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Change on College Campuses; Manhunt for Gunman in Chicago; Florida Under Hurricane Watch; Trump Delivers on Supreme Court; Swift Endorses Democrats. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 08, 2018 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:08] ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The bitter battle over the confirmation of now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh spurring discussion about sexual assault and drunken behavior on college campuses nationwide. Will any of it, though, lead to change?

CNN's Kaylee Hartung is live in Gainesville, Florida, this morning with more for us.

Kaylee, good morning.

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica.

Any other weekend at the University of Florida, the big news here would have been the football team's win. But it was news they learned during that game that they recognized will have a bigger impact on their lives.

We spoke to a diverse group of students, both in background and ethnicity, and what they could agree on is that nothing's changed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DHARA PATEL, STUDENT: Everybody's been talking about it, at least in my friend group.

HARTUNG (voice over): A day after the controversial Senate vote put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, despite allegations he denied about a sexual assault in high school, students at the University of Florida reflecting on the painfully divisive confirmation process.

BLAKE MURPHY, STUDENT: I wouldn't necessarily say that the conversation has changed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the same story, just told over and over again.

HARTUNG (on camera): And Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation doesn't do anything to change that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really like nothing is changing. It's like no matter how much we try.

HARTUNG (voice over): Conversations about sexual assault, consent, happening more often but not necessarily out in the open.

MARY GRACE SCULLY, STUDENT: It's not the type of thing where we're at a party and people are like, hey, so Kavanaugh.

HARTUNG (on camera): If you're not having these conversations at a fraternity party, why do you think they're happening on social media? Why do you think people aren't necessarily ready to do that face to face?

SCULLY: I really think it's just because the situations that were described at that party are so similar to the situations that we're in all the time when we go out. I think it's actually out of fear.

HARTUNG: What's being said?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scared.

PATEL: Fear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fear. What's to come, you know.

[08:35:02] PATEL: I think he received a pass in a way, but also it's not uncommon for sexual assaulters to get away with things like this. So, unfortunately, that's a common story we hear on campus all the time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Him getting confirmed is just kind of a slap in the face to people telling their stories. Saying that boys will be boys is a very, very un-excusable excuse for men when they grow up to act the way they do.

HARTUNG: So as a white male, you know, do you think that this means guys get a pass in a sense?

MURPHY: No, definitely not. I think, if anything, this has just shown, you know, the intense level of scrutiny that now is being applied in these cases, which is -- which is right, which is what should happen.

HARTUNG (voice over): Some students turning their attention toward the upcoming elections.

HARTUNG (on camera): How are you all talking about changing the situation you find yourselves?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote them out.

PATEL: Yes. Yes.

HARTUNG (voice over): Young people who learned about Anita Hill in history class are living through the Me Too movement and wondering how this chapter ends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that this was an outcome is really upsetting and disappointing. But, in 20 years, I hope history doesn't repeat itself again and that this Me Too movement stays strong. In 20 years I hope we're just not on the wrong side of history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARTUNG: Young women I spoke to shared with me the lengths they go to on a daily basis, actions ingrained in them to protect themselves, whether that be clutching their keys in their hands if they should find themselves on the street alone at night, or an entire sorority of women sharing their locations with one another so they can keep tabs on each other at all times.

John, for now, those are things that won't change either.

BERMAN: Really interesting discussions there, Kaylee. Thanks so much for that reporting. Appreciate it.

Hurricane fears rising not far from where Kaylee is in Florida and in the Gulf Coast. Michael, looks like it will become a hurricane, maybe even a major storm as it hits the Florida coast in the coming days. We have a brand new forecast ahead.

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[08:41:04] BERMAN: This morning, a manhunt is underway for a masked gunman in Chicago. Police say the suspect shot and killed two men in the same neighborhood. So far the attacks seem random. The reward for his capture is now up to $18,000.

Our Ryan Young live in Chicago with the very latest.

Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, when you think about this, this is a scary situation. We're in the Rogers Park neighborhood. It's normally a quiet neighborhood. It's lined with trees all over the streets here.

One of the things you've got to think about. Let's show you this video of the man who was trying to walk away from some of these shootings dressed in all black. Police want this video out there because they believe he has a distinctive walk. They call it a duck-like walk. When you think about this, more than 40 detectives are out there working this case right now to try to find this man. They're hoping that someone out there will zero in on this video and make this phone call.

But when you talk about the two victims, they were innocent. They were out enjoying the beautiful weather that we've had. One was a 24-year- old man that was near the lakeside when he was shot in the back of the head execution style. Another man was walking his dog, he was 73 years old, when he was shot.

So you can think about this neighborhood, which has tried to galvanize behind this. They've had community meetings to have a talk about this. More than 40 detectives working this case right now. And more than 150 tips have come into police. But right now they haven't cracked this case. So you have to think about this in terms of all of the things that are going on in the city. Now you might have a man dressed in all black who has a distinctive walk, walking around, targeting people in this neighborhood. It's something that people say they're very fearful of.

HILL: Yes, you can see why.

Ryan Young with the latest for us.

Ryan, thank you.

Scientists at the United Nations issuing a stark warning. The world has about a decade to get climate change under control or the results could be catastrophic. They say the world needs to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by the year 2030 or risk reaching a crucial threshold that will lead to extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people. Now, the U.S. is the world's second largest emitter of carbon dioxide. Since President Trump took office, his administration has rolled back Obama-era climate measures and pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord.

BERMAN: The Florida panhandle now under a hurricane watch. Right now just Tropical Storm Michael, but it is strengthening and it is expected to move through the Gulf before making landfall in just a few days. Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in 26 counties.

Our meteorologist Chad Myers has the brand new forecast.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John, the hurricane hunter plane is in the storm right now. It just found a 66-mile-per-hour wind. Although the storm right now is forecast at 70, but significantly higher as it gets closer and closer to the Gulf of Mexico coast around Florida. There is that 66-mile-per-hour wind gust right there. The plane in it will be in it for a few more hours.

It's moving across the Yucatan Channel and into the Gulf of Mexico. The water is very warm. This storm will increase in speed and intensity. Very well may be a category three hurricane at landfall somewhere between the Big Bend and maybe all the way over toward Pensacola. That's how large the window is right now.

But the window for you to get things done, only about 36 hours, because this is on land Wednesday afternoon. And by the time we get to Wednesday morning, the winds are going to be picking up. You can't be moving sheets of plywood around when the winds are 40 or 50 miles per hour.

The two different models we look at, the American model and the European. That's why the area here from Panama City, all the way back over to Pensacola, under this hurricane watch. This is a pretty sure thing. We don't know yet what the intensity will be, but certainly landfall will happen in Florida somewhere there along the coast with 11-foot storm surges possible. That's up near St. Marks, into places there. We'll have to see if it goes any farther left. If it goes over here toward Pensacola, there's a lot more damage that will happen here -- that will happen here in the Big Bend, which is really a sparsely populated part of Florida compared to Panama City and Destin and all those places over there with a lot of money involved.

HILL: That's for sure.

All right, Chad, we'll continue to watch it. Thank you.

Will Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation help President Trump and Republicans in the midterms? Mark McKinnon was in the heartland to ask that very question. He'll tell us what he found in "The Bottom Line," next.

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[08:49:13] BERMAN: This just in, the midterm elections, 29 days away.

HILL: Whoo!

BERMAN: Right?

HILL: I'm glad you're counting.

BERMAN: I'm giving people the news. Twenty-nine days away until the midterm elections. The big question now, who is going to win?

Let's get "The Bottom Line" with former senior adviser to the George W. Bush campaign, also the campaign of John McCain, the creator and executive producer and co-host of "The Circus" on Showtime, Mark McKinnon.

Sir, nice to see you here.

