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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Concerned He May Be Impeached; Accused Russian Agent Cooperating; President Trump "Pissed Off"; Emergency Brexit Debate. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 11, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:18] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A busy day ahead in the special counsel investigation. Why we're told President Trump now sees impeachment as a real possibility.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: An accused Russian agent who cozied up to the NRA is now pleading guilty. What information she is ready to share with investigators.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARK MEADOWS (R), NORTH CAROLINA: My life changed over the last 24 hours when Nick Ayers decided not to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: New names emerge in the search for President Trump's next chief of staff. Why a source tells us the president is, quote, pissed off by the whole situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government is in disarray, and the fault for that lies solely at the door of this shambolic government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: U.K. parliament holding an emergency debate after Prime Minister Theresa May delays the vote on Brexit.
Our democracy was a mess? How about France and the U.K.?
ROMANS: Shambolic.
BRIGGS: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, December 11th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Worries in the West Wing this morning. A source close to President Trump tells CNN he is concerned he could be impeached when the Democrats take over the House. The source says the president is anxious even though he is not certain it will happen. A separate source says White House aides believe collusion won't be
the problem. The source says aides think the only issue that may stick is campaign finance violations stemming hush payments to alleged Trump mistresses.
BRIGGS: A busy week ahead for the Trump defense team. This afternoon, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may face new charges or a harsher sentence for breaching his cooperation agreement with special counsel Robert Mueller, also former national security adviser Michael Flynn files a draft sentencing memo seeking no jail time. Tomorrow, Michael Cohen faces sentencing in New York.
Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina has a change of plea hearing. More on that in a moment.
ROMANS: On Friday, prosecutors reply to Michael Flynn's sentencing request and finally a mystery. A sealed grand jury hearing apparently related to a dispute between special counsel Mueller and a witness. And that's all we know.
For those of you keeping a score at home, we now count at least 16 Trump associates who had contact with Russians during the campaign or the transition. According to public information, everyone on this list denies colluding with Russia in any way.
BRIGGS: A source telling CNN accused Russian spy Maria Butina has reached a plea deal and is now agreeing with federal prosecutors.
The 33-year-old used the connection she built with the National Rifle Association to work her way into the 2016 election campaign. She was photographed with GOP presidential hopefuls, even lobbed a question at then-candidate Trump at a 2015 conservative event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA BUTINA, ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPY: Do you want to continue the politics of sanctions that are damaging of both economies or you have any other ideas?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe I would get along very nicely with Putin, OK? And I mean, where we have the strength.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: CNN's Sara Murray has details on Butina and her plea agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave and Christine.
Maria Butina, the accused Russian spy who cozied up to the National Rifle Association is now cooperating with federal prosecutors, a source tells CNN. And that's part of a plea deal. This deal is not final. It won't be final until she appears in court
on Wednesday. They introduced that plea and the judge accepts it. But she is poised to plead guilty on at least one of the charges she is facing.
Now, Prosecutors cast her as someone who came to the U.S. and begin ingratiating herself with U.S. political groups in order to advance Russian interests. Our understanding from a source is that she is cooperating on a couple of things. Her contacts with the Russians, who she was in touch with, who her handlers and what they wanted to know and what she provided them.
But she's also providing information about another American, her boyfriend Paul Erickson. They wanted to know what his role was in her plot here in Washington and they also want to know information about a separate fraud investigation into him in South Dakota.
Maria Butina was arrested in July. She's been in jail ever since. In normal cases like this, you were sent back to your home country, in this case, it would be Russia, although that could be a little bit awkward now that she is cooperating.
Back to you, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Sara. Thanks for that.
President Trump caught in a squeeze with three weeks to find a new chief of staff, and a nuclear frontrunner here. Multiple sources familiar with the president's mood tells CNN he is, quote, super pissed at the way the effort to replace John Kelly is going. His own initial pick Nick Ayers ultimately said no to the job.
The current list of candidates looks like this, though it keeps fluctuating.
BRIGGS: A source tells CNN President Trump questioned one of those on the list, David Bossie, about his time in the House during the Clinton impeachment.
[05:05:04] A source says Bossie advised the president to go as partisan as possible to survive.
Another leading contender? Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the hard right House Freedom Caucus and has expertise in how House oversight works. He says he hasn't spoken to the president about the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So, it sounds if you were offered the job, you would say yes?
MEADOWS: Well, you know, listen, there's a lot -- you don't answer a question before it is asked, but I can say this, that because it's an honor, certainly, I'm favorably inclined to at least have a discussion with the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Here is CNN's Kaitlan Collins with more from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dave and Christine, President Trump is very much scrambling to find someone to replace John Kelly as his chief of staff now that his top contender, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers, has bowed out of the running because he and President Trump could not come to agreement on the timing. President Trump wanted him to commit to two years, but he told President Trump that it is his desire to move back to his home state of Georgia, and would only agree to do the job on a temporary basis. And now, he is no longer seen as an option for that job.
