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Trump's Campaign Blitz; Trump Visits Site of Synagogue Massacre; DOJ: Pipe Bomb Suspect a "Domestic Terrorist"; Stocks Rebound After Monday Decline; Officials Detect Ping from Lion Air Black Boxes. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 31, 2018 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump kicks off an eight-state campaign blitz less than a week from the midterms.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president with a somber visit, tense visit to Pittsburgh as more victims are laid to rest today.

BRIGGS: Prosecutors say the accused pipe bomber had been planning his attack for months.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, October 31st. Happy Halloween. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

The president returning to the campaign trail tonight. Barnstorming 11 cities across eight states with just six days to go until the midterm elections.

[05:00:06] Tonight, the president will be in Ft. Myers, Florida, trying to boost Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis locked in very tight races for senator and governor respectively. It is the president's third visit to Florida with one more rally scheduled in Pensacola, Florida, over the weekend. Expect to hear plenty at tonight's rally about immigration, the president's key focus as he tries to drive Republican voters to the polls next Tuesday.

He is certain to talk about the caravan and the more than 5,000 U.S. troops he's sending to the border with Mexico to stop migrants -- migrants, by the way, still weeks away.

BRIGGS: The president also claiming he will sign an executive order to end automatic citizenship of all children born to noncitizens on U.S. soil. There are huge questions about ending it with the stroke of a pen. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway argues some constitutional scholars believe such an order might be approved by the courts and she denied the president's move was an effort to whip up the base ahead of the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, because if only the base had voted for him he wouldn't be president. So I think -- I understand that that's like the Sesame Grover word of the day -- that, and fear, and some other stuff. But, no, it's not whipping the base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Among those who disagree with the president's suggestion, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who told a radio show it would never pass constitutional muster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, you obviously cannot do that. You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. We didn't like it when Obama tried changing immigration laws via executive action and obviously as conservatives, you know, we believe in the Constitution. You know, as a conservative, I'm a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution and I think, in this case, the 14th Amendment's pretty clear and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Kellyanne Conway's own husband, George, also scoffed at the idea in an op-ed, coauthored with President Obama's Solicitor General Neal Katyal. They write, quote: Sometimes the constitution's text is plain as day. Such a move would be constitutional and would certainly be challenged, and the challengers would undoubtedly win.

ROMANS: President Trump stirring up anger and controversy with his visit to the site of the synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh. The president and first lady visiting the Tree of Life synagogue. They lit candles, laid stones and white flowers at a memorial for the 11 people who were killed.

Outside the temple, though, protesters yelled "go back, we don't want you here."

More now from CNN's Pamela Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Dave and Christine.

President Trump ignored calls to visit grief-stricken Pittsburgh in the wake of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, moving forward with that visit on Tuesday. He visited the Tree of Life synagogue with the first lady Melania Trump. He was also joined by prominent Jewish members in his administration, including his daughter Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

He went to light a candle in the synagogue and then he laid stones from the White House, as well as white roses outside of that synagogue. And then he went to the hospital to visit those who were wounded in the shooting, as well as some of the medical staff. And during all of this, there were protesters nearby -- protesters carrying signs asking the president to denounce white nationalism. Some of these protesters said they blame the president -- his rhetoric for the recent string of violence. They believe his rhetoric has only created an environment for those predisposed to violence to act out.

The White House has pushed back on that notion, saying that basically, the media is to blame for that, and saying the president wanted to go to Pittsburgh to share in the grief with the rest of the nation in mourning following the shooting there.

There have been many questions about why he chose to go now when those on the ground there -- local officials, including the mayor, have asked him wait. Well, White House aides say a big reason is because of his campaigning schedule. Tuesday was the best day to do it and they were concerned about the optics if he went to Pittsburgh on the same day as one of his upcoming rallies.

Back to you, Dave and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Pamela Brown, thank you.

Three more funerals for the city of Pittsburgh and the nation today. Longtime University of Pittsburgh researcher Joyce Feinberg will be laid to rest at 10:00. At 11:30, services begin for Irving Younger, a former business owner and youth basketball coach. And the funeral for 88-year-old Melvin Wax, who was leading the Shabbat services, when the gunman opened fire, will be held this afternoon at 1:00.

BRIGGS: About 100 members of the Pittsburgh Steelers attended the funeral of brothers David and Cecil Rosenthal on Tuesday. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and head coach Mike Tomlin were there. For them, the synagogue massacre was intensely personal. Tomlin lives in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, just 800 yards from the scene of the massacre.

[05:05:02] And David and Cecil's sister Michelle used to work for the Steelers.

ROMANS: And the Pittsburgh Penguins honoring the victims of the synagogue shooting with a moment of silence before last night's game against the New York Islanders. Penguins players also wore a "Stronger Than Hate" patch on their uniforms. And two -- this gives me goose bumps -- two of the police officers who were wounded in the attack were honored during a ceremonial puck drop.

