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EARLY START

GOP Senate Presses Forward on Kavanaugh Vote; Melania Goes to Africa. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 4, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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


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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R), KENTUCKY: (inaudible) on Judge Kavanaughs nomination this evening so the process can move forward.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate, poised for a final vote on Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination as soon as Saturday. That FBI report on his conduct will be in the hands of Senators at 8:00 AM this morning.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A show of force in the works as the U.S. tries to counter China's military aggression. Today, the Vice President will declare even Russia's actions pale in comparison to Beijing.

ROMANS: One officer dead and six others recovery after coming under fire in South Carolina.

BRIGGS: And here come the Yankees. There goes that ball. The Bomber headed for a showdown with the Red Sox after disposing of the Cinderella A's and Judge (ph) at it again.

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Good morning everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christina Romans. It is Thursday, October 4th. It is 4 AM in the East, good morning everyone.

Breaking over night, Senate Republican leaders starting the clock toward a final vote on Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court.

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Majority leader, Mitch McConnell filing a motion to end debate. That procedural move will come to a vote this week with a final vote on the nomination as soon as Saturday.

BRIGGS: The timing driven by the FBI's renewed background investigation on Kavanaugh. Senators will be able to start reading the investigation summary starting at 8 AM. The White House has the report already and the Wall Street Journal reports the White House finds no corroboration of sexual misconduct against their nominee.

ROMANS: And of course that doesn't address whether Kavanaugh mislead Senators about his drinking habit and the Washington Post reports the White House privately restricted the FBI from looking into Kavanaughs youthful drinking and whether he lied to Congress about that, specifically.

All while the President was publicly saying the FBI should follow any leads as it saw fit.

BRIGGS: The FBI wrapped up its investigation Wednesday, having interviewed about ten people in total. Now the focus to undecided Senators and what they make of this FBI report.

Congressional Correspondent, Phil Mattingly with the latest from Capitol Hill.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Christina and Dave, it's been something Democrats have been asking for for weeks.

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MATTINGLY: It's been something Republicans, at least on the leadership level, grudgingly agreed to just about five, six days ago. Now it's on Capitol Hill - the FBI supplemental background investigation.

This report will dictate whether or not Brett Kavanaugh is elevated to the highest court in the land. At this point, Republicans do not have the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. That isn't stopping them from moving forward, though. As it currently stands the expectation is the first procedural vote on Kavanaughs nomination will be set up for Friday. That would mean a final vote on this confirmation could come as soon as Saturday.

Again, what the Republicans don't have is the 50 or 51 votes they need to actually move this forward. The expectation has been what the FBI returns will help get them over the line. As you know, there are three undecided Republicans. There are two undecided Democrats. All five of whom have been weighing their options, but multiple of those Senators have this said this report will go a long way to dictating how they end up voting.

It really all relies on what they see here.

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The big problem is we aren't going to see it. It won't be released publically. There will be no summary and the Senators and the Staffers who get to see it technically, aren't aloud to talk about it at all.

So what does that mean? Well, it's going to be open to interpretation in terms of what the FBI found in its interviews and that supplemental background investigation.

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Here's a good metric - a good guide to know what it actually looks like. Look at the votes. Republicans have the votes to move Brett Kavanaugh through. They are, at least those undecided Senators, have decided they haven't seen anything damning.

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If they don't, well, you can draw your own conclusion on that one. Christine and Dave.

ROMANS: Phil Mattingly, thanks for that, Phil.

One of Judge Kavanaughs freshman roommates at Yale claims the Supreme Court Nominee lied under oath when he downplayed his youthful drinking. Several Senators have said they would oppose Kavanaugh if in fact, he lied to the judiciary committee.

Here's what James Roche told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

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JAMES ROCHE, AIR FORCE: Even within that environment, their were people who were loud drunks, who were sloppy drunks, who were belligerent drunks, but even by those standards my memory of Brett was that he was on the far edge of this. He was notably heavier in his drinking than other people.

It was an awful long time ago and I can't say he was drunk in the state or not, but I can tell you that my recollection of my experience with him was that he was drunk frequently.

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BRIGGS: In an early op-ed for Slate, Roche wrote this - in his words and his behavior, Judge Kavanaugh has shown contempt for the truth, the process for the rule of law, and for accountability. His willing to lie to avoid embarrassment throws doubt on the denials about the larger questions of sexual assault. Roche also says he believes his friend Deborah Ramirez, who claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a college dorm party.

Roche says he has not been contacted by the FBI, but is willing to tell agents what he knows.

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ROMANS: All right the White House standing by President Trump's mocking impression of Christine Blasey Ford. The White House denying he mocked her when he was mocking her.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How did he get home? I don't remember. How did you get there? I don't remember. How did you get there? I don't remember. Where is the place? I don't remember. How many years ago was it? I don't know.

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ROMANS: That was Tuesday evening in Mississippi. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders held a White House briefing to rebut complaints that there was even a briefing at all is news by the way. The last was September 10; Sanders defending the president as simply stating the facts.

