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Democrats Want Kavanaugh Hearing Delay Amid New Sexual Misconduct Claims; United Nations General Assembly Begins Today; Allies Urge Trump Not To Fire Rod Rosenstein; Tiger Woods Wins Tour Championship. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired September 24, 2018 - 05:30 ET
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[05:30:30] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats want to delay all confirmation proceedings for Brett Kavanaugh after a new allegation of sexual misconduct. What it means for Thursday's public hearing with Christine Blasey Ford.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. General Assembly starts today. The president meets with South Korea's president with nuclear talks stalled on the Korean Peninsula.
BRIGGS: The president debating whether to fire Rod Rosenstein. Allies urging him to hold off despite leaked memos that one senator says suggests a bureaucratic coup.
ROMANS: And for the first time in five years Tiger Woods can celebrate a win on the PGA tour. And, you're right -- that imagery of him being just mobbed on the way out of there --
BRIGGS: The Eagle is coming to America.
ROMANS: Oh, wow -- wow. Good for him.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs.
It had been 1,876 days for Tiger.
We start, though, with the latest developments regarding the Supreme Court. The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee wants confirmation proceedings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh immediately delayed and the FBI to investigate a second allegation of inappropriate sexual behavior.
The request, from California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, came after "The New Yorker" magazine reported Sunday a woman who attended Yale with Kavanaugh said she remembers him exposing himself to her at a party, although corroboration of her story is rather thin.
ROMANS: A spokesman for Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley says he will look into the new claims but there are no plans to delay Christine Blasey Ford's hearing on Thursday. President Trump's aides discussed the latest allegations against Kavanaugh with the president on Sunday, but dropping the nomination is not under consideration.
CNN's Jessica Schneider has more from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The White House and Judge Kavanaugh are now also denying another allegation against Kavanaugh of inappropriate behavior. This time, from a woman who said she attended Yale with the Supreme Court nominee.
"The New Yorker" reported on Sunday that 53-year-old Deborah Ramirez remembers Kavanaugh exposing himself to her at a dormitory party during the 1983-1984 school year. However, two other people Ramirez says were present at the party issued a statement to "The New Yorker" saying they never heard of such an incident, and CNN has not corroborated her story.
Kavanaugh said in a statement, "This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple.
I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth and defending my good name and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building against these last-minute allegations."
White House spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said, "This 35-year-old uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man. This claim is denied by all who were said to be present and is wholly inconsistent with what many women and men who knew Judge Kavanaugh at the time, in college, say. The White House stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh."
Now, Ramirez was initially hesitant to speak publicly because she said her memory contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time. But after she reassessed her memory over the course of six days with her attorney, she did go on the record with "The New Yorker" -- Christine and Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Jessica, thanks.
BRIGGS: Yes.
Let's bring in "Washington Examiner" commentary writer Philip Wegmann to talk about all of this. Good morning to you, Phil.
PHILIP WEGMANN, COMMENTARY WRITER, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Good morning.
ROMANS: Happy Monday.
WEGMANN: Happy Monday. BRIGGS: Jessica finishes with some interesting lines from this "New Yorker" piece in which the woman who is accusing Kavanaugh of this inappropriate conduct says after six days of carefully assessing her memories. You say this could be a bombshell but there's no one there to light a fuse.
WEGMANN: Yes. I think that obviously, the allegations here are serious, they're disgusting. But like the allegations that were brought by Ford against Kavanaugh, they're unverified.
If you look at what Ramirez has said there is no one to corroborate the story. And, "The New Yorker" even came out and said in the 10th paragraph of that piece that they could not confirm that Kavanaugh was in the room when the alleged incident took place.
Instead, you have two men who were allegedly there said that it didn't happen. You have the wife of a third man who was allegedly there who says that it didn't happen. And then you have three other Yale undergraduate students who lived in that dormitory saying this didn't happen.
[05:35:00] In fact, the closest that Farrow even gets to confirming this story is he quotes a student who said that they heard a rumor --
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: Yes.
