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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
BuzzFeed: President Trump Directed Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About Moscow Tower Project; President Trump Denies Speaker Pelosi Military Aircraft For War Zone Trip; Police Rush To Save Woman In Burning Car; Avalanche At New Mexico Ski Resort. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired January 18, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:07] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, two law enforcement sources tell BuzzFeed that President Trump told Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a Trump Tower Moscow project.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: And the president fires back in the shutdown grudge match, pulling Nancy Pelosi's plane right before she's set to fly to a war zone.
ROMANS: And this -- a police body camera captures a risky rescue of an injured woman from her 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. There could be two feet of snow --
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
BRIGGS: -- for parts of New England.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: And, I'm Christine Romans. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.
We begin with breaking news this morning -- a bombshell here.
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.
BuzzFeed's sources, two law enforcement officials who 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 the president issued that order to lie to Congress.
BuzzFeed reports Mueller's office learned about it through interviews with multiple witnesses from The Trump Organization, from internal company e-mails, text messages, and other documents.
BRIGGS: Here is 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 Chairman Adam Schiff was dead serious, saying, "The allegation that the President of the United States may have suborned 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 it'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-SC), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 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, NOMINEE, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, under that -- under an obstruction statute, yes.
GRAHAM: So, if there's some evidence that the president tried to conceal evidence, that would be obstruction of justice potentially, right?
BARR: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: How about that?
CNN has not yet corroborated the BuzzFeed story.
ROMANS: All right, I want to bring in Tim Naftali, CNN presidential historian and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library. He is also the author of "Impeachment: An American History." And, boy, are we glad you are here this morning.
BRIGGS: Nice to see you.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY, AUTHOR, "IMPEACHMENT: AN AMERICAN HISTORY": Thanks.
ROMANS: So, this is BuzzFeed reporting -- two law enforcement sources -- CNN has not corroborated this reporting -- is ordering or asking Michael Cohen -- Donald Trump asking him to lie to Congress -- is that an impeachable offense if you can prove it?
NAFTALI: Well, first of all, it's a crime and -- so, yes, it's a crime. And if you can prove that the president ordered it -- not that some other person said the president ordered it but you could actually prove that the president ordered it, that could certainly rise to the level of -- rises to the level of an impeachable offense. Remember that impeachment is a political process. In fact, I think the bar is higher to impeach someone and remove them than the bar would be if they were in a court for criminal misconduct. Would you find 67 senators who would say this president ought to be removed?
So, it's all about the evidence. It's all about the nature of the evidence and the extent to which the evidence actually puts the president at the moment of decision. That's what we have to find out.
BRIGGS: To reiterate some of the reporting we had earlier there, the special counsel learned about this through multiple witnesses in The Trump Organization (a), internal company e-mails (b), text messages, and a cache of other documents.
[05:35:00] Is that the proof? Is that potentially the smoking gun?
NAFTALI: Well, look, we have to see.
What I can tell -- what I can tell you is that in 1974 there were Republican members of the impeachment inquiry who heard Richard Nixon talk about hush money and said he still doesn't deserve to be removed unless you can prove that the money was paid.
So, there will be people who will find ways around whatever evidence there is and we have to see -- first of all, we've got to prove that this happened. We also have to see the nature of the evidence.
Removing a president is a huge deal and the bar is very high. It would be easier to indict him, frankly, if he did a suborned perjury, then it would be to impeach him unless you have him saying it or writing it.
BRIGGS: On that, Bill Barr was also asked about indicting a sitting president during his hearings. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARR: You know, for 40 years, the position of the executive branch has been you can't indict a sitting president. I actually haven't read those opinions in a long time but I see no reason to change them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: I kept wondering throughout these hearings if Donald Trump thought he had his Robert Bork and ended up with his own Elliot Richardson who will not do what he wanted to do.
But is this reason to change that longstanding guidance?
NAFTALI: Well, first of all, this is the thing that I find amazing about this so-called guidance. This guidance was put forward by two Justice Departments, both of which had presidents under scrutiny.
