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Carter Admitted to Hospital; Rockets Fired into Israel; Biden's CNN Town Hall; Artic Blast Hits U.S.; Carter to Undergo Procedure; Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 12, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:30]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, concerns about the health of former President Jimmy Carter. He is scheduled to have a procedure this morning to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding from recent falls. Carter was admitted to Emery Hospital in Atlanta overnight.

CNN's Martin Savidge live outside the hospital.

Martin, what are you hearing?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Yes, the word is that the president, who turned 95 October 1st, is being treated as a result of he had two falls in the month of October in his home in Plains, Georgia. In fact, we can sort of show you where the medical issues are.

The second fall that he had caused his most recent hospital stay. And that was a result of a -- what they call a minor pelvic fracture. And then just shortly after -- or before that he suffered another fall and he required 14 stitches in his forehead.

And then back in May he also was treated for a broken hip. And then on top of that, you may remember in 2015 he was treated for both liver and brain cancer. This is a very tough man when it comes to medical issues.

And he has not slowed down when it has to do with doing good. Habitat for Humanity in Nashville, he was there right after one of those falls. And despite the fact that he had a very apparent black eye, he was up and working and building homes. That is a cause that he has worked on for 35 years. They have built 14 countries -- homes in those countries. So he is a remarkable man. And right now many people are giving their thoughts and prayers for him as he goes forward with that treatment today, John.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we'll be for more on that. Martin, thank you. Also breaking overnight, violence erupting along Israel's border with Gaza after an Israeli air raid killed a top Islamic jihad commander. Gaza militants firing more than 100 rockets toward Israel. One just barely missing several cars on a road.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now live from the Israel-Gaza border.

Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, you see some of what this escalation has led to here behind me. This is a rocket that landed in a mattress factory locals tell us in the town of Sterot (ph). Fire and flames and smoke have been pouring out of this building over the course of the last 90 minutes or so.

This all starts at 4:00 in the morning local time when Israel carries out a targeted killing, an assassination. A senior Palestinian Islamic jihad leader inside of Gaza, Baha Abu al-Ata. Israel says he was responsible for planning a number of attacks, including some of which were to take place in the immediate future. They also say he was responsible for a number of the occasions of rocket fire, the isolated rocket fire that we've seen here over the course of the past few months, and that, they say, was the reason they felt that they would carry out an assassination of him. The first Israel has carried out in Gaza in years.

That led to the response from Islamic jihad and Israel is saying, as of right now, only Islamic jihad has fired rockets from Gaza. More than 100 rockets fired at this point. And, again, you can see the consequences of that behind me. Some of those were much more powerful than the rockets that land here in the Gaza periphery. They go 40 miles or more into central Israel. And because of that, Israel has shut down schools and non-essential workplaces in southern and central Israel.

Of course the question is, where does this go from here and how wide is this? According to the Syrian state run "Sunon" (ph) news agency, it was Israel who was also behind an attempted attack against a senior Palestinian Islamic jihad leader there. But the Syrian state run "Sunon" news agency says it was his son that was killed, not him.

But it does seem to point to a wider move against Islamic jihad, which Israel sees as an Iranian funded and guided proxy, and that may explain the tension here. And Israel specifically pointing at Islamic jihad.

The key question, does this escalate? There is certainly the possibility for that, even I would say the possibility for this. At some point and quickly perhaps to spiral into a war. But Netanyahu has said -- that is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- that it is only Islamic jihad they're targeting at this point. And the army has made it clear they're not targeting Hamas. That in and of itself is a major statement because Israel holds Hamas responsible for anything that comes in and out of Gaza.

John, it looks like Israel is trying to put an off ramp to deescalate here. The question, can either Hamas or Israel take it at this point.

BERMAN: Oren, we can see the smoke rising behind you. Please stay safe and keep us posted over the next several hours.

Overnight, Joe Biden, in his first solo CNN town hall, his new comments that his campaign thinks might give him the boost he needs.

Plus, the new Democrat thinking about joining the race. Not Michael Bloomberg. Another one.

