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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Ratchets Up Migrant Demonizing; Roger Stone Releases Exchange with Steve Bannon About Julian Assange; Sections of Doomed Lion Air Flight Found. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 02, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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


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[04:00:13] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They want to throw rocks at our military. Our military fights back. We're going to consider it and I tell them consider it a rifle.

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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Consider a rock a rifle. The president's stark warning to migrants toward our southern border still several weeks away.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The oldest victim of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre will be laid to rest today. The first Sabbath since the attack begins at sundown.

BRIGGS: The president reportedly asking aides to draft a trade deal with China. He wants the package finished at the G-20 this month.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

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ROMANS: And how would you react if your parents said they ate your candy? Jimmy Kimmel is back with another year of his Halloween challenge. I always feel so bad for those kids.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: It's a timeless classic. A little torture is good for our kids.

ROMANS: No.

BRIGGS: Happy Friday, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs. It is November 2nd. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East. We start with the midterms.

Coming up with four short days until the midterms. Trump all-in on a single strategy, scare voters about our southern border. The president claiming at a White House event that he'll sign an executive order next week tightening U.S. asylum rules. The commander-in-chief also said he has authorized American troops dispatched at the Mexican border to fire on rock-throwing protesters.

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TRUMP: They want to throw rocks at our military. Our military fights back. We're going to consider and I tell them consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico military and police, I say consider it a rifle.

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ROMANS: Quick fact check. CNN has reported clashes between one group of migrants and Mexican troops on Sunday but the caravan has not generally been violent. A U.S. Defense official tells CNN the troops will be operating under standard rules and will only use force in self-defense.

The president took his midterms pitch to Missouri again attacking birthright citizenship.

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TRUMP: This crazy, lunatic policy that we can end. That we can end. It's called, you know, birth tourism, where pregnant mothers from all over the world travel to America to make their children instant life- long citizens with guaranteed everything.

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BRIGGS: The Department of Homeland Security has put out a fact sheet on the caravan that was a little light on the facts. DHS claims without evidence that more than 270 of the migrants have criminal histories. Hours earlier, the president himself said we have no idea who is in the caravan.

ROMANS: Democrats are deploying some serious star power to get out the vote in Georgia.

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OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.

WINFREY: Hi, Denise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Oprah.

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ROMANS: That's Oprah Winfrey knocking on doors in support of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor, making an impassioned plea for Georgians to vote.

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WINFREY: For anybody here who has an ancestor who didn't have the right to vote and you are choosing not to vote wherever you are in this state, in this country, you are dishonoring your family.

So honor your legacy. Honor your legacy. Honor your right to citizenship in this which is the greatest country in the world.

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BRIGGS: Vice President Mike Pence also in Georgia campaigning for Republican Brian Kemp. He had a message for Stacey Abrams and other high profile backers such as "Anchorman" star Will Ferrell.

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MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'd like to remind Stacey and Oprah and Will Ferrell, I'm kind of a big deal, too.

I got a message for all Stacey Abrams' liberal Hollywood friends. This ain't Hollywood. This is Georgia.

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ROMANS: Today, President Obama campaigns in Georgia for Stacey Abrams and in Florida for Democratic candidates Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson.

All right. Iowa Congressman Steve King erupting over a suggestion that his anti-immigration views are aligned with those of the suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre. The Iowa Republican was taking questions at a candidate forum in Des Moines Thursday.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You and the shooter both share an ideology that is --

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: No, don't you do that. Do not associate me with that shooter. I knew you were an ambusher when you walked in the room but there's no basis for that and you get no question. And you get no answer.

[04:05:01] No, you're done. We don't play these games here in Iowa. This is over if you don't stop talking. I'm leaving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you've given the answer. I think that answer is his answer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir --

KING: Stop it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, why did you meet with --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, that's it.

KING: You're done.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Clearly rattled by that comparison. King had the man who asked the question removed from the event. It's not clear who that young man was. The CNN forecast has King leading his Democratic opponent J.D. Scholten by 11 points.

BRIGGS: Funeral services today for the oldest of 11 victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, 97-year-old Rose Mallinger. Yesterday, husband and wife Sylvan and Bernice Simon were laid to rest. They were married at the Tree of Life Synagogue 62 years ago. Another victim, Richard Gottfried, also buried on Thursday.

Tonight marks the first Shabbat since the massacre beginning at sundown. A new campaign called #showupforshabbat is encouraging Americans of all faiths to visit synagogues for services Friday and Saturday as a show of strength and love against hate.

Meantime, synagogue massacre suspect Robert Bowers pleaded not guilty in court Thursday. Bowers was arraigned a day after a grand jury indicted him on 44 federal charges, 32 of which carry the death penalty.

