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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Cohen Sentenced to 3 Years Behind Bars; National Enquirer Publisher Strikes Deal; Pelosi Gets the Votes; May Survives No Confidence Vote Amid Brexit Drama; Canada Warns Trump; Goodell Defends NFL Handling of Kareem Hunt Allegations. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 13, 2018 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:01] SETH MEYERS, COMEDIAN: You put your name on the cabin.

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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a strange situation when you have to laugh at a man who is a father going to prison. That's their job.

EARLY START continues right now.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Mental incarceration to actual incarceration. The president's long time lawyer Michael Cohen going to prison. And the company that shielded Donald Trump in 2016 is now cooperating with the feds.

BRIGGS: Nancy Pelosi strikes a deal. She'll get the speaker's gavel, but her time in power is limited.

ROMANS: Another Canadian citizen now missing in China. The U.S., Canada and Beijing now digging in over the latest in diplomatic tensions.

BRIGGS: And would you pay an extra tax to text? You may not have a choice if you live in California. We'll tell you why.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, December 13th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

A three-year prison sentence for the president's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and then another bombshell for an already shaken White House -- prosecutors striking a non-prosecution agreement with AMI, the parent company of "The National Enquirer." The deal rules out charges against the tabloid publisher.

BRIGGS: In exchange, AMI admits paying $150,000 to silence former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal, part of the effort to bury bad press about Donald Trump. Michael Cohen even recorded a conversation he had with the then candidate about that payoff.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: And, I have spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, what do we got to pay for this one? One-fifty?

COHEN: Yes, and it's all the stuff.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Allen Weisselberg you heard here is the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump organization, right at the center of Trump world. He was granted immunity over the summer.

News of the deal with AMI came moments after Cohen's sentencing for crimes which included arranging payments and lying to Congress about the Trump Tower project in Moscow during the campaign.

BRIGGS: Cohen's advisor Lanny Davis tells Bloomberg Radio Cohen's false testimony was shared with the White House and it's possible President Trump knew Cohen would make false statements under oath. Not a peep from the president on Wednesday, but behind the scenes, we are told the president is seething and assuring associates Cohen is a liar.

Here's Athena Jones.

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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESOPONDENT: Good morning, Dave and Christine. This is the first time a member of the president's inner circle received a significant prison sentence in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. Federal prosecutors detailed a pattern of deception by Cohen and asked for a substantial sentence. And U.S. District Judge William Pauley agreed, saying Cohen thrived on the access to powerful people and he became one himself.

Cohen told the court he took full responsibility for his crimes and speaking about Trump, he said time and time again I thought it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds. Admitting to orchestrating hush payments before the 2016 election the former Playboy model Karen McDougal and to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about alleged affairs with Trump, Cohen implicated the president in felonies, saying Donald Trump directed him to make those payments, something federal prosecutors noted in court papers.

Now, Trump has denied affairs and denied anything about the payments. Cohen also admitted to lying to Congress and special counsel investigators about his contacts with Russia. Cohen pledged to continue to cooperate with the Mueller's investigation -- Dave and Christine.

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ROMANS: Thank you, Athena. Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina is set to plead guilty in federal

court in Washington today. She has been cooperating with prosecutors offering information on how she was able to infiltrate U.S. political circles, including the National Rifle Association, and about the Russian official who directed her activities. The 30-year-old Russian national pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent. The Russians are calling for her swift release.

BRIGGS: Nancy Pelosi striking a deal to reclaim the speaker's gavel when the Democrats take control of the House next month. The long time Democratic leader negotiating an agreement with the group of disgruntled Democrats who lobbied to block her from becoming speaker. This deal would essentially guarantee Pelosi two more years as speaker, but she could serve no more than four on job.

ROMANS: As part of the agreement, Pelosi is backing a proposal to enact three-term limits for the party's top three leaders. Anything beyond that would require approval by 2/3 of the Democratic Caucus rather than the current simple majority.

BRIGGS: Lawmakers have agreed on new legislation to revamp the way sexual harassment claims are handled on Capitol Hill. For the first time, lawmakers will be held liable for paying harassment settlements out of their own pockets instead of using taxpayer money. All settlements will be made public when they're made. Members of Congress will be identified by name if they are personally liable.

[05:05:04] And all settlements will now be referred to the ethics committees for review.

ROMANS: The final bill which has not been made public this does not apply to other forms of discrimination like gender discrimination or pregnancy discrimination. The measure reconciles bills already passed by the House and the Senate. Those bills would have expired if Congress did not reach agreement before the end of the year.

BRIGGS: Ultra conservative Congressman Mark Meadows is out of running for the White House chief of staff job. In a statement, the White House says Meadows is a great friend of the president and doing a great job in Congress. And the president wants him to continue the great work he's doing there. Meadows says whoever is chosen will have his great complete support.

Among those President Trump is said to be considering: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer. But some of them have indicated they are not interested.

ROMANS: Yes, two of those people listed are negotiating with China right now on a very important trade deal. So, currently, very busy in their jobs.

