Mark Judge, features a character named Bart O'Kavanaugh. The nominee refused to answer last week when Senator Patrick Leahy asked him if he was Bart O'Kavanaugh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: Are you the Bart Kavanaugh here's referring to? Yes or no?

JUDGE BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: You'd have to ask him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, how does all of this affect his confirmation vote? Senators Jeff Flake and Lisa Murkowski say they are waiting to see what the FBI reports before making up their minds. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insists the FBI report will not be used as another reason to delay a vote which he claims will take place this week. A vote this week.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants an FBI briefing for all leaders before a vote is scheduled. For now, the only people who can read the file are the 100 senators and handful of staff, although some members are pushing for some or all of the FBI report to be released to the public.

BRIGGS: A blockbuster "New York Times" says that Donald Trump helped his parents evade taxes for years, quote, including instances of outright fraud, unquote. The 14,000-word story takes up the entire front page above the fold and jumps to several full pages inside. The reporting wrecks Trump's carefully built image as a self-made man and it may be at least one reason he's not released his personal tax returns.

The months' long "Times" investigation draws on more than 100,000 pages of financial document. Some public, some confidential, including 200 Trump family tax returns.

ROMANS: So, some of "The Times'" key findings here starting at age 3, Donald Trump receive of at least $413 million from his father's real estate empire, adjusted for inflation. That is a far cry from the $1 million loan from his father that the president says he started out with. "The Times" says the president and siblings helped their parents build their wealth by hiding millions in gifts in a sham corporation. "The Times" also reviewed records showing that the president helped formulate a strategy to cut his parent's tax bill by systematically undervaluing the real estate holdings.

BRIGGS: A New York state tax authority say they aren't reviewing the allegations. A lawyer for the president called the story 100 percent false and highly defamatory and threatened a possible lawsuit. The White House meantime said in a statement, quote, many decades ago, the FBI reviewed and signed off on these transactions.

"The Times" note that the statute of limitations on any possible wrongdoing if found has long since expired.

ROMANS: All right. Law enforcement officials scrutinizing a letter addressed to President Trump that contained a substance suspected to be the deadly poison ricin. They say it appears to be connected to similar envelopes delivered to the Pentagon Monday. The envelope addressed to the president was not received at the White House and did not enter the building. All mail received at the Pentagon screening facility Monday is now under quarantine. A spokesman says it poses no threat to Pentagon personnel. BRIGGS: Be prepared to receive a presidential alert on your cell

phone today. The government is conducting its first test of a new designed to push an emergency message to nearly all cell phones in the U.S. It will only be used in cases of public peril like a coordinated attack on major cities.

The alert will be sent starting at 2:18 Eastern Time this afternoon. It will look and sound like other emergency notifications such as Amber and severe weather alerts. One more detail, you cannot opt out. This test was originally scheduled for mid-September but was postponed because FEMA was responding to Hurricane Florence.

ROMANS: A rising star in the Democratic Party is ending his campaign for Kansas City mayor to seek treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. Jason Kander served as an army intelligence officer in Afghanistan. He returned home 11 years ago.

He says he appreciates all the support he's received but says, quote, I'm done hiding this from myself and from the world. When I wrote in my book that I was lucky to not have PTSD, I was trying to convince myself, and I wasn't sharing the full picture. I still have nightmares.

Kander says he visited the V.A. in Kansas City on Monday. He tends to start getting help there regularly.

BRIGGS: Best of luck to Mr. Kander.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: Ahead, a Chinese actress missing since June is apologizing. She's vowing to pay up after being ordered to pay $130 million.

ROMANS: And widespread praise for Amazon's decision to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. We'll hear what an executive told me, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:38] BRIGGS: Four-thirteen Eastern Time.

And missing Chinese actress Fan Bingbing ordered to pay nearly $130 million in back taxes and fines. China state media reports she's being investigated for tax evasion, for misreporting earnings from various film projects. They say they will not file criminal charges against her if she makes the payments. The actress has not been seen since June.

Overnight she posted an apology letter on social media saying she will pay the taxes and fines. Unclear if she was forced to write that by the Chinese government.

ROMANS: The death toll from Indonesia's earthquake and tsunami disaster has now jumped to 1,407. President Joko Widodo is meeting with survivors and visiting most -- some of the most devastated areas including a hospital and hotel in Palu. His government taking heat for its slow response as displaced survivors desperately wait for aid.

And as Indonesia deals with the aftermath, there are reports of volcanic eruptions there in Northern Celebes Sea and Java.

BRIGGS: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travels to North Korea this weekend to meet with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang. He's expected to lay the groundwork for a second Trump-Kim summit. This will be Pompeo's fourth visit to North Korea. The president canceled his last trip citing a lack of progress on denuclearization. Pompeo will also travel to Japan, South Korea, and China.

[04:15:01] ROMANS: Amazon receiving praise from two of its biggest critics, the White House and Senator Bernie Sanders. On November 1st, Amazon will raise its minimum wage to $15 for all U.S. employees. That's 350,000 full time, part time, and temp workers.

Amazon will also lobby to hike the federal minimum wage. That's only $7.25 an hour. Amazon says it listened to critics. Unlike rest of big tech, Amazon relies on low-paid labor. Economic adviser Larry Kudlow praised Amazon telling CNBC he favors the higher wages.

