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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Elon Musk Talks to Axios About Tesla and His Plans to Go to Mars; Migrants Overwhelm Police at U.S.-Mexico Border; Trump Campaign Aide George Papadopoulos Starts Sentence Today; Roger Stone Associate Jerome Corsi Says He is in Plea Negotiations with Robert Mueller's Office; A Harvard Law Professor Says Acting Attorney General Whitaker Could Hold Up Mueller Report; Trey Gowdy Suggests Compromise for Comey Testimony; Russia Seizes 3 Ukraine Ships at Kerch Strait Between Crimea and Russia; Cyber Monday Expected to Be Largest in History; Blizzard Warning at Close of Thanksgiving Travel; Alabama Police Admit Killing Wrong Man After Mall Shooting; Family of E.J. Bradford Demand Justice for His Death; Packers Playoff Hopes Fade After Losing to Vikings; Tom Brady Becomes All-Time Passing Yards Leader; Jaguars and Bills Get into a Massive Brawl. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 26, 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] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-HOST, EARLY START: He sees a 70 percent 70 percent chance that he'll live to ride one of his SpaceX rocket to Mars, he's 47 years old. So he's got some time.
POLO SANDOVAL, CO-HOST, EARLY START: Forty seven and off to space. At least 48 or 50, it depends on when that actually happens. Stick around, EARLY START continues right now.
ROMANS: Drama at the border, hundreds of migrants overwhelm police. The move bound to inflame the heated rhetoric on immigration.
SANDOVAL: Also tensions renewed between Russia and Ukraine, and Ukraine says Russian boats opened fire and seized three of its ships, running one of them.
ROMANS: Grab your digital wallets, Cyber Monday is here, deals nationwide today -- oh, what have you -- what you should be looking for, we have what you should be looking for and I will --
SANDOVAL: It's Monday --
ROMANS: Give everyone my annual bah humbug advice, so don't spend money you don't have, otherwise you're not going to be getting any deals, you're going to be just paying for a lot of interests. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START, I'm Christine Romans.
SANDOVAL: A reality check from Christine Romans this morning --
ROMANS: And boring but important --
SANDOVAL: Very important indeed, I'm Polo Sandoval in for my good friend Dave Briggs who is off this morning, Monday, 26th, 5:00 a.m. on the East Coast. The busiest land port of entry in the U.S. is back open in both directions this morning. The border crossing near San Diego closed for hours on Sunday after about 500 migrants rushed the border from the Mexican side overwhelming police blockades.
ROMANS: U.S. Border Patrol agents regaining control by firing tear gas, tensions have been mounting since groups of Central American migrants started arriving on the Mexican side in Tijuana a few weeks ago. Mexico's Interior Ministry says dozens identified among those trying to cross illegally will be deported to their home countries.
SANDOVAL: Though ministry warning that far from helping the migrants' cause these kinds of provocations could result in a serious incident, international incident really on the border. All of this likely to inflame the president's rhetoric on immigration. Cnn's Nick Watt has much more from the San Ysidro Port of Entry this morning.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Polo, Christine, this border at San Ysidro is one of the busiest land borders on earth. And it was shut Sunday afternoon for four hours to pedestrians and a little bit longer to all vehicular traffic. And the reason -- well, there were protests, there was a march, it was supposed to be a peaceful protest on the other side and apparently that got a little bit out of hand.
People say that as many as 500 migrants tried to storm the border, they managed to get past Mexican police and the tear gas was actually fired, this is what eyewitnesses tell us. Tear gas was fired from this side of the border at those people. Now, Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement Sunday evening, she said that some of these migrants tried to scale what she describes as legacy fencing on either side of the port of entry.
And they were also throwing projectiles at Customs and Border Patrol officers. Listen, the president last week said that if we feel we are losing control at the border at any point, if we feel there is a danger of people getting hurt, we will temporarily close down the border.
Now, that is exactly what they did. The Mexican government now is saying that they plan to deport any of those people they managed to identify who tried to get into the U.S. But the border did reopen after a few hours after the CDP said they managed to get things under control.
