Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Senators Set A Deadline For Christine Blasey Ford To Decide If She Will Testify About Judge Kavanaugh; Trump Promises Help For The Carolinas Where The Worst Flooding Could Be Yet To Come. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired September 20, 2018 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Ramming them into a space that's far too small for carry-on.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I know, I know.
BRIGGS: All right, Early Start continues right now.
ROMANS: Senators set a deadline for Christine Blasey Ford to decide if she will testify about Judge Kavanaugh.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: President Trump continues to stand behind his Supreme Court nominee.
ROMANS: The president promises help for the Carolinas where the worst flooding could be yet to come.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the news article and I just started bawling. And I just felt like, what an idiot, like, how could I fall for that?
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: More women come forward with the stories of a reality TV doctor accused of disturbing sex crimes.
ROMANS: Plus, Mark Cuban gets emotional, apologizing for misconduct of the Dallas Mavericks. The Bleacher report coming up in just a few minutes. Good morning everyone, welcome to Early Start. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Good morning, my friend. Good morning all of you. I'm Dave Briggs. Thursday, September 20th. 5:00 a.m. in the east. The president rallying tonight in Las Vegas tonight. He might be talking Supreme Court, there's (ph) a showdown under way this morning this morning with between Senate Republicans and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says the Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley setting a deadline of 10:00 a.m. Friday for a decision from Ford on whether she will testify to the committee next Monday. But Ford's lawyer, Lisa Banks says in a statement to CNN that Grassley's "rush to a hearing is unnecessary and contrary to the committee discovering the truth." Banks says her client continues the rush to a hearing is unnecessary and contrary to the committee discovering the truth. Banks says her client continues to believe that a full, nonpartisan investigation of this matter is needed.
ROMANS: But Grassley is resisting calls from Ford and Banks for an FBI probe. He said he's focused on encouraging her to come and testify.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
GRASSLEY: Doing everything we can to make Dr. Ford comfortable with coming before committee either in an open session or closed session or a public or a private interview. That's four different ways she can choose to come. .
(VIDEO ENDS)
ROMANS: Grassley followed up with a letter to Ford explaining why the Senate, not the FBI is not the right body to investigate her allegations. He writes, "The FBI does not make a credibility assessment of any information it receives with respect to a nominee. The constitution assigns the Senate and only the Senate the task of advising and consenting to the nomination if the circumstances merit." Sources tell CNN if Ford chooses not to speak to the committee, the Monday hearing would likely be canceled and the panel could move to vote by midweek.
BRIGGS: OK, President Trump says he really wants to hear Christine Blasey Ford testify about her claim his nominee for Supreme Court sexually assaulted her. On his way to see hurricane devastation in the Carolinas, the president told reporters the Senate should give Ford all the time she needs to tell her story. Even opened the door to the possibly he could change his mind about Brett Kavanaugh.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: I really want to see her. I really would want to see what she has to say. If she shows up, that would be wonderful. If she doesn't show up, that would be unfortunate. If she shows up and makes a credible showing, that will be very interesting and we'll have to make a decision. But I can only say this; he is such an outstanding man. Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: The president emphasizing Kavanaugh's already been repeatedly investigated by the FBI for previous jobs and downplayed the prospect of an additional probe.
ROMANS: All right, Attorney General Jeff Sessions tightening the control of immigration courts with two quiet moves this week. In one decision, Sessions made it harder for immigration judges to show leniency to undocumented immigrants. In another he signaled, he may decide to keep asylum seekers in detention while they await their hearings. Sessions' moves came as the president is saying repeatedly that he's not happy with Sessions for lack of action on immigration among other things.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: I'm disappointed in the attorney general for numerous reasons, but we have an attorney general. I'm disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons and you understand that.
(VIDEO ENDS)
ROMANS: Trump attacked Sessions in an interview with Hill TV saying "I don't have an attorney general. I'm not happy at the border. I'm not happy with numerous things."
BRIGGS: The Trump administration says a second effort to locate immigrant children released from U.S. custody again found that nearly 1,500 could not be located. A similar effort last year came up with almost identical number. Officials say the children are not necessarily lost; it may be as simple as no one picking up the phone when Health and Human Services calls. The figures were released by the bipartisan group of senators working on a bill that would make the government responsible for children even after they're released.