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[06:38:37]

HILL: Former Vice President Joe Biden facing Iowa voters at a CNN town hall, renewing his attacks against Elizabeth Warren, one of his chief Democratic rivals, and weighing in on impeachment with some of his strongest comments yet.

CNN's Jessica Dean is live in Des Moines with highlights this morning.

Jessica, good morning.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Erica.

With public hearings scheduled for this week, Vice President Biden told the crowd last night that he believes President Trump violated the Constitution and that the House had to act to protect it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN (voice over): Former Vice President Joe Biden defending his and his son's actions in Ukraine at a CNN town hall in Iowa.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's absolutely zero basis to the accusation that I acted in any way inappropriately or that my son did. This is all about Trump trying to create a diversion.

DEAN: Republicans not relenting and now calling for Hunter Biden to testify before Congress despite no evidence of wrongdoing.

BIDEN: There is zero rationale for that to happen.

We have a president who has -- is one of the most corrupt people to serve in that office.

DEAN: Biden saying he feels the House had no choice but to pursue its impeachment inquiry given the facts of the case and believes Senate Republicans could vote to convict the president.

BIDEN: Everybody says the House will, in fact, indict, impeach, meaning, say there's enough reason to go forward with a trial and the Senate will never move.

[06:40:02]

I don't -- I don't buy that. I don't buy the Senate will never move. It will depend on what their constituency says.

DEAN: Biden also turning his fire to 2020 rival Senator Elizabeth Warren for questioning his allegiance to the Democratic Party. She suggested he may be running in the wrong primary after his campaign called her plan to pay for Medicare for all mathematical gymnastics.

BIDEN: I'm more of a Democrat from my shoe sole to my ears than about anybody running in this party, OK?

ERIN BURNETT, MODERATOR: Including her?

BIDEN: Including -- including everybody.

DEAN: Biden defending his stance that Warren's push on Medicare for all is elitist.

BIDEN: The attitude that we know better than ordinary people what's in their interests. I know more than you, let me tell you what to do. I'm -- and it wasn't she's elitist, the attitude is elitist.

DEAN: The town hall turning emotional as Biden reflected on the loss of his first wife and infant daughter and his son Beau. Helping people cope with their grief, he says, has given him a sense of purpose.

BIDEN: When people come up to me often, as you've observed, is that they come up and they'll walk up to me and all of a sudden a man or woman will just grab me and hug me and say, I just lost my son, lost my daughter, I -- tell me, am I going to be OK, am I going to be OK?

And there will come a time, many of you are going through it, where the thought of the person you lost will bring a smile to your lip before it brings a tear to your eye. That's when you know you're going to be able to make it. That's when you know. But it's hard. It's hard. And it gives me some -- it gives me some sense of purpose when I'm able to be of some help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: And some good news for the Biden campaign coming out of New Hampshire. Quinnipiac releasing a new poll yesterday from New Hampshire showing Joe Biden in the lead there with 20 percent support.

It's very interesting, John, the campaign has made the argument they don't have to win Iowa or New Hampshire to be the eventual nominee, but certainly good news for them as they continue to make their argument that Joe Biden is uniquely positioned to beat Donald Trump in a general election.

BERMAN: All right, Jessica, thank you so much for covering that for us. It was a really interesting CNN town hall.

Joining us now to discuss, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. He's also the former chair of the DNC and also someone who's been through a presidential campaign before.

Governor, I'm struck by listening to Joe Biden on how he is leaning into this new argument from his campaign. And it's clear that the campaign likes it and thinks there's some traction here suggesting that Elizabeth Warren is somehow the candidate of the elite who is telling you what you should think, and Joe Biden's presenting himself as, for lack of a better phrase, the man of the people.

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: Yes, it's very interesting. This is now getting serious as people are saying things that they weren't saying a month ago about each other. So we're right in -- we're in the final stretch before the votes are counted. And, you know, Biden's still there. He's still playing. I would say there are four frontrunners right now. You've got to include Pete Buttigieg, who's now up in the front four in both the first two primaries. And I have no idea who's going to win this.

BERMAN: Why is that argument, though, specifically from Biden? Why might it be effective, or not, in your opinion?