That is leaving President Trump to embark on this frantic hunt for someone else to take that place, because unlike what Donald Trump has done in the past, where he's had two people up for consideration for a job, he only had Nick Ayers in his mind as taking over for John Kelly and did not think that he was going to turn down the job the way he did. So, it's a very fluid list. White House officials are cautioning that nothing is final, but we do have Congressman Mark Meadows at the top of the list. Also, the U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer and even Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are also on that list, along with a few others whose names have been floated not only in the past during discussions of John Kelly's job, but are now being brought up again.
Of course, John Kelly is seen at the White House. He was at work in his office on Monday, but people at the White House are saying they are aware they have three weeks left to find a new chief of staff -- Dave and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thanks.
President Trump will meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi later this morning at the White House. Democrats, Republicans and White House have until December 21st to reach a budget deal and avert a partial government shutdown.
The talks are deadlocked over funding for a border wall. Democratic leaders plan to offer $1.3 billion, far short of the $5 billion the president wants to fund that wall. And down even from the $1.6 billion they had offered earlier. In a joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer said this, this holiday season. The president knows full well that his wall proposal doesn't have the votes to pass the House and Senate and should not be an obstacle to a bipartisan agreement. Democratic leaders say the country can't afford what they are branding a Trump shutdown at this time. BRIGGS: A bipartisan group of former senators calling on current
members of the Senate to defend democracy. They are warning the U.S. is entering a dangerous period with the Mueller Russia probe nearing an end in House investigations of the president likely to ramp up in the New Year.
The 44 ex-senators write in "The Washington Post" op-ed, quote, at other critical moments in our history when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it is the Senate that stood in the defense of democracy. We urge current and future senators to be steadfast and zealous guardians of our democracy by ensuring that partisanship or self interest not replace national interest. The list of former senators includes 32 Democrats, 10 Republicans and two independents.
ROMANS: All right. Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins who cast one the decisive votes in favor of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation says she feels vindicated by his vote in a case related to Planned Parenthood. At issue was whether Kansas and Louisiana could terminate Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood clinics that offered preventative care, like cancer screening and birth controls for low income women.
Collins says Justice Kavanaugh joined with the liberal members of the court. It shows what I said about him all along and his respect for precedent and he has shown it early. So, progressives who opposed Kavanaugh and supported abortion rights say Collins confidence is misplaced because the case did not touch squarely on Roe v. Wade.
BRIGGS: "The Washington Post" team of fact checkers introducing the bottomless Pinocchio. It's a new rating for politicians who repeated a false claim over and over. They have not identified any current elected official who meets that standard other than the president of the United States. The paper says the president keeps going long after the facts are clear. He is not merely making gaffes or misstating things, he is purposely injecting false information into the national conversation.
Fourteen statements made by the president immediately qualified for this list, including his false assertion that the U.S. has started building a border wall.
[04:10:07] according to "The Post", he repeated the claim 86 times in the seven months before the midterms. Also repeating that Mexico will pay for said wall.
ROMANS: Yes, I haven't heard that lately. I haven't heard that lately that Mexico paying for the wall. But that's what he certainly promised.
A whole a new category inspired by himself, that he's the only one --
BRIGGS: A legacy, if you will.
ROMANS: All right. Leaders of Britain and France facing a crisis of their own. Protests continuing in Paris even after French President Macron offered concessions, and Theresa May facing backlash for suspending the Brexit vote. We go to London, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIGGS: In Britain, parliament set to hold an emergency debate after Prime Minister Theresa May announced her government will postpone a vote on its Brexit deal. That vote had been scheduled to take place today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: It is clear while there is broad support for many of the key aspects of the deal.
[04:15:01] If we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: May started frantic diplomacy with E.U. leaders trying to get specifics on the deal. Today, she meets today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark .
CNN's Nina dos Santos joining us live outside parliament, 9:15 a.m. there in London.
Nina, good morning to you. What in the world is ahead today?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave.
Well, we saw pretty rancorous scenes here in Westminster yesterday. And today, the prime minister as you pointed out is in actually in the European continent engaging in that furious round of pressing the flesh, trying to get Europeans on her side.
As you said, she is meeting with the Dutch prime minister. In fact, that meeting is already taking place and on to the main power broker of Europe which is, of course, Germany. She hopes to meet with the key figures of the European Union, Jean-Claude Juncker, which runs the commission, the executive under the E.U., the legislative body and also later on with the European Council with Donald Tusk.
