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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Michael Cohen Sentenced To Three Years In Prison; National Enquirer Publisher Strikes Deal; Theresa May Survives No-Confidence Vote Amid Brexit Drama; Canada Warns President Trump. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired December 13, 2018 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:48] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Mental incarceration and actual incarceration. The president's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen is going to prison. And a company that shielded Donald Trump in 2016 is now cooperating with the feds.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Nancy Pelosi strikes a deal. She'll get the speaker's gavel but her time in power is limited.
BRIGGS: Another Canadian citizen now missing in China. The U.S., Canada, and Beijing all digging in over the latest diplomatic tensions.
ROMANS: And would you pay a tax to text? California could start charging more. We'll tell you why.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It is 5:31 Eastern time.
We start with "Don's Dirty Deeds." A 3-year prison sentence for President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen.
And then another bombshell for an already shaken White House. Federal prosecutors striking a non-prosecution agreement with AMI. That's the parent company of the "National Enquirer." The deal rules out charges against the tabloid publisher.
ROMANS: In exchange, AMI admits paying $150,000 to silence former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, part of an effort to bury bad press about Donald Trump. Michael Cohen even recorded a conversation he had with then-candidate Trump about that pay-off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: And I've spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with --
DONALD TRUMP, THEN-CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?
COHEN: -- funding. Yes, and it's all the stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The Allen Weisselberg you saw referenced is the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. He was granted immunity over the summer.
News of the deal with AMI came moments after Cohen's sentencing for crimes, which included arranging those payments and lying to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow during the campaign.
ROMANS: Cohen adviser Lanny Davis tells Bloomberg Radio Cohen's false testimony was shared with the White House and it is possible President Trump knew Cohen would make false statements under oath.
Not a peep from the president on Wednesday. No official word from him about this. But behind the scenes, we're told Mr. Trump is seething and he's assuring his associates that Michael Cohen is a liar.
Athena Jones has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Dave.
This is the first time a member of the president's inner circle has 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 his access to wealthy and powerful people and he became one, himself.
Cohen told the court he took full responsibility for his crimes. And speaking about Trump, said time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.
In admitting to illegally orchestrating hush payments before the 2016 election to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep them quiet about alleged affairs with Trump, Cohen implicated the president in felonies, saying Trump directed him to make those payments, something federal prosecutors noted in court papers. Now, Trump has denied the affairs and denied knowing anything about the payments.
Cohen also admitted to lying to Congress and to special counsel investigators about his contacts with Russia.
Cohen has pledged to continue to cooperate with Mueller's investigation -- Dave, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: All right, Athena Jones -- thank you. Let's go to Washington and bring in "CNN POLITICS" reporter, Jeremy Herb. Welcome --
ROMANS: Good morning.
BRIGGS: -- to the program, my friend.
JEREMY HERB, REPORT, CNN POLITICS: Thanks for having me.
BRIGGS: All right, so a 3-year prison sentence for the longtime personal attorney -- the fixer for Donald Trump. What does Michael Cohen's prison sentence mean, though, to Donald Trump?
HERB: You know, I think it's hard to underscore how significant this actually is for the president.
He has, obviously, in recent weeks and months gone after Cohen, accused him of lying, accused him of being disloyal. But, Cohen was part of Trump's inner circle during the campaign and one of the closest people to the president that we've seen charged. And this is the biggest prison sentence we've had, so far, connected to the special counsel probe for the three years that he got.
[05:35:04] So it's certainly -- you know, it's certainly the most significant legal jeopardy and political jeopardy that the president has seen so far when it comes to the Russia investigation.
The question, of course, now is where we go from here. So far, we've seen Republicans haven't really jumped on the bandwagon and felt like this -- that this is, in fact, a dangerous situation for the president.
BRIGGS: No.
HERB: But, Mr. Cohen has said he's still going to keep talking and cooperating.
ROMANS: And that's what -- that's so interesting because this isn't the end of the Cohen story, this may be the beginning.
BRIGGS: It could be.
ROMANS: There's another chapter here. He doesn't go to prison -- he doesn't report to prison until March. Will he be talking to Congress more?
You know, Sen. Richard Burr, when asked are you going to ask -- talk to Cohen, he said we potentially will talk to a lot of folks.