ROMANS: President Trump is asking officials to begin drafting a potential trade deal with China. That's according to Bloomberg News. The report follows a phone call between Trump and his Chinese counterpart President Xi on Thursday. The president said he had a, quote, "good conversation" with President Xi, tweeting, quote, "We talked about many subjects with the heavy emphasis on trade. Those discussions are moving along nicely with meetings being scheduled at the G-20 in Argentina."

That summit is later this month. The potential deal would hopefully end the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. In a statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry President Xi says economic teams from both countries should find a mutually acceptable trade deal.

CNN seeking reaction from both the White House and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Just yesterday the Trump administration announced a new initiative to combat trade theft. The Department of Justice alleges a state-backed Chinese firm along with Taiwanese actors committed conspiracy to steal trade secrets from memory chip maker Micron.

BRIGGS: "The Washington Post" reporting the White House is increasingly concerned about misconduct allegations against Ryan Zinke. President Trump said to be telling aides he is afraid the Interior secretary has broken the rules. This week CNN confirmed the Justice Department is investigating Zinke for allegedly using his office for personal gain. The secretary has faced multiple ethics issues, including conversations with Halliburton chairman David Lesar about a Montana development project located close to land owned by Zinke's family foundation.

ROMANS: All right. It's looking more like State Department spokesman Heather Nauert will become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Sources say President Trump has told advisers she is his top choice to replace Nikki Haley at the U.N. She met with the president Monday and could be offered the post this week. Haley plans to step down at the end of the year. Those close to the president, though, caution his pick is not final until it is formally announced.

BRIGGS: Fascinating pick there.

It turns out a top aide to Donald Trump was in touch with WikiLeaks before the release of e-mails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. What Roger Stone has to say, next.

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[04:12:28] BRIGGS: Roger Stone admitting for the first time he did communicate with the Trump campaign about upcoming disclosures from WikiLeaks during the run-up to the 2016 election. Stone's admission designed to preempt a "New York Times" report detailing his efforts to pitch himself to campaign officials as a WikiLeaks insider.

More now from Sara Murray in Washington.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Dave. New e-mails revealed that Roger Stone was in touch with a senior member of Donald Trump's presidential campaign about WikiLeaks.

Now Roger Stone decided to release part of these e-mails himself in a column for the right-wing Web site, "The Daily Caller." And in them in October of 2016, Steve Bannon, who was then one of the heads of the Trump campaign, writes to Roger Stone and says, "What was that this morning?"

Now what's Steve Bannon is referring to is that Julian Assange was supposed to hold this press conference. He said it was going to be a big October surprise and many of Trump supporters thought that many was going to be a bombshell potentially about Hillary Clinton. But that's not what happened. Instead Assange released no new information.

Now in Roger Stone's e-mail reply to Steve Bannon, he says that there were some security concerns that Assange has. And then he says, "However, a load every week going forward." This is another one of those instances where Roger Stone seems to be predicting what "WikiLeaks" is about to do. And that's what really drawn the scrutiny of investigators.

Now Stone says he was just repeating things that Assange had said publicly. And Assange in that event did say that there was going to be more information that he was going to release. And sure enough, a few days later, he did.

But this really gets to the crux at what investigators are looking at right now with Roger Stone. They are trying to figure out if he did have some kind of inside track to "WikiLeaks." and if he did have any information, if he shared it with any members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign or Donald Trump himself.

Back to you, guys. ROMANS: All right, thank you so much for that.

Google employees around the world staging a walkout Thursday to protest a workplace culture they say has turned a blind eye on sexual harassment and discrimination. Thousands in California, Massachusetts, New York, Ireland, Zurich, among those taking part in the protests.

BRIGGS: The Google walkout followed a "New York Times" investigation that detailed years of sexual harassment allegations. The company CEO supported the walkout.

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SUNDAR PICHAI, GOOGLE CEO: We set a very, very high bar and we clearly didn't live up to our expectations and which is why we felt it was important to express our support for the employees.

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BRIGGS: Among the demands by Google employees, ending forced arbitration in harassment cases and a commitment to end pay and opportunity inequities.

[04:15:08] ROMANS: Please be careful driving near school bus stops. There have now been five incidents in three days involving kids being injured or killed. On Thursday, seven people were rushed to the hospital after students were run over at a bus stop in Tampa, Florida. Police say it's not clear whether the driver was speeding. One child is in critical condition.

Also Thursday, a 7-year-old boy was found dead at a bus stop in central Pennsylvania. According to police, the child was run over at a slow speed and the driver has been interviewed.