ROMANS: President Trump optimistic about the solution to the North Korean nuclear threat, Wednesday.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: We're making tremendous progress with respect to North Korea. Prior to becoming president, it looked like we were going to war with North Korea and now
[05:05:00]
Solution to the North Korean nuclear threat, Wednesday.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: We're making tremendous progress with respect to North Korea. Prior to becoming president, it looked like we were going to war with North Korea and now we have a lot of progress. In the meantime, we are talking, it's very calm. He's calm, I'm calm. So we'll see what happens.
(VIDEO ENDS)
ROMANS: The president spoke hours after the north and south hammered out a deal announcing Pyongyang would close a key missile test facility and potentially destroy a nuclear complex if the U.S. agrees to quote, "corresponding measures." CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul live for us this morning with the very latest. And so what does that mean, exactly?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN REPORTER: Well Christine, that's the question. What are those corresponding measures? We know that North Korea has said that it wants in the past; it wants a declaration to the end of the Korean War, a peace treaty, lifting of sanctions. But we don't know exactly what these corresponding measures would be.
Now, what we know is that in the past, Washington has said that they won't make concessions before there is complete denuclearization. So from this declaration over the past three-day summit, North Korea is effectively once again saying its wants a step by step denuclearization, it wants a quid pro quo agreement. But the U.S., the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seem to be welcoming of this result.
We heard from Secretary Pompeo saying that he's going to be meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that's just next week, that starts. And there will be another meeting with the U.S. and North Korean officials in Vienna, Austria. So what this has done is this has sparked the dialogue once again, which has been completely stalled.
There have been a stalemate with the U.S. and North Korea, and clearly had this is what South Korean President Moon Jae-in is being designated, the chief negotiator, was hoping for. There was a huge amount of pressure on him to come back with something, and even though critics say there's not an awful lot that's new in the denuclearization part of this agreement, at least he has managed to get the two sides talking again. Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Paula for us in Seoul. Thank you so much for that.
BRIGGS: President Trump's attorney claims NBC edited Lester Holt's interview with the president last year where Mr. Trump said he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he fired James Comey as FBI director. Here is the president telling that to Lester Holt in May of 2017.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
TRUMP: I was going to fire Comey, knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself. I said, you know this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: Special Counsel Bob Mueller's team is looking into the move against Comey amounted to obstruction in the Russia investigation. But last night, trumps attorney, Jay Sekulow argued that the network edited the interview. He said there was a longer version where the president said he realized that firing Comey might not shorten the Russia probe.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
JAY SEKULOW: We think the transcript without question, supports the president realized that when he fired James Comey, it might actually extend this investigation. He said that on the tape.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: Sekulow did not offer proof that NBC edited the interview. CNN has reached out to the network for comment.
ROMANS: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn set to be sentenced on December 18th. He pled guilty last December to one charge of lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. The retired lieutenant general agreed to cooperate with the Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The setting of a sentencing suggests the special counsel's need for Flynn's cooperation is coming to an end.
BRIGGS: New York Congressman Chris Collins has returned to actively campaigning for reelection this morning while under indictment on federal insider trading charges. The Buffalo area republican tweeting Wednesday that quote, "the stakes are too high to allow the radical Left to take control of this seat in Congress."
Last month, Collins suspended his campaign while the GOP looked for a way to replace him as candidate. In the end, Collins' lawyer concluded there was no clear path to putting a substitute on the ballot. Collins was one of the president's earliest supporters in the 2016 campaign. He has called the securities in wire fraud charges against him quote, "meritless."
ROMANS: Right, America's trade war with China may have killed a potential one million U.S. jobs. That's according to Chinese tech billionaire, Jack ma. Ma runs China's biggest ecommerce company, Alibaba. Last year, he pledged to create a million U.S. jobs. That followed a very high profile meeting, remember, with then President- Elect Trump.
