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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Ford Wants FBI Probe First; North Korea's Nuke Agreement; Trump Visits Carolinas Today; Tornado of Fire. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 19, 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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[04:00:14] LISA BANKS, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD: It's premature to talk about hearings on Monday.

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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford say they want the FBI to investigate her accusations against Brett Kavanaugh before any Senate hearing.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, North Korea just agreed to shut down a main nuclear site, but there's a big catch.

BRIGGS: President Trump visits the Carolinas today as the death toll climbs in the flood disaster left behind by Hurricane Florence.

ROMANS: Firefighters get into a tug-of-war with a tornado of fire. Guess who wins. The pictures are remarkable.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: That is extraordinary. I'm Dave Briggs. It's Hump Day, September 19th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

We start, of course, with the latest on the Supreme Court. The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault says she will not testify to senators until the FBI investigates her claims. The lawyer for Christine Blasey Ford telling Anderson Cooper last night that her client wants to cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee but that the process must not be rushed.

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BANKS: It's premature to talk about a hearing on Monday. And I think people understand that because she has been dealing with the threats, the harassment, and the safety of her family. Asking her to come forward in four or five days and sit before the Judiciary Committee on national TV is not a fair process.

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ROMANS: Ford's request for delay seeming to shift the momentum among Republicans. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley saying in a statement that nothing the FBI does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee, so there's no reason for any further delay. Even Senator Bob Corker, a frequent Trump critic, tweeting, Republicans extended a hand in good faith. If we don't hear from both sides on Monday, let's vote.

President Trump, so far, maintaining the restraint he's shown since the accusations against Kavanaugh were first revealed.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hopefully, the woman will come forward, state her case. They will look at what she had to say from 36 years ago.

I don't know about the other party, but Judge Kavanaugh's very anxious to do it.

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BRIGGS: Two of Brett Kavanaugh's former classmates say they have no recollection of the party where Ford says the assault occurred. Ford says both Mark Judge and Patrick Smyth were at the party and that Judge was in the room when the attack took place. Smyth sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying he has no knowledge of the party or the alleged improper conduct. Smyth described Kavanaugh as a person of great integrity.

ROMANS: In a separate letter, Judge writes, Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends, but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford's letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes.

Now, Judge's memoir of his time as a student at Georgetown Prep is now drawing attention. This memoir is called "Wasted: Tales of a Gen-X Drunk." It recounts a culture of heavy drinking at a school, quote, positively swimming in alcohol, tales of blackouts. Just not a very austere at what the prep school was like.

BRIGGS: No, it sounded like an unusual atmosphere. But Brett Kavanaugh has been seen on microphone saying what happened at Georgetown Prep should stay at Georgetown Prep.

ROMANS: There's the question if you say I don't recall this party, I don't recall in happening, I never saw this happening --

BRIGGS: Would you recall it?

ROMANS: Right.

BRIGGS: We'll see.

Anita Hill who accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in 1991 weighing in with a "New York Times" op-ed entitled "How to get the Kavanaugh hearings right." Now, a law professor she slams the Senate Judiciary Committee saying, quote, the fact that there's no protocol for vetting sexual harassment suggests that it's learned little from the Thomas hearing, much less the #MeToo movement.

We should note this is not sexual harassment, but a crime that is accused. Hill adds that as Judge Kavanaugh stands to gain the lifetime privilege of serving on the highest court, he has the burden of persuasion and that is only fair.

ROMANS: President Trump travels this morning to storm-ravaged North and South Carolina. The region is still struggling with epic flooding from Hurricane Florence. Two detainees being transported by sheriff's deputies were killed Tuesday when their vehicle was overtaken by floodwaters. That raised the death toll to 36, 27 of those fatalities coming in North Carolina, eight in South Carolina. One in Virginia, that was a tornado-related death.

We get more this morning from CNN's Miguel Marquez.

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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Dave, we're on the Person Street Bridge in Fayetteville.

[04:05;02] They had to shut down because engineers are concerned about all the debris moving under this bridge. I want to show something what's happening here.

We're on Person Street Bridge. Up there, that is the Grove Street Bridge. That bridge may have to be shut down as well because of the river here, the Cape Fear River. The water is still rising, has about a foot to go in the next 12 hours or so. They think that it will actually crest.

The bigger concern right now is this rail bridge just below us, the CSX rail bridge. You can see the amount of the waters hitting the bridge and the amount of debris that is now gathering in the center of that bridge, putting a lot of stress on it.

We have a drone up overhead. Person Street. It can move over to the train bridge to show you exactly sort of how much debris is gathered and how much pressure there is on the bridge.

I want to point out one other thing here. There's a street light here. This is kind of amazing. That is normally where the end of a boat ramp is.

It is clearly 20 or 30 feet below that now, and one other picture to show you. This is a picture of right near downtown Fayetteville. That's about a half mile from where we are right now. That river is moving up toward the downtown area.