They had beefed up their staffing here at the border in anticipation of these protests, suspecting that something might go wrong, it did, they closed the border and they dealt with it. Polo, Christine, back to you --
ROMANS: All right, Nick Watt, and again, it is open now. Today, a former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos will have to start his 14-day prison sentence for lying to federal investigators in the Russia probe. He pleaded guilty last year, twice in the last ten days. He has asked federal judge to delay the sentence.
Now Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi says he is in plea negotiations with Robert Mueller's office. The special counsel is apparently pursuing the theory, Corsi was the intermediary between Stone; a long- time Trump confidant and WikiLeaks just before the site released hacked Democratic Party e-mails.
SANDOVAL: Legal scholar Alan Dershowitz; a frequent defender of President Trump now says Mueller's report could be politically devastating to the president when it comes out. Exactly when that happens, that's now the big question right now. Dershowitz says the report could be held up by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: When the report is made public, and that's a very hard question concerning the new Attorney General who has the authority to decide when and under what circumstance to make it public, it will be made public probably with a response alongside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Dershowitz obviously confident that it's not if, but when. Whitaker is a long-time critic of the Russia probe. Mueller cannot simply release this report. You see, he must provide a copy to deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, then to Whitaker who could choose to just sit on it permanently.
[05:05:00] ROMANS: He could also prevent Mueller from indicting anyone. But Whitaker would have to inform Congress of that, something they would probably then leak. But so far, there is no indication he has even been briefed yet on anything related at all to the Russia investigation.
SANDOVAL: House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy looking for middle ground in the brewing fight between former FBI Director James Comey and the Judiciary Committee. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte has subpoenaed Comey to testify privately to Congress next month about FBI actions during the 2016 campaign. Well, Comey however says that he wants the testimony to be delivered publicly. Gowdy suggesting a compromise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TREY GOWDY (R-SC), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: The remedy for leaks is not to have a public hearing where you are supposed to ask about 17 months worth of work in five minutes. I think the remedy is the videotaped deposition. I am sensitive to leaks. I hate leaks. I think they undercut the authenticity of the investigation. But the remedy is not to have a professional wrestling type carnival atmosphere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Gowdy would know about a carnival atmosphere. He oversaw the House Benghazi investigation. Goodlatte has also subpoenaed former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, she has yet to comment.
SANDOVAL: Looking ahead, the UN Security Council meeting in an emergency session today. Ukraine says Russian boats opened fire on three of its ships near the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea. Now, bumping a boat, that could have some serious consequences here. At least, internationally, this kind of standoff including a Russian ship ramming a smaller Ukrainian tugboat, another major complication involving Russia days before Presidents Trump and Putin come face-to- face at the G20 Summit.
Cnn international correspondent Matthew Chance has the very latest from Moscow. Matthew, what is the latest?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that the Kremlin has issued their first reaction. Speaking to state media, they've said this whole incident is a provocation that should be looked into further. That tally is we've got Russian television has been reporting overnight, saying that this whole episode was orchestrated in their words by Ukraine to disrupt a meeting, a forthcoming meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin of Russia.
They're scheduled to be meeting at the G20 Summit when it takes place at the end of this month in Argentina. Of course, the Ukrainian Navy have been in a series of confrontations it seems over the weekend with their Russian counterpart. They're saying that at least six Naval personnel were injured when Russia opened fire on three of their vessels in that strategic stretch of water, the Kerch Strait which separates the Crimea and Peninsula from the Russian mainland.
Russian special forces actually boarded those ships and took them into custody. And this video that's emerged over the course of the past hour or so of those ships moored in a port on the Crimean Peninsula under Russian control. The UN Security Council is having an emergency session in New York later on today to discuss this developing situation.
There are calls from various members of the international community including the NATO military alliance and the European Union for restraint and for the various sides to deescalate. And Ukraine is also considering imposing martial law as a result of this latest confrontation. So it gives you an indication of just how serious an escalation this could prove to be all coming, of course amid ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine in a conflict which has seen already thousands of people killed as these two countries clash in particular the Eastern Ukraine area.
