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EARLY START

Vote Recounts Likely in Florida; Borderline Bar Gunman was a Marine Veteran; Acting Attorney General Unlikely to Recuse Himself from Russia Probe. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 9, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:00:13] GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: I will not sit idly by while unethical liberals try to steal this election.

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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Claims of voter fraud. A narrowing race. Recounts expected. Deja vu in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, please, please pray for us so we get out of here OK. Oh my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. Several raging wildfires in California. Evacuations under way as fast-moving flames charred tens of thousands of acres.

BRIGGS: The Thousand Oaks community mourning 12 people gunned down in a local bar. The shooter's haunting Facebook post moments before he opened fire.

KOSIK: And Robert Mueller's final report is being written, but will the acting attorney general get in the way before it's done?

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

BRIGGS: Good morning, Alison.

KOSIK: Good morning.

BRIGGS: Good morning to all of you. I'm Dave Briggs. It is Friday, November 9th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East, 1:00 in Thousand Oaks, California.

We start this morning with Americans now starting to suffer flashback. It is Flashback Friday with two Florida counties at the center of possible vote recounts in the race for a U.S. Senate seat. Republican Governor Rick Scott has already declared victory over incumbent Bill Nelson. But now the margin in the race is tightening by the hour. And Scott alleging without evidence there could be rampant vote fraud engineered by Democrats in deep-blue Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

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SCOTT: We've all have seen the incompetence and irregularities in both tabulations in Broward and Palm Beach for years. Well, here we go again. I will not sit idly by while unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: The Scott campaign and the GOP Senatorial Committee have filed lawsuits claiming election officials in Broward and Palm Beach Counties haven't been transparent about vote counting. Democrat Bill Nelson's campaign says, quote, "Scott's action appears to be politically motivated and borne out of desperation."

BRIGGS: President Trump who has his own history of claiming voter fraud, tweeting this, "Law enforcement looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with election fraud in Broward and Palm Beach. Florida voted for Rick Scott." Adding the exclamation point there for good measure.

Maybe. CNN has not called this race. Scott's lead has dwindled since election night.

KOSIK: Counties have until noon tomorrow to report unofficial results to the state. But right now, Scott's lead is down to about 15,000 votes or about .2 percent point. A difference of half a point or less triggers an automatic recount.

Now all of this may have major implications for the balance of power in the Senate.

BRIGGS: Right now, Republicans hold 51 seats, Democrats 46. Races remain undecided in Florida. In Arizona where the Democrats Kyrsten Sinema has jumped to a narrow lead over Martha McSally. And in Mississippi where a runoff is set for next month. The Florida governor's race which CNN has already called for Republican Ron DeSantis over Democrat Andrew Gillum could also qualify for a recount.

KOSIK: Two fast moving wildfires devastating parts of California at the moment. More than 20 million people under red flag warnings an across the stat meaning conditions are ideal for rapid spreading. The Camp Fire has already consumed over 20,000 acres in Butte County. A fire-nado doing some of the destruction. At one point on Thursday the Camp Fire grew at the rate of a football field every three seconds. Amazing.

As many as 1,000 buildings have been charred. The fire now spreading into Chico. The most popular city in Butte County with 100,000 people.

BRIGGS: California's acting governor declaring a fire emergency. About 40,000 residents have evacuated. That includes all patients at the Adventist Health at Feather River Hospital. One family got in the car to evacuate driving through flames to escape literally praying for their lives.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope Mom is going to be all right. God, it's so hot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, baby. Hold on. I can't see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be all right. We just -- it will be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Lord Jesus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so hot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: You could feel what they're feeling.

BRIGGS: You sure can. Panic. Fire officials reports civilians and at least two firefighters have been injured. Authorities are waiting for safer conditions to assess the damage.

KOSIK: And in Ventura County, the Hill Fire burning between 5,000 and 7,000 acres so far.

[04:05:02] The blaze has slowed but winds are expected to pick up overnight. Officials expect the fire to reach all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The 101 Freeway remained closed in both directions. Some drivers went straight into a cloud of smoke.

This is the same county as last night's shooting, at the Borderline Bar & Grill. Approximately 1200 homes are under mandatory evacuations. There are also now mandatory evacuations in Ventura County and Los Angeles County due to Woolsey Fire burning a short distance away.

BRIGGS: It's becoming an all-too familiar scene on the American landscape. A community in mourning after a mass shooting.

Heavy hearts at a vigil in Thousand Oaks last night. Neighbors coming together to remember 12 victims killed by a gunman at the Borderline Bar & Grill on Thursday.

KOSIK: Six of the 12 have now been identified. Five of them were at the bar when the gunman began shooting. They are Justine Meek, Alaina Housley, Noel Sparks, Dan Manrique and Cody Coffman. Here's Cody's heartbroken father Jason.