WEGMANN: -- about this alleged incident.
That's not reporting; that's hearsay. And it's a disappointment because Farrow is -- he's a rock star and I think he's better than this.
ROMANS: Yes. Ronan Farrow, you're talking about -- the author of this piece, along with Jane Mayer, another author of this piece.
And you wonder -- you're waking up here now at 5:35 a.m. in the east on Monday morning and you wonder if minds are made up among the Republican senators and among Democratic senators.
Listen to Lindsey Graham yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I want to listen to her but I'm being honest with you and everybody else. What do you expect me to do?
You can't bring it in the criminal court. You would never sue civilly. You couldn't even get a warrant.
What am I supposed to do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And then, Sen. Mazie Hirono, yesterday to Jake Tapper, said this.
She said, "I put his denial in the context of everything that I know about him in terms of how he approaches his cases. As I said, his credibility is already very questionable and in the minds of a lot of people and my fellow Judiciary Committee members, the Democrats."
So she's questioning his credibility. You've got Lindsey Graham saying like, what am I supposed to do?
What does that -- what does a hearing get us this week? How does it advance any of this?
WEGMANN: Well, look -- I mean, the bombshell didn't go off but it's clear the Democrats are going to beat Kavanaugh over the head with the unexploded ordnance here.
I mean, if you saw the question that Tapper asked Sen. Hirono -- he said does he have the right to presumption of innocence and she responds well, I approach these allegations in light of how he approaches his own cases.
That seems pretty clear to me that Hirono and the others who are calling on Kavanaugh to step down -- they don't necessarily believe the allegations, they just don't like his judicial philosophy. It's almost like they're saying well, he's a conservative jurist, therefore, he has to be a sexual predator, and that's not fair.
I think Republicans have gotten to the point where they know that their fate is inextricably tied to Kavanaugh so they're not going to drop him. And I think that we saw that in the frustration that Lindsey Graham was sharing a moment ago.
BRIGGS: A process that once confirmed Scalia and Kennedy unanimously will never, ever be the same.
WEGMANN: Not at all.
BRIGGS: But let's move forward to Thursday and a 10:00 a.m. hearing. Let's assume she is compelling and believable and so is he. How do you play this out?
We haven't even heard from Democrats like Joe Manchin --
WEGMANN: Right.
BRIGGS: -- Joe Donnelly, Jon Tester, so we're not clear. It looks like all Republican votes -- and who knows, maybe some Democratic votes.
Do you see him getting confirmed either way?
WEGMANN: So, initially, I thought that Kavanaugh was a slam dunk. I thought we were going to have another Gorsuch situation. And then Ford's allegations come out and I thought OK, well maybe this is a jump shot in traffic. Now with this final story with the Ramirez allegations, even though they seem flimsy right now, I think that the narrative is out there. And when you see Democrats line up behind it, I think it makes it incredibly difficult for Kavanaugh to get confirmed.
It's going to come down the wire on Thursday, obviously, and I don't know if this is an all alley-oop from half-court.
But the one thing that I do know is that Republicans -- if they don't back him they are going to be leaning into that criticism from their own base that Republicans don't fight. And if they don't do that, then the 73 percent of Republican voters who think that Kavanaugh is innocent of these allegations -- I don't think that they show up during the midterms and I think that Republicans are in a tough spot to keep the Senate.
ROMANS: Let's listen quickly to Sen. Graham again this weekend talking about firing Rod Rosenstein -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: He shouldn't fire Rosenstein unless you believe Rosenstein's lying. He said he did not do the things alleged. But there's a bureaucratic coup against President Trump being discovered here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: "A bureaucratic coup against Trump being discovered here." The things that are alleged, of course, are this meeting talking about the 25th Amendment --
BRIGGS: Wearing a wire.
ROMANS: -- and wearing a wire. All this that clearly does not put Rod Rosenstein in a good light for -- in front of this president.
