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Dow Drops on Tech Fears; Rain for California; Gunman Kills Three at Hospital; Trump May Visit Troops; Russia Blames U.S. for Meddling. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired November 20, 2018 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:32:13] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news.
An ugly open for stocks. The Dow off 394 points at the moment. A big sell-off on Wall Street. You can blame tech stocks for a lot of that.
Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans here with more.
What is going on?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And let's look at those numbers. So you have 1.6 percent on the Dow Jones Industrial average. So, look, in the grand scheme of things, a 1.6 percent move is not a lot. But you put that into context with all of these days over and over again of losses and some of these tech losses are just phenomenal. FaceBook down 19 percent from its peak this summer. Amazon down 25 percent. I could go down the line.
You've got 40 percent of the S&P 500 stocks, right, almost half have lost 20 percent of their value from the peak this year. That's considered a bear market for some of those. So that's telling you that within the market there is some weakness.
So, what's wrong? Well, the tech companies are facing this reckoning right now that their privacy concerns are so profound, their lack of monitoring their own platforms is so profound, that it will cost them a lot of money and a lot of time to regain public trust again and that that is going to be a problem for their business model, right? I mean you heard one tech billionaire call FaceBook the new tobacco, the new cigarettes. Imagine how that was regulated and what that means for investors trying to invest in those stocks.
And then beyond that, outside of tech, you have this idea that this was the best of everything this summer and this fall, right?
HARLOW: Yes.
ROMANS: Tax cuts and a strong economy. And that can't go on forever.
HARLOW: Forever.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: So let me ask you a question. The stock market, of course, is a leading indicator.
ROMANS: Yes.
SCIUTTO: It's forward looking.
ROMANS: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Things are good for businesses right now. Does this historically foreshadow a recession when you have such a drop?
ROMANS: A bear market. And we're not quite there yet in some -- in some places, but we're lower for the year now. It does not always foreshadow a recession. And things still look strong for next year, but not as strong as they are today. And that's what investors are worried about.
Don't forget, there's a U.S./China trade war. And there's a meeting next week between the Chinese president and the U.S. president. That could go either way. That could be a great thing for the stock market or really terrible. Interest rates are rising and global growth is slowing. So these are -- these are things to contend with for investors next -- heading into next year.
SCIUTTO: No question, a lot of political implications as well because the president has staked a lot of his success on the success of the market.
HARLOW: Sure.
ROMANS: Can I give one warning, though, for average investors. If you're running out and trying to remember what your 401(k) log in is on a day like today --
HARLOW: Don't.
ROMANS: I don't think you should do that. You really shouldn't.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Everybody says -- everybody says --
ROMANS: You should rebalance quarterly to make sure you have the right stocks --
HARLOW: Yes.
ROMANS: The right bonds, the right mix for your age, but don't get into this game. There are really smart wealthy people right now wo are making money and making moves, and I get worried when people try to time the market themselves.
SCIUTTO: Smart advice.
HARLOW: I'm crossing that off my list today.
ROMANS: I've got enough things. I've got to get a turkey.
HARLOW: OK, Romans. Right. SCIUTTO: Christine Romans, thanks very much.
HARLOW: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Looking out west, rain in the forecast for many of the northern California areas devastated by those wildfires, but that is not necessarily good news, actually. Authorities are warning those hart hit communities to brace for possible flash floods and mudslides. Imagine that.
[09:35:05] HARLOW: The Camp Fire in northern California has burned more than 150,000 acres, killed 79 people. But the number of these unaccounted for has dropped sharply. Remember yesterday we told you it was just about 1,000. Now it's just about 700. Still, though, so high.
Paul Vercammen joins us from Paradise, California.
So, Paul, the number of missing has come down a little bit, but the rain, some relief, but some dangers as well there.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy and Jim, they're worried about that rain primarily for first responders. They say that this could become an ashy, muddy mess. The first responders need to navigate these twisting mountain roads to get in and out of places and continue to search as well. So they fear that that could put their lives in danger.
They also have made an active campaign, it seems largely successful, to get as many people living in those make-shift tent cities into shelters spread out throughout Butte County. That seems to have been going very well, we should note.
And you were talking about that number that was reduced in the unaccounted for list. Let's stress again what the sheriff has been stressing, that's raw data. He knows that there are duplicate names on that list. He's well aware there are probably people on that list that don't even know that they are on it. So that's good news. They're looking for that to shrink.
