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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

North California Wildfire Now Deadliest in State History; "Ramp Down the Rhetoric"; WashPost: Trump to Remove Nielsen; Dow Drops 602 Points; Audio Thought to Link Saudi Crown Prince to Murder. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired November 13, 2018 - 04:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's our house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that yours?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's mine. That's ours. Gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Wildfires in California now claiming 44 lives, the deadliest and most destructive in the state's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: He's just a pure sore loser trying to steal election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:30:02] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The recount in Florida becomes heated as the judge calls on both sides to ramp down the rhetoric.

BRIGGS: "The Washington Post" reporting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen could be fired as soon as this week. Why the president wants her out.

ROMANS: And the Dow dropping more than 600 points on Monday. President Trump blaming Democrats for the drop. We will breakdown what's really behind the big move on Wall Street.

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

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Four thirty Eastern Time, 1:30 in California, and another high wind warning there, not what they need to hear.

We start in California where the death toll keeps rising. Forty-four people now killed in wildfires statewide. In northern California, 42 people have died in the Camp Fire, making it the deadliest wildfire in state history. More than 7,000 buildings destroyed. Fire officials say the Camp Fire has burned 117,000 acres. Officials estimate it is 30 percent contained.

ROMANS: In Southern California, 57,000 structures threatened by the Woolsey Fire, which has grown to more than 93,000 acres. Also 30 percent contained, two fatalities there.

CNN's Nick Watt has more from Malibu, Malibu has been just devastated by the Woolsey fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Christine, the death toll at the Camp Fire in northern California has risen to 42. Thirteen more bodies were found on Monday. Now, ten of the bodies that were found on Monday were found in the little town of Paradise, once home to 26,000 people, almost completely blown, burned off the map by that fire.

And sadly, the death toll up there could rise even further. The sheriff has called for more search and rescue teams to come in Tuesday, along with cadaver dogs to try to find more of the missing.

The last we heard, there are 100 people are still missing. But that doesn't mean they're all dead. A lot of people go missing because of cell service drops. So, we are waiting, hoping that figure doesn't rise, but fearing the worst. Now, the winds up there in northern California have died down a little bit, down where we are in Malibu in southern California, the so-called Woolsey Fire, the winds here are still whipping and they will continue those Santa Ana winds through Tuesday and Wednesday into places, but on Friday, they're going to change direction and bring some much needed humidity in from the ocean.

Dave and Christine, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Nick Watt, thank you.

As he mentioned there, the weather expected to make things very difficult for firefighters for at least the next of couple days. Here's meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Dave and Christine.

Yes, these conditions here are going to begin to improve actually over the next couple of days. So, at least some good news to tell you across this region of California in particular, to the north initially. But here is how we get here. We have, of course, the hottest July on record this summer. We had the hottest single month on record for California's state history. So, plenty of fuel, plenty of dry conditions across the region.

But going into Tuesday, now, notice the elevated concern in place. We dropped it down from extreme to critical. The winds will be 5 to 15 miles per hour across the north.

To the south, it's an entirely different story. Still looking at critical to extreme conditions for fire weather behavior. And a lot of concerns is due to spot fires. In fact, guts are picking up embers carrying downstream and essentially creating smaller fires across the same vicinity of these wildfires.

So, firefighters have had their work cut out for them tracking those. Winds peaking across southern California as high as 70 miles an hour. We do expect calmer conditions by Wednesday across southern California. So, containment numbers could begin to go up as well -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Certainly hope so. Thanks, Pedram.

To Florida where the lawsuits are mounting and the accusations flying in the chaotic election recount, officials now are scrambling to count every vote by Thursday's deadline as the race for Senate become uglier by the hour.

Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Bill Nelson blasting one another.

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SCOTT: What Bill Nelson needs to do now is what he would be asking me to do if I have lost an election is say, look, you know, the election happened. Let's go forward. But he is not. He is a pure sore loser trying to steal an election.

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: Rick Scott isn't interested in making sure every lawful vote is counted. And the second is that he is using his power as governor to try to undermine the voting process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A Florida judge is warning both sides to ramp down the rhetoric. Republicans, including Scott and President Trump, still alleging fraud in the election process without offering any evidence and despite repeated denials from the Florida Department of State.

