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Trump At Rally: "Go Out And Vote For Roy Moore"; First Death Reported As Fires Rage In Southern California; Storm Targets Northeast After Record-Setting Snow In South. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired December 09, 2017 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This guy is screaming, "We want Roy Moore."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a president that's down there telling people to vote for someone where there is to me irrefutable evidence that he was preying on underage girls.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We need a Republican in the House. We need a Republican in the Senate. So, get out and vote for Roy Moore. Do it. Do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be Alabama that decides whether they want Roy Moore to be one of the two who are the voice for Alabama in the Senate and we'll see what happens next week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Dianne Gallagher in for Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. In just a few hours, President Trump will head to the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Now there's resistance from several black leaders, congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis, leading this charge, calling the president's visit a mockery of the civil rights movement.

GALLAGHER: Trump's visit to Mississippi comes just hours after campaigning for embattled Alabama Senate candidate, Roy Moore, an accused child molester. Roy Moore raised more eyebrows this week after reports surfaced where he appears to prave (ph) the era of slavery.

BLACKWELL: Now both President Trump and Judge Moore attempt to discredit the multiple women, who accused Moore of pursuing them as teenagers. Now the president even taunted one of the women after she change part of her story centered around Roy Moore's signature in her high school yearbook. GALLAGHER: We want to get right to CNN White House reporter, Kaitlan Collins, who was at that rally. Kaitlan, the president not holding back.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Certainly not. He gave his full-throated endorsement to Roy Moore last night and that didn't come as a surprise to anyone because we've only seen the president grow louder and more forceful in his endorsement of Roy Moore in the last few days, just days ahead of that very high stakes election here in Alabama on Tuesday.

So last night, though, the president was in Florida, there were several Alabama residents in that room. It was just 20 miles away from the state line and the president waited a little bit before he began talking about the Senate race in Alabama, but he surely brought it up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We can't afford to have a liberal Democrat, who is completely controlled by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. We can't do it. His name is Jones and he's their total puppet and everybody knows so get out and vote for Roy Moore. Do it. Do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, the president also mocked one of the women who have accused Roy Moore of sexually sexual assaulting them. Beverly Nelson says she was just 16 years old when Roy Moore attempted to sexually assault her, groping her and squeezing her neck.

And she's one of the people who has brought her yearbook forward as part of the proof of her allegation against Roy Moore, but the president mocked him because she said that she wrote the date and location underneath Roy Moore's signature in her yearbook.

Now all of this comes as the president heading to Jackson, Mississippi today for the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, something that as you mentioned several black leaders are already boycotting simply because the president is attending.

And this comes just hours after he fully endorsed Roy Moore just 20 miles away from his state and we know that comments have surfaced this week of Roy Moore asking when he was asked the last time he thought America was truly great and he brought up a time even though we had slavery at least families were united.

So, it's likely the president will be asked by reporters about that today when he's at that civil rights museum -- Dianne and Victor.

GALLAGHER: Yes, as he should be. Kaitlan Collins, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring up our political panel now. Gabby Morrongiello, White House correspondent for the "Washington Examiner," Marc Lamont Hill, a professor at Temple University, Andre Bauer, former lieutenant governor of South Carolina. Both Marc and Andre are CNN political commentators. Good morning to everybody.

So, we'll talk about the yearbook and the museum in just a moment, but first, Gabby, let me start with you. The last time, President Trump weighed into Alabama politics, Alabama voters rejected his candidate, Luther Strange, by almost 10 points.

Did the president do the job of rallying the base, getting those Republicans who have been on the fence since these allegations came out about Judge Moore to get them to the polls on Tuesday?

GABBY MORRONGIELLO, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": I think he did what he could. I mean, at this point, it's up for the Alabama voters to decide whether or not they want to send an accused child molester to the U.S. Senate. But he went out there, offered a full-throated endorsement of Roy Moore after several weeks of kind of wavering.

[06:05:02] And now we know that, you know, if he does get into the Senate, the president and the White House and this administration are standing behind him, and I think that that puts President Trump in a real precarious position.

Because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to pursue an ethics investigation if Roy Moore does become his newest colleague and whether the White House is going to back that is going to be a big question going forward.

BLACKWELL: All right. Andre, let me come to you. One of Roy Moore's accusers, Beverly Young Nelson yesterday alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred, in Atlanta. They revealed that Nelson added some notes to what they say was Judge Moore's inscription and they say that Nelson added DA to remind her who he was, the date and Old Hickory House location where she was working at the time back in the 70s when she says that Judge Moore signed this yearbook. Judge Moore denies it. What does this revelation mean for you?

