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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Pittsburgh's Mayor Bill Peduto Condemns Anti-Semitic Attack; A Far Right Populist Wins Presidency in Brazil; Boston Red Sox Beat Dodgers to Win World Series; Rams Hold Off Packers to Stay Unbeaten; Pittsburgh Steelers Honor Victims of Jewish Synagogue Shooting; Lion Air Passenger Jet Crashes; Pittsburgh Mourns Deadly Synagogue Attack; ADL Reports 57 Percent Jump in Anti-Semitic Crime in 2017; Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Jewish Synagogue Shooter; President Trump Orders Flags to Fly at Half Staff After Jewish Synagogue Shooting. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 29, 2018 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:00:00] MAYOR BILL PEDUTO, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Around this state and around this country.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-HOST, EARLY START: Pittsburgh is defiant after the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. The attack caps a series of events inspired by hateful rhetoric, rhetoric moving from fringe to mainstream.
DAVE BRIGGS, CO-HOST, EARLY START: A radical shift in Brazil. The election of a far-right populist as president, he's been called the Donald Trump of Brazil over his racist and misogynist rhetoric.
ROMANS: And for the fourth time in 15 years, the Boston Red Sox are World Series champions. I know they have no idea what that feels like, do they? Not at all.
BRIGGS: Nope --
ROMANS: Nope --
BRIGGS: No, very new feeling.
ROMANS: There is an underdog story though, so it's redeeming in terms of -- you know, I always ended that. Good morning --
BRIGGS: The MVP is a great story --
ROMANS: Yes, welcome to EARLY START this Monday morning, I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs, it is Monday, October 29th, 5:00 a.m. in the East. We begin with breaking news this morning. A 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 Pangkal. Lion Air confirms it lost contact with flight JT 610 13 minutes after takeoff. Cnn's Will Ripley has the latest live from Hong Kong. Will, what are we learning here?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, when you look at this on the surface, there aren't any obvious clues as to what may have caused this plane to go down just 13 minutes after takeoff. It was supposed to be about an hour flight, but the plane vanished from radar after making a very sharp descent before it disappeared from screens altogether.
This was a brand new Boeing 735, it had just been delivered in August to Lion Air, it had 800 flight hours, a seasoned crew on board, more than 11,000 flight hours combined between the two of them, we have now learned the identity just in the past few minutes of the captain. He is an Indian national named Bhavye Suneja. And you know, there are conflicting reports as to whether he called air traffic control in Jakarta and asked to turn the plane back around.
The airline disputes that. But what we know is that whether there was -- whether there were thunderstorms in the area, there was nothing dangerous in terms of weather in the vicinity where this plane went down. The plane was a safe distance away from the lightning and what not.
And so there are just so many questions for the family members who have been waiting at the airport for hours, knowing that there are empty ambulances lining the shore. This plane went down just 34 miles off the coast of Jakarta, so very early on into this relatively short flight. And just -- you know, with weather pretty much ruled out, divers are now searching those relatively shallow waters, it's just 114 feet deep or so in the Java Sea, looking for the flight data recorders to try to provide clues.
And of course, they're also going to start looking very closely at the list of names on board, 189 people, eight crew members, 181 passengers looking, looking at the backgrounds of everybody. Sadly, you know, in plane crashes, when you look at the passenger manifest, one child and two infants on board. Dave.
BRIGGS: With just so little information as to what may have happened, Will Ripley, stay on it for us, we'll check back within the next hour, thank you.
ROMANS: All right, the city of Pittsburgh and its Jewish community trying to come to grips with the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States. Federal prosecutors filing hate-crime charges against a Pennsylvania man police say stormed the Tree of Life Synagogue and opened fire, killing 11 people and injuring six others including four police officers. The gunman telling one officer, he wanted all Jews to die.