Bruised but certainly battle tested. British Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a leadership challenge triggered by members of her own party. But her battles are by no means over. Today, she tries to convince European neighbors to reopen the dialogue over the Brexit withdrawal treaty.

CNN's Nic Robertson live from London, in front of parliament for us for the very latest. So, she survives, but this doesn't get easier.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: No, it doesn't. I think it sharpens the focus of everyone here. What she knows is that a third of her MPs are against her, that her ultimate goal is to get a Brexit agreement which will pass in the House of Parliament behind her. But with a third of MPs aligned against her, that becomes much, much harder.

The opposition is firmly against her at the moment. Any idea she could win some of them to her side to pass this vote seems impossible.

So, what does she need to do today when she goes to Brussels? What she said she's going to try to get political and legal reassurances on the back-stop arrangement. That's the arrangement about the border with Northern Ireland, which is that Britain's new land border with the European Union, very, very complex issue.

But the concessions she needs to get from the European Union don't seem to be on the table. They said that they are not going to be able to open up the Brexit negotiation. They might be able to give her a few words of reassurance, but nothing that's going to sort of pass muster, if you will, when she gets back here to allow her to win that vote. The vote has to be held by the 21st of January.

That really means if that vote fails to pass, there is a couple of months to come up with a new plan before Britain leaves the European Union on the 29th of March. What does that really mean? It really means at this stage, the likelihood of Britain leaving the E.U. without a deal becoming a much bigger reality. With it, the consequences of the damage to the British economy, damage to the European economy and damage to trading partners around the world.

ROMANS: That would be crashing out of the E.U., right? I mean, that would be the worst-case scenario.

ROBERTSON: Worst-case scenario, people are talking about 20 or 30 or 40 miles of traffic, big trucks trying to get goods off of Britain to Europe, and from Europe back in. We are talking about food. We're talking medicine. We're talking planes perhaps not being able to take off, a huge range of issues. Preparations have just begun. But no one knows what it will look like.

What will it take to able to drive a truckload of car parts from here into France, for example? How long will they wait at the border? Right now, it just drives on the train, goes under the table to Europe and off it goes. That won't be the case in three months or so time.

ROMANS: And that is what people voted to do, to get out, they figure how to do it.

All right. Thanks so much. Nice to see you.

ROBERTSON: Yes. BRIGGS: Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma purchased thousands of dollars of stock in a defense contractor after pushing for more on military spending. Inhofe, the chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, his financial disclosure report list a purchased of between $50,000 and $100,000 in Raytheon stock.

ROMANS: President Trump recently agreed to a defense budget of $750 billion for 2019 after a meeting with Inhofe and others. Inhofe's communications director claims the senator's financial transactions are handled by a third party adviser. She says Inhofe had no involvement, and told his adviser to reverse the transaction once he became aware of it.

It is surprises me that members of Congress can trade on committees they sit on.

BRIGGS: If you have anything to do with the defense industry, the fact you can buy defense stocks is stunning and should be to the American people.

ROMANS: Even through with third party.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: All right. Nine minutes past the hour.

Canada and the U.S. tell the president do not leverage the arrest of Chinese executive to take a trade deal. Now, two Canadians appear to be caught in a diplomatic standoff.

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[05:14:07] BRIGGS: A warning from Canada to President Trump: Do not use the arrest of the Chinese executive as a bargaining chip in trade talks with Beijing.

Earlier this week, the president said he might intervene in the case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou if it would help the U.S. and China reach a trade agreement. Now, two Canadians are detained in China. The timing is highly suspicious.

Will Ripley live from Hong Kong with the latest.

Hi there, Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Dave.

Canada is in an enviable position right now, caught in the middle between the U.S. and China, two powerful countries with totally competing interests. The U.S. asked Canada to arrest Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei, a huge Chinese tech company. She's a big name like a Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs but in China. Chinese government infuriated, warning Canada if they don't release Meng Wanzhou, then they're going to be grave consequences, a heavy price.

Keep in mind, Canada has an extradition treaty with the U.S. So, they have to send her where she could face up to 30 years in prison.

[05:15:04] And so, when President Trump steps in and says he may intervene and help her out if there is a favorable resolution for the trade war for the U.S., a better deal, Canada is saying no, don't use the extradition process to play politics. And that's just playing in President Trump's comments, playing in to the Chinese narrative that Meng Wanzhou is a political kidnapping victim, being used as a pawn by the U.S. in this trade war because she was arrested on the same day that President Trump and President Xi hammered out the truce to the trade war at a big, long 2-1/2 hour dinner at the G20 in Argentina.

Nine days after the arrest, you have two Canadian citizens both arrested on the same day for the same charge, activities that endanger the national security of China. You have Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, an ex-diplomat, very high profile in China, well known amongst high level political circles. Again, two Canadians arrested on the same way after trying to warn Canada, release Meng Wanzhou or else?

Is this retaliation? We have no idea, but the timing is certainly highly suspicious. And you can bet American firms operate in China like Apple, like Qualcomm are taking a very close look at their own personnel movements, hoping that they don't fall victim to some sort of retaliatory actions by Beijing -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Indeed, some tenuous times there.

