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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh Testify Before Senate Judiciary Committee; Senate Panel To Vote On Kavanaugh Confirmation This Morning; All Passengers And Crew Survive Air Niugini Crash In Sea Off Micronesian Island; SEC Sues Tesla CEO Elon Musk For Fraud. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired September 28, 2018 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:08] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD, ACCUSES SUPREME COURT NOMINEE BRETT KAVANAUGH OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Kavanaugh's accuser Christine Blasey Ford gripping the nation as we hear her voice for the very first time. What she said she remembers most about the alleged attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: You may defeat me in the final vote but you'll never get me to quit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A defiant Brett Kavanaugh getting the final word before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but was it enough to save his Supreme Court nomination?
ROMANS: And, Wall Street's top regulator suing Tesla CEO Elon Musk for fraud. Could he be dropped from his own company?
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Five thirty-one eastern time.
In about four hours we'll get a really clear --
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- sense of where Brett Kavanaugh is headed. That's when the confirmation vote happens inside the Judiciary Committee to advance. The fate of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court does hang in the balance as the Judiciary Committee prepares for that vote.
Members of the committee heard dramatic testimony from Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.
Now, four key senators could decide Kavanaugh's fate. Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Jeff Flake, and red-state Democrat Joe Manchin. They were seen meeting after the hearing.
ROMANS: Collins left Capitol Hill without commenting.
Flake appears to be on the fence, saying "She offered good testimony. So did he."
Manchin says, quote, "There are some concerns that people have."
Murkowski says she needs a chance to think about all that's gone on.
A GOP source close to the nomination process tells CNN they're not sure they have the votes to push Kavanaugh across the finish line but it's definitely close.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, Christine and Dave, Republicans are moving forward. Obviously, every one of them was staring with rapt attention at the hearing, just like pretty much everybody else in the country, to gripping testimony from both Christine Blasey Ford and from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
But after that testimony was over, more than eight hours -- committee members sitting there, witnesses testifying -- members, I'm told, back in their offices watching.
Republicans still plan to move forward. They had a private meeting in the Capitol after the hearing to weigh their options going forward for leaders to take the temperature of members, and they decided the Judiciary Committee will continue its plan to vote on Friday on the nomination.
Now, the key individual to watch on that committee, Sen. Jeff Flake. He still is undecided. He still has not made up his mind.
He told my colleague Kristin Wilson, after the meeting today, that he had more doubts than certainty about what was going to happen next.
Even if they don't have the votes on the committee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell telling members behind closed doors, I'm told, they're going to move forward to the floor. Right now, a procedural vote is tentatively planned for Saturday at noon.
So what does this all mean? Well, at this point in time, Republicans do not have the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. Republicans could have the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. There's a couple of Democrats who may vote with them as well but those votes haven't committed yet.
So Republicans are basically taking a gamble. They're pushing forward with the president's support, with the vice president's support, taking what Brett Kavanaugh's testimony meant to them, at least, as a sign that it's time to push forward.
Will it all work out? Well, we'll have to wait and see. We'll get our first sign at 9:30 when the Judiciary Committee meets -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: Phil Mattingly reporting.
Washington and the entire country trying this morning to process Thursday's raw, emotional testimony.
During more than four hours of questioning we heard for the first time, directly from Christine Blasey Ford. She told senators, under oath, there is no way this was a case of mistaken identity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL), MEMBER, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Dr. Ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh assaulted you?
FORD: One hundred percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:35:00] BRIGGS: Ford grew emotional as she described the alleged assault in detail, saying Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge shoved her into a bedroom at a high school party.
She said Kavanaugh held her down as he tried to remove her clothing, saying, quote, "I believed he would rape me." And, Ford described her terror as he covered her mouth to muffle her screams. She said she feared he might accidentally kill her.
And, Ford recalled her most haunting memory of that incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD: Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter -- the uproarious laughter between the two and their having fun at my expense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: During his afternoon testimony, Kavanaugh was visibly furious, blaming Democrats for turning the hearing into what he called a national disgrace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: This whole 2-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.
