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Funeral for 97-Year-Old Victim; Election Forecast; Whitey Bulger's Prison Attack; 49ers Quarterback Shines. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 02, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:03] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The oldest victim murdered inside a Pittsburgh synagogue will be laid to rest today. Ninety-seven-year- old Rose Mallinger, a beloved great grandmother, being remembered as a vibrant woman who loved her family. This as the man accused of killing her and ten others appeared in court pleading not guilty to federal charges.

CNN's Jean Casarez, who's done such a nice, wonderful job covering Pittsburgh the last several days, is down there again for us this morning.

Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, the funerals have been all week. This is the final one, Rose Mallinger, 97-years-old. She always went to services at the Tree of Life. And last Saturday she was actually sitting wither her daughter. Her daughter was injured in all of this. Rose was the matriarch of the family. Her family and friends said that she still prepared the traditional family recipes during the high holy days for all of them. She was a mother of three, a grandmother of five. She had one great grandchild just recently born.

When she was in the workforce, she was the school secretary. And the school secretary is somebody that everyone goes to, that children go to for a hug. She always had all the answers. Always had the smile on her face. And her friends and family say that she should have had so many more years to live because she was so vibrant.

Today is Friday. At the end of today, the Sabbath begins for the Jewish community here. Tomorrow, Rabbi Meyers tells me that the three congregations that were in the Tree of Life Synagogue directly behind me, that they will actually have a joint service together, not here because this is still a very active crime scene.

And as business goes on as usual, the defendant was in court yesterday. And, John, he pleaded not guilty, asking for a jury trial for 44 counts that possibly includes the death penalty.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Jean, I will be joining you there later today to join the reporting on how this community will attempt to come together one week after this heinous crime. So, thank you very much for the reporting and I will see you soon.

Meanwhile, in a new op-ed for "The Washington Post," the fiance of murdered "Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi calls out the Trump administration for not doing more to bring his killers to justice. His fiance writes, quote, 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. Some in Washington are hoping this matter will be forgotten with simple delaying tactics. But we will continue to push the Trump administration to help find justice for Jamal. There will be no cover- up, end quote.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says it will take at least a handful of weeks, that's his term, before the U.S. has enough evidence to possibly pose sanctions against the Saudis for Khashoggi's murder.

[06:35:08] BERMAN: All right, four days after the midterms. Who is leading with just these few days left. We're going to get the very latest forecast, what the special modals tell us. There's something about Harry, his forecast, next.

CAMEROTA: And just ahead, Jimmy Kimmel again scaring little children on Halloween and making them cry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got really hungry and so mommy and daddy ate it all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, just four days away from the midterm elections. Let's look at some of the key races. For an idea of who will control Congress, there is something about Harry.

Harry Enten here with the forecast.

Harry, let's start big today.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: Big picture.

ENTEN: Big picture. And I've added governors. But let's get through it. We've got a lot to get through.

So let's talk about the House forecast. It's pretty much exactly where we were the entire time, right, Democrats, 226, Republicans, 209. Democrats could blow the water completely out with 262 to 173 in their best case, but Republicans still have a chance for control, 232 to 203 for their best case. Probably not going to happen.

[06:40:10] BERMAN: That's if they blow the water completely out.

ENTEN: That's right, if they blow the water completely out. Probably not going to happen. There's a lot of water.

CAMEROTA: Out of what?

ENTEN: Out of what. Out of my mother's pool in the backyard.

So this is the forecast for the Senate. We've basically been saying the whole thing -- the same thing the whole time, right? We expect that Republicans will not only maintain control, but actually gain a seat, 52-48.

One little change here is, in the best scenario for the Dems, they still have a shot for control, but we've been saying 52 for most of this month, most of last month, but right now only 51 as North Dakota has sort of gotten (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: My read of this is, this is just your computer model making North Dakota out of reach for Heidi Heitkamp at this point.

ENTEN: I think that's right.

Now, I've added a fun little thing. So let's talk about gov overall and then we'll get into some individual races.

So, right know, in the governor balance of power, right, we have 50 states, 50 governors. We think, at the end of the day, that Republicans are most likely going to be controlling 26, Democrats 24. That's up way higher for Democrats than we were previously.

CAMEROTA: Why what did you -- what is it now?

ENTEN: Well, right now Democrats, I believe, only have about 19 --

CAMEROTA: OK.

ENTEN: Or 18. Somewhere in that area.

But here's an interesting little twist for you. Weighting it by population, which I think is key, because, obviously, not all states have equal populations, Democrats, we think, will control 60 percent of the population versus Republicans only 40 percent. Why is that? States like New York, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, these states with large populations, we believe, will all elect Democratic governors.

CAMEROTA: All right.

