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EARLY START

President Trump's Midterm Ad Called Out As Racist; Flight Data Recorder Recovered From Doomed Lion Air Flight; Turkey: Khashoggi Strangled And Dismembered; 52 Arrested In Chicago On Drug And Weapons Charges. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 1, 2018 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:42] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS BRACAMONTES, CONVICTED OF KILLING TWO CALIFORNIA DEPUTIES: Absolutely, and I will kill more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A new campaign ad portrays Hispanics as criminals, part of the president's Eleventh Hour pitch to rally Republicans around immigration.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Three more funerals today for victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre. The suspect faces dozens of death penalty counts.

BRIGGS: One of the black boxes has been recovered from the downed Lion Air jet off Indonesia. Will it help determine what brought down the new model plane with 189 on board?

ROMANS: And the University of Maryland fires football coach D.J. Durkin. The school president defying a recommendation to let Durkin stay after a player died on his watch.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs -- 5:31 eastern time. Hope you had a terrific Halloween.

We start with, of course, countdown to the midterms -- one rally down, 10 to go. President Trump in Florida at the first event in his weeklong Eleventh Hour push in the midterms.

But it's the Web ad he tweeted out before the rally that's drawing attention and being called out for being blatantly racist and portraying Hispanics as criminals. This ad echoes the notorious 1988 Willie Horton campaign ad for Bush 41, targeting Michael Dukakis.

ROMANS: The Trump ad features a California cop killer, in the U.S. illegally, bragging about his crimes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRACAMONTES: I will break out soon and I will kill more.

TEXT: Democrats let him into our country.

BRACAMONTES: The only thing that I (expletive) regret is that I (expletive) killed two. I wish I had (expletive) killed more of those (expletive).

TEXT: Democrats let him stay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The cop killer had actually been deported twice -- once under Clinton and once under George W. Bush.

Democratic Party chairman Tom Perez says it's just another immigration dog whistle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM PEREZ, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: This is distracting, divisive Donald at his worst. This is fearmongering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The White House not exactly disagreeing. A source there telling CNN and the president's immigration push are quote "clearly working. We're talking about it and not about health care."

The president also now claims as many as 15,000 troops could be sent to the border to stop the 3,500 or so migrants heading toward the U.S., a caravan that's now more than 800 miles away and several weeks away from our border.

ROMANS: All right. Let's bring in "CNN POLITICS" digital director Zach Wolf, live in Washington. Good morning, Zach.

I want to talk about this --

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ZACHARY WOLF, DIGITAL DIRECTOR, CNN POLITICS: Good morning.

ROMANS: -- ad because really, a lot of folks are gobsmacked at this late stage of the midterm race that this would come out. And, you know, it's called dog whistle or bullhorn here.

Talk to me just about your view of what the Washington view is of this ad.

WOLF: I mean, I think a lot of people are just kind of shocked at this ad -- you know, going through your e-mail and looking at the reactions pour into it.

People are comparing it to the Willie Horton ad, but I also want to compare it Donald Trump's campaign announcement. I mean, this is a man who was elected president by calling Mexicans, broadly, rapists. So it's -- I don't think that we should necessarily be surprised by

it.

It is still shocking to see this kind of thing, especially after, essentially, the untruths he's said about the migrants who are headed this way.

So, you know, it's this kind of last-minute thing. It shouldn't really surprise us about this president anymore but it is still quite shocking to see.

ROMANS: And the Willie Horton ad worked, by the way -- it worked.

BRIGGS: Yes, it did -- it did work. Oftentimes, these despicable ads do work.

And, Jim Acosta was told by a White House source these are working. And, Zach, if you look at the polls it's hard to argue with that.

Immigration in September, 28 percent -- was that the top issues for Republicans. Well now, it is up to 42 percent in just a couple of months' time. That is in Nevada, in particular, which is a key state here. A lot of Latinos there.

So the question is, Zach, is it working? And number two, how are Democrats countering the message? I don't hear much.

WOLF: It is working in that it has taken control of the entire national narrative, I think, in these final days and particularly, in those key states, many of which --

[05:35:00] If Democrats want to make any inroads in the Senate, in particular, they would have to win someplace like Texas. They'd have to win in Nevada. These are places with Republican seats that they had hoped that they might be able to have some -- might be able to make some inroads.

But if Republican voters in those states are frustrated about immigration and suddenly go to the polls, where they weren't before, that's a real problem for Democrats.

ROMANS: If you look at some of these other polls among Democrats, their top issue in some of these important states is health care. And we're not talking about health care because the president is talking about immigration.

And the president, when he does talk about health care, is not truthful. I want you to listen to something he said yesterday about preexisting conditions. He's said it many times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will always protect Americans with preexisting conditions -- always.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: That just is not true.