Senator Bernie Sanders has long bashed Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, for paying these low wages. Now he says credit where credit is due.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: What Mr. Bezos today has done is not only enormously important for Amazon's hundreds of thousands of employees. It could well be -- and I think it will be -- a shot heard around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Amazon wants other companies to raise their wages, too. But, you know, this is also necessary. The labor market is tight. Unemployment is at 3.9 percent, and retailers like Amazon are fighting for talent.

Here's what Amazon's senior vice president of global operations told me --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE CLARK, AMAZON, SVP GLOBAL OPERATIONS: It's really setting us up for the future here. We've added over 100,000 jobs in the last few years. We expect to add tens of thousands more as we go forward. And this does help us, I think, hire and retain the best people over the course of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Target and Walmart also hiked their wages in the past year, as well, although $15 an hour is the highest wage for a retailer in the country. Interesting the "Wall Street Journal" has an opinion piece saying this is Amazon's $15 political insurance. BRIGGS: Sure it is.

ROMANS: And that you know, it's rich for Amazon to say everyone else should raise your wages, too. That means raising costs for competitors.

BRIGGS: $7.25 still the federal minimum wage. Will others follow do you think? Large employers?

ROMANS: I think they will because they have to. I think, look, if you're a large employer and they're paying $15 an hour, why would you go someplace that pays $11?

BRIGGS: Yes. Well, we can all agree. This is a positive step.

OK. A woman finds a burglar in her garage. Wait until you see what she did to protect her kids and nab the suspect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:21:44] BRIGGS: The federal government charging four alleged members of a militant white supremacist group with inciting, rioting and assaulting counterprotesters at last year's deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Prosecutors describe the defendants as serial rioters. The criminal complaint says they were among the most violent individuals at the Charlottesville rally. Photos show some of the men seen kicking and slamming counter-protesters to the ground.

The four men face riot and conspiracy charges with a maximum five year prison sentence for each county. Three of the four appeared in federal court Tuesday. It's not clear if they have attorneys.

ROMANS: Inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration seizing thousands of documents from the San Francisco headquarters of e- cigarette manufacturer Juul. The surprise inspection last Friday focusing on the company's sales and marketing practices. The FDA calls it part of an ongoing effort to keep tobacco products out of the hands of kids. Big concern at schools and parents around the country.

Last month, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb called the teen use of e- cigarettes an epidemic.

BRIGGS: Police in San Jose, California, using a murdered woman's Fitbit to track down her alleged killer. Ninety-year-old Anthony Aiello was arrested for the gruesome murder of his 67-year-old stepdaughter Karen Navarra last month. Navarra's Fitbit recorded a significant spike in her heart rate before a sudden drop off to nothing. The data helped police investigators construct the timeline and led them to arrest the stepfather on suspicion of murder. Aiello is being held without bail and is due in court tomorrow.

ROMANS: Some beaches in Palm Beach County, Florida, are set to reopen after test results showed a reduction in levels of red tide. Testing by the Florida Fish and Wildlife officials showed very low to medium concentrations at 11 sites. But some nearby from Lake Worth, north to the Martin County line, they will remain closed. Lifeguards and staff at the locations are reporting continued

irritation. Red tide, of course, the overabundance of algae, making it harder to breathe and making affected seafood dangerous to consume.

BRIGGS: Some 400 guns stolen from a UPS facility in Memphis over the weekend have been recovered. The Chicago office of the ATF says the weapons cache was found in Midlothian, Illinois, about 20 miles south of Chicago. Two suspects have been charged, one in custody. Authorities still looking for the other suspect, 24-year-old Roland Jackson of Chicago.

ROMANS: In Arizona, millions of people drenched by the remnants of Tropical Depression Rosa. Watch here as firefighters rushed to rescue at least eight drivers from their flooded vehicles. North Phoenix hit hard by the flooding. People going to work had a hard time getting around.

This baseball field in Phoenix's park submerged. In south Phoenix, torrential rainfall causing a river to swell. Two full days into the month, it's already the fourth wettest October on record in Phoenix, with 29 days to go.

BRIGGS: A brave mom in California holds a burglar at gun point until police arrived and it's all caught on surveillance video, the 25-year- old suspect caught here stealing a laptop in Brittany Morris' home. Her daughter found the suspect in the family's garage. Morris quickly shuttled her kids into a room and grabbed a gun she bought two weeks ago. She cornered the suspect and called 911.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had told the dispatch, I believe he has a knife on him. And I told him, you come near me, you take one step toward me, I will shoot you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Wow.

Taft City police showed up in two minutes. They arrested the suspect. He had been in the garage for several hours. He was booked on first- degree burglary charges.

BRIGGS: It took five hours to decide the Colorado Rockies outlasting the Chicago Cubs to win the National League wildcard game 2-1 in 13 innings. It was an unlikely hero. Third string catcher Tony Wolters who delivered the game-winning hit.

Colorado will now play the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division series tomorrow. Tonight, the Yankees host the Oakland A's in the American League wild card game. That's the longest playoff game in Wrigley Field history.

ROMANS: Wow.

BRIGGS: And Wrigley's been around a while. More than 100 years. ROMANS: The first baseball game I saw was a Cubs game, it was 19

innings, at the time the longest ever.

BRIGGS: You watched all 19?

ROMANS: It was my first game in Wrigley. I mean, I stayed there the whole time.

BRIGGS: Wow. Stunned.

ROMANS: Yes. It was fun.

The FBI report on Brett Kavanaugh could come today. But, first, the bureau is expanding the probe. The president takes direct aim at Christine Blasey Ford.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)