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New Day

Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters; California Pass new NCAA Law; Bahamas Struggle after Hurricane Dorian; Polls on Support for Impeachment; Me Too Accusers Struggle after Telling their Stories. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 01, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:30:21]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're following breaking news this morning out of Hong Kong. Violent protests on the streets. We've been watching as riot police have been clashing with pro-democracy protesters, firing tear gas and apparently more into the crowds.

This comes as China is celebrating today 70 years of communist rule. They had a huge military parade.

CNN's Ivan Watson is live in Hong Kong with the breaking details on these protests, Ivan, which have been very dangerous, to say the least.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they have been violent. And we've gotten information from a police source here in Hong Kong that a demonstrator appears to have been shot by a live round, wounded, and we've seen video that purportedly shows what could be this incident of a police officer clashing with demonstrators and appearing to fire a side arm at some of the demonstrators.

So if that is, in fact, true, and we do have from a good source that somebody has been wounded, that is a dramatic escalation of the levels of violence here in a cycle of confrontations and clashes that have gone on for nearly four months here in this former British colony. Up until now we have not heard of police actually wounding a demonstrator with a live round. They fired warning shots into the air. But that shows how things have deteriorated here.

It is miraculous, near miraculous, that nobody has been killed in these clashes. You can see some of the aftermaths here. Riot police, who, after conducting clearance operations, are sitting down, getting a rest on a hot, sweltering night. The remainders in the distance here of barricades that some of the protesters have put up.

John and Alisyn, two, three months ago, protesters might have thrown eggs at the security forces. Now they routinely tear up paving blocks and throw Molotov cocktails at the security forces here. And the police, in turn, use -- they've used scores of rounds of tear gas. They fired non-lethal rounds that one of our crew members may have been hit by today. And, for the first time, we're hearing about a live round being fired in these clashes.

This is supposed to be a patriotic day, akin to the 4th of July, for China. National Day. The 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. But instead of the mass show of military might that we saw in Beijing, here in Hong Kong, large numbers of Hong Kongers rejecting the communist party, rejecting the rule of mainland China and no apparent off-ramp or political solution in sight for this cycle of violence and confrontation.

Alisyn, back to you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my gosh, Ivan, that video that you just showed us, I mean, it looks as if that was a live round at point- blank range. I mean he just turns right there and he's as close as John is basically to me.

Please be careful out there, as well as your crew. Thank you very much for reporting all of this violence for us.

OK, breaking news. Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg moments ago releasing their third quarter fundraising numbers. Sanders raised a whopping $25.3 million. His campaign touts a record breaking September. The Buttigieg campaign did not match their own $25 million second quarter, but did pull in a $19.1 million haul for their third quarter.

BERMAN: That's still a lot of money.

All right, new this morning, California has changed the game of college athletics, or maybe, passing a law that requires players -- or allows players to get paid for schools using their likeness and making money off of them.

Andy Scholes has the latest in the "Bleacher Report."

Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

So this new law doesn't mean college athletes are going to be paid by their schools in California, but it does mean for the first time they will be allowed to profit from their name, image and likeness. Now, California Governor Gavin Newsom signing the Fair Pay to Play Act into law on LeBron James's show "The Shop." And this new law, which goes into effect in 2023, will allow college athletes to hire agents, sign shoe deals and profit off things such as autographs and jersey sales.

Now, we all know LeBron didn't go to college, but had he gone to Ohio State, he says he would have been taken advantage of under the current rules.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS FORWARD: I would have been one of those kids, if I would have went off to Ohio State or if I would have went off to any one of these, you know, big time colleges where pretty much that 23 jersey would have got sold all over the place without my name on the back.

[06:35:07]

Coming from the -- just, you know, from me and my mom, we didn't have anything. We wouldn't have been able to benefit at all from it.