BRIGGS: On Wednesday in Tallahassee, Florida, a kindergartner was hit while crossing the street to board a school bus. The teenage driver was issued two traffic citations and the boy is at home recovering.

In Marietta, Mississippi, a 22-year-old man faces charges after fatally striking a 9-year-old child who was crossing the street to board a bus. On Tuesday, a driver killed a 9-year-old girl and her 6- year-old brothers who are crossing the street to catch a school bus in rural Indiana. The driver was charged with felony reckless homicide.

Please be careful.

ROMANS: Just awful.

All right. Police are urging parents in Marshfield, Massachusetts, to be on the lookout for needles found inside candy. Sewing needles were found inside two packages of Twizzlers. Parents are being advised to throw away all Twizzlers and closely inspect all of the Halloween candy their children received while trick-or-treating.

BRIGGS: The chairman of the University of Maryland's Board of Regents has resigned. The regents facing outrage over their handling of an investigation into the death of football player earlier this year. Chairman James Brady said he believes that his continued presence would impair the board's mission. On Tuesday, the board decided to let head football coach D.J. Durkin keep his job. He was suspended back in August months after player Jordan McNair died from heat stroke. The next day, University president Wallace Loh defied the board and fired Durkin.

ROMANS: A cheerleader for the San Francisco 49ers appearing to take a knee during the national anthem before the game against the Oakland Raiders last night. It's believed she is the first cheerleader to protest during the national anthem. The 49ers is the team once home to Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback who launched the kneeling movement to bring attention to racial inequality in the U.S.

BRIGGS: It's the eighth year of a new holiday tradition. Kids get candy, parents lie to them and Jimmy Kimmel puts it all on TV for us to enjoy.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. So sad. No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ate all your sweets when you were in the bath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mommy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's some broccoli in the fridge. You want broccoli?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want carrots?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not mad at all. I would never be mad at you because you're my mom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We ate all of your Halloween candy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no. This is fake. I know this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But where is all your candy then?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't believe that I ate it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Because you have showed us the videos.

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BRIGGS: That kid had already seen the prank from Kimmel. You liked the one kid that said I'm not mad at you. ROMANS: I love you, mommy. I could never -- look, I think it's mean.

I think that -- Jimmy, I think that's so mean that you put those on. I just think it's --

BRIGGS: I love it.

ROMANS: Well, I'm not --

BRIGGS: Keep on tore torturing those kids.

ROMANS: I have a hard enough time to get them to believe me about a lot of things. I can't be like --

BRIGGS: I get hit by my son. No question about it.

ROMANS: All right. Devoid of moral foundation. Who the widow of Jamal Khashoggi is talking about? Her new op-ed, next.

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[04:23:30] ROMANS: Part of the main fuselage and landing gear have been found from the doomed Lion Air flight. The crash off Indonesia's coast killed all 189 people aboard.

Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is live in Jakarta.

Are we learning anything new about what happened to this plane, an essentially brand new Boeing jet?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I talked to one aviation expert who really raised the flag from open source flight data about the doomed plane, it seemed to be accelerating as it headed towards the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff. Not just from gravity, but it seemed like the engines were thrusting to drive it into the ocean at such speed that the salvage operation is struggling to find large pieces of the plane.

We've gotten reports that perhaps some of the wheels from the landing gear, two of them have been recovered. But it really does seem like this plane was smashed to bits in just a short period of time after takeoff. Now the investigation here which will be greatly helped by the fact that the flight data recorder was retrieved yesterday to some fanfare and displayed with some reverence by the rescue workers.

The investigators, they have been complimented by representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, by the Federal Aviation Administration, by Boeing, the manufacturers of this brand new Boeing 737 Max 8, and by General Electric who also helped make the plane's engine.

[04:25:18] So you've got experts coming from all different fields to be part of this investigation. The identification of remains that is very difficult work. For example, there are 20 dentists that have been brought in to help identify tooth fragments that may be retrieved from the crash site -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ivan, thank you so much for that. In Jakarta for us this morning.

BRIGGS: The fiancee of murdered "Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi penned an op-ed in today's "Washington Post." Hatice Cengiz calls on the international community and the U.S. in particular to hold his killers accountable, writing, "The Trump administration has taken a position that is devoid of moral foundation. Some have approached this through the cynical prism of self-interest, statements framed by fear and cowardice, by the fear of upsetting deals or economic ties."

ROMANS: She continues, "I know that governments operate not on feelings, but on mutual interest. However, they must all ask themselves the fundamental question if the democracies of the world do not take genuine steps to bring to justice the perpetrators of this brazen callous act, what moral authority are they left with?"

BRIGGS: All right. Throw rocks, risk getting shot. The president has a stark warning for migrants. The politics of fear along the border dominating as we approach the midterms.

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