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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
20 Killed In Limo Crash; Kavanaugh Fallout For Midterms; China, Interpol Chief Under Investigation; Tropical Storm Michael Heads For Florida. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired October 08, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, EARLY START SHOW CO-HOST: The deadliest transportation accident in the U.S. in a decade. What caused a limo to crash in New York leaving 20 people dead?
JOE JOHNS, EARLY START SHOW GUEST CO-HOST: Democrats are a mob? Republicans angered women. Both sides are now trying to spin the Brett Kavanaugh debacle for the gain in the midterms.
ROMANS: China says the missing head much of Interpol is under investigation for corruption. He has been missing for days. His last contact a text message with a knife emoji.
JOHNS: And tropical storm Michael headed for the Florida panhandle. Hurricane-force impact expected Wednesday. An update in less than an hour. Good morning. Welcome to "Early Start." I'm Joe Johns, in for Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: Nice to have you this morning.
JOHNS: Good to be here.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, October 8th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Good morning everyone. We begin here with the tragedy in New York State. And Federal investigators on the scene in upstate New York following the deadliest transportation accident in the U.S. since 2009. 20 people died when a limousine carrying several couples to a birthday party plowed through an intersection and crashed into a parked SUV about 40 miles from Albany. State police say all 18 people in these limousine were killed, including the driver. Two pedestrians near the SUV also died. Among the victims, several married couple -- couples rather. One woman lost four of her nieces.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were fun loving wonderful girls. They would do anything for you. And they were very close to each other and they love their families and they loved their parents. They had one -- one has two little children and one has one child. And they now have no home or no parents.
(END VIDEO CLIP) JOHNS: So far, authorities have not been able to answer crucial
questions about the limo and its safety record. But one woman says her niece who died in the crash was uneasy about riding in it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My niece said before she got in the vehicle, she texted a friend of hers and said, oh my gosh, you would not believe what they just said. And she says the vehicle is a little sketchy, because it made a lot of noise. It didn't look good. She says I don't know if we're going to survive this and 20 minutes later she died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Law enforcement authorities have not yet identified the company that own the limo. It is also unclear whether the passengers were wearing seatbelts, if the brakes were working or driver was speeding.
ROMANS: All right. The Supreme Court confirmation fight is over. Now both sides digging in trying to use the fallout from the battle for gain in the midterms. President Trump and Republicans are defiant branding Democrats as a mob for the way they attack Brett Kavanaugh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In their quest for power, the radical Democrats have turned into an angry mob.
SEN MITCH MCCONNEL, (R) MAJORITY LEADER: We refuse to be intimidated by the mob of people that were coming after Republican members at their homes and in the halls.
CHUCK GRASSLEY CHAIRMAN SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: What we have learned is the resistance that has existed since the day after the November 2016 election is right here on Capitol Hill. They have encouraged mob rule.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: You can see the talking point through out there. Senate Democrats argued that, many voters, women especially, are still furious. Hawaii Senator Maize Hirono says Democratic voters will be highly motivated to punish Republicans in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAZIE HIRONO DEMOCRAT HAWAII: He will be on the Supreme Court with a huge taint and a big asterisk after his name. The partisanship that he showed was astounding. The conspiracy theory that he accused us of was bizarre.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: In the meantime, Senator Susan Collins, one of the crucial swing votes is defending her decision to back Kavanaugh. She said she thought she stepped over the line, when the confirmation process but she had some justification.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN SUSAN COLLINS, (D) MAINE: I put myself in his shoes. He is coming forward and answering an allegation that includes that he was involved in gang raping and doping girls. I mean that is so devastating. And I think he reacted with anger and anguish as a father of two young girls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Senator Collins says she believes Christine Blasey Ford was assaulted, but she does not believe Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant.
[04:05:04] ROMANS: In a move generously described as hypocritical, Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell, is leaving the door open to confirming the Supreme Court nominee in 2020. During the last Presidential election in 2016, Republicans refused to hold hearings for President Obama's nominee Merrick Garland. They said the next president she choose the next Supreme Court Justice.
JOHNS: But Sunday, McConnell argued that if the White House and Senate are controlled by the same party, the nomination can proceed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONNEL: We simply followed the tradition in America which is if you have a Party of a different Senate of a different Party than the President, you don't fill the vacancy created of a Presidential year. That went all the way back to 1888. The answer to your question is we will see if there is a vacancy in 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Last week, Senator Lindsey Graham says if a vacancy does comes up in 2020, the Garland standard as he call it applies and the nomination should be put at hold.