The president actually suggesting in a tweet an honest vote is no longer possible. Ballots massively infected. Must go with election night.

BRIGGS: In the Florida governor's race, Democrat Andrew Gillum continues to call for every vote to be counted.

[04:35:03] His rival, Republican Ron DeSantis, is staying under the radar.

Ryan Nobles with more from Tallahassee.

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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Christine, here in Leon County, which is where Tallahassee, the state capital resides, they expect to have the counting wrapped up on Tuesday. Now, each one of Florida's 75 counties operates just a little bit different. But most counties are confident they will have all 8.5 million ballots recounted at least in that U.S. Senate race.

And that U.S. Senate race is the one getting the most attention. That's because the margin between Rick Scott and Bill Nelson is tight, 12,500 votes separate the two. And that's why there are so many people focused on it. Democrats believe they have the chance to flip the race from one hand to another.

Now, while there is a lot of focus on the vote counting, there is another battle playing out in the courtroom. Lawsuits filed by both sides in the past couple days, including the lawsuit filed on Monday by the League of Women Voters. It's a lawsuit that's going to attempt to compel Rick Scott and his capacity as governor to step away from the recount process, recuse himself.

And Scott has been very aggressive on that front. He has actually instructed the Attorney General Pam Bondi to get involved. He's also asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate any potential claims of fraud or criminal activity of which the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has said they have not found any as of yet.

The next big thing we're waiting for, though, is Wednesday. That's when a significant court hearing takes place. The Democrat Bill Nelson filing a lawsuit to get clarification on how to handle the adjudication of some provisional and mail-in ballots. That has the potential to impact as many s 20,000 votes. So, that will be an important court hearing that will be waiting for on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the vote continues as we wait to figure out who the next U.S. senator and governor is from Florida -- Dave and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: OK, Ryan, thanks.

Six days after the midterm election, a big win for Democrats. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema defeating Martha McSally in the Arizona Senate race. Sinema, the state's first female senator flipping a seat that had been on GOP hands for more than two decades. She also becomes the first openly bisexual member of the U.S. Senate, period.

McSally conceded the race Monday night, congratulating Sinema in a video message on Twitter. The victory means among the races settled, the Senate have 51 Republicans and 47 Democrats in the new Congress.

ROMANS: All right. After a year long search, Amazon has chosen two places to share duty as its second headquarters, HQ2. This is from "The Wall Street Journal". "The Journal" reporting late Monday that Amazon has picked New York's Long Island's City and the Washington, D.C. suburb of Crystal City as HQ2. The development projects promise to bring the city's big infusion of jobs and tax revenue. It is certain to draw fire against critics.

The search for HQ2 drew interest from hundreds of cities and a number of states. Amazon outlined criteria for its second headquarters such proximity to a major airport, a suburban or urban area with more than a million people, access to mass transit. Amazon received more than 200 proposals for HQ2, spanning 54 states, provinces, districts and terrorists across the U.S. The Amazon says the new facility will create as many as 50,000 jobs and cost at least $5 billion to build and operate. Amazon has not explained how the money and jobs might be divvied up across these two different sites.

There are this morning who are calling foul a little bit. Some of the cities spent a lot of money and had to turnover a lot of proprietary information about their labor markets and their tax bases. The idea being there was going to be one new headquarters. Now, it looks Amazon is going to divide that one headquarters and added two places that already exist.

BRIGGS: Yes, people are divided over the tax breaks are too generous to begin with.

Ahead, special counsel Robert Mueller apparently inching closer to Trump adviser Roger Stone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME CORSI, ROGER STONE ASSOCIATE: I fully anticipate the next few days I will be indicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Why one of Stone's associates says he's in real trouble.

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[04:43:24] ROMANS: President Trump reportedly ready to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. "The Washington Post" quoting current and former White House officials says her departure is expected in the coming weeks, perhaps as soon as this week. The president canceled a planned trip with Nielsen to visit the troops at the border in Texas. He says he wants her out as soon as possible.

"The Post" reporting that the president has grumbled for months about what he views as Nielsen's lackluster performance on immigration enforcement.

