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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

President Trump Visits Troops in Iraq; Trump Defends Decision to Pull Out of Syria; Thousands Evacuating Over Fears of More Tsunamis in Indonesia; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 27, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:18] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president makes his first trip to a war zone. He said Iraq could be used as a base to attack Syria after the U.S. pulls out.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Wall Street with a record rebound. The Dow stops its slide with the biggest point gain ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whatever it takes. I mean, we're going to have a wall. We're going to have safety. We need safety for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president vowing to stay the course. No wall, no deal to fund the government.

JOHNS: A New Jersey school district standing up for a varsity wrestler forced to chop his dreadlocks. No teams will compete if the referee who ordered the haircut is officiating.

Good morning. I'm Joe Johns. Welcome to EARLY START.

ROMANS: Nice to see you again today, Joe. And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, December 27th. This holiday week. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Let's begin with the president back on his way home to Washington after he and the first lady quietly swept into Iraq, paying a holiday visit to U.S. service members.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We came to Al Asad to share our eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep America safe, strong and free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The president making good on the promise to visit troops fighting one of the wars he has scorned as a costly mistake. The secret overnight flight from Washington to Al Asad Air Force Base even Mr. Trump admits caused some anxiety. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I had concerns for the institution of the presidency, not for myself, personally. I have concerns for the first lady, I will tell you. But if you would have seen what we had to go through with the darkened plane with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever, anywhere. Pitch black. I have never seen it. I have been in many airplanes. All types and shapes and sizes. I've never seen anything like it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Really that made a real impression on the president. The president remained on the ground for about three hours shaking hands and taking selfies and signing autographs. And just a week after Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned over the president's decision to pull troops out of Syria, Mr. Trump said Iraq could be used as a base to take further action in Syria.

More now from Barbara Starr who's made this trip many times at the Pentagon.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Joe, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made the secret unannounced trip into Iraq. It had been expected at some point he might visit the war zone but nobody knew that it would happen when it did.

The Secret Service and the U.S. military working together for weeks to, of course, ensure the security of the president, the first lady and the entire traveling party. They spent about three hours on the ground. The president talking to the troops for about 20 minutes, visiting with them, talking about football, talking about how things were going for them, getting the briefing from commanders.

But the president also very much taking the opportunity to defend his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from next-door Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They said, sir, could we have six more months? I said yes, you got six more months. And then they said again recently could we have more time. I said nope, you can't have any more time. You've got enough time. We've knocked them out. We've knocked them silly. I think that a lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking. It's not fair when we burden the -- when the burden is all on us.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have any plans to pull forces out of Iraq as well?

TRUMP: No plans at all. No. In fact we can use this as a base if we wanted to do something in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP) STARR: That may prove to be very difficult because if you want to do air strikes, if you want to do ground operations, you have to have intelligence from the ground inside Syria. It may be now much more difficult to collect that intelligence.

But the troops giving the president a very respectful, a very optimistic, a very enthusiastic reaction as you would expect U.S. military troops to do for any president of the United States -- Christine, Joe.

JOHNS: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

President Trump also delivering a blunt "America First" message to the rest of the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are in their region. They should be really sharing the burden of cost and they're not. And now they're going to be doing it. And if they don't, they're going to go in and they'll go into places like Turkey and Russia and Iran, and Iraq and lots of other places. So these people are going to have to start doing a lot of their own work and they're going to have to start paying for it. Because the United States cannot continue to be the policemen of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:03] JOHNS: Continuing message there from the president of the United States.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live for us in Moscow this morning.

What's likely to happen if the U.S. leaves it other countries to shape events in the Middle East, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Joe. Well, what they're going to do is they're going to shape these events in the way that they see fit. And you know one of the big countries obviously that President Trump was talking about was the Russians and the Russians most certainly are going to be happy to oblige.

It was interesting because Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, he kept saying look, after President Trump announced his decision to leave Syria, we don't really know if the Americans are actually going to do this. Well, now President Trump did something that he always accused the Obama administration of doing which is actually telegraphing America's intent to one of its adversaries. The Russians of course now very sure that President Trump, despite the advice of some of his generals, is actually going to stand by his decision as he expects other countries to step up.

Let's listen to some more of what President Trump said.

Oh, I see we don't have that sound. But of course, one of the things that he did say is he wanted countries like Russia and Turkey to step up the effort. There of course another country that's going to step up the effort as well is going to be the Iranians. So those are all countries at least Iran and Russia that the U.S. does see as its as adversaries in that region and all countries that have already said that they want to play a larger role in Syria. You have the Turks who said they want to move into some of those areas that are currently controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces which of course were allies of the United States.