This is a circus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Kavanaugh's anger softening at times as he, too, was brought to the verge of tears.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAVANAUGH: The other night, Ashley and my daughter Liza said their prayers and little Liza, all of 10 years old, said to Ashley, "We should pray for the woman." It's a lot of wisdom from a 10-year-old.
We mean -- we mean no ill will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Senators quickly dug into their political trenches. Democrats hammering the nominee over his alleged behavior in high school and his failure to state whether he believes the FBI should reopen his background check.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DURBIN: I'm asking about the FBI investigation.
KAVANAUGH: There -- the committee figures out how to ask the questions. I'll do whatever. I've been on the phone multiple times with committee counsel. I'll talk to --
DURBIN: Judge Kavanaugh, will you support an FBI investigation right now?
KAVANAUGH: I will do whatever the committee wants to --
DURBIN: Personally, do you think that's the best thing for us to do?
KAVANAUGH: (Silence).
DURBIN: You won't answer?
KAVANAUGH: Yes. Look, Senator, I've said I wanted a hearing and said I would welcome anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Republicans allowed a sex crimes prosecutor hired for the occasion to ask questions on their behalf. A few slammed Democrats for their line of questioning -- Sen. Lindsey Graham erupting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), MEMBER, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold his seat open, and hope you win in 2020. You've said that, not me. This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: All right. Let's bring in CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood, live in Washington. And right here in New York, political analyst Julian Zelizer, historian and professor at Princeton. Good morning to both --
ROMANS: Good morning.
BRIGGS: -- of you.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, AUTHOR, "THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW": Good morning.
BRIGGS: Julian, you are a professor. They watched this in classrooms yesterday. They will someday teach about in schools like yours.
What will it reflect about our times?
ZELIZER: It's a horrifying moment where you see how divided we are as a country and you see how dysfunctional Congress is.
First, you have compelling, moving, horrible testimony from Dr. Ford, which clearly reflects a very real experience. The second half turned into a partisan theater, including the Supreme Court nominee who really acted like a partisan, not showing any judicial temperament. And that's what we got yesterday.
ROMANS: I want to play a little bit more of the -- of Christine Blasey Ford. And Sarah, I want you to listen to this and tell me sort of what was happening at the White House and the White House view in the world -- in the White House world.
You know, this is the first time we've heard these allegations from her mouth and what she says this person who is on his way potentially to be in the highest court in the land -- what he did to her -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD: I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.
I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling.
This is what terrified me the most and it's had the most lasting impact on life. It was hard for me to breathe and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:40:06] ROMANS: Sarah, what was the view?
This was very compelling and by noon there were a lot of Republican strategists who were very, very worried that this was not going to be an event that this nominee was going to be able to recover from. Now, there are those who say today that he did recover from it by really going on the offensive in the afternoon.
What was the view at the White House?
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, and not just at the White House but on Capitol Hill across the Republican Party there was something approaching panic after she finished that testimony. It was so emotional, it was so heart-wrenching. No one could watch that and believe that this woman had been a victim of sexual assault of some kind.
And so there was talk that they had made a mistake by choosing to bring in the sex crimes prosecutor to question her instead of having the senators do it. The White House worried that that format wasn't working out for them -- worried that they were doomed.
And you could just feel the collective sigh of relief from White House aides and from Republican strategists and Congressional staffers after Brett Kavanaugh delivered his opening, that you know what -- maybe he is still in the game because to a lot of people, if you were predisposed to believe Brett Kavanaugh, he was equally compelling as she was.
BRIGGS: Yes.
WESTWOOD: So then, at that point, we sort of were brought all the way back to square one --
ROMANS: Yes.
WESTWOOD: -- where you believed what you went into believing and now, the White House is putting enormous pressure on Senate Republicans to go ahead and hold that vote.
BRIGGS: For more on that White House view, here's Kellyanne Conway late last night, describing this on Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I thought today was a tour de force by Judge Kavanaugh. He put it all on his shoulders. He's going to run through the tape and leave it out in the field in pure Trump fashion.
I thought Judge Kavanaugh channeled his inner Clarence Thomas and his inner Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Pure Donald Trump, we can agree, but inner Clarence Thomas? He called it a high-tech lynching back in 1991 and we have learned he harassed Anita Hill.
Is that the image they want out there this morning?
