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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Plane With 189 Aboard Crashes After Takeoff; The Rise Of Hate In America; Boston Red Sox Win World Series; Scaramucci Calls For Civility; Bolsonaro Wins Brazil's Presidency. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 29, 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: Breaking overnight. A passenger jet with almost 200 on board crashes after takeoff from Indonesia. A live report moments away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL PEDUTO, MAYOR, PITTSBURG: We will drive anti-Semitism and the hate of any people back to the basement on their computer and away from the open discussions and dialogues around this city, around the state and around this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, EARLY START SHOW CO-HOST: Pittsburgh is defiant after the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. The attack caps a series of events inspired by hateful rhetoric moving from the fringe to the mainstream.

ROMANS: A radical shift in Brazil. The election of the far right populist. As president has been called, the Donald Trump of Brazil over his racist and misogynist rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back at the wall. He is got another. How about Steve Pearce.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: (Inaudible) for the fourth time in 15 years, the Boston Red Sox are World Series champions and a 35-year-old journeyman on the 17 is the MVP. Good morning everyone. Welcome to "Early Start." I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: I love it when the underdog team doesn't have a big, you know, a big budget win. I love that. Oh, wait. This is the Red Sox. I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, October 29th, it is 4:00 a.m. in of the East. We begin with breaking news this morning.

The Lion Air passenger jet with 189 people on board crashing overnight during a short flight from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to the Indonesian island of Banka. Lion Air confirms it lost contact with flight JT 610, 13 minutes after takeoff. I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley, he is monitoring the breaking news all the developments live from Hong Kong. Will, what do we know? Do you think there are any survivors?

WILL RIPLEY, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: It doesn't look good at this point, Christine. And the images that we have of the family members who are waiting at the airport in Pangkal, Pinang, where the plane is supposed to land, it was supposed to be an hour flight, the kind of flight that people take all the time, think nothing of it. And obviously they never arrived. They have been waiting there for hours. With each passing hour, there has been these new images of debris rising through the surface of the Java seas some 34 nautical miles off Jakarta.

As you mentioned, the plane disappear from radar shortly after takeoff. It only rose up to around 5000 feet and the radar should made a pretty rapid descent before it vanished from screens altogether. There are conflicting reports at this hour as to whether the pilots called back to the airport and asked to turn around. Indonesian authorities said they did that, the airline disputes that account but either way it's really a mystery about how this could've happened. How this plane could've crashed and broken apart. Given the fact it was just delivered to the airline back in August. It's a brand-new model Boeing 737 only 800 flight hours on the aircraft itself. The pilot and copilot had a combined 11,000 flight hours were relatively experienced crew as you mentioned 189 people on board, 181 of them passengers, including one child and two infants, which is always just the most heartbreaking thing to think about in of these parents to take their kids on the plane.

It's just a tragedy and now of course at the immediate searches for the fuselage itself is still looking for the actual plane they found debris. They are still looking for the flight data recorders, they need to find out not only exactly what happened, but why. Christine

ROMANS: Do we know doing what the weather at the time, I mean the season flight crew, a brand-new airplane, a relatively short flight?

RIPLEY: Very good question. There were thunderstorms in the area but they were a safe distance from the aircraft. They were not in the immediate vicinity where the plane is belief of gone down so this really only adds to the mystery of things.

ROMANS: All right. Will Ripley in Hong Kong for us. Thank you, Will.

BRIGGS: All right, now to the city of Pittsburgh and its Jewish community trying to come to grips with the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in the history of United States. Federal prosecutors filing hate crime charges against the Pennsylvania man for allegedly storming the tree of life synagogue and opening fire, killing 11 people, injuring six others, including four police officers the government telling one officer he wanted all Jews to die.

ROMANS: The U.S. attorney for Pennsylvania Western district just seeking approval from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to pursue the death penalty against Robert Bowers, a defiant Pittsburg mayor says hatred will never win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDUTO: We will drive anti-Semitism and the hate of any people back to the basement on their computer and away from the open discussions and dialogues around this city, around the state and around this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:00] BRIGGS: Three major crimes in this country in the last week with the common thread hate rhetoric that is becoming all too mainstream. On Wednesday, a white man allegedly killed two black people at a Kroger grocery store in Kentucky. Minutes earlier, police say he tried to enter a predominantly black church and of course the mail bomber who was in court today. Cesar Sayoc was arrested in South Florida on Friday, his van filled with pro-Trump, anti-Democrat and anti-CNN stickers.

ROMANS: The suspected synagogue shooter is also due in court today. The damage he left behind. It just tearing the fabric of Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill neighborhood, David Shrudman, the executive editor of the Pittsburg post-Gazette writing quote, for more than a century it has become the spiritual center of Pittsburgh Judaism, but also a vital landmark in the history of Jews in America. We get more from CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine Dave, the more we learn about Robert Bowers. The more disturbing it is, not because people are saying he was a Nazi in expressing some of these views, but because the exact opposite, it was none of that. This is a person who barely cast a shadow in this life. People who knew him for many, many years say that they felt badly for him, but he was sort of a loss soul.