BRIGGS: The U.S. Attorney for Pennsylvania's Western District seeking approval from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to pursue the death penalty against Robert Bowers. The Anti-Defamation League reports a whopping 57 percent jump in anti-Semitic crime and threats in 2017, the largest ever in the United States. A defiant Pittsburgh mayor says hatred will never win.
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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 this state and around this country.
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ROMANS: The three major crimes in this country in the last week with a common thread, hate rhetoric that is becoming all too mainstream. On Wednesday, police say a white man killed two black people, Maurice Stallard and Vickie Jones at a Kroger grocery store in Kentucky. Minutes earlier, police say he tried to enter a predominately black church.
And of course there's the mail bomber, he is due in court today, Cesar Sayoc was arrested in south Florida Friday, his van filled with pro- Trump, anti-Cnn, anti-Democrats stickers.
BRIGGS: The synagogue shooter also due in court today. The damage he left behind tearing at the fabric of Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. David Shribman; the Executive Editor of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" writing, "for more than a century and a half, it has been not only the spiritual center of Pittsburgh Judaism, but also a vital landmark in the history of Jews in America." More now from Cnn's Miguel Marquez.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Dave, the more we learn about Robert Bowers, the more disturbing it is.
[05:05:00] Not because people are saying he was a Nazi and expressing sort of these views, but because the exact opposite. There was none of that. This is a person who barely cast a shadow in this life. People who knew him for many years say that they felt badly for him, that he was sort of a lost soul.
Investigators now combing through everything. They have gone through his house for many hours, computers, phones, car, they're looking for surveillance video trying to paint a full picture of what and when and how and why this individual would do such a thing. One thing is clear, if you knew where 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 information about Jews in particular.
There was one group in particular bothered him. Seventeen days before this horrible crime, he posted about HAIS. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. They've done a video down the U.S.-Mexico border about the caravan coming up from Central America. Mr. Bowers called these individuals invaders and some of them coming to slaughter our own people. He really keyed on this before he walked into that synagogue and
killed all those people and injured others. He posted about that saying that he didn't care about the optics about what he was about to do, but he was going in as he put it. The reality is starting to settle in not only in the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, but across this very tough and great town of Pittsburgh. Dave, Christine.
BRIGGS: No town tougher than Pittsburgh. Miguel, thank you. And inter-faith vigil was held Sunday for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Here you see the three rabbis of the three congregations at the Tree of Life Synagogue hugging on stage.
The victims range in age from 54 to 97. Jerry Rabinowitz was 66, he was primary care physician.
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SUSAN BLACKMAN, VICTIM'S FRIEND: Dr. Jerry was somebody who when you see him, your eyes light up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's gone.
BLACKMAN: And he's gone.
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ROMANS: Sixty five-year-old Richard Gottfried was a dental -- had a dental practice with his wife Peg. He was also the dentist for the North Hill School District for some time. The superintendent calls him a fixture in the community. Joyce Fienberg was a 75-year-old former research specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, she was also a grandmother and a mother of two sons.
BRIGGS: Cecil and David Rosenthal were brothers, 59 and 54 respectively. They also sat in the back of the temple, always greeting people as they came to worship. Listen to one of Cecil's long time friends.
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LAURA BERMAN, VICTIM'S FRIEND: And he was always just a 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.
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BRIGGS: Daniel Stein was 71, his dry sense of humor was legendary. Stein's son said "Saturday was the worst day of my life."
ROMANS: Bernice and Sylvan Simon were the sweetest couple you could imagine. That's according to their neighbor of 40 years. They were 84 and 86 years old. Ninety seven-year-old Rose Mallinger was from Squirrel Hill, she regularly attended the synagogue with her daughter who was also shot. Friends say even at 97, Rose was vibrant and full of life. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN FRIEDMAN, VICTIM'S FRIEND: The holocaust and the ugly times, and she made it through all that. These aren't the kinds of things that are supposed to happen. You don't walk in there on Saturday morning and think you're not walking out.