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JASON COFFMAN, FATHER OF CODY COFFMAN: Only him I know -- how much I miss -- oh, god, this is so. Son, I love you so much.

I have a daughter coming in on the 29th of this month. He was so excited to have his first sister and not -- now she'll never know. Oh, Cody, I love you, son. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Your heart breaks. Also killed Sergeant Ron Helus, a 29-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. He was among the first officers to rush through the door at Borderline. Law enforcement and members of the community lining the streets to honor him as his body was transported to the medical examiner's office.

New video has emerged of the nightclub massacre. We want to warn you, this audio is disturbing.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's coming out this door.

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KOSIK: Just horrific. The gunman identified as 28-year-old Ian David Long. Police say he killed himself.

And as Scott McLean tells us, he had a troubled past.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know that the suspect served in the United States Marine Corps. We also know that he served in Afghanistan. His friends tell us that in 2016 his personality seemed to change. He wasn't returning phone calls. He seemed to be more distant. But even those friends never thought that he was capable of doing something like this.

There was another perhaps warning sign in April when police were called to the suspect's home. The sheriff said the deputies found him irate. They ended up leaving because they didn't think that he was a risk to himself or the public.

The FBI, of course, continues to hunt for clues. They are searching the suspect's car, his home and of course the crime scene as well. We also know that the suspect frequented this bar and it was not chosen at random -- Dave and Alison.

KOSIK: OK, Scott McLean, thanks very much.

Hundreds of people lining up at Lorena High School in Thousand Oaks to donate blood to the injured victims. The line the extending out of the school parking lot, down the street and around the block. And many say they waited three or more hours to give to their community in a time of need. Donors are encouraged to make appointments by calling 877-25-VITAL.

BRIGGS: Protesters nationwide sending a strong message to the new Congress. Protect Robert Mueller. In New York, Chicago, Ft. Worth, Atlanta, Greensboro and hundreds of other places, people rallied to support the special counsel and stand behind the Russia investigation which they fear may be in danger by the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

CNN has learned the investigation may be wrapping up with Mueller's team now writing its final report. Questions are swirling over whether the new acting attorney general will try and hamper this investigation. In the past, Matthew Whitaker has called Mueller's appointment, quote, "ridiculous" and a little fishy.

KOSIK: Now once again George Conway, Kellyanne Conway's husband, speaking out against the White House, arguing that Whitaker's appointment is illegal. In a "New York Times" op-ed with former Obama-era acting solicitor general Neal Katyal, they write, "A principal officer must be confirmed by the Senate. It means that Mr. Trump's installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional.

[04:10:06] "And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does or tries to do in that position is invalid." Whatever critics say it doesn't look like Whitaker is going anywhere anytime soon.

CNN's Pamela Brown has more now from the White House.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dave and Alison, good morning to you. We have learned that the new acting attorney general Matt Whitaker is unlikely to recuse himself from the Russia probe according to sources familiar with his thinking. That is also the thinking of officials here at the White House that there would be no legal conflict of interest that would make it necessary for him to recuse himself.

Now there's also the thinking that the president wouldn't have put him in this role as acting attorney general if he was going to recuse himself. As you'll recall, he was very upset when his predecessor Jeff Sessions recused himself which really drew the ire of the president and is in part what led to the president essentially firing him just recently.

So now Matt Whitaker has taken the reins of the Russia probe despite being publicly critical of it in the past before his time at the Justice Department. Even calling it ridiculous. As all of this is going on, the president and his team has been meeting, reviewing some of the questions that Mueller's team has given them as part of the probe. This is viewed as one of the final pieces of the puzzle. So that is all ongoing.

It's unclear, though, when Robert Mueller will officially wrap up his probe. But the president and his legal team are expected to hand back their answers within the next couple of weeks. And we'll see what happens from there.

Back to you.

BRIGGS: All right, Pamela, thanks.

The names mentioned as a replacement, Chris Christie, Lindsey Graham, Pam Bondi, several others.

KOSIK: Right.

BRIGGS: You would think the president would know by now, he's been hammering on Jeff Sessions for more than a year. But we'll see.

KOSIK: OK. The president rallying on the Fed for raising interest rates, kind of using the Jay Powell, the Fed chair, as a pinata. But it looks like the Fed is going to go ahead and raise rates anyway in December.

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[04:16:06] BRIGGS: The Trump administration planning to restrict the ability of those crossing the southern U.S. border illegally to seek asylum. The move essentially invokes national security powers to curb longstanding humanitarian protections. The rule becomes effective once the presidential proclamation is issued, which is expected to happen today. The ACLU calls the rule illegal. Meantime, thousands of migrants in Mexico City voted Thursday night to continue their trek north to the U.S.-Mexico border. They are still hundreds of miles away.