Do you think the president is going to fire Rosenstein and clean house again at the -- at the Justice Department or do you think that the folks are telling him not to do it -- we'll prevail?
WEGMANN: We talked about unconfirmed allegations all the time and I mean I -- this is just a classic example of them.
Rosenstein said that he was being sarcastic when he made those remarks. I don't know whether or not the president is going to have a sense of humor when it comes to this topic.
His son, Donald Trump Jr., certainly didn't. He tweeted that he thought that Rosenstein was out to get the president.
But I think that the prudent thing for Trump to do -- and I think that we saw this with the allegations against Kavanaugh. We've seen a more restrained executive as far as messaging goes. I think that if President Trump doesn't want to throw a wrench in things any more than they are currently, he'll hold off and make those decisions after the midterms. I don't think that Rosenstein is going anywhere right now because --
BRIGGS: Yes.
WEGMANN: -- look, the Senate Judiciary Committee, they already have enough on their hands. They don't need to worry about the DOJ.
BRIGGS: Yes. And some say Trump needs a boogeyman and needs Rosenstein to blame if things turn south, so we'll see. You would imagine he would be fine, at least in the short-term.
[05:40:02] Plus, then he'd have to rely on "The New York Times" actually being true, which he's made the last couple of years about it being the truth.
Phil Wegmann, good to see you -- "Washington Examiner."
WEGMANN: Thanks, guys.
BRIGGS: Good stuff.
ROMANS: All right.
President Trump in New York this morning as he begins a big week at the United Nations General Assembly.
Last night, he had dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Today, he meets with Korean President Moon Jae-in.
And tomorrow morning, President Trump addresses the full U.N. Wednesday, he chairs a Security Council briefing with Iran as the focus.
BRIGGS: Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, said over the weekend, according to Reuters, that U.S. sanctions on Iran could cause a successful revolution in Iran.
But, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley downplaying any suggestion the U.S. will intervene in Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The United States is not looking to do a regime change in Iran and we're not looking to do regime change anywhere. What we are looking to do is protect Americans, protect our allies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Iran's rhetoric against the U.S. escalating ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.
Tehran blaming America and Saudi Arabia for a deadly attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, Iran. Despite that claim, an ISIS- affiliated news agency circulating a video claiming to show three of the four attackers. Iran's Revolutionary Guard says the attackers will face deadly and
unforgettable revenge.
Coming up, no matter how awkward your Thanksgiving is, it can't be as bad as Congressman Paul Gosar and his family. We'll explain.
ROMANS: And more than 100 people searching a North Carolina park right now for a boy with autism who vanished over the weekend.
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[05:45:50] ROMANS: All right.
The cost of Hurricane Florence could hit $50 billion, but America's trade disputes will make rebuilding there more expensive. The Carolinas suffered heavy rains and record flooding.
Moody's now putting the total cost between $38 billion and $50 billion. That includes property damage and lost economic output. It also ranks Hurricane Florence as one of the top 10 most expensive storms ever.
But the U.S.' trade war with China could hurt efforts to rebuild. At midnight, the Trump administration slapped tariffs on $200 billion in goods -- Chinese goods, including many construction materials like granite countertops, and furniture, and drywall ingredients.
President Trump often says these tariffs are on China -- that China pays these tariffs -- but China does not pay them. American companies pay them -- the people who import these goods to use in the United States.
And according to "The New York Times," homebuilders estimate tariffs will raise construction costs 20 percent to 30 percent. Now, they're already paying more for other materials thanks to other tariffs the president has put on steel, aluminum, and wood.
ROMANS: Minnesota State Rep. Jim Knoblach abandoning his reelection campaign in the face of allegations by his daughter of sexually inappropriate behavior. Laura Knoblach tells Minnesota Public Radio her father inappropriately touched her from the time she was nine until she was 21.
In a statement on his campaign Website, the 8-term Republican lawmaker says his daughter has been estranged from the family for some time and that the allegations are false.
