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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
President Donald Trump Vs. Chief Justice John Roberts; Will The Balloons Fly In Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?; Parents Drop Baby From Window During Inferno; Yemen Starving From Years Of War. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired November 22, 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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[05:30:46] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The public battle you never thought you'd see playing out on Thanksgiving. The public war of words between the commander in chief and the chief justice.
KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN ANCHOR: Heart-pumping survival in Dallas. Fire engulfs a building, forcing people to escape through windows, including a 1-year-old dropped into stranger's arms below.
BRIGGS: And a Thanksgiving freeze taking over the northeast. Wind chills in the single digits. Will it be enough to ground Snoopy and those other Macy's floats out there today? It is freezing outside.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.
It is -- feels like two degrees outside right now --
HARTUNG: Yes, it does.
BRIGGS: -- just outside our building. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
HARTUNG: And, Happy Thanksgiving. I'm Kaylee Hartung. It's 31 minutes past the hour.
One thing we can be pretty sure President Trump is not thankful for this year, the federal court system, and that has led to a remarkable back-and-forth with Chief Justice John Roberts. It started Tuesday after a federal judge in California rejected an administration's move on asylum claims.
BRIGGS: The ruling temporarily blocks the president's plan denying asylum to immigrants who cross the southern border illegally. The frustrated president slamming the judiciary yesterday. Chief Justice Roberts reprimanded him and now, Mr. Trump counterpunching.
Senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny traveling with the president for the holiday. He has more from Palm Beach.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Kaylee, President Trump will be waking up again in Mar-a-Lago on this Thanksgiving Day after spending Wednesday here in South Florida in an unprecedented and unseemly fight with the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Now, it comes after the president was criticizing a federal appeals court judge in California for temporarily blocking the president's asylum order.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They file in what's called the Ninth Circuit. This was an Obama judge.
And I'll tell you what, it's not going to happen like this anymore. Everybody that wants to sue the United States, they file their case in almost -- they file their case in the Ninth Circuit and it means an automatic loss no matter what you do.
ZELENY: Well, that of course, led the Supreme Court justice to do something he rarely does, weighing in on a political matter. He issued a rare statement saying there are no Obama judges, there are no Bush judges, no Clinton judges. There is simply independent members of the judiciary.
Well, the president remarked back at that -- fought back at that in Twitter, saying yes, there are, indeed, Obama judges. And then he brought the judiciary into this ongoing fight about the border.
So it's unclear if the president will be keeping that fight up today as he celebrates Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago. But certainly, an unusual fight to pick with the Supreme Court chief justice.
Now, the president has had words before with John Roberts. That was before, though, he took office. But never have we seen something like this -- the President of the United States and the Chief Justice of the United States back in a back-and-forth.
No word on if John Roberts is going to reply to the president. We asked the Supreme Court last evening about that and did not hear back. That would be unusual, in and of itself -- Dave and Kaylee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARTUNG: Thanks, Jeff.
After the setback in court, the Trump administration is preparing to implement sweeping new measures forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed. "The Washington Post" reports the new rules will take effect as soon as tomorrow, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo.
The current rules generally allow asylum seekers to enter the U.S. as long as they establish a fear of return to their home country. Many of the thousands of migrants making their way to the U.S. say they're fleeing gang violence, persecution, and poverty.
BRIGGS: A government report on the human impact of climate change will be published tomorrow on Black Friday. It was long-scheduled for release in December, prompting speculation it's being buried on a day when few people will pay attention.
The report, a follow-up to an assessment last November, concluding there is no convincing alternative explanation for the changing climate other than human activities.
In what would be an oversimplified tweet, to say the least, President Trump confusing climate with weather. "Brutal and extended cold blast could shatter all records. Whatever happened to global warming?"
We don't have enough time to explain that -- just 20 minutes left in the show. Hopefully, someone with a science background can explain to the president the difference.