ANDRE BAUER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know for me, you know, I'm not a voter, but I -- it definitely doesn't make it as credible. You know, a bigger question would be, when did she do it? Did she do it at that time when he signed it where, you know, it would be something where you put in there she'd always remembered it, or did she go back here recently and add it, I think that's a big question. I don't know if that's been answered already, but I haven't heard that, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I can't say and if anybody in the control room remembers specifically if that has been --

BAUER: To me that's a big deal if after she made these accusations she then went back and wrote it in the yearbook, I think that's a major difference.

BLACKWELL: That, of course, is a major detail. Let me come to you, Marc. Is this a little bit of doubt that some people who had questions up to this point, who weren't sure this gives them maybe the clearance to vote for Roy Moore even considering that Beverly Young Nelson was not one of the initial four women who not part of the "Washington Post" reported.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, often times voters are looking for excuses to do what they already want to do and in the privacy of the voting booth, you don't really need an excuse. You can pull the lever.

But if someone is arguing that this is somehow exculpatory for Roy Moore, that's an odd conclusion at which to arrive given the fact that she wasn't one of the four original women.

And at this particular revelation, if you want to call it that, it does very little to change the actual narrative here about Roy Moore. You can make a decision one way or the other.

Having the president of the United States, however, step in, could be persuasive to someone, which is why it's not shocking, but still disappointing that Donald Trump decided to double down on his efforts to support Roy Moore Jr. now in the last week or so of the campaign.

BLACKWELL: Gabby, let me get to something else the president said yesterday about the system calling it rigged and sick. Here's the president last night in Pensacola, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: This is a rigged system. This is a sick system from the inside, and, you know, there's no country like our country, but we have a lot of sickness in some of our institutions, and we're working very hard. We've got a lot of them straightened out, but we do have -- we really do. We have a rigged system in this country and we have to change it. Terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Beyond Gabby, the rarity of hearing this from a sitting president, 11 months almost on the job now, do we know what sickness he's talking about? Where it is, what he's saying is rigged, who's the "they" in this equation?

MORRONGIELLO: That's a good question. I was watching this live last night and was trying to figure that out myself. I think that he's probably referring to what's been happening with Roy Moore.

He still feels burned from what happened with Luther Strange, the incumbent GOP senator, who he endorsed in the primary and who lost ultimately to Roy Moore, and he does feel as though the establishment Republicans and establishment Democrats have kind of waged this all- out war on Roy Moore and it's very similar to what he went through shortly before last year's presidential election.

And so, I think that, you know, this claim that this is rigged, that we have a sick system, it sounds very familiar to what we heard just about a year ago last November, and that seems like it's in reference to what's happening with Roy Moore and I think that's why you see him out there rallying for him four days before the election now. BLACKWELL: Andre, I want you to listen to what the president said yesterday when he noticed a black person in the crowd. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I love these guys. Look at these guys. Blacks for Trump, I love you. I love you. I love you. By the way, now that you bring it up, black homeownership just hit the highest level it's ever been in the history of our country. Congratulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:10:06] BLACKWELL: Not true. Third quarter according to the U.S. Census, 42 percent here in 2017, more than 49 percent back in 2004. Andre, does it matter that it's not true to the president? Does it matter to you? Does it matter to his supporters that he just kind of rift on a lie there?

BAUER: Well, it matters, Victor, no question there, but we all know that depending on who's extrapolating the numbers depending on where you're getting the numbers from, you can pull a number that you want to make about anything true, and so I don't know what --

BLACKWELL: No, you can't make anything true.

BAUER: Sure, you can. There would be a different way you could decide homeownership and so anyway, he may have been given numbers that were vastly different than this that said in fact, the amount of people that actually purchased a home since he's been president are up than any president in the past.

I don't know where he extrapolated that from so I don't want to criticize the guy for something I don't know about, but I think more -- the message he's trying to relay is, look, I was told these group of voters weren't going to support me. I want to change things in places like Detroit.

He got a bigger share than Mitt Romney. I think he's very proud of that and I think he hasn't given up on trying to produce for them too the American dream. I think he truly in his heart of hearts wants to help everybody out and not say I'm just out there for the Republicans.