BERMAN: Go ahead.

CAMEROTA: Well, I was going to dive into Nevada.

BERMAN: Go do it. ENTEN: All right.

CAMEROTA: Should we do that?

ENTEN: Let's dive into Nevada. This, to me, might be the closest race on election night. Right now our forecast has Dean Heller, the Republican in the Senate Race, defeating Jacky Rosen, but just by one point. So the best way to look at this is, this race is way too close to call at this particular time. It really shouldn't shock anyone if Jacky Rosen beats Dean Heller.

And if Democrats win here, then my guess is they'll keep their losses on election night in the Senate to a minimum. They may actually pick up a seat, even if they don't pick up the chamber as a whole.

BERMAN: And if you're looking when to nap election night, Arizona and Nevada, that's going to be late.

ENTEN: That's going to be late. Both of those, obviously, are in the west. Now they do have significant early voting in those states. But if it comes down to just a few votes, forget it, we'll be counting these for a while.

BERMAN: Let's go down some other quick forecasts. Let's look at Texas.

ENTEN: Yes. So if you're interested in whether or not Democrats actually win control of the Senate, I think that this is their best chance to do it. They have to win here. But right now the forecast has Ted Cruz defeating Beto O'Rourke by six points. And that's probably -- and that's why our computer model is suggesting that it's a very long road to haul for Democrats because in order to win here you'd need a massive poling error, and that's not likely to occur. But, you know what, it could occur. That's why we watch the votes come in.

CAMEROTA: OK. Should we do Kansas.

ENTEN: Yes, let's do Kansas. The governor's race in Kansas. I think a lot of people are fascinated about -- in this race because Kris Kobach has become a nationwide figure with the voting and trying to suppress the vote in a lot of Democrat's minds. He was part of that voting commission with the president. That fell apart.

He's not so popular in Kansas, which is a deep red state, right, you know, Kansas has been electing governors for the Senate for forever.

BERMAN: They've never elected a governor -- yes, go ahead.

ENTEN: Yes. Right.

BERMAN: Governors to the Senate. But --

ENTEN: I'm sorry, they've never elected Republicans to the Senate.

BERMAN: Gotcha.

ENTEN: But here we see that the Democrat is actually favored to win by a point. But this is, again, a race very, very close to call. But this is all about Kris Kobach and the Republican brand. Sam Brownback, the former governor, very unpopular.

BERMAN: I can't help but notice the third name there.

ENTEN: Greg Orman, the independent. He, remember, ran for the Senate back in 2014. Actually got the Democrat to drop out of the race. We're not sure who he's exactly pulling votes for him, but we will say his campaign treasurer dropped out of Orman's campaign, actually endorsed Kelly, the Democrat.

And --

CAMEROTA: Oh, go, Ohio.

ENTEN: One last one for you, Ohio. Richard Cordray, Mike DeWine, 48 to 48 right now. This is a race very, very tight to call. That's what Ohio is, right? Ohio, Ohio, Ohio, as Tim Russert once said. It's going to be very, very close and we'll see who controls this key state as we head into (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Who has momentum?

ENTEN: This dude does. Richard Cordray has momentum. I -- if I were -- if there was a gun to my head, I would say that he wins. But at the end of the day, very, very tight. We'll see what happens.

BERMAN: A brand new forecast Monday morning. The most accurate forecast Wednesday morning.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, great to have you with us. Thank you very much.

"The Forecast" available each day at 9:00 a.m. at cnn.com/forecast.

CAMEROTA: OK, now to this. So what exactly happened to mob boss "Whitey" Bulger in prison, and why was he put in the general population with people who wanted to kill him? The latest on the death investigation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:39] CAMEROTA: Gristly new details about the deadly prison attack on notorious mob boss "Whitey" Bulger. Investigators say he was brutally beaten by at least two inmates. "The New York Times" reports one was a mafia hitman possibly exacting revenge.

CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now with more.

It is really gruesome.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very squeamish. You know, certainly this is a man who had made a number of enemies during his career as a mob boss and FBI informant. Now he's dead. And investigators are left to determine not only who did it, why they did it, but also how they were able to do it in a maximum security prison.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice over): Law enforcement officials tell "The New York Times" the two inmates allegedly involved in Whitey Bulger's murder used a lock in a sock, a medal padlock stuffed into a shock to beat and kill Bulger, who "The Times" says was in a wheelchair.

A senior law enforcement official, not directly involved in the investigation, tells "The New York Times" the beating was so forceful it displaced Bulger's eyeballs, unclear, the source says, if his attackers gouged them out or if they were knocked out. "The Times" identified one of two fellow inmates under investigation as Fotios "Freddy" Geas, a mafia hitman from Bulger's home state of Massachusetts. Geas is serving a life sentence for murder. His former attorney says the two mobsters ran in the same criminal circle.