HERB: Yes, that's right. I spoke to Richard Burr, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, yesterday and he seemed confident that he would actually be able to get Mr. Cohen in before he -- before he reports to prison in March. He said, you know, it would be hard to talk to him in prison and he thinks that Cohen is an important part of their investigation. Don't forget, Cohen appeared before both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees last year and in that testimony we now know he lied about discussions that he was having involving the Trump Tower- Moscow project. That's one of the charges that he pleaded guilty to last week.
And so, the senators and House members, too -- the House Intelligence Committee is also interested in talking to him. They want to know exactly what it was that Cohen lied about and what else he knows.
BRIGGS: Yes. You can bet if the Senate wants to talk to Cohen, the House certainly does -- which will be controlled by Democrats and Jerry Nadler, ahead.
So let's switch now to the AMI route, which because Michael Cohen is not a great witness -- his credibility highly questionable -- that's why AMI could be really crucial here. They will not be prosecuted.
Can they add more to what this simple personal transaction was? That's what Donald Trump calls the payoffs. Can they add more background and clear up exactly what that payment was?
HERB: Yes. Arguably, the revelation we got yesterday that AMI, the parent company of the "National Enquirer," entered into this non- prosecution agreement with U.S. prosecutors -- attorneys in Manhattan -- that could be the more significant development.
They -- as part of this agreement, AMI admitted that it paid $150,000 to silence one of the women alleging an affair with Trump and that it did so in coordination with the Trump campaign. And that's where this gets significant because it gets into the fact that this was part of the campaign and part of the election contrary to what the president and his attorneys have said.
We don't yet what else AMI -- how they're going to cooperate --
ROMANS: Sure.
HERB: -- exactly, but it's potentially a very significant development.
ROMANS: I mean, if it can be framed as an illegal campaign contribution? If that's what the --
BRIGGS: Yes, if they can connect the Trump campaign to those payments, then we're in a different territory.
ROMANS: It's -- I think -- I think it's important not to forget how this story has changed. I mean, remember, the president said this never happened. This was --
BRIGGS: Right, on Air Force One to reporters.
ROMANS: I mean, that there was -- there was no -- there was -- and then -- and then it was oh, if it happened, I didn't know it happened. And now it's it happened and it was a simple personal transaction. Just a reminder here that the truth has been missing from the very beginning of this story.
HERB: You know, I think that's absolutely right. And it goes to the fact that for the president, at least as of now, this is a political problem for him and not a legal problem because the Justice Department has said that you cannot indict a sitting president.
So his danger here is what the Congress does with this information. You know, we have Democrats talking about this is potentially an impeachable offense, although that doesn't mean they're going to necessarily move forward with impeachment when they take the House next year.
Republicans, though, have really shrugged this off. You know, me and my colleagues up on the Hill have talked to many Republicans who say this doesn't have anything to do with Russia collusion or they say that Cohen is a liar and a known liar. And as a result of that, they don't trust what he's saying, even if prosecutors are referencing it.
BRIGGS: And, of course, Orrin Hatch, the senior-most Republican senator, saying he is not concerned by what could be federal crimes.
We are in a strange place, Jeremy Herb. Great to have you here live this morning.
ROMANS: Nice to see you, Jeremy.
HERB: Thank you.
ROMANS: The big question is does the president tweet about it this morning or does he keep quiet? What's your guess?
BRIGGS: That's a big question. Silence, so far. I would expect in the next hour --
ROMANS: We'll see --
BRIGGS: -- we'll see a tweet.
ROMANS: -- as soon as he gets up. He's probably up. All right.
Nancy Pelosi striking a deal to reclaim the speaker's gavel when Democrats take control of the House next month. The longtime Democratic leader negotiating an agreement with a group of disgruntled Democrats who lobbied to block her from becoming speaker.
The deal would essentially guarantee Pelosi two more years as speaker, but she could serve no more than four in the job.
BRIGGS: As part of the agreement, Pelosi's backing a proposal to enact three-term limits for the party's top three leaders. Anything beyond that would require approval by two-thirds of the Democratic Caucus, rather than a simple current majority.
Her number two and number three are also 79 and 78, for context. All right, bruised but battle tested. British Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a leadership challenge triggered by the members of her own party, but her battles are by no means over.
[05:40:09] Today, she tries to convince her European neighbors to reopen the dialogue over the Brexit withdrawal treaty.
Nic Robertson's live for us from London with the latest.
What are the chances that they will reopen those negotiations, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Right now, pretty slim. There's been a reality check yesterday for the prime minister. She now knows that she's got a third of her MPs are against her.