They've not seen anything like this since 1945. They believe downtown will be okay, but they're concerned that it's getting close to city hall, their visitors bureau, and several businesses in downtown Fayetteville, as well. Authorities here say they have done everything they can. And at this point, it is just sitting back and hoping that everything goes according to plan -- Dave, Christine.

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BRIGGS: All right. Miguel, thank you.

Add this to the losses from Florence. North Carolina's Department of Agriculture says 3.4 million chickens and turkeys have been killed along with 5,500 hogs. That's already double the toll from Hurricane Matthew in 2016. And those numbers are expected to go higher.

ROMANS: President Trump standing by his unprecedented order to declassify a host of documents and text messages related to the Russia investigation. Intelligence officials have voiced concern declassifying materials in an active investigation could jeopardize sources and methods. But the president is not backing off his order to immediately declassify parts of the surveillance application for former campaign aide Carter Page.

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TRUMP: We want transparency. What I want is I want total transparency. This is a witch hunt. Republicans are seeing it. The Democrats know it's witch hunt, too, but they won't admit it because that's not good politics for them.

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ROMANS: Democrats expressed profound alarm at the president's order, even some Republicans are uneasy. Senate Intel Chairman Richard Burr says he would prefer to keep the documents classified but said declassifying, well, that's the president's prerogative.

BRIGGS: Breaking overnight, North and South Korea have committed to an era of no war on the Korean peninsula. At a joint news conference in the middle of their planned three-day summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced what Moon called a way to achieve denuclearization.

Paula Hancocks standing by live in Seoul for us.

Paula, this is a big offer from north Korea but it comes with a major catch, right?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Dave. Let me give you the main headlines from it. We have heard that North Korea is going to shut down Punggye-ri, which is the key test site for the ICBM program, the intercontinental ballistic missile program that Washington is most concerned about. Now this is the missile engine site that is U.S. President Donald Trump have said Kim Jong-un had already guaranteed he would shut down.

But beyond that, what we're hearing is there are going to be international experts that will be invited in to be able to verify that. Now beyond that, we're also hearing that North Korea would be willing to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facility if the U.S. were to give corresponding measures. Now, this goes back to what North Korea has wanted all along. This quid pro quo, the step-by-step denuclearization, which up until this point, the U.S. has said that they are not willing to have. They want complete denuclearization, then they talk about concessions.

But just minutes after this declaration was signed and the statements were made by Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in, we did have a tweet from the U.S. President Trump saying that he welcomed what had happened, saying that it was exciting. Also mentioning the fact that the two Koreas were planning a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics.

There was a very wide-ranging agreement which the initial reaction from the U.S. president has been positive -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Yes. An extraordinary couple of days. Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul -- thank you.

ROMANS: President Trump says the U.S. is open to a trade deal with China just as Beijing retaliates against America's latest round of tariffs.

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TRUMP: And this impact on China, as you know, we're doing a very good job with China. China's been taking advantage of the United States for a long time.

[04:10:04] China wants to come over and talk, and we are always open to talking.

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ROMANS: The U.S. slapped tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods Monday. So, China hit back, targeting $60 billion in U.S. imports like meat, chemicals, clothes, and auto parts.

Now, that prompted the president to once again threaten China with additional tariffs on $267 billion in goods. That would cover everything the U.S. buys from China, everything the U.S. buy was China would have a tax on it, even consumer good that's have largely been spared so far, shoes, electronics, toys. That means consumers will likely pay more. In fact, the auto industry warns the tariffs on car parts would raise the price of a new car by several thousand dollars.

This latest tit-for-tat could hurt feature trade talks. China and the U.S. are gearing up for a new round this month with the powerful business lobby. The Business Roundtable warns that tariffs are the wrong way to achieve real reforms and threaten U.S. businesses and workers. For now, though, corporate profits are strong, and that tariff rate, that tax of 10 percent, not the 25 percent that many had feared, because that tariff rate is not as high as investor fears, Wall Street had shrugged off these trade concerns yesterday. Global stocks also rose overnight.

But this is real now. This is what it looks like. A punch and counter punch, tough talk from the United States and China. China dug in, the U.S. dug in, this is what a trade war looks like.

BRIGGS: But the continued strength of our economy would suggest we might have leverage here, and President Trump may. ROMANS: And that is -- that is the conventional wisdom in the White

House.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: That the U.S. economy is so strong that even if consumers have to pay a little bit more, it's not going to turn them off to the president's trade strategy. And Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross yesterday said, look, when you're talking about 6,000 different categories of goods and talking about a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in items, at least right now, he doesn't think the consumer's going to feel that.

BRIGGS: Though some studies suggest tens of thousands of U.S. jobs could be lost as a result.

ROMANS: And that's what the business lobby says.

BRIGGS: Right.

So, Stormy Daniels' folks sharing the x-rated details of her alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump. Her new tell-all book, "Full Disclosure," includes graphic descriptions of Mr. Trump's anatomy that we won't go into at this time.

Daniels also describes a tragic childhood and broken home that includes being repeatedly raped as a 9-year-old girl by a man who lived next door to a friend. The adult film star said she wrote the book because she wanted to get all the facts out and have a chance to defend herself. The White House has not responded to requests for comment.