According to the MPR report, a 2-month police investigation early last year determined Knoblach's behavior was quote "really inappropriate but not criminal."
ROMANS: Congressman Paul Gosar is firing back against his most vocal critics, his own family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TIM GOSAR, BROTHER OF ARIZONA REP. PAUL GOSAR: But he's not listening to you and he doesn't have your interest at heart. My name is Tim Gosar.
DAVID GOSAR, BROTHER OF ARIZONA REP. PAUL GOSAR: David Gosar.
GRACE GOSAR, SISTER OF ARIZONA REP. PAUL GOSAR: Grace Gosar.
JOAN GOSAR, SISTER OF ARIZONA REP. PAUL GOSAR: Joan Gosar.
JUSTIN GOSAR, BROTHER OF ARIZONA REP. PAUL GOSAR: Justin Gosar.
JENNIFER GOSAR, SISTER OF ARIZONA REP. PAUL GOSAR: Jennifer Gosar.
G. GOSAR: Paul Gosar is my brother.
JENNIFER GOSAR: My brother.
G. GOSAR: And I endorse Dr. Brill.
T. GOSAR: Dr. Brill -- wholeheartedly endorse Dr. David Brill for Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The congressional seat from Arizona. Six of Gosar's siblings are appearing in this T.V. ad for his opponent, Dr. David Brill.
The Republican congressman tells CNN his siblings are disgruntled Hillary supporters and "Lenin, Mao, and Kim Jong Un would be proud."
BRIGGS: Huh.
He adds to the statement, "You can't pick your family. We all have crazy aunts and relatives, et cetera, and my family is no different. To the six angry Democrat Gosars, see you at mom and dad's house."
Rep. Gosar is no stranger to controversy. He claimed the tragedy of Charlottesville was a left-wing plot financed by Democratic mega-donor George Soros.
One of his brothers, David Gosar, will be on "NEW DAY" --
ROMANS: Oh, interesting.
BRIGGS: -- later this morning.
ROMANS: OK. One of the unexpected effects of Hurricane Florence -- fish. Lots of fish left behind after floodwaters receded from a North Carolina highway.
BRIGGS: Something else you might say that is rotting -- the New England Patriots, losers of two in a row after falling to the lowly Lions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:53:22] ROMANS: Today, in a Pennsylvania courtroom, Bill Cosby will be sentenced on three counts of aggravated indecent assault. The 81-year-old comedian has been under house arrest since his conviction back in April for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.
The judge at the sentencing hearing will also determine whether to designate Cosby a sexually violent predator. He faces up to 30 years in prison but legal experts say he's likely to get much less time behind bars.
BRIGGS: I-95 has reopened through North Carolina. The main north- south interstate along the East Coast had been closed as some parts turned in to rivers by flooding in the wake of Hurricane Florence.
Once the water receded, the North Carolina DOT completed inspection and repairs. Overnight, 40 fire crews hosing down the highway found this -- dead fish scattered across the interstate, stranded as the floodwaters receded.
ROMANS: In Wilmington, inspectors checking out the Sutton natural gas plant say initial water tests show discharges from the flooding are not harming Cape Fear River water quality.
And this new drone video shot by CNN in Conway, South Carolina shows an entire neighborhood still flooded. The Waccamaw River, in Conway, has already risen above 19 feet, with a 22-foot crest still forecast for Tuesday morning.
BRIGGS: A desperate search in North Carolina for a 6-year-old boy with autism.
Maddox Scott Rich has been missing Saturday. Authorities say he was last seen with his father and another adult at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia. It's about 23 miles from Charlotte.
The boy's parents say Maddox started running and when they ran after him they lost sight of him.
Police say more than 100 people have joined the search combing more than 1,400 acres in and around the park. The park is closed until further notice.
[05:55:09] ROMANS: An Indiana school bus driver arrested after cell phone video appears to show she let three children drive her bus. Twenty-seven-year-old Joandrea McAtee now faces felony child neglect charges.