And then you have the Russians who by far are the most important player in that area and right now, of course, you know, John, the U.S. doesn't even have a secretary of Defense. Acting secretary of Defense who really doesn't have very much foreign policy experience. Well, just yesterday, the Russians came out and said that they tested a new hyper supersonic missile which they say is a impervious to U.S. missile defenses.

So a lot cut out for the administration and a lot of adversaries of the United States certainly right now feeling a lot stronger after President Trump made those announcements about Syria -- John.

JOHNS: A bunch of moving parts there. Just pointing out that the world is still a very dangerous place.

Thanks so much for that, Fred Pleitgen, in Moscow.

ROMANS: All right. A meeting discussed between President Trump and the Iraqi prime minister was cancelled. As for why that depends on who you asked. A statement from the Iraqi prime minister's media office says there was supposed to be a former reception and meeting, but it calls a variation of views on how to organize a meeting led to being to have been replaced by a phone conversation instead.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders pushing back saying security restriction meant White House officials were only able to invite the prime minister two hours before the appointed time. Sanders said the prime minister was unable to attend because he was in a different part of Iraq.

JOHNS: One notable glitch during the trip, the president and the White House communications team revealed a U.S. Navy SEAL team is deployed in Iraq. Of course the commander in chief can declassify information at will, but normally the location of a special operations unit as well as the identity of the members would not be publicly revealed especially while the unit is still deployed.

ROMANS: It started when the president took a selfie with a Navy lieutenant commander who said he was the chaplain for SEAL Team Five. After the president left Iraqi air space, he tweeted a video that appeared to include members of the SEAL team. We're not showing that video the president tweeted for obvious reasons. We want to protect their identity and their cover. Current and former Pentagon officials tell "Newsweek" such special ops information is almost always classified. Revealing it violates operational security.

JOHNS: So we are now entering day six of a partial government shutdown with no apparent end in sight. Speaking to reporters and to U.S. troops, the president digging in vowing to continue the shutdown until he gets funding for his border wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Because I don't know if you folks are aware of what's happening. We want to have strong borders in the United States. The Democrats don't want to let us have strong borders. Only for one reason, you know why? Because I want it. Whatever it takes. I mean, we're going to have a wall. We're going to have safety. We need safety for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now you will remember the president has been demanding $5 billion for the border wall. When asked repeatedly if he'd be willing to accept $2 billion, the president dodged the direct question three times.

ROMANS: Both chambers of Congress are expected to gavel in today. No votes are scheduled. President Trump who, don't forget, said he would be proud to own the shutdown punting the blame. He's now pointing the finger at Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have a problem with the Democrats because Nancy Pelosi is calling the shots, not Chuck. And Chuck wants to have this done. I really believe that. He wants to have this done. But she is calling the shots and she's calling them because she wants the votes. And probably if they do something, she's not going to get the votes and she's not going to be speaker of the House. And that would be not so good for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:10:02] ROMANS: Just a reminder, Pelosi already has enough votes committed to reclaim the speaker's gavel. The longer the government shutdown drags on the sooner 800,000 unpaid or furloughed federal workers will feel the pinch. With the new year around the corner banks, landlords, utilities will start asking for payment.

JOHNS: The shutdown now also affecting the nation's court system. The Justice Department has asked the federal judge to temporarily pause certain cases until furloughed lawyers are back on the job. The government shutdown also threatens access to key economic data. In a middle of a volatile period on Wall Street, federal reports on the economy, investments and trade are going to slow to a trickle.

ROMANS: All right. Signs of a Santa Claus rally came a day too late on Wall Street. Stock markets staged a miraculous comeback Wednesday following their worst ever Christmas Eve. Look at the numbers. The Dow posted its biggest daily point gain rising more than 1,000 points. Percentage wise that's almost 5 percent, a huge one-day move.

The S&P 500 also rose 5 percent. The Nasdaq was up 5.8 percent, pulling it out of bear market territory. Today marked that biggest percentage gain for all three averages since the dark days of March 2009. Wednesday was a respite from a very rough month for investors. Even after the rally, the S&P 500 remains very close to entering a bear market, which would end the longest bull market in American history and this month it's still on pace for the worst December since 1931.