A great humanitarian crisis, though, and also an animal crisis. Many, many rescued animals now turning up at the Butte County Fairgrounds. This is a huge, huge effort there.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At night we go around, tuck everything in, you know, to keep out the dew. But once the rain gets here, you know, it might be a little bit rougher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we're getting tarps and stuff like that. It's been rough but we're making due.
We've looked everywhere. There's no place open.
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VERCAMMEN: Just some of the people who are searching for a place to say.
Jim. Poppy.
SCIUTTO: Well, you'd think they'd have some shelter by now --
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: And some help. Federal government, U.S. military. You wonder.
Paul Vercammen, thanks very much.
HARLOW: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Remember the story yesterday, a Chicago emergency room re- opening today after a shooting at that hospital on Monday left three people dead, including an ER doctor, a pharmacy resident and a young police officer who came to respond.
HARLOW: It all started in the parking lot of Mercy Hospital. Police say the gunman targeted a woman he once had a relationship with.
Let's go to our Ryan Young, who joins us now from Chicago.
Ryan, update us.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Guys, such a tough story. You think about this, 3:30 in the afternoon, this conversation happening in the parking lot. And apparently this argument was happening when someone tried to step in. and what we're told by police, the shooter all of a sudden pulled out his gun and started shooting in that parking lot. Everyone started scrambling, but officers ran toward the gunfire, like we hear so many times, tried to stop the shooter. Unfortunately, an officer lost his life. Samuel Jimenez was shot there in that parking lot and he died.
But listen to the sound from someone who was right there watching the shooting, someone who was terrified for his own life.
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STEVE WHITE, WITNESSED HOSPITAL SHOOTING: I heard some shots. So we all ran to the emergency room window. We see this guy out there, military style, shooting at the police. Pow, pow, pow. And he -- like he knew what he was doing, right?
So then I -- it was -- we looked and we seen either a lady or a man laying down on the ground by the emergency room, by the main entrance. He turned around and just shot her, you know, him again, pow, pow. Then he took off and ran up inside the main entrance. Then once he ran inside the main entrance, the (INAUDIBLE) ran in through the emergency room with a gun and told us to get on the floor, get on the floor. We heard shots, bang, bang, bang, bang. That's -- and then he came and told us to clear out because they had secured the area so far.
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YOUNG: This was so scary for so many people. He was shaking as he was talking to us.
But something I want to stress here, Dr. Tamara O'Neal lost her life. Everyone said she was a hard worker. Dayna Less also lost her life. And then Officer Samuel Jimenez, who just got off probation, also lost his life. He is someone who, obviously, gave his life in the service of this city. So painful. A doctor and an officer losing their lives like that. A lot of people asking questions about why did this have to happen.
SCIUTTO: Of course. Why? And we talk about it every few days.
HARLOW: All -- every -- yes.
SCIUTTO: And it's in a hospital. And she's a doctor. And he's a cop.
HARLOW: Is there anywhere safe? Is anyone safe? No.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: Thank you, Ryan.
SCIUTTO: And, by the way, there was a good guy with a gun there.
HARLOW: There you go.
SCIUTTO: So the president has called himself the most pro-military president ever. He has not, though, visited troops in a combat zone yet. A new report has some possible reasons why, and will he go, ahead?
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[09:43:56] HARLOW: All right, so "The Washington Post" is reporting this morning the president is considering visiting troops in a combat zone. This would be the first visit in his presidency. Of course he was asked about this in the interview with Chris Wallace on Fox and he said, look, I'm considering that, and I may make this visit at some time.
SCIUTTO: This comes as the president faces criticism for skipping key Veterans Day ceremonies. He also took a swipe at the man who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, retired Admiral William McRaven.
Joining us now is Barbara Starr. She's CNN Pentagon correspondent.
So, according to "The Washington Post," a number of factors going into the president's decision here, including he doesn't want to be associated with unsuccessful wars. Even one official talking about concerns about his safety.
Explain to us what steps that the military goes through to ensure a president's safety as they visit war zones, as Presidents Bush and Obama and Clinton before him had done.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, any time a president of the United States travels anywhere literally outside the White House fence security is paramount. It is item number one on everybody's list to insure the safety of the president, especially when they travel -- especially whet h travel overseas and, of course, to war zone. A good deal of behind the scenes, highly-classified planning goes into that.
[09:45:18] Right now, for Mr. Trump to visit, shall we say, whether it's Afghanistan or Iraq, this would be a considerable undertaking because what they have to do, the Secret Service, the White House, has to work with the U.S. military. There has to basically be assured air space for Air Force One or a military transparent plane as it goes into that war zone. So they have to have fighter jets up. They have to have reconnaissance satellites, everything they can, monitor communications in the area, be assured that the air space is safe, even before he arrives as Air Force One travels in and as it travels out of that war zone.
