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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Wildfires Tie For Deadliest In California History; Recounts Underway In Florida; French President Macron Rebukes Nationalism; Turkey Gives Khashoggi Audio To Allies. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 12, 2018 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:31:10] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole town was wiped off the face of the earth in a matter of eight hours.

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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll rising in California where firefighters are now battling the most destructive and deadliest wildfires in the state's history.

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ANDREW GILLUM (D-FL), MAYOR, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: What we are here to do today is to say count every vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: At this hour, Florida election officials are recounting ballots for three statewide races. One official in Palm Beach claiming it's impossible to finish the recount by the Thursday deadline.

And, nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. Those stinging words delivered by French President Emmanuel Macron as President Trump calls himself a nationalist. We're live in Paris with the latest.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: If he stays there he will create a constitutional crisis by inhibiting Mueller.

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BRIGGS: Democrats vowing to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker, a vocal critic of the Russia investigation. How the president is distancing himself from Whitaker.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs. Five thirty-two eastern time, 2:32 in California. And that's where we begin this morning where 31 people are now dead in the California wildfires raging this morning, with at least 200 people still missing.

Twenty-nine killed in the Camp Fire in Northern California; two killed by the Woolsey Fire in Southern California, found in their car, apparently trying to flee the flames. At least six firefighters injured statewide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never been this scared in my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: In Northern California, a terrifying drive through flames and heavy smoke as the entire town of Paradise, almost 30,000 people, forced to evacuate at a moment's notice. That fire now the most destructive in California history, destroying nearly 6,700 buildings since it started Thursday.

High winds and tinder-dry weather in the state putting 25 million people -- nearly one in 13 Americans -- under a red flag warning at this hour.

CNN's Scott McLean in L.A. where 170,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dave, Christine, the Woolsey Fire certainly has lost the strength and intensity that it once had but that does not mean that the danger is over by any stretch.

Even in this part of Malibu where it seems that the worst has come and gone there are still hot spots, there are still smoldering areas. Obviously, in this home, there's not really anything left to burn, but in other cases there is.

If you look through to the other side of that canyon you can see the fire got to the bottom of it and then raced up the other side. Somehow it managed to stop before it burned through those condos.

I know from talking to people on the other side, though, that there is concern that as the winds pick up right through to Tuesday, that some of those fires could reignite and burn through some of the fuel that hasn't already burned.

In this part of Malibu -- well, there's some pretty stunning views, some pretty amazing properties here.

If you look down here -- well, you can see that there's a tree down. It seemed to have been burned at the bottom and then collapsed under its own weight, one of the many hazards in this area along with downed power lines and burned-through power poles -- things like that. And check out this view right here. Well, someone had a view right out to the Pacific Ocean. It would have been absolutely stunning. Well, there's nothing left of this house right now except for a pretty view and come charred remains.

This area is under a mandatory evacuation order but even once people start to get back in -- well, it will be a long time before Malibu really looks like Malibu again -- Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Boy, it sure will, Scott. Thank you.

For ways you can help those affected by the California wildfires go to cnn.com/impact.

[05:35:02] To the opposite coast now.

Recounts underway this morning in three Florida races, including governor and U.S. Senate. The recount scheduled to go on around the clock until it's complete. The recount deadline is Thursday, but as CNN's Ryan Nobles tells us, the process may last well into next month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Christine, good morning from Tallahassee where this recount in Florida is underway. A massive effort where 8 1/2 million votes cast in these big elections are going to be recounted by machines in the 67 counties across the Sunshine State.

And over the weekend we had several important developments in this recount process.

The first was a trio of lawsuits that were filed by Rick Scott, the current governor and candidate for U.S. Senate. One of those lawsuits accuses the Broward County supervisor of elections of counting ballots after the Saturday deadline.

Scott also is asking for the sheriffs in both of those counties to be responsible for the machines and ballots in both of those counties -- to impound them when there isn't counting taking place and after the recount is over.

Now, in addition to those lawsuits, we learned that in Palm Beach County, the supervisor of elections there says that she thinks it is impossible for her county to complete their count on time, and that is significant because that is a Democratic stronghold and it could potentially be a spot where in this recount Democrats could gain some ground.

