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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Ratchets Up Migrant Demonizing; Chuck Hagel: Trump using Troops as Pawns; Oprah Campaigns for Abrams in Georgia; Trump on Trade with China; Mass "Google Walkout" to Protest Sexual Harassment. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 02, 2018 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Oprah Winfrey trying to get out the Democratic vote, she went knocking on doors in Georgia.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And the president reportedly, asking aides to draft a trade deal with China. He wants the package finished at G20 this month.
BRIGGS: And the oldest victim of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre will be laid to rest today. The first Shabbat since the attack begins at sundown.
Good morning everyone. Welcome to EARLY START on a Friday. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: It is Friday. I'm Christine Romans. It is November 2nd. It is 5:00 a.m. in the east. With four short days until the midterms, President Trump is all-in on one single strategy. Scare voters about the southern border. The president, claiming at the White House event, that he will sign an executive order next week tightening U.S. asylum rules. The commander in chief also had this warning regarding our rules of engagement at the border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They want to throw rocks at our military. Our military fights back. We're going to consider and I tell them consider a rifle. When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico military and police, I say consider it a rifle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: So much for rules of engagement. Quick fact check, CNN has reported clashes between one group of migrants and Mexican troops on Sunday. But the caravan is 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 the midterms pitch to Missouri again attacking birthright citizenship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This crazy, lunatic policy that we can end -- that we can end. It is 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The Department of Homeland Security has put out a fact sheet on the caravan. It was a little light on facts. The DHS claims without evidence that more than 270 of the migrants have criminal histories. Hours earlier, the president himself said, quote, "We have no idea who is in the caravan."
BRIGGS: Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, slamming the president's plan to deploy as many as 15,000 troops to the southern border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK HAGEL, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Taking thousands of American troops who are trained on the cutting edge all the time and sending them down to a border where there is no need, there's no threat to an invasion of the hordes coming from Latin America which is a joke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Hagel is a Republican who served under President Obama. He calls the president's threat to shoot migrants who throw rocks, a wanton incitement of unnecessary violence.
BRIGGS: Democrats who are deploying some serious star power to get out the vote in Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, STACEY ABRAMS SUPPORTER: Hi.
DENISE: Oh, my God.
WINFREY: Hi, Denise.
DENISE: Hi, Oprah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Better than the publisher's clearing house. That is Oprah Winfrey knocking on doors who is on support of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor and making an impassioned plea for Georgians to vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 and 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Vice President Mike Pence also in Georgia campaigning for Republican Brian Kemp. He had a message for Stacey Abrams and her high profile backers. Such as "Anchorman" star Will Ferrell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would 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 is not Hollywood. This is Georgia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: More than 20 million early votes have been cast so far, more than 20 million younger people in Georgia, far out pacing the last midterm election. Today, President Obama campaigns in Georgia for Stacey Abrams and in Florida for Democratic candidates, Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson.
BRIGGS: Congressman Steve King erupting over suggestion that is anti- immigration views are aligned with those of the suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre. Republican taking questions at the Kennedy forum on Des Moines on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
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.
[05:05:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) You have given the answer. That answer is his answer.
KING: Stop it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir - that's it.
KING: You're done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Iowa nice.
(CROSSTALK) BRIGGS: Iowa nice. King had the man who asked the question removed from the event, not entirely clear who he is. The CNN forecast has King leading his Democratic opponent J.D. Scholten by 11 points.
ROMANS: All right. Funeral services today for the oldest of the 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 Tree of Life synagogue 62 years ago. Another victim, Richard Gottfried also buried on Thursday.
BRIGGS: Tonight marks the first Shabbat since the massacre beginning at sundown. A new campaign called #showupforshabbat is encouraging Americans of all faiths to visit synagogue for services both 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: All right, President Trump touting progress on trade with China. Bloomberg News reporting he is asking officials to begin drafting a potential trade deal with China. That report follows this phone call between Trump and his Chinese counterpart President Xi on Thursday. The president says he had a good conversation with the Chinese President.
"We talked about many subjects, with a heavy emphasis on trade. Those discussions are moving along nicely with meetings being scheduled at the G20 in Argentina."
That summit is later this month and just a couple of weeks ago, there had been concern that they weren't even talking, the Chinese and the Americans at any level, really, here about a trade deal. A potential deal would hopefully end this escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. In a statement from the China's foreign ministry, President Xi says economic teams from both countries should find a mutually acceptable trade deal.
We'll be looking for more reaction from both the White House today and the Chinese foreign ministry. Of course, this comes at a time when there is a fight, a technology fight underway between the two countries. The Justice Department has been cracking down on what they see is bad actors trying to steal trade secrets in American technology.
BRIGGS: OK. "The Washington Post" reporting the White House 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 - very close to land owned by Zinke's family foundation. You can see here in yellow just how close those two sites are. ROMANS: All right. 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.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:12:28] ROMANS: Welcome back. 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 effort to pitch himself to campaign officials as a "WikiLeaks" insider. We get more from Sara Murray in Washington.
SARA MURRAY, : Good morning, Christine and Dave. New e-mails revealed that Roger Stone was in touch with the 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 website, "The Daily Caller." And in them in October of 2016, Steve Bannon, he 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 it was going to be a bombshell potentially about Hillary Clinton. But that is 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 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.
BRIGGS: OK. Sara Murray, thank you.