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BRIGGS: Eighty eight-year-old Melvin Wax of Squirrel Hill was always the first to arrive and the last to leave the synagogue. Friends remember him as a gem and a gentleman. And Irving younger was 69, friends and neighbor say the former real estate company owner was a wonderful father and grandfather. A Go Fund Me page for the Tree of Life Synagogue already has raised over half a million dollars in donations.
ROMANS: President Trump ordering flags to fly at half staff in honor of the synagogue shooting victims until sunset on Wednesday. Hours after the attack, the president decided not to cancel his appearance at the political rally in Illinois.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can't let these evil people change your life, change your schedules, change anything. It's too important. What you do has to stay that way and you cannot let them become important.
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ROMANS: 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.
[05:10:00] You can see if we dropped that banner, the date there when the Stock Exchange opened is September 17th, the next Monday.
It remained closed until six days after the September 11th attacks --
BRIGGS: That's right. Before heading to Illinois, Mr. Trump insists the outcome of the synagogue attack could have been different if there had been an armed guard.
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TRUMP: If they had protection inside, the results would have 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, maybe it could have been a very much different situation.
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BRIGGS: President Trump says he plans to visit Pittsburgh, but didn't say when. A group of progressive Jewish leaders though in the city say he is not welcome until he denounces white nationalism. One former top aide to the president says it's time for everyone, including the president, to tone it down.
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ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS: I would love to see this stuff dial back on both sides. But good leadership requires that somebody go first, and I'd like it to be him.
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ROMANS: The president does not appear ready to do that. Late last night, he once again deflected any responsibility for the tone in the country right now, instead pointing fingers at the media. "The fake news is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, conservatives and me for division and hatred.
It is their fake and dishonest reporting which is causing problems far greater than they understand.
BRIGGS: Brazil has a new president, becoming the latest nation to elect a far-right leader. Supporters of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro celebrating in the streets after their candidate was declared the winner by more than 10 points. The outcome represents Brazil's most radical political shift since democracy was restored more than 30 years ago.
ROMANS: The extreme right populist Bolsonaro has exulted the country's military leadership -- dictatorship, advocated torture and threatened to destroy jail or drive his political opponents into exile. He is calling for unity, following one of the most polarizing elections in Brazil's history.
The 63-year-old Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen last month during a rally, cast his ballot wearing a bulletproof vest. His critics are concerned about the threat he might pose to human rights.
BRIGGS: All right, ahead, a lot of ugly stuff ends up on social media. The Pittsburgh shooter, the latest example, should there be a limit for hateful speech online?
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ROMANS: Renewed focus on hate speech on social media. What can be posted, what can't? And how much is too much or too little when it comes to enforcement? Before the suspected gunman walked into the Tree of Life Synagogue, he logged on to a site called gab.com. The suspect frequently targeted Jews in his posts.
What this platform, Gab, it's a website that bills itself as the free speech social network. The site's claim to fame is that users can post almost anything even if the content is racist without being sanctioned. Puts nearly no restrictions on content. People banned from mainstream sites like Twitter for hate speech or harassment, they sometimes then go to Gab.
Gab.com tweeted a statement late last night, saying, "we have been smeared by the mainstream media for defending free expression and individual liberty for all people." It says the site will be inaccessible for a period after their host kicked them off. Twitter has also come under criticism for its response to hate speech, you know, less than two weeks before he allegedly sent mail bombs to prominent Democrats and Cnn New York offices.
Cesar Sayoc threatened Rochelle Ritchie. A political analyst on Twitter, Ritchie reported the tweet. Twitter responded, saying with "threat did not qualify as a violation of its rules against abusive behavior." When Sayoc was arrested Friday, Twitter apologized, saying, "it should have taken different action when Ritchie contacted them."
