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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Busy Week in Court for Trump Probes; Accused Russian Agent Cooperating; President Trump "Pissed Off"; Emergency Brexit Debate; Students In France Blocking Classes in Solidarity with Protesters. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 11, 2018 - 04:30   ET

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


DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A busy day ahead in the special counsel investigation. Why we're told President Trump now sees impeachment as a real possibility.

[04:30:01] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: An accused Russian agent who cozied up to the NRA 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)

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.

(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)

ROMANS: U.K. parliament holding an emergency debate after Prime Minister Theresa May delays the vote on Brexit.

Shambolic.

BRIGGS: Shambolic, word of the morning.

ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: That was a good one, but smocking gun is my particular favorite choice. We'll take a shot at that later this morning. I'm Dave Briggs, 4:30 Eastern Time.

We start, of course, in D.C. Worries in the West Wing this morning. A source close to the president tells us he is concerned he would be impeached when Democrats take over the House. The source says the president is anxious although he is not certain it

will happen. A separate source says White House aides says collusion won't be the problem, but sources say the only issue which may stick is campaign finance violations stemming from hush payments to alleged Trump mistresses.

ROMANS: 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.

BRIGGS: 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.

ROMANS: 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)

ROMANS: 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)

BRIGGS: All right. Sara Murray, thanks.

President Trump caught in a squeeze with three weeks to find a new chief of staff, and no clear 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 is constantly in fluctuation.

ROMANS: 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. 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)

[04:35:11]R OMANS: CNN's Kaitlan Collins has 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: Yes. Steve Mnuchin and Robert Lighthizer, I mean, they are negotiating with the Chinese right now on trade. So, it is hard to imagine leaving those jobs to be chief of staff.

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 and House investigations of the president likely to ramp up in the New Year.

The 44 ex-senators write in "The Washington Post" op-ed: At other critical moments in our history when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate who 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 said she feels vindicated by Justice Brett Kavanaugh's vote in a case related to Planned Parenthood. Collins cast one of the decisive votes in favor of Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation. At issue was whether Kansas and Louisiana could terminate Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood clinics. The clinics 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 very well pleased that he has shown it early.

Still, 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 President Trump. 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. According to "The Post", he repeated the claim 86 times in the seven months before the midterms.

ROMANS: Bottom less Pinocchio, if that were a cocktail, what would it be?

BRIGGS: (INAUDIBLE)

ROMANS: All right. Google is shutting down the Google plus network sooner than planned after a second bug that revealed millions of customers private information to software developers. Google will be shutdown Google Plus in April of 2019 instead of August, as it originally planned.

[04:40:03] Google said 52.5 million people were affected by a bug in the November software update. The bug allowed app developers to access profile information not marked public. App developers inadvertently had access to the data for six days. Google says it has no evidence the data was accessed or misused and it did not include sensitive information like passwords or financial data.

Google said the issue was detected during regular testing and fixed it within a week of discovery. However, this is not the first time Google has found a bug. Google disclosed a similar bug in October. At the time, Google said it discovered immediately patched the bug in March 2018, which allowed developers to access profile data which wasn't public using usernames, email address, occupations, ages.

The bug reportedly affected 500,000 accounts. The timing is relevant. The Google CEO Sunder Pichai is set to testify on Capitol Hill for the very first time this morning. He has briefed lawmakers before, he has never testified publicly. He is sitting down with the House Judiciary Committee for several hours of hearings beginning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

And that should be interesting.

BRIGGS: All right. Next leaders of Britain and France facing crises of their own. Protests continuing in Paris even after French President Emmanuel Macron offered concessions and Theresa May facing backlash over suspending the Brexit vote. We are live in London next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:36] ROMANS: In Britain, parliament set to hold an emergency debate after Prime Minister Theresa May announced her government will postpone a vote on the 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.

If we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: May has begun 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 Rutte.

CNN's Nina Dos Santos joins us live outside parliament.

The pound is at an all-time low, and, anxiety is high, Nina.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It certainly is, across the city of London here in Westminster and also further afield. One the places that the anxiety is less high is, of course, Brussels, because the E.U. has made it very clear that they are in no mood to tear open the 585-page withdrawal agreement they spent the last year and a half negotiating with the U.K.

And Theresa May is there trying to meet E.U. leaders to get support and then meeting, of course, with the heads of the E.U. commission and council later on today to try to get some legally binding reassurances that the back stop agreement with Ireland and Northern Ireland which is part of the U.K., will not remain a permanent sticking point that the two sides have to negotiate over in the future.

It is likely that the E.U. is going to give her the legally binding assurances that she can then sell to the House of Parliament. But a lot of this is political theater. Speaking of the political theater, it's going to be taking place in an hour and a half's time, we've got the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbin, having been granted an emergency debate in the House of Commons by the speakers because the opposition parties are actually furious at the moment, that they are being robbed of the opportunity of voting down Theresa May's deal. They say that they weren't consulted on the last-minute change on the parliament timetable and that that shows contempt and is unacceptable. Of course, if they had voted it down, that could precipitate a general election which is exactly what the labor opposition party wants -- Christine.

ROMANS: Dramatic and complicated and with huge ramifications here. Thank you so much, Nina Dos Santos for us at the parliament in London.

BRIGGS: A mess.

Another mess in France. French students blocking classes and activities today at 170 high schools across the country, showing solidarity with "Yellow Vest" protesters. Trying to calm the protest, French President Emmanuel Macron gave a televised speech in which he said he'll ask his government to increase the minimum wage by 100 euros per month starting in 2019 and also 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 people feel is just.