But now Ma says the plan is off. He told China's official news agency the promise was made on the premise of friendly U.S. partnership and that (ph) rational trade relations, that premise no longer exists today, so our promise cannot be fulfilled. Alibaba confirmed Ma's comments to us. Ma has long expressed fears of a trade war between the U.S. and China, calling it a mess that could last two decades.
His latest comments follow a fresh volley of tariffs, but analysts now -- some analyst have long doubted Ma's commitment, his million job pledge.
[05:10:00]
Alibaba didn't plan on investing or building factories in the U.S., instead, Ma wanted to help American small business and American farmers sell their products in China.
BRIGGS: Great read on all this trade war in the Washington Post about the knockoff designer bags have been the big winner.
ROMANS: Really?
BRIGGS: That's because obviously designer bags get hit with tariffs, but not the fakes. All right, ahead, prosecutors say he was like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, a wolf can wear scrubs or doctors' clothing.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: More on the reality TV doctor who may have preyed upon women all over the country.
ROMANS: And you'll hear what the president told people of the Carolinas who are still suffering after Hurricane Florence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: President Trump got a firsthand look at the devastation and flooding from Florence, Wednesday.
[05:15:00]
His six-hour visit came with the death toll from the hurricane turned tropical depression, now at least 36. Rivers are still rising, some of them swollen and expected to crest as early as today, creating a new round of flooding. Touring the region, President Trump met with first responders and evacuated residents assuring them America stands ready to help. Nick Watt has more from one of the hardest hit areas, Wilmington, North Carolina.
DAVE WATT, CNN REPORTER: Christine and Dave, well the sun is shining here in Wilmington, North Carolina, but the outlook is still bleak. The governor here said that we are a state that is hurting. The state is going to hurt for quite some time and here is why, I mean they still have thousands of people in shelters, hundreds of roads closed. And the long-term impact is also just beginning to be calculated.
The Carolinas rely heavily on tourism and agriculture. Fields have been inundated. And also 3 million chickens killed, 5,000 hogs dead. As the president said today, the people of South Carolina, for them, the worst may still be to come. One of the last trips -- spots on his trip here Wednesday was Conway in South Carolina where officials say that they don't think the river is going to peak and really cause damage until Friday. Other rivers may not peak until next weekend. One of the officials down in North Myrtle Beach texted me, you know, we are slowly becoming an island. The president's message on his trip.
(VIDEO BEGINS) TRUMP: Washington is with you. Trump is with you. We are all with you 100 percent and we will get through it.
(VIDEO ENDS)
WATT: So that was the message from the president's trip. There were two messages really, one is for South Carolina, the worst could still be to come. The second was whatever happens; the federal government will do whatever it can to help you. Christine and Dave.
BRIGGS: OK, Nick Watt, thanks. Officials in California say six new people have been identified who may have been drugged and raped by a California surgeon Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend Cerissa Riley. The Orange County D.A. Office says two of the cases appeared outside of the state and one of the victims may now live outside of U.S. One woman who went on a Tinder date with Robicheaux who appeared on an episode of a Bravo reality show says, while she wasn't drugged or raped, the suspect did make unwanted sexual advances towards her.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
LAUREN HAYDEN: He took me to his jacuzzi where he trying to rip off my top and I kept trying to just put it back on. I kept tried to like, escape and he kept, like, pulling at my clothing.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BRIGGS: She says did not report the incident to police, in the meantime, the D.A. Office says it has received more than 30 calls with more coming in. Robicheaux and Riley are set to be arraigned on October 25th.
ROMANS: That is just a disturbing story. All right, Mark Cuban gets emotional over the conduct that occurred on his watch with the Dallas Mavericks. Lindsey Czarniak has more on this morning's Bleacher Report, next.
[05:20:00]
(SPORTS)
BRIGGS: Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban is taking action in response to reports of sexual harassment involving his team's employees.
ROMANS: Yes, that's right; Lindsay Czarniak has more on this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Lindsey.
BRIGGS: Free beer tonight, Cleveland fans.
CZARNIAK: Let's make a wager.
ROMANS: You had me at free beer.
BRIGGS: A beer wager, perhaps. Thank you, Lindsay. Ahead, Senate Republicans with a message for Christine Blasey Ford, make up your mind and do it fast. The latest on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation drama next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
