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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

BuzzFeed Reports President Trump Told Michael Cohen to Lie to Congress; Top North Korean Envoy in Washington; Theresa May Skipping World Economic Forum in Davos; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired January 18, 2019 - 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: Breaking overnight, two law enforcement sources tell BuzzFeed President Trump told Michael Cohen to lie about the Moscow Trump Tower project.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The president fires back in the shutdown grudge match pulling Nancy Pelosi's plane right before she is set to fly overseas.

ROMANS: A police body camera captures the risky rescue of an injured woman from a burning truck in Texas.

BRIGGS: Dangerous avalanches in New Mexico and Utah with a major winter storm closing in on the Midwest and the northeast bearing the brunt of it this weekend. Some parts could receive two feet of snow.

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

ROMANS: There's finally a winter. I had --

BRIGGS: It arrived.

ROMANS: I had herbs growing in my garden because it was so warm and balmy.

BRIGGS: Say farewell to them.

ROMANS: You know, good-bye. And I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday, January 18th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the east. Let's begin with this breaking news.

BuzzFeed reporting that President Trump personally directed his longtime attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower Moscow project. Now BuzzFeed's sources, two law enforcement officials, say the president instructed Cohen to say negotiations to build the tower ended months before they actually did.

The sources say Cohen confirmed to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team that, yes, the president issued the order to lie to Congress. BuzzFeed reports Mueller's office learned about it through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization, internal company e-mails, text messages, and other documents.

BRIGGS: Here's how Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani responded to the bombshell report. Quote, "If you believe Cohen, I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge." But a key Democrat House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff was dead serious, saying, "The allegation that the president of the United States may have suborn perjury before our committee in an effort to curtail the investigation and cover up his business dealings with Russia is among the most serious to date. We will do what's necessary to find out if that's true."

Worth noting that during his confirmation hearing this week, attorney general nominee, William Barr, said coaching a witness to give false testimony amounts to obstruction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: So if there was some reason to believe that the president tried to coach somebody not to testify or testify falsely, that could be obstruction of justice?

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: Yes, under that -- under an obstruction statute, yes.

GRAHAM: So if there is some evidence that the president tried to conceal evidence, that would be obstruction of justice potentially, right?

BARR: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Lindsey Graham getting him on record. CNN has not yet corroborated this BuzzFeed breaking story.

ROMANS: Michael Cohen confirms he paid the head of a small technology company to rig two online polls in 2015 at the direction of Donald Trump. The story was first reported by the "Wall Street Journal." Cohen says he paid between $12,000 and $13,000 to John Gauger of Red Finch Solutions to manipulate two polls in Mr. Trump's favor.

Now the attempt was not successful. Cohen telling CNN he regrets his blind loyalty to Mr. Trump. The president's former fixer still intends to testify before Congress next month, despite expressing concerns for his family.

BRIGGS: Rudy Giuliani cleaning up his own mess after trying to move the goal posts on possible Trump campaign collusion. Here is what the president's lawyer told a stunned Chris Cuomo on Wednesday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, LAWYER FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, "CUOMO PRIME TIME": Yes, you have.

GIULIANI: I have no idea -- I have not. I said the president of the United States. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: That claim by Giuliani was false. He has often maintained there was no collusion by the campaign. Then yesterday he told CNN's Dana Bash he never meant to send any new signals about what the Mueller investigation might be finding and he followed that up with this tweet. "My statements on collusion haven't changed. The misinterpretation has changed. The point is, I represent the president, not the campaign, but from both perspectives, there is no involvement in collusion with Russians on the e-mail hack, the only possible crime."

ROMANS: All right. The Supreme Court meets behind closed doors today to discuss a mystery case related to the special counsel's Russia probe. It involves an unnamed foreign government owned corporation that is fighting a subpoena request from a Washington, D.C. based grand jury. Lower courts have already ruled the company must turn over the information that's being requested and has imposed fines for every day it fails to do so.