Now, if they don't get their vote count on time in the recount, it reverts back to the initial count that they delivered on Saturday at noon.

Now, this all has to be done by Thursday. That could trigger, then, a hand recount of the overvotes and undervotes. This is supposed to be certified by the 20th of November. That is, of course, Thanksgiving week but there's always the possibility that lawsuits could creep into this process and it could take even longer -- Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Oi -- Bush v. Gore. Let's do it again.

Let's bring in Princeton University historian, Professor Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst. Good to see you, sir.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, AUTHOR, "THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW": Good morning.

BRIGGS: Happy Monday.

I cannot believe here we go again with this whole mess in Florida.

But let's start with the governor who, of course, is the Senate candidate, and what Rick Scott told Fox News about this ongoing recount on Sunday -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R-FL), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: Senator Nelson is clearly trying to find -- trying to commit fraud to try to win this election. That's all this is.

CHRIS WALLACE, MODERATOR, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": But I -- wait a second. I want to pick up on that. You're accusing Bill Nelson of trying to commit fraud?

SCOTT: His lawyer said that a non-citizen should vote -- that's one. Number two, he's gone to trial and said that fraudulent ballots should be counted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: OK. Chris Wallace tried to get some evidence as to the fraud. There's a problem with that. What is it?

ZELIZER: Sure. The governor's own administration is saying there was no fraud. So no one is actually supporting the claims, including the people who work for him. At this point, you have to listen to this and hear political rhetoric, not facts on the ground.

BRIGGS: Now, there are ballots that were thrown out that they're trying to get counted.

But even a former congressman is saying my vote wasn't counted because of a signature issue. He logged online, found the signature issue. They still told him that that vote won't count.

Is that the fraud they're alleging? ZELIZER: Well, that's not fraud, that's a real miscount, and that's actually what Democrats have been talking about to make sure that every vote is counted. And that's an example where people's votes were thrown out improperly, and that's something we should look for.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ZELIZER: The fraud -- there is no evidence this has happened on any significant scale.

BRIGGS: You'd like to see Brenda Snipes, who is the Broward County supervisor of elections, get things more organized. But look, the governor could have done this the last couple of years.

Let's turn now to, unfortunately, the politics of fire -- which there should not be politics of wildfires but the president changed that with a tweet over the weekend regarding these California wildfires when he says, "There is no reason for these massive, deadly, and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.

Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now or no more fed payments!"

Well, of course, somebody fired back and he is a very influential figure in this, Brian Rice, the president of California Professional Firefighters.

He said, "The president's message attacking California is ill- informed, ill-timed, demeaning. This shameful attack on California is an attack on all our courageous men and women on the front lines."

He also added, by the way, it was dangerously wrong. Sixty percent of their forests are managed by the federal government.

Even if he's right, what does it say about the president's leadership style at a time of crisis in California?

ZELIZER: Yes, we've seen over and over again this is a president who is not very good when it comes to crises.

In this case, once again, he doesn't have the facts right. And at the same time, he's blaming the victims, he's blaming the people who are trying to help because the actual cause in the minds of many experts, including climate change issues, is inconvenient for him.

[05:40:09] And so this is an ongoing story about how he leads the country.

People need help, they need leadership. They need someone with moral authority to say I am here in the Oval Office and I'm going to deal with this, not to have the state blamed for what's going on.

BRIGGS: Yes, that tweet sent as people were fleeing, as people were actually dying -- ZELIZER: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- in California.

I want to turn quickly to the new top cop in our country --

ZELIZER: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- the acting attorney general who once represented a fraudulent patent company, who says Marbury vs. Madison is the most troubling case he can point to. And, of course, who constantly attacked the Russia investigation.

Here's what Jerry Nadler says -- what they'll do if he does not recuse himself from it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERRY NADLER (D), NEW YORK: The questions we will ask him will be about his expressed hostility to the investigation -- how he can possibly supervise it when he's expressed a -- when he's come out and said that the investigation is invalid, that there was -- that contrary to the findings of every intelligence agency, there was no Russian interference in our election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Even Hugh Hewitt, conservative radio host, writes in "The Washington Post" it was "utterly unnecessary and a self-inflicted political wound by the president to appoint Whitaker."

What's the biggest problem with his appointment and the appearance that he will not recuse himself?