ZELIZER: I think there's an element of that. I think, in some ways, that's what Kavanaugh is selling.
This was a defense of the man. A defense of males against these kinds of accusations, and that's what he tried to sell to the committee. And it doesn't make sense that's how you would defend a judge but we are in 2018.
ROMANS: You mentioned how partisan it got. I want to play, guys, this sound bite where brings up the Clintons. This is not the kind of language you normally hear from somebody who is going to sit on the -- what is supposed to be a nonpolitical highest -- you know, another branch of government -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAVANAUGH: This whole 2-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.
This is a circus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So the legal experts -- the legal eagles were really astonished that he went so partisan there.
ZELIZER: Of course. Look, you are looking for judicial temperament in a nominee and you are looking for someone who's not biased. He went to great lengths in the earlier hearings to show that's who he was. He exposed himself here.
How can you have a Supreme Court justice who is going to hear cases from Democrats, from liberals at some point --
ROMANS: Right.
ZELIZER: -- in his career and say he won't be biased? And so it raised a whole other set of questions yesterday about how he will be as a judge.
ROMANS: And Sarah, but it sounds like that's what the White House wanted.
BRIGGS: Right.
ROMANS: They want him to be tough, right, and to -- and to call out this political hit they see on him.
WESTWOOD: Well, that's certainly what one person in the White House wanted.
President Trump, earlier this week, was showing signs of wavering on the nomination. He held that press conference in New York on Wednesday and he left the door open to potentially abandoning the nomination, saying I could be convinced by Christine Blasey Ford.
And so I think there was maybe a recognition from Kavanaugh and allies that potentially, they were losing Kavanaugh's most important supporter because ultimately, President Trump could decide at any time to withdraw the nomination.
So what Kavanaugh did do at the beginning of that opening statement when he was so angrily railing against Senate Democrats for sitting on that allegation for the few weeks before they brought it forward -- he was really playing to that audience of one.
And then when he got into the more emotional parts of his statement -- the crying -- there were some Trump allies who acknowledged that's not necessarily the thing that Trump wants to see. He's not a big fan of weakness. He's not a big fan of men showing emotion.
But what he is a fan of is winning and by showing that emotion, maybe showing that softer side would make him more appealing to those Senate moderates whose votes he needs.
BRIGGS: We are out of time.
Yes or no? Does he have the votes, Sarah?
WESTWOOD: That is anyone's guess. Fifty-50 --
BRIGGS: Julian?
WESTWOOD: -- at this point.
ZELIZER: I think the might get them. I think this is a partisan world, red and blue, and he played to red and that might be enough to get the Republicans to come together.
[05:45:05] BRIGGS: I concur, sir.
ROMANS: All right, thanks, both of you -- Sarah Westwood, Julian Zelizer. Nice to see you.
ZELIZER: Thank you.
BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, terrifying moments on a plane over the South Pacific after it crashes into the ocean, leaving passengers with water up to their waists. How was everyone able to make it off the plane?
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BRIGGS: Five-fifty eastern time.
And at this hour, investigators flying to the scene of a plane crash near Micronesia in the western Pacific. Forty-seven passengers onboard the Air Niugini flight when it went down in a lagoon 160 yards from the runway.
One passenger says he felt a hard landing, then realized there was a hole in the side of the plane as it took on water. He described terrified passengers in water up to their waists as volunteers in boats helped rescue all on board.
[05:50:00] Amazingly, no serious injuries were reported.
The Flight Safety Foundation says the 13-year-old aircraft sustained damage to its wing in May when another plane collided with it while taxiing.
ROMANS: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling a U.N. Security Council meeting that world leaders must keep up the economic pressure on North Korea. Pompeo says until the process of denuclearization is complete, countries must abide by the economic sanctions against Kim Jong Un's regime.
Pompeo plans to travel to Pyongyang next month, his fourth visit this year. The goal, he says, is securing North Korea's final, fully- verified denuclearization.
BRIGGS: More concrete steps yet towards that.
Ahead, "MURPHY BROWN" back on T.V. with a top-secret cameo.
ROMANS: In a pantsuit.
BRIGGS: In a pantsuit, yes, of course. More from Hillary Clinton's surprise appearance, next.