MARK MCKINNON, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO GEORGE W. BUSH AND MCCAIN CAMPAIGNS: I'm flashing back to 20 years ago. You in a Red Sox cap following the Bush campaign.

BERMAN: I was a lot younger then and a less jaded. Actually more jaded probably then.

Listen, we just went through a bruising Supreme Court battle. Twenty- nine days away. Both parties want to try to use it to their advantage in 29 days. Who wins here?

MCKINNON: Well, the big question when you talk about turnout, especially in a midterm election, the fundamental question is who's angriest? And that -- that dynamic has actually changed a lot in the last two weeks. Two weeks ago when it looked like they were going to push the Kavanaugh vote through immediately, there was a lot of Democratic activity and energy. Just a week later, when they -- when we went into overtime and had the investigation, Republicans suddenly were animated.

[08:50:21] And I was down in Tennessee, I was down in Texas, and you could really feel it. Suddenly there was like all of this Republican energy around Kavanaugh. Now that it's gone through, I think that's flipped. I think that Democrats have the energy again. They're really mad. They're angry. And I sense that that is coming back.

On the other hand, I think in red states, the Kavanaugh effect, like in the Cruz race and some of those -- maybe Marcia Blackburn in Tennessee, I think -- I think the Kavanaugh dynamic is helping those Republicans.

HILL: So it would be some momentum for them.

There's also the issue of -- you know, we joke, only 29 days, but a lot could happen.

MCKINNON: Oh, it's a lifetime.

HILL: Basically in 29 days -- it is a lifetime. And to sustain that -- that momentum, whether it's anger or fear or whatever it may be, that's a challenge.

MCKINNON: Well, I think we're -- I think in order for Democrats to win, they need to get back to those sort of fundamentals. Stop fighting the culture wars, get back to the pocketbook issues, talk about health care, get those things, so we're giving them the momentum before all this happens.

BERMAN: The smart Democratic strategists for months have been saying when everyone -- and when someone says Trump, say health care.

MCKINNON: Yes.

BERMAN: When they say Kavanaugh, say health care.

MCKINNON: When Democrats fight culture wars they lose.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: You talked to Joe Manchin. He was the one Democratic vote for yes for Kavanaugh.

MCKINNON: Yes.

BERMAN: What did he tell you? Actually, let's have the clip and then explain it. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I started thinking about my sisters and my daughters and my granddaughters. You can't not know this has been traumatic for anybody that's been through this type of sexual abuse. And you never can forget about them.

Now, on the other hand, so yet there's a lot of claims that are made on people that just aren't true. So shouldn't a person have a right to clear their name, too? And I think that's where I want to have that balance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKINNON: Well, Joe Manchin represents West Virginia. Donald Trump won it by 42 points. So a lot of people say it's political -- that's a political decision for Manchin. But I know him pretty well. If he were a senator from California and you give me this fact pattern and what happened, I would say Joe Manchin was going to be yes all along. I never doubted that he was going to be a yes ultimately. But I -- you know, I think he weighed it out (ph).

But I do think -- I got this bracelet, which is WWJMD, it's what would John McCain do. And I'm going to give them to all 100 senators because I think that Manchin would agree that no matter the outcome -- and who knows where McCain would have come down on this, but the process was completely screwed up on both sides. And really, you know, you -- America looked at that and said, it just couldn't be any more fundamentally flawed, the United States Congress and the Senate and these hearings were just -- were, you know, on both sides. And so there needs to be reform and I think that's what John McCain would have said, that both these people, Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford did not get fair hearings, were not treated well, were not treated with respect and we need to reform the whole process going forward.

HILL: It will be interesting to see if there is a change next time around.

We do want to get your take on because you've been spending time in Tennessee as well, Taylor Swift coming out and actually talking about not only who she's supporting now but why she would not vote for Marsha Blackburn.

MCKINNON: Yes.

HILL: Celebrity endorsements don't tend to go very far, it seems, especially in the world of John Berman. But in all seriousness, this -- how does this play out in -- I mean does it help anyone, does it hurt anyone?