[05:35:05] HARTUNG: We'll leave that to them.
BRIGGS: Yes.
HARTUNG: Well, Rudy Giuliani says special counsel Robert Mueller is not done seeking answers from President Trump. The president's attorney tells CNN Mueller could still ask Mr. Trump for more questions on obstruction of justice. But, Giuliani signaled the president's legal team will fight any questions they believe violate executive privilege.
On Tuesday, the president submitted written responses to the special counsel's office relating to possible collusion with the Russians during the campaign and the transition. Giuliani says the president's lawyers are willing to answer follow-up questions from Mueller's team.
BRIGGS: A scary moment for nearly 300 holiday travelers aboard an Amtrak train last night. It was headed from Montreal to New York when two cars broke away from the rest of the train as it was moving.
One passenger said he saw it happen from his seat in another car. He said another passenger in the car yanked the emergency brake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY OSHER-DUGAN, AMTRAK PASSENGER: We were right at the front where the car had separated and all we start seeing is these sparks in the front by the entry that you usually walk between the cars. All these sparks and then all this noise.
And then suddenly we started slowing down and the rocks started flying in. So -- and then we finally slowed down to a point where we stopped and we weren't sure what was going on.
You know, it wasn't -- I mean, it was a little scary, obviously. But overall, it was just -- everyone was calm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Apparently, no one was hurt. Passengers were put on another train that arrived in New York overnight. Amtrak is investigating what went wrong. HARTUNG: And more than 40 people in Dallas are without a home for Thanksgiving, but they are lucky to be alive after their apartment building caught fire.
The halls of the building were already engulfed in flames when one mother and father had to break their window and drop their 1-year-old baby, Kirsten, out the window and into the arms of a man below.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHUNTARA THOMAS, FIRE SURVIVOR: She's only one, so to know that she still gets to live another day is just -- words can't even describe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARTUNG: No, they can't. Baby Kirsten is doing well. Her dad, Patrick, got 22 stitches.
A total of three people were injured, including a firefighter who suffered burns. They are all expected to be OK.
BRIGGS: Shew, remarkable.
The 92nd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade set to begin in just a few hours right here in New York. As is tradition, the giant balloons are slowly inflated the night before the parade. This morning, with record-breaking cold and strong winds forecast, the big question is will the stars actually fly?
CNN's Miguel Marquez freezing outside along the parade route. Still no hat, Miguel. You are a tough man.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I'm Latino. We run hot.
Look, cold, schmold -- wind, schmind. It's all going to go. They've had a little bit of breeze, there's been some gusts, but not so bad, so far.
Tom the Turkey is here. All of the floats are here. Among others that will be on these floats, the Bare Naked Ladies, John Legend. And I was unbelievably pleased to find that Diana Ross and her entire family is going to be one of those floats.
These are the balloons in question. The smaller ones -- about 43 of them -- and then the bigger ones. And, Dave, you win the prize. You correctly identified Chase from Paw Patrol as the first balloon there.
If the winds get up over 23 miles per hour sustained or 34 mile per hour gusts, then they will have to ground those balloons. But right now, the old -- the old knee that tells me all the weather is saying that it's going to be just fine.
It's in the 20s right now. If it gets down to about 15 degrees the wind chill will be much colder. But, 15 degrees will be the coldest on record if it gets that cold, since 1871, back when I was a teenager.
So I think it's all going to go off. The parade route's right off down here. It kicks off a 9:00 a.m. Everybody is looking forward to a great parade today and then lots of turkey.
There's already people waiting down there, amazingly enough, with their breakfasts on their laps and some of them with just blankets over their heads. They look like ghosts all the way down the parade route there -- hilarious.
Back to you guys.
BRIGGS: All right. We've got a bagel sandwich. We'll have this brought out to you, my friend.
MARQUEZ: Nice.
BRIGGS: I don't have a hat for you but -- it's actually dropped in the hour and a half since I've been here.