Police say she allowed the kids, including one who was just 11 years old -- she let them drive for short distances in a rural area. She was dropping kids off to school.
The school district fired her after parents' complaints spurred an investigation.
BRIGGS: Wow. Congress is thinking of requiring more legroom for air travelers. If you fly, you may have noticed room between rows keeps shrinking. It used to be about 35 inches; now it's less than 30 on some planes.
Lawmakers also want to block the involuntary bumping of passengers who've already boarded and require airlines to more plainly state their policies for delayed flights.
Also included in the compromise, an FAA funding plan called to establish reasonable measures to stop passengers from pretending their pets are service animals.
Congress faces a September 30th deadline to fund the FAA.
ROMANS: Texas inmates almost got a surprise with their breakfast cereal -- $18 million worth of cocaine mixed in with a shipment of bananas donated to the state prison system.
Friday, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officers picked up two pallets of donated fruit and quickly found the weight was a little off. They looked inside and found 540 packages of coke. It's unclear who put the cocaine in the boxes or when.
BRIGGS: If you fly, it's at least among your worst fears.
Take a look at this heart-pounding moment when an Air France passenger tried to land at a Birmingham airport in England last Wednesday in 44- mile-an-hour winds. You can see the Airbus literally twisting in the wind and then feet before touching down forced to pull up. The pilot was about to run out of tarmac there.
The crew were able to change course and eventually land safely.
ROMANS: Two heads are generally better than one unless we're talking about snakes. Take a look at a rare two-headed copperhead snake discovered in a yard in Virginia. The person who found this contacted the Virginia Herpetological Society and they picked it up.
The baby eastern copperhead -- oh, how cute -- is now being studied at the Wildlife Center --
BRIGGS: Cute?
ROMANS: -- of Virginia in Waynesboro.
I think there's nothing cute about that snake. It is not available for public viewing.
If the snake survives it will be donated to a zoo for exhibit.
BRIGGS: It's terrifying.
Career win number 80, but it was far sweeter than most. Tiger Woods, anyway -- it was the roar of the crowd.
Forty-two-year-old surgically repaired legend winning the season- ending Tour Championship in East Lake by two strokes on Sunday, his first win since 2013, ending an odyssey of painful surgeries and setbacks that derailed his legendary career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Some of the players that I'm pretty close to, they've really helped throughout this process and the last few years. And their support and with some of those things that they said coming off that last green meant a lot to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: It really was an incredible scene there on Sunday. Tiger now heads to France to play in the Ryder Cup which tees off Friday. And, of course, he is now the Master's favorite.
Congratulations to Tiger.
A Sunday night shocker as the Patriots lose again, this time in Detroit. The Lions just dominate on both sides of the ball in a 26-10 win. Lions coach Matt Patricia gets his first win as a coach against his former team.
The Pats haven't lost back-to-back games since 2015. They are now one and two for the first time since 2012.
John Berman would probably say yes, they were 12 and four that year. But I would run -- I would imagine Berman is devastated and having a hard time even getting himself out of bed to work today.
ROMANS: Well, there is Tom Brady. I would -- I would be that John Berman says this -- that Tom Brady is still handsome. That's what he would say.
BRIGGS: That we cannot argue with.
ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us this Monday morning. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: And I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" with the devastated John Berman, starts right now.
ROMANS: It's just football.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": A second woman is speaking publicly with accusations against Kavanaugh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's absolutely wise to be cautious as the possibility for changing the game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The stage is set for Thursday when Blasey Ford is scheduled to testify.
GRAHAM: I want to listen to her, but what am I supposed to do? Ruin this guy's life?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe her. His credibility is already very questionable.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I was appalled by the president's tweet.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that Judge Kavanaugh will soon be Justice Kavanaugh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, September 24th, 6:00 here in New York.
Alisyn is off. Erica Hill joins me this morning. A big morning.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: It's -- never a dull moment around these parts.
BERMAN: No, explosive --