ROMANS: Right.
NAFTALI: So, of course, the Justice Department is going to say the president can't be indicted.
I'll tell you, in '73 and '74, the special prosecutor in the Watergate case -- they looked at this issue and they weren't -- in fact, most of the lawyers thought you could indict a sitting president.
ROMANS: Yes.
NAFTALI: I think it's an open question. I would -- if I were Donald Trump, I would not rest my defense on the assumption that I could not be indicted in office.
ROMANS: Let's go back to some more sound from the William Barr nomination hearing as well because maybe wittingly or unwittingly, Sen. Lindsey Graham got him on the record about obstruction -- exactly what is obstruction -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: 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?
BARR: Yes, under that -- under an obstruction statute, yes.
GRAHAM: So, if there's some evidence that the president tried to conceal evidence, that would be obstruction of justice potentially, right?
BARR: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We keep wondering wow, now he's got him on the record there.
BRIGGS: From his golfing buddy.
ROMANS: Right.
BRIGGS: Did his golfing buddy bury him?
NAFTALI: Well listen, Richard Nixon told indirectly through his top aides -- told people how to testify and told them to testify in a way that skirted the most dangerous issue for him. And these were -- this was testimony to the FBI. We have, on tape, Richard Nixon suborning perjury.
The question is if Donald Trump did this can we prove that he said it? If it's a text message from somebody saying the big man wants you to do this, many of his defenders will say it's hearsay.
So right now, I'm waiting, as we all are, to see what --
ROMANS: And, Rudy --
NAFTALI: -- the evidence is.
ROMANS: And, Rudy Giuliani has said that look, Michael Cohen has no credibility whatsoever --
BRIGGS: And he doesn't.
ROMANS: -- and that, you know, I --
BRIGGS: Let's be clear, is a -- is a terrible witness.
ROMANS: He said, I could sell you --
BRIGGS: Right.
ROMANS: -- a bridge in Brooklyn -- you know, Brooklyn Bridge. So --
BRIGGS: I'm surprised he didn't say the Tappan Zee given his lawyering in the last couple of days.
NAFTALI: But that's fog -- that's fog until -- remember, the reporting says documents. It's not just --
BRIGGS: OK.
NAFTALI: -- man versus man.
BRIGGS: Again, and if we have all that. If we have the corroboration.
Another part of this story says the sources -- the sources for BuzzFeed said Trump and his children, Ivanka and Donald Trump, Jr. -- key -- received regular detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.
Again, if this is all true and confirmed and there's proof, could Donald Trump, Jr. be indicted?
NAFTALI: Well, I think that what's been clear from the president's reaction throughout the Mueller investigation is there is concern in the family that Donald, Jr. is perhaps the most vulnerable to indictment. So, if you have evidence that Donald Trump, Jr. participated in an effort to obstruct an FBI investigation or a congressional investigation, yes, of course, he could be indicted.
BRIGGS: Right, and my point was --
NAFTALI: We could all be indicted for that.
BRIGGS: My point was because he did testify before Congress --
ROMANS: Right.
BRIGGS: -- and would have lied to Congress. Ivanka Trump did not, correct -- right?
ROMANS: She did not.
BRIGGS: So, Donald Trump, Jr. would be. ROMANS: And she has issued a long statement by a spokesman saying that she was not involved in this. All of the reporting shows that the spa of the Trump Tower Moscow was going to be named the Ivanka Trump --
BRIGGS: The lying's not a crime. Lying before Congress --
ROMANS: That's true.
Just one last -- I mean, just to step back because we all are in the minutia of this story every day -- honestly.
BRIGGS: You're right.
ROMANS: And I think that typical Americans are going on their workday and they tune in and out to the -- but we are talking --
BRIGGS: They largely tune out, you're right.
ROMANS: We are talking about what qualifies an impeachable offense with real solid reporting here two years into the Trump presidency. Just the moment -- the historical moment that this is.
