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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Federal Judge Issues Order Blocking Texas' 6-Week Abortion Ban; Four Trump Loyalists Expected to Defy Subpoenas from Jan. 6 Committee; Texas High School Shooting Leaves 4 Injured, Suspect Arrested. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 07, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:12]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, October 7th. It's 5:00 a.m. here in New York. Thanks so much for getting an early start with us. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. So nice to see you this morning on Thursday.

JARRETT: On Thursday, and a lot to get to. We begin with the breaking news overnight.

Texas's new ban of nearly all abortions now blocked. A federal judge granted the Justice Department's emergency request last night finding Texas' law banning abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected violates a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

In a 113-page decision, Judge Robert Pitman notes that Texas deliberately crafted this law to evade judicial review by deputizing private citizens, not the state of Texas, to sue abortion providers, essentially creating a system of vigilante justice. He writes, quote, this court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right.

The White House in the statement says the ruling is an important step towards restoring the constitutional rights of women in Texas. The state plans to appeal. I assume very quickly. This is huge news for women waking up in the state of Texas this morning, 113 pages. I've been through it. It's very careful.

It's worth noting here, Christine, that Texas, despite all of its efforts, didn't actually ban abortion. It banned abortion for women who do not have the resources and the money to travel out of state because the Justice Department pointed out, people are still getting abortions. They're just going across state lines to get them.

So the question this morning is do abortion providers, once again, decide, we're going to risk it and try to do this even though the court could easily put it back on hold?

ROMANS: What happens next for Texas, for the state? What do they do?

JARRETT: They go to court. Try to go to the appeals court and say this court got it wrong, please put it back on hold -- yeah, don't allow abortions to happen. Again, this is going to get wrapped up in court for a long time. And what happens for women on the ground in the state of Texas.

ROMANS: Other states have been looking at this law to see if they can mimic it.

JARRETT: It's a blueprint.

ROMANS: Yeah, all right.

JARRETT: All right. And in Washington, it's deadline day for all four allies of Donald Trump to comply with subpoenas from the January 6 Committee. But former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, the man behind many of Trump's tweets, at least when he was on Twitter, he can't be found to be served. He, Mark Meadows, Kash Patel and Steve Bannon fight the subpoenas, then the ball is in the committee's hands to enforce them in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): If they continue to disregard the subpoenas, I'm going to highly encourage the authorities to pursue criminal contempt. If you refuse a subpoena, there are consequences for you. So there darn well should be consequence for the president and his top enablers and cronies here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: In Trump's upside down reality, the real insurrection took place on Election Day 2020, and not January 6, when dozens of police officers of course were brutally attacked. Appeasers like Nikki Haley and Mike Pence are trying to mend fences with the former president, amplifying a relentless Republican attack on democracy.

More now from Ryan Nobles on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, we are approaching the first round of compliance for the subpoenas issued by the January 6 Select Committee. Midnight on Thursday is when documents are expected to be turned over by that group of four former Trump officials and associates close to the former President Donald Trump who have been asked by the select committee to comply.

Now, as we reported before, the committee has not even been able to serve Dan Scavino with a subpoena. So it's very unlikely he's going to comply. But we also are anticipating that the committee is bracing for none of these men to comply on any level.

So we'll have to see what steps they take to encourage that compliance on Friday after that deadline of midnight on Thursday. The committee is still busy with other work as well as they await for a response to the subpoenas. And it's expected on Thursday that they are going to meet behind closed doors with Frances Haugen. She is, of course, the Facebook whistleblower who brought to light so much about her time at Facebook, including documents that she says shows that Facebook went to great lengths not to prevent the spread of misinformation and sometimes violent and racist rhetoric on its platform.

The committee has said that they are very interested in what she may or may not know about what Facebook as a platform did to contribute to the violence on January 6. This has been a busy week for the committee. It will continue, but that interview on Thursday and then we'll see what happens on Friday if they do not get the compliance to the subpoenas that they are hoping for -- Laura and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:05:04]

ROMANS: All right. Ryan Nobles, thanks so much, Ryan.

Let's bring in senior White House correspondent John Harwood.

And, John, we're going to get to the subpoena news in a minute. But, first, I want to touch on the debt limit here. Mitch McConnell has offered Democrats this temporary deal to avoid default -- kicking the can until December.

What's McConnell's strategy here? And it looks like overnight Democrats are signaling they'll take it.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it does look like that. Look, the first thing to say what Mitch McConnell and Republicans did yesterday was good news for the American economy, for the global economy, for the country, because we were headed toward a very difficult situation. Mitch McConnell acknowledged from the beginning that we could not have a debt default, that was an unacceptable outcome. He was trying to force Democrats to pay a political price for doing it themselves. But it ended up getting such -- into such a squeeze that there was the risk that they were going to carve-out an exception to the filibuster. And Mitch McConnell thought that was a worse outcome than making this concession.