That's certainly something that the European leaders recognize and they're certainly sort of sympathetic to the political situation that Theresa May is in, but it doesn't mean that they're going to up this whole Brexit deal.
The most contentious part is the so-called backstop arrangement that affects the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland which is the new land border, if you will, between the European Union and Britain. They're not going to get into that in detail. They won't open up the whole deal to re-fix that.
So what Theresa May is going to be left with is maybe some words and a little bit of language that might give some kind of sort of technical assurances that she was political, and legal reassurances because that's what it's going to take to get that deal, if you will, from Brussels back here to Parliament and get it passed in Parliament. Passed, when one-third of her own party stands against her.
The opposition is sort of on the verge of potentially calling a no- confidence vote in the government and going for a general election, bringing down the government.
And all of that adds up to the fact that Theresa May -- the likelihood of her delivering a Brexit deal seems really remote at the moment, which means come the 29th of March when Britain leaves the European Union, they'll very possibly be leaving without any kind of a deal. Huge economic impact for the U.K., and for the European Union, and for trading partners around the world.
So that reality is beginning to look much clearer after yesterday's vote, Dave.
BRIGGS: One hundred six days from a complete and utter disaster.
Nic Robertson live for us. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right.
Melania Trump opening up about her life in the White House. She spoke to Fox News while visiting troops on the USS George H.W. Bush. Asked about the hardest part of being first lady, Melania lashed out at the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: And opportunists who are using my name or my family name to advance themselves -- from comedians to journalists.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST, FOX NEWS "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW": Does it hurt?
M. TRUMP: It doesn't hurt. The problem is they are writing the history and it's not correct. They like to focus on the gossip. And I would like to be they focus on the substance and what we do, not just about nonsense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Mrs. Trump went on to say she is not going to shy away from promoting her objectives and doing what she thinks is right for the country.
BRIGGS: I'd say the press has been pretty kind to her. And if there weren't so much nonsense coming out of the White House, the media could concentrate more on substance.
ROMANS: Well, she talks about history and writing what is correct. That the media is not writing what is correct. I mean --
BRIGGS: Check her husband's Twitter feed.
ROMANS: You know, the fact-checkers -- our heads are exploding every day.
BRIGGS: Right.
All right, ahead, after Amazon went for two east coast cities, Apple is expanding in the south and west, big time. "CNN Business" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:47:38] BRIGGS: Five forty-seven eastern time.
And a warning from Canada to President Trump. Do not use the arrest of a 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, timing highly suspicious.
Will Ripley live from Hong Kong with the latest. Hi there, Will.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Dave.
Canada really caught in the middle here. On one hand, the United States has an extradition treaty with Canada, so when they asked Canadian authorities to arrest Men Wanzhou, the CFO of tech giant Huawei -- a huge name in China, comparable to Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs in the U.S. -- Canada did what it was asked to do by the U.S.
And then, China issues a warning to Canada for fulfilling their treaty obligations, saying that there will be grave consequences if they don't release Meng Wanzhou.
And then just about a week and a half after her arrest, you have two Canadian citizens who Canada (sic) detains on the same day, both of them facing the same charge -- activities that endanger the national security of China.
You have a former diplomat, Michael Kovrig. And you have a businessman, Michael Spavor, who actually I know from his many trips to North Korea, including a famous one in 2013 when he brought Dennis Rodman in to meet Kim Jong Un.
These two Canadians are now locked up, facing potentially an unknown amount of incarceration in China after China had warned Canada if they don't release this major name in the tech industry things like this could potentially happen. There could be a heavy price to pay.
Is it retaliation? We don't know but the timing is obviously highly suspicious here. And we know that China -- when they're angry at a country they sometimes target companies from that country. It's happened to South Korea, for example.
And now, you have American tech firms, like Apple and Qualcomm, taking a very close look at their own employee movements in the country, wondering if they could be targeted with retaliation because China is outraged over the arrest of their CFO who basically, they say, is being used as a political pawn for the U.S. to gain leverage in the trade war.
President Trump not making things any better, by the way, when he --
BRIGGS: Yes.
RIPLEY: -- jumped in this situation and said that he might intervene. That's why you had that strong warning from Canada, Dave.
BRIGGS: Some tenuous times. All right, 6:50 there in Hong Kong. Will Ripley live for us -- thank you.
ROMANS: All right, global stock markets are mixed amid new U.S.-China trade hope and British Prime Minister Theresa May surviving that no- confidence vote.