MARQUEZ: Look, when it gets cold, I'll put the hat on, OK? When it gets really cold.
HARTUNG: When it gets cold.
BRIGGS: Keep that hair looking good, Miguel. Enjoy it, my friend. Happy Thanksgiving.
HARTUNG: I love the scientific forecasting from Miguel. The old knee says the parade is going to be OK.
BRIGGS: Yes, yes, he's got it. It's dropped a couple of degrees, though, in the hour and a half that I've been watching.
HARTUNG: Yes. Speaking of which, just how cold will it get across the northeast for Thanksgiving? Here's meteorologist Derek Van Dam with a more scientific look at that forecast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kaylee and Dave, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of our viewers.
Of course, the big story, the bitterly cold temperatures impacting the northeast. You'll have to bundle up to step outside this morning.
Twenty-plus record low temperatures being set just this morning alone and that continues into tomorrow morning as well with another 20 or more record low temperatures. And you factor in the wind and it gets extremely cold outside.
[05:40:06] Of course, that impacts the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We're monitoring those conditions very closely.
The good news is there is a bit a light at the end of the tunnel. The winds will relax by the weekend and temperatures will slowly start to rebound as well. But we have to get over two bitterly cold morning temperatures where wind chill values will remain in the single digits for the most part.
Now, actual high temperature, 27 degrees today for the Big Apple; 39 for Chicago; the nation's capital, 35; a balmy 60 for Atlanta. Look at how the temperatures warm up into Saturday and Sunday for New York City with a bit of rain by Saturday afternoon.
Back to you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: All right, thank you, my friend.
Ahead, Sheryl Sandberg said she didn't know Facebook hired a P.R. firm to dig up dirt on opponents, but her own e-mails may suggest otherwise.
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[05:45:44] HARTUNG: Talks to end the fighting in Yemen are set for next month in Sweden but will peace come in time for a nation starving from years of war? Nearly four years of fighting between Iran-back rebels and a coalition led by the Saudis have left 57,000 people dead, according to one estimate.
The war has brought Yemen to the brink of the worst famine in a century. Fourteen million lives at risk.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is covering the story for us. He's live in Beirut. Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kaylee.
Well, peace could not come soon enough for Yemen. The war began in April of 2015 and if you look at this recent report from Save the Children about the situation there it is deeply disturbing.
Now, you quoted that figure of 54,000 people killed in the war so far. But, Save the Children is saying that almost 85,000 children under the age of five years old may have died from what they are calling severe acute malnutrition -- which is basically starvation and disease -- since that war began.
Now, there's slight glimmers of hope. James Mattis, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, did say that perhaps in the first week of December there will be U.N.-sponsored peace talks held in Sweden.
We do know that the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Matthew (sic) Griffiths is in -- is expected to visit the Yemeni port of Hudaydah, which is under siege from the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition. It is through that port that much of the food gets to the population of Yemen.
So, definitely, there is reason for some hope, but there's nothing that can be done about the tens of thousands of people who have died since April of 2015 in this horrendous war -- Kaylee.
HARTUNG: Absolutely startling numbers, Ben, but reason for some hope. Thank you so much.
BRIGGS: Defying its name, Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa is leaning a little less these days. Experts say it has lost 1 1/2 inches of its tilt over the past 17 years. That's a result of extensive excavation work which was required to keep the tower upright. It's now back to the tilt it had at the beginning of the 19th century.
Nothing will stop every tourist from going out there and doing the photo where they stick their hand up and they pretend to lean against the tower.
HARTUNG: Please tell me you have one such photo?
BRIGGS: I fear I do. I have been, but I'm not -- the one that really drives me nuts -- as we welcome in John Berman, who is hosting "NEW DAY" in about 12 minutes -- John Berman, the one that drives me nuts -- I was just in Paris and every adult is walking around holding up the Eiffel Tower.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Which, interestingly enough, is now leaning more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Guys, I hope you're doing OK.