DEAN: You know, I don't know if it's going to be effective or not. These are all strategies that people pull for. When I was running it was Dean is an angry man, which was the -- sort of the focus of the four candidates were -- who were behind me at the time. So people come up with these strategies and they probably poll test them to a certain extent and then they try to focus on them.

But there is no clear frontrunner right now. So you're going to get these skirmishes. Biden clearly would prefer that -- it looks -- there's a lot of writing about Elizabeth being the frontrunner and I don't think there has been a frontrunner, but there are several frontrunners and they're going to fight among each other because only one of them can be nominated as president of the United States.

HILL: Also, as we heard from him there in Jessica's piece, talking more and more about impeachment --

DEAN: Right.

HILL: About the fact that, of course, Republicans want to talk to Hunter Biden, going directly after the president. How much of a distraction is this for Joe Biden at this point?

DEAN: The impeachment?

HILL: I think it helps him. I really do. I don't think -- look, everybody in the country knows Trump is a liar. I mean everybody -- even his supporters know that, they just forgive it. So I don't think that has any traction at all. They're not going to get anywhere with that.

Hillary Clinton was beaten up for about five years before she finally ran. They didn't take on Biden. And Biden's a hard guy to take on. He's every man. He's, you know, he's certainly not an elitist.

BERMAN: The poll numbers, and I know you don't put a tremendous amount of weight in polls this far before the voting, but I think one thing --

DEAN: Well, I'm beginning to now because now we're getting close.

BERMAN: OK, well, good, even better.

DEAN: Yes. State by state, that is, not nationally.

BERMAN: One thing that this new New Hampshire poll shows, and other New Hampshire polls have showed Warren or Bernie Sanders with a lead in New Hampshire, but I think the one thing that is increasingly clear is that Joe Biden's not going anywhere, right?

[06:45:01]

DEAN: No, that -- I was very impressive, if I have to say. I would expect that Bernie and Elizabeth would do the best in New Hampshire. They've always been very kind to the neighbors. Even -- you know, even after I lost Iowa, I came back and came second in New Hampshire because I'm next door and Kerry won New Hampshire. So I think that's a good sign for Biden.

And I have to say, not that I'm here to pump up any particular candidate, I was very surprised to see Buttigieg in the top four in competitive. I knew he was going to do it in Iowa, because he's got an incredible operation there. I am surprised at how well he's doing in New Hampshire. I think it's a four-way race right now.

HILL: Interesting to see.

Speaking of your neighbors, while we're talking neighbors, fine transition that you just -- you just gave us there. Some new reporting that possibly Deval Patrick going to jump in.

DEAN: I know. I don't understand what that's about, Deval is a wonderful, wonderful person. I just -- I don't know what -- what this is about. I can barely understand what Bloomberg is doing. I think the only thoughts I have about Bloomberg is that maybe this is his idea of an insurance policy in case Biden, who he considers to be a moderate, doesn't make it.

This is really late. I mean you can't organize the first four states if you come in. And Deval, who's a wonderful human being, would have to raise $50 million or $60 million to play in the first four at this point. I just don't see what he -- I don't know what he's thinking.

BERMAN: You know, he's missed the Alabama filing. Arkansas is today. New Hampshire is Friday. I don't suspect that we will have to wait very long to find out for sure.

DEAN: Yes.

BERMAN: I think we'll have -- we'll know by Friday if he's going to do it. But you think that the fundraising and other hurdles might be -- just be too high?

DEAN: Well, yes, the fundraising and the organizing. I mean these people have been on the ground now for a year and they've raised a hell of a lot of money. And it takes a lot of money. I mean the entry price for Iowa alone is $25 million. And how are you going to raise that in 100 days and get all these other states in line? I just don't understand how serious people can think about doing this at this point.

BERMAN: Howard Dean, always great to have you here. Thank you very much.

DEAN: Thank you.

HILL: An arctic blast gripping much of the country. So, who will see this record-breaking cold? Chances are you're one of them. The forecast is next.

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[06:50:52]

BERMAN: There will be no undefeated teams in the NFL this season. The Seattle Seahawks beat the 49ers the very last second last night. This was a great game.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report."

Andy.