ROMANS: Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, tells CNN Fareed Zakaria, he does not believe President Trump can be a moral leader. During a joint interview alongside fellow Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright Powell, pointed to Trump attacks on the press and his tendency to insult his opponents and groups that disagree with him.
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COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: My favorite three words in our constitution is the first three words. We the people. We, the people. But recently, it has become me, the President as opposed to we, the people. And you see things that should not be happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Later, Powell added that the world is watching and the rest
of the world cannot believe that we are doing things like separating mothers and children who are trying to get across the border.
JOHNS: After days of mystery surrounding the disappearance of the head of Interpol, the International Police Agency, the Chinese government admits Meng Hongwei is under investigation for alleged corruption. Chines officials say, Meng insisted on taking a wrong path and had only himself to blame. Chinese authorities have been tight-lipped about his sudden disappearance late last month. Now, his last message to wife, is under the microscope. CNN's Sam Kiley monitoring the situation from us, joins us live from Hong Kong. What is the latest, Sam?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you say finally after nearly two weeks, the Chinese authorities had confirmed not only is Mr. Meng in China, but he is in their hands. And that statement that you referenced there comes from the ministry of public safety. Security rather. Which is the organization that he was the vice minister for while also the world's top cop effectively as President of the Interpol. An organization that links the world's police forces up.
So, this is an indication, really, that the Chinese are absolutely dedicated to rounding up those accused or believe suspected of corruption. But his wife has been taken into custody or rather police protection by the French authorities, not least because of the mysterious tweet that she received, seen after he arrived in China that said wait for my call and four minutes later had a picture, an emoji of a knife on it. That is on top of threats she had over social media and directly over the telephone. So very sinister case in a country that does executes people for corruption. It is a capital offense in China.
JOHNS: Just a chilling story. At least so far, thanks so much for that, Sam Kiley in Hong Kong.
ROMANS: Eight minutes past the hour. Dire warning from the United Nations science board. They say the world has barely ten years to get climate change under control or the results could be catastrophic. A new report says the planet is already 2/3 of the way to the climate tipping point. The panel says if we don't reduce greenhouse emissions, the earth will reach that critical threshold as early as 2030.
JOHNS: Sea levels would rise to an extra four inches and extreme heat and weather events would be much worse and more frequent. Holding global warming below these limit would require, what the panel calls, rapid for reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. The U.S. is the world's second largest emitter of carbon dioxide and the Trump administration has rolled back Obama era, climate measures.
ROMANS: The holiday season is just around the corner, but retailers will have a tough time finding workers. So, Americans picking up holiday jobs, they are going to see higher pay, flexible schedules, even perks like paid time off. Retailers expect to hire 650,000 holiday workers this year. That is more than last year. The labor market is super tight. Unemployment rate is lowest now since 1969. So many retailers had to start searching for holiday workers early. Some began as early as July. And they will pay more. Amazon this year will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all employees, including seasonal workers.
[04:10:03] Walmart is promising at least $11 an hour. Target $12, on average season, a retail pay is up 54 percent this year, but it is not just higher pays. Some retailers are offering non cash incentives to lure workers by a generous employee discounts, paid time off. Chances to win a paid vacation. Even retirement benefits. Nearly unheard of for temporary employees. That, Joe Johns, is a tight labor market at work.
JOHNS: Unbelievable. You know, here we go.
ROMANS: We should pick up a shift.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: A journalists for the Washington Post goes to get a marriage license has not been heard from since. Are his words about the Saudi crown prince the reason? We are live coming up in Istanbul.
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ROMANS: Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is in Beijing this morning for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This follow his weekend meeting with North Korea dictator, Kim Jong-un.
[04:15:02] Pompeo called the meeting quote, a good productive conversation. Of course, we heard that tone before. But this time there could be a critical difference. CNN's Alexandra Field is live in Seoul with more for us. Alex.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Christine. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, saying this trip is representing a step forward. Of course, we all know there is a very long road ahead. These was the fourth trip to Pyongyang for Secretary Pompeo. Of course the talks with Kim Jong-un centered on the next steps that could be taken towards to denuclearization. There were also plans that will be worked on for another summit between Kim Jong-un and President Trump himself.
And an offer from North Korea his time, to allow international inspectors to verify that North Korea had in fact destroyed a nuclear test site. Some months ago, when it said that it did. This could be a good trust building measure for North Korea. Although International experts had weighed in the past saying, that the destruction of this specific site would not be regarded as a step toward denuclearization. It would simply mean that North Korea no longer need or wanted or planned to use that specific site.
Interestingly, the topic of North Korea is the something that Secretary Pompeo says, he can work with North Korea on -- he is in -- he could work with China, rather. And he is in China now. He has gone from Pyongyang to Seoul on to Beijing. He has been meeting with his counterparts there.
