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EARLY START

President Trump's Mood Sours Post-Election; California Wildfires Death Toll Jumps To 58; European Union Council President Confirms Brexit Summit; Wintry Mix Expected To Hit The Northeast. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 15, 2018 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president's mood taking a turn for the worse after midterms losses and a public rebuke from his wife.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats pick up two more House seats, but Nancy Pelosi's path to reclaim the speaker's gavel faces new challenges.

ROMANS: Election recount numbers due today in Florida. Which major county could miss the deadline and what it means for major races.

BRIGGS: And get ready for an ugly day along the east coast. A mix of floods, ice, and snow from the Deep South up to New England.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you all this morning at exactly 30 minutes past the hour.

We begin at the White House where's "he's pissed at damn near everyone." Those are the words of one White House official describing President Trump after a series of setbacks. An election night drubbing, infighting among aides, and the first lady's public demand to fire a national security official. Aides tell CNN the president is isolated and becoming angrier by the hour.

BRIGGS: A week after declaring almost complete victory in the midterms, the president's friends tell us he is bitter about election losses and worried by the intensifying Mueller investigation.

He's now openly musing about replacing more top aides, and the first one to go, that national security official Melania Trump wanted gone. The White House says Mira Ricardel has been transferred out of the National Security Council to another administration job.

ROMANS: All right, let's bring in Daniel Lippman, "Politico" reporter and co-author of the "Politico Playbook" newsletter. Good morning.

DANIEL LIPPMAN, REPORTER AND CO-AUTHOR, PLAYBOOK, POLITICO: Good morning.

ROMANS: Nice to see you.

BRIGGS: Good to see you.

ROMANS: So we're hearing so much about how the president's in a pretty dower mood here.

And it's interesting that as each day goes by we are still in the midst of an election, right? It's not settled. And we see these numbers continue to favor the Democrats more by the day.

Did we miss how blue the blue wave was?

LIPPMAN: I think we did and the media played up a number of Democrats who they thought were going to win in the Senate, which they didn't.

ROMANS: Beto O'Rourke, for example, got an awful lot of attention.

LIPPMAN: Yes, there was so many profiles of him in places like GQ and "The New York Times" magazine. And so I think with the results we had on Tuesday -- or last Tuesday -- people are expecting that Democrats would continue to pick up some of these seats. And that is just hurting Trump because he sees these on his T.V. screen and says well, what happened to the red wave?

And then he sees the first lady's office attack the West Wing, which is just extraordinary. You know, you didn't see that in previous presidencies.

ROMANS: That was really extraordinary. And that's one of the reasons -- you know, our sources are telling us the president is just so darn angry.

BRIGGS: Angry, yes. Hard to imagine why. Things certainly look a lot differently eight days later.

I want to switch to Nancy Pelosi and her future as House Speaker. The numbers are piling up. There certainly are the numbers to prevent her from returning as speaker but no one has really stepped up to really challenge Pelosi's leadership on the left.

Where do you see that headed, and is there a danger of returning to Pelosi's leadership given what happened in the midterms? So many ran against her returning.

LIPPMANN: That's true. We should remember that she said in an "L.A. Times" interview a few weeks ago that if she was returned to the speaker job it would be a transitional position. And so, she's not going to stay in there for eight years. I think the betting is maybe one term -- one congressional -- you know, two years.

And so, I think -- but there's really no one else to -- that has a stature to really step up.

BRIGGS: Yes.

LIPPMAN: Marcia Fudge has been making some noise about that.

But I don't think the Democrats want to vote for basically someone who does not have a public profile like Pelosi, who is a great fundraiser as well. That's one of the reasons she has gotten the trust and loyalty of many Democrats that she --

BRIGGS: Yes.

LIPPMAN: -- very helpful with cash.

BRIGGS: Fudge and Tim Ryan now ruling out running for leadership.

But to your point, she raised nearly a billion dollars or helped raise nearly a billion dollars, a record for House Democrats in this election cycle.

ROMANS: Daniel, let me ask you about a whiff of bipartisanship in Washington. Yesterday, you saw this proposal that would unwind some of the real -- like the tough on crime --

LIPPMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: -- rules of past administrations in past decades.

Will that translate, do you think, into more bipartisanship? Could you see the president, as irritated and irritable as he is right now, reaching across the aisle to try to get maybe infrastructure of something else done?

LIPPMAN: Yes. I was at a Miller Center event yesterday and with Trump officials and others and they talked about how the infrastructure drug pricing is a potential way to work with Democrats -- and opioids.

[05:35:05] ROMANS: Yes.

LIPPMAN: And so there are a number of things that -- because Democrats need to show that they are not just investigating Trump and so they need to rack up some wins, too. And so that's where they have a common interest with the president.