BRIGGS: It's King Kong versus Godzilla. That's how one Trump adviser describes the shutdown battle between President Trump and Nancy Pelosi. The president now denying the speaker a military plane for her trip to the warzone in Afghanistan.

[04:05:05] The move coming just before her delegation was to leave. It's apparently in response to Pelosi's letter a day earlier suggesting Mr. Trump postpone the State of the Union address until the shutdown is resolved.

The president in his letter to Pelosi said, quote, "In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate."

The president twisting the knife in a bit more, said Pelosi's seven- day excursion would be rescheduled when the shutdown is over. Another top House Democrat, Adam Schiff, blasting the president's childish behavior.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: All too often in the last two years the president has acted like he's in the fifth grade and to have someone who has that kind of character running the country is an enormous problem at every level.

We are co-equal branch of government and it may not have been that way over the last two years when he had a Republican Congress willing to roll over anytime he asked, but that is no longer the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham admonishing both sides on Twitter, quote, "One sophomoric response does not deserve another. Speaker Pelosi's threat to cancel the State of the Union is very irresponsible and blatantly political." Graham adding President Trump denying Speaker Pelosi military travel to visit our troops in Afghanistan, our allies in Egypt and NATO, is also inappropriate.

Just hours after, the president ground the speaker, a government jet touched down in Palm Beach, Florida, with First Lady Melania Trump on board apparently headed to Mar-a-Lago.

ROMANS: All right. With an address in the House chamber now uncertain, the White House is considering alternative plans for the State of the Union. Some have suggested the president deliver the speech from the Senate chamber instead. That would still require 60 votes to invite the president to speak meaning the Republican majority would need some Democrats to be on board with it.

White House officials are also said to be considering a rally style State of the Union which would be coordinated through the Trump reelection campaign.

BRIGGS: The White House will not be sending a delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos next week. According to Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, the president canceled the trip, quote, "out of consideration" for the 800,000 workers who are not getting paid because of the government shutdown. Mr. Trump pulled out of the event himself earlier this month.

ROMANS: The IRS says it's bringing back 36,000 furloughed employees to work without pay as the shutdown drags into tax season and House Democrats want the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to testify next week about that decision. Mnuchin was part of the delegation traveling to Davos but now that trip of course has been cancelled.

After the White House cancelled the trip the Treasury Department released a letter to Representative Richard Neal offering to make senior Treasury officials available for the hearing including the deputy IRS commissioner but not Secretary Mnuchin. A hearing notice posted Thursday said the hearing will allow Secretary Mnuchin the opportunity to, quote, "brief Congress and the American people on specifically how his agency intends to move forward with filing season during this shutdown.

A Treasury spokesman said he could not immediately answer why the Treasury Secretary Mnuchin himself would attend that hearing. Meanwhile, President Trump's former top economic adviser is sharply criticizing the government shutdown.

In an interview with the "Boston Globe" Gary Cohn said, quote, "I don't understand what the outcome is here. And I don't understand where we're going with it. I'm confused as to what the White House's strategy is on this a little bit."

BRIGGS: Vice President Mike Pence defending his wife's new job teaching at a Christian school that bans gay and lesbian students and parents. Karen Pence announced earlier this week that she was returning part-time to Immanuel Christian School in Virginia. She previously taught there for 12 years. The vice president responding to the criticism in an interview with the Catholic News Network EWTN. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're used to the criticism, but I have to tell you, to see major news organizations attacking Christian education is deeply offensive to us. This criticism of Christian education in America should stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights advocacy group, accused the Pences of showing their public service extends only to some.

ROMANS: All right. A nuclear envoy from North Korea wakes up in Washington this morning. Will it lead to a second Trump-Kim summit?

BRIGGS: And police officers struggle to pull a woman out of a burning truck. More body camera video just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:37] BRIGGS: 4:13 Eastern Time. North Korea's lead negotiator in nuclear talks with the U.S. is in Washington this morning. He is expected to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and deliver a letter from Kim Jong-un to President Trump.