And Christine, it has been a trip which is sort of an awkward start. The initial exchange included some bold language according to the pool reporters who are in the room. This trip happened about a week after Vice President Pence made a broad speech blasting China for trade practices for efforts to undermine the U.S. Election and for military aggression. Weng, the Chinese counterpart to Secretary Pompeo pushed back on all those accusations today, but both sides did agree that they could work together on North Korea. Weng also witted to the fact that he believed that those recent remarks were eroding trust and relationship between China and the U.S. So, a bit of awkward.
ROMANS: Yes, I would say though. All right. Thank you so much, Alexandra Field.
JOHNS: The U.S. Government is quietly working the case of the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Washington Post writer, an outspoken critic of the Saudi crown prince went missing after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul last week. CNN's Jomanah Karadsheh live in Istanbul with more.
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JOMANAH KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Joe, we are outside the Saudi consulate. This is where Jamal Khashoggi was last seen on Tuesday after he entered that consulate. He hasn't been heard of. He hasn't been seen since and over the past week, we heard these conflicting reports coming from all sides here about what may have happened to him. His fiancee, who I met out here just 24 hours after he disappeared mysteriously was saying he was reluctant about going into the consulate. He was really concerned about his safety. This is a man who left Saudi Arabia in the midst of the crackdown concerned about his safety. But he had no choice. He had to go into the consulate to obtain paper work he needed to get married here in Turkey.
Now, over the past week, Turkish officials had maintained that he walked in the consulate and he did not leave. In the past 36 hours or so, we have been hearing the leaks, unnamed officials speaking to some media saying that he may have been killed. We also heard this allegation from the adviser to the Turkish President saying, he personally believes this may have happened. But we also heard from President Erdogan too, he sounded a bit more optimistic saying that there is an investigation going on and we have to see what the results of these investigation is going to be.
At the same time, the Saudis throughout have been denying these reports. They denied these allegations that he was killed. Saying they are baseless allegations and the say he was in the consulate, but he left a short time after that. With all of the surveillance cameras around here, people are wondering why they don't just release the footage showing him leave.
And many, joe, I have to say, here in Turkey are saying that the United States and President Trump could do more by pushing the Saudis using the good relationship with the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to try to get answers. Joe.
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JOHNS: A lot of very unusual facts there. Thanks so much for that, Jomanah.
ROMANS: All right. How would you feel if you paid $1.4 million for something then saw this happen?
JOHNS: Wow.
ROMANS: A piece by a popular street artist literally shredded to pieces. Now the artist explains for himself.
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JOHNS: Tropical storm Michael on track to slam the U.S. this week. Forecasts have Michael strengthening to a hurricane and hitting the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday. Meteorologist, Ivan Cabrera has the latest.
IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey guys. Good morning. As we check in on tropical storm Michael. This will be hurricane Michael. We get hurricanes in October. In fact we had one last year that was Nathan, and I think it took a similar track to what this is going to do. Where are we here? 60-mile-an-hour winds, the rain that you are going to see in Miami today is already the outer bands of the storm as it continues then heading into the gulf in north. It will intensify perhaps even rapidly here. We are going to be looking at a category two storm. In fact that is the forecast at about 100 miles an hour. Inland, it will be 85. The timing of which, I will be specific here, zoom in, what we are talking about here in around Panama city beach, a category two hurricane with 100 plus miles an hour winds, Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. As you know, this area is vulnerable to storm surge that could be catastrophic there. We will continue to keep you posted as advisories come out. Guys.
[04:25:00] JOHNS: Ivan Cabrera, thanks for that.
Now, try to get your head around this. You pay $1.4 million for a piece of art. Then this happens. Shortly after the auctioneer's gavel fell. The girl with a balloon, one of Banksy's best known images self-destructed. The art work passed through the bottom of the golden frame producing a partially shredded canvas.
ROMANS: On this incident, they account the British base street artist, released a video showing the shredder being built into the painting in case it was ever put up for auction. Still a mystery this morning, how he got it to shred right as it was sold. The video of the captions with quote from Picasso, the urge to destroy is also a creative urge.
JOHNS: Wow.
ROMANS: The quintessential art anarchist.
JOHNS: Absolutely, not anarchist. You know, you have a how-to video on it. But -- to do that.
ROMANS: All right. 25 minutes past the hour. The worst transportation accident in this country in 10 years. Just a tragedy. 20 dead. Including young married couples and four sisters. What investigators are looking for this morning?
JOHNS: And Brett Kavanaugh is now Justice Kavanaugh. How both parties plan to use the messy confirmation in the midterms?
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