ROMANS: President Trump will be the focus of another tell-all book. This one penned by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The book titled "The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump," the publisher says it will give a candid account of McCabe career and experience with President Trump. McCabe was, of course, abruptly fired by the president in March before his planned retirement date after coming under frequent attacks by the president. McCabe's book is set to hit store shelves in December.

And it has been -- Trump has been a big bookseller this year.

BRIGGS: I was going to say. It's been another Trump bump for the economy. The publishing industry -- on both sides, both pro and con Trump books. But they all seem to sell.

Up next, a woman convicted of helping abduct Elizabeth Smart is about to walk free.

ROMANS: And firefighters battle a tornado of flames.

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[04:17:35] ROMANS: The woman convicted along with her husband of abducting Elizabeth Smart 16 years ago being freed this morning. Wanda Barzee and Brian David Mitchell were tried on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault after holding 14-year-old Smart captive for nine months.

Barzee was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in exchange for her cooperation against her husband. Utah officials refused to say exactly what time this morning Barzee would be released.

BRIGGS: A homeless man has been charged with the murder of star Iowa state golfer Celia Barquin Arozamena. Arozamena was the well-known Spanish amateur golfer. She was found dead Monday after police say she was stabbed and left in a pond while playing a round of golf near campus. Twenty-two-year-old Colin Daniel Richards has been charged with first degree murder. Police say he has a history of violence and told an acquaintance he had, quote, an urge to rape and kill a woman.

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COMMANDER GEOFF HUFF, AMES POLICE DEPT.: Richards had several fresh scratches on his face consistent with a fight. And he was attempting to conceal a laceration on his left hand.

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BRIGGS: Authorities say Richards was living in a homeless encampment near the golf course in Ames, Iowa.

BRIGGS: Four men who were reportedly sexually abused as children by a religion teacher reaching a $27.5 million settlement with the Catholic diocese of Brooklyn. It's one of the largest settlements awarded to individual victims of abuse within the church. The victims suffered repeated abuse between 2003 and 2009 inside the church and at their abuser's apartment when they were between the ages of 8 and 12.

Meantime, in Indiana, the diocese of Fort Wayne-South publishing the names of 18 priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor, 18. The diocese says it hopes by publishing the names the public, the innocent victims can finally begin to heal. CNN is reaching out to the individuals on this list for comment.

BRIGGS: Take a look at this incredible video burning up the Internet, if you will. Firefighters in British Columbia versus a firenado. Crews were trying to extinguish the fiery twister when the tornado suddenly snatched up their hose.

One firefighter so frustrated he threw rocks at the twister. A crew member who shot this said it was more than 200 feet high and threw burning logs across their fire-control line for 45 minutes. They did eventually get the hose back. It was melted.

British Columbia has experienced one of the worst fire seasons on record.

[04:20:04] ROMANS: Wow.

BRIGGS: That is incredible.

ROMANS: That is incredible. Reminds you what a tough job those firefighters have.

All right. A reality TV doctor now stands accused of very disturbing crimes.

BRIGGS: And the truth about Bert and Ernie. What "Sesame Street" wants you to know about their bond?

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ROMANS: A California surgeon who appeared on a reality TV show now facing drug and rape charges. Dr. Grant William Robicheaux appeared on one episode of Bravo series "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male."

[04:25:00] He and his girlfriend Cerissa Laura Riley both accused of raping at least two women in separate attacks. Authorities say in both incidents the victims were unconscious. The Orange County D.A.'s office says it is looking for possible additional victims.

BRIGGS: "Sesame Street" being slammed on social media's anti-gay after making it clear Bert and Ernie are not lovers, they're just friends. The makers of the show released a statement saying essentially they don't have the sexual orientation, they're puppets, after a former "Sesame Street" writer told an LGBT Website he thought of the feuding puppets as lovers. Online commenters criticized Sesame workshop for stomping on potentially positive role models for children.

ROMANS: Ted Cruz getting a laugh on the campaign trail at the expense of his opponent, or PETA or tofu, it's not completely clear. The Texas senator tweeting: If Democrat Beto O'Rourke wins in November, barbecue will be illegal. He was mocking PETA protesters at a town hall over the weekend who gave out barbecued tofu. PETA in turn was responding to Cruz's last week that liberals across the country are donating to O'Rourke, hoping to turn Texas blue like California, quote, down to tofu, silicon and dyed hair.

Neither Cruz nor O'Rourke's campaign responded to a CNN request for comment.

BRIGGS: Politics in 2018.

ROMANS: If you listen to the remark, it -- he made the remark and also tweeted the same remark. But it was very clearly was joking.

BRIGGS: Yes. No small development, though. Ted Cruz up nine in the latest poll.

ROMANS: That's right, that's right.

BRIGGS: Looking like he's pulling away.

Ahead, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, throwing plans for highly anticipated Monday hearing in doubt.

ROMANS: And North Korea and South Korea just signing at agreement involving missiles. But the catch, that's next.

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