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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Six Dead After Shooting in Quebec Mosque; Weekend of Protests Over Muslim Ban; Senators McCain and Graham Criticize Trump's Executive Order; Tech Industry Speaks Out; Trump May Announce Supreme Court Nominee Today. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 30, 2017 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:01] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news from Canada. Six people are dead after what appears to be a coordinated attack on a mosque in Quebec City. This is now being investigated as an attack in anti-Muslim terror. Authorities in several cities here in the United States are now stepping up security.

CNN's Brynn Gingras joins us now with the late breaking details. Brynn, what are you learning?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, this is something that has just stunned the country, so much so that overnight, when there was a news conference, it became emotional with authorities. They actually confirmed six people were killed in the attack. Eight others were injured. This all happened Sunday night while families were worshipping in their house of prayer. Those at the hospital right now, they're described as having critical injuries. The attack which witnesses describe as John mentioned a coordinated attack happened at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Center. Police arrested two people. There are a few details though as to motive or what exactly happened inside this mosque. But again, it is being investigated as a terrorist attack.

Thirty nine people were able to escape unharmed, so that is good news, if there is any to get out of this. You can imagine right now condolences are just pouring from the country's president, from the prime minister, all saying their thoughts and prayers with the families and victims and they do stand together. Also taking to social media, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is expressing sympathy and also reassuring Muslims here in New York City, that they will be protected. The NYPD says its special teams will be paying special attention to mosques here in the city and of course, at the same time, they're going to keep an eye on this investigation, continue to learn details from Quebec City.

BERMAN: A lot of interest, a lot of concerns. I think here in the United States based on what they are seeing. Brynn, thank you. Thank so much.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning, confusion still reigns after a weekend of chaos and protests, and clarification after clarification of President Trump's executive order banning travelers from seven Muslim majority countries. The president defending the move in a statement that also seems to soften it. America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression. But we will do so while protecting our own citizens and borders. We will keep it free and keep it safe, as the media knows, but refuses to say. More of the president's comments in a moment.

In the meantime, political and legal complications mount for the ban. Democratic house and senate leaders have scheduled a protest outside the Supreme Court today. And in an emotional statement, minority leader Chuck Schumer announcing senate Democrats will introduce legislation to overturn the ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: This executive order was mean spirited and un-American. It was implemented in a way that creates chaos and confusion across the country. And it will only serve to embolden and inspire those around the globe who will do us harm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Today, the Muslim group CAIR is set to announce a federal lawsuit on behalf of more than 20 people challenging the travel ban. That is on top of the 16 Democratic state attorneys general who called the ban unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful in a joint statement. And that they will file their own court challenge.

BERMAN: Several federal judges across the country issued temporary stays blocking parts of the travel ban. The department of homeland security says it will comply with the judge's orders not to deport travelers detained after they landed, but administration officials calls the ruling non-secular noting that they applied to what they call the one-time situation of travelers in the air when the president signed the order. Immigrants who have not yet left from their points of departure overseas will still be banned.

KOSIK: The White House is insisting the executive order did not come out nowhere. A senior administration official says months were spent drafting it and that several of the top immigration staffers on Capitol Hill participated. But others familiar with the matter say the circle involved was small and that the agency's most affected homeland security for one had little input and were given few details until just before the president signed the order.

BERMAN: Demonstrations against the ban placed across the country today from San Diego to the Ohio statehouse to here in New York City. These follow protests on Sunday. Demonstrators, they pack Boston's Square chanting no hate, no fear, immigrants welcome here. In New York City Hall, 10,000 people are in the forum.

KOSIK: And in Washington, protestors marching from the White House to the Trump International Hotel to the capitol building and back to the White House. At San Francisco airport, an international security checkpoint was shutdown due to a crowd of protestors. An airport official estimated it was 1500 strong. Other demonstrators in Orlando, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Seattle and Chicago, they took place mainly at airports in those cities.

[04:35:08] BERMAN: All right. Over night, government officials claim that the number of travelers being detained at airports has dropped to zero. A homeland security spokeswoman tells CNN claims that everyone has now been either sent home or released into the United States. Those who have been let go, include 392 green card holders, so called lawful permanent residents. There was confusion about green cards this weekend. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, he contradicted himself on Meet The Press saying the travel ban does not affect green card holders. But then, moments later, saying quote, of course, it does.

