Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Pearl Harbor Shooting; Impeachment Vote Coming?; Kamala Harris for Veep?; Real-Life Cannonball Run; LeBron Gets Away with Travel in Lakers Win. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired December 05, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight. Deadly gun fire at Pearl Harbor just days before ceremonies to mark the 1941 attacks.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A full houses vote on the impeachment of President Trump could come the week before Christmas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to hear a lot more from Kamala in a lot of different ways.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She can be president some day herself. She could be vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Could Senator Kamala Harris return as a vice presidential candidate?
[05:00:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the cannonball run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Oh, yes. A team of outlaw racers set a new record in a real life cannonball run.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It is Thursday, December 5th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.
We start this morning with breaking news overnight. Deadly gunfire causing panic and a lockdown at a military base in Hawaii. Two civilian shipyard workers at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam killed by U.S. sailors who then killed themselves. A third civilian employee was wounded and is in stable question.
Rear Admiral Robert Chadwick says the attack came just two days before the commemoration of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADM. ROBERT CHADWICK, COMMANDER, U.S. NAVY, HAWAII REGION: The role that the shipyard played in World War II is pretty legendary, and the shipyard is well known for, you know, the amazing work they did then and the amazing work they continue to do. So, this is certainly a tragedy for everyone here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Chadwick says the attack took place near dry dock 2, a maintenance area for nuclear submarines. An investigation is under way. Authorities have not released the motive nor the identities of the victims or the shooter. We'll bring you more information as it comes in.
ROMANS: House Democrats now planning their next steps after four legal scholars yesterday made the case for and against impeaching President Trump. Sometime next week, the Judiciary Committee will hear from staffers on the Intelligence Committee testifying about the findings of their investigation. We also expect a Judiciary Committee vote on articles of impeachment.
Then in the week of December 16th, a possible House floor vote on articles of impeachment.
So, what as of now could be in those articles? Well, the Democrats' report lays out evidence for abuse of power, and bribery, obstruction of justice and obstruction of Congress. Democrats debating whether to wrap the president's actions listed in Robert Mueller's Russia investigation into those obstruction counts.
At Wednesday's hearing, Democrats' three witnesses agreed the president had committed impeachable offenses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORM EISEN, DEMOCRATIC COUNSEL: Did President Trump commit the impeachable high crime and misdemeanor of abuse of power based on that evidence and those findings?
PROF. NOAH FELDMAN, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: Based on that evidence and those findings, the president did commit an impeachable abuse of office.
EISEN: Professor Karlan, same question.
PROF. PAMELA S. KARLAN, DEMOCRATIC WITNESS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Same answer.
EISEN: And, Professor Gerhardt?
MICHAEL GERHARDT, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF LAW: We three are unanimous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The Republicans' witness, law professor Jonathan Turley, warned of a slippery slope. He said thin evidence could lead to more and more frequent impeachments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROF. JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: I believe this impeachment not only fails to satisfy the standard of past impeachments but would create a dangerous precedent for future impeachments.
If you prove a quid pro quo, that you might have an impeachable offense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Turley casts doubt on a quid pro quo, despite significant evidence seen by millions of Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Let's be clear, what we just described is a quid pro quo. It is funding will not flow unless the investigation into the Democrats' server happened as well.
MICK MULVANEY, ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We do -- we do that all the time with foreign policy.
GORDON SONDLAND, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE E.U.: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and the White House meeting, the answer is yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Whatever risks of impeachment, House Democrats seem ready to plunge ahead. Behind closed doors yesterday, sources tell us Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked her members, quote, are you ready? They replied in unison, yes.
ROMANS: One of the Democrat's impeachment witnesses sparking outrage from Republicans and White House after she invoked the name of the president's 13-year-old son Barron during that hearing.
Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan was making a point that the Constitution limits the president's power but admits she went too far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARLAN: I'll just give you one example that shows eye the difference between him and a king, which is the Constitution says there can be no titles of know built. While the president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron.
I want to apologize for what I said about the president's son. It was wrong of me to do that. I wish the president would apologize, obviously, for the things that he's wrong. But I do regret having said that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The First Lady Melania Trump blasted the professor on Twitter saying: A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics. Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering and using a child to do it.
BRIGGS: House Democrats want to know about dash one. That's the mysterious stand in for the numbers dialed by Rudy Giuliani and the newly released phone records from the House Intelligence Committee. Those records also show numerous calls from President Trump's personal attorney to the White House and Office of Management and Budget.