DRAYMOND GREEN, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS FORWARD: Someone needs to force this dictatorship to change because that's exactly what it is. It's no -- it's no different than any country that's ran by dictators. The NCAA is a dictatorship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, the NCAA responded in a statement saying it's considering its next step, adding, unfortunately, this new law is already -- is already creating confusion in current and future student athletes, coaches, administrators and campuses and not just in California.

And, you know, guys, the NCAA has called this bill in the past unconstitutional. So all indications are that they are going to put up a fight.

CAMEROTA: OK, Andy, thank you very much.

SCHOLES: All right.

CAMEROTA: All right, CNN is back in the Bahamas one month after Hurricane Dorian to see how the people are trying to put their lives back together. Hundreds of people are still missing. We have a live report there, next.

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CAMEROTA: A month after Hurricane Dorian devastated the northern Bahamas, hundreds of people are still missing. Thousands are still homeless.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is back in Grand Bahama Island to follow up with some of the people he met during the storm.

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HOWARD ARMSTRONG, HURRICANE DORIAN SURVIVOR: The porch was still here, but that went that night. Obviously it was probably the worst part of the storm as the night came on there.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A month after Hurricane Dorian rained hell down on the Bahamas, survivor Howard Armstrong shows us what remains of his home, his island, his life. ARMSTRONG: I'm hanging on this tree up there.

Right here.

They were all pounding and pounding. It was -- it was just terrible and I --

That's the bathroom. Bedroom there and a bedroom here.

She was laying, floating. And I checked her out. She'd died on me.

OPPMANN: Dorian hit Grand Bahama in the Abaco Islands with 200 miles an hour gusts and a storm surge over 20 feet high.

When we first met Howard, he had just been rescued by jet ski. He had just seen his wife, Lynn, die in front of him.

ARMSTRONG: My poor little wife got hypothermia, and she was standing on top of the kitchen cabinets until they disintegrated. And then I -- I kept with her, and then she just drowned on me.

OPPMANN (on camera): I'm so sorry.

ARMSTRONG: I know.

OPPMANN (voice over): Like thousands of Bahamians, Howard was left homeless by Dorian. Only after weeks of searching did we manage to track him down.

He shows us the cabinets he and Lynn climbed on top of to escape the rising waters. Everywhere you look, there are fragments of their old life. One of Lynn's diaries in the yard, her cross hanging from a tree branch, the glasses she lost in the storm.

ARMSTRONG: I have to keep those. She couldn't see. See how thick they are.

OPPMANN: Howard can't find Lynn. Her body, the storm carried her way.

OPPMANN (on camera): From what you've told me, you did everything you could to save your wife's life, but you say you feel guilty.

ARMSTRONG: Well, I feel guilty I left her body and didn't take it with me, otherwise I would have had her to bury.

OPPMANN: But how could have you? You barely made it yourself.

ARMSTRONG: Well, that's the whole thing, I didn't get to do it.

OPPMANN (voice over): There are the scars that Dorian left on the landscape here, and then there are the scars that Dorian left on the people.

As of now there were 56 deaths caused by the storm. A month later, there are still over 600 people who can't be located.

The Bahamian prime minister tells me many of the missing will never be found.

HUBERT MINNIS, PRIME MINISTER OF THE BAHAMAS: Many would be washed out to sea. And it's not unusual that this type of disaster you may find remains deposit at various different locations. Even on different islands. We expect that may happen.

OPPMANN: Thirty days later and more aid is finally arriving. Power and water are slowly being restored, but places like Marsh Harbour are still a wasteland. Debris is everywhere. Even under water.

OPPMANN (on camera): Some residents tell us that things actually feel worse now a month later. So much of the foliage here has died. You look around, and you don't see many people. It really feels quite abandoned. And there is the growing realization for those that left that they may have nothing to return to.

OPPMANN (voice over): Bahamians say they will rebuild Abaco and come to deliver clothing from other islands.

La Tanya Miller (ph) had to evacuate by helicopter after her home was destroyed.