The Affordable Care Act -- Obamacare -- that he has railed against and Republicans have tried to overturn many, many times is about preexisting conditions. These are states suing to overturn the Affordable Care Act and his own Justice Department is not defending the settled law in those -- in those cases.

It's just not true that this White House is protecting preexisting conditions.

WOLF: Right, and you see this play out in a lot of races. Like Rick Scott, the governor of Florida, is now talking about preexisting conditions.

This is something Republicans across the country have started to say well, we're going to protect preexisting conditions.

If you are going to overturn Obamacare and you don't have something to replace it, then you are not for protecting preexisting conditions. You either have to have a replacement there that will protect them or you have to say we're going to get rid of preexisting protections. Both things cannot be true.

BRIGGS: At the heart of all of this is what you've seen on the bottom of your screen throughout this segment. "When I can, I tell the truth." Here's what the president told Jonathan Karl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN KARL, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, ABC NEWS: Have you always been truthful?

TRUMP: Well, I try. I mean, I do try. I always want to tell the truth.

When I can, I tell the truth. I mean, sometimes it turns out to be where something happens that's different or there's a change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: When I can tell the truth, Zach. That must not be in the last couple of weeks because just to name a few.

No other countries have birthright citizenship. More than 30 do.

Democrats are behind the caravan. They are not.

Middle-class tax cut on the way. That is not.

One million jobs have been created by these Saudi deals. That is not true.

Always critical of the Iraq War. That is not true.

We only have about 20 minutes left in the program. Do you want a turn?

ROMANS: Unknown Middle Eastern terrorists in the caravan.

WOLF: Right. More than 50,000 -- or 5,000 according to "The Washington Post" fact-checker who keeps a pretty close tack on it.

So it doesn't seem like he's trying and it doesn't seem like he's ever really tried to tell the truth as a politician.

The "Mooch" had a good perspective on that last week on "NEW DAY," saying look, he knows he's not telling the truth. It's kind of part of the strategy.

All right, Zach Wolf. Thanks so much for being here, live in D.C. for us.

WOLF: Thanks.

BRIGGS: All right.

The suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre is set to appear in court this morning. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Robert Bowers on 44 counts. Many of them carry the death penalty.

Today, services will be held for 65-year-old dentist, Richard Gottfried and a married couple, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, ages 84 and 86.

Yesterday, three other members of the congregation were laid to rest. Seventy-five-year-old Joyce Fienberg; Melvin Wax, age 87; and, Irving Younger, age 69.

Several hundred University of Pittsburgh students and supporters also rallied on campus in favor of tighter gun regulations.

ROMANS: Police in Irvine, California are hoping this surveillance video will help them find a vandal who defaced a synagogue with anti- Semitic graffiti just days after the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh.

The vandal spray painting "F Jews" on the synagogue. Workers spotted it Wednesday morning.

The Orange County Human Relations Council says the number of hate crimes in the area jumped last year, continuing a trend that began in 2015.

BRIGGS: Google employees planning to stage a walkout today at offices around the world to protest the company's handling of sexual harassment. It comes after a "New York Times" investigation that detailed hears of sexual harassment allegations, multi-million-dollar severance packages for accused executives, and a lack of transparency.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai voicing his support for employees who wish to participate in the protest.

The "Times" reports organizers expect more than 1,500 people to take part across nearly two dozen Google offices worldwide.

What time did you say that was? Ten o'clock eastern time?

ROMANS: I think it's 10:00 a.m. -- 10:00 a.m. eastern time, so we'll see how it turns out.

All right, the body of the murdered "Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi may never be found. Now, Turkish authorities are pursuing a gruesome new theory about what happened to him.

We're live in Istanbul.

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[05:44:00] ROMANS: An Indonesian search and rescue agency says it has located the flight data recorder from the doomed Lion Air flight that crashed in the Java Sea earlier this week with 189 on board.

CNN's Ivan Watson live in Jakarta, Indonesia with the details. And essentially, a brand new airplane fell out of the sky. What do we know?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it wasn't easy to get this black box. It took days where the divers had to basically locate the sound of the beacon pinging underwater, sending out that signal every second. It's the underwater locator.

And then, they had to get through fast-moving underwater currents, dive to depths of about 100 feet below the surface with the help of a remote-operated submersible craft which was able to hone in on the sound, and then dig through mud in the seabed to dig up this data -- flight data recorder.

Now, it will take weeks, we're now hearing, perhaps months to extract the information and process it. The data flight recorder compiles all sorts of scores of different kinds of data streams, including altitude, wind speed, how different engines are behaving. Even, perhaps, whether the smoke alarm has gone off.