[05:05:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Mr. President, can you explain why your personal attorney Rudy Giuliani would need to talk to the budget office?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really don't know, you'll have to ask him. It sounds like something that's not so complicated. But you'd have to ask him. No big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: According to "The New York Times," Giuliani travelled to Hungary and Ukraine this week to meet with several former Ukrainian prosecutors. He's actually participating in a documentary series for a right wing cable network, all part of his effort to defend the president against the impeachment.
ROMANS: All right. 2020 Democrats peppered with can questions. This question on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Would you consider Senator Harris as a running mate?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: More on Senator Kamala Harris as a potential running mate, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:10:34]
BRIGGS: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now admits he and other world leaders were talking about President Trump behind his back during that NATO event at Buckingham Palace. They were overheard apparently joking about the president.
In a now viral video, Trudeau doesn't appear concerned his comments will adversely affect the U.S./Canada relationship. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I think I made a reference to the fact that there was an unscheduled press conference before my meeting with President Trump. And I was happy to take part in it but it was certainly notable. And I've had a number of good conversations with the president over the course of this day and yesterday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: President Trump seemed less than pleased about the hot mic incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, he's two-faced.
REPORTER: Do you think that Germany is too naive --
TRUMP: And honestly, Trudeau is a nice guy, I find him to be a very nice guy. But the truth is, I called him out on the fact that he's not paying 2 percent. And I guess he's not very happy about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: A source tells CNN that the president is annoyed and bothered by the video but believes the two leaders will be able to work through. Sources also say the hot mic video is not why President Trump cancelled his scheduled news conference at the end of the NATO conference.
ROMANS: Yes, he spoke to reporters for more than two hours in that trip. There's plenty of press availability.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: All right. The Biden campaign seizing on that clip, with a new campaign video.
Jessica Dean traveling with the Biden campaign in Charles City, Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, Joe Biden continuing his bus tour through Iowa. He's going all across the state to towns here, making his case in halls like this one that he is uniquely positioned to beat Donald Trump in 2020.
And to that end, his campaign releasing a video slamming President Trump. He says in effect that the world is laughing at the president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: World leaders caught on camera laughing about President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Several world leaders mocking President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're laughing at him.
TRUMP: My administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.
I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK.
DEAN: The timing on the release of that video no accident. It was released shortly after President Trump landed back in the U.S. after being overseas, and keeps in line with Vice President Biden's practice of not criticizing the president while he's overseas.
Also, Vice President Biden saying he'd consider former rival, Kamala Harris, as a running mate.
BIDEN: She's solid. She is -- she could be president some day. She can be the vice president. She can go on to be a Supreme Court justice. She can be attorney general. I mean, she has enormous capability.
DEAN: Biden wrapped Wednesday night here in Charles City. He rolls on with day six of his eight-day bus tour today -- Christine and Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: Jessica, thanks.
Senator Elizabeth Warren was also asked about Senator Kamala Harris.
Here's what she told MSNBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN: Watch what she did during the Kavanaugh hearings, holding our attorneys general accountable. Going after Barr, going after Sessions, Kamala's terrific. And I guarantee, we're going to hear a lot more from Kamala in a lot of different ways.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Warren calls Senator Harris smart, confident, and a tough advocate for families.
ROMANS: All right. Three men set a new record for the cannonball run, an illegal high speed drive from New York to Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the cannonball run, America's illegal grand prix.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Made famous in the 1981 movie that starred Burt Reynolds as Irwin Cannonball Baker, the original record holder in the cross country sprint.
Arne Toman, Doug Tabbutt and Berkeley Chadwick just drove a customized Mercedes-Benz from New York City to L.A in 27 hours and 25 minutes, beating the previous cannonball record of 28 hours, 50 minutes, set in 2013. Their average speed, 103 miles an hour.
The guys said they had a few encounters of law enforcement but were never pulled over. They were only stopped four times during the entire 2,825-mile trip.
BRIGGS: As you can see there, clearly, police were informed. They were coming through town and not endangering anyone. Photos of the police in the story there.
ROMANS: Only four stopped. I'm actually a real -- we drive to the Midwest from here, we only stop two or three times.
BRIGGS: Oh, I'm a long stopper.
[05:15:02]
Get some food.
ROMANS: You do?
BRIGGS: Take it easy. Not a lot of pee breaks for those guys.
ROMANS: You can't go on my road trip.
BRIGGS: No, I'm not allowed.
No walking in basketball. So how does LeBron James get away with this? Another tough night for NBA refs.