BRIGGS: New indications that Robert Mueller's Russia investigation is gathering momentum. At least eight of the special counsel's attorneys were spotted working yesterday, on Veterans Day which, a federal holiday. Michael Cohen was spotted with his attorney in Washington. They would not comment on what they were doing. Also, Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi said on Monday he expects him

to be indicted by Mueller for giving false information to the special counsel or a grand jury.

More now from CNN's Jessica Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, could the special counsel be inching closer to former Trump associate Roger Stone? Well, it seems so given the statement from Stone's former associate Jerome Corsi.

Corsi is expecting to be indicted. He made that statement on his YouTube streaming show, saying that he fully anticipates to be charged in the next few days for giving false information to Robert Mueller's team or to the grand jury. Now, Corsi gave no indication about what he might have said that was false.

But Corsi has spoken extensively to the special counsel in the last few months and he's likely been telling the team about his relationship with WikiLeaks and Roger Stone.

[04:45:06] As you'll remember, it was back during the 2016 campaign when Roger Stone bragged about having those back channel communications with WikiLeaks Julian Assange. And Stone during the campaign even seemed to predict when WikiLeaks might release damaging e-mails to Hillary Clinton.

And, of course, if stone had a connection to WikiLeaks and then gave that information at the Trump campaign, that could be the link to back up those claims of collusion with the Russians since the Russian government is said to be behind the hack of those e-mails. Now, Roger Stone meanwhile issued a lengthy statement once again denying that he knew about the theft of email or had any connection to WikiLeaks, but the plot may taken if there is any sort of indictment to these associates of Roger Stone -- Christine and Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that, Jessica.

Will she or won't she become speaker of the House again? Nancy Pelosi supporters and her opponents will battle it out this week. Congress will be back in session for the first time since the midterm elections when Democrats took back control of the House. Sources say a group of Pelosi detractors plans to circulate a letter who are against Pelosi regaining the speaker's gavel. They are trying to recruit a challenger, but no one has stepped up.

BRIGGS: Defending Pelosi is more than a dozen house Democrats pushing for her to be the speaker in the new Congress. In her own letter to House Democrats, Pelosi writes, in the next few weeks, we need to be unified and find common ground with Republicans and our legislative engagements, but stand our ground when we must. ROMANS: All right. "Toy Story" fans, Pixar released the next toy for

"Toy Story 4." Who is the new character? We get a check of CNN business next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:51:38] BRIGGS: Deadly violence in Gaza is escalating. Palestinian militants bombarding Israel's rockets and mortar shells on Monday. Israeli warplanes striking over 100 targets throughout the Gaza Strip in the most intent exchange between the two sides in four years. The Israeli military says at least 400 rockets have been launched from Gaza causing the first fatality in Israel from rocket fire since 2014.

Palestinian officials report five people killed. The rocket fire was triggered by a botched military raid in Gaza on Sunday. That battle killed seven militants, including a Hamas commander and an Israeli military officer.

ROMANS: "The New York Times" reports the member of the assassination team that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi was recorded telling a superior to tell your boss. Officials believe that boss is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh live in Istanbul with more for us --Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, as you mentioned there, this latest reporting from "The New York Times" speaking to officials familiar with the audio recordings of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. They say that shortly after the killing of the journalist, one of 15 Saudis who were sent here to carry out the killing, they name him as Muhammad and we know CNN has reported on the individual in the past. He is a former diplomat and intelligence officer who is a member of the inner circle of the Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

He calls the superior and says quote tell your boss. Along the lines of the deed is done. At no point is Mohammed bin Salman mentioned by name. But intelligence officials believe your boss is in reference to the crown prince. And several U.S. officials last month told CNN they believe an operation like in involving the members of the inner circle of Mohammed bin Salman known as MBS, would not happen without his direct knowledge.

But we've heard from the Saudis repeatedly that the crown prince knew anything about this operation. They blamed it on rogue elements. "The New York Times" when it comes to the report received a statement from the Saudi government again repeating the denial. They also say the Saudis heard the audio and did not hear that part.

But, again, Christine, there is a possibility there are different recordings that Turks have shared different parts with different agencies and different governments. What this adds pressure here on the Saudi Saudis, the United States and other Western allies to get to the bottom of this and to provide explanations of what really happened.