I know, you know, some people may differ from me on that, but I think he takes pride in the fact that folks that he said wouldn't be for him are coming out and supporting him --

BLACKWELL: There's true and not true and saying that black homeownership is the highest that it's been in the history country is simply not true. The source that he could go to because there's one agency would keep that is the U.S. Census, which is where we got the numbers. Marc, let me come to you. The difference between you make anything true if you choose.

HILL: Yes, if you decided that homeownership also includes things in our homes or if we changed the definition of owning. I mean, yes, if we change the actual meaning of words I guess we could make anything, anything.

But at this point, with the president having a long history of misrepresenting that and misrepresenting claims about his own administration's successes, which he has literally done since day one when he talked about how many people were on the mall for his inauguration where it was the biggest in recent history.

Because of all that long history of lies, I would need President Trump to show me where he got it from. I don't share Andre's good faith belief that the president may have made an honest mistake because there is no evidence that he could have made an honest mistake here.

I need to see some evidence. Otherwise, I'm going to assume that when he says something that it is untrue, it is in fact untrue. That it is not a misrepresentation or misunderstanding but a flat-out lie.

And the thing here that fascinates me about Donald Trump is this constant need to assert that his administration is the greatest in recent memory. That it has done something unprecedented at all times.

This constant need for a pat on the back based on data that is untrue that really kind of represents a certain kind of bizarre narcissism and a flat-out dishonestly that does nothing to unite the American people.

BLACKWELL: Marc, let me finish with you and this mailer that's coming out from the Doug Jones campaign that he's getting some push back from as he tries to get some votes or grow his vote in the black community.

It's a picture of a black man giving the side eye here with the header, think if a black man went after high school girls, anyone would try to make him a senator? Is this the most effective way -- is this an effective way to get out to black voters?

Now this realistically maybe a conversation people have, and people may actually make that face when they're saying it, but is this the way that Doug Jones should be trying to get votes in Alabama?

HILL: Yes, just because he's right doesn't mean it's the right strategy. He's absolutely correct, but there's a whole bunch of what black vote can't do and white vote get to do in America. I think the problem with that is that it doesn't just rally Democratic voters.

It also rallies the other side, who don't like any conversation or insensitive at the very mention of race. So, what they might actually do unwillingly is rally the other side and actually double down the other side's voting intensity.

So, I think it's a poor strategy, but I think people are desperate when you have the president of the United States joining a child molester, it's very difficult to fight back.

BLACKWELL: Well, Jones, himself has said that potentially they could have chosen different words. Marc Lamont Hill, Andre Bauer, Gabby Morrongiello, thank you all. GALLAGHER: All right. President Trump going to be at the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum this morning but not expecting a warm welcome. Protests planned and even some of the people who are being memorialized in that museum are boycotting the event.

BLACKWELL: Plus, wildfires burn out of control in California. Look at this. And conditions today threaten to make it worse.

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[06:18:48]

BLACKWELL: This morning, strong winds and dry conditions are challenging firefighters, who are attempting to contain these out of control fires in California.

GALLAGHER: These devastating wildfires are now turning deadly as officials confirm that a 70-year-old's woman's remains were found in a car on an evacuation route. Now, dozens of homes have been destroyed. Multiple firefighters injured and still a risk that some of these fires could get even worse today.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live at Ventura County. And Stephanie, what are you seeing out there?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you actually come into these neighborhoods, Diane and Victor, and take a look at it and see how these fires just demolished just rows of houses, in some places, it's taking out a whole row and leaving maybe one house that firefighters were able to keep.

Still when you take a look behind me and you see all of this devastation, and I talked to one man whose house actually made it, he said, within an hour, there was nothing nearby, and then he could see the red glow.

That's how quickly things change here. You can see why people are still grappling with how quickly everything changed in this week of fires. Take a listen to one man who managed to get out and is grappling with the fact that he's lost everything.

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[06:20:01] MIKE HULSIZER, WILDFIRE DESTROYED HOME: There are people who are way worse off than us, and how fortunate, we are, really. My wife got out. We have a lot of friends calling. Everybody wants to help.

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ELAM: Just the pain you hear in his voice. Overall, nearly 170,000 acres have been burned in the six fires that are burning here in Southern California and those winds are expected to stay strong heading into tomorrow afternoon -- Victor and Dianne.

BLACKWELL: Stephanie Elam, for us there. Stephanie, thank you so much.

GALLAGHER: It just seems to keep going. When is California actually going to see some relief from these dry conditions?