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

This NFC West (ph) showdown is an instant classic. I mean the game just went back and forth, so much in the fourth quarter and in overtime. And we'll pick it up in that extra period for you.

Seattle was driving to win the game. They're in field goal position but Russell Wilson gets picked off, and the 49ers get a great return out of it. And they would then go for the game winning field goal. And Chase McLaughlin, who hit a field goal to send this game to overtime, shanked this one badly. It almost leaves the screen it was so bad. Kyle Shanahan not a fan.

Seahawks would end up with the ball with a little over a minute to go. Wilson, the 18-yard scramble. That was a big play in this game. Sets up Jason Myers. He then nails a 42-yarder as time expires. Seahawks end the 9ers perfect season with a drilling (Ph) 24-21 overtime win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL WILSON, QUARTERBACK, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: That was probably the craziest game I've ever played, to be honest with you. Just -- I don't think I've ever been a part of a game that crazy, that long, that back and forth, that back and forth. It was huge. It was huge. And that is a team win. I mean everybody, that's what championship teams do, and we definitely believe we can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And before the game, Jimmy Garoppolo joining in on the pre- game QB dancing warmups. This was him getting ready last night. This comes after Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's routine went viral on Sunday night.

And, Erica, I mean, would you consider yourself more of a Garoppolo or a Prescott when it comes to your warmup?

HILL: You know, it's a tough call. It's a tough call. Berman was actually trying out both moves earlier and I -- I think maybe the Berman is where it's at.

BERMAN: Exactly. Exactly.

SCHOLES: It's a combo maybe.

BERMAN: I would show you -- I would show you but -- you know, FCC rules prohibit me from dancing like that on TV. I will also say, maybe Russell Wilson shouldn't be passing deep into the fourth quarter. That's created some problems for him in the past. Just saying.

SCHOLES: Well, it worked out, right?

BERMAN: It worked out in the end

All right, Andy, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

HILL: You took the words right out of my mouth.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: You knew I was going to say that.

BERMAN: Totally.

HILL: Here's the other thing when it comes to dancing.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: Those weren't the only moves that we were looking at.

BERMAN: No.

HILL: Sean Spicer busting out the moves again, but it turns out his dance party is over. The former White House press secretary eliminated on Monday by the judging on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sean, I really thank you. You've been such a good sport. You've been so entertaining. I've been hard on you, but I have to say, Lauren and Glen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: He lasted for eight weeks.

BERMAN: Yes. HILL: I have to say, which is probably eight weeks longer than I would last on a reality show. Also, many people surprised that given his lack of dancing skill, as some put it, his former boss celebrating Spicer's run, tweeting, a great try by Sean Spicer. We're all proud of you. Tough to forget, though, the debut on the show. I wonder if he'll bring that outfit back for anything. Neon green. It was like a pirate shirt but neon green. Spice up your life. So there's that.

BERMAN: There were things that likely will never be worn again.

HILL: You also can't unsee that.

BERMAN: No, you can't.

I will say, the president put out a tweet before, you know, supporting Sean Spicer, telling people to vote for Sean. He deleted the tweet after. Maybe he didn't want to be blamed for that plus Matt Bevin in Kentucky in the same week.

HILL: It's possible.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: One was enough.

BERMAN: Yes.

All right, can you feel it. The frigid air whipping across the country, bringing record breaking cold. Let's bring in meteorologist Chad Myers.

Chad, this is going to hit a lot of people.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really is. Two hundred million people by tomorrow morning will be below 32. And enjoy the weather you have now. Boston, New York, D.C., it's still warm, but that front is just to your west. Major snow events going on along the lakes. Elkhart, Indiana, getting buried by snow right now. An awful lot of snow coming down in Cleveland as well.

It feels like eight degrees below in Chicago and four below in St. Louis. So big time cities, not just small places. Norfolk, Nebraska, right now, is seven below zero without a windchill factor and it's colder than that up in Rapid City.

Tomorrow morning's low, even for New York, 24, all the way down to Nashville, 17. That's the end of your tomatoes on the porch.

[06:55:01]

They're done. If you bring them in, you can try, but then bugs come in the house and then you have something else.