[05:45:21] And hopefully, that can help yield some information as to why this brand new Boeing 737 crashed into the Java Sea some 13 minutes after take-off with 189 passengers and crew on board.

And one of the questions -- this same aircraft, the night before, had some kind of instrument failure according to the investigators, according to the pilot on that preceding flight. Could that have been a contributing factor to the disaster that unfolded early Monday morning here?

Christine --

ROMANS: All right, Ivan Watson for us in Jakarta. Thank you so much for that, Ivan.

BRIGGS: A Turkish chief prosecutor says Saudi agents strangled "Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi almost immediately after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and then dismembered the body.

The Turkish government is demanding Saudi Arabia extradite all 18 suspects in the Khashoggi case. And now, officials have a gruesome new theory about what happened to Khashoggi's remains.

Let's bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, live in Istanbul with the latest. Jomana, good morning.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave.

After weeks of speculation and this drip feed of leaks that we've had from officials here in Turkey, this was the first official statement from the chief prosecutor here in Istanbul who is heading the criminal investigation into the killing of Khashoggi.

Now, they say in this statement that this was a premeditated act, something the Turkish officials have been saying, but giving more details as to what took place in this building behind me on October the second.

As you mentioned, they say that Khashoggi was almost immediately strangled to death after entering the consulate. They say his body was dismembered and then destroyed.

Now, it's not clear to us what they mean by destroyed, but according to "The Washington Post," a senior Turkish official telling them that they're pursuing a theory that acid was used to destroy his body, either here in the consulate or at the nearby residence of the consul general.

They say that biological evidence that was collected from the consulate's garden supports the theory that the body was disposed of close to the scene of the killing.

Now, despite this information -- these latest revelations -- Turkish officials say they still have key questions that remain unanswered. Where are the remains of Jamal Khashoggi and who ordered the killing? Who sent that hit squad here to Istanbul?

And they were hoping to get those answers from the Saudi chief prosecutor during his 3-day visit here but that did not happen. One senior Turkish official telling CNN it seemed to them that the Saudis were more interested in finding out what evidence Turkey had than genuine, real cooperation in this investigation, Dave.

BRIGGS: Unfortunate. Congress, here, back in session November 13th. Perhaps then, something is done to put pressure on the Saudis.

Jomana, thank you.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Asian stocks kick off November mostly up. The Nikkei down a little bit, but the Hang Seng and the Shanghai up here.

U.S. futures mostly positive right now. On Wall Street, stocks rebounded. The Dow, a 241-point gain to cap off a terrible October.

The Nasdaq also up two percent, trimming its monthly decline now to nine percent for the month. You know, October was the Nasdaq's worst month since November 2008.

The S&P 500 also up about one percent for the month. It's down almost seven percent, the steepest monthly decline since September 2011.

Better than expected earnings reports helped lift stocks on Wednesday.

GM -- General Motors surged nine percent on an earnings beat there's other GM news. Despite those strong earnings, General Motors offering buyouts to more than one-third of its workers in the U.S. as it transitions to self-driving vehicles and other new technology.

GM employees who have worked for 12 or more years -- and that's about 18,000 of its 50,000 salaried staff in the U.S. -- they will be given this offer.

GM is dealing with higher costs associated with tariffs on imported steel and aluminum which has raised its cost by about $300 million in the third quarter and could raise costs by $1 billion next year.

WeWork is starting to curb the beer consumption of some of its New York City members, testing new rules on its free beer offering. The move comes when inappropriate office behavior is under the microscope at tech companies.

WeWork previously offered an unlimited beer on tap as a perk to its members and now, members will be limited to four 12-ounce glasses of beer available on tap per day. The taps will only work from noon to 8:00 p.m.

The trial of these new rules expected to last between 30 and 90 days.

Could you live on four 12-ounce pints a day?

BRIGGS: The question is not me -- I'm not a beer drinker.

So let me bring in Jimmy from our floor crew. Four 12-ounce beers in a workday -- is that going to work for you?

[05:50:03] JIMMY: Oh, that would work plenty.

BRIGGS: Four is enough?

JIMMY: I could do twice that.

BRIGGS: OK, we've got our expert. I'm not a beer guy but that'll do.

ROMANS: We don't have free beer here. We have free bad coffee here. Free bad coffee.

BRIGGS: And it's awful -- it is.

ROMANS: And there's a water machine here. BRIGGS: OK.

Ahead, $80,000, 20 guns, and crack -- just some of what was swept up in raids in Chicago. More than 50 arrested.

ROMAN: And they're priceless, historic, and missing. Several NASA artifacts are lost and you won't believe why.