ZELIZER: Look, there's lots of problems from the fraud to the fact that he is overseeing this investigation. If you take a box, you check every box wrong on this pick. The Democrats would almost be irresponsible not to deal with this issue and to investigate it.

So this is not someone who should probably have this seat. It's exposed the president's problems and appointments and I think you're going to see the Democrats move forward with trying to deal with this.

BRIGGS: Checks all the boxes of wrong -- well said.

ZELIZER: Wrong, wrong, wrong.

BRIGGS: Julian Zelizer, good to see you, sir.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

BRIGGS: Thank you for being here.

Ahead, President Trump receiving come backlash after his visit to Paris to commemorate 100 years since the end of World War I. How the trip exposed increasing tensions with European allies. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:23] BRIGGS: President Trump back in Washington this morning after a brief weekend in Paris commemorating the end of World War I.

The White House revealing the president had lunch on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to Russia's state news agencies, Putin felt the conversation, quote, "went well."

President Trump facing backlash, though, for canceling his visit to an American burial ground because it was raining. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders explaining Marine One was unable to fly and driving by motorcade would disrupt traffic, but the optics were undeniably off as other world leaders were able to pay their respects.

The president's visit also exposing cracks in the relationship between Mr. Trump and Macron. The French president offering a sharp warning against the dangers of nationalism. That's a label President Trump has embraced.

Macron said, "Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying 'our interests first; who cares about the others?' we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great, and what makes it essential -- its moral values."

Let's go live to Paris and bring in Melissa Bell. Melissa, good morning.

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave.

That quote, that tweet, it wasn't simply in that speech Emmanuel Macron delivered at the Arc de Triomphe yesterday, very close to Donald Trump. It was also the first lines of that speech he tweeted out. Clearly, the essential part of the message he wanted to transmit to the American president.

And I think to understand what went on this weekend -- and you're right -- never have the divisions between the United States and their European allies seemed as great as they do today. Ever since the start of Donald Trump's presidency things seemed to have reached a breaking point.

You have to understand, I think -- remember why Donald Trump had decided to come. It was in the context of that military parade he liked so much in France last year -- his wish to have one in Washington, as well. Then, the discovery that it would simply cost too much money to the Armed Forces and the fact that it would, therefore, be unlikely.

It was at that point that he tweeted out the fact that he would be attending these ceremonies. But these are very different ceremonies, indeed, Dave. They are, first of all, worldwide. They are marking the end of a world war. They are about alliances and they are about the importance of peace. And in that context, as you say, the optics -- Donald Trump not making it out to those battlefields when European leaders did -- when Justin Trudeau did despite the rain -- they were truly awful for the American president.

On policy, no room, no progress at all between the American president and European allies on so many of the issues that divide them.

And so, both in terms of the form of this weekend and in terms of the content, the division really seems to be greater than ever it has before. And perhaps, finally, with those very strong words from Emmanuel Macron, those are the ones that we will remember from this weekend as those pictures of all --

BRIGGS: Yes.

BELL: -- those European leaders on the battlefields commemorating their dead on Saturday and the American president nowhere to be seen.

BRIGGS: Yes, it's a -- no schedules on the White House schedule today so expect the president to be watching cable news and angry on Twitter.

Melissa Bell, thank you.

Meanwhile, "SNL" star Pete Davidson apologizing for mocking a congressman -- a former Navy SEAL wounded in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE DAVIDSON, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I mean this from the bottom of my heart. It was a poor choice of words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: How Congressman Crenshaw got back at the comedian while making a sincere plea for unity.

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[05:54:26] BRIGGS: Turkey says it has given audio related to the murder of "Washington Post" columnist Jamal Khashoggi to the U.S., European, and Saudi governments. Turkish President Recep Erdogan did not say what is on the recordings.

Meantime, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, in a phone call, the U.S. will hold all those involved in Khashoggi's killing accountable and that Saudi Arabia must do the same.

Let's go to Istanbul where CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is standing by. Jomana, good morning.

Is there any evidence that the Saudis will do anything?

[05:55:02] JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the big question, Dave.

It's been more than 40 days since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Still, no accountability and still, so many questions that remain unanswered.

And we've heard the frustration from Turkish officials here, including President Ergodan, over and over again saying they have this real genuine lack of cooperation they're getting from the Saudis in answering some of these questions.

