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EARLY START

Cubs Win the World Series After 108 Years; World Series Celebration Chicago Style; Clinton Loses Her Edge in Colorado; Clinton Campaign Trying to Flip Arizona; Trump Working Hard to Stay on Message. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired November 3, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:00:11] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Cubs win the World Series. Bryant makes the play. It's over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is joy in Mudville tonight. The Cubs, they win their third World Series with a small 108-year gap in the middle.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Go, Cubs.

Breaking overnight, a new poll in the race for president shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tied in battleground Colorado.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. If you are in Chicago, you are still, have a great day, everybody. I'm so happy.

BERMAN: You see four of us anchoring the show right now if you're in Chicago still awake.

ROMANS: Oh my god. Good for you. I'm so excited for Chicago.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It's Thursday, November 3rd. It is 3:00 a.m. in the East. And how could we not start with this?

ROMANS: Of course.

BERMAN: The Chicago Cubs are World Series champions, which is something your grandparents could never say, probably something you're great grandparents could never say, in 1908. You know, all the way to 2016. 108 years. What is that among friends?

The Cubs, they made history the hard way. They came back after being down three games to one. And then this game was insane last night. I mean, this was a ridiculous game. Last night, with so many twists and turns. Already people calling it the best ever.

Andy Scholes has more from inside the locker room.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: What a game. What a series. This is what a 108-year drought celebration looks like. And for the first time in a lifetime, the Cubs can call themselves champions.

THEO EPSTEIN, CHICAGO CUBS PRESIDENT OF BASEBALL OPERATION: 108 years. Everyone who played for the Cubs, everyone watching the Cubs, they've been waiting for a team like you, boys.

(CHEERS)

KRIS BRYANT, CHICAGO CUBS THIRD BASEMAN: The story of this 2016 Chicago Cubs. I mean, we never gave up. We fight back. We don't care if we're playing it was an unbelievable game.

SCHOLES: How awesome is this moment right here celebrating with your teammates?

BRYANT: This is the best. I can't even move but I don't care. This is unbelievable. This is what you dream for as a kid. And I'm 24 years old, and I'm the luckiest guy on the planet, man.

DEXTER FOWLER, CHICAGO CUBS OUTFIELDER: It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Hey, go, Cubbies. Go Cubbies. Let's go.

SCHOLES: What do you say about this team, the way you all came back from 3-1 to win this?

FOWLER: We never quit. We always said that we never quit. It's never over until it's over. But it's over now. We're on top.

SCHOLES: Theo, you did it again. What's the secret?

EPSTEIN: No, we did it. The organization did it. The fans did it, the players did it. Joe did it. The Rickets family did it. I mean, total team effort. Epic, epic game and performance. 114 wins now. So good. I like baseball.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: This just ended. I mean, this basically just ended. Rain delay, extra innings. I mean, it's only been over for, like, an hour and a half, or something, and there is nothing but pure joy on the north side of Chicago this morning.

Cubs fans up all night, still up celebrating their historic World Series victory, partying, you guessed it, like it's 1908.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has been out among the faithful in Chi-town. She joins us -- there it is. Cubs fans, please get home safely. No one is going home, Brynn. They're all still out there.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. Christine, I love how you said that they're still up. And yes, I doubt they're even going to fall asleep at this point. There's going to be a lot of sick calls at work tomorrow. So much excitement in the city. I got to tell you, I saw one girl, she literally got down on her knees

and just started screaming. She didn't say anything. She just started screaming. So that's like the sheer excitement that people are feeling right now. Not only around Wrigley Field where we are, but all the streets around this stadium and into downtown Chicago.

I mean, there are motorcades, there are (INAUDIBLE) bus, there are fireworks. There is just so much excitement for this team and for this huge win. Not only because the curse has been lifted but also in the fashion that it was lifted. What an exciting game just to end that World Series.

At this point here, around Wrigley Field, police are out. They're trying to sort of disperse the crowd and trying to get people to go home, but as you said, I mean, at this point, it doesn't seem like anybody is going to be going home anytime soon just because everyone is just so happy -- Christine.

ROMANS: Productivity in Chicago today, tomorrow, whatever you want to call it, at offices around the area will be zero.