Google employees around the world staging a walkout Thursday to protest a workplace culture, they say has turned a blind eye to sexual harassment and discrimination, thousands in California, Massachusetts, New York, and as far away as Ireland and Zurich, among those taking part in the protests.
ROMANS: The Google walkout followed a "New York Times" investigation that detailed years of sexual harassment allegations. The company's CEO supported the walkout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUNDAR PICHAI, GOOGLE CEO: We set a very, very high bar and we clearly did not live up to our expectations. And which is why we felt it was important to express our support for the employees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Among the demands by Google employees, they want to end those forced arbitration deals and harassment cases that sort of keep all of this under cover. And also, they want to commitment to end pay and opportunity inequities.
[05:15:07] BRIGGS: Please folks, be careful driving near school bus stops. There have now been five incidents in three days involving kids getting injured or killed. On Thursday, seven people were rushed in the hospital after students were run over at a bus stop in Tampa, Florida. Police say it is 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 the police, the child was run over at a slow speed. The driver has been interviewed.
ROMANS: 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, we're told, 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 school bus. And on Tuesday, a driver killed a 9-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother who were crossing the street to catch their school bus in rural Indiana. The driver was charged with felony reckless homicide. It is illegal in all 50 states to pass a school bus with lights flashing and the stop sign arm out. It is illegal in all 50 states.
All right, police are urging parents in Marshfield, Massachusetts to be on the lookout for needles found inside candies. Sewing needles found inside two packages of Twizzlers. Parents now being advised to throw away all Twizzlers and closely inspect all of their Halloween candy their children received while trick or treating.
BRIGGS: The eighth year of a new holiday tradition. Kids get candy. Parents lie to them. Jimmy Kimmel puts it on TV for our enjoyment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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!
There's some broccoli in the fridge. Do you want broccoli? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want carrots?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not mad at all. I would never been mad at you because you're my mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We ate all of your Halloween candy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no. This is fake. I know this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is all your candy then? You don't believe I ate it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You have showed us the videos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: That kid is cute. What would you give the kid who said I'm not mad at you? I love you mommy.
ROMANS: Anything he wants. Anything he wants. I think it is so mean to do that to the kids. I know you love it.
BRIGGS: You need laughter in this world, whatever we got to do.
Ahead, a new kneeling incident during the national anthem at the NFL game. But this time it wasn't a player who took a knee. Coy Wire has the details in the "Bleacher Report" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:22:37] BRIGGS: All right. Let's talk some sports now. The 49ers back up to the backup made the most of his first NFL start. Coy Wire has more in the "Bleacher Report." Hey, buddy, this one was a surprise. We knew (INAUDIBLE) but not on this one.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Who is Nick Mullens? Nick Mullens, a virtually unknown third string quarterback who had never even thrown a pass in the NFL game became an instant Internet sensation. This guy's entire salary this season is just slightly more than opposing Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr will make just this week.
Mullens tore it up, smashing many of hall of famer Brett Favre's records at southern Mississippi. But he was overlooked, no one drafted him. He's been on the 49ers practice squad since last season. But his number was called in last night. He delivered in his very first NFL start, three touchdowns on primetime TV. He was so good that Twitter verified him, gave him the blue check in mid game. Nick Mullens leads San Francisco to a 34-3 stomping Oakland and he could hardly hold back his emotions after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you go out there and make this look so easy?
NICK MULLENS, 49ERS QUARTERBACK: Sorry. Everything I dreamed of. Prepare like I'm a starter every week. And this week was my week. So I take advantage of the opportunities when they come and they came.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: What a moment. Now before the game, a 49ers cheerleader took a knee during the national anthem. It's believed this is the first time a cheerleader has protested during the anthem. CNN has reached out to the team, but they have not commented. Remember, Colin Kaepernick's protest of social injustice started when he was a member of the 49ers during the 2016 season.
Shout out to U.S. gymnast Simone Biles making history winning a four all-around titles at this year's world championship. No other woman has won that many, despite falling on the balance beam, despite going out of bounds in the floor exercise and battling a kidney stone. They sent her to the E.R. just days ago. Biles was unbeatable. She may not be done. She has a chance to win more golds in the remaining individual events that are today and tomorrow. Look out.
Finally, Warriors' star Steph Curry is working out with a new team. Don't worry Golden State fans.
[05:25:00] He is making some plays with the Harlem Globetrotters. Check out the highlight, Steph doing the world famous three-men from the Globetrotters, ending with a perfect alley-hoop pass. Steph says though that there is one trick he hasn't mastered. And I don't know if I believe this. He says he can't spin a basketball on the tip of his finger. Dave, I think there is no way this is possible. He can probably balance the basketball without spinning it and his eyes closed.
BRIGGS: I believe it.
WIRE: The guy can do anything.
BRIGGS: I believe it. I can't do it either. But if you watch Steph in warmups, he looks like a Globetrotter, bouncing balls - fans and throwing it in the hoop. The guy is a wizard. Coy Wire, have a great weekend, my friend. Thank you.
WIRE: You too, Dave. Thanks.
BRIGGS: Romans over to you.
ROMANS: Thanks, Dave. 25 minutes past the hour. Throw rocks, risk being shot. The president has a stark warning for migrants, the politics of fear along the border dominating the midterms.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:30:00] TRUMP: They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. We're going to consider it. I told them consider the rifle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