Who would you rather be this morning? Who has an easier road? May or Macron?

ROMANS: I can't -- neither of those roads are easy at all.

BRIGGS: No idea, no.

ROMANS: Here in the U.S., disturbing video showing New York City police officers pulling a child from his mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: What led to this chaotic scene, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:53:32] BRIGGS: Startling new video surfaced showing New York City police officers ripping a child from his mother's arms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Look what they are doing to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Wow. One officer pulled out a yellow stun gun and points it around as the Jazmine Headley seen lying on the floor. This chaotic scene unfolding at the government welfare office in Brooklyn.

The NYPD says it was called to the location to Headley's disorderly conduct. Officers say they tried repeatedly to get the 23-year-old to move, but she refused. Headley was arrested on charges including resisting arrest, trespass and endangering a child. The NYPD says the disturbing incident is under review. Headley is in custody with the Friday court date. The baby is fine and with family members.

ROMANS: Some context here, local media said she had been waiting four hours, holding the baby. There were no seats. The welfare office was jam-packed. She had questions about a child benefit that was expiring. She waited and waited and sat down after holding the baby for four hours and that's when they told her to move. That is when this began.

Just awful. The police department says it's disturbing. They're all investigating.

All right. New details in the search for a Colorado mom who's been missing since Thanksgiving. Kelsey Berreth was last spotted by her fiance and child's father when she dropped off their 1-year-old daughter on Thanksgiving.

[04:55:01] Police are now revealing after she was last seen, Berreth texted her employer stating she wouldn't be able to work next week. They say her cell phone was detected in Idaho on November 25th, where she has family. Her mom making a desperate plea for her daughter's return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CIP)

CHERYL BERRETH, MOTHER OF MISSING WOMAN: Like I said, she doesn't run off. Someone know where is she is at. Kelsey, we want you home. Call us if you can. We won't quit looking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Her fiance is not a suspect and is cooperating with police.

BRIGGS: The president's frantic efforts to find a new White House chief of staff before the end of the year, making excellent fodder for your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN/LATE NIGHT HOST: I have good news. If anyone here wants to be President Trump's chief of staff, just raise your hand and the job is yours. No?

That's right. President Trump's chief of staff John Kelly is leaving the White House. It won't take long to pack up his office because the only thing in his desk is some Tylenol and a bottle of vodka.

TREVOR NOAH, COMEDIAN/LATE NIGHT HOST: Of course, nobody wants this job, right? We all know by now what happens if you work for Trump. At some point, you're going to lose your credibility and you spend every day being insulted by a 72-year-old 5-year-old. Who would want that? So many Americans don't want the job. Trump may have to let a Mexican do it. You realize that, right?

STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN/LATE NIGHT HOST: I would like to take this opportunity to officially throw my hat in the ring. Who would pass up the chance to spend ten minutes on the deck of the "Titanic" while it is sinking? I don't know. I'm really curious to hear what a band sounds like when they know they are about to take a bath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Let's look at CNN Business this morning.

Global markets, stock markets mostly higher as investors shrug off concerns of Brexit. In Asia, we can see the Nikkei is down. Hang Seng and Shanghai closed higher. And European markets have opened higher in the early hours of trading.

In Wall Street, futures are lower. Stocks hit lows on Monday after Theresa May said she would delay the crucial vote on the Brexit deal. The Dow fell 508 points on the Brexit turmoil, it's 2 percent and fell below 24,000 for the first time since late June.

But stocks staged recovery later in the day. The Dow closed higher by 34 points. S&P closed up a fraction and Nasdaq closed up.

Tensions persist though as the Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou's the bail hearing continuing in the third day in Canada.

All right. This was a trade war between the U.S. and China looks like in tech. In a stunning decision, a Chinese court has banned the sale and import of most iPhone models.

Here's what happened, the court granted a pair of injunctions requested by Qualcomm, an American microchip maker. Qualcomm claims that Apple violates two of its patents in several iPhones. The ban does not cover the new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Plus, or the iPhone XR which were not available when Qualcomm filed its lawsuit.

The ruling was announced publicly Monday was put into effect last week. However, in a statement, Apple said all iPhone models remained available in China. Apple filed a request for the court to reconsider its decision Monday. Investors are mostly unmoved by the growing Apple stock up, closed up nearly 1 percent. Qualcomm stock rose 2 percent.

A lot of people are leaving their jobs at Verizon and that's a good sign for the economy. In an effort to cut costs, Verizon announced 10,000 management employees have accepted voluntary buyout deals. There's a larger factor at play here. The unemployment rate in the nation is 3.7 percent compared to 5.8 percent when Verizon last offered buyouts.

Employees figured they have a good chance of taking the money from Verizon and finding another job right away. The buyout is not the largest. In 2003, more than 21,000 employees took a voluntary buyout with a two-week severance offer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics still counts voluntary buyouts as layoffs, so the employees will go into that category when they leave the company.

BRIGGS: So, very different than the GM layoffs. They are not concerned if those can be replaced.

ROMANS: That's right.

BRIGGS: All right. EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

BRIGGS: A busy day ahead in the special counsel investigation. Why we're told President Trump now sees impeachment as a real possibility.

ROMANS: An 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.

(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)

ROMANS: U.K. parliament holds an emergency debate after Prime Minister Theresa May delays a vote on Brexit. I'm going to use the word shambolic ten times today because that is quite a word.

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

BRIGGS: I'll stick with smocking gun.