BERMAN: So Bill Murray, you know, Caddy Shack, Chicago Cubs fan, says that the mayor, Rahm Emanuel should cancel school for the next two days.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: If he's as good a mayor -- said if he's as good of a mayor as he wants to be, he owes it to the kids in Chicago to cancel school. Any parade plans that we know of yet, Brynn?

GINGRAS: I haven't heard anything of yet. I don't know if you saw that President Obama tweeted, though, and said, would you like to come to the White House before I leave?

[03:05:03] So maybe that's in for the team. But I don't know about a parade. You've got to believe there's going to be one very soon when this team gets back to the town because again fans are just itching for it at this point. They've created their parade in these streets just to give you a quick overview when we are trying to get from downtown to Chicago to Wrigley Field, maybe 30 minutes after the game, I mean, it took us over an hour.

I mean, it's really not that far because the streets were just shut down with people just stopping. People running down the streets, high-fiving people in cars. I mean, it's just so fun to see everyone joining together especially in this city of Chicago who's gone through a lot lately. So this neighborhood come together and be this excited.

ROMANS: Absolutely. You know, I got to tell you, I lived in Chicago during the '90s when the Bulls were just like the champions, and there's this feeling in Chicago when your team is on top, and the Cubs have just never been there in our lifetime or my parents' lifetime that Chicago has that feeling again. The fans of Chicago feel -- you know, they feel like it's, you know, the Michael Jordan of baseball, I guess. BERMAN: Yes. It's amazing to see right now. It's also -- what's

also amazing is Chicago completely dry overnight. You know, it's a completely dry town tonight. Ironic they decided to institute that.

ROMANS: No, no. Chicago drank the fun town dry. That's what happened.

BERMAN: OK. All right. Brynn Gingras for us on the north side.

ROMANS: Have fun.

BERMAN: It's so nice to see this. Congratulations to all the people of Chicago who have been waiting, what, five generations? Roughly or so for this.

ROMANS: Awesome.

BERMAN: Amazing to see.

All right. The World Series not the only contest that was, is down to the wire. This whole presidential thing going on right now. Overnight there was a new poll out of the battleground state of Colorado that puts Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton neck-and-neck there. This is after some decent looking polls for Hillary Clinton in the afternoon.

Overnight Hillary Clinton had a new message on the campaign trail. It sounded a lot like a negative ad version of John Lennon. And today for the first time, Ted Cruz, remember, Donald Trump questioned whether his father was involved in the Kennedy assassination -- Ted Cruz is going to campaign for the Trump ticket in person.

ROMANS: All right. Breaking overnight, brand new polling that shows colorado long in the Clinton column is now a tie. The University of Denver poll shows Clinton and Trump both holding 39 percent of the vote in a four-way race.

For the very latest, we're joined now by CNN Politics reporter Eugene Scott.

And what do the new numbers mean for Hillary Clinton's strategy?

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: These new numbers mean that the Clinton campaign which at one point stepped back from colorado because they were pretty confident that they were going to win the state aren't as confident anymore. You see those numbers you just shared are within the 4.2 margin of error. But about 5 percent of Colorado voters are going for Johnson, and a couple more are going for Stein, and they're hoping that can bring them over to their side.

BERMAN: A really high number of undecided voters in a poll five days before an election. I have to say, if you're undecided five days before an election, you can't be pushed. I think it's a little bit odd in terms of the methodology, but you know, there have been closing there. A whole bunch of polls out yesterday.

SCOTT: Sure.

BERMAN: Showing Hillary Clinton about a four-point lead in Pennsylvania, a state he aims. There's a Wisconsin poll which showed her six-point lead there. And in Florida, very, very close. A bunch of polls including the CNN poll showing her one or two points up. What's going on there?

SCOTT: Well, what we see her doing is trying to rally the Obama coalition that was so successful for the president. And she's done that by earlier this week campaigning in Florida and bringing out former Miss Universe Alicia Machado with the hope of getting women voters and Latino voters to come on board and trying to bring attention to how problematic she thinks Donald Trump will be.

ROMANS: And to North Carolina, the president was there yesterday. It's another swing state. What's happening there. I mean, it's -- I guess statistically she's barely ahead at this point.