[05:40:05] NAFTALI: You know -- well, and this is really important. But what is equally important is what members of Congress are thinking -- mainly Republican members of Congress.
And one of the things I learned in looking at the Nixon era was how marvelously patriotic southern Democrats and Republican members of Congress were.
ROMANS: Yes.
NAFTALI: Neither of them had constituents that wanted to impeach Richard Nixon and they decided to vote for impeachment. And why they decided is they thought that their responsibilities to our constitution were more important than their responsibilities to their party or to even their constituents. That they felt the system was in peril.
Now, fast-forward to now. What will it take for members of Congress to feel that the system is in peril and that they have to make this tough constitutional choice? We're not there yet because all the evidence has to be laid out.
All of the -- for example, the BuzzFeed story -- I don't know if it's true or false --
BRIGGS: Right.
NAFTALI: -- but let's assume it's true. You still have to lay out the evidence.
ROMANS: Yes.
NAFTALI: We're not there yet. We might be there in six months but we're not there right now.
BRIGGS: And who leads that effort? Given the shutdown, it's hard to imagine Mitch McConnell. Mitt Romney is now a senator, Ben Sasse. There's a few others that have been a profile in courage, but very few.
Tim Naftali, you literally wrote the book on all of this. Great to have you here.
ROMANS: Nice to see you. Thank you, sir.
NAFTALI: Thank you. Nice to be here. Good morning.
ROMANS: All right.
Speaking of that record long shutdown, it is now 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 war zone in Afghanistan. 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 back to Pelosi, said, "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."
Side note -- the president, during a shutdown, went to a war zone. Very important to note.
The president then twisting the knife in a bit more, said Pelosi's 7- day excursion would be rescheduled when the shutdown is over.
Another top House Democrat, Adam Schiff, blasting the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: And 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 a co-equal branch of government and it may not have been that way over the last two years when we had a Republican Congress willing to roll over anytime he'd ask, but that is no longer the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham admonishing both sides.
"One sophomoric response does not deserve another. Speaker Pelosi's threat to cancel the State of the Union is very irresponsible and blatantly political."
Then, 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 grounded the speaker, a government jet touched down in West Palm Beach, Florida with the first lady Melania Trump on board to go to vacation on a government jet during a shutdown when a trip by Congress was canceled.
BRIGGS: Can't miss a Mar-a-Lago weekend, Romans.
All right, 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 out of consideration for the 800,000 federal workers who are not getting paid because of the government shutdown. Mr. Trump pulled out of the event, himself, earlier this month.
ROMANS: All right. Police officers raced to pull a woman out of a burning truck. More body camera video just ahead.
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[05:47:52] BRIGGS: Some 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 FEMALE: Where you at? Where you at?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come up here. Come this way. Come on. Right here -- come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have the seat belt cut.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, cut out the other side on the wood. Get her, get her, get her. Get her, get her, get her. Come on, come on, come on -- cut through. Come out, come over, come over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Brave men and women -- those police officers there.
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. She 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.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.
Global stock markets higher on optimism in U.S.-China trade talks. In Asia, you can see gains all around and the European markets also opened higher.
U.S. futures are up a bit here this morning. Wall Street really is eager to resolve the trade war with China. Case in point, a "Wall Street Journal" report that White House officials are deliberating whether to lift tariffs on China to really encourage real structural reform.
The Dow closed 163 points higher Thursday after being up as many as 267 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained about 0.7 percent.
All right, CBS's former CEO is planning to go to court to get his severance package. CBS confirmed in a filing Thursday that Les Moonves plans to fight for his $120 million exit package. According to the filing, he notified CBS on Wednesday of his intention to demand binding arbitration with respect to this matter.
Moonves left CBS in September amid sexual misconduct allegations. CBS says it does not intend to comment further on the matter during the process.
Netflix approaching 150 million subscribers. It now has 139 million around the world and expects to add another nine million by March.
