Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Ivanka Used Private Email in White House; Judge Blocks Trump's Asylum Restrictions; Deadly Chicago Hospital Shooting; Women's March Founder Wants Co-Chairs Out. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired November 20, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:15] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Don't expect any "lock her up" chants. Ivanka Trump used private e-mail hundreds of times to conduct business from the White House last year.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight. A federal judge blocks the White House from restricting asylum claims from people who cross the border illegally.
BRIGGS: Three people, including a police officer, gunned down in a Chicago hospital. The gunman knew one of the victims.
ROMANS: And the founder of the Women's March wants the movement's co- chairs to step down. She says she allowed bigotry into the mission.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Good morning, my friend.
I'm Dave Briggs. Tuesday, November 20th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Eagerly to hear about the tech stocks, all down big time, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google's parent company. It is not a good day for the market.
But we start at the White House. In a twist that is ironic to say the least. Ivanka Trump last year sent hundreds of e-mails through a private e-mail account, a revelation based on emails released by a non-partisan watch dog group American Oversight. E-mails show Mrs. Trump used her personal account to e-mail cabinet officials and White House aides and assistants for March of 2017.
ROMANS: Now, people familiar with the matter tell "The Washington Post," the White House conducted an investigation into Ivanka Trump's email usage. The probe found many e-mails were sent in violation of federal records laws which require preservation of all White House communications.
BRIGGS: The president, of course, used Hillary Clinton's private e- mail use as a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign. The White House had no comment. But a spokesperson for Ivanka Trump's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, acknowledged Ivanka occasionally used her private e-mail before she was briefed on the rules. He stressed Mrs. Trump's e-mail use was different from Secretary Clinton's. ROMANS: He said she did not create a private server in her house or
office. No classified information was ever included. The account was never transferred or housed at Trump Organization, and no e-mails were ever deleted. The spokesman said Ivanka Trump handed over her government related e-mails months ago so they can be stored permanently with other White House records.
BRIGGS: Breaking overnight: A federal judge in California handing President Trump a defeat in the effort to block asylum claims by immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border. The new temporary restraining said the president may not rewrite immigration law to impose conditions forbidden by Congress.
ROMANS: In his order, Judge Jon Tigar writes, asylum seekers are at increased risk of violence at the border and many deprived meritorious asylum claims. The government offers nothing in support of the new rule that outweighs the need to avoid these harms. Immigration advocates argue it is illegal to block asylum claims based on how an immigrant entered the country. The judge's order remains in force until the next hearing set for December 19th.
BRIGGS: President Trump set to authorize U.S. troops on the border with Mexico to defend customs and border protection personnel from migrants who engaged in violence. A homeland security official tells CNN the potential use of force to protect border personnel would have to be, quote, proportional. Currently, troops are not allowed to protect border personnel unless they are acting on their own self defense.
Homeland security officials say multiple sources, including the Mexican government are telling them some migrant groups are discussing an incursion through traffic lines at California ports of entry. The general overseeing the troop deployment tells "Politico" the first troops will start heading home in the coming days before the majority of the caravan arrives.
ROMANS: All right. Later today, President Trump is expected to receive a full report on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The president is reluctant to implication crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in the killing. Even though the CIA has already concluded the prince personally ordered the operation.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, Republican, insists Congress will respond with additional pressure on Saudi Arabia if the Trump administration fails to name the crown prince in sanctions. So, how are the Saudis reacting?
Jomana Karadsheh joins us live from Istanbul -- Jomana.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, it seems Saudi officials are quite defiant, standing their ground. The Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir in an interview with a Saudi-owned newspaper saying he has seen the news reports that the CIA has concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. And he says, his understanding is this is based on assessment. [04:05:02] It's not based on real concrete evidence, that he says, we
in the kingdom know that this is unfounded and we reject this categorically whether it's leaks or not. And then he went on to say that they have taken measures against those involved in the killing. He says Saudi Arabia has been the first country to implement such measures against those involved, that they are carrying out an investigation and the reason they are doing so is not because the international community is asking them to do so. It is because they want to do so.
And then he went on to say that the crown prince and the king are a red line for the kingdom and that they will not allow anyone to harm or undermine those two -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul, in front of that Saudi consulate where this murder took place -- thank you.
BRIGGS: President Trump telling advisers that he may soon visit a combat zone for the first time in his presidency, that according to "The Washington Post." The president has faced criticism for failing to visit American service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. Current and former aides tell "The Washington Post" the president doesn't want to associate himself with wars he views as failures.
"The Post" cites Mr. Trump also cites the long flights and potential security risks as the reason he has avoided combat zone visits.