SCOTT: Very much so. He was at Chapel Hill, my alma mater, and I knew quite a few people who went out to go hear him. And he was speaking very vocally about voter suppression concerns in the state with voters of color. You know we had some recent rulings from courts saying that that was a very big issue in the state so he really wanted to rally this community that came behind him and get them to get behind Hillary Clinton.

ROMANS: And yesterday we talked about these ad spending dollars and we said that the Clinton campaign was putting money into Colorado and to Michigan and to some places that were pretty blue, maybe these polls are reflecting what the internals from the campaign have been showing. Maybe that's why they're putting some money into those blue states.

BERMAN: I think that's definitely part of it. I also think when you have your wallet bursting with cash, you've got to spend it somewhere. And that's the truth.

SCOTT: Might as well.

BERMAN: Was Roy Williams on the stage with President Obama yesterday? I thought I saw him on --

SCOTT: I didn't see him, but I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised.

BERMAN: Very interesting. All right, Eugene Scott. Great to have you here with us. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: Nice to see you. Good morning.

BERMAN: All right. Hillary Clinton, she goes to North Carolina today. Again today, her army of big named players including President Obama will be on the trail. Overnight Hillary Clinton was in Arizona, a red state that Democrats had or have hopes of turning blue.

CNN's Brianna Keilar has the latest. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and

Christine, Hillary Clinton in Arizona trying to turn this red state blue would be the first time since Bill Clinton won Arizona back in 1996.

[03:05:04] So it is a tall order. But she has a lot of surrogates that she is relying on. Big names, including her running mate, Tim Kaine, who today will give a speech entirely in Spanish here in Arizona.

Also President Obama has been campaigning for her, arguing that his legacy is tied to Hillary Clinton, that he needs to pass the baton to her.

And for Hillary Clinton, she's been hitting Donald Trump very hard, going negative, as she tries to appeal to those voters in the middle, those ones who are repealed by Donald Trump, but maybe they're not so certain about voting for Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On January 20th, either I or Donald Trump will be sworn in as the next president of the United States. A lot of people are still considering who to vote for. I think people who are considering voting for him say to themselves, you know, I don't like everything he says and I don't like a lot of things he's done in his life, but maybe he'll become different when he becomes president.

And then I think some people are saying, well, maybe I'll just sit this one out. You know, I don't -- I can't really make up my mind. Nothing will change if he's elected because we know who he is. As Michelle Obama says, the presidency doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: It's not the positive message that Hillary Clinton was hoping to end this campaign on. But she just doesn't have that breathing room in the polls that she had before Friday when her e-mail controversy erupted again. And that's why you're seeing this shift, John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Brianna. Thank you for that.

Overnight Donald Trump introduced a new line into his stump speech praising and warning himself to stay on message. Like Clinton, Trump is now also getting help from a whole bunch of surrogates, many named Trump, including his wife Melania, his adult children, Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric. Another notable name on the surrogate list, Ted Cruz. He will join Mike Pence on the trail in Iowa and Michigan.

For the latest on the campaign, let's bring in CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. Well, Donald Trump in his closing message seems to be trying to show

some late-in-the-game message discipline. He is staying on script. He is reading off teleprompter for most of his campaign rallies, really trying to keep the attack lines focused on Hillary Clinton.

Clearly the calculation from within the Trump campaign is that Trump should not do anything to deviate from that message. Not try to say anything controversial as he has in the past that would step on that message.

And Donald Trump at his rally in Pensacola, Florida, talked about that newfound restraint, almost repeating what potentially his campaign advisers are telling him behind the scenes, don't do anything to rock the boat in these final days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to be nice and cool. Nice and cool. All right? Stay on point, Donald. Stay on point. No side tracks, Donald. Nice and easy. Nice. Because I've been watching Hillary the last few days, she's totally unhinged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And Donald Trump will continue to focus on battleground states today. He has a midday rally in Jacksonville, Florida, then he's off to North Carolina. And Melania Trump will be hitting the campaign trail solo. She'll have a big speech in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Campaign aides say that she'll be delivering a warm speech. She'll talk about her time growing up abroad and potentially what she would do as first lady -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: All right. CNN is going to have the most comprehensive coverage in the milky way galaxy on election night. Stay with us beyond the last vote being counted. It all happens starting Tuesday and well into Wednesday right on CNN.

