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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
North Carolina Authorities Expanding Search for Six Year Old; More Extreme Flooding for the Carolina's; Trump Shows Enthusiasm Over Denuclearization; Rod Rosenstein awaiting to be fired/resign. Aired 5- 5:30a ET
Aired September 25, 2018 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN HOST: Pleading to find out.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: Moscow is sending advanced missiles to the Assad Regime. Why now? And how it could heighten risks of an air war over Syria.
BRIGGS: And a remarkable rescue, a teen found alive on a floating fishing trap after seven weeks at sea.
ROMANS: Apparently he was filtering sea water though his own clothing and trying to get fresh water that way.
BRIGGS: You talk about that Thai cave rescue, just survival skills at it's finest. Good morning everyone. Welcome to Early Start. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: And I am Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, September 25th. It is 5:00 am in the east and boy, if Monday was Washington's version of a fire drill, expect Thursday to be even more chaotic.
President Trump will sit face-to-face with Rod Rosenstein, who, right now, is still Deputy Attorney General following a tumultuous day in the Capital. That meeting will happen as Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford both testify on Capitol Hill about her sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee.
BRIGGS: First on Rosenstein, a senior official tells us the Deputy Attorney General overestimated how angry the president would be. Rosenstein expected furry after "The New York Times" reports suggested he secretly recorded the president and discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
ROMANS: Rosenstein offered his resignation to Chief of Staff, John Kelly, Friday, which led to multiple discussions with top officials through yesterday. So, for now, the future of the man in charge of the rest of the Russia investigation remains very much up in the air.
Senior White House correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, has the lastest.
JEFF ZELENY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, President Trump waking up here in New York City for the second day of the United Nations General Assembly.
He certainly is going to be on the world stage, addressing world leaders, but it is troubles and controversy back in the White House that are overshadowing his entire meeting here. Now the question, of course is, is he going to fire Rod Rosenstein, they Deputy Attorney General?
Rod Rosenstein went to the White House yesterday expecting to be fired or prepared to resign, neither happened. The president said he wants to meet with him Thursday, when he gets back to Washington.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know I'm meeting with Rod Rosenstein on Thursday when I get back from all of these meetings and we'll be meeting at the White House and we'll be determining what's going on. We want to have transparency, we want to have openness and I look forward to meeting with Rod at that time.
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ZELENY: So the president talking about transparency, talking about openness, but what does that mean exactly? We're not certain, actually. Is he going to fire Rod Rosenstein? We don't know. Is he going to resign? We don't know that either.
One thing is clear, the president furious about the Russia investigation and blames Rod Rosenstein for all of it and certainly there are questions of loyalty here as well.
Dave and Christine.
BRIGGS: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thanks. Trump attorney, Jay Sekulow, meanwhile calling for a time out in the Russia investigation if Rod Rosenstein leaves his post. He says a replacement should conduct a review of the Mueller probe that is thorough and complete.
As for who might succeed Rosenstein, next in line at the Justice Department is Solicitor General, Noel Francisco, a conservative lawyer who worked in the Bush White House.
There are questions though about whether he'd need a waver to address potential conflicts of interest. Francisco was a partner at the law firm Jones Day, which represents the Trump campaign and the Mueller probe.
ROMANS: President Trump is standing by his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, telling Fox News the president called him on Monday to express his support. The judge remaining defiant in the face of a sexual assault allegation that threatens his confirmation.
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BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I'm not going to let false accusations drive us out of this process and we're looking for a fair process where I can be heard and defending my integrity, my life-long record, my life-long record of promoting dignity and equality for woman, starting with the woman who knew me when I was 14-years-old. I'm not going anywhere.
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ROMANS: So, "The Washington Post" reports President Trump called Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, on Saturday, demanding he call a vote on Kavanaugh's nomination.
BRIGGS: One White House official telling CNN, the president has been pushing for a more offense oriented approach. His nominee especially after a second Kavanaugh accuser surfaced in this "New Yorker" magazine story. The Administration used the allegation by Debbie Ramirez as chance to be more aggressive, since the story was thinly sourced.
Already seeing sign of that from Republican Senator, Orrin Hatch, who calls Ramirez's allegations, phony and is pointing the finger at Democrats.
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SEN. ORRIN HATCH, (R) UTAH: Well, it's amazing to me that these allegations come out of nowhere at the last minute and that they weren't brought up earlier in this process. And it's not untypical for our friends on the other side to pull that kind of crap.
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BRIGGS: More now from CNN's Phil Mattingly on Capitol Hill.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine and Dave, there may be new allegations, but there almost no shift in posture from Senate Republicans. If anything, they've gotten more aggressive in their desire to move forward with Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination.
Several Republican Senators, top Republican aids saying, to me, one in particular saying, they're more angry than worried about the nomination,
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believing that those allegations are related to a quote, unquote, "Democratic smear campaign."