[05:50:02] Its stock was down about three percent -- mixed fourth- quarter earnings results. The report came as Netflix unveiled plans to raise monthly prices. That increase could help Netflix foot the bill for a spending spree on content.
And the big question, how much will you pay for streaming? I mean, there's a lot of different streaming services. This year and next year will be the year for people to have all kinds of choices on where to stream your video.
BRIGGS: And all eyes on "THE OFFICE" and "FRIENDS" and some of that content --
ROMANS: Right.
BRIGGS: -- that could, at some point, split off.
Ahead, two skiers buried alive in an avalanche. More on the race to save them, next.
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[05:55:08] BRIGGS: Two skiers caught in an avalanche at a ski resort in Taos, New Mexico. The ski patrol and others nearby quickly responded to the scene and were able to rescue the two skiers who were buried in the snow. Both victims were hospitalized with injuries; one said to be in critical condition.
ROMANS: 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. The Utah Highway Department says its crews accidentally triggered that avalanche.
OK, from the Plains to the northeast, more than 100 million people are now in the path of this major winter snowstorm this weekend.
Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 a 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 or 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 backside of this 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 amounts near Boston. Over a foot to two feet for the higher elevations of Upstate New York and New Hampshire and Vermont. An 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: Thank you, Derek.
A rare sighting of a shark believed to be the world's biggest caught on video off the waters of Oahu. The shark, known as Deep Blue is nearly 20 feet long and is believed to be more than 50 years old. Also, divers say she has markings that show she might be pregnant at 50 -- a la Janet Jackson.
ROMANS: Stop.
BRIGGS: Deep Blue even has a Twitter account named after her. It was last spotted in Mexico in July.
ROMANS: She's enormous. When you see her next to a diver, you can't believe --
BRIGGS: Check out the stills, yes.
ROMANS: -- how big she is.
All right, a hometown star will belt out the National Anthem when Atlanta hosts the Super Bowl next month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLADYS KNIGHT, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "Midnight Train to Georgia."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Strong choice. CBS and the NFL announcing 7-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gladys Knight will sing the anthem right before kickoff. She says she proud to use her voice to unite and represent our country in her hometown.
BRIGGS: All the president's men under new scrutiny in late night. Here are your "Late-Night Laughs."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, NBC HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": It came out this week that back in 2017 the FBI opened an investigation into whether President Trump was secretly a Russian agent.
It turns out the FBI actually opened several investigations into members of Trump's cabinet without them knowing it.
For example, they opened an investigation into Mike Pence to see whether he's secretly the Quaker Oats guy. No one knew this.
STEVE HIGGINS, ANNOUNCER, NBC "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": They want to know, yes.
FALLON: They never released it.
HIGGINS: Yes.
FALLON: They opened an investigation into Jared Kushner to see whether he's secretly two kids stacked on top of each other and pretending to be an adult. I'd like to buy some beer, please.
HIGGINS: He's acting.
FALLON: They opened an investigation into Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin to see whether he's secretly Ross from "FRIENDS." That's not true.
HIGGINS: That's insane.
FALLON: They opened an investigation into Eric Trump to see whether he's secretly Draco Malfoy. And finally, they opened an investigation into acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker to see whether he's secretly working part-time as that egg from Instagram.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: If you missed that Instagram egg -- liked more than 48 million times, a world record.
ROMANS: All right, everybody, big breaking story this morning on BuzzFeed. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Have a great weekend.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday, January 18th, 6:00 here in New York.
We're spilling coffee because it's just that big of a day.
Two words that everyone needs to learn this morning -- suborning perjury. It means telling someone to lie under oath. It is a crime, it is impeachable, and it is breaking news -- perhaps, major breaking news.
Overnight, an explosive new report in BuzzFeed says that President Trump personally instructed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Suborning perjury is a crime and it is impeachable.
So, yes, this involved Michael Cohen, the president's one-time lawyer and right-hand man who is a convicted felon and an admitted liar, but the BuzzFeed report indicates it is not his word that --