BRIGGS: They've all been very reactive to all these, Twitter and Facebook, instead of being proactive. Let's hope that shifts --
ROMANS: You know, the roots of all these social --
BRIGGS: In the years ahead --
ROMANS: Media platforms is a civil libertarian rule. You know --
BRIGGS: Yes --
ROMANS: We are the platform and this allows free speech --
BRIGGS: Right --
ROMANS: And we're not going to get -- but now, obviously, there are big questions about whether that is good for America, whether conversations --
BRIGGS: Yes --
ROMANS: That were on the fringes of society are now in the mainstream. Is that good?
BRIGGS: That discussion will continue in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, fans in Boston preparing for yet another parade. The Red Sox finish off the Dodgers in the World Series. Andy Scholes shows us how in the "BLEACHER REPORT" next.
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BRIGGS: All right, for the fourth time in the past 15 years, the Boston Red Sox are World Series Champions. Andy Scholes has more on the "BLEACHER REPORT" this morning. Scholes, Romans wants a feel-good story for the big, bad, Red Sox. The overpaid Red Sox winning. I suggest Steve Pearce is that story.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: He certainly was their unlikely hero in --
BRIGGS: Yes --
SCHOLES: Series, Dave. And this Red Sox team are going to go down as the best in franchise history. They won 108 games in the regular season, and they just easily beat the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers to win it all. In game 5 last night, it was journeyman Steve Pearce as the unlikely hero.
He homered off Clayton Kershaw in the first inning to give Boston the lead. Then he homered again in the eighth. The 35-year-old had played for seven teams in his career. He grew up a Boston fan, and now he is forever going to be a Red Sox legend. Pearce is the World Series MVP.
A pitcher David Price redeeming himself in this series after years of struggling in the post season, Price was great, pitching seven innings, a one run ball, the Red Sox win game five, 5-1. They cap off an incredible year, and afterwards, well, Price was thrilled that he's never going to have to hear that he can't win the big one.
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DAVID PRICE, PITCHER, BOSTON RED SOX: I hold all the cards now, and that feels so good. So that feels so good. I can't tell -- I can't tell you how good it feels to hold that trump card.
STEVE PEARCE, LEFT FIELDER, BOSTON RED SOX & WORLD SERIES MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: You know, baseball is a funny game. You know, you never know where the game will take you, and, you know, I've gone through a lot in my life and it's -- in my career to be here. And I couldn't be more thankful.
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SCHOLES: And after that final out, the party was on in downtown Boston. Now, this is the city's ninth pro title since 2004. Lots of spoiled fans celebrating there around town. Now, they're expected to announce when the victory's parade will be later on today.
[05:25:00] All right, well, for Los Angeles, at least, they have the NFL now, and the Rams are a perfect 8-0, they beat the Packers 29-27. Aaron Rodgers was going to have a chance to win this game in the final moments, but Ty Montgomery fumbled this kick-off to turn right here. And then Todd Gurley and the Rams, they run out the clock, Gurley here going to go down instead of just running into the end zone and scoring at the end.
Gurley angering many football fans and those who bet on the Rams to which he said afterwards, forget fantasy, forget Vegas. We got the win. Steelers holding a moment of silence before their game yesterday with the Browns in Pittsburgh to honor those who lost their lives in Saturday's synagogue shooting.
The Steelers also changing their logo for the day, changing the yellow star to the star of David. Pittsburgh went on to beat the Browns in that one, 33-18. The Penguins meanwhile, they're going to hold a blood drive today at their arena. And Dave, they're also going to hold --
BRIGGS: Yes -- SCHOLES: A collection at tomorrow's game against the New York
Islanders with all of their money collected going to the victims and their families.
BRIGGS: Yes, sports is the fabric of that tough, gritty town, they will help them heal. Andy Scholes, thank you my friend.
SCHOLES: All right --
BRIGGS: Romans, over to you.
ROMANS: All right, thanks, Dave. Breaking overnight, a passenger plane goes down after take-off from Indonesia. The pilot asked to turn around before going down with almost 200 souls on board.
And a week of hateful crimes targeting blacks, Jews and critics of the president. The president rejecting any suggestion his rhetoric contributes to the tone.
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