The visit is the latest sign the U.S. and North Korea are finalizing plans for a second Trump-Kim summit.

Will Ripley live for us in Tokyo with more.

Will, good to see you. Extraordinary to see the Pentagon the same day this is all announced say North Korea is still an extraordinary threat. Where are we headed?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does cast a bit of suspicion over this whole diplomatic process. The fact that the Pentagon thinks that North Korea is an extraordinary threat, and yet you're going to have these cordial smiling photo-ops in Washington.

It really is significant. This is the first time in nearly two decades that a North Korean delegation has overnighted in the U.S. capital. Even when Kim Yong Chol, the ex-spy chief and top negotiator who is in Washington right now, even when he came back in June, he had to go to New York and make a daytrip to Washington. He wasn't allowed to actually spend the night there.

We expect in the coming hours meetings with Kim and his delegation and the American delegation led by the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun. Whether or not they'll meet with President Trump today, that has yet to be determined, although that is the expectation on the North Korean side.

We expect the North Koreans to present a letter to Trump from Kim, a response to President Trump's letter that was flown to Pyongyang and hand-delivered over the weekend.

[04:15:03] We'll see if it's in one of those giant envelopes like we saw Kim hand over to Trump back in June. Remember that was just 11 days before the summit in Singapore. They announced the date and the location of the summit after that meeting in Washington. Depending on what Kim's letter says, and we expect that it is a positive friendly letter, perhaps an acceptance of the U.S. president's invitation, maybe they'll announce that the summit is going to happen.

Hanoi is believed to be the front-running location. The U.S. has floated around Bangkok and Hawaii as well. Hawaii is not going to happen. We'll see what we learn in the coming hours in Washington -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Not clear enough has been done to justify one summit let alone a second.

Will Ripley, live for us in Tokyo, thank you.

ROMANS: All right. Theresa May is skipping the World Economic Forum in Davos next week. Instead the British prime minister will remain in London to deal with the Brexit crisis. She's expected to hold calls with European leaders after barely surviving a no confidence vote. Britain is expected to leave the European Union on March 29th, but there is no plan in place to actually do it and so much chaos, dysfunction, and so many questions. It's really remarkable here.

For the latest, I want to bring in CNN's Nic Robertson live from Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

You know, now we know the U.S. delegation is not going, Theresa May is not going. I think it really highlights the twin crises in these two old democracies at the very same moment of political dysfunction.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's symptomatic of what we're seeing more broadly, as well, Christine, to be honest. I mean, we could talk about a France but let's not. Let's talk about Brexit right now because President Macron and France have of course its own deep problems.

Look, the issue here for Theresa May is she needs to come up with a plan B on Brexit by Monday. She is reaching out across party lines here. She is reaching out and saying, look, you're asking for a second referendum of whether or not Britain should leave the European Union. The government saying that's not in the cards. It's going to take too long to organize.

She can't reach out and talk with the main opposition party because they're saying you've got to rule out this no deal Brexit, the Brexit days, 70 days from now. A no deal Brexit would have huge business implications for the United Kingdom and for the European Union. But at the moment, there doesn't seem to be consensus how she can move forward. She has to have this plan B. What's it going to be? Is there enough time to even discuss it, let alone implement it.

And the European Union and the reason I'm here in Northern Ireland with the border with Ireland, the new land border, if you will, with the European Union just a couple of miles away is because the border here is one of the most contentious issues. And this is one that the European Union isn't willing to compromise on at the moment. And that's the biggest challenge for Theresa May right now -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nic, thank you so much for that. Nic Robertson in Londonderry.

BRIGGS: Heart pounding body cam video out of Texas shows the moment police officers rushed to pull a woman from a burning pickup truck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's broken. We need to cut it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The door.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where you at?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come up here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come this way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, put out the other side. Get her, get her, get her. Get her, get her. Come on. Come on. Cut through. Come out. Come over. Come over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The accident happened overnight as police were chasing a drunk driver. Police say the victim was trying to turn into a parking lot when the suspect slammed into her traveling about 90 miles per hour. Officers pulled the woman from the car before she suffered any burns and was taken to the hospital for a possible head injury. As for the suspect, he was taken to the hospital for cuts to his face.