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[05:55:09] ROMANS: The National Archives has just released the so- called "Watergate Road Map."

The documents include a would-be indictment against then-President Richard Nixon that has never been seen. It reveals how a grand jury planned to charge Mr. Nixon with bribery, conspiracy, and obstruction charges. The president was never charged but was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.

The group that petitioned for the release of the documents believes special counsel Robert Mueller should use them as a roadmap if he issues a report to Congress.

BRIGGS: Breaking overnight, New York City police hunting for a suspect after someone in a white Halloween mask shot and injured two people.

Police say it happened just before 2:00 a.m. in the uptown Washington Heights neighborhood and left a 24-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman with gunshot wounds. They are both listed in stable condition.

An update ahead on "NEW DAY."

ROMANS: Fifty-two people, including seven convicted felons, have been arrested in Chicago on drug and weapons charges. Police say the suspects were swept up in a series of raids dating back to Saturday night. They were carried out by Chicago police and the unit's FBI and ATF -- and ATF teams.

Search warrants turned up 20 illegal guns, two cars, and $80,000 in cash, along with heroin and crack.

The latest weekend of violence left 41 people shot, five of them fatally.

BRIGGS: University of Maryland firing head football coach D.J. Durkin one day after allowing him to return to his job. That initial decision led to outrage and pressure from state lawmakers, students, the community, and journalists.

Coach Durkin was placed on administrative leave in August after the heatstroke death of 19-year-old lineman Jordan McNair.

On Tuesday, Maryland's Board of Regents recommended the coach be reinstated. But yesterday, University president Wallace Loh defied that recommendation and fired Durkin, who has not yet commented publicly.

ROMANS: A federal law enforcement official tells CNN the inmates who killed notorious Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger tried to cut out his tongue. It's a well-known punishment for snitches in the world of organized crime.

Investigators say Bulger was beaten beyond recognition. At least one of the inmates involved is believed to have ties to organized crime in Massachusetts.

BRIGGS: Health officials confirm a 10th child has died from a virus outbreak at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehab in Haskell, New Jersey. Twenty-seven pediatric cases have now been linked to the virus and one staff member was also sickened.

The center is not admitting new residents until the outbreak is over. The CDC is assisting with lab testing.

ROMANS: All right.

An inspector general's report says priceless NASA artifacts were lost because of poor recordkeeping and follow-through. The report found that NASA does not have adequate processes to identify or manage heritage assets.

Among the relics of space history lost, an Apollo 11 collection bag containing lunar dust. Also, a prototype lunar rover that was sold to a scrapyard.

NASA told the inspector general's office it would develop better ways for dealing with historical items by the spring of 2020.

BRIGGS: Yes, one would hope.

While you were sleeping, Jimmy Fallon showed some outtakes from campaign ads recorded by the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First is Alabama.

JIMMY FALLON, NBC HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON" (PORTRAYING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP): That sounds too much like Obama -- next, next.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, how about Hawaii?

FALLON: Hawaii is a beautiful, beautiful country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Massachusetts.

FALLON: God bless you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that wasn't a sneeze. That's the next state.

FALLON: What's the next state?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Massachusetts.

FALLON: Gesundheit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oregon.

FALLON: You might not know this but I'm an Oregon donor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

FALLON: I'm an Oregon donor. You can check the back of my driver's license.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry, I don't follow.

FALLON: I'm a hero, so --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New Mexico.

FALLON: There's a new Mexico? Isn't the old one bad enough?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, sorry. I don't think you should do --

FALLON: Make new Mexico old again. Put that on a hat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Put that on a hat. Maybe he's given in and finally -- people have suggested he's not critical enough of the president.

ROMANS: Maybe.

All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. We'll see you tomorrow.

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APRIL RYAN, WASHINGTON, D.C. BUREAU CHIEF, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: This president is stirring up a cauldron of hate.

TRUMP: And they've got a lot of rough people in those caravans. They are not angels.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His dog whistle of all dog whistles is immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Using troops on the border is something that's been done before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This idea -- oh, we care about the preexisting conditions -- is simply untrue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Democrats have tried to tell people that Republicans are going to take preexisting conditions. It is flat-out false.

STACEY ABRAMS (D), NOMINEE FOR GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: Republican leadership has failed our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Thursday. It's November.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Is it really?

BERMAN: You don't approve?

CAMEROTA: Is it really November? How did that happen?

BERMAN: November's approval rating very low -- underwater this morning.

Six o'clock here in New York.

A dramatic escalation from the president overnight from just trafficking fear to now, critics say, peddling racism.

With Republicans increasingly facing the possibility they will lose control of the House, the President of the United States promoted a video suggesting that Democrats want to flood the nation with Central American cop killers.