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EARLY START

Trump to Barnstorm 11 Cities in Six Days; Trump Visits Site of Synagogue Massacre; DOJ: Pipe Bomb Suspect a "Domestic Terrorist"; Stocks Rebound After Monday Decline; Officials Detect Ping from Lion Air Black Boxes. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 31, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:13] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump kicks off an eight-state campaign blitz less than a week from the midterms.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president coming off a somber and tense visit to Pittsburgh where more synagogue massacre victims will be laid to rest today.

BRIGGS: Prosecutors say the accused pipe bomber had been planning his attack for months.

ROMANS: A big rebound for the stock market. A sign the bull market may not be over yet.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It's Wednesday, October 31st. Happy Halloween. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

I got three kids. I have a princess, a snow leopard, and a black panther. What have you got --

ROMANS: I have Mitch Trubisky, Spiderman and a mallard duck ingilley (ph) suit. Don't ask me.

BRIGGS: I like the Mitch Trubisky.

ROMANS: Yes. Middle school, they start to get really interesting with their ideas.

BRIGGS: The Chicago Bears quarterback has arrived.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: We start this morning with, of course, politics, a week from the midterms. President Trump returning to the campaign trail tonight, barnstorming 11 cities across eight days with just six days to go until pivotal midterm elections.

Tonight, the president will be in Ft. Myers, Florida, trying to boost Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis locked in very tight races for senator and governor respectively. It is the president's third visit to Florida with one more rally scheduled in Pensacola, Florida, over the weekend. Expect to hear plenty at tonight's rally about immigration, the president's key focus as he tries to drive Republican voters to the polls next Tuesday.

He's certain to talk about that caravan and the more than 5,000 troops he's sending to the border to stop migrants who are still weeks away.

ROMANS: The president is also claiming he will sign an executive order to end automatic citizenship for all children of noncitizens born on U.S. soil. There are constitutional questions about ending birthright citizenship with the stroke of a pen. It is the 14th Amendment.

But White House counselor Kellyanne Conway argues some constitutional scholars believe such an order might be approved by the courts. And she denied the president's move was an effort to whip up his base ahead of the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, because if only the base had voted for him he wouldn't be president. So I think -- I understand that that's like the Sesame Grover word of the day -- that, and fear, and some other stuff. But, no, it's not whipping the base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Among those who disagree with the president's suggestion, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who told a radio show it would never pass constitutional muster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, you obviously cannot do that. You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. We didn't like it when Obama tried changing immigration laws via executive action and obviously as conservatives, you know, we believe in the Constitution. You know, as a conservative, I'm a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution and I think, in this case, the 14th Amendment's pretty clear and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Kellyanne Conway's own husband, an attorney, George Conway, also scoffed at the idea in an op-ed co-authored with President Obama's solicitor general. They write: Sometimes the constitution's text is plain as day. Such a move would be unconstitutional and would certainly be challenged, and the challengers would undoubtedly win.

BRIGGS: President Trump stirring up anger and controversy with his visit to the site of Saturday's synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh. The president and the first lady visiting the Tree of Life synagogue, lighting candles and laying stones and white flowers at a memorial for the 11 people who are killed.

Outside the temple, protesters yelled, go back, we don't want you here.

More now from CNN's Pamela Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Dave and Christine.

President Trump ignored calls to visit grief-stricken Pittsburgh in the wake of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, moving forward with that visit on Tuesday. He visited the Tree of Life synagogue with the first lady Melania Trump. He was also joined by prominent Jewish members in his administration, including his daughter Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin.

He went to light a candle in the synagogue and then he laid stones from the White House, as well as white roses outside of that synagogue. And then he went to the hospital to visit those who were wounded in the shooting, as well as some of the medical staff. And during all of this, there were protesters nearby -- protesters carrying signs asking the president to denounce white nationalism. Some of these protesters said they blame the president -- his rhetoric for the recent string of violence. They believe his rhetoric has only created an environment for those predisposed to violence to act out.

The White House has pushed back on that notion, saying that basically, the media is to blame for that, and saying the president wanted to go to Pittsburgh to share in the grief with the rest of the nation in mourning following the shooting there.

[04:05:07] There have been many questions about why he chose to go now when those on the ground there -- local officials, including the mayor, have asked him wait. Well, White House aides say a big reason is because of his campaigning schedule. Tuesday was the best day to do it and they were concerned about the optics if he went to Pittsburgh on the same day as one of his upcoming rallies.

Back to you, Dave and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Pamela, thank you so much for that.

Three more funerals for the city of Pittsburgh and the nation to endure today. Longtime University of Pittsburgh researcher Joyce Feinberg will be laid to rest at 10:00. At 11:30, services begin for Irving Younger, a former business owner and youth basketball coach. And the funeral for 88-year-old Melvin Wax, who was leading the Shabbat services, when the gunman opened fire, that will be held this afternoon at 1:00.