KOSIK: And by nightfall, homeland security department seem to settle the matter saying that green card holders will get extra screening, but barring links to terror or a criminal, they will then be good to go. And CNN have learned that administration officials are discussing the possibility that asking foreign visitors to disclose all social media and web sites and to share their cell phone contacts. Sources tell CNN the discussions are preliminary and how this would actually all work out, well, that is still being figured out.

BERMAN: All right. In the middle of the confusion and the anger swirling around the statements made by the administration officials, President Trump himself, he spoke out about this, and seemed to be trying to calm things down.

CNN's Athena Jones with the latest from the White House.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Alison. President Trump responding to the criticism of the travel ban he has imposed has been getting -- issuing a statement, saying in part, we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression. We will do so while protecting our own citizens and voters. He added this is not a Muslim ban as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion, this is about terror and keeping our country safe. He said that his first priority will always be to protect and serve our country. As president, I will find ways to help all those who are suffering. Those comments from the president coming as he is facing criticism including from members from his own party people like Texas Congressman Will Hurd. He was a former undercover CIA officer. Hurd released a pretty length statement. He says in part that this travel ban does not make us safer, rather it decreases the security of our homeland and endangers the lives of thousands of American men and women in the military, diplomatic corps, and intelligence services. There are almost 10,000 Americans serving in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. A target has been placed on their backs by increasing tension in already volatile region. The White House saying they're extremely proud o f what they accomplished so far. That's from a senior administration official, who says it really is a massive success story if terms of implementation on several levels. But clearly, it is a move that is continuing to come under fire. John and Alison.

KOSIK: All right. Athena Jones, thank you very much. Some top Republican lawmakers are among those criticizing the way the

travel ban was rolled out, especially as immigrants holding U.S. green cards. Senate foreign relations committee chairman Bob Corker saying this in a statement, we all share desire to protect the American people. But this executive order has been poorly implemented. It is my hope that following a thorough review and implementation of security enhancement that many of these programs will be improved and reinstated.

BERMAN: All right. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, they say it is clear from the confusion that our airports across the nation, President Trump's executive order was not properly vetted. Rob Portman said the same on CNN this weekend. The Senator said we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting process to pose no threat to our nation. Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in a fight against terrorism. President Trump, he went after the two senators, he wrote the joint statement of former presidential candidates John McCain and Lindsey Graham is wrong, they are sadly weak on immigration. The two senators should focus their energy on ISIS, illegal immigration, and border security, always looking to start World War III.

KOSIK: All right. The president's travel ban has been met with widespread global condemnation. Leaders from Europe to the Middle East describing it as cruel and shameful.

Let's get the latest now from CNN's Ian Lee, joining me live from Istanbul. So, what is the -- how is this being received, I'm talking about Donald Trump's travel ban?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison, let's start right here in Turkey. This coming from the deputy prime minister, Mehmet Simsek. He tweeted out this jab to the United States saying refugees welcome in Turkey, the world's largest refugee hosting country. We happily welcome global talent not allowed back into the United States. Yemen has condemned this, as Yemen is being one of the seven countries on this list saying this ban supports terror and sows division.

Also hearing from Sudan, another country on the list, saying that it is regrettable and also pointing out the warming of relations between the two countries, one thing that is most noticeable though right now is the silence coming from other middle eastern countries likely not wanting to attract the ire of President Trump, especially when we heard from White House chief of staff Reince Priebus saying that other countries could be added to it. But really the strongest condemnation, criticism coming from Iran, who summoned the U.S. interest section to Tehran saying that this is a baseless and discriminatory ban, also saying they will also have a 90-day travel ban for Americans wanting to go to Iran.

But it is not just these countries, also strong U.S. allies are also coming out against this. UK Prime Minister Theresa May saying that we don't agree with this kind of approach. We are hearing from the London mayor Sadiq Khan saying that it is cruel and shameful. And we have German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling President Trump personally to tell him about the United States responsibilities toward refugees under the Geneva Convention. Alison.