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SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Every single word that Judge Kavanaugh said has been looked at, examined, picked apart by most of you in the room. No one is looking at whether or not the accusations made are corroborated, whether or not there's evidence to support them. The testimony by Dr. Ford was compelling but you cannot make this decision based on emotion. It has to be based on fact.

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BRIGGS: Sanders' defense followed a number of Senators taking issue with the president's tone. Republican Senators crucial to confirming to Kavanaugh.

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SENATOR JEFF FLAKE, (R) ARIZONA: I thought it was obviously insensitive and appalling frankly.

SENATOR LISA MURKOWSKI, (R) ALASKA: I don't approve of the comments from last night. I thought they were wrong and extraordinarily unfortunate.

SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS, (R) MAINE: The president's comments were just plain wrong.

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BRIGGS: Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse expected to vote for Kavanaugh. But in an emotional speech from the floor, he criticized the president for his tone toward women.

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SENATOR BEN SASSE, (R) NEBRASKA: We all know that the president cannot lead us through this time. We know he is dispositionally unable to restrain his impulse to divide us.

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ROMANS: Senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal Kavanaugh backer, says he would simply tell the president to quote, "Knock it off. You're not helping."

BRIGGS: A classified proposal has been drawn up by the U.S. Navy to respond to the China's military aggression. Defense officials describe it as a global show of force. On Sunday the Chinese war ship came within 45 yards of the USS Decatur challenging the American ship presence in the South China Sea. That near collision, one of many troubling developments with China. Let's bring in Will Ripley live from Hong Kong with the latest. Phil, excuse me, Will, where are we headed?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just don't know, Dave. First of all, the U.S. Navy has yet to decide apparently whether they're going to go through with the show of force which would occur on one week in November with the freedom of navigation patrols where the U.S. sails ships and flies war planes very close to the disputed islands in the South China Seas. Spratley Islands where China has built up a considerable amount of military infrastructure.

Now the U.S. does this on a regular basis. That's why there was this close call, this near collision over the weekend on Sunday. What they are talking about potentially is more frequently you know in a kind of concentrated period of time than what we have seen before, with potential for China to respond. We don't know how they would respond. There certainly is the risk of more close calls or perhaps even worse in the South China Sea.

Vice President Pence is expected to talk about this and express outrage over the incident, these aggressive maneuvers by the Chinese. He is expected to say that this is reckless harassment, that the U.S. will not be intimidated for these frequent navigation patrols through what the U.S. considers international waters. China claims it as its own territory along with a huge swath of the South China Sea. The U.S. rejects those claims.

The Vice President is also expected to attack China on a different level and I'm going to bring up a quote from part of what his speech is expected to address in the coming hours saying quote, "what the Russians are doing, election meddling, pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country." So he is talking about these targeted tariffs on the red states; part of this trade war between Beijing and Washington saying that China is trying to target the exact voters financially that could potentially turn against President Trump.

But it goes beyond that. The U.S. is going to lay out how they believe China has a very detailed plan in place to meddle in U.S. elections and is even threatening to deny business licenses to U.S. businesses that don't speak out against the U.S. Administration. So there is a lot in this potential speech that could make Beijing angry and we'll have to watch very closely their response.

BRIGGS: Yes, we have gone well beyond a trade war. Will Ripley, live for us in Hong Kong. Thank you.

ROMANS: A reprieve for hundreds of thousands of immigrants fearing deportation. A federal judge had blocked for now the Trump Administration plan to end temporary protected status. It's TPS, it's for immigrants from Sudan, El Salvador, and Haiti and Nicaragua. It protects people that come to the U.S. from countries hit by dire conditions like natural disasters or war. The Trump Administration ended TPS for many migrants saying that dire circumstances have passed but the judge says that decision may have been based on hostility toward non-white, non-European immigrants.

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The Justice Department says, the judges decision usurps the role of the executive branch.

BRIGGS: Seven sheriff's deputies and police officers shot, one fatally, trying to serve a search warrant at a home in Florence, South Carolina. The suspect in custody has not been identified. Officials say he barricaded himself in the home with children, prompting a two hour standoff.

Officers were shot as they tried to help their comrades. Officials say, they did not realize just how much firepower the suspect had.

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KENNEY BOONE, SHERIFF IN FLORENCE COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: Fire was being shot all over. The way the suspect was positioned, his view of fire was several hundred yards, so he had an advantage. And the officers couldn't get to the one's that's down.

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BRIGGS: The Florence officer who was killed identified as, 30 year department veteran, Terrance Carraway. President Trump tweeting his thoughts and prayers to law enforcement in Florence.

Coming up, evacuations in southern Arizona, where a dam could fail after a record rain fall there.

ROMANS: And police said, a Michigan cheerleader took the high road, sort of, in a bid to become homecoming queen.

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ROMANS: And FBI bomb technician is recovering from a leg wound after being shot by a booby trapped wheelchair in Oregon. The special agent and three police bomb technicians were called to a home in Williams, Oregon last month because of a warning sign that said the property was protected by improvised devices.