Now Democrats, obviously, the complete other side of things, saying that this is more of a reason to have an expanded FBI background check, to hold off Thursday's scheduled hearing with Christine Blasey Ford, the initial accuser.
And it's testimony with enormous stakes. Stakes, obviously, for the Supreme Court nomination, also stakes for how the Senate deals with allegations like this. Stakes really for the whole country, given the moment that they're actually in. What will happen after the hearing? Well, Senate Majority Leader,
Mitch McConnell, made no bones about it. He said explicitly, on the Senate floor, Brett Kavanugh will get a vote, not matter what happens on Thursday.
Will they actually have the votes? Well, that's still an open question.
Christine and Dave.
ROMANS: Christine Blasey Ford, in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley, said she is frightened, but the fear will not hold her back from testifying. After a meeting in Mitch McConnell's office late Monday, some Republicans indicated to CNN, a final committee vote is possible this week on Kavanaugh's nomination. No firm date has been set.
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UNKNOWN FEMALE: We will not go back. We will not go back.
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ROMANS: A number of swing votes feeling the pressure. Protestors gathered Monday in the hallway leading to Senator Susan Collins office. One hundred twenty eight arrests on Capitol Hill yesterday. Collin says, she won't make up her mind on Kavanaugh until after Thursday's hearing.
BRIGGS: Lost in all the noise in Washington is the president's appearance at the United Nations. He addresses the General Assembly at 10:15 Eastern time this morning. The main focus yesterday, Mr. Trump's meeting with South Korean president, Moon Jae-In.
President Trump signaling plans to meet with Kim Jong Un again, and he addressed efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
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TRUMP: I see tremendous enthusiasm on our behalf of (inaudible) making a deal and I think that's something that's really good. We are in now rush, there's no hurry.
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BRIGGS: All right, let's get the latest from Will Ripley, joining us live from Hong Kong this morning. Will, the president sees tremendous enthusiasm. Do you see any concrete steps by the North to denuclearize?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point, this only steps that have been taken by the North could be considered by analysts as confidence building measures. They blew up their nuclear test sight at Punggye-ri, which we witnessed, it could probably be rebuilt pretty quickly. They are in the process of dismantling a satellite launch station, which, while significant, relies on somewhat outdated technology. North Korea has missiles that can be launched from anywhere. They don't need a launch station anymore.
They have made an offer to potentially allow international inspectors into their only known nuclear reactor, the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which is where they produce nuclear fuel and they have said that international inspectors could come in and watch them dismantle that permanently.
Now, we've seen them take the cooling tower there, back in 2008. Would these steps be more permanent and significant, well perhaps, but the North Koreans have said that in order for that to happen they need simultaneous steps, reciprocal measures taken by the United States.
And those reciprocal measures, they haven't specified yet. Does it mean that they want a peace treaty right up front? Something the U.S. has said, isn't going to happen until the end of the denuclearization proess.
Do they want relief from sanctions? Those are the kind of things that Kim Jong Un will be, presumably, sitting down face-to-face with President Trump and about.
The specifics, whenever this second summit happens, but a lot in the U.S. might feel, that at this point, the North hasn't really given up any nuclear weapons. They still have their full arsenal.
Why do they deserve a second meeting? Well, the answer could simply be, the praise that they are lavishing on President Trump, including the words from President Moon yesterday, from Kim Jong Un saying, you are, indeed, the only person who can solve this problem.
The North Korean's know that in order to get President Trump engaged, they keep on the praise and that's what they're doing, Dave.
BRIGGS: One could argue they haven't yet earned a first meeting, but here we are talking about a second. Will Ripley, live in Hong Kong, thanks.
ROMANS: All right, nine minutes past the hour folks. The FBI is joining the search now for a little boy with autism. He is missing in North Carolina and the search zone is now expanding.
BRIGGS: And a popular brand of nuts recalled over a possible E. coli concern. What you need to know.
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BRIGGS: Russia now further aligning itself with Syria. In the next two weeks, the Kremlin says it will arm the Assad regime with sophisticated air defense systems. That move could heighten the risks of air war over Syria. Last week, the Syrians accidentally shot down a Russian military
plane, killing 15 Russian Troops. The Kremlin blamed Israel for the incident; the United States blames someone else.
Frederik Pleitgen joins us live from Moscow, with the latest to explain an awful lot.
Fred, good morning.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN COORESPONDANT: Yeah it is an awful lot to explain, Dave. John Bolton, the National Security Advisor, essentially said that Iran was to blame for all this. Now, his reasoning behind that is convoluted. He says that because the Israelis were targeting pro Iranian areas in Syria, which happen to be around Latakia, which is also where the Russian Air base is, that therefore Iran is responsible for everything that happened afterwards.