KOSIK: Nancy Pelosi calls the firing of Jeff Sessions a perilously constitutional moment. Here is what she told CNN's Chris Cuomo when he asked her if the move was designed to interfere with the Mueller investigation. Listen.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), CALIFORNIA: Our concern is, of course, that they will interfere and say the president is above the law. What we can do about it is what many of our chairmen and ranking members, now seemed to be chairmen, in the House have sent a letter saying we must preserve the documents of the Mueller investigation. We must preserve the -- the preservation of the documents is essential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Pelosi also says she is 100 percent confident she will be the next House speaker. But a small group of Democrats is looking for a new leadership. It's fired its post-midterm salvo, nine House members calling for a change to caucus rules for electing a speaker and requesting a debate at a meeting next week.

BRIGGS: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is recovering at her office and fracturing three ribs. The 85-year-old RBG admitted to the hospital Thursday morning for observation. Ginsburg's health has become the subject of much attention in recent years. In November 2014 she underwent a heart procedure. In 2009, she was treated for early stages of pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg said in July she hopes to stay on the bench past 2020.

KOSIK: OK. Members of the Federal Reserve have agreed to hold interest rates steady this month. So that leaves the benchmark rate which determines the cost of borrowing on credit cards, mortgages and other loans unchanged sitting at the rate of 2 percent and 2.25 percent.

In a statement on Thursday, the Fed said, since officials met in September, quote, "The labor market continues to strengthen and economic activity has been rising at a strong rate." Employers added 250,000 jobs last month. That surpassed expectations. We saw wages grow 3.1 percent. That's actually the biggest jump in a decade.

And the Fed is widely expected to raise rates at its final meeting happening in December. And then gradually raise rates into 2019. And that could mean more attacks by President Trump on his own Fed chair Jay Powell. Trump has repeatedly complained that Powell is raising rates too quickly hurting the stock markets.

Higher rates also affect borrowing costs. Mortgage rates on Thursday hitting the highest level in eight years.

BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, encouraging news about smoking rates in the United States. Why the numbers are down and a new nicotine problem on the horizon.

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[04:23:37] KOSIK: Welcome back. The number of adult cigarette smokers in the U.S. has fallen to its lowest level since 1965 when data was first collected. According to the CDC, it is down to 14 percent. It was over 40 percent in the mid 1960s. Smoke-free policies and increases in the price of tobacco, that is the reason for your seeing the decrease.

BRIGGS: Now the Food and Drug Administration expected to impose severe restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette products as soon as next week. The agency growing more alarmed by a rapid increase in vaping among minors. New restrictions target flavored e-cigarettes in tens of thousands of convenient stores and gas stations across the country, along with age verification for online sales.

KOSIK: And that's dangerous because some kids think that vaping is not dangerous. So that's --

BRIGGS: I'll tell you what.

KOSIK: That's what's concerning.

BRIGGS: That's entirely the reason smoking cigarette is down. Vaping is dramatically on the rise among these high school kids.

KOSIK: It's upsetting when I hear the kids come home like kids come home from school.

BRIGGS: Yes.

KOSIK: And say that people are vaping in the bathrooms at schools.

BRIGGS: Several. Yes.

KOSIK: OK. Police have found the stolen SUV used to kidnapped 13- year-old Hania Aguilar in North Carolina but she is still missing. On Monday a man jumped into the vehicle which had its engine idling and took off with the girl inside. The SUV was found Thursday morning less than 10 miles from the mobile home park where she vanished. [04:25:02] Law enforcement asking for the public's help in identifying

the man seen walking in this video that you see here, in the area where Aguilar disappeared. And he is now the suspect but he may have seen something. The FBI offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to Aguilar's safe return.

BRIGGS: A Dutchman wants to be 20 years younger to avoid age discrimination. According to the BBC, Emile Ratelband who calls himself a young god, asked a court in the Netherlands to shift his birthday from 1949 to 1969, says he would give up his monthly pension if he's granted the request. Comedian James Corden weighed in on "The Late Show" on CBS.

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JAMES CORDEN, COMEDIAN: This guy is 45 years old. And he admits that he is doing this so that he can attract more women on Tinder. Hard to believe he's single, isn't it? Most guys lie on Tinder anyway. I'm just impressed this guy is going through the proper legal channels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: I've never spent a moment on Tinder, but would that help this guy with the ladies? They'd say you look pretty old for 45.

KOSIK: Possibly though. You never know what they're looking for.

BRIGGS: All right. Good luck to you, sir.

KOSIK: Another Florida election mired in national controversy. Claims of voter fraud by the Republicans as Democrats narrow the gap in two big races.

BRIGGS: And wildfires raging in California. Evacuations are under way. Emergencies declared as people try to escape.

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