BRIGGS: About 100 members of the Pittsburgh Steelers attended the funeral of brothers David and Cecil Rosenthal on Tuesday. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and head coach Mike Tomlin, you see out front. For them, the synagogue massacre was intensely personal. Tomlin lives in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, just 800 yards from the scene of the massacre. David and Cecil's sister Michelle used to work for the Steelers.

ROMANS: And the Pittsburgh Penguins honoring the victims of the synagogue shooting with a moment of silence before last night's game against the New York Islanders. Penguins players also wore a "Stronger Than Hate" patch on their uniforms. And two -- this gives me goose bumps -- two of the police officers who were wounded in the attack were honored during a ceremonial puck drop.

BRIGGS: The power of sports.

New this morning, the Department of Justice accusing pipe bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc of conducting a, quote, domestic terrorist attack that he'd been planning since July. In a new letter asking the judge to deny bail, prosecutors say Sayoc's laptop held lists of addresses that matched labels on the explosive packages. They say his Internet search history included the CNN building, George Soros and his family, and Hillary Clinton and family.

ROMANS: Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa losing support from his own party and two key corporate donors. The Land O'Lakes Company and Purina announcing they will no longer provide financial support to King after their political donations to the eight-term congressman triggered an online backlash.

King's hard-line views on race, ethnicity, and immigration, along with his recent re-tweet of a well-known neo-Nazi also drawing criticism from the chairman of the Republican Congressional Committee, Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio, tweeting, Congressman Steve King's recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate. We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms. I strongly condemn the behavior.

His hometown newspaper endorsed the Democrat. This is a strongly Republican district. For the paper to endorse a Democrat really says a lot there in Iowa.

BRIGGS: It's interesting to see the Republicans begin to turn against King. He's been preaching this same message for more than a decade.

A new face on the legal team representing longtime Trump political adviser Roger Stone. The First Amendment and constitutional law expert Bruce Rogow joins Stone's roster of attorneys just as special counsel Robert Mueller tightens his focus on Stone. One of Rogow's first steps, encouraging Stone to take a polygraph on questions Mueller may ask. Stone tells CNN he's passed two lie-detector exams, although we have no way to independently confirm it.

Mueller's team has summoned nearly a dozen of Stone's current and former associates with interviews or grand jury testimony. Among them, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who was interviewed by Mueller's team last Friday, for at least the third time. "The Washington Post" reporting Bannon was asked about comments Stone made privately in 2016 about WikiLeaks. It was just before WikiLeaks released emails prosecutors say were hacked by Russian operatives. This past January, Bannon called the infamous meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russians, quote, treasonous. ROMANS: Stocks rebound Tuesday big time. Boom. The Dow rose 432.

The Nasdaq and broader S&P 500 both up 1.6 percent. Investors relieved to hear President Trump comment Tuesday that he is willing to negotiate with China on a trade pact.

Markets had tumbled Monday on fears that the Trump administration would impose a new round of tariffs on China. But the month of October, overall folks closed it out, truly ugly. The Dow down 6 percent, the Nasdaq down 11, the S&P 500 down 8 percent. Worst month since 2008. We all remember how horrible that was. End-of-the-world horrible.

The problems with the market here, the idea of peak earnings here, tax benefits will begin to fade, interest rates are rising. And China and the U.S. are locked in a trade fight with deadlines in the weeks ahead. Now, the president will meet with the Chinese president in Buenos Aires at the G-20 next month. And when you make comparisons of 2008, it's one reason why so many analysts are starting to say, OK, maybe this is overdone.

[04:10:03]You know, this is not 2008. The economy is very strong. Consumers are spending a lot of money.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: Companies are making a lot of money. So, don't overdo it here.

BRIGGS: But some slowing across a lot of sectors, the housing market doesn't --

ROMANS: One point of weakness.

BRIGGS: All right. It could be a break for searchers trying to find a passenger jet that mysteriously crashed on Monday. A live report from Indonesia, next.

ROMANS: And a notorious mobster meets his end in a Virginia prison. What happened to Boston's Whitey Bulger.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Searchers detected a ping from the black boxes belonging to an Indonesian flight that crashed into the Java Sea earlier this week minutes after takeoff. This major development could help recovery crews find the plane's missing fuselage.

CNN's Ivan Watson is live for us at the main port with the latest.

Certainly this is a development rescuers were looking for.

[04:15:01] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Saying that they're hearing the sound from what they believe is the beacon attached to the flight data recorder. And now they're working to try to triangulate and find it. Of course, they're operating at depths of about 100 feet beneath the Java Sea. So, this is not easy work. They've got divers, more than 40 ships, a half dozen helicopters involved in the salvage operation where they're bringing in debris and, I'm sorry to report, human remains from Lion Air Flight 610 and bringing them to this hub in the main port here in Jakarta where they are processed.