Will Ripley live for us in Hong Kong, thanks.

ROMAN: All right. On Wall Street, optimism reigned in the U.S. and China trade saga, but enthusiasm cooled toward the end of the session. Dow ended up 157 points led by gains with companies with big exposure to China, like Apple, Boeing, Caterpillar and 3M.

The Dow had been up as much as 458 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 closed 0.60 percent higher, the Nasdaq up 1 percent.

Now, some enthusiasm came from a "Wall Street Journal" report suggesting that China's top planning agency and senior policy advisors are drafting a replacement for Made in China 2025, to allow more access to the Chinese market from the U.S. and other foreign companies. Made in China 2025 is Beijing's industrial plan to dominate high tech industries including robotics, AI, aerospace, computer chips. The market has been extremely volatile for the past few weeks. It rises and falls with the latest headlines and mood about what's next for U.S. and China trade relations.

That Made in China 2025 is existential for the Chinese. It's about the Chinese instead of being a factor floor for, you know, for the world, for like shoes and those skilled -- manufacturing products, to really dominate tech.

BRIGGS: Global domination in a sense.

ROMANS: And that is what the U.S. is very concerned about, that that could be a challenge for the U.S. especially if you don't let U.S. companies in there to own their material and intellectual property. BRIGGS: Pivotal talks.

Ahead, with the NFL facing criticism for the handling of the Kareem Hunt case, the commissioner Roger Goodell has a surprising take. Andy Scholes has that for us in the "Bleacher Report", next.

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[05:22:22] ROMANS: California regulators want to tax text messages. It's a move that could change the way millions of people communicate in the nation's most populated state. The idea is to make connectivity accessible to low income residents by making up for decreasing revenue from a tax on voice calls. The new surcharge proposed by the California public utilities commission would be a monthly fee, not per texts. The exact structure of the charge would vary between carriers. The commission will vote on the measure January 10th.

Dramatic video of Texas police catching a 10-year-old boy who had to jump from the window to escape a fire.

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(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got you. We got you, buddy. It's OK. It's OK, buddy.

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ROMANS: Balch Springs police officers responding to a fire where residents trapped on the second floor. One officer threw his baton to break the window. Then the boy could get through the open window to jump. No injuries reported -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Wow, job well done there.

Let's talk a little sports now. Roger Goodell is defending the handling of the Kareem Hunt situation, saying the league is doing a great job.

Andy Scholes has more on the "Bleacher Report".

A great job, huh, Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, surprising comments, Dave. You know, Roger Goodell and all the NFL owners, they're meeting yesterday in Dallas. And this is the first time Goodell addressed the Kareem Hunt situation. And he had high praise for the NFL when he was asked by our own Ed Lavandera if the league was doing enough in their investigations in dealing with off the field player behavior.

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ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: I think we are doing as a league is extraordinary. We have, I think, some of the highest standards of any organization. We take this seriously. We have zero tolerance for violence against women. And as a league, I think we responded very quickly.

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SCHOLES: The NFL has been criticized for not doing enough to find out what happened in the Hunt incident. Goodell added the NFL unlike TMZ, does not pay for video evidence. He feels is not appropriate for the league to do that.

Goodell also announcing yesterday that the 2020 NFL draft will take place in Las Vegas. That, of course, is going to be a big year for the NFL in Vegas. The Raiders is set to open that year. The draft this April is in Nashville.

Now, where the Raiders play next season, that's still up in the air. The city of Oakland on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and Raiders seeking damaging for the team -- damages for the team leaving the city. Because of that lawsuit, the Raiders offered to play one more season in Oakland.

[05:25:01] It's not off the table, but the team is also not ruling out any destination for next season.

The Raiders only have one more home game this season. Christmas Eve against the Broncos and quarterback Derek Carr says it is weird to think that could be their last game in Oakland.

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DEREK CARR, RAIDERS QUARTERBACK: I spent five years playing in the stadium and we have people talking trash about it. I love it. It's ours. You know, it has been fun. The fact it could be the last is crazy. But when that time comes, we'll enjoy it.

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SCHOLES: All right. Hornets and Pistons, game tied in the closing seconds. Jeremy Lam for the win and he nails it. The team starts to celebrate. Well, it's 0.3 seconds on the class, and guard Malik Monk ran on the court early to celebrate. He was assessed a technical foul.

Check out owner Michael Jordan at the end of the bench. He chews out Monk. You know, Dave, luckily for Monk, the Hornets won after that technical. I would hate to be him and have to face Michael Jordan if he cost them the win. Let's talk about the pressure if you are a Hornets player having to play knowing that Michael Jordan is at the end of the bench looking at every move you make.

BRIGGS: Smacked upside the head by the greatest player of all time. That's something.

All right. Andy Scholes, good stuff. Thank you.

SCHOLES: Thank you. BRIGGS: Romans?

ROMANS: All right. Dave, two long-time allies of the president both turning on the commander in chief. One sentenced to prison. Another agrees to spill secrets putting the president in growing jeopardy.

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