SANDOVAL: Absolutely, thousands of people dead especially after the invasion. Already four to five years now since that happened. Matthew Chance, thank you for that with the very latest from --
ROMANS: All right, there's brown Thursday and Black Friday and now, there's this other one, Cyber Monday is here. That made up holiday by the retail industry that actually is starting to work. This year is expected to be the largest Cyber Monday in history.
Consumers expected to spend $7.8 billion today, up almost 18 percent from last year. Online sales in the three hours between 10:00 p.m. tonight and 1:00 a.m. tomorrow are expected to drive more revenue than an average full day this year. Take a look at the numbers from over the weekend.
Final Thanksgiving Day sales total $3.7 billion in online spending, a record $6.2 billion spent online by the end of Black Friday, that's up almost 24 percent from last year. A Black Friday was also the first day ever to see more than $2 billion in sales coming from smartphones alone.
So where are the deals today? Well, toys, Toys R Us closed of course this year, so shoppers are going online to get the hottest toys and gaming systems. Another emerging trend this year, people shopping for experiences, we're talking things like cruises, hotels and airline tickets today.
[05:10:00] One other fun fact, consumers spent 5.2 billion minutes shopping online last Cyber Monday, that's about 10,000 years. Think about that for productivity.
SANDOVAL: It's a change, a lot to say about that. Also a blizzard this morning is going to be making for a very rough commute, and even an end to the holiday weekend, flight delays and a messy Monday morning in store for millions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Ten million people facing a blizzard warning this morning. Snow, wind, rain, it's all hitting parts of the Midwest. At the close of the Thanksgiving holiday travel, thousands of flights were canceled or delayed and more of all of this nightmares weather could be on the way today, especially in Chicago.
In Missouri, Kansas City International Airport had to be closed to incoming flights. The governor of Kansas issuing a state of emergency, declaring roads treacherous, stay off them. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with the very latest of the forecast.
[05:15:00] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, METEOROLOGIST: Christine and Polo, good morning to you both. Yes, we are watching what's happening across the Great Lakes, as not only are we getting significant snow out of this, but even some thunder snow to be had across this region. So it really speaks to the significance of some of these storms in the region.
Blizzard warnings remain in place through at least mid-morning here across portions of northern and central Illinois, areas of eastern Missouri as well getting in on the action with heavy snow in place, gusty winds, reduced visibility as a result, of course, Kansas City's airport was shutdown at one point yesterday.
And now you notice the system begins pushing in right across the Great Lakes and eventually on across the northeast. Now, snowfall for the major cities in the Northeast not in the picture here. It's going to be way too warm, but get into the higher elevations and also the interior portion of New England and it's all about the wintry weather in the next 24 or so hours.
Certainly some disruptions to be had there, and a lot of the disruption I expect on this Monday left across areas of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys as well. All of this associated with this frontal boundary across this region though, kick up those winds up to 50 miles per hour.
Look at those temps struggle to make it to the freezing mark in places like Chicago and Kansas City and Indianapolis, and places in Minneapolis, highs only around 21 degrees.
SANDOVAL: All right, stay off the roads if you can. All right, another latest, the deadly shooting at an Alabama mall on Thanksgiving night. It really has taken a disturbing turn here. Hoover police now say that the armed man they initially thought fired the shots that wounded two people was not the gunman after all. When officers shot and killed 21-year-old E.J. Bradford as he fled the scene.
ROMANS: Police say he was carrying a gun, but forensic tests and witness interviews convinced investigators Bradford was not the shooter, but he might have been involved in the altercation. That means the gunman, the gunman is still on the loose. Bradford's family says law enforcement has not contacted them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY THOMAS, E.J. BRADFORD'S UNCLE: They literally assassinated my nephew on Thanksgiving night. As far as I'm concerned, he was assassinated. Somebody got to have accountability for this and I will never stop fighting until the day I die. I will get justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: The man in the blue tie there is Attorney Benjamin Crump, he told Cnn someone gave the family a video showing exactly what went down on Thanksgiving night. And they say they might release it -- the officer who shot Bradford is on administrative leave this morning pending an investigation --
ROMANS: I mean, again, the gunman is -- the shooter is on the loose.