LA TANYA MILLER, ABACO RESIDENT: We are strong, resilient. We are praying people. So it's going to take some time. It will take some time because the island has to -- it have to clean up. We're going to build a strong, better Abaco.

[06:45:07]

OPPMANN: For some, hope is a rare commodity here these days, harder to find than a truckload of ice cold water.

Many like Howard Armstrong are forever haunted by what they have lost.

ARMSTRONG: I've had these thoughts in the night. Well, one night I was up and I couldn't even turn the lights out, never mind close my eyes. I said, well, why didn't I just go with her, and then we would know -- I wouldn't have had to worry about any of this or any damn thing.

OPPMANN (on camera): We're glad you're here though.

ARMSTRONG: Well, I know, but what's going to happen now because what am I going to do now? You know, I mean, yes, life goes on, but this is the life I lived, and I never get to do this again in my time. And, you know, my wife's gone, my partner, my love, and, you know.

OPPMANN (voice over): The Bahamas will rebuild. Tourists will return. The nightmare will fade. Yet many that faced the true fury of this storm will never be whole.

ARMSTRONG: She kept everything. I'm lost without her. Trust me, I'm lost. That's it, man, let's get out of here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPMANN: And good morning. We are in Howard Armstrong's neighborhood. Much of the devastation looks exactly like it did right after the storm. It's a ghost town here. You just wonder who will come back to rebuild, and how do you rebuild? How do you build a house strong enough to survive another Dorian?

John.

BERMAN: What now? Such a difficult question for so many people, they just have to take it as it comes.

Patrick, thank you so much for that look. Appreciate it.

New polls out this morning show important shifts in public opinion on impeachment. Where that shift is coming from even more surprising. That's next.

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BERMAN: All right, this morning, new polls on impeachment show major shifts in public opinion. Important shifts.

Let's get "The Forecast" with CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten.

Big swings here, Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: I would say so my dear friend, Mr. Berman.

So let's start with the question that CNN's been asking this entire time, do you want to impeach and remove Trump from office?

[06:50:05]

Now we're up to 47 percent. Back in May it was just 41 percent. Now a plurality say that they want to impeach and removal. That's really within the margin of error. Versus in May, we were way back where no was at 54 percent, yes was only 41.

And we're not the only poll that's showing that.

Look at this Quinnipiac University jump right here. Now 47, 47. Just last week on impeach and remove. The no on impeach and remove was at 57 percent, the yes at 37 percent. So we're seeing massive movement towards the yes column.

BERMAN: And I want to point out, the way this question is asked is impeach and remove here, which isn't even where Congress is now. And when you look at what Congress is doing, launching the impeachment inquiry, it looks even worse for the president.

ENTEN: Right. So take a look at this. So do you -- do you support the impeachment inquiry? We have two polls out this past few days and what do we see, CBS News, 55 percent say yes they support that. Quinnipiac University, 52 to 45 say, yes, they support that. And that is massive movement from August, when Monmouth University asked a similar question and then the impeachment inquiry, only 41 percent said, yes, 51 percent said no. So we went from a minority to a clear majority.

BERMAN: All right, where is this swing coming from?

ENTEN: Yes. SO take a look at this. I think that this is rather interesting. So this is our CNN/SSRS poll and what do we essentially see here. So among Republicans, this is where we're seeing the movement coming from. But it's not Trump's base. So among those very conservative Republicans, 2 percent support impeach and remove back in May. That dropped to actually 1 percent now. So there's not a lot of movement there. But it's actually on the left moderate wing of the party, the moderates and liberals, 16 percent supported impeach and remove back in May. That's up to 28 percent now versus 64 percent said no. So basically we have a third of the left wing part of the Republican Party saying that, yes, we want to impeach and remove the president.

BERMAN: Is that a big wing of the party?

