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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Michael Flynn to Be Sentenced Today; What Will Trump Accept?; Stocks Take Another Dive; Moonves Won't Get $120 Million Severance; Brexit Vote Date Set. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 18, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:19] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Lock him up. Michael Flynn will be sentenced today for lying to the FBI. First, the special counsel releasing Flynn's interview with the bureau.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Deal or no deal? No one knows. Even Republicans in the dark about what the president will accept four days to a shutdown.

ROMANS: Stocks at the lowest levels in more than a year. Down 4 percent, 5 percent, 6 percent since the tax cuts were signed a year ago this week. What this signals for the economy in the year ahead.

BRIGGS: And the message in the #MeToo era. Former CBS chief Les Moonves won't see a dollar of the $120 million severance.

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

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, December 18th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Let's begin here with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, set to be sentenced this morning in just a few hours for lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during a transition. And following a judge's order at the 11th hour, special counsel Robert Mueller has released a memo giving details of the FBI interview where Flynn lied.

BRIGGS: Flynn allies, including the president, latched on to the fact that Flynn was interviewed by FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was later fired over anti-Trump texts. Flynn allies also suggest he was tricked into lying in part because he did not have a lawyer with him. But the memo containing FBI agents' questions and Flynn's answers debunks that claim.

Here is White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dave and Christine, Mike Flynn is set to be sentenced in a D.C. federal court today. And we know that the special counsel Robert Mueller has recommended little-to-no jail time for Mike Flynn.

But where this gets interesting is the day before the sentencing, the special counsel released a memo detailing the notes that the FBI agents took after they interviewed Mike Flynn at the White House when he was still the national security adviser in his office when he lied to them about his interactions with the Russian ambassador during the transition period. They only asked about him about his conversations with Sergei Kislyak about an upcoming U.N. vote on the Israeli settlements, but also he discussed the expulsion of these Russian intelligence officers in response to Russian interference in the election by the Obama administration. And he had asked Russians to mute their reaction to that because the Trump administration would be coming into his office in a matter of days.

Now, what we were seeing from the memo released by the special counsel really goes to show the level of detail in these questions that were largely yes or no questions that Mike Flynn said no to when, in fact, he had discussed these things with the Russian ambassador. It just adds to the level of drama the day that Michael Flynn is going to be sentenced, as well as two being sentenced for their work in Turkey lobbying as well. And so, there's a lot of drama surrounding the sentence as people await to see what it is he's going to be sentenced to -- Dave and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Kaitlan, thank you for that.

Soon after the 2016 election, Russian operatives aggressively targeted the top threat to Donald Trump's presidency, special counsel Robert Mueller. According to report prepared for the Senate, they did it by setting up fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other sites, and they used derision and disparagement in talking to right leaning pages to create the Russia probe is nonsense and that Mueller and former FBI Director James Comey were corrupt.

BRIGGS: The Russian influence campaign also targeted African- Americans as part of a broader effort to suppress voter turnout among Democrats. The report goes on to say other ethnic and religious groups were the focus of one or are two Facebook pages or Instagram accounts, the black community was targeted extensively with dozens.

ROMANS: James Comey has disputes with President Trump are nothing new, but now, the former FBI director is targeting the entire Republican Party for refusing to stand up to the commander in chief. Comey strongly defended the FBI's conduct Monday after his second round of closed door questioning by Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: The president of the United States is lying about the FBI and attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country. Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter, the words of a president matter, the rule of law matters and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?

At some point, someone has to stand up in the fair of fear of FOX News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of the country and not slink away into retirement. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Last night, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted: Republicans should stand up to Comey.

[04:05:03] She said the president did the country a service by firing Comey and, quote, exposing him for the shameless fraud he is.

BRIGGS: Wow. Lawmakers in D.C. very much in the dark about any plan to avoid a government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R), LOUSIANA: If the White House has a plan they are keeping it to themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: That is Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. We are now less than four days away from this partial shutdown. It seems nobody on Capitol Hill knows what Mr. Trump is thinking.

The president dug himself a hole when he said he would own the shutdown over funding for his border wall. Now, some Republicans are trying to dig him out.

Here is Phil Mattingly on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, as the clock ticks down towards that Friday deadline, there is currently no way to bridge the gap, at least the congressional officials are aware of, between where the president stands, requesting $5 billion for the border wall and where Democrats stand, which is they are not going to give him that $5 billion.

Now, what I have been told, guys, behind the scenes is staff on the Republican side have worked up several options that the president can take as a way out of this jam. They include short-term continuing resolutions, basically freezing the current funding for the unfunded portions of the government for two weeks, three weeks, maybe in four weeks time, basically just get past the holidays and get to the time when the Democrats retake in the House. And yet, at this point, congressional Republicans have not been given any signal, one way or the other, whether he would accept it or reject it. That leaves things where it is right now, which is basically everybody in a holding pattern.