BRIGGS: I'm not holding my breath for further bipartisan work but hopefully, there is some more of it.

I've got to ask you, though, about our favorite morning reading this morning -- other than the "Politico Playbook" -- which is the full transcript of the president's interview with "The Daily Caller" yesterday in which, among other things --

ROMANS: Required reading.

BRIGGS: -- he says, you know, you need a voter I.D. to buy a box of cereal. He says sometimes voters go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again.

He also claimed there are thousands of people that were bussed from Massachusetts to vote in New Hampshire. That did not happen.

What's behind all of this? All of this is just utter nonsense. I don't have time to get into the fact that "The Daily Caller's"

follow-up question was, "Do you think they should call Florida right now, sir?" Nice journalism there.

But what's behind all of this nonsense?

LIPPMANN: You know, I think Trump is clearly angry. So sometimes when he wants to vent, he'll bring in an outlet like "The Daily Caller" which has had some -- which does both positive and negative coverage of the president. But I think he has lost touch with parts of reality.

I wrote stories during the campaign where I'd watch hours of Trump rallies and press conferences for a whole week and would catalog this misstatements and lies. And there was once every three minutes during September-October of 2016. And now, once he's in as president it's really gone up.

And so --

ROMANS: Yes.

LIPPMANN: The cereal thing kind of reminds me of George H.W. Bush not knowing what a price scanner was at the grocery store.

ROMANS: I know.

BRIGGS: I got cereal on the way in. No voter I.D. required. But I got me some Raisin Bran Crunch.

ROMANS: I mean, I thought maybe he meant --

LIPPMAN: Too bad you're in D.C.

ROMANS: -- Sudafed or -- you know, I mean -- you know, you do need an I.D. to buy some things at the convenience store but, I mean, come on.

LIPPMANN: He clearly has not been to a grocery store for --

ROMANS: I don't think so -- all right.

BRIGGS: No -- no bodegas.

Thank you, buddy.

ROMANS: Daniel Lippmann, thank you.

LIPPMANN: Thank you.

ROMANS: Retired Republican Sen. Jeff Flake threatened to do what he can to block Trump's judicial nominees unless bipartisan legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller receives a floor vote.

Flake's threat not to vote for Trump's nominees came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a floor vote on the special counsel bill Flake and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons are pushing. BRIGGS: Flake and a handful of other Republican senators say the legislation is necessary after the president fired Jeff Sessions and named Matt Whitaker acting attorney general. Whitaker has been openly critical of the Mueller probe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: With the firing of the attorney general and, in my view, the improper installation of an acting attorney general who has not been subject to confirmation by this body, the president now has this investigation in his sights and we all know it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: McConnell and other Senate Republicans say the measure is not needed because the president is not about to fire Mueller.

ROMANS: All right.

The death toll in California now stands at 58 as catastrophic wildfires ravage the state. At this hour, 56 people known to have died in the Camp Fire in Northern California, making it by far the deadliest wildfire in state history. One hundred thirty people are unaccounted for.

BRIGGS: The Camp Fire, now estimated to have burned 138,000 acres, is just 35 percent contained. The National Guard going from house-to- house looking for victims.

ROMANS: The utility company PG&E could be in deep financial trouble if it is found liable for the Camp Fire. The utility disclosed Tuesday it experienced an outage just 15 minutes before the Camp Fire started.

In the face of tragedy people are stepping up, though. A California couple took in a 93-year-old veteran after he fled the fire Paradise.

BRIGGS: Donations of things like food, clothes, and blankets also piling up at this parking lot in Chico, California. Some donations even being brought by sea. One man filled his 150-foot yacht with supplies which were brought to shore by volunteers to be delivered where they're needed. Pretty cool.

ROMANS: All right.

Five government ministers resigning in rapid succession overnight. The new Brexit deal not popular. Theresa May addressing Parliament right now. We're going to go live to the U.K.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:43:47] BRIGGS: Five forty-three eastern time. The latest on Brexit now.

European Union Council president Donald Tusk accepting the draft plan backed by the cabinet of British Prime Minister Theresa May and setting a final meeting, finalize, and formalize the agreement just 10 days from now.

The fallout was quick. The Brexit secretary and several government ministers resigning in quick succession overnight. Now, the prime minister is defending the deal as we speak.

CNN's Nina dos Santos live in Britain with more. This has not been smooth sailing. Good morning, Nina.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: Good morning to you, Dave.

Well, no, it hasn't been smooth sailing at all. We're now at the culmination of over 1,000 hours' worth of negotiations with Brussels.

But finally, the U.K. and the E.U. feel that they have some kind of technical draft -- 585 pages worth of legal ease that Theresa May is, right now, trying to explain to both sides of the House of Parliament.