[04:41:25] KOSIK: All right. Lots of differing points of view there. CNN Ian Lee reporting live from Istanbul.

BERMAN: Interesting development overnight, the son of President Trump's national security advisor has abruptly deleted his Twitter account after referring to the administration's refugee order act a necessary Muslim ban. Michael Flynn, Jr., he has a history of spreading conspiracy theories and making charged comments as protests broke out over the weekend. He tweeted, "Make America great again with #MuslimBan." And the White House now they reject the notion that what the president did this weekend is a Muslim ban. So the son of the national security advisor is tweeting something with a #Muslimban, it obviously complicates that. His twitter account seems to be gone as of this morning.

KOSIK: All right. Some of the biggest names in tech are speaking out against the travel ban. We are going to show you why foreign-born entrepreneurs are central to the success of Silicon Valley. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back. The tech industry is forcefully speaking out against President Trump's executive order on travel into the U.S. Leaders from all of these companies have condemned the move, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter, among many others. Apple's CEO Tim Cook saying this, quote, Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do. That is a nod to current employees and founder Steve Jobs, who was a child of Syrian immigrants. The company says they are working to help those affected and voicing concerns to the administration.

Immigrants are essential to the success of the technology industry. Immigrants have started 51 percent of all the billion-dollar start-ups to the U.S. That is according to a study last year from the National Foundation for American Policy, that is a nonpartisan think-tank. Immigrants make up 70 percent of the key members of management or product development teams, and those companies as well. Now, that's food for thought.

BERMAN: A big number.

All right. In the midst of the political chaos surrounding the travel ban, sources inside the White House now tell CNN we could get an announcement of the president's Supreme Court nominee as early as today. Two officials say the president has already made up his mind on who he wants. And a confirmation team made up of top Republican advisers is prepared for a possible announcement basically now. The president had originally planned to reveal the name on Thursday. He had been twitting it all last week. Get ready for my Supreme Court pick on Thursday. But now clearly, the White House eager to change focus from all of this controversy with the travel ban to something else.

KOSIK: The question is if he will be able to do that. BERMAN: Well, I mean, look, if he makes a supreme court pick today,

people will talk about that for sure.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: They will not stop talking about the ban.

KOSIK: Not going away anytime soon. OK. The Trump administration has vowed to study reorganization of the National Security Council. The director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are out, and the president's top strategist, Steve Bannon, is in. The nearly unprecedented shake-up left former national security advisor Susan Rice was stunned. She twitted this. This is stone cold crazy after a week of crazy. Who needs military advice or intel to make policy on ISIL, Syria, Afghanistan, or TPRK? White House press secretary Sean Spicer called Rice's comments clearly inappropriate language from a former ambassador.

BERMAN: A raid in al-Qaeda in Yemen has resulted in the first U.S. combat deaths to under President Trump, 6 service members were wounded in the operation. We are told 14 al-Qaeda members were killed, 3 of them described as senior leaders. The U.S. defense confirms says it was authorized by the president. President Trump released a statement claiming the raid yielded important intelligence that would help the U.S. prevent future terror attacks.

KOSIK: All right. Global stock markets are reacting. They are slumping as investors weigh the impact on the president's travel ban. Will those concerns hit Wall Street? We have a check on CNN Money Stream next.

[04:49:40] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: President Trump spent a good part of the weekend working the phones. He spoke to the Saudi king, King Salman. The White House says that the two leaders agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen to protect refugees, although there was no mention of such an agreement by the Saudis. And then there was the anticipated conversation between President Trump and the Russian president Vladimir Putin. What was said? How did they get along and most importantly, what was not discussed?