There is some question among Republicans I'm talking to whether or not the president wants any path forward himself at all. What Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby told me earlier today is perhaps the president doesn't want a solution. In other words, perhaps the president wants a shutdown. He has claimed as such up to this point. Republican leaders are working behind the scenes, trying to prevent

that. Will they find a path forward? Well, at this point, Friday is the deadline. As I said, there is still no plan -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Stock markets deeper in the red with the concerns on the economy. The Dow fell 508 points. The S&P lost more than 2 percent. It is now at the lowest level of the year. The Nasdaq is lower for the year as well, down 2.3 percent yesterday alone.

The decline spread through global markets as well. Nikkei and Shanghai and Hang Seng all closing lower by about a percent at least. European stock markets have opened and they have opened lower as well here on early trading.

This has been a year and a rough month on Wall Street. Here's the damage report: the Dow and S&P down 4.5 percent this year. And down more than 8 percent just in December.

This is shaping up to be the worst quarter and the worst year in maybe a decade. Nasdaq down 2.7 percent, year to date down 9 percent. Again, the worst quarter for stocks since 2008 with the depths of the financial crisis. These are big moves, and a signal in shift in psychology.

The biggest shift in ten years of the bull market. How is the president reacting ? One official says he is privately expressing anxiety about the markets, even as he publicly insists the economy is strong.

All eyes will be on the Fed tomorrow. The Central Bank is expected to hike interest rates and the president has privately and publicly blamed the Fed, saying this is not the time, he was tweeting about this yesterday morning, this is not the time for the Fed to raise interest rates. Another interest rate hike is expected this year.

BRIGGS: They further butt heads when they do raise rates.

ROMANS: They sure will.

BRIGGS: OK. The family of a 2-year-old boy on life support pleading for an expedited visa from the State Department. The child's mother wants to fly here from Egypt to see him last time. She is a Yemeni national unable to come because of President Trump's travel ban. Abdullah Hassan is suffering from a generic brain condition and is on ventilator in Oakland. The little boy and his dad are both U.S. citizens. They came here a few months ago for the child's medical treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI HASSAN, FATHER: Just breaking my heart looking at my son facing death. He's about to die soon. His mother is unable to touch him or see him or able to kiss him before he goes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: No timetable when the visa might be granted, and can take up to 10 days. The White House travel ban restricts nationals of Yemen and six other countries from entering the United States.

ROMANS: Every parents --

BRIGGS: It breaks your heart.

ROMANS: Absolutely.

Every parents worst nightmare, a child runs into the road after a ball. I cannot even watch this California video. He was saved. We'll tell you who saved him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:48] BRIGGS: Accusations of sexual harassment and assault costing former CBS Chairman Les Moonves $120 million. The CBS board of directors says Moonves will not receive any severance pay. The board concluded it had ample reason to fire Moonves back in September based on findings from two law firms it hired to investigate the allegations. An attorney for Moonves, once one of the most powerful men in entertainment, calls the issue baseless.

He says Moonves denies any of the sex was nonconsensual. Notably, the lawyer did not signal Moonves would take further action to fight for the money.

ROMANS: Two Chicago police officers struck and killed by a train last night. A 37-year-old officer Eduardo Marmolejo and a 31-year-old Officer Conrad Gray responding to a shots fired call as they were searching the area both were hit by passing metro train going 60 to 70 miles an hour. Marmolejo had served on the force for two and a half years, Gray for 18 months. Both men were fathers to two young families. The suspect in the shooting they were investigating has been arrested and a gun was recovered.

BRIGGS: Law enforcement from as many as 45 states seeking assistance from Pennsylvania authorities in pursuit of alleged misconduct by Catholic priests.

[04:15:04] The surge of inquiries comes after a landmark state grand jury investigation found more than 300 predator priests abused at least 1,000 victims over six decades. The Pennsylvania attorney general tells "USA Today" that state authorities have been joining forces since August, crafting search warrant applications and grand jury subpoenas. Fourteen state attorneys general have launched separate clergy abuse inquiries. Meanwhile, the Justice Department working on its own broader review.

ROMANS: Right. In Clarksburg, West Virginia, a transgender student claimed the assistant principal harassed and intimidated him in the boy's bathroom. The state ACLU says Liberty High School assistant principal Lee Livengood challenged sophomore Michael Critchfield to use a urinal to prove he is a boy. Livengood also allegedly said, quote, I'm not going to lie. You freak me out.

The UCLA is seeking teacher training and discipline for Livengood. The school's principal declined to comment on personnel matters. Critchfield says all he wants is to feel safe and welcome at his school.