The home was littered with trip wires, traps and a round hot tub rigged to roll toward intruders like the boulder in "Raiders of the Lost Arc." The former owner lost the home in a civil judgment, has been charged with assault on a Federal officer. BRIGGS: Recalled eggs from Gravel Ridge Farms in Cullman, Alabama now

linked to 38 cases of salmonella in seven states. Cage free large eggs sold in grocery stores in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama were recalled last month.

Salmonella cases now being reported by the FDA in Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky and Montana. No deaths reported, 10 people have been hospitalized. The best by date on the eggs was yesterday October 3rd. For more information go to cnn.com

ROMANS: A water park in Waco, Texas shut down after a visitor died from a so-called, brain eating amoeba. The victim identified as 29- year-old Fabrizio Stabile of New Jersey, visited the BSR Cable Park before developing symptoms last month. The amoeba that killed him is found in warm bodies of fresh water like lakes and hot springs. It affects people by entering the nose and making it's way to the brain.

The owners of the park are cooperating with investigators. Lab results on samples taken from across the facility are pending.

BRIGGS: Evacuations underway in southern Arizona, where floodwaters could overtop a dam. The reason, unusually heavy rains from Tropical Storm Rosa. The flooding threatening the integrity of the Menegers Dam near the town of Ali Chuk on tribal land less than a mile from the Mexican border. Residents being urged to move far north as possible. The National Weather Services says a flash flood warning is in affect for the town until early today.

ROMANS: All right then this. A Michigan cheerleader's dream of becoming homecoming queen has gone to pot. Police say, she distributed, at school, brownies laced with weed all in an effort to sway classmates to vote for her.

Hartford police say the high school was alerted by an anonymous tip. Three brownies were recovered and sent to crime lab for testing. The students involved could face felony charges for distributing marijuana in a drug-free zone.

BRIGGS: Buckle up for another installment of baseball's best rivalry. The New York Yankees advancing to the American League division series against the Red Sox. The 7-2 wild card win over Oakland last night. That's Aaron Judge, 427 foot, two run home run in the first inning and the Bronx Bombers blew the game open in the sixty.

Luke Voit, a two run triple off the right field fence, he thought was gone. Part of a full run rally. The Yankee offense finishing off the A's in the either. John Carlos Stanton, violent swing over the second deck in left field game.

One of the ALDS tomorrow night at Fenway Park, on TBS, four games tomorrow night. Yankees, Red Sox will suck up all the oxygen in the sports atmosphere though.

ROMANS: Oh yes, I will say so. All right, Amazon, as we've told you, is giving it's hourly workers a pay raise, but there's a little catch here. They may loose some other benefits as a result. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ROMANS: All right. Amazon giving hourly workers a pay raise, but at the expense of monthly bonuses and stock awards. On November 1, Amazon will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all 350,000 U.S. employees, full-time, part-time, and temporary, the highest retail minimum wage in the country.

That prompted praise from even its harshest critics. But in a blog post, Amazon confirmed it will phase out incentive pay and stock grants as a result and that's been money. Right now, a single Amazon share is worth about $1950. The Verge reports hourly workers get two when they're hired and then one additional share every year.

Amazon says employees prefer the predictability and immediacy of cash to stocks, and that the pay hike will compensate for that benefit loss. Amazon says it listened to critics that says it relies on low paid labor, and that employees are being subsidized by taxpayer's with food stamps and - and welfare. That's what critics have said.

So, this move was good P.R. for Amazon. It might be good business as well. Why? The labor market is so tight. Unemployment is at 3.9 percent, and retailers like Amazon are fighting to retain talent.

BRIGGS: First lady, Melania Trump, heading to the next stop on her four nation tour of Africa. CNN's David McKenzie live for us in Johannesburg, David, good morning. It's, perhaps, a touch of irony that President Trump is determined to erase the legacy of Barrack Obama. Meanwhile, his wife is, literally, walking in Barrack Obama's footsteps. Good morning.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. That's right, Dave. She's, right now, on her way to Malawi, the second country on her four country tour through Africa. But, as you say, on Wednesday, she was in the cape coast of Ghana. At first, paying tribute - a ceremonial tribute to the chief there in Obama Hall where President Obama and his family visited.

But it was a very poignant moment.

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Melania Trump walking through the slave fortress.

She said that her visit there was impactful, very quiet scenes there looking at the horrific Trans Atlantic slave trade which departed Africa at that point in Ghana. Here's what she had to say about that visit.

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MELANIA TRUMP, US FIRST LADY: This is a very special place. I will never forget - incredible experience and the stories that I heard from the gentleman is really, really touching. And the dungeons that I saw is really something that people should see and experience and what happened so many years ago. It's really a tragedy.

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MCKENZIE: Dave, she will next on to Malawi, as I say which we expected to focus on education for youth. It is ironic given that President Trump has tried to cut the budget of U.S. AID and the State Department several times. Congress has stopped that, but there is a sense that Melania is using the distance from Washington to chart her own course on this trip through Africa. Dave. Christine.

BRIGGS: Yes, really stepping out on her own. David McKenzie live for us in Johannesburg. Thanks.

ROMANS: The White House has the FBI report on Brett Kavanaugh conduct. The Senate gets to start reading at 8 AM. The clock now ticking toward a final vote, maybe by Saturday.

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