ENTEN: It actually is surprisingly not as small as you might think. About a third of the party, about 30 percent is -- call themselves moderate to conservative. These two wings of the party are about the same size, although in Congress these representatives make up a lot more, which shouldn't be so surprising why they're backing up Trump so much.

BERMAN: All right, what else do you understand about the inquiry right now?

ENTEN: Right. So I think that there are a few other things. So just talking about the Trump and the Ukraine, this might be why the impeachment inquiry is polling higher. So, do you think that phone call was essentially improper or wrong? And what do we see? We see 48 and 50 percent say yes. They believe it was either improper or wrong in both the CNN/SSRS poll and the Quinnipiac U. poll. So you have a clear plurality there who are saying yes they believe it was --

BERMAN: And, again, we have the notes, we have it in black and white here. So this is evidence people have, which is very different in some cases than the Mueller investigation.

All right, how does this compare to past impeachments we see?

ENTEN: Yes. So I think this is rather important.

So let's compare Trump to other presidents at similar points who faced an impeachment inquiry or impeachment and removal. And what do we see is right now in the average of polls, 54 percent say yes to the impeachment inquiry, versus Clinton at this point, October of 1998, only 45 percent said yes to the impeachment inquiry. So clearly the public's further along on that.

We can also look at the impeach and remove question. And what do we see here? Forty-seven, 45, yes, no in September of 2019 to impeach and remove Trump. Clinton was way behind that at this point, on 31 percent said yes they wanted to impeach and remove.

This is a -- looks, in fact, a lot more like Nixon, where the split was 43 percent to 41 percent.

BERMAN: Yes. And I just want to point out the date here --

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Which was four or five months before he resigned.

ENTEN: That's correct.

BERMAN: So this is end days-ish for Richard Nixon.

ENTEN: Right. Right. Correct.

BERMAN: There is a number which I think is surprisingly good for the president.

ENTEN: Yes, I think that this is important. So Trump's overall standing according to Quinnipiac University, his approval rating is basically the same where it was last week. So we haven't seen much of a drop-off. In fact, it's a rise in point, although that's statistically insignificant.

I think the key number here, though, is, if you're looking for rallying around the base, the strongly approve number for Trump, 35 percent, that's up from 29 percent last week according to Quinnipiac, but it's more than that. That 35 percent is the highest of the presidency so far for Trump. So there's clearly some rallying around the base for Trump going on right now.

BERMAN: But there might be a ceiling in that number. We're going to have to watch for that.

ENTEN: Exactly.

BERMAN: Harry, these numbers are really interesting and they may help drive this discussion over the next several days. So, thanks so much for being with us.

ENTEN: Quite kind of you.

BERMAN: All right, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK.

John, it's been more than two years since the global Me Too movement began calling for powerful men to be held accountable for sexual harassment, assault and misconduct. For her new piece, "New York Magazine's" senior correspondent, Irin Carmon, spoke to 25 accusers/survivors about their decisions to speak out and what happened after they did.

Irin, who is a CNN contributor, joins me now.

Irin, what an eye-opening piece you have with these 25 people that you went back to speak with. And you talk about the painful repercussions of them coming forward, some of them lost jobs, one of them lost their child in a custody dispute. So tell us about your reporting and what you found.

IRIN CARMON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Alisyn, I think even now, two years after a global movement used the hashtag Me Too, started by Tarana Burke, in order to express what they had been through, even now people still don't understand what it means to come forward. It is still enormously difficult.

[06:55:09]

So my colleagues and I wanted to look at what happened after they spoke up and everyone else moved on. There's still a misconception that this is something that involves personal gain. People still ask, why did you say nothing at the time. Why did you only do this years later? What kind of evidence do you have?

And then there's the aftermath. Is there a personal gain? Is there fame? Well, among the 25 people that we spoke to and we spoke to many more than we could include, there was a lot of cost. There -- it was painful. It changed their relationships. It changed their professional life. They lost opportunities. They still wonder whether there are opportunities that they didn't know about that they lost. And so in some way these are the front line soldiers of social change. They're the people who put themselves on the lines and they may be casualties.