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[05:55:21] ROMANS: All right.
Wall Street's top regulator is suing Tesla CEO Elon Musk for fraud, seeking to remove him from the company he helped found 15 years ago.
It all began in August. Musk tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 per share, a very specific price. That boosted the stock price.
But the SEC claims that wasn't true. He had not secured funding -- he misled investors.
And in the complaint, it adds that he chose 420 as a marijuana reference and that his girlfriend would find it funny.
The SEC wants to bar Musk from serving as an officer or director of any public company.
Musk is Tesla's top executive. Losing him would be a big blow. Not only is he the public face, but analysts tie Tesla's incredible $50 billion market value and investors believe in him as an innovator and a disruptor. In fact, Tesla's shares fell 12 percent overnight.
Musk -- he is speaking out. He calls the SEC action unjustified and says he is deeply saddened and disappointed, adding "Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this is in any way."
Tesla's board is fully confident in Musk, but the going private fiasco is one of just several actions lately causing some to question his leadership.
There was this 3-hour podcast where he had Samurai sword, a flamethrower, smoked marijuana while on this live broadcast.
Then there was this when he called a British cave diver involved in the Thai soccer team rescue a pedophile.
You know, there are those who think he's just stretched too thin. He's a genius but -- you know, he's got SpaceX, as well. Some think he should have a chief operating officer to help him.
But the SEC is suing him now for fraud.
BRIGGS: OK. A tragic end to the search for a missing 6-year-old boy with autism. Authorities in North Carolina say a body discovered in a creek on Thursday is believed to be Maddox Ritch.
He had been missing since last Saturday after his parents say he took off running while on a walk with his father at a park in Gastonia, North Carolina.
A search crew found the body about a mile from the park. A local police chief says the community is heartbroken.
FBI investigators will try and determine the cause and manner of death, as well as the boy's exact movements after he disappeared.
ROMANS: President Trump postponing his highly-anticipated face-to- face meeting with the man who heads up the Russia investigation, Rod Rosenstein. The deputy attorney general and the president spoke briefly on Thursday.
Press Sec. Sarah Sanders says they agreed it was best not to draw focus away from the Kavanaugh hearing and they'll meet next week.
Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed memos from the Justice Department written by former FBI deputy director, Andy McCabe. Those memos were cited in a "New York Times" report suggesting Rosenstein wanted to secretly record the president with the aim of removing him from office.
Rosenstein offered his resignation last week, remember? He was expected to be fired when he went there to the White House on Monday to meet with Chief of Staff John Kelly, but he wasn't fired.
BRIGGS: After two decades off the air, the "MURPHY BROWN" show returned to television Thursday. The premiere episode featuring a surprise cameo by Hillary Clinton, pantsuit and all.
Keeping with the original series tradition of Murphy's ever-changing roster of secretaries, Clinton interviews for the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDICE BERGEN, ACTRESS, CBS "MURPHY BROWN": I also assume you've had previous secretarial experience?
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Absolutely. For four years, I was the secretary -- I was the secretary of a very large organization.
BERGEN: And you have all the requisite skills -- computer, e-mail?
CLINTON: E-mails -- I do have some experience with e-mails.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Boy, does she.
Brown tells Clinton that she's impressive but a little overqualified for the secretary job. Clinton leaves her contact information. Her e-mail -- hillary@youcouldhavehadme.com.
ROMANS: All right. Everyone enjoy your weekend. A lot of news to get through until then.
BRIGGS: There is, indeed.
ROMANS: In about 4 1/2 hours, a really important vote.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. The split- screen -- well, Raj Shah from the White House gives their view ahead on "NEW DAY."
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Friday, September 28th, 6:00 here in New York.
What a day it is. What a day yesterday was.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What a day this will be.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely.
So less than four hours from now, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination. Will it advance to the full Senate?
They have some tough decisions to make after that history-making hearing that featured emotional testimony from Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who claims he sexually assaulted her in high school.
If Republicans get the Kavanaugh nomination out of committee, do they have enough votes in the full Senate to confirm him?
All eyes on four key senators -- Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Jeff Flake. And, red-state Democrat Joe Manchin.