A short while ago, we saw the wife of an Indonesian police officer who came to look at some of the personal effects here, a very emotional moment. There are shoes. There are backpacks from some of the 189 passengers and crew who were aboard the doomed flight.

Some other developments we're learning: the technical director of Lion Air, the low-budget airline here in Indonesia that was operating this plane, has been fired according to orders from the Indonesian Transport Ministry, probably linked to the disastrous crash.

And we've also been taking a close look at some of the flight data from an organization called Flight Radar 24 of the final minutes of the short-lived flight when it took off Monday morning from Jakarta on what was supposed to be a 70-minute flight. The data that's been gathered shows very erratic altitude and speed of this brand-new Boeing 737 in the short time before the plane is believed to have smashed into the Java Sea.

At one point, plunging a distance some 726 feet in a period of just 21 seconds. Quite frightening to imagine what that must have like for the passengers and crew on board -- Dave and Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ivan, thank you so much. Keep us up to speed with the new developments. Thank you.

BRIGGS: OK. Two fiery helicopter crashes under investigation by the FAA this morning in Beekmantown, New York, near the Canadian border. Two people died, and two were injured in this crash. All four aboard the chopper.

Video taken by a witness shows utility wires and grass engulfed in flames there. The helicopter was flying under contract to the New York Power Authority, but a spokesman did not know what it had been hired to do.

ROMANS: In Sebring, Florida, two people died when a gyrocopter smashed into a mobile home. The pilot identified by the Highland County sheriff as Christopher Lord (ph) and his passenger Christopher Brugger (ph) identified. One man on the ground suffered serious burns but was taken to the hospital. Witnesses say the copter was in some kind of distress before clipping a power line and crashing to the ground.

BRIGGS: A 24-year-old woman is facing three felony charges of reckless homicide for allegedly passing a stopped school bus with its stop sign arm extended and killing three young siblings. Six-year-old twin brothers Xavier and Mason Engle and their 9-year-old sister Olivia were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth child had to be airlift out with life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the pickup truck that struck the children has been identified as Alyssa Shepherd of Rochester, Indiana. Police say she ran them over as they were crossing the street to board their bus.

ROMANS: God, that's terrible.

All right. A violent end to the life of one of America's most notorious criminals. Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger killed Tuesday morning in a West Virginia prison. The FBI investigating the killing which came one day after he was transferred to the facility. The 89-year-old Bulger eluded federal authorities for more than 16 years until his arrest in 2011. He was serving a life sentence for a host of crimes that included 11 murders.

BRIGGS: Ahead, new trouble for a Trump cabinet head. Why the Justice Department's investigating Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

ROMANS: It's almost party time in Boston. How the city will celebrate the world-champion Red Sox today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: Four-twenty-three Eastern Time. The Justice Department investigating Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke for possibly using his office for personal gain. Two sources familiar with the investigation say the move follows a referral from interior and tourism watchdog.

The full extent of the inspector general's probe is unclear. But Zinke has faced multiple ethics questions during his tenure. The inspector general's office has opened multiple public inquiries into Zinke including the department's handling of a Connecticut casino project where the boundaries of a national monument in Utah were redrawn to benefit a state lawmaker, and looking into conversations between Zinke and an energy company chief executive about a Montana land development project.

ROMANS: Kanye West is over politics. Just weeks after his bizarre visit with the president in the White House, the rapper and designer says he feels exploited, tweeting, my eyes are wide open, and realize I've been used to spread messages I don't believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative.

He didn't stop there. He went on to tweet support for common sense gun laws and for people seeking asylum to escape violence and war. He also expressed support for holding people who misuse their power accountable.

BRIGGS: The head football coach and athletic director at the University of Maryland will keep their jobs following an investigation into the death of a 19-year-old offensive lineman. The school's board of regents recommending coach D.J. Durkin be retained after being placed on leave in August. The border decided Durkin was unfairly blamed for the dysfunction in the athletic department.

[04:25:05] Athletic director Damon Evans also gets to stay on the job. Meantime, university president, Wallace Loh, announced he plans to retire next June to help foster change at the school. Freshman Jordan McNair died of heatstroke last May. From the moment he began experiencing cramps on the field, it took one hour and seven minutes before a trainer called the team doctor.

ROMANS: Fire up the duck boats. They're preparing for another victory parade in Boston. For the fourth time since 2004, Beantown celebrating Red Sox's World Series title. The parade starts at 11:00 Eastern Time outside Fenway Park and will mostly follow Boylston Street until it reaches city hall.

Officials expect hundreds of thousands of fans to turn out with mostly sunny weather in the forecast. What a way to spend Halloween. Right into trick-or-treating, right?

BRIGGS: Yes, there's going to be some awesome outfits along that parade. I assume some costumes. Nothing like a Boston parade.

Ahead, President Trump hitting the campaign trail in a matter of hours. Eleven rallies in the final six days before the midterms. We'll have the details, ahead.

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