Democrats, yes, they're kicking the can down the road. But that's what happens in politics. For the next couple of months, Democrats can focus on trying to pass President Biden's legislative agenda and figure out a longer term agenda in December.

JARRETT: John, I want to ask you about the former president and some of his support. A new Pew Research poll shows 67 percent of Republicans want Trump to remain a major political figure. And 63 percent of Republicans think the GOP shouldn't even accept like these local officials who criticize him. And then, at the same time, the president's national approval rating continues to go down. You know, that's just one poll. Polls change.

But I wonder, given Trump's support, essentially crystallizing here, why is that happening? Why is that happening as we learn more and more about all of the ways he tried to undermine democracy and attempt a coup? Why is his support getting stronger? HARWOOD: The reason, Laura, I think his support is getting stronger

is that he represents a minority faction within the country, but a large one, that is terrified that the country is moving away from their control, which they feel they had for a very long time. I'm talking about white, Christian, blue collar Americans, Evangelicals most conspicuously who feel that the culture, the demography, the economy of the country is moving away from them.

Donald Trump represents a restoration of what existed in the past, that's why make America great again, it's a backward looking slogan trying to revive what used to be. It can't work, but it is -- Donald Trump has been unable to generate intense loyalty by being the symbol, the symbolic representation of the past.

And that's what came to a head in the 2020 election. It lost. Then we had the insurrection on January 6th which was a reflection of people, the ferocity with which people don't want to accept the fact that they lost. And that battle is going to continue in the United States.

JARRETT: But I wonder, he's not president anymore, right? How many times are former presidents more popular than they were actually in office.

ROMANS: You mentioned January 6th. These four men on the screen have until midnight to hand over the documents subpoenaed by the January 6th committee. If you're a member of the panel, and these guys didn't comply, do you take them to court? What's the next move?

HARWOOD: I think there's no alternative for the committee but to take them to court and try to enforce the subpoenas. They recognize that going to court takes time, and that the Trump loyalists can burn time off the clock.

Donald Trump is leading an authoritarian movement that does not respect the truth, does not respect the law, does not respect the Constitution, does not respect the will of the American people. And the question is do people in the United States government, who do respect those things, who do respect the Constitution, are they able to stand up and make it stick, this investigation?

I think Democrats are going to attempt to do that. And we'll see how quickly they can do that and bring the full truth to the American people.

JARRETT: All right. John Harwood, busy week. Thank you so much, my friend.

ROMANS: Always nice to see you, John, thanks.

HARWOOD: Yep.

ROMANS: All right, the birth of a far right conspiracy network had mainstream help. According to documents reviewed by CNN, AT&T executives played a critical role in the creation of One American News. This is a news outlet that is, you know, incredibly far right wing. Up to 90 percent of the channel's revenue comes from AT&T owned platforms.

[05:10:04]

It turns out AT&T, the parent company of CNN, is also OAN's largest contributor by far. It's notorious for pushing the big election lie and the misinformation about COVID.

All right. New body cam footage reveals how some police officers really felt about protesters in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JARRETT: We're getting a disturbing new look at how Minneapolis police responded and felt about the people protesting the murder of George Floyd last year. And it's ugly. Newly released bodycam footage from May 2020 revealed some officers talking about hunting civilians and letting them have it.

CNN's Omar Jimenez has this report for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Good morning, Laura.

Now, this newly released bodycam footage takes us back to May 30th, 2020. This is five days after George Floyd was murdered.

Now, according to court documents, that particular night, this police unit was driving down Lake Street, clearing out people who are not adhering to curfew with 40-liter nonlethal rounds.

Now, as court documents show that afterward, as part of a debriefing with this unit, a Minneapolis police commander said this.

OFFICER: Tonight was a busy night.

COMMANDER BRUCE FOLKENS: It's nice to hear, we're going to fight more people, instead of chasing people around, we're going to hunt -- you guys are out hunting people now, it's just a nice change of tempo.

OFFICER: Yep, agreed.

FOLKENS: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) these people.

SERGEANT BITTELL: All right. We're rolling down Lake Street, the first (EXPLETIVE DELETED) we see, we're just -- handling them with 40's.

[05:15:04]

OFFICER: Yes, sir.

BITTELL: Was that a good copy?

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

DRIVER: What are we doing with these people?

BITTELL: Arrest.