Two hundred million people below freezing by tomorrow morning. So cold air continues for tonight and into the next couple of days. It begins to moderate a little bit. The morning lows on Friday and Saturday in D.C. will be in the middle 30s. So we can deal with that. But a quick hitting but very, very cold blast.

Erica.

HILL: I am prepared with the gloves and scarf.

Chad, thank you.

MYERS: Good for you.

HILL: Breaking overnight, new concerns this morning about the health of former President Jimmy Carter. He's scheduled to have a procedure this morning at Emory Hospital University -- Emory University Hospital, rather, in Atlanta. It's a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now.

And, Sanjay, I do want to point out, you, of course, are a practicing neurosurgeon at Emery, but we know that you're not involved in the former president's care.

Give us a sense, what is it, what is this procedure that he's going to undergo?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the president has, he's 95 years old. He has something known as a subdural hematoma. And basically I'm going to show you an image of this because a picture is worth a thousand words here. But basically what that means is there is a blood collection on top of his brain in between the outer layers of his brain and the brain itself.

So that's the concern. And what doctors have to do, that are going to be operating on him this morning, is basically, as you mentioned, take that pressure off.

Let me show you quickly, Erica, with this skull model. This is the skull. You're looking straight at it, obviously. What that procedure involves is actually just making a small hole on top of the skull here and typically a second hole as well, and getting into that fluid collection, which is mostly fluid, it's mostly liquefied at this point, and just removing that fluid, taking the pressure off the brain.

That's the goal. That's what the president is having done. It's something that's, you know, commonly done, but given that he's 95 years old, there's obviously risks with a procedure like this. There's risks with the anesthesia. And I can tell you, that's what the surgical and anesthesia teams are planning right now as we speak. This is probably going to take place within the next hour or so.

HILL: As you point out, his age, he's 95. He is one tough guy as we have seen. But even just in the last few months, as we sort of look at what he's gone through, how much do some of these past issues, health issues that he's had, how much do those also play a role, if at all with this procedure? GUPTA: I think, you know, a pretty significant role. I mean you

remember, I mean I think most people started really understanding more about President Carter's health history back in 2015 when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a -- he had melanoma. It had spread through his body. He did a press conference where he was essentially, you know, in many ways saying good-bye. I was at that press conference. He had a therapy that worked really well and by the end of the year essentially was, you know, declaring himself cancer free.

But look at the top of the list there quickly. There was a couple of falls earlier this year, in May and then two more falls last month. Now, those are significant. One he broke his hip. But it's also significant because he hit his head probably in one of those falls. You remember he had a black eye. And when you hit your head like that, what can happen is that you can start to have a slow amount of bleeding on top of the brain. And that slow bleeding eventually can accumulate into that image that I showed you in the beginning.

So it's not like that blood collection happens overnight. It probably happened over several weeks. And, as a result now, it's putting pressure on the brain, and that's why that pressure needs to be taken off. But all of that health history, to your question, Erica, I think sort of wraps together here.

HILL: All right, well, we'll be watching.

Sanjay, always good to have you with us. Thank you.

GUPTA: You've got it. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, we just obtained this new memo from Republicans in Congress laying out how they plan to defend the president heading into tomorrow's public impeachment hearings.

NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Impeachment hearings just one day away. Democrats and the White House make their case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing this live testimony as opposed to reading transcripts is a big deal.

BERMAN: Disarray inside the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been a consistent theme in this White House. Mick Mulvaney and Pat Cipollone have not been on the same page.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Newly released testimony shows that the White House began asking about military assistance to Ukraine nearly a month before aid was frozen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Republicans are desperate to come up with some defense. They started by saying there's no quid pro quo. Now they can't dispute that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. Alisyn is away. Erica Hill joins me this morning.

HILL: Good morning.

BERMAN: Impeachment hearing eve, right?

HILL: Eve, yes.

BERMAN: In just 24 hours, the first witness will testify in public in this historic moment in our country. Just the third time we will have seen public, televised impeachment hearings, just the fourth time we will have had impeachment hearings period.

[06:59:58]

Two State Department officials, Bill Taylor and George Kent, are set to paint what the Democrats hope is a picture of the president knowingly exerting influence over a foreign government to investigate a political rival.