BLACKWELL: Yes. CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar, is tracking the forecast in the CNN Weather Center. And Allison, it's wind, humidity, any potential rain, what's in the cards for today?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, the weather is actually going to get worse before it gets better and we are talking as early as tonight. Now, the problem is it's not just one fire. We have multiple fires that they are battling out there and you have to watch multiple fires to see if they can continue to spread.

Here's the main concern going forward. It's these winds. We expect them to be in the uptick later on this evening and through the overnight hours. We are talking wind gusts 50, 60 even up to 70 miles per hour.

That takes even the smallest of embers and can spread them very rapidly. But also, the smoke, take a look at this. This is a view from space showing this smoke extending over a thousand miles.

For some perspective that's the distance from New York to Miami. That's how far that smoke is spreading and the one thing they need right now is moisture and it's simply not in the forecast.

The moisture however is on the eastern half of the country where we are taking a look at all of the snow that has fallen and not necessarily in places you would think. Take a look at this Cross Roads, Alabama, 10 inches of snow.

Virginia highlands just outside of Atlanta, Georgia over 7.5 inches of snow. More snow is expected. We have winter weather alerts stretching from Alabama all the way up to Maine and that's where the system is going to move.

Ironically, right now, the heaviest snow is about to enter the southwest side of Atlanta and when I say heaviest snow, I mean in the whole country. That's where we have some of the heaviest snow bands that are currently moving and it's going to slide up towards the mid- Atlantic and to the northeast.

But here's the thing you have to understand, right now some of the cities that have the highest snowfall totals of the season are actually in the south. Look at this, College Station, Texas picked up 5 inches from this storm.

Cross Roads, Georgia picking up 10. Buffalo, New York hasn't even had two inches yet this season. Chicago hasn't even hasn't even had an inch of snow this season. So again, we are talking some of the south- eastern cities are actually dealing with more snow so far this winter than folks in the Midwest and the northeast.

But that changes today especially for folks in the northeast, we are expecting widespread about 2 inches to 4 inches of snow stretching from Washington, D.C. up towards Portland,Maine, but there will be some heavier pockets, guys, where we could be talking 6 inches to even 8 inches of snow.

So, likely a lot of folks make fun of people in Atlanta for how they deal with the snow, but they could having just as big a travel problems in Boston or New York as folks in Atlanta did yesterday.

GALLAGHER: It wasn't too easy getting in to work for a lot people this morning in Atlanta.

BLACKWELL: When I lived in the northeast, 2, 3, 4, 5 inches was nothing. Last night and today the world stopped when snow fell in Atlanta.

GALLAGHER: Allison Chinchar, thank you.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Some civil rights leaders are planning to boycott President Trump's visit to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. It's opening today. We'll tell you why.

GALLAGHER: Plus, Silicon Valley's political divide exposed. Why young white male conservatives say that their viewpoints are making them victims of harassment. That's just ahead.

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[06:28:43]

GALLAGHER: Welcome back. I'm Dianne Gallagher in for Christi Paul this morning.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you.

GALLAGHER: In just a few hours, President Trump will attend the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. One of the African- American leaders boycotting that event. A man whose picture is likely on the wall inside the museum. Congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis, he calls the president's visit a mockery of the Civil Rights Movement.

BLACKWELL: The president's visit to Mississippi comes just a day after he campaigned for embattled Alabama Senate candidate, Roy Moore. President Trump backed the man accused of sexually assaulting a 16- year-old, molesting a 14-year-old and pursuing other teen girls when he was in his 30s saying that Candidate Moore is the candidate the country needs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We need somebody in that Senate seat who will vote for our make America great again agenda. So, get out and vote for Roy Moore. Do it. Do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GALLAGHER: And many civil rights leaders including Congressman John Lewis are planning to boycott the opening of that Mississippi Civil Rights Museum because President Trump is going to be there.

BLACKWELL: And the NAACP will be holding a separate event to recognize civil rights activists without the president. CNN's national correspondent, Athena Jones, has those details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protest are expected to greet President Trump at the grand opening of Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Organizer Talamieka Brice told CNN affiliate WAPT News the "Say No to Hate" demonstration she's helping lead will include hundreds of people from across the state.

TALAMIEKA BRICE, MISSISSIPPI'S CHAPTER OF PANTSUIT NATION: Some of us will kneel and some of us will turn our backs. We'll call it "Turn Our Backs to Hate," turn our backs towards the motorcade as it drives by.