DRIVER: What are we doing with these people on Lake Street?

BITTELL: Shooting them with 40's.

JIMENEZ: Now, I should mention, we reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minneapolis Police Union on this, but haven't gotten a response. This footage comes as part of more than two hours that was released tied to the case of a man named Jaleel Stallings who was recently acquitted on charges of firing a gun at police officers after they fired nonlethal rounds at him.

Now, I spoke to the attorney for Stallings on Wednesday. He told me the reason why he thought it important for the public to see this is that it contradicts common assumptions about how law enforcement should operate -- Laura, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Omar. Thank you so much for that.

JARRETT: Getting caught on the body cam is always amazing to me. Don't you know the body cams are on?

ROMANS: Which shows a casual nature of that thought point of view behavior.

All right. A powerful moment on the pitch. Play coming to a halt mid- match to make a statement about sexual misconduct.

"Bleacher Report," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:49]

ROMANS: All right. The Dodgers 106-win season is safe with one swing of the bat with Andy Scholes has the dramatic wildcard game in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Christine. It certainly was a stressful night for Dodgers fans, the 106-game winning season hanging in the balance against the Cardinals in the end, those fans got to leave jumping up and down. Cardinals and Dodgers tied at the bottom of the ninth. After two outs, Cody Bellinger got a walk, came to the plate, a walk-off home run. All of the fans going bonkers as they watch the Dodgers advance in the division series.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRIS TAYLOR, LOS ANGELES DODGERS OUTFIELDER: Honestly just trying to hit a single, not trying to do too much. And he gave me a good slider to hit and I was able to get it up in the air. Things small, big things happened, and yeah, it's all good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Dodgers now move on to face the division round with the Giants, first time ever in the postseason. That's going to be the first series between two teams that both won 105 games. National League division series starts tomorrow. The American League Division Series meanwhile get underway later today. Double header, White Sox and Astros get things started at 4:00 Eastern, followed by the Red Sox and the Rays at 8:00.

National Women Soccer League returning to action last night after pausing the season amid a league-wide sexual abuse scandal. At all three games last night, the players stopped play at the 6-minute mark and joined arms in the middle of the field in a show of solidarity to mark the six years it took for their complaints to be heard.

In a report by "The Athletic" last week, two former players revealed that they had been sexually harassed and coerced by their coach Paul Riley for years. Riley has denied those accusations.

Two-time World Cup champion and Gotham FC star Carli Lloyd says change is needed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLI LLOYD, 2-TIME WORLD CUP CHAMPION: We oftentimes put up with standards and things that we don't necessarily deserve. So, my hope is that this is a major turning point with the league, with women's soccer. And it's -- you know, for everybody to look themselves in the mirror and figure out how they can make this better because we deserve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yeah, guys, two former NWSL players who came forward, Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly are going to be joining NEW DAY in the 8:00 hour to share their story.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much. Nice to see you. Thanks, Andy.

JARRETT: All right. This morning, a suspect is in custody for a shooting at a high school until Arlington, Texas. Three victims are hospitalized and expected to survive. Police say a student, 18-year- old Timothy Simpkins turned himself in.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eighteen-year-old student Timothy George Simpkins has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a shooting erupted here Wednesday morning at Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas. Investigators say the shooting started after an altercation and a fight between two students inside one of the classrooms on the second floor of the school.

Investigators say there were four victims in all. Three of those victims had to be taken to a hospital. One of those victims had to go through several hours of surgery. That person was a student.

But the good news is, we were told that all of the victims in this shooting will survive, that they will be okay. One of them included also a teacher here at the school as well.

Investigators say that just after 9:00 on Wednesday morning, a teacher had signaled a distress call. That is when officers on the campus started racing to the classroom where this fight was going on. And that's when they heard the gunshots starting to go off.

And in all of that chaos, the student, the 18-year-old suspect, was able to get away from the school, several hours later, he turned himself into authorities, walked into a police station with his attorney.

The good news is, no deaths reported. And the victims in this shooting will survive.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Arlington, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Ed, thank you for that. Thankfully, no one too badly hurt there.

Coming up for you, Mitch McConnell, blinking, offering Democrats a way out of this debt ceiling crisis, at least for now. What's he up to? And what are Democrats going to do next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:29:39]

ROMANS: Good Thursday morning. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. About 29 minutes past the hour here in New York.

In Washington, Senator Mitch McConnell is offering Democrats a deal they likely can't refuse to raise the debt ceiling and save the country from the brink of default. The minority leader offered two potential options Wednesday to avoid default. One option here would allow Democrats to pass an emergency extension of the debt ceiling, but only through December.