Let's bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian live from Moscow. Clare. What was not discussed might be the headline, Clare.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. It was an elephant in the room, you might say. They did not mention the word sanctions once. That was widely anticipated that they might talk about the possibilities that the U.S. might lift some of the sanctions on Russia. They did say they would look to restore trade and economic ties with the two countries. Also not mentioned, nothing to do with the alleged hacking with the U.S. election, it was not mentioned at all, neither was NATO interestingly, which is a key sticking point for Russia. They are very concerned about the presence of NATO troops in Poland and the Baltic States. Both sides saying it was a very positive conversation. We just had some new comments from Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who says they had mutual respect, they were able to talk without preaching, perhaps to the reference with how Russia was treated by the previous administration. They did not go into details. They were able to layout areas where the two countries' interests align, among them the Iran nuclear program nonproliferation and crucially fighting international terrorism. That was what Russia said is the key priority for Russia going forward. And did say they are making plans to meet in person, where and when that will happen, we don't yet know. But suddenly, some positive noises around this call, John.

[04:55:35] BERMAN: Mutual respect might be easier to maintain if you don't actually bring up the areas where you disagree. We will see how these discussions continue. All right. Thank you so much, Clare.

KOSIK: New this morning, North Korea could be restarting a plutonium reactor. New satellite imagery appears to show renewed activity as a facility. The news comes as the defense secretary James Mattis prepares to visit leaders in neighboring South Korea and Japan next month. Secretary Mattis' first overseas trip is a departure from protocol. And that the first visit in South Korea has historically been from top diplomats, not Pentagon officials. This is a sign that North Korea provocations are a priority for the Trump administration.

BERMAN: Messy night for Delta Airlines, trying to get back up and running this morning after a systems outage grounded all U.S. flights. Delta suffered a crippling computer failure Sunday night that halted all domestic flights. The FAA said in a statement that international flights and flights in the air were not affected. The ground stop has been ended, the flight delays continue. This is the second time in less than six months that Delta has had a major I.T. Problem.

KOSIK: All right. Let's get a check on CNN Money Stream this morning. Investors are beginning the week nervous following the President Trump's executive action on travel. We are seeing a Dow Futures down about a quarter of 1 percent. Stocks markets in Europe today are in the red and some Asian stocks were closed overnight for a holiday. But shares in Tokyo finished lower. Oil prices slipping as well.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is responding to the president's travel ban with a commitment to create jobs for refugees. Schultz said the company will hire 10,000 refugees over five years. That covers stores in all 75 countries it operates in. The proposal will begin with a focus on people who had served with U.S. troops as interpreters as support personnel. Schultz says we are living in an unprecedented time and wants to reinforce our belief in our partners around the world. That's a quote.

The CEO of Airbnb says the company is offering free housing for people who are left stranded as a result of the president's travel ban. The CEO Brian Chesky tweeted this, Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the U.S. Stay tuned for more. Contact me for urgent need for housing. The CEO also condemning the ban and says he stands with those affected. He also puts out a call to those with properties for rent who would like to help, and a lot of people, John, responding on Twitter, reaching out saying yeah, I want to help. BERMAN: You know, it is interesting, I heard from Wall Street insiders

overnight. They have concerns about the travel ban itself, but what most concerns investors is not necessarily the ban. It is the idea that the Trump administration is focused on things that are not tax cuts. What they care most about are these tax cuts. That is why the market is going up over the last several weeks and months. And they think anything that pulls focus from that or makes it harder to get those through is bad for Wall Street.

KOSIK: Well, they are also getting nervous that seeing Donald Trump follow through with what he promised on the campaign trail with these travel ban, now there are a lot of concerns on Wall Street about trade policies if Donald Trump will follow through as well.

BERMAN: All right. Interesting to see. EARLY START continues right now.

Breaking overnight, a deadly rampage at a mosque now being investigated as an act of terror. Two people are now in custody. We will tell you what police are learning.

KOSIK: Growing anger. Questions over President Trump's historic executive order banning travel from seven Muslim majority countries. Now, the president is defending the move and slamming his opponent.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

BERMAN: Nice to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. It is Monday, January 30th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

We have breaking news out of Canada. Six people are dead this following what appears to be a coordinated attack on a mosque in Quebec City. This is now being investigated as an act of anti-Muslim terror. And authorities say here in the United States and several cities are stepping up security.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is here with us right now with the latest details. Brynn, what are you learning?

GINGRAS: Yes, John. This is a country in mourning. The flags at half staff this morning. And this as authorities confirm as John said six people were killed in the attack, eight others in the hospital right now described as having critical injuries.