ROMANS: All right. Jomana Karadsheh there in Istanbul. Outside the consulate in Istanbul, thank you for that.

This morning, police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, searching for a gunman on the loose suspected of shooting three people inside a warehouse. Officers responded to the scene Monday night after calls reported an active shooter. They found three people with gunshot wounds were taken to the University of New Mexico hospital. The hospital says all three are in critical condition. Again, the suspect is still at large.

BRIGGS: The family of the Chicago security guard killed by police as he tried to detain a gunman has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the officer who shot him and his department. Court documents say 26- year-old Jemel Roberson was working security at a bar and had detained a shooting suspect.

[04:55:06] Witnesses say people in the crowd yelled to arriving police that Roberson was a guard. Still one responding officer shot him who later died at the hospital. Friends and family says Roberson was studying to become a police officer himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got his life took by people who he looked up to, who he wanted to become.

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BRIGGS: The Midlothian Police Department says the unnamed officer who shot Roberson has been placed on administrative leave.

ROMANS: A report in "The Wall Street Journal" says that an investigation has found that Boeing withheld crucial information on its new Boeing 737 model planes. It concerns potential hazards with an automated flight control that feature that officials suspect played a part in that fatal crash of a Lion Air jet in Indonesia last month. Safety experts involved in the investigation say both airline managers and pilots at U.S. carriers were not told the system had been added to the new 737s and so were not prepared to deal with potential risks.

BRIGGS: The FAA has increased staffing in the Las Vegas airport tower after the only controller on duty began slurring her words and became incapacitated. Her alarming slide into incoherence all captured on air traffic control audio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONTROLLER: (INAUDIBLE)

PILOT: Is there somebody up there that knows what they're doing?

CONTROLLER: Frontier 767 (INAUDIBLE). Good to go.

PILOT: Say that again?

CONTROLLER: Frontier 762. Good to go.

PILOT: Confirm it's Frontier 262. Clear for takeoff.

CONTROLLER: Sorry, 262, runway cleared for take off.

Sorry. I'm choking a little bit. (INAUDIBLE)

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The unnamed controller eventually becomes unresponsive. The FAA says there were no safety events during the Wednesday incident, but it is requiring two controllers on duty. They would not say if the controller suffered a medical emergency, although the "Las Vegas Review Journal" reports paramedics were dispatched. The controller is no longer working for the FAA. It is unclear if she quit or was fired.

Stan Lee, the man who revolutionized comic books has died. The legendary, writer, editor and publisher of Marvel Comics brought superheroes like Spiderman, X-Men and the Avengers, Black Panther to life in comics, movies and on TV. Lee helped catapult Marvel from a tiny venture in the 1960s into the world's top comic book publisher and later a multimedia giant.

Stan Lee died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 95.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning.

Global stocks are up following the big decline on Monday. Nikkei fell about 2 percent. Shanghai is up and so is Hong Kong. European markets closed higher. DAK and the CAC and the FTSE are up this morning.

So, not continuing that selloff we saw on Wall Street. Futures on Wall Street also up after that sharp decline.

Here is what happened. Dow fell 2.3 percent. That is more than 2 percent.

Apple, the big story here, Apple led the tech selloff down 5 percent when a supplier cut the earnings and sales forecast because of weak demand. So, watch the tech sector today.

Kellogg may say good-bye to Famous Amos and Keebler Cookies. It is considering the sale of the snacks to focus on core parts of Kellogg's. Kellogg's CEO Steve Cahillane said in a statement, these changes will make Kellogg focused on the growing demand for foods. This includes little brownie bakers who makes Girl Scout cookies.

All right. "Toy Story" fans, there's a new toy is in town. Pixar released a trailer for "Toy Story 4" on Monday featuring someone new. A scared spork named Forky. We don't know the installment of the popular franchise. It says a road trip adventure along old and new friends shows how big the world can be for Woody. It is set to open in 2019.

BRIGGS: Meanwhile, my kids are saying what the hell is a toy? They play with iPads now. They don't use actual toys, do they? ROMANS: A digital spork.

BRIGGS: OK, that will make it make sense.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's our house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that yours?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's mine. That's ours. Gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)