And frankly, she's been laughed out of the room in the last 45 minutes or so after she tried to explain that, as she put it, this was not a final deal. It was a draft treaty towards, as she put it, a smooth Brexit -- cue laughter.

Well, just as she's trying to sell this deal to Parliament, she's not officially having to ask them to vote on it today. That's going to happen in about a months' time before she makes a pit stop to Brussels.

[05:45:05] We've had a succession, as you pointed out, of important cabinet ministers resigning, starting out with the biggest of the big pro-Brexit beasts. That is the Brexit secretary -- the man in charge of these negotiations, Dominic Raab, who said he couldn't support the deal that's being put on the table, largely because it was too detrimental to the interests of Northern Ireland, which is still part of the U.K. and kept the U.K. still half in and half out of the E.U.

Since then, we've had a resignation every 90 seconds, Dave.

BRIGGS: Nina dos Santos, live for us this morning just before 11:00 there. Nina, thank you.

ROMANS: All right.

More trouble for Facebook. "The New York Times" reports Facebook hired a political opposition-research group after criticism of how it handled Russian interference in the 2016 election.

This exhaustive "Times" expose reports how Facebook expanded its work with a group called Definers Public Affairs in October 2017 to push back on the criticism about the company. Definers reportedly wrote articles attacking Google, attacking Apple, but downplaying how Facebook was affected by Russian interference.

The "Times" reports, quote, "Facebook employed a Republican opposition-research firm to discredit activist protesters, in part by linking them to the liberal financier George Soros." It also tapped its business relationships, lobbying a Jewish civil rights group to cast some criticism of the company's anti-Semitic. Those articles were then published on NTK Network, an affiliate of Definers whose content is followed by politically conservative outlets, including Breitbart.

Other revelations in this "Times" report include Sheryl Sandberg's anger at Facebook's former security chief when Facebook was told about the full extent of Russian interference in 2016.

The title of this "New York Times" story -- "Delay, deny, deflect -- how Facebook leaders leaned out in crisis."

BRIGGS: Strong.

ROMANS: Worth a read.

Global stock markets higher right now. Optimism about the U.S.-China trade war. China made an opening bid to reopen trade talks ahead of President Trump and President Xi's meeting this month at the G20.

Let's go around the world.

In Asia, the Nikkei fell. Shanghai and Hang Seng rose.

European markets opened slightly higher. In London, the FTSE up about half a percent.

Stock index futures, right now in the U.S. are also higher. But the Dow closed down 206 points -- that's about eight-tenths of a percent -- Wednesday. It was another turbulent day on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 also declining. The Nasdaq down.

And, Apple lost another three percent on iPhone demand concerns.

Uber is still losing money as it races toward a much anticipated public offering. Uber said it lost $1 billion in the three months ending in September. That's up from the $891 million loss last quarter as it invests in new services like scooters.

In its latest earnings release, Uber highlighted strong growth in its food delivery service. Uber Eats topping $2 billion. Last month, Uber announced it would expand Uber Eats to cover 70 percent of the U.S. population by the end of the year.

Uber has repeatedly said it expects to go public in the year 2019 -- next year.

BRIGGS: All right, 5:48 eastern time.

And moments ago, Broward County finished tallying votes for the Florida recount. Governor Rick Scott says he will recuse himself from certifying the election in which he is the Republican Senate candidate. Scott even in D.C. yesterday getting introduced as a new senator. In unofficial results before the recount began, Scott led Democrat Bill Nelson by fewer than 13,000 votes but still, what looks like an insurmountable lead.

The official results are due at 3:00 eastern time. But one big county may not make it.

Here's Jessica Dean in Lauderhill, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave and Christine.

We have made it to Thursday. This is the day that so many eyes have been on because this is the deadline, 3:00 p.m. today, when all counties across Florida are supposed to their recount tallies into the Secretary of State's office.

Here in Broward County, they say they are on track to get that completed without any issues. That they will have those new numbers in -- their new count into the Secretary of State's office by the deadline.

But, Palm Beach County is standing out as the one county across Florida that says they're not sure that they're going to make it. They have been plagued by old equipment that is overheating. It's not able to really take the pace that a lot of this other equipment that they have here at Broward County is able to take. That has slowed down the process for them.

The supervisor of elections there saying on Wednesday she was in prayer mode that they were going to make the deadline.

Now, Democrats have a pending lawsuit to lift all deadlines for the recount to make sure that everyone gets those numbers in. The law currently says that if they don't meet the deadline that the Election Day numbers -- those unofficial numbers they first submitted last Saturday will stand.

So, a lot of moving parts and don't forget, a lot of lawsuits sitting out there as well. There will be more to come on this throughout the day. But again, today at 3:00, that's the time to watch -- Dave and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

BRIGGS: Great reporting there.