Investigators now combing through everything they had gone to his house for many hours, computers, phones, car, they are looking for the surveillance video trying to paint a full picture of what -- of what and when how and why this individual would do such a thing. One thing is clear. If you knew what to look online, not the twitter, not the Facebook, not the obvious places, but there were certain online places where he was posting that he posted deeply hateful rhetoric and an information about Jews in particular.

There was one group in particular bothered him 17 days before this horrible crime he posted about HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Paid Society. They have done a video on the US-Mexico border about the caravan coming up in Central America. Mr. Bowers called these individuals invaders. Some of them coming to slaughter our own people. He merely keyed on this. Before he walked into the synagogue and kill all those people and injured others. He posted about that saying that he didn't care about the optics about what he is about to do, but he was going in as you put it. The reality is starting to settle in, not only in the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, but across his very tough and great town of Pittsburgh. Dave, Christine.

(END VIDEO)

ROMANS: Just heartbreaking story to cover Miguel, thank you for being there for us. An interfaith vigil was held Sunday for the victims of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Here you see the three rabbis of the three congregations of the tree of life synagogue, hard on stage.

Victims range in age 54 to 97. Jerry (inaudible) 66, he is a primary care physician, his nephew says, his uncle Jerry could lighten up a room with an infectious laugh, his friends agree.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dr. Jerry was just somebody who when you see him, your eyes light up and he is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: 65-year-old Richard Gottfried had a dental practice with his wife Peg. He was also the dentist for the Northville school district for some time. The superintendent calls him a fixture in the community. Joyce Feinberg was a 75 year-old, former research specialist at University of Pittsburgh. She was also grandmother and mother of two sons of former students says, she lit up the room with her huge personality.

ROMANS: Cecil and David Rosenthal were brothers 59 and 54 years old respectively. They were inseparable always sat in the back of the temple to greet people as they came to worship. Listen to one of Cecil's longtime friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BERMAN, VICTIM'S FRIENDS: He was always just as sweet, sweet gentle soul that was friendly to everybody, helpful to everybody, he came. I understand he came all the time, because he wanted to help and be part of the community and to make it accessible to everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Daniel Stein was 71. His dry sense of humor was legendary and a post of Facebook, Stein's son wrote it on Saturday was the worst day of my life.

BRIGGS: Bernice and Sylvan Simon were the sweetest couple you could imagine. According to one of their neighbors of 40 years they were 84 and 86 years old and were always trying to help out in the community and their temple, 97 year-old Rose Mallinger, was from Squirrel Hill. She regularly attended the synagogue with her daughter who was shot, friends say even at 97, Rose's vibrant and full of life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN FRIEDMAN, VICTIM'S FRIEND: The holocaust and the ugly times and she made it to all of that. These are the kinds of things that are supposed to happen, be a walk in the Saturday morning and they cannot walk now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:10:11] ROMANS: 88-year-old Melvin Wax of Escrow Hill was also the first to arrive in the last to leave the synagogue friends remember him as a gem and a gentleman. And Irvin Younger was 69 friends and neighbors say the former real estate company was a wonderful father and grandfather who never had a bad word to say about anybody. A GoFundMe page the Tree of Life synagogue already has over half $1 million in donations.

BRIGGS: President Trump ordering flags to fly at half-staff in honor of the synagogue shootings until sunset on Wednesday. Hours after the attack the president decided not to cancel his appearance in a political rally in Illinois.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't let these evil people change your life, change your schedules, and change anything which is too important. What you do has to say that way, and you cannot let them become important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: And the president also said he decided to attend the rally because he remembered the New York Stock Exchange open the day after the 9/11 attacks. Of course, is false. The stock exchange was closed for six days until Monday, September 17.

ROMANS: I was there when the stock exchange when it opened and that there were some thought that maybe they could have opened, but out of difference for the dead. All the people they are mourning that you when just jump into business as usual, so the president clearly, very wrong on that memory. And before heading to Illinois. Mr. Trump insisted the outcome of the synagogue attack could be different if there had been an armed guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We had projections inside the results would had been far better, this is a dispute that will always exist, I suspect. But if they had some kind of a protection inside the temple, may be it could had been a very much different situations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: As intense as he plans to visit Pittsburgh but did not say when. A group of progressive Jewish leaders in the city say he is not welcome until he denounces white nationalism. One former top aide of the president says it's time for everyone, including the president to tone down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY SCARAMUCCI, TRUMP'S TRANSITION TEAM MEMBER: I would love to see the stomped dialed back on both sides, but good leadership requires that somebody go first and I'd like you to be him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The president does not appear ready to do so, late last night. He once again deflected responsibility for the tone of this country right now instead pointing fingers at the media, quote the fake news media is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, conservatives and me for the division and hatred. It is there fake and dishonest reporting which is causing problems for greater that they understand.