BRIGGS: State of Utah plans to enforce the nation's toughest DUI law one day before New Year's Eve. The blood alcohol content gets cut almost a half, to 0.05 from 0.08. The new law requires felony homicide charges against any drunk driver who kills someone. Utah has seen an average of 29 DUI arrests every day for the last five years. That's more than 54,000 arrests nationwide. Drunk driving fatalities have decreased by one third over the past 30 years, for an average of almost 30 people still die each day from alcohol-related crashes.

ROMANS: A Missouri man convicted of poaching hundreds of deer has been ordered to watch "Bambi" as part of his sentence. The judge attaching that mandatory monthly viewings of Walt Disney movie for David Barry Jr. during his year-long jail sentence.

Prosecutors call it one of the largest poaching cases in state history. The deer were killed for their heads. Bodies were left behind. Spoiler alert from the 1942 film, Bambi's mother was killed by hunters off screen. The young roams the woods unable to find her.

So, she has jail time and during jail, he has to watch the movie, too.

BRIGGS: Thank you for that spoiler alert. I wasn't sure how it ended.

An extremely close call caught on video. Retired police officer swoops in and rescues a toddler wandering in the middle of a southern California street. Former Officer Darryl Pang spotted the unsupervised child stepping on to the busy road in Tustin. He made a quick U-turn, and then as Pang gets his car closer, the boy bounced his ball in traffic and chased after it, that's when Pang jumped out of the car and motioned others to stop and picked the boy up in the middle of the street.

It wasn't until the boy was safe in Pang's arms that someone finally showed up to retrieve this child. A few details we are missing here which we're still trying to fill in the blanks. Where were the parents?

ROMANS: How did he get loose? Great that somebody was eagle eyed and saved that little guy.

BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, who doesn't get nostalgic for this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

ROMANS: Carlton from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air", the actors suit makers of a popular game. We'll show you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:22:55] ROMANS: The vote on Brexit is now set. British Prime Minister Theresa May announcing the vote will now happen the week of January 14th. Less than 80 days before the U.K. is due to leave the European Union at the end of March.

CNN's Samuel Burke is live in London.

And, Samuel, watching it from here, it has been chaos and more chaos. Walk us through what this means now a date has been set.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, watching it from here, it also looks like chaos and more chaos. Divorce lawyers will always tell you that that final 10 percent is the most difficult part to negotiate. And really, that's what's happening here.

Last week, Theresa May faced a no confidence vote from her own party, now the opposition leader has been calling for no confidence vote on her. Here's from the other party, of course. So, that doesn't look like that's going to happen.

So, what's going to happen? I want to put up on the screen the three options that we basically have left here in the United Kingdom. Number one, the prime minister's plan. This is what Theresa May has worked out with the European Union. It keeps a lot of the wheels greased so that businesses can keep on doing business the way they did before. But European immigrants couldn't move here to the U.K. without getting a visa.

The other option, exit the E.U. with no deal. Economists warned that this could be very harsh on the U.K. economy. Keep in mind, businesses have been doing business with the European Union for decades. And all of a sudden, everything could change.

And the other option is a second referendum. Something that people who were against Brexit have wanted for a long time. The prime minister saying that that wouldn't be is democratic. The majority of U.K. voters did vote in favor of Brexit. So, you can just word the referendum, either Theresa May's deal or no deal.

And, Christine, you know, I'm a business journalist. So, I'm really interested in what the business community is saying and doing. I learned that the U.K. government is advising pharmaceutical companies to stock up on pharmaceuticals and medicines just in case there is a no deal scenario. That is giving you a window of what the government is going through.

We are just 100 days from Brexit and we still don't know what the plan is going to be.

[04:25:03] So, a lot of businesses are looking at very tough contingency plans.

ROMANS: I think that's a very important real word insight. Also, trucking companies wondering if they're going to be able to move trucks, move goods back and forth, all kinds of goods, not just pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals, of course, life saving for people in the U.K.

All right. Thanks for that, Samuel Burke. We'll talk again soon.

BRIGGS: OK. Who could forget this from the 1990s?

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BRIGGS: Actor Alfonso Ribeiro, probably best known as Carlton, from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air", now he is now suing the creators of the game "Fortnite" for featuring his signature Carlton dance without his permission. Judge for yourself. It's pretty obvious.

The lawsuit claims the Epic Games has unfairly profited by selling the dance as an in-game purchase under the name Fresh. Ribeiro is also suing the makers of NBA 2K for similar reasons.

Young rapper Russell Horning better known as Backpack Kid also suing Epic over his use of his signature dance. Pickle or Floss.

No comment yet from Epic Games?

How can they pay these people? They are making $200 million and $300 million per month.

ROMANS: That floss -- how many times have you seen your kids do floss?

BRIGGS: In games, in the middle of sports games, yes.

ROMANS: All right. "Fortnite" rules my life.

Twenty-six minutes past the hour.

Michael Cohen had a lot to say at his sentencing last week. What we will learn from Michael Flynn today. Robert Mueller shedding some light with a court filings a day before Flynn sentencing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)