BRIGGS: New this morning, the Department of Justice accusing pipe bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc of conducting a, quote, domestic terrorist attack that he'd been planning since July. In a new letter asking the judge to deny bail, prosecutors say Sayoc's laptop held lists of addresses that matched labels on the explosive packages. They say his Internet search history included the CNN building, George Soros and his family, and Hillary Clinton and family.

ROMANS: Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa losing support from his own party and two key corporate donors. The Land O'Lakes Company and Purina announcing they will no longer provide financial support to King after their political donations to the eight-term congressman triggered an online backlash.

Now, King's hard-line views on race, ethnicity, and immigration, along with his recent re-tweet of a well-known neo-Nazi also drawing criticism from the chairman of the Republican Congressional Committee. Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio, tweeting, Congressman Steve King's recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate. We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms. I strongly condemn the behavior.

BRIGGS: King firing back at what he calls establishment never- Trumpers. Not sure if he's talking about Stivers. But he's been in Congress since 2003 preaching the same message.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: Taken Republicans a while --

ROMANS: A solidly red district. His hometown newspaper, "The Sioux City Journal," endorsed the Democrat, which is unusual.

RIGGS: Very unusual. All right.

A new face on the legal team representing longtime Trump political adviser Roger Stone. The First Amendment and constitutional law expert Bruce Rogow joins Stone's roster of attorneys just as special counsel Robert Mueller tightens his focus on Stone. One of Rogow's first steps, encouraging Stone to take a polygraph on questions Mueller may ask. Stone tells CNN he's passed two lie-detector exams, although we have no way to independently confirm it.

Mueller's team has summoned nearly a dozen of Stone's current and former associates with interviews or grand jury testimony. Among them, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who was interviewed by Mueller's team last Friday, for at least the third time. "The Washington Post" reporting Bannon was asked about comments Stone made privately in 2016 about WikiLeaks. It was just before WikiLeaks released emails prosecutors say were hacked by Russian operatives.

ROMANS: Stocks rebound Tuesday big time. The Dow rose 432. The Nasdaq and broader S&P 500 both up 1.6 percent. Investors relieved to hear President Trump comment Tuesday that he is willing to negotiate with China on a trade pact. Markets had tumbled Monday on fears that the Trump administration would impose a new round of tariffs on China.

But the month of October, overall folks closed it out, truly ugly. The Dow down 6 percent. The Nasdaq down 11 percent, in a correction. The S&P 500 down 8 percent. Worst month since 2008. We all remember how horrible that was, end-of-the-world horrible days in 2008.

The problems with the market, the idea of peak earnings are here, tax benefits will begin to fade, that interest rates are rising. And that China and the U.S. locked in a trade fight with deadlines in the weeks ahead.

The president will meet with the Chinese president in Buenos Aires at the G-20 next month.

You know, there are folks like Goldman Sachs, for example, who say this whole October disaster has been overdone. You know, they in is sill strong -- the economy is still strong. This is not the end of the bull market. This is a reminder that stocks just don't go up.

BRIGGS: We hope things turn around.

OK. It will be a break for searchers trying to find a passenger jet that crashed on Monday. A live report from Indonesia, next.

ROMANS: And a notorious mobster meets his end in a West Virginia prison. What happened to Boston's Whitey Bulger?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:26] BRIGGS: Searchers have detected a ping from the black boxes belonging to that Indonesian flight that crashed into the Java Sea earlier this week, minutes after takeoff. This major development could help recovery crews find the plane's missing fuselage.

Ivan Watson is live at the main airport with the latest.

Might not help families waiting for a glimmer of hope from loved ones, but maybe an answer to what happened here, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

And just to let you know what's happening here now, Dave, here we have a coast guard boat from the Indonesian coast guard just coming in from the search site, and possibly bringing in more debris from the Java Sea that's surfaced. That's a process that's been taking place for days since the crash of Lion Air flight 610. And the debris -- sad to report, human remains are gathered here on the white tarps behind me.

And we've seen some very emotional, poignant scenes where the authorities in the last hour have been bringing up relatives of some of the 189 passengers and crew to look at possessions --

(AUDIO CLIP)

BRIGGS: All right. Having a little audio issue with Ivan Watson in Indonesia. But we do have some good news that some pings helping to locate those black boxes. We'll check with Ivan soon.

ROMANS: All right. Two fiery helicopter crashes under investigation by the FAA this morning in Beekmantown, New York, near the Canadian border.

[05:15:07] Two people died, and two were injured in this crash. All four aboard the chopper.

Video taken by a witness shows utility wires and grass engulfed in flames there. The helicopter was flying under contract to the New York Power Authority, but a spokesman did not know what it had been hired to do. BRIGGS: In Sebring, Florida, two people died when a gyrocopter

smashed into a mobile home. The pilot identified by the Highland County sheriff as Christopher Lord (ph) and his passenger Christopher Brugger (ph) identified. One man on the ground suffered serious burns but was taken to the hospital. Witnesses say the copter was in some kind of distress before clipping a power line and crashing to the ground.