ROMANS: A former senior White House official says the president is afraid people want to kill him. The president has often cast himself as a champion of the military, but standing by the claim that the U.S. should have found Osama bin Laden sooner. His attack on retired Navy Admiral William McRaven, the architect of raid, is not sitting well with former Defense Secretary and CIA chief Leon Panetta.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We all enjoy free speech. That is what our democracy is all about. It doesn't mean the president ought to attack former heroes in a very personal way, people like John McCain and now Bill McRaven, because, frankly, it undermines any relationship he will have with the military as commander in chief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Republican National Committee is backing the president's claim that Admiral McRaven was a Hillary backer, tweeting, it is worth noting McRaven was reportedly on Hillary Clinton's short list for vice president in 2016.
McRaven was on a list of dozens of possible vice president nominees that Clinton's campaign chairman mentioned in an email. That email was hacked by Russia and made public by WikiLeaks. It is also true that his name was floated as a potential in the Trump administration as well.
All right. Stocks fell sharply Monday, dragged down by reports of trouble at Apple and Facebook. The Dow closed down 396 points. That's actually better than it had been earlier in the day, just shy of 1.6 percent. The Nasdaq dropped 3 percent. That is big for one day. The S&P also lost about 2 percent.
Alphabet closed in bear market territory for the first time in seven years. It ended Monday, down more than 20 percent off the all-time high in July. Alphabet, which is Google, wasn't the only tech company that plunged.
All of the other what we call, the FANG stocks, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, they closed down between 4 percent and 6 percent. Those are big moves for one day.
Facebook fell nearly 6 percent as it deal was the fallout from that "New York Times" investigation that suggested that Facebook failed to recognize and stop Russian interference and hired a PR hit firm to write negative stories about critics.
In an interview with Kara Swisher of Recode, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff compared using Facebook to tobacco. That's right. Social media is the new tobacco. Bad for you, addictive, bad for democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC BENIOFF, CEO, SALESFORCE: Facebook is the new cigarettes. You know, it's addictive. It is not good for you. People trying to get you to use it and you don't understand what is going on. The government needs to step in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That is really an interesting metaphor.
Overall stocks are telling us the best conditions for companies and the economy is right now and will start to peter out next year.
BRIGGS: Wow. Three people, including a police officer, killed by a gunman at mercy hospital in Chicago. A doctor, Tamara O'Neal, and a pharmaceutical assistant Dayna Less were also killed. Police say the gunman approached O'Neal in the hospital parking lot and shot her. The two had been in a relationship.
Police responded and followed the suspect inside the hospital where the shots were exchanged. Officer Samuel Jimenez, a father of three, was also killed. He joined the force just last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDDIE T. JOHNSON, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Those officers that responded today saved a lot of lives because this guy was just shooting -- that poor woman got off an elevator and nothing to do in that, and he shot her.
[04:10:02] Why? There's no doubt in my mind that all of those officers that responded were heroes and they saved a lot of lives because we just don't know how much damage he was prepared to do. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Police say the gunman is dead. It's not clear whether he was killed by police or a self-inflicted gunshot.
ROMANS: A manhunt underway this hour in the Denver area after a gunman killed one person and wounded four others in a parking lot near Coors Field. It happened late Monday afternoon. Three people were transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police had been talking to witnesses trying to get a description of the shooter. So far, no details about the victims or possible motive. But a shooter on the loose in downtown Denver.
BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, what if you had just given birth and could not walk and your hospital was evacuated because of a wildfire? Amazing request from one new mother, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:15:03] BRIGGS: All right. The latest in those California wildfires. The number of people listed as unaccounted for in California's Camp Fire dropping dramatically but still at nearly 700. That's actually the good news. On the somber note, remains of two victims were discovered Monday, raising the Camp Fire death toll to 79. The fire is now 70 percent contained.
ROMANS: Real concern of those missing and fear it is not double counted numbers, but you can see a really big death toll here. Smoke from the blaze is now causing delays and cancellation at San Francisco International Airport because of unhealthy air conditions and reduced visibility. The Butte County sheriff's office says two men have been charged with burglarizing a local fire department. Firefighters were battling the flames.
BRIGGS: Terrifying new stories emerging of life or death situations. Rachelle Sanders gave birth via C-section at Adventist Health Feather River, a hospital in Paradise, earlier this month. A hospital employee trying to help her evacuate, but the flames were getting in the way of her car. She made this dramatic request.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHELLE SANDERS, FORCED TO EVACUATE PARADISE HOSPITAL AFTER GIVING BIRTH: We are really unsure that we would be able to get out of there. And so, when that happened, he asked me what do you want me to do? And I said, I want you to take the baby and run. I cannot run. I just had surgery. I can't even walk. I don't know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Rachelle Sanders did manage to make it to safety.
ROMANS: Can you imagine to make that decision? To tell the person who's rescuing you, look, if this car is overcome by flames, take my baby and run and leave me here.