The White House tried again to reassure investors about the economy. Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters Wednesday Fed chairman Jerome Powell's job is 100 percent safe despite the president's repeated complaints about the Central Bank's decision to raise interest rates most recently on Christmas. Hassett instead blamed market volatility on fundamentals, noting growth in Europe has slowed, growth in Asia has slowed, but he said the U.S. economy continues to be strong.

And Joe Johns, that is how you do White House messaging on the economy.

JOHNS: Absolutely.

ROMANS: What Kevin Hassett did yesterday was exactly what investors wanted to hear.

JOHNS: Right. And it looks like we saw a result from it, too, as well.

ROMANS: Yes, absolutely.

JOHNS: A big result.

ROMANS: Absolutely. But he served down on the year so we'll see what happens this morning.

JOHNS: Other news that sad, sad story south of border. Frustrated border officials speaking up after the second death this month of a migrant child in U.S. custody. One Customs and Border Protect agent tells CNN, quote, "We're not designed to hold all these people. A complete overhaul needs to happen. We're overcrowded, under staffed. We don't have the manpower to deal with this crisis. No one ever thinks you'll lose a life. You give them food and water. If they complain, you flag it. It's sad. It's heartbreaking. That hits home."

ROMANS: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announcing changes. She says all children in CBP custody have now received what she called a thorough medical screening and she says going forward all children the CBP takes into custody will get a medical assessment whether or not the adult they are with asks for one.

Nielsen says nearly 1500 officers and agents along the border are medically trained and DHS has asked the military to provide medical help.

JOHNS: Meanwhile the mother of Felipe Gomez Alonzo, the 8-year-old Guatemala boy who died in U.S. custody, tells Reuters she's in despair. She has asked for the boy's autopsy to be completed quickly so his body can be returned to Guatemala. And local groups in El Paso are adjusting to the faster pace that ICE releasing migrants into the city. 522 were set to be dropped off last night ahead of annunciation house says the migrants are being released through a network of hospitality sites most of them church connected. That's far more humane than earlier this week when hundreds of migrants were left in the cold at bus station parking lot.

ROMANS: The Trump administration is appealing a judge's order blocking asylum restrictions on the southern border. About a week ago a district judge extended his initial order which held the asylum restrictions irreconcilably conflicts with immigration law. He also wrote that asylum seekers would be at increased risk of violence and other harms at the border if the Trump administration's rule were allowed to go into effect.

That rule signed by the president last month would bar migrants who illegally cross into the U.S. over the southern border from seeking asylum outside of official ports of entry.

JOHNS: So it looks like the storm on Wall Street may be calming down, but we got a real winter storm intensifying as it moves east. Tornadoes, flash floods and blizzard conditions all possible during one of the busiest travel times of the year.

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[04:17:25] JOHNS: That winter storm intensifying as it moves east. This is Santa Fe, New Mexico. Snow and ice have caused road conditions to deteriorate. Multiple wrecks on I-25. Thunderstorms and heavy lightning causing cancellation at first responder bowl in Dallas. The game between Boise State and Boston College called off after just 10 minutes of play. Expect more of the same as that storm moves southeast today. Blizzard conditions, flash flood watches, even isolated tornadoes in parts of the south.

The latest now from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Joe and Christine, good morning, guys.

Yes, we're watching the severe weather across portions of the Gulf Coast and back to northern and central Texas in the past few hours. At least one report of a tornado. The active weather here going to shift all the way toward the east city where the concern does have a risk for hail, damaging winds. Those were the primary threats and isolated shots of tornadoes potentially embedded in here.

New Orleans, around Lake Charles back towards Mobile. Some of the areas of concern here when it comes to the active storms into later this afternoon. Notice very slow progression going from Thursday into Friday when it comes to the wet weather. That's the concern here with the rainfall that's in store and impacting potentially at least 24 million people here where we do have the flood watches in place.

So expecting widespread coverage here of two to three inches. Some areas as much as four to five inches of rainfall down toward the south. And to the north, it's all about the wintry weather. In fact, blizzard conditions in parts of the Dakotas, includes Aberdeen, towards portions of South Dakota as well. Some of these areas could see as much as a foot and a half to two feet of snow in the next couple days.

But again, the big story for the East Coast becomes all rain and all severe storms mainly along the gulf coast states -- guys.

ROMANS: All right. Pedram, thank you for that.

A school district in New Jersey holding an emergency meeting after a referee forced a varsity wrestler to cut his dreadlocks. Andrew Johnson told the referee identified as Alan Maloney that he would push back his hair, the wrestler. That is allowed and something Johnson has done in the past matches. But Maloney refused because the teen's hair, quote, "wasn't in its natural state." I guess that means the dreadlocks.