ROMANS: The milky way galaxy. That's quite a reach.

BERMAN: It really is. This just -- it's not just in America. It's way beyond.

ROMANS: Yes. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hitting the ground hard in four key battleground states. Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania. Four states that could -- that will decide the presidency. What the polls are saying next on EARLY START.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:18:15] ROMANS: OK. Five days to go until Election Day, folks. Here's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," and political analyst and bestselling author Ellis Henican to talk about what's going on here.

Yesterday Donald Trump in Pensacola, Florida, giving his own stage direction. Like almost -- (LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: We were seeing inside the machinations of what's happening on that campaign plane and what they're telling Donald Trump.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Oh yes.

ROMANS: Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's feeling like it already, isn't it? Just --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We've got to be nice and cool. Nice and cool. Right? Stay on point, Donald. Stay on point.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: No side tracks, Donald. Nice and easy. Nice. Because I've been watching Hillary the last few days. She's totally unhinged. And we don't want any of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Stay on message, Donald, Brian Stelter. Stay on message.

STELTER: It's been working for him.

ELLIS HENICAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Would you please look at camera two?

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Yes. Look at camera two. Wrap.

STELTER: But it has been working for him. Right? There's been an indication the last few days that he has been able to hammer home messages about Obamacare and about the e-mail investigation. It is working for him. Even if he's sort of in on it and maybe getting directions as he's doing it.

BERMAN: Well, actually I'm not even sure it's what he's saying. It's what he's not doing that's allowing the focus to stay on Hillary Clinton that I think is the issue here.

STELTER: Right. Right.

BERMAN: Ellis, you know, yesterday was a fascinating day. I mean, every day has been fascinating. But President Obama weighed in on this campaign in a way he hadn't before. First of all, like trying to rally African-American voters there directly on radio and also in person. But also after not talking about the FBI and James Comey's decision, talking about it in very sort of pointed ways. Let's listen to his language. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do think that there is a norm that when there are investigations, we don't operate on innuendo.

[03:20:10] We don't operate on incomplete information. We don't operate on leaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Now so in the Obamian, like, careful language, he didn't directly accuse Comey of such things.

HENICAN: No.

BERMAN: But you could hear for yourself what he was talking about there.

HENICAN: That's right. And it's both important and dangerous. Important because those leaks really do seem to have had an impact on this campaign, but the basic partisan -- Hillary needs to be careful. She's not running against Jim Comey. She's running against Donald Trump and the fire really does need to be directed at the opponent. Careful there, please.

BERMAN: All right, Brian, Ellis, we have a lot more to discuss over the next two hours.

ROMANS: That's right. There's a lot.

BERMAN: You know, with everyone who's still up.

STELTER: There are.

HENICAN: There's a lot.

BERMAN: All right. So come on back, guys.

All right. There is breaking news overnight. More breaking news if you can believe it. A rare audio message from the leader of ISIS urging his fighters to hold their ground in Mosul. This as coalition forces move ever closer to that city. A live report from Iraq coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:25:30] BERMAN: Breaking overnight, a rare audio message from the leader of ISIS rallying his fighters in the battle for Mosul. This tape was released by the media wing of ISIS with the apparent voice of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calling on his troops to hold their ground.

Now CNN cannot independent confirm the authenticity of this tape, but it's a 32-minute recording. It is believed to be the first public message from Baghdadi in nearly a year. ROMANS: A suspect is in custody this morning in connection with the

ambush killings of two Iowa police officers. Authorities say 46-year- old Scott Michael Greene turned himself in Wednesday night. Investigators believe he fatally shot the officers, Justin Martin and Tony Beminio, while they sat in their squad cars roughly two miles apart. This morning police say Greene is suspected of the killings but has not formally been charged.

BERMAN: All right. An epic heart-pounding end to an epic World Series. The Chicago Cubs finishing off their amazing, amazing quest to erase 108 years of futility. Chicago is bonkers right now.

ROMANS: Look at that. World Series champions.

BERMAN: Look at that live picture. "World Series Champs at Wrigley Field."

ROMANS: Oh my god.

BERMAN: And it's not a joke. It's actually real.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)