Andy Scholes with that story in "The Bleacher Report".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:18]
ROMANS: All right. New can developments on trade. A spokesman for China's commerce ministry said U.S. and China trade teams have been keeping close communication on trade, adding the Chinese side thinks if the two sides reach the phase one deal, both side should lower the tariffs correspondingly.
This is something the Chinese have wanted for some time. They want a rollback of current tariffs.
President Trump likes to use tariffs as a tool. But former treasury secretary Larry Summers those tariffs are backfiring. He tells CNN, we are engaged in a stop or I'll shoot myself in the foot strategy. Instead of resolving tensions with China, Trump said a deal is up to him and may not happen until after the election.
He also escalated global trade concerns now with Argentina, Brazil, and France. Summers said tariffs would hurt the competitiveness of American producers that rely on imported goods. That would lead to higher prices and lower incomes for Americans. Companies are already waiting for the next round and many are worried
they're not ready for another year of tariffs -- Dave.
BRIGGS: Indeed.
The San Francisco 49ers suspending their radio analyst for controversial comments towards Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Andy Scholes has that story in "The Bleacher Report".
Good morning, my friend.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Dave.
Yes, the Niners radio analyst Tim Ryan was speaking on KNDR radio on Monday about the team's loss to Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, he said this when talking about Jackson's ability to run the football.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TIM RYAN, 49ERS RADIO ANALYST: He's really good at that fake, Lamar Jackson. But when you consider when his dark skin color, with a dark football with a dark uniform, you could not see that thing. I mean, you literally could not see when he was in and out of the mesh point.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHOLES: When announcing the one game suspension for Ryan, the 49ers said they were disappointed in his comments and that he must be more thoughtful with his words.
Ryan himself releasing a statement apologizing, saying I regret my choice of words in describing the conditions of the game. Lamar Jackson is an MVP-caliber player and I respect him greatly. I want to sincerely apologize to him and anyone else I offended.
The 49ers play at the Saints on Sunday.
All right. On the NBA last night, the Jazz hosting LeBron and the Lakers. Watch LeBron here, just starts walking with a ball. Bojan Bogdanovic starts freaking out, calling for a travel, as did a ton of fans. Somehow all three refs missed that.
Here's LeBron on the play after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: You know, it was the worst thing, one of the worst things I've ever done in my career. I didn't even realize I did it until halftime, to be honest. One of my coaches show me. I think I was ready to pass the ball and my brain just kind of just -- I just had a malfunction. I really had a malfunction.
So, I feel bad for the refs on that one because they'll probably got a write up on that one. That was pretty bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yes, rough week for the refs. It's a day after they somehow they didn't see James Harden made a dunk.
Lakers get a blowout win over the Jazz now at 121-96. LeBron making some young fans giving them his shoes as the game was ending.
All right. Finally, Tiger Woods hosting the hero world challenge this week in the Bahamas. After this drive here, Tiger walking up to his playing partner Justin Thomas's ball in the fairway and lets Thomas know how much further he drove his ball.
Dave, Tiger, 18 years older than Thomas. They both have a nice laugh.
Good to see Tiger out there healthy, having fun. Who knows what 2020 holds for him. Maybe another Major is in the cards.
BRIGGS: Hey, man, Tiger is my age. So, anytime we can chuckle for the old guys, I'm all for it.
I love LeBron for acknowledging that his brain just shut off though.
SCHOLES: Malfunctioned, that was great, yes.
BRIGGS: All of us have one of those moments throughout our days. Good for him.
Andy, thank you.
SCHOLES: All right.
BRIGGS: Romans, what's coming up?
ROMANS: All right, thanks.
So, one of the most famous military installations locked down for a time overnight after a deadly shooting. Details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:29:00]
ROMANS: A full House vote on the impeachment of President Trump could come the week before Christmas.
BRIGGS: Breaking overnight, deadly gunfire at Pearl Harbor, just days before ceremonies to mark the 1941 attack.
Good morning everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 29 minutes past the hour. Good morning, everyone.
BRIGGS: House Democrats now planning their next steps after four legal scholars made the case for and against impeaching President Trump. Sometime next week, the Judiciary Committee will hear from staffers testifying about the findings of their investigations.
We also, expect a Judiciary Committee vote on articles of impeachment, and then the week of December 16, a possible House floor vote on articles of impeachment.
What as of now would be in those articles? The Democrat's report lays out evidence for abuse of power, bribery, obstruction of justice and obstruction of Congress. Democrats are debating whether to wrap the president's actions listed in Robert Mueller's Russia investigation into those obstruction counts.
At Wednesday's hearing, the Democrats' three witnesses agreed the president had committed impeachable offenses.
END