JONES: And Brice isn't alone in opposing Governor Phil Bryant's decision to invite the president. NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson denounced Trump's record on civil rights, saying in a statement, "He has created a commission to reinforce voter suppression, refused to denounce white supremacists, and overall has created a racially hostile climate in this nation."

U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson, who is from Mississippi, and John Lewis, a civil rights icon, are planning to skip the event in protest, writing, "President Trump's attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this Civil Rights Museum. And while some Mississippi Democrats called on the governor to rescind his invitation to Trump, Bryant defended the move.

GOV. PHIL BRYANT (R), MISSISSIPPI: The president of the United States should be able, and we're very thankful that he is going, to come for this historic occasion.

JONES: The White House expressed disappointment with the planned protest and boycotts.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think that would be, honestly, very sad. I think this is something that should bring the country together to celebrate the opening of this museum and highlighting the Civil Rights Movement and the progress that we've made.

JONES: President Trump has been criticized for racial insensitivity. He launched his campaign in June of 2015 by bashing Mexican immigrants.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists.

JONES: He questioned the judge's ability to rule fairly in a Trump University lawsuit because he was Mexican-American.

TRUMP: We're building the wall. He's a Mexican.

JONES: And he has repeatedly slammed mostly black NFL athletes protesting racial inequality.

TRUMP: When somebody disrespects our flag, I say get that son of a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off the field right now. Out. He's fired. He's fired.

JONES: But it was his response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last summer that drew the ire of people in both parties when he equated neo-Nazis and white nationalists protesting the removal of a Confederate statue with activists demonstrating against them and the ideas they represent.

TRUMP: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides.

JONES: He revised those remarks two days later.

TRUMP: Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.

JONES: But then said --

TRUMP: You have some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.

JONES: Today's event is an opportunity to answer some of his critics.

Athena Jones, CNN, Jackson, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Now let me bring in Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Spectrum News.

And of course several civil rights leaders boycotting the museum's opening because of the president, like Athena said, Errol, what do you think about the boycott? Does this let the president control the narrative here?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, no, actually I was kind of hoping all along that the Civil Rights Museum itself would maybe put together a last minute addition, a little display on the take a knee movement, the professional athletes that have been demonstrating as civil rights demonstrators often do by sort of disrupting the ordinary flow of things.

The president has squared off against them and what better place to maybe sort of show the spirit of the movement than to recapitulate it right then and then? I don't know that the president gets to control the narrative of this. There's too much history in Mississippi and the deeds of John Lewis and the other civil rights movement leaders I think are etched in our memories and in stone in a way that really can't just be undone in one news cycle.

GALLAGHER: Do you think this is something the president potentially even though there are many members now who are not attending, people who are not going to this, the president could learn from this or is this just some sort of photo op here?

LOUIS: No. I mean, look, racial divisiveness has been at the core of the Donald Trump brand. I mean, that was an excellent sort of summary you just had there, but it left out birtherism which is how Donald Trump sort of built his political career. It left out the Nixon administration back in the 1970s suing Donald Trump and his father for discriminatory policies and have a -- run their apartments.

[06:35:08] It left out the Central Park 5 and the race baiting attack that he sort of drove in the 1980s. This has been going on for decades now with Donald Trump. I think again it's going to take a lot more than walking through a museum and looking at some exhibits to turn this around. I mean, for Donald Trump, this is the basis of his power in a lot of ways.

GALLAGHER: OK. And saying that, President Trump offering this full throated endorsement of Roy Moore last night just across the state line in Florida, in Pensacola.

I want to play some sound for you from Roy Moore. It was from a couple of months ago. It was in response to a question from one of the only African Americans in the audience. He asked Moore when he thought America was last great. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY MOORE, ALABAMA SENATE CANDIDATE: I think it was great at the time when families are united, even though we had slavery. They care for one another. People were strong and families -- our families were strong. Our country had a direction. And we corrected many of the problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: So there is a lot to unpack there. In addition to of course the accusations of child molestation.

Errol, do you think comments like this coming to light now will cost Roy Moore votes?

LOUIS: Well, unfortunately not. I mean, look, what you just heard this is a snippet of kind of a fantasy that many conservatives have told themselves in the Confederate states for a long, long time. That, well, yes, there was this thing called slavery but our families were strong. I'm not even sure whose families he's talking about.