SCIUTTO: So is this unusual for a president -- I mean we're in the midst of our country's two longest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We're two years into the Trump presidency. He has not visited the troops yet. How unusual is that?
STARR: Well, I think it's becoming an issue amongst the military. You do hear people talking about it. You know, and military troops like to see the commander in chief. This is something that they very much, over time, over history have looked forward to.
And as you guys pointed out a few minutes ago, there is a long historic precedent for this, even in the most difficult political circumstances. I mean let's go all the way back to President Johnson, LBJ, Vietnam, unpopular to say the least --
HARLOW: Right.
STARR: And yet President Johnson went to Vietnam back in 1966. President Bush, 41, he went to Iraq in 1993. Mr. Clinton went to Kosovo. President Bush, 43, he made a very surprise trip to Iraq in 2003 when there were already a lot of emerging questions about that war. And, of course, President Obama went to Afghanistan in 2014. A long history of all of this.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: And at equally dangerous time in those -- in those war zones, we could say.
HARLOW: And unpopular, you know, many of them unpopular wars as well.
SCIUTTO: Barbara star, always good to have you in the Pentagon.
HARLOW: Thanks.
STARR: Thanks.
SCIUTTO: Coming up, tables turned. Tempting to be turned. It's now Moscow accusing the U.S. of meddling in election. We'll explain what's behind it.
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[09:52:03] HARLOW: All right, welcome back.
This morning, new accusations of meddling exchanged. Those accusations being exchanged between the U.S. and Russia. Now, though, it is Moscow making the charge, saying that U.S. officials, U.S. senators, are interfering by opposing the election of a potential Russian candidate to head up Interpol, the international police organization.
SCIUTTO: Well, there are a whole host of reasons why you would not want the Kremlin in charge of this police organization. It has enormous powers around the world. These U.S. senators say the election of an official with the Russian interior ministry would be like, quote, putting a fox in charge of a hen house.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow.
Matthew, this vote expected tomorrow. And, again, I don't think we can underestimate the effects that this would have, dissidents, Putin's critics, you know, fearing for their lives, frankly, if Russia were to get this power. Is it likely that this Russian official will win this election?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly possible that he will. There are only a couple of candidates, as I understand it, that are standing for the position of president, which is, of course, vacated back in September after the Chinese national who occupied the position before suddenly disappeared. You may remember, he was later found to have been detained by the Chinese authorities on corruption charges.
But it's really a vote that comes down to the individual member nations of Interpol. Each country gets a single vote. And so it will be for the collective sort of international gathering at this general assembly, which is taking place in Dubai tomorrow, to decide who they want to head up this international policing body.
Of course, if it is a Russian official, Alexander Prokopchuk is the -- is the guy's name that's -- that's standing. He's the senior most Russian official at Interpol. If it is him, it will, unfortunately, speak volumes about the direction Interpol is moving. Given the fact that Russia has, on multiple occasions, issued red notices or requested red notices to be issued against political dissidents, even environmental campaigners, and, of course, Russia is itself accused of, well, a flagrant disregard for international law. And that's not being lost on its critics, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Some of them publicly expressing fears right now about the possibility of this.
HARLOW: Matthew Chance, such important reporting. Again, the vote's tomorrow, so we'll see very soon what happens.
So ahead for us, President Trump hammered Hillary Clinton over her private e-mail use for government business. What will the president say about new reports this morning that his daughter, Ivanka Trump, also used private e-mail for government business?
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[09:59:12] SCIUTTO: Do you want a little good news this morning?
HARLOW: I would love that.
SCIUTTO: Maybe a good moment? Something to make you smile or bring a tear to your eye?
A Clemson University football player got a major surprise during his team's military appreciation game over the weekend. Have a look.
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CAPT. CODY LUCAS, U.S. ARMY: He thinks I'm in Afghanistan right now. I'm here to surprise him out on the field right now. Hopefully he's surprised.
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SCIUTTO: Army Captain Cody Lucas waited to surprise his son, running back Ty Lucas.
HARLOW: Who had -- and Captain Lucas has served in the Army for ten years, including a recent deployment to Afghanistan. So the two have not seen each other in nine months. Needless to say, the reunion was emotional.
[09:59:52] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
C. LUCAS: Hey!