MCKINNON: I think if I'm Marsha Blackburn I take that endorsement and put it my TV ads. I mean I think it's great that Taylor Swift is being active (ph). I think it's great for people to activate. But I'll tell you, I've spent a lot of time south of the mason Dixon line. Celebrity endorsements do not help. In fact, often they hurt. And I remember in the Hillary Clinton campaign, everyone had the huge Philadelphia thing with all the --

BERMAN: Yes.

MCKINNON: You know, Jay-z and everybody coming.

HILL: Yes.

MCKINNON: And I'll just tell you, most of America look at that and said, not my people.

BERMAN: Taylor Swift, in theory, is different. She is from Tennessee. She writes songs or she did. Before she went pop, she was country.

MCKINNON: OK, for most country people in Tennessee, she went pop, and that's not good, OK?

BERMAN: Oh, OK.

HILL: Right.

BERMAN: So that's (INAUDIBLE).

MCKINNON: Yes, she's from Tennessee, but most people see her -- I mean, you know, she's a worldwide celebrity figure. And, you know, that -- they associate that with Hollywood. You know, Democrats dominate the world of culture and celebrity, but right now Republicans dominate the world of power of politics, and that's kind of the dynamic that's going on right now.

So, again, I'm glad she's doing it. I think it's good. I think younger people are fired up and should be activated. I'm just -- I'm cynical about celebrity endorsements, particularly in the south.

HILL: Yes. It's fascinating, too, from someone like her, because she is so carefully controlled.

MCKINNON: Yes.

HILL: Like, she does the controlling, right?

MCKINNON: (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: I mean she runs a very well-oiled machine. She only speaks when she knows that it's going to benefit her and she's very careful in terms of what she (INAUDIBLE).

MCKINNON: Well, that's what I like about her doing this, because it's a risk for her.

HILL: Yes.

MCKINNON: It means she risks turning off a lot of her supporters and basically it could hurt her career. So, more power to her. Good for her.

HILL: And she didn't say (INAUDIBLE) -- she didn't say, you know, just because I'm putting my support here, you should, too. Educate yourself about the issues. Find who works for you. Nobody is 100 percent -- is going to match up 100 percent with you, which I thought was interesting because that we don't always hear.

[08:55:06] MCKINNON: It's an important message. It's like no matter what you're doing, no matter who you are, or where you are, get involved. That's the important thing.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: The only place it could, in theory, make any difference is with younger voters, you would think. In your vast experience in campaigns, does anything animate young voters to go at midterms to vote?

MCKINNON: It hasn't traditionally, but we're in a different era. We're in a different time. And we -- you know, we just look at the last two weeks. There could be a lot of young voters. You know, my daughters could have looked at last week and said, I'm going. I'm going to vote. So I -- we're just in new times and I think that this is a time when everybody feels pretty activated. And I think you could see some historic turnout for this midterm.

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting, you were no longer with the John McCain campaign when they came up (ph) with the ad, like the biggest celebrity in the world ad, but --

MCKINNON: I forgot about that, but -- Fred Davis.

BERMAN: But it does sometimes work against Democrats. They get made fun of. It gets used against them. There was a famous ad --

MCKINNON: That was pretty effective.

BERMAN: In 2008 from the McCain campaign against Barack Obama calling Obama the biggest celebrity in the world.

MCKINNON: And using -- was it Taylor Swift that was singing (ph)?

BERMAN: I would --

MCKINNON: No, it was --

BERMAN: We'll get back to it.

MCKINNON: Britney Spears.

BERMAN: Britney Spears.

HILL: Oh.

BERMAN: Britney Spears. The Taylor Swift of 2008.

Mark McKinnon, thank you very much for being with us.

MCKINNON: (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.

BERMAN: Great to see you. Appreciate it.

HILL: Good to see you.

CNN "NEWSROOM" with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto picks up after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:00:06] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning, everyone, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto here in Washington this morning.

The Kavanaugh era begins on the Supreme Court of the United States.