This is -- this is just kind of a fairy tale that people tell themselves that there was some glorious past and that the bitter inhumane institution on which it was built somehow either didn't make a difference or kind of went away after a couple of protests in the 1960s. It's hard to say what Roy Moore was getting at, but, you know, it's a story that one hears quite often that there's this notion that America is all about progress and progress goes from the -- the distant past to the glorious future and what happens in between and what makes it happen is often skipped over.

GALLAGHER: All right. Errol, really quick, I want to get some reaction. Doug Jones, Roy Moore's opponent, sent out this flyer of an African-American man, kind of giving this and looking perplexed. And the words, "Think if a black man went after high school girls anyone would try to make him a senator?" It's not gone over too well.

Errol, Marc Lamont Hill earlier in the hour said like, you know, maybe it's right but wasn't necessarily the right way to do this. It wasn't the right thing to do. What do you say? 2

LOUIS: Yes. You know, when --

(LAUGHTER)

LOUIS: I've been looking at politics for over 30 years and when people look at a race like the Roy Moore race and they say well, the guy's got so many scandals and problems, he's been thrown out twice as a Supreme Court judge, he's really behind the 8 ball and I say never underestimate the ability of politicians especially in the Democratic Party to blow a good thing.

It is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with reaching voters where they are and you can tell just from looking at it that it wasn't done by anybody who came out of any of the communities that they're trying to reach. A fundamental flaw that Democrats make over and over and over again and it could cost them the election frankly on Tuesday.

GALLAGHER: All right. Errol Louis, thank you for your insights.

LOUIS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So talking about this cultural war that potentially you have not heard about. It's in Silicon Valley. A young white conservative men say their viewpoints make them targets of harassment.

GALLAGHER: It's one of the greatest rivalries in college football. The Army-Navy game coming up. We're going live to Philadelphia where Army is trying to win for the second year in a row after snapping a 14-game losing streak last year.

And voting is now underway for the "CNN Hero of the Year."

BLACKWELL: Yes, one of the top 10 heroes, Amy Wright.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY WRIGHT, 2017 CNN TOP 10 HERO: People with disabilities, sometimes the world just passes them by. Having a work place that makes you feel proud of yourself and gives you a sense of community is what we all want. Most of them are unemployed. We really felt like we wanted to do something about it and it was like coffee shop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, guys. Good morning. Welcome to Bitty & Beau's. It's open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on in.

WRIGHT: Other than our two managers everybody that works at Bitty & Beau's Coffee has an intellectual or developmental disability. We figured out what their skill set was and we plugged them in. Now we have 40 employees.

You made them feel welcome. That's awesome.

For most of them who had never had a job before, it's really exciting.

We always say it's more than a cup of coffee. The human rights movement, it's given our employees more respect that they deserve. When you will just give them a chance, they can do anything you ask them to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:40:12] BLACKWELL: Vote for Amy or any of your favorite top 10 Heroes right now at CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GALLAGHER: Well, political harassment in the workplace is reaching a breaking point in Silicon Valley. Wealthy, white conservative men are saying that they are afraid of losing their jobs because of a personal viewpoint.

BLACKWELL: So the threat has forced some of them to stay silent at least until now.

CNN's Laurie Segall takes a closer look at the culture war dividing the tech world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a real fear.

[06:45:01] LAURIE SEGALL, CNN SENIOR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): He's not hiding his identity because he's committed a crime or because he's worried about his safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd describe myself as a blend of conservative and libertarian.

SEGALL: He's an entrepreneur who's worked for several big names in tech and he's conservative in Silicon Valley. It's enough to make him want to go incognito.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is saying that I want more border security -- are people going to complain to HR? Am I going to get fired for saying that? SEGALL: And he's not the only one in hiding. We spoke to several

others who said the stakes were simply too high to share their identity.

Here's another conservative from a major tech company. He spoke with us on the condition of anonymity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I walked into work with a "Make America Great Again" hat, there would be repercussions. People would take it as a personal front. I would expect to be out of the company within weeks, if not a month.

SEGALL: These are the undercover conservatives of Silicon Valley. It's the perfect equation for a culture war playing out in what has long been a Mecca for liberal politics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big deal as these tech companies get more and more control over the things we see. Easy content distribution, coupled with fewer gatekeepers, means people in these companies are going to have far more power, which is why I think it's a sad state where conservatives feel they might lose their jobs and can't speak out about some of the editorial decisions that could be made.