BRIGGS: Happy Thanksgiving, man.
BERMAN: I hope you're doing OK this morning. It's super nice to see you, Happy Thanksgiving.
I'm very concerned about the balloons. I know you've been reporting on it. It's so cold they may not fly.
And I don't know what the issue is there, Dave. Is it like shrinkage? What are they concerned about with the balloons?
BRIGGS: Well, we are always worried about shrinkage in the cold weather, but I think it's the wind and the wind chill. But, you know, you have to go to science here. Miguel Marquez' knee says it's going to be OK.
HARTUNG: He says the balloons will fly. His knee tells him so.
BRIGGS: I mean, you know, I don't know if that's how we correctly measure these things but if Miguel Marquez' knee says it's going to be OK, it's going to be OK.
BERMAN: I think that's true.
BRIGGS: But, John Berman, a more serious question here.
BERMAN: Yes?
BRIGGS: You said the most overrated side dish, on Twitter, at Thanksgiving is turkey, which begs the question what is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?
BERMAN: Stuffing and football.
BRIGGS: Me, too.
HARTUNG: What kind of stuffing, though? Be specific.
BERMAN: The unhealthy kind. Lots of butter and Ritz crackers and just stuff that's not good for you, in general.
I will tell you, we finally did solve the turkey conundrum, which is to just deep fry the turkey.
BRIGGS: Oh, you do that?
BERMAN: Oh, yes. Once you've had a deep fried turkey you understand what the Pilgrims had in mind because it's good. It's the first time -- you know, I was like 43-years-old when I tried my first deep fried turkey and I said now I get it. I finally understand.
[05:50:02] HARTUNG: But did you take the risk of deep frying it yourself?
BERMAN: No, we do it outside.
HARTUNG: Good call.
BERMAN: My brother-in-law's an architect who can design things and we basically designed this giant contraption with scaffolding to lower the turkey inch-by-inch into the deep fry vat.
BRIGGS: Wow.
BERMAN: And then it comes out and it's perfect -- it's perfect, which is our lead this morning, I have to say, coming up on "NEW DAY" in just a few minutes.
BRIGGS: You'll talk about this back-and-forth between the president and the chief justice, which was an interesting round of golf in the morning and then a public feud with the chief justice in the afternoon. Just kind of your typical Thanksgiving eve.
BERMAN: Well, it's your Thanksgiving tradition -- your new Thanksgiving tradition. What does the president do? He goes golfing and then gets in a constitutional battle with the Chief Justice of the United States, as one does.
BRIGGS: That's what we Americans do. We argue politics over the Thanksgiving table or Twitter.
John Berman, we look forward to "NEW DAY" in about 10 minutes. Thank you.
BERMAN: Fantastic. Kaylee, you have a great day.
HARTUNG: Hey, thanks. You, too, John. BRIGGS: We'll be right back.
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HARTUNG: Well, abortion rates in the U.S. have fallen to their lowest level in a decade. That's according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[05:55:01] From 2006 to 2015, reported abortions fell 24 percent. Rates also fell 26 percent among younger women.
The survey included voluntary abortion data from 49 areas, the exceptions being California, Maryland, and New Hampshire.
The CDC acknowledges the findings have limitations but still offer significant insights.
BRIGGS: Authorities in New Jersey say a family of four found dead at their burned mansion had been killed before the house was set on fire.
Keith Caneiro's body was found Tuesday in front of the home. He had been shot. The burned bodies were of his wife and two children found inside.
HARTUNG: While police investigate their deaths, authorities have charged Caneiro's brother, Paul, with arson, but that's for a different fire set at his own home 11 miles away. Authorities say he torched the house while his wife and two daughters were inside. No one was hurt there, though.
Now, Paul Caneiro's attorney says he is innocent of the arson charges and any potential charges that may be filed.