JOHNS: Yes, right. What does that mean?

ROMANS: The Buena Regional District has now decided it will not send its sports team to any events where Maloney is officiating.

ROMANS: The state's athletic association is now investigating. The Civil Rights Division of the New Jersey attorney general's office already announced a probe as well. Andrew Johnson's ordeal angering many people across the state. Governor Phil Murphy tweeting, "No student should have to needlessly choose between his or her identity and playing sports." Despite the disruption, Johnson did win his match in overtime.

[04:20:04] Alan Maloney, the referee, has yet to respond to CNN's request for a comment.

ROMANS: All right. It wasn't exactly the gift she was looking for. A man from San Diego was celebrating with family in Mississippi when he opened an app on his phone and he spotted a burglar inside his home on Christmas Eve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER LUNA, WITNESS TO BURGLARY: Uh-oh. What's going on? Look at this guy. Your heart sinks, I was like, what's happening?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Tyler Luna flew home Christmas night and immediately met with police to file a police report. All of his watches and some valuables on his nightstand were, of course, gone.

JOHNS: Wow. The U.S. Coast Guard is leading an intensive manhunt for a cruise ship crew member believed to have gone overboard in north of Puerto Rico on Christmas Day. Royal Caribbean says 20-year-old Aaron Hough was last seen on the Harmony of the Seas closed circuit camera footage entering an area on deck around 5:00 or 4:00 a.m. Tuesday. He has not been seen since. The ship is currently sailing on a seven- night itinerary that departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday. It's the third case of a person going overboard from a U.S. based cruise ship this month.

ROMANS: One city in Massachusetts is taking a new approach to curb the rising rates of teen vaping. Somerville, located right outside Boston, is restricting e-cigarette sales to adult only stores. The city's mayor says the products are shamelessly marketed to teens who don't fully understand the health risks. E-cigarette use among teenagers skyrocketed between 2017 and 2018. The number of high school students vaping jumped by 78 percent, while use by middle schoolers rose by 48 percent.

And that middle school use is what really shocks me. You know, you've got --

JOHNS: Right.

ROMANS: You've got school officials who are trying -- you know, they're finding this stuff in the bathrooms. And you can't --

JOHNS: Yes.

ROMANS: You can't smell it. You can't see it. And kids think it's OK.

JOHNS: Well, and kids think it's candy, which is the biggest problem of all.

ROMANS: Yes.

JOHNS: The evacuation zone expanding in Indonesia. People told to wear masks and goggles. Flights rerouted as the volcano that caused a tsunami keeps erupting. We're live in Hong Kong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:25:30] ROMANS: Welcome back. In Indonesia, warnings now elevated as volcanic eruptions continue days after the volcano caused a tsunami that left hundreds dead. The government evacuating thousands from islands in the Sunda Strait as fears rise of another tsunami.

CNN's Alexandra Field has the latest. She is live in Hong Kong for us.

I can't just -- I just can't imagine how rattled the nerves must be of anybody who's living there.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you have seen so much devastation there this week, Christine, in the back of everyone's minds has been the possibility that this crisis could be compounded. And that is something that officials are very much preparing for. They have raised that warning level around the volcano to the country's second highest level.

They say that they're seeing this volcano become even more active. They say another crater may have formed and they're hearing rumbling a few teams a minute. Imagine the fear that that must cause in a place where the eruption of this volcano caused a landslide that then triggered the tsunami in the Sunda Strait. Because of this increased activity officials have taken the bold step of evacuating thousands of people from two islands in the strait. They're taking them by boat to areas further inland in the event of another tsunami.

The volcano which continues to erupt has spewed ash into the air. That means the airlines are rerouting their planes away from the area and on land, people are actually being asked to wear goggles and masks to protect themselves. These are some of the most basic steps that can be taken with concerns that another big eruption could trigger another landslide again leading to yet another tsunami.

All of that, as the search and rescue efforts still continue. Crews are trying to get to the hardest hit areas. They've already set the death toll at 430 people. There is a possibility that that number could still go up as they get farther in these areas of devastation -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Well, keep us posted, Alexandra Field, in Hong Kong. Thank you.

JOHNS: The president makes his first trip to a combat zone as commander in chief. A week after saying the U.S. will leave Syria the president says operations could continue with Iraq as a base. More from the Pentagon coming up next.

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