SEGALL: Civil rights attorney Harmeet Dhillon thinks conservatives might have legal recourse. She says she's been getting calls from people who say they've been discriminated against but they're too afraid to speak publicly.

HARMEET DHILLON, ATTORNEY, DHILLON LAW GROUP: If you're a young man in your twenties, you're making a quarter-million dollars or whatever with your salary and your bonus and your stock, do you want to be the martyr of conservative rights?

SEGALL: The multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur, an unlikely poster boy for discrimination.

DHILLON: Well, what it looks like is being disciplined for innocent remarks, it's being not considered for job opportunities and internal promotions.

SEGALL (on camera): It's just -- it's so ironic because I feel like you could literally take that exact thing that you just said and apply that to some of the women's cases at these tech companies. 2

DHILLON: Well, I've suffered sexual harassment as a woman, as well. So the fact that that exists does not take away from the fact that political and viewpoint discrimination exists in Silicon Valley. Both can exist.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Be sure to watch Laurie's new series, "DIVIDED WE CODE," this afternoon at 2:30 Eastern.

GALLAGHER: All right. It is one of the greatest rivalries in college football, the Army-Navy game and our Coy Wire with the best assignment of the day live there in Philadelphia -- Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Dianne, I know you're a bit jealous being a former military daughter. What an incredible honor it is. I got to run with the marathon team yesterday who brought the game ball here to Philly. I did pull any hamstrings but I did have my heart strings tugged.

We're going to tell you about that inspiring story and more coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:34] BLACKWELL: Hey, look at your screen. Which city is this? Newark? No. Philly? Nope. Boston? No.

GALLAGHER: Not a chance.

BLACKWELL: Set the record. Put it up.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Put it on the screen for us. Atlanta. Yes. Snow falling overnight here in beautiful Atlanta.

GALLAGHER: That is real snow, y'all.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Real snow. This isn't the dusting that pretty and then it doesn't stick to the ground. It's sticking in some places.

GALLAGHER: I've moved down south to avoid this and this is what I'm greeted at.

BLACKWELL: Well, yes. Much more now that you're here.

GALLAGHER: That snow is actually heading up toward Philadelphia, toward our Coy Wire's way. Last year, Army snapped Navy's 14-game winning streak. Full disclosure, I thought it was one of the greatest days in college football history.

Are the Midshipmen going to get the revenge, though? Is Army going to start a streak of their own?

BLACKWELL: Yes. Coy Wire right in the middle of everything there in Philadelphia.

Hey, Coy.

WIRE: I talked to some Midshipmen, they want to end Army's one-game win streak.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: Send the snow on up this way. It's supposed to come. We'll talk about how that in a minute and how it could play a cool effect on this already very cool game dating back to 1890. The Army-Navy game is pull of pageantry, passion, future defenders of

our nation play not just for their love of the game but for the love of country and for each other, and a victory, though, it can win you bragging rights for a lifetime.

Known as America's game, this game is seething with traditions. Like the running of the game ball. Thursday night members of Army's marathon team started in West Point, New York. It took turns carrying the game ball on a non-stop journey of about 150 miles through the elements and all finishing here in Philly just over 12 hours ago.

They told me that people stopped and gave them food along the way. A group of motorcyclists, veterans, first responders and parents of military members escorted them. They said it's an honor to be part of America's most famous sporting traditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was awesome. It's a huge experience that I always love. Loved it last year. It was even better this year. Can't wait for the years to come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're so excited for the team to get in there and beat Navy. We're screaming, we're getting pumped up, like screaming at passing cars, get over here, Navy. So we're fired up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They put in all the miles to make it through the season and have a great time and run the ball all the way here from West Point. Put in all those miles and get through the stadium to beat Navy tomorrow. It's going to be -- it's awesome. And it really makes it all worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: What an honor it was to be part of that group of (INAUDIBLE). Now one other cool thing to look for today, the uniforms. Navy is going to honor the Blue Angels, they color match to the flight suits, the Delta formation on top. Hand painted helmets.

[06:55:07] And then the Army, they're paying tribute to the 10th Mountain Division, the Pando Commandos they are known as during World War II in the '40s there. They were up training in the Colorado Rockies. They were in the Alps and today they're going to look fresh on the field. Even the fashion police. Victor Blackwell approved of these unis. They are sweet.

BLACKWELL: I approve. Coy Wire there in Philadelphia. Thank you so much, Coy.

Next hour starts in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This guy is screaming, we want Roy Moore.