SANDOVAL: Yes --
ROMANS: So there's a man -- all right, the Packers playoff hopes fading fast after a loss to the arch rival Vikings. You probably didn't see it, this thing started at 8:20 Eastern Time last night, Lindsay Czarniak saw it, she's got the "BLEACHER REPORT" next.
LINDSAY CZARNIAK, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: You all were sleeping.
[05:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANDOVAL: Welcome back to EARLY START, the Green Bay Packers in danger of missing the playoffs, Christine. This is already for the second season in a row.
ROMANS: All right, Lindsay Czarniak has more in this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT", hey, Lindsay. CZARNIAK: There is hope, guys, because the man at the home is not
going to give up. After last night's loss to their divisional rival, Minnesota Vikings, the truth is even Aaron Rodgers best might not be good enough to get them into the playoffs. The Packers though are going to need to fix a lot if they want to have a chance.
Minnesota quarterback however Kirk Cousins coming off his worst game in the season. He was able to carve his way into the Packers defense. His first touchdown pass led to by far the best celebration of the day, guys, look at this, I remember thinking, what the heck are they doing?
All right, it was limbo, right? You got to love it, yes, a lot of creativity there. Cousins threw three touchdowns in Minnesota's 24-17 win. The Packers have now lost six straight on the road. But quarterback Aaron Rodgers has a clear road map to keep those playoff hopes alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AARON RODGERS, QUARTERBACK, GREEN BAY PACKERS: So we just got to go back home, get some rest, beat Arizona and then come back and beat Atlanta and go to Chicago, a place we've won a number of times. Beat them. Go to New York around Christmas, beat them and then come home against Detroit, beat them, get a little help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CZARNIAK: Yes, tall order, but guys, it could happen. It could happen. Green Bay is tied with the Rams for the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL. As for the Vikings, they are in position for the top wild card spot, but their next opponent, the New England Patriots.
And the Patriots on their seventh win of the season, but the buzz is about Tom Brady setting another NFL record. The quarterback now the league's all-time leader and provide regular season and playoff passing yards. He's thrown for almost 80,000 yards which if you map it out, it's more than 45 miles.
So there's that. Brady passed Peyton Manning for the record, but he seemed more excited about earning another victory against the Jets. He's always going to say that. The Bills and Jaguars, they only have seven wins combined this season. There's bad blood between these two teams and it started before this season when Jacksonville's Jalen Ramsey called Buffalo's rookie QB Josh Allen trash.
So when these teams finally met Sunday, it was not surprising, things got chippy. But I don't think anybody expected this. Things came to a head in the third quarter when it looked like Jacksonville scored the go-ahead touchdown, but the officials ruled it down at the one yard line, and that's when the chaos started.
Leonard Fournette comes in from the sideline to fight with Shaq Lawson and both guys got ejected from this one. But that's not the end of this beef because it spilled over into the tunnel. Buffalo went on to win the game 24-21. After the game, Fournette told reporters the loss was totally on him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:25:00] LEONARD FOURNETTE, RUNNING BACK, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: Your brother getting attacked and fighting at them, you're going to have to go out there and also protect your own. You know, but at the same time, it is professional, you know what I mean, you can't have that.
You know, I apologize to all the kids out there who look up to me and all their parents, but the thing is ten years now, like I said, this whole -- this our loss is totally on me. I take full responsibility for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Big move by him, you know, because obviously you can still carry that emotion, but for him to say that I thought that was pretty good.
SANDOVAL: And I hope our colleague John Berman is watching, I will say I think that Brady needs another stat like Meryl needs an Oscar.
ROMANS: Yes --
SANDOVAL: I think it's completely unnecessary, now just rubbing his success in our face.
CZARNIAK: Right, I mean --
SANDOVAL: Good for him --
CZARNIAK: I mean, and they're just going to keep coming in comments --
SANDOVAL: Good for him, you're right --
CZARNIAK: So get used to it, right?
ROMANS: All right, nice to see you --
CZARNIAK: Thanks --
SANDOVAL: Thanks Lindsay.
ROMANS: All right, is this an invasion or are these desperate people seeking asylum? Hundreds of migrants overwhelm police in a move bound to inflame the intense immigration debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