Obviously the Syrian military accidentally taking down that Russian plane, thinking that it was firing at the Israelis, obviously the Russians are not satisfied with that answer whatsoever. They are squarely pointing the finger at Israel.
They say that an Israelis plane essentially used the Russian plane as cover, putting that Russian plane in the line of fire. Now, as a result of this the Russians are putting in this upgraded air defense system called the S-300.
They say the big difference with the S-300 is that could easily distinguish between friendly and unfriendly aircraft in the skies, also has a longer range and a far more sophisticated radar system as well.
The Russians say they need all this to make sure that their jets don't get shot down in the future, but of course,
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the U.S. and Israel says that this is something. That the significant escalation in that area. And, obviously, not only puts Israeli jets at risk, but, possibly, also American planes if they're operating in the skies above Syria.
We know from our own Barbara Starr's reporting that the U.S. is now looking into this new system. And it, essentially, believes that American jets can stay out of the range of the S-300, but it certainly could make maneuvering over Syria and around Syria more difficult for the U.S. And as we've heard there, from John Bolton, he believes that this could be a significant escalation, Dave.
BRIGGS: Israel, Iran, Russia, Syria all being blamed by various parties for this same incident. It points down at the complexity of the region. Fred Pleitgen, thank you.
ROMANS: All right. The President who prized (ph) himself on being a dealmaker has made a deal, signing a revised trade agreement with South Korea, the first major deal - trade deal since finalizing - since taking office. Along with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump signed this deal on the sidelines of the U.N. Monday. The President hailed it as a historic milestone in trade.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a long time in coming and it's a basic redoing of the agreement that was done before, which was a very unfair agreement for the United States.
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ROMANS: A long time coming. They've been working on this since, I think, July of 2017. This deal will open up South Korea to U.S. exports; cars, medicine, and ag (ph). The pact with South Korea comes as other trade talks are breaking down or stalling, specifically, China.
A senior Chinese official says the U.S. is putting a knife to its neck, making it hard to continue trade negotiations. Remember, China cancelled talks in Washington this week just as a fresh volley of tariffs hit both sides, including $200 billion on Chinese goods.
And while NAFTA talks seem to have stalled, the White House is pushing Canada to rewrite the deal by September 30. It wants Ottawa to agree to the frameworks set last month between the U.S. and Mexico. But high level talks broke down last week.
BRIGGS: All right, it's been 11 days since Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas, but the worst of the flooding in parts of South Carolina is still to come. In Georgetown County, water levels are expecting to crest Wednesday night into Thursday morning, thousands of residents now being urged to evacuate. At least 10 feet of flooding is expected. Several roadways are likely to be cut off and two shelters have opened.
ROMANS: Teams from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working to fortify portable dams along Highway 17 near the Waccamaw River, east of Georgetown. Businesses are boarding up and distributing sand bags. And with three additional storm related fatalities now reported in North Carolina, the overall death toll from Florence now stands at 47.
BRIGGS: All right. Coming up on Monday night football, the Pittsburg Steelers looking for their first win. Could Ryan Fitzpatrick keep Tampa Bay undefeated, Andy Sholes with the answer next in the Bleacher Report.
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ROMANS: Authorities in North Carolina expanding their search for six year old Maddox Scott Rich who went missing on Saturday. Police say the boy has autism. Maddox was last seen at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia, North Carolina. His parents say they lost sight of him when he ran off. Police have extended their search on the ground, and in the air, to two miles outside of the park. A variety of Mauna Loa macadamia nut products have been recalled because of possible E. coli contamination. Health inspectors found E. coli in the well water and distribution system at the company's facility in Hawaii. The affected products were made there between September 6 to the 21, no illnesses related to the water have been reported so far.
An Indonesian teenager plucked from the sea after drifting for 49 days. Nineteen year old Aldi Novel Adilang was working on a remote fishing trap off the course - coast, rather, of North Sulawesi. That's in Indonesia. He told CNN Indonesia that in mid-July, strong waves caused the traps anchor rope to break.
The platform drifted all the way to the waters of Guam, more than 1500 miles. He says many ships passed right by him until he was able to attract the attention of a passing cargo ship. Adilang was treated and then examined by the Japanese Coast Guard and returned home to Indonesia. Amazing, isn't that Dave?
BRIGGS: It is remarkable. All right, the Steelers survive a trip to Tampa, beating the Bucs for their first win of the season. Andy Scholes here with the Bleacher Report, Scholes the unpredictability of the NFL is beautiful, right, Ryan Fitzpatrick, 400 yards in three straight games.
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BRIGGS: Andy Scholes, thank you my friend.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: All right.
BRIGGS: Romans, over to you.
ROMANS: All right, thanks guys. Even by Washington's standards, this is a wild week and it is only Tuesday. The President's Supreme Court nominee takes to television to defend himself. And after a frantic Monday, will Rod Rosenstein keep his job as Deputy A.G.? He'll find out from the President very soon.
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