BRIGGS: Every day is a terrifying ordeal there. And again, still 700 unaccounted for.
ROMANS: All right. First, fire, now rain. A series of storms forecast to hit California into the holiday weekend. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for the Camp Fire area from November 21 to 23.
That means a threat of mudslides and debris could affect hundreds of evacuees at sites including the Butte County fair grounds. Food and supplies have been left out in the open. They will need dry storage in very short order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CYNTHIA SMITH, CAMP FIRE EVACUEE: We're getting tarps and stuff like that. It has been rough. We're making do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: An indoor shelter is available to the fire evacuees, but most of them say they don't want to sleep there because of the norovirus that's going around.
BRIGGS: All right. Well, if you went to sleep early, you missed the game of the year, the game to last several years in the NFL. The Rams holding off the Kansas City Chiefs, 54-51.
ROMANS: What?
BRIGGS: In the highest scoring Monday night football game ever. Kansas City quarterback Pat Mahomes first to ever throw six touchdown passes on Monday night football, and did it in a losing effort, under two minutes to go. Jared Goff hocked up with Gerald Everett for the game-winning score. Chiefs is the only NFL team to ever score 50 or more points in a game and lose.
After the game, the Rams tweeted this, this one is for you, L.A., along with video of quarterback Jared Goff and lineman Andrew Whitworth meeting with families and victims of the Borderline Bar shooting. First responders from the bar and the Woolsey Fire honored before the game. Thousands received free tickets to what was a probable Super Bowl preview. But the Saints have something about that.
ROMANS: That's what I love about sports, when sports and real life merge. I mean, not that sports isn't real life.
BRIGGS: Yes. Healing power. No.
ROMANS: And 54-51, wow. That's a lot of scoring.
BRIGGS: Incredible.
ROMANS: All right, 18 minutes past the hour. Even I know that.
An elevator rapidly -- this is like my worst nightmare in Chicago, John Hancocks building, right? BRIGGS: I'm with you.
ROMANS: Elevator, boom, descend 84 stories, two cables snapped. More from Chicago, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:23:08] ROMANS: The founder of the Women's March calling for the movement's current co-chairs to step down for allowing bigotry into the group's mission. Teresa Shook accused four of the leaders of tarnishing the Women's March, saying they have allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LGTBQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric become part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espoused these racist, hateful beliefs.
BRIGGS: Women's March leaders swiftly shot back at Shook, saying, quote, our ongoing work speaks for itself. That's our focus. Not arm chair critiques from those who want to take credit for our labor.
The group has come under intense scrutiny for its association with Louis Farrakhan. Two Women's March leaders have posted on Instagram praising the Nation of Islam leader. Another spoke at the rally headlined by Farrakhan in 2015.
ROMANS: All right. Six people are lucky to be alive after the elevator fell 84 floors in Chicago. It took firefighters three hours to rescue the group in the former Hancock building. I guess they were up at the signature room, way on top of the 96th floor.
They got on the elevator, and the boom, the elevator plunged when two cables broke. The firefighters say the situation was not as unsafe as it sounds. Really? There were other cables still attached to the elevator car.
Fire crews had to break through a cinder block wall to rescue the people to bring them out. They were stuck between floors 11 and 12. Look at that, took them time to just carve through that. Amazingly, no injuries were reported.
BRIGGS: Terrifying ordeal.
A White House tradition now in its 71st year happens today when the president will officially pardon the national Thanksgiving turkey. This year's candidates? Peas and carrots, both from South Dakota.
Peas loves popcorn and ice fishing, and watching planes. Carrots has a slight height and weight advantage, and loves M&Ms, skiing and yoga.
[04:25:05] Who doesn't?
ROMANS: How does a turkey do yoga?
BRIGGS: I don't know.
ROMANS: Peas and Carrots got some rest at the Willard Hotel adjacent to the White House grounds ahead of the pardoning ceremony. After the pardoning, the turkeys will make their home at the Virginia Tech gobblers rest exhibit in Blacksburg, Virginia.
News you just had to have today to be informed on a member of --
BRIGGS: Delicious news, if you will.
ROMANS: While were you sleeping, hosts had fun roasting today's turkey pardon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump will pardon two turkeys tomorrow. But first, Robert Mueller will subpoena them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump will pardon a turkey. After the ceremony, the turkey will be sent to live on a farm upstate with Jeff Sessions.
Americans can vote on which turkey gets pardoned. You can tell the turkeys want to drag it out as long as possible because today they asked for that vote to happen in Florida.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Very funny.
BRIGGS: Solid.
All right. The height of hypocrisy. Ivanka Trump used private emails to conduct business from the White House.
ROMANS: And breaking overnight, a federal judge blocks the White House from restricting asylum claims for illegal border crossers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