[05:50:00] Asian stock markets closed higher here. But look, European markets have turned lower in early trading.
On Wall Street, futures are up a little bit. On Wednesday, the Dow closed up 157 points. That's a decent performance but that's wilting from a 458-point rally earlier in the day.
The S&P 500 closed six-tenths of a percent higher. The Nasdaq also closed up about one percent. Stocks were lifted after a "Wall Street Journal" report suggested China looking to soften some of its protectionist stances and allow more access to the Chinese market for the U.S. and other foreign companies.
After Amazon went for two east coast cities, Apple making big investments in the south and west in Austin, San Diego, and Seattle. Apple announced a $1 billion investment to build a new campus in North Austin. Over the next three years, Apple plans to expand across the country, including Pittsburgh, New York, and Boulder, Colorado.
Axios reports that the state of Texas is going to give Apple $25 million -- a grant there for the expansion in North Austin.
Apple on track to create 20,000 jobs in the U.S. by 2023.
BRIGGS: All right, some good news.
All right, caught on video, police in Texas catch a boy jumping for his life from a burning building. More, next.
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[05:55:38] BRIGGS: The University of Texas at Dallas appears to be banning former Baylor fraternity president Jacob Anderson from campus. Anderson enrolled at the UT Dallas after being expelled from Baylor following a 2016 sex abuse allegation. He avoided jail time this week with a plea deal.
Several people signed an online petition asking UT Dallas to remove Anderson.
ROMANS: The school's statement does not mention Anderson by name. Instead, it says a student is no longer allowed on campus after the school was alerted to his legal history.
CNN has reached out to Anderson's attorneys. They did not respond.
This week, they told the "Waco Tribune-Herald" the accuser's statement was quote "riddled with distortions and misrepresentations." Worth noting, no questions have been raised about her credibility.
BRIGGS: California regulators want to tax your text messages, 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 text. The exact structure of the charge would vary between carriers.
The Commission will vote on the measure January 10th.
ROMANS: All right, from the dumb criminals file. A 29-year-old burglar in San Lorenzo, California stuck in the grease vent of a closed Chinese restaurant for two days. He was finally discovered by the owner of a nearby business who heard his muffled screams for help.
Alameda County firefighters had to dismantle the vent to get him out. And, you know, police believe the suspect planned to steal copper wire and plumbing.
A sheriff's spokesman says the department can confirm the man was not Santa Claus and had no legal authority to be in the store.
BRIGGS: Serves him right. Leave him there.
A dramatic video of Texas police catching a 10-year-old boy who was forced to jump from a window to escape a fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIREMAN: Let's go, buddy. Come on. Bust out the glass and let's go.
We got you, buddy. We got you. We got you, buddy -- it's OK.
Hang on, come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Wow.
Balch Spring police officers responding to a structure fire where residents were trapped on the second floor.
One of the officers threw his baton to break the window, allowing the boy to jump. Three officers caught the child in their arms. No injuries were reported.
ROMANS: All right.
Few things pack the emotional punch of a surprise military homecoming, especially during the holidays. Heidi Johnson (ph), a mother from Redding, California, pulled it off not once, but twice.
Her oldest son, Mason, a senior Air Force airman, is home from an overseas deployment for the first time in three years. Watch as he surprises his two younger brothers, Jacobee (ph) and Jaylen (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Mason, Mason. My heart exploded. Like I feel like half my heart goes to him now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, heck, no.
MASON JOHNSON, AIRMAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: Hi, buddy. Come here.
HEIDI JOHNSON: It's OK, honey.
M. JOHNSON: It's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: The Johnson family will all be together this Christmas.
BRIGGS: Even when you know it's coming you can't help but cry.
To me, it just gives me a whole new appreciation of our troops. I can't imagine being away from my kids more than a week and these guys do it for months and months at a time in war zones around the planet.
ROMANS: Just awesome. I wish them the best. Here's a tissue.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: I would be extremely nervous. People around the president are going to prison.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a snake who betrayed the president, who secretly recorded his own client.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: AMI would purchase the story and front the money that would be reimbursed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allen Weisselberg is now cooperating. Nobody knows where the money has gone better than he does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am hopeful that Michael Cohen will have that moment to tell the American people what he knows about Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Thursday, December 13th, 6:00 here in New York.
Alisyn is off. Erica Hill with me this morning.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to be back.