Next, some breaking news regarding the killing if Jamal Khashoggi. The death penalty being seeked out for five by the Saudis. We'll have the breaking news for you when we return.

[05:50:03] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRIGGS: All right, some breaking news this morning.

Saudi Arabia's prosecutor has charged five people with a capital crime in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for the five who were directly involved in ordering and executing the crime. A total of 11 people were charged.

ROMANS: It is going to be cold -- cold temperatures invading the northeast and more. A wintry mix is also moving across the mid- Atlantic to the coast, bringing with it rain, snow, and ice. Eighty million people under winter weather advisories.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has the forecast for us.

[05:55:03] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Dave and Christine.

A major winter storm impacting the east coast today. You can see how it is evolving across the Ohio River Valley, overspreading moisture and plenty of cloud cover across the region.

We've got several concerns that we're monitoring, including a full-on ice storm across central and southern Indiana and portions of southwest Ohio with the potential for heavy snowfall, especially away from the coastline in the major cities. However, we still have the potential for some of the white stuff on the ground from Newark all the way to Boston.

Over 80 million Americans under a winter weather advisory, winter storm warning, ice storm warning. Five to seven inches of snow possible in St. Louis today and right along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, with higher elevation snowfall for Upstate Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, into New York as well. It could exceed a half a foot.

Thirty-one million people impacted by the potential of flooding today from Atlanta all the way to the nation's capital. You can see the rain and snowfall totals for this region. Maybe a couple of inches on the ground by this time tomorrow in New York City.

Thirty-five degrees today for the Big Apple but we warm up quickly into the weekend.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, we'll take it. Thanks, Derek.

Calls for action from supporters of an Illinois security guard shot and killed after apprehending an alleged gunman outside a bar.

The Midlothian Police Department released a statement saying they view the shooting death of Jemel Roberson as the equivalent of a blue-on- blue friendly fire incident. But the mother of Roberson's 9-month-old son and the family's lawyer, they're calling for the officer to be fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE MERRITT, ATTORNEY FOR JEMEL ROBERSON'S FAMILY: It's one thing down for them to give that lip service to say that this was like a blue-on-blue shooting and it was friendly fire. But there's nothing friendly about it to this family. They want to see justice.

It's one thing to sympathize with the family. It's actually something completely different to take tangible steps towards justice and they haven't done that yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The unidentified white officer involved in the incident has been with the department for nearly four years. That officer has been placed on administration leave until an independent investigation is completed.

BRIGGS: New revelations this morning about that Southwest Airlines jet whose engine blade snapped, shattered a window, and injured a passenger who later died.

At an NTSB hearing Wednesday the manufacturer said its concerns with the design of the engine fan blade date back to the engine's earliest days in the 1990s. It failed its first round of certification tests but was given the green light in a subsequent test.

Investigators also learning when alarms sounded in the cockpit the pilot struggled with equipment issues that prevented them from communicating with flight attendants, air traffic controllers, firefighters, and each other.

ROMANS: Attorney Michael Avenatti adamantly denying any wrongdoing after this arrest on suspicion of felony domestic violence.

The Los Angeles Police Department says the report was taken Tuesday in West Los Angeles. Avenatti posted $50,000 bail then left police custody Wednesday evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL AVENATTI, ATTORNEY FOR STORMY DANIELS, ARRESTED ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGES: I have never struck a woman. I never will strike a woman. I am a father to two beautiful, smart daughters. I would never disrespect them by touching a woman inappropriately or striking a woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Avenatti has floated the idea of a possible 2020 presidential run. After his arrest, the Vermont Democratic Party canceled Avenatti's appearances set for Friday and Saturday.

BRIGGS: The funeral will be held today for Sheriff Ron Helus who was killed last week in the Thousand Oaks shooting.

The Country Music Awards honoring the 12 victims of last week's shooting at a Southern California country music bar. Musician Garth Brooks opened the show, dedicating the show to the victims killed at the Borderline Bar and Grill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARTH BROOKS, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Tonight, let's celebrate their lives. Let the music unite us with love and their enduring memory. So please, join me now in a moment of silence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Sadly, this is the second year in a row that the celebration of country music this sort of dilemma. The Las Vegas shooting last year came just a few weeks before the awards.

They want to be celebrating, right?

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: But at the same time, you have to mourn and -- twice. Two years in a row they had to do that.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's come down from this enormous sugar high and he's facing an entirely new reality.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: White House officials tell CNN yes, he's pissed at damn near everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a lot of churning going on and at this White House nothing is behind closed doors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're working 24/7. We're trying to meet a deadline that shouldn't be there.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: President Trump and Gov. Scott lied. Their own Republican officials said there's no fraud.

RICK SANTORUM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: People lie, cheat, steal every day. If you don't think they do it during an election you're deluding yourself.

(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, November 15th --