BRIGGS: Authorities say the number of people unaccounted for the in Camp Fire has fallen to 563, a drop of more than 300 from Tuesday. On this Thanksgiving holiday, a team of nearly 1,000 people will continue searching for people.
The Camp Fire in Northern California has burned more than 150,000 acres. It is 85 percent contained. Eighty-three people have died.
HARTUNG: Butte County plans to reopen schools on December third. Many classes will be moved to different buildings and locations, though.
And, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a Cal alum who was raised in Chico -- he's donation $1 million to Camp Fire relief efforts.
And in Southern California, the Woolsey Fire that's burned almost 97,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties -- it is now 100 percent contained. Three people have died in that fire.
BRIGGS: Friends are remembering an American missionary apparently killed by tribespeople on an isolated island off the coast of India. India prohibits visits to the protected tribe but fishermen helped 27- year-old John Allen Chau get to Sentinel Island November 15th. He came back later that day with arrow injuries but returned to the island at least two more times.
HARTUNG: The fishermen later saw members of the tribe dragging his body around.
Chau's friends are calling him a Christian martyr. But officials say he came on a tourist visa with the specific purpose of preaching on a prohibited island.
A tribal rights group say India is to blame for failing to protect the island.
BRIGGS: Facebook's outgoing head of communications taking the blame for working with a P.R. firm that spread opposition research about Facebook's critics.
Elliott Schrage wrote an internal memo Tuesday. "Responsibility for these decisions rests with leadership of the Communications team. That's me."
This move could be interpreted as a way of saving chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg as questions linger about how she was involved in all of this.
HARTUNG: "The New York Times" reported last week Facebook hired the Definers public affairs firm and that Sandberg played a central role. Sandberg admitted Wednesday she has received e-mails about Definers after saying last week she did not know Facebook hired the firm.
Schrage also confirmed the company asked Definers to quote "work on Soros" -- as in George Soros -- after the billionaire described Facebook as a menace on society at Davos last year. Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.
BRIGGS: It's Thanksgiving Day, so get ready for food, family, and football.
First helping, 12:30 eastern time with the division-leading Bears taking their 4-game winning streak to Detroit. At 4:30, Washington, minus injured quarterback Alex Smith, goes to Dallas. In the finale at 8:20, the Falcons taking on the Saints in the 99th regular season meeting with the division rivals.
Also, we should mention the Bears without their starting quarterback as well. They'll be playing with Chase Daniel, the Mizzou grad. I like the Bears in that one.
HARTUNG: Yes.
BRIGGS: Who you got?
HARTUNG: I would rather talk about the Saints and the Falcons, personally.
BRIGGS: That's delicious but that's too late for us.
HARTUNG: That is so true. BRIGGS: It's after our bedtime, sorry.
HARTUNG: Oh, my goodness, a harsh reality.
BRIGGS: We are on at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow on Black Friday.
HARTUNG: We'll be there with you. Thanks for joining us today. Happy Thanksgiving to you. I'm Kaylee Hartung.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. Happy Thanksgiving.
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TRUMP: This was an Obama judge and it means an automatic loss, no matter what you do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roberts is stepping up and saying no, I'm an independent-minded Supreme Court justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's sad that the president is to petty that he puts a D or R beside anyone's name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unreal -- I mean, it's unreal to suddenly be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
BRIGGS: Two Amtrak cars separated from a train at the peak of holiday travel.
OSHER-DUGAN: All these cars were making all this noise. It was a little scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Thursday, November 22nd, 6:00 on Thanksgiving here in New York.
Alisyn is off. Erica Hill joins me. And I am thankful for you.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: John Berman, I'm thankful for you. Thanks for having me.
BERMAN: It's great to have you here.
I'm also thankful for the heat in the studio --
HILL: Yes.
BERMAN: -- right now, which you bring. You insist on it being the right temperature in here.
HILL: Well, it's important.
BERMAN: It's really cold outside. It's wicked cold.