Back here in the meantime, MPs, particularly on the opposition side of the aisle are furious that Theresa May has decided after so much time in the run-up to the vote today, she decided to scrap the timetable unilaterally and that is why Jeremy Corbin has been granted this emergency debate that's set to take place in the House of Commons in about two hours from now.
The Scottish national party which, of course, is pro-E.U., very anti- Brexit has actually challenged the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbin, to amount a no confidence vote in the British prime minister. At the moment, that doesn't seem likely to happen because it is not likely that they would win it. But it gives you an idea of how concerned MPs are here with the Brexit process is being handled.
And as yet, we don't know whether Theresa May will come back with enough assurances for the house on the issue of the Irish border. And we also don't know when she's going to call that vote at the end of the year or maybe even kicked in the long grass of next year? Who knows, Dave?
BRIGGS: Very few options for her. Nina Dos Santos, live for us in London this morning, thanks.
ROMANS: And all of this just craziness for the stock market. You know, U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday morning after Prime Minister Theresa May said she would delay that crucial vote on her Brexit deal. The Dow fell as much as 508 points, that's 2 percent, dropping below 24,000 for the first time since late June.
But then stocks staged a recovery later in the day led by Apple. The Dow closed 34 points higher. The S&P 500 closed up a fraction. The Nasdaq closed up to 1 percent, and Brexit chaos reinforces one of Wall Street's biggest fear, slowing global growth, and Germany and Japan are already in contraction, while a Chinese economy has suffered from that one wave of tariffs. A messy separation between the U.K. and European Union is the last thing the global economy needs.
BRIGG: French President Emmanuel Macron is promising a minimum wage increase and lower taxes in his bid to end the yellow vest protests. But showing solidarity with protesters, French students are blocking classes and activities today at high schools across the country.
In his televised speech, Macron said he will ask his government to increase the minimum wage by 100 euros per month starting in 2019 and vowed to cancel a planned tax increase. Macron acknowledged that workers in rural districts don't feel heard by the government, adding that much of the anger that the people feel is just. So, two of the three biggest economies in Europe is pretty a mess at the moment.
ROMANS: All right. Disturbing video showing New York City police officers grabbing a child from his mother.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP )
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: What led to the chaotic scene, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:2316] ROMANS: Mexican government announcing plans to spend $30 million in Central American government to slow migration. This comes as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection releases new numbers on immigration here in the U.S. for a fourth month in a row. The number of migrant families apprehended along the border has reached a record high under the Trump administration, more than 25,000 families were detained at the border in November alone. The number of people initiating asylum claims and expressing fear of returning to their home countries is up 67 percent from last year.
BRIGGS: Startling video has surfaced showing New York City police officers ripping a child from his mother's arms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God! Look what they are doing to her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: One officer even pulls out a yellow stun gun, begins to point it around the room as the woman is seen lying on the floor. The chaotic scene unfolding at the government welfare office in Brooklyn. The NYPD says it was called to the location due to the disorderly conduct.
Officers say they tried to get the 23-year-old to move, but she refused. She was arrested on charges including resisting arrest and trespassing and endangering a child. The NYPD says the disturbing incident is under review.
ROMANS: In just a few hours, "TIME" Magazine will reveal its Person of the Year for 2018.
The 10 finalist this year are President Donald Trump, the thousands of families separated at the U.S. border, Russian President Vladimir Putin, special counsel Robert Mueller, "Black Panther" Director Ryan Coogler, Christine Blasey Ford, Jamal Khashoggi, March for Our Lives Activists, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Meghan Markle.
[04:25:00] BRIGGS: Your thoughts?
ROMANS: It's a tough one.
BRIGGS: Well, "TIME" writes, for better or for worse, most influence the news around the world. It's impossible to argue that Donald Trump didn't influence the news more than anyone else on that list.
ROMANS: Being a person of the year, right, it's not a valentine necessarily.
BRIGGS: Correct.
ROMANS: It could also be -- you know, it just means you are influential.
BRIGGS: Yes, we'll find out later.
President Trump still searching for his new chief of staff with no clear frontrunner. How the impeachment decision could be weighing on his decision.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIGGS: A busy day ahead in the special counsel investigation. Why we're told President Trump now sees impeachment as a real possibility.
ROMANS: And accused Russian agent who cozied up to the NRA now pleading guilty. What information she is ready to share with investigators.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEADOWS: My life changed over the last 24 hours when Nick Ayers decided not to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: New names emerge in the search for President Trump's next chief of staff. Why a source tells us the president is, quote, "pissed off" about the whole situation.