They're key and what they say are straightforward questions. Where are the remains of Jamal Khashoggi -- that is if there are remains at this point? We've heard the theories that the possibility that they're looking into of acid being used to dissolve his body.

And they also want to know who ordered the killing. Who ordered that hit squad who -- that came here to Istanbul and carried out the killing? And they're not getting these answers.

And the hope was from Turkish officials that the international community, with the U.S. at the forefront of this effort, would put pressure on the Saudis to get these answers. But so far it doesn't seem, at least publicly, that that's really moving.

So you have Turkey feeding information over the past few weeks, trying to keep this story alive, trying to put more pressure on the United States and on Saudi Arabia.

The latest, as you mentioned, President Erdogan, over the weekend, saying that they have passed on the recordings of the killing. He didn't go into details but we know from previous leaks that Turkey has an audio recording of the actual killing and they say they've passed it on to Western countries, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, and also to Saudi Arabia -- and pretty much putting the ball in the country of these countries, waiting for them to put pressure on the Saudis.

But the feeling here, Dave -- the concern is that some in the administration and in Saudi Arabia are just hoping that the world will move on and forget about this.

BRIGGS: Yes. Congress back in session tomorrow. Maybe the Senate will hold them accountable. We won't hold our breath, though.

Jomana, thank you.

Finally, comedian Pete Davidson apologizing to Republican Congressman- elect Dan Crenshaw after mocking the former Navy SEAL wounded in Afghanistan in a skit on "SNL" last weekend. Crenshaw seeming to take it all in stride. He even appeared on the show, himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIDSON: I mean this from the bottom of my heart. It was a poor choice of words. The man is a war hero and he deserves all the respect in the world. And if any good came of this, maybe it was that for one day, the left and the right finally came together to agree on something -- that I'm a (bleep).

DAN CRENSHAW, AMERICAN NAVY VETERAN, REPUBLICAN TEXAS CONGRESSMAN- ELECT: You think?

DAVIDSON: Look, I just wanted to say for people that don't know the reason you're wearing an eye patch right now is that you lost your eye to an IED in Afghanistan during your third combat tour -- and I'm sorry.

CRENSHAW: Thank you, Pete. I appreciate you saying that.

DAVIDSON: So we good?

CRENSHAW: We're good. Apology accepted.

(Ringtone, Ariana Grande, "Breathin")

(LAUGHTER)

CRENSHAW: It sounds like my phone's ringing.

DAVIDSON: You going to answer that?

CRENSHAW: Yes, and I'm just going to let it ring because that's rude to answer. Let's just let it go to voicemail.

DAVIDSON: Now, that's cool. That's cool, man.

CRENSHAW: Oh, do you know her?

OK, but seriously, there's a lot of lessons to learn here, not just that the left and right can still agree on some things but also this. Americans can forgive one another.

We'll never forget the sacrifices made by veterans past and present and never forget those we lost on 9/11. Heroes like Pete's father. So, I'll just say, Pete, never forget.

DAVIDSON: Never forget.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: All right, well-played by both.

Pete Davidson's father was a New York City firefighter who died in the 9/11 attacks when Davidson was seven years old.

We should mention that ringtone, of course, was Ariana Grande, Davidson's ex, who sang the song "Thank You, Next" just after they broke up.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Dave Briggs.

"NEW DAY" starts right now. See you tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still in an active fight. We have fire that's still being fought right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is already the most destructive fire in California state history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a 100-foot wall of flames. It was like a firestorm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm still waiting to wake up from this terrible dream.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What's going on in Florida is a disgrace.

SCOTT: Senator Nelson is clearly trying to commit fraud to try to win this election.

SEN. BILL NELSON (D-FLORIDA): Votes are not being found, they're being counted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Count every vote and let the chips fall where they may.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Monday, November 12th, 6:00 here in New York.

We are following two breaking stories for you this morning.

First, the wildfires in California, one of them becoming the most destructive and deadliest in state history. The death toll has just gone up. At least 31 people have died in the fires. More than 200 people are still missing at this hour.

The fire that is named the Camp Fire has killed 29 people and devastated parts of Northern California, leveling about 90 percent of the homes in one town.