ROMANS: All right. Brazil this morning has a new president becoming a latest nation to elect the far right leader.

Supporters are president-elect Bolsonaro celebrating in the streets after their candidate was declared the winner by over 10 points.

He represents the most radical political change since democracy was restored more than 30 years ago. The extreme right populist Bolsonaro has exalted the country's military dictatorship advocated torture and threatened to destroy jail or drive his opponents -- political opponents to exile. He is calling for unity following one of the most polarizing elections in Brazil's history.

The 63 year-old Bolsonaro was stabbed. Remember in the abdomen last month during a rally, cast his ballot wearing a bullet proof vest. His critics are concern that the threat he might pose to human rights.

BRIGGS: Back here at home another parade in the works for the Red Sox and Red Sox nations. Boston captured their fourth World Series since 2004, late last night Boston smacking fourth home run in this game. Sending the Dodgers 5-1 in game five in L.A. last night. Steve Pierce, 35-year-old journeyman lifer 17 twice went yard in the first and 8 innings, he was named series MVP. The Red Sox with the best-of- seven series four games to one. And the Dodgers are 2nd straight, World Series lost. Celebration going deep into the night around Fenway Park in Boston. Steve Pierce. If you do talk about Boston being the highest payroll in the league.

But this is kind of the story you talked about, the underdog story. No one on the baseball planet thought Steve Pierce would be the hero of this series. He is a great story indeed, 35 years-old.

ROMANS: That is the story line. I am behind that story line.

All right. A lot of ugly stuff ends up on social media, the Pittsburg shooter is the latest example. Should there be a limit for hateful speech online?

[04:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A new focus on hate speech on social media. What can be posted and what can't and how much is too much or too little. When it comes to enforcement before the suspected of walking into the Tree of Life synagogue, if you log on to the site called gab.com, the suspect Robert Bowers frequently targeted Jews in the post. What is gab? The website itself bills itself as the free-speech

social network of free-speech utopia. The sites claim to fame is that users can post almost anything even if the content is racist without being sanctioned, it puts nearly zero restrictions on content. People banned from mainstream sites like Twitter for hate speech or harassment, sometimes end up gab.

Gab.com twitted a statement last night saying, we had been sneered by the mainstream media for defending free expression and individual liberty for all people. It says the site will be inaccessible for a period time after their host kicked them off. You won't find it on an app store right now.

Twitter has also come under criticism for its response to hate speech less than two weeks before he allegedly sent mail bombs prominent Democratic and CNN's New York offices.

[04:20:01] Cesar Sayoc, threaten Rochelle Ritchie, a political analyst on twitter which he reported the tweet and twitter responded saying, the threat didn't qualify as a violation of the twitter rules against abusive behavior. When Sayoc was arrested Friday, twitter apologizing, it should've taken different action when Ritchie contacted them. CNN asked twitter about Sayoc and his tweets on Friday, responded saying, this is an ongoing law enforcement investigation. We do not have to comment.

BRIGGS: We have the resources to police social media and sites like this.

ROMANS: that is the big question, I mean, does twitter have a resource to see that there was that -- I mean, that Miss Ritchie alerted them that they were was a problem and still nothing answer.

BRIGGS: All right. It was a nasty weekend here in the Northeast of blustery morning as well, but it does get better. We will have the forecast for you next.

[04:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: A fast-moving system, pushing up the East Coast this morning bringing gusty ones, but there is some good news on the way. CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, with the forecast now.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning Dave and Christine. This storm system here, might be a pretty quick mover push through by this afternoon and maybe even get some sun breaks out of this as we get in towards a late this afternoon or early this evening for the sunsets, but to shower this morning from Philly up to New York around Boston is going toward the later morning hours. A very easy to pick out the services right across the Northeast, but again, the type of storm we like to see, a quick moving one here, that will quickly depart and beyond it, there is a little gusty here across portions of the appellations, we do have wind advisories in place for winds as high as 50 miles per hour, but high pressure will try to build back behind this. That is the case, we will see temps want to warm up and warm up rather nicely over the next couple of days as high-pressure sets of shopping.

This is kind of southerly search here overstay at the next two to three days. So will start you off today with are owned 55 in York almost 60 in Washington, widespread 70s and 80s that around portions of the Gulf Coast, but how about the Halloween day there of 64 degrees from New York City, places like Boston climb up to almost 70 to start the month of November. Guys?

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that.

BRIGGS: Breaking overnight a passenger plane goes down after takeoff from Indonesia almost 200 people on board, a live report, a moments away.

ROMANS: And a week of hateful crimes targeting blacks, Jews and critics of the president. The president is rejecting suggestions his rhetoric has anything to do to contribute to the atmosphere.

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