Extraordinary bravery, those police officers knowing that car could explode.

ROMANS: Oh my goodness.

BRIGGS: Knowing that they were putting themselves in jeopardy.

ROMANS: All right. Then this, an avalanche at a New Mexico ski resort, how two skiers may have cheated death, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:23:22] ROMANS: All right. Two skiers are lucky to be alive after they were caught in an avalanche Thursday at a ski resort in Taos, New Mexico. The ski patrol and others nearby quickly responded and were able to rescue the two skiers who were buried in the snow. Both victims were hospitalized with injuries. One is said to be in critical condition.

BRIGGS: An avalanche in Utah forcing the closure of Provo Canyon. Fortunately no people or cars were caught in the avalanche, which spilled up to 30 feet of snow on the road as you can see there. The Utah Highway Department says its crews accidentally triggered that avalanche. Right now they are working to clear the road.

ROMANS: All right. From the plains to northeast, more than 100 million people are in the path of a major winter storm this weekend.

Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam. He's got the details.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine and Dave. Lots of winter weather to talk about this weekend, but first our opening act, creating the light dusting of snow this morning from D.C. to New York. The bigger picture, though, the major snowstorm evolving from the Midwest through the northeast, over 100 million Americans under some sort of winter weather advisory.

Now the exact track of our low pressure system is going to determine how much rain, snow or mixture of sleet and ice we actually get along the East Coast. Here's the details in terms of timing. 8:00 p.m. Saturday evening, snow starts to make its way into the Big Apple, then it transitions to a rain-snow mix, perhaps sleet and ice involved in that as well. The back side of the system will usher in the coldest air of the season, we'll transition back to all snow for the East Coast cities.

In terms of snowfall totals, two to four inches for New York, slightly higher near Boston, over a foot to two feet for the higher elevations of upstate New York and New Hampshire and Vermont.

[04:25:04] Ice storm possible out of this system as well, but look at these temperatures dropping significantly by the end of the weekend for New York.

Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you for that.

A rare sighting of a shark believed to be the world's biggest caught on video off the waters of Oahu. Look at this beast. This shark is known as Deep Blue. It's nearly 20 feet long. It's believed to be more than 50 years old. Also divers now say she has markings that show she might be pregnant. Deep Blue even has a Twitter account now named after her was last spotted in Mexico in --

BRIGGS: She's a beast.

ROMANS: Whoa. BRIGGS: And pregnant at 50. Janet Jackson.

ROMANS: Good for her.

BRIGGS: We should rename her.

ROMANS: Stop.

(LAUGHTER)

BRIGGS: She is a beast. Good to see she's still alive. Deep Blue. OK.

Hometown star will belt out the national anthem when Atlanta hosts the Super Bowl next month.

That's music legend Gladys Knight singing her classic "Midnight Train to Georgia." CBS and the NFL announcing that the seven-time Grammy winner and Rock and Rock Hall of Famer will sing the national anthem on February 3rd right before kickoff. Knight who follows in the footsteps of other legends like Whitney Houston, Cher, and Billy Joel, says she is proud to use her voice to unite and represent our country in her hometown.

Fantastic decision by the league and by CBS.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: The bad news is if this government shutdown runs on, the Super Bowl is going to have a major mess on their hands concerning that airport in Atlanta.

ROMANS: I hadn't even thought of that.

BRIGGS: Major.

ROMANS: Oh, gee.

BRIGGS: You're talking about estimates around a million people come to town with TSA officers calling out sick.

ROMANS: Pack your patience.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: BuzzFeed News says two sources claimed President Trump told his personal attorney to lie to Congress. Details on what could be a game ranger for Robert Mueller's investigation, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)