[06:50:03] DANIEL KELLY, FORMER LAWYER FOR INMATE ACCUSED OF KILLING BULGER: So he probably had a lot of reasons to not be very happy with people like Mr. Bulger. I'm not ready to concede, obviously, based on media reports he was involved, but I understand he's been accused of it.

CARROLL: "The Boston Globe" citing Geas' lawyer reporting he had an axe to grind and believed Bulger had helped frame one of his friends for murder. "The Times" says the killers tried to avoid surveillance cameras, but cameras caught images of at least two inmates rolling Bulger into a corner where they beat him to death. Sources telling CNN, prison authorities found Bulger Tuesday morning, wrapped in a blanket, blood covering the floor. Word of his violent death met with relief from family members of his victims.

PATRICIA DONAHUE, HUSBAND WAS ONE OF BULGER'S VICTIMS: This is the end for myself and my family.

TOMMY DONAHUE, FATHER WAS ONE OF BULGER'S VICTIMS: A guy like him doesn't deserve a nice, easy death. He deserved a slow death. And that's what I hope he got.

CARROLL: Bulger was transferred to Hazelton Penitentiary in West Virginia from another facility in Florida just one day before he was killed. A federal official, with knowledge of the investigation, says he was put in the prison's general population, raising questions as to why a high profile mobster was not isolated or watched more closely. Just last week a bipartisan group of senators alerted Attorney General Jeff Sessions about understaffing at Hazelton, noting that there were two deaths there this year.

Bulger's life portrayed in several movies, including 2015's "Black Mask" starring Johnny Depp. He was serving two life sentences for racketeering and the murder of 11 people. Those who really knew him say he was a sociopath.

BOB STUTMAN, FORMER DEA AGENT: He could kill you for good reason. He could kill you for a bad reason. He could kill you for no reason. And that was his reputation. CARROLL: And another person who knew Bulger said this about his brutal

murder. He said, quote, I know you're not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I'm glad he's dead.

John. Alisyn.

BERMAN: All right, Jason, that's fascinating. What an unbelievable story. And I don't think it's over just yet.

CAMEROTA: All right, how are you going to make this turn?

BERMAN: Just a hard turn here.

Jimmy Kimmel's Halloween prank. We've seen this for a number of years. It's just getting more and more funnier. Late night laughs, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go to your room. Go to your room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you ate my candy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:556:46] BERMAN: The 49ers backup to the backup quarterback made the most of his NFL start. His first one.

Coy Wire has more in the "Bleacher Report."

Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Nick Mullens, a virtually unknown third string quarterback, had never even thrown a pass in the NFL, but he became an instant Internet sensation. He was so good that Twitter gave him that blue check and verified him mid-game, despite smashing a lot of Brett Favre's records at Southern Mississippi, nobody drafted him. He was overlooked. He had been on the 49ers practice squad since last season, but his number was called. And last night, in his very first start, he throws three touchdowns on primetime TV. Mullens leads San Fran 34-3 in the win over the Raiders. And he could hardly hold back his emotions after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK MULLENS, 49ERS QUARTERBACK: Sorry. It's everything I dreamed of. I prepare like I'm the starter every week, and this week was my week. So just got to take advantage of opportunities when they come. And they came.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WIRE: 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 haven't commented yet. Now, remember, Colin Kaepernick's protest of social injustice started when he was a member of the 49ers during the 2016 season.

When it comes to Nick Mullens, though, his entire salary this year is just a bit more than opposing quarterback Derek Carr will make just this week. A huge moment for that young man.

BERMAN: What a night.

All right, Coy, thanks so much.

CAMEROTA: All right, it's that time of year again. Jimmy Kimmel has parents pretend that they have eaten all of their kids' Halloween candy and then we get to laugh as the children scream and crying. Here are your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy and daddy got really hungry last night and we ate all your candy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is -- what -- (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got really hungry, and so mommy and daddy ate it all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No! (crying).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No! We're so sad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ate all your candy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you mad? You're not mad I ate all your candy?

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're too sweet and it's gross.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That kid just dropped the mic on Jimmy Kimmel's prank right there. Don't you feel bad now, Jimmy?

CAMEROTA: Right. He's like, no, I forgive, and I have a Mohawk, bam.

BERMAN: I will never not laugh, by the way, at that.

CAMEROTA: I know it's really cruel and really funny.

BERMAN: Yes, and really wonderful. Anyone with kids will appreciate the sweet revenge there.

Thank you to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. For our U.S. viewers, President Trump producing political theater on the campaign trail, filled with falsehood, filled with some racial animus. "NEW DAY" continues right now.

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