CAMEROTA: Here's just one example. You talked to a woman named Christie Van. She said that she was propositioned and showed sexually explicit material by multiple supervisors at this Ford Chicago assembly plant. And that when she filed a report with the company, she was removed from work assignments, she was called a snitch, she was attacked in the plant's parking lot.

Here's what she told you. Quote, I'm seeing a psychiatrist and I have medication to cope with my anxiety and depression. I'm wondering where my life would be if I never said anything. I would never do it again and I would never recommend another woman do it. Why would I tell someone to go up against a billionaire company like this and destroy their life?

I mean that is just a horrible outcome.

CARMON: It is. And I think it's a challenge to our society, you know, how do we create an environment where people don't suffer those consequences if they credibly speak up, if they go through the processes that they're supposed to? These people are whistleblowers. They are calling attention to abuses of power in our society. And if we can't make sure that they're protected, that they don't end up in debt, losing their children, losing their jobs, and this is not everybody's experience, but it is the experience of many, how can we prevent this from happening again, and how can we tell people you should come forward, you should say something?

Now, why do they still do it? They did it because they felt a sense of duty and they wanted the future to be better. And there are still some people who we spoke to who said that they would do it again. And so I think we need to create more circumstances, more environments where transparency is possible and where it's a little safer. CAMEROTA: This is such a cautionary tale, though, I mean that we're

not there yet. Your piece is such a cautionary tale because, on balance, would you say that the 25 people that you spoke to most would say that they've had negative repercussions and wouldn't do it again?

CARMON: I think most actually have said that they would do it again, even though they suffered negative repercussions.

You know, my colleague, Amelia, spoke to a woman who worked in a meat packing plant in Mississippi. She's an undocumented worker. She -- this is somebody who she spoke out through the EEOC process, the way you're supposed to go. They had a settlement with Koch (ph) Foods.

A year later, 700 people in that town were deported, including people who took part in that investigation. So it could be viewed as retaliation.

In that circumstance, though, even so, she still says that she spoke up for her rights and she's glad that she did it.

Now, I think we really need to understand all the people who have not yet come forward. We also -- I report an allegation, it's the ninth allegation of Al Franken behaving inappropriately. And the reason that I thought it was important to report is there are so many stories that we still haven't heard yet.

CAMEROTA: That is --

CARMON: How do we create a space where people feel comfortable telling them?

CAMEROTA: That is really interesting to hear from another Al Franken accuser. Just in his response he says, two years ago I would have sworn that I'd never done anything to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but it's clear to me that I must have done -- been doing something. As I've said before, I feel terrible that anyone came away from an interaction with me feeling bad.

Irin, thank you very much. It is a fantastic article. I recommend it to everybody. It's the cover of "New York Magazine."

Thank you very much.

CARMON: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, lots of big developments in the impeachment inquiry. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a recent phone call, President Trump pressed Australia's prime minister to help Attorney General William Barr with his investigation into the Russia probe.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Barr should be talking to Australia to find out if their intelligence services worked with our intelligence services improperly to open up a counter intelligence investigation of Trump's campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was clearly encouraging the Australians to cooperate with Attorney General Barr, who has undertaken this politically motivated probe.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Giuliani is still central to this push.

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: They're silencing me because I showed up an accuser who's willing to stand up and point the finger at Joe Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would expect for Mr. Giuliani to understand this process. I would hope that he would act in a cooperative manner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

And we do begin with several major developments in the impeachment investigation into President Trump, starting with Rudy Giuliani. The president's personal attorney has been subpoenaed to turn over all documents related to his admitted role in pressuring the Ukrainians to dig up dirt on Joe Biden.

[07:00:02]

It remains unclear whether Giuliani will comply. He has said various things.

CNN has learned that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was actually