ROMANS: This one also a really tough story.

A 24-year-old woman is facing three felony charges of reckless homicide for allegedly passing a stopped school bus with its stop sign arm extended and killing three young siblings. Six-year-old twin brothers Xavier and Mason Engle and their 9-year-old sister Olivia were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth child had to be airlift out with life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the pickup truck that struck the children has been identified as Alyssa Shepherd of Rochester, Indiana. Police say she ran them over as they were crossing the street to board their bus.

BRIGGS: Awful.

A violent end to the life of one of America's most notorious criminals. Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger killed Tuesday in a West Virginia prison. The FBI investigating the killing which came one day after he was transferred to the facility. The 89-year-old Bulger eluded federal authorities for more than 16 years until his arrest in 2011. He was serving a life sentence for a host of crimes that included 11 murders.

ROMANS: The Justice Department investigating Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke for possibly using his office for personal gain. Two sources familiar with the investigation say the move follows a referral from interior's internal watchdog. The full extent of the inspector general's inquiry unclear.

But Zinke has faced ethics questions during his tenure. The inspector general's office has opened multiple public inquiries into Zinke including the department's handling of a Connecticut casino project where the boundaries of a national monument in Utah were redrawn to benefit a state lawmaker, and looking into conversations between Zinke and an energy company chief executive about a Montana land development project.

BRIGGS: A lot of stuff there.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: All right. Two of Pittsburgh's hometown teams paying respects to the victims of the synagogue massacre. Coy Wire has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:06] BRIGGS: All right. The penguins do their part to help the city of Pittsburgh heal after the loss of 11 people killed at a synagogue over the weekend.

ROMANS: Coy Wire has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine and Dave.

Steel City bent not broken. Pittsburgh's teams are like a heartbeat of the city for fans who live there. The teams are stepping up and showing support for their city, the victims and their families.

The Penguins held a moment of silence before the game, pausing 11 seconds to honor the 11 lives lost. They were joined on the ice by Pittsburgh's police chief and two of the officers wounded in the attack. The team added the phrase "stronger than hate" to its logo.

The Penguins' jerseys are signed and will be auctioned in effort to support families of the victims of the shooting.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are among those in mourning, about 100 current and former players, including Ben Roethlisberger, Ryan Shazier, and members of the organization attended the funeral of Cecil and David Rosenthal. Their sister Michelle was the team's community relations manager. Head coach Mike Tomlin who lives in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood said that the words cannot express how the members of that community feel.

Not even a bout with a kidney stone can slow down Simone Biles. She was in the emergency room on Saturday. Yesterday she was atop the podium at the world gymnastics championships in Qatar with the U.S. with the team competition in dominating fashion. By the largest margin ever under the current scoring system, the Americans have now won every Olympic and world team title since 2011. And the qualifies for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with the win.

It's October, time to wish a happy Halloween to all. The Atlanta falcons did their best to bring happiness to kids at children's health care of Atlanta's hospital. The Mario brothers, Mr. Incredible, even Freddie Falcon dressed up as an offensive lineman.

And Ben Garland posted this, just trying to make someone's day 1 percent better. By the smiles, I'd say that Ben and the team succeeded. 1 percent better is the team's motto. They use that mantra even in the community every Tuesday.

ROMANS: What are you going to be, Coy?

BRIGGS: I was going to ask, what's the beautiful baby at home, are you --

WIRE: Baby Wrenn's going to be a sweet old lady. She has the pearls and the wig and the glasses.

ROMANS: Aw.

WIRE: Claire and I are just going to be parents dressed as parents holding red solo cups.

ROMANS: I love that. The baby always steals the show. I wouldn't go to too much trouble for anything else because the baby steals the show.

BRIGGS: Who needs a bucket when you've got a red solo cup?

Thank you, Coy. Happy Halloween, buddy.

ROMANS: All right. President Trump hitting the campaign trail in a matter of hours, 11 rallies in the final six days before the midterms. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:29:08] BRIGGS: President Trump kicks off an eight-state campaign blitz less than a week from the midterms.

ROMANS: The president with a somber and tense visit to Pittsburgh where today more synagogue massacre victims will be laid to rest.

BRIGGS: Prosecutors say the accused pipe bomber has been planning his attack for months.

ROMANS: Republican congressman faces political and corporate backlash for his hard-line views on race and immigration.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Happy Halloween. You more a Skittles person or a Twix person?

ROMANS: Skittles.

BRIGGS: Skittles? There you. Happy Halloween, my friend.

(LAUGHTER)

BRIGGS: Five-ninety-nine Eastern Time.

We start with the president returning to the campaign trail tonight, barnstorming 11 cities across eight states with just six days to go until some pivotal midterm elections.

Tonight, the president will be in Ft. Myers, Florida, trying to boost Republicans Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, locked in tight races for governor and senator respectively. It is the president's third visit to Florida with more rally scheduled in Pensacola over the weekend.